My writings: A smile, a touch, a gesture of love...

Note: 

I wrote this article while I was in MindTree, Bengaluru. It was reviewed by Subroto Bagchi, then Gardener of MindTree. Then it was published on MindTree's internal portal with some of the portions taken out due to space restrictions. The complete writing is published here.

Mind: In MindTree, an employee is addressed as 'Mind'.

TSA: Technologists for Social Association. This is an internal community in MindTree who spend time with inmates at Missionary Of Charity and Sri Lankan refugee children at Indira Gandhi International Academy on every second Saturday. Corporate Social Responsibility is at the heart of MindTree's vision. In fact,  Mindtree's old logo was created by a student Chetan, who has cerebral palsy!

It was April 11, 2008 evening, the day before the second Saturday of the month. I was at my cubicle when the telephone at my nearby desk rang up. “Hello! Is Siddalingesha there?” an elderly, gentle voice I heard, when I picked up the receiver. “Sidda is on leave today. Could I know who is speaking? Anything urgent?”, I asked. “Moses. I want to talk to Sidda regarding TSA. Do you have his number?” was the reply. TSA and Moses are synonymous names in MindTree! I had been thinking to go on a TSA trip myself but my conviction was not firm. On the spur of the moment,  I decided to go. After giving Sidda’s cell phone number, I showed my interest to be a part of TSA and Moses gracefully accepted.

The next day, I reached our Banashankari office at 8:40 am, five minutes before the usual time of departure for TSA’s second Saturday trip. Like me, a few Minds had come without our ID cards. Somehow we managed to convince the security personnel near the gate that we would not get inside the company; we had come for TSA trip only; they let us in. I was very happy to see some people from other organizations joining TSA; some even had been coming for years! “We have some personal attachment with them. This attracts us to come and meet them again and again”, told Ravindran, who was not a MindTree Mind and has been coming for two and half years! “Is it so?”, I questioned myself. We started our journey.

Fig: Subroto Bagchi (Source: Wikimedia Commons)

Around 10:45 am we reached Missionary of Charity (MoC), Yelahanka. “Geogie! What are these three books? Could I have a look?”, I asked  one of my team members just after we got down from the cab. “Yeah! Sure”, he replied while handing over three ISKCON published books adding, “Parag gave me. He told me to give it to one lady here”. This is the first instant, I saw personal relationship of my team members with MoC people. We were moving towards the entrance of the building. 

In MoC there are well trained nuns, serving people for whom there is nobody in society. They follow Mother Teresa. None of them are paid employees like us; this is the most surprising fact about MoC! Still these nuns are satisfied with their work!! They take anyone who comes for help irrespective of caste, creed and religion; this is what is called Principle of Christianity.
 

Fig: Subroto's handwriting

Reaching the entrance, anxiety of seeing something unknown made me walk fast inside the building with Ravindran. There we saw around twenty old ‘men and women’ sitting in a row, some on the floor and others on a long bench. I was taken aback by seeing their woeful condition. As if they were struggling to live with their disintegrated and miserable body. For a few moments I was thinking “Why these poor have been abandoned by their relatives? Would not old age come for their relatives?”. Seeing us, they started smiling; some raised their hands slowly waving towards us to greet us. Though I was unable to understand their language (Being from Odisha, I was not so familiar with Kannada or Tamil in which those people were talking.), I was enjoying their conversation with my team members. Few of my friends were making fun with them and they were laughing uncontrollably. Their happiness filled my heart with joy.

After that, we started serving lunch. One old woman kept on refusing me an additional helping in her own language. I could understand from her facial expressions and body language that she wanted very little to ensure that there was no wastage of food. So when I offered the lunch plate with less food, she happily accepted. I silently remembered our cafeterias thinking about the ‘food waste chart’ pasted a few months back!

Then I moved to an extreme corner of the verandah where a very old woman was having her lunch. She was about to finish when Anulekha came, sat in front of her (Anulekha is TSA regular. She joined MindTree in 2005, two years before me) and asked something lovingly. The old woman raised her head, stared at Anulekha with her eyes gradually filling up with tears and emanating love as if she had some earlier relationship with Anulekha and had been longing to see her! Suddenly she started sobbing unconsolably like a child! Anu hugged her, kissed her forehead with her palms around her cheeks and was telling something lovingly to soothe her grief stricken heart! I could not hold myself and moved away to control myself. After few minutes I came back. “What happened Anulekha?”, I asked. “Whenever she sees me, she starts crying”, Anu replied. “You still can’t help coming to her, talking to her, sharing her sorrows, giving her a hug, a kiss. Ravindran was absolutely right. You do have personal attachment with these people!!”, I heard my inner voice reply. It was a great experience that day and I learnt a lot from others.

