Friday, December 26, 2008

To say or not to say

I have written before about the reasons for writing blogs. One always has to remember that it could be read by anyone. I have found instances when people write something and delete that post. It might be the case, which the person wanted to write a better post. But sometimes this is because one somehow gets the feeling that it would not be good if the post remains there.

My reading list on the web can be seen in the left sidebar. I use Google Reader to get the posts from these sites as soon as the sites are updated. It happens that sometimes I read the post within the Reader itself and sometimes use the link to go the site to read it where it is written.

Recently, I got a post from one of the blogs that I read in my Reader. It was clear that the writer was in a sorry state of mind and wanted to share his feelings. Though I am not sure if he did find some other outlet for his emotions, he definitely chose to put them on his blog. I thought that the minimum I can do is to leave a comment on the post and so thought of following the link.

My browser showed me a page that said that the post did not exist. I thought that it might be a mistake. I again clicked the link in my Reader and again got to the same page. It became clear that the author chose to remove the post. I am aware that sometimes people write things imagining stuff and it might not portray reality. But the fact that the post was removed confirmed that it was for real.

The dilemma I faced was whether – to send the author an email mentioning the post and writing what I planned to leave as a comment – or just not do anything for clearly the author did not want anyone to read his stuff. I chose the latter.

Hope things become better at the author’s end.

Sunday, December 07, 2008

My Dorm

I wrote about my dorm (where I am spending my 2 years of graduation) as part of something, a while back. Posting here what I wrote ... a bit edited though.

***

Dorm is THE best thing which could have happened to me here. Initially, it felt that the dorm thing is may be over-hyped. But as time passed, the truth was before my eyes. It may sound as if I am not being rational here (or stupid, immature), but I am ready to sacrifice anything within my capacity at IIMA for staying in the dorm.

... I was so looking forward to spending next year with my dorm mates – old and new. With the heavy academic load, I hadn’t had enough time to interact with them (or so I feel).

It was only now that we had started playing cricket. Only now that we had started eating Maggi in the night. Only now that we watched cricket matches together. Only now that we joked around. Only now … only now. My dorm mates always took care of me. They woke me up, otherwise I would have missed so many classes and sometimes quizzes. We went to the classes in the morning together. We always went together for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner to the mess. We went for dinner outside together. My dorm mates always took me along. I know if they would have not asked, I would have missed meals so many times, for going alone for meals is pathetic.

So, if you want to make the dorm culture responsible for my good health, for me attending classes, for me having regular meals, for me enjoying my stay at this place and want to punish me for this ...

I will tell you what I did not like about this culture. The fact that people shared my joys and sorrows. The fact that I could depend on them. The fact that I could ask for help (in acads or whatever). The fact that when I felt alone, I was able to go to someone in my dorm and talk to him and get away with all the depressing feelings I had. The aspect that it felt as family. Come on, who requires all this. People are right when they think that this can be done away with.

The PGP-2s (tuchchas) were so helpful, so caring; just cannot describe. Be it acads or any other stuff, they guided us like no one else would do. The best part was that we do not have anything to offer them. And they know that. Still they went out of their way to do things for us. Many a times they thought about us more than we did about ourselves. I will like to mention one event here. Those who went on exchange among the PGP2s called every single of us, PGP1s to say all the best from wherever in the world they were. What was the need for them to do this? What were we offering them that they had to do this?

Whenever seniors from previous batches come to Ahmedabad, they come to their dorms and take every current dorm resident for a meal at some good place. These seniors are meeting all the residents for the first time and probably for the last time in their lives. Why would anyone take spend time, energy, money on such people? They still identify with the residents. What makes them do so?

All my arguments may look as if coming from an emotional state of mind. Partly it is correct. But I sincerely believe that I have never been so rational before as I am now, while writing this. I have kept this anonymous, but I guess it would be pretty revealing (sorry, could not help it).

An Ethical Dilemma

In my second term during graduation, in one particular course, everyone in the class was asked to write one Ethical Dilemma that each of us had sometime during our lifetimes. We had to mail these to the Professor and could ask him to not disclose / mention it in class. Just sharing mine.

***
I know that the dilemma I am going to write here is sort of cliché. However, this is something I always remember and have learnt from.

During my 10th standard board exams, some students from my class told me that they would get the board papers a few hours in advance. In short, they said that they had sources through which they can source the papers. Initially, I did not believe them. However, they were somehow able to convince me, though they did not have to try hard for that. They also said that I too can get the paper and we can share the expense of getting the paper among ourselves.

As every family does, my family has taught me to stay as far away from such activities as possible. I have also been told by my parents to tell them everything. They say that even if you do anything that is ‘wrong’, just let them know. I contemplated whether to tell them or not about this offer. Somehow, I came to the conclusion that it is better to tell them rather than they getting to know afterwards.

They were of the opinion that I should not get into such things. It is not about the money. They said that these things more often than not end up wasting a person’s time. Instead of concentrating on studies, one tries hard to get the leaked papers. They also said that there would be distinct copies of so-called leaked papers floating around the day before the exam and so the reliability is also absent.

I was adamant at getting the papers even if that meant spending a few bucks and a few hours. So, I told one of my friends that I was in for the papers and he informed me that I would get the paper at 10p.m. the previous night (a good 13 hours before the exam).

The day before the exam, I found myself relying much on this paper and in the process forgetting to put in my required bit of studies. My parents were concerned about this lack of effort much more than I was. As time progressed, at one hand I was getting impatient about getting the papers, while on the other hand, I started thinking if this is the right thing to do. Why I started thinking in such a fashion is not clear even to myself. I suppose the values imbibed in me came to the fore. As the clock approached 10p.m., I got more and more convinced that this was not the right thing to do. I discussed this with my parents and they said that they had left this on me for they cannot always force their will on me.

So, as my friend called around 10:30 to tell me what the questions were, it became quite clear that I would not be able to do this. I told my friend that I do not require the questions and that the payment I had promised would be honored in any case.

The next day, after the exams, when I met my friends I came to know that only a few of the questions from the apparently leaked paper had come in the actual exam.

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Does it not bother you?

Prof. SH used to tell us in class how Mr. JRD Tata, once while travelling in Air India was being served food using a food trolley (He had the airline company as ‘Tata Airlines’ before). He observed that the trolley was not working properly and that the wheels were not tightened fully. Everybody might have observed that and neglected it. The person carrying the trolley would also be aware about that.

Mr. JRD saw the food trolley being carried towards him. When it came close to him, he pulled out his pen, bent down and tightened the wheels.

