Vitality of Laughter

 Laughter is a natural and universal phenomenon witnessed in every society through all times. In some cultures it comes easy and increasingly in some societies it has been greatly repressed particularly in public.

A society that cannot laugh is unnatural and one can judge how liberated a civilisation is, by how easily and openly the people laugh. 

Government officials, bosses of all kinds, rich and powerful people, priests and clergy, Masters and teachers, and in short, people who wield any position of authority, generally consider their presence in society as very important, even vital. With seemingly  heavy weight on their shoulders they generally find it difficult to smile, leave alone laugh.

The great philosopher Osho made a vital observation. When we laugh, our mind stops  analysing, thoughtless and free from anxiety, greed, regret, etc. This is exactly the same state we attain in meditation, to be free of the mind.

When we genuinely laugh, for those precious few moments  we get disconnected from our material, mental, and emotional worlds. abandoning by reflex our artificial selves and revert to our most natural childlike, innocent state of being.  The very same goal sought by all great masters.

It is at that moment we [encounter the sacred](https://www.guruwonder.in/post/happiness-is-our-encounter-with-the-sacred). 

We will laugh, and laugh frequently when we look at the absurdity of reality and of human existence and our ways. If we can only get over the ridiculous notion that laughter is a sign of the  socially, financially, politically, intellectually and religiously lowly, we could easily progress in nourishing and setting free our spirit.

I crack jokes all the time, and don't mind it when my family and friends point out my idiosyncrasies and strangeness, after all I am human and unique just like everyone else. Laughing at oneself is spiritually therapeutic, for it tends to demolish our arrogance and release us from our ego (ego being an artificial construct we use to identify and define ourselves). This is a precondition for spiritual liberation.

This is why every royal court had a jester, a person who reveals the heavy truth in a light manner to let the monarch and the court know that they are but mortal and thus keep the monarch and his subjects sane and balanced.

The possibility of laughter is universally available to everyone, and probably the easiest way to meditate. Laughing frequently will lightly and in small steps could lead us to spiritual liberation.

Have you laughed recently?

Can't you dress like a gentleman?

During a visit to England, an Englishman asked the great Swami Vivekananda ji, who wore traditional Indian clothes,
"Why don't you wear proper clothes to look like a gentleman?"

Swami ji's response was,

"Maybe, here, its the tailor that makes a gentleman, in our country its character"

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An excess of economic  wealth is as harmful as poverty. Wealthy societies begin to decay because they grow clueless of what to do with their wealth and their time.

Such a society is identified by numerous and elaborate social rituals and an excess focus on political correctness.  This keeps the idle rich and powerful busy and intrigued.

This is nothing new . In ancient Rome, two months in a year would be seen, devoted to exotic and lavish entertainment, this is why the Coliseum was built. It kept the poor enthralled and distracted. 

The greater the disparity in living standards between the rich and the common people, the more complicated, superficial and grandiose the rituals and social standards of the rich become. It also sets the ridiculous standards of success and happiness, to which the poor might aspire.

Practicality is sacrificed at the altar of ridiculous fashion. Character and human values are replaced by gaudy displays of wealth and glamour. So enamoured do we become that we often lose touch with reality. The fake become accepted as valuable and the things of true value are shunned. 

In this world did Swami Vivekananda ji visit when he went to England. He was mobbed by people and seekers of truth. We normally mock the unique because it differs from the collective. The great are nor ashamed of their uniqueness, rather they use into their advantage to attract people to their message and cause.

This also indicates that you can seize all my land and all my resources, but you shall never seize my soul or my beliefs. No wonder Swami Vivekananda ji is the youth icon of India 

Do you impoverish others when you enrich yourself ?

Recently while on a flight from Delhi to Pune India, my co passenger and I started a conversation.

We discussed many things but one question got me thinking. The gentleman asked me if I agreed with his contention that people became rich at the expense of someone else and thus made them poorer. We moved on to other topics but my mind kept returning to this question.

To answer this question we have to first review what we mean by rich.
I would say the rich are those who possess the ability to make independent choices of freedom, mobility, residence, food and to a great extent secure themelves, their families and their possessions.

