Chapters from an Untold Story...

Because I do...

It was after a long week, I was back at the place where normally my evenings would transform into the early night...Arched buildings, the foot bridge, leafless trees, cruise boats, evening birds and clouds in the sky; everything looked the same, although, the incessant rain and thunder storms that had kept me away did seem to have added a little bit more golden rust to the handles of the ever so enduring wrought iron bench, adding to its charm and character; the very bench that we used to sit on for hours watching the calm waters of Seine.

The only thing that seemed removed from the other evenings and rather reduced the charm of this otherwise beautiful evening was her absence...She was still angry despite all my attempts to woo her back...Infact the last that I heard from her was almost two days ago; two days, that felt like two eons...Despite being a charmer I had not been able to give a convincing answer to her rather simple question... and the mumbled response had only added to her doubts.

I had been asked this question in my past and it had never proved to be too tough for me....“Wordsmith” of the Spoken word that I was, I had always used it as an opportunity to appeal to the vanity of my lady hence swooping her of the feet, but, this time my words had failed me...

It was a particularly beautiful evening, with orange skies from the setting sun that are rather rare in the ever cloudy autumn. We were perched on this very bench with her pretty face resting on my shoulders...and I, as always, lost in her beautiful mysterious eyes that are a mirror to her soul. They express more than the most adept tongue and I am always intrigued by their depth which I find deeper than the mighty waters of the river on whose shore we were nestled. The river that since eternity has breathed life and love into this magnificent city living on its shores

We were particularly silent that evening, just soaking in the beauty of the nature...In an instinct she clutched on to my hands, smiled the enchanting smile and asked the question...

"Why do you love me?"

Considering it just a tease I smiled and gave a peck on her forehead in response...which didn’t seem to convince her as she repeated the question...albeit firmly now...The smile in her eyes had been replaced by vulnerability and some kind of strange fear that I couldn’t understand properly... the transformation was way too quick for my comprehension...”Because...I” is all that I could muster, before she stood up and started to leave...

“Think about it and we will meet once you know” she said, turning back for the last time before walking away into the setting sun.

And that is what I had been doing for a week ...”Thinking”...

For the first couple of days, my mind had turned blank as I was still pinching myself to check whether it was a bad dream...however sadly it was not and her separation was making me realize the reason for her question and the expression in her eyes...Love is a dichotomous emotion that can make a person feel secure as well as insecure at the same time and she must have felt the same insecurity that I was experiencing now.

I had still not given her a convincing answer but the hopeless hope of love had made me come back to our favourite spot the moment the thunder storms relented hoping to find her waiting for me on this very bench. But I found the bench still cold and wet from the rain...

However there was something inexplicable about this evening...I was feeling less insecure, my mind was calmer and something was telling me that the worse is over and she is going to return and take back her rightful place in my life. I sat there, listening to the soft murmur of the flowing water and the silence of the calm twilight...The light was fading and very soon the night sky had engulfed the city...

Suddenly, I realized that the darkness of the night was showing me something that the light never could. Light by nature is discriminating, hence differentiates. When it was bright I could see the buildings, the trees, the river and everything around me as different entities with each having a unique identity and character, however in darkness the boundaries had become blurred and everything including me had become one big shadow...We had all lost our individual identity and had merged into a larger conscience...

Everything was in perfect harmony...I felt one with the Bench, the trees and the Water in the river..., Infact I was the water flowing in the river, the heart beating in that tree, the golden rust of the bench and all of these were as much a part of my soul...We were all made of the same elements and were merely different manifestations of one unified consciousness. My entire being was filled with peace and Solitude...The darkness had rid my soul of all strife and Insecurity... I was feeling very secure as I realized that I can’t lose her...How can I lose something that is a part of me...and I was beginning to realize the true nature of love which was revealing itself in its truest and purest form.

I started to feel enormous love within and around me. I felt the love of the river for me and for all the beings that it had been breathing life into and I realized that it loved all of us because it just did...It was the nature of the river to love.

I felt the enormous love that the trees have in their bosom for me, for all the travellers who sit in their shade, for all the hungry souls that feed on their fruit, for all the little children who play under them and for all the people who cut their branches to light a fire to keep warm in cold nights...And they loved because they just did...It was their nature...

I felt the selfless love of the bench...It waited each day for me to return so that it could hold me in its lap and shower its love on me...

It is Love that binds all of us in one large conscience...and it is a feeling, an emotion, that just is...It is not something to be understood, as to understand is to question and to question is to not have faith...And Love can’t exist without faith. Love does not exist in the realm of reasoning, it emanates only in the state of super consciousness, where there is no question or causation...Just pure truth and acceptance...

The evening had been extremely generous to me as it had revealed to me the answer that I had been seeking... I was really happy and felt the desire to rush back to her to tell her all about my experience...I started walking briskly on the cobbled road that lead to the place in the city where she lived...The protruding stones of the cobbled street that I would always complain about were no longer hurting my feet as I was light as a feather and they were also a part of my consciousness.

