Lessons from Mahabharat - ‘The Game of Dice’

The Ramayana and the Mahabharat are two famous and revered epics of India.Both these were written thousands of years back in Sanskrit and have a number of lessons which are very relevant even today. 

A version of Ramayana in Hindi (Avadhi), named Ramcharit Manas  was written by Goswami Tulasi Das. Copies of this are kept in most Hindu households and this version/translation is as revered as the original version in Sanskrit by Valmiki. The Mahabharat is not given the same place and is generally not kept in the house even by the staunch Hindus.  It would be a rare house which may have a copy of this book. Only one part of this big book, known as Gita, which covers dialogues between Lord Krishna and Arjun, is kept as a holy scripture and is read/studied. Mahabharat is the story of war between two group of cousins in which one group which was not on the path of ‘Dharma’ was eliminated and the one which was on the path of ‘Dharma’ was victorious. It has a number of stories within the main story dealing with the different characters of the plot. All these stories within the main story contain a number of teachings and give us messages. A number of these lessons are still relevant even in the modern world. It is not the place to discuss the message of Gita or what these books mean to Hindus. Only point to note is the fact that while Ramayana and/or Ramcharit Manas is found in most houses, Mahabharat is not.

Recently Kamala Hasan made some statements about the episode dealing with the ‘Game of Dice’ and got into controversy. I had heard the debate on this issue on TV and found that most of the ‘experts’, arguing one point or the other, had missed and what I consider as the most relevant lesson/message that this episode has for present times.

As readers would recall Yudhishthir, King of Khandav Pradesh, was invited for a ‘Game of Dice’ by Duryodhan. As per the practice of those times such an invitation could not be refused. So the 5 brothers went to Hastinapur and the game started in the main court with Dhratrashtra, the King and Maharani Gandhari, the Queen in the chair. The attendance in the court was full and it had great grandfather Bhishm and Guru Dronacharya and other important senior members. Mahatma Vidur objected and did not want the ‘Game of Dice’ to be played. He kept giving different reasons why the King should not give permission to start the game. Pitted against him were Shakuni, Duryodhan and company. Poor Kaka Vidur could not get the king to agree with him and in protest he staged a walk out and left the court.

The game started and as is well known Yudhishthar lost all that belonged to him – his kingdom, personal property and belongings etc. He then staked his bothers and lost them; after that he lost himself and then he put his queen Draupadi on stake and lost her too. The game plan of Duryodhan and his wicked uncle, Mama Shakuni had succeeded. They all were too thrilled. Duryodhan ordered that Draupadi, now a slave woman, be summoned to the court. The court messenger was sent and on return he reported that she was not ready to come and that she had declined to come to court. This enraged Duryodhan who ordered his brother Dushashan to go and get her and if required even drag her to the court. Karna who was on Duryodhan’s side uttered insulting words for her. The Pandavas, being slaves of Duryodhan could not protest. Finally Dushashan caught her by her heir and dragged her to the court. She appealed to all those in the court to have mercy on her. She argued that it was wrong to assume Duryodhan and Dushashan had any right to do what they were doing. She urged and explained them how wrong it was that she was brought into the court in that manner. Her words fell on deaf ears. No one supported her  or came to her rescue.

Duryodhan then ordered his brother to disrobe her and Dushashan pulled her sari. At that moment Lord Krishna came to her rescue and saved her. Dudhashan kept pulling the sari till he was tired and stopped but Draupadi was not disrobed because Lord had increased the length of the sari. When he stopped she addressed that King, Queen and the full court and was about to curse all of them, when the Queen, Gandhari requested her to stop. She pleaded with Draupadi and requested her not to curse the kingdom or Kauravas. She asked the king to return all that Yudhishthir had lost and to free Pandavas of slavery and to restore ‘status quo ante’ and the king quickly did that. So before Duryodhan, Shakuni and others realized all was returned to Yudhishthir. Draupadi left the court for inner chambers.

At the behest of mama Shakuni, the crown prince Duryodhan asked one more round of the ‘Dice Game’ and kept the famous condition of ‘Vanvaas’ with one year of ‘Agyant Vaas’. As the readers will recall the last round was played and Yudhishthar lost and Pandavas went for Vanvaas.

This episode does not end here, in fact the story take a turn at this point. Pandavas go to the forest and prepare for war in case they have to fight one and Kauravs get busy enjoying what they had. Duryodhan got more determined to inherit the full kingdom and not to share any part of it with Pandavas.

How was the injustice done to Draupadi avenged? She had vowed not to tie her heir till she got justice. Bhima had vowed that he would bring blood of Dushashan to wash her heir. He had also vowed to kill Dushashan and Duryodhan. Arjun had vowed to cut Karna’s tongue as he had uttered bad words for Drupadi. Later at one place in Mahabharat the Lord explained that Duryodhan, Shakuni, Dushashan and Karna were certainly guilty of insulting Draupati but those others who were present in the court and did nothing to protect/defend her were also as guilty. He was very clear that not only the active players in the ‘Game of Dice’ but the passive spectator,s who did not come forward to help and protect Draupadi, shall also be killed in the war.

