When you Start-up, be innocent – it helps

As we grow up, life puts us through varied experiences – we happen to grow up thinking innocence is not cool. In order to be cool, boundaries had to be stretched and broken, one needs to hold information well beyond his reach to be able to succeed in life, and that this approach was rewarded through popularity and possibly success – always prepared more than your peers. There is this false belief that this lack of innocence after all is life – living a life of compromise.

But this burden pushes us to expect a lot from ourselves, and everyone around us – and we shall slip into living a life of regret, harbouring moments of failures than being happy about what life benevolently bestows upon us. With time, one shall come to see losing our innocence as a major regret – a sort of slow, downward spiral; not able to enjoy the precious little moments in life. In our intertwined set of expectations from ourselves, somewhere deep down we hold a lot of expectations from others in our life – for us to fulfil our expectations, we start to hold them against it. This will only lead to barriers and we give up a lot in this process. We will lose our most important ability – motivation to try.

It would not be right to think if it is good to keep this attitude of innocence when going out into the "real world” – please be convinced that hiding our innocence is much easier, but not necessarily the right step forward when we start-up and also remain happy in life. Once we start building the walls to protect ourselves, our innocence is lost and it would be hard to try again – happily.

It is important we realize happiness is in our ability to try – and it is a beautiful thing. Give it a try, be innocent and start-up.

మిత్రమ...

ఈ శ్వాసను  ఆగిపోని 

ఈ కట్టను  కాలిపోని  

కానీ మిగిలేది 

నువ్వు అన్న అనుభూతే మిత్రమ ||

వికసించిన పువ్వును  రాలిపోని

దాని వద్ద వాలిన తుమ్మెద జారిపోని 

కానీ మిగిలేది

కొన్ని క్షణాల పరిమలమే మిత్రమ ||

నదులను  సముద్రంలో కలిసిపోని

సముద్రపు అలలని తీరాలు దాటిపోని

కానీ మిగిలేది

చివరికి అది నీరేకదా మిత్రమ ||

వేసే దుస్తులు వాడిపోని

సేవించే ఆహరం మారిపోని

కానీ మిగిలేది

నిరాకకై ఎదురుచూసే నేనే మిత్రమ ||

                                                                              -         అభిజిత్ జయంతి

Kafkaesque Fantasies of Starting-up

Among the macro-social variables that fuel the fantasies of empirical growth in an entrepreneur’s mind, usually identified as being highly correlated with his/her prior growth trajectory, two important anomalies stand out – finances and the ability to milk his/her “network”. Did you ever wonder why few slacking kids of rich celebrities make it with their boorish ideas while you are stuck, where you are – even with a brilliant idea?

There are a lot of start-up accelerators, advisories who give you the carrot – to help mould/nurture your business plans, but rarely tell you the bitter truth. Allow me to let the rabbit out of the bag – you will find limited to no literature that studies the issue of causality and the channels through which both one’s financial standing and his/her network play a crucial role. I wish to explore this link and its influence on the balance of flight, as a start-up takes off.

Although, it might seem obvious – I wish to look at it more logically. Specifically, I wish to take a theoretical route to analyse the relation. Exploring the link between financial standing and ease of flight is interesting for several reasons. First, if we find that the level of financial standing does have an effect on relative ease of flight – it shall underline an important start-point for entrepreneurship, i.e. it is not just about having a brilliant idea or clocking in hours of enterprising efforts with enthusiasm, but there is a need for monetary support to begin with, and therefore increases the priority someone might enjoy, in making it happen while others find it hard to cross the start-point. Second, exploring this link, we will be able to appreciate the fact – one’s financial standing will have implications on his/her influence over milking the “network”. Well, in short – let us reason out the roots for ‘Fake it till you make it’ mantra for entrepreneurship.

