Day 272 - CWG, CSK & The Power of Ideas

'Due to all the criticism and bad press around the preparations for the Commonwealth Games (CWG), Suresh Kalmadi decided to commit suicide by hanging himself from the roof. And the roof collapsed. Next, he attempted to jump off a bridge with the same motive, however, this time the bridge collapsed!’

This is a joke which has been doing the rounds for some days now, ridiculing all the goof ups that have now become part and parcel of the preparations for the CWG. It is also a good example of how we, as a country, have a great self-deprecating sense of humour. There is now even a page dedicated to ‘CWG Jokes’ on Facebook! However, at the bottom of our hearts, we all know the fact that all this bad press is causing tremendous pain to all of us as Indians. We are probably trying to cope with it by trying to find the funny side of all this mess.

The past week has been particularly bad for the organisers of the CWG. A roof (false ceiling, actually) collapsed; nobody was killed. A bridge collapsed; 27 people injured, but nobody was killed! However, it was only meant for ordinary pedestrians. Elsewhere, in the Games village, trouble began to brew as athletes began trickling in. The apartments were not properly maintained. Toilets were not clean. Mattresses had human footprints and marks of dog paws on them! And then Lalit Bhanot lectured us on the differences in the standards of hygiene of foreigners and us lesser mortals. Indian boxer, Akhil Kumar’s bed broke when he sat on it! Would ‘The Commonwealth Circus’ be an appropriate name for the event? I think so. Because the sportsperson is anyway not in the limelight for these games. In fact, many of them have just pulled out. I do hope we hold the responsible people accountable and punish them. We should in fact punish them by boycotting the CWG completely. For a country like India, where a large portion of our population lives below the poverty line, organising a Rs.70,000 crore extravaganza is a criminal offence.

The other interesting happening over last week was the elevator pitches for ‘The Power of Ideas 2010’ initiative. Manish’s business idea has been short-listed as part of this initiative and he had to make a 5 minute elevator pitch to an evaluating panel in Mumbai. After umpteen number of rehearsals and fine tuning, I accompanied him to the venue on Saturday for the Elevator Pitch. I was also hoping to listen in on the business ideas of other participants. Unfortunately, the format of the pitches was such that only the participant as well as the evaluation panel were involved. Hence no audiences! Manish made his 5 minute speech and was bombarded with questions, which was a good indication of the open interest in his business idea / model. I hope he does make the next cut, because he deserves it.

I also got my new house registered finally during the course of the week. Hopefully will be able to take possession of the place after a few more formalities are completed. Will need to then plan the whole run up to the actual occupation of the house, including a fresh coat of paint and a whole lot of modifications which the better half has ordered...phew!  But, am I looking forward to it? YES!

The other thing that I am looking forward to this week is my birthday!  Though, aging by one more year is no fun, the day itself is so much fun!  Will write all about that day and much more in my next post.

Till then...take care!

P.S.: By the way, I would like to congratulate all my friends in Chennai on Chennai Super Kings winning the Champions League T20 tournament!  Hey....whistle poooodu!

Day 263 - Back To Basics

This week I spent two full days attending the first module of my firm's Leadership Program.  The theme of the module was 'Personal Mastery' and the content was based on the highly acclaimed The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Signature Program™.  The program is based on the tremendously successful book by the same name by Dr. Stephen R Covey, first published in 1989.  Dr. Covey followed it up with 'The 8th Habit', published in 2004.

Of course, this is not the first time that I was attending such a leadership training program.  Also, I had read the book a long time back.  However, what struck me as I was going through the two-day program was the impact that can be created by smart and slick packaging.  I say this because the program does not talk about anything new.  In fact, most of us in our day to day lives must be following some or all of the principles behind each of the 'Habit' described in the program.  Smart packaging adds a halo to what is essentially common sense stuff. 

This is however, not to belittle the effectiveness of the program itself.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, especially the video snippets of Stephen's sessions.  All of it makes very good sense, especially the 'Habit 7 - Sharpen The Saw'.  Stephen uses the analogy of the story of the goose which laid a golden egg everyday.  The point being, it is important to take good care of the production capability on an ongoing basis to ensure that the high quality production continues.  Hence it is very essential that self-renewal of the physical, mental, spiritual and emotional / social aspects of our lives happen so that we can be fresh and energetic to be able to practice the other 6 habits.  I think I enjoyed and related to Habit 7 the most because it also ties in with the resolutions that I made for myself at the start of this year.

Interestingly, I got an opportunity to practice some of the things that were part of the program on Saturday itself.  My car was hauled in for the first 'paid' service by the Honda dealer and service partner.  There was cost escalation and there was time delay, and still the things to be taken care of in the service were not, leaving me feeling cheated...and fuming!  I guess, my understanding of the concept of 'Interdependence', learnt over the week during the program saved them.  Had a similar experience at the 'Priority Banking' branch of the SBI this morning.  Public sector...always the same...priority banking or otherwise.

It was also good to meet up with Shankar Krishnamoorthy, an old friend and colleague, today after almost 6 years. 

As you can imagine, I have been thinking about taking care of myself, a lot this week.  You should too!

Day 256 - National Integration A Must - By Order, The Almighty.

