Misc – Page 8 – Random Ramblings

A Reluctant Techie

My career , which was always on a ‘ conveyer belt’ gave very little room for any deliberate decisions ; from sainik school to NDA to army . One of the rare occasions when I was really required to make a choice was to choose between tech and non tech. The first time … Continue reading “A Reluctant Techie”

My career , which was always on a ‘ conveyer belt’ gave very little room for any deliberate decisions ; from sainik school to NDA to army .

One of the rare occasions when I was really required to make a choice was to choose between tech and non tech. The first time it happened was at NDA, and as a 16 year old, I opted for the technical stream. The classification test at NDA categorized me as ‘A’ the highest class in the technical group. I remember telling my DS , that I got A in all subjects, little realizing that, while it was the highest in Tech and English , it happened to be the lowest in Hindi; for whatever reason. So, I started my career in army with a triple ‘A’ .

Survival at first term had more to do with physical endurance than anything else, least of all studies. The common mode of locomotion was front rolling and the bicycles we were issued with were riding on us more often than we ever rode them. Under the circumstances, I came down rolling from ‘A’ to ‘C ‘ classification in the second term and passed out with a CGPA of 4, (a four point someone). The three years of ‘technical ‘studies was just a black hole to me . Try as I might , can’t remember a single thing I learnt in those three years in Sudan block and Science block. Whatever was learnt, good or bad was learnt outside these famous academic blocks.

Years later, I was sitting in front of my DS at IMA (who retired as a well known Army Commander), who was trying to push me towards a technical arm. The interview went something like this.

Why don’t you go for a technical arm ?

Sir, I prefer Infantry.

You were a techie at NDA weren’t you ?

Sir, NDA techie is not much of a techie.

Anyway, you have slogged more than others. (doing math is slogging while push ups was fun !)

……………………… ???!!!

Why not artillery ?

Sir, I prefer dealing with men to handling guns.

Consider artillery again.

NO sir it is infantry

GO TO HELL !

In one of his lectures the same DS had said, “why do you guys want to go for docile tps like hill tps , cross swords with Sikhs and Jats , they are the ones who win all competitions. (he was a jat sikh from Gorkhas)

Well, I opted for JATS.

The first ten years of my career, I stayed away from anything that had to do with maths or science. We used to have a technical orientation course before going to staff college. As the name suggests, it was meant for ‘pongos’ like us, as the future generals were expected to be tech savvy. No sir, don’t you stuff me with maths and science for whatever reason; I will, anytime put tactical issues above the technical ones; don’t I have some bespectacled geeks under command? Predictably, I got a C grade in the course.

Those were the days, XT Computers were just being introduced in offices. I went through the first year of my staff appointment blissfully ignorant of PCs. The turning point came when a GD sepoy, who was in-charge of the PC (well friends , we had just one XT PC in the whole Brigade Headquarters) informed all that the ‘files’ would not open and we had to do the VIP brochure , briefing etc all over again. The army cdr was visiting the next day. It was a long night of typing and proof reading and by the end of it, I had to know why the file wouldn’t open and had to ensure that such a crisis wouldn’t occur again.. Thus started the long road to my Education in the IT field. Subsequently, supersession helped; leading to a huge bonfire of all army pamphlets I had , (just to ensure security of info) and books on IT more than replaced the void in my bookshelves.

The world of Info Tech is a great field, ever changing, ever evolving, a field of huge depth and width, a digital ocean , yet always willing to reveal its secrets and treasures to anyone willing to learn, willing to dive deep into it. You don’t need a teacher, classrooms or universities; all you require is the hardware and the NET. If at all you need any guidance , there is abundant help from fellow-netizens. Where ever I was posted I created projects for myself, developing web sites, applications and so on.

Later I was posted to Infantry School as an instructor in the newly created IT Division. Suddenly, the shoe was on the other foot. I found myself as a techie among non-techies. A course mate of my mine, a signal officer not very tolerant to ignorance shared with me a conversation he had had at the bar . It went like this ..

…….. “Water here seems to be very hard, isn’t it ?”

Infantryman… “oh sure it is , even yesterday we had a hailstorm” and he was dead serious !