A gentle touch, a hug, a smile, and few loving words... they cost you nothing but are priceless when you share them with others. They can create a ray of hope for the hopeless, give strength to the weakest and helpless who cannot help themselves. Never ask “Why are these people  suffering?”. It is we people, their kins, who have made their lives miserable by not paying attention. Service to mankind is service to God! Our selfishness, false pride and incessant desire for momentary pleasure makes us blind to ignore those who have once sacrificed the most for us. At this point, a beautiful poem, one my dearest teacher wrote for me when I was in MindTree, comes to my mind. I reproduce it as it is:

O son! Satyaranjan!

Kindle the flame of compassion

Barring every odds and confusion

And tearing the clouds of selfish vision

Mind the mind and MindTree

Embracing you to a greater degree

Enlarging your success horizon

Brightening the path of destination

Let love not lust drench the thirst of your breast

Allow you to enjoy your profession

Foster the spirit of appreciation

And devotion in God’s creation

Citizen Journalist: Blood donation camp at Great Lakes Gurgaon

Feb-12-2013, Tuesday:

A blood donation camp was organized at Great Lakes Institute of Management, Gurgaon yesterday. Rotary Blood Bank (RBB) was invited for the blood donation camp. There was enthusiastic participation from academic staff and students. A total of 55 samples were collected albeit number of registrations for donating blood was much higher. Some of the interested donors could not donate as they were not eligible. Various parameters that were checked for evaluation for eligibility for blood donation were Haemoglobin level and Blood Pressure. The blood donors were provided certificates, juice, fruit and a mug. The number of samples collected was more than 25% of total number students and academic staffs and that was encouraging.

Fig: Smiling Sidharth donating blood

This initiative was taken for the first time at Great Lakes Gurgaon by Shalabh, founder of 'Social Welfare club' at Great Lakes Gurgon. It was heartening to get active involvement from Prof. V.P Singh and Prof. Poornima. It was coordinated by:

1. Shalabh Shrivastav
2. Danish Jafri
3. Gagandeep Singh
4. Gaurav Jain
5. Mousam Kedia
6. Satyaranjan Mohanty (The author)

Fig: Banner for Blood Donation Camp held on Feb-12-2013 at Great Lakes, Gurgaon

Why This Kolaveri?: The right attitude and living with honour

Why do people suffer? Is it because of their fate? Why is India still struggling to be called a developed nation? This story revolves around finding answer to these questions. Please note that it is based on a true incident though all the characters and places are fictitious.

The autorickshaw was about to cross the junction when the yellow signal turned red and obstructed its way. The digital timer below the traffic light started counting 111, 110, 109. “Huh! I have to  wait again for two minutes”, Souvagya Srinivasan, who was onboarding the auto murmured. He had waited for longer duration at each of last three traffic junctions before this, another two signals had to be crossed for him to reach his office at Diamond district. He was worried of getting late. But it was Bangalore's traffic at peak hour, he had to bear!

A woman soon appeared from nowhere and started pleading for money with the auto driver. She was carrying a baby and three kids were following her. The auto driver shook his head in denial, but when she was not leaving and stood requesting, he ended up saying that he was unable to help even with a penny. The signal turned green and the auto moved forward. Souvagya observed the short interaction of his auto driver with the woman from behind quietly. He was not happy with the unkind attitude of auto driver towards the woman. On the way he was thinking, he could extend help, but he did not get the opportunity as everything happened in a short while.

Three minutes later they reached the penultimate signal where they had to wait for around one minute. Souvagya’s office was just five minutes away. A similar incident took place. An one-legged man limped towards the auto and beseeched for alms from the auto driver while the driver shook head left and right again in his characteristic way in denial to help. Souvagya could not withstand this and offered a ten rupee note to the beggar. They left the traffic signal.

“It is unkind behaviour not to care about people suffering from abject poverty, I think you were rude towards the disabled. You could give a one rupee coin, but you denied to give a penny.”, Souvagya told his driver on the way. The auto driver was silent. Souvagya repeated his statement to attract his attention. “I am sorry sir, I do not want to comment. I just want to tell that I do help people, but not all”, was the reply. This irked Souvagya as that was too generic statement. They soon reached Diamond district. Souvagya did not have change to pay the auto charge of 200 rupees, he offered a 500 rupees note. The auto driver also did not have change. So he requested Souvagya to get the change from nearby shops. The shops were at a location where autorickshaws were not allowed. Souvagya was reluctant to go and asked, “Why don’t you go?”.  

The driver silently took that 500 note from Souvagya, took out two crutches from beneath his seat and started walking towards the betel shop nearby. Souvagya was awe stricken to see that the auto driver did not have both the legs. He was numb and could not move or express his feelings for a moment.

“I salute you! Now I understand why you were not willing to give a penny to those beggars on the way!”, Souvagya told to his driver upon his return and hugged him. The driver smiled and said, “Sir, I strongly believe in myself and the Almighty. Due to my past karma, I might have been deprived of both the legs, but I have never given up in my life. I am living with honor. So do I expect from my fellow men and women who have limbs unlike me!”

