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"The essential in the existence of a man like me is what he thinks and how he thinks, not what he does or suffers."
" How strange is the lot of us mortals! Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it. But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people -- first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy. A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving...
"I have never looked upon ease and happiness as ends in themselves -- this critical basis I call the ideal of a pigsty. The ideals that have lighted my way, and time after time have given me new courage to face life cheerfully, have been Kindness, Beauty, and Truth. Without the sense of kinship with men of like mind, without the occupation with the objective world, the eternally unattainable in the field of art and scientific endeavors, life would have seemed empty to me. The trite objects of human efforts -- possessions, outward success, luxury -- have always seemed to me contemptible.
"My passionate sense of social justice and social responsibility has always contrasted oddly with my pronounced lack of need for direct contact with other human beings and human communities. I am truly a 'lone traveler' and have never belonged to my country, my home, my friends, or even my immediate family, with my whole heart; in the face of all these ties, I have never lost a sense of distance and a need for solitude..."
"My political ideal is democracy. Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized. It is an irony of fate that I myself have been the recipient of excessive admiration and reverence from my fellow-beings, through no fault, and no merit, of my own. The cause of this may well be the desire, unattainable for many, to understand the few ideas to which I have with my feeble powers attained through ceaseless struggle. I am quite aware that for any organization to reach its goals, one man must do the thinking and directing and generally bear the responsibility. But the led must not be coerced, they must be able to choose their leader. In my opinion, an autocratic system of coercion soon degenerates; force attracts men of low morality... The really valuable thing in the pageant of human life seems to me not the political state, but the creative, sentient individual, the personality; it alone creates the noble and the sublime, while the herd as such remains dull in thought and dull in feeling.
"This topic brings me to that worst outcrop of herd life, the military system, which I abhor... This plague-spot of civilization ought to be abolished with all possible speed. Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism -- how passionately I hate them!
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man... I am satisfied with the mystery of life's eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existence -- as well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature. "
Came across this article in Times Life (TOI sunday supplement) ; Found it quite motivating.
"I read in a corporate bestseller sometime back that the highest job satisfaction is enjoyed by those in least-paying jobs, like in NGOs and social organisations. This sounded ironical, but still exciting enough to mull over, for those of us in the corporate world, chasing a mirage called job satisfaction and often confusing it with high salaries.
Five years ago, I was posted in Kolkata to look after the eastern region. This is where I had the soul-stirring experience of meeting Shreesh at Belur Math, the Ramkrishna Mission's headquarters. Away from the city’s boisterous roads, Belur is tranquility personified as its sylvan surroundings are placed close to the mighty Hooghly. It had been 18 years since Shreesh and I had passed out from IIT, Kanpur, where we spent our days in neighbouring hostel rooms, and 14 years since we had last met. In the course of lunch that day at Belur, he unfolded his post-IIT story, which marked a turning point for my own view towards life.
Shreesh Jadhav was ranked second across India in the JEE and completed his B.Tech in computer science with a perfect 10 CPI. A recipient of the President’s gold medal at IIT, he spurned all offers of plum scholarships from top foreign universities. Instead, he went on to do his Ph.D from IIT, Kanpur. As his neighbour, I was familiar with Shreesh’s leanings towards Swami Vivekananda and Ramkrishna Paramhans. Often, when I barged into his room for a chat session, I would find him deep into reading their teachings. These had an impact on his dayto-day actions as well. An example of his austerity was the fact that he managed to pass those four years with just a pair of white kurta-pyjamas. Top brain that he was, the toughest assignments were cracked by him in a jiffy and his answers matched up to the second decimal of the model answers put up later outside the exam hall. He also found time to take up the cause of mess workers, which temporarily invited the ire of IIT authorities, but eventually bore results. Through his Vivekananda Samiti, he taught several of the mess workers’ children, besides other poor employees of IIT.
With three sisters, he was the only son of his parents, and the entire family along with many of us, egged him on to study abroad. I occasionally mocked his convictions and told his parents that he would eventually succumb to the lure of dollars, just like several of his batchmates. But, he couldn’t be deterred from his single-minded pursuit of serving humanity. He would explain, “Just like Silicon Valley, social sectors too desperately need intelligent people.”
He continues to positively impact the lowest rung of the social ladder. Recently, he helped save the life of 12-year-old Sarita, who developed a hole in her heart. Her operation in Bangalore cost Rs 3 lakh and on reading Shreesh’s email, I had contributed my bit, but was doubtful if he would meet the target. But, as I recently found out, Sarita was back home in Kanpur after a successful surgery, making me put my faith in Shreesh’s words that “there are a lot of good people in the world, we just need to reach out to them”.
Unmarried, he has dedicated his entire life towards a social cause. He joined the Ramkrishna Mission after his doctorate and, by now, has taught computer science to several thousand students at their university, besides managing various projects spread across the country. He also humbly believes that Belur Math has given him the opportunity to achieve his mission. Yet, his journey continues.
Shreesh’s story is beyond inspiration. When I look around at my batch-mates, many of whom head companies, I consider Shreesh the biggest success story of IIT. His story should be a catalyst for all those who want to bridge the social abyss created by market forces and government inaction. As I write a cheque for Rs 15,000 for my three-year-old son’s quarterly fees, I’m reminded of an education system gone horrendously wrong. Unlike many of us who keep trodding known paths, Shreesh Maharaj — as he is popularly known in Belur — has clearly found his own path and left a trail."
By
Rahul Awasthi
(7th September 2008,TOI , )
There is one regret though;I did my PS-I at TEXMACO LTD.,Kolkata and during the last 48 hours of homecoming I visited Belur Math.Its definitely a place to visit.Had the article appeared a few days back,I could have met him in person and hopefully would have gained a lot.Anyways, with Kolkata only 500 km. away, I hope I will always have a second chance.:)