I could totally empathize, It is not easy to be out of sync in any environment.

Strange are the ways God and …. The Army.. years later I found myself , as an infantryman, teaching a tech subject to officers of the Corps of Signals. About that later …….

Sarvam annamayam : Food for Thought

I was casually asking a JCO from my regiment about his post retirement plans (for non-army types, a Junior Commisioned Officer is only junior in rank but very senior in age and service.) His answer was simple, ‘ kya karna hai saab, kaafi naukri kar lia, abhi ghar rahenge, makaan hai, khet hai.’ I knew he had no huge land holdings and that he had three young children to bring up. I liked his optimism, considering the professional advice one gets these days on finances; something like 60 lakhs for children’s education in 2020, 80 lakhs for children’s marriage in 2025 and a pension corpus of 2.5 crores in 2028 and so on.

What about health insurance, I asked. ‘Hamen bazaar men thodi rahna hai saab, gaon men rahenge.’ I was still trying to make a connection, when he elaborated ,’saab, bimaari to bread khaane wale, shahar men rahne walon ko hoti hai. Hum to gaon men rahnewale, aur roti khane wale hain’ . Seeing me not very convinced, he went on ” Saab petrol gaadi men deezal dalega , tabi to bimaari hoga na ? Socho ”

That “socho” set me thinking; may be he has a point there.

But people today can’t imagine having daal roti or daal chawal day after day, even if topped up with dollups of ghee or spices. One has to have Continental, pizza, burger, Chinese, Thai not to mention South Indian (I have stopped counting the sign boards , on the wrong side of Vindhyas, announcing “Indian, Chinese and South Indian” cuisine)

What if automobiles start demanding variety fuel not based on some design but prompted by a connoisseur’s tongue and an elastic fuel tank.

there would be a great market for variety of fuels.
we may have vitamin supplements and herbal supplements(for nature lovers) added to fuel to offset the effect of tasty fuels.
auto garages and vehicle insurers will make make more money than hospitals and health insurance companies.
Traffic police will have to check not just the drivers , but also automobiles for drunken driving.
when fuel is tasty, tanks would be filled to bursting point and tanks would be left shrunken when the fuel lacks variety and is not so tasty.

But then, to get back to the world of human beings, when eating habits get too precise like Dr Sheldon Cooper’s, it does look more like refueling rather than dining.

Some food for thought.

Learning to Learn

My experience with Computers : Learning and Teaching ………………………………….. “You bought a machine? At the grocery-store? How big is it?” “It’s sort of a grocery. It’s an Apple.” “Richard, your thought is very sweet but are you sure I need-an apple-at this time?” “By the time you pop out of the shower, wook, … Continue reading “Learning to Learn”

My experience with Computers : Learning and Teaching

…………………………………..

“You bought a machine? At the grocery-store? How big is it?”

“It’s sort of a grocery. It’s an Apple.”

“Richard, your thought is very sweet but are you sure I need-an apple-at this time?”

“By the time you pop out of the shower, wook, you are going to see a miracle, right here in our trailer.’ I promise.”

“We have so much to do, already, and there isn’t enough space. … Is it big?” But I said not another word, and at last she laughed and went for her shower.

……………………………………………………………..

She came out of the bathroom fresh and clean, her hair gathered under a towel-turban to dry.

“OK, Richie, I can’t stand the suspense! Where is it?”

I unveiled the computer from under the dish-towel. “Ta-da!”

“Richard?” she said. “What is it?”

“Your very own . . . COMPUTER!”

She looked at me, wordless.

“Sit you down right here,” I urged, “and then press the key marked ‘Control’ and at the same time press the ‘B.’ That’s called ‘Control-B.'”

“Like this?” she said.

The light-square vanished, and in its place the screen filled with words:

GOOD AFTERNOON, LESLIE! I AM YOUR NEW COMPUTER. I AM DELIGHTED TO HAVE THIS OPPORTUNITY TO MEET YOU AND TO SERVE YOU. YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE ME I THINK. YOUR NEW,

APPLE.

WON’T YOU TRY WRITING SOMETHING IN THE SPACE THAT FOLLOWS?

“Isn’t that sweet,” she said.

