GOD Lies in Details

"Moko Kahan Dhoondhe Re Bande

Main To Tere Paas Mein

Na Teerath Mein, Na Moorat Mein

Na Ekaant Niwas Mein

Na Mandir Mein, Na Masjid Mein

Na Kabe Kailash Mein

Main To Tere Paas Mein Bande

Main to Tere Paas Mein"

The time was 6 o' clock on one summer evening in 1996 and I was stunned looking at the notice board of School of Planning and Architecture (SPA), New Delhi. My name was not one of the few lucky souls who got through the entrance exam of that college, that year. A college that was not less than a Temple to me. A Temple I worshiped ever since I was 10 years old, a Temple I so desperately wanted to be a part of, a Temple that was then my life. Today, fifteen years thereafter I am an Architect and nobody asks me the college I passed out from. All that people want from me is my experience that I have gained following the basic fundamentals of the language they call ARCHITECTURE.

Today, when I look back, I ask myself one question. “Why, today, I do not feel the same for the Temple that I loved so much fifteen years back?” The answer was very correctly expressed in words by a great Architect. Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said, "GOD IS IN DETAILS". I believe "GOD LIES IN DETAILS". The details are the basics and with basics one can solve or create even the most complicated. The detail that I was missing then was that I fell in love with the Temple to reach GOD but I forgot that to feel GOD, I need to truly love GOD and not the Temple.

Yes, this article is not about me, not even about Architecture. It cannot be. This article is about understanding and enjoying the basics of life.

We humans have a tendency to complicate things due to our lust for achieving something very fast. The lust so big that it erases all our sensuousness. We should not let ourselves be depleted of sensuousness as it is the greatest blessing of GOD upon us. It is our sensitivity, our consciousness. It is important for us to enjoy all the small things GOD has given us. As I said earlier, with the basics at right place one can solve or create the complicated. The basics are always small; they are never big in size. That is why we tend to ignore them. Remember, we can feel GOD only in small things as GOD is small. GOD is small till the time we start believing and enjoying all the small basics of life and once we do that GOD becomes VERY BIG. But, what are these small basics?

THE BASICS

OUR DAILY ROUNTINE (Din-Chariya)

The most important basic starts right from the time we wake up in the morning to the time we sleep at night. What does this mean? This is very well explained by Ruzbeh N Bharucha in his book, The FAKIR. He says,"Every morning nature responds joyfully, gratefully and humbly. But look at human beings, how indifferent most of us are to the bounties of GOD and nature. When was the last time you thanked GOD for a beautiful sunrise or rejoiced with nature over the break of dawn? When was the last time you thanked GOD for giving you the opportunity to live another day and thanked The Sun for giving you its light and warmth? When was the last time you thanked GOD for allowing you to drink the cool, thirst-quenching liquid? Tell me, do you thank GOD when you drink water? No. Why? Because you take it as your birthright and you take water for granted. But see the way an animal or a bird drinks water. There is a sense of gratitude. You know why? Because they are not certain when next time they will be able to acquire this nectar of life. Thus, everytime they have water there is a sense of gratitude to nature and GOD above".

Life is so simple. Such beautiful lines explaining the easiest to follow basics.

NO GREED AND A CLEAN HEART

Look at rich people. They spend their whole life just earning money. Their aim in life is just to earn money and when they earn a lot, it is still not enough. They want more. Once they are on top they realize that money has given them everything but happiness. Then they start returning the money to people from whom they had gotten all that money from and they name it Philanthropy. But do they still get happiness, the answer is NO. Money can bring us power, with it we can buy everything but LOVE, FRIENDSHIP AND GRATITUDE. These earnings give us happiness because this is where we will find GOD.

Look at people who believe in going to temple every morning but if a beggar or someone who is not as high as them in the society asks them for something they only have abusive words to give in return. Does this help us find GOD, does this give us happiness? No, Not at all. The famous poet Bulleh Shah says:

"je rab milda nahateyan dhoteya, te rab milda dadduan machiyaan nooo.....
je rab milda jangal phireyan te rab milda gayiyaan bachiyaan nooo.....
je rab milda mandir-masiti te rab milda cham chidikhiyan nooo.....

