Capital Punishment

Well I had the issue on my mind for a very long time but you need a stimuli (Afzal Guru in this case). I am very well aware that its sensitive issue and everyone is entitled to have his/her opinion. Frankly I do not have a firm opinion on the issue but there are factors which push me sometime either on one side or the other.

I am still wondering where to start the thread from. Well as one of my cousin puts it, I too really have mad number of people in the friendlist on Facebook. Since FB has this status box which says "What's on your mind XYZ ? " which they have smartly modified over the time to "What's happening XYZ ?" after some infamous episodes ;-) , people tend to pour in their opinion freely and if they don't have any they just share what ever someone has posted without even making an effort to verify the credibility of the info.

I am not a psychologist but I do tend to observe people and form opinions and hypothesis as well. There are certain sect of people I know who irrespective of what is happening have to always either oppose the system/criticize it/rebel etc. I really do not know if the particular category of people add any value or are necessary for the society or not. I am not sure if they want to prove their individual identity by these actions. 

While I do not deny that in the most civilized parts of the world capital punishments are either abolished or are rarely used. In the developing and under-development nations it more often heard of. But trying to prove ourselves as a part of civilized world shall we move away from justice ? I really do not know how a person's heart can change over time and if there is a way to verify it. But someone who can mercilessly kill people at will without even blinking an eye, how can he be let free or imprisoned for life where he serves 14 yrs and walks out again by proving his good conduct. 

But yes again there is always history to prove things. The reason I started the thread was the angst  I had for people asking for human rights and justice for people who did not know what these terms mean. Be it Afzal Guru, Ajmal Kasab, David Headley, the rapists in the Delhi gang rape case or any other Capital punishment may or may not justice for them. But I can assure it does work as a deterrent for others. Will it solve problems like this for ever? Might not, since there will always be some people who would not be impacted by efforts and bold actions like these, but then there would certainly be lessor people who would try doing it since they would know they won't be able to walk away just like that.

Does it mean that there would be no misuse of it, well I doubt that but you can't let people like Kasab out and expect them not to do what they did before. Neither do I have answer for - "Why do we kill people who kill people to show killing people is wrong ?".

Flavor of Season

I couldn't come up with a better title for the topic. The news-feed section of my FB page is filled only with the following things:
1) Marriage pics and status updates of my friends/batchmates/colleagues.
2) Rest with baby pics and status updates on the same lines.
3) Since its a supposedly a season of love there are humor quotes, dedication etc.

Its not that I have a trouble with them but then when everyone keeps repeating the same thing you tend to think more on the issue even if you don't want it. As stated before I am on the verge of going over the marriageable age and would be considered too old in case I don't settle down soon. But since the brain always tends to ask for a logic behind everything here are few dilemma/issues in my current life in the order of priority
1)  I am currently a student and would be for another 1.5 yrs before I move back to corporate life (hence it does not make sense settling down as I wouldn't have time for my probable partner)
2) Financially I cant support a family since the stipend I get is just enough for managing personal needs.
3) I do not know a girl whom I understand and know enough to start thinking on those lines.

Even the program I am pursuing has a good proportion of married boys/girls and I could see their daily problems and discussions over the lunch/dinner table. Oddly they still advocate getting married is good idea which makes me wonder their motive behind it. One of most commonly used argument to defend it is since you anyways have to do it, why delay it. And mostly frequently defense from my side is that I am not ready for it yet. Which some people agree to but parents/relatives counter with how would you know that you are ready for it. Well for this I try to come up with a creative answer everytime :-).

But apart from the sarcasm there is some real good news, my best pal got engazed yesterday and am really happy since she had been looking forward to it and there were too many things which were not going right. I hope this is just a start of the good phase for her. As soon as I started writing the blog and I got a call from my mom and she had the same agenda for her call her as well so Law of Attraction does work  irrespective whether you want it or not but if you are thinking about it does :-).

RR3

Well as it is rightly stated that we become more mature with time as we encounter more situations in life. All of us go through similar(rarely identical) stages at different ages in our lifetime. There was a time when I believed in perfection in everything I did and rather had a very narrow window for tolerance for things I did or could accomplish myself. Then I realized that people have different abilities,motives and attitude behind a particular tasks which determines the outcome. As I can see and draw a conclusion from my past that I have transitioned from perfectionist to more of a finisher with slight traces of perfectionism here and there. I want to get the jobs done more on time rather than waiting and coming up with perfect solutions beyond time.

