If there is a God it has to be Krishna

The above statement makes so much of a universal meaning, specially when we consider the literal meaning of Krishna in Sanskrit which is all attractive. If there is God, any believer will attest, He has to be all attractive. This is the kind of secular beauty in which Vedas describe God. No doubt the Vedas are the cradle of all the religions of the world and all the conceptions of God thereof. 

IIT Alumni who made it big

1. Narayan Murthy - Infosys
2. Radhakrishnan- ISRO chief credited with the success of Managalyaan
3. S Christopher DRDO chief
4. Sachin and Binny Bansal- Flipkart.com
5. Subbarao- Governor of RBI
6. Bedabrata Pain- IIT Kharagpur, ECE 1986, MS and PhD Columbia University, NASA JPL
    Later started making films and made films like Amu and Chittagong that won many National               awards
7. Sundar Pichoi- Android head at Google and right hand of Larry Page
8. 

What PK missed on earth

World is a reflection of our desires. This truth has been quite well captured by the protagonist in the movie PK, PK. If we approach God with material desires, our material desires get fulfilled. Well, PK never wanted God he wanted his 'remote', so he never met someone who could lead him to God. God does not need to land your desires on your hands, he arranges the world around you, he makes you meet the right people. All of this did happen to PK and he got his 'remote' too. 

If PK had really wanted to meet God and rejected anything less than that he could have met truly holy men who have transcended the material realm through focus on Supreme and loving devotional service to him. This is the unique process by which one can realize the transcendent lord. The characteristic of people with such realization is that they are detached from material assests, fame or followers, sense-gratification. They are non-sectarian and consider all life as sacred. They relish inner happiness which can be experienced by anyone ready for the introspection, discipline and sincerity it takes.

It however takes a thoughtful person to really seek for God. When God kindles a desire in him to understand Him, hope PK will come again and meet the right people.

Reflections on my life

I feel that 26 years of my corporeal existence warrants some introspection. Therefore I am writing, primarily for myself. I am sharing this as people often travel on the same boats. I have structured this as lessons that I have learned through various people and incidents that I came across in my life.

First of all let me start with the person that I came across the first in my life- my mother.

1) Lessons from mother: perseverance and sense control: 

        It was in class 4 when I had given up on a section to be prepared for the Hindi exam in the school. It was elaborate details about the festivals celebrated in South-India. By sheer chance I told this to my mother. I expected her to console me and put me to sleep convincing me that I had done my best. Her mood, however, was contrary to my expectation. She sat with me, asked which was the part I was facing problem. She first read it herself and then divided the long paragraphs into small pieces. Then she made me swallow the pieces one by one. Then we repeated the whole thing in a flow, and then I had to repeat it without seeing. It was quite an exhaustive exercise. The next day the question appeared in the exam and I could answer it. The lesson: don't give up on things. Try hard with the right technique and you will make it through.

     The second lesson is on sense control. Mom used to give great logic so that I keep my focus on important things in life. The first one was on movies. She used to tell that the actors sing and dance and enjoy themselves and take all the money and you simply loose your time you could have used productively. The second was on staying away from girls. Well it was simple: their hairs have lots of mites and they will get transferred to you if you stay near them!

2) Lessons from father: taking care of things: He stands out in this quality. He takes meticulous care of clothes, car, computer and every asset. Hope I will able to implement this in my life.

3) Lessons from bother: taking care of people: Giving importance to people is something I learn from him. The loads of care and encouragement he gave to his little brother is phenomenal. Also he extends himself to serve all the family members in their difficulty. Sure he stands out in his style and humor

4) Lessons from my teachers: success without pride: I had the opportunity to learn under some great teachers, not just in the class but also outside the class. This piece of lesson comes from Sister Dorrett. It was the time when she had told me that I am selected as one of the two head-boys of the school. I was standing near her, we were discussing about management of an event in the school. One of my class-mates came in and called for me. I replied "What's the matter?", she could sense the pride in my reply and commented "from now only". Meaning that I have not yet taken the post and I am so proud. I was struck and realized that with success comes responsibility of using it without becoming proud.

5)  Lessons from IIT-JEE: dream and intensity: It was result of strong dream, intensity of hard work and total conviction about getting success and discipline and balance.

6) Lessons from devotees: share without selfishness: I remember still in the first year we were attending the Software training workshop and students from across India were present. I had the Herbert Schildt book of Java and a student from VIT wanted it too. I was quite particular about having my books with myself because I don't know when I would need it. The student asked it from me and I was reluctant. A senior Mukesh came and told me quiet simply that you should share what you have, it may cause some inconvenience but the act of sharing will enliven you. My protective shell of selfishness was broken at that time, and I realized that sharing indeed causes no harm and is good.

