Bikram Lamba - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Videos by Bikram Lamba

James Webb Space Telescope Update Six months have passed since a European rocket lofted the Jame... more James Webb Space Telescope Update
Six months have passed since a European rocket lofted the James Webb Space Telescope into orbit. Since that time, the ultra-complex telescope has successfully unfolded its expansive sunshield, commissioned its science instruments, and reached an observation point more than 1 million km from Earth. Watch to know the present status

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Contribution of Guru Ramdas The followers of the Sikh religion recently celebrated the birthday ... more Contribution of Guru Ramdas
The followers of the Sikh religion recently celebrated the birthday of Guru Ramdas with gusto. Ram Das is the fourth Sikh Guru. He was born in Lahore, Pakistan. Son-in-law of the third Guru, he is famous for establishing Amritsar, but his contribution to Sikhism is manifold. Watch to know some great work that he did.

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Becoming an Authentic Human Being We are often puzzled why people can not be real. Why adopt a p... more Becoming an Authentic Human Being
We are often puzzled why people can not be real. Why adopt a pose? How to rip off this camouflage? Watch to know…

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Regain Your Focus On Work It can be hard to concentrate with all the inevitable distractions. If ... more Regain Your Focus On Work
It can be hard to concentrate with all the inevitable distractions. If you are struggling to focus on work then watch to know how to focus on work.

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Building Trust in Remote Teams For appropriate human intercourse- social, political, official, b... more Building Trust in Remote Teams
For appropriate human intercourse- social, political, official, business, trust is what matters most. Watch to know how to create trust in remote working conditions…

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Canadian Economy is Decapitalizing Canadian had a jolt day before when the bank of Canada increa... more Canadian Economy is Decapitalizing
Canadian had a jolt day before when the bank of Canada increased interest rates. But they have apparently forgotten that the inflation number from Statistics Canada — 7.7 per cent from May to May — has underlined that something is seriously wrong with Canada’s economy. Prices are rising fast because spending is rising fast while production is not. Watch to know the process of decapitalising.

Nature & the Hindu Way of Life Intersect Few people are aware that Hinduism is not only mantras a... more Nature & the Hindu Way of Life Intersect
Few people are aware that Hinduism is not only mantras and litany, not only plenitude of gods, but also an upholder of nature of ecology and a worshipper turned protector of nature. It might seem paradoxical, but that is a reality. Watch to know…

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Two Democracies at Edge of Division The largest and the biggest democracies of the world are app... more Two Democracies at Edge of Division
The largest and the biggest democracies of the world are apparently on the edge of being divided. Is the fear real? Watch to comprehend…

US sees China, not Russia, as Biggest Geopolitical Challenge In its 48-page National Security St... more US sees China, not Russia, as Biggest Geopolitical Challenge
In its 48-page National Security Strategy, the US has clearly focussed on its prime opponents and ways to deal with them. Watch to know about this revealing content.

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U.S. Doesn't Take Canada Seriously Long back, Canada used to carry some weight and when it talked... more U.S. Doesn't Take Canada Seriously
Long back, Canada used to carry some weight and when it talked, people listened, Now, it is not taken seriously. And the mode is set by the US. It has stopped caring for Canada. Watch to know…

Art Shows Buddha Wearing Folded Greek Tunics Early art shows Buddhas clad in neatly folded Greek... more Art Shows Buddha Wearing Folded Greek Tunics
Early art shows Buddhas clad in neatly folded Greek tunics and that has raised some questions, especially since this headgear is only in Eastern India, Afghani-stan, and central Asia Republics, but not in Bihar, Nepal, Japan, etc. Watch to know…

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Imperatives of New Army Chief in India For the first time in history, a non-fighting, but suppor... more Imperatives of New Army Chief in India
For the first time in history, a non-fighting, but supportive unit person becomes the Chief of Army in India. Watch to know the imperatives…

The Way China Reduced Poverty is a Lesson for India While the report that India has become the c... more The Way China Reduced Poverty is a Lesson for India
While the report that India has become the country with the fifth highest GDP was welcome news, the report that India has come down in poverty and hunger level index, behind Pakistan and Nepal, is disturbing. How can India get over the curse of poverty? Watch to know.