I have tried being regular to gym quiet a few times and was successful for varied duration ( from a week to 3 months as well). As one of my batch-mates here puts it "gym-person" - I do not belong to that category, but I love playing outdoor sports/workouts like running etc. I have run couple of half marathons, 5 and 10 k runs over the last 3-4 years. But after joining the program here I haven't done much of the workout which I consider extremely essential. Just like most of us I plan every night as well the lazy part inside me doesn't let me out of bed in the mornings. Hence I have decided to keep this post as an incentive. That means this post or any other post would see the light of the day(get published) if and only if I take the first step and start the workouts again. I know once I start I would figure out ways to keep up with it.

There was a University fest in the campus last weekend and it was the first fest ever here. And very unusual of me that I wasn't involved either in coordination or participating actively in it. But there are always first for everything, what I learned was its better to be in thick of things rather just whiling away your time. I did donate my blood in the blood camp but that I consider as passive activity than an active one. It was that day I had decided about the workouts and its been 5 days the action has not happened. Anyways the reason I started talking about fest was there were many wonderful performances and last day we had a live rock band called "Them Clones". Though I am not a rock/hard metal guy and the songs I can understand are too few but the above song made instantly in my favorites list.

The last thread of thoughts is on marriage. One of professors who handles economics for us made a wise  statement during a break which I could connect to instantly. The professor is visiting faculty (was Ex-Dean for Delhi University, one of small credibility from long list which can be associated with him) and is in his 70s. I do not believe in horoscopes and he was of the same opinion as well, but he stated - it makes lot of sense matching RH factor of the blood and exchanging medical reports/history instead of horoscopes (which made an instant logic for the rational me). He also went ahead and stated that it is difficult the way marriages work in India(arranged marriages) and it might be considered a taboo but a good way to handle would be pass on your report and let your partner decide if they want to return the favor. 

Continued...

If you happen to stumble upon my blog for the first time and is wondering on the title. Here is your guide/help for figuring out if its worth wasting your time here by going in chronological order some 25+ odd posts. I always suggests my friends to go through in chronological order since its easier to understand and sometimes there could be reference to previous posts as well. For e.g. RR2 stands for Random Rambling part 2 (title of my previous post). The story behind it is as simple as - I have become more regular now in blogging and I ran out of Titles, hence came up numbering funda for posts which are really random thoughts on my head. Though you may still find odd individual titles in between post which have proper background or story behind it.

Let me use this post as chance to post a disclaimer/copyrights stuff as well. All stuff put up on this blog is either my personal thoughts/opinions/experience or fictional stuff. And most of the pictures or audio/video belong to the respective owners and I had stumbled across them through the web only, unless otherwise stated as personally shot by me. For e.g the attached video (Tent No. 13)

We have an audit course called Community Connect in the MBA program I am pursuing, where the motto was to go back and connect with the under privileged mass of the society & contribute in some manner. This was to be shot and edited as a video and submitted. While doing the editing of that video I recalled the above video which I along with my team members at the previous firm SAP had shot as a part of team building activity (right from concept to shooting-editing-final screening under 24 hrs). During a class discussion I talked about it as well, where my batch-mates had asked me to post so that they can have a look at it as well. A bit of background before you form an opinion about the above short film, everyone associated with the movie is from a software industry(right from developer/tester/consultant/team manager/vice president) with no exposure to movie making, though we had professional help/hand holding in terms of how to use rolling movie camera and how to use the software to edit it etc. since it was to be done under a time frame of 24 hours.

The community connect video was shot with regular digital camera and still needs proper editing. It was done under time constraints as well (had semester exams in the coming week) and was to submitted in 3 days time else it would mean F grade in the course which might not stop us from getting the degree but would have meant unnecessary mark on the final course grade-sheet. Once it goes through a proper editing it I would definitely post it up here as well.

RR2

Well let me sound philosophical today. Actually there are plenty of things on my mind right now and I would try to work them one by one as long as this post doesn't start giving a long and boring look :-).

Is there something called as a right or wrong decision? All of us know there is nothing as an absolute right or wrong and most of them are relative to each other. Everybody's definition of right on wrong depends on his thought process and definitely on the purpose one is trying to achieve. Then there is a factor called circumstances where in one place something might look right but might be not be right in another scenario.

If I want to make an instant profit and expect the prices of a particular stock to rise and invest in it. Depending whether prices actually go up or not might decision would be right or wrong. Had I invested in the same stock for a long term perspective the decision might have been right (with an assumption that the firm did well in the long run). Hence the context/purpose is what defines whether a particular choice was right or not to a large extent. Some choices might sound/look good in short run but might not be in the long run.

