Category Archives: Uncategorized

Let Go!

Posted on by
Reply

This morning, when I got up,

There was something on my mind which I hadn’t resolved the previous day.

Naturally, wasn’t feeling too good about the same.

Then realised, how beautiful the weather was.

Stepped in the balcony, where fresh cool breeze ran past my face.

Not a bad day, I thought 😉

Somehow, it struck, how random we are living our lives, without realising that one day, it’s all gonna end.

And because of this randomness, every random situation that we come across, we tend to take it super seriously.

Be it our work and what the boss says,

Be it our relationships and its dynamics,

Be it our possessions,

Be it our aspirations,

Be it our conversations and the constant endeavour to prove that what we say or believe in as the only truth that there is,

Be it the straight face that we tend to show to all the strangers or the known who pass by,

Be it the anger we tend to take out on those who are not, so called, as powerful, as we think we are,

download

Without realising that it won’t really matter.

In fact, the very thing we want to achieve or aspire for becomes easily attainable,

If we don’t give too much importance to the results of the same, rather than focus on the very process needed to achieve it.

From today, I choose to let go of my seriousness,

What about you? 😉

Source for the Image: http://www.lovethispic.com/image/20870/let-go

Chalo Foreign!

Posted on by
Reply

There was a time, I remember, when most of the guys from my batch during graduation wanted to go to some foreign land, be it Europe, US etc. in search of a better life.

Don’t know whether it exists today as well, among the age group,

Though one thing that has continued to occupy the conversations among friends is to decide whether one wants to live in India or go abroad and settle down.

Somehow, the opinion seems to be divided, with those in favour suggesting:

Better infrastructure,

Better service standards,

Better governance,

Good money, as the pros of living abroad.

Those against suggest:

2nd grade citizen label,

Lack of emotional connect,

Difficult for parents to adjust, as cons among many others.

When in Rome, be a Roman, suggested some man, who found the wisdom in the saying, which doesn’t seem to work always.

download

As belonging to a nation or region, there is an ever pervading hangover associated with the interaction that one might have had with the person of the respective origin.

So strong at times are our biases, that it becomes very difficult to go beyond the generalisation and focus on the very person with whom we find ourselves interacting with.

It’s either religion or caste,

Either nationality or regionalism,

Either Asian or African looks, which tend to restrict our sensibilities.

In such an atmosphere, though preaching spirituality and the concept of vasudhaiva kutumbakam makes sense at a certain level, but might not be the immediate solution to the pervading issue.

In such a situation, does one really want to venture abroad and at what cost?

Leaving your loved ones behind, even if you take them with you, somehow becomes a pseudo life of sorts for them.

After all, what you need in life is probably:

Social companionship, in terms of your family and friends,

Few pieces of bread that one needs to earn for your loved ones,

A roof, for which one needs to pay rent or EMI for,

May be a good car, if you are too ambitious and are extremely passionate about driving in traffic, considering that there are enough Uber and Ola cabs on the roads.

Am sure, most of us, would be able to afford this.

It’s another discussion altogether if you or your wife are bent upon buying 2 dresses of Zara or such each every month :).

The only question that one needs to ponder over,

How much and why?

On a funny note, not a bad idea to conquer the entire world with your population and this might make the world one ;).

Source for the image: https://thecsspoint.com/reasons-for-foreign-policy-failures-by-mohammad-jamil/

Minding Happiness!

Posted on by
2

Many a times we tend to ask or think in our lives, as to why things are not going our way, the way we want them to happen!

Reminds me, this very morning I had my mind questioning, more so feeling annoyed, as to why the water supply was cut in my apartment.

And when you need to attend a so called very important meeting, then you feel like getting the hell out of the person who might be responsible for the same,

Be it the watchman in the apartment

or

The random tanker guy, who didn’t turn up on time, sheerly because he might have overslept.

Which reminds me of the grave water situation in our country, for which I will need a another blogpost to do justice to.

For now, will stick to me being happy or unhappy 😉

There are so many reasons one could be unhappy about,

Be it the failure I encountered in an exam,

Be it the meeting that I screwed up big time,

Be it the fight I had with my wife,

or

Be it any other random traffic situation I had to encounter this morning in my city.

Sometimes, it feels like the world is a big shit hole where one tends to spend sometime.

