13th wedding anniversary!

Ahh! That was an year of turbulence. Especially the second half of the year was the toughest. Many times I remembered pilot announcement "Ladies and gentleman, we are experiencing some turbulence. Please return to your seats and fasten your belts." So I tried to stay calm.

I think, it was battle between philosophy and actions. To me, actions are planned with "linear" thinking and they are pretty much defined by philosophy I believe in. She is a go-getter. Daughter's education and choices of "what next in life?" were at the heart of the turbulence.

Further part of pilot announcement says "This is normal during this season of the year. There is nothing much we can do about it." So I thought its part of married life and I continued to remain calm with self help lingo "acceptance".

It occurred to me that we were going in two different directions and I hardly saw any way of merging. I went blank. It looked like dead end. In flight lingo, it turned to "severe" turbulence and I was shaken up and of course, in turn, she too was.

Then followed couple of cold wars (read silence periods) and failing peace making dialogues. Let me accept, it was stressful. We talked, talked, went into silence, then talked loudly, followed by silence, then talked again :-)

What we discovered in the process was I share a lot on what I like/don't like, my philosophy etc. and she understands, tries to align with me. Many times she makes strategies (my belief) and gets my buy in. I feel she should have her own freedom and so I should I allow her to do what she likes to. She is go-getter, jumps on to new ideas spontaneously where as I sit, analyse and go in dilemma to say yes/no and hence I get jittery. In turn she is pissed off.

I realised, it was about our individual "freedom". If I say "yes" to some thing I didn't really want her to do, then I am infringing on my freedom. If I say "no" to something she wants to do, then I am infringing on her freedom. If I look from her angle, if she says yes to something she does not like to do she is being "good" wife but it comes with certain expectations which again means freedom of both of us is infringed. So it was dead lock.

What helped was talking all this loudly both outside and within. I think I can now say we understand each other "better" :-)

Each conflict has helped us understand each other better. Some times I take it forward and some times she. Fortunately so far, when one of us has given up, the other has taken it forward.

And here we are celebrating 13 years of journey.

I would like to thank following, without which our journey would have been much difficult.

Firstly "Landmark Education" programs, leaders and all the volunteers (people who assist). With participation in the initial years of our marriage, our journey started with good foundation - to be authentic, to express freely, to embrace life, what it means to have intimate relationship and so on.

Geniekids (www.geniekids.com) family. People and philosophy here helped us to continue our journey with our children.

Our cars: They have given us space to talk, fight, make decisions of our life :-) I can't imagine doing these at home.

Our car stereos: They played numerous audio books, discourses, songs. They have helped us stay on course, build dreams, stay peaceful.

My colleagues: I have quite open minded, big hearted colleagues. We joke on relationships. We share our ups and downs (some times openly and some times abstract way). We laugh at each other loudly. This has helped me to take our journey easy.

All my relatives, friends: You have contributed to our journey, directly or indirectly.

Why should anyone be against corruption?

When we say corruption, mostly, what comes to our mind is - bribe associated with politicians, bureaucrats.

Dictionary meaning of corruption is:
- Lack of integrity or honesty (especially susceptibility to bribery); use of a position of trust for dishonest gain
- Moral perversion; impairment of virtue and moral principles
- Destroying someone's (or some group's) honesty or loyalty; undermining moral integrity
- Inducement (as of a public official) by improper means (as bribery) to violate duty (as by committing a felony)

So according to dictionary meaning, bribery is just "one" kind of corruption.

What about individuals other than politicians, bureaucrats? Aren't we corrupt? Most individuals are indulged in some or the other malpractice, or violation of laws/rules.

In corporate, employees claim

• House Rent Allowance with "doctored" rental receipts
• Medical expense exemption with bills created in co-operation with medical shop owner
• Exemption on vehicle operating expenses with bills created in co-operation with petrol bunk owner
• Leave Travel Allowance with "doctored" travel tickets/bills/receipts.
  

Self employed professionals (doctors, lawyers, businessmen etc) evade taxes. Chartered accountants help adjusting books to evade taxes.
In software industry, business development managers/teams of (service) companies project non-existent expertise, non-existent staffing, tailor made resumes to get projects from other companies. Similarly, professionals show inaccurate information in their resume while applying for a new job (of course, they try their best in interviews to prove they have that expertise/knowledge).
How many owners pay income tax for rental income? How many people declare capital gains (stocks, mutual funds, immovable properties etc)? How many professionals who go abroad on business trips pay tax for the savings they make? Very few!!!