Let us frame a simple model for an entrepreneurial sale using the theory of Negotiation. With limited capacity to fuel the engines for the flight, an entrepreneur always finds himself with a poor BATNA. For the uninitiated, in negotiation theory, the Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement or BATNA is the course of action that will be taken by a party if the current negotiations fail and an agreement cannot be reached. In the case of an entrepreneur, with limited resources – with limited negotiating power, the alternatives are poor – in extreme cases, there is no alternative at all. Likewise, if an entrepreneur is not in a position to milkhis/her “network” – there are no good alternatives.

Opportunities and associated BATNAs form the vicious cycle of survival for an entrepreneur. As a result, one finds himself/herself stuck in the cycle of survival but never scale up. Drawing an analogy to the conventional Ricardian model of technological differences across countries explaining international trade flows - theoretically and empirically, cross-entrepreneur variance in the level of financial standing and his/her “network” explains the relative ease of negotiating a deal to begin with and thus his/her start-up taking flight.

On the one hand, reforming the financial standing of an entrepreneur might have implications for balance of flight – it is next to impossible to target this aspect of the problem, because the inherit comparative in financial standing fuels the entrepreneurial spirit.

On the other hand, the effect of providing “network” on the level and structure for balance of flight plays a positive role – but it again depends on the level of financial standing. If there are efforts to encourage entrepreneurship in all sincerity – the focus should be on providing an equal playing field for making the right connections and enabling entrepreneurs to milk the “network”.

If any Government or an agency seeks to generate entrepreneurial spirit, focus should rest on overpowering the dependency of social attitudes on financial standing, and provide a singular platform for networking. Such efforts shall tackle the distortionary framework of the society, which impedes the entrepreneurial spirit with classification into various monetary classes.

So, the next time you consider incubators and accelerators – the question to ask, is not what they provide for in cash or kind, but do they bring/give access to the “network”?

- Abhijith 

Place: Abu Dhabi

P.S.: While my theoretical model explores a singular channel of how financial standing affects the balance of flight, sometimes, the empirical evidence (real life experiences) presents natural mechanisms for possible reverse causality and simultaneity bias.

Unfounded Meaning of Secularism in India

I wish to begin this post by exploring the basic meaning of Secularism. Secularism is the principle of the separation of government institutions and persons mandated to represent the state from religious institutions and religious dignitaries. One manifestation of Secularism is asserting the right to be free from religious rule and teachings, or, in a state declared to be neutral on matters of belief, from the imposition by government of religion or religious practices upon its people. Another manifestation of Secularism is the view that public activities and decisions, especially political ones, should be uninfluenced by religious beliefs and/or practices. Secularism draws its intellectual roots from Greek and Roman philosophers such as Marcus Aurelius and Epicurus; from Enlightenment thinkers such as Denis Diderot, Voltaire, Baruch Spinoza, James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, and Thomas Paine; and from more recent freethinkers and atheists such as Robert Ingersoll and Bertrand Russell.

The purposes and arguments in support of Secularism vary widely. In European laicism, it has been argued that Secularism is a movement toward modernization, and away from traditional religious values (also known as secularization). This type of Secularism, on a social or philosophical level, has often occurred while maintaining an official state church or other state support of religion. In the United States, some argue that state Secularism has served to a greater extent to protect religion and the religious from governmental interference, while Secularism on a social level is less prevalent. Within countries as well, differing political movements support Secularism for varying reasons.

The term Secularism stands conveniently abused by many a learnt member of the Indian Polity. Although the term was new, the general notion of free thought on which it was based had existed throughout history. While in India, the term assumed a rather sorry state of use. Anything and everything related to a specific religion i.e. Hinduism and thoughts related thereof were propagated to be non-secular while holding thoughts in line with other religions were not included in such a definition – absurd abuse of position by political masters and intellectual retards, to say the least.

The term Secularism should have been used to describe a class of political views that promote a social order separate from religion, without actively dismissing or criticizing religious belief. While at it, if we were to look at the Indian Political Landscape, most of the Political Parties which profess religious views and seek to represent a certain section of the society will have to be termed Non-Secular. It is important that we understand that Secularism is not an argument against any religion, it is one independent of it. It does not question the pretensions of any religion or faith; rather it helps separate the State from Religion, thus fostering general wellbeing. Secularism does not say there is no light or guidance elsewhere, but maintains that there is light and guidance in secular truth, whose conditions and sanctions exist independently, and act forever.