But then again this is a vicious circle the purpose/context does not remain same/constant always and its keeps changing as well. So deciding something one did was it right or not is a difficult task. Irrespective where one is today or would be in future depends largely on the choices one made-makes. As Steve Jobs said "Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever."  So when I look back today I can see lot of good things and some not so good as well. But if I wouldn't have done it I would have never known that it shouldn't be done. There is little voice which still keeps telling me that there was something good even in them which I probably cant differentiate right now.

Let me jump to another thread of the thoughts, it sometime makes me wonder why aren't we comfortable with some people around, though at ease with others even when we are meeting them the first time. I read somewhere that you get rid of feeling which you aren't comfortable with by repeating it again and again. But then I guess its a mutual stuff, if the other person is not comfortable in your presence you will have the discomfort as well no matter how much efforts you make. Rather sometime making those additional efforts might have the exact opposite outcome. I was interacting with a cousin of mine the other day and conversation was about having a gf/bf and that when I realized that its not only about the desire but also about the effort. Simple sentences like I am comfortable/not comfortable with strangers go a long way in conditioning our mind and our natural responses in situations when we encounter them.

Let me close the rambling here and save the remaining thoughts for the next post :-) since this post already has a scroll bar on my edit window.

Random rambling (RR1)

There were 2 incidences which prompted me to put up a post and I wanted to do it the very same day. But somethings just don't happen as you plan. So since its been sometime I would try to recall them as vividly as possible. I would prefer putting the disclaimer again right at start just to reiterate that it my views and they might be biased.

In the current term of degree we are undergoing a course called Managerial Communication. Needless to say more, most of us feel this is an irrelevant course. But there is flip side to it as well, most of us think we have a great command over language and rate our side on the higher spectrum, when it comes to actual evaluation results might prove otherwise and I do not deny the fact. Just like we feel that we are good enough if not perfect our Professor feels the same way (though she has a specific accent which I don't have an apt name and she has her own set of fillers as well). I had been a part of Toastmaster International (TMI) where I was working on improving myself and I should continue on that rather then evaluating Professors and others. Since the Prof is Doctor (Ph.D) I am sure I will get to learn something from her.
  

I guess life has interesting stuff in store for me, where ever I go I find something which really interests me. While at SAP we had the LTS (Leadership Talk Series) and the Literati (the bookclub/author speak session). Here at NU we do have guest Lectures, though because of clash in timings/other blockers you might not be able to attend all of them but I managed to attend 2 out of the 4 so far. The most recent was from a Dr. Prafulla Padhi and believe me it was interesting one as well. I would prefer not talking about the guys credentials since it was 3 page printout which the Organizer had in his hand :-). What he covered during the talk included change management and growth that beckons the Indian economy. What I enjoyed was the energy level at his age (70+) and he made the session interactive. The talk was about numbers (historical GDP) India, China and World economy, current state and projections for future 2050 which were really astounding. What was proved again was, it's just not the content but how you deliver it matters a lot as well. The outlook he gave was really positive and which was supported by logical explanations as well.

PS: The guys has retired now and stays in a village near Bangalore after spending his majority of life abroad and he was one of the first Venture Capitalist of Google Inc.

Stones (gemstones)

Was a part of an interesting conversation after the breakfast in the morning. Astrology, palmistry and gemstones on similar lines. Lessor to add I was an active listener since I have my own view points on the topic which I don't claim to be perfect but its just the the rational me tends to hold them stronger.

Since we were done with our exams and none of us had better things to do (sane people had already decided and made trip back home or nearby places for excursion like Sariska/Jaipur etc.) being in a campus which is far from civilization. After breakfast we decided to have a walk and get our quota of sun rays, which ended up in long conversation right from the culture of bank we are about to join after completion of our course to many other topics. The conversation started on lines of believing in astrology and moved on to belief in gemstones.

When we get to interact with people we understand lot of their biases and prejudice or what you say is "getting in their shoes". What really intrigues me is how can people with similar educational background tend to have such vast differences in opinions/beliefs. I always thought education was big factor for making people think logically and rationally but somehow the logic doesn't hold good anymore. People more learned (higher degrees) and matured have shown irrationality in taking decisions which implies that there are other factors as well. BTW during the conversation I realized that there are stones which I considered useless/colorful rocks have loads of beliefs associated and people go to any extent (from thousands to hundred thousands[lacs]) to get them on their rings and those stones have a life too.

After a lot of deliberation I figured out probably everyone has a certain way of making things work for them. Just like I follow the Law of Attraction and believe in the power of positive words(reaffirming self) people resort to their own ways and probably stones is just one of them. If that's the case, my technique is lot more economical then :-P.

