Chanakya comes to Chennai with his Arthasashtra

Epics and Puranas have always taught us ethics, conduct, morality and more and this is probably what our current education system lacks. We have turned to them when it comes to wisdom, chivalry, andvalues. We have heard a lot of such stories while growing up from our grandparents but in the process of learning modern science and math we’ve forgotten the fundamentals of life.

Corporate world today doesn’t have ethics in practice. MBA curriculum has become very trendy by introducing courses on business ethics and by the time we get to learn them we are n our 40’s. We have seen numerous accounting frauds, we have seen big corporations like Enron collapse overnight, and CEO’s like Martha Stewart imprisoned. There are more CEO’s and corporations out there but only a few have the guts to be the whistle blowers.

Chanakya, a Brahmin unites the kings in India then to keep Alexander the Great away and he mentors and thrones Chandra Gupta Maurya to keep this country from failing and falling into the wrong hands. Today the same Chanakya is back to give the wake up call to the slumbering youth. Chanakyashastra, the play is adorned with the gems from Kautilyas’s Arthasashtra and emphasizes what it takes for a leader to wear that crown forever.

Corporate trainer, Sanjay Srinivas presents the pearls of wisdom from the Arthasashtra through this play to develop leadership skills. The entire play is set in the corporate world to autopsy a power and publicity hungry megalomaniac CEO, with lose morals. Is it the chair that does it or the titles that make them lose it all? Surprisingly not many CEO’s were spotted in the play, is it because they were not ready to accept reality or didn’t want to be caught wiggling like a worm. This play was an adult learning class aimed at making people think for the better.

Chanakya comes in at the right moment when the yuppie puppy loses his job and nourishes him with courage, confidence and teaches him the nine gems (navratnas) and eventually turns the lily livered subordinate to a iron fisted whistle blower.

Here are the Navratnas shared by our Chanakya:

1. Open minded thinking
2. Keep plans and strategies locked in an iron chest
3. Make pawns depend on you and make them feel needy
4. Stay unpredictable and let others keep guessing you
5. Be the perfect courtier
6. Find the weakness and helpless child in everyone
7. Success depends on the inner truth within you
8. Timing your action
9. Destroy the wicked man by opposition

The nine characters in the play were real “Navratnas.” Chanakya seemed so real with his conniving smile, sacred thread, shaven head with a shika, while the young professional Sidharth seemed like on us struggling between right and the wrong. The slides filled in at appropriate moments to narrate the story without any sag in the storyline. They had used the 9 pieces of rectangular boxes to make different furniture, a very creative brain. The music could have been better.

It is quite a tiring world when it comes to power, pride, ego, and human relationship. We’ve come across similar people in life at work and at other places. We must remember that real life situations are very different from the ideal situation portrayed in the play. This play had an ideal situation where Sidharth the young professional was able to go around and mobilize support to dethrone the wicked animal. But in real life we all get to swim with multiple sharks and trying to tackle all of them might be extremely difficult. If you keep battling all these sharks when do we get to swim forward? Remember not everyone gets a Chanakya in real life to stand besides and give courage and confidence at the right moment. Not all of this can be applied at the same time or in sequence.

The bottom line is that good triumphs over evil. We have seen this theme in every movie and movies like Indian have portrayed the same. Not everybody can be a leader and remember that leaders are born and not made. People like Chanakya and Krishna merely energize the qualities in Chandra Gupta and Arjuna. The world needs more of Krishnas and Chanakyas to mentor Chandra Guptas and Arjunas. An assembly line kind of set up can never work. There should be the spark of leadership in the individual and we’ve got to work on the inner self to be our Chanakya.

I personally felt disturbed with a few scenes in the play and Sidharth, the yuppie character was embroiled in conflicts within when the nine principles were unveiled. His emotional turmoil never got answered and it was always rosy in reel life. We need more clarity on the 9 gems so that people don’t take the wrong message back home. This old wine in the new bottle needs a statutory warning. There is more glitter and glamour with the name and glossy corporate marketing to bring out the CEO’s from the woodwork and make stand and endorse it at the end of the show. Another Stephen Covey in the making process, I can see the wheel of fortune spin pretty fast. Goodluck Sanjay Srinivas!

