Category: Choice (Page 2 of 4)

On imagination, discernment and the peace perspective can bring

December 7, 2018 / Sreenath Sreenivasan / 0 Comments

Imagine a little girl with a big paintbrush in her hand. She’s got hold of water colours for the first time and she just cannot wait to paint something.
She chooses the living room wall as her maiden canvas.
Soon, the smooth white wall gets dyed in mild shades of every color in the palette.

Her mother arrives to find that her daughter has painted her dress just as much as the wall she’s been painting on.

The mother could take recourse in two ways.
She could either

a) See things as they are.

Consider it to be a wall in flux, which could be painted over again.
She could use her discernment in a sound direction.

b) See things as if they’re so much more.

Consider it to be disaster and reprimand a budding artist at the outset.
She could use her imagination, albiet in a misleading direction.

The two key phrasess here are

a) sound discernment

b) misled imagination.

Discernment and Imagination are powerful tools, but when used incorrectly either cause us only detriment.

Now imagine the same incident again.
The mother could use another train of thought.

She could either

a) See things as they are

Look at only the colored stains on the wall and not the blobs of a butterflies her child sees through her eyes.
She could use her discernment in an unsound and sterile manner.

b) See things as if they’re so much more

She could not only look at the blobs of the butterflies but use her imagination to see the whole animal kingdom waiting to appear on the living room wall.
She could look at it as the first page of her little daughter’s art portfolio.

She could use her imagination in the right direction. I call it right because it brings peace to both mother and daughter and the art still thrives.

Again, as I’d said earlier, discernment and imagination are powerful tools.
We must make use our wisdom to make the right choice,
The ideal mix of discernment and imagination.

True wisdom though, lay in the mind of an unconditioned child.
Like the little painter, who could see things the ideal way.

By discernment she knew it was a wall but her imagination suggested her to use it as a canvas.

By discernment she knew it to be a blank canvas, but her imagination suggested her that it could be so much more.

The little girl was easily weaving her thoughts using both discernment and imagination as it deemed fit.

Much of the distress we face in life is because of unwise choices between discernment and imagination.

We imagine fear of failure and discern obstacles to be dead ends.
While we could imagine ways to triumph and discern obstacles only to be hurdles that must be jumped over.

The choices we make shape our reality.

Any tool is only powerful if used with wisdom.

With sound discernment and well directed imagination,
Life would reveal itself in ways that serve you best.

Imagine !

Cables of convenience

December 6, 2018 / Sreenath Sreenivasan / 0 Comments

When water comes to me from a silver tap,
I want it either hot or cold
But if I needed to go fetch water in a pail
Just water would do.

What makes the difference?
Is it the metal pipes?
I wonder.

If food comes to me riding on a scooter,
I want it to taste just right,
But if I had to cook myself,
A simple stir fry would do.

What makes the difference?
Is it convenience on discount?
I wonder.

If entertainment comes to me riding on waves,
I want it tailored just right,
But if I’m in the countryside
I just need a street play or the clear sky of the night.

What makes the difference?
Is it the fiber optic cables?
I wonder.

When electricity comes to me breezing from a tube,
Days aren’t long enough, even if lights makes a day of the night,
While in the wilderness, with two bulbs in the sky, the length of each day is always just right.

What makes the difference?
Is it the black cables dangling overhead?
I wonder.

What makes the difference,
What doesn’t enable but un-ables?
Is it the waves in the air, the pipes and
All those cables?

Now I understand,
It took me a while,
All cables make me hungry and immobile.

I observe, learn and understand bit by bit,
Each cable of transmission attenuates the value of what flows in it.

A resource no matter how replete,
My wants can easily deplete,
Partake in need, it makes sense complete,
And easily shall my ends meet.

In moderation, and minimalism
Does lay all the sense
I realise the path that I should tread hence,
Do away with all wants,
And all pretence,
And not be a puppet tied to,
Cables of convenience.

What’s to learn from a Blank Page?

December 5, 2018 / Sreenath Sreenivasan / 0 Comments

This is a blank piece of paper.
Well, it used to be.
Now that I’m writing on it, it isn’t blank anymore.

But wait a moment, and imagine
Is it just a blank page?
Or is it so much more than what we think it is?

A blank page is an ocean of possibilities.

It could be a page where a toddler squiggles his first lines ever with a tiny red pencil.