Prof. SH used to ask us, why does it not bother you if something is not working properly, especially if you are using it or are in some way affected by / attached to it? So, if there is a tube-light which is blinking in your office, does it not occur to you that it needs to be changed. You might not do it yourself, but at least the facilities people can be informed about it. Or do you wait for them to do their periodic check and find out or wait till some other person brings it to their attention.

I have been guilty of similar things myself and so somehow could relate to it. Many a times, I take the “it’s ok” attitude a little too far.

In my dorm, in the common area, I see things lying around in a not so orderly fashion. I understand that in a dorm, you cannot expect everything to be properly arranged and all, and may be that is the way it should be. But, it sometimes feels a little more out of order than necessary. I try to put in the old newspapers in a stack so that they do not keep lying around. The helper can be asked to keep things clean & proper and a little hard tone would do no harm. I always ask him to sell away the old newspapers scrap merchant once a certain quantity of paper gathers. He also benefits from the little money that he gets by selling these. Infact, when I was last in the dorm, he himself had started asking if he can take away the papers.

I am not boasting or anything. It just feels that the dorm is my home and I would have done this at my home as well. So, I am not obliging anyone.

Even when I was working, we had this small room in which we had business magazines, newspapers etc – kind of a small library room. And again the old magazines used to lie around the room; the stack for one particular magazine had other magazines in between etc. I don’t blame others, for they themselves did not have problems (or did not seem to have problems) with such arrangements.

Prof. SH used to wonder why does this behaviour not come out automatically? Why does one’s heart not get pained on seeing such things? Why does one not start setting things "right" and just ignores such things?

Mumbai and beyond ...

I had been feeling somewhat guilty of not writing anything about the Mumbai attacks, especially since it is my home city. I thought about writing a number of times but didn’t exactly knew what to write. Should I be angry with everyone from the government to the militants? Or should I sympathize with those civilians who were killed and remove my hat remembering the men who did not care for their lives and wanted to stop the terror?

Being geographically so far from the actual happenings, I was amazed how quick the information / news spread. Within an hour or 2 of the start of the events, I got to know of it and immediately contacted my family back home. They were fine and then I started getting in touch with my friends who were somewhat associated with Mumbai to see how they and their families were doing. I am always remembered about the Delhi blasts where someone I knew was so very affected.

In the last few days, I have heard so much about everything even remotely connected with the happenings – views, comments, opinions etc. Obviously, there is a lot of rage and disappointment and many other emotions surfacing among people.

I would be going back to Mumbai in some time. Somebody asked me if I was scared of going there. I thought how ridiculous the question was. It is my home, and does somebody get scared while going to home?

Some years back, when I used to see regions that were very affected with violence, terrorism etc, I used to think why don’t people just leave these places and get settled elsewhere – not all but there should be a large exodus. I thought that it would be due to the constraints regarding inability to replicate the kind of life somewhere else – difficult to sell home and buy another, finding a new job etc.

Now, I see that though this might be true, the reason is much more than the enlisted constraints. It is your home. How can you leave it? Yes, there are issues – no one is denying that. But you have to deal with them and not leave the place and move away.

My grandparents always tell me this thing – when your house is dirty, you clean your house and not start living in someone else’s (because yours is dirty). I found it so much applicable in different contexts – one of which is this. When there is crisis in Mumbai, should I leave this place and think that it is better if I can find opportunities elsewhere? (Another context when I remember this thought from my grandparents is when somebody says – you should settle outside the country; don’t you think you would be wasting your life in your country?; look at all the opportunities if you go someplace else) I would like to clarify, that I do not consider that the place I live in is dirty. It is just that, we have to do some usual dusting and things would be fine.

I do not know how much, but finally the people are the ones who are responsible – and I am one of those responsible. Paresh Rawal aptly puts it in the film Nayak (the spirit behind the words have larger applicability)

"
Aaj jisse bhi poocho who kahega, main doctor banunga, IAS banunga, vakil banunga
Lekin ek bhi aadmi neta banne ko tayaar nahin hain, pooch lo
Politics ek gutter hain bolke sab log bhaag jaate hain
Lekin koi bhi iss gutter main utar kar isse saaf karne ko tayyar nahin hain
Aur desh ko inn buddhe bhediyon ke haath main chodh kar chale jaate hain
Jinke paas jine ke liye zindagi bhi nahin bachi hain


Tumhare jaise desh ke sabhi nau jawan yehi sochte hain
Ki 15-20 hazaar ki naukri mil jaaye, ek sundar si ladki shaadi karne ko mil jaaye
Aur phir budhape tak rupya rupya jama karke sheher ke bahar adha acre zameen kharid lenge
Wahan 700-800 sq ft. ka ek ghar banayenge aur ghar pe peela paint hoga
Samne garden hoga aur garden main easy chair pe baithke akhbaar padte huye apni biwi se kahenge ki
‘Darling, politics ne iss desh ko khatam kar diya hain’


Arre jaon koi hakk nahin hain kissiko politician ko gaali dene ka”
"

Saturday, November 29, 2008

Friday, November 28, 2008

Orkut testimonials

The sole testimonial I received on Orkut from one of my friends, Mr. SS

" Ashutosh .... I feel he is a very different guy ... he reads obscure things and has very very different ideas ... but he is never afraid to share them and that is something which makes him unique .....

A true mumbaite .... A true blogger .... A true mast dude ...."


The sole testimonial that I have written on Orkut (and this was for the same Mr. SS)

"After so many testimonials written, there is no guarantee that everything would be original. But something I have learnt from Funti (Shubham, in slang) is to keep trying (or some might call it, keep fighting). And so, I would write one.

He is a person who thinks a lot and always has some suggestion(s) which could improve someone’s life. To some extent, the points he asked me to concentrate on were responsible for my sole job offer; and so I would like to thank him (which I think I have not done before).

Things he works for always comes his way, due to the sheer effort he puts in. Finally, I expect to hear from him a lot - after IIT - given his networking skills."

If Google Were ...

Thursday, November 27, 2008

I cannot forget ...

It is amazing how sometimes, things, that some might overlook or consider not that important, makes one feel so good. These stick to your mind for long. I will tell you about 3 such things that happened (there are many more than these 3).

*
In my institute, we have this 4 day event where companies come and interview candidates to select them for a summer internship. The event was to start the next day and the seniors from my dorm prepared us well before that and wished us luck.

