Tag: social bias

The power of “Quiet”!

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

Paradoxical as it may seem, amidst the growing chaos and noise the only real hope and sanity comes from the island of “quiet”. Join me here as we try to explore the gifted confines of quietness and appreciate how and why empowerment that comes from the stable of Quietness is more often – the most pivot one and has the ability to lead and effect change and order like nothing else that humanity has ever known! So here we go!

Before we understand how and why, “Quiet” hods formidable power, we must understand what do the unquiet spaces around us look like and what they really are! It is the magnitude, depth and the extreme difference between the Quiet and the Unquiet that directly creates the contrasting effect which makes us choose one over the other depending on what drives us and who we are!

Our routines have always, well almost always have been of getting something done- whether that’s a task at hand or whether it’s about achievement something that we have set out for – for that limited period of time! This simple and singular approach to loving our lives- results us getting into the famed Tunneled approach to life- wherein we start to shut off and ignore everything and anything that doesn’t seem to serve our purpose of movement in the direction of the task or act that we are all set out to accomplish! Well, so far there is nothing right or wrong about this space- each one to his own- as I always keep saying- the last thing you need is a prejudiced coach- which I am not! So even as people keep chipping away and racing ahead- what actually happens is that- people get drawn and consumed by the noise and sounds created around and within them- which are nothing more but the consequence of their own set pieces of priorities, solutions and challenges- at times convergent and many times divergent! It is from these ever increasing divergence of daily lives that people often end up creating more and more noise and sound with each passing moment and end up loosing and forgetting everything about what’s beyond the obvious and often hidden in plain sight!

The times that we live in, are cluttered with islands of noise and sound- few of these are our own creation and many other that surround us at all times are but echo chambers which we end up building and developing either by the element of “likeness” or by the “eclectic groups” that we create as we go by our busy lives- next important aspect to note is that as the multiplicity of these islands goes on increasing in space and time- even at an individual level we are all but drowned in an ever increasing maze of noise and chaos- at times this helps when the resonance is to do with the element of creativity and innovation, but in majority of the cases the whole space gets just drowned into one never ending space of noise and sound- at times the sounds of today and the bedrock of eternal noise for times ahead!

What is even more baffling is that humanity seems to have taken a strange liking to this whole phenomenon of begin heard to, speaking up and creating an impact- irrespective whether true depth and merit of content and context exists or not! In fact societies are increasingly even the rarer occurrence of calm and lack of chatter or noise as unwarranted regression and then are compelled to rake up something or the other just to ensure that there is that noise going around at all times regardless whether that is warranted or not and whether it makes sense or not! So why have we walked to this point? so much ahead that even when a part of our own thinking ability tries to indicate the contrary, we end creating the all too familiar patterns of noise and sound through our self driven compelling approach. What is this all about? What does it speak about societies and about us as Individuals and is there are way around this? Is there anything more powerful to vaporize this automated self consuming behaviour?

Well, to put it simply, globally societies have always been defined with regards to their opulence or success as a factor of how much noise and sound is being created within and around them! This fundamental flaw has ended up eroding any sense of contextual or content sanity that societies would have earlier had – through their traditional disposition, culture and arts! There were times and pauses in history when, no news was a great thing- for that meant- all’s well and no one is getting killed or no one is planing anything radical! Over a period of time, the never ending need (at times regulated, at times self- mandated) to be present in the news, discussions and even to feature within gossip has been made the norm- a social barometer of acceptance- so if you or your idea or your business has not been of late discussed at the eclectic circles and has had no mentions – whether the right or wrong (who really cares!) it meant that you have not yet arrived at the scene and you are yet to be recognized as a true entity! This kind of unforgiving societal bias and social compulsion is what has been at the foundation of the noise and sound laden society that we live by! This singular factor has contributed more than anything else to the tons of electronic garbage and media madness that plays out day in and day out across mediums and across channels endlessly irrespective whether any of that crap makes sense or not and this is the whole reason why this approach has now started to take a toll on the very people who devised this game and now even they are feeling the ice like grip of what I call as “failing fatigue” – the moment wherein you have no longer the power to either manage direct or sustain the nonsense that you had let loose and which is now all geared up to come back at you like a boomerang to extract it’s due!

