“Today is your birthday. Make yourself presentable to Dadi (grandmom) and other elders. Seek their blessings for your bright future,” my mother would advise me about sixty years ago, handing a set of new clothes. Very obediently, I would go to my grand mother, uncle and all elders in the family, and bow for their blessings.
Mid night Sun at Nord Cape 25 July 1983
July 1983. My wife and I were on our first of the three trips so far to the Northern most regions of the earth. We were on our way to watch the midnight Sun. We were travelling by train from Copenhagen, Denmark to Oslo, Norway.
Mid night Sun at Nord Cape 25 July 1983
Other than us, there was one more passenger in our train cabin. He must’ve been around 70 and was from Holland. He was on a vacation. He left home by a vanity van, which had all the luxuries one expects in an apartment. He parked his van at Copenhagen before boarding the train for visiting the various islands in Norway for a 45-day trip. In the Second World War, he was injured and one of his legs had to be amputated. He was living with his wife on a decent pension.
In a couple of hours, we became friendly and I asked why his wife was not accompanying him on the vacation. He said: “Yes. That’s how it was planned initially. But on the day we were to leave, my wife fell ill and I left by myself. “
Look at this unimaginable situation. Just because his wife fell ill, he left her alone. Instead of staying back to help his ailing wife, he preferred to go ahead with his long vacation without her. He could have easily waited for her to recover as it would not have made too much of a difference. He was traveling by road and had his accommodation in his own van.
Though this action was normally acceptable in their society, I am wondering whether we would have done the same thing in our part of the world!
A few months ago, I was in Yosemite Valle, California, USA . This is a huge forest with 800 miles in hiking trails. The Sequoia family of trees with their huge trunks draw special attention of the visitors. The tallest tree is 285 feet in height.
As I looked around I felt, each of these trees have meaningful lessons to teach.
Wawona Giant Sequoia
One of the trees, Wawona giant sequoia is 210 feet tall, 92 feet in circumference with a diameter of 30 feet. As you can see in the image, the tree fell down from its roots. This happened in 1969 and it is still lying there as the wood is resistant to decay. It is as good as dead, but so what? While living, it succeeded in maintaining its world record. Therefore even after death, it is a darling of everyone who passes it by. In fact, the authorities allow visitors to play around and hug this eternally sleeping tree.
These giant sequoia trees understand that to survive, it is very important to share and live together as a society. They are aware that for survival, every tree needs water and nutrients which is why they grow very close to one another. They permit the roots of one giant sequoia to fuse with the roots of another. This underground activity enables the giant trees not only to survive in close proximity to each other but live together with equal rights.
In fact there is a set of two trees called “Faithful Couple” who believe to share every thing
Faithful Couple
with the partner. They are so close to each other that one side of their trunks is almost like a common wall of the two trunks. They respect the presence of the neighbour. They demonstrate their ability to share the components for survival such as water, sunlight and nutrients like a true couple. They believe in togetherness in pleasure and sorrow, “sukh-dukh mein saath saath”
California Tunnel
There is a tree called California Tunnel, one of the two living trees in the area. The tree in the dense jungle does not hesitate to permit the people to pass through its tummy. A large cavity in the huge trunk is wide enough to let a SUV pass through it. Convenience to others is more important to the tree than its own inconvenience. Similarly there is a tree called Clothspin which has a tunnel in its body as big as 40ft in height.
At one site, there are 3 sequoia trees together named 3 Graces. Their roots are inter-mingled. Research confirms that they survive together and if they were to fall, they would fall together. Together they live and together they would die. “jiyenge saath saath, marenge saath saath”
My target was trekking to the Mt Everest base camp. It was the sixth day of an 18-day expedition. I was on my way to Dabuche. Instead of the norm of going with a group of 8-10 people, I decided to experience the journey by myself, with a sherpa to help and guide me.
I had already had enough of the bitter cold. I was weak from a day’s worth of upset stomach to go with the steep climbs. I had seen injured people being carried back and heard of quite a few who were being flown back due to severe altitude sickness. Along the way. I had seen too many bodies of trekkers who died in their attempt to complete the trek.