Ve miyan Bulleye, rab onhan noo milda, ati dil-eya achiyyan sachhiya nooo....."

I would like to translate it.

"if GOD was to be found by bathing and cleaning then
frogs and fishes would have already found GOD.

if GOD was to be found by roaming in jungles then
cows and other animals would have already found GOD.

if GOD was to be found in Temples and Mosques then
the birds and the bats would have already found GOD.

Bulle, GOD is found only by those who are true and good at heart".

Do I need to say anything more?

MEDITATE

Have you seen a Formula 1 race? In this race every car needs a Pitt Stop. Meditation provides us that Pitt Stop. It adds fuel to our soul, replaces our worn out tyres and cleans all the dirt from our body and soul so that we can rejoin this world fully refreshed and rejuvenated. When we are refreshed we are at Peace and when we at Peace we are with GOD.

FIND JOY IN OUR WORK

For me fifteen years back SPA was not important but I did not realize it then. What was important was my work and to find joy in my work. Osho says, "One should work not to be recognized but because it gives you enjoyment in being creative". The joy is not in achieving something, the joy is that we desired to be creative. When we start enjoying our work we reach a state of Trance. Once we reach this state we are in sync with GOD.

LOVE OUR CHILD AND SPOUSE

Our child is a piece of our heart and our spouse is the one whom we have given our heart. Remember, it is our heart where GOD resides. We should never forget to Love our Child and our Spouse.

RESPECT OUR PARENTS,

The creator is the most powerful and should always be respected most. Similarly our parents who have given us birth are nothing less than GOD. Their respect and care should be the most important GOAL of our life. All we should expect from them is their blessings because these blessings have the power to ward of all the ills and evils from our life. I find the blessings of our parents in a line from the great Lata Mangeshkar Ji's song, "tu jahan jahan chalega, mera saaya saath hoga". The blessings of our parents are the shadows of GOD.

If we follow these basics I am sure we will be following the path that leads to GOD.

LIFE - A Gift

"HUM KO MANN KI SHAKTI DENA, MANN VIJAY KAREN

DUSROAN KI JAI SE PEHLE KHUD KO JAI KAREN"

I am a Hindu and I believe in my religion. It is believed that a soul has to go through 84 lacs life forms to get a human life again. A human life - that is the top most of all life forms. Why do not all of us, the lucky ones, utilize this life to the fullest? Human life is the greatest gift of GOD to us, we should thank GOD and respect the gift. WE ARE ALL LUCKY..........

Luck is not always on our side. There comes a moment in life when our mind is forced to give up. We are so emotionally low and surrounded by negative energies that we lose all the courage to fight back and win. The reason could be any, the fact is that even if a thought like giving up in any situation comes to our mind is a disgrace. We are born to fight, we are born to WIN. We have been rewarded with this human life not as a trophy for winning some tournament but because GOD considers us responsible enough to be on top. No matter what the situation is, we have to fight to win.

One such situation of giving up came in my friends life a few months back. She asked me, "WHAT WOULD YOU SAY IF I WERE TO TELL YOU THAT I WANT TO END MY LIFE."

I got disturbed. I thought I knew her well, so well that it gave me a shock. An energetic girl so full of life but all of a sudden wants to end it. Believe me, She was serious.

I always believe, "Jeev hatya is BRAHAM hatya"

What I told her then is immaterial but I want to pen down my thoughts on this. WHAT MAKES A MAN THINK ABOUT ENDING HIS/HER LIFE?"

It is either we are too dependent on someone or something OR we desperately want that someone or something to be dependent on us. When we reach a pressure cooker point where that dependency cannot survive any further we start thinking about finishing our life or the relation. To be Dependent means to be a SLAVE.

