Money With A Purpose

To aspire for a comfortable life is a perfectly fair aspiration, but the only valid reason to get rich beyond that is to help others: either by donating to worthwhile causes or by creating employment (I call this Compassionate Entrepreneurship).

To keep chasing money just so that you can call yourself a millionaire or billionaire is plain shallow. No one with a clean conscience can sleep easy with unnecessary wealth in his or her account while millions around the world struggle for even basic survival: three meals a day, two pairs of clothes and a simple roof over their heads.

THE Most Important Mantra

THE most important Mantra (and its translation) to contemplate and act upon:

Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye

Jo Peed Paraayi Jaane Re

--Narsinh Mehta (15th century poet-saint of Gujarat, India; Honored as Adi-Kavi (First Poet) of the Gujarati language).

Translation:

Call them the true devotees of Vishnu

Who feel the pain of others

(Full composition here: Vaishnava Jana To - Wikipedia)

Minus this understanding, all other spiritual practices and religious pursuits are simply bogus.

Aircraft Safety At Indian Airports

In the USA, Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) mandates a two minute gap between successive landings and takeoffs to minimize the risk associated with wake turbulence.

I recently heard that Delhi airport is presently functioning with a 30 second interval between successive landings and takeoffs. If true, this is a massive safety breach.

The article below explains what is wake turbulence. The subheading "Incidents Involving Wake Turbulence" in the article lists crashes caused by it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake_turbulence

I also invite you to read the following article:

Close Call at Mumbai Airport

Unless we mandate a 2 minute gap between successive landings and takeoffs - as is required in USA by their Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) -  we're playing with fire.

I Am That

Below is a book recommendation, but first some remarks on a mistake many meditators (spiritual aspirants) commonly make:

You are seeing things upside down if 1) You hold thoughts such as "I am the Supreme Self" or "I am the Supreme Consciousness" or "I am Brahman" when pursuing activities in the world; and 2) You are thinking about what you did or did not or need to do or who said what when you sit to meditate.

No no no 😊! The right way is as follows:

1) When pursuing your activities in the world, focus 100% on what you are doing! Forget about yourself and who you are altogether and immerse yourself completely in whatever you are doing; and 2) When you sit to meditate, forget about the world altogether - past, present, future, everything - and simply be with the silence that you are.

With this clarity, I invite you to read one of the most fascinating books I've ever come across. This simple, unassuming man, cuts right through to the heart of the matter and can simply burn all illusions, delusions, obstacles down if you pay attention.

Buy I am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Book Online at Low Prices in India | I am That: Talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj Reviews & Ratings - Amazon.in

Happy reading and practicing 😊!

Strong Book Recommendation

Here is a strong book recommendation regardless of which religion you subscribe to (or whether you are an atheist or agnostic). Agreements and disagreements with what this man says aside, I promise you one thing: By the end of the book you will be touched that someone so innocent and guile free lived amongst us.

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Volume - 1 (chennaimath.org)

The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna Volume - 2 (chennaimath.org)

A few remarks are important to bear in mind:

1. This is a record of conversations between a saint and his disciples in the late 19th century in conservative Bengal. Most of his interactions were with conservative Bengalis and references to caste were unavoidable in those days. But it is an established fact that Shri Ramakrishna actively discouraged caste distinctions and spoke against untouchability. Even today, the temple that was his home (Dakshineshwar) as well as his personal room there are open to everyone who wishes to visit.

2. A large part of this book is a record of conversations between Shri Ramakrishna and his male monastic disciples. You will thus hear him being very firm about abstinence from sex and living a life of minimal means. Being a salt of the Earth personality, his way of expressing this was simply: Renounce "woman and gold". Female disciples received their instruction from Shri Ramakrishna's wife, Sarada Devi, who was equally firm about staying away from "men and gold" to female monastic disciples.