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The Sikh Concept of Ardas Ardas is something unique to Sikhism, and it is not a part of scripture... more The Sikh Concept of Ardas
Ardas is something unique to Sikhism, and it is not a part of scriptures, yet its importance cannot be in any way depreciated. What constitutes Ardas, what does it mean? To know, keep on watching….

Ways to Increase Your Willpower I am often asked Is there any method which can help a person inc... more Ways to Increase Your Willpower
I am often asked Is there any method which can help a person increase willpower?” My answer is, “There is no such medicine in this universe which can permanently jack up your willpower. However, five transformational practices can make your willpower ‘damage proof’ when observed like a habit!” Watch to know these practices.

Guru Granth Sahib The holy book of Sikhs is a compendium of hymns and poems composed by a variet... more Guru Granth Sahib
The holy book of Sikhs is a compendium of hymns and poems composed by a variety of poets, spirituals, singers and is set by classical Indian music ragas. Watch to know the intricate origin of this composition…

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Relevance of The Concept of Citizens’ Assembly Democracy way of governance is clearly failing, b... more Relevance of The Concept of Citizens’ Assembly
Democracy way of governance is clearly failing, but it still is the best. How about incorporating a new concept as part of this system. Watch to understand….

Ancient Roots, Not Constitution Sustain Indian Nationalism Does a written document make a nation... more Ancient Roots, Not Constitution Sustain Indian Nationalism
Does a written document make a nation? Does the concept of a nation evolve over the sustained adherence to culture and pursuit of common goals? Watch to comprehend.

Fixing Canada’s Chronic Labour Shortages “Tight” is an inadequate adjective for today’s labour m... more Fixing Canada’s Chronic Labour Shortages
“Tight” is an inadequate adjective for today’s labour market. Canada’s current paucity of spare labour — at all skill levels — is one of the top complaints of business. Watch to know how to deal with it…

Ukraine Tensions: NATO Forgetting China and Not Russia is Major Opponent As tensions ramp up bet... more Ukraine Tensions: NATO Forgetting China and Not Russia is Major Opponent
As tensions ramp up between Russia and the West over Ukraine, the democratic-liberal order faces yet another major challenge. According to reports, Russia has amassed around 100,000 troops backed by heavy weaponry on its border with Ukraine. Is the hysteria justified? Watch to understand the error of the West…

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Educational Philosophy and Theory, 2019

WordPress, 2023

Everybody has some regrets, but the issue is not not having regrets, but are you a pig wallowing ... more Everybody has some regrets, but the issue is not not having regrets, but are you a pig wallowing in mud. If not, you need to get over and keep. How to do so? Regret is often seen as undesirable, but it's a crucial emotion in helping us develop. How do we harness its powerful lessons? It sounds like a scene from a great romance. In 1981, a young American man named Bruce was on a train journey through northern France when a pretty brunette called Sandra boarded at Paris and sat next to him. Conversation came easily, and they were soon laughing and holding hands. When they reached her destination-a station in Belgium-they kissed, and on an impulse, Bruce considered jumping off the train with her to see where life may lead him. Instead, he quickly scribbled his name and parents' address on a scrap of paper. Almost as soon as the doors had closed, Bruce regretted not having gone with his gut feeling. After his return to the US, he received a letter from Sandra. "Maybe it's crazy, but when I think about you, I'm smiling," it said, but-mysteriously-contained no return address. In the decades since that encounter, Bruce has never stopped wondering what might have happened if he'd stepped down onto that platform.