Few confused hard-line Secularists seek to advocate religious propositions related to particular faith/religion to be epistemologically illegitimate, warranted by neither reason nor experience, thus fostering support for other religions. It is imperative to understand that movement away/towards a particular religion does not necessarily constitute Secularism. I hope to see the new breed of Politicians in India are well-educated and understand the true essence of what Secularism stands for.

                                                                                                            -          Abhijith Jayanthi

Place: Hong Kong

Date: 16^th May 2014

Successful Entrepreneur: Scuttling Through Life

I begin this article as a critic of entrepreneurship – I am concerned about the implications that historiography has for reading into an entrepreneur's journey who lived through the events of growth. The enormity of the intellectual displacement which one experiences during the journey is difficult to comprehend. The constant sense of thought transitions and urgency to conquer related to the possibility of tasting success continue to occur every single day.

By the time the transitions are finally over, possibly zillion of ideas and methods have had crossed the newly created boundaries of growth trajectory – that everyone willfully define in their Business Plans, carrying with them memories of a kind of internal conflict that one fights with his/her own immediate surroundings, people in his/her life. The journey appears to be frighteningly commonplace with repeated occurrences and the displaced individual   called entrepreneur will respond to calls of his/her journey and also that of his /her community – sometimes involving violence, threat to their survival, security for the future, and cultural continuity including finding a companion in life. 

During this conflux of emotional servitude, most of the entrepreneurs succumb, thousands of them separated from their families and communities – resigning to the fate of failure, not able to handle the pressures of negative recognition. What qualifies as the 'rightful' success story is for this world to decide and sing praises about, but seldom do we celebrate failure. Something is fundamentally wrong with the particular construction of an entrepreneur’s identity in our country – one that shall not honor their experiences and I implore everyone to appreciate, for there are multitude of examples showcasing the concept of rejection agency in and through literary and historical narratives of the 'everyday' stories of entrepreneurship.

I am reminded of a Haryanvi Couplet which aptly showcases the struggle that an entrepreneur needs to go through – for a sense of identity and accomplishment:

Aur yeh beti jise tum saath

mere kankthiyon se dekhte ho

Beshumar haathon ne loota hai ise.

(And this daughter, whom you observe out of the corner of your eyes, sitting by my side - how many have looted her?)

The narrator of the poem represents the identity of his daughter as a possession to be looted. His rhetorical question, "How many have looted her" is embedded with a societal ideology that marks an entrepreneur's identities and their efforts as symbols of community honor and 'tradition' and makes them a subject of everyone’s judgment. Seldom does one see beyond the obvious – and understand there is a huge struggle to get to this stage – where one is at present. It takes more than learning about an entrepreneur’s journey, to truly appreciate their efforts.

- Abhijith Jayanthi                                         

The Final Frontier

The question that is vexing policy makers and analysts alike worldwide is climate change — is sending jitters across the World. One of the ripple effects, is food security, crisis thereof. India has not yet experienced riots over rising food prices linked to inflation that have hit other countries like Zimbabwe or Argentina – if an added effect of climate change is added to this, it is  a worrying signal. In the capital, Delhi, milk costs 11% more than last year. Edible oil prices have climbed by a whopping 40% over the same period. More crucially, rice prices have risen by 20% and prices of certain lentils by 18%. Rice and lentils comprise the staple diet for many Indians.

With a rapidly deteriorating climate condition and lack of consensus with regard to way forward, food security situation in India – a country with over billion people is a definite cause for concern, not only for Indian policy-makers but also other economies, considering earning/spending capacities impact global consumption in general. We are dangerously close to the final frontier and we will need to appreciate the fact that with the changing world, the chances that we will see a shift in terms of climate and environment around us is immense while at the same time, whether such a change is for the better is in doubt.