However, their instruction and advice to normal folks like us who might be in a relationship or marriage, is obviously different! We are encouraged to steadily move beyond our craving for sex and relate to our partner or spouse more deeply in time. I personally think this is valuable advice! When I see folks who are frail in old age still craving sex, I feel sad for them. That's a clear sign that mental and intellectual growth stopped at some point. By then one has seen a naked woman or man and had sex 100s of times! Its time to move on to something higher instead of repeating an act again and again! I mean, imagine teens and adults playing with toy trains instead of moving on from childhood as expected in normal human growth! And the mental preparation for being "above the craving for sex" in old age obviously has to start earlier, say in the 50s. For most of us sex is a strong craving and it will take some time to loosen its grip on our minds and let go.

Likewise with money: No saint has ever spoken against earning money honestly and living a decent, comfortable, life in the world. But every saint (a) discourages greed and excessive attachment to wealth and (b) encourages us to practice charity to the best of our ability and help uplift the downtrodden. Shri Ramakrishna is no different.

3. Shri Ramakrishna's personal path to enlightenment was Bhakti Yoga (the path of devotion). Now if you are more inclined towards the other paths (Gyaan Yoga (path of knowledge), Karma Yoga (path of action), Raj Yoga (path of meditation)), that's certainly your choice! But you'll still gain wisdom from him.

4. It's perfectly fine to agree on some points and disagree on others. He openly respected and encouraged a questioning attitude. Just make sure you are sincere with your questions, agreements and disagreements. That's all any saint worth his or her salt expects.

I hope you enjoy meeting a really sweet human being in these pages as much as I have ☺️!

Never Let Your Desires Make You Weak!

Voluminous treatises have been written on the subject of desire. But this short, simple, statement that a saint once made to his disciples hit home for me:

"Never let your desires make you weak."

Absorb this statement deeply. List out all your desires in your diary. Then stand in front of a mirror, look straight into your eyes, and resolve: "I know what I want and I'm going to work for it. If I get what I want, I'll celebrate. And if I don't get what I want, then too I'm none the less for it! I shall not grovel, I shall not bend at my knees, I shall not compromise my self respect, character and integrity, no matter what. My sense of inner completeness shall not depend on external gains and losses, victories and defeats. The world is transient. My sense of contentment and fulfilment within isn't. With this spirit, I play the game of life. And I'm going to enjoy every minute of it - win or lose."

I look around and am just amazed at how easily people let their minds weaken! By all means buy yourself a bike or a car or a house if you want, or ask a woman or man you like out, but understand that you are not going to reduce in your identity even if you don't get all this, or if you get and then lose it all! You are going to be still you!

Are you getting what I'm saying?

We're all here for a short time 😅! Take life as a sport, as a game, enjoy it, be light-hearted, and when the referee blows the whistle, when the game is over, have a good laugh - win or lose, shake hands all around and come home!

PS-1: And please stop buying stuff on EMI 😅! Putting yourself in debt to buy a phone or bike or car is plain silly 😅! You don't have to prove anything to the world and don't need others' approval to be happy 😅! Most of the world doesn't care for you anyway, so who are you trying to impress and why 😅?

PS-2: I also invite you to read: Strike a Pause: Money With A Purpose

Keep The World In Its Place

I see so many people making compromises to "get ahead in life", some become "yea sayers", in academia some publish half baked papers, some overwork their PhD students, some fluff up their CVs (I personally know an Ex-IITD prof who used to call B. Tech. projects "dissertations" 🤦when projecting himself for administrative positions!).

And look at someone like Swami Vivekananda in comparison: No need for anyone to give him any title, position, promotion! Lived a life of such integrity, such character, that even people holding the highest positions humbly folded hands in his presence. And which home hasn't opened their doors to welcome his spirit even after his passing?

As I often remark: All "Full Professors", "Dean Sahabs" and "Director Maharajas" on one side and the simple straightforward Swami Vivekananda on the other - Swami Vivekananda wins hands down.

It's time people got over chasing this madness; Assistant this today, Associate that tomorrow, "Full" the day after, Junior this, Senior that, ...

Be still. Live lives so solid, so good, that you feel like a beautiful human being within! Bring yourselves to a point where it doesn't even matter whether the world pays any attention to you or not. You know within that you're good - that's quite enough!

