poetry blogs, photo blogs

I was reading some random blogs today and caught my friend blogging. Quite a nice blog. I have linked her here without her permission. (I am not sure she will mind or not. But heck, it’s nice and on public domain) She clicks great pix too... hmmm, I always knew she was immensely talented, but somewhere I felt she is not using her strengths enough. Too much thinking can many ways be a bad thing. But hell, that’s not what I wanted to do. some blogs are lovely. I like the way she wrote. A lot of talking to her self almost great poetry. Similar to what quite a few blogs write. Some how I realize while I love that writing, I don’t quite write like that. I dunno! what is my style? I think it’s much like talking to other people than my self? Or is it talking to myself ‘my style’. One will only have to see.
I click a large number of photos, thanks to digital cameras; but for some reasons I only upload the ones I click on my phone – why do I do that? I dunno! But putting up some snaps might be interesting, I guess. They are not too bad as well.
The recent offsite at Shimla I clicked quite a few snaps and almost none of Shimla. I am quite bored of clicking scenery. I life people snaps, emotion snaps and ‘that moment’ snaps. Why? I dunno!
Lets see, let me upload a few. Also the big thing for me is that since a lot of my snaps are of people, I fell almost breach of privacy to upload them. Since I also click when they are not noticing – thanks to 12X optical zoom, I make it a point to first show them the snaps. Some real lovely snaps are therefore quite private. Hmmmmm. What to do? I dunno! I guess I will just start a new blog exclusive to photos.



Well at least there is one snap that I can show you guys. Jispa’s amazing drawing and imagination skills. Do try and guess what she has drawn -------------------------------------------------

it’s actually a snail with a cake on top with a cherry on top of the cake. You figure where is what. Also while we understand the cherry on the cake its up to you to figure out why is the snail carrying the cake. GO ASK HER!

Discovery.....

When you read books you never know what you are going to get. Even the worst book will give you understanding on bad books. Whenever I read a book I try and look for only one thing, that one nice big thing that will remain with me for a long time to come. Many a times it is something tangential to the core area of what the book wants to explore or propagate. I just finished reading the ‘Call of the Mall’ by Paco. His earlier book ‘why we buy’ was an outstanding book and I found this quite a let down by his standards but a great read nevertheless. This is a great compliment for the guy’s insightful thinking. But the one line that struck me the most is almost the last line in the book - Discovery is one of our most satisfying emotions. A fantastic insight. It is by no means a coincidence that we love lectures where the prof takes us on a journey of discovery. He knows what the results will be but the journey of us discovering is so fascinating. I too try and get tehkids to discover by themselves a lot of things. The only thing they need is a direction. Among the bets projects that I have received from the kids is when I give them a blank mandate, to research anything they want, start talking to a hundred people, discover seemingly unrelated insights and then focus on something they think is brilliant or astounding. These are normally the projects that get them most excited and they remember it for years to some. They love it and the learn so much because they have discovered insights themselves!!!!!
We also feel great joy in discovering a bargain, a great shirt, a lovely book, a nice place to eat etc …. The journey results in the exhilaration of discovery.
It also applies to office. We love bosses that let us experiment and let us discover by ourselves. It is called freedom at workplace. Hmmm… I have been doing a bit but also have been guilty of not doing it enough. Lets see. I have tried a lot to stay away but tightened noose when the run away has been far. How do I get to manage this? How would opposites reconcile here. Difficult but possible.
Same for parenting. Lets see if I can get Jispa to Discover a lot on her own…. Will only have to show her possibilities / directions. Will have to let her discover limitless joys / emotions / lands / games / stories and much more on her own…. After all DISCOVERY IS ONE OF OUR MOST SATISFYING EMOTIONS. What a commonsense insight. Always the most brilliant of insights seem like common sense in hindsight.

college days are meant for ...