Slavery is the worst a man can do to himself or mankind. Slavery originates from desires, either lack of it or from uncontrollable desires, i.e. GREED. Like they say, Excess or Lack of anything Important is BAD, so is the case with our desires. When our desires get out of control we start breaching all the rules and think that we are immortal only to realize at a stage where the penalty for breaking the rules is so bulky in magnitude that we are not strong enough to face it. The best example I can quote here is of Adolf Hitler. (No point discussing this example any further)

There are people who are less important to mankind, who also think they are strong only to realize later that they are mentally too weak. MENTALLY SO WEAK that they cannot fight the battle when it becomes a WAR. People who either want to finish their life or a relation of importance are WEAK. This is TRUTH, Accept IT, the sooner the better. I once saw a movie in which a man who madly loves a beautiful socialite and marries her later commits suicide because she is constantly committing adultery. The fact that I am trying to raise here is that we should know what we are capable of and what we are doing or getting into. If we have control over our desires and think with a level head in the very beginning then we would be able to avert a situation in future that might be out of control. A student who is not good enough to get into IIT or HARVARD or even if someone is but is unable to clear the exams when he is there loses his control, spouse not adjusting well with us or our family, a failed mad one sided Love Affair, not able to stand on our exaggerated commitment, an idiot woman saying something ridiculous to us on a TV show and an even bigger idiot TV channel that airs it, the reason can be any but the fact is that we are a slave of our desires. He who wins over his desires would win the battle of life, he who does not would lose it someday for sure.

What is important is that we should always be ourselves. Being ourselves gives meaning to our life. It gives us eternal happiness if not the materialistic one. He who manages to be himself does not stands a danger of falling down and even if he does falls down due to any reason has the capability and courage to rise up again. This does not mean that we should not grow in life. We should always work hard for our growth with responsibility. GROWTH is very important for a man to keep moving ahead in life. It is a great motivation. But one should grow responsibly. My dear friend, Avtar Saini Sir, says "any growth that is above 15-20% a year is a questionable growth". We should always grow systematically whether financially or emotionally. Hurrying up in business, profession, in love or on roads can lead to an accident. BE SYSTEMATIC.

We should love ourselves (I presume the reader understands the meaning of true love..... stupidity by the name of blind love is uncalled for over here). When we are in love with ourselves we demand freedom. With freedom comes responsibility as freedom never comes alone. When we are free we do not dump our responsibilities on anyone else, we are always responsible given any situation. Only then are we free from slavery. We are now in sync with the beauty of life. One of my dear friends (name I cannot write here) once said to me, "We Indians (majorly if not all) are so desperate to have a son that we can go to any extreme to have one. When we have a son, we live all our life to make him grow and fulfill all his dreams but one day he might go out and leave us alone whether for studies or for a job. We forget all our desires and just concentrate on his. Why cannot we balance it? Why cannot we live a life where we take care of our happiness at all times in life and also take care of our children in a way that we are responsible for them today and are responsible for ourselves tomorrow. LOVE ourselves first, only then can we truly love our near and dear ones.

We should be alive throughout our life. To be alive means to be respectful, responsible, loving, lovable, independent, have a good sense of humor. I once read it somewhere, "REVERENCE FOR LIFE IS THE ONLY RESPECT FOR DIVINE, BECAUSE, THERE IS NOTHING MORE DIVINE THAN LIFE ITSELF". JUST LIVE.............

Lyrics from the great JON BON JOVI song says it all:

ITS MY LIFE

ITS NOW OR NEVER

I AIN'T GONNA LIVE FOREVER

I JUST WANNA LIVE WHILE I AM ALIVE

ITS.......MY........LIFE........

I am an INDIAN, Am I Not Corrupt?

So, you think this comes directly from the SRK movie? No, It does NOT. It comes from within ME. Me, who is the youth of this country, the future of this country, INDIA. "Mera Bharat Mahan", how many times have we said it? Many a times. But how much do we love our country? How much do we care for it? What all have we done for it? We say we are too small to do anything. Remember, everything starts from the basic unit and the basic unit of a nation is an INDIVIDUAL. The most important thing one can do for his nation is to live in a disciplined and responsible manner that is free from any corruption.