Perils of Chennai

Metros in India are facing a tough situation trying to battle poor infrastructure and increasing vehicles. The credit goes to the revving economy and IT boom. On an average 600 new vehicles are added to the metro roads every day. Some new cities like Chandhigar, Hyderabad are planned are capable of handling vehicles but other cities like Bombay, Bangalore, Delhi and Chennai are in chock a block situation. Cities like Bombay, Chennai are surviving only because of the public transportation, but with bellowing needs the government and corporates need to encourage alternative transportation, car pools to be both ecological friendly and so that travel can be measured in terms of distance and not time. With the ever increasing petrol prices, to balance the treasury the Government raise the train and bus fares putting pressure on middle class and lower middle class income groups.

Chennai is the worst affected compared to other metros when it comes to autos. Every tourist and citizen of Chennai is scared traveling by the auto. The auto guys hawking outside the Chennai Central train station are ready to prey on your wallets. Isn’t that the best way to treat the tourists who visit Chennai? They mislead you and take you away from the pre-paid counters and if you are lucky to get through the pre-paid counters they complain about low auto fares to the passengers. The argument that you get into with the auto guys is unpalatable and often people are scared to negotiate because of the filthy language they use.

Autos drivers when confronted for extortion give a variety of excuses from peak traffic hour, early morning, late night, don’t get anyone from that area to continue my journey. We all have experiences to share when it comes to Chennai Autos.

The Government seldom realizes that it needs to fix the new ceiling for the autos. The auto fare/km was officially fixed in 1997 and since then petrol prices have gone up 200% and there has been no revision. Fare meters both analog and tamper proof electronic ones decorate the auto but are never used. When questioned about the usage of the meters the auto guys are very prudent with their reasons. They would either say the cable is cut or they would say no on uses meters these days. As a result the auto guys have started to fleece poor customers who are left with no choice but pay a premium.

Safety is another factor to be considered when you decide to travel by the autos. Guys who once drove cycle rickshaws have graduated to driving autos now. Another fact is that most autos that run in Chennai are owned by the traffic cops and are leased out. This means they have immunity from being charged or questioned for traffic violation until it involves a serious collision. Sometimes ferry passengers like a cargo without caring their safety and safety of other commuters on the road. There are other cities in India where the State Government has set regulated this mode of transportation. Officially, Chennai has about 40,000 autorickshaws, while another 10,000 or 15,000 run without proper papers, including permits. Drivers are often self-taught, have little or no education.

1. Revise auto fares to make it more affordable for both auto drivers and commuters
2. Make usage of meters mandatory for all autos
3. Prevent traffic cops from owning public autos - conflict of interest
4. Educate autos drivers on road rules and safe driving – mandatory 20 hrs of training per year
5. Fix slabs for late night and early morning trips
6. Strictly enforce number of autos that can run in the city
7. Auto drivers unions to create some welfare schemes

Our Kollywood has always portrayed the auto drivers in good light. Rajinikanth, the guru of auto drivers, had done an entire movie to show them as responsible citizens and don’t you remember the song “Auto caran auto caran.?” I am not trying to give our auto guys a bad press. We still have some honest drivers who ferry in the city. Some of them are reasonable, drive carefully, while some of them have even returned suitcases, cell phones and other left behind luggages with large sums of money to their owners. Chennai is a beautiful city and it recently got voted as the “Kindest city”, if we need to retain this title there are few things that need to be fixed immediately.

Feel free to air your views about Chennai Autos.

Manhattan or Mylapore?

A morning walk through the streets of Mylapore made me realize that some parts of Chennai still have a good mix of rural and urban landscape. It was a little after 6 am in the morning and there was light southerly breeze (call it the Mylanter instead of leventer?) and trees and shrubs were dancing in gaiety. The Cuckoo birds were screaming on top of their voice silencing the poor city crows. Though the day temperature still lingered in the lower 100’s, the early mornings are pleasant. The poor streets dogs were trying to find a retreat spot after policing the streets all night while the rich dogs walked out of air-conditioned homes and apartments with an attitude for their morning walks along with their masters. Mylapore seem to have lost the population of wandering cattle, thanks to the city ordinance.

