Einstein on Religion

“You will hardly find one among the profounder sort of scientific minds without a religious feeling of his own. But it is different from the religiosity of the naïve man. For the latter, God is a being from whose care one hopes to benefit and whose punishment one fears; a sublimation of a feeling similar to that of a child for its father, a being to whom one stands, so to speak, in a personal relation, however deeply it may be tinged with awe.

But the scientist is possessed by the sense of universal causation. The future, to him, is every whit as necessary and determined as the past. There is nothing divine about morality; it is a purely human affair. His religious feeling takes the form of a rapturous amazement at the harmony of natural law, which reveals an intelligence of such superiority that, compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an utterly insignificant reflection. This feeling is the guiding principle of his life and work, in so far as he succeeds in keeping himself from the shackles of selfish desire. It is beyond question closely akin to that which has possessed the religious geniuses of all ages.”

The worst speech writer ever

"The only man, woman or child who ever wrote a simple declarative sentence with seven grammatical errors is dead."

U.S. poet e e cummings on the death of U.S. President Warren G. Harding

The Seven Wonders In Just Two Days

"What was the first impression you got of me?" I asked Shalini today.

"Well," she smiled, "a kid (I nod with a grin), who is very excited to get into Advertising, is VERY excited, and knows nothing about it."

Shalini is the copywriter at JWT. I am training under her.

So, what have I learnt in my first two days?

1. I can do it.

2. I will have to work really hard to do it.

3. If I am creative ( yes, after two days, I still think so), then there are many people, MANY people out there who are gods of creativity! I have miles and miles to go. I am still near the starting line.

4. I understood what 'out of the box' means.

Yesterday, Shalini asked me to rewrite the story of Cheeni Kum as per my imagination. "Introduce any twists that you want to. Play around with the story. I want to see how wildly you can think."

I stretched and strained my brain but it rattled like an empty box! No "Wow" idea came that I would be proud of.

I have a l-o-n-g way to go. It's good to know that.

5. It will force me out of my comfort zone, and make me sit up and learn new things. The more you know, about a wider range of themes, the better ideas you will get. The logic is that simple.

I have already resolved to make it a habit to listen to English songs, to listen to Indian songs more thoroughly, watch English movies, and read comics.

The mantra is to experiment with new genres.

6. Yesterday, I had written 'Beneath the silence.' Normally, I don't look again at a story after it gets its finishing touches.

But this weekend, I am going to rework the same story in at least two different ways. It's a practice. A challenge for my box of a brain- to think 'out of the box'.

7. And yes, the creative department has just the kind of fun atmosphere that I have always wanted to work in. Also, I don't like the work the Client Servicing guys have to do. So, its good that I am not doing the MBA from MICA.

A pretty long post this is! And it's been only two days yet! :D

As Shalini said, " It's only after you go from here that you will realise how much you have learnt!"

True!

P.S.

1. Are you wondering where the promised seven wonders are?
Well, you just read the seven points of this post! :D
Tell me, am I learning my lessons well? ;-)

2. A conversation today morning:

S: Are you a virgo by any chance?
Me: Yes. Aap bhi?
S: Yeah. I thought so. Virgoes are perfectionists.
Me: Waise, what is your birth date? (Will she say it? Say it! It'll be so exciting!)
S: 10th. (She said it!!!)
Me: What!!!! Wow! Amazing!
S: Wow! We share our Bdays too!

Amazing! :D

The silence

The room was dark and forlorn.

The stuffy blackness buried a young woman, lying on the bed in sweat, heat and an angry resolution, with her back to the door. If no one cared for her, then she didn't either.

It was not her fault each time, and she would not be the one to compromise always. He needed to realize that she had been hurt.

Her ears strained to hear him coming.

She was not angry, of course. But he needed to see his wrong. She would smile when he said sorry, and they would go and eat the cake she had baked.

No one came.

Suddenly, an arrow of anger shot through her. She was making a fool of herself, lying there waiting like that. That man had attitude!

She got up, and switched on the fan. Why should she make herself miserable?

The whirling fan sent soft gusts of air that gently caressed her to sleep.

