Manthan 2018 - Day One

So I am here at my University - Sri Sri University :)
Why? To Organise Manthan 2018.
Whats that? :)

In the midst of all the planning, organising, meeting deadlines, so many realisations are happening :) 

Things I realised today while organising the 1st day of Manthan 2018! 

1. In the midst of 100 positive things, the mind clinges on to the negative. As Guruji said, to change this tendency of the mind is Abhyasa. I am happy about this awareness. I am seeing myself receiving positive and negative. I am ready and willing to surrender both :) 

2. Without remembering Him, there is no love in life. 

3. When you are working for a big project, the mind is in the present moment, and you stretch your capabilities. 

4. Everything is just. Happening. Today in Sadhana I realised thoughts arise in me, move in me, become the will to act, and then things happen. 

5. My mind is not stuck in so many events - it's just here in the present moment. 

6. Solutions to so called problems in life is utter commitment to a higher goal. 

7. I am proud of my smile. 

8. There is abundance of Grace moving with me.. making things happen :) And I am here, watching everything, and chilling :)

Personality Development through Medical Sciences

Dr, Gaytri Asawale, and Dr. Shruti, two physiotherapists who are now pursuing MA in Osteopathy Sciences conducted a workshop on "Personality Development through medical sciences" for the students of Good Governance and Public Policy. It was one of the most effective soft skills enhancement workshop offering instant results.

We started with the second most prominent fear-evoking problem in the world after the fear of death, the inhibitions associated with public speaking. We called Ranjita in the front who used to have issues in pronouncing certain syllables. The doctors told a simple exercise to take the tongue out and stretching the fingers wide open and walking on heels for five minutes. Ranjita did it and we were amazed to see the sounds she were not able to pronounce, she could with ease and confidence.

Next we had me as the patient-in-testing. They asked me to walk and then come and stand, and everyone could notice shrouded shoulders, extended neck, contrasted chest and a bent posture. They rectified each and every thing and asked me to walk again. The difference in my confidence level was phenomenal. I was not only feeling taller but much more confident.

Abhishek's walking style depicted how he is sourcing energy through the upper part of his body to walk. The doctors rectified it and made him source energy through the abdomen area. The walking became much more relaxed. We realized how we can save so much of our energy just by making slight changes in our walking and standing postures.

Next we practiced a simple breathing exercise to inhale and exhale each for 1 minute, purely through our stomach. The deeper we can breathe, the healthier and stress-free and relaxed a person is. We practiced this technique for two to three times and our scores increased from a few seconds to almost a minute , being able to feel completely relaxed and energized. Tremendous return in a matter of few minutes.

Being totally impressed by the pleasant way in which the doctors were conducting this workshop, we also asked them more tips for public speaking.
1. Just look in the mirror and talk to yourself daily for five minutes, and be comfortable with yourself.
2. Fix three points in the audience and keep connecting to them while speaking. A lot of us have a habit of looking at a single person while speaking, which is a put off for the entire audience. Frequent eye contacts with various sections of the audience keeps them connected.
3. Either smile yourself or make the audience smile. Extremely important.
4. Regular practice of the tongue exercise in the morning.

Simple, short and crisp - the 40 minutes workshop gave us techniques for lifetime. We couldn't even feel they were our batch mates when they were taking the workshop! Thankful to our faculty Kamala Kanta Sir for initiating and facilitating this cross-disciplinary culture of learning.

MA in Osteopathy is a first-of-its kind school in Asia which combines best of various medicine schools and offers a non-invasive, non-pharmacological, and non-surgical treatment. Revolutionary methods are being adopted combining the best of ancient and modern practices - the essence of the Sri Sri University!

Is Bhagavad Gita a Book of Religion? Or is it Secular?

Is Bhagavad Gita a book of religion? Or is it secular?