525848907

Having said that, being happy is as simple as countering the negative thoughts that tend to haunt one on a daily basis with an equally if not more, positive thought, which could be anything, ranging from:

The feeling of extreme joy that I felt,

let’s say when I qualified the IIT JEE exam,

to

Getting a chance of counting my heartbeats when I proposed my then girlfriend and now wife,

From,

Feeling I was on cloud nine or ten or whatever, when I got that coveted job that I had been craving for day-in-day out,

to

Feeling relaxed while spending a holiday in a place of my choice,

Somehow, the very act of being aware and conscious of what’s going in your mind

and

Making sure that the mind focuses upon the brighter side of life rather than the not so bright a side,

Seals the deal for most of us.

Why I say most, is because for those who don’t get a complete meal in a day, there are different issues that need to be taken care of,

But for most of us who are either reading this blog or might come across this write-up sometime, the above is definitely applicable.

It’s just a matter of how disciplined we are when it comes to training our mind,

How aware we are of the lifestyle we are leading,

How cognisant we are of the very nature of our so called monkey mind and the games it plays with us,

And if we just become a little more aware of the same, imagine, what miracle it might do to our lives.

So, what are you waiting for,

Possibly another water situation in your own apartment, before you actually start to work on your mind! 😉

Source for the Image: http://fortune.com/2016/05/05/why-smart-successful-people-dont-value-happiness-enough/

Partner Mania!

Posted on by
2

Thought of and taking the liberty to share the gist of conversation that I had with a very dear friend, who is on the verge of getting married.

Courtesy the advice that seems to come one’s way,

Be it the parents,

or

Who’s who among the near and dear ones,

One ends up thinking about having a partner in the so called long life that one is going to spend from here on.

What starts in turn is the search of that one and only partner (supposedly) who would go on to fulfil every aspiration that the family cares about.

Be it the likes of shaadi.com 

or

A recommendation given by family friends,

One ends up meeting different girls or guys depending on who one is looking for.

And then the big question arises,

To do or not to?

A set of criteria is laid down that one’s supposed to meet,

If not, the search goes on until,

One realises that there is nothing like the right one,

or

One is fed up of the entire process.

Marriage-Certificate

This, more often leads to one succumbing to the pressures of the immediate society on the consideration that it’s high time.

And the day beckons the groom’s arrival, giving the couple cold feet.

With so much going through their mind, the one and I think the most important aspect of it, one tends to ignore, which is,

It takes 2 to clap hands,

Similarly, it takes 2 to make it work, the reason for the same being anything,

Ranging from the love and respect one has for the other party,

To believing in the very notion, that it’s worth making efforts for the very concept of marriage, living together and spending the rest of your life both physically and mentally with the same person.

With the likes of tinder and other dating apps freely and easily accessible to all,

With the privilege of interacting with beautiful girls and guys on a daily basis, be it the parties or in one’s profession,

There are loads of distractions working against the very institution of marriage that one chooses to enter.

No matter what the reason one gives, there is only one to abide by the vows and so many not to.

The choice is simple,

Are you ready to work towards making it a success?

or

Get guided by your hormones and end up screwing not only yours but others’ lives as well?

Food for thought!

Source for the Image: https://www.indiafilings.com/learn/marriage-certificate/

To do or not to?

Posted on by
Reply

Nike came up with this catchy tagline, “just do it!”

Sounds great, no?

Well, it is, the only catch with this catchy tagline is,

First, one should know what one should do or loves to do,

Also, once you have had the clue about what you love, you must have the capability to be able to do so.

Most of us fall in either of the 2 categories mentioned above,

Be it not able to find our so called path or one’s dharma, 

or

Not having enough skill sets, both mental and physical to travel the path.

download

Any or both lead to utter dissatisfaction, which draws one to thoughts like,

To be or not to be!

or

To do or not to do!

The above questions may arise once you are not able to do something that you want to or feel being inadequate,

Though what needs to be the focus is to build the foundations in a manner which acts as an enabler to accomplish things in society that one wishes for, based on doing good for the society,

Also, due to externalities, if one is not able to accomplish the same, one should be OK with it,

For ultimately,

It won’t matter!

Source for the Image: https://kayrell.com/creativity/do-what-you-love-or-just-do-it/

Retirement-Mind–>full?

Posted on by
Reply

Retirement for people working in the government job generally happens at the age of 60, for private, it might happen a little late.

As far as I am concerned, the only time one retires is when one leaves this body.

Though, what needs to be done for most of us in contemporary times is to retire our thoughts from doing stupidity.