If I were younger this is the time to be…. Man when I was in college women wore mainly salwar’s to college. But these days you can’t see anything but denims. I know so many guys who used to wear formals to college. I used to be among the few wearing denims every day. The colleges these days are a rockingly colorful place to be. Luckily being in a relatively heppier town college and I was not as starved as many others in different colleges and in different cities. Fashion shows were a norm and they were all over the place. So skin was never an issue. But I guess the sheer multitude of fashion hitting you in the face is interesting to say the least. Hmmmm…. I sound like an old fart but the way I see the colleges moving it seems like an anthropologist’s wild fantasies come true. The length of the skirt would have inverse relation with the balance of payments reserve of our nation. I mean in my time as a nation we had barely enough money to pay for our next month’s import and we had to pledge our gold!
It is also interesting and amazing that we somehow went through college without … horror of horrors …. INTERNET. I mean how did we do that. In fact I even passed B school without the essential Cut Copy Paste, without internet; doing projects by referring to the library. How menial is that? And yes, we did not have cell phones as well. Wow…. It’s a wonder we ever managed to coordinate and go anywhere. And I also remember paying 8 bucks for a rear stall ticket at sterling cinema…. Also I just remembered… I paid a grand for a custom built calf length cowboy boots! I have no clue how I did that. I actually used to wear them as high fashion. They used to zip up and heat up like hell. They were also heavy and with leather soles they were slippery as well. They also had some chain around the heel. Aaagh the sins of youth!!!!

Beaten by the loop, saved by the cream

Sunday was my morning at home all alone. I had the option to either play cricket or do some odd jobs at home. So I figured, let me do a quick job and then I will figure what to do. The errand at hand was tying the nylon ropes for the clothes to dry outside. Hmmmmm. Should be a five minute thing. So I decide to start trying the ropes and hmmmmmm. The rope was freshly bought and looped in a special manner. I had no clue that one has to be very careful while unraveling it, else……yes... they get into a mess very fast. So I spent the next hour trying to unknot the ropes. ONE FREAKING HOUR. And it was a trying experience. After opening a large part of it I realized that the open part needs to be kept properly else that too was getting tied up. So after untying the ‘untied’ part on a ‘belan’ like kite manjha I start working on the other end. Figuring that the other end will meet this one to complete the process. So I put that in a loop and used my watch to secure it and then and then and then….. I gave up. I just took the knife and cut the rope! I gave in and admitted defeat to a humble loop! What a humbling experience. Then I tied the clothes line. Believe me, keeping it tight and tying a 12 feet X 4 line in a space you cant stand properly (4 feet high) was quite a bit. I had no energy to anywhere after that. So that was an hour and a half to do a 15 minute job. Good thing we had chocolate almond fudge ice cream at home. Worth every worth the effort! What say Jasmine?

The attached photo is of me shivering in the Shatabdi form Haridwar to Delhi. The trains are bloody hot or bloody freezing!

school blues

Today was parents teachers meeting at Jispa’s school. I get dam bored at all these interactions. Not that I am disinterested in her school progress, but hell she is only 4 years old. The teacher has nothing significant to add. It’s all like Jispa is sweet. She now has started talking in class and other such simple silly inconsequential stuff. I want to ask more but then I don’t get too much feedback in return. Either the teacher is not so smart or that’s all you can talk about a four year old. In any case these teachers have no real insight nor can they discuss parenting. So its one of the ya ya.. ok ok .. hmmm… kind of conversations. What a bore man. But I guess it’s important to go as a habit. You get to see the school, teachers etc for whatever its worth. I guess its important just to be in touch. The teachers know, your kid knows that you take interest in the school, and shows importance you attach to education. Besides that not much for now to get from bacha’s school.

Below is the chopstick we stuck through poor golum's chest on our office white board. so much office boredom.

the hero's journey

Shifting into a new house is quite a journey. Especially when it’s your first home that you have made all by yourself. A very interesting thing happened. Jispa for the first time was to sleep all by herself in a separate room. I thought it’s a big thing for her since she’s only around four and a half. She seemed quite enthused. I gave a long set of instructions, where is the bathroom, where we kept her water, where to find us (one room away!), which light will remain on, and all. I think it was a small step in her hero’s journey. She also had her very own terracotta army (see picture of her ten Ganesha’s) to help her along the journey. But I realized something very important. The step was as much her step on her journey as it was mine on my journey. It was a step towards me letting her on her own. A cutting of a symbolic fraternal umbilical cord of sorts. And the cord was mine to let go, not hers! I slept bad, constantly thinking about how she would cope. I checked a few times if she was likely to fall off. I think she too was a bit taken in by her first brush. She woke me thrice – one for water getting over, one for getting hungry (luckily there was an apple) and once for mosquito biting. She normally does not wake up like this. At night (or early morning, I don’t know) while I was feeding her the apple she told me that she went to pee by herself as well and the subtle idea being that she did not wake me up for that. Hmmmmm, as Joseph Campbell said you have to lose your one state (die) and resurrect into another to complete one leg of the hero’s journey. Today, I think she died an infant and has been resurrected a child. I died one stage of fatherhood and have been resurrected another. The journey continues…

