LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - UPRIGHT

 One must have noticed that the oft used pronoun is "you" especially to shift the onus from oneself. Therefore, the choice for the human trait desirable fell naturally onto "upright". Marcus Aurelius laid out the principle crisply:

A man should be upright, not be kept upright

To answer the question as to with dreams shattered whether one can be upright, Mehmet Murat Ildan said,

The greatest victory for man is 

not 

that his dreams were fulfilled

 but 

it is that to stand upright 

even 

when none of his dreams are fulfilled

As though to goad us to be upright Israelmore Ayivor decreed

The table that cannot stand upright

is

an insult to the carpenter who makes it

This makes it clear that we become responsible even for the acts of the persons whom we mentor

Confucius, the great teacher laid out the truth in saying

Man is born with uprightness.

If one loses it,

he will be lucky 

if he escapes with his life

Contrast these with the warning of Chanakya

Do not be very upright in your dealings

for you would see by going to the forest

that

straight trees are cut down

while

crooked ones are left standing

Thus, the value of being upright as well as its pitfalls if not being reasoned has been brought out by the wise men.

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - TRUST

 The A to Z series was left unfinished belying the trust of the readers. Therefore, the quality of trust is picked ahead of truth for the letter "T". Trust is a delicate and defining emotion. Many would have come across the expression - set a thief to catch a thief.  Henry L Simson gave a positive spin to it by stating as under:

The only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him

Don Peppers gave another perspective to it by laying a new principle:

Being Trustworthy requires:

Doing the right thing 

 and

Doing things rights

Stephen Covey made Trust the foundation for any relationship in these words:

Trust is the glue of life.

It is the foundational principle that holds all relationships

John Pepper prescribed it as an antidote to fear in the following words:

Trust is the antidote that overcomes fear 

– and 

fear is the greatest inhibitor of all 

to a relationship that welcomes and nurtures new ideas

The charitable Warren Buffet placed trust on par with air while propounding:

Trust is like the air we breathe – 

when it’s present, nobody really notices; 

when it’s absent, everybody notices

It was Richard Fragerlin who hit the nail on the head by not making the cause or the process but the result in these words:

Trust isn’t what we do; it is what results from what we do.

Thus, what better way to regain the trust of readers than trusting them to overlook the long hibernation in posting on the A to Z series.

TRAIN TRAVEL - A TRAIN OF THOUGHTS

Life is a journey - travel it well. Easier said than done. Travel is not one of the most passionate things yours truly cherishes or relishes. However, if one must travel, train journeys are found to be better compared to other modes. Of late, a substantial portion of the existence being on trains brought back memories of the poem written by Robert Stevenson which we used to recite as children and reads as under:

Faster than fairies, faster than witches,

Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;

And charging along like troops in a battle,

All through the meadows the horses and cattle:

All of the sights of the hill and the plain

Fly as thick as driving rain;

And ever again, in the wink of an eye,

Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,

All by himself and gathering brambles;

Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;

And there is the green for stringing the daisies!

Here is a cart run away in the road

Lumping along with man and load;

And here is a mill and there is a river:

Each a glimpse and gone for ever!

In many a journey, we do find young parents dealing with a moody kid wailing for attention. The best course was to just divert their attention to the landscape that is flying past them. Slightly older kids would argue that it was the train that was moving and not the landscape forgetting that they were in the midst of an emotional crisis. 

In another encounter, yours truly found a bunch of youngsters who were playing a present day game called "hand cricket" wherein the fingers used to fly at will but the arithmetic needed the calculator on the mobile. The dreary routine of travel was broken as in the case of the emotional child when yours truly volunteered to keep scores. The cautious players initially cross checked with the gadget and found that the new scorekeeper could be trusted. After one T20 was completed, the scorekeeper was given a certificate of appreciation for being able to add single digits upto 6 to the existing score. Thanking my stars as well as graciously accepting their felicitations, yours truly wished at least one of the mathematics teachers in the ten years of schooling and five years of college could have even made a fleeting reference to the mathematical ingenuity of this statistician. Unfortunately, they would only accept a Srinivasa Ramanujam as a disciple granting dismal scores for the "effortless (pun intended) performance". 

On another occasion, yours truly alighted at a station where the train halted for a crossing. Immediately, a simian propped himself to the doorway to remind his descendant that it was improper to alight at stations in between. The other two doorways of the compartment were also taken up by similar teachers who scornfully thrust a peanut or two into their mouths as well as used up some mineral water to the boot. The other train passed without much notice while this train intended to move. Paying obeisance to the Lord Hanuman and mentally apologizing for breaking the rules, yours truly boarded the next compartment only to see them effortlessly move out from the moving train. A truly moving lesson!

