Tillitonse - A Transformational Journey Together

Hinduism and Islam - Came across this nice piece... Vivekananda did not hesitate to speak his mind about any religion, its great truths and its drawbacks in practice. He did not shy away from the truth that ‘practical advaitism, which looks upon and behaves to all mankind as one's own soul, is yet to be developed among the Hindus.' “On the other hand our experience is that, if ever the followers of any religion approach this equality in an appreciable degree in the plane of practical work-a-day life, it is those of Islam.” While he believed that advaita-vedanta ‘is the religion of the future-enlightened humanity' he was ‘firmly persuaded that without the help of practical Islam, theories of vedantism, however fine and wonderful they may be, are entirely valueless to mankind'.  Therefore, “I see in my mind's eye the future-perfect India rising out of this chaos and strife, glorious and invincible, with vedanta brain and Islam body.” Ultimately, “we want to le...

Beyond the Bullets - The Warmth of the Pakistanis Dec 2012 “So, how many terrorists did you meet?” is unfortunately the most often asked question (in one way or another) since my return from Karachi. Alas, many of us Indians for way too long have been fed on the diet of Pakistan=Terrorism & therefore by association, Pakistanis=Terrorists. My recent week-long trip has opened my eyes and heart to a whole different reality.  I hope this brief note captures the essence of this wonderful journey. First, the Pakistanis are the warmest and most hospitable people I have encountered. I have been around the world a fair bit, but no one has come close in making me feel more welcome. Minutes after landing in Karachi, the extremely friendly and helpful Rozina (immigration official) shared casual banter and told me about her roots from Gujarat, India. During my trip, so many Pakistanis repeated the story of strong family links with India.  My colleagues w...

The Road to Mandalay (“took the road less travelled”… What a ride! ) In October last year, in a moment of weakness, I accepted to go to Myanmar as part of the Quality Assurance (QA) Audit Team. This QA study was meant to check whether the various clinics affiliated with PSI that were inserting IUDs (a birth control device) were adhering to quality standards. The study was to be led by a qualified medical doctor to be accompanied by a program person (me) to provide some balance to the team. I did not think much about this assignment at that point, as I had planned to get out of it and get a medical person to go instead of me. But, given that it takes six months to get a business visa, the die was cast when my name was submitted for the visa. In January, when I tried to get out of the study, folks at PSI/Washington were firm that I had to go. I was quite pissed off. I have just started a new job and taking two weeks for this exercise was not the best use of my time (...

June 17, 2012 Charikot Panaroram Resort, Charikot (up in the hills in Nepal) Falling in Love with the US of A – One More Time… In May 2012, Lata, Sanjana and I made a trip to the US. This was Sanjana’s first trip there…something we promised her that we would do when she turns 10 and it was Lata’s first trip there in 15 years. I had gone back to the US pretty much every year and while I had taken off a few days here and there, I never really had a real vacation there for a long time. In fact, Lata and I had been putting off visiting the US for many years  -“what’s the point going there when everyone is so busy?,” “what’s there to see?” “Been there done that” were some of the things we told ourselves. But boy were we wrong! Over the past few years we had been to Spain and New Zealand, but this trip, showed us how, for us, quality time in the US was way way more enjoyable than anywhere else. Basically, the heady combination of spending time with the people we wa...

The second dip was indeed special! (A lovely weekend in Johnson City, May 2012) In the summer of 1994, Lata and I spent a glorious month with DJ and Gayatri in Johnson City. Joining us during the weekend, were other friends who drove across vast distances (Arjun, P2 and CV to name a few). We just hung out in this little town seemingly in the middle of nowhere and man, did we have a blast! Over the next one-two years, we came back to JC for shorter trips. Last week, 18 summers later, Lata and I (and now with nine year old Sanjana) made the trip to JC one more time to connect with our friends DJ, Gayatri, Devika, Aniruddh (“Oni”) and DJ’s mom. And just like in the old times, we had friends join us (Kolanday, Vandana and lil Samyu flew down from New Jersey). This ‘second’ holiday in JC was simply magnificent and will rank among the best ever.  It’s hard to say what makes something special. Its rarely one thing. Nor is it something that is tangible. It’s often an ama...

..this one is for you Debbie! Learnt this recently..... What are some ways to be happy? 1. Never find fault with others 2. When something bad happens, accept it. In fact, say that it was meant to happen and now that it has, it is over. 3. Whatever you doing, do it with complete conviction - no half measures; and finally the hardest 4. Reduce/eliminate the notion of 'me and mine.' Did this work for you? Phnom Penh, Cambodia...

So Ruby's mom passed away on Jan 3. We were together at the crematorium yesterday. She asked me to join her at one point. She point to the tall silver metallic chimney and said "see the smoke...it really seems like she is going straight to the heavens....I like it" A lovely thought...

As I look back over the past year, I realize that I was fortunate to travel to 15 countries plus an additional 10 trips across India. Yes, it has indeed been a period where I often unpacked and packed on the same day! Yet while travel dominated my calendar in 2011, there is no doubt that the most rewarding trip was not one which involved planes, trains and automobiles, but the journey within. For the past few years, I have been flirting with physical exercises associated with Yoga on one hand and the desire to learn more about the essence of Indian philosophy. In the last quarter of the year, I learnt first hand that these two pursuits were indeed intertwined and my nine-day trip in December to the two Ashrams of the Bihar School of Yoga have energized me like no other! Its early days yet since my trip ended, but the sense of peace and joy that I continue to experience ten days after the trip have given me strong pointers on how I can simplify my life, become calmer and fi...