For the first time in the country, an effort was taken to impart the knowledge of ethics in governance through ancient wisdom in a modern University. ‘Learning ethics in governance through Bhagavad Gita” is a brainchild of Good Governance Department of Sri Sri University.  The wisdom of Bhagavad Gita has shown the path of righteous living and given enormous strength and purity of character to the greatest of men of all times – from Arjuna to Mahatma Gandhi. Why go far to learn ethics when we have a treasure in our own home.

But this needed the correct coach to guide the budding administrators and politicians – someone who has lived the Geeta by being in the system and experienced its wonders. And of course, His Holiness knew the best as always, when He asked veteran bureaucrat and Professor Sir Niten Chandra to take this course.

Niten Chandra Sir has been serving the country as an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer since more than 30 years and has played a crucial role in the development of Odisha. He is an avid multi-disciplinary reader and the students stands amused when he relates every subject under the sun from biology to philosophy to chemistry to economics to psychology to religion while teaching through the eternal wisdom that is Geeta. Sir has been learning and simultaneously preaching Gita since standard sixth! He has read most of the religions of the world, the Upanishads, the western philosophers, and this reflects in the unique teacher that he is.

A roller coaster ride it was. Something which can’t have any parallel. Last Sunday, when it had been two weeks since our Bhagavad Gita class had ended, we discussed on what all changes we were experiencing in our life after having gone through the Geeta. And the results were those which would make not only a better administrator, but a better person too.

13 of us started sharing. While majority of the class said emotional stability in their life has increased, most reported an increase in their concentration power. Supriya shared how the anxiety of the result had completely vanished from her life; Preeti said she is more willing to take responsibility. Fearlessness and higher perseverance dawned in Kushal. Shipra said the thing most people would like to attain – she had become more rudeness-proof! Her capacity to digest the rudeness of people had increased. Jasneet shared how she has removed self-imposed limitations. Ramneet shared how the knowledge of Geeta has helped her objectively analyse situations rather than flowing along with it. Vishnu feels more connected with The Divine. He also shared how he is able to ignore unnecessary thoughts. Satish has become more open to new knowledge and thoughts, and his power of self-evaluation and reflection has increased. Kushal shared how he no more gets angry at little things, and is very much under his senses whenever he gets frustrated. As of me, I have understood the difference between passion and feverishness, contentment and complacency. Earlier I was either very excited about something or lazy. The real skill, as His Holiness says, is to be content and give 100% at the same time. I think this has, at least, beginning to dawn.

Most of us also agreed on how our vision had broadened choosing to do those acts which are beneficial to common good and cohesion, rather than individual gain alone.

At the end, after seeing the above list displayed on the board, we were left totally awed, and so many serious introspections triggered. Are we as Indians doing justice to the heritage we have? Are we even remotely using the storehouse of practical and spiritual knowledge we have which provides tips even to a layman for a happy and successful living? Where all we end up searching “tips for a happy living”, when it is right here, waiting to reach hearts and souls of every human on this planet. Is Bhagavad Gita a book belonging only to one religion? Are the virtues mentioned above needed only to selective people on Earth? Or they have universal utility.. Bhagavad Gita is a book of life. It IS, the Art of Living.

Scholars and thinkers have so far considered conflict, rivalry, hatred and violence as inseparable part of human history. The problems have been postulated as insoluble and alternative mechanisms of State and Power have been conceived for regulation and social order. This appears to be a partial and temporary solution of the problem, since enduring peace is yet to be enjoyed by peoples. Having observed the effect of the lessons of BG it seems that the solution to problems of recurrent social discord lies in grasping the true essence of human nature and the world and the interaction between the two. BG points out vividly that the sources of conflict lie within the man in his incapacity to understand the true essence of things and consequently the repetition of his errors that redound to not only his own disadvantage but also to that of others. The rational framework of reality offered in BG can be employed to the advantage of the individual as well as the society by establishing harmony and peace within man and in his relationships. There is a need to educate people about the utility of BG as a book that can bring perfection in human beings, prosperity in communities and integration of nations, which are pretty much secular outcomes. 

Kapshi : Guru's Little Abode!

