One of the most disturbing stories that we find in the Puranas is the story of Krishna's son, Samba whose mother was the bear-princess, Jambavati.
He dupes his father's junior wives by disguising himself as Krishna and is cursed by Krishna that he will suffer from a skin disease that will enable his wives to distinguish father and son. Samba is cured after he builds temples to the sun. All sun temples in India, from Konark in Orissa to Modhera in Gujarat to Markand in Kashmir are attributed to this son of Krishna.
Samba also attempts to kidnap Duryodhana's daughter and this leads to war between the Kauravas and the Yadavas. Peace is restored and the marriage is solemnised only after Balarama, Krishna's elder brother and Samba's uncle, in a fit of fury threatens to drag Hastinapur into the sea.
Then there is the story of Samba pretending to be a pregnant woman and duping sages who were visiting Dwarka. The sages were not amused and cursed Samba that he would give birth to an iron mace that would be responsible for the end of the Yadav clan.
Must not Krishna's son be as noble and divine and loving as Krishna? But that was not so. Samba comes with his own personality and his own destiny, over which Krishna has no influence. Or does he?
Can we wonder if Samba was a product of his father's neglect? For, was not Krishna spending most of his time with Arjuna and the Pandavas and in the politics of Kurukshetra?
There are hardly any stories of Krishna as father. He is friend, philosopher and guide to Arjuna but the only stories of father and son are of tension, rage and violence.
In conversations about corporations, we often forget about the other half of our lives, the personal one. As more and more people are working 24x7, thanks to Internet and smart devices, the lines between professional and personal, work and life are getting blurred. In fact, people feel noble when they sacrifice family for work and guilty when they take a holiday to take care of their family.
Family is not seen as achievement. Children are not seen as purpose. They are seen as obligations, duties, by-products of existence, even collateral damage!
We admire leaders who sacrifice family for a 'larger' cause. Like freedom fighters who neglect their wives and children. Like businessmen and entrepreneurs and consultants who spend most of their time in office.
With the rise of feminism, women are also working. Parenting has been outsourced to maids, teachers, computers, videogames and grandparents.
Women who work in the office have not been compensated by their husbands spending more time at home. Instead women are made to feel guilty for not being good mothers. No one questions men for not being good fathers. Eventually, the office wins. Absent parents rationalise how office is more important than the children : we need the money, the children eventually grow up, surely our needs are also important.
Many great Krishnas in the workplace discover that they have nurtured Sambas at home : sons who either follow destructive paths as they seek attention or sons who make their way away from parents, as they have grown used to not having them around. Who wins?
Corporations were supposed to create wealth for the family. Now families are creating only workers for the corporation.
We have many more Krishnas in this generation and maybe many Sambas in the next.
Tailpiece.
Had got up leisurely and both Maman and I went to the Parasurama temple at Thiruvallam to conduct the ceremony on the occasion of dad's eighth remembrance day. The traffic warden, Ajitha, allowed us to park our car at a forbidden zone close to the entrance, taking into account Maman's age - damn sweet of her. Looked for her at the time of our departure - to thank her for her kindness - but couldn't meet her.
Harishchandra 'thirumeni' helped me get a spot for carrying out the 'bali tharpanam'; had it not been for him, we would have got late. The 'thil homam' was done and the puja payasam was collected.
We reached the Foundation, in time, to go through the discussions on Muthachhan's biography in English with Sathyan, the author. We went through the script and effected changes; in the process, had a late lunch - of puries and coffee from the Indian Coffee House, nearby - at 1530 hrs! Our discussions had gone beyond three hours, phew!
We, then, set for Neyyattinkara to discuss a legal issue regarding a property that houses one of our production units in the block panchayat. Before the discussions, we had 'darshan' of the good Lord at the famous Sri Krishna temple that also, once upon a time, housed the famous 'Ammachi plaavu' in whose trunk, there was a crevice in which King Marthanda Varma had hidden to escape the persecution from his enemies, the Ettuveettil Pillamaar! The legend has it that it was the good Lord, dressed as a young man, who'd guided the king into this safe shelter!!