Mind Memory

Of all the things I want to lose the last thing I want to lose is my mind. And the only thing I won’t realize losing when I lost it is… my mind. OPPOSITES RULE!! Mind is such a powerful object. It can run you or ruin you (sorry for the bad figure of speech). It’s also very difficult to control. I have tried my entire life to control and harness the power of the mind. But to very obvious noting, they have turned to near naught. A few leanings though…..Over a period of time the mind learns to deal with a vast majority of problems only if you have conditioned it to learn and keep learning. I feel that there always connections in the brain that keep happening and reinforcing. These connections over a period of time give you conviction and character. Personally it has been fascinating to note how the mind evolves as an object that merely responded, to an object that has learned to respond. More like muscle memory in sport. There is something I believe in ‘mind memory’. If given sufficient scenarios played in your mind then most likely, the mind will be well equipped to handle it when the need arises. It also what some people call being paranoid. A state of readiness and effective call to action will be achieved only if one borders on paranoia. This is basically to envisage a range of possibilities that can arise given a situation and then condition the mind to be prepared for the next steps once it happens. This is also simply called margin of safety. One has to envisage the range of probable options, visualize solutions / course of actions and then let go. If you constantly think about it then you are only creating a paranoid state. This state is only required in war. And if you are on war front constantly then it can only add to your stress. So I try (also recommend) the old scout motto – be prepared. That’s all there is to it.
So next time the teacher / boss catches you day dreaming tell her that you were mind memory’ing. So that’s should be a valid excuse to get you out. But you would also need to mind memorize what to do if you get caught in the first place. What shit.

jispa's ganesha's

Quantity versus quality. What to do? What is the trade off? I have settled into a routine that makes me write every day I am in office and bunk writing all other days. Obviously I cant think of something profound every single day. Some may even argue that I cant think of ‘anything’ profound, any day!!! Whatever, but assumedly writing only when I think of some ‘eureka’ thing then I am likely to just not write at all. I mean how times does one get the chance to run out of the bath tub stark naked shouting Eureka eureka. Archimedes was ugly but at least he had something universal to say. So dear readers – do subject yourself to my TP and hope that some days I will write better than others. The other thing is that I am likely to write shorter than longer. If it is boring – gawd – atleast it ends fast! So everyday the routine is that from masjid to VT station I will start to think about what to write. On a good day I get two three topics and on a bad day – none. So I just keep writing, backspacing, and rewriting! But the fact that there are some of you who read makes me keep going on and on.
Yesterday I just finished the shifting and settling of my new home. I am happy with the shape it took. It was almost as close to the original visualization. Dam cool. Nice warm and completely livable. I had gifted Jasmine a set of 10 Ganapatis years back. Tiny terracotta ones. I arranged them in a row. They overlook Jispa’s bed. I was telling her that she will have 10 Ganesha’s protecting her while she sleeps. (we hope to see her sleep alone byherself) She kinda likes the concept. So lets see. That set about a conversation by her asking – REAL GODS? And I said something abstract like - No only statues but the god is real and he will protect. And we got into some highly philosophical discussion on real god versus statues and the fact that we cannot see god so we have statues etc etc. funny learning coming form an agnostic. But I am amazed by her ability to simplify and comprehend abstract, philosophical discussions and distill it in her own way. Interesting. That’s why I never try and get to dumb with her on explanations. I like to keep it as close to my understanding but with simpler text.
will try to get the photos of her gods and publish them here...

service any one???

I love these PSU’s . the way these government organizations will have customer weeks. So if you are a customer you are only requested to come alive during the week and the rest of the year you may die waiting in the queue’s with cobwebs around your ears. Its been a few hundered years since I last went to these banks and saw the aunties (not) process the work. Man they used to treat you like shit and the customer is like an interruption in their serious conversation about, about,… god knows what. But human nature will not change. The new kids on the block are the spanking new designer clad super hyper active banks. I like to call them the ‘big box’ banking. With the obvious mantra of customer king and more such mantra’s they rae here to take your money mange it and return a profit (not to you, their share holders – idiot). One such bank (promoted by a housing finance company), suddenly decided to send me a letter. You are no longer receiving a salary in this account therefore this is not a zero balance account. Chalo theek hai. Will maintain minimum balance. Next letter 10 months hence. You are not receiving a salary in this account so we are closing this account in 30 days. RESPOND OR DIE! Abe chutia, have you seen my minimum balance? Its 50K. Why would you want to close the account unilaterally, especially when this is a profitable account. So I go to the branch and they say sorry, this account will close becoz some one in product management took this decision and so basically SCREW YOU. I am requested to open a new account with new account numbers and my existing auto debit credits can jump in the well. So I take their case, drop a few names and request to see the branch manager. The poor soul decided to hear my case and make a ‘rare’ exception in my case. Main bach gaya maa! Main bach gaya… Its not about customer week, its about customer orientation!! Another big box bank with the logo ‘i’ gave my wife big time pain on some real piddly issue of transferring money. Same ruse worked. Coolly screwed the agent by taking his name down on a book, asked for his reporting hierarchy, said I work in a bank, dropped a few names in his senior management and walked off. Surely --- his call came apologizing! Hmmm, work gets done only if you do your research well and know some interesting names. Not the big boss name that come in the press but one or two down the line.




