I wish I could touch you,
or could feel your pain
I want to feel the emotions
which could drive me insane
I want to pick up the cudgel
and wither away this distance
I want to sit by you
and feel the worldly penance
But I have realized
that I can't live here
and I know no one can take your heart
because I belong there
I know you'll miss me
but so do I
So keep those tears intact
because you know, souls can't cry!
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Future Shock - An incomplete review
The title of my blog post would be confusing for most of us, because no one would invest time in doing an incomplete review of a book. But against all odds, I have managed to do something out of the world. I would appreciate if you show your laxity in not reprimanding me for doing such perfunctory work. Believe me, it has taken me 23 hours of sleep betrayal and a continuous pounding of laptop keys to come up with this 'masterpiece', if I am allowed to call it so. Every time you feel sleepy while reading this, I would consider that retribution. So read on!
BOOK REVIEW – FUTURE SHOCK (ALVIN TOFFLER)
INTRODUCTION:
Future Shock, a book written by Alvin Toffler way back in 1970, takes a futuristic view and tries to assess the times to come. It’s a descriptive narrative of the way the writer envisions the society to adapt, or to not adapt the changes it will encounter in future. The writer reasons that change is happening at an accelerating pace, and thus, it becomes highly imperative to be ready to meet the change well prepared. He also cites examples where the majority is not comfortable to this idea of having to adopt a change, and thus, landing in a situation where they are ill prepared to face this juggernaut, resulting in them meeting with “future shock”. The arrival of future is inevitable, and is compounded by the fact that it’s arriving at a fast pace in terms of the quantum of change it carries. Right from the changes in family structure to that in the organizations, there’s a heightened need to sensitize everyone who will be a part of the future, to be prepared to embrace the change. The writer, based on his interpretation of the arriving change, brought about by the cues presented to him in the various behaviors exhibited during his times, cautions everyone to be on their toes welcoming the change. If well accepted, this change will carry the power to transform. The writer also talks about the need to adapt, which will aid us in facing the changing trends in a much better way. He reasons that earlier the mankind learns the ways to adapt to a change and control the rate of change, the better it is; otherwise, the society is doomed to massive adaptational breakdown. The writer impresses on the fact that the racing rate of change has not only altered structures, but has impacted personal lives as well, which compels us to act out new roles, and confronts us with the possibility of a new disease, which he famously calls as “future shock”. He describes it as the dizzying disorientation brought on by the premature arrival of future. He talks of a scenario which is akin to the whole society being transported into an uncertain future, which will result in mass disorientation because the generation will be ill prepared for change. This he calls the case of an ‘unprepared visitor”. He quite interestingly calls the time of 70s as the 800th lifetime and goes on to say that most of the material goods used by mankind as of today have been developed in this 800th lifetime. He charts out the way the world has moved away from agriculture to industrialization to the now renowned services sector. Whole of world, he argues, is so closely knit now that the effects of some occurrence radiate almost instantaneously, and the past almost seems to be doubling back on us. He associates this fast arrival of change with a phenomenon called social progeria, famously influenced from a human condition where senility strikes at a much younger age. He marks that vast majority of people, including educated and sophisticated people, deny the existence of change. This change is visible almost everywhere, be it industrialization, advancement in science and technology, urbanization or energy consumption. And it’s not only the dimension of change which is a cause of worry for the future generations, but the speed at which this change is coming. He proclaims that if we don’t plan out things and adapt according to our estimates, we are going to face an adaptational breakdown.
THE DEATH OF PERMANENCE:
The writer starts his journey with a comment on the trends of change. Picking on the cues, he is quite flustered with the way majority of mankind is oblivious of the change about to come. He is also quite amazed to find that intellectually oriented people, who have the knowledge to identify the avalanche of change coming their way, and have done so, are turning a blind eye towards it, only for the fear that change seems too threatening to them. It’s quite akin to the proverbial characteristic of an ostrich on spotting its enemy, where it digs its head into the sand and thinks it’s safe from all dangers. They fail to realize that the arrival of change is inevitable and one needs to be better prepared to welcome it, more so when it’s arriving at such a rapid pace. There’s no place of constant behavior anymore. Permanence has been laid to rest by this rapidity of change. We need to show enough gumption to accept this change. The writer talks about the last 50,000 years, where this rate of change started to pick up momentum and now is operating at full throttle, a juggernaut which promises to wipe out civilizations, societies and organizations, if they are not prepared to tackle it suitably. He calls the time he lives in as 800th lifetime, based on his structuring of the whole life span as blocks of 62 years. The writer’s analysis of the generic man is one of indifference and lackadaisical, where he is either not aware of this change marching towards him or is not ready to accept the change as it seems too threatening for their survival. He calls them unprepared visitors into the future. He draws a parallel with ‘culture shock’ where a person finds it difficult to associate his behavior into a society which is alien to him. He opines that it is relatively easier to deal with a culture shock as you get time to adapt and know very well that this is not going to last through the lifetime. But once faced with future shock, there’s no chance of retreat as the only dimension of measuring the rapidity of change is time, which can’t be retrieved again once it has elapsed. Thus, this unprepared visitor faces a much larger problem, for which the onus lies on him to react and be prepared to adapt. Otherwise, the juggernaut will sway everything in its way.
THE ACCELERATIVEE THRUST:
The writer is of the view that to take stock of the enormity of the situation we will be faced with in future, we need to analyze our past and see through our present to gauge the rate at which change is happening. The start would ideally be very slow, as would be anybody’s guess, as we started to record our writings. Then we got used to watching changes happening over the years, then months, weeks, days and now hours. The quantum of change happening in the earlier phases, which took years to materialize, is now happening in days and hours. This is a clear indicator of how the change has been provided with an accelerative thrust. Time is the currency of exchange that makes it possible to compare the rates at which very different processes play themselves out. Change is observable because it happens in discrete intervals of time and doesn’t happen all at once. Rate of change refers to the number of events crowded into an arbitrarily fixed interval of time. This accelerative thrust has manifested in mankind’s energy consumption patterns, urbanization and science and technology. The rates at which urbanization is happening and cities are coming up are indicative of what lies ahead. Same is the case with advancement in technology. The writer points out that the mankind has used knowledge as a fuel to drive this change and this rate of gaining knowledge is increasing by the day, indicated by the increase in production volumes of scientific journals. With the advent of computers, the way knowledge is stored is going to see an unprecedented change. Francis Bacon’s “Knowledge is power” has been suitably modified by the writer to “Knowledge is change”.
