PANKAJ

Where there is a will there's a way...So all one should worry is about having will in place and will will find its way! Social media these days is more than flooded with material on realization, philosophy, psychology, brain hacks, productivity hacks, life hacks and what not. Not just books, blogs, articles, courses etc, there is also a galore of coaching professions - leadership coach, life coach, spiritual coach and so on. And then another category of management lessons from ancient texts - management lessons from Lord Hanumana, modern day Chanakya etc. Many researchers/authors have done phenomenal jobs in studying ancient texts and drawing parallels with the modern world. The internet has certainly changed many things and pushed many limits but has the proportion of highly successful people changed? Motivation for example, does it always work and work for all? Lawyer and world famous speaker Mel Robbins says - "Motivation is garbage"!. So what's the role all ...

Is selflessness highest of all virtues and is it that simple to understand as it sounds? I call it a curious case because it's actually not. Its much convoluted to understand and implement than it sounds. I would like to start with something which once made me ponder over it for a very long time. I still do at times. Naval Ravikant mentions to Joe Rogan in latter's podcast - Celebrities are the most miserable people in the world, right? Because they're this strong self image that gets built up, it gets built up by compliments. Every time somebody pays you or me a compliment and we're like, "Oh, well, thank you." Right? Then that builds up an image of who we are. And then one idiot comes along, one out of ten, one out of 100, and they can easily tear it down. Because it doesn't take many insults to cancel out a lot of compliments. And now you're carrying around this big weighty self image, and it's just very easy to be attacked. And because you...

Why do we tend to find entertainment in ridiculing? The question prompted me to write this blog in curious case series Shark Tank India came as a welcome change to the Indian television landscape flooded with daily soaps and reality talent shows. One peculiar observation I want to share is when I saw people relishing and rejoicing over humiliating feedback given to some contestants. People are watching in loop those sections of episodes wherein some participants were badly rebuked to the point of them becoming butt of jokes. One of the sharks particularly has been quite blunt in giving critical feedback which often makes feedback look like humiliation of the aspirant when seen on TV. Not sure how much editing has been involved in this but the least broadcasters could have done is to appropriately trim the negative feedback cases.   Coming to the audience, what looks unfathomable to me is people going crazy over it. People are feasting over it like they do on "masala" cont...

In modern day politics and governance, we come across one term too often - "Ram Rajya".  But what is Ram-Rajya and how does the rule look like? Does Ram Rajya refer to some utopian rule where there is no crime, despair, corruption etc and there is heaven on earth itself? This question and my thoughts around it made me write another blog in the curious case series. Here’s a quick glance on the series of events around vanvaas which is the epicenter of this blog.  Dashrath is forced to ask Rama to go to vanvass as per promise given to Kaikeyi But Dashrath volunteers to sacrifice his promise  Ram volunteers to go to vanvass to keep his father’s word  Sita volunteers to go with Ram  Lakshmana volunteers to go with Ram  Urmila voluntarily stays back….to not put Lakshaman in any "dharm-sankat" Bharat volunteers to bring everyone back and leave no stone unturned. My Observation What are these people longing for? Materialistic vs non materialistic is something wh...

Real Humility is unaware of itself - Naval Ravikant Dear Ego,  Please accept my obeisance. I completely acknowledge your might and appreciate your role in the larger scheme of things.  I bow in front of you, not asking you for anything but to admire how nothing can beat you  in making a fool out of wise and making a paradox out of solution.  Realizing that you can beat anyone in this world and beyond, I submit not out of fear but out of attempted wisdom.  I feel a conviction that the battle with you is not the one to be fought. To me, you seem like an illusive and tempting opponent who should neither be challenged nor cursed.  Dear Ego, I have no intention whatsoever to challenge you out of my "ego" that you can't beat me.  I surrender knowing the fact that you can make even the best of the world to dance to your tunes and make a ridicule out of them. Icing on the cake, you do all this with clinical  precision of keeping your desired victims ...

