The tale of the three fish

You might have heard this story from the Panchatantra (Translates to "Five Principles". It is a very insightful ancient Indian collection of inter-related animal fables) in one some form or the other. If you haven't, here it is:

Three fish lived in a pond. Their names were Anagatavidhata (which in Sanskrit translates to "future maker"), Pratyutpannamati (translates to "ready minded") and Yadbhavishya (translates to "whatever happens"). We ll call them Future , Ready and Whatever for simplicity and humour. ;) Anyway, back at the pond, some fishermen were passing by and wondered aloud, "Hey, we have never seen this pond. It seems to be full of fish. It is now evening. Let us come at dawn tomorrow and bag as many fish as we can."

Hearing the fisherman, Future called a meeting of all the fish and told them, "Haven't you heard what the fishermen were saying? We must move out of this pond tonight itself. As the wise men have said weak men should flee when a strong man invades or seek refuge in a fort. There is no alternative."

"While that is true, you are worrying yourself too much. When they come, I will figure something out" said Ready. 

Loudly laughing, Whatever said, "I am too busy, I will worry about it later."

So, Future left. The fishermen came. And Ready and Whatever got caught. 

Ready had a plan though, and pretended to be dead, and luckily, the fisherman noticed and threw him away quickly. Whatever however, was not ready and died in the net.

--

My dad often used to call me Yadbhavishya to make fun when I was young in an effort to convince me to plan in advance.. so it was one of those stores I will never forget. So, when I was at home, it popped into mind. The lesson contained is undoubtedly a wise one, and we would have heard / realized it at some point..  

But only this time did a different angle to this struck me that I felt was worth sharing. 

Future could also be called "Plan for the worst"

Ready could also be called "Plan for the average case"

And Whatever could also be called "Plan for the best case"

All three types of people can succeed, but only those who plan for the worst can succeed consistently, and these are the great achievers we remember through time.

Lunar eclipse and misinformation

Be superstitious. I am no one to judge. But please dont spread wrong information about things you know nuts about to justify your superstition.

Today evening, there is a lunar eclipse and I am at my grandparents house. As will be the case in any typical south indian brahmin household, there are umpteen number of rituals associated with the lunar eclipse. Interestingly, today is also Karthigai, (one of) the supposed birthdays of Lord Muruga. He is important in south India. So, there are the usual sweets and rituals that also have to be performed. 

Here are a few for your amusement. The sudden disappearance / redness of the moon must have been a scary phenomenon back then, so these rules were cooked up to "protect" us:

1. There will be no cooking done starting 4 hours before eclipse. Since the eclipse occurs from 8-9, dinner cant be made. 

2. You are not supposed to eat food cooked before eclipse, after the eclipse => You should start cooking at 9pm.

2a) If you really cannot cook at 9pm, you can cook before the 4 hour deadline, and put darbai (erm, enchanted dried leaf)  (this was probably an evolution because people found 9pm cooking annoying)

3. Immediately after eclipse, everyone must have a head bath.

Now, there is this bloke on a TV show who talks about the required astrological / other random belief-ical precautions one should take every day. Many religious people like my grandparents watch it sincerely to know what superstition they must follow every day. Now if he stuck to superstition, I would laugh him off. But today he tells everyone (after stating the rules above and more), 

"It is even scientifically proven that UV rays increase during lunar eclipse. So, this enters your food and makes it bad for consumption. So, put dried leaf on top to protect"

Now seriously, WHY do you need to bring science inside? Next, I have to hear my grandfather tell me how the ritual makes "modern" sense because of increased UV rays. The amount of bullshit spewed by these "scholars" is staggering. Just stick to your domain, dear astrologer dude (and every other person who broadcasts information), just talk about stuff in YOUR domain of expertise and we will be happy. You go publicly talk about things you know nuts about, you spread bullshit. And you know what, bullshit is MUCH harder to fix than ignorance.

Receiving help

I am bad at receiving help, especially if I didnt ask for it. I instinctively reject it. The rationale being, I dont want to owe anyone anything if I can help it.

Not all help is bad. Of late, I have found that helping someone unconditionally (without any expected returns.. even implicitly) gives me maximum satisfaction. I think it would apply to most of us too. And that satisfaction is further enhanced by a thankful receiver. So for me to help and be satisfied by it, the receiver should accept it. He/she plays a big role in the process. 

Every time I come home, my parents, grandparents, relatives fuss over me. Mom asks, what do you want? More food? Pillow? Are you ok? You want water? Lot of unconditional help is offered. And what do I do?

I say, no thanks. If I am really busy, I might even give a dont-bother-me look which is not exactly polite.

So, the question here is do I mind some water/pillow/food? In most cases, no I dont mind it but then I dont need it either.  I d rather not be disturbed.

If I say YES, mom gets to help me, and I get to help mom help me. And perhaps i suffer minor distraction. It's a win-win anyways.

If I say NO, mom doesnt get to help me, and I get distracted anyways and I miss the satisfaction.

Logic says, why waste their time when you dont need their help... heart says you are missing the point.

My learning:

If unconditional help is offered and does not inconvenience you greatly, take it. And say thank you! 

By the way, a big thanks to everyone who has received my help graciously! It has given me a lot of pleasure! :)