-          -  Abhijith

P.S.: The image displayed here is an award winning poster on Global Warming 

The Indian Democratic Experiment: On the Brink of Failure

In the recent years, let’s face it – Dr. Manmohan Singh has pulled down the standards.  As a result of which scores of people, both ordinary citizenry with extraordinary belief in self, and extraordinary members of industry with ordinary acumen otherwise have begun their evening stroll in the garden of Indian democracy. This is a dangerous signal for the health of democracy, and I intend to discuss the pros and cons of it in this article.

Firstly, it is remarkable to appreciate the active involvement of the citizenry – given their will and necessity, stemming from ever increasing inflation, and lack of employment opportunities. They represent the ill-informed, but passionate countrymen, filled with energy and are seeking a change, to sell their faith and loyalties to. On the other side, we have (wo)men of repute in their particular industries/lines of work – with stagnant career progression curves and negligible connect with ground realities otherwise sensing an opportunity to take the plunge, as a natural next step. There is an eminent danger that the former set of population fall prey to the latter set because of their overt packaging of selves. Ultimately, due to lack of innovation in terms of governance – considering the latter set is devoid of such intellectual faculties, except for transitioning into a new role on their career progression graphs; old set of policy measures and governance methods are bound to continue.

Given the limited acumen but bloated egos of the latter, national development that has sustained considerable damage in the recent past, will broaden creating a great divide – pushing the country towards civil war. International funds and investors (referred to in this articles as funders) will re-align their priorities to tackle this broader divide, as reflected in the 2008 - 2012 FDI Drain, pushing the economy further down.

It must be remembered in that connection that equality and democracy are not synonymous in spite of the fact that these two terms are frequently confounded in "democracies" with an aristocratic-liberal historical background. Numerical majorities are not necessarily keen to preserve equality in a democracy; considering the demand for equality (and related privileges in terms of treatment and subsidies) always arose from select minorities – leading to appeasement schemes.  Genuinely "democratic" societies can be brutally cruel to those who dare to be "different" in an unconventional way.

Our evaluation and adaptation methodology needs to be updated to reflect more systematically the broader inclusion, rather than pursuing a change of leadership – at least without adequate political training.  Enterprising in Public life has become the new trend, and is exceeding enterprising innovation in private sector. This will create continued pressure on treasury, with ill-informed choices and decisions – putting the economy at further risk. This will culminate in failure of the Indian democracy experiment.

- Abhijith Jayanthi

Attitude Change: New Indian Democracy

Attitude Change is undoubtedly an impending reality for political landscape in India. Though primarily perceived as a short-term game plan during election seasons, addressing expectations is also a developmental economics issue involving enormous costs. In this context, addressing attitude change is a common challenge for traditional political parties, which so far, were operating without openness in policy framework. Its impact is already being seen in different forms: be it unprecedented electoral response in State Government Elections of Delhi, effects on how the business is conducted – be it agriculture, fisheries and health, and already scarce forest, land, and water resources. With changes in key variables, namely average age of population, earning capacity, exposure to and aspirations for better standard of living, it is in our collective interest that our country moves towards an attitude resilient development path.

The important question here is how to grow fast while keeping in mind the need for poverty eradication, managing urbanization, and improving public health, education and development. As a developing country, India strongly believes that it requires adequate development space for its people.

I am only reiterating the fact that attitude change is a real issue and like every serious concern it also entails some inevitable trade-offs and choices that are to be made as a part of the planning exercise when malicious agencies will want to get involved in the name of change within the competing demands of a vibrant political franchise. Lately with the growing concerns about attitude change, the set of trade-offs faced by traditional policy makers and dependent lobby agencies has expanded, with critical decisions to be made regarding meeting expectations.

