tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-227618152024-03-08T05:20:01.180+05:30Suhas Mallya's Cornerreflections of a curious mindSuhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.comBlogger42125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-49273300698515392732023-12-10T22:32:00.000+05:302023-12-10T23:57:21.855+05:30Nothing "unorganized" about the unorganized sector<p>Just like we now use "differently-abled", I think it's time we switch to "non-formal" instead of "unorganized". Hence, we would have "formal" and "non-formal" sectors of the economy. Not "organized" and "unorganized".</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFSpEge7T3mvn6AsIV32BvPA7bfZng-2LIkXJGcfT23lpDibKR-xqzc5wmZz9mchw3mABGvEV2_L58SymCDZDxPYn0TVDuUtQwKe_zL2X7ptugSJBTL5OESr8Tf2X9T2C71Wo-0744YKXWI897pLaltlCag69CzGbBT1ZUb0J9QbsfAovpZu3Bg/s4000/20231210_185634.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4000" data-original-width="2256" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFSpEge7T3mvn6AsIV32BvPA7bfZng-2LIkXJGcfT23lpDibKR-xqzc5wmZz9mchw3mABGvEV2_L58SymCDZDxPYn0TVDuUtQwKe_zL2X7ptugSJBTL5OESr8Tf2X9T2C71Wo-0744YKXWI897pLaltlCag69CzGbBT1ZUb0J9QbsfAovpZu3Bg/w181-h320/20231210_185634.jpg" width="181" /></a></div>Of late, in Goa, a ton of roadside tender-coconut vendors have sprung up. It is interesting and ironic - but not surprising - that the vast majority of them are non-Goans ("outsiders" as many would like to call them). Earlier this month, the irony got really "nutty" (pun intended): the local Municipality wanted to put an end to sale of tender coconuts because disposal of the empty tender coconuts was becoming a problem. <p></p><p>I say "irony" simply because we seem to be doing okay with collecting a ton of junk (literally) and the system of door-to-door collection of segregated garbage has stabilised fairly well and yet, here we are, suddenly unable to deal with refuse that is 100% bio-degradable and has been an integral part of the local ecosystem for generations. Not to mention that it's decomposition does not generate wet discharge or stench like other wet waste. Certainly, it is bulky and adds weight, but so does all the other garbage we are disposing off.</p><p>In response, a meeting with held between the vendors and the Municipality. It doesn't matter who convened the meeting. The point is, in a matter of days, a mutually acceptable solution was found and the vendors were back in business. No riots, no demonstrations, no political slugfests. At least nothing in public view.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDILXJqP2V4roHscr5UuJv3r0l2W8Ujj8ASp8gMKAnIAX1i-LowgfqQNTbzZJfp9rjPjkCN96rny4_tUrtGhewmHGn8KXZ56n51nIlqUDdhGmkMoT_EDxxyjLjhCelzQRpb3_f_5iN_BoajSFdwP92W2qCz_G4Og5xb03_TGSQtzta4HXUHr3Yg/s2474/20231210_185347.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2474" data-original-width="2268" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZDILXJqP2V4roHscr5UuJv3r0l2W8Ujj8ASp8gMKAnIAX1i-LowgfqQNTbzZJfp9rjPjkCN96rny4_tUrtGhewmHGn8KXZ56n51nIlqUDdhGmkMoT_EDxxyjLjhCelzQRpb3_f_5iN_BoajSFdwP92W2qCz_G4Og5xb03_TGSQtzta4HXUHr3Yg/w183-h200/20231210_185347.jpg" width="183" /></a></div>I noticed that they all now displayed a board that requested customers who take "parcels" not to dispose off the waste in the municipal collection but to bring it back to them. Moreover, they were all having boards that had the exact same size, style and matter.<p></p><p>My curiosity got the better of me, so this evening when I went to purchase tender coconuts, I had a little chat with the guy I usually buy it from. </p><p>What I learnt, astounded me:</p><p></p><ol style="text-align: left;"><li><b>The tender coconuts are supplied by people coming from Karwar, Sirsi and Mysore</b>. This raised several questions for me: (a) where are all the Goan <i>bhatkars</i>? (b) what economics are in play here that someone is able to supply tender coconuts from these places and still sell them @ Rs. 40/- each? Sure, there's no municipal tax, no FSSAI license, no GST, no income tax, no KYC, no nothing, but even so, the economics of this confounds me (c) How does a place like Sirsi and Mysore which are not even coastal, generate enough surplus tender coconuts to come supply them in Goa? What is their supply-chain like? What market research did they do? What inventory management do they do?</li><li><b>The vendors got the board made at a centralized location </b>- hence the standardisation of size, matter, font, format</li><li>The board they display requests customers to bring the empty tender coconuts back to them instead of disposing them off with the waste collected by the Municipality. So I asked him what they do with the waste given that the Municipality is unable to deal with it - he said they have tied up with someone who stacks it up in a nearby field and then uses it for composting, selling to people who use as fuel for fire, etc. So much for the "organized" Municipality!</li><li>Most of them are on carts that are sort of anchored to the ground. I asked him what they do at night. He said they just cover it up with tarp and tie it up with ropes. I asked him whether it is safe. He pointed to two places in the vicinity - one, a tea cart (not a stall or a shop - a tea <b>cart</b>) and two, an eatery. The tea cart is open till midnight and the eatery till around 1:30AM. He says they keep a watch for him and the rest is <i>Ram </i>bharose (or Jesus or Allah, as the case may be)</li></ol><p>I walked away feeling incompetent. </p><p>This isn't restricted to the tender-coconut vendors alone - these basic tenets of courage, perseverance, risk-taking and jumping-in against all odds extends to many of the roadside vendors and other players in the non-formal ecosystem that we see.</p><p>Woe betide the next person who says they belong to the "unorganized" sector.</p><p>The spirit of these folks astounds me. This isn't jugaad - this is just dogged perseverance. This is the spirit of Indian entrepreneurship.</p><p>Jai Hind!</p>Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-3806236430682038152021-05-01T21:10:00.006+05:302021-05-02T17:44:46.798+05:303 Life Lessons I want to teach my kids from fast-disappearing everyday experiences<p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Our lives today are characterised by constant change. Many changes are driven by technology advances (e.g., mobile, e-governance, e-commerce), while many others are brought about by economic and socio-cultural advances (e.g., nuclear families, urban lifestyles, inter-caste marriages, employee-employer relationships). The technology advances tend to be more abrupt and constant, while the economic and socio-cultural advances are more gradual and are usually iterative - i.e., they'll keep coming full-circle and each time encompass something more. And then there are many that are a mix of the two - i.e., economic and socio-cultural differences brought about technology changes (e.g., how kids spend their leisure time, social interaction within families, role of religion in our lives, mobile device for every household).</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">We may have our own human tendencies of resisting change and there's always a certain sentiment, certain attachment and certain matter or habit that contributes to this resistance. But in general, change is inevitable and the quicker we adapt to the change, the smoother our lives will be. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Personally, although I embrace change enthusiastically, a few of these changes come with a hidden price: life lessons that are getting lost. Many everyday experiences held important life lessons that we used to learn implicitly. As those everyday experiences change - which they will and they must; and change for the better - we have to find new ways to learn & teach those lessons that came with it.</span></p><p><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">Here are 3 lessons from fast-disappearing everyday experiences, </span></b><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">that I hope I will somehow be able to teach my kids</span></b><b><span style="font-family: verdana;">:</span></b></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><b style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPaquF6EbNplVgAUduhUyEz38KOPUWfdHSaa_N7XMosGDAmaDMtynCMqdUnnVnMjc6fNBUR2lHItTw37FRYwu2wPwULh2F4QL7rF8q4TURxz7C4ioOd0BEqSsnbScb5w96o0I5OQ/s2048/carrepair.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Car Repair Shop shared under Creative Common License from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/CarService.JPG" border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPaquF6EbNplVgAUduhUyEz38KOPUWfdHSaa_N7XMosGDAmaDMtynCMqdUnnVnMjc6fNBUR2lHItTw37FRYwu2wPwULh2F4QL7rF8q4TURxz7C4ioOd0BEqSsnbScb5w96o0I5OQ/w320-h213/carrepair.png" title="Car Repair Shop shared under Creative Common License from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/CarService.JPG" width="320" /></a></div></b></b></span></div><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b style="text-align: center;"><b style="text-align: left;">LESSON 1: REPAIR INSTEAD OF REPLACE</b></b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In my childhood, purchase of consumer durables - especially appliances and electronics - was a mini-event in itself and a source of excitement. Buying something new wasn't something that was done often. If something went wrong, we took it for repairs. The mechanic (or technician or electrician or tailor or...) rambled out a list of things that were spoilt or had gone wrong, a list things to be done to fix them and what it would cost. If it was an expensive repair, you'd get a comparative quote or try to source the parts directly or negotiate on the price and finally get the repairs done. This was applicable from the zipper of your shorts and your shoes, to the TV & refrigerator in the house.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">But that changed - at first, gradually and then, rapidly. As equipments and appliances became more sophisticated, warranty schemes & service organisations became more structured. Soon, if something went wrong, the technician would come visit and replace the faulty piece. Even sooner, there were no questions to be asked, no price to be negotiated - the deals became more transparent and fairer. And even sooner, things came to a point where it was easier to replace than to repair - either because the cost of repair was more than 50%-60% of the cost of a new purchase or because a replacement part was no longer available or often, merely because the economic circumstances allowed you to upgrade to the latest model. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">And that's where we are today. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">You can get a microwave for about Rs. 7,000/- but the magnetron in it costs about Rs. 4,000/-. So if the magnetron's gone bust - unless its under warranty - you are better off replacing the microwave, even if the magnetron for that model is still available. Earlier, you'd keep a car for 15-20 years, but today, at the first sign of mechanical parts starting to show trouble, you choose to replace the car. Previously, you wouldn't thinking of spending a month's salary on gaming equipment for kids - today, we not only spend it but it doesn't hurt to throw it away in a few months and get a newer model.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">While this change is inevitable and in fact helps improve your standard of living, I find that the mindset of "repair" brought with it, two important learnings: (a) the temperament to identify what has gone wrong and work on fixing it. In life, you don't always get a chance to REPLACE; you have to learn to REPAIR - this is especially true of relationships and (b) in undertaking repairs, you learn a lot about things you would never care to learn or no one would even think of teaching you. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">No one ever called out these implications of repairs; these were just imbibed in us naturally because of the way our lives were led. I learnt a lot about cars and anything else that I have had the opportunity to witness being repaired that I would otherwise never have learnt. Today, from a simple cycle pump to an XBox Gaming Console, our inclination is to replace it if it doesn't work. With that, we're diluting the mindset of problem-solving: <u>diagnosis</u> through a healthy investigation into identifying the problem, <u>understanding the different components</u> that come together to make it work AND <u>the mindset of MAKING IT WORK AGAIN</u>.