In earlier days the wealthy were the "Zamindar" the landlords who owned large tracts of land who owned slaves and many landless people worked for the landlords for nothing but food. They were exploited and indeed the rich made the majority of people poor.Conquerers of days earlier whether it was Ghengis Khan, or the rulers of the Romans empire were such people.

From the dawn of industrialization, the rich were people who set up all the elements of mass production and their attendant features as mass communication, mass education, etc made who controlled large resources for production either as entreprenuers or as allocating agents in the government. Again by cornering resources and controlling means of finance, distribution etc they made themselves rich at the expense of the original owner of resources who remained poor. This also is an era of exploitation of the poor to make a few rich.

To take an example the birth of the automobile created a huge demand for rubber at the begining of the 20th century. In collusion with local authorities large number of native Indians were enslaved to extract the rubber in the Amazonian forest. As per the statement of Mr. Roger Casement, the British Consul General in Rio Di Janerio reported that to extract 4000 tonnes of Putumayo rubber between the years 1900 to 1911 over 30,000 South American Indians lost their lives.
The colonial rulers /powers were typical of this type of exploitation. This is rampant even to this day in many countries.

Not all Industrialists are robber barons, this was and is possible because they are more efficient than others and hence were able to offer high standards of living to their employees and their associates.

Nowadays a new equitable trend has emerged and that is based on knowledge. You do not need land or commodities to be rich but only knowledge. This knowledge can be in the form of a formulae to produce a material or even a sauce, the lyrics to a song, design for a chip. Wealth created by such efforts do not render anyone poor but increases wealth more universally.

While farming a tract of land only the farmer can use the land wheras when using a formulae several thousand people can be using the same computer program simultaneously and that is why those who focus on knowledge will create more wealth for the least effort. A bigger bang for the buck so to speak.

So my co passenger's wish that wealth be created without exploitation now seems possible.

However it is not going to be easy because Governments and educators are still applying outdated policies and education models more suited to mass production and an era that is not focussed on developing knowledge but the continuation of dogma which is increasingly irrelevant.

Power, money, friends and good manners

Every moment and every interaction can be a learning. Even an election to head a sports club.
I recently observed, participated and analyzed such an election.

There were two candidates Mr. Rich and Mr. Simple.

Mr. Rich was a very wealthy man whom several members seemed to be in awe of. He rarely came to the club or interacted with the members until canvassing for elections began. A relative stranger to the club and having little in common, only a few members socialised with the wealthy Mr.Rich. It appeared many people hung around Mr. Rich in the hope of gaining some benefit financial, political or social leverage.

Mr. Rich flaunted his money and his powerful connections. Many members deferred to Mr. Rich though many members privately confided that his presence and push was way over the top. Mr. Rich spent an enormous amount of money wining and dining members, making slick presentations and distributing brochures. Mr. Rich focussed on status and on his personal achievements of which he had many. However he had done nothing notable at and for the club or it's members till date. 


The other candidate Mr. Simple was a down to earth builder. Mr. Simple had served for many years on various committees, projects and activities of the club. He was at the club regularly and had many friends and even more well wishers who appreciated his visible contribution. 

Mr. Simple was approachable and tried his sincere best to resolve issues and address the concerns of members politely and respectfully. He had many shortcomings, but he was lovable.

Unlike Mr. Rich,  Mr. Simple in contrast wrote a simple mail to all members outlining his contribution, and the values he stood for. He stated that he did not believe in expensive dinners and parties but his track record of his contribution and his conduct to let members choose who was to be elected.

When the results were declared Mr. Simple had won by a margin which was the largest in the club's history. It appears that money and power alone or even together can rarely win hearts particularly of the well informed. My belief was reinforced that; 

"Friends and good manners will take you where money and power will never be able to take you"
 

India at 67

The further we travel the more we long to return to our origin. We have to step out to look in. After many years of travelling, visiting numerous countries and people, I want to return home. Not the physical home, but where my heart lies, to discover my country and people, and in doing so learn who am I.