Coming to the second photo. Our dear BMC was paving the pavement at VT station with noble intentions (random question: if the pavement is not yet paved, then can it be called a PAVEment? Therefore can I run the car on it?) So somebody dumped the entire sand pot on the place where the bus line works. So pray tell us how would the line flow?






The third is a lovely photo of the HOLY COW wanting to bless our train with its HOLY URINE. OH sooooo holy. We are truly blessed. Location? I don’t remember… probably somewhere in the ‘cow belt’

She’s got the look.....

I find it highly amusing to see the look on the everyone’s face. Its the typicall look that one can associate with that individual. Like I see one guy in the office building everyday. The bugga will have a perpetual scowl. Or that prof from college, who always had the look that he is going to come down and box you. In fact his scowl was so prominent that whenever something made him smile the whole class would go into raptures. I guess my college mates and guys from commerce would figure whom I am talking about. It so much fun seeing the looks. Some guys will have that perpetual confused look ( a big friend of mine). Some profs will always have the nice sweet look, some will have that sweet look along with the ‘I am trying to get tough so that you don’t mess with me look’. That poor prof will always get messed with in any case. Some profs will always have the harassed look. I loved the Shivi look – he was always with the BIG Obliexesque smile with that burly mouchie. It rocked man!!! And that would turn into a worried frown when he wanted it to. I always felt that unlike others he could control it and produce his look at will. That’s a prince!!! The other look I loved was Mrs Hasina. Top class!! Always genuine. That look that said I am genuine, and I am genuinely interested in teaching and I am genuinely interested in caring about you. Mrs Dias had that look that said I am nice but don’t get smart with me mister! Some students of mine always have that “Siirrrrrrrr” look. Like they are always dying to meet you and some have that I am soooooooooooooooooooooooooo boooored look. Most of the students staying in south Bombay will that I am soo bored and I couldn’t care less look. Man its so much fun to rag them. Some students will have the DUHHH look! I am soo DUHHH that I get confused which hand to eat with, look. Some just have that, I want to be seated look. Some have that I am dying to have a crush on someone look. This applies to men and women. Some will have that I am toooo smart for this class look.
Hmmmmm. Talking about teachers and crushes makes me remember my crush on my teachers. Man how many did we have…. In school I remember one Clare Alvaro. I read later in an interview that even Akshay Kumar had a crush on her (yup same school different generations). Then there was a French teacher (yup couldn’t any better figuratively) Ms Anna. She was very sweet to me. Then the college profs – the usual ones every one loved – Mrs Saxena, Mrs Dias, Mrs Haseena, Mrs Kalhan….. we had guys just attending Mrs Hasina’s class purely for her. Man I guess it must be quite nice to be “THE” prof in a college. We used to admire Mrs Ballaporia too, she used to carry herself very well. Hmmm.. some of these profs I still meet in college when I go to teach. I hope they don’t kill me after reading this!!! I still love them!!!!
I really don’t know why I loved college, but I sooo miss it. Teaching there make me feel that I have gone back. That’s why I just feel funny wearing formals to college and when I go to teach I dress like I would if were attending it my self. I can’t even sit in the staff room like a prof… so unlike me….My mental frame is similar. And the poor canteen waiters whom I did not tip in college for lack of cash get some obscene tips from me now. The Jaihind redemption. And with kids I always pay as I remember not having adequate pocket money then. But these days they get some huge amounts, but who is paying for them… I am paying for all, for me… on that philosophical note… tatatatatatatatata.

oh please can you 'please'?

