Teacher's Day - Mehta Sir

This teachers day two significant names comes to my mind - Natesh and Mehta Sir. It was men like Mehta Sir who shaped many a young minds in a nondescript suburb outside of Mumbai.

Mehta sir was a strict disciplinarian and we had reasons to believe it having been at the receiving end of his fury more than once myself! Me and many of my school friends have been trashed with a ruler till one let out loud moans, been slapped on the back with a heavy hand, asked to kneel down on the gravel filled, dirty play ground, made to run around the school campus etc. Behind that strict disciplinarian was a man who wanted to see us do well and succeed in life.

Most of Mehta sir’s students were either from poor or lower middle class families and he knew well that his students were the only hope for many of their poor working class parents. Mehta sir knew that the only way out of the daily rut for many of these parents was through the achievements of his students. He went about doing his job without bothering about the remuneration – I am pretty sure it was quite paltry those days and of course nothing compared to what he delivered.

Mehta sir was an epitome of courage and motivation, How else could one explain our school football team taking on the mighty, well equipped team from other schools nearly barefoot? How else could one explain the kabaddi matches that our team played with boys(?) twice our size? How else could one explain the enthusiasm to run along the race track and cheer the participating girls from our school with loud slogans of “Dhaav Usha Dhaav” [Run, Usha Run!].

Mehta Sir, I am proud of you and We want to make sure we give back a part of what we got from you, We are all trying to do our bit in a small way and will try our best in the future as well. Keep inspiring and motivating us from wherever you are.

Another day, I am going to write about Natesh sir, who truly inspired many young people to more importantly understand their dreams and later follow them, successfully!

Good old Kashmir issue

Was there really a solution to this problem? Not sure, i always felt personally that India should have just focused on development in the initial stages and not granted special status to this region.

A people who wish to choose a rotten system that is called Pakistan over the more robust and promising Indian democracy need no mercy and must be asked to go their own way. I am not sure what strategic reasons other than losing that beautiful land and may be triggering few more splinter groups to gather momentum for freedom. Yes i am pretty sure that the Indian soldiers have made few mistakes, but where you have a deployment of thousands of soldiers, there is a war like situation, its bound to happen that way. One must make no difference here that the most important aspect of the soldiers life is to fight for his country be it with enemies from across the border or those with in the borders.

Could India have followed the China model, Should India allow this region to just drift away to a more medieval Pakistan and hope that wiser sense prevails and people choose the right path over a period of time.

The spate of terrorist attacks on India (most kill innocent Indians in cities and towns that have nothing to do with Kashmir) prove that India's current policy has failed. Terrorists strike at will anywhere and anytime they wish. Feels like one is in a functional democracy that is somehow not strong enough to deal with its own security.

Is the solution to provide draconian(?) laws to the state's and their police forces that strengthen the forces at the same time leave room for misuse?

A normal evening that changed things for me!

It was a usual day at office for me.

I had an early start (those days I would get to my desk by 7:00am), an exciting morning meeting with colleagues, team members and few external vendors.

An afternoon presentation for a client and later some internal discussions with 2 teams outside of the department took me thru’ a large part of the afternoon. Around evening time, a close friend called up and asked if we could have dinner together. I agreed almost willingly and took the task of identifying the place for the occasion.

I was sure the day had gone well and wanted the evening to end on a similar note. I selected a new restaurant serving good Punjabi food closer to my home. Me and my friend got in, settled with a nice round of Mango lassi and ordered the starters before we got talking.

A common question that I am now more or less used to getting asked is about marriage! This was no different, I started my usual fundae’s on marriage and few minutes later found myself cornered. I had never seen my friend get so involved into these discussions and was taken by surprise initially. It was only later that I was told that someone had come prepared for this "battle" and the WMD were all seen in the form of quotes, anecdotes and tales of despair and glory all woven intricately and with a lot of thought.

The discussion went along, I found myself feeling a lot more comfortable after a while and I started telling my friend the real issues that existed, my true take on various things – life in general, relationships, professional experiences, personal successes and failures.

I ended up probably sharing a lot more than I ever did with anyone, It felt different, i told my friend what I felt. The thought from my friend was that this dinner was meant to make me feel that way and the goal was met. My friend also mentioned that it was only to help me get over these thoughts and attain that clarity this dinner was arranged and it was merely an excuse to get together and discuss the issues open and out under a new light.

That evening changed me a lot. From that day on, I have made sure that I would try my best to help those who come to me, I have never turned any one back and it’s been a long time now. I have always shared whatever little I could with in my. I felt I could also somehow (magically J) figure out when someone was in trouble and fate would somehow get that person near me.