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>LESSON 2: UNDO & REDO - THE PENCIL & THE ERASER</b></span></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHTztDJFzTIQOq6Cm_9C_pNlM3uzw1FfBeO5jI5tCSHXS2Hm4f5aer6mtwFBQtL6M7BonNfFVAnIpwKTcsq-ytBeYN51ErR6WWnvHUwK8HpvMYSBZIx_c95PCksWEuN8BUoy3P5Q/s2576/20210501_204627.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1932" data-original-width="2576" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHTztDJFzTIQOq6Cm_9C_pNlM3uzw1FfBeO5jI5tCSHXS2Hm4f5aer6mtwFBQtL6M7BonNfFVAnIpwKTcsq-ytBeYN51ErR6WWnvHUwK8HpvMYSBZIx_c95PCksWEuN8BUoy3P5Q/w320-h240/20210501_204627.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: verdana;">As kids, we were allowed to use only pencils in primary school. Pens were to be used only after you "grew up to be in Std. 5". So to our innocent minds back then, getting to use a pen was a privilege, a status symbol, a mark of being a grown-up, a symbol of having moved into secondary school. </span><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Once we "grew up to be in Std. 5" though, we quickly realised that the price we had to pay for this privilege was that we could no longer undo our mistakes. This, combined with the "repair" mindset, taught us implicitly to deal with our mistakes and move on. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Today, for children and adults alike, the triad of undo, redo and reboot-and-restart is prevalent in most aspects of our lives and provides a significant leeway in recovering from mistakes. Or in (automatically) making things work that don't work the first time. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In itself, this is great because it provides us with the flexibility to fix the problem. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">But inherently, flexibility and discipline do not go hand-in-hand. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">Moreover, not all disciplines have the luxury of affording this flexibility - e.g., try applying the undo, redo and reboot-and-restart to what an architect or a production engineer or worse, what a doctor does! </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">The absence of an undo/redo feature meant that we invested time in thinking, problem-analysis and diagnosis before executing - for high school homework, that meant doing some working on a rough-sheet before "writing on the fair book"; for other professionals it meant critically reviewing our own plan/design or consulting with peers before we started executing.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">One of the areas in which our workforce is found wanting today, is in problem-solving. It's a welcome move that the New Education Policy 2020 formally includes critical thinking and problem-solving in its curriculum. While both these are of course much larger topics, I'm convinced that the "repair mindset" and the absence of an undo feature are both useful building blocks in addressing this issue of problem-solving. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b>LESSON 3: SCARCITY-DRIVEN HUMILITY</b></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b><br /></b></span><span style="font-family: verdana;"><b></b></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhwphz7s5HBGu-G4BDWjlPvd2ZGBVHZQr-HVLXb-fKjDbEeSLd6Prtu7QpOUjJ-AmmmbOM67XnWEW8KRAVdrH-dLQ3R9NEHiaijZkFBdwQXgObVwZw-Kh2-_6a0B_zmkgYrjp3Ug/s2048/queue.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Queue outside a shop during the Covid-19 lockdown in April-2020" border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhwphz7s5HBGu-G4BDWjlPvd2ZGBVHZQr-HVLXb-fKjDbEeSLd6Prtu7QpOUjJ-AmmmbOM67XnWEW8KRAVdrH-dLQ3R9NEHiaijZkFBdwQXgObVwZw-Kh2-_6a0B_zmkgYrjp3Ug/w320-h240/queue.jpg" title="Queue outside a shop during the Covid-19 lockdown in April-2020" width="320" /></a></b></div><p></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I have been sufficiently blessed to have had my basic needs always taken care of. But I have experienced a "scarcity economy" first-hand and looking back, I realise I am grateful for that experience. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">In the India of the 1980s, cheese was still in short supply even though Operation Flood had already made India a milk-surplus country. Basmati rice was an exotic idea - one usually queued up for supplies at the ration shop. Rice procured there and also purchased at the local grocery store had to be cleaned to remove stones and other foreign particles before it could be used for cooking. A "Priya" scooter had a wait time running into years and usually became a family heirloom. People booked cars to make some "ON" money on the side (premium paid for transferring your booking to someone else when your turn had come). It was not uncommon to draw water from the well for daily use, because the taps had run dry. Many fruits were truly seasonal and baby-corn and bell peppers were exotic stuff you saw only in imported recipe books. Even road trips for leisure were a measured activity, with fuel economy and fuel prices being a dominant variable.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">All of this had a deep impact on my upbringing - and my friends and all kids of my generation. Wasting anything was absolutely prohibited. We learnt to respect resources and we learnt to be grateful to Mother Earth for the resources we took from Her. It made a lot of sense to me during my thread ceremony when the priest taught me prayers we make to the elements of nature, expressing our gratitude.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">For sure, the economic liberalisation that began in the 1990s radically changed all this for the better. But with it, came the silent death of the humility with which we used resources. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">When I lived in the US for a few years, the per-capita resource consumption there was the only culture shock I suffered. That was one of the things I truly disliked about the US - from food & packaging materials to space and fuel, wastage was an intrinsic part of life. I quickly realised that it had become intrinsic only because scarcity hadn't been experienced there for generations together. </span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">With the prosperity that the liberalisation of the 1990s brought in for India, we too now have at least one generation that's completely isolated from the "scarcity economy" experience. Which is a great thing and something to be proud of; except for the inherent loss of regard for resource consumption that it has created. It's a pity environmentalists find it easier to vilify industry than to bring about a mindset change in per-capita resource consumption.</span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-family: verdana;">I love technology, I love change and I love the change that technology facilities. But as we change for the better, our conduct must also change for the better. I hope I will find a way of teaching my kids these invaluable life lessons without the pain & inconvenience of the circumstances that taught me these lessons. </span></p>Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-10193849807941408822020-05-23T00:18:00.005+05:302021-05-04T22:43:29.728+05:30Lessons from Adversity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The Covid19-related lockdown hasn't been easy for anyone. Except perhaps Mother Earth, everyone else had it bad. Some had it worse. In that backdrop I consider myself blessed: I was lucky to have to work - physically present at the workplace - all through the lockdown.<br />
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One of the lines of the family business is distribution of Nestle products. As part of the supply-chain of essential commodities (packaged food), we were working from 28.Mar onwards and all through the lockdown.
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At first, it was unsettling and anxiety was the dominant emotion. This was uncharted territory for everyone: the medical fraternity, the Government, us the people. It was unsettling for a variety of reasons: fear of the unknown, ever-evolving Government guidelines, deluge of fake news and hyperbole in the general narrative. All ably propagated through social media. From conspiracy theories to claims of Covid19 transmission through the ground to advise about gargling with potassium permanganate, the pandemic of human stupidity was as depressing as Covid-19. But above all, it was unsettling because we didn't know how much we were risking exposure by going to work and whether the preventive measures we were taking were sufficient.
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As the days passed, the anxiety gave way to acceptance. Acceptance of the stark reality of the pandemic. Acceptance of the disruption it brought in its wake. Acceptance of the new - and hopefully, temporary - normal. As we enter Lockdown 4.0 it is evident that the new normal is going to be the "normal normal" for some time to come. At least, for sure, till a vaccine is found.
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The transition to Lockdown 4.0 also gave me some thinking time to reflect upon the following lessons I have learnt - primarily from the current situation and also from a couple of previous instances that presented some sticky adversities and caused a fair deal of anxiety (though of course they all pale in comparison to the current crisis):
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<b>1. Adversity is a great - even if cruel - motivator</b>: <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nJwx7IGFXTiWEfDdUIbHs7lsIcPB8o8Msr6fiq4U8ZIZLWtldZolkLvsZQiV4eIrWVNTDz-syZifAriw_iWrRukSOiVJNj280YnScdBUu3FWdSb5nbDQMzf8SrlizyChdaIO2A/s1600/EgyptSlaveDriver.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="300" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nJwx7IGFXTiWEfDdUIbHs7lsIcPB8o8Msr6fiq4U8ZIZLWtldZolkLvsZQiV4eIrWVNTDz-syZifAriw_iWrRukSOiVJNj280YnScdBUu3FWdSb5nbDQMzf8SrlizyChdaIO2A/s200/EgyptSlaveDriver.png" width="120" /></a>from little things like making work-from-home work for an otherwise tech-averse organisation and pushing educational institutions to launching open webinars, to unbelievable feats like migrant labourers walking hundreds of kilometers to get home and the stories of Minal Bhosale the virologist (who delivered a testing kit a day before she delivered her baby) and teenager Jyoti Kumar of Harayana (who cycled 1,500 kms with her Dad), it is mind-boggling how adversity can motivate the human mind to outdo itself.</div>
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<b>2. Adversity unmasks us</b>: Facades and gloves usually come off in the face of adversity. Adversities are great ways to get to know people and their behaviour. As someone correctly said, "hard work spotlights people; some turn their sleeves up, some turn their noses up and some just don't turn up!"
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XwcwKVy6IKK23_qhxEmaxjNYwAxgANja7103hhlZspH3iE6449BDp30GgpkHtqqZgKU21ieERyVQYoBmzsZoY54crSJX1CK9KGVPHB7SD8WvYVyH7et6D5OGcm8idkC-AB5H9g/s1600/240px-Working_Together_Teamwork_Puzzle_Concept.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="200" height="120" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1XwcwKVy6IKK23_qhxEmaxjNYwAxgANja7103hhlZspH3iE6449BDp30GgpkHtqqZgKU21ieERyVQYoBmzsZoY54crSJX1CK9KGVPHB7SD8WvYVyH7et6D5OGcm8idkC-AB5H9g/s200/240px-Working_Together_Teamwork_Puzzle_Concept.jpg" width="120" /></a></div>
<b>3. Shared adversity strengthens the focus on a shared objective</b>: During the lockdown, our business operations - like everyone else's - were thrown out of gear. I was pleasantly surprised at how the team rallied around to do what it takes. Except to the extent of restrictions imposed by the authorities the team was committed and focused, with little supervision. No questions or complaints about extra workload, no cribbing about the unpredictable schedules, no slacking on account of the progressing summer.