I was visualizing the meeting with her; how I will take her into my arms and tell her all that is to be told...I was seeing the expression in her eyes and suddenly my feet started to slow down as I realized that I still don’t have an answer to her question...I realized that I can never have an answer to her question...Infact there can never be an answer to this question...and she will have to realize that on her own as each one of us needs to go through our own journey to experience what can’t be understood.

I stopped over at our favourite cafe and sipping on our favourite coffee I sent her the only answer that I knew and it read “Because I do...”

Who is “WE”

It is commonplace to hear and use the term “We”....All of us use this in various conversations that we have every day. Infact I believe, if I plot the frequency of the usage of this term over the last few years, I will see a nice upward trending curve. And I thought it to be a positive trend, as this small two letter word signifies “Inclusivity”, “Acceptance”, “Mutuality” and most importantly “Lack of Egoism”...Unfortunately there is another graph that is also showing an upward trend and that is of “Strife”, “Anger”, and “Mis-Trust”.

We have always known that when a positive increases, negative should decrease, therefore, it is rather ironical that two variables that have a negative correlation should follow similar trajectories in the same space time. There has to be a reason for this contradiction and to understand the real reason for that, I think, we need to deliberate more and demystify the term “WE”.

In the strictest sense “Pure WE” originates only and only when at-least two “I’s” are willing to abdicate their “Independent Will” and dissolve into a larger identity “We”. This can happen only when we truly surrender our Selfishness and Ego that represents “I” and become selfless and formless like Water to merge and take shape of “WE”...This “WE” is far bigger, better and powerful than its individual “I’s”...However, it is not easy for humans to become this “WE” as it is in contradiction with our basic nature. We are an “Intelligent” species that thrives on logic...and Logic forces us to act in accordance with the laws of “Causality” and “Reciprocity”; And complete surrender and Selflessness is neither based on Causality nor Reciprocity. Hence this state of “WE” is possible only when we move into the super conscious stage of “KNOWLEDGE” that does not need Logic.

However, we need not despair, as there is a lesser “WE” that is in conformance with the basic selfish nature of humans that works in the framework of Causality as well as Reciprocity...It is created when at-least two “I’s” find common ground and interest...Based on the level of commonality, varying degrees of “WE” get formed...which in turn lead to corresponding levels of gratification. At the highest level of commonality there is pure acceptance and no or little compromise...At reducing levels of commonality, the “WE” depends more and more on compromise and hence become weaker and weaker...

The Lowest form of “WE” is when it is used only as a Term to gain acceptance...It is only a form of communication used to sound more engaging and patronizing...This “WE” is negative that breeds more Individuality and Selfishness as it is used towards self gratification only...
I think it is the Negative “WE” that is being used by us more often in all walks of life and hence the unfortunate increase in the second graph...

Let’s start asking ourselves this question “Who is “We”? When we use the term next time...

Reflections

The journey of life has brought me to a place where I look back and see so many landmarks that I rushed by...I should have stayed there for a while...what was the hurry...I still have so much time left before the sun sets and anyways I don’t think I will miss much even if I stopped now...because once I start again, I will run towards some unknown destination missing all the beauty of the path that leads to it.
Have I left some people behind as well??? Should I have spent more time with my friends and loved ones who I met along the way, should I have wasted some time doing nothing to find something....maybe meaning of why I was walking...I might have gained more experience....or just nothing....just that I would have enjoyed the smile on their faces for a bit longer....

My Paradise !!!

When the Uphill journey tires a Man,
As he faces defeats and no gain;
He wanders in search of light,
And tries to pursue Eternal Sight.

While searching for the Paradise,
Even the water in his eyes dries;
For a Guru or Guide he does long,
To attain peace before his swansong.

But I am not searching for Paradise,
As I have my Mother's lap to hide;
Nor do I long for any guru or guide,
Cuz I do have my mother's lap to hide.

Lonely Night

Once in a deep night;
When the Sun was out of Sight;
Dear Moon did not come;
And stars too were few and some;
Dark Clouds had covered them all;
And it seemed, Rain was about to fall.

The breeze was thick and hard;
With trees shivering to the bark;
Silence as it is, was deep and profound;
With not even a soul around;
But staring at the sky, There was I;
Sobing at heart, about to cry.

Reminesences of someone as did come;
Heavier my very heart had become;
The sky started weeping and so did I;
Wetting the eternity, Leaving nothing dry.

But morn did come with sun in the sky;
Along with the rainbow of hope, so very high;
Early birds flew, chirping gayly;
Making the lifeless world look heavenly.

The sky seemed pacified, and so was I;
Both longing for a starry night with no sigh;
Because it is for this hope, the life sustains;
Unto the night that finally draws the curtains.

