Create Pie chart of your life

                               Pie Chart of your Life

I have heard lot of people in late fifties often complaining that they worked so hard for their career to reach the top rungs but still they were not happy with their overall achievements in life. Why because they missed on many other things in life like family, health, relationships and a good family life. I know   many workaholics who regretted later as their wife deserted them because they attached more importance to chasing their professional career and pursuit of money while not giving sufficient time to their family. Well, life is a sum total of such needs like money, mental and physical health, knowledge, family life, friendship, morality, self actualization and spirituality. Due to law of equilibrium prevalent in nature, sum total of these needs for a human being still remains same which one can call as ‘Whole Life’.

One can visualize it by drawing a circular pie chart divided into sectors illustrating these needs in proportion to what you have allocated actually or you want to allocate. Wonderful thing about this ‘Whole Life’ is that these requirements are dependent on each other and if you try to increase proportion of one requirement by your actions, it shall have immediate repercussion on other needs. For example if somebody tries to chase too much money in life, he may lose on other fronts like family life, friendship or health proportionately so that sum total in the pie chart still remains the same. That means that everything what one does in life has a cost attached to it and if you try to gain in one, you may have to pay in terms of losses on other fronts. It is like saying that in life there is no free lunch. Wise thing is to create a balance in life and keep proportions of these requirements within limits.  It is like eating balanced diet which comprises of various ingredients and varieties of foods in form of cereals, vegetables, fruits and other intakes rich with protein and vitamins so as to keep you health intact.

At different age and stages of life, proportions of such needs what one seeks from life may vary. Like in early stage of life say when you are   in your twenties, you could allocate more proportion to   money and  professional career which are important to satisfy one’s basic needs like food, shelter etc as per the hierarchy of needs defined by famous sociologist Maslow. In thirties and forties, you have to devote more time to your family life giving it the requisite proportion in the pie chart of your life. Like vise when you are in your fifties, sixties and onwards, you might like to allocate higher proportion to spirituality, self actualization  and to your health.  In Hindu mythology, to keep these proportions in-tact, life was divided in four stages called ‘ Brahma charya Ashram , Grahastha Ashram, Vaan Prastah Ashram and Sanyas ashram’ In Brahmacharya Ashram, one could allocate more proportion of one’s time and activities to knowledge ,morality and health, in Grahastha ashram allocating a higher proportion to seeking money, family life , friendship while in Vaan prastha ashram and Sanyas Ashram, priority was given to health, self actualization and spirituality.

By drawing a pie chart of your life in above manner, one can keep a control of your life so as to not regret later. This shall also help to keep oneself happy and satisfied because some of the material benefits which may look gains in a short term approach may actually be a loss to you in terms of your mental health, relationships and family life. This happens in property disputes among brothers. For apparent material gains actually they have lost on relationships, family life and may be on health too because this may not give them mental peace causing illness or diseases affecting their physical health.

So the Mantra of achieving a good and meaningful life is to keep a proper proportion of your needs in your Pie Chart choosing your activities through right conduct without compromising your moral values which shall surely result in your mission of life well accomplished.

Writer

Akhil Chandra

love Thy animals

News of missing tigers, enslaved elephants, dying dolphins and disappearing Olive-Ridley turtles have become much too common for comfort. Why are we — most of us, anyway — cruel to animals? Urgent collective and individual reflection is called for to examine the way we relate to other life forms, particularly since as we are going against the time-honoured tradition of res-pecting all of God's Creation.
Don't animals, birds and other life forms have the right to coexist on Planet Earth with human beings? According to Hindu texts, there are 84 lakh species — yoni — and humans are only one of them. All species exist in the eternal, unchanging, spiritual essence that is called Brahmn , and this truth is the very basis of the concept of the Oneness Principle. All have an equal right to survive experience and enjoy the produce of Mother Nature together. Human beings have not been arrogated any special right as such to dominate or cause hurt to other creatures. In fact, the scriptures advise us to relate to all species and fellow human beings with love and compassion. Animals were loved, nurtured and even worshipped, so much so that they were exalted as divine creatures, as is evident from the way they are depicted on frescoes and sculptures in ancient temples and texts. Interestingly, animals are given due importance as avatars of Lord Vishnu.
In the Dashavatara , the Lord appears as Matsya or fish, followed by Kurma the turtle, Varaha the boar, and Narasimha the half-lion, half-man. Stories from the Panchatantra revolve around animals and birds through whom profound truths are expressed, and so the work appeals to children. It helps inculcate in them a sense of caring and bonding for their fellow creatures. Similarly, Aesop's Fables and the Buddhist Jataka tales have animals as their main characters.
In the war against Ravana, Lord Rama took the help of monkeys and bears, reiterating the need to respect and cooperate with animals. Lord Krishna's favourite animal was the cow. The idea of peaceful coexistence is represented by showing animals as vahans or carriers of Hindu gods and goddesses. Airavata, the white elephant with multiple tusks is the vehicle of the powerful king of the devas , Indra. The water buffalo is the vehicle of Yama, God of death. Shani rides on the crow while Ganesha prefers the humble mouse. Nandi the Bull is Shiva and Parvati's conveyance. Similarly, the garuda or eagle is associated with Vishnu and the peacock with Kartikeya, the brother of Ganesha. Today's beleaguered tiger helped Goddess Durga overcome demons.
The churning of the ocean in Hindu mythology, the manthan carried out by the Suras and Asuras , was not without the valuable assistance of animals. Vasuki the snake was used as the rope and a mountain was the churner. The fulcrum of support was provided by Vishnu in the form of a giant turtle that supported the mountain. Kamadhenu the Divine Cow emerged from this operation, besides the pot of nectar, amrit , and the pot of poison, vish . It was a cross-species effort. In Greek mythology, Aphrodite, the Goddess of love, desire and beauty had the sparrow, dove and swan as her favourites. Artemis, Goddess of animals and twin sister of Apollo had dogs, deer and goose as her sacred animals while Apollo, the son of Zeus, was associated with the dolphin and crow. Zeus's favourite was the eagle.

