Musings on Paradoxes ....continued

Prelude : - During the course of last year, I had made a posting on the subject of Paradoxes when I felt it so real in my heart....creating a huge urge to share.

After quite some time, I have the same longing once again - Bear with me...!!


Dear All


Rajan touched upon a paradox about learning process in today's morning lecture - vertical expertise with a horizontal exposure. The practical examples that he gave on the exposure given at corporate world for their management trainees reminded me those days I spent at HLL as an industrial trainee looking UP at the Management Trainees - who bore better soft skills and higher confidence levels.


Well, its not the horizontal exposure by itself is capable of making future leaders - the people exposed to must be alerted enough that they are undergoing this grind with a future plan. Most of the times, people get too engrossed with details and get succumbed to non essentials without this awareness.

May be in rare cases (like Rajan in his own description about his early days), one may raise his bar thru' powerful self belief - but for vast majority, miracles are still miracles because of lack of mental readiness. I am also getting reminded some thing that I read long time back - Hitler used to give his powerful orations to a bunch of unemployed youth in car parking basements at Germany on his plans to capture the whole world.....!!
Rajans and Hitlers.....these are rare souls to happen......though technically possible for all of us.


Today's generation faces a peculiar problem that has come tragically with a label as "blessing" - its the "problem of plenty" !! Abundant exposure and information is available ONLINE on any subject that a simple volition to go deeper into some thing by itself is a challenge.


I am particularly intrigued to see the expression less faces of the youth with their IPODs / Cell phone ear phones "enjoying" music (I guess so !!) and keep wondering if they have missed out the bliss of "Vividha Barathi" those days in the only available Radio station....!! Its the basic tenet of economics on "thoery of marginal utility" in vigorous play.

Unless we commit ourselves to go as much vertical as we can in every thing that we look at, we might miss the whole point. When we listen to a lecture from some one who is more evolved than us, its not just the spoken words that alone reaches us. I am particularly attracted to Rajan's discourse these days not because he tells too many lofty things but with the sincerity with which he hugs every one with his eyes closed at the end of his lectures. There is a great charisma in just looking at Beings who live what they say AND who say what they live.


Though we keep indulging in too many horizontal things offered by technology, we will keep discovering the similar vertical things which gets perfectly integrated with what we are craving for.....!! Unless, we are clear on what our verticals are, we only become part of a herd which keeps grazing aimlessly....from Orkuts to Facebooks......from Earth to Mars.

The greatest paradox for most of us is that we never discover our verticals till the end of lives......getting satiated by merely listening to voices of love AROUND US instead of within us.

With Love // Suren