WordPress, 2023

The term “nepo baby,” which refers to people whose quick rise to success and fame is partially du... more The term “nepo baby,” which refers to people whose quick rise to success and fame is partially due to their family’s influence and status, is a relatively recent addition to the extensive list of internet lexicons. It gained enormous popularity after New York Magazine’s December cover package offering an “all but definitive guide to the Hollywood nepo-verse”, featured famous “Nepo Babies” in diapers and offered an absurdly detailed examination of society’s love-hate obsession with them. It all started with a February 2022 tweet by Meriem Derradji, a 25- year-old Canadian tech-support worker, who coined the term itself after discovering that Maude Apatow had two famous parents.

WordPress, 2023

The notion of Hell predates Christianity by thousands of years by Egyptian and sources of Jewish ... more The notion of Hell predates Christianity by thousands of years by Egyptian and sources of Jewish mysticism such as the Kabbalah. The Kabbalah mentions seven different divisions of Hell (including, 'Gehinnom' and 'Sheol' meaning Hades or underworld is the most common) and seven divisions of Heaven. 'And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, some to shame and everlasting contempt'. (Daniel 12:2)In historic Protestant traditions, hell is the place created by God for the punishment of the devil and fallen angels (cf. Matthew 25:41), and those whose names are not written in the book of life (cf. Revelation 20:15).

WordPress, 2023

When I first visited the dargah of Qalandar, I was simply enthralled by the sight of the golden w... more When I first visited the dargah of Qalandar, I was simply enthralled by the sight of the golden wheat crop, being harvested and threshed on a sunny day, lines the route to Sehwan, giving a dazzling look as the dargah of Qalandar Lal Shahbaz becomes visible from the Indus Highway. Sehwan-where considerable parts of the town were battered by devastating floods last September-is filled with devotees, including children, elders and women from all parts of the country who have come to show their love and respect for the saint. The three-day urs celebrations begin officially on Saturday but in the spiritual sense, the event commences on Friday evening after Maghrib prayers, as the 18th of Shabaan, which marks the first day of the urs, begins at sunset. In Sufi parlance, urs of a spiritual personality is an event that marks the departure of a saint from this world for the hereafter.

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Nearly ninety-eight per cent of the adult population of the earth carry some baggage of superstit... more Nearly ninety-eight per cent of the adult population of the earth carry some baggage of superstitions, myths, and illusions in addition to inborn and inherent prejudices. The remaining two per cent who may claim to be rationalists are also not totally free from the influence of superstitions. The older the civilization, the bigger is the basket of superstitions and myths. By that count, the two living ancient civilizations ~ Indian and Chinese ~ should have the largest burden of superstitions. Every country, every community and every religion has its share of superstitions but new ones are added coming from other countries because of globalization. In fact, the list is endless; if one tries to compile all of them in a book, it may run into dozens of volumes. Superstition is defined as "belief that is not based on human reason or scientific knowledge, but is connected with old ideas about magic, etc." (Cambridge Dictionary). According to Merriam-Webster, the meaning of superstition is "a belief or practice resulting from ignorance, fear of the unknown, trust in magic or chance or a false conception of causation." Whatever way it is defined, superstition has no scientific evidence or causal relationship with reality.

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There are eyes everywhere. They watch us in offices and homes as we work, in company vehicles as ... more There are eyes everywhere. They watch us in offices and homes as we work, in company vehicles as we travel, in agricultural fields as we harvest produce, and in sports arenas as we compete or perform. We are not only watched in more places, we are also monitored more often-some companies even watch their employees as they sleep. Indeed, for many whose jobs are surveilled, work is becoming a dystopia of micro-measurements. Slight changes in our movements can be tracked and catalogued, including facial expressions and tone of voice, which can even be used to determine if we are conveying sufficient empathy. And yet, though surveillance is increasing, it can be profoundly maladroit. In some cases, monitoring leads employees to engage in counterproductive actions, such as simply working less, rather than more. Monitoring also affects us in more insidious ways: it can damage motivation and trust, cause stress, and decrease creativity. And the loss

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Are human lives worth living? And, if so, is life worth living unconditionally-or are there condi... more Are human lives worth living? And, if so, is life worth living unconditionally-or are there conditions attached? The philosophical debate about these profound and uncomfortable questions has a long history, going back to ancient Greek and Roman philosophy. Much of what the ancients had to say about these issues is bound to alienate a modern audience. And yet, by reckoning with their views of the life worth living, we can not only better understand how the ancients saw the world, but also find a probing angle to engage with our modern intuitions about these controversial questions..