The pace of life:
The idea of change involves an important dimension of pace of life. This encompasses the concept of the people of future who race through their lives and keep the pace accelerating. They are almost similar to wound-up toys with keys on their backs, which could be controlled in terms of how they pace their movements. Not all people are familiar with this heightened pace and attract strong and contrasting reactions from different people. The writer classifies the inhabitants of the earth by their position in time. He chooses to call the agriculturists, people of past, which form close to 70% of the total inhabitants. He refers to the industrialized population as the people from present, which account for the next 25% of the whole sample. The remaining 2 or 3% are people neither from past or the present. They represent the people who have made advancement into the future, pacing their lives at the higher end. They live like the people of future. They are advance agents of man, the earliest citizens of the worldwide super industrial society now in the throes of birth. They distinguish themselves in a sense that they are already caught up in a new, stepped up pace of life. They live faster than the people around them. Some people have conditioned themselves to this fast pace and feel quite anxious when the pace slows down. They are always in the need to be in the fast lane of life. It comes all too naturally to them. The writer attributes this propensity towards fast life to the phenomenon of brain drain. The mass migration of European scientists to US and Canada, is not only due to the availability of better prospects for employment or better standard of living, but also because they deem these places to be fast paced, which matches to their requirements.
The society is increasingly moving towards a culture of using temporary products. Right from the paper napkins, nappies to TV dinners, everything seems to be finding its way to the trash can once they have been used. The idea of using a product once and then replacing it seems to be the way forward. The transience is characterized by a sense of vanishing past, impermanence, rental revolution and temporary needs.
There are glimpses of future to be had in the way fast paced executives are the new generation nomads. They take pride in their lives enjoying the best of two worlds, transferring themselves from one location to another for the sake of work-life balance. As more and more nomads come into the game, it is anybody’s guess, how it would be in the future, with these messengers of future regaling us with such frequent transits. People are travelling more, with their yearly averages more than the total distance travelled by men in early 1900s in their entire lifetime! People are migrating and relocating more than ever before. This is one of the effects of the nomadic way of life these futuristic people have come to live with.
The author goes on talk about how organizations would be impacted by this change. Contrary to the popular belief that bureaucracy is going to rule the roost for time immemorial, Toffler argues that we have started to witness the collapse of bureaucracy and we are witnessing the arrival of a new organizational structure, which will increasingly challenge and ultimately supplant bureaucracy. Such a system is called “Ad-hocracy”. The author talks about organizational upheaval – constant refurbishing of an organization due to mergers and acquisitions. Organizations will always remain in the race to position themselves as the face of consumer market place undergoes a change. As organizations change, person’s organizational relationships also undergo a change. These relationships are less permanent and more temporary. Organization upheaval results in formation of projects, where teams are organized to perform specific short term tasks. Once these team accomplish their tasks, they are dismantled and their components, i.e. team members are reshuffled to be a part of some other project team. Thus, these projects or teams are temporary by design. Organizations themselves are witnessing a change in how power is distributed among its stakeholders. From a more hierarchical, top-down power structure, organizations are becoming flatter. The need for this is engendered in the fact that as productivity increases and organizations remain committed to increasing it further, they can’t afford the delays in transmission of information from the ‘hands’ to the ‘brains’ of the organization. Organizations can’t afford to have longer durations of downtime and this need for more information at higher speeds undermines the vertical hierarchies.
The way we interpret and use information is also changing. We are overwhelmed with the kind of coverage celebrities get to seep into our minds and be our vicarious friends. We tend to associate feeling which we ideally have for our real friends. But this effect, engendered due this sort of information dissemination, has always been short lived. Then we need to answer the question of how much information needs to be passed on for benefit of the seeker. Advertising is creating pressure on its viewers to retain images to the maximum capacity. Vocabulary is experiencing a welcome change with words constantly being put into or taken out for consistency.
Author drives the point home that we have been through a lot of change, and we are in the midst of super industrial revolution. Science is undergoing a paradigm shift where it can become a life creator. He also talks how micro biology is going to play a big role in the scheme of things in future. We will be in a position to replicate ourselves through cloning .
Author takes us to the concept of Information overload. As the surrounding environment keeps on changing at a rapid speed, humans need to process more information at much higher speeds to keep pace with the deluge of information. This tests our limits of adaptability. This presents us with a challenge to ready ourselves for the change about to arrive and show our competence in handling its changing ways. Psychologically if we manage to tame this beast, we would have the upper hand in the race against keeping pace with future.
Contrary to this, we have some victims of future shock as well. They are in constant state of denial and their strategy hinges on blocking out the unwelcome reality. Another trait forces them to specialize in not all dimensions of absorbing future shock, but only one. They energetically try to keep pace with change but run the risk of fighting against all odds to not get swayed by the enormity of change. Moreover, the victim could be a reversionist, who keeps to his previously programmed beliefs with dogmatic desperation. He always craves for the comfort of the past, where he was not disillusioned by any thought of change, only because he was never required to!
Finally, the author feels compelled to provide succor to those who are bound to struggle in this duel against rapid change. He enlists his interpretation of what happen to be the ways of impeding the effects of future shock. He envisions various way of coping with tomorrow. One of them is direct coping, where we need to realize that conscious efforts of fighting against change would take us a long way in this battle. This could be brought about by appraising our performance in dealing with change. We could take a look at our inner self, changes occurring in the outside environment and gauge the level of tuning it requires to meet the challenges in the face. We could also look at taming technology to our advantage. Updating ourselves with the latest would go a long way in defining how we handle the arrival of change.
KEY LEARNING FROM THE BOOK:
1. Change is inevitable. We must learn to adapt to it.
2. We must always keep on updating ourselves with the changing trends in our social, political and economical environment. This will help us in keeping pace with the change and mark our foray into the future as a prepared person.
3. We must come out of our state of denial to recognize the change happening around us and update ourselves accordingly.
4. Once we have picked up on the cues and have spotted the changing trends, we must strive to be the messengers of future by incorporating changes which are very basic to our sustained existence in future.
