From Ralph Waldo Emerson

But when the mind opens, and reveals the laws that traverse the universe, and make things what they are, then shrinks the great world at once in to mere illustration and fable of this mind.
A more secret, sweet, and overpowering beauty appears to man when his heart and mind open to the sentiment of virtue. Then he is instructed in what is above him.

Divinity School Address Chapter
Book: Nature and other things.

Shishya in Singapore

Naga is famous as biscuit Naga among his friends. A classmate from BE days.

A very determined and diplomatic(thats why title biscuit), never gives up anything he sets his mind on. Last one year he has been searching for 'suitable girl'. He was not getting one. They were just girls not suitable girls. He never gave up. After one year he got engaged this month. So Naganna will be son-in-law of Chitradurga from now on.

After BE when we were care of foot path (coutesy IT Slowdown), our hero wanted to tame the CAT(common admission test). But after the results he thought it's not for LIONs like him. That was end of CAT story in Nagannas dictionary.

He worked in telecom domain and then went in to retail. Now he is in to banking. Last saturday night, his majesty left for Singapore. He will be working for a company in Singapore.We can expect Singapore biscuits now. We all miss him here.

Universal Love…

Daisaku Ikeda: It is impossible to achieve universality of love if one’s emotions are narrow and prejudiced in their application. Moreover, the love that is not universal but founded on prejudice is not love in the truest sense.
The Highest Human Value Chapter—Book: Choose Life-A Dialogue-Arnold Toynbee and Daisaku Ikeda.
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My Opinion: Due to media the love is projected as one that happens between a man and woman. The influence of this is so subconscious that when you say word love, most of us relate to this kind. The ideals such as universal love are hardly discussed or cared about.

Self-mastery….

Arnold Toynbee: The most important objective for a human being, both for his own sake and for the sake of the society, is to improve his karma. The only way to improve it is for him to increase his self-mastery, and the struggle to master one’s self is the personal action of an individual human being. Individual spiritual progress and regress fluctuate.
Good and Evil Chapter-Book: Choose Life-A Dialogue-Arnold Toynbee and Daisaku Ikeda.

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My Opinion: Trying self mastery is going to be tough. For that we need to have faith in ourselves and others around us. It’s to believe in the highest potential of all and never to judge or look down on anyone. It’s not easy to have self mastery of this kind, as mind is frequently dragged in to greed, anger and stupidity. But the journey of self mastery is interesting one, provided we accept it and try to move on that path.


Choose Life: Oxford University Press.

Mass or Class? How about both?

I was just thinking about this today. Movies like Munnabhai Series have again brought back hope that films can be made for both mass and class. It's just the pure hardwork and simplicity thats required. Most of these guys who stand in extremes of mass or class concept are either insecure or arrogant. To put it straight they do not have the guts to believe in good humor and underlying message.

Many Raju Hiranis required to revolutionise and popularise this movement. At the end of the day a director or story writer has his or her own freedom to make whatever kinds of stories they want. But most of them are failing due to pressures of commercial cinema. At the other end is art movies which definitely are better than pure commercial ones, but somewhere do not relate to all kinds of people. Inspite of technologies, new ways of doing things we do not have directors like Puttanna Kanagal, Shankar Nag or Hrishikesh Mukherjee, who excelled in knowing the pulse of viewers. A movie made from heart touches everybody. But all they do is believe in brains and make movies from there instead of hearts, they will not stand out in peoples memories after few years.

Went to open terrace with some colleagues after a long time by 8.45pm. Nice breeze. Somebody recalled shayaris from radio city. We were discussing fringe benefit tax fundas. Since we hold foreign stocks we have cough up 30 percent tax. Then we talked about global warming. The smokers among the group said they are preparing themselves for the days ahead, due to global warming:) Nice way of defending their smoking. Friday night and lots of things to do in the weekend.

Picture:Raju Hirani--Lotus Flower in the mud of commercial cinema.

Rambo Rama

I call him ANNA(thats what Bollyhood calls Sunil Shetty). Ramachandra Vutty is one of my closest buddies since college days. We worked out together in college gym and ofcourse we have been classmates. He introduced me to a senior in college called Nanda Kumar from whom I learnt martial arts and ofcourse got introduced to wondeful world of Soka Gakkai--Global lay Buddhist organisation based on Lotus Sutra and lead by Dr.Daisaku Ikeda.

After BE Anna went to Mumbai to do his MBA and now is a Senior Business Analyst in Cognizant. Enjoying longterm onsite in Switzerland..

Although he talks English with perfect Brit accent , you will find he is very spiritual. Reads a lot about it and discusses depending on your interest. You can talk about anything to him..and he will add two or three points. He had his own share of downs. But through it all, I have never seen him losing composure or disturbing his daily activities. Let world turn upside down he will get up early in the morning... jog for few kms... ride bike to office...work hard, come back and smell the iron in the gym in the evening...if a friend calls for company in a pub... he will be there even if it is other corner of the city, never touching alcohol, cigar,and hits bed by 12 in the night...if a friend does not call after gym, Anna will read some book and doze off:)

He has great stamina. He can jog like mad for kms together. Still keeps on. Before he went off to Switzerland we(Anna, me and Eiji-friend from Japan) used to go for morning jogs near to Girinagar. After that we used to have a kadak chai or hot coffee(i mean coffee only)... I miss those days.

I always wonder how he has resisted alcohol,chicken and cigar all these years. May be he is already enlightened and I think he will walk out of secular life one day like Shakyamuni Buddha did. Hope that will not happen in Switzerland. Anna are you hearing?...:)

B.V. Karanth sir

At any given time I will try reading two books. One Kannada and one English. After passing tenth exam I have not been able to catch up with Hindi Literature. But will do it soon. Right now I am reading “Illiralare Alli Hogalare”(meaning neither I can stay here nor I can go there). It’s collection of experiences by B.V.Karanth. I am also reading short stories from Hemingway.