On the flip side, poorer sections of the society are demanding more space, in order to achieve the same level of per capita income and welfare as enjoyed by the rich in the country. There is a huge lacuna in terms of bringing their attitude and aspirations’ divide amongst these sections - can also be perceived as developmental divide. For India in the short and medium run dependence on bringing this gap will continue to be a necessary part of enabling growth.  

The choice between focussing on purely growth centric processes or adopting an ambitious attitude correction trajectory were never easy to make and are going to be even more difficult in the coming years. As growth weakens, growth becomes more of priority; it will become difficult for attitude change to sustain itself.

The central question then will remain: How do we finance all of our needs, while staying within a prudent attitude envelope? The answer has to be more efficient spending and policies to generate equitable and inclusive growth, along with additional efforts to constantly monitor the definition of the same as we move forward.  

The need of the hour is also to create strong incentives to encourage civil society participation in democracy. The political market will need to be transformed to attract for more participation and reduce nepotistic despondency.

Given the constraint on resources, ultimately the entire task boils down to optimal resource allocation and mobilization and also the creation of an incentive structure that motivates citizenry appropriately. The role that markets and development/ non-government organizations can play in this task is significant. New and additional resources through the participatory mechanism of our vibrant democracy will play a crucial role in handling this attitude change.

Sleeping Good Tonight

There is no doubt we are living longer than ever before, and because of this more and more people are making an effort to take better care of themselves so that they can be healthier and sharper and thus maintain a better quality of life. Naturally, with an extended life span, we all want to maintain our cognitive abilities as long as we can. Brain games are undoubtedly popular tools for staying sharp, but they are only one of many in the arsenal of cognitive maintenance.

Mental stimulation is an absolute necessary for keeping the brain sharp because it helps to generate new brain cells as well as create new connections between existing nerve cells. Cognitive activities like math games, word puzzles and reading, and physical activities that require manual dexterity for motor coordination, can help keep your brain functioning well for many years to come.

As we're talking about quality of life, we also need to broach the topic of emotional health. Depression, anxiety and insomnia all take their toll on our ability to function and can easily lead to cognitive decline as we age. Getting help with these issues can make all the difference between enjoying old age and being oblivious of it. Helpful strategies such as meditation, breathing and relaxation techniques can help you find peace and comfort, for which your brain will thank you with improved cognition and focus. Of course, building healthy social networks with friends and family that you maintain even as you get older is yet another way to stay sharp and connected.

    

In the entire gamut of remaining healthy – we rarely discuss sleep, more so, even if we happen to chance upon it, conversations usually revolve around lack of good sleep. I feel it is necessary we start acknowledging the efforts of our physical self for providing us with a night of good sleep. This will help motivate our emotional self to channelize efforts to make that happen again. Let’s appreciate it and have a good sleep tonight!

-Abhijith 

Cockroach Theory for Self Development: Response Vs Reaction

I stumbled upon this piece of story, and felt it carries an important lesson - that which is often ignored by many.

At a restaurant, a cockroach suddenly flew from somewhere and sat on a lady. She started screaming out of fear. With a panic stricken face and trembling voice, she started jumping, with both her hands desperately trying to get rid of the cockroach. Her reaction was contagious, as everyone in her group also got panicky. The lady finally managed to push the cockroach away but it landed on another lady in the group. 

Now, it was the turn of the other lady in the group to continue the drama. The waiter rushed forward to their rescue. In the relay of throwing, the cockroach next fell upon the waiter. The waiter stood firm, composed himself and observed the behavior of the cockroach on his shirt. When he was confident enough, he grabbed it with his fingers and threw it out of the restaurant.

Sipping my coffee and watching the amusement, the antenna of my mind picked up a few thoughts and started wondering, was the cockroach responsible for their histrionic behavior? If so, then why was the waiter not disturbed?

He handled it near to perfection, without any chaos. It is not the cockroach, but the inability of the ladies to handle the disturbance caused by the cockroach that disturbed the ladies.