She typed.a tentative line: NOW IS THE TIME FOR ALL GOOD PERSONS TO CAME TO THE

“I made a mistake.”

“Move the cursor to the right of the mistake, then type Left-Arrow.” She did, and the mistake disappeared.

“Does it have instructions?”

“It teaches you itself. Press the Escape key twice, then the M key a few times, and follow what the screen tells you. …”

That was the last I spoke with Leslie for the next ten hours. She sat tranced in front of the machine, learning the

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system. Then she typed things-to-remember flies into it, building schedules, idea-lists; attacked correspondence.

…………………………………………………….

“Wookie,” she said, after midnight, “I apologize to you. I am sorry.”

“That’s all right,” I said. “What are you sorry for?”

“I thought you were being a silly gosling, I thought here’s just what we need, a big electric toy in the trailer to put us right out in the rain, but I didn’t say anything because it was your sweet gift. I was wrong! It’s so …” She looked up at me, searched the word and came down on it center-square: “. . . organized! It’s going to change our lives!”

So enchanted was she with the powers of the computer that more than once in the days that followed I had to ask very courteously if it might be possible for me to have a few minutes at the keyboard. I wanted to learn, too.

“Poor dear,” she said absently, as she typed. “Of course you want to learn. Just a few minutes more. . . .”

Minutes turned to hours, to days; interrupt her I refused to do.

Soon I was back once again from the Apple store, a second computer in tow.

……………………………

That was an extract from “A bridge Across for ever “ by Richard Bach

———————————————————————————————–

The book was written around 1984, but it was in 1993, when I came across this passage… and it just hit me…(India, then was about 5-10 years behind US and we were still using AT- 286, and 386 machines and Personal Computers were rare yet, at least at homes.)

It teaches itself; the idea really hit me. I am yet to see anything else that teaches itself as a computer does. Now of course it teaches not just about itself, it teaches everything. To know anything you just google.. . A computer , in any form + internet + a search engine = learn anything about anything.

My battalion, then, was deployed in high altitude area, locked out from the rest of the world by snow for over six months. Why not spend the winter usefully ? It was Aug and just about 3 months left for the snowfall, to cut off our link to Uttarkashi. I bought a AT 286,with all the money I had plus some borrowed . Still I was falling far short , so I had to defer buying a hard disc. Armed with a floppy of dos-5 and a few floppies of word star, story board, lotus and dbase, I just made it to our base a month before the snow fall started.

We had electricity, but that was from a rudimentary hydel power system ; can’t call it a plant; it was more like the one in ‘Swadesh’ movie, enough to light a few bulbs.

The problem was that the output voltage fluctuated between 50 v to 350 v. When the snow became hard, the turbines stopped and it was zero. We had to send out a patrol to break the ice with pick axe and the power was restored ! When it hit 350v, only the very ruggard appliances survived. So the power to computer had to pass through three voltage stabilizers. The boot floppy was the most precious commodity since there were just two PCs in a radius of about 50 kms of mountainous terrain covered with snow. Every time you switched on the PC, it was through the boot floppy. !

F1 key is the greatest teacher. By the time snow thawed around march, I had learnt, Word star, lotus and dbase besides advanced commands in DOS. Then we had whole lot of applications like card maker, picture maker, banner maker and so on. There were also codes written in ‘BASIC’ to draw pictures or play music. Those were ‘no mouse’ days. I had actually learnt to draw portraits using the key board, pixel by pixel.

Honestly, the thrill I got from using those apps, I don’t get with modern day apps like photo-shop or movie maker. There was so much novelty in the idea of rearranging ‘0’s and ‘1’ s to produce pictures or music. Every time you switch on the comp , it was pure magic. So much about nostalgia !

And there were games, prince of Persia paratroopers, mario, pc-man, carman sandiago and alley cat , just to name a few.

Nowadays, learning anything has become even easier….It’s a magic moment when a child realizes that

seemingly unrelated scribbling on paper actually conveys so much. Its a revelation that you can learn anything by reading a book. So is it a magic moment when you realize that you can learn anything by typing on the google bar “how to xxxxxxxx”.It may be a short term task like how to make ‘mor koozh’ ? (a near extinct South Indian dish) or it may be a long term project like ‘how to learn Sanskrit ?’ . ‘how to play guitar ?’ What’s more , you get various options , learning on line, downloading ebooks, or viewing visuals on you tube or a combination of all.

