Kadach.Shayad.Maybe – A soliloquy of despair : announcing the bilingual music video created for the World Without Rape Initiative.

My Dearest well wisher,

It is said that pain is the seed from which empathy germinates. Two years ago, the day after the ‘nirbhaya’ incident I read the description of it in the newspaper. It was appalling to even read through and I felt an immense pain within me. For many days my tears would not stop. That pain came out through me in the form of a poem. Encouraged by my teachers and friends, and good faith as my intent, I decide to make an attempt to reach out to you all with that poem.

It was impossible for me to digest the fact that in today’s time, the pride of all – 21st century- there still is a reality where a person can inflict unbearable violence upon other person. We all are aware about the presence and magnitude of such events in our society, but on that day I felt an empathy towards that pain. I am aware that neither will I be able to experience or know even a hint of that pain, which she had to go through, and I pray that no being has to go through it ever, having said that I feel it is important for us as a society to connect with this pain and develop sensitivity towards this reality.

Kadach. Shayad (Maybe) – a soliloquy of despair, is the cry of a victimized woman. If she were able to express, would she express anger or despair? ‘Kadach.Shayad’ is the expression of that despair. ‘Kadach.Shayad’ is asking  men to remember that he is nothing but a sum total of contributions that all the women in his life have made.

The shameful fact of the world is, that while a man victimizes a woman, he forgets that every contribution, he is unable to view the forms of mother, sister, friend, lover or daughter in every woman. The attempt to culminate this pain, despair and sorrow in the form of music, poetry and visuals is – ‘Kadach.Shayad’ (Maybe)

We hope that this attempt in creativity is able to sensitize the men and society at large and that a seed of empathy gets sowed in our collective minds, so as to be able to dream a dream where there is no violence, a dream of a World Without Rape.

Uttarayan essentially means movement, that brings in a change in earths position with respect to sun, in the cosmos. Starting now, for the next 6 months the earths tilt shall bring it closer to the sun. This is the time for new beginnings, it is time to aspire for and work towards a better world for us and for generations to come.

With a hope that, in my life time, I be able to see a world without rape, as an artist, this music video is my small contribution towards that aspiration.

This creation was made possible due to the contributions of some amazing and well-intended individuals that I met while on course. Today, at the point of Sankranti (19.34.43 IST 14th January, 2015) I make this offering to the world.

If our work touches your heart, than make an attempt to join other hearts with this message of sensitivity. Our only expectation is that our work becomes a medium to share and spread the message of sensitivity.

Yours and everyones,

Mihir Gajrawala

Below links shall take you to the video.

‘Kadach’ (Gujarati Version) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsCE1HWYGEM

‘Shayad’ (HIndi Version) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbfEqH71FTw

Read this blog in Gujarati : http://mihirgajrawala.com/2015/01/14/kadach-shayad-maybe-a-soliloquy-of-despair-announcing-the-music-video/

Read this blog in Hindi : http://mihirgajrawala.com/2015/01/14/kadach-shayad-maybe-a-soliloquy-of-despair-announcing-the-bilingual-music-video/

Kadach.Shayad.Maybe – A soliloquy of despair : announcing the Hindi music video

प्रिय स्वजन,

कहते है की वेदना में से ही संवेदना जनम लेती है। २ साल पहले, निर्भया अत्याचार के अगले दिन जब अख़बार में उस दुर्घटना के बारे में पढ़ा , तो एक असह्य पीडा का अनुभव हुआ। कई दिनों तक आँखों से आंसू निकलते रहे। वो पीड़ा , को वेदना मुझमे से एक काव्य के रूप में प्रकट हुई। मेरे शिक्षक और मेरे मित्रो के प्रोत्साहन से प्रेरित होके उस काव्य को एक अच्छे कारण केलिए आप सब तक पहुचने का प्रयास किया है।

हम जिस २१मि सदी का गर्व करते है, वही २१मि सदी में एक जीव दूसरे जीव पे इतना घिनौना अत्याचार कर सकता है , ये हकीकत को स्वीकार करना मेरे लिए असंभव था। हम सब जानते है, की इस कक्षा के अत्याचार समाज में सदियों से चलते आ रहे है, और काफी मात्रा में फैले भी है। पर उस दिन उस दुर्घटना को जान मैं वो वेदना से रूबरू हो सका। जानता हु के वो असह्य पीड़ा कैसी होगी, और उस जीव ने क्या सहन किया होगा उसका एक अंश भी मैं जान या समझ नहीं पाउँगा, और प्रार्थना करूँगा के किसी को भी ऐसी वेदना सहन न करनी पड़े ; पर ऐसे अत्याचार में से उमटती वेदना के साथ हम सबकी संवेदना मिले वो हमारे समाज केलिए बहुत ज़रूरी है।