Then you will know fulfilment.

Confidence-Humility / Arrogance-Shame

I once heard a saint say: "Either you bow your head in humility or some day you will have to lower it in shame. Nature does not tolerate arrogance."

And I have seen this statement come true innumerable times.

Be humble. Confidence is fine, arrogance not. Stay humble.

Women In The Armed Forces

Just had a fascinating discussion on "women in the armed forces". Collectively came to a conclusion that, to me at least, is the wisest viewpoint on this topic that I've seen in a while. Here goes:

As long as the strength of the armed forces, the capability to defend at all times, attack when needed, and win wars, stays the central focus, gender is irrelevant. But the armed forces cannot be allowed to weaken one bit in the name of "gender equality" (or any other form of "affirmative action" for that matter). There are some things that just cannot be compromised. National security is one of them.

Given that pretty much every single sport except soccer (football) has shorter time/space challenges for women compared to men, exceptions aside, for the most part women can probably play a more meaningful role in Engineering and Medical Corps instead of going to the front, where strength, stamina and endurance are of paramount importance.

I think the above is very sensible.

A Teaching Appreciation Gesture That Moved Me Deeply!

Below is a photograph of a gift I received at the end of the semester a few years ago.

This was one of the early instances when a student said or did something at the end of the semester that made me feel that maybe I'm on to something. Formal teaching awards are fulfilling too (and I've won my share of them), but these heartfelt intimate moments of appreciation move you very deeply. I remember just falling silent for the whole evening the day I received this. Look at the simplicity, the innocence! A simple handwritten note framed neatly so that I can keep it for years to come. And I'm doing just that!

I know I'm in a severe severe minority today in my emphasis on the need to give quality of teaching primary importance in educational institutions (just consider the irony in what I've just said!). But the truth stays the truth: The very quality of society we are creating and living in depends more than anything else on this one thing - Quality of Teaching.

What about research then, you might ask. To that, I say this:

The way to maintain a teaching - research balance is to simply keep teaching loads reasonable so that faculty members get the time to do their research; and then demand that both be of the highest quality. That's it.

I don't know what good deeds I did to deserve this blessing of living a life immersed in knowledge. But I'll take it 😊! I'll lap it up 😊!

The Obsession With Awards And Honours!

This is an important video of Nobel Prize winner Dr. Richard Feynman to watch. Just 2 minutes and 36 seconds of your time :)!

Richard Feynman: I Don't Like Honors

Underlines a point I make as often as I can: We are here to do what genuinely interests us, and do it as best as we can - not what will get us prizes or honors.

There's a difference.

Decisions regarding awards and honors are made by other people as per their mindsets, intelligence and understanding. If that becomes our focus, then we are no longer driven by what fascinates and motivates us naturally and we miss the whole point and joy of pursuing our passions and seeking answers to questions that we are genuinely and deeply curious about - - whatever the subject in question might be: science, philosophy, art, music, literature, law, ... 

Note 🙂: As I always remark when I post a Richard Feynman video, although he has inspired me no end, in terms of scientific philosophy I find myself more inclined towards Prof Erwin Schrodinger and gladly recommend reading "Erwin Schrodinger and the Quantum Revolution" by John Gribbin.

Swami Vivekananda: One of My Favorite Personalities!

Everyone has his/her favorite personalities and I respect everyone's choices 🙂.

One of my absolute favorite persons and someone I wish had lived on for a few more decades to guide the world to a higher state of wisdom is Swami Vivekananda. Naren, as I take the liberty of referring to him in affection, went too soon, way too soon 🙂.

He could do something that I have seen very few people do: Synthesize!

No matter whether you are a theist or atheist or agnostic or which religion or culture you belong to, read his works. He will touch you deeply and will awaken a sense of strength as well as humanity in you at the same time.

I prefer reading books in hard copy and gladly recommend that you get a set of his complete works and read a bit every day.