No matter how hard or difficult it may seem to escape from the space around noise and sound, the fact remains that, perhaps this is the easiest of the things to do and the only way to do that is to tap into your internal power of “Quiet”. Once you have tapped into this small and calm island within yourself-trust me it holds unimaginable power to steer you clear away form all and any noise and sound that you may ever want to- irrespective whether you have been the person who has created it or whether you have the person who has played a role in amplifying it! You must be now wondering what makes “quiet” so effective and such a deadly force to reckon with!

Unlike everything else, “Quiet” needs no audience- for it, by itself is the audience and the artist! Once you know this bit and you have accepted this, your life is rest assured immune to the onslaught of any and all noise and sound that you can ever imagine coming your way! This is that space from where”Quiet” gets its power- that power comes from the deepest confines of who you really are- at times you are aware of and many times you simply are unaware or refuse to accept or acknowledge! The power of “Quiet” comes from the tranquil of the construct that each one of us is as uniquely as we must be and are- when we either decide not to accept or decide to challenge that island of calmness, is when we go about in the world- refusing to stay or remain “Quiet” and create enough Sound and Noise all along the way to such an extent that by the time we realize how far wasted all of that has been- even the largest of islands of “Quiet” becomes hopeless and helpless in front of you!

If you are even left in the slightest of doubts as yet, practice the pause and like the wise Himalayan masters often say- Feel your breadth- for once you have done that at least once- you will for once come to learn- how much of all the sound and noise around you has been worthwhile and if anything at all was ever! “Quietness” or “Quiet” is perhaps the the only virtue that takes you as close as possible to the universal energies that one must tap into or can tap into and once you have been to that place- no amount of attention/ inattention, sound, noise, appreciation or criticism can ever make you feel any way the way your “Quietness” makes you feel! At bliss with yourself- attuned to what matters and ignorant of all that one must be!

I will leave you here, with these thoughts- time for you to connect with your “Quietness” and disconnect with all that sound and noise! The only humans who ever made a difference to humanity have always been the ones’ who have been connected with others through themselves!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another article until, then Stay safe and stay wise! Stay Quiet!

The “expert”syndrome.

~ PA ~ 1 Comment

Frankly speaking, I never thought life would be so exciting! We live in times when facts are stranger than fiction! Even the best fiction writers would not have been able to imagine the way we see intelligence and dumbness been played out every now and then! Join me, as we explore a funny, innocent looking and possibly the most damaging trait that lurks amongst all of us, nope, not the virus, this story is about the “expert” syndrome. We have a look into how this possibly originated, how it has evolved (or kind of devolved); so here we go!

As much as I wish to avoid, but I helplessly gravitate towards the topic of the “pandemic” ( not that I am obsessed by it), right now perhaps there is no other topic around the world that unites humanity the way the pandemic has! Either you are suffering more or suffering less, but the fact is you have earned yourself a ticket to this global show! Importantly this is a live study about how “experts” just ended up screwing the fate of millions of people the world over- by punching the right buttons at the wrong time and how the birth of overnight “experts” has possibly added to the chaos, creating more drama rather then providing solutions!

To begin with the pandemic is not a health issue, to begin with! Yes, sure enough a virus has crossed over from an animal to humans and this has in fact more to do with understanding the Virus, its behaviour, its potency, its vulnerabilities and ways to block, inhibit and restrict it form creating dis-ease or illness that can lead to fatality!Now just look who all are responsible in formulating strategies around the pandemic, no it’s not the virologists, neither are the immunologist , it is the doctors (who are supposed to pull those log tubes and ensure you live your life, even as they try to treat you with whatever they “think” works because “someone” told them so!). Sure enough, doctors will alone be able to save your life and keep you on this side of the world, no one is discrediting them, but the problem is that unless the “real experts” don’t give real solutions, all that doctors are left to do is struggle by trying out options and facing the never ending wrath of the patient’s families even as they are hanging on to their own dear lives with each passing moment! Other times, if it’s not doctors then depending on which country you reside in, it could be the head of the major religion that is followed in a country, or leaders in clinical research, bio-statisticians- yes, those gifted people who crunch numbers, extrapolate graphs and show the grim scenarios- straight out of a Hollywood movie- so that everyone is happy with any number less than that- this is the same shit like what you used to when you explained your maths scores to your parents- The conversation goes something like this-“Hey Dad, you see I got a C, and you should be grateful its not a F, something like that”! When all of these fail; you always have those invincible politicians becoming overnight Virologists and Health experts- who come on television and ask you to do everything and anything- from clapping, to banging your utensils to asking you for helping those who are more affected then yourself- so basically you burn down your house to provide warmth to the community! Hold your thoughts, with this pandemic here and let us visit another set of “experts”!

