On Language and Literature

Literature is the writer’s state of mind and feelings, put down in words for others to comprehend, and achieve (almost) the same state. And in few cases impressive literature can act as catalyst to take the imagination forward to a higher state. In so many languages of the world, we have had so many famous writers, igniting the fires of imagination in so many minds.

I was born in a part of India where the focus of education was on Mathematics and Sciences. The reasons were Economic as Engineers and Doctors were in the well-paid jobs of then and near future. My father being an Engineer made me focus more on these, but during the long summer vacation he changed the focus to languages like English, Hindi and Sanskrit. So with practice I started doing well on languages during early 5^th-6^th grades. And by 8^th 9^th and 10^th grades when we were exposed to famous Literature in English and Hindi I was able to grasp the nuances of poetry and prose. And more important I started appreciating Literature.

When I was 18, with an interesting twist of fate, I started my Engineering education in former USSR, and started learning Russian, which was my new medium of education. We (me and other foreign students) picked Russian fast and for next 6 years it was all Russian, spoken and written and heard.

In those years I noticed something interesting. All those foreign students who were good in verbal and written communication in their native languages, proved to be excellent in the new language as well. This boosted their social confidence, and gave them the necessary tools to interact with people and explain their point of view easily. This eventually gave them an edge in education, getting better grades and recognition in the university. It’s not surprising that most of the students with top grades in Languages, were the ones with the most top grades in Computer Science.

And much later in profession I started noticing the importance of Communication skills. And as you grow in profession the need of superior Communication skills increase. Well it’s the other way if you see carefully. If you do not have superior Communication skills you have difficulty in growing and sustaining.

The need eventually is in connecting with the various minds around, learning from them, influencing them and leaving an impression. Language is like the special wire, which connects ignited minds, which can get the energy from outside, create own, and charge many other minds.

So for our kids, it’s wiser to focus early on the Languages and rich global Literature we have access to. Give them the wires to connect to the world, and they will know what’s best for them and the minds around.

Mahtab Syed

Bangalore, 07 Dec 2013

The Spiritual High

When I say “The Spiritual High” I mean a state of bliss when you are able to touch a cord of your soul, which sustains for few minutes.

You would have experienced it or seen someone else experience it. Few examples

-       In a temple say ISCON Hare Rama Hare Krishna where it’s customary to let yourself loose and dance and worship, or a Sufi Dargaah like Hazrat Moinuddin Chisti in Ajmer where you participate in a Sufi song. Imagine you go there when you are the needy or when your wish is fulfilled. The state of mind is full of devotion and reverence. You let yourself loose in dance and music. You forget about your present worries. And for few minutes, when you see and feel the Supreme power, the barriers between you and your soul just melt away. This Spiritual High lasts for some time till your mind takes control of the present worries.

-       In a Rock concert when your God of music say Bryan Adams performs live those songs with which you have grown up. The performance of the song “Please forgive me…” reminds you when as a teenager you had broken the heart of your beloved. You feel as if Bryan Adams is singing for you. The beats of the drum and the strings of guitars seem to come from your heart and soul. That’s it… That’s the power of music and love. This is the Spiritual High I am talking about. You don’t want to get back to the normal world, as this is Heaven, the Bliss…

We can experience this Spiritual High in daily life as well. Try this

1. If you are worried about something you may not get there
2. So relax, take a break and forget it. If the worry is bigger you need a longer break.
3. You should be physically tired, very tired, try jogging for some time till you are exhausted
4. Take a shower, and have a cup of coffee
5. Sit as in meditation in a silent place. No phones, people, or noise disturbing you.
6. Play your favorite music
7. Close your eyes and just listen to the music. If it’s your favorite music, it will remind of happy moments.
8. The pain in the muscles releases pain relieving hormones, the caffeine in coffee relaxes you, the music and the underlying love opens the lock.
9. You get The Spiritual High where you forget the present, loose control of time, and you touch a cord of your soul.

Music, love, devotion, passion are the keys. The ever-active mind is one of the barriers to the Soul. Practice to open it often… And then it will be easier next time and the vision of the bliss will be more and more beautiful…

Mahtab Syed

12-Oct-2013

Bangalore

The four pillars of our life

It’s almost the end of 2012, and for many it’s time for retrospection.

I have this thought lingering in mind for many years now, and its time to put it down in black and white. Life for us is getting busier balancing the needs of ever-busy profession, family, ultra active kids, friends, social work, networking, studying, shopping, gazing at all sorts of screens from TV to iPad, etc.…

Its time to re-prioritize our attention to the most important things in our life. I call them the “Four Pillars”. They are for me

1. Health

2. Family

3. Friends

4. Spirituality

1.     Health – No need to mention the importance of Health, which we often ignore. The whole social and professional setup is against it these days. Abundant food causing the Obesity menace; Ubiquitous stress at work, while commuting (especially in developing world) and even at home.

Without good health we cannot be in position to enjoy the fruits of our labor.

How to keep the Health pillar strong?

1. Learn how to cope with stress and take frequent breaks. Read on Stress by Deepak Chopra
2. Keep a regular check on your health parameters, and listen to your body and mind.
3. Give means and happiness to the ones in dire need.

