Life is Beautiful

Life is beautiful

Life is not about keeping or settling scores with those around us. It’s about understanding people the way they are. Above all, it is about choosing to use our life to touch some one else’s in a way that could not have been possible otherwise. We are blessed. Life is beautiful.

“life is beautiful” is Maahir’s creation

Maahir & Shourya’s Gifts to Papa

20th August, 2009

Hey Shikha,

How did it feel when you read ‘Bingo’ – I guess the feeling is hard to describe – can only be experienced. “Few good moments” make a big difference 🙂

I don’t have any long weekends. Friday is generally my day off – since our factory is closed on Friday and my work is more related to the factory. Dad taken an off on Sunday – that the weekly off for the office staff.

I was a workoholic until the kids were born. Working 6.5 days a week.

After Maahir was about 2, I realized that he shall soon grow – and I would have lost out on the best part of his childhood. I made sure that I spend quality time with him at least one day a week. I take him for a swim whenever possible – we go to the park – tell him stories. His happiness is the biggest gift – the most rewarding experience.

After Shourya was born, I decided that I shall spend at least 1 hour every day with the kids – it’s happening. It keeps all of us happy. Purvi too enjoys the time we spend together with the kids. There is a lot to talk about.

Infact, Shourya’s birth has changed a lot of things in me.
– I started writing – I make it a point to write at least one article a week (technical, social, general). Personally it is very satisfying.
– I am working towards my Physical goals – have enrolled for the 21 km Mumbai Marathon scheduled in Jan 2010 and have just begun preparations.
-I have become more spiritual – I am on the verge of completion of reading 800 page Bhagwad Gita. Maahir is a keen listener and knows the important lessons of the Gita
– I read a lot – Business Management, Technical Stuff related to my work, Psychology, Religion, Self Development – Thats my fuel, keeps me going
All said, I have been able to make the best use of my time. I still work 6.5 days a week and yet enjoy every moment.

To be honest, I couldn’t have asked for more from life. God has been very kind. I wish that my parents always enjoy good health. For the children – I pray for – good values (sanskar), education (gyan) and good health. Purvi is always there with me.

How about you ? Do write

Best
Jay

Letter to My Teacher

“If I have seen far, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants”

I have been blessed to have teachers who have always touched, moved and inspired me by their words and actions.

– Mom & Dad

– Silvia Pinto – Standard IV – OLPS High School

– Lorna D’souza – Standard VII, IX – OLPS High School

– V.U. Mehta – V.U.’s Academy

– Prof. Ramesh Shukla – Kalrashukla Classes

– Dr. Timothy W. Simpson – Penn State University

– Prof. John Hopkins – Penn State University

– ………………………………………………..

And more…………………………….

5th September, 2010

To
My Dear Shukla Sir,

Wish you a Happy Teacher’s Day.

It’s been seventeen years since I have known you. I can still remember the day when I attended your first lecture. You walked into the class with a string, picked up a chalk and drew a perfect circle on the blackboard – the entire class was awestruck by the “perfection”. You then went on to draw a Tangent Galvanometer. I may not remember much about the topic of that day, but the lesson of “perfection” would stay with me all my life.

Then on the advise of a friend one year senior to me, I enrolled for your test series. I met Devendra Sir – his advise (dictate would be more apt) was clear – I should be ready to “work-hard” and needed to be “disciplined”, else I should not join. I agreed and returned home with a set of books he gave me. I started reading the red book on Electromagnetism that afternoon. More than the topic, it was the clarity of the text and diagrams, layout of the book, and the scent of fresh print, the “quality” – that was the motivation for me and I read it late into the night.

The year went by quickly. I am sure I would have written many more tests in physics, that I would have in mathematics and chemistry put together. I experienced first hand “practice makes perfect”. I went on to score 97/100 in physics. At that time the score in physics was important; seventeen years since, I realize the value and importance of the many other lessons for success that I learned in the process.

I can never forget that day you told me, that you would always be there for me. Your kind gestures and your presence during my wedding made me feel special.

I have been blessed with wonderful parents and the best teachers. I wish and pray that Maahir and Shourya are equally fortunate.

Thank you for touching my life in a way, that would otherwise not have been possible.