If you prefer reading online, here you go 🙂: 

https://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/complete_works.htm

PS: You'll likely agree with Swami Vivekananda on some points and disagree with him on others (which is a sign of an awake intelligence anyway :)), but more importantly, you will catch his spirit of ceaselessly pursuing knowledge and truth and an unflinching commitment to maintaining the highest character and integrity in every aspect of life.

With my best wishes, always :)!

Must Read For Over Bearing Over Protective Parents!

Here's a very important song for parents and teenagers to hear alike: Pink Floyd - " MOTHER " The Wall 1980 (youtube.com)

Sometimes mothers get over-protective (story of this song) and sometimes it's the fathers. Either way, not good 😊 as it stunts the development of their sons and daughters.

Parents have two jobs at hand: 1) Make sure their children grow up to be men and women of integrity and 2) Make sure their children grow up to be men and women capable of thinking and living independently.

For the first, lead by example. Children and the youth are intelligent and observant. They learn more by watching you than by listening to what you say.

For the second, as your children grow up and pass through their teenage years, encourage them to think for themselves and take responsibility for their decisions and actions.

The two biggest decisions any human being takes are: 1) What to do with their lives professionally, and 2) Whom to marry (if they choose to marry at all). At least in India, most parents fail their children on both these counts.

I have seen 16-18 year olds being told which career path to choose by their parents on the pretext that their brains are not fully developed to take this decision 😅! Well, this way their brains will never get fully developed 😅! This is the age when one transitions into adulthood and starts asking the big question of what to do with one's life. If even this decision, what to study in college, is not their own, where is the hope of them being able to think independently and confidently on any other matter. Not to mention the frustration they will go through for years and years because they are doing what they simply don't enjoy doing!

And the curse of arranged marriage is simply not leaving India for some reason! Who to spend one's entire life with has to be one's own decision. Absolutely nothing else makes any sense whatsoever!

Be humble parents, be humble! Listen to your children, listen to your teenagers! Yes, when needed, discipline them by all means, but listen first, and know the difference between disciplining someone and being over-bearing and over-protective. It's a gentle balance to keep and your getting this balance right is critical for your children's future. You will leave this Earth some day. Make sure you leave behind confident, happy, fulfilled adults capable of independent thought and action.

For A Community Or Nation To Be Respected Comprehensively

For any people (community or nation) to be respected comprehensively, it is imperative that from that people emerge individuals and groups exhibiting excellence in all subjects: STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), Social Sciences (Sociology, History, ...), Humanities (Literature, Poetry, ...) and Fine Arts (Music, Painting, Sculpture, ...). If you underemphasize STEM, you will stay dependent; If you underemphasize Social Sciences, you will experience non-inclusive development and will stay unaware and intellectually shallow; If you underemphasize Humanities and Fine Arts, you will stay coarse and unrefined aesthetically.

And how does one achieve this balance?

1. Invest appropriately in all subjects: At the level of education as well as creating jobs.

2. Bring forward the best in every field to talk about their journeys and showcase how interesting and fascinating each subject is.

3. Insist on meritocracy. Affirmative action needs to be about a) ensuring everyone is treated equally, 2) the economically disadvantaged get all possible help and support in preparing for a fair and square competition and 3) everyone has equal access to opportunities. That's it. This much in place, it is for each person, each community, each nation to pull up their socks and earn their spot.

The Language of Nature

I invite you to see this video : Richard Feynman - The language of Nature (youtube.com)

This one is critical to absorb if you're interested in understanding nature: A good knowledge of Mathematics is a must. There is simply no way around it.

Unfortunately sometimes folks get turned away from Mathematics either because they weren't taught by good teachers or didn't refer to good books or some other reason. You have to beat these reasons and find a way to start enjoying Math again if you're serious about science and your curiosity about nature is deep and sincere.

Note 🙂: As I always remark when I post a Richard Feynman video, although he has inspired me no end I find myself philosophically more inclined towards Prof Erwin Schrodinger and gladly recommend reading "Erwin Schrodinger and the Quantum Revolution" by John Gribbin.