‘शायद’ – अ सोलिलोकी ऑफ़ डिस्पेर (निराशा का आत्मभाषण), वो घिनौने अत्याचार गुज़ारा गया हो ऐसी एक स्त्री की वेदना का आत्मभाषण है। अगर वो पीड़ित स्त्री को शब्द मिले तो क्या वो गुस्सा होगी या अपनी निराशा बयान करेगी ? ‘शायद’ वो निराशा है. ‘शायद’ वो हर पुरुष को याद करवाता है, के वो उसके जीवन में होती हर एक स्त्री के पोषण का योगफल है।

लज्जाजनक हकीकत है की फिर भी स्त्री पे अत्याचार गुज़ारते वक़्त पुरुष उन स्त्रिओ का योगदान भूल जाता है , और स्त्री में माता, बहन, सखी, जीवनसंगिनी या बेटी का रूप देख नहीं पाता। ये पीड़ा, निराशा और वेदना से भरे काव्य को – संगीत और दृश्य के सहारे आप सब के सामने प्रस्तुत करने का हमारा प्रयत्न है – ‘शायद’

आशा है की इस वेदना को समझ के, शायद हम सब में संवेदना जनम ले और हम एक ऐसी दुनिया का सपना देखने सक्षम बने, के जिसमे कोई जीव दूसरे जीव पे हिंसा न करे।

उत्तरायन याने पृथ्वी की स्थिति में बदलाव। अगले ६ महीने पृथ्वी सूरज की तरफ ढली रहे ऐसी स्थिति बनी रहेगी। यही समय है नयी शरुआत का , नयी परिस्थिति का निर्माण करनेका।

मेरे जीवन काल में मैं हिंसा और अत्याचार से मुक्त दुनिया देख सकु उस उद्देश्य के साथ , एक कलाकार की हैसियत से , इस म्यूसिक विडिओ के रूपमे, मेरा एक छोटा सा योगदान।

बहुत ही उम्दा और समरुचिपूर्ण कलाकारों के साथ मिलके जो सर्जन किया है , वो संक्रांति के ये पल पर ( 19.34.43 IST 14 जनवरी 2015) दुनिया को अर्पित करता हु।

अगर आपके दिल तक हमारी बात पहोच सके तो दूसरे दिलो को भी इस संवेदना के अनुभव से जोड़े। हमारी प्रस्तुति एक नेक विचार के सिंचन का साधन बने वही अपेक्षा के साथ…

आपका और सबका,
मिहिर गजरवाला

नीचेकी लिंक पे क्लिक करने से विडिओ देख सकेंगे

‘शायद’ (Hindi version) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbfEqH71FTw

We all are responsible.

Between 1971 and 2011 cases of rape registered a 873 percent jump in India. That is the biggest among all categories of crime. Not just India, the entire world scenario is bleak in this regard. At around every 2 minutes a sexual offense gets registered somewhere in the world.

While me along with the team at Mindful Ventures is occupied with promoting the idea of a ‘World Without Rape’,  the question that keeps coming up from across is “what should I do about it? I haven’t done anything wrong, and so there is nothing I could do about it.”

My response, “If it is happening, we all are responsible”

The onus of change approaches us, the generation living today. If it happens, as a unit of this society, we must accept responsibility.

If we do not act now, it will be never.

More than 95% of cases of rape have men as the victimiser. To me this simply means us, as societies have not raised good sons. Two simple things that any man can do is a) be a good son and b) raise a good son.

Until we raise our sons to be good, to be sensitive, to be responsible and caring, we cannot contain this brutality.

Individuals, families, Institutes, organizations we all need to do our bit, and create a world without rape; for us and for generations to come.

Is it too much to aspire for? I don’t think so.

What am I doing about it? – Below is how I chose to respond.

A) As an individual : I make a promise ‘I will never let women around me feel insecure. I will act to provide for her safety.’

B) As an entrepreneur : To the best of my abilities I am working to mobilize resources so as to establish an enterprise which becomes a catalyst for change. Mindful Ventures has taken up the initiative ‘World without rape’ with the above intention. We are not activists, we are a team trying to be a catalyst. To create interventions which has the ability to plant the seeds of change in the collective mind of the community. Mindful Ventures aims to do its bit by using music, poetry and visuals to spread the message of sensitivity and hope. Music video ‘kadach/shaayad/maybe’ is scheduled to release on youtube on 14th of January, 2015.