Yours Always,

Jayesh Tekchandaney

No Arms, No Legs, No Worries

Thank you Lord
– For your blessings
– For caring parents
– For an understanding life partner
– For loving children
– For the family
– For the teachers
– For supporting friends
– For the sunshine and the rain
– For the gifts on nature
– For a beautiful mind
– For a healthy body
– we can work, play, think, see, feel, listen, talk, walk…

The Ultimate Secret

– Sharing the words that changed my life

“Whatever you vividly imagine, ardently desire, sincerely believe and enthusiastically act upon, must, inevitably come to pass” – Paul Meyer.

I first heard this quote from my dearest friend Vivek Savla, in 2006.

http://youtu.be/Eu6g7vFi7hk

Also watch ‘The Miracle Man‘

Goal Chart

The Master(’s) Plan

The timing was perfect. Four children in five months. The planning couldn’t have been better. Amit, Sachin, Mitesh and I have been together since twenty years. Now, our kids would grow up together.

On 20th March, 2009, Amit and Trishla were blessed with their first baby, Dhruti

A month later, on mom’s birthday, 21st April, Shourya entered our family. Maahir is a Valentine day baby, year 2006.

Sachin and Prachi were blessed with their second princess, Sucheta, on 18th June. Vedika is six years elder to her younger sibling.

Mitesh and Rashmi’s family was complete, when the youngest amongst the four kids, Prisha, was born on 27th July; Aditya had a sister to play with.

Amongst close friends, Vivek and Nisha lead the pack with two super kids – Yash, nine and Naman, six.

“For our next vacation, we will need a twenty seater bus,” said Mitesh. He’s our chief co-coordinator for the vacations – binding all of us together. His planning is perfect – we’ve enjoyed each time we’ve been on an outing. He along with Sachin do all the work. Amit and I generally like to laze around.

And while there was enough time before a vacation could be planned, we didn’t want to wait for long to thank the Lord for blessing us with normal, healthy children. The trip to Tirupati was on the priority list. Mitesh wished that the four of us should make this trip together. Soon, he made all the plans for the trip.

We were to leave Mumbai on 7th September, by the afternoon train. We would reach Tirumala the next day, and head to Tirupati. Sachin made arrangements for our stay at a matth (residential facility for traveling pilgrims) in Tirupati. Amit, with his “contacts” (he has them in all places) planned for special darshan at the temple; the first one on 8th evening, and the second on 9th morning. After the darshan of the Lord, Amit and Mitesh would fly back to Mumbai. Sachin would travel to Chennai for business. I planned a visit to the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC), the rocket launch site for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).

SDSC also known as SHAR is located in Sriharikota, a spindle shaped island on the east coast of Andhra Pradesh, about 80 km north of Chennai. I was scheduled to stay there for three days and return to Mumbai on 12th September after completing the commissioning of the plant and equipment supplied by our company ‘Unique Mixers’. Our mixers are in operation at ISRO for manufacturing solid propellants used in rocket propulsion systems. This would be my third visit to this high security zone.

All seemed to be going as per “our master plan” until the morning of 5th September, when Rashmi’s dad complained of chest pain and uneasiness. He had to be scheduled for an angiography on 7th September, the day of our departure. The procedure was to start at 8 am. Mitesh, being a doctor himself, was responsible for coordinating with the doctors treating uncle. The course of further treatment would be decided only after the angiography.

As uncle’s health was stable, the family advised Mitesh to proceed with the Tirupati trip after the angiography. Prayers to the Lord are always answered. Mitesh packed his bags for the trip a night before the procedure and carried them to the hospital the next morning. Since the hospital was on our route to the railway station, we would pick him. The train was scheduled to depart at 2 pm. In all probability the angiography would be over by then. We were confident that Mitesh would be with us on the trip. It was after all his plan – he had to be there.

At 2 pm that afternoon, only three of us boarded the train. Mitesh couldn’t make it. Not because of uncle’s health, but because the doctor was late for the angiography. When we reached the hospital at forty five minutes past noon, the angiography had just started. Mitesh had to be in the ‘Cath lab’ during the procedure.

Mitesh is amongst those who do not give up easily. He is a fighter to the core. Our master planner had already thought of a back-up plan. “I shall be with the Lord”, he promised. He knew he could take the evening flight to Chennai and meet us at Tirupati the next day. On the train, we missed him and his enthusiasm.

Uncle’s angiography revealed complications. A by-pass surgery was the only fix. In difficult times, the one friend that we can count on is Mitesh. He has always stood by us. This time his family was counting on him. Mitesh couldn’t make it to Tirupati.