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<b>4. When faced with uncertainty, take it one day at a time</b>: in the face of uncertainty and the anxiety that results from it, it is important to condition one's mind to take it one day at a time. I have found that uncertainty rattles us in three steps: first, we start enumerating and playing out the different possibilities in our minds - i.e., what are the different things that can happen. Often, we start off considering the worst-scenario first. Two, we start speculating about outcomes & eventualities - i.e., we start imagining what - from among the different possibilities - will actually happen. Often, we never objectively assess the actual probability of each of these possibilities. And three, we start extrapolating the implications of the outcomes - i.e., we start playing out scenarios of impact & implications an imagined outcome will have. Often, these extrapolations are exaggerated. These 3 steps are of course one big blurry single thought or emotion. For instance, consider a scenario of someone in the family suffering a heart attack and imagine it is the first time the family is dealing with a situation like that. Its quite natural for the fear of the unknown or the impending uncertainty to generate anxiety. At first, taking it one hour or one day at a time is difficult because of the speed at which our minds work. But a little conditioning is all it takes to shut out a rabid imagination and reject speculations. This is key to remaining calm in the face of adversity; it is only a calm mind that can identify and execute on solutions.
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<b>5. When faced with uncertainty, focus on the fundamentals:</b> focusing on the fundamentals helps in not getting overwhelmed by the pressures of what you hear & see around you. For example, in the current situation there were a finite set of precautions to be taken - distancing, sanitizing, wearing a mask. Those constituted the fundamentals. Focusing on those precautions helped defocus on other noise & meaningless suggestions and doomsday predictions. It also helps keep you safe - or at least, helps reduce the risk.<br />
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<b>6. Even fear has a novelty value which wears off:</b> beyond a point, fear doesn't intimidate you like it used to. Lockdown 1.0 was marked by doomsday predictions. Lockdown 4.0 is a different story. It's almost like we don't have the time & patience right now to be scared. It's almost like "Once bitten, Twice Bold". As Franklin Roosevelt said, "There's nothing to fear except fear itself". One has to guard against foolhardiness though, and ensure we don't slacken on the precautions we take just because fear doesn't frighten us any more.
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<b>7. Stimulus hunger & structure hunger:</b> in his book "Games People Play", Eric Berne, the Canadian psychiatrist who explains human behaviour using his "Theory of Transaction Analysis", introduces the concept of "Social Intercourse". The 3 pillars of social intercourse are "stimulus hunger" (<i>the need to interact with people</i>), "recognition hunger" (the need to be recognised and accepted by one's near & dear ones - this has nothing do with Maslow's Need-Hierarchy theory) and "structure hunger" (<i>the need to structure one's time during waking hours so as to have some activity to do</i>). I had read this long back but never understood it as fully as I did now. The significance of stimulus hunger is quite evident and needs no explanation. Structure hunger has to do with time utilisation and is the reason why I am so grateful for having got to work through the lockdown. Eric Berne explains why structuring our time with activity goes beyond merely keeping the mind busy and how inability to structure our time can create problems for the mind. It would seem that the many philosophical, motherhood posts we kept seeing on social media were directly related to structure-hunger :)
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<b>8. Don't wallow in self-pity; there's always someone who is having it much worse than you</b>: in the initial days of anxiety during the current lockdown, my thoughts were instantly with the countless folks at the frontline working in harsh conditions - garbage collectors, doctors, nurses, policemen, security guards, truck drivers and many more. And once I thought of their circumstances, my anxiety instantly turned to relief and gratitude that my situation was so much better-off. Add to them of course in the current context, the migrant labourers and train-engine drivers. A little perspective goes a long way in diluting your anxiety. In an earlier high-stress project I was working on, I used to travel to Mumbai every week. Dharavi - which I had to cross from the airport to Lower Parel (this was before the sea-link days) - turned out to be a source of inspiration for me! As my taxi passed through Dharavi, I got a brief glimpse into all the tiny houses along the footpaths. The vibrancy with which they went about their lives gave me pause and made me wonder what I was cribbing about.
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<b>9. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security</b>: much too often, we think "<i>that can't happen to me</i>" or "<i>that won't happen here</i>". When the first rumblings began about Covid-19 I thought it would be like SARS - a small epidemic in some far-removed corner of the world that will fade away as quickly as it emerged. I have had a similar experience with a bunch of other problems that began as a little rumble somewhere and I assumed it will quietly go away without affecting me in any way. The lesson learnt is to be objective in assessing how a situation may develop and focus on the fundamentals. My most recent lesson - learnt the hard way - about assuming "that can't happen to me" was when despite being an otherwise prudent person, my hard disk crashed and I had no backup. All the while the hardware engineer was telling me I had a dead disk on my hand, one part of my mind was still in fantasy land screaming "<i>This can't be happening!</i>". But it had. It did. The Rs. 35,000/- I paid for recovery pinched really hard, but was worth every paisa for the tons of work-related stuff I retrieved as well for the 20+ GB of years of memories captured in my photo collection.<br />
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<b>10. The world is a good place - help, kindness & support will often come from unexpected quarters</b>: I often wonder if I live in a fool's paradise but concluded recently that I'd rather do that and have a cheery disposition & outlook than be sucked into the negativity that is so prevalent today. Just yesterday morning, I had the opportunity to help raise funds for food for migrant labourers put up at a local indoor stadium. I reached out to my network of classmates & friends as well as my general contacts. Rs. 60k was what was needed and about Rs. 40k is what I figured we would be able to raise. By late afternoon we had been able to raise just over Rs. 80k! The first two contributions amounting to Rs. 15k came from two former colleagues who have absolutely no connection with Goa. Another 35k came from two school friends who no longer live in Goa. On the second day - i.e., today, we were able raise another 48k thanks to another set of generous donors.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br /></div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">EDIT - late June, 2020: the group helping the migrants raised close to Rs. 11L - I was most blessed to have been able to marshall close to 3L of that, all thanks to the generosity of good samaritans.</div><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"> <br />
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<b>11. Learn from every adversity</b>: to me, this is the most important of all the lessons adversity has taught me. Many years ago, a colleague and I were hunched over the conference room table at work, having just extricated ourselves from a minor mess and having also received half-a-earful from our boss and our boss's boss. As the dust settled, my colleague - several years my senior - suddenly turned to me and asked "<i>So Suhas, what lesson did you learn from this?</i>". "<i>Is there one?</i>", I asked. "<i>There's always a lesson - you have to just look for it</i>", he responded and proceeded to tell me two lessons from that episode that were so obvious, I should have thought of them myself. That interaction somehow left a deep impression on me. Every time I go through any untoward situation I always ask myself: <i>what lesson did I learn from this</i>? I don't always come up with answer but very often, I do. I've found this to be an extremely useful exercise - it helps build a catalog of mistakes & learnings alike, it helps you not get intimidated the next time you wade into trouble and it makes you wiser & stronger.