This episode has two clear learning points/ messages –

1. that women should not be disrespected or insulted and anyone doing it will have to pay for it with his life. Therefore, no one should even dream to committing such a sin, and
2. those who see any such act or any atrocity being inflicted on women have a duty to confront the perpetrator, to oppose any such action and to protect and defend the woman. If they do not defend/protect her then they too are as guilty as those who commit such a sin/crime.

I am sure a lot of crime against women will stop if all remember these lessons from this great epic.

'Reflex' Knowledge

It may appear to be a strange term and I promise it would not appear so strange once you go through the following paragraphs. 

I had used a Nokia phone till 2013. It was a very good and versatile piece and battery lasted for two days during the busy time and about 4 days when one was not busy or was holidaying. I suppose all know the story of Nokia – it is a company which suddenly lost market share and business. The management had made no mistake at the operational and tactical level. Only the ‘cheese’ had moved and it was a bit too late when they noticed it. It has been in news for making a comeback. That all would be a part of some other blog-post so let us stick to the above theme. Things changed in a major way when my brother presented me with an iPhone in early 2014. 

Initially it was very difficult to operate iPhone because except for making phone calls no other operation was obvious. One had to start from scratch. It was not simple to attach it to laptop and send mails or transfer files as I was used to with Nokia phone. Basic working procedures were entirely different. It did not take long to get used to the comforts of iPhone and to use it with all its functionalities. Over time one bought iPad and MacBook. Life could not have been simpler. No matter what book you were reading on one device, you continued reading it even after changing device and most often without wasting time on locating the page. I had used ‘Apple Mackintosh’ in 1988 and have always admired genius of ‘Steve Jobs’. It is not the time or place to sing praises of ‘Apple’ company or ‘Mac’ operating system. As we know all ‘good’ and ‘bad’ times come with and an expiry date. This too had one such time. 

Excessive use had an impact on the battery and it would not last long – had to be charged a few times each day. Only option was to carry a battery pack. It was a good solution with a major drawback - the system (iPhone + battery pack) was bulky and not as comfortable. This ‘Band-Aid’ solution did not last long and my daughter bought an ‘Android’ phone for me. ‘A very cute, simple and easy to use device’ - so she said. I fell for it and got a ‘micro’ sim for it and exchanged it for my old iPhone. It took me about an hour or so to install different ‘apps’ and to log into them and port the phone numbers through Google etc.. I was thrilled and I thought I got a very good deal and I was the winner. My daughter happily took my old iPhone, got the battery changed and used it like an iPod – listening to songs, watching movies etc. She was certain she was the ‘winner’. 

She had promised to help me out during the transition period – unlearning iPhone and learning Android. I kept asking her how such and such thing would be done and she patiently explained each time. I did notice a few discordant notes once when I called her at her office and wanted to know some operation. So I changed mode and decided to explore it myself and to discover different operations using an old and well known technique – ‘trial and error’. Most applications and functions were open to intuitive learning and had a short learning curve. These were mastered quickly. Soon within 2-3 days I was very comfortable with it because I had explored and mastered a number of operations. I felt that the ‘Android’ was the coolest thing and definitely very easy to use besides being a very versatile system. It gave so much of power that one could spend time and stay gainfully engaged. 

As I said earlier – good and bad times come with expiry date and this too came to an abrupt end. My brother-in-law presented me with an iPhone. This was lighter, slimmer and more ‘cute’. It required a ‘micro’ sim so I took the sim out of the ‘Android’ phone and put it in the ‘iPhone’. Within a short time ‘apps’ were installed and made operational. It imported all old data from the iCloud in a second. I could feel the ‘power’ of the earlier functional system coming back to me. Changeover was smooth and within a few days I was comfortable as if I had never stopped using the system. After two-three days I realized that phone was not ringing and if I did not see the flickering light and feel vibrations I would miss the incoming calls. I kept ‘swiping’ my finger ‘up-and down’ and exploring the ‘settings’. Changed ‘volume’, ring tones etc. but it could not hear ‘ring’ for incoming calls. I had used iPhone for over 3 years and was not new to Mac system so I felt a bit challenged in seeking help. During one of the hour long metro rides back from Delhi I decided to put in efforts to find what was wrong. Spent over 30 minutes but could not identify. Each time I would ‘swipe’ my fingers and go though ‘settings’ make changes and wait for the call only to notice that the changes did not work.