For all these years one was told that money does not make people happy, money cannot please, money is not the route to happiness etc etc. I was not sure so I went on the quest my self! After 9 years of slogging my butt out I have reached some respectable balance in the bank and net worth. And now I come to the conclusion that hmmmmm money does make people happy but its up to us to digest it. like all food, if you walk a bit after eating, eat only what you want and take time to digest it, then it will probably make you feel nice. Else you risk bad gas. This is analogous to money. Money typically has no problem. The problem lies in its pursuit and use. But that’s a 31 year old talking lets see a 41 year old me speak on the same. How much saner can I get?

And yes, after days of suffering my beard my wife was pleasantly surprised. I shaved it off. Poor thing was wondering why. Actually its not too much to write home about. Basically I went to get it trimmed and the dickhead barber did a real horrid job of it. He trimmed it till I could almost see it no more. I in fact asked him to pay me! What an ass, but I am sure my wife would want to thank him. My daughter was surprised to see the shaved look as well. Her first reaction ‘you look like someone else’. Hahaha she now finds the cheeks rough and wants me to get my beard back! So mommy was explain why it’s smooth and daughter was explaining why it’s rough. Some gospel once said – women are tough to please!

Yesterday I felt like the god. We are doing a CD Rom about investing and my team is heading the project. I had hazaar vies on the navigation, layout, topics, and wanted to put in extras like – related links, related topics, further readings etc. then we decided to buy the Encarta to get some inspiration (anu malik style). And Voila --- they also have the same structure with related links, related articles and stuff exactly like how I had visualized it! Some one with common sense and decent exposure can almost match up to bigger experts. This is an important effect of reading. Its gives you exposure to world class facts, opinions, practices, norms, procdedures and learnings. I attribute it all to reading a wide range of topics and selections. Read read read read read read read read read read …

leadership durc

One of the nice things that happened at the offsite that I got to learn / relearn some of the leadership principles. We were divided into 4 groups for a treasure hunt around a 4 km hike. Decently tuff hike for amateurs. I managed to weasel my way into a team that I believed had decent guys. These guys were not necessarily the fittest, but they were definitely more fun types and not so much pain types. The philosophy is simple – people do not need to be motivated, they just need to be shielded from demotivation. The team had the basic skills and fitness. So all they needed was someone NOT to push them too hard. On their own pace they reached the finish line – not only the first but also the fastest that the resort had ever seen. 1 hour 30 minutes as opposed to the previous record of 1 hour 42 minutes. I was appointed the leader at the start. I tried not to ‘lead’ too much. Just ensured the right guys were doing what they wanted to do. But more importantly I was just spending time with the last person on the group. Knowing the typical treasure hunts that resorts have, I knew that the clues won’t be too much rocket science. So the pay off will be on the whole group finishing about the hike about the same time. So I let the group move ahead and only pushed the last person by singing and pace setting. I was sure the catch up would be simpler in the down slopes at the latter part of the race. We won by a handsome margin. But also importantly I refused to push anyone too hard. It’s after all just a simple race. If people know their job, have the basic skills and have a desire to win then that’s all that’s required. Don’t push …. Just try and remove any demotivation and be with the guys slower than the group. Mind you the slower guy might be faster than the rest of the teams. And VOILA… good team. A lot of good individuals by themselves, left to themselves will present outstanding results. The aggregate has to be good, not individual brilliance. There might be a whole host of lucky breaks (black swan problem) to help us. But still, some principles improve what luck gives… After all opportunities are every where – its up to your understanding to capture them and max them.

Also another thing I love is taking lots of photographs. I don’t like taking tooo much scenery, I prefer portraits and the various moods that can be captured. Lots of guys love the photographs. But you know what irks me more – after seeing the snaps they ask me which camera I have… and they praise the camera. Oh bloody hell… just by taking Tendulkars bat you can’t hit Warne for a six. Mine is a nice camera, agreed, but it’s not the most expensive one. I love it when people love the photos. I love taking their snaps and then gifting it to them. People are so beautiful when they are normal.. and that’s the time to take their pics. Else they must be put in odd poses that they enjoy for best effects…