C) As an artist : Art plays a tremendous role in shaping the collective conscience of a society, and at the same time art is the record of the cultural fabric of the society at that point in time. As a writer, visualizer and a spoken word artist I wish to influence the collective minds of the community in the best possible way.

Yes I take responsibility for the brutality that exists in the society; and above is how I choose to respond. I am sure any one who aspires for a world without rape, will find his/her own way to do their bit.

World Without Rape.

We all want a better tomorrow. Don’t we? We all are working for a better tomorrow, at least for our own selves. Or that is what we want ourselves to believe.

As we look around we see tremendous achievements being made in the fields of Medicine, Engineering, Communication, Energy, Construction, Space exploration so on and so forth. We take pride in self-patronizing our generation as the one that belongs to the celebrated 21st century!

But than we fail to accept the harsh reality of our times – which is the widespread existence of the menace called ‘Rape’. Whether we accept it or not, we are still a race that can inflict devastating pain to a fellow being.

By the time you would have reached this paragraph, somewhere a woman’s modesty would have been compromised. And I am in no mood of exaggeration. As per the latest UNODC report of 2012, 243853 is the number of recorded rape offenses across the globe. This means an offense is made at about every 2 minutes!!

And we are still waiting for the right time????

For me all the progress and achievements stands null, if a woman has to think twice even for a simple act of walking down the road!! While we have progressed everywhere, HUMANITY seems to be the area where we need to do a lot of work.

Wise men have said, that your achievements can never be bigger than your aspirations. It is aspirations which lead to positive transformation. And I aspire to live into a world, where there is no rape, no violence.

And I wish that we all collectively aspire for a transformed world.

Nothing more, nothing less, all I want is a world without rape.

Join the intiative at http://www.worldwihoutrape.net

Mindful Ventures offers this visual identity to combine and connect all those souls who have dedicated their energy towardsthe idea of a world without rape.

It is time.

The thought that lead to ‘Mindful Ventures’. – Note from my diary.

From the earliest memories of my life, I dreamt of outer space, and wanted to be an astronomer. As I grew up listening to religious fables, the seed of idealism found its way in me. Further, as an adolescent, I loved reading stories, and dreamt of writing my own one day. Just like any enchanted teenager, I thought I would make a film one day. Also, I wrote plots in my diary.

In the undergraduate years, I read philosophy, and fancied myself a philosopher, giving sermons to society.  After my post-graduation, I thought a teacher dwelt within me. At one point, I thought I could be a singer. Well, I could not help daydreaming! Over time, my love for literature, arts and music kept growing.

As an entrepreneur, I understood the need for responsibility, so I aspired for responsibility as an entrepreneur. I truly aspired to become an agent of change. As I started graying, I found I could package my thoughts as a speech, and I thought I should be a speaker. My saga continues.

Until this time, I pursued none of these dreams, nor have I made efforts to achieve those aspirations. I hesitated.  I have always waited for the right time.

As a citizen, as a unit of the society I inhabit, I see a lot of pressing issues that are preventing the society to be just. Individually and collectively we all have gotten in us ingrained, the art of procrastination. ‘It’s ok to delay; the time shall come’ – has become the societal norm.

It took one third of my life to realize every moment is the right time and hesitation equals death. Now, I realize it is time to kill the hesitation. It is time to live all the dreams; it is time to be all I never tried to be. It is time.

It is time.

Guru’s position – a disciple’s perspective.

Prologue : A teacher is one who wants to teach you, a ‘Guru’ is one who makes you learn. A students idea is ‘to be’, whereas a disciple (shishya) is the one who wants ‘to become’. In other words a student is looking for change while a disciple is aspiring to transform.

Whatever I say is with this context in mind.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Many years back, must be my secondary school days, if i remember it well, around my wonder years,  back in time when I was studying in 8th or 9th grade, I happened to read a story. This story has had a lasting impact on my thought process. I do not clearly remember that story and its context, but it is this one scene from the story which has stayed with me and shaped my understanding. It goes like this.

A young disciple, completely devoted to his guru, was someone who was committed to follow on the path shown by his guru. He had this habit of always going to his guru whenever in some critical decision making situation. And the Guru would readily guide him out during each such instance; in the process the guru would enlighten the disciple. One fine day, in a similar situation as the disciple reaches out to his Guru, the Guru doesn’t offer him any guidance. The disciple is astonished and couldn’t believe this fact. The Guru sends him back by saying “Son, I have given you enough, I leave you now to imbibe all of that, find your own path, and make your own experiences. Its time you take your decisions without me.”