A dull morning light was peeping through the curtains when she woke. She sat on the bed in silence.

Perhaps she had over-reacted last night. He would have slept on the sofa. He never likes it. She should make him some tea.

She shuffled into the kitchen, and made tea for two.

He was on the dining table, lost in his newspaper. She kept his cup on the table, and stood in indecision. She tried to smile.

He didn’t look up.

So, he was still showing attitude! Let him! The fault was not just hers!

She turned away sharply, and went to the room to drink her tea in peace.

He looked up. Her angry stride filled him with rage. What did she think of herself! And, he had been expecting a sorry from her. Her!

It was not his fault each time, and he would not be the one to compromise always. She needed to realize that he had been hurt.

He pursed his lips in angry resolution, and wrapped his left hand around the steaming cup. Looking hard into the newspaper, he tried to concentrate on the lines he saw.




Japinder Gill

The D-Day! :)

I will be in my first office in an hour and a half. Am I excited!!!

By the evening, I would have lived through the day. So I will 'know' how it went, how an ad agency works, how are the people there, what is the work that they do, that copywriters do.

But right now, the anticipation is so charming! I am enjoying it. Am so looking forward to the day! :) :) :)

Main copywriter banana chaahati hoon!

Sometimes, just the right thing itself works its way out to you. Life is fascinating!

I had written yesterday about feeling pangs for the extreme poverty that so many people live in, and that compared to their misery, mine in a mechanical job would be much lesser, and so I ought to be thankful that at least I do have a job to do. Concepts like 'boring' or 'stimulating' jobs must seem to them only like nakhras of the elite.

Today, a friend sent me a link to a Rashmi Bansal article, and from there I went on to this article of hers. And, I couldn't help smiling that that 2005 article of hers had all the keywords of my posts yesterday- the contrast between poverty and people like me, the urge for creativity, advertising, the MBA from MICA route, the initial struggle in copywriting, the advice to start it direct.

And, another thing that has given me many smiles (grins!) this whole day is that I finally got the call from JWT. I am going to join them as a trainee copywriter from tomorrow! For the next 3 weeks, I am going to relive the Magboard passion! Well, hopefully! I am so excited!!!

From here and there

• Those who think they are wise, speak. Those who are, listen.



• You don't know what you can do till you try. You don't know what you can enjoy till you do. So keep trying new things- enjoy living! Japinder Gill :)



• Learning needs a humble mind. You can improve only if you accept in the first place that you have many flaws.



• Masters in whatever field frequently leave the uninitiated with the illusion that they simply fell out of bed one morning and produced the exquisite musical concert, or the one in a million sports performance or some other perfect and graceful beyond display. We of course know better.



• Hold faithfulness and sincerity as first principles. Confucius



• Difficult is that which takes a little more time and impossible is that which takes a little more effort.



• No person can argue with you without your agreement.



• Without grand aims, we are all small people.



• Behind every door, on every ordinary street, in every hut, in every ordinary village on this middling planet of a trivial star, a rich story worth telling can be found. Vikram Seth at the end of 'Two Lives.'



• Easy reading is damn hard writing. Vikram Seth



• The truest judges are those whom you are describing. Vikram Seth



• The true tragedy of a routinely spent life is that its wastefulness does not become apparent till it is too late.



• Do what scares you the most. That's the only way to push the limits you are setting for yourself. Japinder Gill :P



• It is the journey, not the destination that matters.



• Peace is not absence of violence, but absence of those conditions which create violence.



• The most difficult phase of life is not when no one understands you. It is when you don't understand yourself.



• All of us in this world are reflections- we are living mirrors of each other. Japinder Gill



• No matter how qualified or deserving we are, we will never reach a better life until we can imagine it for ourselves and allow ourselves to have it.



• If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first four sharpening the axe. Abraham Lincoln



• Remembering that you are going to die is the best way to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart. Steve Jobs.



• Your time is limited. So don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma, which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. Steve Jobs



• Whether a person is a dreamer or a visionary is decided by his conversion ratio- how many of his ideas does he actually bring to life. Japinder Gill



• Temptation usually comes through a goal that has been deliberately left open. Gandhi



• Knowledge talks, wisdom listens.