Some of the seniors had gone on Exchange to universities around the world and had not been able to spend time with us. On the night before the 1st day, me (and each of my dorm-mates from my batch) received a phone call from one of these seniors on Exchange. He just wanted to know how was our preparation and wish us luck. The gesture of that phone call is unforgettable. Recently, one of my other dorm-mates also recalled receiving that call and I realized how many minds (and hearts) one can find space in (in a good way) by just a phone call.

**
Again, in my institute, each batch selects a few people among ourselves to arrange and co-ordinate all placement related issues, communication and events (including the above mentioned 4 day event). The head of this group is elected by the batch through formal voting and then this person selects the rest of the team. For election of the head of the group, people have to file in nominations, prepare a manifesto and pitch to the batch. I was thinking of whether I should try to become part of the team or not. There are some things you have to miss if you are part of the team (such as going on Exchange). I was not exactly looking to stand for the post of the group head.

And then somebody asked me if I was thinking of become the group head. This person was from my batch but someone with whom I had not spoken much. I was amazed at the fact that someone saw me as the head (or atleast as a potential candidate) when I myself did not. Also, this person seemed sure that I would at least be thinking of standing for that post. Though finally, I did not stand for the post or tried to become part of the team, I somehow am reminded of the fact that at least there was one person who saw me as a worthy candidate.

***
Untoward things happen. One gets concerned about them. But sometimes the most one can do is to ensure that damage has not happened to people we know.

There were some such incidents which happened in my home city yesterday. I tried to get in touch with my family and learnt that they were alright. Then I though about getting in contact with friends who are either themselves in that city or have family there. So, I logged in to one of my Instant Messaging subscriptions, and before I could ask anyone, I got a message from a friend enquiring about how my family was. I told this person that everything is alright and asked about this person's family who lives in the same city. Thankfully, everything was well.

Though this event happened only yesterday, it feels I would remember the fact that somebody was concerned about me, for a while. Again, one message can go a long way.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

Go away



I hate you

Let’s be clear, this is true

Oh! Please go away, boo

View each other as when we didn’t knew


Each day I would try harder to chew

You never gave me a clue

Only stop when I am through

Until I am sure, from my mind you flew


Estrange me from you

Various times, I would coo

Effable but don’t want to get in a stew

Not even, want to start things anew


Thing that I had with you

Have not had with even a few

Ending this below my shoe

Now I have smoked all my due

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Can you please stop doing that?

The one thing I want to have in a close friendship is the ability to ask your friend to stop doing something because you don't like it. Your friend agrees or not; whether the thing is still done or not is a different issue. Just the fact that you can say is something valuable. I am not sure how willing I come across regarding this issue.

Abiding by what one is asking is a different issue since, one is not always 'right' or sometimes there may not be a 'right' or 'wrong'. So, it may not be clear which way should the outcome be.

If I don't like something about a close friend, I have this habit of conveying that. But I try to do it only once and only to those I think are close to me. If they don't agree or don't follow, its upto them. But it still hurts when they do it again and again.

I recently had 2 instances with 2 of my close friends (and I definitely think, they also consider me as a close friend) in the last few months. I would not go into the details but they used particular language which I did not like. They did not use it against me, but infact that was part of the issue. I don't mind they saying anything to me or anything in private. But this was on a public forum. And even then, nobody would have given a damn about it, for it is perfectly common to use that language these days.

I could not talk to both of them face to face about the issue, for somewhere within, I felt guilty of trying to impose my own will. So, I talked to them online over this. I am amazed how things come out so easily when it is not face to face. The great thing was that my friends understood me and atleast listened to what I had to say instead of becoming defensive. They have not repeated that stuff and I am proud of them.

I have not taken any promises for I have experienced the agony of a friend promising and then backing out without even remembering that we had such a pact. So, I have just requested them and I hope that it would work.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

I found this interesting

I read this in a book that Mr. Dave Neeleman who was the CEO of JetBlue airlines used to service as a flight attendant, baggage handler, and maintenance worker while still being the CEO. There are different reasons for why he did this and a lot of advatages as well. How many CEOs would be willing to do such a thing today?


****************************
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/24/business/24street.html?_r=1&th=&emc=th&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin

An investment banker said:

"The thing about investment banking is it's so grueling that you are always daydreaming about going off and doing something interesting," Mr. Pugliese said. "Your heart is crying out, but your wallet is telling you there's nothing else out there that is going to have this kind of payoff."

Mr. Neff, a former technology industry analyst, said he often thought about taking a year off to study the Talmud and other Jewish texts. But at the end of good years, he would not want to miss the next good year. And at the end of bad years, he felt too nervous about his finances.

****************************
Mr. Narendra Modi's interview excerpt ... On being questioned about he being next in line to Mr. L.K.Advani, "There are two ways to harm a person. One, you can give that person less work than what he is capable of doing. Second, you can show him big dreams which he is not capable of achieving. You fire his ambition so that he ventures out and gets finished."

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"Wal-Mart accounts for 12% of total US imports from China — if Wal-Mart was a country it would be China’s eighth largest trading partner"



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India has the fourth largest number of vehicles running on natural gas among all countries of the World.



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Reverse psychology: Empirical evidence demonstrates that the presence of signs reading "Do Not Write on These Walls Under Any Circumstances" actually increases the incidence of people's violations of the vandalism norm (as compared to signs that say "Please Do Not Write on These Walls" or the complete absence of signs).

Similarly, people take longer to vacate a parking space when they know someone else is waiting for it. People often have a negative reaction whenever they perceive that someone is controlling their behavior or limiting their freedom.

****************************
65% of second-generation family businesses fail and some 90% of third-generation businesses fail.

Sunday, November 09, 2008

IMs, Social Networking Friends' list

I am not sure if I am too choosy in terms of friends or what, but my friend list in any Instant Messaging service or in any Social Networking site is smaller than most of my other colleagues. If somebody asks me about this, I just kid around saying that the bar is very high for reaching my list.

Firstly, I do not like to have someone in these lists who I don't know. I know you would think how that is possible. But I have heard people saying that though a particular person is in his/her list, he/she really don't have much acquaintance with this person. My idea is that I should be able to talk to anyone in the list without having that person or myself to put pressure on the mind about thinking who each of us was. That's like the first filter.

My institute has a separate IM service to connect with people associated with the institute. Batch strength every year is around 250 and in my list I have only 31 people (yeas, I did count) across three batches (mine, my senior batch and my junior batch). I have seen lists that would have atleast thrice that number, and that would not at all be uncommon. Of the 31, 16 are from my dorm and the remaining 15 otherwise - 14 from my batch, the lone guy from my junior batch is someone I knew from before.

