Hammer it out !

One of the meanings of “Hammer” is ‘to teach by frequent and energetic reiteration’; ‘to contrive by intellectual labour, to excogitate(with in or into). ‘hammer home’—to impress (a fact) strongly and effectively on someone.

Something like this was sought to be done when a strong-willed ‘Satyam’ employee decisively said ‘I need to FIX this guy’s THOUGHT PROCESS’!

Another news item (‘The Hindu’ dated 4th Feb, 2009) , “Life at Minus 24 degree Celsius” (Russian Winter) also seemed to highlight, indicatively though, the same need—to hammer, or FIX the thought process! While Britain was “paralyzed” by 15 cm of snow (Jan, 2009), NO SERIOUS PROBLEMS at Moscow, with Minus 24 degree C! It was a British student who observed thus—“We have a culture(in Britain) of people LIKING TO MOAN”!

Spiritual growth demands this ‘fixing of thought process’ a bit more severely! Zen Masters are good at hastening the process, and obviously, they sound a bit more crude. Indian Masters are too liberal, gentle and possess tons of patience & compassion. So, here the ‘drop-out’ rate is very high. Both the methods have exclusive advantages and hence do not warrant any comparison. The choice has always been with the student, seeker or the disciple!

But, Nature, gives us no choice. It is known as the ‘best’ teacher! It also gives the ‘TEST’ first, and then the lessons! So, when the Indian Masters ‘seem’ to be lenient, they are merely ‘referring’ the ‘case’ to another Great Teacher—the Mother Nature! Oh! Perhaps, to me, the Zen Masters seem preferable! All we need to do is just FIX our thought process about it too!

A freebie : That “peace-of-mind’ , which is so basic and very common to even animals!

The other way is, choosing to just to remain a ‘hammer-head’(meaning is given as ‘dull in intellect, stupid)! It has its own advantage—it needs no repairs or replacements even! It lasts longer than A lifetime!

Regards,
Psn (4th Feb, 2009)

References:
1) “Satyam” (an inspiring e-mail): This is an interesting mail which was forwarded to me was from one of Satyam employee has mailed. I wish to put this for the group.
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Dear All,
I am deputed at client location and came across a very interesting conversation in cafeteria yesterday. One of my co-worker, also deputed with the same client through some lesser known two room company, mustered guts to ask me sarcastically in front of entire team,
So, Satyam is gone! What are you guys planning to do now? In normal circumstances, I have a habit to not to reply to lose talks, but in front of entire team.... I thought I need to fix this guy's thought process. I asked him, as my military training has imbibed in me the habit to fight till last breadth,
Who says Satyam is gone when I am very much alive here and committed to create value on behalf of my company? . He shot back, Hello Mr., your chairman has resigned, you guys are facing financial turbulence and you still have a face to say that Satyam is not gone!
At this juncture, I thought of replying to this guy in his own language. I asked him, Tell me, what will you do and where will you go if our country India was not there?
He was not prepared for this level of thought and asked back, What a stupid question, How can India be gone, it is a country? I asked him back.,
Country! What makes a country? Land? Economy? Our Prime Minister? Our President? Our Geography? Or the PEOPLE? If our PM resigns, will you say India is gone? If our economy faces a slowdown, will you say India is gone?
But yes, if the people of a country are lost for any reason, we will say that country has no meaning. Who cares of vast land of Antarctica today which has just one permanent resident, Father Georgy? Which country does it belongs to? Why does not it has any government? Why does not it has any economy?
Or, how many countries were there when humans used to hunt for food in pre-historic times? Countries, Wealth, Infrastructures and booming economies are nothing but creations of efforts of PEOPLE, and they do not have any existance on their own.
And the final blow was, When one man can create Satyam as an organization of 53,000 people, why not 53,000 committed people can rebuild one SATYAM?
By now, I saw my point was well placed and he stood up and shook hands with me and murmured, Yaar, when I used to hear from my roommate who work in Satyam that EVERY SATYAMITE IS A LEADER, I used to laugh it off. Now, I know why! "
Beauty is His footprint showing us where He has passed – Aurobindo


2) “The Hindu” (dt. 4th Feb, 2009) “Russian Winter” Life at -24 degree Celsius. “Even as Britain is paralyzed by heavy snow, life is normal in Moscow which has much harsher weather—Luke Harding. Moscow: While Britain was paralyzed by 15 cm of snow, Russia was working normally. People traveling to offices and schools encountered no serious problems—despite the fact residents in Moscow woke up to a temperature of -24 degree C.
On the streets, commuters muffled in large hats and fur coats strolled along the icy pavements. Moscow’s major airports functioned without delay. The metro worked. All of this raises the obvious question: why are Brits so hopelessly inept when it comes to a bit of a chill?
Tourists and locals conceded that it was a bit parky in Moscow, but said this was no reason for the country to collapse. “most of my body is fine. But your face just freezes up,” said Frederick Bernas, a 21-year-old student at Bristol University, studying Russian in Moscow.
He added: “If you don’t talk for a while it is quite hard to pronounce things. Your mouth basically freezes”. Asked why Britain was unable to deal with milder conditions, he said:” We have a culture(in Britain) of people liking to moan.”
Russians, of course, are used to snow. Typically, it snows in Moscow from late October. It carries on snowing until March or April. It’s even been known to snow in May. Spectators watching the traditional Soviet Union victory parade on May1 sometimes watch nuclear missiles roll past with snow on them. This year, after an unusually tropical November and December, Russia is at last experiencing a real winter, with translucent blue skies and very low temperatures—the “magical days of frost and sunshine” evocatively described by Pushkin. Some weather experts say there is worse to come. They predict -38 degree C for Moscow by the weekend.