33 % reservation. Is it justified?

Limiting the history of feminism or in other words women empowerment to the history of the modern feminist movement has always been criticized by many of us. Our socio-cultural structure has ignored women's opposition to patriarchy over the course of thousand of years. Infact, in our so called modern, orthodox and conservative Indian society, women empowerment is almost negligible as what we see even today that despite opposition the parliament has proposed a 33% reservation in seat for womens in the state legislative assembly and parliament. The irony is that despite of so many efforts done by the law and NGO's there still exists a huge disparity for the women in our society.

Moreover, my interaction with people and with the surroundings, gave me a feeling that the problem need to be given a microscopic view from the grass root level. What I felt that in our social strata we actually fails to imbibe the concept of gender equality and empowerment from the very beginning in the minds of our children’s. And even the word empower and equality gets bandied about so much that one should be forgiven for over looking what actually they mean; to imbue some with power, to instill in the individual a sense of equality.

As a matter of fact, here, it would be not only the responsibility of the male to imbue a sense of equality. But, indeed women as a part of this civilized society should refrain begging in the name of equality and empowerment by taking simpler means like 33 % reservation which are altogether a political gimmick to secure the vote banks of some rascals. But, each one of them should come up and displaythe real essence of motherhood .

Ramayana” Management of the Theory of Time

Shri Rama: He represents a human being having complete control over his / her ‘Mind’. It also represents a ‘Natural Age’ state of mind.

The Ravana: He represents a human being who has lost control over his / her ‘Mind’. It also represents the influence of extreme ‘Material Age’.

Controlled Mind personalities: They are balanced personalities with clarity in objectives and right vision. Their thoughts, speech and physical actions are positive, constructive, ethical and value adding. They maintain self-control and self-discipline. They aim at serving others in a selfless state of mind. They believe in non-violence, peace, truth and simplicity. They follow sacrifice and forgiveness. They practice mutual help and co-operation. They spread love, respect, good health and happiness to each form of life across the globe. They always keep at
peace and are not influenced by anger, ego, deception or greed. They worship work and maintain humbleness. They represent, respect and also follow true laws of life by nature.

Un-Controlled Mind personalities: The one who is opposite of the controlled mind personality.

The War between Shri Rama and The Ravana and the victory of Shri Rama: It represents an eternal ‘Theory of Time’ which starts from ‘Natural Age’ but gradually moves towards ‘Material Age’ where the world at large starts suffering from its negative side effects. When it goes to extreme limits and reaches the peak of ‘Materialism’ then nature has to ensure the rebirth nof complete ‘Natural Age’ as a gradual process and finally rebalance the world to ensure its survival and so on. This explains the eternal process of management of the theory of time as per the laws of life by nature. Nature ensures that the world is ruled as per its laws of life and does whatever is necessary to bless e.g. natural resources and to punish e.g. natural calamities.

Let’s try to understand the ‘Theory of Time’ from other aspects:

Economy: In general, as per studies, the economy faces the eternal cycle of economic development from recession to prosperity and then again to recession and so on.

Shares / Stock Market: In general, as per studies, the share market faces the eternal cycle of Bull Run and Bear Run. In between the Bull Run we have corrections and then again Bull Run and vice-versa and so on.

Life: The eternal soul is an invisible living energy which takes birth in a material form of life and then takes rebirth in some other material form on death of the former one, which has no beginning as per the ‘Theory of Karma’, which is based on the principle of ‘Action-Reaction’. It is also believed that a soul that has done positive deeds visits heaven to enjoy extreme material pleasures whereas the soul that has done negative deeds visits hell to suffer from extreme material pains. With the help of ‘Meditation’ we can achieve self-realization and reach the stage of ‘Omniscience’. We, the eternal souls can achieve complete enlightenment by getting complete rid of karmas i.e. material actions caused by thoughts, speech and physical actions linked to our material desires aimed at senses gratification, which keeps the soul trapped in material lives. At the end of such ‘Human life’ the soul enters into the ‘Spiritual Space’ i.e. ‘Salvation / Nirvana / Moksha’ and wins freedom from material pleasures and pains forever.