Sometimes, people get added for convenience. so, if you are temporarily working with a few people and there is a need to communicate with them frequently, it does make sense to add them (even if it is on a temporary basis).

Another issue is that there are now so many of these services and adding everyone everywhere is just so much redundancy and waste. Why not add people at only those channels where you think you would use these channels to contact them on a priority basis i.e. if you have a choice, you would go for a particular service to contact this person over others.

Sometimes people get added because you don't want to annoy anyone, especially when the particular service has mandated it to be a two-way street and you would not be there in the other person's list if he/she is not in yours. And it does make sense to add for one should give chance to every relationship. I think how would I feel if I sent a friend request to someone and it gets rejected.

I try to get in touch with each of people in all my lists at least once a year. It's not about networking for they can be of use or any such motives behind the thought. But that I like to atleast be in touch. Even if that means sending wishes for Diwali and not speaking for the rest of the year.

I know one might be of the view that this is thinking all too much. And its easier and better to just add people and not spend too much of our mind-time in these issues. I am not sure if I have any thing to oppose that.

Saturday, November 01, 2008

What's different?

I am spending a term outside my institute at another B-School in another country. In many ways, the experience is very different here - both in terms of the academic and the associated non-academic stuff.

One of the methods that is used widely here (which is not the case at my institute) is having guest lectures which go with the course. These guest lecturers are many a times the B-School alums. All are called with a specific purpose in mind - to talk about a particular topic or a specific aspect of the topic. These people have been through a lot with respect to these topics and have their story to share. There are also lectures from eminent personalities not as part of a course but through various other programs which are run at the School.

I have attended lectures from
Vikram Pandit, Citigroup
John Thain, Merrill Lynch
Paul Otellini, Intel
Anne Mulcahy, Xerox
Alan Hassenfeld, Hasbro
Robert Gordon, 21st Securities
Woo Eui Jei, Hynix
Joel Morse, C3i
Bo Burlingham, INC Magazine
Dr. Brown, Hearx
Goryebs, Champion Mortgage
Dr. Hal Teitelbaum, Crystal Run Healthcare
Tarek Sherif, Medidata Solutions
Steve Peltzman, The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Jack Mitchell, Mitchell/Richards
Noushir Hasan, Ashford Enterprises
Carley Roney & David Liu, The Knot

I found this method of teaching quite interesting. Listening to all these people and getting to know their stories is quite fascinating. Their learnings can be so useful and these things are so difficult to get, I don't think many would have access to these.

One thing I have realized is that I really like listening to people, hearing their stories etc. I am in a different country and unlike others I am not so much interested in travelling or see places. I know its odd of me and may be unusual (in a negative sense). I have seen a couple of places but it is not the case that every week or two there is an urge to go to a new place. I am more interested in meeting all my acquaintances in the city once, while I am here. I want to utilize this opportunity to listen to as many people who visit the school to give talks as possible. I am not saying I can't do both but the question is of urge.

There are courses in areas that I want to take here because I might not get that level of teaching back home. It does not matter to me much if these courses are not in the area that the School is most known for. I know that my home B-school does a more than decent job of training me in that area, so why not try other areas?

One thing is that when people give importance to other things (to which I don't give as much importance), it feels if I am missing something. But I guess its a personal thing and I try to convince myself that preferences can be different. Am not always successful, though.

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Days and events


My birth date is known to very few as I don't like to tell it to everyone. I always try to somehow get around the discussion whenever the topic comes up. I don't know why but I don't like everyone to know about it and wish me.

There are some who do know about it as I have told them. However, in such cases I expect them to wish me. I agree that everybody might not remember or be able to wish. But it is as if, I want a kind of return for the fact that they know the date.

One thing I have lately realized more and more that what personally you like, is many a times a generic wish of many. So, I think that many people would like to be wished by a large number of people on their birthdays. I try to make it a point that if I know someone even a bit, I wish him / her on his / her birthday. Also, I try to send them a personal message to their inbox rather than just adding my wishes at a location where there might be others wishing them.

What I have started doing is to start exchanging places with them and see what kind of things, if occured would have made me happy in this situation. I would definitely have liked many personal messages from the people who know my birth date. And therefore I do the same when others are on the receiving end.

This thing should not be just left at wishing and also not left at just the birthdays.

For any event which I think is important for the other person, I try to put myself in their shoes and see what I would have liked. So, if somebody has won a competition or had some scheduled event on a day, does it hurt to wish them or ask them how it went?

I remember one day a couple of months back. I had to go to some other city for a scholarship interview and come back. Almost the whole day was spent in waiting and travelling. Me and 2 others started early in the morning and reached back home late at night. I wanted to tell someone about what all had happened. More than that, I wanted someone to ask me how was the day and how did the interview go? It was late in the night, else might have called my family (in some other city) and would have told them.

I came back to my hostel / dorm room and most of my dorm mates had either slept or they were there in their rooms and might not have realized that I was back. I went online and thought that at least some people would see me online and would know that I am back and would ask me, but none. I know that I could have gone myself and talked and people would have heard me out. But somehow my ego (or whatever you might say) would have been satisfied had somebody asked me before I told them. In the end, nobody did ask me on their own.

I thought that there would be many who might feel this way many a times. Can I not try to ask some of them about their day when I know that something important is scheduled for that day for these people? I know that many would not expect anyone to ask them as much as I did (and sometimes still do but am trying to be more practical). But I think that at least I owe it to myself to ask them. And I don't do it just for a formality or for the sake of doing it. I actually want to know what happened and how they feel about it. And if anything else they want to tell me.

Also, why should it stop at particular events which are so apparent? Why not see the efforts behind things which get overlooked so easily? So, if someone participates in an event, the day of the event is very important for him / her. But what about those people who had worked so hard before the event and who might not be directly visible at the event. But without whom the event would not have been possible. Don't they feel the need to be spoken to and congratulated on making things happen?

This post is my attempt to try and remember myself what all I have said here. Though I have started doing these things, I know that those are too far and few between as of now. And that there are many who get overlooked. But definitely I would try to improve.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Less than what you expected

I am not sure if I have mentioned this before, but sometimes it feels that there are much less people, that you can turn to in need, than what you might subconsciously think. When you sit down and start thinking, you realize that one by one you are scrapping the names from the list of potential people you thought you would go to.

Around a year ago, a few of my friends were organizing this party for the other people of my batch. I was peripherally involved in the setup for the party. The main guys in-charge had to go to the market to buy things and it was left on me to take some material from my friend's room in the campus to the party site. The stuff was much to handle myself and would have required multiple trips had I gone alone. I thought about taking help from some other friends. The party was more of my Section thing. Not many people were there in my dorm (and they were not exactly related to the party), so I thought why not ask someone from the S to help. I opened the sheet which had the names of all people in my Section with their extension numbers.