A land and its people are best understood by its history, culture and art. The journey is meaningful only when made using the native language. Therein lies the problem for most of us Indians including me, even if they be moneyed, are in a position of power or influence. 

Our history has been rewritten and handed down to us by the former colonialists and perpetuated by an education system that is designed to glorify their achievements while heaping ridicule and shame on Indians. Yet we accept it all unquestioningly.

Our identity and culture has been grievously harmed by the systematic destruction of many of the components of our society, that made India great for millennia and attracted invaders in the first place. Our art and heritage has been stolen by the invaders and now adorn living rooms and museums across the world as trophies. 

Worst of all is our own mother tongue and our languages which are so rich are now shunned by us. We are incapable of or feel embarrassed to speak in Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil etc, lest we be considered country bumpkins. The mistaken notion that Indian languages and literature are inferior to the English language and European literature is implanted and stubbornly ingrained in our minds. Further this opinion is constantly reinforced by leaders, teachers and the media of our own country.

We are now effectively disconnected from ourselves and somewhat confused because we do not know who we are. We want to be like the Europeans who ruled us or the Americans to copy them blindly to adopt a culture, thinking working and lifestyles, which are often inappropriate for us.

I ask you, are we really free? I believe we are not free, unless we discover ourselves as real Indians

We are a continent sized nation, that has been adrift for a very long time. Populated by an amazing range of people with rich culture, who are not only intelligent but possess great talent.  A great future awaits us as Individuals and as a nation, we just need to find ourselves. In a sense to be reborn. To become truly rich in every sense if we choose to.

To rekindle our lost spirit, be materially and spiritually rich once again, it is essential that we respect, appreciate and acquire all that is beautiful, great and useful from other cultures and lands.

English no doubt has now become the internationally accepted language for science and commerce. No doubt, we must not only learn English and be proficient in its use, but must we forsake our own languages and hence lose the vital link with our culture and heritage?

Let us not hold grudges or condemn anyone. Past history cannot be changed, however a magnificent history can be created in the future, by being the best that we Indians have the potential to be.

I have already begun my journey and made some progress. I hope you have discovered or have begun discovering the authentic person and Indian in you. My friend, it is then that you can claim to be independent. Until then please forgive me for not congratulating you this Independence day.

It is a always better to be an imperfect version of yourself then to try and be a perfect copy of someone else.

Ineptocracy

Power hungry people always find a way to get to the top of the pyramid of power or die trying. They know how to use and discard people and manipulate levers of power effectively. Power is so intoxicating that people who acquire it become insatiable and typically want more and more until they themselves are consumed by power itself.

Democracy as it was born gave relief to the masses and a good shot at changing their means of survival and progress. It however requires that the people exercise wisdom in the choices they make. Democracy is unfortunately under siege. Instead of providing a better world and India, it has in fact mutated into something toxic called an 'ineptocracy'.

People are made to believe that democracy provides a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Nothing can be further from the truth. Leaving aside the rhetoric, the press briefings and speeches, it is now 'a government of the evil, by the cunning and power hungry for the benefit of a select few.'

History clearly shows that across the world across nearly all time that a group of people representing a marginal percentage of  the population are the 'haves' and the vast majority are the 'have nots'. The politician needs the money and resources of the haves and the voting numbers of the 'have nots', while promising to protect each group from the other.

Our current model of government evolved a long time ago and the result is INEPTOCRACY, which can be defined as; 

A system of government where the least capable to lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a diminishing number of producers.

When a state reaches a position where approximately 50% of it's citizens rely on the largess of the state for their continued sustenance, the form of government becomes one of ineptocracy.

The least capable to lead are not fools, they are extremely intelligent and cunning with questionable morals. They just know how to game the system and devote their whole lives in manipulating the system. The only consolation for Indians is that this disease is not restricted to our country but even to most of the developed countries.

People making choices on careers and electing their leaders should do a bit of homework and then make informed choices on how to proceed. I for one, am not going to vote for people that will push us further towards an ineptocracy. 

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What are the management lessons I can share with you?

An outcome of my many years of teaching and consulting with organisations and families, it is observed that there are 3 possible types of leaders, based on rewards and punishments. 