I almost gave up.
Usually, trekkers from both directions assemble in the evening at the dining area of tea shops at their night halt points. Most people prefer to hang around closer to kitchen ovens because it is slightly warmer compared to the sleeping cabins.
Keep Climbing
At the end of that day, I was too tired and feeling depressed. That evening, I heard terrible stories about the trekkers who had gone ahead. I was scared, worried and tense. For the first time in the trip, I wondered seriously why I had left the comforts of home food, bathing and toilet luxuries, my own bedroom with controlled temperature and the great evening walks with my wife. Doubts started creeping in.
Things were likely to be tougher since the path ahead was more isolated. Maybe, it was wrong to have come for such a tough trek. I thought it wasn’t too late to go back home instead of facing the risk ahead. I considered telling the sherpa that we ought to return. But I could wait till the morning.
I wasn’t hungry, I just had a bowl of soup with bread and stretched for a while on the bed. It was already dark. I felt slightly relaxed and positive. I picked up the torch which was always handy. I looked for the folder with the travel documents. In the folder, I found two sheets of printed stuff. I had carried with me some of the interesting and encouraging messages sent by friends and family, before I left. I put on my glasses, held the torch in one hand and started reading them. Each of the messages made my nerves tingle with positivity.
Therefore, let us put in inspiring words wherever possible. Let us not under-estimate the power of our positive words. They work wonders!!
“Our performance efficiency is 99.9999% – six sigma ranking. We have 5,000 members working in coordination. Out of 400,000 transactions every day, the error factor is 1 in every 20,000,000” said the President of a service organisation.
This is the organization which collects lunch boxes (dabbas) in the morning from the homes spread over 60 by 30 km city called Mumbai. These lunch packs are then delivered to their owners working in various nooks and corners of Mumbai. Post lunch, they collect the empty boxes and get them back to the respective houses by the same evening
.
This organisation is not a giant corporate like IBM, Wal-mart or Coca cola. Almost all its members are illiterate and school drop-outs. It has functioned for over 125 years and gets only more efficient by the day.
The process is extremely complicated and needs perfect coordination. They don’t use technology nor do they use fuel-driven vehicles. They work on foot or use cycles and suburban trains to transfer the boxes over 65-70kms every day, making it a 100% eco-friendly system. It is a perfect example of the most complicated job done in the simplest way.
To provide better coordination and thus efficiency, the delivery people are divided in different groups. In the process, the dabbas change hands 6 times. But they have a system to ensure there is no mix-up in the process. Their lack of education has not held them back in following the best lessons taught in the world’s top ranked management schools like Harvard, Oxford and so on. On the contrary, this set-up is taken up as a case study by the said schools.
They believe in fixed prices. No favours or bias in price.
There’s no gossip at work. Even when Prince Charles wanted to talk to the members, they refused to have a discussion with him while they were on duty. Their working impressed him so much, that Prince Charles invited two of them to his marriage in 2005 at par with Queen of Gwalior.
Each member carries aprx 40 dabbas (boxes), weighing 60 to 65kgs on their head most of the day. For each building, one delivery person is assigned the responsibility of collecting the boxes. These boxes are then assembled at the local suburban train station, and are reallocated to groups based on the destination train station.
At the destination stations, the boxes again are regrouped to specific building (And floor of building in some cases). Freshly cooked meals are thus delivered from home to the customer within 3 hours commute over foot, cycles and train.
As one can imagine they had to develop a system to identify which box needs to be go where. They introduced the most practical coding system which is marked on each box. It identifies who would collect each box from which building in which suburb. The code also includes who would deliver information – right down to the floor of a particular building. This coding system can be understood by the most uneducated person and at the same time leaves an almost zero margin for error!
They have also created a cost free advertisement system for themselves. Every member has to wear the white cap which by itself has become a logo. This identification has proven to be a boon as they are blocked by no authority/security. Everyone respects their need for punctuality to ensure the boxes reach the office employees well in time for lunch.