If learning was fun, then teaching was more fun, about that later…..

KBC Syndrome

I wonder what made the tv program KBC so popular. Notwithstanding the star value and the prize money, the main reason for the popularity, I suppose is the limited thinking it calls for. Choose among four options and if you find that two, too many, go for fifty-fifty and if that … Continue reading “KBC Syndrome”

Suppose someone were to ask you what was the blunder committed by Stonewall Jackson, which changed the course of American history. The question does not give the slightest clue as to whether the perpetrator of the offence was a politician or a baseball player. Yet, under KBC format, one could successfully negotiate the question, keeping your ignorance of American history intact.

How simple life becomes, when you apply the KBC or the MCQ format to day to day situations !

A clever mother does not ask the kids “What would you have for breakfast ?” This may be just the beginning of of an unending discusion or arguement as neither the kids have a clear idea of what they want nor the mother has a clear idea of how she can produce what the kids ask for.

So it is “Bread or Parantha ?”, “Coffee, Tea ?” “butter or jam ?” and so it goes.

With designer wears available for every item of clothing and accessories you just need to choose a brand name, at best an informed guess. Of course, there are variations in the same brand, but an expert comes to the rescue.

If you want to build a house , you frst choose a builder selling residential flats and then a financial institution to loan the amount. Simplicity itself. Compare this to site selection, design of house, procurement of materials , organising the labour force, etc etc. The issue gets simpler if you have selected the right father in law (or a husband; to be politically right, parent in law or the spouse) Then He or She would take care of the mortgages.

Most of the examinations today are based on objective type of question paper with “guess the right answer” and “head or tails” (Some insist that they are actually “choose the right answer’ and true or false’ ) questions.

Nothing brings out the KBC Syndrome better than an omnious computer screen to install a new application. Many of us would be familiar with the need to choose among “full, compact, standard and custom options to choose from. with standard, selected by default. How many of us have chosen the ‘custom’ option ?

The busy life we lead (or pretend to lead) nowadays precludes any original thinking. The theme of the game is why should one think when a set of options have been thought of by someone paid to think. In other words, think only when paid to do so or when there are no other options !

Even the options are to be derived by someone ‘thinking’ through complex situatons. Nothing wrong with that, but the fact is that less and less people or required to think while the vast majority just see the laid out options and click a radio button. Will brain become another vestigial organ ?!

What’s more interesting is that even when the choices are well defined, most of us steer clear of the situation when the number of options exceed four, ie the number specified by our super hero. The situation is termed, “Complex” and you run to an expert or a professional for a fifty-fifty !

‘

Incredible India

I wish I could do some sketching. It is a typical family scene from the rural India. It could well have been a chaupal in their village. Men , women and children are comfortably reclining on the settees / beds; there are more women and children than men. All kinds of travel bags, gunny bags … Continue reading “Incredible India”

Meeting, feet touching, talking on mobile phones, and the non stop gossip keeps everyone busy. Some one is passing around some eatables on leaf cups. I am sure the women folk would have caught up on all happenings in the families and extended families. It was quite possible that some match making would have also taken place.

There is a stream of people taking turns at the toilet for washing, combing, and changing clothes.

This is not a waiting room in a railway station, nor some choultry; just a scene outside an ICU; yes, people, an Intensive Care Unit of a city hospital.

The place is air-conditioned. There is a vent on the ceiling, from where there is steady trickle of water . There is small puddle formed just at the entrance and it serves the purpose of spreading the dirt brought in by street shoes over the entire floor area. There is a bored security guard sitting at the entrance to ICU , answering any query with monosyllables and minimal gestures. Some people discard their footwear before moving in , and some simply walk on in street clothes and slippers.

Children keep playing by themselves, and when they get tired, the moms put them to sleep in any available space. If people are concerned about the health of the patient they have come to look up, it certainly doesn’t show.

