Marble and History

 I remember wandering through the Louvre a few years ago, stopping in front of sculpture after sculpture and whispering the same awestruck line: “What a beautiful piece—it is as if the artist breathed life into marble.” I’m sure many of you have said something similar. Mostly, these sculptures appear serene, flawless, almost divine. Yet beneath that perfection lies the violence the marble endured: the thunderous strikes of hammer and chisel to break away massive chunks, the relentless tapping to carve delicate curves, the repeated blows to the same bruised spot. Only after this brutality does the artist sand, buff, and polish the stone—masking the trauma that the marble endured so the world sees only the beauty of teh sculpture .

Recently, while discussing chapters of human history with my sons—empires rising and falling, wars waged, blood spilled in the name of religion, race, territory, or sheer ambition—I found myself thinking again about those sculptures. Human history is painful, often unbearably so. And yet, our lives today are shaped entirely by that collective past.

If we imagine the world as a marble sculpture, then history’s great upheavals—wars, pandemics, natural disasters, the birth and spread of religions—are the massive blows that fracture the original slab. Each strike reshapes the world’s structure. What follows are the smaller, repetitive chiseling motions: the blending of peoples, languages, rituals, and ideas. These shape societies, spark collaborations, birth new cultures, new philosophies, new sciences—and sometimes, new conflicts that deliver their own heavy blows.

History shapes the world in two ways. First, through destruction: the wars, calamities, and crises that break the stone and force a new form. Second, through creation: scientific discoveries, philosophical breakthroughs, and evolving faiths that add new blocks to the sculpture—something impossible in literal marble, yet very real in the sculpture of civilization.

Every event is a marker, a strike. The impact on human lives is the result. An election is an event; the governance that follows is the shaping. A war is an event; the loss, rebuilding, cultural blending, and resilience that emerge afterward are the results. Conquests of the past carved the societies we inhabit today. Religious missions not only spread belief systems but also blended cultures, rituals, food and languages into entirely new social orders and at times creating new dialects and even new languages. An invention is an event; the transformation of daily life that follows is the result—wheel to gear, gear to engine, engine to automation and may be now AI.

The painful blows of history have been sanded, polished, and softened by the generations that followed, creating the ever-evolving sculpture we call the modern world. But not every strike beautified the marble. Some left cracks that never fully healed—scars we still see today. Wax fillers may hide the cracks but may not heal the pain.

Humanity has the power to learn from those fractures. We can choose not to repeat the blows that shattered us before. We can decide to chisel a better world for the generations that will inherit this sculpture. They deserve it. We owe it to them.

And if, through all the strikes and shaping, we manage to create a world that is beautiful, calming, forgiving, and strong—then each of us, as sculptors of the future, will have done our part.

जिंदगी की बात

कई साल पहले एक दार्शनिक को कहते सुना था "चर्चा बीमारी की होती है स्वास्थ्य की नहीं। हम लोग सिर्फ शिकायत की बात करते है अच्छी बातों की नहीं। (People mostly speak about bad health, bad fortune and rarely about the positive) मन माना नहीं पर ध्यान से देखा तो काफी बार यह बात सच थी. इस लिए कुछ पंक्तिया इस आदत को बदलने की कोशिश में !" 

Click Zindagi Ki Baat - Audio to listen if you don't read hindi 

कई बार शिकायत करते हैं
आज आओ खुशी की बात करें
 ग़म-ए-जिंदगी को भूलकर 
 बस जिंदगी की बात करें

दोस्त नाराज़ या दोस्त से नाराज़गी
पर दोस्त आखिर दोस्त है, तो

सब गुस्से गिले भूल भाल कर 
क्यूँ ना आज बस दोस्ती की बात करें

 बीते कल की याद हो 
 या आते कल की उम्मीद
 इन दोनों कल को छोड़ दें 
और आज, अभी की बात करें

 और कई बार शिकायत करते हैं
 आज आओ खुशी की बात करें
 ग़म-ए-जिंदगी को भूलकर 
 बस जिंदगी की बात करें

सफर-ए-लाइफ (Safar-e-life)

My new poem in hindi, for those who do not read hindi but can understand the language, I have added an audio link 

सफर-ए-लाइफ 

Click for Audio - "Safar-e-Life"

आगाज़ वही अंजाम वही

कहीं ज्यादा तो कहीं कम होगा

जिंदगी का सफर है, प्यारे

पैदाइश पे शुरू हुआ जब

तो मर के ही ख़तम होगा 

मुद्दा यह है की इस सफर में 

तुम किसी से क्या बाँटोगे?