All members have to strictly follow the rules and any deviation attracts a penalty. For example, if a delivery person is found on duty without a cap or any customer makes a complaint against them they are penalized the same day. Penalty has to be paid the same day to be able to continue with the delivery, the next day.
They do not have any employer-employee relationship. Each member is a shareholder and hence a stake holder in the operation. They have had no labour strike during 125 years of the association’s existence. The punctuality, complaint record and output all count towards their share of pooled funds and reward. They are all part of an association which collects a small fee every month, which in turn is fully donated for a social cause.
Minimum overheads and optimum output is the lesson I learn from these hard-working dabbawalas.
This example proves that literacy and technology is not essential to achieve perfection. It is whole-hearted devotion and the right attitude which matters most.
“Why do people carry gold jewelry when they travel?” I remember asking my dad as a child. Around 1960s, it was fashionable for people to wear gold ornaments while traveling, especially women. Dad’s reply was interesting.
“It is better to have a gold ring or a small chain when you travel. For any reason, if one dies while traveling alone, he carries something which can be used to, at the very least perform the last rites. That way the body is not at the mercy of others’ charity.”
Those were the times when fast communication was almost non-existent, travel facilities were minimal, visiting cards were not prevalent and neither were ID cards. If one died and was not identified, a group of people strangers would perform cremation formalities.
Then dad added, “But while traveling never carry jewelry more than the basic minimum. Never carry it to show off”.
A few years later, I was at the bank of River Ganges in Benaras (Kashi/Varnasi). I was on an audit at Fertilizer Corp of India, Sindri near Dhanbad. This is another popular, important pious place for Hindus. For the weekend, I decided to visit Benaras and bathe in the River Ganges.
It was January and the water was extremely cold. It was impossible for me to swim in the strong current of the River. The alternative was to go some steps into the river and take a few quick dips. It needed courage to dip in the ice-cold water, so early in the morning.
As I approached the river, there were two guys sitting with a reasonably sized metal safe and a receipt book. They had a signboard saying:
While I was considering, a South Indian couple with two children, aged approximately 8-10 were with the custodians. They probably read the board. They deposited all their jewelry and valuables including the cash they had and collected the receipt.
One of those two guys at the locker came running to me to scare me. He told me that there were a lot of thefts at the riverbank while tourists bathed in the river. He said it was for my good that he was suggesting that I deposit all my valuables with them. I began to wonder why a Government official would invite and insist.
I took an intuitive decision not to leave anything with them. I told them I had nothing much to deposit and carried on to the river.
Somehow, after seeing the custodian, I was suspicious about the entire place. I suspected someone would take my clothes too, which carried some cash, watch and my gold chain. In case it did happen, what would I have on me when I went back to the hotel? I had to be careful.
I left my shirt and pant on one of the steps close to the bank of the river. I took only a few steps till I was about 3-4ft in the water. I could keep an eye on my clothes. I chose to take a few dips rather than a small swim. That way I could see my belongings after every dip, every few seconds.
The water was freezing cold and so was the winter weather. I took my first dip and in almost unconsciously looked at my clothes to make sure that they were still there. I did this after every one of the 7 dips I took.
Normally, when we dip in the river, we are supposed to sync our thoughts with the Almighty, the river Goddess and pray. Unfortunately, I was just thinking about my clothes. Not good! I decided to be better prepared when I visited again in the evening.
On my way back, I saw a family of four crying and beating their chest. I walked to them and asked them why they were upset. Did something drastic and wrong happen while they bathed? When I approached them, I recognized that this was the same family I had seen near the custodians before I left for my bath.
Holding the receipt, they, including the 2 kids, were crying and told me in Telugu (which I knew well), “Oh, we lost everything. We are doomed. We deposited all our ornaments and cash with the depositors. They just disappeared with their vault. We don’t have money even to feed our children nor to buy tickets to get back home!” A respectable family was left to beg for charity from other visitors there. A pitiful scene.
