A word is worth a million images

A word when read or heard will form a unique image in the mind of the listener or reader. Unique because each individual has his or her own perspective on everything, which exist within the reality they have created for themselves.  For example take the word 'love', it will form a different image in each individual's mind. Each image viewed differently for the same reality.

For each word, billions of people, can potentially envision billions of unique images.

Why is this important to appreciate?

Harmony between people can only be achieved if people are willing to accept that different individual and communities have different realities Each reality shaped by environment, society, family, learning and experiences.

Openness and engagement helps us evolve and becoming wise, permitting us to broaden, deepen and make vibrant our individual perspectives and allows us to better understand and respect the perspectives of others.

It is useful to remember that, the foundation of a civilisation is respect, not tolerance.

Third Places and Vibrant Communities

Humans are social animals who band together in cohesive groups called tribes or communities. This provides safety, companionship, pleasure, learning, livelihood and profit to individuals.

Typically a community comprises about 500 to 1000 individuals, connected to each by factors, such as, religious faith, profession, extended family, sport, politics, etc.

Communities vitally need venues where people can meet in a neutral environment and in an informal manner for individuals to socialise. Such a venue we could call as **'third place.'**

The first place is where people reside, at their homes, the second place is where people go to work, and the third place is where people go to socialise.

Communities with vibrant third places develop into centres of shared learning, art, culture, sport and the people enjoy a much higher standard of quality of life.

What are the requirements for a third place?

There are generally eight factors that are typical of third places. 

Neutral ground

Occupants of third places have little to no obligation to be there. They are not tied down to the area financially, politically, legally, or otherwise and are free to come and go as they please.

Leveler

Third places places no particular importance on an individual's economical or social status in a society. There are no prerequisites or requirements that would prevent acceptance or participation in the third place.

Community Kitchen

                                 

Conversation is main activity

Playful and happy conversation is the main but not the only activity in third places. The tone of conversation is usually light hearted and humorous; 

Accessibility and accommodation

Third places are open and readily accessible to those who occupy them. They are also accommodating, to meet the  wants of their inhabitants.

The regulars

Third places harbour a number of regulars that help give the space its tone, and help set the mood and characteristics of the area. Regulars assist newcomers to feel welcome and accommodated.

A low profile

Third places are characteristically wholesome. The inside of a third place is without extravagance or grandiosity, and has a homely feel. 

Football at Hotfut, Pune. India

The mood is playful
The tone of conversation in third places are never marked with tension or hostility. Instead, they have a playful nature, where witty conversation and frivolous banter are not only common, but highly valued.

A home away from home
Occupants of third places will often have the same feelings of warmth, possession, and belonging as they would in their own homes. They feel a piece of themselves is rooted in the space, and gain spiritual regeneration by spending time there.

Urban centres with large populations are mushrooming everywhere. People struggle to find third places which are becoming increasingly rare, if not extinct.

Intellectually and spiritually hollow people.

The desire of governments to monetise any and every available square meter of public space, makes it difficult if not impossible to create vibrant communities

It is no coincidence that the ‘helping professions’ are major and rapidly growing components of our economy as leaders and planners unwittingly help destroy local public life and communities.

Urban sprawl

Even where there are some third places available, people rarely find the time to socialise. 

Shifts from large joint to small nuclear families, non stop 24 hour work timings, has also taken a big toll on family and communities. 

Couple this with stress created by authorities, the total disregard by governments, town planners, encroachment, unsafe environments etc. has extensively damaged if not destroyed communities.

What are third places available to Indians? 

Places of religious worship are the most popular third places in India. They often provide the only succour available to people, for safe socialising. But the downside is that, religous leaders demand blind obedience and sometimes abuse the trust that this obedience provides.

The market place, village and town fairs, celebrating festivals, offer some form of community space. They may be fun, but do not satisfy fully the third place needs of individuals.

Harmandir Sahib,  The Golden Temple. Amritsar. 

Muslims at prayer

There are still some other third places left these days. Some which come to mind are, canteens, tea stalls, chapels, dhabas, play grounds, street corners, beach communities, prayer groups, etc. for the simple people. Then for others there are tea /coffee shops, bars and restaurants, sports and recreational clubs, sports facilities, etc.

Aufside bar and restaurant, Pune.

Social well-being and psychological health of individuals depend upon communities which can only exist where there are vibrant third places.

Third places are not a choice but are a vital necessity and a precondition for healthy communities. For they create habits of public association, and offer psychological support to individuals and communities.