On completion of another round of discussions and after handing over the case to the advocate, we had returned comparatively early!
He dupes his father's junior wives by disguising himself as Krishna and is cursed by Krishna that he will suffer from a skin disease that will enable his wives to distinguish father and son. Samba is cured after he builds temples to the sun. All sun temples in India, from Konark in Orissa to Modhera in Gujarat to Markand in Kashmir are attributed to this son of Krishna.
Samba also attempts to kidnap Duryodhana's daughter and this leads to war between the Kauravas and the Yadavas. Peace is restored and the marriage is solemnised only after Balarama, Krishna's elder brother and Samba's uncle, in a fit of fury threatens to drag Hastinapur into the sea.
Then there is the story of Samba pretending to be a pregnant woman and duping sages who were visiting Dwarka. The sages were not amused and cursed Samba that he would give birth to an iron mace that would be responsible for the end of the Yadav clan.
Must not Krishna's son be as noble and divine and loving as Krishna? But that was not so. Samba comes with his own personality and his own destiny, over which Krishna has no influence. Or does he?
Can we wonder if Samba was a product of his father's neglect? For, was not Krishna spending most of his time with Arjuna and the Pandavas and in the politics of Kurukshetra?
There are hardly any stories of Krishna as father. He is friend, philosopher and guide to Arjuna but the only stories of father and son are of tension, rage and violence.
In conversations about corporations, we often forget about the other half of our lives, the personal one. As more and more people are working 24x7, thanks to Internet and smart devices, the lines between professional and personal, work and life are getting blurred. In fact, people feel noble when they sacrifice family for work and guilty when they take a holiday to take care of their family.
Family is not seen as achievement. Children are not seen as purpose. They are seen as obligations, duties, by-products of existence, even collateral damage!
We admire leaders who sacrifice family for a 'larger' cause. Like freedom fighters who neglect their wives and children. Like businessmen and entrepreneurs and consultants who spend most of their time in office.
With the rise of feminism, women are also working. Parenting has been outsourced to maids, teachers, computers, videogames and grandparents.
Women who work in the office have not been compensated by their husbands spending more time at home. Instead women are made to feel guilty for not being good mothers. No one questions men for not being good fathers. Eventually, the office wins. Absent parents rationalise how office is more important than the children : we need the money, the children eventually grow up, surely our needs are also important.
Many great Krishnas in the workplace discover that they have nurtured Sambas at home : sons who either follow destructive paths as they seek attention or sons who make their way away from parents, as they have grown used to not having them around. Who wins?
Corporations were supposed to create wealth for the family. Now families are creating only workers for the corporation.
We have many more Krishnas in this generation and maybe many Sambas in the next.
Tailpiece.
Had got up leisurely and both Maman and I went to the Parasurama temple at Thiruvallam to conduct the ceremony on the occasion of dad's eighth remembrance day. The traffic warden, Ajitha, allowed us to park our car at a forbidden zone close to the entrance, taking into account Maman's age - damn sweet of her. Looked for her at the time of our departure - to thank her for her kindness - but couldn't meet her.
Harishchandra 'thirumeni' helped me get a spot for carrying out the 'bali tharpanam'; had it not been for him, we would have got late. The 'thil homam' was done and the puja payasam was collected.
We reached the Foundation, in time, to go through the discussions on Muthachhan's biography in English with Sathyan, the author. We went through the script and effected changes; in the process, had a late lunch - of puries and coffee from the Indian Coffee House, nearby - at 1530 hrs! Our discussions had gone beyond three hours, phew!
We, then, set for Neyyattinkara to discuss a legal issue regarding a property that houses one of our production units in the block panchayat. Before the discussions, we had 'darshan' of the good Lord at the famous Sri Krishna temple that also, once upon a time, housed the famous 'Ammachi plaavu' in whose trunk, there was a crevice in which King Marthanda Varma had hidden to escape the persecution from his enemies, the Ettuveettil Pillamaar! The legend has it that it was the good Lord, dressed as a young man, who'd guided the king into this safe shelter!!
On completion of another round of discussions and after handing over the case to the advocate, we had returned comparatively early!
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