Alongside this pandemic, the world is also witnessing an increasing period of military tension and aggression whether it is encroachment of Indian land by China, the fragile nerves around the middle-east, the uneasy clam around the South China sea, The newly defined US- China Cold War ( I think a better term could “American Chop Suey” War!) Importantly, the war theaters of the world for some strange reason seem to be immune to the virus- making me wonder does the virus really exist! (well, don’t bother- it does!). Now with regards to this military flare up, if you are lucky to be in India or the USA, just switch on your Idiot- Box (yes the good old television) and flip to any of the news channels- you will be left dumb founded at the variety and diversity of suggestions/solutions and action plans thrown every few minutes, guess by whom? Yes, “the experts”! These experts have the answers, solutions, action points for all problems that the world is witnessing in real time and in few cases there are also animated VFX enabled decks which can play out scenarios with complete end-to-end detail and remember this- For every challenge that the world is facing- by evening all TV News channels the world over- have managed to get the experts (even before the nation or the government can lay their hands on their grey matter!). These experts then spell out strategies, action plans and hidden motives about the subject with great accuracy and convincing tenacity (putting even Nostradamus and other modern day fortune tellers to shame) the entire topic is laid open- all thread bare- often you are left wondering to which side do they belong- or are they the aliens from Mars who want to see humanity fight and finish off each other! Thankfully, the only commonality with these “experts” is that, no one is listening to them- no not even their audience! So what’s really happening- what is this phenomenon all about- why do we end up wasting prime satellite broadcast time what is this all about? Read on!

Since time in memorial, as civilizations have advanced, there has been the urge to dominate society with knowledge, information or power, the days we live today are no different, the only slight change perhaps, has been that we are also plagued by the space of mis-information, pseudo- knowledge and “self-proclaimed experts” more than ever before! The real problem accelerates because , even as the “real experts” are busy chipping away the challenge one step at a time- away form public glare- you have this abundance of “so-called experts” who seize the moment and occupy the void space of the real experts and convert the it into a glorified entertainment zone with no real sense or substance! Now, you may want to argue, why is that even allowed in the first place? Well, sadly that is how social engineering works to further what is called as “building narratives” and “getting social acceptance on opinions that are being sold” (irrespective whether they make sense or not)!

Consider the case of the pandemic, experts all along have debated, discussed and emphasized on cutting off people to people contact- well nations did it- what happened- did the situation improve? Well no if you are talking about absolute numbers, but yes, if you want to consider delaying a problem as a solution! If you are still wondering why this would have happened, well the answer is simple- remember I mentioned about “Immunologist” well yes, who were the centre piece to provide a solution- were all but ignored and not paid heed to as the world should have- you want to ask why? Well, you see creating economic adjustments and narratives and the promise of a new drug in the market makes vibrant economic sense and irrespective whether how accurate it is or not- the fact remains it serves the purpose of the few who drive and direct the societies the world over and once this is supplemented by the entertainment over media- you have a water tight case and everyone now believes that lock-downs are good! Wait until they realise that the cure has been worst than the disease and that by itself will be another story of social chaos!

Likewise, do you really think, armies across the world would decipher their strategy, potency and abilities over news channels and TV shows, well certainly not, than why the circus- this is called as opinion building- I mean you want citizens of a nation to support a decision of your’s to go to war- how would you get it done? Well, yes the classic way- ignite the patriotic lamp, create an enemy- communicate the over exaggerated threat and inform that this is the only way and you are the only one who can do it! That’s it! The nation is ready to go to war! Now, if you are wondering why would anyone do this, well, it plays well to the audience in the one countries who have just rudely awakened to their patriotic nerve and secondly helps to create a new order by bringing in distraction, chaos and uncertainty, not for one, but many countries around the world! In the connected times that we live in today, if USA catches cold, India will sneeze and the converse is also equally true!