What kind of relative are you if you cannot look up your kin at an ICU ? So, they have all come to mark their presence. Probably a tractor trolley has made a trip from the village to ferrry maximum number of people, From the sticky clay soil on some of the footwear, stacked in one corner, you can see that the men folk have rushed to the hospital straight from the fields.

Since most people use the elevators, stairs are convenient places for the spill over crowd to sit and the staircase landings are just enough for four people to sit cross-legged for a homely meal of dal and roti.

And life goes on…….

Global Economic Scene

Oxfam activists wear masks representing G20 leaders (L-R) South African President Jacob Zuma, French President Francois Hollande, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and U.S. President Barack Obama sitting at a dinner table along a shore in Los Cabos June 17, 2012. Image by: ANDRES STAPFF / REUTERS Can someone explain please ? Euro-zone Crisis India … Continue reading “Global Economic Scene”

Can someone explain please ?

Euro-zone Crisis

India pledges $ 10 Bn
China pledges $ 43 Bn
US pledges $ 0

To put it in some perspective, $ 10 bn = Rs 56,700 Crores which is roughly the amount earmarked by former Fin Min P Chidambaram in his budget of 2008, for loan waiver for farmers.There was a huge debate on the issue of bailing out our own farmers, whereas there was none whatsoever on bail out of Euro zone.

Dollar appreciation

US national Debt (Ranked no 1 in absolute terms) is over $ 15 Tn, ie $ 15,810,178,118,108 and counting ….
It is 103 % of GDP. refer to http://www.usdebtclock.org/

China’s debt 5% of GDP
India’s debt 22% of GDP
data from wikipedia

Yet dollar is appreciating against rupee and yuan.
Why is India and China competing to provide subsidies to America and Europe ?

And what does US do with its dollars ie borrowed dollars? Fight wars all over the globe, Provide social security and health cover to its citizens and provide heavy subsidies to its farmers to beat down the price of agricultural products from the third world.

A man working in a cotton factory in Mumbai, India. US subsidies of $24bn to its cotton farmers have driven down world prices and damaged livelihoods of developing world cotton producers. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

for more click

Give a man a fish

“Give a man a fish you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and he is fed for a life time” …much quoted lines.. after all why should it be only about food ? Almost four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental … Continue reading “Give a man a fish”

“Give a man a fish you feed him for a day, teach him how to fish and he is fed for a life time” …much quoted lines..

after all why should it be only about food ? Almost four in five people around the world believe that access to the internet is a fundamental right, a poll for the BBC World Service suggests

people come to me with computer problems, hardware, software and skills…

they are not stupid people , (they are generally smarter than me) and they can easily do what I do, through a bit of googling and a bit of experimentation.. but then they enjoy taking a fish from me , rather than learning how to fish.. though sometimes someone does insist on learning but then complain that I don’t teach well…!?

the bottom line is that I enjoy fishing and giving fish to people and they enjoy receiving their fish free of cost and using their time and effort in more productive ways, for example partying or networking.. I don’t complain at all, since the whole effort makes me feel good 😉

How I wish the whole world adopts ubuntu for their OS, and I am saved from the pain of seeing innocent people suffering from virus attacks , formatting and reformatting of hard disks, data loss, rampant piracy and anti-piracy operations in the cyber space.. not to mention the financial loss to all except Bill Gates and his like ?

I do feel strongly that there is a great injustice perpetrated on innocent computer users. But who am I to complain ? who am I to change the way people use their computers ? I restrict myself to making some noises where I can, just to please myself.

coming back to the first line …sigh .. sigh… will I, or someone else ever be able to teach the world how to fish ?

Religion and Music

Can a religion exist without music ? No religion can be totally cerebral and there are always some rituals which are invariably associated with some kind of music. Even in Islam, where the attitude towards music is at best ambivalent, the ‘Adhan’ , Islamic call to prayer is recited in a melodious voice rather than as a terse … Continue reading “Religion and Music”

Can music exist without religion ? Apparently, the answer is yes, as ‘kolaveri‘ is also music , having nothing at all to do with any religion. But then,if you ask a carnatic musician, you cannot even think of music without thinking of God. There is simply no room for atheists there. Certain kind of music gives rise to certain kind of emotions as joy, peace or compassion in a listener. To a practitioner of carnatic music, music is an intellectual and emotional exercise and also an expression of Bhakti and it also creates a similar feeling in a listener’s mind.