 Nations are relatively a recent phenomenon. Historically the real building block of humanity and a successful civilisation is the family and community. 

Civilisations and governments should be judged by how well they satisfy the safety, livelihood, etc. needs and the quality of life of individuals and communities.

Third Places build strong and resilient communities, and that is the bedrock of a strong, tolerant, peaceful, healthy, vibrant, civilised world. And that is the best legacy we can leave our children.

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Written and posted by Gurvinder Singh
Ampav Education & Consulting Pvt. Ltd. website 
Pune. India

Ampav Education and Consulting is a Pune based organisation committed to evolving better ways to live, work and play. To support programs of the community, for the community, by the community. Please write to us

We would love for you to share your ideas and experiences with us. 

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Western Civilisation

In 1928, at a high point of the agitation for independence during British rule in India, the besieged British government received Mahatma Gandhi ji as their guest in London as the representative of the Indian people to try to resolve the crisis.

Fearless in his principles, Gandhi ji was firm but polite in his manner, disagreeing without being disagreeable. 
During an interview, a British reporter asked Gandhi ji; "What do you think of western civilisation?"

Gandhiji replied, "I think it will be a good idea."

Apparently amusing, the statement revealed an ugly facet of what is commonly misunderstood to be progress and civilisation. 

Industrialisation gave mankind a huge leap in material progress, lifting millions out of poverty and misery. Unfortunately it was mainly confined to Japan, Australia, Europe and America, placing them in a powerfully advantageous position over non industrialised nations. This led to a skewed global power balance grossly in favour of America, Europe, etc.

Power unfortunately is a dangerous addiction, and those who acquire it will try not only to maintain it but enhance it at all costs. When driven purely by greed the best of people can and often do turn savage. This is what Gandhi ji was referring to as “The Western Civilisation’. 

This civilisation led to the global destruction of indigenous cultures and their people by numerous ways. Not only justifying but legitimising slavery, colonisation, apartheid, world wars etc. 

Mindless industrialisation has exploited and ravaged the earth, despoiling lands and poisoning the air and water. The greater tragedy is not that Western civilization has fallen way short and committed great blunders, but that the other developing nations have learnt nothing from history and plunge headlong to repeat the same blunders. As the enslaved nations became free they followed the same model as the West followed, of mindless and often inappropriate industrialization. This trend has made our environment and relationships toxic. 

    

Now India and China are the fastest rising economies in GDP and sadly the most rapid in decline in quality of life. Environmental degradation and stress related diseases have reached alarming levels. 

Apparently huge material gains have been realised on the back of uncontrolled and irresponsible industrialization but at a terrible price to humanity and to the world. Many sacrifices have been made but none greater than selling our souls. 

Modern civilization has given birth to unbridled materialism. Now things matter more than people and nature. The soul after all differentiates humans from other living creatures and if our soul is lost then all is lost.

If Gandhi ji were present today he might correct himself and say “Human civilization would be a good idea.”

The root cause of the problem is greed and exploitation. Exploitation of people, and nature is always counterproductive and will always come back to haunt the exploiters and eventually harm us.

Replace exploitation by sustainability, greed by compassion, confrontation by cooperation. If we think and practice win-win approaches, respecting nature and people so that there is inclusive benefit, then we will always be winners.

  

Appearing an alarmist or a pessimist is one of the ways to appear intelligent. However that is not helpful beyond the point of drawing attention to important issues.

We often underestimate the power of 'One'. That is the ability of each individual to make a difference.  

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Appearing an alarmist or a pessimist is one of the ways to appear intelligent. However that is not helpful beyond the point of drawing attention to important issues.


We often underestimate the power of 'One'. That is the ability of each individual to make a difference.  

Why I became a vegetarian?

Why I became a vegetarian?

Like many people, I too loved a good party. Eat, drink and be merry was my motto. One day I turned vegetarian and gave up eating meat and poultry. My friends thought that I was suffering from a temporary bout of insanity and would become my old self again in a little while.

I had converted and I had to control myself to avoid the halo effect. Converts are more fanatical than the originals. When realisation dawns on them they start imposing themselves on everyone around them. Everyone detests a pesky convert. So I tried without success to keep my convictions to myself.

Many friends and relatives often ask me the reason why I became a vegetarian. So I thought that this is a good way to share some experiences and beliefs without imposing.

Often an action looks like it has suddenly occurred. In reality its causes build up slowly and softly before it erupts up forth. This is often the case when people make life changing decisions.

