Saturday was a huge day for me and cricket. Nopes I did not manage to hit my elusive first 50. And I think with my aging instincts and fitness I don’t think I will ever get there. Sigh. But a journey that started around 9 years ago came to a large milestone. A little more than 10 years ago I joined this company to meet a man called Arun Solanki. One of the first things he asked me was if I could play cricket. I have played a lot of cricket, but almost all of that with a tennis or a rubber ball. Never with the professional hard leather cricket ball. Only a couple of matches. In one I smashed a lot of runs to win it for my team. But still not enough. He took me on in his team and taught me all that I know about cricket and captaincy. A couple of years later he asked me if we should start the B team within the company and asked me if I would lead it. Woah! At the time I knew little about field placements, a little about, cricket and a little about people. 8 years back, it was a small and disastrous start.
The B team was never a regular feature. I too moved within the company and it saw a few captains. Since last year with a couple of friends who are as dedicated to cricket as ever, we restarted the B team in full earnest. This year we even held selections and picked a pool of 20 players. I have learnt from experience that the B team is not a team designed to win. It is a bunch of rag tag players that play cricket because they love to play and not because they have some god given talent or experience. Most of them don’t even know how to hold the ball properly while bowling. Now as the captain and coach and manager I set a few things in place. These became my guiding force going forward.
The first amongst them was that everybody should get a chance to play. In the league phase matches, everyone would get a chance to play in the playing 11. I would never want to play the best 11. A hugely controversial rule that might have upset the players but would be fair to all. The b team never would have more than 2 – 3 ‘players’. It is largely made up of fringe players who come for the game and it made no sense for them to be out of the team and ferrying water for the rest. Also if you are in the 11, you will get a chance to bat and bowl to the position you like. You want to bat up the order, then sure go ahead, you want to bowl now, sure... in fact I did the unthinkable, I even gave field placements to people basis what they felt like doing. Allowing people to decide for themselves what they want to do. Interesting changes came about the team. From having to hustle 11 players for the team now in every match we had 14 /15 players to choose from.
The dressing room, (the tent actually in Mumbai) atmosphere was another thing I focussed on. A lot of fun. I always thought that the A team was a lot of bull shit. Too much technical stuff being discussed about cricket. Too much attitude being thrown and too much advice being given. I stopped all of that. I focussed on a lot of fun. In the team huddles, I only spoke about each man giving the game more than what he was capable of, thats it. Just play to whatever your potential is, not more not less. I told them not to dive too much and risk injury. I also told everyone not to shout or scream at your own players on the field. Misfields happen and catches get dropped. Its part of the B team. That’s why we have fun. I don’t care what the target is and what the score board says. Have fun. If someoenm gets out, dam cool, the others will get to bat. If someone bowls a long hop to be hit for a six, even better; more runs to chase. More batting. Once I was explain the B team ethos to a trainer and he summed it up best. “Win or lose, where’s the booze”. The focus is fun not winning or losing. The team spirit and the camaraderie is the most important thing here.
Doing all this during the season we found ourselves playing the finals of a tournament on Saturday. Oops. How did we get there. Of course, I am not kidding myself. It wasn’t like the prestigious tournament and that we played the best of teams. But the B team previously in all its existence must have won a couple of matches, tops. So a final was a big thing for my highly inexperienced team.
In the team huddle the first thing I said was, if anyone now calls this ‘the finals’ I will kick them out. We are not going to play the finals, we are out here to play cricket. No big match and no big occasion. We keep the same team ethos, no shouting, no frustration, only lots of fun. This year we normally fielded pretty decent, but in the finals, we dropped a catch, had a few misfileds and few shouts here and there. I kept calming people down and when the energy seemed missing after a couple of big hits by the opposition team, I shouted for energy and brains. On the field, I screamed, come on guys, on the field.
When the time came to chase, we too kept it simple. Play with your bat and the runs will come. Everyone contributed but we lost wickets at regular intervals. It became very tense at the end us down to the last wicket and 9 more runs to win off two over. Just the matter of being there. I focussed on getting the dressing room to relax, not shout too many things at the batsman at the crease. The batsmen somehow stuck in there and somehow won it for the team.
What I loved was that we played very well under pressure for an inexperienced team. Everyone contributed and that there were no single heroes in our victory. The team batted together, bowled together as a unit. When the last few overs were left, I couldn’t but think how close we had come. Win or lose, I told all my players individually, that it was a pleasure playing with every one of them. Because winning or losing did not matter how we played our game is what mattered. And to my mind, we played like a TEAM. We even made fun of our own players, brought smiles to people’s faces under pressure and did not scold any player for bowling wide or short or getting out to bad shots or getting other people run out. It happens.
Surely winning cannot be the redemption for a team that is not focussed on winning. And it’s not about the victory. It’s about creating team that likes to play together and be together. The fun in cricket which I thought was missing in the A team is so much evident in the B team. I am no technical coach and I hardly know my cricket. But what I know is that people play cricket to have fun. And fun doesn’t come from sitting in the dressing room watching others play and being told what to do. Fun comes from playing with the team and getting a chance to play your own part in the team. It’s a team game.
Now only to figure what’s wrong with my batting. I have scored almost nothing in this entire season. Literally next to nothing. I cant be in the team purely for captainship and little fielding.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
i dont gamble, but i am The great gambler
Jispa is playing the fool with us. Up until last year she still wasn’t too sure whether to believe in Santa or not. This year at around eight years old, she has decided to tease us. I had told her the last time around, it doesn’t matter whether you believe in him or not. If you asked for a gift and if you got it then you really don’t care if the dam guy exists or not. Similar to the God philosophy. You decide what works for you.
This year Jasmine and I were pretty sure she has outgrown Santa. So unlike last year we did not bother to start the ‘write a letter to Santa’ charade. So we skipped the whole thing. Yesterday just on a lark I wondered what to do about the Santa thing. So we called her in and asked if she wanted anything from Santa. It seems she and Jasmine have had some conversations, though not serious on what she wanted from Santa. Pretty cool. So what were the options? The first was a bigger house to keep all her toys. Beeeeep. Thats not happening. Second, a big toy house. Beeeeep. That was not happening as well. How about a game boy/DS Nintendo. Ok.... interesting. But I told her that Santa wouldn’t be able to get the game boy in time. Ok then I want a cello tape. Hmm. Why is that? “in my box, I don’t have a cello tape and mom doesn’t let me use her scotch tape”. Before you pass judgements on poor mom. Anyone who sees her use scotch tape will stop her from using it. Ok Done. ‘Now that is something Santa can possibly in time for tomorrow evening. Surely.” “buy?” she asked. “he makes the stuff he gives”. “errr. Ya... makes... he will make it in time, I guess” I added, sheepishly.