Then, we have the lyrics or sahityam . With the current generation, lyrics have taken a back seat and it is all drums and beats. Drums and beats are not great and such music is so enlivening and exhilarating. I remember , when we were in the academy, we used to have what we called ‘jam sessions’. We could hit the ceiling energized by orange squash, some eats like jalebi and doughnuts and…….. the Drums. It was all expression of raw energy and ‘OSI BISA’ (particularly, ‘ojah awake‘ and ‘dance the body music‘) was a great favourite.

While the effects of rhythm and beats are physical, it is only the words that can really get to your mind. Words are powerful and music is even more powerful, and when these powerful words are set to great music and rendered with the right bhava or emotion, it definitely does something to your innermost self. What’s amazing is that every time you here such a piece of music, the feeling gets more intense rather than follow the law of diminishing utility. To me, Bharathiyaar songs, sung by MS, or DK Pattammal / Nithyashree or Bombay Jayashree can be listened to any number of times.

Tailpiece . Recently I read AR Rahman’s biography. AR Rahman is said to avoid composing for non-sufi, religious songs. Just wondering what made Rafi sing such wonderful bhajans. Some of these works, Baiju Bawra, Kohinoor have been the combined effort of a great team, Mohammad Rafi, Shakeel Badayuni, and Naushad, with star cast including Dileep Kumar. They are professionals alright, but how does Rafi put in so much emotions into his devotional songs ?

A Meal at Gurudwara, Mhow

It was not the first time I was going to a Gurudwara. During the days when we were co-located with a unit of the Sikh Regiment, I have attended many functions at Gurudwara, but more often than not it used to be just another ‘Parade’. Last week a retired army officer, invited us; insisted … Continue reading “A Meal at Gurudwara, Mhow”

Last week a retired army officer, invited us; insisted that I should bring my mother along; to a Gurudwara at Mhow for a keertan followed by lunch, to celebrate the wedding anniversaries of his son and daughter. We were a little surprised, since the gentlemen was from south of Vindhyas and so were his son-in-law and daughter in law.

A word about the places of worship in army; in most of the places including at College of Military Engineering (MCTE) , Mhow, portions of a military barrack are used as ‘Mandir’ Masjid, Gurudwara or Church. Very often it happens that when a Jat unit takes over a barrack from a Sikh unit, the Gurudwara is converted to a Mandir overnight. The flag is changed from yellow to red and the Guru Granth Sahib is replaced by idols of Radha and Krishna. In the units having mixed troops , they have what we call an MMG (Mandir-Masjid-Gurudwara) functioning under the same roof.

Anyway, we did attend the function in full strength. The Gurudwara in the army area was clean, well maintained and very well organized. Most of the people attending were from ‘The Signals Vihar’ a colony of retired officers. One could sense a general atmosphere of peace and contentedness. After the Ardhas (Arati for Hindus) , which was attended by the pundit from the Mandir next door, among others, lunch was served outside the main hall. Everyone was seated on the floor on a long ‘chatai’ (a carpet) and food was served by volunteers . The meal was simple and wholesome. I was glad I could sit cross legged on the floor (though not as much at ease as I wished) and many of the guests were sitting on the edge of the verandah , with legs half strecthed, half folded, to ease the creaking joints . There was a distinct feeling of fraternity, though there people from all ranks, including a couple of Lieutinent generals.

I was reminded of the community meal , I used to have at Divine Life Society at Hrishikesh , on my way to Harsil where I was posted for two years. A simple meal of daal, rice, roti and vegetables tastes so delicious when partaken, in a warm and friendly atmosphere.

(Photos do not pertain to Mhow, but random picks from the net)

Tail piece : An anecdote going round in army circles: A young sardar in a unit asked his ustad, “yeh Christmas kya hota hai ? chhuti kyon manate hain ?” and his Ustad, assuming a posture of prayer with bowed head and folded hands, explained “yeh isaayiyon ka Guru purab hota hai” (This day is the Guru purab of Christians)

Where do Ideas Come From ?