Love, the tale of parities and disparities !  Love is parity... Pain, disparity! Love is parity...  Cost of love, disparity! Love is parity...  Separation, disparity! Love is parity...  Ask, disparity! Even "Ask" is parity... Expectation, disparity! Love is parity... Bargain, disparity! "We" or "Us" is parity... "I" , disparity! Love is parity... "Strings attached", disparity! Love is parity... If at all it is!!

Is meaning of articulation limited to just being expressing oneself? Yes and no. And that's what makes me curious about it. In this blog post, let's target taking the bull by its horns. Trying to solve problems simply by articulating them!  "Well begun is half done….well articulated is half resolved!" "Necessity is the mother of all inventions, articulation is the mother of all solutions!" We fail to notice the genius of articulation. It goes back to my childhood memories of sitting cluelessly on few doubts in science class unable to make sense of what’s going on. Finally I raise my hand and ask. But before I complete my sentence and the teacher says anything, the solution(at least a part of it)has already struck my mind! Some contemplation made me realize the simple reason that, in my attempt to articulate, I actually saw the problem in reality for the first time. Prior to articulation was only a guess work and speculation which obviously was not going to...

She was alone, So was I...  She was alone, So was I...  Neither did she say "I Love you", Nor did I... Hand in hand, and sleepless nights, She was stoic...…restless was I ! She had words, but no emotions I had emotions, but no words !  Strange was our love story, a rift between feelings and words  Lend me some feelings, And I give you my word....that "you have my words" She promised ! We thus had a deal, to exchange feelings for words... No love story is a fairy-tale, Nor was ours's... Words I wanted, she never had... Feelings I had, thus she could never know ! You add words to your arsenal... & I would find feelings for your words  & thus we continue to be lonely together  That was the silent pact between "My Dictionary" and I  !!!

स्वागत है आपका "हमारे रोचक ग्रंथ" श्रृंखला के इस अगले लेख में जिसका शीर्षक है - कर्ण। आरंभ करने के पूर्व अपनी द्रष्टता स्वीकारना चाहता हूँ जाने-अनजाने में ऐसे महान चरित्रों पर टीका टिप्पणी करने के लिए| आख़िर वे वो महानायक हैं जिनका हम आज भी आदर करते हैं और मैं, मात्र एक अनामंत्रित विश्लेषक| जैसा की मैंने अपने पिछले लेख ( https://bit.ly/2kwrwcE ) में भी उल्लेख किया था, कि पाठकों का एक समूह दुखांत नायकों का गुणगान करता रहा है और कर्ण उन सभी के पसंदीदा चरित्र रहे हैं | लेखिका इरावती कर्वे अपनी पुस्तक "युगांता" में बड़े सुंदर शब्दों में लिखती हैं(अंग्रेजी में) कि " हालाँकि महाभारत में सभी चरित्रों की परीक्षा ली गई, मगर कोई जीवन से इतना पराजित प्रतीत नहीं हुआ जितना पराजित कर्ण प्रतीत हुए | अपने अपने विचारानुसार, इसे प्रशंसा भी माना जा सकता है और टिप्पणी भी|  तो आइये जानने का प्रयास करते हैं कि क्या कारण रहे जिन्होंने कर्ण जैसे नायक को एक दुखांत नायक बनाया| द्रश्य है रंगभूमि का जहाँ समस्त कुरु राजकुमार अपनी शिक्षा पूर्ण कर अपना कौशल प्रदर्शन कर रहे हैं| इसी समय ...

Welcome to my next blog about Karna in this series of  "The Curious case of epics". First thing first, let me acknowledge my audacity for inadvertently commenting and judging such mighty characters. For, they are the heroes we still adore and I am a mere mortal....an armchair analyst! As I had mentioned in my previous blog ( https://bit.ly/2Uq25aj ) too, Karna has been favourite among readers rejoicing tragic heroes. Irawati Karve beautifully puts it in her book “Yuganta” that though Mahabharat tested each of its characters, but no one seems to be as defeated by life as much as Karna . To each their own, this may be treated either as a comment or a compliment. Let's discuss what makes a hero like Karna a tragic one. In the rangbhoomi where all Kuru princes were showcasing their skills after completion of their education, Karna too appears seeking an opportunity for himself. Karna’s candidature in the arena was debated him being considered a low born. With whatever...