When all efforts failed, I decided to follow the standard problem solving method used by software programmers – start afresh (from the first step onwards) – take a deep breath – state the problem clearly and if required repeat till you clearly remember it – think of the steps for solving it – analyses the stages which could give problems. Guess what? Within a second I remembered that iPhone has a small physical switch to put it on ‘silent’ mode. I recalled that a few days back while I was attending a meeting, the phone had started ringing and as a reflex action I had switched it to ‘silent’ mode. I had completely forgotten this reflex action and had been going through the software settings route which I had got used to in the last 10-15 days and obviously I had been unable to find the solution. 

I analyzed all this action realized that I was working with ‘reflex’ knowledge and till I broke that chain no solution could have come to me. We all have heard of ‘reflex action’. When we get some input/stimuli our mental faculties work and direct us to respond. Using mental faculties to analyze stimuli to decide on correct response, increases our response time and slows down the action/reaction. This is the reason that in training for Martial Arts, or in the Army and Police training the trainees are asked to train so much that the response is conditioned and is an immediate one. The three stage process of response, ‘stimuli – analysis – response’ is changed to a two stage process, ‘stimuli– response’. 

What was happening to me was something similar. There is so much of intuitive learning in use of phone that mind was analyzing and directing action. What I wanted to do was getting communicated to fingers without a conscious analysis. It was surprising to note that it had taken my intuitive system only 10-12 days to forget that iPhone uses a physical switch for putting it on ‘silent’ mode. My system had learnt the ‘Android’ way of going through ‘settings’ and selecting options. 

It was when I consciously thought about the problem/actions from the first principle that I realized the mistake and corrected it. We all have to be conscious of this ‘reflex- knowledge’ to ensure that we do not waste time, efforts and energy.

Those who have may recall 'Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Kahneman will spot that the System 1 keeps working and we have to make a conscious efforts to 'shake' lazy one, the System 2, before it starts working.

Feedback for Metro

I am writing some suggestions that have come to my mind after what I have noticed on the system through my experience of traveling on it for about 2 months. The details of the suggestions/actions could be worked out and submitted if required:

• It was noted that when someone loses the Metro Travel Card, the money in it gets lost or it is used by the person who finds it. The Metro cards are electronic devices and can be so programed that they are linked to the Debit/Credit Card through which they were purchased and/or they were last charged. In case of lost card the owner may inform the Metro after identifying herself/himself through the same Debit/Credit Card and ask Metro to block the card and transfer the money to the new card. If the lost card is used by anyone in future it may sound an alarm to the Metro staff that the card is a ‘Blocked Card’.

• There is a ‘Yellow’ line marked on the platform by a line of tiles at a distance of about 2 ft parallel to the track and passengers are expected not to cross this line till the train stops. The announcements at the PA system keeps asking commuters to stay behind this ‘Yellow’ line till the train does not come to a stops. Often the passengers do not listen to this or follow it. Since these are special tiles which mark the line, these may be got so designed that they have a text written on them –“Cross after Train Stops”. Such a writing on the tiles would be observed and will have higher compliance. 
  
• Staff Dragging the Barriers: The staff keeps a stainless barrier across the stairs or the lift when these are under repair. These do not have rubber fitted at the lower legs and it also does not have wheels. The staff often drags it on the floor when moving it from one place to another and damage the floor. It may be fitted with rubber pads at the legs or may have wheels so that the flower does not get damaged.

• Broken Tiles: At the landings of the staircase one finds broken tiles. These do not get replaced quickly and one has to negotiate these broken tiles for days. The staff may be sensitized to keep a watch and get them repaired quickly as that would help passengers and Metro both. The broken tiles end up getting the adjoining tiles damaged.

• Support at the Steps:
• The support at the staircases have to be maintained so that one can hold it while going up or going down. I have seen stations where these have remained broken/damaged for weeks (last 2 weeks).
• It is also noted that there are 4-5 steps before the start of main staircase/escalator and there is no support railing there. One has to negotiate it without any support.

• Water on the Stairs during rains: The floor and staircases have granite or tiles and these become very slippery when it rains as these are not protected from rain. Having a small ‘Ledge’ over could provide relief. Fortunately there is staff which wipes the water out of these areas so the inconvenience is short lived.

• The outer concourse at some of the stations is rather dirty. These have to be maintained as clean as the system inside.

• It is noted that at some of the stations birds (mostly pigeons) get trapped at the highest floor of the Metro station. They remains there for days and dirty the place. These have to be checked at the ‘bird prone’ stations on daily basis and chased and let out or caught and left out.

• The different lines of Metro have color code. At the stations there are ‘foot print shaped’ markings to guide the passengers. These have to be inspected periodically so that these are replaced when they get worn out.

• Stations are well made and well kept, therefore, it is important that there is a laid down periodic schedule to inspect each and every item and to get it attended to so that these are maintained for times to come.

• Only a few of the stations have paid toilets. However, there is no marking to tell commuters which stations have these facilities. These may be indicated on the map itself through a color code or by a double underline mark etc. 

• The information at the LED board at the station, at the Train and PA system have to be in sync and correct.