It could be a crumpled ball that the toddler’s kitten plays with for hours at end.

It could be the first paper plane the little boy makes.

It could be a frog he learns to make in origami class.

It could be a hand-fan he waves to soothe his kitten on a hot summer day.

It could be a cone that contains freshly roasted groundnuts, worth all the riches in the whole wide world.

It could be the first love letter he ever writes, brim with an innocent passion.

Or a mournful poem he pens when he falls in unrequited love.

It could contain a doodle that he sketches, one that has the ideal mix of amusement and hope.

Or it could have wayward scribbles all over, intelligible only to him who’s certain of his confusion.

It could be a painting his old grandmother paints, an artist who finally summons the courage to play with colours again.

It could contain notes of a beautiful symphony his sister composes, one that’s yet to be ever played.

It could contain an elegant equation, that explains deep mysteries of the universe with simple, irrefutable logic.

It could contain a sketch of a prototype he imagines as a young inventor,
An invention that changes the face of mankind.

It could be the declaration of independence, a freedom his nation fought for years to earn.

It could contain his will that he writes realising that the end is near.

Or maybe it can just be a blank piece of paper that ages gracefully.

If a blank sheet of paper could be so much more,
How about the miracle of existence that’s alive in the little boy?
In you?
In me?

Could we be so much more? Just like the blank sheet of paper?

We are not merely a blank page,
We are also the embodiment of energy that can transform it into something beautiful.

We are a billion beautiful possibilities.

Listen to the blank page singing softly,
That you,
as me ,
Just as us all,

Are art in the making.

On Performing best on the stage of life

December 3, 2018 / Sreenath Sreenivasan / 0 Comments

‘All the world is a stage
And all men and women merely players’

Thus, said Shakespeare in one of his poems back in the day.

The beauty of truth is in its timelessness, as captured beautifully in the opening lines of the poem.

At each living moment, we assume the role of someone, the spirit of an ideal.
For instance, at this moment, I represent the spirit of a thinker and writer.
You represent the spirit of a reader.

At times we represent the spirit of a friend, a teacher, a brother, a mother, a listener, a speaker, a traveller, a seeker, a child, a father….

But are we able to perform best in all these roles that we assume on a day to day basis?

Most likely, no.

The reason for this is because we look at the world through the lens of our ego, a lens prone to aberrations and distortion.

Identification of the self with the ego comes at the cost of objectivity.

Let me explain.

Say you somehow find yourself at a social gathering that you’d ideally not attend.
And since you feel quite out of place, you stay aloof and wait for the moment when you can get out of there.
A certain someone comes to you and breaks into a conversation.
Now, at that moment, even if your ego wishes that you were out of this situation, there is no running away from the reality of that moment.

At that moment, you embody the spirit of an attendee, a listener.

Now if you choose to be a good attendee, and listen with utmost attention, you would do yourself and the gentleman you’re interacting with a good favour.

But if you identify yourself with your ego, the kind of person you think you are, and look at the situation from that lens, it’s likely that you’d converse half heartedly with much lesser attention.

Which choice is better in your opinion?
In the greater good, I’d choose the former.

I mentioned an inadvertent situation in the example because most of our interactions are of that nature.

Once we choose to play the best role we can at that moment, and think beyond our Ego, we will function much better as a person and refine our interpersonal relationships.

And, let me assure you that this approach does not come at the cost of individuality.
In fact, it only enhances our personality and refines our objectivity towards situations in life.

With such an outlook, all our half heartedness towards situations will vanish and we would only look to perform our role in the best manner possible at that moment.

And those moments will culminate into a best possible life.

Identify your role in each moment,
And perform best,
The show is always on,
Why not make it meaningful !

A Diwali in true spirit

November 7, 2018 / Sreenath Sreenivasan / 0 Comments

It was the eve of diwali. A celebratory joy had taken over the little hillside village of Jyotigram.

With the advent of the evening, the villagers started lighting up earthen lamps in their homes.
Within half an hour, the whole village had a luminous aura around it.
It was a sight to behold.

Even with the sun setting, darkness could not envelop the village. The flickering flames of the hundreds of earthen lamps kept darkness at bay.

Looking over the village from the little hillock was a young boy named Aadi.
He had worn simple clothes, quite unlike the villagers who had worn their best dresses for diwali.
He had a cloth sack hanging across his shoulders.
And even though he looked modest in his appearance, his eyes shone bright as a full moon on a clear night.