I realized that, it is not the shouting of my father or my boss or my wife that disturbs me, but it's my inability to handle the disturbances caused by their shouting that disturbs me. It's not the traffic jams on the road that disturbs me, but my inability to handle the disturbance caused by the traffic jam that disturbs me. More than the problem, it's my reaction to the problem that creates chaos in my life.

Do not react in life. Always respond. The women reacted, whereas the waiter responded. Reactions are always instinctive whereas responses are always well thought of, just and right to save a situation from going out of hands, to avoid cracks in relationship, to avoid taking decisions in anger, anxiety, stress or hurry.

This story carries a powerful lesson - it is important we give it a thought.

- Abhijith Jayanthi

Happiness Fix

I remember, myself being very negative and unhappy when I was young and that seemed to have changed dramatically for the better. Now, I seek to be bright, happy and outgoing, chatting and laughing with all. This is because I finally learned how to be happy.

For years  I was frustrated and unhappy, always thinking that I'd find happiness once a specific event happened or when someone did something I wanted them to do, or when I landed the right job, etc., but over time I discovered that was not the case. Even when things did occur to my liking, I found that they didn't have a lasting impact on my personal joy and fulfilment. Then one day it finally hit me. I concluded that the things outside of myself were not going to enrich me and make me happy in the long run and that it was up to me for assuming responsibility for my own bliss.

Once I realized this, I stopped chasing some elusive source of happiness. I began practicing living in the moment, choosing to enjoy all that life had to offer me right now. This didn't mean I gave up on my ambitions. It just meant that I put them into perspective, and began to be grateful for what I already had. In fact, gratitude is the best “happiness fix,” as it always brought me back to what was really important in life: living, loving and being happy.

I realized I had sabotaged myself for years with expectations about myself. I wanted things to happen, but seldom took action to get what I wanted. Then I began taking steps towards actually achieving my goals, while continuing to practice being happy in the moment. Shortly after, some of the very things I had so longed for were actually happening. However, they were not the reason for my new state of joy, but they did add to it.

This is just a powerful reminder that we have a say in our own happiness. I hope you will keep that thought with you as well. Think about what makes you happy and what doesn't. And once you have answered that, try to give yourself more of the former. Then think about why certain situations make you unhappy. Ask yourself how you could improve them. And once you implement some of those adjustments, I am willing to bet that you will feel better about them! Just taking control of them may give you a whole new outlook.

  

-          Abhijith Jayanthi

India: Blowing a Broken Trumpet

In Japanese tradition - the three wise monkeys, sometimes called the three mystic apes, are a pictorial maxim. Together they embody the proverbial principle to "see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil". The three monkeys are Mizaru, covering his eyes, who sees no evil; Kikazaru, covering his ears, who hears no evil; and Iwazaru, covering his mouth, who speaks no evil. Sometimes there is a fourth monkey depicted with the three others; the last one, Shizaru, symbolizes the principle of "do no evil". He may be shown crossing his arms. These monkeys no longer represent the reality and the needed attitude in the present.

Looking into the past for over 500 years: The trends for a nation to be an economic powerhouse were always changing over the course of time – earlier, during the times of segregated, small-scale kingdoms; it was more of a class struggle between the powerful ruling class and the largely ignorant working class. As the class struggle gave rise to a nationalist flavour; nations have emerged fuelled by scientific advances and achieving economies of scale in production and trade. Competing for supremacy and imperialistic behaviour of the nations replaced the erstwhile class struggle as the defining trend.

In 20^th Century, the imperialistic behaviour was on a decline – largely because of globalization and knowledge exchange: a necessity to connect across nations and co-exist took prominence. The class struggle of the present is between the oppressed and a skewed imperialist class – and it has begun. One ugly face of this struggle is the advent of terror as a tool of class struggle. The growing need for any nation in the modern times is to work for stable existence and stay largely insulated – for terror can impact economy and the budget spend allocations; which will adversely affect nation’s outlook.  To live in the present – one needs to be vigilant, observe and listen to what is happening around one-self. These three set of principles are in stark contrast to what is depicted and celebrated as a maxim – The Three wise Monkeys.