PS 😅: This is a Theoretical Physicist talking about the importance of Mathematics. Certainly not an advertisement billboard claiming that "Pure Mathematics" and "Pure Mathematicians" are "special" in some way or the other 😅!

Science and Mathematics Coursework in Engineering Education

I don't know about the rest of the world but there are now colleges in India that are graduating engineers without college level physics education in mechanics (classical and quantum), electricity & magnetism and special relativity, and at least one college level chemistry course.

This is disastrous! Not only is this much exposure to physics and chemistry required in any engineering branch in itself, the entire field of engineering activity in the world today is multi-disciplinary! On any given day, any real world engineering task today requires mechanical, electrical, chemical and other engineers to work together towards a common objective. And the foundation of this inter-disciplinary collaboration capability rests on "core courses" that are required for all branches.

[You will also find computer scientists claiming things like "computer science education does not require continuous mathematics like calculus - just discrete math is enough". But that is just too ridiculous for me to write a dedicated post on.]

The Highest Academic Post

The highest academic post is simply "Professor". All leadership positions - Head of Department, Dean, Director, Vice Chancellor - are simply administrative responsibilities that one takes (or does not) depending on how inclined one is towards administrative work.

These are *not* positions *above* Professor that one is "promoted" to.

Which is why every respectable university has its administrators declaring themselves as "Professor and Department Head", "Professor and Dean", and so on. The academic title of Professor is always declared first followed by the administrative role one has taken up at the present time.

Whenever you meet someone trying to pull rank based on administrative responsibilities, know that you are face to face with an intellectually shallow academic. Which inevitably translates into a shallow administrative temperament and a less than fulfilling work atmosphere.

The Fallacy of the H-Index

Here's an article by Prof. Mark Guzdial, Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, that I highly recommend:

Article H-indices and how academic publishing has changed: Feynman and Einstein just aren’t that impressive anymore | Computing Ed Research - Guzdial's Take (wordpress.com)

This is the second consecutive post I'm putting up to emphasize that while I'm in agreement with Indian academia's desire to break away from a "teaching-heavy research-light" mindset and establish a new paradigm wherein teaching and research are emphasized equally - and while I too believe that we can and must make a global impact in knowledge generation (instead of remaining just knowledge transmitters) - merely chasing quantitative metrics that might be in vogue from time to time may not work!

Both posts are probably worth reading together as a single group.

Publish AND Perish

Here is an article that I believe is worth reading seriously: Pressure to 'publish or perish' may discourage innovative research, UCLA study suggests (psypost.org) 

Underlines a point that I make repeatedly:

"Yes, we need to be a research active academia; Yes, we need to publish globally and make an impact; BUT we *must* avoid the trap of indulging in what I like to call shallow-hubu-bubu research just to build numbers. That leads to what are known as mickey-mouse papers which no one reads or respects. Such research only serves to distract us from serious academics, which is: high quality research and high quality teaching."

The article also resonates with my view that tenure and career progression policies at academic institutions need to encourage a bit of risk taking and allow researchers to gamble a bit with tougher problems. Results not coming "quickly" or "numbers" not getting generated prolifically shouldn't be as much of an issue as it seems to be today. Quite on the contrary, if the effort is genuine and sustained, this is probably a sign that someone is on to something serious.

The question of course arises: How do we judge whether the effort is genuine and sustained?

One way to address this concern is: Presentations of one's research every five years or so in front of domain experts as well as the academic community at large. Among other things, this might also spark off interesting academic interactions and collaborations.

We need to bring back the spirit of qualitative evaluations and appraisals to some extent. I'm convinced of that.

[Plus any tenure/career-progression policy at universities that doesn't explicitly consider teaching and theses guidance quality simply needs to be put in the dustbin. Our students are our first commitment. Period.]

Undergraduate and Postgraduate Teaching: A Case for Equal Emphasis

I usually put a lot of emphasis in my posts on the need for as much emphasis on postgraduate education and research as on undergraduate teaching in Indian academia - particularly in private universities that have traditionally focused almost completely on undergraduate education.