Now this incident from the story found its way deep within myself. Over different periods of my existence this story has provided me different lessons. It started with me believing that a ‘guru’ can only take one this far. One cannot have a guide to eternity. At some later stages i realized the importance of ‘swadhyay’ or ‘learning by self’. Further ahead I understood that it will all be fruitless if one does not learn to take his/her own decisions.

Over many summers of my existence I was fortunate to come across many learned people and many loving teachers. It was quite later in my young life that i discovered a ‘Guru’. It was destined for me to get my greatest lessons from this one person. However the above story was always a part of me, and hence in spite of total surrender I never actually became dependent. That infinite love and reverence can thrive and still one remains boundless was a unique experience and a learning for me. Secondly I knew that the physical proximity and one-to-one transfer of knowledge with the ‘Guru’ can only happen till a limited period of time. This understanding fueled my urge to learn and make the most of those transactions. Many individuals close to me, around that period, sensed a transformation in me, they sensed an urgency in me; I could not explain it to them, than, but deep down i knew that i need to build myself to a level from where I can be on my own. Also I never wanted to come to a point, like the boy in that story had to, where my Guru feels that his disciple has not learned to be on his own.

Many Guru – Disciple relations end in agony and bitterness or in sheer blinded dependence. The crux of this eventuality is the non-realization of the fact that – a guru can only take you this far. With this dawned another important learning from that story and a whole new dimension of learning opened up for me. A disciple is the one who is aspiring to move to a higher destination, in every which way. A ‘guru’ is the form who takes the disciple to that destination. However if one remains focused on the destination and not the form, than ‘guru’ dissolves his form and becomes a part of your being. Somewhere within you the ‘guru’ is installed, and without any one-to-one interaction the transaction continues. Whenever in doubts or in crisis  I am able to talk with my ‘guru’ without even talking with him. In certain extraordinary situations i would have resorted to the one-to-one interactions, but largely I have come this far with the help of the ‘guru’ within. Many times while I ponder on all that I have received from my ‘guru’, I end up tearful. The enormity of the receipt is so huge that all the ego inside me is pushed out by way of tears.

And so I learn that the ‘guru’ in the story while denying his disciple the guidance, has actually given him the greatest lesson anyone can learn. That ‘without’ can be turned into ‘within’.

This has been my experience since a decade now, whereby the ‘Guru’ has found a position ‘within’. In his distinct  style he had shared something, which for me is the articulation of the above learning. He said to a few of us, “I do not want you to be learned, I want you to be learners’.

In whatever limited capacity, with pride, I can tell myself, that I have not stopped learning and I know, the ‘Guru’ within would not let me decay ever.

Krishnaverse #2

Student : Sir, I understand the attitude of ‘giving more’ or ‘keep doing the new’ or ‘keep contributing’, whatever way we may put it. And to an extent these attitudes does open up various faculties of an individual’s persona and help him expand. But I feel, the flip side of this attitude is, sometime, even after doing a lot, if it has not transformed into economies or if the given activity has not yielded any tangible uplift than, one feels frustrated. For example a young dynamic chap who is jumpy in his career direction, may find himself nowhere in spite of putting in years of work experience and in spite of dozens of so called ‘contributing’ efforts. At such a point one feels a loss of direction; one feels ones heading nowhere and so stays dissatisfied?

Sir : Not necessarily! Not necessary that one would become dissatisfied.
What could happen with positively inclined people is – in given settings just see what best you can create, or offer. Sometimes, what happens in industrial lines, or in certain types of actions, that we think we are good at; and therefore we want to be in that only and consider that as direction or focus. But it doesn’t have to be that ways. Responding to the given environment with the potential we are, is important, more important. And that might sometimes deprive us from those lines of expertise or direction. The so called directed movement sometimes you may have to fore go, you might be denied those things because in the given environment those things may not have any place.

Suppose you are a good painter and in given environment there is no scope for expressing your painting skill, but still you are a potential. Can u respond to that environment where there is no scope for painting, painting as we understand? Well, it cud be a simple talk on the surrealist trends, painting can also be talked out, or a painting could simply be lived. It doesn’t have to be necessarily and every time an expression that is known to us only. We know the expression of painting in a certain form, and that only doesn’t have to be a manifestation of our talent. It could be in other ways, sometimes even in ways which we cannot imagine right now. That’s where innovation takes place, that’s where new things come up, creation comes up, that’s how world goes ahead. Whatever technological manifestation we see these days you wouldn’t have imagined that a couple of centuries ago, but than how did it all came into being? That is what the ‘non-wastage’ of potential I am referring to.