• Determination is worth nothing if it bends before temptation.



• If victory is certain, then even a coward can fight. But the real hero is the one who still dares to fight knowing that his defeat is certain.



• Don't get it right. Get it written.



• As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.



• Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. Nelson Mandela



• He who desires but acts not, breeds pestilence.



• The fruits of riches lie in abundance; satiety declares abundance.



• No great deed, private or public, has ever been undertaken in a bliss of certainity.



• Take integrity over popularity and you'll always be cool.



• Isn't it strange that the less you need someone, the more you are able to love them?



• When you cannot make up your mind between two evenly balanced courses of action, choose the bolder. William Joseph Slim

A doctor complains against himself

I found this article interesting.

But somehow, I did not go 'Wow' over the ethics shown by the doctor. Instead, I am thinking.

Suppose I were a doctor, and a very close relative of mine dies in my hands after operation. I would feel enormously guilty. I wouldn't be able to look at my relatives in their eye. I would feel the burden on my soul, of being unable to save my dear one. I would somehow feel responsible for the death.

I vividly see myself slouched on the floor, in a corner, hearing everyone wail, but unable to look up. Sitting there, quietly, with defeat and dejection in my eyes.

It's quite possible that grabbed by a sudden impulse, I'll get up, and walk outside, determined to punish myself for my 'carelessness.' So, I will go to the police station and admit blame for the death. I will accept that I did my best, but still was unable to save her.

The police will most probably enquire from my relatives if they doubt my role in the operation, or believe me responsible for the death. They will probably say 'no', and so the police will take no action.

This is one man trying to ease his guilty conscience.

The argument about Medical Ethics being the doctor's consideration would have been acceptable had the patient been totally unrelated to him.

And, what is actually interesting is that so many patients suffer or even die due to the negligence of doctors, and yet there is not one doctor who came forward and accepted on his own his dereliction of duty.

Does our conscience become easy when the person in front is unknown or unrelated to us, or is inferior to us?

Just remembered a quote read long ago, "A man's true character is judged from the way he treats his servants."

I would have gone "Wow!" over the integrity of the doctor in the story had the patient been an ordinary, unknown woman.

Ramdev- the marketing whiz

Just read this news article about Swami Ramdev selling his book on Yoga through the Postal department. I just marvelled at the idea. Really, wow! The first edition has one lakh books in English, and two lakh in Hindi. The postmen will sell them, and the department will earn commission for each copy sold.

Smart business sense!

Swami Ramdev is one person who has built himself through sound marketing strategies. He sure knows how to sell himself.

People Unlike Us

Today, I was reading a collection of essays, 'People unlike us.' It talks about the grim realities of India that we maybe totally unaware of, or cannot relate to. While reading it, I was remembering what I had written about Infy yesterday. The contrast was just too stark!

Here was I, getting quite a handsome pay packet at quite a young age, and cribbing about 'not being so sure' about it, and having 'mixed feelings' about my job.

And there were the people I was reading about- the poor, faceless millions for whom life is nothing but a constant struggle to just exist. Among them were a mother who boiled water in a covered pan, giving false hope to her hungry children that food would be ready soon, while desperately hoping that they would somehow fall asleep. Another essay was about the chamaars in a UP village unable to utter a single voice of dissent when the Jats in their village ordered public execution of two chamaar boys, one for daring to have an affair with a Jat girl, and the other, for being their friend and aide. The chamaars accepted it meekly, like all the cruelty that had come before. They had a simple logic- their hunger. These are the words the author wrote about the helplessness of chamaars:

"He is hungry, and therefore, a willing slave. Deprivation and despair have killed his spirit, if ever he had any. He is meant to have no pride, no self-esteem, no notion of himself as a human being."

There are people living in misery that I find tough even to imagine.

It is a shocking thought, and a humbling one. I almost felt sorry for being so highbrow about the job I ought to be grateful for. There are many who slave for just a few morsels.

Towards Infy, in ambivalence

I'll be joining Infosys as a Software Engineer in a month. I plan to work there for an year, and then leave it to struggle in Advertising. I have absolutely no credentials to get an advertising job as of now, so it is going to be tough. I will have to prove myself. And that is why I want to save enough for that phase.