The first is the briber. This person is normally an incompetent person and has no other choice but to keep bribing the people to support him or her. This is not difficult to implement because one can always be gracious with someone else's money and resources. This is why the government of India under the UPA leadership has been compelled to spend Rs 11 trillion in past decade in programs of highly questionable value. The follower or employee gladly takes the bribes but often feels offended and alienated. When the sops dry up the followers leave and seek other alternatives.  A problem for bribers is that the followers or dependents become addicted to sops and soon grow dissatisfied and they need even larger doses of bribes. Such leaders are initially lauded but soon despised, and they are almost always never respected. 

The second type are the slave drivers or 'intimidators', the primary tool they use is fear. They so intimidate the followers that they do not dare disobey. They work towards crushing the individuality and collective identity of people. Once implemented this approach delivers very fast results and impact of change can be rapid. This is possibly what is happening in China. Unfortunately gains tend to reverse as soon as the fear factor diminishes. The performance of followers is also just above bare minimum so that they escape punishment. Many school teachers and administrations also use this approach. Such leaders are often hated. They demand respect but almost never get it. 

The third type are the true leaders, they use a blend of positive reinforcement while wielding a big stick.  They normally have a well thought out strategy which is communicated and excites their followers. The leader's dream becomes the dream and vision of the followers. This is based on educating, facilitating, supporting and encouraging followers. Performers are suitably rewarded after evaluation by a transparent system, and non performers are encouraged to perform better after due dialogue and analysis. The laggards are often cast aside and supported to survive but fall behind the main group.  This approach is the foundation and builds a meritocracy. Typically leaders adopting this style of leadership are hated and loved at the same time, but always command respect.

Some things never change

Cicero (43 B.C) of the Roman empire wrote this. 
Do people and things ever change?

1. The poor, work and work.

2. The rich, exploit the poor. 

3. The soldier, protects both.

4. The taxpayer, pays for all the three.

5. The wanderer, rests for all the four.

6. The drunk, drinks for all the five.

7. The banker, robs all the six.

8. The lawyer, misleads all the seven. 

9. The tax collector, kills all the eight.

10. The undertaker, buries all the nine.

11. The Politician and Prostitute live happily on account of all the ten.

When society is doomed.

When you know that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing; 


When you see that money is flowing to those who deal not in goods but in favours; 


when you see that men get rich more easily by graft rather than by work, 


and your laws no longer protect you against them but protect them against you

......  you know that your society is doomed 

                                      - Ayn Rand ( Author - Atlas Shrugged)

Akbar the Moghul Emperor was actually poor

Emperor Akbar (1542 to 1605) is acclaimed to be one of India's wealthiest Mogul emperors.  Was he really that rich? An interesting incident and the emperor's own comments will let you decide.

During the reign of Akbar there also lived a Baba ji, a 'Pir'. In the Sufi path, Pir literally meaning 'old man' is a saint, whose role is to guide and provide spiritual guidance to his disciples.

Many Babas  in India are revered by Sikhs, Hindus and Muslims. Notable Babaji's like Farid ji's teachings are enshrined as one of the fifteen 'Bhagats' (Devotees) within Sikhism and his selected works form part of the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh sacred scripture

Wise emperors often seek spiritual guidance, and so did Akbar. He sometimes visited a certain Baba at his village to seek spiritual guidance.

One day the villagers where Baba ji stayed , asked a favour of him.
They said " Baba ji, the emperor visits you so often can you do us poor villagers a great favour?". "The village has no school nor any in the near vicinity, can you ask the Shehan Shah to build us a school?"

Baba ji agreed that he would ask the favour of the emperor on Akbar's next visit to him.
Then he thought for a while and said "This is a noble work, let me not delay it. I myself will travel to Akbar's palace and meet him."

When Baba ji, arrived at Akbar's palace the guards recognised him as he walked up to the palace gates.
They informed him that the emperor had gone to offer his prayers at his private mosque.