This weekend has been a happy and rare co-incidence of Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi falling on Saturday.  The festive spirit was evident all over the city.  The Muslims were celebrating Eid on Saturday marking the end of the holy month of Ramadan, which involves rigorous fasting and prayer routines.  The Hindus were celebrating the birth of the elephant God - Lord Ganesha, marking the beginning of a 10 day festival, during which Ganesha will be treated with the best of food and prayers, culminating in the immersion of the idols of the Lord in water bodies across the city.

I have always been a believer.  Prayers in the morning at home, have been a part of my routine for ages now.  I did, however, shun public places of worship for a period of almost 15 years after the Babri masjid was demolished by Hindu fundamentalists unleashing communal violence all over India.  The boycott of public places was to underline the fact that one does not need such places of worship, as religion should be something which is very personal for every individual.  Religion should not be used as a means of driving political agendas and causing irreparable damage to the secular fibre of the nation.

It struck me that this rare co-incidence of festivals of both the faiths falling on the same day might be a signal from up above, to us lesser mortals, that religion should be used to bring people together rather than divide them.  Our floor was a good example of this on Saturday.  After offering the prayers to Ganesha at home, we had lunch at Amiya and Farheen's place to celebrate Eid.  The same 'kolam maavu' was used for making the rangoli outside our door as well as writing 'Happy Eid' outside our neighbours' door!  In the evening, the Chaudhuris hosted all of us for dinner.

Ganesha @ Home

Sunday was a busy day as well.  Had lots of Ganesh Chaturthi darshan and Eid invitations.  We went to Sameer Dave's home in the afternoon.  Everything about the celebrations at his home was grand.  A large idol of Ganesha and lots of relatives all over the place.  Went to some of my colleagues' homes in the evening, with Arvind and Sagar.  Meera's place for Ganesh darshan and then to Arshan Dawji's place to savour some Sheer Korma.  By the way, this is the only downside to this rare occasion. The amount of sweets and rich food that is consumed; full of fats and calories, will take many many days in the gym to compensate for these two days now!

I wish all my friends a very Happy Eid-ul-Fitr and a very Happy Ganesha Chaturthi.  I do sincerely think that this rare occasion was The Almighty's signal to us as a nation to be united, while celebrating our diversity.  I hope many others do too!

Take care.

Day 255 - Parents Are GODS

If someone were to ask me: What do you fear the most?  The answer would be: Losing my parents.

Last weekend was spent in Ahmedabad.  I had wanted to go to Ahmedabad, my hometown, for sometime now, as my father was not keeping well and was hospitalized sometime back.  He was hospitalized due to a sudden surge in sugar levels, which necessitated administering insulin.  Being a chain smoker, he had also contracted bronchitis.  After being monitored in the hospital for 3 days, he was discharged.  The bronchitis infection had subsided, however, the sugar levels were still higher than normal.  The day we reached Ahmedabad, another blood sugar test was done and as they say: All wazzz well!  It is at times like these, that my biggest fears resurface, especially now that they are getting older and live alone.  Thankfully, this time, all's well that ends well.

In spite of spending the last 18 years away from my parents, I have always been very close my parents.  My relationship with my mother, especially, was always special.  My father was always, and still is, a very busy man.  He is a trade unionist and the well being of the smallest common denominator has always been the closest to his heart, sometimes even at the cost of not spending enough time with the family.  However, he made sure that he provided for the family adequately. There was never a need that was not fulfilled.  In my childhood, though we lived in the same house, sometimes I did not see my father for months together because of the odd hours.  Naturally, my mother was closest to me and my brother, as she was the 'go-to' person for everything for us.  She herself is a very strong woman and can be credited with single-handedly managing the entire house and the kids very very well.  The most difficult times being, when Emergency was declared in the country and most of the socialists, including my father, were imprisoned by the incumbent government.  Their families were harassed by the government by denying access to basic utilities like water and electricity.  My mother dealt with all of these valiantly for the sake of the love of her husband and children!  She is a winner!

Hence, my parents, in spite of having gone through unimaginable struggles in their lives, never ever left anything to chance as far as the upbringing of their children was concerned.  They have provided adequately for all our needs and wants.  Apart from all the material things, the most important thing that they gave us was the right values and morals.  Being a parent myself, I realise that it is very important to have the right set of values embedded in the upbringing of children.  That is the best gift you can ever give them because values and morals stay with you life long and help you make the right decisions throughout your life. 

My Parents

Hence the title of this post. As I write this on Ganesh Chaturthi day, an interesting anecdote comes to my mind.  Once upon a time, the two brothers, Ganesha and Karthikeya, were fighting for a fruit.  Shiva and Parvati decided that a competition should resolve the issue and asked them both to go around the world on their respective 'vahanas'(vehicles).  Whoever, comes back first after circumnavigating the world would get the fruit.  Karthikeya's vehicle was a peacock and hence he hopped on to it and was on his way immediately.  Ganesha, as his vehicle was a mouse, had no chance of winning this one.  He used his brains and had a brilliant idea.  He went around his parents in circles and told them that they were his world!  Job done.  Parents were happy.  The fruit was his!

I think he was right.  Consider your parents to be your GODS. You exist because of them. You are what you are because of them.  I hope everyone feels the same way.  Take care of your parents because you owe it to them.

Take care.