Back To Bliss: A Journey To Zero by Santosh Jha (ebook offline .TXT) 📖

is better you tell me what is the moral of the story you want me to understand.”

“The story has so many of them. The king is supposed to be the repository of wisdom but this king had his priorities wrong. He preferred Suruchi over Suniti; it suggests he indulged in beauties and comfort of life neglecting the high and ideal principles of wisdom. The king is the symbol of justice which presupposes unbiased disposition. The king however showed bias against the son of his less favored wife. The mother of Dhruv was wisdom personified and she showed her son what wisdom always does for humanity. Wisdom guides humanity to value love and compassion over material gains. She prodded her son to aim for the love and compassion of the highest order; that of the almighty. Dhruv was only five years old when he understood the wisdom and headed for it. This suggests; wisdom is such a simple thing; it is such an amenable reality that even a child can understand it. This also otherwise suggests; childlike innocence and trust and right guidance can make people help attain the ultimate achievements. Then, the story reflects the reality that when you attain wisdom, you do not want any other indulgence but the infinity of the wisdom itself. Dhruv did not seek anything from Lord Vishnu but the almighty himself. And the last thing is the compassion of the almighty. The Lord gives you something which you do not demand. Almighty is so compassionate and magnanimous that he bestows on you the supreme position.”

“I understand what you say but I believe; you have specific purpose in your mind which you wish to convey to me through the story, like last time.”

“The purpose actually kills the endeavor. But still, as we are accustomed to a perception mechanism; any initiative defined in terms of a purpose is understood easily. That way, the story’s purpose is a simple message – what I wish to attain from you is irrelevant but what you bestow is all important. The compassion is on your side as you are the Lord here. My pursuit ends here as I have attained an audience with your compassion. It is the turn of your compassion as to what it thinks as best to do. You can give me the crown; you can load me with wealth. Like Dhruv, I seek none. I have attained your compassion. You have to decide what your compassion bestows on me. It will show to your world what Lord’s magnanimity is.”

“I refuse to be the Lord. I can accept the call on my magnanimity; not in the way you put it; but still, I need to be told which way I am expected to shape my magnanimity.”

“You cannot refuse the Lord position. You are the owner of an enterprise you have so meticulously and successfully built. Millions of people are born and die remaining engaged in arranging the basics of life – the resource to have two square meals. They seek livelihood, good health, wealth and comfort from the lord almighty. No doubt, it is believed that God gives them what they seek. But this is not the magnanimity of the Lord. The Lord has the pivotal role in the sustenance and maintenance of goodness in the world he presides over. The mythology of Lord Vishnu says that whenever there is loss of dharma, the core goodness on the earth, he takes an incarnation to restore the balance. The magnanimity of the Lord is in restoration and maintenance of the supremacy of goodness on the earth. It is entirely up to the magnanimity of the Lord which way he would do it. The Lord may punish the erring elements and promote the saner ones. The Lord alone can do it as he has the ultimate power and most importantly, he has the compassion to ensure that the world he presides is ruled by goodness.”

“You draw a useless parallel between the businessman and bhagwan. I own the enterprise all right but, I too have my hands tied. You won’t understand it. The more you rise in life, more you lose the freedom to operate. The father of the family looks all powerful and resourceful. It is rather customary to look up to the magnanimity of the father, the provider of the family but if you put yourself in the position of the father, you would realize he is probably the most vulnerable of the lot. You talk of the magnanimity... the father is at times forced to show his worse ire to the family!”

“This portrayal of yours is so very close to the concept of the Lord. My parallel is perfect. The almighty is the most vulnerable entity on earth. He is more challenged than cherished. And, though he may never intend it to be like that, his fear is what helps establish his authority more than his compassion. Most would say they are god-fearing people, never do they say they are god-loving people. Humanity has always been made to fear the be-aawaaz lathi, the soundless baton of the almighty. I am not saying the father should always show his magnanimity to all. Even the almighty does not seem to do it. Father knows the best. He must. We all trust. We must. Even the punishment of the father is part of his magnanimity. It puts back the errant son to the right track. Do take me right. I am just trying to say is that the father must always ensure that his family is in right track. The family traverses the right path. The family understands and practices the right principles of wisdom. This is my call to his magnanimity. I also call upon the compassion of the father towards all members of his family. His compassion forgives the errant son and bestows the pole position to the right son. But never ever he allows his errant son to traverse the wrong path.”