The aavin truck was back to pick up the empty cartoons leaving behind a thick cloud of gases, while maids were vying with the Onyx guy to clean doorway and sprinkle water and make the welcoming Rangoli. A breed of enthusiastic walkers and joggers mostly post 30’s with gracious waistlines and constable shorts were thronging the parks trying breath the lung friendly oxygen before it got adulterated with exhaust gases. Herbal juice vendors were waiting outside the green area to sell their concotions of Aruhampull and Banana stem juice to the health conscious morning walkers. The milk vendors were returning home in their cycles while the big cans on the handlebars were dangling - empty vessels make more noise was very true. The newspaper boys on the sidewalk were busy sorting the newspapers and making the inserts and getting ready for the delivery. The vegetable vendors were already out on the streets and women were on their balconies haggling and their husbands busy sipping the filter coffee and burying themselves in the newspaper.

Different ecosystems operate at different time of the day. The maadaveedhis of Mylapore was calm and tidy for once. As I passed through the Kapali temple I inhaled the refreshing smell of Jasmine flowers and invigorating agarbathis as the vendor was preparing the display of flowers and coconuts outside the temple. Men clad in dhotis and flowing angavastrams, ravishing women glisten against the morning sun with the yellow tinge of tumeric , a 5 Rs. coin sized red bindi and draped in traditional 9 and 6 yards saree, mehendi painting the unshaved finger tips and cracked heels, and noise of the glass bangles all add flavor to this Mylapore. My body and soul refused to move forward on seeing all this and hearing the beautiful Todi played by the Nadhaswara vidwan. I went it to the temple and soaked my soul with some music and spirituality.

I have seen the busy mornings in NYC, nothing but a fast paced mechanical walking with a cup of coffee or speaking to someone on the mobile phone with newspaper tucked under your armpits. But nothing comparable to the true filter coffee of Mylapore, chiming of the temple bells, color flower vendros on the sidewalk. There is nothing perfect and prim and proper here but rather everything simply simplistic. If you thought the Manhattan cab drivers seldom followed traffic rules our auto guys were giving them a touch competition. If you though the hippies on sidewalk in NYC were trendy then what till say when it comes to our Purohits in vestaadai, kadukann, Kaattu Kudimi, smeared vibuthi and carry a different kind of grass and whiz past you in their bikes. No pedicured and manicured models walking around, no skimpy clothes, no lip sticks, no artificial perfumes to induce headache, no overcoats. Where can I hear a refreshing Todi during my morning walk and where can I smell those inviting jasmines, where can I shop for the fresh produce, where I can see the 9 yards saree, glass bangles, and men in dhoti and anga vasthram.

The avid morning walkers and retired folks pulled out their cloth bags and stopped by the market to complete their honey-do list before heading home. Karpagambal Mess was buzzing with activity and flavor of sambar and onion utthapam sucking in every passerby – sensory branding at work, huh? In the meantime the roads were getting busier. Buses and cars took away the freshness in the morning air and the fragrance of the jasmine . The bus stops turned into market places with scores of office and school goers. Housewives busy in the street corners chatting while waiting to get their kids in the school buses. Occasionally we heard the airlines wisk through the skies of Mylapore. Even the passengers were trying to get a glimpse of this city. The L-trains were busy making its share of noise and moving around its share of population and the footboard travelers were peering down at the crowd below. Students in crisp uniforms with oiled hair and vibuthi smeared forehead lugging heavy back packs were pedaling hard to make it to the school on time. Autos were jumping red lights, taking dangerous turns and overtake on the wrong side and this definitely reminded me of the cab drivers in Manhattan. People were already ready for another day here. Cuckoos rested while the city crows parolled the city. There is everything this self contained suburb has to offer its people in terms of culture, tradition, spirituality and convenience.