I started from the top of the list and was evaluating each entry on the basis of whether I can ask this person for help or not. We had just been through a inter-section competition and there had supposedly been a lot of bonding among the section mates. To cut a long story short, I realized that there was only one person who felt reachable. Just one person! He was Mr. AV, the person who used to sit besides me in the section. I was amazed then as much as I am now.

A couple of months back, I thought of getting together with people to see if we can discuss some business ideas and evaluate their potential. So, I was confronted with the task of seeing who were the people on the campus that I would like to talk to gauge the level of interest they had in such a thing. I started thinking and writing down names and I was amazed at the names I wrote.

There were many people with whom I had not worked before for any project, assignment etc. But they were still in the list. I might have seen them, their work ethic etc. subconsciously and somehow when I sat down thinking their names came to my mind. At the same time, there were many others who were absent from the list - many of whom I have worked with and I have liked working with. But I don't know why they were not on the list.

Same is the case today. Details some other time.

Sunday, October 12, 2008

One short meeting

I met one of my old colleagues from the company I worked for. We were in the same team though were based out of offices miles apart. The company is no longer in existence though the operations have been taken over by another company.

We met for an hour or two but it was such a nice meeting. We both felt that. I many a times find myself not able to express sufficiently my feelings. My friend on the other hand said the feeling as if he was just expressing exactly what was there is my mind. He is from a different nationality and may be that is the reason. But whatever may be the case, it was nice.

We remembered the old days when we used to chat daily and sometimes for hours talking about work. There was only a particular amount of time for which the time we spent in office matched (because of the large time difference), but still we tried to best utilize that to keep the work going. There was always this enthusiasm about giving the best analysis for our clients, try to be innovative and different, coming up with different products etc. I would write a separate post about my job and work at my company for there is a lot to say there.

There was one instance when a new research product had to come out that weekend. My friend stayed up all night and was in the office and we practically talked for some 7-8 hours on the phone that my day / his night. He spent a total of like 38-40 hours in office at a stretch. I still admire his dedication and hard work and sincerity.

My Prof. SH told the class one day about how he had asked his uncle one day about the story of his life. His uncle told him things from his life which had involved struggle and effort and pain. He did not talk about the holiday he took or the some joyous event he attended. Prof. SH said that you most remember the times when you had put in a lot of hard work, the things which at first instant did not seem achievable or seemed difficult but you did achieve. And when you recollect, it is these things which standout. I experienced this during the meeting. We did not talk about what happened when our first report came out or when our names came out in some press report, but we remembered the time we spent struggling to get a report out or how it was difficult to communicate when you wanted to but realized that the other person won't be available for a few hours etc.

In my excitement I mentioned about my meet in an email I was writing to someone. I wanted to tell this to some person. Later, I realized that its difficult to get excited some other person as much as you were.

Friday, October 10, 2008

AR and KK

Different people like different film personalities, people that act in movies and do cinema etc. I also had my fair share of film exposure and there were people who I found found alright. But there has been mostly two people I admire - Aishwarya Rai (AR) (has been a while now) and Katrina Kaif (KK) (only lately). Infact, there was a post sometime back which should have indicated the latter.

But unlike many others, I don't want to marry them or something (not that if I wished, I could have that wish realized). Infact, if by a large stretch of imagination, I get a chance to marry them, I would remain very unhappy (if I know myself to some extent) and / or they would remain frustrated.

However, I still admire them a lot - ofcourse, for their beauty but thats one aspect. I guess they have exceptional confidence in themselves. They might not be the best in the field of acting. But atleast I can say for AR, that she has done some good work and atleast she is a Director's actress. So, though she might not carry each and every film to a box office success on her own, but if she is directed well, she does a very good job of the acting she is supposed to do. Both of seen some success and I hope that they see more of it.

The confidence is quite clearly visible on-camera as well as off-camera. Both have faced much criticism but they have stuck and did well. AR has faced a lot of it, since she has been there for longer time and also because she has become a poster child of Bollywood and India, in general. KK has practically lived outside the country for practically all her life before she started acting in Bollywood movies. And yet I hear now that she has worked in movies made in languages including Hindi, Telugu and Malayalam.

AR has suffered a lot especially during when she was with one actor (we will call him X). He used to pathetic to her and it was all in the open. At that time, I used to think that why is this happening to her and that somehow it should happen that she should get rid of him. And thankfully it did happen. Now she is married in a respectable family. I remember reading some gossip a few years back about AR and her husband when she was with this other actor. I secretly thought that then that this guy is much much better than X. You never know who is hearing you.

But now KK is with this actor X. And though there are no such news of X torturing KK, but I still hope that she finds someone much better. There was some news / gossip about KK and X breaking up, but am not sure. Somebody hearing me this time?

I am not sure how they are in person and have never met them or seen them. But I like to think that they are good individuals.

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

'Good good'

My view is that we always look for / find a few words or phrase to say for particular things that need to be said repeatedly. We might say something at initial instances of the situation without realizing, but then we either slowly learn what to say at subsequent instances, or we try to find out what others do when faced with similar situations.

When somebody asks, 'how are you?' or something by which he/she wants to ask essentially this, everyone has an answer almost ready. Somebody would say 'I am good'; others 'Doing well'; others 'Good good' (which is my standard answer and something which I have aped from a friend) etc etc. Even if you are not doing well, you obviously would not like to disclose it to everyone. And in fact though somebody is courteously asking, he/she might not actually be too much bothered about it. It has become more of a formality.

I myself sometimes do this formality, but most of the times I do really want to know if a person is really "good" and if there is something which is bothering him/her. I understand that most would not tell me the same for am not too close, but thats how it is. You can't convince anyone that you do really care especially at that instant when you ask. (Same is the case with things like 'Take care'. For I do not usually use it, but when I do, I really mean it. But again given the lavish way it is used these days, it has lost its meaning to some extent.)

Apart from these greetings and the answers to them, there are other instances you might require to come with a few lines / phrases to explain what happened. So, if you are returning from a trip, the people who know would ask you about it and not everyone would be interested in the details. So, you might want to have some kind of word sequence ready like 'weather was good, saw this and this, overall it was a good experience'. Its nice and short and the other person gets to know the gist that things went off well. The amount of subsequent interest shown can tell you how much details you want to give or what is being expected.