2.     Family – It’s your closest family members, your spouse and kids and parents, who love you selflessly. Their love and support to each other can be the most important thing in our lives. Do you recollect the tears of happiness on seeing your tender newborn baby? Can you compare this happiness to anything else in life?

This machinery needs some maintenance i.e. regular servicing.

How to keep the Family pillar strong?

1. Say you love them, as often as you feel so.
2. Care for them when they need most, and stand behind them in need.
3. Give second priority to your dreams, for making their dreams come true.

3.     Friends – Well I am sure most of us have friends who know all our weaknesses, secrets, and silly things we did in the process of growing up. And if you are still in touch with friends from teenage school and college days, you know the deep bond I am talking about.

It’s interesting that as we grow-up from a teenager to an adult it’s the friends with whom we share all crazy ideas and impossible dreams. And it’s the never-ending talks/discussions with these friends, which is the test-lab of our radical thoughts and ideas, which later make us the person we are today.

Unlike with Family, with Friends there is no obligation to continue bonding… And this no obligation makes this relationship more special. And we need to keep this fire on.

How to keep the Friends pillar strong?

1. Go to outings just with friends, as you used to do before your spouse came in your life.
2. Keep your ego in check. You may be socially and financially stronger than other. But friends are always equal.
3. You might have grown up now, but the fun is to continue sharing your secrets/thoughts as you did when you were a teenager. You need to vent out your emotions unchecked.

 4.     Spirituality – Spirituality is not being religious. It is much superior and is about knowing your Self (Conscience) and being answerable and true to it. 

There will be trying times in life when neither your family nor friends will have belief, or will support in what you are saying, or want to achieve. In those times you have to walk alone. And you will do it because your mind and your Self (God or Universe or Conscience) believes in you. Rather just because you want to achieve it badly, the whole Universe gets ready in preparation and helps and supports you in getting your dreams come true.

How to keep the Spirituality pillar strong?

1. Know your Self (Conscience). Listen to it. And you need silence for that. Not devoid sound but devoid thoughts. Simple meditation with focus on breathing helps.
2. Spend quality time with yourself. Brood, think, write and enjoy being alone.
3. Retrospect your day before you go to sleep. Understand the cause and effect of actions and thoughts today and correct them next day.

These Four Pillars are important for success and a happy and contended life.

Yes your life can stand on three pillars as well. But the foundation will be weaker. And it cannot stand on two pillars. The choice is yours…

You might feel that your Dollar Net Worth might be lesser if you have to focus on all four pillars. I think its better to be worth $1 MN with all 4 pillars strong, than worth $10 MN with only 3 pillars…

What do you say?

Pillars of the "Sagrada Familia" in Barcelona, Spain

Mahtab Syed

25^th Dec 2012

Paris

A long haul flight really connects two different planets

Even after decades of traveling in flight, I am still surprised at this engineering marvel.

Now it looks like a simple routine of check-in, boarding, repeated safety procedures, takeoff and mostly good landing, baggage collection, and a taxi to hotel or home.

Travel time has reduced drastically, and you can travel from one continent to another in the span of a dinner, sleep and breakfast.

What I find intriguing is the change you notice when you travel from one continent to another. Within 10-12 hours a flight takes you from one place to another completely different place. 10 hrs back you were accustomed to a different world and now you are in a different world. There is a mixed feeling of change due to weather, language spoken, culture of the people, security, laws, prices, food, environment, etc etc…

If you make the same travel by a car or train, it takes much longer and the human mind accepts the gradual change with longer time available. In a long haul flight you are exposed to bigger change in faster time, which makes it incomprehensible and interesting. A mixed intriguing feeling…

I am writing this as I am just returning from a 3 weeks vacation in India (Bangalore, Mumbai and Kolkata) to Paris. I travelled to India after almost an year in Paris.

The difference is incredible… It’s not good or bad, it’s a mixture of both, some good some not good and some simply unbelievable… rather comic… (in both places by the way)

Let me put them in the order they come to my mind…

While in Paris, its peace, clean air, polite people who hold doors open for you, best quality food at expensive prices, clean walkways (if you ignore the dog poos J ),  amazing health care, parks for kids, medicines always available in pharmacy, slow life, poor growth rate, pathetic competitiveness, zero entrepreneurship, strong safety and police administration, social security, people mostly on vacation, very efficient but dirty metros, mostly French spoken…

While in India its fun, lots of relatives, crowded, loud noise in malls (music and din and bustle, and loud chatter), dust and pollution everywhere, very good food, unsafe water, unbelievably bad infrastructure, superb quality clothes at very good prices, no social security, zero safety and police administration, driving in the city a real pain in ass, mosquitoes everywhere, taxis unreliable but very cheap, markets everywhere and shopping is fun, people speaking in all the Indian languages you can imagine plus some American accent English in Mumbai, and some Bengali accent English in Kolkata…

I can keep on writing… J

And when you are transported from one such world to another in 10 hours, its difficult for the modest conditioned human brain to understand this without being surprised. And then you realize that taking a flight is like a magic, which transports you from one world to another so fast, almost like the way people got transported in the ski-fi fiction Star Trek…  J

Mahtab SYED

Paris, Nov 11 2012