When we reached the holy town, we were informed by Amit’s local contact that because of the rush it would be difficult for him to arrange for the VIP darshan. The matth where we planned to stay had no vacant rooms. Our plans for the trip had fallen through – we hated it. I was upset and so were Amit and Sachin.

Things were somehow managed and later that evening we by-passed a five hour queue and a few thousand devotes, for a back door entry into the temple. Amit’s contact guided us through all the “no entries”, right upto the point of darshan in less than ten minutes. At that moment, we didn’t think of using the short-cut as “not right”. It’s strange how we tend to look at things differently when we are on the benefited side.

As we stood besides the ‘contact’, with the Lord in sight for more than three minutes, I could not stop looking at those in front of me. These men, women and children may have traveled thousand of miles, would have spent many hours in the queue, only for a glimpse of the Lord. But just as they reached the point of darshan, they were being pushed ahead by the temple guards. The treatment handed out to them was unkind, if not inhuman. We were fortunate only because of the ‘contact’ and the Rs. 5,000/- that we paid him. After the evening darshan, we settled in a room at the Pushpagiri matth and were looking forward to the 9th morning darshan. It was on the same evening that I set the goal of writing a book. My first book “My Notes”, published in November 2009 was a fruition of the goal – another blessing of the Lord.

With Sachin and Amit at Pushpagiri Matth

The average number of devotees that visit the Tirupati Devasthanam each day is about 50,000 to 1,00,000. Our morning darshan would be the VIP darshan, where for a period of one hour the entry inside the temple is restricted to 500 devotees only. You can get onto this list of “Fortune 500” only if you have a recommendation from a top politician or a bureaucrat or if you plan months in advance.

In the VIP corridors, Sachin lead the group of 500 with chants, “Govinda….Go….Vinda”. We slowly walked through the temple doors that lead to the Lord. There was no pushing by the guards this time. We had a darshan of the Lord from the fifth door out of the seven doors. It was like a one on one meeting with Lord Venkateswara. The experience of those few moments would be etched in our memories, for life. We once again missed our friend – may be wasn’t destined to meet the Lord.

As I walked backwards out of the temple but with the Lord in sight (you never turn your back to the Lord), I sensed a strong pinch on my arm. It was a temple guard. He hinted that he could put me back in the queue for one more darshan if I paid him. I guess the guards and the priests at the temple would be as rich as the Lord himself. I kept walking backwards, and out of the temple complex. I prayed to the Lord and wished that the next time all four of us shall visit with our families and hoped to have a similar darshan.

After a quick lunch, we were on our way back. We took the taxi from Tirupati, and while Sachin and Amit headed to Chennai, I got dropped at a state transport bus terminal. It took me three buses, an auto-rickshaw and about four hours to reach the ISRO guest house. I don’t remember much of this travel, but there is one thing I can never forget; the face of the man who boarded the bus and the expressions of the hen that he held in his hands.

By the time I reached SHAR it was 5:00 pm, and there was not much work that I could complete that evening. I settled into the room, thinking about being blessed with a once in a lifetime like darshan of the Lord and the other events that unfolded during this short, yet memorable trip. The only regret was that Mitesh was not with us. I wondered why?

At about 6:40 pm, Sachin called. He had the answer. Back in Mumbai, there had been another medical emergency that afternoon, another chest pain, an admission to the cardiac hospital and a life-saving injection. It was good that Mitesh was not with us on the trip. If he had been, we don’t know what would have happened.

The three of us were blessed to be on the “Fortune 500” list which met the Lord that morning, but Mitesh was the chosen one – whom the Lord visited himself. The Lord was with Mitesh that afternoon, taking care of him when he had the chest pain. Mitesh kept his promise. The Master’s plan was much bigger than our master plan.

Govinda…Go…Vinda……..

P.S. – We often regret when things don’t happen as we plan them, only to realize later that it all happens for a reason. There is a popular Malayalam quote, “Njan pathi, daivam pathi” – it means, I need to do my half, the rest shall be done by the Lord.

“The DC Disaster” – When Everything Went Wrong!

While attending a conference at Washington-DC, Anuj a good friend who lived in Seattle, visited us in State-College, Pennsylvania. This was in January 2001; I was in my first year of MS at The Pennsylvania State University. After an enjoyable weekend with us it was time for Anuj to return to the conference. Not wanting to drive back alone (it took about four hours from State College to DC), he suggested that Atin and I join him. A free ride to the Capital of USA and stay in the luxurious Hilton hotel lured us into the offer. We roped in Vishal our other roommate since we required someone to drive us back to State College. Atin and I had never driven in America until then.