‘What are you doing here son?’ asked a silhouette in the dark.

It was an elderly man called Harish, a photographer from the city who’d come to village to capture the festivity of Diwali.

Aadi recognized him. He had seen the man come to the village a couple of days ago with his camera.

‘I am just enjoying the view of my village all lit up on the eve of Diwali. Isn’t it beautiful?

‘Yes indeed ! It is a breathtaking view from this hillock. As if the villagers have won over the darkness of the night with the light of all the lamps!’ said Harish.

‘Just how we celebrate the victory of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance on this day.’

Aadi didn’t look anywhere else but at the village the whole while as he talked. He seemed happily transfixed by the luminous aura of his village.

‘Are you not celebrating Diwali?’ asked the old man.

Aadi turned around breaking his gaze.

‘In a way I already celebrated it, but in a way I didn’t!’

The answer perplexed Harish.

‘So you lit up a lamp at home and came up to the hill to look at the village is it?’

Aadi looked at Harish lovingly and said,

‘I am a poor village boy Uncle. I cannot afford to buy oil to light up a lamp. Neither do I have the means to buy a gift for my friends nor the ability to make sweets for neighbors.’

Harish felt a sense of guilt, to have made the boy realise his penury on a day of celebration and festivity.

‘I’m sorry to know that my friend.’

‘Ah you don’t have to be sorry. I never pitied myself for my poverty.’

‘But you said you also celebrated Diwali in a way. Would you tell me how you did?’ asked Harish.

‘A month ago, I realised I would not have the means to celebrate Diwali.
So I went to the river bank and sat down to pacify my sombre self.
But then I saw all the heaps of clay on the banks of the river.
And I knew what I had to do to make things better.
I started making earthen lamps with that clay and left them to dry in the sun.
I worked hard night and day and managed to make enough lamps for every household in our small village.
I couldn’t afford oil, but I made the lamps that could contain the oil that would fuel the flame.
Those lamps were my gift to my villagers.
And the sweetness of this sight from the hilltop of all these earthen lamps I made is better than anything I’ve ever tasted. That’s my Diwali.’

There was a majestic delight in his shining eyes as he shared this.

Harish felt as if he’d gotten the best gift he could have gotten on the eve of Diwali.
The gift of perspective.

Both Harish and Aadi looked at the luminous village in awe.
It was a beautiful sight.

Harish clicked a picture of the radiant village from the hilltop.

He gently placed the picture in Aadi’s palm.

Aadi smiled as he looked at the wonderfully shot image. His eyes shone even brighter than the lights of the whole village.

‘A gift for you’ said Harish smilingly.

Aadi slid the picture in his cloth bag. He pulled out an earthen lamp he’d made from the river bed clay and placed it on Harish’s palm.

‘Happy Diwali’ he wished.

Both Harish and Aadi basked in the gentle glow of the village’s luminous aura.
Cherishing a gift unexpected,
A picture and and earthen lamp,
Either of them realised deep inside,
that this was a Happy Diwali indeed.

On Good Gossip

June 25, 2018 / Sreenath Sreenivasan / 0 Comments

For the past four days I have been riding in the mountains near the lower Himalayas. Most of the other vehicles on the road run on fossil fuels. There are motorbikes, SUVs, buses and Army trucks for the most part.
I barely saw another cyclist on the road.

And while all other vehicles on the road have it much easier, my vehicle runs on pedal power. All throughout my journey I have seen people mumble the word ‘cycle’ across the windowpane of their car. If it were a bus or a motorbike, I could hear the word, ‘cycle, cycle’ in the conversation that followed after spotting me.
I could make a good guess that for another five minutes, the people would be talking about the bicycle, the challenge and the spirit of human endeavour.

After a point, I realised how natural it is for people to talk about other people!
Some people like to call it gossip.
The word gossip has a bit of a negative connotation. But can gossip not have a positive spin to it?

As I imagine it, there could be two ways how we can create a culture of positive conversation.

1) Do something remarkable, something positive so that people can notice and talk about it

2) Always be on the lookout for good things people do. Try to start a conversation based on that inherent goodness.

I believe that by bicyling uphill in such a challenging terrain, I inadvertently gave people a positive topic to talk about.

Our actions need to be engineered such that they are remarkable, sharable and worth talking about.