When she left the room, Jasmine and I looked at each other. This girl is making fun of us. She is playing with us. She obviously doesn’t believe in Santa. She knows enough to know about the myth thing. She is merely having fun at our expense. If believing in a Santa will result in a free scotch tape at the least, then what’s the harm. I guess I am the architect of my own doom. Funny.
So Jasmine is going to buy scotch tape and is getting it gift wrapped. Jispa also like every time is planning to leave milk, cookies and muesli for Santa to eat. I guess she will also leave a note for him on the white board. Hmm. I am also thinking, what if Santa leaves some footprints thins time on the floor. Every time he leaves crumbs of cookies and muesli on the scene of the crime. Hmmm. Depends on how sleepy he is. But could be worth a shot.
I have always wondered when we play with our children, I don’t know who is playing with whom. Are you making your child play or is she playing with you. Who is the child in all this. So many times it is she who is leading the game and we are the object of her affection. And she grows older she is going to play on me all the tricks I manage to play on her.
Slowly as she is getting older she is getting better at the various games. I can play a decent game of Six (the one from Dr. Woood) with her. This is a simple but interesting game of strategy. She is no push over. Once I sat to lpay with her while I was all tired and sleepy she jammed my happiness, defeated me a couple of times and even held me to a draw. This after I tried concentrating. So yesterday while I was fresh I invited her to a rematch. This time I restored my pride and won a few games. I still managed to lose a couple, but those were silly mistakes.
She also already wallops me in swimming. I just can’t keep up. I thought I was very fast while using the kickboard. I go faster than most people swim. She whizzes past as if I am in kindergarten. Whew. I can also just about keep pace with her for a single round. When it comes to multiple round I am no match.
It feels funny for a competitive guy like me. I like to compete and win but in matters like these winning leaves a slightly hollow feeling and losing leaves a warm emotional feeling. Chest swells on losing. Funny thing parenting is.
Suddenly I am reminded of this dialogue from Baazigar. You will have to sit through three minutes to get to the dialogue with is at the very end. But the really corny clip will make it worth your while.
For those too bored to see the whole thing, here is a much older and shall I say better looking Shah Rukh saying his lines, slightly better.
Loosely translated into English the gist of the line is - sometimes in life, to win somthing you also need to lose something. And the one who wins by losing is called...The Gambler
This year Jasmine and I were pretty sure she has outgrown Santa. So unlike last year we did not bother to start the ‘write a letter to Santa’ charade. So we skipped the whole thing. Yesterday just on a lark I wondered what to do about the Santa thing. So we called her in and asked if she wanted anything from Santa. It seems she and Jasmine have had some conversations, though not serious on what she wanted from Santa. Pretty cool. So what were the options? The first was a bigger house to keep all her toys. Beeeeep. Thats not happening. Second, a big toy house. Beeeeep. That was not happening as well. How about a game boy/DS Nintendo. Ok.... interesting. But I told her that Santa wouldn’t be able to get the game boy in time. Ok then I want a cello tape. Hmm. Why is that? “in my box, I don’t have a cello tape and mom doesn’t let me use her scotch tape”. Before you pass judgements on poor mom. Anyone who sees her use scotch tape will stop her from using it. Ok Done. ‘Now that is something Santa can possibly in time for tomorrow evening. Surely.” “buy?” she asked. “he makes the stuff he gives”. “errr. Ya... makes... he will make it in time, I guess” I added, sheepishly.
When she left the room, Jasmine and I looked at each other. This girl is making fun of us. She is playing with us. She obviously doesn’t believe in Santa. She knows enough to know about the myth thing. She is merely having fun at our expense. If believing in a Santa will result in a free scotch tape at the least, then what’s the harm. I guess I am the architect of my own doom. Funny.
So Jasmine is going to buy scotch tape and is getting it gift wrapped. Jispa also like every time is planning to leave milk, cookies and muesli for Santa to eat. I guess she will also leave a note for him on the white board. Hmm. I am also thinking, what if Santa leaves some footprints thins time on the floor. Every time he leaves crumbs of cookies and muesli on the scene of the crime. Hmmm. Depends on how sleepy he is. But could be worth a shot.
I have always wondered when we play with our children, I don’t know who is playing with whom. Are you making your child play or is she playing with you. Who is the child in all this. So many times it is she who is leading the game and we are the object of her affection. And she grows older she is going to play on me all the tricks I manage to play on her.
Slowly as she is getting older she is getting better at the various games. I can play a decent game of Six (the one from Dr. Woood) with her. This is a simple but interesting game of strategy. She is no push over. Once I sat to lpay with her while I was all tired and sleepy she jammed my happiness, defeated me a couple of times and even held me to a draw. This after I tried concentrating. So yesterday while I was fresh I invited her to a rematch. This time I restored my pride and won a few games. I still managed to lose a couple, but those were silly mistakes.
She also already wallops me in swimming. I just can’t keep up. I thought I was very fast while using the kickboard. I go faster than most people swim. She whizzes past as if I am in kindergarten. Whew. I can also just about keep pace with her for a single round. When it comes to multiple round I am no match.
It feels funny for a competitive guy like me. I like to compete and win but in matters like these winning leaves a slightly hollow feeling and losing leaves a warm emotional feeling. Chest swells on losing. Funny thing parenting is.
Suddenly I am reminded of this dialogue from Baazigar. You will have to sit through three minutes to get to the dialogue with is at the very end. But the really corny clip will make it worth your while.
For those too bored to see the whole thing, here is a much older and shall I say better looking Shah Rukh saying his lines, slightly better.
Loosely translated into English the gist of the line is - sometimes in life, to win somthing you also need to lose something. And the one who wins by losing is called...The Gambler
Thursday, December 09, 2010
simple and practical
Today I am going to be the whole day at my Goregaon office. Which basically means that my lunch won’t be coming from home. On many such days we take the opportunity to have a family breakfast at the south Indian joints in kings circle. Within Mumbai these to be the best that south Indian has to offer. Though a lot of gujjus rave and rant about these joints I find them strictly ok compared to the real ones down south. But they are clearly head and shoulders above the rest of Mumbai.
