I was always fascinated by the Kumbh mela and had a dream to visit the same, some day. Over the last many years, every time ,the Kumbh mela was announced, I looked at the crowd and decided not to venture out.

This year, I took the plunge. They say, this year is special, as it is the “Mahakumbh”, which happens once in 144 years after 12 Kumbhs, as some planets fall in one line. I did a bit of planning, which I usually do and booked my travel and stay ,about three months back.

I was excited to undertake this spiritual journey ,along with my spouse. I was aware that it is going to be a tough one ,with millions of people thronging to Prayagraj from around the world, and not only India.

We landed at Prayagraj on 14th Jan 2025, the day of Makar Shankranti, one of the most auspicious days of the Mahakumbh ,for our Shahi Snan. As we left the airport, all the roads in the city ,led to the Sangam. As we approached the city outskirts, the roads were thronged by crores of devotees walking there to the Sangam or returning from there.

The roads were blocked and no four wheelers were allowed. We were stuck in traffic snarls for hours and after a lot of patient waiting ,were allowed to enter the city, when the crowds subsided a bit. The air was filled with spirituality and the atmosphere electric.

We reached our tent ,after about four hours on the road from the airport , which would be just under 20 kms. Although, it tested our patience, we were blessed, to be amongst the crowds ,in one spirit. Then a long 10 kms walk led us to the Sangam and back, for the Shahi Snan or the holy bath.

When you take a dip in the Sangam in the icy waters, your body shivers but your soul is lighted up. After you come out of the water, you feel rejuvenated and are grateful for this opportunity amongst millions of people from around the world ,to take this dip on this auspicious day. We were told more than 35 million people took a dip on this day.

Both me and my wife, are not strictly religious by nature. In our book, service to mankind is service to God. Being good to everyone around you every day and then giving back to society, in your own small ways is religion for us. But this experience ,was surreal. It has to be experienced to be believed.

It is indeed a confluence of the mind, body and soul. When this happens at a time, when many planets are aligned, one can feel the spirit within you. It gives you the strength to sustain yourself and the energy to give back to the society, in whatever ways you can.

We would like to salute the organisers of the Mahakumbh. The city was clean all over and even the Sangam was kept clean with a lot of effort from the house keeping staff. The entire city was lit and every crossing was decorated and every wall painted, across the city.

What impressed us the most, was the spirit of the people of the city. They told us, if you have any problem, ask any person on the road and they will help you. There is no religion, caste or creed in this supreme festival of the Mahakumbh. Everyone is treated alike. We were showered with rose petals, when we arrived at the airport and our entire stay for two days ,was spotless and most comfortable.

After having conducted, the marriages of my daughter and son, I thought ,I have achieved a great feat in my life. But, after having witnessed the “Mahakumbh”, one realises that whatever we achieve in life is miniscule, compared to the scale and planning involved in such events. I admire the state and central agencies for this grand event. The appropriate use of technology was also very evident in this whole exercise.

The next day I visited Ayodhya to get the darshan of Lord Ram in the newly inaugurated temple. Here again, a ten km walk ,up and down in all,was needed to get the darshan of the Lord. But the queueing system (in spite of millions of devotees )needs appreciation as all of us,as devotees could get the darshan within two hours .

The “Mahakumbh” is a testimony to modern India. We can achieve what we dream to do , through systematic planning and seamless execution.

Let the spirit of the “Mahakumbh” bring peace and prosperity to the world.

S Ramesh Shankar

17th Jan 2025

All of us go through moments of joy and sadnesses in our lives. Today was one of those days when I experienced a lot of hurt and sadness. I should admit that tears flowed from my eyes, unconsciously when I was recalling the incident.

Under normal circumstances, we as humans ,tend to retaliate with our words or actions ,when we are hurt. This could be by shouting back or writing back or even using the power of silence or non verbal communication channels.

We can understand and deal with hurt, if one can correlate the cause and effect of an action. However, when someone hurts you for no reason ,then you feel sad. It could also be for no fault of yours. Let me illustrate this point with a few examples.

While working in the corporates, I have been privileged to work under great leaders ,almost right through my career. I may have hurt many of my team members knowingly or unknowingly but my seniors mentored me to realise my mistakes and apologise and learn from these actions, always.