Sturgeon's Law meets Mallika - woooooooooo

Sturgeon's law - 90% of everything is Crud. Good for us. Otherwise imagine shifting thru 100% of data that the world throws at you. Unlike the famous Ogilvy quote about 50% of advertising is wasted; the problem is in knowing which half…. Most Crud is easily distinguishable. What is not may retain and will help over the life time. So say hurrah for the Crud else we would be living with football size brains that have mutated over time to retain the 90%. And if Mallika’s brains were in her unmentionable parts as most agree (this might be potentially read by my daughter) then wowie for the despo bihari bhaiyas that have migrated overseas. But what if we are currently filtering out 90% crud, then does that prove that her unmentionables are actually 90% bigger. AAAGGGGHHHHH. What is this that I am writing? My core audience for reading this blog might be 50% skewed in favour of the fairer ones and this will potentially put them off. Or will it. I am sure they hate Mallika in any case and would love to (not on the face of it) disown her. Jispa when you are older and if you are reading this, please do not judge your father to be a cheap one track bastard. I am actually completely screwed by a three night four day offsite that that had one night in the train and two days traveling. And of course Sturgeon’s Law was at work there as well. Or was it Sturgeon’s Corporate Law – 99% of everything in corporate in crud :) (corporate life is really funny. never a dull moment. i would hate to give it up) What always amazes is that for all that Crud, a lot of us are surprisingly making a lot of money (opposites reconciling). But from that to assume that one needs 99% Crud to survive in corporate is similar to the Black Swan problem. "No amount of observations of white swans can allow the inference that all swans are white, but the observation of a single black swan is sufficient to refute that conclusion." So what to do? The trick is in not getting to frustrated and allowing crud to settle at manageable levels. Each one will get to a level where they are comfortable with not only the crud that is thrown at them but also will get to an acceptable level of crud they themselves throw. One man’s crud could be another man’s durc. Durc is opposite of crud. Forgive the bad joke – its 7.49 pm and I have had my share of crud thrown at me but not enough thrown back. So helpless reader – stay on. Also a perfect example of CRUD – DURC is this link on Falsifiability I encountered while researching the black Swan problem. Outstanding as it may be… I made no sense of it! In spite of knowing the bloody theory!

And guess what some kids (more than one is some) have been inspired by me to start their own blogs… yahooooooo…. I am piece of shit so you be that tooooo…. No offence meant. Good job kids keep going.

Corporates - the MSG generation

One more offsite to go to today. Gawd. Duuno what real strategy emerges form offsites. Its good to meet all the guys from all the branches and figure out what happening and what we as marketing can do next. Its ok, not bad but its definitely not a vacation that my wife believes it to be. Surely not. I rather be cuddles up in my bed drinking coffee. Which comes to the next point. Why can’t I have an expresso machine at home? The big bloody industrial one. That should be cool for making some lovely coffee. Hmmmm. Nice thoughts to have early morning. That is surely making me want to order some really cold coffee. Will have to call barista. Our office has some really really bad coffee. Completely hopeless. The other day at the meet, I was the last one in the conference room and I got the last cup of whatever he was serving. One sip of the god dam thing and I had no clue what I was drinking. I was not sure of that was tea or coffee. These are all form the automatic vending machine, so they no aroma, no taste. I can’t believe why companies cant invest in decent coffee machines. How much difference to the bottom line will it make. I don’t think the employees will mind too much even paying a bit for it. anything is better than vending machine coffee / tea. In fact the machine also serves ugly tomato soup. That also will fail blind taste tests on what the ingredients will be. UUUGGHHHH. The only thing I remember being ok was the Horlicks machine at Star. That’s still somewhere near ok. But I guess in corporates, you just go with the flow. Do anything not to make the life more complicated than what it already is or isn’t. Bad coffee, bad food, bad habits bad everything. This is the MSG generation. Just add MSG to whatever you are cooking and all it does is tickles the tastebud so you feel what you are eating is tasty. Forget the fact that it will give you nightmares at night. This is the MSG generation. Eat now, use bad shit to make it just taste good for the moment, get a nightmare later, but sleep right through it. That’s exactly what a corporate life is about.