Note:

If people are suffering it is because of their wrong attitude and actions and not because of their fate. This YouTube video will give you further insights on attitude.

The only disability of a man is his bad attitude

Personal Diary: Message from Sri Bhakti Swarupa Damodara Swami

Sri Bhakti Swarupa Damodara Swami, an ardent devotee of Lord Sri Krishna is the founder of Bhaktivedanta Institute which promotes the study of the relationship between science and Vedanta. His name before sannyas was Dr. Thoudam Damodara Singh. His Holiness holds a Ph.D. in Physical organic chemistry from the University of California, Irvine. All his lectures are full of scientific jargons like DNA, RNA, Bio molecules, molecular bonds and chemical equations. So, a student of science would definitely appreciate his thought provoking lectures.

Fig: Sri Damodara Swami (Dr T D Singh) with Nobel Laureate William Daniel Phillips in 2005 

Credit: This photo has been reproduced from www.tdsingh.org with permission

The author was fortunate to interact with Sri Damodara Swami on Aug-05-2006 while pursuing engineering in Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, then University College of Engineering, Burla, Odisha.  Sri Damodara Swami was invited as a dignified guest to interact with students on science and spirituality. That was author's first and last meeting with His Holiness. Upon request, His Holiness was kind to write a few lines for the author as follows.

"Life is a journey. You may have to encounter many ups and downs in the journey. But you have to face these challenges with strength and wisdom. These principles you will get from cultivating spiritual knowledge and wisdom. Be brave and face the challenges praying for the blessings of your teachers and of Lord Krishna."

Fig: Message from Sri Damodara Swami

Fig: Dr T D Singh on the day of receiving his Ph.D. from the University of California, Irvine

Credit: This photo has been reproduced from www.tdsingh.org with permission

Around three months after his meeting with this great devotee, the author learnt that Sri Damodara Sami left his mortal body at the age of 68 on Oct-02-2006 in Kolkata.

Golden Quotes: The Promise of the Supreme Creator God (भगवान की प्रतिज्ञा)

English

Mere marg par pair rakhkar to dekh,

                Tere sab marg na khol dun to kehna !

Mere liye aansu bahakar to dekh,

                Tere jivan me aanand ke sagar na bhar dun to kehna !

Mere liye kharch kar ke to dekh,

                Kuber ke bhandar na khol dun to kehna !

Mujhe apna madadgaar banakar to dekh, 

                Tujhe sabki gulami se na chhuda dun to kehna !

Mere liye kadve vachan sunkar to dekh,

                Kripa na barse to kehna !

Meri baatein logon se karke to dekh,

                Tujhe mulyavaan na bana dun to kehna !

Swayam ko nyochawar karke to dekh,

                Tujhe mashhur na kara dun to kehna !

Mere charitra ka manan karke to dekh,

                Tujhe charitravan na bana dun to kehna !

Mere liye kuch bankar to dekh,

                Tujhe kimti na bana dun to kehna !

Mere marg par nikal ke to dekh,

                Tujhe shantidoot na bana dun to kehna !

Mera kirtan kar to dekh,

                Jagat ka vismaran na karaa dun to kehna !

Meri taraf aakar to dekh,

                Tera dhyan na rakhun to kehna !

Tu mera ban kar to dekh,
                Har ek ko tera na bana dun to kehna !

Hindi

मेरे मार्ग पर पैर रखकर तो देख,

                   तेरे सब मार्ग न खोल दूँ तो कहना !

मेरे लिये आँसू बहाकर तो देख,

                  तेरे जीवन मेँ आनन्द के सागर न भर दूँ तो कहना !

मेरे लिए खर्च करके तो देख,

                  कुबेर के भंडार न खोल दूँ तो कहना !

मुझे अपना मददगार बनाकर तो देख,

                  तूझे सबकी गुलामी से न छुड़ा दूँ तो कहना !

मेरे लिए कड़वे वचन सुनकर तो देख,

                  कृपा न बरसे तो कहना !

मेरी बातेँ लोगोँ से करके तो देख,

                  तुझे मूल्यवान न बना दूँ तो कहना !

स्वयं को न्यौछावर करके तो देख,

                  तुझे मशहूर न करा दूँ तो कहना !

मेरे चरित्र का मनन करके तो देख,

                  तुझे चरित्रवान न बना दूँ तो कहना !

मेरे लिये कुछ बनकर तो देख,

                  तुझे कीमती न बना दूँ तो कहना !

मेरे मार्ग पर निकल कर तो देख,

                  तुझे शान्ति दूत न बना दूँ तो कहना !

मेरा कीर्तन करके तो देख,

                  जगत का विस्मरण न करा दूँ तो कहना !

मेरी तरफ आकर तो देख,

                  तेरा घ्यान न रखूँ तो कहना !

तू मेरा बनकर तो देख,

                  हर एक को तेरा न बना दूँ तो कहना !