Secondly, dissatisfaction with the way we are living and the way we have lived in past so many years or so many seasons, is fine. This is what our restlessness is- You got to be restless about status quo so that you will create new things. Only if you are restless about the status quo about the given things you will be able to create something new, isn’t it?
So to that extent restlessness, yes, it is required. It is at the core of innovation, at the core of creativity. But if restlessness is because of dissatisfaction then it is a tricky issue.

“We are restless not because we are dissatisfied; we are restless because though we are satisfied, at that point of time the potential is not being used. We are satisfied, so we are restless not because of the dissatisfaction or otherwise, we are restless because the potential is lying idle, it’s not being put to use and that’s why we are restless. I can do something more…I can chew a little more….and therefore I do not consider these two as synonyms, dissatisfaction and restlessness.”

Understand the secret of success is satisfaction. You got to be satisfied if you want to take a successful step forward, dissatisfaction would not lead us there. I wouldn’t confuse our thought process by putting them as synonyms. You might have to look at it that way.

I wish to die, now – Video brief

As mentioned in an earlier blog, as a new author, I need to be sensitive about my readers doubt. And I need to address the barriers that might prevent a mindful individual to engage with my writing.

With this thought a careful campaign is being gradually put in place to generate greater engagement.

This video is a brief about what the book “I wish to die, now”, is and what a reader can expect from it.

As an expressionist this is my maiden attempt to engage with readers from various cultures and societies. The campaign is an attempt to bridge that gap so that a sustained connection can be made at higher cognitive level.

Here it is – the video brief on “I wish to die, now”.

Happy exploring !

Mihir

Krishnaverse #1

Student :  Sir, I get varied responses to my decision of moving to this new job which for some is not as healthy as the one I left. For me, may be coming to this city (ahmedabad) was of some social value, and at the back of mind I do harbor the urge to be independent. Quite a few of such factors led me to this decision. And I am fine if I am not comfortable for a while, its ok. But then these various views leave me perplexed.

Sir : Not falling prey to comfort zone dreams is a good thing, and I fully agree there…but then one doesn’t have to be on the extreme side either; a fine balance is what is required. See it’s not about our safety or safety nets that matter, what matters is at no point in time our potential to contribute should go wasted, whether it gets translated in economies or not, what is important is that wastage has to be controlled. Because a wastage now is a wastage forever, you see. that’s the danger. So we have to be a little careful about that. Every day the contribution has to get recorded. If we work in that spirit, its fine. Whether you are stationary or jumpy, it may not make any great difference; so long that you are contributing and not sitting idle.
That’s the kind of thing we can do…this is a ‘karma- bhumi’ this place, all said n done we should hold to it; we should give, every day we should give – that’s how we can shape up the world in our own small bit. You contribute, plan it that way.
When I heard you are being a bit jumpy it appears a bit risky, but then you are not sitting idle, you are doing your best . So that’s fine. No need to remain perplexed.

Krishnaverse.

Most of ancient Indian knowledge is written in the form of ‘verse’ known as ‘shloka’ or ‘sutra’. A sutra is like a seed, from which thoughts would emerge. A Universe is the term used to define ‘all that exists’. ‘Krishna’ – the hindu god who gave profound wisdom to his devotee and relative ‘Arjuna’, said it all in the form of verses, which is celebrated all across the world as the ‘Gita’ (song of god); this happened while the world was at the cusp of a mythical time zone.

For me and hundreds of students all of this comes through our teacher Dr. KVSM Krishna. Since classroom days to real life situations filled with dilemmas, he is a teacher who is always around to make us learn the ability to take our own decisions. Over a decade and a half a lot of us students would have interacted with him and many who continue to do so, have learn a lot  from these conversations. These conversations contain a lot of meaning for everyone who is a student of this University called Life.

A few of those conversations that happened with me, a few with someone else, but were shared with me, I am attempting to bring them here in the form of question and answers, for every student to learn and enrich himself/herself.

This i would like to term as ‘Krishnaverse’.

The next blog will be a first in this series.

 

My earlier writings on Dr. Krishna can be found here :

http://mihirgajrawala.com/2009/05/10/a-teacher-as-is-see/

http://mihirgajrawala.com/category/my-musings/dr-krishna/

Note : My faculty of memory and comprehension is extremely limited in comparison to the quantum of wisdom Dr. Krishna would have shared. The writings I present will be contained by this limitation. I request every reader to consider this as my interpretation of a conversation and not a verbose representation of what he would have said or meant. I apologize for any wrong comprehension that I might end up doing in this process. My intention is to share with many, what some of us have learn from him.

I also invite other students to share the conversations they had with Dr. Krishna over this years. I will be happy to articulate them to the best of my abilities.