While we are doing something as natural as talking about other people, we should also be mindful of the culture we are creating in the process.

Next time, when you’re with friends, choose a positive aspect to talk about and when you’re busy with work, always strive to do something remarkable, so that others have good things to talk about.

We can’t help but gossip.
Let it at least be refined
Let it be inspiring.

If you have a recurring dream…

June 3, 2018 / Sreenath Sreenivasan / 0 Comments

The ability to dream is a gift we all have access to. Everyone, from the richest to the poorest of poor dream. In fact, it is not even a choice. If you sleep, a dream conjures up out of nowhere.

The imaginative human mind doesn’t stop dreaming even when wide awake.
We often call this state as ‘daydreaming’.
And unlike the involuntary nature of dreams we have while we are asleep, ‘daydreaming’ is pretty much in our control. We can choose what we want to dream about.

Some daydreams change as we grow up. Remember as kids how we dreamt of being pilots, firemen, clowns , soldiers…
Those dreams have definitely changed with time.
But some daydreams do not change with time. Especially the ones we have in early adulthood.
We all have dreams about mastering that one art form, travelling to a place unknown, to have a healthy mind and body, to be loved unconditionally…
These dreams take shape in our youth and stay within us.
And, we are all guilty of not acting on these dreams to make it a reality.
We take a few steps in the right direction but before we know we are off the track.
Remember that gym membership that you never really used ?
Instead, we do things that could rather wait.
We procrastinate.
We are pretty good at it, aren’t we?

But the dream still comes back to us,
Despite our failings.

It is easy to come to the conclusion that we are just lofty dreamers who would never act on our dreams.
Giving up on ourself is simple.
Losing faith is easier than believing in oneself.

But, if a dream keeps coming back to us, it must mean something.
I have always dreamt of being an early riser. I have failed so many times at waking up bright and early yet, I always wished I could do better.
It took me close to 5 years to cultivate a body clock that wakes me up before sunrise no matter what.
Repeated failings did not deter my motivation. The dream was still alive inside me. And while it was easier to give up on it when I was failing, I chose not to.

I had a similar experience with cultivating the habit of writing everyday. I have failed so many times at keeping a daily journal. But after repeated failings, I still was dreaming about it when wide awake.
I wondered, if the thought of writing regularly still lingers in my mind, it must mean something.
After 3 years of trying, I finally have cultivated the habit of writing everyday.

I am citing personal examples to emphasize how these recurring daydreams must be valued so profoundly by your psyche such that they don’t leave you despite repeated failings.

If you have a recurring dream that you never acted upon, or a dream you acted upon multiple times only to have failed to be consistent in the pursuit,
Do not lose heart.
Do not give up on yourself.

The recurrence of the dreams despite repeated failings is a sure sign that you must persevere.
And you will.

All successes stand strong on the bedrock of multiple failures.
Choose to stand up and try again.

Daydreams are the compass we must follow despite losing direction on the journey.

The most satisfying triumph is one when we transform imagination to reality.

With realising a recurring daydream, we have the opportunity to experience that feeling of triumph.

To more dreaming,
To more actions,
To more failings.

One day it will all fall into place.

On gifting sincerely

May 28, 2018 / Sreenath Sreenivasan / 0 Comments

Recently my mother got retired from service. She organised a little get together with all her colleagues and their family. And as the tradition goes, people came with gifts wrapped in shiny wrapping papers, bouquets and some envelops with money. The get together was warm and candid. It served the social purpose .

The next morning I was hoping to see my mom relieved and light since she didn’t have to go to office anymore. Instead I found her a bit lost sitting amid all those boxes and flowers and envelops wondering what to do with them. The minimalist she is, I felt all of these lovingly gifted things weighed her down than lift her spirit.
I looked at one of the envelops and I wondered, ‘ What if instead of money, there were a handwritten note from a colleague who expressed how she has helped them in their Journey together?’ That would lift her spirit and bring a smile on her face for sure.
Physical gifts occupy space in the house and seldom stay in the mind as a memory. A simple letter with an emotional investment stays in the heart for the whole life.
It takes just as much time to reminisce the past you shared and write about it as going to a store to choose something to gift.
The former costs nothing yet reaps you dividends of sincere love from the recipient.

The next time I give someone an envelope, it will have much more emotional investment in it.
A letter.
For I want space in their heart.