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When you start to notice them, psychopaths seem to be everywhere. This is especially true of peop... more When you start to notice them, psychopaths seem to be everywhere. This is especially true of people in powerful places. By one estimate, as many as 20% of business leaders have "clinically relevant levels" of psychopathic tendencies-despite the fact as little as 1% of the general population are considered psychopaths. Psychopaths are characterised by shallow emotions, a lack of empathy, immorality, antisocial behaviour and, importantly, deceptiveness. From an evolutionary point of view, psychopathy is puzzling. Given that psychopathic traits are so negative, why do they remain in successive generations? Psychopathy seems to be, in the words of biologists, "maladaptive", or disadvantageous. Assuming there's a genetic component to this family of disorders, we'd expect it to decrease over time. But that's not what we see-and there's evidence that the tendencies are, at least in some contexts, an evolutionary benefit. The reason for this may be down to the ability to fake desirable qualities through deception.

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The Shabads in Guru Granth appear to be a special kind of technology with a unique contribution t... more The Shabads in Guru Granth appear to be a special kind of technology with a unique contribution to develop potentials and handle the problems of the Aquarian Age.

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With new age comes new-age problems. Typical among them is the increasing usage of tools like Wha... more With new age comes new-age problems. Typical among them is the increasing usage of tools like WhatsApp and their underlying consequences. With the regular use of tools like WhatsApp within regular office groups, it seems managers, supervisors, and we ourselves have lost the art of conversing. Let's see why this could be so.

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Cultural exchange is often assumed to be progressive, but it has neither an inherent politics nor... more Cultural exchange is often assumed to be progressive, but it has neither an inherent politics nor an inevitable outcome. As nationalism rises across the globe, many see ‘cultural exchange’ as the antidote to nationalist xenophobia. Such exchange was, in fact, an integral part of the emergence of national literatures, cultures and identities in Iran and South Asia. Rather than resulting in greater cosmopolitanism, Indo-Iranian exchange fostered modern nationalism.
Today, Persian is the national language of Iran. Although it has a long history there, its national status and close association with the country depend on events in the 19th century. As the Russian Empire swallowed up swathes of Iranian territory in the 1810s and ’20s, and the sclerotic Qajar dynasty ruling Iran proved incapable of resistance, Iranian nationalism emerged to challenge both foreign imperialism and local despotism.

WordPress, 2023

Browsing through Bob Thurman's translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, I was struck by the t... more Browsing through Bob Thurman's translation of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, I was struck by the term describing Tibetan spiritual explorers: the psychonauts. As opposed to Western-style astronauts who venture out of Planet Earth to explore the physical universe to know what lies beyond, psychonauts were "inner world adventurers of the highest daring, who personally voyaged to the furthest frontiers of that universe which their society deemed vital to explore-the inner frontiers of consciousness itself, in all its transformations in life and beyond death." 'Psychonautics', derived from Greek root words meaning 'navigating the mind', a beautiful way to explain the need to understand the universe within as much or even more than the need we feel to explore and understand the universe out there. And navigation requires guidance, compass, coordinates, and a vehicle that will take one there.

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The term ‘Shiv’ means ‘auspicious’ and the ‘source of all bliss’. The eight attributes of Shiv ar... more The term ‘Shiv’ means ‘auspicious’ and the ‘source of all bliss’. The eight attributes of Shiv are: self-existence, purity, self-knowledge, omniscience, boundless benevolence, omnipotence, bliss, and absence of malaise, that is, defilement and impurities. Anugraha, compassion is his nature and love is his being.
In the Mahabharat, when Yudhishtir asks Bhishm Pitamah about the greatness of Shiv, the latter replies, “No less a person than Krishn, Vishnu, can describe the greatness of Shiv”. And when Krishn is asked, he says it is impossible to describe all the qualities of Shiv, because he is the most mysterious of the trinity of Hinduism.