FREE FROM ANY CORRUPTION

What does this mean? Very simple. We should not be corrupt ourself and raise our voice against all those who are corrupt around us. I do not mean that we need to revolt, I just want to say that we should try and stop people from being corrupt in any form. STOP giving Bribes. This is where we start. He who gives a bribe is a bigger criminal than the one who demands it. Raise our voice against all those who ask us for it by denying it and compel them to work in a proper way. Right from the policeman at the red-light we jump sometimes to the babu sitting at one or the other government post, should not be allowed to pocket anything apart from his salary. This might slow down our work or we might end up paying more but it would definitely set an example for the person across the table to do his work in a proper manner. My dear friend Saini sahab says, "Save a little more to pay a little more - instead of bribes".

We pay bribes in order to get our work done faster or try and bargain for our mistakes. But this is not all, there is an even bigger EVIL inside many of us. The evil of showing others that we are stronger than them. In order to do this we play with the law by paying the protectors of the law. Our attitude has to change. We should respect our laws, make it a Moral Duty. Even more so try and get those punished who break them.

WHO IS TO BE BLAMED FOR THIS MESS?

The answer is, WE, ourselves. It is us who have not dared to raise our voice for so long and let the corrupt have their way. Right from the person who pays a bribe to the babu, to the person who pays a huge amount to a Pujari at any of the big Temples/Shrines to perform a better puja, to the people who use their contacts to get ahead in the queue, to all the people of the nation who accept the price hike in any commodity just because the government felt the need of it, to the people of Delhi who agreed to pay more in taxes just because our chief minister asked us to pay during CWG (that later turned out to be the biggest scam in the history of Modern Delhi), etc etc etc. are also responsible for corruption. The corrupt are able to have their say because we let them to.

LEARN AND ACT

We should raise our voice against all those who are corrupt. Learn from others. There is no harm in following someone who has proved to be correct. We need to WAKE UP. Wake up from this sleep that started ever since independence. One does not get independence just like that, one has earn it. IT IS TIME TO EARN OURS.

One of the important duty we need to perform in our fight against corruption is to VOTE. It is a MUST. It is our right and we have to exercise it. He who does not vote is a criminal without doubt. Vote for ourself, vote for our future, vote for the future of our MOTHERLAND.

EDUCATE OTHERS

All those who can read this article are educated people for sure. But what about those who are still living in a world without education, without understanding what is right or wrong. It is our moral duty to educate these people to realize their responsibilities and make them understand the games our POLITICIANS, BUSINESSMEN AND INDUSTRIALISTS are playing with them. We need to educate them because till they realize their rights they cannot live their life, they would only be living for others. SPREAD EDUCATION. TEACH THE POOR.

If we do this, we have played our role. There is no doubt that success would be ours, us INDIANS. I am sure majority of us do not want to encourage corruption but it only because of the few who are corrupt do we feel need to exercise something that is unethical.

DO YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO LIVE A DISCIPLINED & FREE FROM CORRUPTION LIFE AND EDUCATE OTHERS WHO ARE IN NEED? If Yes, then our country will surely prosper, but if No, then accept it that our future is not safe. If Yes, then you will convert the title of this article to an answer from a question. "I am an INDIAN and I am NOT CORRUPT".

BELIEVE IN YOURSELF.

I am An ARCHITECT

ARCHITECT - The word in itself sounds so beautiful. In fact I chose to be one because I was so impressed by the words Architect and Architecture when I heard them for the first time. I was 11 years old then. Not an age to understand the meanings though. I made up my mind and gave heart. A few days back, I was asked by my friend's son, "Who is an Architect?, What does an Architect do? How does one become an Architect?". The Kid is nearly 11 years old now.

The place where we stood at that time is so pure and full of energy that I could not give him an ordinary answer or for that matter refuse to answer him. I do not really remember what I said to that child but I would like to Pen my thoughts on these questions.

WHO IS AN ARCHITECT?

GOD is an Architect and every creation of GOD that includes man, animals are Architects. Why do I say this? OK, I will explain.

Anyone who has the vision and knowledge for creation, who has the discipline and character to lead and is responsible enough to inspire others by making an impact, is a True Architect. He who has all these qualities in him needs no degree or any license to call himself an Architect. Architects are not made in colleges nor do they need any office. They are true leaders who pave way for others to walk and follow.

There is a very famous novel by Ayn Rand, "The Fountainhead". In this novel the lead character is an Architect. To my understanding this novel was not written just for the Architects but is for everyone to realize the essence of life. The only reason as per me why she chose to depict the hero as an Architect is that she was cognizant of the fact that no other profession/al could have explained her point better.