That beautiful evening changed my life, forever. It has made my life a lot more complex for others, but a lot simpler for myself.

It’s our job to help those in need, it’s our responsibility to protect those around us who are weak and who cannot move ahead on their own. I always thought that was the way it had to be and behaved in that manner, but that evening made me make a far stronger resolve and stick to it in spite of the odds.

I feel great!

A true friend does not need sympathy, but a lasting & consistent company

Recently a close friend who has not allowed to keep in touch tried connecting back after a few months.

I got a feeling the friend had got to know that I was not keeping well and was going thru’ a rough patch and therefore was trying to be sympathetic. I briefly gave it a thought and did not respond as warmly as I would normally have.

I really did not need any sympathy, that too from friends that at least I personally think as true friends, people whom I have or had in the past a lot of trust.

In times of distress all one needs is good company, it need not even be physical, it can be remote over call/mail. Someone with whom you can share your joys and sorrows alike. Someone who can listen without a bias and give an honest opinion, tell you things that are not so good to hear but nevertheless true to the fact.

The Great Trade-off

Can one ever trade the two most desirous things in this world?

Well one look around you and you will find several examples of compromise, intentional neglect and forced assertion that pit Love and Money against each other.

What’s that emotion that really makes one pitch ones loyalties one way or the other?

At times it’s just a state of mind, but most cases on careful examination would certainly reveal a scheme that the person had in mind, which lead to a manipulation and calculative moves that make the decision tilt in favor of one or the other.

The anatomy of such decision would be a definite research piece that could take a life time to unravel, but the fact that there exist many such examples of intentional deceit where one choose money over true love and forfeited one’s self respect and also endangered others who had been earlier conned into believing things that were not necessarily true.

Life can be a dangerous thing to deal with when one has to make these trade-offs at the cost of other individuals.

Why do i get irriatated.. (much less these days...)

I get irritated when:-

I see lethargy – of any kind, personal, in the professional work
I see people wasting time/money – their own or of someone else, does not matter
I feel someone is not trying hard enough, giving up mid way
I see someone not willing to listen to sane advice
I see someone trying to be cunning with others
I see someone trying to politicize/play favorites
I see someone trying to push around and show a lot of ego and heavy headedness
I see someone being excessively arrogant about far lesser achievement
I see someone being extremely material in thinking and short term in focus
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List can be long, but the most irritated I have ever got is when I see people giving a word and not standing by it, making a promise and betraying the other person.

There can be no worse act of cruelty by one person to another than the one mentioned.

Think a 1000 times before pulling another person in the ring with you, giving a word to the person and then for your own benefit/safety/material gain leaving the person alone, betraying the person.

That nostalgic feeling...Old friends and old memories

It's always such a fantastic feeling to catch up with that school or college buddy whom you had not met or spoken to for years.

I suddenly saw an email in my mail box from one such person and was so excited that my colleague who was sitting on my desk asked me "What happened?"

I was in some embarrassment explaining him the reason for that wide smile on my face because as soon as i saw the mail, some of those funny moments that we associate with each of the persons around us just flashed in front of me.

There are quite a good no of fun moments associated with this person too...

It's not getting any cheaper is it?

The economy is growing, there is a sense of good in every sector and the general mood seems great.

BUT, inflation is taking its toll, well inflation has always troubled some government or the other at different times since the last 15-20 years or even longer.

What's different this time around?

Well, its for the first time perhaps in my life time that food prices across the board have seen a sharp increase. One does not need to be an economist to tell you that when food prices go up and they affect the common people beyond their earning cycles, they vote against the government.

Bye Bye UPA government at the center.

PS:- My understanding of the Indian economy is as good as Sachin Tendulkar's(Master's) understanding of Chemistry in class XII.

Thailand - Phuket - Good place, better people....

I write this from a seat overlooking Concourse C on the swanky new Swarnabhumi International Airport @ Bangkok. I was in Phuket for a few days and what I saw of Thailand, the people there, their attitude to customer service and work in general has impressed me a great deal.

The places I went to were clean, you would hardly find people loitering around without work, everyone seems to be busy with some task or the other. I found people were happy and content – at least their facial expressions showed that they were happy and the limited conversations I had with some of the locals did tell me that they are quite happy and proud of their country, culture and the king!!!

The land rates in Phuket - one of the most popular tourist destinations were a mere 10-15lac Bht/acre i.e. 12-18lac INR/acre. Wow, that’s a lot cheaper than any of the places in India isn’t it?

The temple that I visited was hardly crowded and the roads are great, people seemed to follow the traffic rules pretty well, I think Thailand and the people impressed me a lot.