8th July 2015 

Kapshi : Guru's little abode

The moment we came out of it, sitting on the roadside facing the board welcoming visitors to Kapshi, I realised that the visit to this little village of people with big hearts was one of the most beautiful experiences of my life.

We left from Phaltan taking the regular bus, seeing the best of heavenly views on the either side of the road, when we discovered that the conductor forgot to stop the bus at Kapshi. Within five minutes of getting down, we got a jeep to Kapshi which directly dropped us inroads. Even that five minute walk on the road was memorable.
As part of our 15-day rural Maharashtra internship, we visited the Art of Living's Model Village - Kapsi, Phaltan.

Like any other Art Of Living visit, we were warmly recieved, feeling totally at home. "Jai Guru Dev" heard was much more warm, 100%, and with much more honor and pride here, as compared to cities. Vaibhav Bhaiya, a YLTP(Youth Leadership Training Program) teacher led us on a village tour which started with venturing through the sugarcane farm to Vishalakshi Bandh, a check-dam constructed by the villagers through ShramDaan and inaugurated by Gurudev in 2005. We also visited Gabrain Bandhs, learned about underground dams, got an idea of area measurements which we never understood otherwise, got an insight into the earning sources of the villagers, saw SoapPick toilet's advantages over normal ones and saw multicropping.

Despite travelling in rural India since so many days, now we were actually getting the taste of the village way of life to which we all really belong to. The pulling water out of well, Gaushala, the farmlands, to even that single hitting of the axe meant for a picture, something was constantly touching. Guruji says there are three steps to God : Peace, Joy, and Love. It was just an hour in the village and I could experience a bit of all of three, which kept on growing with each moment. The winds, the scenery and the skyline were all adding to the heavenly virtues of this land.

We happened to meet an old couple in the village. Like all the elderly in the village , they had this very strong presence, as if one would just start worshipping them, or sit close to them near their feet for love and knowledge. A treasure house of experiences and life, full of divinity. When we all touched their feet, they touched our feet back!! Which almost made me cry.. There is a tradition here in the land of Vitthal, originated in Pandupur, that since God is in every being, why should only young get the opportunity of taking blessings? Everyone has an equal right to Darshan. Just one of a million examples of deeply beautiful values that our imbibed in our culture.

Besides the eye-candy views and photoshoots, and the spiritual dwellings happening, we made sure we bombard our guides with all possible questions - from the farming methods to the temples to the economic mechanisms and the history of the village - asked as much as we can.

For the dinner we arrived at Praveen Bhaiya's place,another YLTP teacher. If for a moment we digest the fact that our super-materialistic super-packed-accommodation way of life - full of consumerism where our happiness is measured by the abundance of commodities in our house, I tell you.. They are living life king size. Vast farmlands, natural clean water, divine skylines in the day and blanket of stars in the night, pure chemical-free nutritious food, desi cow's amrut milk, and a giant pucca house to live in. The best things in the world are so freely accessible.. The nature really wants to give us.. And that too in abundance.. What are we running after in the cities!? So so away from where we all came from.

In the cities we have this perception that the life in the village is tough. Even when they have all modern facilities of telecommunication, laptop, personal conveyances, televisions etc., I think it really is, if one cannot understand the underlying thought of village life. Just one night in the village and it hit me so hard in the morning that we are mere visitors here. Here, on Earth. There is nothing to get attached to, nothing to lose and nothing to fear about. What is there to accumulate? How much will we keep...

The Guru story session in the night was a lot of goosebumps. Never heard before stories of Guru's infinite Grace and Care. Specially the Dinesh Bhaiya in Navratre one. And the Mahesh Giri one.

Doing all the morning chores in the open was also an amazing experience. Felt so free and open.