So after we had our fill and I dropped Jasmine at the bus stop for her to go home, I was taking Jispa to her bus stop. Along the way we passed by my maternal grandmother’s house. I showed Jispa that look here, my granny (ba) stayed here. And when we used to come in from dubai for summer vacations we used to stay here. Now no one stays here. My granny died more than 25 years ago. The place is in a diaplated condition. Then I was explaining to Jispa that that was a big house and we used to go running around the house. The rooms were interconnected and we used to run around in circles with my granny chasing us. Poor thing used to walk around and we used to run in the opposite direction. That was good fun. I don’t know if my granny would be really furious at us or was merely pretending while chasing us down.
I was explaining to her how it was a huge house and ba had a full floor on top as her house. “a full floor? Your ba was very rich?”. “Yes” I answered. “She was. And not only the floor, that whole building and the next building belonged to her”. “now who stays there?”. Well now Jispa was opening the pandora’s box. Who stays there, now. “hmm Jispa, no one for now.” “why”. “well that property is in dispute”. “What’s dispute” she asked. I saw that one coming. “The brothers and sisters are fighting, rather arguing about the property. Whose it is and who can have it”. “Why are they arguing? And why does anyone have it. They all have homes in any case right?” “Yup they have homes. It’s not the home they are fighting about. They want to sell the land and then keep the money” “so then they can easily divide the money equally nah?”, “well ok, but they don’t agree on how to divide the money amongst themselves. Someone or the other thinks they want more. It’s like a cake and three of your friends wanting to divide it but always someone wants more than the other. How do you just divide it? And it’s not just this land. There is also a factory in Mahim that made labels. That too is in dispute and I think it no longer is running.” “Why has that stopped running”. Well... “There the two brothers could never decide on how to run the factory. One would want to run it this way and the other would want to run it the other way”. “but can’t they just agree that you run it in your half this way and the other just let me do his bit. If anything is wrong then they can just come together on the best decision” Jispa thus added her simplistic and pretty practical wisdom. Only if we listened to eight year olds more often. “ ya it possible but ego gets in the way. Let me explain. Like when you hate me sometimes, even if I am talking sense you don’t want to listen to me. Do you. You think I am bad and don’t listen. Same way ego gets in the way sometimes and things don’t improve” “but I listen to you afterwards nah?” “Sure you do. But sometimes when people fight so much that they start hating each other and stop listening to each other”. “strange”
Young Jispa did not understand why we idiots keep fighting and spoiling our lives. Young Jispa has enough wisdom to keep disputes away and enough practicality to keep her content and happy. Let’s just hope life doesn’t corrupt young Jispa.
This incident reminds of two of my best teachers. Dharen and Prof Navalkar, both believed that strategy is simple. If it is not simple then it is not strategy. Jispa’s solutions are simple and practical. Only the silliness and the complications in our brains stop us from adhering to them. Sometimes when Jasmine and I fight, I think we must get Jispa in to solve our disputes. She makes for a good reasoning board.
So after we had our fill and I dropped Jasmine at the bus stop for her to go home, I was taking Jispa to her bus stop. Along the way we passed by my maternal grandmother’s house. I showed Jispa that look here, my granny (ba) stayed here. And when we used to come in from dubai for summer vacations we used to stay here. Now no one stays here. My granny died more than 25 years ago. The place is in a diaplated condition. Then I was explaining to Jispa that that was a big house and we used to go running around the house. The rooms were interconnected and we used to run around in circles with my granny chasing us. Poor thing used to walk around and we used to run in the opposite direction. That was good fun. I don’t know if my granny would be really furious at us or was merely pretending while chasing us down.
I was explaining to her how it was a huge house and ba had a full floor on top as her house. “a full floor? Your ba was very rich?”. “Yes” I answered. “She was. And not only the floor, that whole building and the next building belonged to her”. “now who stays there?”. Well now Jispa was opening the pandora’s box. Who stays there, now. “hmm Jispa, no one for now.” “why”. “well that property is in dispute”. “What’s dispute” she asked. I saw that one coming. “The brothers and sisters are fighting, rather arguing about the property. Whose it is and who can have it”. “Why are they arguing? And why does anyone have it. They all have homes in any case right?” “Yup they have homes. It’s not the home they are fighting about. They want to sell the land and then keep the money” “so then they can easily divide the money equally nah?”, “well ok, but they don’t agree on how to divide the money amongst themselves. Someone or the other thinks they want more. It’s like a cake and three of your friends wanting to divide it but always someone wants more than the other. How do you just divide it? And it’s not just this land. There is also a factory in Mahim that made labels. That too is in dispute and I think it no longer is running.” “Why has that stopped running”. Well... “There the two brothers could never decide on how to run the factory. One would want to run it this way and the other would want to run it the other way”. “but can’t they just agree that you run it in your half this way and the other just let me do his bit. If anything is wrong then they can just come together on the best decision” Jispa thus added her simplistic and pretty practical wisdom. Only if we listened to eight year olds more often. “ ya it possible but ego gets in the way. Let me explain. Like when you hate me sometimes, even if I am talking sense you don’t want to listen to me. Do you. You think I am bad and don’t listen. Same way ego gets in the way sometimes and things don’t improve” “but I listen to you afterwards nah?” “Sure you do. But sometimes when people fight so much that they start hating each other and stop listening to each other”. “strange”
Young Jispa did not understand why we idiots keep fighting and spoiling our lives. Young Jispa has enough wisdom to keep disputes away and enough practicality to keep her content and happy. Let’s just hope life doesn’t corrupt young Jispa.
This incident reminds of two of my best teachers. Dharen and Prof Navalkar, both believed that strategy is simple. If it is not simple then it is not strategy. Jispa’s solutions are simple and practical. Only the silliness and the complications in our brains stop us from adhering to them. Sometimes when Jasmine and I fight, I think we must get Jispa in to solve our disputes. She makes for a good reasoning board.