Why am I joining Infosys in the first place? Why not start in Advertising right away? Well, that is mainly because it promises to be a huge growth process. It will be the first time I'll live away from home, totally on my own, and be financially independent. I long for that high! And then, all my friends at Infy aver that the training at Mysore is an experience of a lifetime. I confess that I am joining Infy for the sops it offers, not because I'm eager for the job.

And now, a word about my job. When I got it, everyone in the family was ecstatic. All my friends congratulated me on my "achievement". But, I never really felt like an "achiever." The statistics were in front of me. Out of the 156 students who sat in the Infy test that day, 115 cleared the written test, and out of those, 109 were selected. I was one of them; just one out of the bunch. It was clear that it had not been a selection, but a rejection process. They had taken practically everybody who cleared the first round. So, I had not been chosen because of any special skill or talent of mine. Did this not tell enough about the job? Wasn't it clear that they didn't want me because of any brains or smartness that they saw in me, but that they just needed young, programmable minds, which they would train in 4 months to suit their needs, and then I would be just one more brain-robot in their scheme of things.

I know I am painting too bleak a picture, but that is the image my mind conjures up. And it does get corroborated too, from sources like this. I am not too sure that Infy can provide me the excitement and stimulation that I so badly crave in the work I do. I am not sure if I will develop a passion for my Infy work. Will it involve actual problem solving? Programming? The real challenge? I hope it does. I fear it will not.

I am going to Infy with decidedly mixed feelings.

Why B.E? Indeed!

A few days back, I went to an ad agency. All I wanted was to have a talk with a 'real' copywriter! And well, I got it too. She asked me why I had got into Engineering if I was so passionate about writing, and creating.

A professor from the English Department of PU had asked me the same question, when I had gone to show him a few writings of mine. He said that had I come to him after 12th, he would have advised me to go for literature instead.

I gave the same answer to both of them. That, Engineering was a natural progression for me. If you are a topper, it's obvious that you would take up Science (though I did have dreams of being a researcher too, and discovering something someday). Between Maths, and Bio you are allowed a choice. I chose Maths. And once in Non-Med, you take up the coaching classes, like everyone else. And so, you too are caught in the vortex of preparing for engineering entrances, aiming at IITs and accepting wherever you land.

During those two years, the subject I loved the most was English. Partly because we had an awesome teacher in Mrs. Anoop, and mainly because I have always so much loved it! I joked to many a friend that the one thing I was going to rue in Engineering was the opportunity to study English.And yet, not once did I then think, "Why am I going for Engineering?" It was simply the obvious choice. The only question everyone was anxious about was "Where" and "In what?" The "Why?" never even raised its head!

I was told, I still am, that Engineering would give me a security cover. That I can always go to other fields, "like advertising" later on, any time I want to. It's not so true however. I am a total novice in Advertising now, or in journalism. I am below par to the B.A. students who have studied these subjects during their graduation. So, I will have to struggle that much harder, first to gain an entry into the field, and then, to prove myself. So, if one knows for sure that they want a career in a different field, it actually makes more sense to go for an undergrad degree that trains them for that passion of theirs.

Perhaps the main pillar of the 'security' argument is that Engineering gets you sure jobs. Not many undergrad degrees can promise that. But even this contention is flawed. Sure, most Engineering grads are placed these days, thanks to the IT boom. But these are jobs in Software Engineering. Are you ready for that work? For your whole life? If not, then for higher studies in your chosen branch of engineering? And then work in that, for your whole life?

If not, if you tell yourself that you will work for a few years in engineering, and then change tack to something more suited to your interests, then why not start right away? Why spend some of your best and most productive and inspired years in something that doesn't inspire your passion?

I think that at that time I did not have the strength to swim against the tide, to go the opposite way to where all were going, and expected me to go.

Today, I am surer about myself. And so I accept, in retrospect, that Engineering was not the right degree for me. I could have been much happier in Literature or journalism or Mass Comm. I accept that, but I have no regrets. Because, I would not have been here had I not taken the Engineering route, and I am happy being where I am.