Connecting

It’s a constant challenge to connect to as many constituents around you. Of course it’s a trade off most of the time. If you connect to the good helpful guys you will not connect to the ass holes. Also if you don’t connect to the smokers its not that you will connect to the non smokers. Faltu philosophy aside, its fun connecting to a part of the younger crowd. I feel that right now I might be more connected than most my age. I can get my way around them and get them to see my point as well understand theirs. I guess it’s easier that I am 31. But I always keep wondering, how would it be when I get older. Will I connect as well, will I completely lose track, will I be so passé. Dunno. Jispa will have to decide that I guess. I sure Jispa would find it most eerie if can connect with her crowd well enough to second guess her thoughts. Will that intrude her privacy in some tangential sort of way? I dunno. Some young friends have pointed that out to me. They sometimes find it eerie for me to second guess their emotions. But so far its more good than queer. Don’t want to scare her when she is elder. Also what must come along with this is the ability to shut up and keep the thoughts to one self. Now that’s tough : ) so having said that there are so many in the work space and around that I just cant connect to. It’s almost self righteous in many ways but still work space is a brilliant example of how many contradicting forces act upon each other and hold the place together. Many roles are required of the ecosystem. If the people are too righteous, business loses a part of its meaning. On the other hand the place also requires some saints and evangelists. It’s like one of the philosophies I read in the Circle of innovation by tom peters. The brilliance is that he writes a lot of common sense but always seems so in hindsight. He talks of businesses needing the Hindu trimurti philosophy of the Creator – Brahma, Preserver – Vishnu and Destroyer – Shiva. It’s important to have all three in the ecosystem for it to thrive and move fast on. It’s also been my philosophy at all times to accept nothing as dogma. Everything can be questioned. Any belief can be undone. Sometimes this does lead to stress within the group I lead but over period of time it is important to be fluid yet a powerful force. (So much like the life giving Ganga, which ambles along accepting many rivers into it, giving life where it goes, cooling the lands, yet getting rough in parts and finally carrying all the sins into the vast sea. It is truly a philosophy to emulate). Which is why the title Opposites Reconcile. It is such an important and simple part of understanding. That’s also why I love the eastern Yin and Yang symbol. How one force is empty without the other, how opposites forces need to balance out... How all can be contained within one being. I can only begin to understand what its complete symbology means but hope to better my understanding every day. Only thing is that while it talks of two opposite forces, it would interesting to see a symbol of many forces (not necessarily opposite in nature) balancing out in harmony and being important contributors of the whole. Which without even one, the whole is empty and not self sustaining. WHOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAA.. jyada tha who! Too much heady stuff for one morning from me…..

bacha party

It always feels nice to teach young kids. And the younger they are the better is the teaching experience. I have tried the under grad BMS kids as well as the post grad kids. Without the doubt the under grads are more receptive and more willing to learn. Most of the post grads are selfish, pain, know alls and egoistic. I guess the fact that they have got into a B school, means that they have suddenly become smarter, well read and so kewl. What more could be wrong? I have spoken in the past about intellectual arrogance that comes from reading but this is intellectual arrogance that comes from not reading. One fresh grad from the ‘best’ B school was having a strong point of view. While making him understand I was trying to quote a study by a seminal book /author. His response was to dismissively say that he does read any ‘such’ books. Toh bloody hell – MBA mein seekha kya? Kiya kya? And then have a bloody hell of an attitude and an even greater strength of opinion. And then show no respect or wither the reader or the author…. I don’t say that the book is everything. Its after all an opinion, but it is a validated opinion. It is something that someone has written form experience. It is SOMETHING! Aree mere bhai – dismiss the opinion of some book, only if you have read another, or have experience to the contrary or some evidence – not plain ass opinion.
Is liye I always want to teach younger kids. There is a lot of love that give you. They take a lot of liberties with you but that’s only once they accept you. And once you are a part of them then who the fcuk cares how you are treated by your types. I love them!
The other one thing I am accused of is being surrounded by pretty young things. Now its obviously my fault that my students are PYT’s. I treat males and female students alike. Some of my closest students would be boys and girls – equally. Sunny and other students will testify but the PYT’s are noticed by the boys and the cute guys are noticed by the gals. Yes you bozo guys – some chicks do notice you but they are just a little shy to talk about it. So as you realize it’s Even Stevens. The gals in any case these days are quick to notice a lech professor. A bastard of a prof will not get any acceptance by the girls. I realize that as many times they talk to me about their despo profs. I feel nice just not be in the same bracket.
Also the relationship that I share with the guys will be so different form the girl students. The topics of conversation are so different. The wavelengths are different and yet at the same time you can draw a common line on the basics of their issues. Opposites Do Reconcile.

jispa neveu and cricket psyche

There is always stress associated with change due to the unknown and there is the comfort of the known. Change happens only when the stress of the known is greater than the potential unknown.

This cryptic note is meant as an interesting description of human behavior, but more so it is meant to be a message for Jispa. I want her to read this and understand some of the decisions that we are taking. It shouldn’t be too tough to decipher if she figures the dates and connects the dots. And yes I don’t think she will require the assistance of Robert Langdon to solve this one!