By reviving national and international traditions that uphold the human-animal symbiotic relationship, we can recast the way we perceive life forms other than our own. Mythology can help revive and rejuvenate a relationship gone awry.
Written by Prof Akhil Chandra
Institute of Logistics and Aviation management

Audit your life on Deepawali

                                              Audit your life on Diwaali

Well Deepawali, the festival dedicated to Goddess of wealth and prosperity, Maha Lakshmi is back again to capture our social mood at the happiest. It is time for everyone-the young, the old, rich and poor, men and women-for the entire Indian community. It is the season to be jolly and gay. Deepawali means ‘Array of lamps’. Even the humblest of hut of a poor man will be lighted by earthen lamps on this auspicious day. The light symbolizes victory of righteousness and lifting of spiritual darkness. The festival commemorates Lord Rama’s return to his kingdom Ayodhya after his 14 year exile having vanquished the demon king Ravana. Another view is that this festival is celebrated as victory of Lord Krishna over the demon king Narakasur. Overall this is a festival where people from all age groups participate in the festivities to give expressions to their happiness.

 This festival of lights while worshipping goddess of wealth Lakshmi reminds us that money is important in satisfying much of our daily needs but one also needs to remember that beyond certain point money ceases to give desired results. In fact excess of money can bring grave disharmony in life. On such festive occasions one should also take stock of what one has achieved out of money and analyze whether in the rat race of chasing wealth, one is not getting blindfolded and losing on other equally important fronts like health, mental peace, family life, love and friendship. Money is limited in its capacity to provide every thing in life and it is a fact that beyond certain limit money brings more of evils attached to it like arrogance, fear, greed and disharmony in life affecting the mental balance and one’s health. No wonder Goddess Lakshmi is shown beside her blessed bird owl which symbolizes that one blessed with excess of money can make him loose one’s wisdom and make him behave stupid like owl, the bird of darkness. To judge a man’s success in real term one has to take into consideration other things in life like health, social recognition, mental satisfaction and spiritual achievements apart from material wealth. Basically man’s achievements at fag end of life are judged as sum total of all these attributes.

Ghanshyam Das Birla, legendary Patriarch of Birla family when asked during one of his interview to comment on his success of building country’s one of the largest business empire said philosophically that what you call success could be judged sometimes as failure. It is no secret that many business family in blind pursuit of money get caught in quagmire of family disputes, business rivalry, disharmony in life and many other evils and find no solace overall.

  Further choice of means to realize one’s aspirations play a very key role in deriving fulfillment of happiness and satisfaction. Means adopted with a right conduct coupled with goodness, truthfulness and a fearless mind have been praised in most of the religious scriptures. Mighty and wicked demon king Ravana adopted wrong means to achieve his objective of universal supremacy and had to suffer as  Bhagwaan Rama had to vanquish him as his means and methods were evil in nature .Till today Diwaali is celebrated in this country to establish victory of goodness  over wickedness manifested by Lord Rama’s banishing Ravana. According to Maharshi Vyaas, it is through right conduct that wealth and fulfillment of desires also accrue.    

In life, opportunities keep coming to satisfy your various needs and aspirations but onus is on you to make the best of it while fulfilling your goals and needs through rightful means.  Ideally every thing material in life can be achieved but with limited time and energy it is best to draw your balanced objectives and create a policy of your life, which is acceptable to you. As a feedback mechanism, one can constantly look back at every stage of life and analyze whether your achievements are balanced in fulfilling your needs in all walks of your life. One should keep sort of auditing one’s policy about life updating the objectives of satisfying your various needs through rightful means and with a right conduct of life. This is the essence of achieving fulfillment at the end.

While lighting  ‘Deepawali Diyaas’ symbolizing removal of darkness of  poverty, ignorance and evil, let us worship Goddess Laksmi with following words.

‘O Mother Goddess Lakshmi!, lead us from path of untruth to right conduct and truth, from death to eternity and from   darkness to path of glory and enlightenment!’

Written by

Professor Akhil Chandra