Doing Sandhyavandanam in Vaibhav Bhaiya's place was yet another memorable experience. I didn't plan to do Agnihotram but was gifted with cowdung, desi ghee, Chandan and even smallest of things like the newspaper and matchstick. It was so much pampering and honor at the same time. With Bhaiya's little ones - Siddharth, Shaurya and Mauli around , teaching them Om and their playfulness in the whole process was so sweet. Also was worth noting the fact how much respect we give in the villages to such holy processes, their mother was continuously instructing them to sit , with their hands folded. The 105 years old grandma who cant walk and can hardly listen, was sitting with her hands folded. Doing Sandhya in Master's village with all the perfect ingredients was special.

A completely nutritious breakfast was followed by perhaps the most enriching conversations of the entire internship - meeting the present Sarpanch, the previous Sarpanch and the Gram Sevak. The one hour discussion with them gave us deep insights into the Panchayati Raj functioning on-ground. Many conufusions and doubts got cleared.

Thank you Gurudev! :) <3 

From "I" to "We" to a "Successful We" !

3rd - 5th November 2015

Judy Van Zon, an internationally recognized coach took a workshop for us on "Team Collaboration and Relationship System Intelligence, Transforming the face of Leadership."
It was a three-day workshop full of team processes that focused on building emotional intelligence, peer understanding, better team building and effective communication.

We started off with greeting each other in a unique way, thinking what are those virtues that I want to have in a relationship and our not there. So someone who feels he needs to be more congenial, would greet every person in the hall saying "Hello! I am X. I would want to make people really comfortable in a relationship. I would like to be more congenial". Repeating the virtue which is lacking in our personal relationships while meeting all the 20 people in a hall triggered the introspection process which was to follow the next 3 days.

Our introductions were based on the main question : "What are we looking forward to take from this workshop"?
I have worked in a lot of teams in my life but they all were small teams, where I have always managed to strike a personal chord with my teammates and motivated them in a personalized fashion. I wanted to know that when the size of the team to be lead grows, how practical and necessary it is to strike personal chord with people given that I have limited energy. The second thing I wanted to know was that individual objectives often clash with group objectives, which leads to the source of happiness differing for many people. Not everyone bases thier happiness in the achievement of the common goals. How far should I go to take that extra mile to make everyone happy - given that I have limited time.

1. QUALITIES OF A GREAT TEAM
After these two basic things, we made one of the most important exercises of the workshop - we thought of the best team we have worked in, and had to note down all its qualities. For me, the team of Good Governance 2nd years who organised the freshers for juniors was the team I got to learn the most from. Everyone amongst us is a unique individual with a diverse set of strengths and qualities. I could figure out the following things which set our team as one of the most unique ones : -
1. One common unified objective (Group Sankalpa)
2. Diverse qualities of all the members exploited to the fullest.
3. Members were ready to move out of their comfort zone.
4. Everyone was working with a sense of love, service and belongingness.
5. Proper departmentalization of jobs.
6. A wave of positivity in everyone.
7. Willingness to help team members in need and pull their morale.

When we combined everyone's points; we could come out with more features of our ideal team :-
8. Togetherness.
9. Loyalty
10. Spontaneity

If we look at the above virtues closely, we would realise only a few (departmentalization, common objective, potential exploitation) are those linked with "productivity". However, majority of them are connected to "positivity". And we had one of the key mantras of making a successful team : "The focus in team building has to be on positivity, much more than productivity". Guruji recently tweeted : "Happiness depends 'only' on our mind. Keeping the mind happy makes work effortless. This is the skill for productivity".