Over and above all this what impressed me was the attitude of the people, I found it very positive. People have a tremendous sense of service, they are polite and savvy when it comes to serving their guests.

At 930pm in my hotel the person who was looking after us went all the way to find out some small bit of information that I asked her to look for and spent almost ½ hour to get the right person, for me to talk to.

I am actually planning to come back, preferably within the next one year, spend some more time in this beautiful place and with these great people. Well, actually spend some money here as well,

It’s well spent, believe me!!!

The Great Indian Blame Game!!!!!

I often wonder and at times discuss this with close friends, why do we always end up finding a scapegoat - real or otherwise, to blame for our failures?

The failures could be as trivial as reaching late for a movie show or a meeting, it could sometimes be as serious as breaking down a relationship and you can count anything in between these extremes. We end up finding a scapegoat (mostly anyone other than ourselves) who can be blamed for the failure.

A little bit of introspection and soul searching most times does point the finger back to ourselves, but where egos are mighty and heads heavy, wiser sense rarely prevails. A scape goat is quickly found and publicised to the wide world. Soon messages are floated around to near and dear ones explaining how because of someone else i got sidelined from a certain promotion or i missed my flight or my wife ran away etc.

A blame game indeed!!!!!!

Power of Trust...

I have read somewhere that Trust can get you a lot of desirable affects and I am probably the great benefactor of being able to trust people.

I have always had tough situations looking me in the eye and there have been months at a stretch when I would be so hard pressed and under intense pressure. In crude Hindi a friend and me would always joke about it saying it happens so often that instead of god, there was a Jack Ass writing down my destiny while God took a break.

Now when I look back, it all seems so easy and straight forward, very seldom, I even felt like conning myself into believing that I did it, I did it on my own. Of course when the drink was over and sanity prevailed, I knew I was just part of it all and a lot of it got done because of the kind of people I had around me, especially those on my team.

Trust is a function of Competency and Character and once the trust is built, things just move so smoothly, communication lines are clear as a whistle, people feel a lot of freedom and the overall achievements go up significantly. I have cases where we have achieved so much more with a trust based approach that I would personally want it to be deployed everywhere.

The challenge for me has always been in promising more delivering even more with lesser resources. I believe a good way to start of is to inculcate a feeling of trust in the team that you have and then watch the magic work.

And yes someday I would learn to turn it around where people also start trusting me a lot more than some of them do today, especially on the personal front :)

Woman's Day - 2 close friends

On the eve of this woman’s day (08 March 2008), as I sent a message to my team and few other colleagues, my mind could not help but ponder over the past one year and think about 2 specific friends.

Person A is a young, energetic girl all of 24 who started her career on my team. A brave girl who stood up to her convictions amidst lot of opposition and trial from parents, relatives and all else.

Person B is a competent professional, thinks she is smart and has all the things figured out. A mature woman of 27-28 who could not stand up to her own convictions, flip flopped on decisions to land many people close to her in agony. Today she is little else than a wreck living under constant vigil, supervision and threat to family and close ones including few friends.

When we talk about women’s liberalization and coming of age, How big a role does education, job security, money and power play? Well in all this, Person A is less educated, relatively younger and therefore probably a little less mature(?), earns a whole lot lesser than Person B in pure money terms.

I felt it was the clarity of thought and conviction, the power to stand up to yourself and for yourself, the ability to resist what was wrong without bothering to think who it was coming from is what sets Person A apart.

Person A and Person B are my close friends and will remain so for ever, Person A is like my little sister and was a personal favorite too (I never told her this while she worked for me, also I believe that Great/Good Managers too can have personal favorites!!!).

I am proud of both of them as friends but I feel a lot better when I see, meet and hear about Person A. I wish Person B could one day build up the courage and conviction to stand up and be counted for the sake of all those women who are waiting to fight for themselves.

Those half read books

I have been trying to read Stephen Hawking's A brief history of time since September, but haven't yet moved beyond 40%. Come to think of it, this is not the first time i picked up a book and did not complete it. I also see this happening more often since the last 1 year.

Is it the author or the reader that is at fault? Stupid question, its the reader who paid for the book in the first place and is now unable to read through the complete passage.

Need to think of better reasons and also try and complete the remaining 60% of the book sooner!

A new wave, but....

I see a lot of young professionals coming in to the organizations both big and small. Yes there seems to be a lot of confidence there. I see a very "laid back, things will come to us on their own" kind of attitude from many of the younger colleagues. This worries me a lot, if this continues, would we one day see a reversal of growth and fortunes, will the India story that is so much in the hands of the younger generation fade away?

Questions and more questions, i wish not and i am sure the ethos of hard work, laced with smart thinking and longer term views rather than short term biases will see a change and corporate leaders and managers would need to bring in these changes rapidly too at least with in their environments.