5. Having understood the gravity of the consequences of an imminent collision with invading future, we must leverage our learning in the society to help them keep abreast with the rapidly marching future.
6. It requires a visionary to pick on cues and predict the changes about to arrive in future.
7. We must establish some sense of permanence in our day-to-day lives, for it leads us away from nomadic ways of life and helps foster stronger relationship with various elements of our environment.
8. Organizations must be ready with contingency plans in the wake of being faced with any eventuality. They must be flexible enough to mould into any role as per the gravity of the requirement.
9. We must be well equipped to handle fast paced life and the information overload associated with it.
10. Now that we have the capability of creating lives, we must not try to play GOD. The repercussions could be catastrophic.
11. We must attach great value to the family value system, keep them close, foster in-depth and permanent relationships.
12. We must not act drawn away from the happenings of present and the inevitability of future, as it doesn’t give us the freedom to choose a deserving future.
13. Times are going to be stressful, so there’s a need to take cognizance of this situation and prepare us mentally to cope with it. Such anticipatory information would go a long way in determining how well we handle stress.
14. We must stick to some preconceived notions of problem solving. The dynamics of changing environment requires us to be flexible and receptive of the various cues it provides to deal with a new problem. Any sort of fixation would invite trouble for us.
15. We need to come out of our comfort zones to challenge the existing beliefs and accept the ways which are going to be common and rational in future.
16. We must consult counselors in case of any mid life crisis.
17. We must harbor enclaves of the past so that in the case of any calamity, strays of past get passed onto the future.
18. We need to inculcate in our children a futuristic approach, which gives them a head start in the race against changing future.
19. New educational institutions must burgeon with a single motive of probing the future for the sake of present. They will be the mirror to the future through which children of today will be taking a leap into the troubled waters of what lies ahead.
20. Technology must be used to our advantage so that the transition into the future is smooth and any future shocks must be absorbed by them.
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
This 'ism' is notorious.
While growing up as a student, I was inundated with umpteen 'isms', all of them caricatured out of the text books to find a permanent place in our psyche. However, as things most probably don't turn out the way they are always supposed to, a vast majority of these concepts relinquished their positions to give way for other things. A seemingly veritable reason for their exodus could be understood in our experiences of not having them faced or seen/felt those 'isms' as it is. Unless you have been through what a concept stands to conceptualize, its imprints are hard not to be eroded by passage of time. A retreat to the yellowish pages of our history books would present us with various names sans any soul, primarily because they have been a part of history, things we could have never lived through. A vicarious thrill is easy to come by, but its essence will again be insignificant and one we could never relate to the experiences of our times. The path to glory for a progressive India is fraught with uncertainties and problems, both extrinsic and intrinsic. The media glare for things headed our way from outside has been ubiquitous. I would like to ponder over issues which come from within, and probably have greater firepower to weaken us from inside.
Tracing the roots of Naxalism won't yield the right results in the current scenario. The ideologies have undergone a sea of change, and as they stand right now, there are no strings attached to the original plans. It's in no way reflective of a total abandonment of original ways, but just that there are few more radical faces of their modus operandi in this millennium. They had always been institutionally quite limited in how they wanted to express themselves, but with the passage of time and their feel of the current pulse, we have seen some outrageous expressions from their side. From their rudimentary stages of inflicting damage only on police and the government, they have shown a handful of temerity to strike against the general public in some cases to important Industrial bases. This militant form of their operations is what we have to keep an eye on. Their movement has been in our opposition for quite a long time, and I must admit, that we have not done enough for them to stop in their strides. And the result is being manifested in their zealous attacks on institutions which are an important constituent of our economic fabric. We must own the responsibility of not being able to check their resurgence in various ways, our incompetence in not being able to handle them efficiently and in our inability to have thought over a well chalked out plan to counter them. The home ministries of yore are culpable of not being far-sighted and not being able to put an exemplary intelligence machinery to track naxalites' movements and plans. There are various fronts which could be brought about as a paradigm of utter failure on the ministries of past. But, that's not going to serve any purpose going further, apart from the fact that we may have a lot of things to learn when we sit to examine the rubble. Let's come up with a steely resolution and a fool proof plan to counter them effectively. Here's my take on what we could think of doing:
1. We are all cognizant of the fact that all naxals find a soft corner in the hearts of people in rural belts from where they operate. They in the garb of being their messiah, always find a safe shelter and escape route whenever required. The fight is in the name of rights and opportunities. Government must appoint cells who would go and closely work with the villagers to find out their issues, and in turn, give them assurances that proper action would be taken for their betterment.
2. Engage the educated as well as uneducated youth in these belts to let them have a feeling that they are considered important, and that the government cares for them. If we can have even a semblance of success in achieving what we propose, we would know we have ventured out on the correct path.
3. Take the dwellers in these belts into confidence and start developmental schemes which would help them directly - give opportunities to the villagers to be able to earn good wages by engaging them in such schemes, allay all fears of not having any security net over them, empower them suitably so that they can work with the government for development. Opportunities will entice the youth away from guns.
4. Infrastructure building in such areas would automatically weaken naxalite movements as our forces would have the liberty and easy access to resources in a known environment.
5. Provide for the education and rehabilitation of young ones in such areas. It would go a long way in defining what the future holds for us in this battle.
6. Establish a strong intelligence network to thwart any naxal movements in such areas. This again would come in handy if we work simultaneously on the infrastructure front as well. Such a network should have a representation form the dwellers of such belts. Their knowledge of the surrounding areas will always come in handy.
To summarize all of it, we must ensure that we build good infrastructure in such areas, engage the local population in development activities and intelligence network building, provide for education to the young ones, ensure that the needy have a safe access to wages and that the villagers' grievances are properly heeded to with a provision for good compensation and rehabilitation schemes. The onus lies on our governments, their willingness to dig themselves out of this hole and provide conclusive answers to problems of this nature which are threating to breach national security. It will be equally good if we could evince enough support form all the sides - central state partnership, public private partnership, government NGO partnership etc. At the end of it, it is us, Indians, who are going to be benefited out of this. So there's a role for everyone to play. We have to ensure that no one shirks away from his/her responsibility, and that would come with a need to identify ourselves with such problems.