B.V. sir reached level of president of National School of Drama. He started his drama life in Gubbi Veeranna’s company. Gubbi Veeranna’s company has given many great people in the field of acting to Karnataka and India. Gubbi Veeranna was a great mentor. Dr.Raj Kumar (Annavru), Bala Krishna, NaraSimha Raju from this company went on to become legends of Kannada film field. B.V sir went on to head NSD at national level.

The book has beautiful description of the glorious days of Gubbi Veeranna company. The elephants, deers and many other animals were used for coming out with real life like dramas. When the company had to go Andhra Pradesh for play, one train was booked. Nearly six bogeys had animals and remaining the company people.

It’s a must read for fans of theatre and cinema. I am still completing the book. Hemingway won noble prize in literature. His short stories have characters whom you can feel like real. I will write a review once I finish this book.

Picture: BV Karanth sir

Cool SK..

All close friends call him SK. He is Santhosh SK. A classmate from BE in Bapuji Engineering College Davangere.

Very few people I have seen, who have undergone great tragedies but still undefeated. SK is one of them. Soon after BE was completed he lost his parents due to illness within span of few months. Adding to this tragedy was his brother’s death in Tunga Bhadra river in Harihar after playing Holi.

With these trials in life he came to Bangalore little later than all of us. He was a brilliant student scoring distinction in all semesters. But due to IT slow down he had to work in part time jobs. He struggled this way for two years. He refused put any fake experience in his resume. He competed directly with freshers.

Now he is working with Exilant Technologies since last three years. He is one of the most trusted guys in his company. When you talk to him for an hour, you will find he rarely speaks about himself. Very modest, does not make noise about his technical skills although I find him far above average in these. It’s very rare to have such friends today.

His family has many brothers staying in Harihar. They are all staying together in a joint family. I feel happy to interact with his family members who still believe in joint family values. SK does not take any major decision without permission of his elder brother. Such a fantastic INDIANNESS in their home.

SK believes that by being good human being in thoughts, words and actions with all, he can serve his parents who are no more here to enjoy his success.

Picture: SK and me in a party thrown by Ramachandra (another classmate who went for onsite to Switzerland).

Gautham goes to Goa.

After coming to Bangalore, I was fortunate to have good friends in fields other than IT. Gautham Krishnan is one among them. He is a research scientist in Bio Technology. When he was in Bangalore he worked in the field of vaccine research for Diabetes.

He had an ambition to do PhD, but could not get through in the institution that he dreamt of. But mystically without PhD he has got in to field of research which he always dreamt of doing.

One thing I liked about him was his down to earth personality. He is always approachable and never puts on any airs. Always talks about life and spirituality gyan. We both share a common interest in Lotus Sutra.

Recently he shifted to Goa, after quitting his job in Bangalore. When he was traveling in his car on the way he passed through Davanagere. He called me to tell about it as Davanagere is where I did my engineering from. We spoke at length about recent events in our lives.

Gautham is loving Goa. He also spoke about people of Goa who opposed any plans of industrial growth that will affect the natural settings. Hats off to them, the plans by politicians to damage nature is prevented. This shows how much the people love nature and consider it part of their life. Gautham is lucky to have shifted there.

Picture: Gautham and me on the way to Delhi.

Ravi Passes SSLC.

Ravi is my schoolmate from my village. He failed once in fourth standard. That’s due to his devotion to climb trees in the village. By that age he loved trees very much, so spent all his time learning to climb trees than social science, science and mathematics. When he went to high school he failed in four subjects. With this qualification he landed up in Bangalore.

He worked as cleaner in a Vehicle and later learnt driving. He also fell in love with a girl. This love cost him his job as relatives of the girl wanted his head. Because of that he left Bangalore and was working in farms.

Last year my driver Nagendra resigned and in exit interview in a Bar, he said he has got a better offer in Airport of Bangalore. My elder brother Siddeshanna appointed Ravi. The thought that my schoolmate is going to work for me as a driver, took time for me to decide. But as he had wanted to earn for his parents, I said yes with a condition that salary will be given directly to his parents.

He had not taken SSLC exam for last ten years. I motivated him to give it a try. I also gave him the fees, book and one week leave. This I did not add or subtract from his salary. He gave the exam in March. The results were out last month. Ravi has passed SSLC. So in his wedding card he can write his qualification now. He is planning to apply for government job.

Picture: Ravi on the first of his job

Unforgettable Lingappa Master.

My first teacher in the first standard is Lingappa Master. My villagers called him Lingappa Meshtru. He was known for his strictness, discipline, and good heart. I remember once receiving beatings from him.

His village Karakala Ghatta is few kilometers away from my village Sompura. For many years initially he walked everyday from his village to mine. He is disabled in one leg. Apart from school I used to encounter him near my farms also, which is located on the way to his village. When I passed Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya school entrance exam in fifth standard, he took active interest in getting me the transfer certificate. One senior teacher in the school was not happy that I was leaving this school. So she tried convincing me about it. But Lingappa Master was proud of me as I was the first student in the history of our village school to pass this exam. Navodaya Vidyalaya changed my life.

Lingappa Master recently completed 22 years of service in our school. He had rejected the offer of head master from some other school. We old students of the school and villagers wanted to thank him for this service to the village. Everyone including many villagers who were not his students spoke on this occasion. We celebrated presence of such a teacher in the school, by offering food to all those who attended the function.

Picture: Lingappa Master felicitated by Tumkur Ramakrishna Ashram Swamiji and Sompura Someshwara Mutt Swamiji