Some lessons are not learnt well. Yesterday, I was encountered with a similar scenario where the train ground to a halt. Nonchalantly, I walked to the door forgetting all the lessons learnt and alighted from the train. This time, an infant clung to me from the rear teaching me to balance myself without hurting her. On alighting, she waved a good bye as she was apparently not happy with the hustle and bustle with lot of restrictions within the compartment. The parents were anxiously inquiring my final destination but there was no letting go. Minutes later, it was time to board the train as the signal had turned amber. The infant protested my attempt to board the train. Paying little heed the train was boarded only to be punished for the defiance with a loud bawl with co- passengers counselling that infants should not be carried and alighted at interim stations. Apparently, the simian brothers of the earlier journey were giving me some karmic lessons for not having kept the word!!!

Yours truly now reminisced this oft quoted passage:

Life is like a train journey, with its stations, with changes of routes and with accidents!!!

We board this train when we are born and our parents are the ones who get our ticket!

We believe they will always travel with us. As time goes by, other passengers will board the train many of whom will be significant in and for the journey- our siblings, teachers, friends, spouse, children, mentors, mentees and many more

At some stations our parents and many others alight leaving us to continue our journey to our mysterious station. Many go unnoticed that even their seat vacancy is unnoticed. Some are replaced by others but there are a few whose vacuum lasts for the rest of the journey!!!

This train ride will also be a roller coaster of joys, sorrows, greetings, farewells, adieus, fantasies, expectations and disappointments!!!

A good journey is helping, loving, having a good relationship with all co passengers and making sure that we give our best to make each other's journey comfortable and memorable!!!

What a train of thoughts!!!

CHAKRAVYUHA OF THE COVID 19- A THOUGHT TO BREAK IT

 Strange are the ways in which circumstances pushes us to the roots. The unleashing of the havoc by the mystical virus named after the Corona of the Sun has done this over a year and still pushing us further to seek answers.

It is still the norm that people still resort to the different syrups that are made out of various herbs besides placing reliance on neem, turmeric, guduchi amongst others. Prayers of different hues rent the air. Despair is met with hope. Modern science meets traditional home remedies to provide succour to the ailing and their attendants. Then could their be a remedy for this dastardly virus which has fed into the very vitals of the bodies, the society, the economy and the humanity as a whole in our old tales. 

After all it is for nothing that it has been said that a diamond is to be cut by another diamond and a thorn in the flesh is to fleshed out by another thorn. Would Tanaji, the famed general of Shivaji have an answer to the strategies deployed by the virus? How would Charaka deal with this wheel of misfortune in which the humanity is clutched? Or would it require a Chanakya to advise the right course of action? 

As these thoughts took yours truly back in time, the evergreen epic of Mahabharata which has many problems with matching solutions, shades of perception, strategies and counsel struck a chord.

The epic which revolves around the magical number of eighteen is renowned for its eighteen day war. The eighteen day war is highlighted with different war formations but the one that stands out is the Chakravyuha. Chakravyuha is an impregnable formation which reminds one of the charismatic Abhimanyu, the desolate Arjuna, the gloating Kauravas and drives home the destructive havoc that a war can wreak on humanity. After all it was described by none other than Sri Krishna when his nephew was still in the womb. The formation was sculpted to perfection by the Guru Dronacharya, the one who won his place as Acharya by lifting a ball out of a well by piercing blades of grass into a rope.

Match it with the circular illustration of the Covid and this very destructive formation strikes you like a thunderbolt. Strangely it has an alternative name Padmavyuha also. So we could treat it like a flower but should not be attracted to it like a bee. Therefore, we need to keep it at bay by following hygienic methods.

The different rings of the chakravyuha are said to number seven. Then, let us prepare for seven mutations of the virus too. As it is we are seeing triple mutations. On this front, the need to checkmate the virus at its own game is the theme of this muse.

Let us now use concentric circles to defeat this deadly virus which is playing mutation games. One has to also learn the way in which Lord Vishnu played a trick on Kamsa in a number game. The seventh child of Devaki disappeared from the womb raising the question as to whether the next one was the eighth or the seventh child. in the same manner, it is necessary to isolate the variants so as to eradicate mutation.

Having learnt the lesson is not adequate. The actual learning is in the application. Let us take the states of West Bengal, Maharashtra and Delhi. Isolate them like the Kauravas isolated Arjuna to beat Abhimanyu. No travel from and to these States should be allowed for a period of 84 days. Even travel through these States should not be allowed thereby restricting the strain to its present territory.

