Peteru, The Peter Principle, Peter England and The Peter Pan

The Peter Principle, from what I understand, is related to the Law of Averages...that everything comes to the average over a period of time. While statistically correct, it needs to be understood in the context of life and not as dry science or maths. Can we take it that someone playing a game, for example, after an initial brilliance (or abject failure) will eventually become an average player? If that is so, then how can one explain those sportsmen who just keep achieving records or going on an unstoppable winning streak, like Roger Federer or Sachin Tendulkar or Bruce Lee etc., to name a few? Saurav Ganguly, the ex-Indian captain, was playing along with Tendulkar for the most part and since they were 2 greats, there was obviously a rivalry. Ganguly was molded to be a captain while Tendulkar, a batsman. When the selectors found that Ganguly was past his prime and there were a lot of youngsters standing on the queue to be in the team, they gave the signals asking him to retire. And he did so and thankfully for him, the Indian Premier League just got started and he became a part of it. Now, when age was catching up with Tendulkar too, an interviewer put the question to Ganguly on why unlike him, others were getting preferential treatment. He replied that there was bias in the selection committee. But a fact of the matter is that Tendulkar came in at the age of 16 and so if he had stayed long, it was because of this reason. A little later Tendulkar went and smashed quite many centuries and commentators just said that age had no effect on Tendulkar and he was playing like how he did 2 decades back. Not only this, he went on to become the first and only cricketer to score 200 runs in a match. This time, when Ganguly was asked what he thought about the 200 runs, he said that he always knew that Tendulkar could do it. While this is going on, Tendulkar also got his team, the Mumbai Indians, to the final of IPL and so his backers retained him in the squad for the next season while Ganguly's backers just dropped him not giving any respect for the brand value that went along with his name as the past Indian cricket captain. I care neither for Tendulkar nor Ganguly...if anything, I liked Ganguly a little better than Tendulkar because Tendulkar was too rude back then. When Tendulkar said in a commercial that after playing long, he has learnt that he is a competition to himself, I attributed it to arrogance but in truth, it was just that he was creating a bench-mark for himself and trying to reach it everyday. Just because I support Tendulkar now, it doesn't mean that I haven't had or still have a Ganguly in me. These are universal thoughts and feelings that is there in everyone, you, me, Tendulkar, Ganguly etc. There is no point in crying over the other person going up because everyone is made uniquely and expecting everyone, including oneself, to settle for an average using the Peter Principle as a support is nonsense. The Peter Principle still holds in the sense that as everyone reaches the top, each has an aspect in which he or she is uniquely the best where the rest are averages...like master of one trade and jack of many. For example, a Peacock or Koel or Sparrow all share many average features but still perfect in their own unique way.

Over here, Peteru is a colloquial word when someone puts on a front or acts like a bigshot, a slang for passion, whether the person has weight or not. Its' both used as teasing among friends as well as for saying something nasty behind another's back. It comes from the western style and attitude we have from the time the Britishers were here which was then taken over by the Americans.


Peter Pan is the character who is an adult physically but still has the mindset of an adolescent or youth or teenager. A state of growing up or evolution.

Peter England is a brand name of a shirt in India. Their slogan is...Peter England - The Honest Shirt. I like and buy them because they are reasonably prized and of a quality that I can go along with (unlike the others which come at higher cost and a supposedly higher quality).The funny thing is...it's factory or company has no link with any business houses in England...it's as if the name has just been shrewdly branded. It's a smart move because it's a western outfit and the name is quite common. It seems to be an evolved state since the brand did make a good impact when it was launched and I guess it has made profits.

So why I have combined the 4 into 1? To me, it looks like these 4 are a natural progression (though I'm not sure about the order) from Tamas to Rajas to Sattva and finally transcending all these.

Relationships for the Dummies

Read "The MindGgym - Relationships".

I even found a parellel with the Charama Slokam and other things with what they had written in the introductory section.

On improving relations, they had mentioned 5 things...I don't have the book with me now and so i can't tell the exact words.

1. Security  - The need for everyone to feel loved, appreciated, safe etc. This corresponds to the Sharanam (refuge).
2. Keep fit - In the sense of being willing to spend energy to improve the relationships. This corresponds to the Vraja (come).
3. It's a system - It's said that many people and things are inter-connected like time, environment and others. This corresponds to the Yekam (One).
4. Many me - Roles everyone has in a relationship changes with time like when a son becomes a friend after growing up as also one is a lover to one, a friend to another, a mother to yet another etc. This corresponds to Maam (Me).
5. The choice factor which gives a sense of control and responsibility leading to habit formation which in turn decides the destiny of the relationship. This corresponds to the Samyama of Dharana (focus), Dhyana (meditation)and Samadhi (self-nature).