So even as multitudes of ” so called experts” burn the midnight oil, fry our brains and occupy TV shows at prime times and keep throwing off solutions by the minute, the real experts are busy doing what really matters and the way it should be done- with focus and direction to create solutions to the problems at hand! You see these “overnight experts” have advise for everyone; whether it is the President of the USA or the Director General of WHO; they always have a suggestion for everyone, but for themselves! We should be thanking our stars, that The White House or The UN is as yet not taking these stunts seriously, if that happens, it will be the last sign of overall annihilation of intelligence form the face of the earth!

The only reason why this “expert” syndrome exists is because we are now kind of attuned to some “breaking news”, “some development”, “some news”, which may be good or bad, to make us feel our lives contextually better or worse each time that we switch on the TV and we are always left saying, “Great it was not me” and then moving on as if noting happened to the next circus! You see the real geniuses of the world don’t have time for TV shows and ranting off strategy on prime time! They are serious about what they do and they know what is at stake, likewise real politicians, statesman and business houses, they never waste time ranting off their next moves, secrets as a prime time event! Often,the ones’ who hardly have a figment of understanding of what’s really unfolding end up occupying the void places left by the real experts and since public memory is short, they are always forgotten and at times they themselves forget what is that they had said about a problem and often end up contradicting themselves as time flows!

The easiest way to note and steer clear of the “expert syndrome” is by knowing who is speaking about what! If the people who are speaking are not the ones’ who are solving the problem at hand, then no matter what, you can be rest assured they are just occupying the void and creating an entertainment quotient! Think about it! Had they really been experts and there is a criss at hand, where would they really have been? In a TV studio or at the place – Ground Zero- where the solution have to be found and implemented?!

Before I begin to sound like another “expert”, I will leave you here, urging you to reflect and check for yourself, how many “experts” you really know and if you too are an “expert” which one are you- the real one or the pseudo one!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another article, until then stay wise, stay safe and enjoy your expertise at what you really do!

Don’t let success fail you!

~ PA ~ Leave a comment

“Success” is by itself cryptic and means different things to different people, but what is common, is the fact, that no matter how you want to define it for yourselves, within it lie the seeds of your failure! This piece is all about understanding the real essence of “success” and how to ensure your success doesn’t sow the seeds of your failure! So here we go!

To begin with most of us, when asked , “What does success mean to you?” will go on answering this question with that unwanted grin and start adding all the materialistic attributes that one can think of- money, cash, houses, gadgets, vacations, lifestyle, grandeur, name, fame, recognition, food, indulgence etc. etc. and the list can go on and on- What is common within all the elements mentioned here is that all and each of these manifestations of success are all extrinsic and dependent of multiple variables apart from you! When this aspect is forgotten or lost in translation- shit invariably happens and you end up setting yourself for certain failure, ironically developing from your success and it is proportional to the extent of your success- the more successful you become (hinging on the extrinsic attributes and definitions of success) your failure will be equally noteworthy and iconic! Sounds familiar? Well yes- the stuff that tycoons, politicians and celebrities face right? Well yes, and more importantly each one of us too have faced this, every now and than at the level that we are and proportional to what we have achieved or not achieved in life! So this is what must be focused upon and this is what needs to be fixed! How do we do this? well read on!