In the meantime, all the surrounding States need to ensure 100% vaccination of all the border districts bordering these States. The Vaccination should have a healthy mix of Covaxin, Covishield and Sputnik with a third share for each. This would ensure that there is some difference in the lines of defence of each set of immunised persons.

Parallely, the vaccination programmes of these States also needs to be a mix of multiple vaccine mixes. These territories should be earmarked along with the border districts of the neighbouring States for double or triple immunisation meaning that each recipient will get two doses of each vaccine over a period of 28 day intervals. This would mean different lines of defence created in the bodies of all these residents. This would mean day 1, 28,56,84, 112 and 140, The mix of the doses in the first phase will ensure that the programme is completed by day 140 which is nearly 5 months. Therefore, the period of isolation for these States and territories need to extend for a period of 5 months.

In the meantime high risk areas in States such as Karnataka, Kerala, TamilNadu, Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telengana also need to be approached with a similar strategy. Ideally the vaccination should move from InterState bordering districts inward closing the areas of defence for the virus and ensuring that the brakes are applied on the virus spiralling its way forward in geometric progressions.

The strategy having been devised the deployment of resources. The quantum of vaccines required for such a strategy with an additional 50% marked for other regions need to be factored in. For this purpose, the already vaccinated need not be excluded as it will provide for a further impetus in the programme. The programme needs to be devolved to election booth levels to accelerate the process.

The contingency plan for post 84 days should be that any incoming trains should necessitate that the travellers have completed 2 days of a single vaccine and it should be declared at the time of booking. On alighting a dose of another vaccine needs to be administered requiring them to take a second dose after 28 days. This would mean that the travellers also have a second line of defence. International travellers who will be allowed only after the period of 140 days should at least have a two layer defence and should be administered a third layer of vaccine.

To promote this end, compulsory licencing of the three vaccines available in India is required. All pharma companies in India should be asked to join the programme and manufacture a particular quota of all the three vaccines. Aids granted by countries like USA, UK etc should include other vaccines which will enhance the permutations by which the three vaccine formula can work. 

This is a thought which needs to be vetted by the scientific community and if approved needs to be implemented at rocket speed.

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - SINCERE

The letter S in a life lesson is normally picked for success. But yours truly has a humble opinion that sincerity is one of the key steps that makes one's life successful in one's own eyes if not in the world's eyes.

In fact, Oscar Wilde cautioned us,

" A little sincerity is a dangerous thing, 

and a great deal of it is absolutely fatal"

However, Charles Dickens held out for the other view in these words

" There is no substitute for thoroughgoing, ardent 

and sincere earnestness"

However, Mehmet Murat made it even more simpler by saying

" Paradise can take the form of anything! 

It can take the form of a flower 

or 

it can be a word 

or 

it can just be a sincere smile"

Ralph Waldo Emerson pointed out 

" Sincerity is the luxury allowed, like diadems and authority,

 only to the highest rank. 

Every man alone is sincere. 

At the entrance of a second man, hypocrisy begins"

But the resolute belief is in the words of Jean Giraudoux

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES -RESOLUTE

Life is a struggle say some and Life is a journey say others. In either case one requires the unwavering, determined and focussed approach to it. Thus, resolute becomes the next in this series of life lesson in quotes.

Minisinoo distinguished defiance from being resolute in these words,

" Being defiant is a two year old 

who 

doesn't want to go to bed when he's tired. 

Being resolute is standing one's ground 

in the 

face of opposition. 

It's a man's virtue and not a toddler's vice"

Goethe proclaimed,

" He who is firm and resolute in will molds the world to himself"

Eugene S Wilson wrote,

" Only the curious will learn 

and 

only the resolute overcome the obstacles to learning, 

The quest quotient has always excited me 

more than

 the intelligence quotient"

Do these words not remind us of the epochal Karna and Ekalavya of times immemorial from the Mahabharata scripted by Ved Vyasa?

Cicero said,

" It is the character of a brave and resolute person

 not to be

 ruffled by adversity, and not to desert their post"

Theodore Roosevelt said,

" It is only through labour and painful effort, 

by grim energy and resolute courage,

 that we move on to better things"

These could be summed up best in the words of iconic Napoleon Bonaparte which reads 

Thus, Resolute forms the chapter for R in the A to Z series on life lesson in quotes.

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - QUESTION

A teacher once told us that life is a difficult exam and each one has a different question paper. Therefore, copying others answers would not help.

Albert Einstein decreed 

" Learn from yesterday. 

Live for today.

 Hope for tomorrow. 

The important thing is not to stop questioning"

And as the saying goes "Charity begins at home", one has to start questioning oneself.

