Duryodhana Vs Yudhisthira

It is said that Duryodhana went around the country and declared that all men have evil intentions & they are good till they get a chance to do something bad whereas, Yudhisthira declared that all are good hearted & commit mistakes only because of circumstances. It is claimed that, this conclusion itself is an evidence for the latter's purity and the former's wickedness!!!

I have been seriously thinking about this for a while now. I seem to agree more with Duryodhana though I have not harmed any one intentionally and have helped people when they are in need etc. If you describe a "normal to good" kind of person, i would fit in there. if you describe self centered, wicked person, I would not fit in that explantion... Inspite of that I seem to agree with Duryodhana more than I would with Yudhisthira. If I think of the levels of betreyals I have faced personally, my parents had to withstand, a few of my friends have to swallow it hard,  Duryodhana seems to be right. Most of the people seem to be righteous because they do not have a chance to be wicked!!!

Not sure, I have taken this view because of the recent past or my learnings from my parents' life. However the point I want to make is, it is not how good you are makes you to come to any of these conclusions, it is how good the other people around you are makes you to come to conclusions. If Yudhisthira had come to this conclusions, either he was sorrounded with many "normal to good" or "good" people or he was stupid enough not to understand what is happening around him!!!

What is right?

It was election time; there were quite a number of political meetings every where; the two major parties were fighting for power- literally - throwing stones at each other; in the meanwhile, there was a murder in city; one person from a financially backward group is murdered; there were powers trying to suppress this story; the investigating police officer, who is also supposed to give security for the political meetings needs leave desperately for a personal reason.... if he goes on leave how will the journalists react?

It was exam time; two young daughters both in final years of their respective education streams - 10th and 12th standard; both need mother's attention; if not attention, they need her support at least; the mother has to go to their native place for some reason; if the mother leaves the children, when they are in crucial phases of life, how will the magazines describe it?

it was death bed; there was an old man slowly dying; his eyes are fixed at the door, expecting his children; his wife is running around to take care of him; his children have not come... what kind of article are you expecting in the very same magazines? it's election time.... it's exam time.... You know, I am talking about the same family.... in all three stories.... The old man is looking for his son - a policeman, and daughter - who is helping his granddaughters! Can someone tell me, what is right? How quickly we (people and media) make judgments about others without understanding all factors! 

Back again... After 4 months of silence

I wrote my last blog on the last working day in my previous organization. After that I took a break of two months and joined my current employer in first week of April.

I was free from work but busy with a lot of other things in life during those two months. And then the first two months in the new place made me busy with work also.

Today, I decided to take life back in my hands... and I am back to blogging. Hope to write once a week at least...

Newton’s third law

Recently I have been thinking about the much quoted third law – ‘every action has an equivalent and opposite reaction’. I was wondering how much this law of physics is applicable in the corporate world.


After so much of contemplation, I feel that it is applicable every bit; however, Newton has not mentioned about inaction or not acting at right time. In my experience, inaction also has a reaction but the magnitude is just not same as the magnitude of inaction. It becomes multifold!!! It affects not only the person not acted / not acted on time, but also everyone associated with him / her. Being indecisive is a costly affair in corporate world – for that matter, in any walk of life.

I learnt this lesson from someone’s mistake. This person could have taken a decision in August, but did not take a decision till October and finally the decision was thrust on him in November by someone else. Ultimately, the entire unit suffered in November thru January. In November again, this person was given a chance to decide on something else, but again there was inaction!!!

A corollary to this lesson is, if you think the inaction is wrong, and you can take action at your level, you should take action. Basically, do what you believe is right. If not these indecisiveness and inactions of other people will haunt you. I should have acted in August though the other person did not act; because of this, I lost a few weekends and valuable Six Sigma Master Black Belt classes!!! Life is too costly to be lost like this!!!

Are you a vegetarian?

This is a question I have been asked most of the time recently. Vegetarianism is catching up these days. A lot of people promote veggie food for various reasons. You would have read articles on carbon foot prints, cholesterol control and weight reduction programs; most of these promote vegetarian food. You may not mind these articles as there is some amount of truth in it. Whether we – the non-vegetarian species of mankind – like it or not, non-veg food has a bad impact on the cholesterol levels though certain types of proteins and HDL can come only from them.

I read somewhere that those who get up early in the morning develop a pride that they are able to get up earlier than other people and they are a bit of arrogant about it. Those who get up early due to their nature are not arrogant and only those who train themselves are. This was a survey result published by one of the reputed universities of the US. If they conduct a similar survey about our vegetarian friends, they would probably come to the same conclusion with a slight variation – almost all of them are same. There is a ray of boasting about the food habit. They fail to understand that it is only a habit and not a virtue. Many of them claim that they do not kill an animal for their taste buds. Yes, they do not kill an animal; but they kill a plant / seed / fruit for their taste buds and there is nothing wrong in it. It is how nature has designed the eco system – one species – be it an animal / plant, it has to depend on other species for food. Though plants produce their own food, they consume the animal bodies buried under them as fertilizer.

When you eat spinach, you have killed a plant; when you eat tomato, you kill more lives as seeds than you would kill when you eat an egg; it is more cruel to eat certain varieties of greens as you would have only plucked the leaves and not killed the plant as such. It is comparable to just cutting a limb of an animal and eating. It is just that you do not hear them screaming. But unfortunately the veggie groups do not understand this and claim that they are more kind than their non-veg counterparts.

Of course non-veg food will affect your blood pressure level and cholesterol level; veg food with a lot of oil/ghee/butter/pannier would do the same thing to you. The spices added to the non-veg dishes affect the mental stability, emotions and your ability to meditate. It is the quality of the spices; it does not matter whether you eat vegetable biriyani or mutton biriyani – it has the same effect on your emotions. So be watchful of what you eat.

Once, someone asked Jesus Christ about food habits. He replied politely that what comes out of the mouth is more important than what goes in to it; and he asked his disciples to be careful about their words more than their food. Who would know about love and kindness more than him!!! He was ready to sacrifice his life for his brotheren!!!

Kannappa nayanar worshipped Shiva with all kinds of raw flush and liquor; but was ready to spare his eyes for curing Shiva’s eyes. Who would know about love and kindness more than him!!!

So friends, before you comment on any one’s food habits, please think for a minute… being kind is different from your food habits…Food habits are only habits and not virtues!!! You are not any greater just because you eat only plants and not animals!!! It is not a sin to eat animals!!!