Tracing the roots of Naxalism won't yield the right results in the current scenario. The ideologies have undergone a sea of change, and as they stand right now, there are no strings attached to the original plans. It's in no way reflective of a total abandonment of original ways, but just that there are few more radical faces of their modus operandi in this millennium. They had always been institutionally quite limited in how they wanted to express themselves, but with the passage of time and their feel of the current pulse, we have seen some outrageous expressions from their side. From their rudimentary stages of inflicting damage only on police and the government, they have shown a handful of temerity to strike against the general public in some cases to important Industrial bases. This militant form of their operations is what we have to keep an eye on. Their movement has been in our opposition for quite a long time, and I must admit, that we have not done enough for them to stop in their strides. And the result is being manifested in their zealous attacks on institutions which are an important constituent of our economic fabric. We must own the responsibility of not being able to check their resurgence in various ways, our incompetence in not being able to handle them efficiently and in our inability to have thought over a well chalked out plan to counter them. The home ministries of yore are culpable of not being far-sighted and not being able to put an exemplary intelligence machinery to track naxalites' movements and plans. There are various fronts which could be brought about as a paradigm of utter failure on the ministries of past. But, that's not going to serve any purpose going further, apart from the fact that we may have a lot of things to learn when we sit to examine the rubble. Let's come up with a steely resolution and a fool proof plan to counter them effectively. Here's my take on what we could think of doing:
1. We are all cognizant of the fact that all naxals find a soft corner in the hearts of people in rural belts from where they operate. They in the garb of being their messiah, always find a safe shelter and escape route whenever required. The fight is in the name of rights and opportunities. Government must appoint cells who would go and closely work with the villagers to find out their issues, and in turn, give them assurances that proper action would be taken for their betterment.
2. Engage the educated as well as uneducated youth in these belts to let them have a feeling that they are considered important, and that the government cares for them. If we can have even a semblance of success in achieving what we propose, we would know we have ventured out on the correct path.
3. Take the dwellers in these belts into confidence and start developmental schemes which would help them directly - give opportunities to the villagers to be able to earn good wages by engaging them in such schemes, allay all fears of not having any security net over them, empower them suitably so that they can work with the government for development. Opportunities will entice the youth away from guns.
4. Infrastructure building in such areas would automatically weaken naxalite movements as our forces would have the liberty and easy access to resources in a known environment.
5. Provide for the education and rehabilitation of young ones in such areas. It would go a long way in defining what the future holds for us in this battle.
6. Establish a strong intelligence network to thwart any naxal movements in such areas. This again would come in handy if we work simultaneously on the infrastructure front as well. Such a network should have a representation form the dwellers of such belts. Their knowledge of the surrounding areas will always come in handy.
To summarize all of it, we must ensure that we build good infrastructure in such areas, engage the local population in development activities and intelligence network building, provide for education to the young ones, ensure that the needy have a safe access to wages and that the villagers' grievances are properly heeded to with a provision for good compensation and rehabilitation schemes. The onus lies on our governments, their willingness to dig themselves out of this hole and provide conclusive answers to problems of this nature which are threating to breach national security. It will be equally good if we could evince enough support form all the sides - central state partnership, public private partnership, government NGO partnership etc. At the end of it, it is us, Indians, who are going to be benefited out of this. So there's a role for everyone to play. We have to ensure that no one shirks away from his/her responsibility, and that would come with a need to identify ourselves with such problems.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
Lessons from IPL 3.0
The timing of this article may be questionable, and my deductions a bit presumptuous, but that's not going to stop me from making my observations of what I have seen till now in the third edition of ongoing IPL. Ask the players, and they would be faster than light to admit that it has been generous. For me, its generosity has been extended to let me view the happening of IPL in a different light - little to do with sports and everything to do with day-to-day life. Of what I have managed to extract in my limited capacity, following are worth mentioning.
If you believe in something, back it to the hilt
At the risk of sounding a supporter of Modi (as the majority doesn't approve of his methods), I would quote his example to drive home my point. India had long abstained from playing T20 matches and the general public had not got the taste of its excitement. Modi had long rallied for a private league, which in his opinion could bring in the families and not just the cricket lovers for niche viewer ship, but couldn't bring this idea to be acknowledged by those who mattered in the echelons. To his advantage, Subhash Chandra came up with the idea of ICL, which saw a significant erosion of local talent, players who were coaxed into joining this league as they had lost all hopes of getting selected for their country. BCCI took cognizance of this alarming trend, and with certain fillers from Modi to strike the rod when it was red hot, Modi was given the go ahead signal to formulate the advent of a league from India. Modi was equally up to the task and showcased before the world a professional league which sold like hot cakes. There was a frenzy about the whole thing and rest, as they say, is history.
While it is to be noted that such a talk would seem reasonable only if the league was successful, but it nevertheless, goes a long way in demonstrating the power of belief. There are rich dividends to be had, if you believe in your plans, and as the IPL showcases, we must back them strongly.
Trust those who haven't been tested yet
We chase success stories or get bedazzled by it. I being no exception, would opportunistically cite the example of a resurgent Mumbai Indians in this regard. Leadership defines the kind of examples that would be quoted as the "best-of-them-all" in future. Sachin is as able as it can get, both as a player and a leader, and is being magnanimous in letting us learn from his leadership. Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu are the likes who could have very well warmed benches in other teams, but not so under the aegis of Sachin. They are talents of fine degree, and have been given an opportunity upfront to express themselves. Results are there for everyone to see, with each reciprocating with fine consistent performances. This sort of confidence is hard to come by, and hence worth mentioning here.
Believe in the power of one
Sticking with team MI, I wouldn't be required to try too hard to drive my point here. Their success story, however short-lived, would give us ample opportunities to learn and examples to quote. They are doing well as a team, with good performances coming in from all quarters. And that has been possible because of its management and its ability to let them believe that united they progress and divided they perish. They perform as one team, with each member complimenting the other, to bring out the maximum as a team.
Relish your unique role in the scheme of things
An effective team will always have effective team players. You have to let go of your ego to be that effective. You may have thought a thousand good things which you always wanted to do, but in reality you may never get to perform that role. But the management still believes in you, precisely for your overall ability, the various other ways you can contribute to team's success. Those who honor this respect are worthy of being talked about and one such player form this edition is Satish(MI). He bats lower down the order and may not be called to bowl at all. But his role has been that of a finisher and he has readily accepted this role with elan. He enjoys his specific role in the team and that's the reason behind his success so far.