Let’s try to understand the ‘Theory of Time’ based on various religious teachings:

Christianity: The teachings blessed by the holy soul prophet Jesus Christ includes mentioning of the day of ‘JUDGMENT’ which also means destruction of material existence. (This is just a reference. For complete and exact details please refer to the holy book ‘Bible’).

Islam: The teachings blessed by the holy soul prophet Hazrat Muhammad includes mentioning of the day of ‘QAYAMAT’ which also means destruction of material existence. (This is just a reference. For complete and exact details please refer to the holy book ‘Quran’).

Hinduism: The learning from literatures of Hindu religion includes mentioning of the current extreme ‘Material Age’ as ‘KALI YUG’ which is one of the cycles of the ‘YUG CHAKRA’ i.e. eternal process of the time cycle starting from 1 to 4 and then again from 1 to 4 and so on, according to which the current cycle is the 4th one known as the ‘DARK AGE’. (This is just a reference. For complete and exact details please refer to the holy books on ‘Hinduism’).

Jainism: The learning from literatures of Jain religion includes mentioning of the current ‘Material Age’ as the ‘DUSHAM KAL’ which is one of the form of ‘AARA / KAL CHAKRA’ i.e. eternal process of the time cycle starting from 1 to 6 and then again from 6 to 1 and so on, according to which the current cycle is the 5th one in the time cycle from 1 to 6 which is known as the ‘PAINFUL AGE’. (This is just a reference. For complete and exact details please refer to the holy books on ‘Jainism’).

The above analysis is just an unbiased attempt to find a link between few religious teachings to learn the Theory of Time. There is no intention to test or verify or evaluate them. There is also no intention to comment on them, whether they are true or false. In fact the efforts are made to learn from all of them. They teach SIMILAR life management principles based on the spiritual laws which are universal in nature. However we humans misinterpret them and loose the beauty of its essence by fighting with each other in the name of a religion or God.

In today’s commercial world, no one can deny the fact that the more we are developing, the majority of us is turning selfish, short visionary, inhuman and evil. We are unnecessarily compromising with the values, principles, discipline and ethics which are required to build a beautiful world with long term sustainable growth and ever increasing peace, good health and happiness for all forms of lives forever. Let’s try to analyze the current situation of 21st century:

Human brain has got mainly three quotients:

• IQ: Intelligence Quotient
• EQ: Emotional Quotient
• SQ: Spiritual Quotient

Majority of us concentrate just on IQ and EQ. The mind functions in two ways Viz. Conscious and Sub-Conscious. The mind has two ways of thinking Viz. Left Brain (mainly IQ Based) and Right Brain (mainly EQ and SQ based).

We intelligent and biased emotional humans are trapped by the deceptive intelligence by concentrating only on the conscious mind and left brain thinking process. We, the commercial world of 21st century are not fully aware of the power of ‘Spiritual Intelligence’.

We have such a beautiful earth to live. What are we giving it in return? We are causing extreme pollution, massive waste products, global warming and depletion ofnatural resources etc. We have such a wonderful opportunity of living life as a human being. What are we doing in return?

We are causing religious bias, wars, terrorism, riots, murders, power games, corruption, bribing, frauds, black market, smuggling, scandals, crimes, gambling, robberies, kidnapping, rape, sexual harassment, prostitution, racism, inequality, quarrels, family splits, cheating, divorces, intoxication, consumption of drugs, adulteration of food, fake medicines, counterfeit products, extreme materialism, increasing gap between rich and poor, beggars and killing of animals and birds for food / consumables etc. All such psychological, emotional, behavioral, personal, professional, social, economical, political, ecological and environmental issues are increasing at an alarming rate which take away peace and happiness from our lives and also cause deterioration of our mental as well as physical health.

The time has come to be serious about the future which we all are defining for ourselves including our next generations to come. It will also benefit our own self during the journey of our soul in various lives, in different material forms, having different characteristics until we achieve salvation.

To worship God is to be God. To be God is to be Good. To be Good is to follow Godliness. Let’s take up the collective charge of God and contribute to spread Non-Violence, Peace, Truth, Simplicity, Good Health, True Success and Real Happiness across the globe for all forms oflives and move towards our Salvation.