Survived

Well at the end of first term exam and to prove that one can go back to studies even after a long break of close to 7 years, I couldn't come up with a better title. Though the results would take another week or so to be out, but am confident enough that I would make it through with good grades since its a relative grading and not absolute here.

As I stated before life constantly gives you lessons and depends on us whether we take anything out of it or not. The reason I keep penning them down is that we as human have a fickle memory and hence we tend to forget. Maybe if and when I get to shuffle through these posts again I would be able to recall them more vividly.

Adversity always looks huge in isolation but the moment you have a righteous comparison it might even stop existing. And I strongly believe that if you end up being in a situation either you handle it or you get to learn something from it. I happened to talk over to one of my best pals after a really long time (its normally this way between us but somehow we connect instantly and start from where we left last time) and realized that she happens to be going through a tough phase....got sacked and since visa is dependent on job as well its about to expire as well.... uncertainty over her marriage plans as that too is dependent on a similar issue. She plans to start her double master coming fall and finding short stint jobs is extremely arduous task. As they say what matters more is the attitude. Since I have known her for close to 10+ years now I know she would turn the tide and come out of more stronger than ever.

Again a funny incident, I believe the Law of Attraction and works and has been advocating it for a long time now. Believe me its easier said than done in this case, one needs to be really cautious and needs to practice it constantly.  I do slip here and there at times and before I realize the damage is done. While talking to her I realized that she is practicing it consciously and felt really happy about it and that's when I started to recall that I haven't been "walking the talk". But as they say the first step to fix things is identifying the problem and since that's done, rest is being worked upon.

The First

Well there is always a first time for everything in life. This post has been due for a long time now. Since there have been quiet a few posts on arranged marriages and one of the essential steps is to meet the person. Best part about life is that the learning never stops, though it's a different topic whether we take back anything from any experience or not. Well let me name the lady as Miss X just like the mathematics classes where the unknown variable always gets this name. I need to politically correct as well since I know the blog is followed by lot of people and Miss X knows about it too :-P.

Well I would consider myself completely naive and there were hundred other things on my mind which were on extremely high priority (that's the best excuse I can come up for being such a moron). Probably being a guy I did not think much as well and just landed up in a place close to Miss X so that we can meet up. A bit of background before I move ahead. We had talked exactly once over phone and had exchanged a few gmail chats before that day and we were being hooked up because of common relatives (typical arranged marriages). No points of guessing it was me who initiated as I was on fix it up mission. Was out of job...going back to school, hunting rented accommodation for my parents. Let me try not to justify but the truth is I almost landed up blank with absolute no clue how to take things forward. I feel I make friends really fast and meeting new people is just like another activity which doesn't get me thinking but I guess its not the same with everyone. So I landed up being shabbily dressed for the meeting and we had planned to meet at a coffee shop.

As soon I stepped inside the coffee shop I got to meet an office colleague of mine and I came up with an excuse/lie (since you do not go about telling everyone that you are out to see someone) that I was there to met a old buddy of mine. Since I wasn't probed much I found a table and started wondering if Miss X walks in how do I  introduce her to my colleague, but seems the ubiquitous force did not want me to lie anymore and hence the office guys were done and they started to leave and Miss X was running late as well. Well I gave the compliment to Miss X when we met as well so nothing wrong being truthful, Miss X walks inside the cafe and I gotup to greet her and frankly was stunned as she was pretty and was aptly decked up as well unlike me.

Now the funny part of the episode, how can things go wrong and learnings part. Miss X broke her heels while entering the coffee shop and had to go back n look for cobblers but since it was late evening she trudged back and had to manage with broken heels of the footwear (reason for her running late). If you haven't thought about how to make the conversation there would be uncomfortable silences. Making conversation is really easy when you do not have an agenda but when there is a thought at the back of you mind on the purpose of meet you wont be comfortable at all. Well being a weekend and the place being the hustle bustle center of city there was lot of crowd and I was wondering if we would run into familiar faces and Voila..... Miss X younger brother's ex girlfriend was in the coffee shop as well and she called up her elder sister who was classmate of Miss X to tell her bout gossip that Miss X is seeing someone. Where she had to clarify that it was date setup by parents and she wasn't seeing someone, later when she was called.........indeed its a small world :-).