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As the days unfold - one day at a time :D - I continue to be optimistic while I also continue to be fascinated by how much there is to learn.<br />
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Stay safe!</div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-84771898048069178092017-02-02T10:33:00.003+05:302017-02-02T10:42:45.160+05:30How to Vote<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJUrGeoo_Ymz8ojNlQA0D9fxwJxoVmRZA0M9HYrYn0aK_jUCPKx9ERkRQg8yHM6sJj0x8vsjM-lytMoTxKR-Q-l6odeai_jNjxTktQqc6QCvRKJwCG5wt-oc9yKZ8GLeCkAVmMw/s1600/Electronic_Voting_Machines.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTJUrGeoo_Ymz8ojNlQA0D9fxwJxoVmRZA0M9HYrYn0aK_jUCPKx9ERkRQg8yHM6sJj0x8vsjM-lytMoTxKR-Q-l6odeai_jNjxTktQqc6QCvRKJwCG5wt-oc9yKZ8GLeCkAVmMw/s200/Electronic_Voting_Machines.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the run-up to the Goa state elections, my Facebook feed was deluged - as was I am sure, everyone else's - with posts of different hues pertaining to elections and election campaigning. As I read through the posts and the views aired by people and their reasoning, I felt compelled to share my thoughts on what I felt should come into play when we make our choice.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; "><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; ">Here are the parameters that will guide my final decision (<b><span style="color: blue;">blue</span></b> are the ones that I will let influence my choice; <b><span style="color: red;">red </span></b>are ones I will make sure do not influence my choice).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; "><b><span style="color: blue;">Manifesto </span></b>- sure, this is a quickly-forgotten document if/once elected, but it gives you an important window into the party's/candidate's thought-process and mindset. It serves as a good measure of the pedigree & pragmatism of the claims. It gives you a fairly good view of the maturity of the party/candidates, how narrow or broad their horizons are, how genuine/deep or how artificial/hollow their claims are. It tells you whether there is a clear purpose of whether their goal is a mish-mash of suggestions stitched from different sources. This is much like the prospectus of educational institutions or hoardings for hotels on the highway or advertisements by real-estate developers. Educational institutions that "guarantee 100% placement" for instance are to be assessed closely. So would educational institutions that make claims of sprawling campuses in the heart of a large city - unless it is a really old and established institution, either the campus isn't sprwaling or it is nowhere in the city. Or a hotel that advertises "attached bathroom" or "24-hours hot water" or "cable TV" - if an attached bathroom, 24-hours hot water or cable TV is what the hotel thinks sets it apart from the competition, it says a lot of the statute of the hotel. Or real-estate projects that offer "guaranteed rent of Rs. x per month for y months" - how can any one fall for such claims, let alone make such claims? Of course, sometimes claims are bold or trailblazing and maybe a reflection of a bold vision - but if so, the party's/candidate's track record and/or a credible plan that they can show will come into play before I give them benefit of doubt.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; ">If a manifesto starts by telling you why another party is bad, that would usually be a dead giveaway that the party/candidate has nothing concrete to offer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; ">Despite the apparently-low sanctity for this document within the party itself, I would still give it importance - in today's day & age, an elected Government will - even in the worst case - be compelled to do something to claim that they have delivered on their manifesto. If that is riddled with meaningless/misguided claims, then I will know whom not to vote for. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; "><span style="color: blue;"><b>Economics </b></span>- I have two pet peeves on this one: freebies and inflationary pressures</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Beware of Pandora's Box</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; ">(a) <span style="color: red; font-weight: bold;">Freebies </span>- </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; ">watch out for freebies, because there's truly no free lunch. Of course, one mustn't blame only the politicians - it is in our own psyche to celebrate and applaud the whole concept: grace marks, RTO agent, pulling rank to get our job done, unmetered electric connection through the local <whoever> and so many more - we are wired to circumvent the system but hold others accountable to it. So freebies & populist measures have become a necessary evil in the arsenal of every political party and more so at election time - I get that and though I don't condone it, I am willing to live with it. What I will do however, is to look beyond the freebies and follow the money trail. Robbing Peter to pay Paul is bad enough. But if the whole arrangement is setup such that I get to be Paul today but have to be Peter tomorrow, the whole sham is going to unravel pretty soon. I find a lot of "welfare" schemes are just that - robbing Peter to pay Paul and everyone takes turns to be Peter and Paul. I also find a lot of claims about welfare schemes but no credible plan or even mention of where the money will come from.</whoever></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; ">(b) Inflationary pressures - it's amazing how many people want higher wages but lower prices. I just don't understand why people won't understand the fallacy in that argument. If my daily wage goes up 2x, so will the farm worker's, the lorry driver's, the garbage collector's and the postman's. Of course, I am over-simplifying it and dramatising but that's just the hard economic reality. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; "><b><span style="color: blue;">Civics </span></b>- let's not forget our high-school Civics - there are 3 branches of Government (Legislature, Executive and Judiciary) and a Seventh Schedule in the Constitution that defines a Union List (responsibilities of the Central Government), State List (responsibilities of the State Government) and a Concurrent List. Before we vent our ire or raise grievances, let's be clear about who plays what role. I have for example, seen Facebook posts expressing outrage on the Government for a decision of the Supreme Court. Or deriding a National Highway project (which is on the Union List) because some funds were not allocated for a project on the State List. This is both, sad and dangerous because it means we will not only make ill-informed decisions, but we will misdirect our ire with no consequence other than being an thorn in someone's flesh.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; "><b><span style="color: blue;">Administrative capability</span></b> - focus objectively on the administrative capability or track-record of the candidate and not on whether s/he is nice to you, accepted your views, is known to your family. As with freebies, allowing sentiment, soft-qualities & political undercurrents to override objectivity & meritocracy is another malaise that plagues our psyche. And hence, the best-behaved boy becomes a group leader, you get to invited to judge a dance-competition (and you accept!) because you are a popular author, throwing garbage out of the window or parking badly is not okay unless it is done by your friend or family member and so on. This does not mean I expect every candidate to have some past experience in Government - we will never induct fresh faces with that criteria. Rather, it is important that they have had some sort of administrative experience or track-record somewhere - either in a corporate or some other institution.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOb1eorIpOxq204zTha57YZstEWkAyiJRRvwLzPrBUUGShlrKNomFoKyFvy49BU_ubILo6bFUCnAZqPXndr035oN7Eo27ZYyljSEBAwTPjom0q9DPDcRu-3atppPPxglWDXtl3Q/s1600/JusticeMonkey.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmOb1eorIpOxq204zTha57YZstEWkAyiJRRvwLzPrBUUGShlrKNomFoKyFvy49BU_ubILo6bFUCnAZqPXndr035oN7Eo27ZYyljSEBAwTPjom0q9DPDcRu-3atppPPxglWDXtl3Q/s200/JusticeMonkey.png" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://humbliceous.blogspot.in/2005_12_01_archive.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: small;">Monkey Justice shared <br />from Curioso under the <br />Creative Commons License</span></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; "><b><span style="color: red;">Generalization & Hyperbole</span></b> - we have of late become party to this very dangerous trend. The mining ban, the order on closure of liqour shops along the highway, the reactions to demonetisation, etc. are all results of this generalization without understanding the problem better and the propaganda around is a result of the hyperbole we have become experts at. It is not that there was no illegality and it is not that DUI deaths are trivial. It is not that demonetisation had no effect, nor is it that the demonetisation was implemented smoothly. But that does not mean every PIL is to be entertained and that does not mean you can put in jeopardy, millions of livelihoods based on half-baked shoddy Commission reports or PIL arguments. I find the media and we are happily indulging in the same kind of generalization - one misstep does not make a party or an individual incompetent or a criminal or a monster or a Hitler. Likewise, one brilliant idea or one well-executed project does not make a party or an individual a genius or a Nobel Prize winner or an angel or God.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; "><b>If it is true that people get the Government they deserve, let's be deserving of a better Government! Vote wisely! </b></span></div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-15632184421825441762016-06-24T19:27:00.001+05:302016-06-25T12:13:30.198+05:30Dealing With Reality - II: Intent vs. Outcome<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you know the circumstances surrounding the run-out in this picture, imagine for a moment, what would have happened if Dhoni had failed to outrun – and therefore failed to run out – the batsman. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What if his idea of running with the ball instead of throwing the ball, had backfired? What if Pandya had been hit for 2 fours in that fateful last over? What if those flighted deliveries to which the Bangladeshis fell had instead gone over the rope?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How would we then have reacted to everything that happened in that last over? Along those lines, how would a Bangladeshi fan have reacted to what happened? Fretted at the result or appreciated the valiant efforts of the inexperienced batsmen?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcdrJhx1hPR1M9epY72u75fo1GaTGsoT2xKaknLq9BCDuHr8lrlCKukgLsBm7jiIXfP2662mJDQI9ifMnQVKq7fFIVQ-vTJh06u27jgCWINhh7ZpanKVQKO2BL-9QVPfjKYIbxBA/s1600/intentvsoutcome2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="136" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcdrJhx1hPR1M9epY72u75fo1GaTGsoT2xKaknLq9BCDuHr8lrlCKukgLsBm7jiIXfP2662mJDQI9ifMnQVKq7fFIVQ-vTJh06u27jgCWINhh7ZpanKVQKO2BL-9QVPfjKYIbxBA/s200/intentvsoutcome2.jpg" width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As another example, consider a typical minor road accident. Almost always, the outcome influences our reaction. How often do we assess – or even care about – the intent of the other driver or possible extenuating circumstances that caused a certain action on his/her part? In that moment when there has been a collision or a near-collision, it is the outcome or the imagining of what would/could have happened that is uppermost in our minds. Not why the other driver did what s/he did or what caused that action. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As yet another example, think about WikiLeaks or the wars the USA is fighting in Afghanistan or in Iraq.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Which brings me to the crux of this post: what influences our reaction to or our handling of a situation or an individual? The outcome or the intent?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In my earlier post, "<a href="http://www.suhasmallya.com/2015/11/dealing-with-reality-behaviour.html" target="_blank">Dealing with Reality - I: Behaviour Classification</a>" I wrote about how I use my assessment of an individual’s mindset, disposition, attitude, etc. to help deal with a situation. This post is an extension of sorts of that one – viz., when dealing with a situation, how important is the intent of the individuals involved vis-à-vis the outcome?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Dealing with people is an intrinsic part of dealing with reality. If we are not adept at dealing with people, it is unlikely we will handle reality well – especially adverse reality. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Over the years, I have invested a fair amount of time and effort (in a very layman-ish and amateur way), in assessing people’s behaviour, in reflecting on my own handling of adverse situations, in observing how people react to situations. In the process, I learnt two important lessons: one, how an understanding of other people’s mindsets helps deal with situations and two, the importance of making a conscious choice of whether we allow the outcome or the intent to influence our decision. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Consider a child who is irritating you or who spoils something in the house or something belonging to you. Unless the outcome is critical – e.g., tore up some important documents or threw something heavy at the TV – we usually take it in our stride. More often than not, this is because we have – consciously or sub-consciously – decided to focus on the intent rather than the outcome. Much like the case of my then 2-year-old who practised gargling on my laptop ("<a href="http://www.suhasmallya.com/2010/09/i-love-evaporation.html" target="_blank">I Love Evaporation</a>").</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now go back to those two situations – the last-over thriller against Bangladesh and any minor traffic incident that provoked some strain of road rage inside you. Reconsider whether your reaction would have been different if you focused on the intent/extenuating circumstances rather than on the outcome.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">At yet, it’s not quite that simple. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For one, there is the risk of over-rationalising. Merely focusing on the intent or sympathising with the circumstances of another individual cannot and must not absolve anyone of his/her responsibility or accountability. Hence, I will for instance, give only so much leeway to an employee who is habitually late or slacking on the job because of some domestic issues. Similarly, a personal emergency does not give anyone the right to put someone else’s life in danger by driving rashly. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Secondly, there’s always the inner voice that helps you distinguish the right from the wrong. And hence, no matter what the intent or circumstances may be, what’s wrong is wrong. As with the case of someone who breaks a traffic rule and causes harm or injury to an innocent fellow-motorist. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Thirdly, there’s the more complex situation – and one where I personally still struggle to deal with – where someone does something good or someone produces a desirable outcome but with what you clearly know are ulterior motives. You encounter these in public life, in business and in personal life. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Consider the case of WikiLeaks or the Afghan and Iraq wars that the US is embroiled in. In my opinion all these fall squarely in the third category - even if you can establish a clear outcome or a clear intent it is very difficult to determine whether the outcome nullifies the intent or whether the intent justifies the outcome. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche said, “there are no facts, only interpretations” – while there is a didactic and figurative element to this, I have learnt that our interpretation of reality plays a critical role in how we deal with it. By the same token, as Abraham Lincoln put it, if we call a tail a leg, a dog will still have only four legs.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the meantime, I will continue to enjoy striking a balance – and more often than not, struggling to find that balance – between an objective and subjective treatment of the people I have to deal with and their behaviour...</span></div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-58298962876957978032015-11-21T23:21:00.000+05:302016-06-24T19:14:00.795+05:30Dealing with Reality - I: Behaviour Classification<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXkn2V4l9fwVToTFAk6q7-hzTAQREumpAfDoGksClxPMI5fg7nJJ5LUIvP4xi-ycX08XL4i54rUwY_nMxx5eYa6pYMoQjcbgOnrFc0OCnk9gbxZn-qNfXZcv-W4Zc5E5AcIG8ow/s1600/Noahs_Ark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="276" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqXkn2V4l9fwVToTFAk6q7-hzTAQREumpAfDoGksClxPMI5fg7nJJ5LUIvP4xi-ycX08XL4i54rUwY_nMxx5eYa6pYMoQjcbgOnrFc0OCnk9gbxZn-qNfXZcv-W4Zc5E5AcIG8ow/s320/Noahs_Ark.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Noah's Ark - Public Domain picture<br />
from Wikipedia {{PD-US}}</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt;">As
children – at home and at school – we internalized the dichotomies of
good-vs-bad, right-vs-wrong, proper-vs-improper, ethical vs. unethical, moral
vs. immoral and so on. At work, we were programmed to absorb the dichotomies of
optimal vs. suboptimal, compliant vs. non-compliant, process-driven vs. ad-hoc,
etc.</span><br />
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<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt;">And
then, out of the blue, came reality.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt;">So
we encounter and have to deal with – either directly or indirectly – idiots
driving the wrong way (and getting away with it), Supreme Court judges who
reduce a UIDAI to an optional identity card, corrupt authorities, nuisance
neighbours, ruderless leaders, hypocrites, people who progress on the “wrong
merits”, a dysfunctional political system, a mainstream-media ecosystem that
has completely collapsed and what have you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt;">Sometimes,
it’s a little closer to home like a ruined or cancelled vacation, the home team
grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory or a culinary accident when you are
having important guests over. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt;">Sometimes,
it’s more serious like experiencing or watching at close quarters, bad things
happening to good people. Or failed relationships. Or being party against your
will, to an injustice. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt;">How
does one deal with this reality? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt;">This
is a question I have often struggled with – and sometimes, still struggle with.