On reaching DC we returned the car Anuj had rented and asked for a one-way rental to State-College. That’s when it began to go wrong. “No one-way rentals”, “Under 25, Sorry”, “No rentals on international-driving-permit,” were the response we got from car rental agencies. In the two hours that we searched, we must have inquired at over 10 rentals. We traveled from one rental to another by bus, metro and at times even requested rental companies to drive us to their competitor. Seeing our plight they obliged. We finally succumbed and gave up our hunt for the night. We decided to rent a car for local sightseeing and leave our worries to the next morning.

After a night ride of the city, we parked the car on the street adjacent to the hotel because we couldn’t afford the hotel parking rate of 20$. Tired and hungry, we sneaked into the hotel room one by one. We thought the hotel would charge us more if they saw four of us together. At about mid-night we called for pizzas to be delivered at the hotel.

The pizza guy arrived at 2:30 a.m.! By then sleep had beat hunger and all except me had gone to sleep. And after returning the pizzas I too went to sleep.

Our plans for the next morning had been already made; we had to move our car from the street by 6 am else it would be towed. We were late by fifteen minutes. “Good morning friends,” a friendly cop greeted us with a 20$ parking ticket in his hand. The adventures for the day had just begun. We bid Anuj good bye and started our tour of the city.

After the city tour we forgot the hardships of the previous night. We found out that we could return to State College by the Greyhound Bus Service. For three people it turned out to be more expensive than a car rental. With no options and the little money we had in our pockets we bought the bus tickets for State College. We needed to get back in time for our teaching assistant-ship assignments the next morning.

We still had to return the local-rental car. As we drove past the busy streets of Washington DC, a huge sign-board greeted us, “Welcome to Virginia”. We had lost our way! We kept searching for an angel who would tell us the way back to DC but never found one. By the time we returned the car and reached the bus station the bus had already left. To our despair, we realized that we were early for the next bus. And that would be there in a little less than 24 hours!

Out of money, gas and sleep we somehow managed to get back to the Hilton for some rest. Sitting in the grand lobby of the Hilton with no hard cash we worried over our options of getting back to State College. We requested a friend from State College to come to DC for pick up. He said he would revert. By then, Anuj returned from the conference and was shocked to see us. He chuckled when we narrated the events of the day to him. He knew the solution to our problem, “I’ll drive you guys back!” he volunteered. He drove us back to State College that night and returned to DC the next morning in time to attend the conference. This time he took the ride back alone.

Eight years have passed but the events of those 24 hours are still etched in my memory. It couldn’t have gone more wrong than it did.

10^th May, 2009

My Encounter with Aamir Khan

On my way to Ranchi for a business meet, I was inside the Kingfisher Lounge at Mumbai airport, when I spotted a familiar face. The face was far too familiar for me to take my eyes off. It was my favorite super star, Aamir Khan.

As I stared at the approaching super star, I realized that he was getting closer to where I was sitting.

“Is someone sitting over here?” he asked.

“No. You may please sit,” was my quick response.

A center table and approximately four feet of space was what separated me from Aamir. It’s hard to describe the feeling of that moment in words…. It can only be experienced.

Aamir was accompanied by an unknown female colleague. She started talking to him about work. He interrupted her and walked to the cafeteria. After looking at everything that was for the taking, he returned to his seat with four chocolate cookies. He then asked her to continue. And even though I sat staring at my laptop screen, I couldn’t help eavesdropping on their conversation.

She asked him if he would like to go to the hotel or directly to the site, once they landed in Jaipur. He said he was fine with anything, adding, “I just need a bathroom to freshen up.” She then switched topics about some tax rebate for the donation he had made to an NGO. It was something that she was unable to sort out, so she asked if he could speak to the concerned person. He said he would.

I decided to ask him for an autograph. I took my business card and turned it over to hand it to Aamir. I spotted a small black mark on it. I quickly pulled out another card. This was spotless. I requested for an autograph. “OK,” he said. I handed over my pen and the card. He signed, stopped, looked at the pen… and signed again. I was happy to have his autograph on the back of my business card. I tucked it back into my wallet and made sure that I did not mix it up with my other cards.

He continued to bite the cookies. ‘Should I ask him for a photograph,’ I wondered. Before thinking too much I said, “Aamir, do you mind a photograph?” He looked at me and nodded affirmatively. ‘Bingo!’