India has always been a contrast singular experiment – with largely successful kings administering over a huge stretch of land in the past to non-aligned/ anti-imperialistic beliefs in the recent past being a significant feature. Though, resurrection (with the present possibilities that India holds) within a span of over 50 years after a 200 years of horrid slavery should instil a sense of achievement; there are multiple facets of Indian Society that need attention  and should be set right –  especially in the modern times, India needs to adapt and work for stable existence. We will need to revamp our security apparatus and work for a secured future – we will have to set it right, before we blow our trumpet.  

-  Abhijith Jayanthi 

Dead Man Walking

In an apparent attempt to inculturate west bloc democratic ideologies - billions of dollars have been invested at various levels.I think technology plays a major role in manipulating people’s views about what is going on in the world. However, people are not easily controlled or influenced these days with conventional media with advent of social media. There is growing consciousness amongst public about the usual ways – how conventional media work and feed construed views to general public. I hope people consider that the world will never run like a well-oiled machine. The idea of the human mind as uncontrollable has influenced a desire for rational mastery over our own human nature. I like to imagine us slaving over the  development of artificial intelligence for thousands of years, using the language  of science and the laws of reason, but always failing to compute our own human nature, emotions and desires. Little do we know that intelligent thought dwells in the corner of a dark, damp area of human perception. It lays waiting for the right moment to engulf us in our technological conquests and pave the way for the future.

I dream of India - a nation with her multicultural atmosphere, of the wide range of opportunities it offers – theatres, museums, shopping streets, sidewalk cafés in every city and town. None of this I want to miss in the Nation of my dream. Parks, a big river, little lakes and canals, Open spaces where you can meet, exchange and express yourself. This is my thought – what is yours?

- Abhijith Jayanthi 

Place: Abu Dhabi

Date:  01 Jan 2013

Overstretched Realities

Schedules are more hectic, finances stretched, and family visits and interactions can stir up old emotions and baggage from the past that only add to the stress of the Holiday Season. And this is the time of year when a lot of us seem to revisit neglected issues, which are often long-standing and deep-seated. It is trying being around people we are angry with or who have hurt us in the past.

The best prescription for clearing up issues is finding the road to unfold the truth. Of course, that is often the last thing we want to hear, but I hold with my belief that those issues we haven't been able come to terms with can simmer and hurt us, often far worse than they hurt the other person. You may be surprised to hear me say that it's okay for them to feel their feelings, because solving an issue starts with accepting the truth. Denying it only aids the building up, and they can come out “sideways” onto people who often have nothing to do with our wounds. Finding an appropriate time and place where you can feel all the grief and anger surrounding a hurtful experience is what can help you to heal and forgive.

Life seems to be a collection of overstretched realities – one needs sort his/her baggage and travel light!

Seance with my Senses

Over the last few years I have had many emotional moments from the state of being on my own to build the world around me or an increased number of decision disasters and changing social patterns influencing my every move. I've noticed that those who have most successfully weathered such storms and have overcome adversity all seem to share a common belief that something positive can come out of difficult situations.

Finding the positive and building on what's important may not be easy, but it is certainly helpful, when we face serious challenges in our lives. If we only focus on the negative when challenging things happen to us, we make our situations even worse. We've all heard stories about people who have lost everything they own to fire, hurricane or other disaster, but who surprisingly are able to talk about being grateful. That's because they've shifted their focus from what they've lost to what they still have — their lives and that building up is part of living again. As long as there's life, there's hope. Those who are able to move past the worst of times have discovered how to accept the fact of a difficult situation and move past it.

One lesson I learnt, acceptance of something doesn't mean that you are surrendering to it. It just means you are clear about what is happening around you. Once you accept something, you free yourself to look at it from all angles, consider your options and take the best course of action. Even the worst predicaments can be overcome with thought, time and effort. In the end, you may be surprised at how much better things turned out than you would ever have expected.

