Frail is the nature of Fame

I walked upon the sand at ebb-tide.

And bending down, I wrote a line upon the sand.

And in that line I wrote what my mind thought

And what my soul desired.
 

And when the tide was high,

I returned to that very shore,

And of that which I had written I found naught.

I found only the staff-marks of one who had walked blindly.

Source: http://www.ronedmondson.com/2012/04/reflection-on-the-poem-footprints.html

How True!!! The prophet that he is Kahlil Gibran wrote this about fame long back and people like Tiger Woods, Lance Armstrong, Oscar Pistorius, Britney Spears, Ben Johnson experienced this very frail nature of fame themselves.

Worst part is that the list seems to be getting updated thick and fast…..

Will Vijender Singh, the Indian pugilist, be latest entrant in the list? I hope not…For Indian Boxing needs such ‘Pin-Up Boys’ to make the sport popular in India.

I started to ponder over the etiology of ‘Celebrity Today-Zero Tomorrow’ syndrome. In my opinion the drowning reason, contributing reason to this syndrome is ‘handling fame’ or the lack of it!!!

Only those celebrities who are successful in understanding and maintaining success metamorphose themselves into Role Models/Heroes. Following is blow by blow analysis of why celebrities fall from the pedestal. (Note: These are my own opinions and I stand to be corrected, moderated or even vindicated!!!!)

• Once they taste a little success, once they become a little famous, ‘I don’t give a damn’, ‘Devil may care’ attitude becomes second skin of these celebrities and the focus on the job at hand is lost.
• The world for them begins with ‘I’, flows with ‘Me’ and ends with ‘Myself’. They start to believe that ‘I am the king of the world’. The transition from….

-   God fearing to hardened atheist: For they believe they are God

 - Grateful to ungrateful: Disrespecting, sometimes even disowning the very people who had helped them reach this far

-   Humble to haughty

….happens so quickly that even they do not realize when they have crossed the Rubicon.

In such a ‘high’ they indulge in activities, which they otherwise would not have, and one such small mistake leads to shattering of the glass house, knocking them off the pedestal…..

Samuel Smiles had said “The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have struggled against the tide, and reached the shore exhausted”.

How true is that!!!. Today celebrities do not reach the ‘shore’ exhausted; but they reach ‘in a high’. Nowadays getting famous is not as painstaking it was earlier. Thanks to the media…. celebrities are created in a jiffy and felled overnight. Singing Superstars, Acting Greats, Dance Kings/ Queens, Idols, Master Chefs are created every six-eight months. Such quick fame follows the universal rule ‘What goes up quick; comes down even quicker’. Within no time such ‘neo celebrities’ become ‘no celebrities’ and continue to live that ‘semi celebrity-semi commoner’, confused life.

Well; do not get me wrong, I am not saying that these celebrities have not done the hard work.. Yes they have worked hard to reach where they have reached…but many fail to maintain the success, fail to cross the chasm to reach the next level…Role Models.

Living peaceful life atop Mount Everest is even harder than scaling it!!!! In order to sustain at that stage once needs to understand that:

- Fame/ Celebrity status is quicksilver, Fame is like vapor….difficult to hold

- Fame is blind and noisy applause

- With fame comes the responsibility

- One needs to be really dogged, down to earth, humble and really passionate enough  to guard the celebrity status.

A case in point is Vinod Kambli. In my opinion he could not handle success that he achieved. He and Sachin Tendulkar created history by amassing 664 runs together, Kambli scoring 349 of those. There was a time when cricket connoisseurs rated Kambli better talent than Sachin. But 24 years after this record breaking partnership, the comparison ceases to exist completely. He will certainly not be counted when the list of cricketing greats is being drawn up.

As Richard Lord writes “Kambli, represents one of the greatest wastes of talent the game has seen. What his story really shows is that at the top level, talent only gets you so far. Because even if Kambli wasn't more naturally talented than Tendulkar, he certainly seemed more talented than just-retired Rahul Dravid. The latter, almost exactly a year younger than Kambli, was bolstered by a temperament of steel, and went on to an average of 53 in 157 Tests and the second-highest number of runs in the history of the game.”

I am in no way trying to belittle Kambli’s achievements, but just trying to drive the point that steely resolve could help you to reach the level of Role Model.

Cases of Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods and Oscar Pistorius show that, our belief in these role models can come crashing down at any time, thus from now on, we need to be super selective while tagging a celebrity as ‘Role Model/Hero/Idol’.