Majority of us believe only in material comparison which leads to jealousy and so we compete with each other to satisfy our egos. Thus indirectly we are competing with God because at the end we all are representatives of God i.e. “Nature”. Let’s try to maintain neutral and indifferent state of mind to the influence of extreme material environment. Learn to feel happy through satisfaction by keeping our true inner self, the soul detached from material illusions. Follow thegolden principles of love, help, respect and co-operation because power is not a thing to beowned but it is a responsibility to be shared. We all have limited time and power as a humanbeing. Now it is upon us to decide the way in which we want to invest it.

Let’s be smart and not just fake intelligent. Let’s unite and contribute for our own well-beingwhich is possible only by collective well-being of all forms of lives across the world. Simplicityis real Smartness. Too much consumption and materialism is illusory intelligence.We may choose to live a valuable life or just spend it worthlessly. We should find a balancebetween our personal, professional, social and spiritual goals.

Though we can not change the eternal theory of time as defined by nature, we can at least try to reduce its impact for many who will choose to be SMART!

What works- hard work or smart work

The Bhagvad Gita says “If one attempt to abandon action while being bound in Nature, the consequence will be disastrous. Action is the insignia of life in an organism. So long we live and breathe; we have to act and work, which is the final expression of life in its complete form. So one should be very aware how one should act or how smartly one should work. But what are we talking about when we say ‘smart working’? It ‘s an approach to organize work aiming to drive greater efficiency and effectiveness in achieving job outcomes through a combination of flexibility, autonomy and collaboration, in parallel with optimizing tools and working environments.’

Smart working might be seen as an objective that can help individual’s minds on how they can think about reorganizing work to improve performance. The fact that the idea of smart working has no distinct boundaries may actually make it more powerful – if it leads individuals to ask questions about how the objective can be achieved in their own organization. This is not an idea that tells someone what to do, but to offer insights into the changes going on around them and a basis for reflecting on how best one should respond to it. It can perhaps be best seen as a model or pattern, or way of looking at the world.

It has been understood that time management is the key to either being a smart worker or a Hard worker. Good time management usually leads to organizing the work at hand increases the clarity regarding one's role and deliverables, optimistic outlook where the task(s) seems too easy or even a confident attitude where one is confident of completing the work in time. All these behaviors’ lead to an overall tendency to manage time in an effective manner.

Importance of Effective Communication

Importance of Effective Communication

Þ 40-60% of the message is lost in transmission

Þ Tone of voice + vocal clarity + verbal expressiveness = 40%

Þ Facial expression + dress and grooming + posture + eye contact + touch + gesture = 50%

Þ Words = 10%

Þ Barriers Culture differences, values and attitudes, language, noise, hearing


Þ Clear
Þ Coherent
Þ Correct
Þ Concise
Þ Crisp
Þ Credible
Þ Convincing
Þ Customized
Þ Conclusive
Þ Complete
Þ Cost-effective
Þ Continual

Clear: Clear voice. Vary tone/tenor, pitch and volume, as required by situation, to add more punch to the message you wish to convey. Avoid mumble and jumbles.
Coherent: Besides clarity, coherent delivery of the message is perhaps as important. The cardinal rule here is to express yourself rationally & logically and, if possible, fluently. Command over the language to be used is an asset and hence in the beginning itself clarify the mode of communication to be employed.
Correct: This is most important, particularly if your message includes data, figures, coordinates, etc. Homework is vital
Concise: In most of the communication, it is always advisable to cut the bull and come straight to the point. Avoid beating about the bush. Even a humorous piece loses its punch if it is too long or has too many interruptions. Define the subject clearly, briefly. If possible, give a summary.
Crisp: If first four ‘Cs’ are followed in tandem, it becomes apparent to communicate crisply thus saving on time, effort and perhaps, money. Command over vocabulary and judicious use of phrases, helps. Crisp communiqués carry more punch and are more effective. You do not have to be curt to be crisp. Be cordial instead.
Credible: Credibility of the communication should be beyond doubt and it is almost synonymous to correct & coherent communication. Wherever factual information is to be conveyed and use of statistics & data is unavoidable, quote reference(s). If necessary, present back-up material.
Convincing: Any communication can become convincing if it is delivered with a smattering of examples, case studies, experiences, role plays, etc. These should be backed up with references to establish credibility. Clarity of purpose and sincerity of the one delivering the communication add to making the communication more acceptable.