When things are bad, what you've got to do is to be grateful you're alive, put one foot in front of the other, breathe in, breathe out, and do the next indicated thing. Look for the good things in a bad situation and take advantage of them. If you can do that, then you'll walk right out of the dark tunnel and into the light. I hope you'll take some time to think about my thoughts and be a soldier from within.

-          Abhijith Jayanthi

  

13 February 2010

Boston MA, USA

Insomnia of Life

Insomnia of Life is a collection of poems which speak about human emotions and how one should learn from nature and her marvels - bonding between nature and her children; trust equation in a human relation; passion in our expectations from love and beyond. When we are on a high, emotions keep us happy and grounded; and when we are low - emotions provide us with warmth and bring back the smile - that curve which can set any situation straight. It is these emotions which give us a sense of belonging, help us live happily and not feel melancholic - a sleepy existence. Every moment is colorful and joyful, it is we who do not take notice of it, if we can - one can find happiness in tiny gestures and warm emotions. Life has offered me many complex emotions and these poems are few of my prized pearls from my oyster - written during various trysts with my emotions. I hope you will enjoy reading it!

- Abhijith Jayanthi 

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Omni Displacement Effect

It is often said that “the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer”. As a general characterization of recent trends in India, this statement would be hard to substantiate, but there is a common denominator which is deteriorating faster for both the sections – ethics. There are circumstances when it is a good description of what is happening – former due to irresponsible freedom and unwarranted access to money and latter due to their natural instinct to ape the former set.  The growing affluence of the middle classes creates enormous pressure to afford responsible training of ethics on a large scale, even when their social and familial relations costs are enormous. The scale of displacement rises further (often, much further) when urbanization quotient is on the greater side.

The inequitable and often brutal trait of nature – forced artificiality is now fairly well understood, and the victims’ growing reluctance to be pushed around has even prompted some serious rethinking on this matter. But the “Omni Displacement Effect”, as I wish to call it (the fact that the growing prosperity of the rich often encroaches on the attitude of the poor, resulting in a collective collapse of ethical well being of society) also has other manifestations.

For instance in the past, as well-off families got richer, they shifted their children from government schools to private schools, and this “exit” of influential people from the public schooling system reduced the accountability of government schools. Over time, a vicious circle set in, whereby the decay of government schools and the desertion of well-off families fed on each other. This phenomenon, illuminatingly discussed many years ago by Albert Hirschmann, is still an important aspect of the education scenario in India today. One could, of course, debate to what extent the root of the problem lies in growing economic inequality, or in the absence of accountability in the schooling system. The fact remains that in this particular context, some people’s growing affluence can make this Omni Displacement Effect more prominent.

The Omni Displacement Effect is not a systematic pattern. There are also many cases where the poor benefit in one way or another from the affluence of the privileged – for instance, by getting more jobs, purchasing power or better public services made possible by higher tax revenue. But the Omni Displacement Effect is quite common, and it helps to explain why life is deteriorating evenly for many people leading to unhappiness existence, in spite of rapid economic growth.

The rich and the poor, of course, have a common stake in a well-functioning social setup. But they also compete for space – very limited space, bearing in mind the levels of overcrowding on any platform. Ecological plunder destroys common property resources that have critical livelihood value for the society. The lifestyles of the rich, glamorized by a huge advertisement industry, set burdensome standards and models for the poor. Last but not least, the lives and priorities of the well-off absorb an enormous amount of time and attention from the media, the parliament, the courts, and other institutions that are meant to be geared to the public interest.

The Omni Displacement Effect is an unattended to component by public policy, and especially, in an era where things are planned for the rich or the poor – but never for their influences on the general well being of the social eco-system. Creating “world-class facilities” in every domain has become an absorbing concern of Indian policy-makers, but this endeavour, geared as it inevitably is to the convenience, often ends up undermining the attitude change that is necessary for appropriate use and proper functioning of such facilities. It is time to address this Omni Displacement Effect for a bright tomorrow.

- Abhijith Jayanthi