As both of us were seated face-on, I thought I would request Aamir to come and sit besides me (mine was a sofa for two). Before I could say anything, I saw Aamir already up on his toes. I nervously handed over my new Samsung mobile to his colleague and explained to her how to click. I stood besides him, trying to put on my ‘all-time best’ smile. The clicks were silent. She asked me if it was done. I replied “I guess so. Thanks.”

I thanked Aamir, shook hands and sat down to see the photograph. The picture was blurred beyond recognition.“It looks like a ghost of you and me,” I told Aamir as I showed him the photograph. I hoped that he would oblige with one more photograph. He said nothing. I cursed myself. ‘Why did I not get my digital camera out of my laptop case for this one big moment?

’

The Ghost Picture

I pretended to be working again and wished that my phone would ring. I had set a new ring tone just a few days back. It was the song ‘Dil Chahta Hai’. No calls. Luck just seemed to have run out. Meanwhile, a Kingfisher executive came up to Aamir and told him that he could board the flight when he was ready.

A few minutes later I walked out from the lounge even as Aamir sat there. I wanted to share the excitement with my loved ones. I called up Purvi but she did not pick up the phone. As I passed through the security check I still kept thinking about the ghost picture. I settled at the departure terminal and looked at the photograph one more time. I sadly looked on; zoomed, rotated… it still was the ghost picture. I gave up and moved to the next photograph.

“Me and Aamir” the photograph that you see was there. She had clicked two photographs. The ghost picture was God’s teaser.

The Executive Monk

The wait was finally over. The day had arrived – after a gap of thirteen long years. It was time to live like a monk. The dates 14^th – 17^th October, 2010 were marked on my calendar for four months. I would be attending a 3-day Vipassana course at Dhamma Pattana, the new center built on the outskirts of Mumbai, famous for the Global Vipassana Pagoda.

Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India’s most ancient techniques of meditation. The foundation of the practice is s?la — moral conduct. S?la provides a basis for the development of sam?dhi — concentration of mind; and purification of the mind is achieved through paññ? — the wisdom of insight. The technique is taught at 10-day residential courses during which participants follow a prescribed code of discipline, learn the basics of the method, and practice sufficiently to experience its beneficial results. All students attending the course observe “noble silence” — that is, silence of body, speech and mind. The course requires hard, serious work. There are three steps to the training. The first step is, for the period of the course, to abstain from killing, stealing, sexual activity, speaking falsely and intoxicants. This simple code of moral conduct serves to calm the mind, which otherwise would be too agitated to perform the task of self-observation. The next step is to develop mastery over the mind by learning to fix one’s attention on the natural reality of the ever changing flow of breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils. By the fourth day the mind is calmer and more focused, better able to undertake the practice of Vipassana itself: observing sensations throughout the body, understanding their nature, and developing equanimity by learning not to react to them. Finally, on the tenth day participants learn the meditation of loving kindness or goodwill towards all, termed as meta, in which the purity developed during the course is shared with all beings. There are no charges for the courses – not even to cover the cost of food and accommodation. All expenses are met by donations from people who, having completed a course and experienced the benefits of Vipassana, wish to give others the opportunity to benefit from it. There are numerous centres in India and elsewhere in Asia/Pacific: ten in North America; three in Latin America; eight in Europe; seven in Australia/New Zealand; one in the Middle East and one in Africa.

In 1995, I attended my first 10-day Vipassana course at the age of nineteen, followed by two more in 1996 and 1997. I was an engineering student then. Now 34, married, blessed with two kids, and shouldering the responsibility of manufacturing business, the thought of attending a meditation course for 10 days seemed like luxury. In fact, on 14^th morning, even three days of being cut-off from the outside world looked impossible. I was able to make it to the course only because of some last minute planning. A special permission allowed me to start the course a few hours after the scheduled time.

A convenient way to get to Dhamma Pattana is to take the fifteen minute boat ride from the Gorai Jetty to Essel World. I arrived at the jetty late in the evening, just in time for the last but one boat ride which would take me to the other side of the Gorai creek. As I walked towards the jetty terminal, I could not take my eyes off the majestic 325 feet tall, illuminated pagoda and its golden reflection in the placid waters.

As I waited for the boat to start, the clock turned back fifteen years. I attended my first three 10-day courses at Dhamma Giri, the first full time Vipassapa center, located about 140 km from Mumbai in the small town of Igatpuri. During the first course I lived in a dormitory shared by 11 others. My cubicle was 8 feet x 6 feet, with walls on 3 sides, a small window and a curtain separating the dorm lobby. At night, I would creep into the mosquito net around the bed. We were advised to apply a mosquito repellent cream before sleeping.

