The below piece is taken from one of the posts published by Shekhar Kapur on his blog: http://www.shekharkapur.com/blog/archives/2005/11/about_myself.htm#more
The crux of what he says about love echoes what Albert Camus says: That love is noble which is exceptional and short lived..
November 18, 2005 01:32 AM
About Myself
At 22, was an accountant in London long before I dreamt of bieng a film-maker ..
I was successful. But uncomfortable.
I remember strongly feeling the chasm between what I did and who I was. The young man at play (those were the swinging 70's don't forget), and the one at work were two completely different people. With almost a schizophrenic relationship with each other.
So I left accounting in search for a way to overcome that duality.
On the way I have been a model, an actor, a chat show host both in India and the UK, a commercials film maker both in India and Europe, and a film director, also in India and internationally. I also ran an entertainment TV channel, and was for a while a scuba diving instructor.
To find a way define every moment of my waking life as one complete whole, rather than one that is structured into different compartments. One complete emotional all encompassing feeling that embodied everything I did,felt and thought. I just wanted to express myself completely in everything that I did.
The journey turned out much much longer than I thought. It continues to this day. Because the duality existed not merely between work and play, but within work and play.
But on the way, I started to understand some things.
That the words 'truth', 'love' and 'compassion' took on different meanings from those boring idealistic interpretations that were rammed down our throats when we were kids.
There was power,I later discovered, in these concepts. The power to hold everything together. Like falling in love, I discovered.
All structures fall apart in the throes of the first passions of love. All duality dissapeared. Everything emcompassed by that one emotion. Bieng in the throes of love, even life and death encompassed by that one emotion.
Whenever I fell deeply in love, I lived the moment completely. That's what I realized it was all about. I felt a surge of courage I had not felt before. With that courage came such incredible fullfilment of that moment, thatI did not fear the next. Death too, at that time became acceptable. My 'cup of love' as they say, would be full.
But how does on stay in love all the time ? How does one continue this passion all the time ? If the love was derived from one singular person you could wreak havoc on their lives. I have done that before. And my own too. For I had not (atleast not at that time) learnt to 'let go' in love. I had not learnt that the attempt for permanence would utimately kill passion. That love was so much greater when lived in a womb of freedom. That there could no 'ownership' in love.
Thats where I began to understand the concepts of Meera's obsession for Krishna. There was no desire on Meera's part to have a singular relationship with Krishna. Or the Poetry of Rumi and his obsession for his friend. I discovered the difference between Obsession and Ownership. By directing all your passions to an imagined universal force, you could go on deriving from it. Forever. As long as you realized that the obsession for other person was only your conduit to the universe. To yourself.
And then u could continue to exist in that state of creative passion. I began to understand the concept of Prasadam. Where everything you create, you are merely the conduit. Everything you own, is merely an offering that is never complete. At a function in New York where I was awarded the critics award for Best Director, I said from the bottom of my heart :
" I did not direct the film. I am learning not to direct my films. I am learnng that I am merely the gardener. The garden grows. The sun shines. The rains come. The seeds sprout. the flowers bloom. And I watch. Having been the conduit through which the seeds were planted, I merely encompass the garden with love. In return the garden encompasses me with love. And together, we watch in wonder at the creation of the Universe's bounty"
I am learning the power of not imposing. I am learning the power throwing everything to the moment. I understand that is what the concept of Prasadam means.
and gradually, in this path, I try and let the duality, my individuality melt away. Will I suceed ?
Well, isn't that question once again reaffirming my individuality though ? Who is that 'I' that wants to suceed.
Shekhar
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Monday, July 02, 2007
Giving credit where it's due
The Article below appeared in the New York Times/International Herald tribune (Dec 8, 2006) and is by the 2006 Nobel Peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus. Truly Inspiring...
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DHAKA, Bangladesh
When I stepped out of my classroom at Chittagong University 30 years ago and into Jobra, the village next to my campus, I had only one goal in mind: to see if I could be of service to a few starving human beings.
Little did I know that those walks into Jobra village would lead me to walk across a stage in Oslo, Norway this Sunday afternoon to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. What I learned in that village changed my life and the lives of hundreds of millions of others around the world.
In 1976, I met Sufia Khatum, who made bamboo stools. This hardworking woman, who could neither read nor write, became my teacher. She didn't have the money to buy the bamboo for her stools and so she borrowed from a local moneylender on the condition that she sell the finished stools back to him at a price he set.