जियोगे सफर भरपूर या बस 

यूँही वक़्त काटोगे 

अपनी तासीर का कौन सा 

हिस्सा छोड़ जाओगे

बस चले जाओगे या कोई 

किस्सा छोड़ जाओगे ?

इस सफर में कई और मुसाफिर जुड़ेंगे

कुछ साथ रहेंगे देर तक, कुछ कहीं और मुड़ेंगे

किस किस को याद रखोगे, दोस्त?

किस किस को याद आओगे?

वो हमसफ़र जिसका हर लम्हा फ़िक्र होगा 

उसकी यादों में शायद तुम्हारा भी ज़िक्र होगा?

किसी के सफ़रनामे की कड़ियाँ 

तुम्हारे सफर से जुडी होंगी 

कई मील जो साथ चले होंगे 

कई राहें साथ-साथ मुड़ी होंगी  

किसी मोड़ पे ख़ुशी की बारिश तो 

कहीं बिखरा ग़म का मौसम होगा 

आगाज़ वही अंजाम वही

कहीं ज्यादा तो कहीं कम होगा

जिंदगी का सफर है, प्यारे

पैदाइश पे शुरू हुआ जब

तो मर के ही ख़तम होगा 

From Back of my Notebook - 13

Some days the notes on the back of my notebook are reminders and some day they are surprise to me too, they are my notes to me, very personal, very intimate. And at times overwhelmingly asking me to share them with you. Some such notes from back of my notebook about LEADERSHIP  , a reminder for all the leaders out there and a starting point for anyone who wants to lead. 

• Leadership is a quality of the heart

• High fives are not merely given with the hands, those are given with the heart

• If a leader stops listening to their followers, the followers will stop following the leader eventually.

• A leader must always Listen with empathy and not just auditory appliances 

• Empathy is most important quality needed to be a leader

• A leader who is not truthful to the followers eventually loses all respect

• In a dog-eat-dog world, lead with humanity and refuse to get in the race to become the Alpha Dog

• The opportunity to lead is a Responsibility and ability to lead is a Blessing.

Last 12 pages form back of my notebook Below, in reverse chronological order

From-back-of-my-notebook-12

From-back-of-my-notebook-11

From-back-of-my-notebook-10

From-back-of-my-notebook-9

From-back-of-my-notebook-8

From-back-of-my-notebook-7

From-back-of-my-notebook-6

From-back-of-my-notebook-5

From-back-of-my-notebook-4

From-back-of-my-notebook-3

From-back-of-my-notebook-2

From-back-of-my-notebook-1

Lessons from T20WC 2026 - 1 (TEAM vs SELF)

 

Cricket T20 world cup recently concluded. It was a very entertaining event. Right from the fan following to cross border politics to ups and down in the games. Some unexpected upsets, some unexpected failures, few heroic performances and redemption stories, all was on display in the month-long event. 

I will not talk about the game, but about lessons that I think one could learn in this month. Here is the 1st one. On teamwork from a sport that truly is a team game.

1- Story of Farhan and Shivam

2 players from two archrivals. Both had a good tournament. But there were stark differences in the game outcomes.

Sahibzada Farhan showed that he was the best batter in the tournament. Hitting highest runs, not only for the current tournament but highest ever from any batter in any T20 Worldcup tournament. He also showed consistency in performance match after match. Usually a game where runs scored means a lot, his performance should have put his team in a good spot. But that was not the case. Pakistan barely qualified for the Super-8 stage and then lost and exited from there.

What was lacking, from a viewer standpoint like me, was the team work. Farhan showed personal heroics in  a team game. When you are making that many runs match after match, you get an opportunity to watch what was causing rest of your team to not perform well. You can help them post match from your observation and expect a better performance in the next game. Now I didn't have a view of the locker room discussions or post match talks, but the performances game after game hinted that none of that knowledge was shared. One can only blame team environment may be internal competition, trying to be better than your teammates. Beating your teammates with your performance. So there you had a brilliant Farhan at the cost of a team that lost. Showed cracks in each game they played. Farhan's brilliance alone could not help and he lost along with rest of his teammates.