Miss X was uncomfortable/nervous/.... which was evident right throughout and which made me wonder If I should keep it running or just exchange goodbye and move ahead. We did get to spend sometime together and obviously it was me who was trying to keep the conversation running but the question stayed how can you meet someone for an hour and so and decide if things gonna work out between you or not.  Now the most interesting part which I guess everyone (my parents, her parents and anyone else who knew that we have met) wanted to hear. The moment I reached home I was probed but I made the answer complex by telling the truth that it was nice meeting her but there were lot of uncomfortable silences to make a sense out of it. What I guess they were expecting was a YES/NO but I had left them with a maybe instead. Had no clue how things were on other side and I am sure NO would have made my life simpler. Later did I realize that it was first time for Miss X as well and there are lot of things on a girl's mind and I guess rejection being one of the major ones.Well frankly I do not know how things would turn out but if we stay as friends that's gonna be enough (easier said than done especially when you know purpose wasn't making a new friend). Probably if we would have just met as friends I feel there were higher chances of things working out.

Experience or mistake ?

Well I really do not know how to describe the state of my mind right now. So whatever is going to follow would be rambling at its best. Let me go in the reverse order of how things have been happening. Just got a call from my home and got a news that one of my distant cousins is getting hitched in coming months. Thought it did make me really happy for her but (though nothing directly or indirectly was exchanged between me and my parents) every time I get a call it somehow sounds like a warning bell. There was time(not very long ago) when I considered my parents as my best buddies and they were the first people with whom I would share anything and everything happening in my life. But it seems I lost the balance somewhere without even realizing. It's not that I do not share with them anymore but I guess my life is not that happening now. I can feel they aren't that comfortable in sharing and talking with me they way it used to be and am equally responsible for it if not more or less. Bringing up the topic of marriage is difficult task for them and probably they know that I am not ready for it since I have voiced up my reservation boldly quiet a few times. Its not that I have something against the system but it doesn't make sense getting in a relationship when you aren't 100% ready just because you want them(people you love) to be happy.

BTW my sister returned back to India after more than 6+ years last week and I went home and we got to spend a weekend together (its always great to have your siblings around ). One of the prime reasons I offered for not taking long term abroad assignments but now I do not need them anymore since she is back and I am out of the corporate world. While I was home for the weekend, experienced a learning though it was costly (50k) but isn't that what you call a mistake :-P. My truck(Safari) was hit by a full grown up truck(sand lorry) while we were waiting a traffic signal to turn green. To cut a long story short we made a deal with the truck owner over phone that he covers my damage and I let his truck go. So the learning was

1. Never trust someone even though he may sound really genuine (since the guy turned turtle once my car was given for repair). 
2. Never under-estimate the Indian judicial system for it would always leave you disappointed.
3. Never speak of things which you cant accomplish yourself.

Life at the B-school is chilled out though there are always quizzes, assignments, projects to keep you busy. And of-course the scores which I manage here (apart from couple of exceptions) would make people who know my academic background wonder if getting MBA is so difficult. Since its the last day of year the customary thoughts of what I did and didn't are back on my mind but let me keep that up for a separate post.

Behavior Gyaan

Well I have a subject called the Organisational Behavior(OB) in my current Term at the University which made me go through some self evaluation tests. The purpose of the Professor was solved to some extent for sure since it made me introspect(not sure about others in class) and help me in observing some of everyday behavior in details. So get ready for philosophy and psychology gyaan.

Now the first part of the exercise is done of finding own mistake and second which is correcting the behavior should be starting sometime soon hopefully.

1. Its fairly easy to pick up others fault and criticize without even thinking.
2. During a lecture if you are discussing something with your neighbor you are either resolving your own query or solving his doubts.
3. While if someone else does the same thing, you feel they are morons :-) (cant they do it later) since the murmur created is disturbing the class/session especially when batch strength is closer to 80s.
4. Its difficult to admit own mistakes especially when someone else had pointed it out, it would be easy when you have realized it yourself.
5. You always have an idea or solution to a problem/issue and you feel that's the best way to handle it.

The list can be pretty long but I better wind it up. The post was started few days back but couldn't find time to complete it and what better time to complete it when you are supposed to attempt 2 mid term papers in the morning and you stay awake late to study and then you realize you can study a subject to understand and apply it but its impossible to complete it when you know you would be evaluated on how much have you retained. BTW one of 2 the papers is OB and that's how I came back to the blog. Keeping fingers crossed as they say I am sure I would manage the grades though I haven't prepared for it just like the good old engineering days :-).

Oh I forgot to add the funny part one of the tests described me as "The Doer" kind of guy who wants to get the hands dirty and make things work (to which I agree largely). While I was going through the description it also stated that these kind of people are not good at theory and give little or no importance hence they not good at higher education since it deals mostly with theories. Now it makes me wonder if I did a right thing to opt for studies again :-P.