What do you think ?

Choosing the right path

May 19, 2018 / Sreenath Sreenivasan / 0 Comments

I was due to leave Thailand in a couple of days. Wondering how to get my bicycle packed in a case, I looked around for a bike shop that could help me.
Fortunately, I found a bike shop, ‘Bok Bok Bike’ run by a kind gentleman named Ma.

I went in to be greeted by his warm, welcoming smile. I felt as if I had arrived at the right place.
I asked him if he could help me get a cardboard casing for packing my bike for the flight back home.
He readily agreed and said I could come on the day I had my flight and pack it up the way I wished.
I felt relieved on hearing his offer.
I asked him for the best way to get the bicycle and my luggage to the airport. He got wondering. He seemed to be thinking of ways I could transport my bike. He suggested that I could book a big cab to the airport.
The following day I reached his shop at 2pm. The box was already waiting for me inside. He helped me pack up my bicycle in the best manner possible.

I asked him what I owed him for his help. He smiled, just the way he did the first time we met.

‘It is free for you. Enjoy your ride back home!’

And I knew I could never make an even offer with money.

‘Ma, can you help me book a cab?’ I asked.

‘Oh, one of my friends stays close to the airport. He will be visiting me in the evening.
You can go with him to the airport in his pickup truck. Just pay for the toll.
You’ll save time and money.’

At that moment I felt grateful and helpless at the same time. Grateful for him abundant kindness and helpless for I could think of no way to make up for his help on an immediate basis.

I rushed to my bag and took out my Polaroid camera.

‘Ma, I have a little project I wish to share with you. I click pictures for all the kind and helpful people I meet on my journey.

Can I click a picture for you?’

He readily agreed and I clicked a candid picture for him in his shop.
I hugged him goodbye with sincere hope of meeting him in India when he bicycles here on a tour.

Today, I reached Kolkata, India.
Here, I am staying with my childhood friend’s family.
I had issues with my SIM card not being active when I came back to India. My friend’s father sent me with his driver to the mobile store to get my sim reactivated. The driver, Ratanjeet, a chatty Bengali folk made good conversation all throughout our ride to the store.
He helped me communicate with the mobile store staff in Bengali.
We were told that the SIM will be activated only 48 hours later.
As we were leaving the shop Ratanjeet asked me,

‘Sir, it would be so much trouble to not have a phone for two days.
We can get a new SIM for you in my name. You can use it for two days and then give it to me when you leave.
I’ll use it later as needed.’

I was pleasantly surprised by his eagerness to find a solution.

‘Thank you so much Ratanjeet, but I think it will be okay for me to not have a number for a couple of days. ‘

In the evening, I sat back and wondered about these two incidents that happened with a span of 24 hours in two different countries.
Two complete strangers went out of their way to help me in the best manner possible. In fact, it wasn’t even about me. I am sure they would have gone out of their way to help someone they thought they could help.

Then I realised,
These kind humans,
are not going out of their way at all.

Helping people in need, is the only right way in their eyes.

We often hear elders tell us to choose the correct path in our life. After meeting these two gentlemen, I am convinced that the correct way,
The noble path,
Is one where there are avenues to help others.

Grateful for the profound lessons my friends Ma and Ratanjeet introduced me to,
I too am enthusiastic to join their tribe,
Of kind strangers,
On the noble path,
Of helping people with an open heart.

The seed we are all sowing…

May 17, 2018 / Sreenath Sreenivasan / 0 Comments

Each tiny seed has a mighty tree waiting inside it.
A single seed being a microcosm of all of what the tree it came from is like.
Many seeds,
Many trees,
The possibility of a thriving forest!

Now, consider this.

Each of your actions is your own seed,
Your own karmic fingerprint.
Each little action is a microcosm of all you are, all your future could be.
Many actions,
Many stories,
The possibility of a thriving life!

Once you realise this,
The smallest of actions can only be done with greater love.
Being responsible at every moment will become second nature.

And each of the seeds we plant,
Each of our little actions,
Will manifest into its highest possible expression.

We can start small.
How about listening to someone with complete attention?
Or keeping an organised living space?
Or smiling with an open heart?
Or playing and learning from children?

Little steps.
Little actions.
With a little smile throughout,
We’re planting a forest of the future after all !

May it thrive !
Realising all of its expression.

Let us begin my friend.
Let us begin.