Hope...

The spring of life is by far over,
And frolic, I suppose is lost for ever.

The green meadows have turned yellow,
Like the spirits that are shallow.

The autmn seems to be drawing near,
With the most exuberent Pine turning bare.

Soon, The Death will quell me, I fear,
And that too without the wet eyes of a parting dear.

But still th hope is high,
That the birds will chirp and fly,
The showers will make the peacocks dance,
And YES, life will give me a second chance.

OH !! If only it were true...

My body tingled with joy,
On seeing such a sight;
Which was full of exuberence,
And a calm delight.

Like the mountain peaks,
It was snow white;
And its mere presence,
Was a debt on life.

It was as absorbing,
As the dark of night;
And I did summon it,
But for its swift flight.

Slowly but steadily it approached me,
With a ray of love in its sight;
But my eyes fell wide open,
And was broken my dream of the night.

OH! if only it were true,
I'd rather give my life;
Cuz I am certain that,
I was too dwarf for such a height.

And Six Sigma Helped me connect with GOD !!!

Now that I have grabbed your attention with a chic headline, it is time to move to the subject that I really wanted to talk about.
“How is Six-Sigma different from other quality initiatives?” In the numerous seminars, trainings and workshops that I have facilitated on the subject, one question that would always make its unceremonious presence and make me twitch on my feet.
The experience of handling different kinds of audiences and numerous tricky questions over the years helped me give convincing answers but deep inside I knew…I only justified…and more I justified more curious I got to understand the real answer.
The question made its way from noisy classrooms and seminar halls to the silent confines of my bossom creating a noise within.
“All questions have answers” a statement, that I had rather arrogantly shot at my Grandmother as an inquisitive small boy when she could not think of a proper answer to a rather tough question that I had asked, now started to haunt me. My soul was still young and was now shooting the same statement at the seemingly knowledgeable me. Probably this is what wise men call poetic justice…feeling the same pain that we inflict on others.
These were some thoughts arising in my tormented brain on a cold wintry morning and manifesting themselves as drops of sweat on my brow. I let my thoughts wander some more like one does while practicing transcendental meditation hoping to finally be able to meditate on the all vital question that had become the centre of my being. One thought followed the other but none related to the seed question, probably I was not following the basic tenet of the exercise of not to focus on the seed question because more you try to concentrate, further away your thoughts will take you. But could I blame myself for that, how can you detach yourself from a question that engulfs your soul.
While in contemplation the memories of my childhood started playing in front of me and I visualized myself asking the rather tough question to my grandmother “How are religions different from each other when all of them are trying to achieve the same GOD?” I felt rather amused when I realized the similarity between the two questions, most likely the reason my thoughts took me there.
Are the answers also similar? I rather mockingly asked myself, realizing the idiocy of my thought. But has Genrich Altschuller in his famous TRIZ philosophy not said “All of us suffer from Psychological inertia because of which we always search for solutions in our known field of study whereas simple solutions are available in a different body of knowledge. The moment we rid ourselves of this inertia BREAKTHROUGH happens”.
Was I suffering from “psychological inertia”? Should I explore the mystic field to find answer to my question that is related to Quality Management and Statistics? Am I onto something here? Is my guardian angel making me tread this path? Or is it the Devil taking me further away?
While reflecting on these thoughts I felt a calm light emanate from my soul drawing away the darkness in my mind and the answers started revealing themselves. Altschuller was right “The answers to the current questions lie in the solutions of the past problems”.
“All the religions are meant to lead to the same GOD and all of them although seemingly diverse are nothing but a set of narratives, symbols, rituals, belief systems and prayers to meet the same objective. All these might vary from religion to religion but the underlying philosophy of each religion is “Spirituality” which is the discipline and process to achieve Almighty. Seekers can follow any of the well laid out religious paths to attain GOD or just follow spirituality to do the same.”
This answer to the childhood question was now manifesting itself as the answer to my current query.
“All the quality initiatives are meant to lead to the same goal “Excellence” and all of them although seemingly diverse are nothing but a set of narratives, structures, methodologies and systems to meet the same objective. All these might vary from initiative to initiative but the underlying philosophy of each initiative is “Six-Sigma” which is the discipline and process to achieve excellence. Quality seekers can follow any of the well laid out initiatives to attain EXCELLENCE or just follow Six-Sigma thought process to do the same.”
So, I got my answer, Six-Sigma is a thought, a process, a philosophy whose sole aim is excellence. And same thought is the foundation of all other quality initiatives as well. Six-Sigma is not different from other initiatives but the soul and spirit of all of them.
One thing you would have realized that next time I am asked this question in a classroom, seminar or a workshop I will not justify but give an answer, an answer at least I believe in.
One more thing, probably you would have realized by now, “Six-Sigma did help me connect with GOD”