In my opinion, only those celebrities whose achievements stand the ‘Time Test’: 25 years of untainted working/professional/personal life or minimum of 5 years post retirement; should be considered Role Model…       

Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosale, Abraham Lincoln, Nelson Mandela, Rod Laver, Ratan Tata are all legends, ‘Role Models’ for they have stood the “Time Test”.

Yes we already have few souls like V. Anand, Lionel Messi, Roger Federer, Sachin Tendulkar, Leander Paes, Rahul Dravid who can be treated as role models.

Humans are only fallible, but I hope these souls do not falter even once and remain role models for all their life,  because in today’s ever shrinking, secular world we need such role models to look up to. As now famous lines from Spiderman go “Everybody loves a hero. People line up for them, cheer them, scream their names. And years later, they'll tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who taught them how to hold on a second longer”.

Not how many.....but how....

“Who is Mark Zuckerberg?”

I am sure all of you would be surprised at my naivety, my absolute lack of general knowledge. But hold on, this is not my question, in fact I was asked this question by friend’s grandfather, Dada, who just turned 90 few months back. After hearing this question, even I was surprised; first because at the age of 90 he knew that certain Mark Zuckerberg exists in this world; on other hand I was surprised that somebody would actually ask this question in this internet era.

“Where did you come across Mark Zuckerberg?” I asked him.

“I was reading an article about wealthy people and according to the article; this 23 year old boy is listed as one of the billionaires in the world. I am 90, he is not even one third of my age but he is already a billionaire whereas I have not seen this much of money in my entire life. People around me always thought that I know everything, but now I know, there are many things that I do not know yet.”

Leaving me speechless, he left room and went to sleep, while I and my friend started to discuss current trending topics. 

While returning from my friend’s place, a sentence from Dada, kept buzzing in my ears “People around me always thought that I know everything, but now I know, there are many things that I do not know yet”. This comment led me to believe that what matters is really not how many years you have lived, but how???!!!

The man in question, Mark Zuckerberg, was just 23 when he became billionaire; Bill Gates was around 20 when he founded Microsoft along with Paul Allen.  

The great saint Dnyaneshwar was just 18 when he wrote Dnyaneshwari; his commentary on Bhagvat Geeta.

Vijay Mallya and Kumar Managalam Birla took control of their respective business empires at the age of 28, when most of us are finding their bearing on life.    

And that’s precisely the point, ask yourself, not how many, but how……

Just being old does not guarantee that one knows everything. Because if you do not enrich yourself in terms of knowledge, experience as you grow; age is just a number!!  

This reminds me of one of the famous anecdotes from cricket. Monty Panesar, spin bowler from England, began his career as a very good bowler and showed a lot of promise. However after 33 test he could not achieve what he could have or people thought he could. This prompted, Shane Warne to proclaim that rather than having played 33 Tests, he (Monty Panesar) had merely played his first one 33 times!!, indicating that it was proverbial case of ‘Wisdom does not always come with age - sometimes age comes alone???!!!!  

But, Monthy Panesar showed that if you learn from your mistakes and previous experiences, you can really make a difference, and how!!! He made Shane Warne eat his own words, with his stellar performance against India in Mumbai test in Nov. 2012. Shane Warne incidentally was a spectator from close quarters to this very ‘Full Monty’ performance, as he is part of ESPN-Star’s commentary team!!!! Shane Warne must also be thinking….But How?????? 

One should follow Aufbau principle in life. As the orbitals of our life i.e. age increases, one should be able to fill up more electrons i.e. experiences, wisdom in ones life.

Now question comes how you can enrich your life with various experiences, well the solution would vary from individual to individual, but here are some suggestions:   

1. Rekindle any of your old/lost hobby. You will cherish the immense happiness it brings to you. 
2. Read to educate yourself on various different topics 
3. Get yourself associated with that one or more causes you are passionate about may be as a volunteer or member and work for that cause throughout the year and beyond. 

Well such tiny steps taken by you would enrich your noosphere which should eventually lead you to enrich somebody else’s…Remember what Emily Dickinson said...... 

If I can stop one heart from breaking

I shall not live in vain

If I can ease one life the aching

Or cool one pain

Or help one fainting Robin

Unto his nest again

I shall not live in vain.

 

It is that time of the year when many decide to start afresh with new zeal, new resolutions and I believe it is certainly not the bad thought to start by helping one heart from breaking.

Not 'How Many', but 'How' is the question.......

 

2013: Beginning of new era

Hey Folks,

Mayan calender not withstanding the test of time, we are welcoming 2013.

Here is wishing all of you a very Happy and Prosperous New Year.   