Monday, December 06, 2010
a money raising experience
Yesterday was a typical Sunday night. I was in bed reading a book by 930pm. and I was asleep by 10. We like to get to sleep early on Sunday night in preparation of the huge week ahead. While I was half asleep, I thought I heard a doorbell. I argued about the rality of it in my sleep before deciding that it was a real doorbell and I hastened to answer it. I opened it to find a kid near the opposite neighbour door. A real tiny kid with a satchel in across his shoulder, with specs and a Sunday best attire. He must have been all of three feet tall. I later wondered who must have helped him ring the doorbell. He hardly might have reached there. Nevertheless, seeing me open the door, he came to me and I could see he had a board in his hand with a paper clipped on. He came to me and said “uncle, you have to write your name here, address here and phone number here” pointing to the place in his place. It was an excel sheet with something written at the top and a list where everyone could write their details. A ha. This sweet kid was on a money collection mission sent by his school. He then added the line he crucially forgot. “You also have to give ten rupees or more if you want to.”I figured that bit looking at the form.
I studied in a convent school. The whole point of schooling seemed to me to collect money for charity. Every occasion we would get a form and a purpose. Someone is ill or some building needs repair or like half the time, we did not even bother what the purpose was. My brother used to absolutely hating begging and I probably took cues from him. I did not particularly like it. I grew up to kind of hate it. When I speak about this to a few colleagues, the standard response was that they hated it as well as kids. I know a lot of tough things build character. Buts what the theory of begging... does ringing bells and asking for money might help overcome initial shyness and awkwardness? What a pain.
Luckily I had a tenner in my wallet. He did not have any change. I asked him where he kept the money. A ha, the satchel served that purpose. I put it in the satchel, and asked him where he stayed. My larger worry was that a kid (he was in the first standard) was roaming out alone at ten pm ringing bells and asking for money on a Sunday night. He happened to stay in my building on another floor.
Luckily I think things have improved over the years. I think people are more in tune with donating, knowing that schools keep sending these kids all the time. I have a policy of always playing up when a kid comes in. I know what shit I went through. I don’t ask stupid questions; don’t bother about, school or purpose. I just see if the kid is a genuine bloke and pay up. Put him out of his misery fast enough. Typically to overcome shyness the kids also hunt in pairs. Two of the same school run around the building together and fill their forms in a pre agreed algorithm.
Luckily for this kid I was the last one. And at 10pm it was about time. I question the logic of the school to send a kid from the first standard begging. I don’t really blame the parents. He would about 6 to 7 years old. I later glanced over the form and saw the purpose and school. Oops. Why was I surprised? It was my alma mater, my school, Don Bosco at Matunga. Oh god. They were renovating the boarding quarters and I was even eligible thanks to my donation for an entry into a raffle that gave me the chance to win ‘exciting’ prizes. 20 years and things have not moved a bit.
Come one guys. Stop it. There are many interesting and better ways to raise money than begging. Nobody paid to get a chance to enter a raffle. They paid because they saw this poor kid being sent on a mission from his school. I remember how the teachers used to publicly praise the kids who managed to get more money and the ones that got in less. The vice principal once went from class to class to show the form of an outstanding student who got a lot of money from his relatives and friends for a cause.
Sometimes the cause is genuine. Some kid in school who got cancer and needed money for treatment. Sure it’s important to lend a hand, but I do feel that the schools overdid it. Not just my school but I remember all the kids in all the schools doing it. I did also feel that the convent schools were more in tune with this than others.
So now. It is a charitable foundation that surely runs a pretty decent school. I did learn and owe quite a bit to my school and I also realise that they need funds. The school is today also kept in a great shape for the kind of fees it charges and I do assume that not a large portion of it might be lost in transit. The facilities and the ground and the buildings look in good shape. So how else should they raise money?
Well the great old way – ex students. Students who have made it big and still feel a bit for the school and its mission. They have an ex students association. They meet on some predetermined Saturday, but when I went there I only found old political basterds and a coterie that did not want to change things. There is a thriving community on the social networking sites and sadly our idiots aren’t there. Or least haven’t yet managed to reach us there. If there is a simple engagement program that is open and transparent, I guess, raising money won’t be that difficult. There are many people who want to engage and give something back. You just have to give them a reason. You might get stuff in kind or cash or endowments. It can’t be that difficult. There is surely enough money around. Also the fact is that schooling is highly localised and at least 50% of the community probably still stays around the same area. But that is still a shitty argument when the web breaks all geographical barriers.
My college principal made it a great art of keeping in touch with some celebrity students who passed out. I mean the industrial house type guys. He regularly gets the community to put money on the table. But contribution can also be in simple ways. I teach at my college because my teacher once called me and asked if I could come in. She understood that I wanted freedom to teach and money was not my motivation. For 200 bucks an hour there was never enough meat in teaching money. But I have time to give and students got a decent prof from the industry. Better than the other older ‘professional’ teachers. And at that rate how could the professionals give in their best. Thje ex students came up whenever she called and contributed however she wanted them to. Money was the last thing on anyone’s agenda.
If suitably engaged would most of the ex students say no. I don’t think so. Do we know enough of ex students to cough up around300 bucks each? That was the amount that young kid raised. 30 homes into 10 each. Surely. I guess most would even give a predetermined amount just to stop the kids from going out. I am game for a couple of thousand bucks a year... easy. No questions asked, only stop current students from going around with a bowl.
I studied in a convent school. The whole point of schooling seemed to me to collect money for charity. Every occasion we would get a form and a purpose. Someone is ill or some building needs repair or like half the time, we did not even bother what the purpose was. My brother used to absolutely hating begging and I probably took cues from him. I did not particularly like it. I grew up to kind of hate it. When I speak about this to a few colleagues, the standard response was that they hated it as well as kids. I know a lot of tough things build character. Buts what the theory of begging... does ringing bells and asking for money might help overcome initial shyness and awkwardness? What a pain.
Luckily I had a tenner in my wallet. He did not have any change. I asked him where he kept the money. A ha, the satchel served that purpose. I put it in the satchel, and asked him where he stayed. My larger worry was that a kid (he was in the first standard) was roaming out alone at ten pm ringing bells and asking for money on a Sunday night. He happened to stay in my building on another floor.
Luckily I think things have improved over the years. I think people are more in tune with donating, knowing that schools keep sending these kids all the time. I have a policy of always playing up when a kid comes in. I know what shit I went through. I don’t ask stupid questions; don’t bother about, school or purpose. I just see if the kid is a genuine bloke and pay up. Put him out of his misery fast enough. Typically to overcome shyness the kids also hunt in pairs. Two of the same school run around the building together and fill their forms in a pre agreed algorithm.