Where do Ideas come from ?…. “Little by little, I think we build a conscious understanding of what we’re born already knowing: what the highest inner us wants to believe, it’s true. Our conscious mind, though, isn’t happy till it can explain in words. “Before I knew it, in just a few decades, I had … Continue reading “Where do Ideas Come From ?”

Where do Ideas come from ?….

“Little by little, I think we build a conscious understanding of what we’re born already knowing: what the highest inner us wants to believe, it’s true. Our conscious mind, though, isn’t happy till it can explain in words. “Before I knew it, in just a few decades, I had a system of thinking that gives me answers when I ask.”……..

“What was the question?” I said. “Oh. Where do I get my crazy ideas?

Answer: sleep-fairy, walk-fairy, shower-fairy. Book-fairy.

———–-Richard Bach in “A Bridge Across Forever

Where did Mahatma Gandhi get his unique ideas like ‘Sathyagraha and civil disobedience ‘ from ?

I have been doing some study on Gandhi literature. The complete works of Gandhi runs in to a whopping 90 volumes. He was not a prolific writer of books / novels, but he wrote regularly for Navjeevan, Young India and Harijan. But what is amazing is that he was unusually conscientious about replying to all his correspondents from South Africa, England, India and elsewhere,writing a many as 70-100 letters per day for over four decades.

In a speech , later published in Navjeevan, he explains , where he got his ideas from. Gandhiji never accepted anyone as his religious guru. Three men have had great influence on Gandhiji’s thinking. Among them he places poet Rajchandra first, followed by Count Leo Tolstoy and John Ruskin.

How many of us have heard of Poet Raj Chandra or John Ruskin ? At least I have not.

Now I am a little more knowledgeable about these gentlemen.

Raj Chandra was primarily a diamond and pearl merchant, who like a true karma-yogi, sort of renounced the worldly attachments even while actively doing business.

To Quote Gandhiji …..

“During the two years I remained in close contact with him, I felt in him every moment the spirit of ‘vairagya’. One rare feature of his writings is that he always set down what he had felt in his own experience. there is in them sense of unreality……He had always a book on some religious subject by his side and a note book with blank pages. The latter, he used for noting down any thought which occurred to him….

…Whatever he was doing at the moment, whether eating or resting or lying in bed, he was invariably disinterested towards worldly things….

….I watched his daily life respectfully, and at close quarters. he accepted whatever was served at meals. His dress was simple, a dhoti and a shirt… It was the same to him whether he squatted on the ground or had a chair to sit on.

While the Poet, Rajchandra or Raichand Bhai as he was better known, influenced Gandhiji by his close association , John Ruskin and Toltoy influenced him through their writings.

To Quote from John Ruskin..,

….It is a sheer error to suppose, as is generally done, that some eduction however little or however faulty is better than no education at all. We should strive for real education alone.

………….Every human being requires three aspects of knowledge and three virtues. Anyone who fails to cultivate them does not know the secret of life. These six things should form the basis of education. Every child, whether boy or girl, should learn the properties of pure air, clean water and clean earth, and should also learn how to keep air, water and earth pure and clean and know their benefits. ‘Gratitude’, ‘Hope’ and ‘charity’ are the three desirable virtues……..

Well, at some point Gandhiji said that all we have to do is unlearn whatever we learnt in the past 50 years ( around 1850-1900).

Some ideas from Leo Tolstoy

1. In this world, men should not accumulate wealth.

2. No matter how much evil a person does to us, we should always do good to him. Such is the commandant of God,and also his law.

3. No one should take part in fighting.

4. It is sinful to wield political power, as it leads to many of the evils in the world.

5. Man is born to do his duty to his creator; he should therefore pay more attention to his duties than to his rights .

6. Agriculture is the true occupation of man. It is therefore contrary to divine law to establish large cities, to employ hundreds of thousands of minding machines in factories so that a few can wallow in riches by exploiting the helplessness and poverty of the many.

All these ideas are reflected in Gandhiji’s thoughts and in his experiments with Truth that he conducted, in his ashrams and on the larger canvas he worked on, that is “India’.