WHAT DOES AN ARCHITECT DO?

Life is a WAR in which one has to fight a battle every day or every other day. Starting from the home to the office or anywhere on the street we encounter some or the other problem that needs our attention and action. An Architect is not dependent on others to take his decisions or permission to act. His imposing actions would lead by an example thereby restricting others to imitate. More importantly it is the timing of the action that is important. Dependency does not allow you to take right actions at the right time. Even the best of actions taken after a delay can be useless. An Architect leads others when the situation demands a team effort by being creative in his plans and disciplined in his efforts. He knows what is the need of the hour with the knowledge that he has accumulated. To sum up, An Architect leads with discipline and authority by taking creative decisions at the right time when the situation demands it.

If you analyse this, you will realize that this is what we do or are expected to do in any situation whether or not we are professional Architects. All the Entrepreneurs, Doctors, Army Men, Sportsmen, Politicians, Bureaucrats, Teachers, Professors, Industrialists etc, are Architects. Even a lower division clerk or a laborer who runs his family in a disciplined way is the Architect of the family. Have you not heard this line before, "Sachin Tendulkar was the Architect of the Indian victory". It sums up everything.

HOW DOES ONE BECOME AN ARCHITECT?

Simple. We all are Architects, we just need to fine tune ourselves. No need to go out, just be an inspiration for your own family members, for the people you work with everyday.

I, who has a degree in Bachelors in Architecture, who has a license from the Indian Council of Architecture to practice would consider myself to be a True Architect, the day in future when my son is asked,"Who is your Role Model?". And he takes my name.

WHY DO MANY KNOWLEDGEABLE OR TALENTED PEOPLE BECOME FRUSTRATED IN LIFE?

Sometime during February 2011, while having an after lunch walk with Avtar Saini Sir (My senior and friend at the Jaypee Group), we started to discuss about a topic he and his MAUJI group-mates were discussing the night before. "WHY DO MANY KNOWLEDGEABLE OR TALENTED PEOPLE BECOME FRUSTRATED IN LIFE? I said, whatever you discussed Sir, but I would like to add my point of view.

I said,

This world is a huge society that comprises of many smaller societies and further smaller societies and so on and so forth. Finally we reach the smallest of societies and then we reach an individual, A MAN. A man mixes with other men to make a society. He may be intelligent, he may be not. He may be strong or talented, he may be not. But he has to mix and work with other men to complete the society. The problem with many knowledgeable and talented people is that they feel they are above all others because they know what others do not or that they can do what others cannot. Due to this egoistic nature they try and stand outside their society, thinking that they are different and that they are above others.

This is where the trouble is. If I am egoistic then I should realize that others also have an ego. If my ego gets hurt then others are also humans, irrespective of whether or not they have same knowledge/talent as me. When we stop realizing that it is not ME but WE that is important, we are not on the right track of life. In this competitive world, it is not important that I am knowledgeable, this is the basic now. What is important is that how well I/we can get the work done from others and these others can be anything from smart professionals to duffers.

This is only possible when knowledge mixes with experience. Experience not just your own but gained from others also. It is not smartness that you put your hand in fire to feel it is hot. Smartness is when you learn from others experience that fire is hot, stay away from it. It is not smartness that you just curse others when they make a mistake, smartness is that you solve the problem created by their mistake. He who does it becomes successful, he who does not gets frustrated.

In order to learn from others experience, one has to lower down his own ego and work with others. Stay in there and fight the battle of life/work in your own way. Staying away and claiming that others do not deserve you make you nothing more than a SCHIZOPHRENIC. Great are not those who stayed away from a battle, GREAT are those who fought the battles in their own way and won. Even Achilles had to enter the Trojan war (after being a spectator for days) in order to prove that he was the greatest ever, even ARJUN had to fight his own people to prove that he was the greatest ever. You do not achieve this by being a spectator, You got to be in there and lead other men to prove your mettle.

My experience is, BE IN THERE BUT BE DIFFERENT but do not be different by staying outside.