In this post I want to highlight an imbalance in the other direction at many of our universities:

Many of our central and state government universities have their "main campuses" where faculty members exclusively teach postgraduate classes and guide Masters and Doctoral theses. And the undergraduate teaching load is essentially entirely transferred to the university's constituent and affiliated colleges where faculty members take on an insane amount of teaching load that can burn out even the most motivated of researchers!

This is not only one of the biggest factors behind the overall lukewarm research culture in Indian academia - it also introduces a false dichotomy in academia in terms of responsibilities undertaken, performance evaluations and career growth prospects. The "main university" faculty members become some sort of VIPs who take a disproportionately low teaching load and then exhibit their higher research productivity.

The very same problem also exists in institutes such as IISc, TIFR and many other institutes under DAE and DST. "Professors" at these institutions engage themselves in minimal to zero undergraduate teaching throughout their careers. No surprises then that the number of postgraduate students they guide and the amount of research they produce is higher than many other institutes who are delivering on all three fronts: undergraduate, masters and doctoral.

This has to stop. If Nobel Laureates and Fields Medalists around the world have the time and energy to engage with all three levels of students, there is absolutely no reason why our professors can't find the time.

This is a shirking of academic responsibility - nothing else.

My most preferred academic model is the American model. Everyone shares responsibilities equally - the ranks of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor are simply indicative of academic maturity.

Karma / Being Saved

I take whatever I feel is positive from every religion and philosophy. But I also raise questions where I'm not convinced.

For example, here's something I question in Christianity. No offense intended of course 🙂 and responses are welcome 🙂!

I'm told that if someone accepts that Jesus died for his/her sins, they are saved.

I question this. It seems too convenient. A shortcut. I would rather we take complete responsibility for our actions : past, present and future. Where's the self respect in someone else dying for our sins? If I've sinned, I'll bear my cross too. I prefer this attitude.

We call this the philosophy of Karma in the Hindu, Sikh and Buddhist paths. Our present circumstances are the result of our past Karma, our past actions. And we take responsibility for shaping our future with our actions today. This viewpoint appeals to me more.

Furthermore, if someone does relieve me of my Karmic burden, why insist on me believing in him/her for my salvation? Let me realize this act of grace by myself. Gratitude will arise naturally. Let me be free to learn, explore, realize truths. Let my salvation depend on my actions instead of a belief.

Are you seeing what I'm saying?

CAA Simply Needs One Modification

If you consider the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), there are positives : I see no problems with granting citizenship to folks who have landed up here while escaping persecution elsewhere. [Also see note at the end.]

But we cannot refuse this option to Muslims who face persecution. And there are some Muslim communities that do in some places! Shias, Sufis and Ahmadis are Muslim communities that have faced persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan. They have to be accommodated.

And here is why Shias, Sufis and Ahmadis can be included in CAA but not Rohingyas:

If you go through this (fairly detailed) article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohingya_people , you will come across the following paragraph:

"In other cases, in Myanmar and in Bangladeshi refugee camps Hindu (particularly women) are reported to have faced kidnapping, religious abuse and "forced conversions" by Muslim Rohingyas.[278][280]"

We are nice, not stupid. We cannot risk our citizens in the name of being good.

To the best of my knowledge, Shias, Sufis and Ahmadis offer no such threat. They come in peace. We can absorb them.

Muslims belonging to the Sunni majority who might have come illegally just for economic reasons need to go back. I agree with that. Just as folks from Nepal who have illegally entered our country need to go back. We have a large scale unemployment problem ourselves and cannot accommodate illegal immigrants.

But the minority groups that face persecution elsewhere need to be accommodated. That they will need to abide by the laws of our land is a given. But who says they won't? Where's the problem? Why should we imagine problems when none exist?

Note: Apparently there are some voices of dissent that are objecting to the CAA on the basis that people who will be given refuge will "affect the culture" of their states. This is just pathetic! If someone is in trouble, we help them. If this is not a part of your "culture", you are simply not cultured enough. Grow up!