The wake-up time was 4 am. The sound of the morning gong still echoes in my ears. The morning meditation session started at half past four and lasted for two hours. The walk from the dorm to the central meditation hall, known as the Dhamma Hall was about 300 meters. I remember carrying a torch and an umbrella during the walk. After the first session, breakfast was served in a dining hall. The menu was typical Maharashtrian – poha, saboo dana, sheera, with some fresh fruits. Milk and tea were served. After a quick nashta the meditators would rush back to their respective dorms. There was one bathroom and one toilet in each dorm. We had to line up for all the essentials and get over with it fast. One would be lucky if there was hot water in the tap. By 8 am all of the 500 odd meditators on the course would be back in the Dhamma Hall for the one-hour morning group meditation session. Between 9 am and 11 am, we could continue to mediate inside the central hall or in the individual cells allotted to us. The afternoon break was from 11 am to 1 pm. A quick, non-spicy, satvik lunch (the last meal of the day, unless you had a medical reason) was generally followed by a short nap. The afternoon session would continue till 5 pm, and included the second group meditation session from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm. The evening break was from 5 pm to 6 pm. We were served nimbu paani(lime water). After the last group meditation session that ended at 7 pm, there was a videotaped lecture by the teacher, S.N. Goenka, which provided a context for meditators to understand their experience of the day. The day concluded at 9 pm with specific instructions for next day meditation. By 9:30 pm we were back in the dorm and fast asleep.

In the 10-day course, the meditators would talk to each other for the first time only on the morning of the tenth day. The sharing of experience was an invaluable learning. The other excitement was calling up home and talking to family after nine days of silence. Until my last course in 1997, cell phones were uncommon. At the Dhamma Giri office there were about three PCO’s for the 500 odd meditators who wished to use them at the end of the course. Each minute in the telephone queue seemed like an additional day in silence.

In the thirteen years between my last course and this one, I occasionally practiced Vipassana meditation at home. Each time I did, I felt at peace. It was like cleansing the mind of the unwanted clutter

Until my second course in 1996, I had a voracious and a well known appetite for chicken. So when I chose to eat vegetarian during a family lunch everyone was surprised. I then decided that I shall avoid non-vegetarian food for a month. When that happened, I extended it to three months. It’s been fourteen years since and I continue to give myself extensions.

Back in time, as the boat got closer to the Pagoda, a part of me was still unsure if I could live the same way as I did earlier. But deep within, I was happy to have made it to the course. In the next few minutes, I had my baggage checked; surrendered my cell phone along with the reading and writing material that I always like to carry with me, and arrived to my room.

The three days there after went by very fast. If the 10-day course was like test match cricket, then the three day course was like Twenty-20, except that the schedule for each day was still the same, 4 am to 9 pm. On 17^th morning, I felt sad because the course was about to get over. Two days of meditation and silence made me feel lighter from within – more importantly; I was away from the demands of every day life. I would have loved to continue for a few days more.

In the three day course, we broke silence on the morning of the third day. Within no time all the meditators took custody of their cell phones and spread in all possible corners of the centre to talk to friends and family. There was very little interaction amongst the 80 participants on the course. Technology sometimes takes away the ‘little pleasures’ of life.

I was happy to meet up with a few youngsters in their early twenties. Each of them had attended a 10-day course. After all, it is mandatory to complete a 10-day course, before one can register for a 3-day course. For them, I was the senior pro – a meditator for 15 years. Later that day, I was fortunate to meet a noted industrialist who had been attending the course since the last 41 years. It was his 82^nd birthday and for him group meditation at the centre was the best way to celebrate.

During my interaction with the young guys, one of them, a MBA student, expressed his displeasure (may be a doubt) about the donation to the Global Vipassana Foundation. He made specific reference to the placards that were displayed at the donation counters, which highlighted the expenses incurred in building and maintaining facilities at the centre, and the estimated cost of the planned expansions. He related the amount of donation to the duration of the course and stay. As others in the discussion reminded him of the definition of donation, “A voluntary gift (as of money, service or ideas) made to some worthwhile cause”, I felt the need to share some information which was probably not known to him.