The problem with our modern day definition of “success” lies in the fact that it all is entrapped into materialistic bondage! Nothing wrong in earning money, growing your affluence and being able to enjoy the best of what the world has to offer and what your money can buy- the problem is with ending up using that space and that ability to indulge with what you have to define your success which becomes the undoing for many! You would have heard stories of sporting icons, celebrities, business tycoons, who had it all and than lost themselves as they lost what they had (rather what they had- which according to them- defined who they are!). Well, this plays out when people misread and misinterpret “success” as an achievement! Consider this, how would you feel if every time you went to meet your doctor- you find your doctor- throwing a party because he cured ten patients yesterday! or when you visit a store to shop for some clothes and the moment you complete your billing- you find the counter staff breaking out in a gig celebrating their targets! Well, I am certain you would not have seen any of this! So what does that mean? Isn’t your doctor successful and shouldn’t he celebrate the “success” of his patients getting better? Seems aright to be celebrated, right? Even the shop counter staff, knowing they hit the sales figure, nothing wrong if they too celebrated their “success” isn’t it? So why don’t do they do it? Well in the case of the doctor or the counter staff they are practicing what I call it as “Internalizing success” – they know the simple truth- that they are working in the current direction and are sure that if they continue doing what they do- they will keep achieving the results and keep getting better and better- which will help them with building their lives! This is what internalizing success does and the bets part- well it doesn’t bother them much if that odd patient left treatment mid-way or unfortunately died or if they did not hit the sales number for that month! Because they know it deep within that – With each opportunity they give their best and than hope for the rest to manifest and this is what real success looks like- It’s hard work, non-glamorous and intrinsic! They don’t contemplate of stopping work as a doctor or leaving the job at the store, because one day, one event was not working in their favour!

Internalizing success does many wonderful things! First it helps you understand that your success is defined by Who You Are! Real success which clings onto a person always derives its strength from the person and not from the circumstances around the person! Circumstances are like a case of electromagnets wrapped around your working world- every now and then there will be changes and that change of flux around you will drain you of your internal latent potential unless you don’t do way with the habit of large dependence on the circumstances around you! Sure enough they are important- but no reason can be bigger than Yourself and who You are as person when it comes to defining success in the real essence of it! What happens if you don’t embrace success this way around?

Well as long as people define success by aligning it to standards, benchmarks and societal confirmations, there will be an ever ongoing disagreement between Who You Are, What Your Beliefs are, What you actually value and what you paint as an image of what others must see (which comes in as a rider to enjoy that stage success!). Success of this nature, which is measured and calibrated through the lens of the world/society or set standards and perceptional rules of engagement of the sectors that people work in- will invariably fail- once the external factors that fan the staged-success are depleted- either they wane away or they move to a new host- what is left, is an individual with a hollow reality of the staged success and with more questions than answers about themselves! This staged success which is hinged on circumstances and societal influence brings along a hidden baggage which manifests in different ways like, peer pressure, competitive pressure, one upmanship, group-isms and so on and so forth- this compelling need to belong to be recognized and to belong to a section or a select acceptance within the society ends up undoing all that may have been done by an individual and eventually sets up the person into a tailspin of self- discovery where answers simply don’t seem to come by and there are more and more questions as the dive becomes more and more terrifying. The only hope of recovery to come out of this deadly self-inflicting death dive is to “Know Yourself” and Know that Your Success is not dependent on others to the extent that you are made to believe!

True success is always a factor of the Individual- If you have been successful once you will be once again and yet again- certainly there will be spanners in the wheel as you try and move ahead and there will be twists and turns on the way- but as long as you don’t fall into the trap of “compulsive social acceptance”, “confirmation bias” and fall prey to the “be in the group” kind of situation- you will be safe and have a greater sense of achievement when you do and a refined element of learning should you fail- because whatever the outcome maybe- It is then always about who You are and that’s what matters! Once You learn that You alone make the difference and You alone get to decide Who impact you and by How Much, rest assured – you’ve imbibed the right way to “Internalize Success” and sooner or later You will become what You are Destined to be- no matter what the circumstances!

I will leave you with these thoughts, so that you may go head and reflect and see how you have experienced staged- success and true success as you wandered across the world! Always remember- The Final choice rests with each one of us- to define and be defined the way we want us to be! True Success is about us, each one of us and what we can uniquely achieve by being How We Are! There can be no comparison, never, simply because each of us has a different life story and a life path, to narrate and tread upon! All that hinges on others and external factors, will fade away, sooner or later! All that remains is the Belief and Faith within and that alone helps to weave the fabric of your true success- which solely relies on Who You Are!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another article, until then stay safe and stay wise!