The moneylender's price barely covered the cost of the bamboo, leaving her with only a two- penny return on her work. This forced her to continue borrowing from the moneylender and placed her in a condition of slave labor. My students found 41 other people like Sufia who needed a grand total of $27 to free themselves from this debt trap. She and the other 41 microentrepreneurs were the first borrowers of what would become Grameen Bank, the institution with which I share the Nobel Peace Prize.
They, and our nearly 7 million current borrowers, who are the owners of the bank, will be with me on that stage receiving the prize. Ninety-six percent of Grameen's clients are women, affecting a total of 35 million family members. We have lent nearly $6 billion over the last 30 years in loans that average $130 each.
The $27 I lent to 42 people 30 years ago was my first lesson in a new kind of banking. The first rules to be broken were the rules of banking. We made small loans to women without collateral, not large loans to men with great holdings. We required no paperwork of our illiterate borrowers, only that they learn to sign their names, and we did our banking in the villages.
Our work is built on the realization that our society has not only marginalized the poor, but also marginalized women. That is why our housing loans are in the name of the woman and require that the title to the land on which the house will be built is also in the name of the woman. We have made nearly 600,000 housing loans on these conditions.
One of our sister organizations, GrameenPhone, has 10 million cellphone subscribers in Bangladesh. There is no revolution in getting cellphones to better-off people in poor countries. Our revolution, however, is placing cellphones in the hands of 300,000 village phone ladies who use the phone as a profitable business. The Nobel Peace Prize has established the link between poverty and peace, and underscored that poverty is a threat to peace. Microcredit plays a very important role in reducing poverty. From humble beginnings 30 years ago with a loan of $27 to 42 people in Jobra, this work has now spread rapidly worldwide, empowered by the Microcredit Summit, a global campaign committed to ensuring 100 million microcredit families rise above the $1 a day threshold by the end of 2015, thus lifting half a billion people out of extreme poverty.
She and the other 41 microentrepreneurs were the first borrowers of what would become Grameen Bank, the institution with which I share the Nobel Peace Prize.
They, and our nearly 7 million current borrowers, who are the owners of the bank, will be with me on that stage receiving the prize. Ninety-six percent of Grameen's clients are women, affecting a total of 35 million family members. We have lent nearly $6 billion over the last 30 years in loans that average $130 each.
The $27 I lent to 42 people 30 years ago was my first lesson in a new kind of banking. The first rules to be broken were the rules of banking. We made small loans to women without collateral, not large loans to men with great holdings. We required no paperwork of our illiterate borrowers, only that they learn to sign their names, and we did our banking in the villages.
Our work is built on the realization that our society has not only marginalized the poor, but also marginalized women. That is why our housing loans are in the name of the woman and require that the title to the land on which the house will be built is also in the name of the woman. We have made nearly 600,000 housing loans on these conditions.
One of our sister organizations, GrameenPhone, has 10 million cellphone subscribers in Bangladesh. There is no revolution in getting cellphones to better-off people in poor countries. Our revolution, however, is placing cellphones in the hands of 300,000 village phone ladies who use the phone as a profitable business.
The Nobel Peace Prize has established the link between poverty and peace, and underscored that poverty is a threat to peace. Microcredit plays a very important role in reducing poverty.
From humble beginnings 30 years ago with a loan of $27 to 42 people in Jobra, this work has now spread rapidly worldwide, empowered by the Microcredit Summit, a global campaign committed to ensuring 100 million microcredit families rise above the $1 a day threshold by the end of 2015, thus lifting half a billion people out of extreme poverty.
Poverty does not belong in a civilized society. It belongs in museums. We are committed to building a world in which our children and grandchildren will have to go to museums to see what poverty looked like..
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DHAKA, Bangladesh
When I stepped out of my classroom at Chittagong University 30 years ago and into Jobra, the village next to my campus, I had only one goal in mind: to see if I could be of service to a few starving human beings.
Little did I know that those walks into Jobra village would lead me to walk across a stage in Oslo, Norway this Sunday afternoon to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. What I learned in that village changed my life and the lives of hundreds of millions of others around the world.
In 1976, I met Sufia Khatum, who made bamboo stools. This hardworking woman, who could neither read nor write, became my teacher. She didn't have the money to buy the bamboo for her stools and so she borrowed from a local moneylender on the condition that she sell the finished stools back to him at a price he set.