It began a few years ago when an friend in the United Arab Emirates invited to the inauguration of his new car rental business. As is their customs, he offered a lamb in sacrifice in front of his showroom and all of the guests. The poor animal was tied down and its throat slit. As the blood gushed out the animal struggled, violently at first and then it lay still as the blood made a large pool in front of the showroom. The sacrificer gathered some blood and splashed it on the glass front of the showroom.

Most of the local guests applauded and thanked God. I wanted to be polite and applaud but I stood still frozen, saddened and angered by what we human beings do.


Everyone looked around the showroom and congratulated Muhsein our friend. Then we were invited to have lunch. The normally tasty biryani didn't tempt us anymore and we bade a hasty farewell.

We may not be conducting acts of violence ourselves when we eat meat or poultry, but our craving gives rise to unnecessary slaughter. When I saw the life ebbing away from another creature to fulfil my lust for meat, it raised certain doubts. I asked was it necessary to kill? How would I have felt to be in the place of that helpless creature?

In today's world, we are surrounded by meat eaters. Love for meat is something not easy to give up. Within a week I was relishing tasty non vegetarian food once again, but now with each passing day and meal I felt increasingly guilty.

A few months later I came upon an article in the National Geographic magazine. The article was about the coming food shortage. The world is facing a looming crisis of gigantic proportions. The crisis is of acute food and water shortage.

The article discussed how mass breeding of cattle, pigs, lamb and chicken were consuming huge amounts of grain and water. The pollution created by the waste produced as a by product is so huge that it is having a devastating effect on our environment. Eating meat is incredibly inefficient way to get the same calories than from grain ranging from 3 times to 10 times more inefficient.


Scientific study shows that populations if unchecked double every 25 years while agricultural output is growing more slowly at approx 1 to 2% per year. Thomas Robert Malthus was the first person to highlight this theory soon after the French revolution and he was laughed at. People soon stopped laughing after 100 years as humanity is heading towards a biological trap from which it can never escape.

Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research is the group of world-renowned agricultural research centres that helped more than double the world's average yields of cereals between the mid-1950s & the mid-1990s, an achievement so staggering it was dubbed the green revolution. They are trying to repeat the green revolution, unfortunately they are not having much success nor do they have much confidence.

Eating meat leads to consumption of 5 to 10 times more grain which is fed to animals, than if it was consumed directly by humans.

As more and more land is being taken up for agriculture, rain forests and jungles are being chopped down at alarming rates and the continuous degradation of our environment spells doom for our planet.

That is why in 2008 & 2009 there were record food shortages and alarming price rise leading to riots despite of bumper crop outputs.

Interested readers can get more information on this topic at
http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/06/cheap-food/bourne-text
http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/aug97/livestock.hrs.html


Then an extraordinary meeting took place. About a couple of years ago I met Sant Baba Ishwar Singh ji in Mumbai where he was visiting. Babaji has a small ashram outside of Dheradun Uttarakhand, where he provides and cares for the material and spiritual needs of the local people as best as is possible for a Sadhu. I subsequently travelled to the ashram and spent a couple of days there.

The ashram is located at the very edge of a forest. Nestled in the Doon valley of the Shivalik mountain range and near the Rajaji National park. It is a beautiful and quiet place, perfect for meditation and prayer.

At the evening Satsang or gathering he spoke of the need for possessing Karuna (compassion). Compassion Babaji said was not only necessary towards our fellow humans but also for all things created by God. If you wish to worship God, then love and respect all living things, respect your environment for it too deserves the right to exist as pristine as it was created. Use, but do not abuse.

Compassion is different from charity or mercy. Charity creates a gap. In charity or mercy there is the rich versus the poor, the giver and the receiver, creating a rift between them and actually propagating further divisions.

Compassion also means, accepting the fact that I am not the provider or giver, I am merely a medium through which good things pass. It is our good fortune that we have the opportunity to be that medium.

Something stirred in me and I never wanted to leave Babaji and the ashram, but I had to return because of my responsibilities and the materialistic world. I asked him to accept me as a follower. Babaji refused to make me his follower. He said "you must not be a follower; you must be a student, a disciple".
Babaji continued "Mine is the responsibility to awaken you so that you may seek the truth on your own, which you will never attain if you blindly follow me".

I returned to the ashram several times. A few months later I was granted 'Diksha' by Babaji and became his disciple.

I who seek love and compassion, must myself first be compassionate and true.
I realised that I cannot change the world, but I can change myself.
I gave up eating meat and became a vegetarian.