Keep it simple
T20 is supposed to be a game where you go hammer and tongs from ball 1, or at least that's the perception players seem to be giving when they go out to bat. The sense of urgency is hard to ignore. But here again, it takes a Master to show how others have grossly misconstrued the way this game should be played. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has been all class, playing his usual self, finding the gaps at will and more importantly with proper cricketing shots. 7 games into the IPL, he has already bagged the orange cap once and has the maximum boundaries to his name(47) and only 1 six! Message is loud and clear from the Master - Keep it simple.
Diversify the produce, if possible
In the race to be the most valuable player, you have to be a multi utility player to reap rich dividends. The aggregate of all the scores has a participation from various components from the game viz. bowling, fielding and batting. If you could contribute in all these fields, you would do yourself a favor to win others' confidence. The idea is to be able to contribute in all the ways possible, if you fail while batting, compensate it with good fielding or bowling. Fill the void with a sterling performance somewhere else and be useful to the team in the truest sense of the word. Classics from this edition being Harbhajan, Kallis and Raina.
I'm sure there will be few more of these to be taken care of as we enter into the second leg of the tournament. Let's wish we keep on getting inspired from all things around us, draw an analogy to how those could be replicated in our lives, and then use them to achieve better results for ourselves.
If you believe in something, back it to the hilt
At the risk of sounding a supporter of Modi (as the majority doesn't approve of his methods), I would quote his example to drive home my point. India had long abstained from playing T20 matches and the general public had not got the taste of its excitement. Modi had long rallied for a private league, which in his opinion could bring in the families and not just the cricket lovers for niche viewer ship, but couldn't bring this idea to be acknowledged by those who mattered in the echelons. To his advantage, Subhash Chandra came up with the idea of ICL, which saw a significant erosion of local talent, players who were coaxed into joining this league as they had lost all hopes of getting selected for their country. BCCI took cognizance of this alarming trend, and with certain fillers from Modi to strike the rod when it was red hot, Modi was given the go ahead signal to formulate the advent of a league from India. Modi was equally up to the task and showcased before the world a professional league which sold like hot cakes. There was a frenzy about the whole thing and rest, as they say, is history.
While it is to be noted that such a talk would seem reasonable only if the league was successful, but it nevertheless, goes a long way in demonstrating the power of belief. There are rich dividends to be had, if you believe in your plans, and as the IPL showcases, we must back them strongly.
Trust those who haven't been tested yet
We chase success stories or get bedazzled by it. I being no exception, would opportunistically cite the example of a resurgent Mumbai Indians in this regard. Leadership defines the kind of examples that would be quoted as the "best-of-them-all" in future. Sachin is as able as it can get, both as a player and a leader, and is being magnanimous in letting us learn from his leadership. Saurabh Tiwary and Ambati Rayudu are the likes who could have very well warmed benches in other teams, but not so under the aegis of Sachin. They are talents of fine degree, and have been given an opportunity upfront to express themselves. Results are there for everyone to see, with each reciprocating with fine consistent performances. This sort of confidence is hard to come by, and hence worth mentioning here.
Believe in the power of one
Sticking with team MI, I wouldn't be required to try too hard to drive my point here. Their success story, however short-lived, would give us ample opportunities to learn and examples to quote. They are doing well as a team, with good performances coming in from all quarters. And that has been possible because of its management and its ability to let them believe that united they progress and divided they perish. They perform as one team, with each member complimenting the other, to bring out the maximum as a team.
Relish your unique role in the scheme of things
An effective team will always have effective team players. You have to let go of your ego to be that effective. You may have thought a thousand good things which you always wanted to do, but in reality you may never get to perform that role. But the management still believes in you, precisely for your overall ability, the various other ways you can contribute to team's success. Those who honor this respect are worthy of being talked about and one such player form this edition is Satish(MI). He bats lower down the order and may not be called to bowl at all. But his role has been that of a finisher and he has readily accepted this role with elan. He enjoys his specific role in the team and that's the reason behind his success so far.
Keep it simple
T20 is supposed to be a game where you go hammer and tongs from ball 1, or at least that's the perception players seem to be giving when they go out to bat. The sense of urgency is hard to ignore. But here again, it takes a Master to show how others have grossly misconstrued the way this game should be played. Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar has been all class, playing his usual self, finding the gaps at will and more importantly with proper cricketing shots. 7 games into the IPL, he has already bagged the orange cap once and has the maximum boundaries to his name(47) and only 1 six! Message is loud and clear from the Master - Keep it simple.
Diversify the produce, if possible
In the race to be the most valuable player, you have to be a multi utility player to reap rich dividends. The aggregate of all the scores has a participation from various components from the game viz. bowling, fielding and batting. If you could contribute in all these fields, you would do yourself a favor to win others' confidence. The idea is to be able to contribute in all the ways possible, if you fail while batting, compensate it with good fielding or bowling. Fill the void with a sterling performance somewhere else and be useful to the team in the truest sense of the word. Classics from this edition being Harbhajan, Kallis and Raina.
I'm sure there will be few more of these to be taken care of as we enter into the second leg of the tournament. Let's wish we keep on getting inspired from all things around us, draw an analogy to how those could be replicated in our lives, and then use them to achieve better results for ourselves.
Strange story of the hunters being hunted
Complacency continues to remain one of the inseparable virtues of an average smug Indian - quite content with with things at his/her disposal. I would request everyone's generosity to take my generically styled statements with a pinch of salt, as a lot of it has been engendered from experiences, both personal and environmental. Success, instead of being a companion of your journey, still enjoys the enviable position of being a destination. Everyone's growth story has seen diverse routes being taken, and along its course, things continually getting trampled. And it requires a reasonable mind to see where's this going - another of those pyrrhic victories! Do we have enough reasonable minds today in India, who could look beyond material ends, and do something about what brings me to write here? Fortunately, there's a silver lining to be had, but am quite apprehensive about how it could be used properly.
Almost everyday I wake up to the advertisement which shrieks into our ears, loud and clear, that we may not have more than 1411 tigers as of today in our country. 1411? That's lesser than even the transport allowance we get from our employers! The enormity of the situation strikes you only when you realize that we are talking about our national animal here. That's when it strikes, and only if you are bothered. As our juggernaut continues to roll, we have cared even lesser for our national wealth. And when some of us have taken the pains to come out of this morbid slumber, we are left with this depleted number to struggle against and tigers' dilapidated state to take care of.