2. THIRD ENTITY PROCESS 
Another striking process in the three-day workshop was the "Third Entity Process". Here, we literally got into the "shoes" of another person. Each of us did this process in pairs and conducted it for each other. One person guides, other person performs a monologue, fictitiously placing that person in front of them who in their life holds an important position and with whom they want to sort out something\understand them better. So in the first step we tell to our friend\parent\spouse how things are not working and where they feel its going wrong\what they don't like. Then in the second step they come out of their own role, and 'become' the person to whom they were complaining\explaining. They respond the way they think the person would have responded, had they actually spoken this to them. Now this moves the actor. Most of the times in life we are stuck with what we feel about others, our own views and perspective, our own set ideas of how things should be. When we get into the shoes of other person, our vision about the same issue broadens. We discover new sides of the same truth, some of them we are reminded of. Not like we didn't know any of them before, but doing this process "acting as the other person" internalizes the feelings of the other person in us. There is a difference between knowing or understanding something, and 'realizing' something. This is what hits.
At the third step, we move back, physically to our previous position and respond as we would actually have. A sense of acceptance, peace dawns at this moment, realizing there is a sense of truth in what other person feels too. At the fourth step, we move out of both the positions, see it from the perspective of a "third entity", and as a counselor, having heard both the parties, suggest what both of them should do. This makes us clear not only regarding what to expect from the other person, but also makes us realise where we are lacking. This step ushers in a lot of wisdom. At the last step, we move back to our own position and just feel. Each one of us reported amazing feedback. Lighter, calmer, more composed, opened up, free, wiser etc. Third entity process was really one of the key highlights of the entire workshop.

3. QUALITIES OF AN ETHICAL LEADER
We divided ourselves in smaller groups, and pondered on the vision with which His Holiness has founded the first of its kind school in India - "To nurture ethical leaders in politics". What are the qualities of an "ethical leader", the kind of leader whom we all want ourselves to be led by. After a lot of brainstorming and filtering of ideas, we finalized the following eight virtues :-

1. Visionary
2. Has Belongingness
3. Transparent
4. Spiritual
5. Doesn't Misuse Power
6. Service-Oriented
7. Respects Time
8. Unbiased

Receiving the Certificate of Participation from Judy Ma'am and V.C. Sir. Prof. Kamala Sir (extreme left), Vijaya Ma'am (in white) , Pratima Ma'am (extreme right)

4. THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND WHILE WORKING IN A TEAM
Through a host of other processes and discussions, lot of learning came out of us. It is important to note that none of all this was dictated, told to us; but everything came out as an experience, a basic value of experiential learning at Sri Sri University.

1. Existence of dominant voices in a team never benefits. Dominating voices ignore the wisdom which are contained in silent voices in a team, which is often very beneficial to common good. These take time to come forward. So never proceed ahead without making sure everyone has expressed their opinion.

2. There are typical tendencies in teams to follow the pattern already set. Never get flowed with patterns.

3. Focus of every member of the team should be on the whole and not on any particular individual. The focus should be on work.

4. Very often teams just start working without setting the agenda. When the purpose gets defined, the energies get synchronized.

5. Everyone is right only partially. There is a tinge of righteousness in every team member which needs to be acknowledged.

6. The focus has to be on "what needs to happen" instead of "who did what"

7. Some situations are out of control in any relationship and are not to be blamed.

8. Emotional Intelligence deals with "I", Social Intelligence deals with "You"; and Relationships System Intelligence deals with "We".

The interactive and thought-triggering processes were decorated with the amazing person Judy Ma'am is. The way she gave personal attention to all of us was amazing. Her sense of clear observation, perception and feedback was something which we really admired. The peace, belongingness and the service attitude which was present in not only her words and actions but her presence too was noteworthy.

Truly, one of a lifetime experience! Thankful to Judy Ma'am for coming and Vijaya Lakshmi Ma'am who got her here ! And of course, His Holiness who is guiding us throughout :)

A Day Out with an MLA!

25th November 2015

On the auspicious day of Kartik Poornima, we got an opportunity to interact with a young, dynamic, honest and candid MLA of Khandapada - Anubhav Patnaik. He got elected to Odisha Legislative Assembly in 2014 elections, and represents the ruling party - BJD. We followed him in our college bus to two functions where he inaugurated two new temples built in a thousands of year old temple – Nilmadhab Temple. We followed him in our university bus and were amazed to see how he manages his time - he had 25 appointments on a single day, that too when it was a holiday! Following him since the morning, we got to interact with him in one of his local party worker meet in late afternoon.

Following are some excerpts from our conversation with him.