The book is ofcourse a lot bigger than this and this just caught my eye. Someone with a Christian background will immediately like the 'I'm ok, you're ok' premise which is a restatement of the Golden Rule in Transactional Analysis. The book covers a lot of emotional issues which not only affect relationships but also every other aspect of life like job. There's a lot of tips based on controlled psychological experimental research and practical suggestions, many of which is not new but still added as part of the package to make it comprehensive. there is also an online website to work out in the mind gym. I will go to the extent of even saying that this book is good as the Bible or the Gita or the Koran for the majority of the people of our times. I have said majority because while this book will be the best gift for the layman facing the insecurities of life, it doesn't go try to go deep and also doesn't cover all the many emotional insecurities of that people have. But still, I think the book will help 80% for a chronically ill and fully for those with the issues discussed (which will number 80%) , which is a great result according to the Pareto Principle.

There is a thing though. The book will benefit those most who are emotionally super-charged but not rational enough. In the Gita, Krishna says...keep your mind on Me, and keep your intelligence on Me and then you will always reside in Me.This book will help one to think about the matters of the heart. This especially will help a drama queen or someone having panic attacks or a guy running around like a chicken with the head cut-off or the wishful thinking types who don't check in with the reality out there in the world under the sunlight for everyone to see. A level-headed person will know the many things told already and for such a person, it is better that he or she reads a fiction novel or watches an award winning movie.

How has it helped me? I have gone through many of the points fast and I was pleasantly surprised to get a better understanding of the Charama Slokam. It has unplugged quite a few valves and hopefully closed quite a few of others. I'm just letting it all sink in to a Dummy that is me. Hey, I can call myself a Dummy but you can't call me a Dummy, Ok? :D

With a new book

I have got for myself a new book, "The Mind Gym - Relationships".

At the core of my problems lie the different relationships issues like resentment, dislike, jealousy, competition, judgement, hatred, selfishness, egosim etc. and I very much look forward to get these sorted out and be transformed using this book as an aid.

me

What more need I ask? I only wish Providence, to let me bask, ever, under the warmth of her presence

"A woman may be married by four qualifications: one on account of her money; another, on account of the nobility of her pedigree; another on account of her beauty; the fourth, on account of her virtue. Therefore, look out for a woman that hath virtue: but if you do it from any other consideration, your hands be rubbed in dirt." ~ Prophet Mohammad

Let's see in my life...there seems to be a similar thing except for one minor alteration.

The 1st girl in my life was Lakshmi. While I didn't fall for her money, I fell for her intelligence or scholarship or study skills. The 2nd one was for a brief moment and I wonder if I can even include it in the list but to fit the pattern (and I have a habit for seeing patterns. don't know if this is good or bad.), the 2nd one was a girl called Kantha Murali, who used to play Tennis, although not in my courts. I used to meet her at rare times in tournaments and she looked boyishly cute with a bob cut or whatever and wearing shorts (maybe modesty prevented her from wearing a skirt that could go topsy turvy with a gust of air and she didn't want to do the Marilyn Monroe act). But she was the of royal well-to-do heritage being the daughter of the ones who run "The Hindu" news paper. It was merely a crush and I used to feel sorry for her whenever she lost (almost always she was the runner-up to either Rushmi Chakraborthy and Sai Jayalakshmi.). Then ofcourse there was Archana, the absolute beauty. She was not just beautiful but was absolutely beautiful. A few might think she was a little overweight but this was baby-fat, as my friend Loganathan told me after coming back stunned by her beauty when he went near her to convey my proposal to her, seeing her closely. Also, her measurements were right by South Indian standards as compared to the North Indian or Western standards. Beautiful to be a goddess in a temple but too beautiful to be possessed alone by any. I guess now it will be the girl of virtue but then I think she will arrive only when I myself desire and deserve such a one.

Ananya Bhakthi and Archimedes Lever

Again, he [Archimedes] used to say, in the Doric speech of Syracuse : “Give me a place to stand and with a lever I will move the whole world.”

ΕΛΕΓΕ ΔΕ ΚΑΙ ΔΩΡΙΣΤΙ ΦΩΝΗ ΣΥΡΑΚΟΥΣΙΑ, “ΠΑ ΒΩ ΚΑΙ ΧΑΡΙΣΤΙΩΝΙ ΤΑΝ ΓΑΝ ΚΙΝΗΣΩ ΠΑΣΑΝ.”

John Tzetzes (12th century AD)
Book of Histories (Chiliades) 2, 129-130
Translated by Francis R. Walton

Ananya Bhakthi means devotion to an Ishta Devatha (Beloved Personal God) who acts as the lever to lift oneself to the stage of Para Bhakthi which is devotion to The God or The Ultimate Reality or Whatever name THAT one gives which is beyond the access of the senses. The God is infinite eternal bliss, the Ishta Devatha is but a tool while the lifting is entirely in the hands of the Devotee.

To my Valentine, whoever you are

Maybe not as romantic but still the specifications will be met within budget and time. :)