 

On the other hand, another team, another player. This time Shivam Dube. He had a great tournament too. He is a brilliant player. He is capable of scoring big runs. However, he was brought in to bat, almost every time when they had a specific need. He always delivered selflessly, no big scores in any game, no personal achievements, no big awards. Just came to the field and delivered for his team, to what the team needed, match after match. He used his skill, his strength, and his effort for the team in every single game. Mostly resulting in delivering the edge that the team needed to win. His only reward after all those selfless performances was the Cup that the team lifted, the medal that graced his torso which was swollen with pride of the victory. He supported his team mates in their low times; he celebrated his team mates when they hit high. He knew his role and he never tried to shine beyond that. He turned the situations he was offered into victories for his team. And now his name along with his team etched in history as the WorldCup 2026 winner. 

LEARNING - Clear example for anyone who is in a team environment at sport, work or community what kind of a player you want to be?

Even more needed for the leaders to decide what kind of teams they need, do they want people on the team, who try to shine their brilliance blinding the other team mates or who want to use their inherent light to pave the path to success. 

There were many lessons for me from this world cup as I stated above. 1st one is shared above. I will try to share the next ones soon. Please comment and share your thoughts on the above note and if you drew a similar conclusion.

पतंग और डोर

Never easy to measure the real impact of good relations. But I was watching some thing and thought of a relation that is so beautiful and so empowering. Sharing this with a view that everyone enjoys at least one such relation in their life.

अच्छे रिश्ते जैसे पतंग और डोर का

जब इक दूजे से जुड़ते हैँ, तब ही दोनों उड़ते हैँ

दोनों पड़ी थी अलग अलग

फिर किसी ने उनको मिला दिया

डोर ने पतंग को पतंग ने डोर को 

उड़ने का हुनर सिखा दिया 

Click here for Audio

Two sides of each Coin

Heads and tails, each coin has 2 facets. This has been the reality for ages. When you hold a coin and you see either face, you know that it is only 1 half of the truth as the other side is what makes the coin complete. 

For a coin with identical print on both sides, the value does not drop to half, it loses its entire value.

What if you were never told that? What if never in your life you were shown the 2nd face of the coin? Would you still accept that the opposite side actually holds a different image?

I think it will be difficult to accept. And occasionally or accidently if you witness the other side, someone strongly asks you to not trust it or see it as a mistake, would you have strength to challenge that voice and demand to see and understand the whole coin?

This whole debate might sound useless, even foolish. But I feel that we are living a life where for everything we are forced to see only 1 side of the coin, heads or tails and never allowed to explore the other, or even acknowledge that there is that other side which makes it complete. In recent years with so many choices on media, social media, targeted content, AI to learn your choices; your beliefs and then enhance the push of content to strengthen those beliefs, that invisible something is forcing all of us to believe in 1 side of the coin. Not particularly any side, for me they may tell me a coin is 'heads', and for you they may enforce that a coin is 'tails'. So the 'heads' followers learn to 'know' that the 'tails' talkers are wrong and need to be corrected or removed from the scene to avoid distraction. The 'tails' followers are not taught anything different as well. 

A big question: who are those who want to keep everyone ignorant to maintain this 'heads' vs 'tails' divide? 

A bigger question: Why?

Even bigger than that: What are we, if we are embracing ignorance in the name of safety, convenience or comfort?

Human development has always been based on questioning and exploring, so why are we not questioning and exploring now? Why are we agreeing to be led blindfolded in an unknown direction?

We never lived as a herd, we lived as a society built on values and principles and rules and laws. You can think of a dice in the place of a coin, with many faces, still each one only getting introduced to one face of the dice. If I see 2 then your seeing 4 means some thing wrong with you.

Remember the tale of "The pied piper of Hamelin", where pied piper led the rats to the edge of the cliff and then made them jump to their doom. 

Can we prove to be more enlightened than those Rats?

Try applying this logic to any thing, to your choices, in food, movies, music, politics, religion, literature. Remember, when we flip a coin we chose heads or tails, because we know that both coexist on each coin, making it whole, making it right and never making either face more needed than the other. If you think deeper, the two although opposite to each other, still make the coin whole. Just like I said at the beginning, any coin with same print on both side has no value and is useless.