I am not unhappy about the choices I made, but I can’t sometimes help feeling like trapped in someone else's body.

As they say, experience is the comb you get after you get bald yourself.

Create, for thy self

Just read online this 'Speaking Tree' article.

I have a novel fretting in my mind to get out. The last time I tried to write it, I failed. Because, each time I would sit to write, the anxieties would overwhelm me- whether I could do justice to it, whether I could write it through, whether it would be readable to anyone else, whether it would do well! It would always seem easier to just stop writing and get up. The idea of making the effort just for myself never occured to me. I could not help but marvel at the people who write, and write well, and say that they do not intend to get published.

That was about seven months back.

The urge has again become strong enough to motivate me to a second try. The waves never really died down, they were just on a low tide all this while. Now, the sea of my mind is swell again.

But this time, I can sense a calmness in me as I think about my novel. I am writing it just for myself. I am writing it because that process is going to bring me pleasure and contentment. It's going to be a spiritual experience! When I imagine myself in the next few days, I see myself totally lost in a sheath of papers, with a smile on my face, and a twinkle in my eyes, as I float over seas of imagination.

So, I have a fair hope that this time, I'll be able to tell the story. Not that I am totally out of the ' glory' contemplation, but it matters much less now. I think I will still write this book even if I was told it wouldn't get published.

This change hasn't come by mental rigours or discipline. It's just an effect of the growth in mind and maturity between the two attempts.

Everything has a right time, as they say.

Evanescence

Never do say 'Always'
Look not that far
Much may turn into haze
Life is bizarre.


Japinder Gill

The Kabir in me is sleeping yet

"Sufiana kalaam gaate gaate Abida Parveen khud sufi ho gayi. Unki aawaaz ab ibaadat ki aawaaz lagti hai"

I heard this prelude to Abida's rendition of Kabir at a website, and it reminded me of Baba Bulle Shah saying:

Raanjha raanjha kardi ni main
Aape Raanjha hoi
Aakho ni mainu dheedho raanjha
Heer na aakho koi

Raanjha main vich main raanjhe vich
Hor khayaal na koi
Main nahin, oh aapey hai
Aapni aap kare dil joi.

Hath khundi, mere agge mangu
Modhe bhuri loi
Bulla Heer saleti vekho
Kithe ja khaloi.

It can be roughly translated as:

So lost am I in Ranjha’s name
That am one with him now
Call me, oh friends, Dheedho Ranjha
Not Heer again anyhow

Ranjha in me, me in Ranjha
No thought could rise above
It’s not me here, it is just him
Just him playful in love

Stick in hand, the herd ahead
And a shawl around
Oh Bulla see! Stately Heer
Now stands at what a ground

Heer says that it is not her, but Raanjha who is saying all this, and that it is not him, but she who is tending after the cattle herd. Thus she emphasises that she is truly one with her beloved now, and has humbly offered all her ego and identity at his altar.

Heer-Ranjha here have been used as a symbol. Baba Bulle Shah is actually talking about true devotion of the soul.

This is how I want to write. To write because I love it. Without any thought of the returns, or any gains to be made from it. I want a return to such purity and simplicity. Away from the materialism, back to the spirituality. I want to make this journey from the ego to the soul.

There are these spiritual yearnings in me, and yet, there is an ambition to be 'successful.' I am an oil-in-water mixture of opposing tugs. I will find peace only when my ambition comes to truce with my devotion. I need to take myself to a place where practicality and spirituality can coexist. Such is my goal in life at present. To find a career that stimulates me, and nourishes my soul and at the same time gives me enough money to live comfortably.

Rukhi sukhi khaaye ke
Thanda paani peeyo
Dekh paraayi chopdi
Na tarsaaye jeeyo

These lines just flowed past me.

I know that my real writing will come only after I have tamed my ego and ambition, and approach writing with humility of a disciple.

Life is beautiful!