Well Manhattan can never beat Namma Mylapore!!!

Prozac for Mind, Body and Soul

I always feel that one has to get a call from the divine to embark on spiritual trips, be it Tirupathi or Vaishnodevi. God must be willing to see you more than us wanting to see him. Our Iccha (wish) must become his/her wish. I was recently reading this book “The Alchemist” where Paul Coelho says “The Universe conspires to make one’s dream happen”. I don’t know if I was dreaming or just wishing to be a part of the Jayanthi Celebrations of Kanchi Mahaswami on Jun 10, 2006. But the dream and the wish that came true this weekend was like an instant lottery. In the last hour I decided to leave for Kanchi. I don’t know where I got the energy from but within twenty minutes I was ready to leave. Call this a divine invite or whatever.

My first visit was to Thenambakkam, 5 kms from Siva Kanchi. I passed by the mighty walls of Varadaraja temple to reach Thenambakkam. It is believed that this place was very close to the heart of the Saint. There is a beautiful Shiva Temple where the Jayanthi celebrations were being conducted. Right behind the Lingam in the Garbha Graham there is panel carving of Adi Shankara, Shiva, Ganesha, Kamakshi and on the wall. I have never seen such a carving in the Garbha Graham. There was no one around to explain the purana associated with the temple. There is a small room in side of the temple where the sage stayed during his visits to the temple. They have preserved the room and made it into a worship room with pictures of the Sage. Adjacent to the temple they’ve built a small shrine for the Sage of Kanchi. A life size idol in Marble looks very much real and living. A week long homams were conducted in the premises and small vidyarthis from the nearby patashala had come over to chant Rudram for the abishekam. When I had reached there abishekam was over and they were getting ready for the aarthi. Sitting in front of my guru reminded me of the verses from the Dakshinamoorthy ashtakam, where Shiva is surrounded by Sanakar, Sanatkumarar, Sanandhanar, Sanatanar.

" Chitram vata tharour mooley - He is seated under the Vata Vriksha
Vridhaa sishya gurur yuvah - Students are old and Guru is young
Gurosthu mouna vyakyanam - Only communication is silence and lessons are learnt that way
Sishyasthu chinna samsayaha" - Students get their doubts cleared and enlightened by the mere aspect of Guru

I saw the aarthi and collected the prasadam and then went to the Rig Veda Patashala near Varadarajar Temple for lunch. An elaborate lunch on thalai vazhai leaf was served with care and love. It was a little over 2.30 in the afternoon and I came to the Moola Brindavanam in the Mutt. Though he was not there physically but one could feel his presence there. There are enough stories and miracles he has played in peoples’ lives. His devotees were fervently thronging the mutt with the same fatherly and grandfatherly affection towards the saint. His brindavanam was packed but still he spent personal time with every devotee and I was sitting in front of him with rapt attention. Classical music concerts were going on at the Brindavanam. Truly one can enjoy themusic when his mind calms down and that was the feeling I had. The lyrics stirred some reactions in my soul which is beyond words.

As more people started to flow in I left to see the Mother of the Universe. Only after I stepped in the temple I realized that it was pournami. Mother of creation was calm and she is just being an affectionate mother. The lotus garland adorning her entire body, golden parrot on her right hand, the sugarcane bow on her left, and arrows of flowers on her right and She was radiating love and karunyam in her eyes blessed every soul that came to see her and that meditated upon her.

Then I came to Ekambareshwarar temple and did the sayaraksha rudrabhishegam. I chanted Rudram along with the priest and it came from my nabhi and I witnessed the abishegam for the shiva dampathi. Shiva and Parvathi in a seated pose behind the lingam reminded of the Kailash. I could see the look in the eyes that conveyed I am here, I am taking care of you and the world and I plan for your future and leave your worries with me. I didn’t have any special wish list to be handed over. With the feeling of total contentment I left for Chennai. My father used to say let us charge our spiritual batteries by making a trip to Kanchi and seeking the blessings of the sage. I felt very much enervated and I got spiritually recharged. Such trips are the real Prozac for the mind, soul and body.