Most of the times, our minds seem to be occupied with one thing or the other, which one refers to as being able to multi-task or being mindful,

Be it the comparisons we keep making day-in-day-out,

or

Aspirations of earning more and more,

download

Have you ever wondered, what would happen if instead of being mind-full, you were mind-less?

Free from all worries that seem to come as a consequence of being mind-full,

Free from anxieties of what if!

Free from meeting the expectations and aspirations,

Does that mean, sitting idle?

Not really, in turn, you get an opportunity to focus on that all important thing, in terms of making your contribution towards the society that you are a part of,

That one core activity you would want to dedicate yourself to make a difference in the lives of people occupying this cosmos at the same point of time as you,

To utilize to the core that key skill set you consider yourself to be having,

The question though is your preference for being mid-full or mind-less ? 😉

Source for the Image: http://www.cndajin.com/group/pictures-for-retirement/

Tag-Li!

Posted on by
Reply

Nothing to do with the likes of Bruce Lee, have you ever wondered, why tags are so significant in one’s life?

If you think about it, the digital world, where tags bring in lot of visibility to one’s posts etc.;

Is not very different from the physical world, where tags bring in social recognition and in turn lucrative professional prospects.

Be it ones who have done their bachelors from the likes of IITs,

or

The ones who have done their masters from IIMs or ISB.

With time, though, things are changing;

With online platforms of learning propping up day-in-day-out,

With more and more students dropping out and choosing to become entrepreneurs,

With advertising platforms talking about success of people, who might not have the luxury of owning the much wanted tags, yet have done some fantastic work, solving people’s problems e.g. “water-man of India“.

download

Slowly, but surely the tags seem to be moving from an institutional construct to a knowledge and impact based construct expressed via different channels of communication.

The social hangover seems to be fading fast enough, with companies beginning to realise that their core hiring policy needs to focus on one’s ability to make things happen with relevant skill sets.

Does it mean that educational institutions would loose their relevance and importance in, say the next decade or so?

Well, it depends on how institutions respond to this dynamics and how flexible they are in terms of framing their own strategies, based on a fundamental understanding of the evolutionary process.

For those, who are at this point of time, wondering whether to go for an expensive Ivy league university course which brings in loads of debt to cater to after graduating and force oneself into the rat race,

or

To take up an area of interest, where one wants to create some positive impact and thereby indulge in self- and manav-nirmaan, 

The choice seems to be obvious!

The question, though is, whether one is prepared to do so?

Source for the Image: http://www.psdgraphics.com/psd/red-tags/

Lap-topping the Baggage!

Posted on by
Reply

The inspiration for this post, I draw from the new platforms like Facebook, Whatsapp, LinkedIn etc. which have become a place for putting across to the world, one’s accomplishments,

Be it parents posting it on behalf of their intellectual kids,

or

Be it the professionals who are awarded for their hard work.

From childhood, parents inspire or force (at times) their kid to become the best in academics/sports/anything and everything, to which a kid might have varied reaction, depending on factors like:

The state of mind kid has, at that point of time, under the influence of his/her peer group, more so.

Whatever be the reason, most feel the baggage of parents’ and society’s expectations in their growing up years,

What a pity! Considering the most beautiful days of one’s life is lost in chasing fulfilment of expectations.

Once, the kid grows up, the baggage shifts to becoming the best in whatever field of study, he/she manages to pursue,

More so because of the perceived nature of the college than his/her interest, which in any case, he/she hadn’t had the time to ponder over;

Too busy was he/she bearing the baggage!

Entering the professional world, literally puts that baggage in the form of laptop bags that most professionals seem to carry around in today’s world, having implications for one’s health,

Leave alone the mental torture one has to go through, sheerly because most don’t like the work that they happen to be doing,

And aren’t able to justify how this work is bringing about an impact to others’ lives, that being the derivative of highest level of satisfaction that one draws.

Top this with the pollution, traffic etc. in the city, and what you picture is a person, moving around with his baggage all over the city,

Not knowing why the hell is one doing so!

Money, which was more a matter of survival than accumulation, has become the basis of life for most of us, having all the negative consequences for us day-in-day-out,

Yet, we tend to stick to it, because of the fear and an inability to answer: what if we don’t have what we have?

Is there a way out?

baggage

Well, yes if you want to find a way out!

One needs to understand the difference between survival aspiration and accumulation aspiration. 

The former fits in well with the concept of maintain a good physical and mental health, allowing one to contribute to well being of others,

Whereas the second, leads to a path of disaster and chaos for oneself as well as the others.