Gujarat - The destination of investment


Gujarat has shown it again that it is the place on the top of the list for people who are looking to do investments, set up industries. Mr. Tata has decided to choose Gujarat over the so many other states that were inviting him.

The Chief Minister, Mr. Modi has been criticized a lot for various other issues. But nobody can take away the fact that kind of development we have seen during his tenure, which has now touched 7 years, is phenomenal. Even after so many calamities and untoward incidents happening in the state in the last few years, it is indeed remarkable how he and his team has managed to attract industrialists. I believe that industries are the core of any development that a state looks for. It creates employment which not only provides income to the people, improves their standard of living and increase the GDP of the state but also keeps people busy and away from activities which do not make too much sense.

I have always believed that the people who bring various political parties, politicians to power are very intelligent. They choose the best available, a government which would work the best. Even after so much negative publicity, Mr. Modi and his government came to power in 2002 with 2/3rd majority and similar was the case in 2007 elections.

I have written previously about my views on the other state which pushed away Mr. Tata. It is sad that this thing still happens. People who are leading the protests have not much empathy, though they might display a lot. Some of these people also were trying to show that they care in a project in Gujarat. They tried their best to stall the project but finally the court decided pretty much against them. I am not taking everything away from them for I don't know all the details.

Now, the hope is just that these people do not come back to put their tents in Gujarat and do whatever they have done at the place they were before. The news is that the Gujarat farmers are ready to give away their land for a good price (3-4 times what they would get otherwise). I am sure that they would get this price and the farmers say that they can relocate elsewhere and buy some other fields. There might be some disruptions but the hope is that they would be minimal.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Some stuff from here and there

www.ted.com/
This site has lot of technological, innovative and other stuff which is quite interesting.
Try this ...
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/hans_rosling_shows_the_best_stats_you_ve_ever_seen.html

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http://www.mapsofwar.com/ind/history-of-religion.html
This is a good site showing, in a chronological fashion, how the various religions proliferated across the world.

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There is no country in the world which is a net lender country. Basically governments owe money to private people.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_external_debt

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The price of gold is now commonly seen as an indicator of geopolitical risk, a role traditionally associated with gold.

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I read this somewhere
“The view that global warming is happening but mitigating it is too expensive to be worthwhile, is rare these days in Europe, but common in America, where it is infused with the belief that, attempts to control greenhouse-gas emissions are part of a European socialist conspiracy to undermine the American way of life.”

I would add that it might also be seen as a way to constrain the developing economies of the world by those who feel threatened.

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Now that the iPhone is launched, everybody wud be well aware of its features and more ... but during the initial time this video gave a close look into it before it was launched ... was quite impressive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgW7or1TuFk

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Some random thoughts

My friend from my dorm today sent me a message saying "hey missing u yaar...BTW we r goin to mount Abu on a bike trip tomorrow...u will be missed " ... aisa laga ki life main aur kya chahiye ... somebody thinking of you and feeling that it wud have been good if u had been there

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There is a tendency which I have and I think many would have of associating songs with particular times / locations / feelings etc. So, when a particular song gets played on T.V. or somewhere else, you remind of that time / place etc. I have this habit of hearing a song again and again (in a loop) till I get bored of it ... some of my friends know of it and many a times get frustrated with this. My idea is that till the time a song has any juice left, it is ok to hear it again and again. One other side effect of this is that I somehow remember the lyrics of many of these songs ... and not just the start but the whole lyrics.
One of my friends (who was in my hostel during undergrad) wrote sometime back that he heard a song (which almost everyone hated and I listened to it in a loop, as usual, while in hostel) and he remembered me ...

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The Indian government is fooling everyone – it keeps revising past weeks’ inflation numbers up. So, when all eyes are on the inflation number for some particular week, I believe that it gets under-reported and then in subsequent weeks when more attention is towards the inflation number for the latest week, those of previous weeks are comfortably raised / revised to their actual values

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When I travelled outside the country for the first time ... the airplane entertainment system showed a map of the route etc. the thing that striked me was that the physical map showed only India in green (depicting the fertility, vegetation) and the surrounding areas were desert like or not that green ... just showed the unique fertility of the soil in this area

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I have always thought ki there is a difference in the way people talk about distances in Mumbai and Delhi. If you ask someone about distance between two places, in Delhi the reply would come in the form of the approx kms between the two points ... while in Mumbai it would be the approx. time it wud take. Generally, the distance thing might like a better measure ... but not sure what the time thing implies. Even in NY the distance is spoken of in the more traditional way ... but in miles

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Ideal job

My idea of an ideal job / company / workplace / colleagues is one where on a Friday I would feel sorry that for the next two days, I won't come to office and work. Don't get me wrong. I like holidays and am fine with having weekends but it should not be the case that from Monday morning onwards, you start waiting for the next Friday. It should not be the case that on Sunday evening you starting feeling sad that the next morning you have to go to work; that on Monday morning you have to push yourself really hard just to get to work. Sunday evening should be such that you become over enthusiastic with the fact that the next day is a working day.

Again, don't get me wrong. I like to spend time with family. But you should also like to spend time with your colleagues in the office. I remember a Career Launcher executive once said that the workplace and your colleagues should be such that every morning when you reach office, you would want to hug your fellow employees. Just think about the amount of time you actually spend with them at the office and may be outside.

When I look at the profiles of the seniors from my institute on a social networking site, typically I don't find even a single photograph of their office, the office building or anything related to the company they are working for. Some of it may be due to security reasons where the company does not allow photographs within the building. But I refuse to believe that even one photograph is not possible which somehow is related to the company. I don't know what to make out of this.

One area which all my Professors emphasize on is to think of a real career and not go to investment banks, consulting companies etc (or the current usual destinations of grads in my institute). They say that you should look at other companies, other industries and that the jobs which have become typical these days are more of a waste of time. They say that you do not require to pass from this institute to these jobs and that you are too dispensable while working at these firms. Anybody above a basic level of education and understanding can do these jobs.

I sometimes think that there would be some truth in these statements. The Professors have no selfish motive when they say that a particular career path is better for me than the other. They are not expecting anything from me for themselves after I graduate. How would they be affected if I did one thing or the other? I guess it is their desire to see me happy and satisfied with my career and job that is at work here. They want me to pursue a path wherein it should not happen that later on I start wondering if I had taken the right decision. Then it might be too late to shift gears.

Two career alternatives after graduation

An interesting interview appeared in the WSJ a few days back. Mr. David Wei, CEO of Alibaba.com was interviewed and he made two interesting comments / observations which I am sharing.

