A story about “Maya”

Once upon a time, Lord Vishnu was out for a walk, and along with him was Narada. While they were talking, Narada asked Vishnu to explain the concept of “Maya“. Vishnu replied that he would love to, but his throat was parched, and he would need a drink of water first. Towards the horizon, they spotted a small hamlet, and Vishnu asked Narada to get some water from there.

Narada took Vishnu’s leave, and went to the hamlet. At the well, he realized that he did not have a rope or a bucket to draw water. As he was poring over the problem, a young maiden came to him, and asked him whether he needed any help. Narada told her that he needed some water, and the maiden asked him to come to his house, where she could give him a small pot to carry the water too.

At her house, her father was getting ready to have lunch, and invited Narada to join him. Narada agreed, and they had a pleasant conversation over food. Narada understood that the man was a farmer, and owned most of the farmland around the hamlet. After the meal, the farmer asked Narada if he was willing to marry his daughter. She was the only family he had, and he thought that Narada would not only be a good groom for her, but would also be able to care for his farms.

Narada thought for a while. The maiden was beautiful, and seemed to like him too. Narada agreed, and they were married. The maiden’s father handed over the reins to Narada, and he took excellent care of the farms. Narada put in hard work, and the farms prospered. In time, they had three children, and life was good to them.

One year, the rains arrived earlier than usual, and started playing havoc with the farms. Very soon, the crop was lost. Yet, the rains continued unabated. The river near the hamlet was swelling, and broke its banks in the middle of one night. The hamlet was flooded, and almost everything was washed away. Narada had lost everything, but he still had his family with him. He and his wife carried their children on their shoulders, and climbed a hillock – the highest spot that they could find. Yet, the waters continued to rise. Soon, the waters reached them, and slowly, started engulfing them. As it reached their knees, Narada called out to Lord Vishnu for help.

Moments later, Vishnu appeared before him. “Narada,” he said, “I have been waiting for you for so long. My throat is parched and you were going to get me some water.”

In a flash, the waters receded. The hamlet disappeared, and so did the farms, the river and his family too. All that was left were the empty plains over which Lord Vishnu and Narada had been walking, seemingly a long time ago.

It was then that Narada realized that instead of trying to explain what “Maya” is, Lord Vishnu had given him a practical experience instead.

Wake Up, Neo!

Yourself in one word

I am an optimistic overachiever who seeks to unleash his creativity and team-work to dynamically uplift organizations and help streamline synergies within departments to create new paradigms for the industry

Overkill, I know – but how many times have you seen someone write (or say) something like this? I am sure you cannot count the number on your fingers – perhaps even if you include your toes.

But forget that sentence – right now we are not talking about the job market. For a moment, let’s pretend that you have to use one word to describe yourself. Just one word. Which one suits you best?

Optimist?

Hard-worker?

Team-player?

Philanthropist?

Or something altogether different?

Me – I think I’m best described as Machiavellian.

Movies in queue – Part I

I think it will be nice to make a list of movies that I am planning to watch in the next few months. As the first part of this series, here are the non-Indian movies that I plan to see (that I haven’t seen yet):

1. Citizen Kane
2. The King’s Speech
3. Dances with Wolves
4. 2010: A Space Odyssey
5. The Man from Earth
6. Driving Miss Daisy
7. Guess who’s coming to dinner
8. The Last Emperor
9. The Seven Samurai

What are the movies on your list?

Finding Middle Ground

• Last week, I was told (by the client) that they want me here for as long as possible – at the very least a year more
• An hour ago, I was told (by my company’s Service Delivery Manager) that our management wants me to replace him next year – to stay in Denver for as long as my visa permits
• Me and my wife want to go back to India as soon as possible

Between these, how (and where) do I strike a balance? Each of these scenarios has pros and cons. Evaluating them is the problem – for that’s when practicality fights emotions; that’s when career duels with family.

I have a few months to announce my thoughts on this; I think me and my wife are going to have many a discussion before old man winter returns.

Where’s that book?

It’s been a long time since I’ve started working on my book. It first began with a longer story (which I am still hopeful that I’ll finish someday). A couple of months ago, I started working on a compendium of short stories.

The stories are there in my head – right down to the last detail, but somehow I am unable to bring them out on paper. Not sure whether it is writer’s block or something else – but the words just won’t come out. I am stuck in the opening scene, not sure what’s going wrong.

So I think I will try a different approach now.

Rather than completing the story one scene at a time, I think I will go ahead and create a first draft – a rough draft. Hopefully, with enough iterations, I should be able to bring it to life.

And more importantly, during this exercise, I will hopefully find out why is it that my longer book is languishing.

Of Opportunities and Opportunists

If you were given an opportunity, does it mean that the one who gave it to you feels that you are the only person who can deliver on that opportunity?

Or could it be that that person had an opportunity himself, which required handing an opportunity to you?