Conclusive: Conclusive here also means all-inclusive. It is better to re-cap the entire communication towards the end, of course in brief. This helps in zeroing on to the vital, critical issues in the communication. As mentioned above, clear definition of the subject or the purpose of the entire process aids in concluding properly.
Complete: An effective communication must have a well defined ending, linked to subject. You can gauge the level of all the ‘C’s mentioned above by asking for a feedback. There are several ways to check completion and the easiest is to ask if the message had reached the audience.Cost-effective: This dimension has not even been touched upon in most of the material available on effective communication. In today’s world, however, it has assumed critical importance. It is not easy to make instant cost-benefit analysis of most communications but it is possible to have a fairly good idea. This is particularly true for lectures, training, interactions, etc. for which one has to pay to attend. In addition, your Communication should preferably be either Contemporary or Classic depending on the receiver’s background and also on the ambience. For example, to a young generation next audience, a Contemporary (chic) style and delivery will perhaps be more in order while a group of freedom fighters who took part in India’s struggle for independence would appreciate the Classic approach. Here, Creativity could play a crucial role. One need to be imaginative and a judicious mix of both these modes may help the sender to carry the day, particularly if the audience consists of a mixed bag. However, try and avoid use of clichés and too much jargon.

The Communication Process
message to be sent – decode (some error likely)
encoded by receiver (some error likely) message received
Although all of us have been communicating with others since our infancy, the process of transmitting information from an individual (or group) to another is a very complex process with many sources of potential error.
Consider the simple example:
Terry: "I won't make it to work again tomorrow; this pregnancy keeps me nausious and my doctor says I should probably be reduced to part time.
Boss: Terry, this is the third day you've missed and your appointments keep backing up; we have to cover for you and this is messing all of us up.
In any communication at least some of the "meaning" lost in simple transmission of a message from the sender to the receiver. In many situations a lot of the true message is lost and the message that is heard is often far different than the one intended. This is most obvious in cross-cultural situations where language is an issue. But it is also common among people of the same culture.
Look at the example. Terry has what appears to be a simple message to convey-she won't make it to work today because of nausia. But she had to translate the thoughts into words and this is the first potential source of error. Was she just trying to convey that she would be late; was she trying to convey anything else. It turns out she was. She was upset because she perceived that her co-workers weren't as sympathetic to her situation as they should be. Her co-workers, however, were really being pressured by Terry's continued absences, and her late calls. They wished she would just take a leave of absence, but Terry refuses because she would have to take it without pay.
Thus what appears to be a simple communication is, in reality, quite complex. Terry is communicating far more than that she would miss work; she is conveying a number of complex emotions, complicated by her own complex feelings about pregnancy, work, and her future.
She sent a message but the message is more than the words; it includes the tone, the timing of the call, and the way she expressed herself.
Similarly, the boss goes through a complex communication process in "hearing" the message. The message that Terry sent had to be decoded and given meaning. There are many ways to decode the simple message that Terry gave and the way the message is heard will influence the response to Terry.
In this case the boss heard far more than a simple message that Terry won't be at work today. The boss "heard" hostility from Terry, indifference, lack of consideration, among other emotions. Terry may not have meant this, but this is what the boss heard.
Communications is so difficult because at each step in the process there major potential for error. By the time a message gets from a sender to a receiver there are four basic places where transmission errors can take place and at each place, there are a multitude of potential sources of error. Thus it is no surprise that social psychologists estimate that there is usually a 40-60% loss of meaning in the transmission of messages from sender to receiver.
It is critical to understand this process, understand and be aware of the potential sources of errors and constantly counteract these tendencies by making a conscientious effort to make sure there is a minimal loss of meaning in your conversation.
It is also very important to understand that a majority communication is non-verbal. This means that when we attribute meaning to what someone else is saying, the verbal part of the message actually means less than the non-verbal part. The non-verbal part includes such things as body language and tone.
Barriers to Effective Communication
There are a wide number of sources of noise or interference that can enter into the communication process. This can occur when people now each other very well and should understand the sources of error. In a work setting, it is even more common since interactions involve people who not only don't have years of experience with each other, but communication is complicated by the complex and often conflictual relationships that exist at work. In a work setting, the following suggests a number of sources of noise:
Language: The choice of words or language in which a sender encodes a message will influence the quality of communication. Because language is a symbolic representation of a phenomenon, room for interpretation and distortion of the meaning exists. In the above example, the Boss uses language (this is the third day you've missed) that is likely to convey far more than objective information. To Terry it conveys indifference to her medical problems. Note that the same words will be interpreted different by each different person.
Defensiveness, distorted perceptions, guilt, project, transference, distortions from the past
Misreading of body language, tone and other non-verbal forms of communication
Noisy transmission (unreliable messages, inconsistency)
Receiver distortion: selective hearing, ignoring non-verbal cues
Power struggles
Self-fulfilling prophecy
Assumptions-eg. assuming others see situation same as you, have same feelings as you
Distrusted source, erroneous translation, value judgment, state of mind of 2 people
Perceptual Biases: People attend to stimuli in the environment in very different ways. We each have shortcuts that we use to organize data. Invariably, these shortcuts introduce some biases into communication. Some of these shortcuts include stereotyping, projection, and self-fulfilling prophecies. Stereotyping is one of the most common.
Interpersonal Relationships: How we perceive communication is affected by the past experience with the individual. Perception is also affected by the organizational relationship two people have. For example, communication from a superior may be perceived differently than that from a subordinate or peer
Cultural Differences
Majority of meaning comes from Nonverbal Communication Cues
A Short Example of Effective Communication