I was happy that I did not bank my valuables with them. Since multiple IDs are now available, I make it a point not to carry unnecessary valuables while traveling and check the genuineness of operators with the hotel authorities or local permanent shop keepers.
We have to be careful of devils who play on sentiments of innocent even in most pious places. Let us remember, even in mythology, devils are Gods’ neighbours! After all, Ravan co-existed with Ram and Shiva.
I am proud of what I did last week.
My niece (brother’s daughter) was getting married. We have a tradition called ‘Maayra’ in our community where the bride’s maternal uncle (maama) offers valuable gifts to his sister (bride’s mother) and her daughter (bride). This basically is with an intention to contribute towards the wedding expenses.
Taking the bride’s mother in confidence, I approached her brother with a request: “In this marriage, if you approve, we’d like to do away with the tradition of Maayra”
After consulting his family members, maama said that they were fine with that. But in turn, would also like to not have related formalities like ‘Bathhisi’ and ‘Saama Levna’. These are small functions where the sister symbolically invites her brother’s family to the wedding.
Since our side of the family was okay with this, the entire Maayra and related programs were eliminated from the wedding.
Now imagine this. If this maama has 6 sisters and each of the sisters has 2 or 3 children, the maama will have to offer gifts at each of these weddings – let’s say on about 15 occasions. It just does not end there. He will also be a part of the Maayra, though on a smaller scale, at the weddings of each child of each niece as ‘Bad Maayerdar’. Some of the maamas will probably spend a good portion of their lifetime-earnings in Mayraas.
Though this tradition is prevailing since ages, it has become irrelevant in the present time, as the disparity between the rich and the poor has increased widely. In cases where the Maama can afford, they can follow this tradition. But it sets, a keep up with the Joneses syndrome, or an inferiority complex of sorts, for those who cannot afford it financially.
In cases where the Maama cannot afford, he begs, borrows, pledges his jewelry or property just to fulfill this tradition. Rates of interest for such borrowings are normally so high that he is sure to be doomed under the burden of paying just the interest.
Is this a fair tradition in the present day situation?
I feel proud that all the Maayra formalities were eliminated atleast in this wedding. I wish others are inspired and follow similar steps for reform in Society.
As I was lying down in Natarajasan as a part of my morning Yogasana around 6.15 in the morning, Pushpa got our 10-month old granddaughter Aarya to greet me. A lovely, fresh Aarya-style broad smile. The little one came to say hello before she was to leave for a picnic with other family members.
I let my yoga routine be. As I was getting up, Aarya jumped on me. She pointed her finger towards my bedroom window and said “yei, yei”, translating to “entertain me near the window”.
My bedroom is on the first floor of our home and looks down on our lush green, house garden. Shorter plants under tall ashoka trees. Mornings usually have a continuous flow of flying and chirping birds just 5-10ft away. Occasional, multi-coloured butterflies can be seen enjoying their flights around the greenery.
Aarya had to be taken back quickly as others were almost ready to leave for the picnic. But to her call of “yei, yei” and pointed finger at the window, I had to carry her to the window just for a minute or two. She was happy and I was more than happy; just not for those few moments, but for the next few hours.
It is about 6 hours since she left, and I still have a smile on, as if I am continuing to respond to her lively smile. She has been on my mind all this time and whatever I did since this morning went well, full of positive results. I wish everyone is lucky to receive that smile in the morning so that their entire day is peaceful and positive.
As she grows, as she starts to speak, learn, debate and take responsibilities, I wish she continues to speak with me in “yei, yei” language. I wish she does not get or accept the coating of the layers of ego, pride, complications that we add to our natural and pure soul.
I realise now why a child is considered as a form of God. A child arrives into this world with the purest of pure thoughts, with no bias towards wealth, caste or creed, like God. Only thing they know is “Love Every One”. I wish Aarya, the noble, remains the same by soul, though would grow in body and mind.
I wish we all could be the same – smile to say “I Love Every One”!
I was stuck at an altitude of about 11,000 ft above sea level with my imported Honda Civic. The car had stalled.