So, fundamentally, most individuals are corrupt. It is just that the scope is varying. A common man has a limited scope for corruption. A clerk in government office has limited scope. A government officer may have a little higher scope. And politician has much higher scopes depending on level of representation (Taluka Panchayat member, MLA, MP, Minister etc). Given an equal scope for corruption, most individuals would behave in same way. Right?

Do we have moral right to voice against corruption by politicians, bureaucrats?

Is it cheating/exploitation?

This is what I heard during conversation between RJs in RadioCity Bangalore recently.
RJ Pradeepa: Sir, Isn't it that wizards, astrolgers, swamijis, witches etc are cheating/exploiting people? (Kannada: Saar, e baba galu, maatavadi galu, swamigalu ella duddu kitkondu mosa madtaralva? )

RJ Upendra (Yes! our Sandlewood actor. He was RJ for a month or so) : How is it cheating/exploitation? (Mosa hege?) Suppose I sell Idli. If cost is Rs.4 and I sell at Rs.6, is it good/bad or cheating? Similarly, people go to these people and give Rs.10 or Rs.100 (in their capacity) and in turn get “peace of mind”. So what’s wrong in it?

I don’t go to such people. Hence I don’t worry.

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But, I felt, I was exploited when I went to Horanadu (a holy place near Sringeri) recently.

The hotel guy was quoting prices exorbitantly. I got room for Rs.300 per day. Next day, he charged (remaining rooms) some rooms at Rs.500 and others at Rs.600. In a way, I was lucky about my timing there.

Also, since there was mobile service except BSNL. I had to depend on STD booth. He charged me “STD service charge (Rs.3.40) + STD call charges” for making call.

Isn’t an exploitation?

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On the other hand, I charge “x” amount as rent to my tenants. The “x” is decided by me. I say rent is reasonable and fair. Truth is
- I can’t give prompt service (plumbing, electrical or other maintenance works)
- My rents are lower only “relative” to the rents in my locality.

So am I also exploiting people?

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Some more examples: Exorbitant ticket prices at multiplexes, parking rent for 4 wheelers at IT Park Bangalore (Rs.15 per hour!), fees charged by many schools in Bangalore.

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However if look into bigger picture, I see more. Let me explain.

Consider I invest in a property and rent it out. To buy the property, I take loan and I pay interest. To cover my interest expenses and other expenses, unless I am doing charity, I am bound to keep rent at certain levels.
Tenant earns money and pays me rent. I cover my expenses, pay interest to bank and retain profits. The bank covers its costs of managing money transactions and makes some profits.
Hence I see a chain of different entities(persons/organizations) involved. The "amount" of profit each entity retains is what decides whether it is cheating/exploitation. However it is difficult to make out if a product/service is reasonably priced or exploitation is at play.

The greed (to make money) easily takes over and it can lead to exploitation.

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Exploitation is kept under control due to competition among entities providing similar products/services. Also as a consumer of a product/service I have the "choice" of going for a product or service and hence controlling the exploitation.

However if I am addicted to certain brands, certain level of quality, certain level of comfort etc then I give an opportunity for product/service providers. And unless I make an effort to be Buddha, I continue to be dictated by my desires, giving an opportunity for exploitation.

What are your views?

Mind map of Swami Ramdev Pranayam

Over last few weekends, I converted notes on Ramdev Pranayam into a mind map.



My recommendation:
1. Beginners: Watch (only, don't do) Pranayam video for 1-2 times
2. Do Pranayam along with video play, for 10 times (days).
3. Then you are on your own. Now you can use following as your guides
a. Audio extracted from video as mentioned in a previous post. I highly recommend this option because the audio can be put in mobile phone and it can be very handly.
b. Take a printout of above mind map and use it as reference.

I highly recommend you to try out Ramdev Pranayam for good health.

Note:
I tried XMind software (free, open source) to create this mind map. I found it more powerful than FreeMind. Portable version of this software is available here.

Excavator on two platforms

We talk of software compatibile for different operating system platforms. I got to see an excavator, in Germany, built to work on two platforms: road and rail.

Swami Ramdev Pranayama: My customization

Please read related post before reading this.

After practicing Ramdev Pranayama for some time, I realized that I don't need to watch the video every time but I can practice just by listening to the audio. Also I wanted to customize the pranayama package for 30minutes. So I came up with an idea of extracting the audio from the DVD. I extracted the audio and cut it into pieces as below.

Legend:

Track name: Pranayama_x_<type>.mp3

Here x means track number indicates the order of pranayama to be practiced.

<type> means the type of pranayama.