The moneylender's price barely covered the cost of the bamboo, leaving her with only a two- penny return on her work. This forced her to continue borrowing from the moneylender and placed her in a condition of slave labor. My students found 41 other people like Sufia who needed a grand total of $27 to free themselves from this debt trap. She and the other 41 microentrepreneurs were the first borrowers of what would become Grameen Bank, the institution with which I share the Nobel Peace Prize.
They, and our nearly 7 million current borrowers, who are the owners of the bank, will be with me on that stage receiving the prize. Ninety-six percent of Grameen's clients are women, affecting a total of 35 million family members. We have lent nearly $6 billion over the last 30 years in loans that average $130 each.
The $27 I lent to 42 people 30 years ago was my first lesson in a new kind of banking. The first rules to be broken were the rules of banking. We made small loans to women without collateral, not large loans to men with great holdings. We required no paperwork of our illiterate borrowers, only that they learn to sign their names, and we did our banking in the villages.
Our work is built on the realization that our society has not only marginalized the poor, but also marginalized women. That is why our housing loans are in the name of the woman and require that the title to the land on which the house will be built is also in the name of the woman. We have made nearly 600,000 housing loans on these conditions.
One of our sister organizations, GrameenPhone, has 10 million cellphone subscribers in Bangladesh. There is no revolution in getting cellphones to better-off people in poor countries. Our revolution, however, is placing cellphones in the hands of 300,000 village phone ladies who use the phone as a profitable business. The Nobel Peace Prize has established the link between poverty and peace, and underscored that poverty is a threat to peace. Microcredit plays a very important role in reducing poverty. From humble beginnings 30 years ago with a loan of $27 to 42 people in Jobra, this work has now spread rapidly worldwide, empowered by the Microcredit Summit, a global campaign committed to ensuring 100 million microcredit families rise above the $1 a day threshold by the end of 2015, thus lifting half a billion people out of extreme poverty.
She and the other 41 microentrepreneurs were the first borrowers of what would become Grameen Bank, the institution with which I share the Nobel Peace Prize.
They, and our nearly 7 million current borrowers, who are the owners of the bank, will be with me on that stage receiving the prize. Ninety-six percent of Grameen's clients are women, affecting a total of 35 million family members. We have lent nearly $6 billion over the last 30 years in loans that average $130 each.
The $27 I lent to 42 people 30 years ago was my first lesson in a new kind of banking. The first rules to be broken were the rules of banking. We made small loans to women without collateral, not large loans to men with great holdings. We required no paperwork of our illiterate borrowers, only that they learn to sign their names, and we did our banking in the villages.
Our work is built on the realization that our society has not only marginalized the poor, but also marginalized women. That is why our housing loans are in the name of the woman and require that the title to the land on which the house will be built is also in the name of the woman. We have made nearly 600,000 housing loans on these conditions.
One of our sister organizations, GrameenPhone, has 10 million cellphone subscribers in Bangladesh. There is no revolution in getting cellphones to better-off people in poor countries. Our revolution, however, is placing cellphones in the hands of 300,000 village phone ladies who use the phone as a profitable business.
The Nobel Peace Prize has established the link between poverty and peace, and underscored that poverty is a threat to peace. Microcredit plays a very important role in reducing poverty.
From humble beginnings 30 years ago with a loan of $27 to 42 people in Jobra, this work has now spread rapidly worldwide, empowered by the Microcredit Summit, a global campaign committed to ensuring 100 million microcredit families rise above the $1 a day threshold by the end of 2015, thus lifting half a billion people out of extreme poverty.
Poverty does not belong in a civilized society. It belongs in museums. We are committed to building a world in which our children and grandchildren will have to go to museums to see what poverty looked like..
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Alleviating poverty with deep pockets!
Another encouraging trend that has stated in India..
India Rides the VC Wave
[Source:http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jun2007/gb20070629_887666_page_2.htm]
The fishermen from the Indian village of Chidambaram live a hard life. They sleep most of the day, then spend the night out on the water. For light during those dark hours, they have long depended on wobbly kerosene lamps that were easily blown out or, worse, toppled by the wind, risking deadly fires on their boats.
But these days, the kerosene lamps have been replaced with MightyLights, $50 solar-powered fixtures. "I save 100 rupees [$2.50] a month on kerosene alone," says K Kanimuri, a fisherman's wife, who also uses the MightyLight in her makeshift kitchen. With her savings, she now makes and sells candles.