Muscle controlled prosthetic device that identifies your intention

Around two thousand people in India lose their hands or a part of it every month. Many of them loose their means of livelihood with their hands. Efforts are going on across the world to give these hand amputees a normal life and if possible a livelihood. Brain controlled prosthetic devices reported by researchers are not only costly but also require invasive operation. A simplified design of the prosthesis could be one which operates by processing the EMG(Electro-myogram) signals. It should also have sensors that track the state of the hand and the actions that the user wants to perform. The software in the prosthetic hand can learn from these sample actions and can make those actions more intuitive. The nerves around the residual muscles of an amputee are still active and can be used to tap the signals being relayed from the brain. However, these signals can only be used for reach operations. Object grasping and manipulation are activities that require exact signals for maneuvering the fingers. Obtaining such signals is impossible in most amputees. Methods like synergical grasping have to be applied for obtaining robust grasp with limited signals. Intention detection can also be implemented by tracking and learning from the movement of the other working hand for executing everyday activities. Technologies like 3-D printing can custom produce such prosthetic for each amputee. India has requirements of such prosthetic at low cost. The imported prosthetic are costly, thus we should design and produce them in India.

Books I have Read

1. Bhagavad Gita- Ved Vyas
2. Bhagawat Purana- Ved Vyas
3. Searching for Vedic India- Devamrita Swami
4. The Hidden GLory of India- Steve Rosen
5. Black Lotus- Biography of an Urban Mystic- Steven Rosen
6. Miracle at 2nd Avenue- Michael Grant
7. The Success Principles- Jack Canfield
8. Talent Code- Daniel Coyle
9. The little book of talent- Daniel Coyle
10. Surrender Unto Me- Bhurijana Das
11. Alchemist- Paulo COelho
12. Wings of fire- Abdul Kalam
13. Easy Journey to Other Planets- Bhakti Vedanta Swami
14. A Second Chance- Bhakti Vedanta Swami
15. The Journey Home- Autobiography of an American Swami- Radhanatha Swami
16. Diary of the Travelling Monk- Indradyumna Swami
17. Five Point Someone- Chetan Bhagat
18. 

3 Characteristics of God's Love

Recently while speaking to my eight-year-old cousin, I asked her what prayers they recite in their morning assembly. She sang many prayers, one of which was a Christian nursery rhyme that I found interesting. It said:

God’s Love is so wonderful,

So high you can’t get over it,

So deep you can’t get under it,

So wide you can’t get around it,

Oh! Wonderful love!

This song mentions three characteristics of God’s love. Let us discuss each of them separately.

“So high you can’t get over it”: Our existence is a mystery that philosophers and scientists have been trying to resolve for centuries. The more we have delved into this subject the more the true understanding has receded from us. Our physical reality with its complex components like the brain, our psychological reality and our metaphysical reality have all intrigued us. How did we fit and exist in a universe? So many parameters have to synchronize for life to be possible. Amazingly they are all synchronized. It is certainly the merciful hand of God that has expertly designed our habitat.

                Çréla Prabhupäda writes in the Kåñëa book (chapter 87): “The cosmic manifestation has been made possible by the entrance of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as Mahä-Viñëu within the material world. The total material energy is agitated by the glance of Mahä-Viñëu, and only then does the interaction of three material qualities begin. Therefore it should be concluded that whatever material facilities that we are trying to enjoy are available only due to the mercy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.” The Vaiñëava philosophy, however, reveals a sobering realization that although we rebelled against God, He did not thrash our plans for independent enjoyment by depriving us of our independence. Rather, He gave us the chance to try our whims in the material world. We may tend to believe that we have trampled upon the love of God to find something higher, but the reality is that since Lord loves us we are able to exercise our search for the so-called higher independent enjoyment. Thus, love of God is so high we can’t get over it.

“So deep you can’t get under it”: Lord Kåñëa is known as bhakta-vatsala, or the lover of His devotees. He takes pleasure in being chastised, rebuked, defeated, and ordered by devotees and in serving His devotees. The Lord chooses to forget His own supremacy to deeply relish such exchanges. His accepting the position of a charioteer of Arjuna, His pastime of dämodara-lélä, His dealings with Sudämä brähmaëa, and several others show that Kåñëa is conquered by the love of His devotees.

So wide you can’t get around it: This means that God’s love is disseminated in so many forms that we can’t help but encounter it. And once we receive it, we may not understand the depth and the value of this great treasure. Krsna’s love and His concern that we should go back to Him for exchanging loving pastimes is unfathomable. For this purpose He expands himself as the Supersoul in the heart of every living entity, eagerly waiting for the living entities to take steps towards Him. He manifests himself in multifarious and easily accessible forms: the Deities, His confidential devotees, scriptures like Çrémad-Bhägavatam, and the holy name, the most potent form of incarnation in this Age of Kali. The material nature is so designed that our experience in the material world goads us to take shelter of the Lord.

Why the Lord deals with a devotee in a certain way may be incomprehensible for anyone without devotion. Whereas the usual description of love of God is given in terms of how He provides for our immediate material well being or how His apparently unfavorable act lay the seeds for long run material well being, Vaiñëava philosophy describes that Lord orchestrates the life of the devotee in a way that helps him extricate himself from the material world and go back to Godhead. The devotee on His own cannot understand the plan of the Lord. Sometimes the Lord gives him the intelligence to deduce the plan and sometimes the Lord Himself dictates the plan to His sincere devotee. All we need to do is keep faith that whatever happens, happens for the best.

    God’s love is thus high because he does not fail to love us even if we do not reciprocate. It is deep because it goes beyond awe and reverence to intimate exchanges wherein the devotees forget the supremacy of the Lord. It is wide because it is manifest in multifarious forms. It is indeed futile to search for happiness in the love of things and people of this world which distracts us from the wonderful love of God available for us through the simple process of bhakti-yoga.