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In today's modern world, every step is guided by modern managerial precepts. Management guides al... more In today's modern world, every step is guided by modern managerial precepts. Management guides all subjects, whether it is finance and banking, the corporate sector, the manufacturing industry, the military and agriculture, the vast engineering field, or health services. We have recently seen how poor management practises have caused chaos all over the world. The Western management philosophy is based on the allure of materialism and a perpetual thirst for profit, regardless of the quality of the means used to achieve that goal. This phenomenon stems from the West's abundant wealth, and as a result,' management by materialism' has piqued the interest of all countries around the world, including India. India, has been at the forefront of importing these ideas, owing to centuries of in doctrination by colonial rulers, who instilled in us the belief that anything Western is superior and anything Indian is inferior. As a result, despite large sums of money being invested in the construction of temples of modern management education, no discernible changes in the general quality of life are visible, despite the fact that the living standards of a few have risen. The same old struggles in almost every sector of the economy, criminalisation of institutions, social violence, exploitation, and other vices are visible deep within society.

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Last week, the official Twitter handle of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) shared a video of 2022's... more Last week, the official Twitter handle of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) shared a video of 2022's Pakistan Day parade, in which the guest of honour was the then prime minister of the country, Imran Khan. Apart from posting contemporary videos of Khan exercising, praying or meeting party members, PTI Twitter handles also share older videos of Khan when he was a dashing cricketer, or of him with his first wife Jemima Goldsmith.

WordPress, 2023

Today we are celebrating Women's Day and I am recollect that in childhood, we were told stories o... more Today we are celebrating Women's Day and I am recollect that in childhood, we were told stories of Sita, the ever suffering; Draupadi, the one with unstinted faith; Ahalya of fortitude; Mandodari, Ravan's devoted wife; Kaikeyi who missed the love of her spouse; Kausalya, the fortunate mother; Sumitra, the obedient junior; Surpanaka the lascivious; Kunti, the one who conceived through mantras, Savitri who won over Yama and so on. Less often were told the stories of Jabala, Maitreyi, and Shandili, to mention a few. Thus, we missed out on some vital lessons. Jabala had a son called Satyakam. He went to a teacher and asked to be taught. The teacher said it was necessary for him to know if his student was of the right mettle, for teaching could be imparted only to the high-born. So, he asked him his lineage. Satyakam went to his mother and asked who his father was. The confident mother told him she had had many paramours then, and so she was not sure. "Tell your teacher, you are Jabala's son," she said. "That should suffice." She was unashamed and unapologetic. She stood tall. How many mothers have the confidence to tell their children to be known by their name? Maitreyi yearned to learn philosophy from Yajnavalkya. She got married to him, for then it would be easier to establish the student-teacher relationship. One fine day, he called his wives and declared that he would like to divide his property between them, as he himself was renouncing the world to seek the Supreme. Katyayani, his first wife, took her share. "Will your riches give me what you are going to seek?" asked Maitreyi. When he said it would not, she said she didn't want his wealth, and that she too would renounce the world to seek enlightenment. Yajnavalkya thought it would be too much for her. "When you have renounced me, how can you decide my actions?" she replied and went ahead with her quest.

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The British Empire was one of the largest colonial empires in history, which is a masterful feat,... more The British Empire was one of the largest colonial empires in history, which is a masterful feat, given the country's comparatively small size. How did the empire become so wildly successful at expanding? There were many factors at play, and we will dive into some of the major ones below.

LinkeIn, 2021

This deals with the issue of living longer and identifies the parameters that can enable one to... more This deals with the issue of living longer and identifies the parameters that can enable one to do so