- What was your first job and what was the biggest lesson you learned from it?
Mr. Wei: My first job was the starting point for the balance in my career. I had a very legendary boss. His name is Mr. Guan [Jinsheng], the founder and CEO of Shanghai International Securities. I started my career as his secretary and then went on to become his assistant and executive assistant. I think that experience made my life so different than if I had joined as a junior clerk in any of the departments of a business. You start to get the vision, the entrepreneurship, the strategic thinking from the first boss. I think his success and failure gave me lessons, good and bad, respectively.[In 1997, a Shanghai court found Mr. Guan guilty on corruption charges and sentenced him to a 17-year prison term.]

- Who gave you the best business advice and what was it?
Mr. Wei: Our customers. That''s the lesson I learned from the first partner I worked with in PricewaterhouseCoopers. Although we were in an advisory business, your customer always knows more than you.

I had taken a course last term called LEM (Laboratory in Entrepreneurial Motivation). I guess I haven't mentioned that upto now. But that was by the best course that I have done during my graduation. The best thing about the course is the Prof. (Prof. SH). As he himself says in the first class, since there are no control measures in the course (attendance, exams etc.), he has to make every session such that people are kept interested and they keep coming. Though I cant say this about every session, but classes are in general interesting.

The Prof. is a very good speaker and also gives general life fundas (which I liked). One kind of develops large amount of respect for the Prof. and people remain in touch with him even many years after graduation (something which is very uncommon).

I guess you will hear a lot about the course and the Prof. henceforth. But the reason I brought this up here is that the first of the above two points is what he used to tell us. That instead of taking a normal finance / consulting etc. job which the grads tends to do in my institute, one has two other options which are far superior and which would allow you to see your full potential and put them to proper use. These two options are

1. Becoming the assistant of a senior executive (like the CEO etc.) of a firm. You being the assistant would be exposed to everything that the CEO does. The CEO does much more than just finance or marketing or HR. It is in some sense the most comprehensive of jobs and you would get a first hand experience of everything.

2. Getting yourself involved in a new project / division / department / business which some company is looking to build. Again, building something from scratch would give very good exposure and a great chance of learning.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

Flexibility within a company

This is what they say about the time period to change various things in a company. Taken from the book "Managing the small to midsized company".

The question is: what should change, and what should be held tight? The answer lies partially in the hierarchy from values to tactics:

  • Core values Change seldom, if ever.
  • Purpose Should last for 100 years.
  • Mission Changes whenever one mission is completed and a new one need be set (usually every five to 15 years).
  • Strategy Revised annually, then totally recast with each new mission.
  • Tactics In constant flux, to adjust to changing conditions.

Monday, September 08, 2008

A letter to Air India

Subject: Non-operational in-flight entertainment system

Hi,

I travelled to the US in your AI ... flight on the .... It was a direct 15-hr flight. For no part of the journey, the in-flight system worked. This problem was also faced by most of the passengers.

The crew could not do much for they only knew that it should start on restarting the entertainment system. When it did not they said they were helpless.

You would understand that this was quite painful. Such a long journey without any in-flight entertainment.

I hope something is done about this so that it is ensured that such a thing is not repeated.

Thanks.

Friday, August 22, 2008

Something to swank

Came across this newsletter the other day

Found it amazing, the effort and the display

From my current life, it took me away

To my past, it made me sway


And I remembered the beautiful period of my life

When I was an undergrad and there was ample nightlife

With assignments and deadlines, there was constant strife

Codes and breadboards were at that time too rife


Labs were places where a lot of time was spent

Lectures also required you to be present

Did not understand every word that the professor meant

Yet after everything, there was an enriching dent


Those were the days that shaped me well

Comes to my mind, when I sometimes dwell

And there is something that I want to tell

In life, the department and the Profs have made me excel


Many of the learnings are useful for long

Made my thinking sound and strong

Prepared me for whatever may come along

Made me realize where I actually belong


Finally, I would like to thank

Each and everyone across the rank

This is an opinion very frank

You have given me something to swank

Thursday, August 14, 2008

haseena-e-kaif

Aaj ka din beeta
Jaise ho zindagi ka sabse bura
Itna lamba lag raha tha
Ho hi nahin raha tha poora

Pata nahin chal raha tha main kahan hoon
Hosh hi nahin raha poore din
Lag raha tha kya main kar daalu
Khayal aa rahein the bhin bhin

Kuch jyaada khaaya piya nahin subah se
Logo ne poocha ki kya hua hain par nahin bataya
Khud mujhe hi nahin pata tha to kya batata
Kuch dikat hain aisa nahin jataya

Phir jab din dhala
Kuch jaan main jaan aayi
Sone pe suhaga
Mere dost ne achi khabar sunayi

Ms. Kaif ka ho gaya hain break-up
Matlab ab line hain clear
Ab intezaar khatam
Here I come, my dear

Sallu miya to dhoke baaz hain
Main nahin vaisa
Tumhare saare aashiq bhaag jaaye
Ab karein kuch aisa

Some more things which I liked

'Strange thing about courage is that you become braver for someone else than for yourself'


From the movie 'Pulp Fiction'
A: Don't you hate that?
B: What?
A: Uncomfortable silences. Why do we feel it's necessary to yak about something in order to be comfortable?
B: I don't know. That's a good question.
A: That's when you know you've found somebody special. When you can just shut up for a minute and comfortably enjoy the silence.


'Real friends are the ones who survive transitions between address books'


'...every emotion doesn't need words for expression, you can feel someone's care through their eyes'


Love your love so much that you don't have to ask"With whom you were?" and trust your friend that much that u don't have to tell "Don't tell this to anyone"


Randy Pausch in his Last Lecture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo
"Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted"
"Wait long enough and people will surprise and impress you"

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

The Rs 780/- incident

Travelling through railways can sometimes be a little dangerous and necessary safety precautions should be taken. Your luggage and belongings should be properly taken care of. Generally, the perception is that the A.C. coaches and the A.C. trains are much more safe than the non-A.C. ones. Incidents happening in these coaches are very less as compared to the others.


I was travelling through an A.C. train coach around 2yrs back. I was to start a particular station D and I was to get down at another station M. As the train came on the platform at D, I got into the coach, found my seat and arranged my luggage. I generally carry a chain by which I can tie the luggage to the seats to avoid any chance of losing it due to theft. I was sitting on my seat and waiting for the train to start moving.