Kanimuri and her fellow villagers may not know it, but the change in their fortunes is rooted in global finance. MightyLight is the brainchild of New Delhi-based Cosmos Ignite Innovations, a Stanford University-incubated startup by Matthew Scott and Amit Chugh that aims to provide simple products for the world's poorest people. And Cosmos got its start with backing from Vinod Khosla, a veteran Silicon Valley venture capitalist. Now Cosmos is in talks with other groups, including London-based 3i Group (TIGRF) and eBay (EBAY) founder Pierre Omidyar, for a second round of funding. "For us, it's not just the light, but using a sustainable model to affect social change," says Scott, chief executive of Cosmos.
Going Beyond Tech
Just a few years ago, most venture capital funds focused on pure technology companies operating in industrialized countries. But now, VCs are starting to look for opportunities in the developing world. They believe that it isn't just the tech plays that are scalable and sustainable. What was earlier shunned as small is suddenly a potential business opportunity.
For U.S.-based Matrix Partners (with $150 million under management), the low-hanging fruits in India now include companies in consumer services, health care, financial services, travel, media, and entertainment. Avnish Bajaj, managing director of Matrix Partners India, says the fund is interested in bottom-of-the-pyramid ventures in two potential areas—rural credit and finance, and agriculture-related industries including retail services.
"The base of the pyramid is often ignored, but offers a tremendous opportunity," says Katie Hill, the India representative of Acumen Fund, an $8 million fund backed by the Cisco Systems (CSCO) Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Acumen has put $1.5 million into Ziqitza, a Mumbai-based ambulance company that offers deep discounts on its service for residents of the city's vast slums. Shafi Matther, the founder of Ziqitza, says the funds will be used to stretch the company's ambulance fleet of two dozen vehicles to 70 in the next two years, and roll out service across India. It is already operational in the south Indian state of Kerala.
New Investment Waters
The trend is due in part to the amount of money chasing deals. VCs these days are forced to "invest in less-fished areas," says Sumir Chadha, managing director of U.S.-based Sequoia Capital India, an arm of the famed Silicon Valley VC firm. It was the 25%-to-30% profit potential of Hyderabad-based SKS Microfinance, which gives loans to poor entrepreneurs across India, that attracted Sequoia to invest $11.5 million in March, 2007.
A clincher was also SKS founder Vikram Akula's plan to leverage the microfinance distribution network to sell a range of products from insurance to consumer goods, mobile phones, and even home loans. "This is the next big thing for us," says Chadha. He claims that they are now actively looking at bottom-of-the-pyramid projects.
Or take IT-rural, set up by a group of software engineers from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A clutch of U.S.-based VCs are circling the startup technology venture, which develops solutions for rural India. The company doesn't just provide a bunch of computers and conduct basic-training classes, but has a Web site to educate farmers, giving them information about crop patterns, nature of soil, crop diseases, and remedies. IT-rural also has established backward and forward linkages, from buying the seeds to branding and retailing products.
The company has just finished a pilot project in the 30 villages of the Pulivendala district in Andhra Pradesh. According to Ramakrishna Thiruchelvam, the brain behind IT-rural, the project has covered about 30,000 people and 6,000 farmers cultivating more than 20,000 acres, "raising the GDP of the villages substantially." Some of their fruit has even made it to the shelves of Singapore's retail stores. IT-rural is currently negotiating with the state government to undertake similar IT-related projects in other villages.
Good Business, not Goodwill
But don't mistake such investments as charity. Clearstone Venture Partners, based in Santa Monica, Calif., has put $5 million into DigiBee Microsystems, which expects to pocket handsome profits by selling low-end mobile phones to poor Indians. "We are excited about consumers choosing differentiated products," says Rahul Khanna, a Clearstone director. And two California VC funds—Walden International and New Enterprise Associates—are considering a $5 million investment in Novatium, a Chennai-based company that has developed a $100 personal computer. The machine uses microprocessors similar to those found in cell phones, and Novatium hopes to offer a suite of products including Internet connectivity, application software, and services for $10 a month, according to founder Rajesh Jain. Novatium expects to sell 3 million machines, with the potential to reach 40 million households by 2010. Says Alok Singh, CEO of Novatium, "We have always been market-driven."
India Rides the VC Wave
[Source:http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jun2007/gb20070629_887666_page_2.htm]
The fishermen from the Indian village of Chidambaram live a hard life. They sleep most of the day, then spend the night out on the water. For light during those dark hours, they have long depended on wobbly kerosene lamps that were easily blown out or, worse, toppled by the wind, risking deadly fires on their boats.