The Change

Its been long since I have put up something here and life has been on a fast track. The previous post had been in draft for months now so first thing I did was publish it as it was. To cut a long story short "the crossroad" was continuing the professional career or taking a break as mentioned in lot of my previous posts as well.So finally I took the plunge to end the Bachelors tag and get a Masters by landing up at B school instead of my personal life :-P.

Frankly the time flew so fast that I don't even remember putting down my paper and serving the full notice period though having the option to move out early. I did regret the decision of not having a break between the office and college only in the last week as 2 days I had went of in winding up the formalities. Before the feeling sank in that am out of job I was loading my stuff in the car to drive down to college.

Going back to studies is no big deal and I personally know loads of people who have done it lot later than me and that too after having loads of personal and family commitments. But going back to studies leaving laptops and using pen, notebooks after close to 7 years is totally different story.Night-outs which were frequent during engineering days now look like a big effort. You are handed assignments which you have no clue about and it needs to be submitted the next morning and that too right in the second week so you end up slogging the entire night.

The best part of the entire change is that I got to make a whole bunch of new friends and ultra cool ones. Everyone who comes here has a good amount of professional work exp (avg 4+ yrs) but all of them super young at heart and behave just like school kids and its fun to be in the group and act like one yourself. I never had any constraints of sticking with a particular industry but after all the previous years being in IT sector and sudden shift to Banking ticks the rational part of the brain sometimes. That's all for now and hopefully I would keep the blog updated lot more often since the grey matter is subjected to 6 different courses every week now :-).

Crossroads

Well the title aptly describes my state of mind. I am not a literature guy but I do remember a poem and I guess lot of people from my age group with my kind of schooling would be able to recall it "The Road Not Taken(less traveled)" by Robert Frost. The reason am so philosophical today as I had 2 options in life today one which I have been walking/trudging and I know where I would be if I continue and the other one being the less traveled one and I really do not have a clarity as to where it would lead me. 

Power of Failure

Working in a firm like mine has quiet a few fringe benefits. One of the initiatives called Leadership Talk Series (LTS) is where successful people from different walks of life are invited to share their experience and help the employees get inspired. Today as a part of the series we had Anupam Kher (who needs no introduction) visiting our campus.

The moment I reached the venue of the talk I could see the enthusiasm of the colleagues as the hall was jam packed with hardly a place to stand. Apart from the awe of superstar/celebrity what surprised me was the humility which was evident as soon as Mr Kher started to interact. I had my doubts if would be able to stick with the agenda behind this series when the interaction began. But within moments all my skepticism disappeared in thin air and I regretted not having a pen and paper to scribble the wonderful lessons he shared from his personal experience.

There were numerous takeaways from the session and I would jot down the ones which I can recall. The human memory has a short attention span & we need to be reminded and that is what this session helped me. I am sure we would have had come across these learning at some point of time or other. But when you hear it along with an incident and that to from a person who has done it himself its much more impactful.

• Dreamer are achievers and things do not happen automatically, you need to work to achieve them.
• Happiness is state of mind and we decide if we want to be happy.
• Optimism is a trait we need to inculcate.
• You never lose till you stop trying. 
• Power of failure and you need to celebrate failure as well.

Well to say the entire session was laced with humor or rather filled with it would be an understatement. It was laugh riot to be precise and best part was that the essence of LTS was intact. Most of the anecdotes he shared came from staying with his parents/grand-parents. All I can say is Thank you Mr. Kher for sharing your experience and making our lives richer.

Another milestone

Well as I sit on the eve of another milestone of my journey of life I wonder. The questions which haunt me every year are still in front of me and I do not have answers for them. I am nearing the half way mark of the typical human life and am still looking for a purpose. Which makes me wonder if I haven't found a purpose till date when do I get time to start working on it.

There are things which am not happy about, but I guess it just like you do not want to fix things unless they are broken. Probably for the same reason I am not making enough efforts to mend/fix it up as well. One of my best pals yesterday made me realize the importance of dialogue. There are things which one can ponder over without reaching to any conclusions but if you open up you might get a perspective which you were totally missing.

Another interesting fact which I realized was things which are new to us make us feel uncomfortable. And even before any attempt to change or try out we have already developed a resistance against it. Unless we take the first step we will never be able evaluate whether it was good/bad for us. As I continue to march towards another year I look forward to new set of events, learning and hope that I might stumble across the answers which I have been looking for. Now as I look back I see that I haven't been exploring places which I consider essential element in learning. With a wish that I get to explore the world before the free spirit in me gets tied down with the usual responsibilities.