Tennessee Williams said,

" Life is an unanswered question,

 but

 let's still believe in the dignity 

and 

importance of the question"

Criss Jami laid it bare by saying

" Friends ask you questions; 

enemies question you"

Lloyd Alexander hit the nail on the head in these words

" We learn more by 

looking for the answer

 to 

a question and not finding it 

than 

we do from learning the answer itself"

In the epic Ramayana, Valmiki puts us in a quandary by stating

" We have no right to ask when a sorrow comes 

'Why did this happen to me?' 

unless 

we ask 

the same question for every joy that comes our way"

Shannon Alder simplified the concept in these words

" Life is as simple as these three questions. 

What do I want?  

Why do I want? 

How will I achieve it?"

Richard Norton exemplified the role of questions in these words,

" Questions open a space in your mind 

that allow 

better answers to breathe"

Manoj Arora clarified the role of questions as under

" Doubts are good.

 Confusion is excellent.

 Questions are awesome. 

All these are attempts to expand the wisdom of mind"

In the words of Gary Keller,

" Life is a question and how we live it is our answer" 

Thus, the questions which form the fulcrum of our very existence forms the next life lesson in this series A to Z and as Gary Keller puts it we need to live out the answer.

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES -PERSEVERANCE

" Age wrinkles the body, Quitting wrinkles the soul"

Douglas MacArthur urged us to persevere to preserve the soul while Confucius reminded us how each walking soul had learnt to rise from his falls. Many academic repeaters are fondly christened Ghazni Mohammed in memory of his persistent efforts to invade India and succeeding.

Aristotle, one of the greatest teachers who walked this planet reminded us

" We are what we repeatedly do, 

excellence, therefore, 

is 

not an act 

but 

a habit"

John Quincy Adams cast a spell on all the hurdles with these words

" Patience and Perseverance have a magical effect

 before which 

difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish"

James Whitecomb propounded that perseverance was the most significant factor of any success in these words

" The most essential factor is persistence - 

the determination never to allow 

your energy or enthusiasm to be dampened by the discouragement 

that must inevitably come" 

Margaret Thatcher pointed out the grim reality of life in these words

" You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it"

In the words of Sandra Kring

" The tiny seed knew that 

in order to grow

 it needed to be dropped in dirt, 

covered to darkness, and struggle to reach light."

Samuel Johnson credited perseverance for the success by stating

" Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance"

The iconic Winston Churchill held the view that 

" Success is the ability to go from one failure to another

 with no loss of enthusiasm"

No wonder it is often said " Perseverance Pays"

Thus, this series of A to Z was a lesson in perseverance which had to surmount issues of connectivity and thus being thankful that this dry run would be a good precursor to better attempts at blogging on the A to Z series.

The life lesson of perseverance, therefore, marks a significant chapter in this series. 

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - OPPORTUNITIES

It is often said that when a door is shut, God opens a window of opportunity - the silver lining of every cloud. Thus, though the letter O is very similar to the numeral zero, perhaps opportunity was coined to indicate that we can convert zero into any great figure.

Michelle Obama used the figure of speech to drive home the point while saying

" When you walk through the open door of opportunity, 

you don't slam it shut behind you, 

YOU HOLD IT OPEN."

Sally Koch pointed out the everyday reality while stating

" Great opportunities to help others seldom come. 

But small ones surround us everyday."

The Bible gives the best direction to seek an opportunity out in the words

" Ask and it will be given to you, 

seek and you will find. 

Knock and the door will be opened for you"

The legendary Henry Ford had a different take on opportunity and revealed in these words

" Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently"

Albert Einstein laid the opportunity bare by saying

" In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity"

Richard Branson counselled on retaining an opportunity in these words

" If somebody offers you an amazing opportunity 

but 

you are not sure you can do it, 

say yes -

 then learn how to do it later"

Winston Churchill epitomized the significance of opportunities in these words

" A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; 

an optimist sees an opportunity in every difficulty."

Indira Gandhi captured the essence of the opportunities in these words

" Opportunities are not offered. 

They must be wrested and worked for"

Thus, Opportunity presents itself as a life lesson from these quotes in the series of A to Z.

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - NURTURE

To nurture can simply be put as the act of caring and protecting during the process of growth. Looking around we realize that we are in a constant state of relationships which require to be nourished and nurtured. No wonder, Iyanla Vanzant said,

" If we celebrate support and nurture ourselves, 

we will not need  anyone else to do it for us"

Samuel Smiles pointed out,

" The very greatest things - 

great thoughts, discoveries, inventions - 

have usually been nurtured in hardship, 

often pondered over in sorrow,

 and 

at length established with difficulty"

Elizabeth George laid down the tenet

" Nurture the qualities in yourself that you desire in your friends"

Marvin Ashton guided on the principles of life in these words,

" Be the one who nurtures and builds. 