Q.1 How important is the role of an MLA in resolving people's grievances?

A.1 MLAs are the face of the government for the people. Major part of my day is spent in listening to their problems and immediately corresponding with the local bureaucracy. MLAs are facilitators in the trickling down of govt schemes till the ground level. Recently the implementation of the Right to Food Act is facing a lot of problems since due errors of the field staff many eligible people have been devoid of the benefit. This is making news everyday in some or the other part of Odisha. I have been continuously overseeing the implementation of the scheme so that the intended benefits reach the people.

Q.2 How do you manage your legislative and your constituency-related work?

A.2 Legislation-related work is done by us only when the assembly is in session. On normal days, majority of time is spent in touring the constituency, attending public functions and listening to people's problems. This is because for us to get re-elected, people are not going to look at what laws are passed, even though legislations really matter in the long run. But for people their shelter, health, children, food, pension matters much more. How accessible and visible the MLA is in the constituency matters much more than his participation in the assembly debates.

Q.3 What is your vision related to your constituency?

A.3 My focus is on improving the economy of the constituency, since growth of other sectors is dependent on it. Kendrapada has 8-9 major tourist spots and we also have a well-connected road network. Proximity to Bhubaneswar is one of the key factors that can spurt the growth of tourism here. There is also a lot of scope of religious tourism as major spots related to Lord Jagganath are located here. 

I also plan to build a lot of embankments here as Mahanadi floods the fields mostly. I am also focussing on alternative forms of agriculture since that mine is a rural constituency.

Q.4 MLAs have a vision about their constituency but the administrative setup of the system devoids them of any bureaucracy of their own to serve them exclusively. What all options are available to put the vision into action?

A.4 A lot of needs of the people of the constituency are covered by the schemes of the Central and the State Government - herein the MLA plays the role of a facilitator, making sure schemes reaches the people and that grievances reach the bureaucracy. However for projects beyond the specified schemes, one would have to present to the concerned Secretary, or the Minister that the proposed projects have value\are needed. MLAs also go to the Chief Minister who is the key and the final decision maker. A lot of MLA-proposed development projects get passed, however taking into account the policy priorities.

MLAs also pool in resources, reach out to, and engage with NGOs, CSR, and International Organisations. If the constituency has the basic infrastructure, manpower and the required skills, it is possible to bring in corporate to invest. It also depends on how well the MLA is able to put his case forward and project the untapped potential of his constituency. Here in Kendrapada we are working in association with Tata Trust in various fields.

Q.5 Sir, people look upto MLAs and MPs as to someone who will solve all their problems. But many problems are to be dealt at the national\state level for which an MLA would have his limitations. How do you deal with people's expectations in such cases?

A.5 Very true! People look upto MLAs as super humans. We are also very impatient; we want our representatives to perform as soon as possible. Grievance handling is one of the major jobs of an MLA. One should have the power to absorb. You can’t shout back on people. Like in the Samudra Manthan Lord Maheshwara drank the poison, its very similar to that. One has to be an amazing, patient listener. 90% of the problems which people get to me are not solved, only 10% are solved. But the more important part is whether the MLA is able to listen and understand properly the grievance of the people.

Q.6 Suppose all MLAs reach the Secretariat demanding constituency-specific allocations, how are things worked out in that case?

A.6 Policy priorities play a very significant role and not always things are moulded according to the political considerations, or demands of the legislators. Yet my experience says Building a repo with the concerned Secretary and the Minister is very essential. I meet the relevant Ministers at least 10 times a month. Personal relationships matter a lot in getting things done.

Q.7 Please tell something about the innovative initiative of "Child Gram Sabhas".

A.7 Started in collaboration with UNICEF, Child Gram Sabhas is an initiative wherein we have Gram Sabhas of children and elected representatives, and children directly share their problems with them, who take it to the Government. Ours will be the first "child-friendly constituency" in the country!

Q.8 Your message for aspiring politicians?