Baba ji, walked up the mosque and stood behind the emperor. The prayers were almost complete and Akbar made his ‘fariyad’ (cry for help) God, "Allah!, great, and merciful, give me more power, expand my kingdom's borders and give me more wealth"

On hearing his prayer Baba ji, turned around and immediately left the mosque.

Since it was at the end of his prayer Akbar had sensed that someone had been present behind him. He turned around when he had finished his prayers and saw Baba ji heading towards the palace gate. 

Akbar hurried to Baba ji, bowed to him and asked " Welcome Baba. why have you come and why are you leaving?"

Baba looked at Akbar and said " I came here because I thought you to be rich. I came here to ask you for money to build a school in the village."

He continued " I heard your prayers and realised that you are poor for you are still hungry. It is against my beliefs to ask anything from a poor man."

" Do not worry, I will go to the village and collect some money for you", concluded Baba ji and he strode away.

This incident was not known to anyone except Akbar and Baba ji. It came to light when it was narrated by the emperor himself in '_Akbarnama_' the biography of Akbar He wrote, "On that day I realised how empty and useless I was. I had wasted my whole life in pursuing and acquiring useless things."

Akbar was a benevolent ruler who cared for all his subjects. Yet this incident was a further pivotal point in Akbar's life, for he realised for the first time in his life, that though he had great wealth, he was in fact a poor man.

He is rich who is. He who remains unfulfilled, hungry and thirsty, desiring more and more things, wealth and power is poor.

I thought they were poor.

6th December 1993. It was my noble Father in law Major Mohinder Singh ji's 7th death anniversary. 

Mohini, my gentle hearted wife wanted to do something thoughtful as a tribute to her father. We agreed that it would be nice to provide warm shawls to the poor. So we bought a 100 woolen shawls and distributed some to the cook, maid chauffeur and the watchmen and some underprivileged people in the immediate neighbourhood. 

The problem with the Sikh people is they are a hardworking and therefore a prosperous community.  We therefore had no clue where we would find poor people in Pune so we decided to drive around at night and find homeless people and gift them the remaining 85 shawls. Better still we would take our young sons Mohit (10) and Pavit (8) to accompany us to learn about charity.

We were amazed that we could not find any homeless person. Damn! You can't find beggars when you want them. After about 20 min of cruising around in the cold we eventually saw a man sitting cross legged under a tree wearing only a loin cloth.

Mohini asked the boys to gift the shawls with their own hands. So the boys eagerly grabbed one shawl and ran up to him and said "Namaste! it is very cold, we would like you to have this shawl to keep you warm." The boys were shocked when the man snatched the shawl and flung it in the other direction. He scowled at the boys and they fled back to the car.

We drove towards the railway station, there would certainly be some poor people there. After about half an hour, we finally spotted a man sitting on the pavement with two medium sized plastic shopping bags. He appeared lost in thought. Our sons cautiously walked up to him and handed him a shawl.

He was taken aback. He returned the shawl saying, "I don't need this shawl." The boys pressed him to keep it saying that "Don't worry you don't have to pay for it. It's a gift and it will keep you warm during these cold winter nights."

He replied in a strange tone, "I am already struggling to cope with so many possessions" and he pointed to the two plastic bags. "Please take your shawl back as I have no place to keep it. Thank you for your kindness but I am quite comfortable."

Confused and dejected the boys returned back to the car. They refused to proceed with the charity effort that night.

Mohit said "Really strange, we thought these guys were poor, but they behave like they are very wealthy,  mom do you think they are crazy? He is content with his meagre possessions and no roof over his head." He asked "Dad, mom, how can that be possible?"

We had no answer as we drove back home silently, each of us lost in our thoughts, mulling over what had just transpired. It has been 22 years since that incident but none of us speaks about charity in the same arrogant patronising manner anymore. Much, much later we finally came to realise the meaning of that evening.

• The rich are not those who have much but those that have stopped desiring more.
• By accepting the donation the recipient defines the donor.                                                        

The next day we handed the remaining shawls to the Gurudwara* for distribution to the needy.

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A Gurudwara - is a place of congregation for Sikhs to hold religious discourses. They also feed the needy.