How does one fit what we are facing and how does one fit the decisions we have
to make in all those black-and-white options we have programmed to learn?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt;">In
continuation of my <a href="http://www.suhasmallya.com/2014/09/the-story-of-my-upgrade-to-colour.html" target="_blank">Upgrade to Colour</a>, an important - and effective - lesson I
have learnt is really a simple one: <b>acknowledge the reality</b>. This
may seem ludicrously obvious, but not only was it not so obvious to me in the
beginning, but also, I find a lot of people grappling with this elusive
realization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt;">While
we will embrace desirable, and while we will shun the undesirable, we often
forget that above all that, the stark reality that confronts us is what we have
to deal with. In that moment and in those circumstances, all else has only
academic relevance at that moment. That a waitlisted ticket <b>should have </b>gotten confirmed means
nothing if it hasn’t. You have to deal with the fact that you don’t have a
confirmed ticket to travel on. Right then, right there. That a near one <b>shouldn’t have</b> been diagnosed with an
illness means nothing in the face of having to decide what you have to do
next. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Acknowledging the reality hardly resolves the issue at
hand. What it does do though, <b>is provide
a clear demarcation between what we can control and what we cannot control</b>;
and hence serves as a pointer to where we must invest our energies and more
importantly, where we must not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
my struggles with reality, one important exercise I have undertaken is to
develop a catalogue of individuals. Since human interaction forms a critical
component of our lives, I have found that classifying the people I have to deal
with helps me deal with my own emotions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This post describes the categories that I have identified as ones who
consume extra “resources” (i.e., patience and energy, mostly) when you are dealing
with them. Constructing this catalog doesn’t mean they go away or that their
behavior changes nor even that I am magically able to deal with them. What it
does do however, is mentally – and usually, instantly – prepare me for my
interactions with them.</span><br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332061767578px;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 15.333332061767578px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">UTTERBOXES</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJ6_1soxInSnP_r-3l66i7GBz2DpK6hC1qq64NJd90jQQPV0aTKpDuzYKZbylQzjJdl2mBbdERnsELuVtFyCbruB82MZhae2Ak-ViIZqa0xSBqk-s4gUnNC5ujcSNxLaznRBC2w/s1600/De%25CC%2581tail_de_-Blah%252C_blah%252C_blah-_du_studio_Louise_Campbell_%2528Maison_du_Danemark%2529_%25283600301569%2529+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJ6_1soxInSnP_r-3l66i7GBz2DpK6hC1qq64NJd90jQQPV0aTKpDuzYKZbylQzjJdl2mBbdERnsELuVtFyCbruB82MZhae2Ak-ViIZqa0xSBqk-s4gUnNC5ujcSNxLaznRBC2w/s320/De%25CC%2581tail_de_-Blah%252C_blah%252C_blah-_du_studio_Louise_Campbell_%2528Maison_du_Danemark%2529_%25283600301569%2529+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.blogger.com/By%20Jean-Pierre%20Dalb%C3%A9ra%20from%20Paris,%20France%20[%3Ca%20href=%22http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0%22%3ECC%20BY%202.0%3C/a%3E],%20%3Ca%20href=%22https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AD%C3%A9tail_de_%22Blah%2C_blah%2C_blah%22_du_studio_Louise_Campbell_(Maison_du_Danemark)_(3600301569).jpg%22%3Evia%20Wikimedia%20Commons%3C/a%3E" target="_blank">By Jean-Pierre Dalbera from Paris, FranceReused <br />under Creative Commons License</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Utterboxes
are like self-winding toys – they keep going, they recharge themselves and they
keep going regardless of what’s happening around them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Utterboxes
go one step beyond chatterboxes. Like chatterboxes, utterboxes tend to talk non-stop;
usually about trivial matters. But while chatterboxes essentially engage in
conversation, utterboxes have the ability to go the “extra rile” and engage <span style="background-color: white;">in
lengthy monologues without any common theme, topic, thread or purpose. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">They seem to have an urge to simply
keep delivering a constant flow of utterances and</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="background-color: white;"> s</span>eemingly have little or no control over
their utterances. They will sometimes even repeat what others have just said merely
to express their agreement or solidarity with what has been said (and I suspect
they do this unintentionally) Why? I have no idea! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Sometimes
they will participate in conversations they aren’t really part of, but are
merely hearing by virtue of being physically present in the room or vicinity. They
usually have no second thoughts about conveying information and opinions
without themselves verifying anything or weighing in on what was said. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Often,
they will make utterances to suit the immediate context (or so they think) and
yet, they are usually oblivious to the irrelevance of their utterances in the
immediate context! Overall, the utterances serve little or no purpose – other
than keeping people engaged. And that perhaps, is the single largest advantage
of having utterboxes around: when you have guests at home, an awkward lull in
the conversation in a social setting, or a little inertia in breaking the ice
with someone you have just met, you can count on utterboxes to come to the
rescue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Importantly,
utterboxes usually mean no harm or malintent and their utterances are usually
benign. If you are going to act on anything that was conveyed to you by an utterbox
however, it is always good to first verify it. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">This is because the utterances
are usually delivered with enhanced intonations, gestures and expressions that
tend to mislead. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">However,
utterboxes sometimes rub people the wrong way. Not intentionally, but because
it’s bound to happen: mathematically, the greater the net volume of words
uttered, the greater the probability of a word being out of place!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dealing
with utterboxes</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once I have classified an individual as a “utterbox”, I usually don’t retain
anything they say. Not that I forget what they have said; I just don’t take
them seriously. If something worthwhile does catch my attention I always verify
it before I use that information any further. The significance of consciously
recognizing this category of individuals and their behavior – </span><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">including the </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">important part about
them usually meaning no harm - is that it helps me deal with them without
getting flustered, confused or distracted. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">VERBALANCHES<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Verbalanches
are relatively difficult to handle. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Verbalanches
are people who, when displeased with a situation or person, express that
displeasure with an intensity that is disproportionate to the situation/problem
at hand. Like avalanches, they will only weaken after they have blown their full
force and finished saying what they have to say. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And like avalanches, they can be unpredictable:
a small pebble can trigger the landslide while at other times serious digging
or drilling may produce nothing more than some insignificant vibrations.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcW1pABNJOEyl8PRaJgyzX7CjiUDb4TbVFjnd4_hY3zBQ6V6vdQFKHSieExTaJlyPQ3j_pgGIwkf770i66E-zN0_37_DsFp6uIY-a4a2w4w_ZMjm7MjBH5GHLTJxxokGree7efVQ/s1600/Verbalanche.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcW1pABNJOEyl8PRaJgyzX7CjiUDb4TbVFjnd4_hY3zBQ6V6vdQFKHSieExTaJlyPQ3j_pgGIwkf770i66E-zN0_37_DsFp6uIY-a4a2w4w_ZMjm7MjBH5GHLTJxxokGree7efVQ/s320/Verbalanche.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What
complicates matters is that very often, they are ranting about someone or
something that you have nothing to do with, but the utterances are made with
such intensity that you will probably believe you are being blamed for it. Woe
betide you if you offer an explanation or hypothesis<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>that sounds like a justification. I have on
occasion been held “in contempt” for “unduly defending” the actions of an
individual that the verbalanche was ranting about.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Once
the floodgates are opened – i.e., the verbalanche has started speaking and
expressing his/her views (usually, displeasure or disagreement) – it is
virtually impossible to stop or regulate the flow. There is no point trying to
interrupt these people because they will not stop till they have had their say.