Luckily for this kid I was the last one. And at 10pm it was about time. I question the logic of the school to send a kid from the first standard begging. I don’t really blame the parents. He would about 6 to 7 years old. I later glanced over the form and saw the purpose and school. Oops. Why was I surprised? It was my alma mater, my school, Don Bosco at Matunga. Oh god. They were renovating the boarding quarters and I was even eligible thanks to my donation for an entry into a raffle that gave me the chance to win ‘exciting’ prizes. 20 years and things have not moved a bit.
Come one guys. Stop it. There are many interesting and better ways to raise money than begging. Nobody paid to get a chance to enter a raffle. They paid because they saw this poor kid being sent on a mission from his school. I remember how the teachers used to publicly praise the kids who managed to get more money and the ones that got in less. The vice principal once went from class to class to show the form of an outstanding student who got a lot of money from his relatives and friends for a cause.
Sometimes the cause is genuine. Some kid in school who got cancer and needed money for treatment. Sure it’s important to lend a hand, but I do feel that the schools overdid it. Not just my school but I remember all the kids in all the schools doing it. I did also feel that the convent schools were more in tune with this than others.
So now. It is a charitable foundation that surely runs a pretty decent school. I did learn and owe quite a bit to my school and I also realise that they need funds. The school is today also kept in a great shape for the kind of fees it charges and I do assume that not a large portion of it might be lost in transit. The facilities and the ground and the buildings look in good shape. So how else should they raise money?
Well the great old way – ex students. Students who have made it big and still feel a bit for the school and its mission. They have an ex students association. They meet on some predetermined Saturday, but when I went there I only found old political basterds and a coterie that did not want to change things. There is a thriving community on the social networking sites and sadly our idiots aren’t there. Or least haven’t yet managed to reach us there. If there is a simple engagement program that is open and transparent, I guess, raising money won’t be that difficult. There are many people who want to engage and give something back. You just have to give them a reason. You might get stuff in kind or cash or endowments. It can’t be that difficult. There is surely enough money around. Also the fact is that schooling is highly localised and at least 50% of the community probably still stays around the same area. But that is still a shitty argument when the web breaks all geographical barriers.
My college principal made it a great art of keeping in touch with some celebrity students who passed out. I mean the industrial house type guys. He regularly gets the community to put money on the table. But contribution can also be in simple ways. I teach at my college because my teacher once called me and asked if I could come in. She understood that I wanted freedom to teach and money was not my motivation. For 200 bucks an hour there was never enough meat in teaching money. But I have time to give and students got a decent prof from the industry. Better than the other older ‘professional’ teachers. And at that rate how could the professionals give in their best. Thje ex students came up whenever she called and contributed however she wanted them to. Money was the last thing on anyone’s agenda.
If suitably engaged would most of the ex students say no. I don’t think so. Do we know enough of ex students to cough up around300 bucks each? That was the amount that young kid raised. 30 homes into 10 each. Surely. I guess most would even give a predetermined amount just to stop the kids from going out. I am game for a couple of thousand bucks a year... easy. No questions asked, only stop current students from going around with a bowl.
Thursday, December 02, 2010
thinking
Haha. I liked listening to Salman Rushdie. He says Inspiration is nonsense. It’s more to do with concentration. I resonated with he said. If you sit in one corner and think about your work then you are bound to do a decent job of it. I think a lot of time is normally wasted by the creative in search for inspiration. Sure, some places or incidents inspire you to do something but that is the case when you are not a creative type of person. There is inspiration everywhere, what is required more often is a frame of mind.
My office is pretty boring with a bunch of staid bankers. Yack. They do their dull boring jobs with reasonable efficiency. People like me stick out like sore thumbs. We write on whiteboards with a certain flourish. I even wrote on the glass walls of the cabin. (yes, I have a cabin here. I have finally arrived. Bah!). Seeing my whiteboard itself the guys break into some kind of ‘I am not you’ exotic dance. Now they see the glass walls with stuff written all over them and wonder which planet we creative guys come from.
It’s my standard grouse with them. Just because you can’t think with your right brain doesn’t mean I can think with my left. I use both sides and you have decided to use only one. I understand your accounts, your maths and all your stupid equations. You just decided that to be creative one has to think creative. To me it’s just a question of losing a bit of inhibition and asking ‘so what’. I ask it and you accept it. That’s the only difference. Once when we were presenting something in the conference room, the super boss wanted to ask us ‘right brainers’ for an opinion. That irked me and I sharply told him, what right brain? I am not right brain. You believe I am, but I use both. In hindsight it might have been a CLM (career limiting move) but I can’t stand this – ‘you are creative, a different being’ typecast.
Some think more creatively than others but that does not make one less creative. I agree with Rushdie. One has to sit in one corner, follow a process, concentrate and perform. It’s not like a magician who plucks stuff from a hat. But possible to someone else sitting on the outside, it is that. That’s how I would possibly think of painters, architects, designers etc. In the same way that the bankers think of me.
Hmm. I think I am getting a bit confused here. Are creatives inherently different from those who are not. Can any one learn to be one by sheer ‘hardwork’. What is this beast? I don’t know, but all that I know is that ideas come to me like a torrent. It can’t be that difficult. But those outside of the circle don’t believe so. Possibly right brain and left is different. But one thing is sure ... Rushdie is right. It is a lot of ‘work’ and concentration.
He also says “that when you write you in a way write out of what you think of as your best self, the part of you that is lacking in foibles and weaknesses and egotism and vanities and so on. You’re just trying to really say something as truthful as you can out of the best that you have in you. And so somehow the physical act of doing it is the only way you have of having access to that self. I mean when you’re not physically writing you don’t have the key to that door and but when you get into—and certainly speaking for me—when I get into a state of properly concentrated attention then I do think that that is... I think of that as my best self, the self that does that.”