Track name: Pranayama_x1_<type>.mp3

Here x1 means first section split from track number x.

I created 3 play lists: Pranayama25 (Approx. 25 minutes), Pranayama35 (Approx. 35 minutes) and Pranayama45 (Approx. 45 minutes). The play list lengths are odd but it is kept that way keeping in mind the continuity of audio and to avoid abrupt transitions from one type of pranayama to another.

I have copied these audio files into my mobile and created playlists.

Now I can't use following reasons to avoid doing something about my health:

• I don’t feel like practicing pranayama because place is noisy(I can simply use mobile along with headphones)

• My kid takes wants to watch Pogo when I start doing pranayama (I don’t need watch the pranayama video anymore)

• I don’t have enough time! (I can choose the play list as per my convenience!)

Swami Ramdev Pranayama: Excellent productization

I have practised yoga (specifically asanas and pranayama) under the guidance of two teachers since my childhood. I have explored many training CDs on yoga, one of them being Shilpa's yoga (actively marketed CD). I have also watched yoga training classes on TV. But I have not come across any product like Pranayama CD designed and packaged by Swami Ramdev.

I like it for following reasons:

1. Self learning: With Ramdev Swami CD, self learning is possile. You can simply play the CD and follow Swami Ramdev. Even if you have no idea of what Pranayama is, no problem! You may need to atmost watch the CD once or twice to get feel of Pranayama and understand the basics. Then you can start doing pranayam along with Swami Ramdev.

Other CDs are informative and demonstrative but mostly are not designed for "play and follow". Shilpa's yoga CD is best designed for demonstration, you will fall flat :-) when you see Shilpa doing but you may hardly find it easy do it along playing the video.

You can learn through books. Books are informative but hardly motivative enough to get you started with or sustain the momentum of your practice. Swami Ramdev CD simply gets you started and keeps you going! It is that simple.

2. Instructions: Pranayama is generally advised to be practised under physical guidance of a Guru. There are some rules to be followed. Since it involves regulating the breathing process, it should be done carefully. But instructions mentioned in books/other CDs more or less seem to be threatening to the extent that you don't dare to learn and practise.

In Swami Ramdev CD, instructions are explained clearly, on the go. You don't have to remember anything. Instructions include pre-conditions for doing Pranayama, who should avoid what type of pranayama, how long should one do pranayama etc.

3. Excellent packaging: 45 minutes of pranayama (7 varieties), 15 minutes for sukshma vyayam (7 types) and asanas (7 postures). Swami Ramdev recommends 1 hour practice daily but he explains how you can do pranayama in 30 minutes or 45 minutes as per your convinience.
Normally books, other CDs instruct you to do repeat a pranayama for certain "number of times" and in my experience, I am mostly lost in counting rather than doing it. Swami Ramdev takes away your focus on counting and stresses on "how long" you should be doing certain type of pranayama. You may ask, there I count "number of times", here I have to count "minutes", how does it help? Here the advantage is, you are simply following him while you play the video. Watching vido is not mandatory. After you practise by watching the video for about 10 times, you can close your eyes and practise by listening to the audio.

4. Price: Lowest price among all the CDs available on Yoga. VCD: Rs.60/- (VCD), Rs.110 (DVD: Includes Asan and Pranayama, English and Hindi). Shilpa's yoga CD was initially sold for Rs.500 but now sold at Rs.150. Other CDs cost you any where between 200/- to 500/-.
Clearly Swami Ramdev beats other CDs with economy of scale! What's better? Selling few hundred CDs at higher price and limit yourself to limited audience OR sell few lakhs of CDs at lower prices and yet make the difference you want to make?

Note: The title of the Pranayama CD referred to, in this post, is "Yog Vignan: Pranayam and Asan OR Divya Yoga Sadhana: Pranayam and Aasan". It includes basic pranayama routine meant for general health. It is flagship product by Swami Ramdev. See below pictures of this CD/VCD/DVD. Note that it doesn't refer to other CDs he has released with variations of basic pranayama package, addressing specific diseases.



Note:

• For general health and weight reduction: Just following Pranayama part of the VCD/DVD is enough. You can do aasans only if you have more time.

• If you are suffering from some ailments or aged above 50years, it is highly advised to attend Swami Ramdev Yog Vijnan Camp once and then use above CD for further practice.
• I have practiced Pranayama routine mentioned in this CD (about 45minutes per day, 5 days a week). In addition to this, with controlled food intake and swimming once in a week (45 minutes), I could reduce about 8kg in 4-5 months.
• Through Pranayama practise, I am able to float on water!