As things stand right now, we have got too little time to act fast and too many questions to contend with. It leaves you with a nebulous mind, partly under the pressure of acting fast and partly due to what we were not able to do in the past to stop this. We have been presented with a challenge, and we should not lose any time in wresting the initiative from the gloomy present. So, here's what I think about all this and expect participation from each one of those reasonable minds.
- We know the monsters we are fighting against. Our collective appeal can make the home ministry see reason and act in a way they have never done before.
- Apart from the accountability attached with forest rangers' roles, we should reward them pro-actively with incentives in cases where they had been able to arrest the slump in the numbers or had been involved in missions which have made tigers' lives better. This will give them enough reason to guard the borders intricately.
- While we provide enough safety to the tigers in our national sanctuaries, we should work aggressively towards incubating young ones in zoos across the country by providing for good food and health conditions.The safe confines of zoos would guarantee that we would be successful in doing that.
- We should have a MoU, or strengthen the clauses if one exists already, with nations where the big cats are not in depleted numbers, to have an exchange program of their ilk.
- To prevent any fringe incidents resulting in their deaths, we should undertake a campaign to educate those living around such sanctuaries of the current situation. We should also have some reward programs in place, to entice them in contributing constructively to this cause in any which way.
- We should make sure that their natural habitat is not tampered at any cost. We should have stringent laws on poaching which would act as a deterrent for those who engage in it
- Equip the rangers with latest technology to allow them to keep a tight vigilance over the area - it could be in terms of how they sweep the area on their vehicles, their ammunition and the modes of communication between various units.
- Create awareness about the impending danger, and hope that those who matter get to learn about this development and could help in formulation of a fool-proof plan.
If you are interested in joining this campaign, here are few links you would be interested to take a look at:
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
The way out.
For the last few days, I am caught in a dilemma. The fact that I have given myself enough liberty to let my horses set off, I feel a bit constrained in getting out of typical thought process. I have tried almost everything (even some unmentionables), but they have evaded fruition. So, I come here with a hope, a hope that I will have something to break off from these cobwebs and shackles which have constrained the way I think.
Businesses, as they say, are engendered in mind. Mere whims and fancies won't help them realize into reality. The ingredients which go into making a business great are umpteen, some innate and some borrowed, but the underlying principle behind all of them is an idea. So, how do we pick that diamond among various pearls which embellish our constructive way of thinking? Mind you, it's only one and it's very objective. Your diamond will entirely be different from others' choice! So how do you prepare yourself for the pursuit of that ultimate jewel, if there's any? Precisely these are the thoughts (among many) which have pushed me to take this course. I am not seeking any particular idea, but ways to identify those!
When you go out to a market, you will find hordes of business men, busy and successful in their own ways and definitions. The one at the kiosk, too, is a businessman. What if he can't boast of earth shattering revenues, it's his own doing! But then again, we have two sets of outlook for this. One is being pursued for subsistence and another for passion. Is there any ideology, which can assign a degree of "holier-than-thou" factor to both of these? If there is one, it is inherently flawed. Both are being driven by desire. One comes from material desires and other comes from your inner desire. It's your desire which keeps on pushing you to go for your goal. Pursuit of passion is not everyone's cup of tea. When you are doing well, it's more difficult to virtually renounce what you are having to go for something whose yields are all in numbers of probability. These unchartered waters are for those who are really driven by passion and bedazzled by it, so that they can't see any reason beyond what appears to be their domain. And it is here where you are tested out of your comfort zone. A mathematical wizard being put to test on his views about zoology. A summit unseen and unheard of before, waiting for only such guys. The glory associated with such a feat is unparalleled. Nothing to take away from the success stories of the general ilk, they too have their reasons to continue doing what they have chosen to do. But, I am looking for something which will test me thoroughly for something I never had any prior experience of doing, and not for something which I would always know that I was capable of doing. It's a different fact altogether that the later will come automatically with experience, lest you have not failed to achieve such a thing.
Is there any novel idea of arriving upon a winning idea? I know for sure that there's no definite formula for it. Success is not a function of predefined inputs. When I say this, I don't want to imply that there are no precursors to it. As they say, hard work, indefatigable attitude et al sure make up for the success. But it's the degree of sincerity attached with each one of these traits, which ultimately decides the color of the outcome. "I am sincere" just won't work unless you have found out the degree of difference in your sincerity and those of others who are fighting it out with you to assail that elusive peak! Greater the difference, greater are your chances of being the ones to arrive early!
What are the odds of unearthing such an idea? It's not that I am lacking in ideas, but can't decide upon its worthiness! I start with the simplest of them all and turn to look at the various levels of difficulties it might have to face. This is precisely the phase where most of my ideas wither away. It has happened inummerable times and I will not let it carry on. There has to be a stop somehwhere. And I need that guiding light. As they say its more likely to come from within, I am eagerly waiting for that to happen and would let my horses loose. Let them pick something for me. It is time!!
Businesses, as they say, are engendered in mind. Mere whims and fancies won't help them realize into reality. The ingredients which go into making a business great are umpteen, some innate and some borrowed, but the underlying principle behind all of them is an idea. So, how do we pick that diamond among various pearls which embellish our constructive way of thinking? Mind you, it's only one and it's very objective. Your diamond will entirely be different from others' choice! So how do you prepare yourself for the pursuit of that ultimate jewel, if there's any? Precisely these are the thoughts (among many) which have pushed me to take this course. I am not seeking any particular idea, but ways to identify those!
When you go out to a market, you will find hordes of business men, busy and successful in their own ways and definitions. The one at the kiosk, too, is a businessman. What if he can't boast of earth shattering revenues, it's his own doing! But then again, we have two sets of outlook for this. One is being pursued for subsistence and another for passion. Is there any ideology, which can assign a degree of "holier-than-thou" factor to both of these? If there is one, it is inherently flawed. Both are being driven by desire. One comes from material desires and other comes from your inner desire. It's your desire which keeps on pushing you to go for your goal. Pursuit of passion is not everyone's cup of tea. When you are doing well, it's more difficult to virtually renounce what you are having to go for something whose yields are all in numbers of probability. These unchartered waters are for those who are really driven by passion and bedazzled by it, so that they can't see any reason beyond what appears to be their domain. And it is here where you are tested out of your comfort zone. A mathematical wizard being put to test on his views about zoology. A summit unseen and unheard of before, waiting for only such guys. The glory associated with such a feat is unparalleled. Nothing to take away from the success stories of the general ilk, they too have their reasons to continue doing what they have chosen to do. But, I am looking for something which will test me thoroughly for something I never had any prior experience of doing, and not for something which I would always know that I was capable of doing. It's a different fact altogether that the later will come automatically with experience, lest you have not failed to achieve such a thing.