Customer Delight

Well the firm I work for constantly keeps on talking about customer satisfaction and since that's where the money comes from (to put it bluntly that how we are paid our salaries). I cannot authenticate the claim which the ads make like 60% of world business transactions run through our system, but I do tend to believe since we make a fairly large revenue and it wouldn't be possible if that was not the case.

BTW every B-school student goes through some course of other which talk about how important our customers are and what all should be done to retain them. Now Customer Satisfaction and Delight are 2 completely different topics. How many times we would have picked our phone to log a complain about a particular service not been provided or irregularity some where in the process. Most common examples would be for banking, mobile, electricity billing etc. where we are put through a mundane IVRS which asks us to punch all useless numbers to identify us and then proceed and finally to be directed to some customer care executive in some corner of the world who would again make us go through the same process again.

This post started because I underwent a paradigm shift during odd 20-30 mins for a service which I used as a part of my job and made me realize how fast can things be turned around. How fickle human emotions are and with just a slight effort it can set to normal. Ok now the real story or the experience. I dialled up international toll-free number to get my issue resolved and I was treated with IVRS system as usual. Had to do the necessary number punching to get myself through and it took ages before I could be transferred. I ended up loosing my cool and dropping off the call. Better sense prevailed and I retried and damn the phone networks I couldn't even get through for next 5-6 times. Now you can understand with no fault of the service provider I was cursing them though the issue was with telephone networks instead.

After repeated attempts I was able to make it through and had to go through the routine process. Finally I get to interact with customer care guy who had a strong British accent and listens to all my complain patiently and after the usual verification. He tells me that he isn't the right guy and would transfer me to the right department and I thought oh so here it goes again. Sounds just the regular stuff isn't it ? But I was in for a surprise. Less than 30 seconds I got transferred to right department and before I could reply to the hello from the lady(had Irish tone later confirmed from the ISD code of the call) the call got dropped off. I made last valiant effort but phone network gods were not on my side.

So obviously I was not in the best possible spirit and thought lets handle it later. Now these guys did have all the info including the firm I work and probably access to corporate address book as well since they provide services to us. Another 10 mins I got a call from the same lady on my desk number(from Irish number) stating that she is looking into the issue and I need to be on hold. After some clarifications she told me they are working on the complaint and would get back to me by sending me necessary info through mails without being asked for.

Did I have a grouse against them ? Oh YAH :-) but after the effort(I don't know how little or extra) they made in less than 30 mins I was more than happy or have moved from one end of the spectrum to another. (the complaint is still not resolved).

Ubislate

Day couldn't have been better, got a chance to interact with Suneet Singh Tuli (Aakash Tablet fame) courtesy Tech Talk series which was started at SAP Labs Gurgaon. The best part of frank and affable personality of the CEO Datawind was to put things simply. Suneet had a flair for story telling and it was evident when he started the talk about his entrepreneurship attempts and leading upto to Aakash tablet.

If you guys really wish to know more about the tablet I guess wiki as usual has done a great job on the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aakash_(tablet).

Well with regards to personal takeaways from the session I could say that business needs to be done from heart along with mind. In others words passion would be as important as intelligence in running a business since there would be times when things wouldn't go the way you want. Another important learning was the product or service you design for any particular customer might not always bring you revenues from the same sector/segment/people whom you had intended it for. Overall again experience of its kind.

Normalcy I Guess...

Life seems to be moving back on track. The empty brain has been put to work(office) and am struggling to find foothold. Life is suddenly back on usual track where you slog/work in office, come back and you hardly have time for brain cells to think over anything. 

Moreover rather next couple of months just look tied up on the calendar now courtesy ADHM (Airtel Delhi Half Marathon). I started running around 2 years back and Nov 2010 I ran first ever half marathon and pledged as long as I stay in Delhi I would run every year. Now in its 8th year ADHM has decided to move the race from the wonderful season of November (which happens to be just the right time to run) to a scorching and sultry September.

I know irrespective of how much I crib the sponsors aren't going to change the schedule. They wouldn't have even if I was their star runner which am not(barely manged to complete it in quarter past 2 hours last yr). The schedule is for 30th Sept which leaves me with approx 90 days of training. The worst part the training has to be in the current climatic conditions :-( . All I can pray for to Delhi Weather Gods is to have mercy on our poor souls both for the training as well as D day. Since I have completed half marathons last 2 yrs the incremental goal is to complete it under TWO hours {shouldn't personal goals be set higher every yr when professional goals bench marking is improved every yr ;-P }.

The registration starts from 5th of July and here the link to my buddies who intend to participate this year  Airtel Delhi Half Marathon

Hit - is this the Mid-life crisis ?