I don’t write anywhere near as much but when I am blogging and I start writing I don’t know where I am going to end. When I sit down and start writing and I concentrate words flow and I type. I cant think the way I think while writing if I am not writing. Somehow the physical act of writing is required. One of things why I love blogging is that it has in many ways helped me clear my own mind. There were things inside of me that I did not know till I wrote them. writing them helped me get the argument clear, reinforced what I believed in and gave me a ‘pause’ to think. One does not otherwise structure an argument in ones head. It’s the same thing as talking to someone. Most of my thoughts have only been ‘discovered’ by myself while talking o other people. Especially erious conversations. Many times while giving advice or playing agony aunt.
Talking to people, writing a blog. They have helped me trwemendously. While I started this blog and largely continue it as a legacy for my daughter, the fact is that I get great joy in writing and that it hashelped me be a better boss, captain, worker, parent and a better person overall. I also think it has helped me reinforce my ethics.
For such humble beginnings the blog has achieved quite a bit. Thank you for those reading it. When my google analytics shows visitors from across the world, somewhere it’s heartening. Someone is sharing my story now while I try and pour some of me into this. It is a different kind of feeling. Sigh…
Question: You’ve said that the act of writing transforms you into the best version of yourself; is it inspiration?Salman Rushdie: It’s not inspiration. It’s concentration more and it is to do with developing skills of concentration and I think that is something which, well a few things I think about being a writer that you get better at with time. There are things that you perhaps don’t get better at. Energy is something which maybe declines, but I think concentration, focus, the ability to shut out the extraneous and focus on what you’re doing. I think the more you do it the better you get at it. I think that is true and I think it’s also true that… and I think I've heard other writers say it too, that when you write you in a way write out of what you think of as your best self, the part of you that is lacking in foibles and weaknesses and egotism and vanities and so on. You’re just trying to really say something as truthful as you can out of the best that you have in you. And so somehow the physical act of doing it is the only way you have of having access to that self. I mean when you’re not physically writing you don’t have the key to that door and but when you get into—and certainly speaking for me—when I get into a state of properly concentrated attention then I do think that that is... I think of that as my best self, the self that does that. And I wish I had access to it the rest of time, but at least I can find my way to it through that. It’s not inspiration. I think inspiration is nonsense, actually. Every so often I mean like one day in 20 or something, you will have a day when the work seems to just flow out of you and you feel lucky. I mean you feel and often surprised and you don’t quite know why it is working like that. And on days like that it’s easy to believe in a kind of inspiration, but most of the time it’s not like that. Most of the time it’s... I mean I wish there were more of those days, but most of the time it’s a lot slower and more exploratory and it’s more a process of discovering what you have to do than just simply have it arrive like a flame over your head. So I do think it’s to do with concentration, not inspiration. It’s to do with paying attention and I think the business of writing a great deal of it is the business of paying attention to your characters, to the world they live in, to the story you have to tell, but just a kind of deep attention and out of that if you pay attention properly the story will tell you what it needs.
My office is pretty boring with a bunch of staid bankers. Yack. They do their dull boring jobs with reasonable efficiency. People like me stick out like sore thumbs. We write on whiteboards with a certain flourish. I even wrote on the glass walls of the cabin. (yes, I have a cabin here. I have finally arrived. Bah!). Seeing my whiteboard itself the guys break into some kind of ‘I am not you’ exotic dance. Now they see the glass walls with stuff written all over them and wonder which planet we creative guys come from.
It’s my standard grouse with them. Just because you can’t think with your right brain doesn’t mean I can think with my left. I use both sides and you have decided to use only one. I understand your accounts, your maths and all your stupid equations. You just decided that to be creative one has to think creative. To me it’s just a question of losing a bit of inhibition and asking ‘so what’. I ask it and you accept it. That’s the only difference. Once when we were presenting something in the conference room, the super boss wanted to ask us ‘right brainers’ for an opinion. That irked me and I sharply told him, what right brain? I am not right brain. You believe I am, but I use both. In hindsight it might have been a CLM (career limiting move) but I can’t stand this – ‘you are creative, a different being’ typecast.
Some think more creatively than others but that does not make one less creative. I agree with Rushdie. One has to sit in one corner, follow a process, concentrate and perform. It’s not like a magician who plucks stuff from a hat. But possible to someone else sitting on the outside, it is that. That’s how I would possibly think of painters, architects, designers etc. In the same way that the bankers think of me.
Hmm. I think I am getting a bit confused here. Are creatives inherently different from those who are not. Can any one learn to be one by sheer ‘hardwork’. What is this beast? I don’t know, but all that I know is that ideas come to me like a torrent. It can’t be that difficult. But those outside of the circle don’t believe so. Possibly right brain and left is different. But one thing is sure ... Rushdie is right. It is a lot of ‘work’ and concentration.
He also says “that when you write you in a way write out of what you think of as your best self, the part of you that is lacking in foibles and weaknesses and egotism and vanities and so on. You’re just trying to really say something as truthful as you can out of the best that you have in you. And so somehow the physical act of doing it is the only way you have of having access to that self. I mean when you’re not physically writing you don’t have the key to that door and but when you get into—and certainly speaking for me—when I get into a state of properly concentrated attention then I do think that that is... I think of that as my best self, the self that does that.”
I don’t write anywhere near as much but when I am blogging and I start writing I don’t know where I am going to end. When I sit down and start writing and I concentrate words flow and I type. I cant think the way I think while writing if I am not writing. Somehow the physical act of writing is required. One of things why I love blogging is that it has in many ways helped me clear my own mind. There were things inside of me that I did not know till I wrote them. writing them helped me get the argument clear, reinforced what I believed in and gave me a ‘pause’ to think. One does not otherwise structure an argument in ones head. It’s the same thing as talking to someone. Most of my thoughts have only been ‘discovered’ by myself while talking o other people. Especially erious conversations. Many times while giving advice or playing agony aunt.
Talking to people, writing a blog. They have helped me trwemendously. While I started this blog and largely continue it as a legacy for my daughter, the fact is that I get great joy in writing and that it hashelped me be a better boss, captain, worker, parent and a better person overall. I also think it has helped me reinforce my ethics.