                   

An autobiography of one year old

From blogger’s mind; an year after......

Hi All,

It’s that time of the year again when many are in the mood of celebration of new year and are trying to finalize ways to celebrate new year. However, its also the time to sit back and reflect on the year just about to pass by and take new vows and chalk out the plan for the coming year.

While I tried to concentrate on the year that was, I could hardly put my thoughts together; chiefly because the recent media coverage on doomsday and Maya culture. Irritated, I could only respond:

“O Maya Maya go away

Doomsday comes another day

Little 'Cameos of life' wants to play”

Jokes apart or should I say, rhymes apart, what started as an initiative to break the monotony, stagnancy at workplace has become a nice brainteaser, a hobby, a passion……Yes madames and monsieurs, ‘Cameos of Life' is now a year old blog and this would not have been possible without the unflinching, unconditional support of all my readers spread across the globe. Thanks to all of you for visiting this blog from the bottom of my heart or should I say from the bottom of my blog…..

As I started to think of the ways to break the shackles of ‘just-work’ ennui, an inspiring poem penned by Javed Akhtar from Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, kept buzzing in my years

Dilon mein tum apni betabiyan leke chal rahe ho,

toh zinda ho tum!

Nazar mein khwaabon ki bijliyan leke chal rahe ho,

toh zinda ho tum!

Jo apni aankhon mein hairaniyan leke chal rahe ho,

toh zinda ho tum!

Dilon mein tum apni betabiyan leke chal rahe ho,

toh zinda ho tum!

In that state of ‘high’ I scribbled an article about India’s grand entry into F1 World and just when there was no further activity on this front, I was shaken up by Atlas,  Greece and the financial turbulence of Europe and I scribbled another article. The process kind of continued and within no time, I realized that I have created a ‘huge’ repository of 4-5 articles!!!!

Though I knew somewhere deep down that I love to write, the comparitive ease with which I completed writing first few articles, reemphasized my belief that I could write. It also made amply clear to me that not only I loved writing but more importantly I could write and write well at that. This 'high' was enough for me to be on cloud nine and I continued to think about my great creation, my master pieces; my fantastic articles!!!! Every author, blogger, creative person is narcissist isn’t it? 

However, not allowing myself to get drowned in self flattery and true to the corporate world training, I decided to test my work and sought comments from my friends. To my great surprise the comments were encouraging and while the iron was hot, I decided to hammer and posed the question lingering in mind for long time, should I decide to write a blog, would you, as a reader, or for that matter any other, be interested in reading these blog posts, consensus was a mix of some sure shot, some assertive, some calculated.. ‘Ayes’ and so I decided to take the plunge and joined the band wagon…..err….‘blog wagon’.

In the early days of blogging (even one year is early, but now I would like to think that I am a bit more experienced), I was too eager to see huge visitor flow hitting the blog or expected blog to be flooded with comments, but soon I realized that even the great Hometree was a mere seed some day!!! So I decided to allow the blog to grow in terms of reader base, searches etc and one clear way to make it happen is to keep blogging. So, rather than to keep looking for comments, visitors I started posting on the blog and soon there was steady flow of viewers for the blog. With the readers spread across the entire globe from China to USA, Australia to Africa, Japan to Briton, my jangling nerves calmed down, very famous sheir by Majrooh Sultanpuri, crossed my mind:

Mein akela hi chala tha janib-e- manzil magar,

log saath aate gaye aur kaarvaan banta gaya  

(Free rendition of this famous sheir in English can be: I was marching all alone towards the destination, but followers joined and caravan began to shape up) 

As I started to post on various topics; I started to receive comments, not particularly on each post, but on the entire initiative of starting my own blog.

‘It was expected of you’  

‘Nice initiative…make sure that you continue it’

‘Oh My God, Is it really you? I really never thought that you could write and so well at that!!!’

‘Just had a passing look on the blog, the level of English is high, will take time to read through’

I am thankful to all the comments received on particular post and as well as received in person. I will surely work on these comments. 

Overall, the journey so far has really been very enjoyable. The process for publishing every blog post was akin to going through the labor pains one another time and during the past one year, I have gone through that experience 52 times!!! But I have loved every second of it so far!!!!! I would like to believe that such exciting joy journey is far from over for it has only just begun…

Going forward, 2013 would beacon new era. The '2013 project charter' for ‘Cameos of Life’ is crystallizing nicely in front of my eyes. I already have few new initiatives up my sleeve to look forward to. I will update you on these as we move along.

Till then, hit the dance floor and welcome the new year 2013.