But these days, the kerosene lamps have been replaced with MightyLights, $50 solar-powered fixtures. "I save 100 rupees [$2.50] a month on kerosene alone," says K Kanimuri, a fisherman's wife, who also uses the MightyLight in her makeshift kitchen. With her savings, she now makes and sells candles.
Kanimuri and her fellow villagers may not know it, but the change in their fortunes is rooted in global finance. MightyLight is the brainchild of New Delhi-based Cosmos Ignite Innovations, a Stanford University-incubated startup by Matthew Scott and Amit Chugh that aims to provide simple products for the world's poorest people. And Cosmos got its start with backing from Vinod Khosla, a veteran Silicon Valley venture capitalist. Now Cosmos is in talks with other groups, including London-based 3i Group (TIGRF) and eBay (EBAY) founder Pierre Omidyar, for a second round of funding. "For us, it's not just the light, but using a sustainable model to affect social change," says Scott, chief executive of Cosmos.
Going Beyond Tech
Just a few years ago, most venture capital funds focused on pure technology companies operating in industrialized countries. But now, VCs are starting to look for opportunities in the developing world. They believe that it isn't just the tech plays that are scalable and sustainable. What was earlier shunned as small is suddenly a potential business opportunity.
For U.S.-based Matrix Partners (with $150 million under management), the low-hanging fruits in India now include companies in consumer services, health care, financial services, travel, media, and entertainment. Avnish Bajaj, managing director of Matrix Partners India, says the fund is interested in bottom-of-the-pyramid ventures in two potential areas—rural credit and finance, and agriculture-related industries including retail services.
"The base of the pyramid is often ignored, but offers a tremendous opportunity," says Katie Hill, the India representative of Acumen Fund, an $8 million fund backed by the Cisco Systems (CSCO) Foundation and the Rockefeller Foundation. Acumen has put $1.5 million into Ziqitza, a Mumbai-based ambulance company that offers deep discounts on its service for residents of the city's vast slums. Shafi Matther, the founder of Ziqitza, says the funds will be used to stretch the company's ambulance fleet of two dozen vehicles to 70 in the next two years, and roll out service across India. It is already operational in the south Indian state of Kerala.
New Investment Waters
The trend is due in part to the amount of money chasing deals. VCs these days are forced to "invest in less-fished areas," says Sumir Chadha, managing director of U.S.-based Sequoia Capital India, an arm of the famed Silicon Valley VC firm. It was the 25%-to-30% profit potential of Hyderabad-based SKS Microfinance, which gives loans to poor entrepreneurs across India, that attracted Sequoia to invest $11.5 million in March, 2007.
A clincher was also SKS founder Vikram Akula's plan to leverage the microfinance distribution network to sell a range of products from insurance to consumer goods, mobile phones, and even home loans. "This is the next big thing for us," says Chadha. He claims that they are now actively looking at bottom-of-the-pyramid projects.
Or take IT-rural, set up by a group of software engineers from the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu. A clutch of U.S.-based VCs are circling the startup technology venture, which develops solutions for rural India. The company doesn't just provide a bunch of computers and conduct basic-training classes, but has a Web site to educate farmers, giving them information about crop patterns, nature of soil, crop diseases, and remedies. IT-rural also has established backward and forward linkages, from buying the seeds to branding and retailing products.
The company has just finished a pilot project in the 30 villages of the Pulivendala district in Andhra Pradesh. According to Ramakrishna Thiruchelvam, the brain behind IT-rural, the project has covered about 30,000 people and 6,000 farmers cultivating more than 20,000 acres, "raising the GDP of the villages substantially." Some of their fruit has even made it to the shelves of Singapore's retail stores. IT-rural is currently negotiating with the state government to undertake similar IT-related projects in other villages.
Good Business, not Goodwill
But don't mistake such investments as charity. Clearstone Venture Partners, based in Santa Monica, Calif., has put $5 million into DigiBee Microsystems, which expects to pocket handsome profits by selling low-end mobile phones to poor Indians. "We are excited about consumers choosing differentiated products," says Rahul Khanna, a Clearstone director. And two California VC funds—Walden International and New Enterprise Associates—are considering a $5 million investment in Novatium, a Chennai-based company that has developed a $100 personal computer. The machine uses microprocessors similar to those found in cell phones, and Novatium hopes to offer a suite of products including Internet connectivity, application software, and services for $10 a month, according to founder Rajesh Jain. Novatium expects to sell 3 million machines, with the potential to reach 40 million households by 2010. Says Alok Singh, CEO of Novatium, "We have always been market-driven."
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