I narrated to the young brigade the experience of my first three courses, when the meditators lived in the facilities that were available then. In contrast, at Dhamma Pattana during that course, all of the 80 participants lived in a single-occupancy, 10 feet by 10 feet, air-conditioned room with an attached bathroom. There was a separate place to keep the baggage. Each room was well lit and had sliding windows with built-in mosquito nets. You would get a lock and key when you checked into the room. Hot water was available round the clock (the centre is equipped with a solar heating system). Like the rooms, the meditation hall is equipped with split air-conditioners. Soon the individual cells for meditation shall have an air-conditioning system. At lunch, besides Indian food, we were served salads, soups, continental and Chinese preparations followed with a sweet-dish. All of this has been done to ensure that the meditators coming on the course are comfortable during the stay. My young friend realised that this could not have been possible without the contributions made by those who have benefitted from the course in the past.

From the gypsy courses that started in early 1970’s in make-shift tents to the modern day centre at Gorai, Vipassana meditation in India has come a long way. During the 3-day course, I felt that I lived like an executive monk.

The most memorable moment of the four courses came to me towards the end of the second course, immediately after the meta meditation. The feeling was that of abundant joy, within and in everything around. The mind was silent. The body did not seem to exist. Those few moments of truth shall stay with me forever.

Be Happy

For Details on Vipassana please visit the following –

http://www.dhamma.org/en/vipassana.shtml

http://www.pattana.dhamma.org/

P.S. – Many like me would be accustomed to spending a fairly big amount on one family outing in the weekend; or much bigger amounts when on a weekend trip to the hill-station, or the beach. However, it is unfortunate that life changing experiences like the one mentioned above are valued by some as 3-day and 10-day packages.

25^th October, 2010

3 Idiots and the Secret of “All Is Well”

Wimbledon final, year 1993, Steffi Graf v/s Jana Novotna. Steffi Graf, one of the greatest women tennis players of all time, was the favourite to win the championship.

At the beginning of the game, very few would have given Jana Novotna an outside chance. But at one set all, with a 1-4 lead, serving at 40-30, Novotna was 5 just points away from winning the Wimbledon. Until that point Graf had won only two of the previous 10 games. An upset was imminent. Graf looked out of sorts. Her opponent’s game on the day was simply too good.

But then, things changed. Serving for a 1-5 lead, Novotna double faulted. At 40-40, she missed a forehand volley. Advantage Graf. The next shot from Novotna went into the net. The score now read as 2-4. Graf served an easy game to make it 3-4. Novotna realised that she had to win the next game. A loss would mean she would have given the mighty Graf an opportunity to come back into the match.

Graf had won the Wimbledon before – she had it in her to win another one. For Novotna, this was her first time. The thought of losing began to creep in. She still had one service game up her sleeve. But she double faulted on the service, not once, not twice, but thrice and let the game slip way. She knew she had surrendered the advantage – the score read 4-4. She became restless, jumping up and down, moving all over the court, visibly agitated with herself. Her body language showed that she had given up.

Novotna lost the next game at love, to make it 5-4, Graf. Now serving to save the match, Novotna choked and Graf added yet another Wimbledon title to her tally. Not because she won, but because Novotna lost. After the match, Graf said, “With the way she was playing and the way I was playing, yes, I’d kind of lost it. I didn’t give up but I didn’t have a very positive feeling”. It’s hard to forget the sight of Novotna at the awards ceremony, resting her head on the shoulders of the Duchess of Kent as she wept and wept and wept. The Duchess, who had met Novotna several times before, said, “Don’t worry Jana. I know you can do it.” It was one of the most emotional award ceremonies in the history of the Wimbledon.

Two years later, French Open, 1995. Third Round. Jana Novotna v/s Chanda Rubin. The favorite this time was Novotna. At one set all, 5-0 lead, she was poised to make it to next round. She didn’t. She couldn’t, and probably because she remembered the Wimbledon loss to Steffi Graf. Deep within, the thought still rankled. She knew she could lose, and she did.

Then again in 1997, Novotna lost the Wimbledon final for the second time. This time her opponent was the 15 year old Martina Hingis.

Think of what happened to Novotna. And now, try to remember the time it happened to you. In private, we’ve all had our share of Novotna experiences – during exams, at an interview or when faced with a new challenge.