Rise and fall of Jagmohan Dalmiya

What Jagmohan Dalmiya did for Indian cricket (perhaps World Cricket too!) cannot be forgotten. He along with few others brought in loads of money into the game through intelligent marketing and promotion of the game especially in the subcontinent.

Today the new regime in the BCCI is hell bent on ensuring that Dalmiya never returns back to the helm. I am sure like any other human Dalmiya would have to account for his share of mistakes, but are these so big that he be treated the way he is being treated today?

Time will tell,let's wait and watch!

Impact of movies...

Can movies really move the people and society at large to transform itself into an agile formation that can see its right and wrong in clear light? I keep wondering about this question and just when I convince myself that movies at best can be of entertainment value, there are a few noises here and there that make me think other wise.

The involvement of the Rang De Basanti cast and crew in the Narmada andolan, the host of anti reservation protests that are happening across the country - some say inspired again by a recent bollywood movie are more recent examples.

The larger question is will it last or is this the hype of something that recent and active in people's memories. Is this the new age educated middle class that unlike our parents time is more assertive, knows what's good for them, their society and expects the politico's to deliver on the promises.

Well I guess, we need to wait and watch - a year or two down the line things would become clearer.

UPA government goofs up on Kashmir and Pak

It's been over 2 years now and it's becoming increasingly clear to me that this government at the center has goofed up big time on some of the few good initiatives of the previous NDA government.

the policy towards the subcontinental neighbor's is flawed at best and I don't blame ManMohan Singh for that but the "hawkish"(probably also corrupt) Natwar Singh for that. The more one looks into the details of all the stupid things we did in the last 2 years one really feels obliged to believe the heading of a news report on one of the popular channels here - "Global Giant, Local Dwarf".

India can only gain respect when all its neighbor's respect it, when all of the subcontinent has a consistency in behavior - economic, social as well as on the defense front. I wish ManMohan Singh at least takes a cue from the current terrorist attacks in Kashmir and looks at it in new light.

Forgotten Heroes!

We have a tendency to forget our heroes, be it in cricket, entertainment or any other field. People ordinary and otherwise are forgotten soon after they are past their prime, though they might have contributed a lot to the respective field.

One is especially pained at the treatment being meted out to Sourav Ganguly, ex Indian cricket captain. But one very crucial thing that really does not go away from my mind is the fact that we are even faster in forgetting ordinary people who rose to the occasion and did some extraordinary things, at times sacrificing their own lives. People who fought for our safety in Kargil and numerous other wars, people who gave their lives to save others in difficult times - earthquakes, Tsunami's, fires, bomb blasts, other accidents.

I guess people just like to move on with out bothering about these heroes. Forget them and may be write a line or two about them once in a while. Will it change – how and why?

Bull run - Will it last?

Its taken merely days for the sensex to move from 10K to 11K and now from 11K to 12K. What does this mean for the small investor? Well the pundits claim its just a regular run and the market, companies etc. are unlocking their value.

There are also other alternate thoughts that claim the run is about to get over as FII investments are going down and would further slide as we move into 2006.

I remember the days of Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh and also remember the same pundits giving similar reasoning for the bull run then. Those days should not be forgotten when the deeds of these two gentlemen(?) led thousands of small investors to near bankruptcy.

Hope SEBI, Mr.Chidambaram and team are watching this carefully. The important question is how long will the bull run last?

Rising Salary costs in S/W and Services...

One of the biggest advantage India has on the software and services front is the cost factor. Gradually due to pressure on companies to hire, retain talent the cost advantage is taking a major hit.

Productivity levels in most organizations are either stagnant or have improved only marginally. One of the main reasons for stagnant productivity levels is the failure of most of the organizations in harnessing the energy of the new hires. New hires are either absolutely unproductive in the first 6-8 months or contribute very little. A lot of time goes in ensuring that this ramp up happens quickly and also to the levels of satisfaction that meet needs of all the stake holders involved. Since software and services are predominantly team driven, a weak link can disturb the whole equation and create chaos. One also see's a lot of complacency in people coming out of colleges - this could purely be due to the varied and many options that are available today to youngsters. ESOPs and other similar wealth creation schemes are not as attractive as they were some years ago. Also they are no longer practical for people at the bottom of the pyramid, the management would lose a lot of money in that.

All of these are pushing salary levels upward with an aim of attracting and retaining talent. If organizations are unable to work on these challenges and control the rising employee costs, the country would lose its biggest advantage - the cost advantage and would become as expensive as a Singapore (for example). Where does that leave India and thousands of Indians who are dependent on the services sector?