Over time, I have realized that they are not bulldozing your interruptions –
they are just not hearing you. And hence, the best course of action for you is
to patiently wait for them to stop talking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Unlike
utterboxes who will at most annoy you with their constant utterances, verbalanches
often tend to rub people the wrong way and usually cause some damage in
relationships. Depending on the intensity of the utterances and the temperament
of the other person(s) involved, the damage can sometimes be permanent. It is
sad that many times, the verbalanche never meant to hurt or demean the other
person in the first place, but even sadder is the fact that the realization of
the consequences of his/her utterances seldom dawns on the verbalanche.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Dealing with Verbalanches</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">: </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><b>Step aside and wait</b>. It's usually over as soon as it starts.</span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">My single largest
victory with this category of people has been recognizing the pattern of their
behaviour. Initially, I used to get flustered because I could not bring myself
to silently hear the tirade, hear it when I had nothing to do with it and above
all, be “ignored” or “bulldozed” when I tried to offer any explanation. Now,
when I encounter a verbalanche coming down like a ton of bricks I am able to
achieve a fair degree of detachment that allows me to step out of harm’s way
and wait patiently for the tirade to subside before I attempt to say anything. If
at all. All the while, without letting the conversation affect me. If s/he is
the category of verbalanches that cannot accept justifications or explanations,
then I just patiently wait for them to finish so that I can nod and walk away.</span><!--EndFragment-->
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<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">PREJUDISTS</span></b><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN GUILTY<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimr09dHrm1SLMcES1T-JTwBpydIQymbGmAruspM3UkvoyBwTMSJ5_MLNWGAVQcmNNejVvBmm4wi8mZa0gcB40BrQaOO1BtcAPYuDcRl3yNMLxJ6cSql7SVmFTkBytpnq4r-nMSsA/s1600/JusticeMonkey.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimr09dHrm1SLMcES1T-JTwBpydIQymbGmAruspM3UkvoyBwTMSJ5_MLNWGAVQcmNNejVvBmm4wi8mZa0gcB40BrQaOO1BtcAPYuDcRl3yNMLxJ6cSql7SVmFTkBytpnq4r-nMSsA/s1600/JusticeMonkey.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://humbliceous.blogspot.in/2005_12_01_archive.html" target="_blank">Monkey Justice shared from Curioso<br />under the Creative Commons License</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As
Maya Angelou very aptly put it, “Prejudice is a burden that confuses the past,
threatens the future, and renders the present inaccessible”. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Prejudists
have an uncanny and dogged immunity to facts that do not align with the opinion
they’ve already formed or a decision they’ve already made. The opinion can be
about just anything in the world. People, food, services, service-providers,
technology, hazards. Perhaps the only thing worse than a prejudist is a
prejudist with an ego.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
effect, with prejudists you’re “guilty” until you’re proven guilty. Which
means, any evidence that establishes your “innocence” will promptly be
discarded to make way for the evidence – which may never come along anyway –
that will establish your guilt.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Prejudists
by nature & definition, harbor an irrational suspicion for the objects of
their ire or for anything that remotely threatens the sanctity of their
opinions. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Prejudices
are about people or entities (e.g., so-and-so is dishonest; Konkan Railway is
unreliable; Zomato sells your data) or about theories & objects (e.g., TV
remotes are as harmful as mobile phones, cooking on induction stoves is harmful
to health, it’s okay for diabetics to eat sweets made from jaggery).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<!--EndFragment--></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dealing
with prejudists</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Agree to disagree, without disagreeing</b>. </span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">As long as the conclusions they draw and how they act on those conclusions do
not affect you directly, it is best to give them a patient hearing and leave it
at that. Trying to rationalize or argue with prejudists is usually futile. So if
an established prejudist insists that the Coke or 7Up chilled in a LG
refrigerator tastes better than one chilled in a Samsung refrigerator, avoid
disagreeing with them. The trick is to be able to walk away by making them
think that your lack of disagreement implies agreement. Of course, at times
they may be spreading misinformation – e.g., Konkan Railway is unreliable, speed
governors will reduce life of the tyres, etc. At such times one has to step in
and step up. But as long you are not forced to refrigerate your soft drink only
in a certain refrigerator, just don’t disagree.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3g8onolV5rRL5R0sLOUJoxKEpxBxKGRyc-nuBtZjy9jCVcpJjuYprgmuAyba_rg4qgJ0cHjUxNwv4HxqmWNsgRtsEm2RkMdl7aIMYcEG94tZKql4essl46ttdrZm9sjc743aocw/s1600/371px-CC_nasal_strip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3g8onolV5rRL5R0sLOUJoxKEpxBxKGRyc-nuBtZjy9jCVcpJjuYprgmuAyba_rg4qgJ0cHjUxNwv4HxqmWNsgRtsEm2RkMdl7aIMYcEG94tZKql4essl46ttdrZm9sjc743aocw/s320/371px-CC_nasal_strip.jpg" width="247" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CC_nasal_strip.jpg#/media/File:CC_nasal_strip.jpg" target="_blank">Horse Blinders by Maryland GovPics<br />shared under Creative Commons License <br />from Wikimedia</a></td></tr>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">MICRO-SCOPES<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These
are the type of people who will probably be happy when someone at home falls ill
so that medicines in the medicine cabinet could be used before their expiry
date. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
effect, these people inhibit themselves from seeing the big picture. Ever.
Their scope of vision, thinking, perspective, analysis, reasoning… everything…
is just too narrow (hence, “micro-scope”).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The
micro-scopes I have dealt with have been varied. They include a high-ranking
executive of a software-services company telling a senior sales executive not
to send the customary box of chocolates during Christmas to a fairly large
client because that client had not increased the Q-o-Q billing that quarter.
And the CFO of a $60-million company putting on hold at the nth hour, an
employee’s APPROVED relocation from one country to another (within the same
organization), because the internal cost-allocation had not been finalized. And
the businessman who refuses to accept payment from a customer because s/he is
unable to provide the exact invoice number against which the payment is being
provided. And the Purchase Officer who fought with the vendor to reduce
transport charges by Rs. 100/- for the goods worth Rs. 1.5 lakhs that he was
transporting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dealing with micro-scopes</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have till date not found an effective
strategy to deal with microscopes. If they’re young, you can coach them and
educate them, but if they’re older and more experienced, it’s probably a lost
cause. Sometimes, where feasible and practical, if constant reinforcing of the
fallacy of their narrow vision does not work, try something radical. The most
vivid memory I have and most effective measure I know of is the vendor who was
forced by the Purchase Officer to knock off Rs. 100/- from the transport
charges: he sent the goods by bullock cart! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Like
they say, “Only ignorance can be fixed; stupid is forever”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">SELFIES</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQgjRxgpr-eDMR_iJ3itDH9suCos4csiuau9g5K2WNk8adUO0KnGsLstbgD_8oWePpQRdeCFOxzrZl0qAAzhvXbZouqSkcesrPH0GvKvhmwbYA1KzzcBG39L_cd-6tbvs_of-6Q/s1600/Selfie.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcQgjRxgpr-eDMR_iJ3itDH9suCos4csiuau9g5K2WNk8adUO0KnGsLstbgD_8oWePpQRdeCFOxzrZl0qAAzhvXbZouqSkcesrPH0GvKvhmwbYA1KzzcBG39L_cd-6tbvs_of-6Q/s200/Selfie.png" width="200" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These
are usually petty-minded people who have a singular focus on themselves and
“all things them”: their well-being, their advantage, their convenience, their
priority, implications to them. They also exhibit an exceptional foresight and
analytical ability – usually absent otherwise – in connecting the dots to make
a holistic determination of how any course of action or decision will affect
them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">They
are usually inconsiderate, but demand that everyone else be considerate.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Ask
them do something for you and you will instantly see in action, machinations at
work to deflect the task from them.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">These
people don’t realize that when if you care only about yourself, very soon, you’ll
be the only one who cares about you. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
some cases though, “no one else caring for them” is the cause rather than the
effect of their behaviour. In other words, I have found that some “selfies” –
like rebels-without-a-cause – have been subject to some form of overbearing
authority or humiliation or neglect in the past. At other times it’s because
they have grown up in hard circumstances and had to fend for themselves. Their
tendency to focus on themselves I would guess is the natural outcome of that
subjugation or hurt or neglect. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dealing with selfies</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">: When I encounter a
selfie, my instinct is to be tough and firm while at the same time being
polite. Wherever possible – and it’s not often that it is possible – I try to determine
whether their behaivour stems from some past ghost they are dealing with or
just plain selfishness. Wherever possible though, humour them. Not because of
anything else but so that they don’t generate nuisance value. But when
required, don’t hesitate to shoo them off lest they take advantage of you.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p><br /></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: black; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">REBELS-WITHOUT-A-CAUSE<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
many ways, I feel selfies and rebels-without-a-cause have similar backgrounds;
selfies just focus inward; rebels just push everything outwards. Selfies are
usually passive, rebels-without-a-cause are aggressive. Most of the
rebels-without-a-cause I have come across seemed to be struggling with an
inferiority complex or from some overbearing authority that they were subject
to.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">At
some level I sympathize with them because they are still trying to shake off
that deep-rooted memory and angst from long back.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
general though, they become a spanner in the works and show several traits of
prejudists and tend to be anti-establishment. For them, “being different” is a
conscious objective rather than an incidental outcome – i.e., they will want to
do something differently more to be different, than because they actually have
something of substance that just happens to be different. For example, you will
find them sporting a weird haircut just because they were perhaps forced
against their will to cut their hair in a particular way and not because they
actually like the haircut they are sporting. Or you will find them breaking a
norm or process or traditional practice merely because they want to establish
that they will have the final say than because they truly believe they have
found some alternative.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Confrontation
with them is usually futile and achieves little other than sullying the air for
