A Blind Man on a Hiking trail

This encounter has certainly given me a lot of strength in the events of adversities, in events when I have hit my psychological nadir, and it has made me humble at the core in the events of joys and triumphs too. May be there is a bit of lesson for everybody in this story... May be each one of you would interprete this god like act differently...

Location: Anaga, Tenerife - Canary Islands, Spain. 

A group of hikers were on their first small hike on a tiny mystical island. Temperatures were amicable in the mid twenties, ideal to miss the December cold in Belgium. The path way was steep, uneven and rocky but nothing dangerous - way too safe by any mountain standards. Yet, a few members in our group were shouting and screaming, stressing their vocal chords more than their leg muscles. Most of us busy breathing the scenic panoramic views from the heights, feeling nice breeze on the body, basking in the worthy gains for the all the enduring pains. As we were walking past the twists and the turns, the shouts and screams suddenly vanished as if the winding path would have carried a mercedez now. The sense of calm prevailed as all of us stood completely in silence, awestruck in a spellbound statue mode witnessing the miracle - god like act in front our own eyes. It made us forgot the existing breathtaking panoramic views, it made us forgot our senses for a while as all our eyes were pinned on single man - a fellow hiker scaling down the mountain in the opposite direction. 

He could not watch any of us, could not witness any of the stunning panoramic views, could not sense any of the impending dangers paved in the path. Yet, he was there to feel it. He made all the effort to be there not to see it but to feel it. And, feeling the breeze, he must have experienced everything that none of us could have seen from any of our open eyes. Unfortunately, the nature has not been kind on him. Taking away 1 out of 5 senses does sound a lot cruel than one think. Fortunately though, the god equally must have gifted him with a lot more senses full of tenacity, courage and strength to overcome what he lacked. Not screaming, not shouting, resting his one hand on friends elbow and the other holding a traditional blind man's stick, he went passed us whistling nonchalantly as if the landscape was his lush green garden backdoor. Struck on one side on the wall, it took all of us a while to come back to senses and gauge the magnitude of the event. I personally was impressed by his courage, his courage to transcend the boundaries, his courage to excel beyond the ordinary, his sheer will to overcome the missing element - a deficiency, an adversity. For Hari, it was his trust on his friend that appealed the most. To me, the god like act was an exemplification demonstrating the power of an outstanding will, a proof of what Gandhi sentenced a long ago:      

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will" M. K. Gandhi

Subsequently, I explored the internet finding similar heroics - god like acts of blind men. They are in plenty. Here, just listing a few:

-- Bill Irvine used a guide dog to hike the Appalachian train in 1990s. 

-- Don Planner - ex-army serviceman became the 1st blind man to climb Mont Blanc via the Gouter Route on 25th June 1996.

-- Erik Weihenmayer is the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on May 25, 2001. 

In fact, Erik Weihenmayer has successfully conquered the 7 summits challenge, reaching the summit of the highest peak in each and every continent. He is an author and a prolific speaker too. His videos on youtube are totally mesmerizing. I am sure you just can't stop with one:

My salute/respect to all these brave hearts...

Thou art thy master!!!

"Some inspirations/motivations/learnings come from very close while some come from too far", said Amartya Sen. To my experience some incidents, knowingly or unknowingly teach you a lot. These occurrences are usually rare but they do get registered in your memory for long. One such incidence occurred in IMEC elevators.

There is something about my job that I am always in the company of biggies and I have had no reason to be uncomfortable about it. In National Semiconductor's (NatSem) office in Leela Palace-Bangalore, I was sitting next to Managing Director's cubicle. In Natsem's brunton office, my cubicle was next to the MD again. In IMEC, my cubicle is on the 4th floor of IMEC-1, where most of the management brass along with IMEC's CEO has an office. You do have a chance to interact with some of these folks, most of the time in an elevator. Usually I take an elevator to go down and stairs to go up (quite a fitness buff these days) but on this particular day I had a box in my hand and decided to take an elevator to go up. One of the Fab serviceman (may be around 55) in a blue uniform was already inside. Seeing the my hands full he quipped, "Which floor?" "4th Floor, Thank you." I said. "Oh, You are one of those big influential staffs sitting on the 4th floor?" He responded. I started laughing and explaining him that I am one of the plentiful PhDs enjoying good times in IMEC. I have very few powers to steer the way things are done here (or anywhere) and I am very far from those who are really influential in spending big money to steer next generation technology and I have no control whatsoever on these things. After listening to all my blah blah blah....he bamboozled me with a single sentence/question, "Aren't you a master of yourself?" and walked away on the 2nd floor that links to 200mm fab...

So deep and so profound indeed. I was very much stunned and was very happy reflecting upon the incident. Sadly though, I have never been able to see him again. I hope the day comes soon....

Terracotta Army of Xi'an: The King and the after life...

Last Saturday we had the glimpses of the Terracotta Army (TerracottaArmyHistoricalFacts) in an exhibition in Belgium. The work accomplished in the 2nd century BC was not only impressive but also massive. Every soldier sculptured was unique endorsing their hierarchy in the Army. The adeptness of the sculptures was enormously apparent.

Different personalities: Everybody is different, so true?

Soldiers in Terracotta Army

While I don't hesitate pay Kudos to all the artists for their creation, two fundamental and one secondary question trouble me.

First question came after reading:

"It is also believed that Qin ordered that the tomb workers and supervisors involved in its design be buried alive to protect its secrets."

Why did the King have to assassin all the artists that were instrumental in creating such a beautiful world for him? If you look into the history, this seems to be the trend for many creations. To cite another example, Shahjahan is known to have done the same to the architects of Taj Mahal - A world wonder today. I find this trend not only atrocious but also loatheful and find no compelling reasons to bolster the deed. Hypothetically assuming that the King wanted his sponsored creation to be the best ever protecting the secrets as claimed, I believe he could be imaginative enough to think that it would be impossible as he would have no control over future generations. On the contrary, he could have sponsored the same artists to better their creation and created challenges for the artists in the future generations? Did he ever think about it?

Another thing that puzzled me is the objective of the King in this particular case. As per records, he wanted to carry the same world to his tomb in a "Life After Life". Pyramids in Egypt testify another case depicting the same objective. Didn't he (and many others) have better things to do in his (their) life than to think about his (their) Life after Life??

Secondary question came after reading this piece:
"Emperor Qin ordered the construction of his tomb when he was only 13 years old, an order that involved hundreds of thousands of workers and thirty-six years to complete."

Can you imagine a 13 year ordering such a construction....may it be a King? When I took this thing up for discussion with Ashwin, he summed it up beautifully: "As a 13 yr. old, he wanted to create some toys to play". I agree with the theory.