It happened to me during a university paper in the fifth semester of chemical engineering. The subject was Heat Transfer. I was relaxed when I browsed the question paper. I started off fairly well – first answering the questions I was confident of. I always liked to answer theory questions first and then the numerical problems. About thirty minutes into the exam, I was deriving a formula for heat transfer through a spherical surface – something which I could have done even if woken up from the middle of sleep. On that day, I faltered. I ended up spending much more time than I could afford on that one question, before finally giving up. It was not long before I realized that I would be struggling to complete the paper in time. The confidence was gone. Suddenly, the paper appeared to be much more difficult. I started to worry about crossing the 40 mark passing.

The thought of not being able to do it or not being good enough has caught us more than once. We console ourselves – “my worst fears have come true”. In reality, we thought that we could fail and we failed.

We often hear the cliché, “be positive, think positive”. It’s always easier said than done. We’re often told how things can change just by thinking positive – we still have to work for it, is what we say to ourselves.

In this article, we shall realise the power of our thoughts. We shall learn to use our thoughts to create a desired state of being, to build self- confidence. Thoughts just don’t matter – they become matter. The way we think affects our body and our life. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “A man is but the product of his thoughts. What he thinks, he becomes.”

An emerging field of science called psychoneuroimmunology explains the connection between the mind and the body. Our thoughts are responsible for the chemistry of the brain. Whenever we think, we trigger a biochemical reaction in the brain. The brain then releases chemical signals which get passed on to the body. These signals act as the messengers of the thought. Every thought produces a chemical signature that the body recognizes and reacts to. The thoughts that cause the biochemical reaction in the brain make our body feel exactly like the way we were thinking. This in turn determines how we feel. We then react to the feeling, we transmit the same message to the brain. The brain responds to our reaction and generates the thoughts that produce the corresponding chemical messengers. We now begin to think the way we are feeling. Simply put, thinking causes feeling and then feelings create thoughts—an unending cycle. This continuous loop eventually produces a state of mind which determines how we behave and act.

When we think of positive, inspiring thoughts, our brain produces matter that is known as neurotransmitters. These chemicals make us feel uplifted and inspired. Scientists have discovered that the neurotransmitters regulate all our emotions. For example, when we think of an experience that is pleasurable – our first date with the girl next door, the brain instantaneously releases a neurotransmitter called dopamine. The dopamine activates the brain and the body in anticipation of an experience and we become excited. We feel ecstatic. During those moments, we forget everything else, we lose the sense of time; we are in a state of ‘bliss’.

Likewise, when we have self-deprecating thoughts the brain releases chemicals called neuropeptides, to which the body responds in a corresponding way. The moment we think about not being good enough, the brain releases chemicals that produce the same feeling. We are short of self confidence and feel incapable of achieving. This feeling in turns leads to more of the same thoughts. Until this chain of thought is broken, the brain and the body shall generate the same biological feedback loop resulting in a state of mind that reinforces the thoughts of not being good enough.

Over the years, we have learned to think and respond to situations in a certain way. As we continue to have the same thoughts repeatedly, these conscious thoughts turn into unconscious automated thought processes. They are like computer programs running in the background, controlling our lives, creating patterns of behavior that are almost involuntary. These behavioral patterns turn into habits that become neurologically hardwired in the brain. Conscious thoughts and actions, when repeated often, become unconscious thinking and ways of being.

Thoughts matter: they make us what we are. Thoughts become matter in our body – and control our state of being. Most importantly, not all thoughts are conscious. Jana Novotna did not want to think about losing – it was an unconscious thought, the automatic computer program in the background that allowed her to entertain the thought of losing. Her state of being thereafter was controlled by an auto-pilot. She was no longer in control, neither was I after making a small mistake. We both gave in after being in a winning position.

How then do we guard ourselves against the auto-pilot? I believe I may have an answer.

To break this cycle of the unconscious thinking process requires a conscious effort. To do this, we must first consciously identify, through contemplation and self-reflection, the automatic thought programs that run within us. Next, it requires a deliberate effort of observing these thoughts without responding to them. In this way we shall break the chemical responses that are responsible for our habitual behavior, mindset and attitudes. It requires a conscious unlearning of the attitudes and the mindset that we wish to change. Once we have disrupted the automatic programs, we can then re-train our mind the way we want by exercising conscious control over our thoughts

The next time when a negative thought crops up, hold it there. Think of what you’ve just read. Replace the negative thought by a positive one – and now you know why. And if that is difficult to do – then just remember what the 3 Idiots had to say – “Jab life ho out of control – bol – All is Well”.

P.S. – Jana Novotna finally won the Wimbledon in 1998, when she beat Nathalie Tauziat in the final. I scored 45 in Heat Transfer.

17^th April, 2010