For such humble beginnings the blog has achieved quite a bit. Thank you for those reading it. When my google analytics shows visitors from across the world, somewhere it’s heartening. Someone is sharing my story now while I try and pour some of me into this. It is a different kind of feeling. Sigh…
Question: You’ve said that the act of writing transforms you into the best version of yourself; is it inspiration?Salman Rushdie: It’s not inspiration. It’s concentration more and it is to do with developing skills of concentration and I think that is something which, well a few things I think about being a writer that you get better at with time. There are things that you perhaps don’t get better at. Energy is something which maybe declines, but I think concentration, focus, the ability to shut out the extraneous and focus on what you’re doing. I think the more you do it the better you get at it. I think that is true and I think it’s also true that… and I think I've heard other writers say it too, that when you write you in a way write out of what you think of as your best self, the part of you that is lacking in foibles and weaknesses and egotism and vanities and so on. You’re just trying to really say something as truthful as you can out of the best that you have in you. And so somehow the physical act of doing it is the only way you have of having access to that self. I mean when you’re not physically writing you don’t have the key to that door and but when you get into—and certainly speaking for me—when I get into a state of properly concentrated attention then I do think that that is... I think of that as my best self, the self that does that. And I wish I had access to it the rest of time, but at least I can find my way to it through that. It’s not inspiration. I think inspiration is nonsense, actually. Every so often I mean like one day in 20 or something, you will have a day when the work seems to just flow out of you and you feel lucky. I mean you feel and often surprised and you don’t quite know why it is working like that. And on days like that it’s easy to believe in a kind of inspiration, but most of the time it’s not like that. Most of the time it’s... I mean I wish there were more of those days, but most of the time it’s a lot slower and more exploratory and it’s more a process of discovering what you have to do than just simply have it arrive like a flame over your head. So I do think it’s to do with concentration, not inspiration. It’s to do with paying attention and I think the business of writing a great deal of it is the business of paying attention to your characters, to the world they live in, to the story you have to tell, but just a kind of deep attention and out of that if you pay attention properly the story will tell you what it needs.
Wednesday, December 01, 2010
change
Typically so far in my career I have been a set up specialist. I have gone and set up systyms for marketing / sales. I have so far not worked on an inherited structure. The only one exception has been my first job where I inherited a structure in sales and I was a miserable failure. But that was twelve years ago when I was a novice and anyone would be able to walk over me.
This time in my new role I have inherited a team and lots of structures and complexities. A lot that I don’t like and lot that don’t really need changing. One of the greatest revelations had come to me around 8 years ago. This when I was inheriting a very small and tiny customer service team. Coming from sales I thought the team was a bunch of dumbos and that nothing could be achieved or got through them. I wasn’t looking forward to this assignment. Nopes. Then when the handover happened, I looked at the girl who was the customer service head and told myself, let’s make it work. I have no clue why I did that. I just suddenly resolved that no matter what I will think of her as a good resource and that we will make her work well. She is a good person unless I am proved otherwise. Magic happened from then on. She started doing much better. She immediately responded positively to me and me to her. We set up processes and procedures that improved and gave teeth to customer service. We started bashing back the sales guys who had made it a habit of bashing service people. Service was bad, not doing their job, a piece of cake etc etc. The sales system got it back this time. Lacunas in the system were identified and ironed. Issues with sales were highlighted. Woes of the service team were stated before the bosses and a voice was created that would be heard. The service head, who was denied a promotion was given one next year. I thought it was a magical transformation. Not of her... but of me. I keep that incident as a guiding light for a lot of my interaction with the team.
It’s always easy to rubbish people and especially if you are inheriting a team. You can always rubbish eth procedures followed and the decisions taken. But to my mind if you believe that everything had a reason and that reason was to the best of that person’s thinking, then you might start seeing merit in it. The fine line between changing things and letting tem remain constant. This is the constant tug of war. Every day I come in to office thinking of what I must change and what I must let remain. Some things I must change right away. Some cultures must be removed from the roots and thrown away and some part of culture must be nurtured. But the most important of all is the people involved. What is going on in their mind. Are they free to speak up and oppose the new boss and new fangled ideas? Every day I see shit and see gems of brilliance together in the same room. The mindset I have is always that the people are good and that they will achieve what they are capable of. If the mindset remains that people will remain the same and that achievement is required irrespective then the actions I take change accordingly. Instead of getting angry or dissatisfied, one becomes the agent of change. Change that is softer on people. Change that is lasting and causes lesser stress. I have had a boss who believed that he had to bring about change. But that change he brought about was at great cost to people. He created a stressful environment and believed that he was an antibiotic (his own words). By that logic I assume he thought that we were bacteria. Then he will treat us as that.
The last few years my epiphany has been that people are the most important thing in the world. Not brands, not customers, not profits. They are all there but they finally stem from the people that you work for, who work with you and those who work for you. Happy people produce beautiful results. I remain guided by one single objective – do what is right for the person. The company, brand and culture will automatically get aligned. Many times what is right for the person is not what is right for the company and then the incongruence of goals results in stress. Sometimes one can change the company’s policies and thought process, if not then the person might need to change. If neither is willing to budge then the company loses the individual. I have never bothered to retain people.
People will stay with you if you have been fair to them. If you have been unfair then you deserve that they go and if you have been fair and they still want to go, that’s cool as well. We just get the guys on board who want a fair deal. A fair wage and a fair environment for a fair day’s work. Good people will see the light of the day for sure. They realise what is fair and what is not. Too clever practices or HR initiatives will only piss people off in the long run. It will only come back to bite you in the butt. If morale is low or energy is missing, turning outwards towards HR may be a bad idea. Responding by gifts, incentives and other means would only delay the inevitable. Like a child who responds to a shiny new toy to stop wailing for a few minutes will only learn to wail after the boredom sets in.
Fun comes from a purpose or a pride that one gets from doing good work. In that sense I am quite happy to be a part of the marketing process rather than the sales process. In sales I have seen too many people sell too much of their soul. Then the company has no other means to reward them than give them shiny new toys again and again. The boss is a barracuda hell bent on achieving targets and he just misses the point of people being there.
So here I am. Every day trying to effect a cultural revolution. Trying to change culture within the organisation. It is not easy. These are not pawns but real people with real feelings. How do I change what must be, retain what is good and have the good sense to distinguish the two. Uff. Everyday and every moment. It takes a lot out of me. I see the incredulous faces when I propose something, when I stop something. ‘but that’s how it’s always been here’. Sure thing dude, but we will change that. Do you believe it must change. ‘yes it must’. Do believe that this change will be good for you? “yes we do.... but?” go ahead then. Go on. GO.