everyone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Dealing with rebels-without-a-cause</span></b><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><br /></b></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">Pick
your battles</b>. My most effective technique with rebels-without-a-cause has
been letting them have their way if in the larger picture, it is not of much
significance. Even at times when it is inconvenient to me. I have found that
this serves the dual purposes of gaining their trust & respect (something
that comes in handy for a larger battle) and of helping them realize
themselves, the fallacy of their deeds. This is however, neither easy nor
possible. Especially when there are other stakeholders in the picture. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In
conclusion, dealing with the “human factor” is becoming an increasingly
important part of our daily lives. I really on my catalog to help me navigate
the contours of human behavior.</span></div>
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Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-6320244825644641572015-03-29T22:06:00.003+05:302015-03-29T22:13:16.279+05:30There's no flavour like nostalgia<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
"Diana", a restaurant in Udupi, is one of those legendary restaurants that has served multiple generations of many families - mine included. It was first introduced to me earlier than the "start of my memory" - perhaps by my maternal uncle. It made eating out fashionable even in the day when eating out was clearly unfashionable. My Dad unfailingly accommodated my agenda of visiting Diana at least once on every visit to Udupi.<br />
<br />
Earlier this month, I happened to visit Diana after a gap of nearly 8 years. Of course, they've moved from their "flagship location" at "Diana Circle" (which still continues to be called that) to their own swanky building now with tailor-made interiors; and have expanded way beyond just a restaurant. But other than that, it was still the same. I couldn't tell for sure whether the furniture was the same, but the waiters were. So was the menu. And most satisfyingly, so was the flavour of their food.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcaH0fQ-H_tal2WWPEwg9-06XPHtQrXIU-n-sKMJukZBf3079AGuoUX-bYWPq8fy_MfpTUcCKhte5zeYE38hArmYOAsRYaLov8o5kozvTePNZRR1JWHg5UfI1g_VYsaUk-dTUkQ/s1600/WP_20150326_024.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibcaH0fQ-H_tal2WWPEwg9-06XPHtQrXIU-n-sKMJukZBf3079AGuoUX-bYWPq8fy_MfpTUcCKhte5zeYE38hArmYOAsRYaLov8o5kozvTePNZRR1JWHg5UfI1g_VYsaUk-dTUkQ/s1600/WP_20150326_024.jpg" height="112" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Unbelievable consistency <br />
for the last 30 years <br />
(please pardon the quality of the picture)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The visit was even more memorable because it also marked the introduction of the restaurant - and my favourite items on their menu - to the third generation of the family: my son.<br />
<br />
As I heartily tucked in the food and watched my son do the same by my side - with my Dad sitting across the table from us - the flavour in my mouth generated a million memories in a span of few seconds.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
And that was some food for thought for me: that there's no flavour like nostalgia. </div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-21557369103252313282014-09-26T00:21:00.003+05:302014-09-26T01:00:02.118+05:30The Story of my Upgrade to Colour<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qfFoicN50jgTaG64-RZJX9vHepCnGVJ3Wuj7fFkKpysk1YTLlxldKektRTt-vEqxAve7gJw8-7Y-KGtW4Epkam8X2KKmGGUvujVUh2DkAy4SaFMePgJimwyLWVnNer3mCDkJwQ/s1600/ColourTV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2qfFoicN50jgTaG64-RZJX9vHepCnGVJ3Wuj7fFkKpysk1YTLlxldKektRTt-vEqxAve7gJw8-7Y-KGtW4Epkam8X2KKmGGUvujVUh2DkAy4SaFMePgJimwyLWVnNer3mCDkJwQ/s1600/ColourTV.jpg" height="103" width="200" /></a></div>
Professionally, I grew up in the world of technology.<br />
<br />
Despite the aura and glamour it has, it's really a "black and white" world: your code either compiles or it does not; the syntax is either right or wrong; the API either scales or fails. Quite literally, a binary world where decision-making is rule-driven for the most part and outcomes are largely predictable.<br />
<br />
I therefore found myself wanting as I grew beyond a pure technical role and entered the realm of decision-making driven by humans and human semantics rather than by syntax and design semantics.<br />
<br />
I found myself as overwhelmed as I was mesmerized by the hues, tints, tones and shades of all colours, including gray that define the non-technical, non-binary world. The influence of the human element in decision-making was far too real and far too significant not to recognize and not to accept.<br />
<br />
One of my first lessons - and indeed my first step in my "upgrade to colour" - was when I switched from an engineering role in India to a pre-sales role in the Valley.<br />
<br />
My first pre-sales assignment was with a prospect - a Valley startup - that wanted to "<i>port their Python code-base to Java</i>". The company had a location-based product that was delivered through a traditional web portal, mobile web and a mobile application.<br />
<br />
In response, we went "well-prepared" - corporate deck, relevant case studies, execution methodology, what-have-you.<br />
<br />
It was a 90-minute meeting with the CTO (who had just come on-board) and his 7-member engineering team.<br />
<br />
The meeting exploded in our faces.<br />
<br />
The porting project had a stillbirth – both, because of us as well as for reasons beyond our control and beyond our meeting.<br />
<br />
As I reflected upon that meeting, I distilled out two important lessons:<br />
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><b>Business, political and human considerations and compulsions rule over and overrule everything else: </b>it was a new CTO who had mooted the idea of the porting to Java without fully bringing on board, his engineering team – an all-Python team including an author of a book on Python! To make matters worse, the team was never too kicked about outsourcing. Last but not the least, the business didn't see anything "broken" (with the Python platform) that needed to be "fixed" (with Java). Needless to say, we were seen by the team as the villains roped in by the new CTO to do his dirty work. The technical merits of Java vis-à-vis Python and vice-versa never even figured in our discussions.<br /><br />I have learnt and re-learnt with many a junior team-member that this is the most important lesson and the rudest awakening for the software engineer that believes that technology is supreme. More importantly, countless more fail to learn this lesson.</li>
<li><b>Don’t assume you know enough to make assumptions</b> – we knew a lot about the company through direct information and research, but assumed we knew enough to make assumptions. We assumed that the decision to port had been carefully considered and thought-through from technical and non-technical angles. We assumed the team was on-board. We assumed "outsource" meant "offshore". <br /><br />We assumed we were making safe assumptions. <br /><br />We made assumptions. <br /><br />Her famous child followed.</li>
</ol>
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<br /></div>
<div>
As I moved not just beyond a technical role, but indeed beyond the world of technology, the hues, shades and tints came into greater play. Be it the wily business associate you have to deal with, or the shy employee you're trying to groom or the hopelessly suspicious colleague who wants to randomly verify Excel calculations on his 12-digit super-reliable Casio calculator or the weird wisdom of todays' court verdicts or the inexplicable non-alignment of your priorities with your wife's or the "timely" tantrum your 5-year-old will throw. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The possible outcomes are rarely binary and the only predictability is in the unpredictability.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
My upgrade to colour continues and is perpetually incomplete, but the two lessons I learnt from my first pre-sales meeting are keepers. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: x-small;">(Based on an article I originally wrote for a portal run by a friend of mine which has since wound up)</span> </div>
</div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-51196589750284108852014-09-14T23:39:00.000+05:302014-09-14T23:44:08.581+05:30Disaster Choreography<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtZtcYh3EkeG0_At5dYfAA-Ui2Hebtb14QLH8_HZpKLhXTzOQ-P_ISjgXkEyBzI7OG35Bo0fD4ZgV4VLrHd-GLCyYq4LVg1JLWxkYbNnR4Yy2H18Nq3epElzSRG9WAPFUWdvt1cA/s1600/InCaseOfEmergency.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtZtcYh3EkeG0_At5dYfAA-Ui2Hebtb14QLH8_HZpKLhXTzOQ-P_ISjgXkEyBzI7OG35Bo0fD4ZgV4VLrHd-GLCyYq4LVg1JLWxkYbNnR4Yy2H18Nq3epElzSRG9WAPFUWdvt1cA/s1600/InCaseOfEmergency.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On board a Konkan Railway train</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
A couple of months ago, the incessant rains caused an ill-constructed neighbouring wall to collapse on the compound wall of our residential complex and they both came crashing down. Fortunately - rather, miraculously - no one was injured and there was little damage to any property except for the wall itself.<br />
<br />
The South Goa Planning and Development Authority has thoughtfully created a "District Disaster Management Authority". Unfortunately, in doing so, they raised my expectation. And so it was, that I was taken aback when, on submitting a written communication asking them to help, the idiot lady (I do believe "idiot" is a unisex word) sleepily asked us to check back after 8 days to know the "status" of our "complaint" without so much as bothering to read or know what we had come to report.<br />
<br />
I don't mean to single out the SGPDA for this non-response. Indeed, as a nation, and perhaps as a race, we have not (yet) internalized the notion and the significance of disaster preparedness and recovery.<br />
<br />
But what churns my stomach, is the "choreography" that goes into any and every disaster we are faced with. When I say "choreography", I don't mean it as a metaphor for "manufacturing" the disaster in the first place; rather, I am really referring to the post-incident posturing that we seem to have become experts at.<br />
<br />
From the Arnabs who wallow in their own superciliousness to clueless political figureheads who just want some airtime, we have no dearth of entities who add absolutely no value. Not even to their own faces or to their own (dis)repute.<br />
<br />
The long-decayed-icing on the cake though, is this:<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBOehCwXk3gw719WlES7fvkNPJ0aF26RpNt7iwGdiZWcGXII2vop4aGEAUBtSr3Vfu8PDrGts4A96Jdw0sbtO4wmom4p-8XLud8FiBiMum3vdLamdM4oY4YytO7P_H9QP6tNYb5g/s1600/Blogs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBOehCwXk3gw719WlES7fvkNPJ0aF26RpNt7iwGdiZWcGXII2vop4aGEAUBtSr3Vfu8PDrGts4A96Jdw0sbtO4wmom4p-8XLud8FiBiMum3vdLamdM4oY4YytO7P_H9QP6tNYb5g/s1600/Blogs.jpg" height="298" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pictures predominantly from PIB</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If there's anything and anyone that can make the scripts of Ekta Kapoor's "K brigade" look like a Steven Spielberg potboiler, it simply has to be the idea and its inventor (perhaps the brainchild of Doordarshan) of making us watch politicians watch disaster-prone areas. And for this, I would blame the media more than the politicians.<br />
<br />
Aerial survey of a disaster-struck zone - sad as it may be - is newsworthy. But covering a politician peering out of a plane purportedly flying over a disaster zone? Now, that's a disaster.<br />
<br />
<br />
Just so you can gauge for yourself, try this: do a Google image search for "aerial survey" and then search for "aerial survey of disaster". See the results that show up for each. The pictures will speak a thousand words.<br />
<br />
<br />
Since we now have a PM who has after ages delivered a I-Day speech from the heart instead of by-heart, who has stepped in to question why so many scrooges needed to accompany the athletes to Incheon, and who has asked people to assist in J&K aid instead of celebrating his birthday - and hopefully truly meant all of those - I will rely on him to please stop this parody+travesty+ignominy of "disaster recovery".<br />