A.8 Be a man of vision. Be very clear about the role you want to play at the Panchayat\Block\Constituency level and accordingly see where you want to reach. People need to look upto you, repose in you as someone who can solve their problems. As I said ultimately only a limited problems are solved, but the confidence one's personality evokes in people is very important.

This Shloka From Bhagavad Geeta Can Help Students Perform Better!

The basic requirement of being good at anything we do is having our mind 100% engrossed in it. And that is possible only when thoughts of some other person\object\event\situation are not troubling us. The major issue which every student faces is that the moment they sit for studying\any other intended productive activity, their minds are flooded with - how many likes they have on Facebook, how many friends have pinged them on Whatsapp, whether their GF-in-waiting have left them any message or not, or whether Siddharth Malhotra has posted a new selfie on Instagram. Isn’t like our kids are not intelligent\smart enough - we have the brightest of the brightest beings on this planet. But is our budding human resource - the Kalams and Modis and Sachins of tomorrow - being equipped with the basic knowledge of how their own mind plays with them? Not really.

This simple Shloka from the Bhagavad Geeta coupled with an illustration can easily convey the above. (Read them row by row. Move to next row only after reading the entire three columns)

Shloka (2.62, 2.63)	Meaning	Example
ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः	Thinking about the sense objects (विषया)	He\she was looking so attractive today. He\she didn’t even look at me.
सङ्गस्ते षूपजायते ।	A person develops attachment (सङ्ग) for them.	Something happens inside. A little naughty tickling :P
सङ्गात्संजायते कामः	From attachment develops Desire(कामः)	This little sweet feeling manifests as “I so badly wish we could spend some time together”
कामात्क्रोधो ऽभिजायते	Unfulfilled Desires lead to Frustration and Anger (त्क्रोधो)	Repeated “I want him\her” + “He\She doesn’t give me Bhav” = Frustration + Anger
क्रोधाद्भवति संमोहः	Anger leaders to Delusion (संमोहः)	In the frustrated state, Mind is unable to think about anything else. Maths book in front is as good as the desired boy\girl’s picture. As good as blindness.
संमोहात्स्मृति विभ्रमः	Delusion leads to Erosion of Memory(त्स्मृति विभ्रमः) (Past learning of what is right and wrong)	Mom Dad and teachers had told “In chakkaro mein nai padna varna padai mein dhyan nai lagega”. But the teenager can’t remember this anymore! He is as good as someone who is never taught this.
स्मृतिभ्रंशाद्बुद्धि नाशो	Erosion of Memory leads to Destruction of Thinking Power\Logic\Reason\ Intellect (बुद्धि नाशो)	Teenager’s own evolved brain won’t function since brain relies on past experiences of right and wrong to take a decision, the data which is inaccessible right now.
बुद्धि नाशात्प्रणश्यति	Destruction of Reasoning Ability leads to Failure of Man (त्प्रणश्यति) as it will lead to Wrong Actions	The teenager remains obsessed, loses focus, performs badly in examinations and subsequently faces peer competition\parent pressure and is drowned in guilt being unable to help himself.

I never realized before reading this Shloka that so much happens in the little mind of ours from the point the thought of my crush enters my mind till the time I see a bad Mark sheet! Did you?

No one ever told us the Circus happening in our mind every moment. Krishna told long back though.

So to reverse the above table – solution is clear enough. The moment an undesirable thought enters me – I just have to be aware, and stop thinking\ replace it with an alternate thought. Awareness right at the first level is necessary because dealing with a simple thought is much easier than dealing with desire/ anger/ consequence of a wrong action.

Also a well-established fact is the power and the vibration of the Shloka itself. Chanting the Shloka reminds us of this whole Drama that can take place if we don’t manage the thought straightaway! The moment your EX is about to enter your mind, just say to yourself... (“ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः ...) and your mind will immediately recall the entire flowchart above which ends in “failure”... the thought will stop right there.  Knowledge of the phenomenon itself that can happen inside our mind can take us out of the cobwebs.

Try out for yourself ;)