What’s my job then? Backing them in the change that believe in. In the change that will improve their lives and give it purpose. It tougher than what is anticipated. But it will bring about greater joy in their lives. As I was telling one of them. Everyday what makes me go home happy. That we will do marketing history here? That we will do great work? That I will earn lots of money and incentive. NO. The bets feeling I go back with is that somehow I have impacted people’s mind in a positive way. That they will think better, that they will act better and that their careers will improve. They will learn to be better marketing chaps and have better careers than if I was not there.
Like my brother once reminded me of the parable of the boy who kept throwing back into the ocean, the starfish washed ashore. A passerby explained the futility of making a difference to the world by such small acts. To which the boy merely threw one more starfish and said – made a difference to that one.
I AM CHANGING THE WORLD. ONE AT A TIME. IN WHATEVER LIMITED ACOPE I HAVE. IN MY LIMITED CIRCLE. BUT I AM IMPACTING LIVES WHO IMPACT OTHERS. I sure hope he gives me strength and brains.
Today morning itself I read – man’s moral strength is far more than his physical limitations.
This time in my new role I have inherited a team and lots of structures and complexities. A lot that I don’t like and lot that don’t really need changing. One of the greatest revelations had come to me around 8 years ago. This when I was inheriting a very small and tiny customer service team. Coming from sales I thought the team was a bunch of dumbos and that nothing could be achieved or got through them. I wasn’t looking forward to this assignment. Nopes. Then when the handover happened, I looked at the girl who was the customer service head and told myself, let’s make it work. I have no clue why I did that. I just suddenly resolved that no matter what I will think of her as a good resource and that we will make her work well. She is a good person unless I am proved otherwise. Magic happened from then on. She started doing much better. She immediately responded positively to me and me to her. We set up processes and procedures that improved and gave teeth to customer service. We started bashing back the sales guys who had made it a habit of bashing service people. Service was bad, not doing their job, a piece of cake etc etc. The sales system got it back this time. Lacunas in the system were identified and ironed. Issues with sales were highlighted. Woes of the service team were stated before the bosses and a voice was created that would be heard. The service head, who was denied a promotion was given one next year. I thought it was a magical transformation. Not of her... but of me. I keep that incident as a guiding light for a lot of my interaction with the team.
It’s always easy to rubbish people and especially if you are inheriting a team. You can always rubbish eth procedures followed and the decisions taken. But to my mind if you believe that everything had a reason and that reason was to the best of that person’s thinking, then you might start seeing merit in it. The fine line between changing things and letting tem remain constant. This is the constant tug of war. Every day I come in to office thinking of what I must change and what I must let remain. Some things I must change right away. Some cultures must be removed from the roots and thrown away and some part of culture must be nurtured. But the most important of all is the people involved. What is going on in their mind. Are they free to speak up and oppose the new boss and new fangled ideas? Every day I see shit and see gems of brilliance together in the same room. The mindset I have is always that the people are good and that they will achieve what they are capable of. If the mindset remains that people will remain the same and that achievement is required irrespective then the actions I take change accordingly. Instead of getting angry or dissatisfied, one becomes the agent of change. Change that is softer on people. Change that is lasting and causes lesser stress. I have had a boss who believed that he had to bring about change. But that change he brought about was at great cost to people. He created a stressful environment and believed that he was an antibiotic (his own words). By that logic I assume he thought that we were bacteria. Then he will treat us as that.
The last few years my epiphany has been that people are the most important thing in the world. Not brands, not customers, not profits. They are all there but they finally stem from the people that you work for, who work with you and those who work for you. Happy people produce beautiful results. I remain guided by one single objective – do what is right for the person. The company, brand and culture will automatically get aligned. Many times what is right for the person is not what is right for the company and then the incongruence of goals results in stress. Sometimes one can change the company’s policies and thought process, if not then the person might need to change. If neither is willing to budge then the company loses the individual. I have never bothered to retain people.
People will stay with you if you have been fair to them. If you have been unfair then you deserve that they go and if you have been fair and they still want to go, that’s cool as well. We just get the guys on board who want a fair deal. A fair wage and a fair environment for a fair day’s work. Good people will see the light of the day for sure. They realise what is fair and what is not. Too clever practices or HR initiatives will only piss people off in the long run. It will only come back to bite you in the butt. If morale is low or energy is missing, turning outwards towards HR may be a bad idea. Responding by gifts, incentives and other means would only delay the inevitable. Like a child who responds to a shiny new toy to stop wailing for a few minutes will only learn to wail after the boredom sets in.
Fun comes from a purpose or a pride that one gets from doing good work. In that sense I am quite happy to be a part of the marketing process rather than the sales process. In sales I have seen too many people sell too much of their soul. Then the company has no other means to reward them than give them shiny new toys again and again. The boss is a barracuda hell bent on achieving targets and he just misses the point of people being there.
So here I am. Every day trying to effect a cultural revolution. Trying to change culture within the organisation. It is not easy. These are not pawns but real people with real feelings. How do I change what must be, retain what is good and have the good sense to distinguish the two. Uff. Everyday and every moment. It takes a lot out of me. I see the incredulous faces when I propose something, when I stop something. ‘but that’s how it’s always been here’. Sure thing dude, but we will change that. Do you believe it must change. ‘yes it must’. Do believe that this change will be good for you? “yes we do.... but?” go ahead then. Go on. GO.
What’s my job then? Backing them in the change that believe in. In the change that will improve their lives and give it purpose. It tougher than what is anticipated. But it will bring about greater joy in their lives. As I was telling one of them. Everyday what makes me go home happy. That we will do marketing history here? That we will do great work? That I will earn lots of money and incentive. NO. The bets feeling I go back with is that somehow I have impacted people’s mind in a positive way. That they will think better, that they will act better and that their careers will improve. They will learn to be better marketing chaps and have better careers than if I was not there.
Like my brother once reminded me of the parable of the boy who kept throwing back into the ocean, the starfish washed ashore. A passerby explained the futility of making a difference to the world by such small acts. To which the boy merely threw one more starfish and said – made a difference to that one.
I AM CHANGING THE WORLD. ONE AT A TIME. IN WHATEVER LIMITED ACOPE I HAVE. IN MY LIMITED CIRCLE. BUT I AM IMPACTING LIVES WHO IMPACT OTHERS. I sure hope he gives me strength and brains.
Today morning itself I read – man’s moral strength is far more than his physical limitations.
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