After a few minutes, a man who was well dressed and looked decent approached me. He introduced himself as a co-passenger who is travelling with family. He pointed out towards a bunch of people who were in the same coach and claimed that it was his family. He said that he had lost the tickets and so has to buy new ones / pay a penalty for himself and his family members. He took out a bunch of currency notes and said that he had some money, but was short of just Rs 780/- which if I can give him, it would help him at that time. The promise was that some of his relatives were to come and meet him at some station on the journey and he has asked to bring the money, which he would return to me.


His arguments looked convincing and it looked a genuine case that needed help. But somehow, I did not give him money because I did not had so much cash at hand and would have to open my suitcase, which I did not want to do. I also thought that in this A.C. coach there would be someone who would be able to help him and so why bother.


He took off instantaneously as I told him that I did not have that much money. As the train started, I forgot about him and started enjoying the journey. Somewhere down the line, I remembered about what had happened and wanted to check if he was able to get the money. I looked for him at the place where he had shown his family but did not find him. I thought he would be somewhere and would come in a while. I checked again after sometime and did not find him. I didn’t knew if I should ask his family or not.


I did see the person for the rest of my journey and it did not feel as if I would see him again. The family looked cool and I did not sense anything about not having / losing tickets etc. I realized at that time, that even when that man pointed towards them, none of the family members were looking towards us (in anticipation) and did not even looked concerned.


I just wondered how people found ways to trick people and how they learn and change with the environment and the conditions.


Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Open book

What I have believed for some time now (some of the posts are examples of that), is that one should be strong enough that sharing of one’s personal issues with people at large should not make you vulnerable. Somebody has said

“Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway”


Just was remembering a few things about my past. Thought I should pen down so that if these memories fade away, some day I have the option to re-live them.


My mother tells me that when I used to go to a nursery school names Veena Nursery, a bus used to take me from my colony gate to the school and back. My mother used to come daily to drop me and picke me up at the gate. One afternoon, she went for a nap thinking she would get up before the specified time and pick me up from the gate. That afternoon she overslept by a few more minutes and as she woke up, she was a bit worried about me. As she prepared to go downstairs, I came to the home on my own and met my mother in the stairs. She says, then she realized that it was not necessary for her to go each time and that I knew the way.


My brother and I were generally of the silent kind from childhood. People in my family often remember that when we both were young and were about to visit some place, the relatives would try to keep things away in such a fashion that the two kids coming would not get their hands on those. However, they soon realized that their effort was futile for we were not among those kind of children who threw and played with anything we can get our hands on.


I was not among the people who used to come first in their class from kindergarten. However, one can say that I was always average or above average (in in terms of the academic performance), I did not much participate in extra-curricular activity but somewhat only in co-curricular activities. I rememeber in 4th standard or so, I used to stay for extra time in school for some co-curricular thing – I am forgetting the exact term.


I used to be out with my friends for somewhere around 3 hours daily in the evenings (6pm-9pm). We used to play different games within the premises of the colony we stayed, and talk, and walk. The homework was completed in the afternoon to ensure that I did not miss those hours.


An old woman used to take my brother and me to school. Her job was to take various children from their homes to the school. That way the parents were satisfied to an extent that there is someone to take care of their children on the way. But after a while, as we went to higher classes, we neither used to listen to her nor did we need her assistance. But she was a very good person. She also did other school related stuff such as paying of fees so that my parents did not have to go to school. She used to come to our house sometimes after we stopped going with her, but I have not seen her lately and have neither heard of her from my mother. Hope she is doing alright wherever she is.

Saturday, August 02, 2008

Some things which I liked

Jerre Stead, CEO, IHS says
" ... two most important measurements for his company 1. If their clients say to everyone outside that IHS is a company focused totally on the clients' needs 2. Does every person working in IHS say that I want my best friend to work here with me."


Ethan Berman, the founder and CEO of RiskMetrics Group says
" ... their biggest competitors are Google and GS for these companies are attracting the brightest and most talented people ... and not their peers ... for the most important thing is to find, hire, motivate and retain talented people."


Shashi Tharoor at S.P.Jain
"How, because of the strong emergence of Indians in Silicon valley and software creativity, the perception of Indians has changed from being that of snake charmers lying on beds of nails to one that every Indian is a software engineer. I saw instances when at airports Indians were approached by foreigners and being asked to fix their laptops!"


Warren Buffet about one of his company's executive
"Susan came to Borsheims 25 years ago as a $4-an-hour saleswoman. Though she lacked a managerial background, I did not hesitate to make her CEO in 1994. She's smart, she loves the business, and she loves her associates. That beats having an MBA degree any time."


Chinese intellectual libertarian, the founder of Taoism, in a 6th century B.C. quote on leadership
"To lead people, walk beside them ... As for the best leaders, the people do not notice their existence. The next best, the people honor and praise. The next, the people fear; and the next, the people hate and revile... When the best leader's work is done the people say, 'We did it ourselves!"


Bill Watterson at Kenyon College
" ... and I was forced to accept a real job. A REAL job is a job you hate.

But having an enviable career is one thing, and being a happy person is another.

Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement. In a culture that relentlessly promotes avarice and excess as the good life, a person happy doing his own work is usually considered an eccentric, if not a subversive. Ambition is only understood if it's to rise to the top of some imaginary ladder of success. Someone who takes an undemanding job because it affords him the time to pursue other interests and activities is considered a flake. A person who abandons a career in order to stay home and raise children is considered not to be living up to his potential-as if a job title and salary are the sole measure of human worth.
You'll be told in a hundred ways, some subtle and some not, to keep climbing, and never be satisfied with where you are, who you are, and what you're doing. There are a million ways to sell yourself out, and I guarantee you'll hear about them."

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Not so sad


Should one be worried of being sad?
If you think about it, it's not that bad
Of all the emotions that I have had
It is something which always remains in fad

It holds you close with the tightest clad
Stays with you even when you are mad
Doesn't matter if it's presence is only a tad
Am thankful for all the things it does add

Ironically, it makes you glad
Will take time before you become a grad
Surely, of all feelings, it's the experienced dad
Making every other, look like limited utility lad

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Say something


Has this happened to you?

For once in your life

As much as you wanted to speak

Words and you were at strife


You wanted them to behave

They did not listen

You wanted to express

They did not glisten


Made you wonder

If you have lost it forever

Silence for so long

What has made this ability sever?


Neither did it flow from up there

Nor did it rise from your left, below

The distance from both ends seemed so small

It turned out to be very large though


From paragraphs you started

Then focused on a single sentence

Then there was the point

It had to be word by word, hence


Though this helped

But upto an extent

The first few words came out

But they were infrequent


And I am sure the effort that went in

For those few

Was more than all put together in my life

That ever went through