“Okay. Let us accept that I am in a position where I am supposed to be magnanimous. Let us also accept that this magnanimity calls for me to lead my enterprise or what you call my family, to the established principles of goodness and wisdom. The next, I would need to know what is currently wrong with my family, who are the errant sons and what correction I need to bring about. But before that, I would like to ask you, what fruits of my magnanimity you would like to have for yourself? What’s the pole position you want from me?”

“I think I can ask for a cup of coffee.”

“How demeaning…! Don’t underrate my magnanimity. I am generous enough to add some sandwiches and French fries to the coffee. And, my pack of cigarettes is already with you.”

Mayank could not check a smile as the boss busied himself ordering things to the attendant asking him to make a large cup of coffee and make it quick.

The boss lighted a cigarette and looked at his watch. Mayank looked at the face of the boss. He looked relaxed. He had dropped his guard. The way he sat on the couch revealed that he had assumed this talk with Mayank as personal and not part of his business negotiations. Mayank however realized that there is a time factor. The bosses do not have long attention span. Also, the boss looked more eager to actionable part of the agenda that he had been attempting to get accepted.

“I have read your long mail three times. You had written that media was like army and our people need strong training and sense of purpose like army. I appreciate that. I also believe that right training makes productive work environment and work culture. Army like training sounds a tough ask but a suitable training is what I also agree to. Do you have anything specific in mind?”

“I always had admiration for army life. We are middle class people and we have been trained to see ethical purpose in life. I believed army duty is the highest purpose that a job can bring to one’s life. I could not get into army but later, as a journalist I had the occasion to see the army realities inside out. I have been fortunate to be trained in the mould of a journalist. There is a basic instinct that is essential to be a good journalist. The instinct of inquisitiveness is a must. All humans are born with this instinct but only a few keep this alive for long. My inquisitiveness led me to see things within army which made me feel sad. I have a few friends in para-military forces and fortunately or unfortunately, I could also see the scenario out there. When I said we in media need to see our job like an army duty, I meant what the job ought to be and not what it is. I am amazed how much similarity the army and media have.”

“If you think I should know these similarities in detail and it would put me in good position, as the head of my enterprise, I would say you must tell me.”

“Yes, I will do it. In fact, I had come here to tell you only these facts. I know, I have already taken too much of your time but now I will wrap it up in quick time.”

“Take your time. I presume all this will help me do better the role you have told me I have as a father of my family, or what you called the lord of my own universe. Let me accept that I’ve been learning a lot from you.”

“There is a story. Once sage Narad was saying eulogies to Lord Vishnu. He told the Lord that it was so compassionate of him that he always took such great care of all his devotees. Lord Vishnu surprised him by saying that it was not because of compassion but because of his own selfish need. The Lord clarified that he learnt from his devotees what he had to do to be a lord to them. He told Narad, ‘what I am is what my devotees make me to be. From their expectation and exhortations I know what I have to be like’. Leaders are what their followers want him to be. In India we are having a large crop of bad leaders because the people, their followers want them to be like that. I am not making you learn anything. I am just telling you what we as your people expect from you.”

“My God Mayank...you always have a story ready for anything. How do you do that?”

“I am a media person. It is my primary role. The stories are there because there are so many things people have to say and get exposed to learn.”

“Okay, I will someday spend a whole day with you draining out all your stories. Now let us conclude. Tell me your army experience.”

“Yes, what I wished you to know about my army and para-military experience is that how lofty ideals and purposes of media, like army is lost because of some fast growing trends and some disoriented people. Army and forces are tough jobs, like media. The jobs are primarily sacrifice-oriented. This is well understood and that is why, the army especially is provided with extra facilities and supports. The army has a special status and over the years, there is a sense of superiority, bordering the feeling of elitism and exclusivity that I think has been well accepted in the ranks and file. There are special canteens for army men from where, they are provided a range of consumer items at dirt cheap rates. Then, there is quota for subsidized liquor. In the media too, there is a similar situation. We may not have a separate dream canteen for us but the whole market is made one. The dangerous trend in both army-forces and media is that both are growingly being perceived as glamorous jobs. This