Last night, the weather was just awesome. Clouds were all over the sky, having covered the eyelids of the moon and the stars with their soft hands, and playing peek-a-boo with them. I could almost see them giggling naughtily, or was it just me! I looked up at the dark sky, closed my eyes, and breathed in deeply. Heaven had come to my terrace! The cool breeze playing with my hair, and a calm all around. I was smiling, and suddenly I had a supreme urge to sing, and sway with the breeze. I wanted to make music! Alas! I couldn't come up with any suitable melody, a song that I would have loved to sing just then. So, I just walked with the breeze yesterday.

Just now, I was surfing the net for something else, when I came across these lines, and it was such an "Aha!" moment! This is the perfect song for yesterday.

Thandi Hawa Yeh Chandni Suhani
Ae Mere Dil Suna Koi Kahani
Lambi Si Ek Dagar Hai Zindagani
Ae Mere Dil Suna Koi Kahani

Saare Haseen Nazare
Sapno Main Kho Gaye
Sar Rakhkhe Aasmaan Pe
Parbat Bhi So Gaye
Mere Dil Tu Suna Koi Aisi Daastaan
Jisko Sunkar Milein Chaen Mujhe Meri Jaan
Manzil Hain Anjani Thandi Hawa…

Aise Main Chal Raha Hoon
Pedon Ki Chhaon Mein
Jaise Koi Sitara
Badal Ke Gaaon Mein
Mere Dil Tu Suna Koi Aisi Daastaan
Jisko Sunkar Milein Chaen Mujhe Meri Jaan
Manzil Hain Anjani Thandi Hawa…

Thodi Si Raat Beeti
Thodi Si Rah Gayee
Khamosh Rut Na Jaane
Kya Baat Kah Gayee
Mere Dil Tu Suna Koi Aisi Daastaan
Jisko Sunkar Milein Chaen Mujhe Meri Jaan
Manzil Hain Anjani Thandi Hawa…

Sometimes, there is such an infinite joy that wells up inside, and you simply don't know how to express it! Right now, just reading these lines, and remembering yesterday, once again I am feeling tremendously happy. Overwhelmed is the word maybe.

In Life, one always gets the answers one seeks. Sooner or later. Try your best, and then, leave it to time. Someday, those anwers will work their way to you. Like this song. This is optimism. This is my way to smile through life, and sing dreamily:

Ai mere dil suna koi kahani!

It's never too late

I watched Shrek today, and the fairy tale fascinated me. So, after coming home, I googled about it, and came across William Steig, the creator of Shrek.

He was a cartoonist, who started writing children's books at 60. Shrek was published at an age of 83!

I found this detail interesting.

It brought back the thought I had had a few days ago.

Of late, I have sometimes worried whether I will be able to give myself the career that will satisfy and stimulate my soul. I have felt that the time to make this decision is now, my 20s, and this realization brings with it an urgency, which stresses me.

Till one day I thought seriously about it. How long will I live? Well, I could die tomorrow from an accident maybe. But, for the purpose of analysis, let us cast such unpredictables aside. Well, one may reasonably assume to live to an age of 80. That means, I have just lived 1/4th of my life till now! And already, I feel so rich with the collected experience and knowledge. So, just imagine, how much more those 60 years would bring!

This thought really cast a spell on me. It eased all the burdens I was placing on my 20s. My present doesn't need to carry the weight of my future. My future is capable of taking care of itself. This realization was a big relief!

Even today, I have somethings I wish I had learnt, e.g. I often wish I had participated in sports in the school, especially basketball and running. Earlier, I used to think that I was now past the point when I could learn them. There would be no point, and no time either. But, nowadays, I am learning to look backwards. Look back from the age 80 years. Others would have loved basketball for 70 years. And, I, who learnt late, for 58 years. But, still, 58 years is a lot of time!!!

A William Steig may have started writing children's books at 60, an age when most people officially retire, from life. But, he was open to the new challenge. Could he have known at that point that he had 36 years of children's writing in him!!! And that 23 years later, he would be producing such a well-loved and hugely successful character as Shrek!
So, it all comes down to trying, and to having faith in yourself. To having the right attitude, and to believing that its never too late to learn something new.

To quote myself:

You never know what you can do till you try.
You never know what you enjoy till you do.
So, keep trying new things...enjoy living!