Example: Maria: My project coordinator, Judy, is in a slump; she's just not producing her usual caliber of work. I need to find out what the problem is.
On the surface, it would seem that getting good information is easy. But like other forms of communication, it takes planning and experience to develop skills in this area
Key Techniques
Focus the discussion on the information needed Judy, I've noticed in the past month that you've fallen behind on keeping the project schedule current. I'd like to figure out with you what we both can do to get it back on track.Use open-ended questions to expand the discussion You've always kept the schedule up to the minute-until about a month ago. Why the change?
Use closed ended questions to prompt for specifics "What projects are you working on that take time away from your work on this project (warning: closed ended questions are often disguised as open ended as in "Are you going to have trouble finishing this project?)
Encourage dialogue through eye contact and expression This involves nodding in agreement, smiling, leaning toward the speaker, making statements that acknowledge the speaker is being heard.
State your understanding of what you are hearing This can be done by restating briefly what the other person is saying but don't make fun of it"So it sounds like these phone calls have ended up taking a lot more time than you or Jay expected; you think the three of us should talk about priorities; is this your position?" Summarize the key points; try to get some agreement on the next steps and show appreciation for the effort made so far. "So let's call Jay right now and set up a time when we can meet and iron this out; keeping the schedule updated is a high priority and I'd like to get this settled by Wednesday.
Conversation starters that work like magic
1. Do not drill with questions
2. Be funny
3. Ask open ended questions
4. Make the other person comfortable
5. Bring up a subject everyone can talk about

Self Affirmation

We think that the ways we lead our life as well as the rules our society lay down for us to follow and the creation are all ruled by logic. We are completely wrong. Our life is far beyond reason and logic. All laws, rules and regulations are based on the partial understanding of our life. At times, I hear people saying “Our Life is meaningless. We are on this earth for no reason. Honestly, the human logic does not have answer to this question.

The secret answer to this question lies in self affirmation. The philosophy of self affirmation is simple: as you think so you become. We have programmed ourselves for thousands of lifetimes to think of ourselves as limited, puny, weak and meaningless. This is the most dreadful thought of ourselves and how much self destructive it this thought of our’s that we can’t even measure it. If we think of ourselves as weak, we shall act accordingly. If we think of ourselves as helpless sinners and our existence as meaningless, we will without a doubt act accordingly.

As we have drummed the wrong thoughts into our minds again and again to create wrong impressions, so we must reverse the process by drumming into our brains right thought of purity, strength and truth. I will quote over here which I have been repeated from my earliest boyhood and a famous verse from “The Bhagvad Gita: As the different streams having their sources in different places all mingle their water in the sea, so, o lord, the different paths which people take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to the thee. The above notation totally disqualifies that our existence on planet earth is meaning less. Rather, than it should be if one believes his ownself, then surely his existence on this earth is as much meaningful as our existence on this universe.