Is there any novel idea of arriving upon a winning idea? I know for sure that there's no definite formula for it. Success is not a function of predefined inputs. When I say this, I don't want to imply that there are no precursors to it. As they say, hard work, indefatigable attitude et al sure make up for the success. But it's the degree of sincerity attached with each one of these traits, which ultimately decides the color of the outcome. "I am sincere" just won't work unless you have found out the degree of difference in your sincerity and those of others who are fighting it out with you to assail that elusive peak! Greater the difference, greater are your chances of being the ones to arrive early!
What are the odds of unearthing such an idea? It's not that I am lacking in ideas, but can't decide upon its worthiness! I start with the simplest of them all and turn to look at the various levels of difficulties it might have to face. This is precisely the phase where most of my ideas wither away. It has happened inummerable times and I will not let it carry on. There has to be a stop somehwhere. And I need that guiding light. As they say its more likely to come from within, I am eagerly waiting for that to happen and would let my horses loose. Let them pick something for me. It is time!!
Thursday, February 25, 2010
This is what happens when we are happy.
Here's my take on what would have happened on a little known website when the news spread that Sachin has got to the magical score of 200!
*********************************************************************************
IndianForever: Hail the master, he has done it again!
IFeelLuckyToday: Woahhhhhhhhhhh! It was as if the GOD desecended on earth to play this innings.
IMReasonable: Yeah it was a great innings nevertheless, but to call him a GOD is a bit going overboard. We should enjoy what he has done, but please don't call him a GOD.
ImAnOZ: True mate! What's the big deal if you get to last 50 overs. I'm bloody sure if Punter fella gets a chance like this, he will screw some A$^#*.
IndianForever: Hoho.....Look who's speaking!!Let Punter handle our spinners first, then we will see what he does in his baggy green trousers (apart from what he did against our Chutku Ishant).
IMReasonable: I'm not gonna fall for this bait, but he sure is mortal like others. I have highest regard for him as a batsman, but to refer to him as a GOD is stretching the things a bit too far. A 194 is only 6 short of 200. So all those batsmen who got close to 200 have to be praised for their efforts.
ImAnOZ: True ya mate!! @IndianForever: Punter doesn't need to show anything. Let your 5 footer face Pidge and score off him.
IFeelLuckyToday: Hell! I was gone for 5 and you guys started vomitting shit. @IMReasonable: i doubt your nationality!
SalmanKhan: Tendulkar is the greatest.
20yearsOfCricket: Hail the GOD. @SalmanKhan: Are you the one in Veer?
IMReasonable: To hell with what you think. My nationality should be of no concern to you!
SalmanKhan: koi shaq!! It felt bad to see Veer not doing so good. :(
IFeelLuckyToday: No deviating from the main topic. @SalmanKhan: I watched it till interval when I was reminded of better things to do. @IMReasonable: How could we expect an Oz to shower praises on our little man?
20yearsOfCricket: @IFeelLuckyToday: How could you be so sure. He could be from Pakistan as well. They will never praise him, more so because Anwar's record was thrown out of the window.
SalmanKhan: Well, it did better business than MNIK.
IMReasonable: @SalmanKhan: How could you be so sure. MNIK is a huge blockbuster overseas. I have watched the movie 5 times already. SRK at his best.
20yearsOfCricket: Ha! KJo wanted to make a movie like Forrest Gump. Failed miserably.
IFeelLuckyToday: No one can beat Aamir Khan. He rulzzzzzzzzzz. 3 Idiots Rocksssssssssss.
AamirKhan: Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. SRK can't act s&#!*. And a Beer was a better bet than Veer!! :P
ILiveOnMovies: I love Akshay. All the Khans nowhere seen when Akhshay Kumar come to screen. I looooveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee him soooooooooooooooooooooo muchhhhhhhhhhhhh! Muaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!
IndianForever: Bhai logon, yeh ho kya raha hai :O. Where's Sachin?
ImAnOZ: ?????????????????????/
SRT: I m here friends. It felt good to whack Proteas' a$#!*. I am over the moon. But I personally like SRK. He rocked in MNIK.
These posts have been deleted because of obscene language.
Moderator: Please don't discuss movies in this thread and refrain from using abusive language in your posts. Or I will have to stop this thread.
ToHellWithIt: You piece of s$&!*. Keep you mouth shut or I'll make you pay heavily.
GandhianPrinciple: Guys please don't fight. It's a happy moment for all of us. Sachin has scaled a new height. Please don't trivialize the topic.
IamNerd: @&%^*&#^(&)(&_)&)(^*^#$(*&)#$&)&($)(*&$#_&*)$#()(&$
This thread has been deleted permanently.
*********************************************************************************
IndianForever: Hail the master, he has done it again!
IFeelLuckyToday: Woahhhhhhhhhhh! It was as if the GOD desecended on earth to play this innings.
IMReasonable: Yeah it was a great innings nevertheless, but to call him a GOD is a bit going overboard. We should enjoy what he has done, but please don't call him a GOD.
ImAnOZ: True mate! What's the big deal if you get to last 50 overs. I'm bloody sure if Punter fella gets a chance like this, he will screw some A$^#*.
IndianForever: Hoho.....Look who's speaking!!Let Punter handle our spinners first, then we will see what he does in his baggy green trousers (apart from what he did against our Chutku Ishant).
IMReasonable: I'm not gonna fall for this bait, but he sure is mortal like others. I have highest regard for him as a batsman, but to refer to him as a GOD is stretching the things a bit too far. A 194 is only 6 short of 200. So all those batsmen who got close to 200 have to be praised for their efforts.
ImAnOZ: True ya mate!! @IndianForever: Punter doesn't need to show anything. Let your 5 footer face Pidge and score off him.