The matches on Saturday were outstanding. The matches take a physical toll on the players and probably helping bringing the payers together. I guess with reference to my earlier blog, this might be interesting training and team building ground. Only problem is to give all an opportunity to play and perform beyond potential. It is also interesting observation to know a bit more about the players. A little more into their psyche, a little more about their true behavior, a little more about their spirit, willingness and ability to give more. Hmmmm, whoever said cricket is a boring game!!!!

my very own jogo bonito

Big tournament tomorrow. 8 a side cricket with finals under lights at police gymkhana. Should be real fun. I hope. I also hope to whack a few balls…Its funny how if I see my self, I really started playing cricket after college. I really developed whatever cricketing skills very late. I guess that’s why I might not be technically very correct but the sheer dint of perseverance helps me hang on to the game. Also at 31 the guys get all older and unfit and I try to at least have some semblance of fitness. If nothing at least I try not to have too much excess weight on. That it self is a 50 point advantage to the others.
I have learnt a lot form my cricket guru – Arun Solanki; and a lot about captainship from him. He is the boss I bow down to. Thanks to him I am playing whatever little I can. Thanks to him I am able to use brain work to further the game and many times lead team to victory. Every match, every season I think about him. Many times I try and visualize what he would have done in the situation and then try to take calls. Thank you Arun. There is a large part of me that I owe to you.
Taking Jispa to the matches is also quite nice. She equally happy if I win or lose. She just wants me back from the field. She does not like me going to play all alone.
Cricket has been more than a sport to me. It’s a game that I find mentally simulating. Today I am thinking about the game and getting butterflies in the stomach. Should I bat up or down. Should I field at covers or at midwicket. The games are lost often before they start. Lets see. I am thinking of some good motivation tools to use tomorrow. Hope they turn out right. Basic pride building, goal setting for each and every one and a love for playing! I really don’t care if we win or lose. My biggest endeavor is always to ensure we play more than capacity. Then I don’t care what happens. Capacities differ, the challenge is always to play above it!

Mohhabat kar le kar le re

Jispa is crazy. I normally wake her up and get her ready for school as her mommy cooks. These days her vacations allow me the luxury of getting ready at leisure while she gets the luxury of sleeping. Jispa has the knack of doing the loveliest of kiddie things. Suddenly she insisted that I wake her up before i leave for office. The first day I just ignored her request, only to get a scolding from her when i got back home. Man, does she remember!!!! So now while her vacations are on i have to wish her good morning before I leave for work. DAM COOL!!!! My sis often says kids are cute for a reason, else we would just not have. They require so much time and attention and care, that if they were not so cute, we would probably give them up for adoption J
I am just waiting for her to become a teenager. Then I want to see her smiling on being woken up at 7.30 am. Hehehehe.

I got a call from Saxena. I am back to teaching.. wopppiiieeeee. More kids to bore, shout, fight and love. Let see what I can do now. I have definitely grown from the last time I taught, so lets me see if I improve!

My blog of two days back led to me speaking to an angel. More on that in the blogs to come. Hopefully I can get her to part her photo for all to see.

My house is now getting closer to completion… whewwww. Mohhabat kar le kar le re, mohhobat kar le re… kisi ka dil apna le re… mohhabat kar le re… that was just me wanting to sing a happy song. So sing along with me…. Mohhabat kar le kar le re, mohhobat kar le re… kisi ka dil apna le re… mohhabat kar le re……

whack the shit out of them

Father daughter relationships are very funny I guess. I wouldn’t know the difference in father son relationships as I have only one daughter, BUT I know the daughter relationship is funny and queer. I positively hate the fuss over matching clips and sandals. I am more interested in playing boxing with her and teaching her to fight on the bed. Man it’s so cool when Jispa wants to hit with all her force. I keep telling her it didn’t hurt and she keeps trying to box me. But man, she packs a mean punch. I was teaching the other day how to give a box with her knuckles. BIG MISTAKE! I am the only punching bag she has. The first punch was straight to my jaw. I had to then teach her not to use it. And the rules for wrestling are very simple… she can whack me as much as she wants but I am supposed to only hit her softly once. I can’t hit her in rapid succession. That would be end of game. I guess she doesn’t not realize the concept of fair play! J but then that’s what pop’s are for… whack the shit out of them….go on Jispa. I also hope that she uses these skills with guys getting fresh with her. Go on Jispa… whack the shit out of them…