Well it is obvious that there is uneasy feeling which has been growing over last couple of months. What I am not sure is if this is what is referred as the so called Mid-life crisis or its just that I am too eager to conclude that. Life is not meant to be predictable and it never is, hence everyone is bound to go through feeling of uncertainty at times.

Professionally my life has been great so far, if not outstanding but I guess the period closed a month before the last financial year ended. There was a career path which I had in mind and things were going just as I wanted it. Then this uncertainty showed its early signs which I failed to read, wish I was the oracle who knew things before they could happen. Due to re-organisation in my firm I had to take up a role which was an offset rather more like U turn. The only way I can see forward now is by taking break and jumping on the B-school bandwagon to get things back on track or start on the new path which I had never planned. Though I know this is more tried and tested path and there are enough examples in my own circle. But probably the non-conformist in me averse to this tried and tested route. 

Now to add to all the anxiety I have been putting myself through everyday my parents unknowingly have started forcing me in the uncomfortable zone on the personal front. While I am struggling on whether to continue in the same job, jump to another firm or take a break and explore what could/should I be doing. They want me to get hitched, well when I am not sure about my own future how can I even think of taking additional responsibilities. Arranged marriage is certainly pushing me in the uncomfortable zone and I guess have written enough in the last post. There are times when I feel that there are lot of wonderful people whom I know and it is not that difficult to ask them out and you never know thing might just click/work out. BTW I did crazy enough things like asking random people out and no surprises their response was shock followed by subtle no because they weren't hit by the crazy mood/impulse like me and am sure I would have done the same had I been in their place.

There are times when I convince myself that whatever is happening is just the right thing, but the comfort just doesn't stay long enough and am back to the dilemma, if I doing the correct thing by letting events unfold instead of taking a stance and making things happen. When I am so obscure about things on my professional front how could I consider things on personal side whether arranged marriage or my effort it doesn't make a difference.

Arranged Marriages

Well let me start the post by a disclaimer since it’s a sensitive topic and I don’t not want to hurt anyone’s sentiments. The observations/comments/feelings are my purely from my personal view which could be skewed  :-) . Love marriages can’t be left out of the discussion since it’s more like other side of coin. And both sides have enough of pros and cons associated with to have an endless debate which is better. Let me put it straight I am definitely not against the whole system of matrimony, rather I have a great respect for it.
Let’s start with a brief background, I just returned back from a road trip across the entire U.P. on way to my native place. The trip is more of annual event now (last3 yrs) where we would stop over and visit all are relatives (huge in number) irrespective of where they stay. Back to the topic so everywhere I went this time the first question was when am I getting married. Btw towards the end of the trip if this question did not come as first question at the place I visited, it made me wonder if everything was fine and normal there :-). But things were just like normal, I don’t remember even single exception in the entire trip. If not the first question maybe it came a little later (just like how you doing or how are things on your side and then...).

Just like the TV serials of childhood where there used to be story of some kings who would send folks to make announcements with drums and whistles, my mom announced that she is looking for a bride with all her criterion at every place we went and she won’t be listening to my excuses of not getting married anymore. The way things have now started turning around is like everyone is making efforts to get me hitched as if it doesn’t happen now, it won’t happen ever or more like am about to miss a flight or train. I understand am nearing the thirties now but is there such an emergency :-) , god knows.

And no brownies for guessing everyone knows someone who is looking for out grooms as well. Well I am pretty naïve to entire process and there is always a first of time. What is the oddest part or the process which leaves me flummoxed is how could you meet/see someone and reject him/her. Is it like going to shopping store for picking up clothes? More over when I am not perfect myself how/why should I be looking for a person who is perfect. What scares me the most is how could someone say “No”  and the amount of damage that does to the ego of receiving person. Maybe I will become a pro after recieving couple of blows :-) but I sincerely pray that I dont get a chance to be at the giving end. Well since the process is about to start in my life as well, am thinking hard to devise a strategy to handle the scenario. But the entire blame comes back to me for being in such a situation, if I would have found the so called Miss right for me by now this would have never happened since I had all the liberty in doing so till date. A relationship is about compromises but meeting someone knowing the purpose of meeting is awkward. It just makes more sense to me -if you stumble across someone, strike the right chord of friendship and then you realise that you can get hitched (typical love marriage scenario).

I do understand and know there are disadvantages as well in that process but there is the old saying known Devil better than unknown Angel. I guess I would leave things for my parents to sort out since I do not have any other options. Referring to one or my previous post I guess I am letting off control and that too deliberately but it’s just that I don’t see a better way out. Sigh…