IFeelLuckyToday: Hell! I was gone for 5 and you guys started vomitting shit. @IMReasonable: i doubt your nationality!
SalmanKhan: Tendulkar is the greatest.
20yearsOfCricket: Hail the GOD. @SalmanKhan: Are you the one in Veer?
IMReasonable: To hell with what you think. My nationality should be of no concern to you!
SalmanKhan: koi shaq!! It felt bad to see Veer not doing so good. :(
IFeelLuckyToday: No deviating from the main topic. @SalmanKhan: I watched it till interval when I was reminded of better things to do. @IMReasonable: How could we expect an Oz to shower praises on our little man?
20yearsOfCricket: @IFeelLuckyToday: How could you be so sure. He could be from Pakistan as well. They will never praise him, more so because Anwar's record was thrown out of the window.
SalmanKhan: Well, it did better business than MNIK.
IMReasonable: @SalmanKhan: How could you be so sure. MNIK is a huge blockbuster overseas. I have watched the movie 5 times already. SRK at his best.
20yearsOfCricket: Ha! KJo wanted to make a movie like Forrest Gump. Failed miserably.
IFeelLuckyToday: No one can beat Aamir Khan. He rulzzzzzzzzzz. 3 Idiots Rocksssssssssss.
AamirKhan: Wahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. SRK can't act s&#!*. And a Beer was a better bet than Veer!! :P
ILiveOnMovies: I love Akshay. All the Khans nowhere seen when Akhshay Kumar come to screen. I looooveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee him soooooooooooooooooooooo muchhhhhhhhhhhhh! Muaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!
IndianForever: Bhai logon, yeh ho kya raha hai :O. Where's Sachin?
ImAnOZ: ?????????????????????/
SRT: I m here friends. It felt good to whack Proteas' a$#!*. I am over the moon. But I personally like SRK. He rocked in MNIK.
These posts have been deleted because of obscene language.
Moderator: Please don't discuss movies in this thread and refrain from using abusive language in your posts. Or I will have to stop this thread.
ToHellWithIt: You piece of s$&!*. Keep you mouth shut or I'll make you pay heavily.
GandhianPrinciple: Guys please don't fight. It's a happy moment for all of us. Sachin has scaled a new height. Please don't trivialize the topic.
IamNerd: @&%^*&#^(&)(&_)&)(^*^#$(*&)#$&)&($)(*&$#_&*)$#()(&$
This thread has been deleted permanently.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
I loved her.
Raghav's throat is pressed against knife's razor sharp blade which shines like a diamond in the mirror. . But the face which he sees in the mirror doesn't frighten him. In fact, he loves it. That explains the smile on his face.
"The modus operandi is quite similar to the cases we had been investigating over the fortnight. This is 5th such incident."
"Yes, prima facie it looks like that. We need to expedite this whole thing and end it soon."
"Raghav, did you hear the hot news? Some 'killer' lady in our locality!"
"Killer lady? Must be something! You are already married Pranav, leave something for bachelors like us."
"Hey, I meant a lady on a killing spree. She roams around at night and prays over her victims. I was worried for you as you return late into the night. Can't you take some time off until this thing gets resolved. I'm sure the cops are gonna find her out of her hole very soon. I 've heard she is pretty good looking."
"Hey Pranav, thanks for the concern mate! But, she can do me no harm. If she sees me, instead of making me fall, she'll fall for me."
"Ha ha! Sure thing! Where would she find a guy more handsome than you? Riya sure was a loser!"
"But, I really wonder, what makes a woman kill someone?
"So far we haven't gotten too far in this case. Apart from the fact that before Raghav was killed, 3 more attacks had happened last night. Those guys were plain lucky that they got away with few injuries which they can nurse for the rest of their lives!"
"To add to that, there are few more observations: All the killings had happened at isolated places in dark until she mustered enough courage to come this far and attack Raghav in his home. The fact that she got into Raghav's home is not very difficult to understand. What puzzles me is the presence these in here? He was a bachelor and a straight one at that. So, cross dressing is ruled out! Did she bring all these clothes in here? And forgot to collect them before leaving!"
"We'll have to wait for the forensic report."
What would that girl be like? A killer lady! A beautiful damsel, whose smile would have been enough to kill!
Why did she kill? Was she in some pain? If I could meet her, I would ask - "why do you kill when I am here"?
Would you be my soul mate? I would never leave you. I kill because it lets me live. Otherwise it would kill me. I don't kill them, I kill it!
"The modus operandi is quite similar to the cases we had been investigating over the fortnight. This is 5th such incident."
"Yes, prima facie it looks like that. We need to expedite this whole thing and end it soon."
"Raghav, did you hear the hot news? Some 'killer' lady in our locality!"
"Killer lady? Must be something! You are already married Pranav, leave something for bachelors like us."
"Hey, I meant a lady on a killing spree. She roams around at night and prays over her victims. I was worried for you as you return late into the night. Can't you take some time off until this thing gets resolved. I'm sure the cops are gonna find her out of her hole very soon. I 've heard she is pretty good looking."
"Hey Pranav, thanks for the concern mate! But, she can do me no harm. If she sees me, instead of making me fall, she'll fall for me."
"Ha ha! Sure thing! Where would she find a guy more handsome than you? Riya sure was a loser!"
"But, I really wonder, what makes a woman kill someone?
"So far we haven't gotten too far in this case. Apart from the fact that before Raghav was killed, 3 more attacks had happened last night. Those guys were plain lucky that they got away with few injuries which they can nurse for the rest of their lives!"
"To add to that, there are few more observations: All the killings had happened at isolated places in dark until she mustered enough courage to come this far and attack Raghav in his home. The fact that she got into Raghav's home is not very difficult to understand. What puzzles me is the presence these in here? He was a bachelor and a straight one at that. So, cross dressing is ruled out! Did she bring all these clothes in here? And forgot to collect them before leaving!"
"We'll have to wait for the forensic report."
What would that girl be like? A killer lady! A beautiful damsel, whose smile would have been enough to kill!
Why did she kill? Was she in some pain? If I could meet her, I would ask - "why do you kill when I am here"?
Would you be my soul mate? I would never leave you. I kill because it lets me live. Otherwise it would kill me. I don't kill them, I kill it!
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