Be the one who has an understanding 

and 

a forgiving heart, 

one who looks for the best in people. 

Leave people better than you found them."

Laozi counselled us on dealing with issues confronting us in life by saying

" Always be on the lookout for ways 

to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. 

Always be on the lookout for ways

 to nurture your dream."

Swami Vivekananda laid out the Golden Rules for nurturing relationships in the following manner

" Who is helping you 

don't forget them. 

Who is loving you 

don't hate them. 

Who is trusting you 

don't cheat them."

Narendra Modi shed light on our instincts by saying

"Each one of us has a natural instinct to rise, 

like a flame of the lamp. 

Let us nurture this instinct.

Jawaharlal Nehru looked into the crystal ball of the future and said

" Children are like buds in a garden 

and 

should be carefully and lovingly nurtured 

as they are the future of the nation and citizens of tomorrow."

Thus, nurturing being a life lesson is brought out through quotes in this series of A to Z. In a lighter vein, let us not nurture Corona but nurture a dream of a healthy post lockdown world universally and India in particular

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES - MISTAKE

Life is a game, play it. Life is a battle, fight it. Life is a journey, travel it are some of the perspectives on life.

However, one views life there is one common factor that we all admit to. It has forced and unforced errors of the game of tennis which is repeatedly referred to as mistake. Life is filled with a fair share of mistakes but life in essence is not a mistake by itself.

In continuation of the earlier post, if one were to look at the mistake, the words of John Mayer fit in as a glove fits to the hand

" The biggest mistake I made in life 

and 

what cost me a lot of enjoyment in my life, 

was 

assuming that everybody cared. They don't"

Moss Hart simply put the mistakes in life  to be

" All the mistakes I ever made in my life 

were 

when I wanted to say NO 

and 

said YES."

George Bernard Shaw held mistakes to be not only an integral part of life but also to be one which makes life honourable in the following words

In the lesson emanating from the mistakes many texts say 

" Laugh at your mistake 

but

learn from them. 

Joke over your troubles 

but

gather strength from them. 

Have fun with your difficulties, 

but 

overcome them."

Bill Gates defined mistake in a compelling manner

" If you are born poor, it is not your mistake. 

But,

 if you die poor it is your mistake."

The poverty need not necessarily be in terms of wealth and could be in terms of character and health too.

Thus, the critical role MISTAKES play in our life forms the next life lesson in the A to Z series and the apt words of Albert Einstein brings us to the end of this post

" The only mistake in life is the lesson not learned"

LIFE LESSON IN QUOTES- LOVE

Life is said to be an empty bottle filled with love. Life is filled with relationships from parent child to many nurturing, rivalling and challenging relationships. One among these which is defined by choice is friendship. Elbert Hubbard while defining a friend said,

" A friend is someone who knows everything about you 

and 

still loves you."

To drive home the point that every relationship thrives on love, Martin Luther King Jr said,

" Darkness cannot drive out darkness; 

only light can do that. 

Hate cannot drive out hate; 

only love can do that"

Elie Wiesel drew out the cause of falling apart while highlighting the indifference in these words,

" The opposite of love is not hate. It is indifference."

It could not have been put better. Just look around at any of your troubling relationships and you will find it is the indifference of one or both to the other that troubles them. Love in essence means going the extra mile to make that difference, empathize and relate or to simply put be able to think from the other's shoes and then resolve an issue. The presence of this feature is love and the absence of it becomes indifference which over a period of time could translate into hate.

Robert Heinlein summed the above into simple words

" Love is that condition 

in which the happiness of the other person

 is 

essential to your own."

William Shakespeare in his play All is Well that ends well, scripted

" Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none."

The question as to whether the feeling of love being natural must die somewhere naturally is answered by Anais Nin

" Love never dies a natural death. 

It dies because we do not know how to replenish its source. 

It dies because of blindness and errors and betrayals. 

It dies of illness and wounds; 

it dies of weariness; of witherings, of tarnishings."

The Buddha highlighted the need for love and more so self love by saying

" You yourself, 

as much as anybody else in the entire universe, 

deserve your love and affection"

Anna Taylor laid out the boundaries for people who refuse to love in these words

"  Love yourself to set boundaries. 

Your time and energy are precious. 

You get to choose how you use it. 

You teach people how to treat you by deciding 

what you will and won't accept"

Thus, the elixir of love is what life is about and it becomes the life lesson in quotes for this post