Once that understanding is there, one wouldn’t be thinking of carrying all the baggage that one proudly carries in today’s world,

And justifies the same, labelling it as his/her ability to multitask.

The only question is whether one is prepared to change the very way one perceives things.

Are you?

Source for the Image: https://brandimpact.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/words-with-baggage/

Middle Path “Bakaiti”!

Posted on by
Reply

Most of us might have had the chance to come across the concept of “middle path” laid down in Buddhism as maintaining a balanced life, controlling our tendencies to tilt towards any kind of extremes.

From a capitalist point of view, it’s nothing but an opportunity lost, to accumulate loads of wealth and in turn become successful.

From a traditional Oriental point of view, though, the middle path offers one to utilise the opportunity one is bestowed with, sheerly because one is born a human.

If you are wondering, what that opportunity might be, it is getting answers to the questions that the mankind and possibly you, might be having since the time you began to have a cognisance of your existence in this world.

What this might be visualised as, is to picture a man standing on a T-junction, where in,

Walking on one path means doing the usual in moderation, without giving a thought as to where it’s heading,

Second one being adopting sanyas, or giving up the worldly desires and going in search of truth,

And the third, which is not as dramatic as the above two; the drama in first being the ignorance or the willingness to ignore the possibility;

The drama in second being the dissociation with what we consider life;

3rd one, is to lead a 2-sub-path life at the same time;

photo-1534628369946-daf0d41fcea3

One, where you are conscious about the accumulations at the same time, keeping a check on the tendency to accumulate;

Second, where you work towards realising the truth and figuring out the fundamental answers of life.

What this 3rd, 2-sub-path solution, does for you is,

To give you that one-shot at figuring out the truth, at the same time making sure that your survival is well taken care of, assuming that the benchmark for survival is much lower than, let’s say, owning and moving around in a Helicopter 😉

The only question is whether mankind in general and you in particular, is prepared to and would want to walk the path.

Source for the Image: https://unsplash.com/search/photos/crossroad

Bossing the GURU!

Posted on by
Reply

One of the most challenging of problems that an organization faces is to have a succession plan in place.

Going by the expectations, a boss is supposed to train his subordinate and if he does his job well, the organization would perform well in times to come.

Let us look at what might be the incentives he has, courtesy the very structure of the incentive mechanism in the organization, vis-a-vis insecurities that might pop up in the very act.

Having an employee learn the art of the trade, makes one insecure about what if the employee becomes a good shishya and goes beyond the capabilities of a guru. 

And if such insecurities were to become true, the employee becomes a much better candidate to bossing his own boss at a certain point of time.

Why would a boss want to do that to himself? Inherently, this doesn’t make sense for the boss.

Another scenario: What if, the company became prohibitive about the very concept of not allowing the worthy to become a boss? Huge opportunity cost for the company, having lost the chance to grow faster and better.

How does one deal with this kind of a situation?

Should the boss stop training his subordinates?

Well, if we go back to the good old times of guru-shishya parampara, the only incentive that a guru had for training his shishyas well was to enhance his and his gurukul’s reputation along with creating good citizens in society, and didn’t have any kind of skin in the game of taking up different roles in society, in his individual capacity.

hqdefault

Does it mean that only if one doesn’t have a stake in the entire scheme of things, can make him/her willing to do his/her job of training the employees in the best possible manner, keeping in mind the good of the organization in particular and nation in general?

Does it mean that the very concept of boss training his own subordinate is invalid, considering the inherent nature of the same?

Does it mean the on-job training needs to be supplemented by an external entity, intending to create successors?

If it were so, how does one deal with the boss’s insecurity?

Does it in turn mean, that all roles should be treated as equals, accomplishing a feat together, rather than looking at it from a top-down approach?

If yes, then would it make more sense to have flat organizations for the long-term sustainability of the same?

Well, different structures have succeeded to different extent in different geographical set-ups.

Does it mean going to the very fundamentals of education, inculcating a sense of considering oneself as less important than the collective self?

Does it in turn mean building a consciousness which goes beyond the concept of self and becoming inclusive in turn?

A call that needs to be taken by the founders in building up the culture is to evaluate various factors before they jump to any conclusion of sorts and more importantly, by the policy makers of a nation, to lay down well the very fundamentals of education.

In an ideal consciously awaken world, the problem may not exist,

Though, till we achieve the feat, bossing the guru or guru-ing the boss might need to find some kind of an equilibrium.

Source for the Image: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4HvJaAdgDI