Cheers!!!!

'G' Spot and 'S' Connect.....

G-Spot……. I can already see various hues of reactions among readers…..

Some are excited…

Some shy are searching a place to hide…

Some inquisitive are pretending to not read, but are all ears to what’s being said or written.....

Some, especially women, are ruing the fact that they do not possess it; whereas as the ‘lucky’ one are blushing.....

But hey folks…rein in those wavering thoughts…for while you guys are headed south…I am headed north!!!! This is neither salacious nor a prurient post.

I am not talking about the carnal ‘G Spot’ or the most Googled or most talked/written about ‘S’ word, I am talking about completely different G-Spot....

This is called as ‘God Spot’…Isn’t it in vogue to name everything after God, first we had God Particle now we have ‘God Spot’; soon we could have ‘God Cola’ or ‘God Chips’

Not digressing any further, scientists have speculated that the human brain features a “God spot,” one distinct area of the brain responsible for spirituality. Now, University of Missouri researchers have completed research that indicates spirituality is a complex phenomenon, and multiple areas of the brain are responsible for the many aspects of spiritual experiences.

Brain Mapping showing 'Enlightened' areas
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2133032/There-God-spot-new-research-claims-instead-spirituality-exists-brain.html

“We have found a neuropsychological basis for spirituality, but it’s not isolated to one specific area of the brain,” said Brick Johnstone, professor of health psychology in the School of Health Professions. “Spirituality is a much more dynamic concept that uses many parts of the brain. Certain parts of the brain play more predominant roles, but they all work together to facilitate individuals’ spiritual experiences.” 

In the most recent study, Johnstone studied 20 people with traumatic brain injuries affecting the right parietal lobe, the area of the brain situated a few inches above the right ear. He surveyed participants on characteristics of spirituality, such as how close they felt to a higher power and if they felt their lives were part of a divine plan. He found that the participants with more significant injury to their right parietal lobe showed an increased feeling of closeness to a higher power.

“Neuropsychology researchers consistently have shown that impairment on the right side of the brain decreases one’s focus on the self,” Johnstone said. “Since our research shows that people with this impairment are more spiritual, this suggests spiritual experiences are associated with a decreased focus on the self. This is consistent with many religious texts that suggest people should concentrate on the well-being of others rather than on themselves.”

He says the right side of the brain is associated with self-orientation, whereas the left side is associated with how individuals relate to others. Although Johnstone studied people with brain injury, previous studies of Buddhist meditators and Franciscan nuns with normal brain function have shown that people can learn to minimize the functioning of the right side of their brains to increase their spiritual connections during meditation and prayer.

Professor makes the comparison to other kinds of disciplines; "It is like playing the piano, the more you train your brain, the more the brain becomes predisposed to piano playing. Practice makes perfect."

While researchers have been focused on finding a 'God spot' in the brain, the new research suggests that it might be better to focus on the neuropsychological questions of self focus vs selfless focus. As Prof. Johnstone explains: "when the brain focuses less on the self (by decreased activity in the right lobe) it is by definition a moment of self-transcendence and can be understood as being connected to God or Nirvana. It is the sensation of feeling like you are part of a bigger thing."

Those who are spiritually inclined are already aware that such claims are not new, as ‘Sahasrara Chakra’, one of seven primary chakras of Hindu religion is all about that ultimate enlightenment.

This seventh chakra also called as "the crown chakra" is located at the top of the head and is related to Spiritual Connect to the universe or the ‘S Connect’ that I am talking about.

Sahasrara chakra symbolizes detachment from illusion; an essential element in obtaining supramental higher consciousness of the truth that one is all and all is one.

Sahasrara, meaning thousand, is the "Lotus of the Thousand Petals" located four finger- breadths above the crown of the head.

Sahasrara Chakra
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sahasrara 

Sahasrara is described with 1,000 multi-coloured petals which are arranged in 20 layers each of them with 50 petals. The pericarp is golden, and inside of it is a circular moon region, inside of which is a downward pointing triangle. 

Source: http://www.adishakti.org/subtle_system/sahasrara_chakra.htm

This lotus, which represents the plane of truth and reality, is like an umbrella of petals with all the colors of the rainbow. The yogi identifies ‘Self’ as the guru within, when the Kundalini is raised up to Sahasrara Chakra and when the illusion of "individual self" is dissolved….yogi establishes that ‘S Connect’.

Isn't this new scientific revelation; which vindicates all that our ancient yogis, sages had already postulated, is just a case of ‘Old wine in new bottle?’