As I grew into a team leader, I also tried to practise this quality, learnt from my seniors. I would encourage the senior employees to forgive, forget and move on, when they are hurt by their junior colleagues.

One may argue that hurt is hurt and it does not matter ,if it comes from a senior or a junior. This is factually true. However, if we are willing to reflect on the incident and contextualise it ,in the organisational environment, we may realise that ,when our juniors hurt us, it may be their inability to understand the impact of their actions or our inability to groom them and develop them ,to deal with such situations.

The moment we are able to get out of this context and put ourselves as a neutral umpire, we realise that the cause of the hurt could be attributed to the leader ,rather than the team member, who insulted someone.

Let me illustrate this point ,with another example. The cricket teams of two leading cricket playing countries ,were playing a competitive final. Since it was a close game, the temperatures were running high and on some sensitive and close decisions of the umpire ,a lot of sledging and misbehaviour ,was seen on the ground. This continued for some time and in the end, resulted in fist fights and physical violence.

In such a situation, while the junior players may have indulged in the acts of misbehaviour , the onus of discipline and coaching the team ,lies with the captains of the two teams. As they were mute spectators to this incident, it was for the umpires to intervene and diffuse the situation.

Life is no different. We as parents or elders in the family or leaders in the organisation or the community have to take the onus of responsibility, of dealing with any errant behaviour by the youngsters in our domain. The accountability to mentor and coach ,lies with the seniors and not the juniors, who may have indulged in such acts of indiscipline.

I realised and learnt a great lesson today in life. The act of forgiving and taking onus of responsibility for the behaviour of my team members is my accountability. So it does not matter who is involved in such incidents, the seniors have to reflect and change themselves ,so that such acts do not recur in families, organisations or communities.

Let me change myself before I change the world.

S Ramesh Shankar

16th Jan 2024

I love my country. India is the biggest and the most vibrant democracy in the world. We may not have the best physical infrastructure in the world but we have the best emotional quotient. We care for our people and we care for the world. “Vasudeva Kuthambakkam” is a old Sanskrit saying. It means the world is one family. We believe in this tenet and try our best to live it every day in our thought and behaviour.

The other day I was flying down from Mumbai to Chennai. It was from the west coast of India to the east coast. The state where I currently live and work is on the west coast. The place where I was born and bought up is on the east. The language they speak and the culture of the two states are completely different. The type of dress they wear and the customs and traditions are also quite varied. But, what is common is our emotional connect. We live and breathe as Indians.

Today the western civilisation has invaded us. We have got the best of technological advancement from the west. We have learnt the traditions from the East and have blended the west to the east to get the best. We need to be proud of our past and confident about our future. We need to learn the best from the west and leave the traditions of the east to continue to thrive in our country so that we get the best of both the worlds.

We have 29 states in India and each has its unique culture. We have hundreds of languages and dialects. While Hindi and English is spoken and understood across the country, we do not have any problem in living or dealing with each other wherever we live. The reason behind this in my view is because by heart we are an Indian. We are brought up with a tolerant attitude to life and living.

We need to continue to learn and grow this tolerance in us. No religion, caste, creed or community should create barriers between us. While vested interests in society may intrude into our culture, we have a responsibility to preserve it and promote it for the future generations. We cannot afford the evil forces of society to impinge on the fabric of our cultural society.

We have to be proud of the past, while we create a future of our choice. We have adapt and adopt the best of technological advancement without compromising on our values or ethics. We have to embed our culture in our younger generations. In my view culture is like the blood in the body. No foreign organism can destroy the blood as long it is pure and has the immunity to fight all external forces.

We need to remember the best traditions of the past while we embrace the best technology for the future. Both need to coexist. We need to remember that our culture is the bedrock of our society. It is the foundation of our democracy. It is the bloodline of our society. We should neither allow our culture to degrade nor dilute due to the invasion of technology.

We have a rich tradition of science in our country. We have to embrace science for the betterment of mankind. But we need not do that at the cost of traditions. In my view, culture and technology are like two our two eyes. While one may be enough for sight, the two eyes provide us the third dimension of sight, which is not replicable by any technology. No camera in the world has been able to better the vision of our eyes.

The sun rising in the east or setting in the west looks as gorgeous across the Indian coast line as in the photo above on the west coast.

Let us learn to embrace technology and imbibe culture. Let the West meet the East.

S Ramesh Shankar