<br />
Please, Mr. PM. We need true disaster prevention, preparedness and recovery. No more disaster choreography.</div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-14020948033652297682014-01-29T00:33:00.001+05:302014-01-29T00:53:14.438+05:30A Star is Born<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Even if it would further empower the common man - and of course, woman - to exercise her/his right to information by opening up the system and making it more transparent as has been attempted by several generations of his noble family, I couldn't possibly say anything that hasn't already been said about RaGa's now-legendary interview by ArGo.<br />
<br />
The reactions to the interview do not really surprise me. To me, it was a foregone conclusion; a predictable outcome; I hadn't even bothered to watch the interview. Notwithstanding the fact that I can't - couldn't - stand the interviewer anyway. Of course, I was tracking the steady stream of sentiments being expressed on social media.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMYO1D-BCydiOH0xaHogCmVB3tvCM3x4cirx-OmTQ9RZU2yRZbsAOCe2CfVaR4ehiHa83-9KpxmZxEKZfSfJ4FZCFR-fUTlKzgY_BQzepZgXbUwQthTaQPKUV7DY4DtfKSjSP3Q/s1600/RaGaArGo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOMYO1D-BCydiOH0xaHogCmVB3tvCM3x4cirx-OmTQ9RZU2yRZbsAOCe2CfVaR4ehiHa83-9KpxmZxEKZfSfJ4FZCFR-fUTlKzgY_BQzepZgXbUwQthTaQPKUV7DY4DtfKSjSP3Q/s1600/RaGaArGo.jpg" height="150" width="200" /></a></div>
What I had not anticipated though, was the overwhelming intensity of the reaction and the barrage of humour. It were these two factors that drew me to the interview.<br />
<br />
To my surprise, I was surprised.<br />
<br />
In my eyes, a potential star was indeed born in yesterday's interview.<br />
<br />
Not RaGa, but ArGo.<br />
<br />
The ArGo I have seen - on the miserable occasions that fate has plonked me at 9PM in front of a TV tuned to TimesNow and whose remote-control I had no authority over - is an ArGo that I shun. That is the ArGo who believes he alone is the nation's conscience keeper. The ArGo who believes the nation has appointed him its spokesperson through a overwhelmingly unanimous referendum. The ArGo that believes that a "debate" is a monologue-in-disguise where the moderator sequentially shouts out the same question to as many people as can be fitted on a TV screen (but by waiting till one speaker starts speaking before posing the same question to the next person, thereby cutting off the speaker). The ArGo that believes an entire nation is patiently waiting for him to beat an answer out of the (usually) vile interviewee and hand it over so the nation can use that answer to save itself from apocalypse and redefine its own fate.<br />
<br />
Heck. ArGo was the single largest reason I couldn't stand ArGo.<br />
<br />
Imagine my surprise therefore, when I saw a transformed ArGo interviewing RaGa.<br />
<br />
The answers that RaGa gave are not to be held against him nor are to be used to judge or crucify him. Rather, they are a measure of ArGo coming of age. How many other interviewees on his show have been allowed to complete what they wanted to say? Let alone give irrelevant answers.<br />
<br />
The apparent digression that RaGa seemed to be lapsing into mustn't distract us from the gem it revealed. It was a test for ArGo. A test that he passed - in my view - with flying colours. ArGo kept returning - with respect (what?! what?!) - to specifics, to elicit a response.<br />
<br />
The repeated stress by RaGa on the same set of concepts shouldn't cause us to defocus from the larger point. For the first time in my life, I was reaching for the remote when ArGo was speaking, to INCREASE the volume. Not to decrease it. Nor even to change the channel.<br />
<br />
For a change, there was no melodrama. And any drama if at all, was definitely mellow.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
Above all, ArGo used the word "nation" only 3 times. And that too, only when he uttered the words "assassination", "nomination" and "destination".<br />
<br />
I am not joking and I am not being sarcastic when I say I was pleasantly surprised by ArGo. It appears that he has indeed had an education. It appears that he can indeed be effective by being civil. It appears that he can in fact do his job - and how - at sub-100-decibel levels and devoid of hot air.<br />
<br />
For the copious amount of homework you do ArGo, you owe it to yourself to emerge as a professional journalist not prone to molly-coddling rather than a supercilious anchor who wants his career to be defined by cacophony and melodrama.<br />
<br />
Do you have it in you, ArGo? Have you really come of age?<br />
<br />
The Nation wants to know, ArGo; the Nation wants to know.</div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-1594425710831822262013-11-11T23:44:00.002+05:302013-11-12T00:21:56.670+05:30The powerful charm of biometrics-based loyalty management<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal">
In an age where we are so used to technology smashing through
its own boundaries all the time, it takes quite something for technology to
take a revolutionary leap instead of an evolutionary one. It takes quite
something for a technology to pack some “WOW” punch into its results.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Udupi – a small, tier-3 temple town – isn’t particularly the
first place you would think of when you think of technology. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikR3hk0rUF_t-o0Eu3XKCjGvt8o7-N3ys5wacWT4NTRR0mcpLCRIOF8FSZ0UFf6I86-uwtA4v7C2Qiu20DnBC7v6MNva3_hl-28htUSItW5MR8um9qViQQc0eTcfAbkIgnzQb1FQ/s1600/WP_20131111_003.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikR3hk0rUF_t-o0Eu3XKCjGvt8o7-N3ys5wacWT4NTRR0mcpLCRIOF8FSZ0UFf6I86-uwtA4v7C2Qiu20DnBC7v6MNva3_hl-28htUSItW5MR8um9qViQQc0eTcfAbkIgnzQb1FQ/s200/WP_20131111_003.jpg" width="112" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Udupi Residency is a somewhat nondescript hotel in the town
of Udupi. I have been using this hotel during my not-infrequent trips to Udupi
for over 8 years now. It’s certainly not a hotel that I would pick if I were
vacationing. Pick any parameter that you would want to rate a hotel on, and I
might give it a 2.5 in my most generous moments. Yet, ask me to pick a hotel in
Udupi for a night or two that is family-friendly, conveniently-located, economical,
offers good service and all I want the room for is to sleep at night and get
ready in the morning, and I will unhesitatingly pick this hotel.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Then again, ask me to list the hotels that have wowed me
with effective use of customer-delighting technology and Udupi Residency
wouldn’t have figured in the top-5,000. Heck, it doesn’t even have an internet
connection for guests, let alone WiFi.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was therefore pleasantly surprised by my recent experience
– and somewhat taken aback by the consequent realization – of how Udupi
Residency has leveraged a very sophisticated biometrics-based loyalty
recognition technology at all levels. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Starting with the watchman who helped me park. He greeted my
effusively as I got out of the car and even apologized that he didn’t realize
“it was me”. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I stopped dead in my tracks, dumbfounded. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It was only the first of the surprises in store for me,
though. It was more than 8 months since I had last stayed at the hotel and I
didn’t expect that anything had changed. But the receptionist, the bell-boys,
the waiters in the in-house restaurant and the room-service boys were all equipped with this powerful
solution and readily flashed me a “hello-again” smile. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What really took the cake – or served as the icing on it if
you may – was at breakfast the next morning. The bashful morning-shift waiter gave
me a “hey-its-you-again” smile and when I asked for the menu, he waved off my
request, saying “Same menu, saar. Nothing new” instead of handing me the menu.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Early in my professional career, I was closely involved in
building a fairly intricate and powerful loyalty and rewards management engine.
Among other complexities, one of the particularly challenging features that we
were proud of was the deduplication algorithm we were running. And here I was in Udupi seeing a far more sophisticated "deduplication" technology in action. <o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Without a single line of code.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
It took a while to sink in. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
But when it finally did, I was left fascinated at how the
most powerful and complex technologies we have today pale in comparison to the
oldest biometric technology in the world: old-fashioned facial recognition by human
beings. The most powerful loyalty management software in the world.</div>
</div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-54835266109833128452013-10-27T22:16:00.003+05:302013-10-28T21:31:03.446+05:30Reciprocity<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Like many other kids of my day & age I used to be an avid reader of Amar Chitra Katha.<br />
<br />
<div>
One story that left an impression on me was of these two kings whose chariots came to block each other on a narrow bridge. The first charioteer submits to the second charioteer that the latter must make way for the first king since the first king was held in high esteem by his subjects and that "<i>he did good to those who did him good and retaliated against those who sought to harm him</i>". To which the second charioteer responds, "<i>In that case, it is your king who must make way. For, my king is held in high esteem because he does good to those who do him good and even to those who seek to do him harm</i>".</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The first charioteer and king at this point, bow to the second king and acknowledge that the latter is indeed the greater one for he <i>does good to those who do him good as well as to those who seek to do him harm</i>.<br />
<br />
The moral of this story - <i>viz., do good to all whether or not they do good to you</i> - served to reinforce the various incarnations of "<i>do unto others as you would have them do</i>" that were taught to us kids all the time. It also seemed to explain Gandhiji's "<i>turn the other cheek</i>" doctrine - another common refrain we were taught to drive home the point that violence isn't the right answer to violence.<br />
<br />
These were my first and early lessons in "reciprocity" and its influence.<br />
<br />
As we grew up though - and out of the Utopian world we created from our own innocence - we naturally began questioning the wisdom and efficacy of such total abstinence from aggression.<br />
<br />
Sometimes consciously, sometimes sub-consciously; sometimes philosophically, sometimes out of despair; the doubts in our mind kept growing - as did our inability - to refrain from tit-for-tat.<br />
<br />
In our lives and our roles at work and home, we encounter a slew of personalities. Whether or not we rationalize people's behaviours and whether or not we understand their intent and circumstances, fact of the matter is, we have to deal with unpleasantness. Sometimes it's benign irritants we have to deal with; sometimes it's an impulsive verbal jab that hurts; sometimes it's plain rudeness; sometimes it's inconsiderate behaviour; at times it's even ill-concealed malafide intent.<br />
<br />
I am often faced with a quandary under such circumstances. Do I continue to do unto others as I would have them do, or do I do unto others as they did? Do I yield to someone who is deliberately trying to manipulate me to suit his or her own agenda or do I manipulate in return? Do I continue to be graceful to someone who is a pain-in-the-<whatever><whatever> or do I too make a nuisance of myself?</whatever><br />
<br />
Sometimes it's just a matter of a behavioural trait. Do I don the hat of a diplomat and a gentleman even when dealing with a rogue? Or do I sully my own dignity and respond in their wavelength? Do I continue being kind to a jealous neighbour or do I repay his or her pettiness? Do I act haughty with an arrogant, selfish person or do I just continue being above-board? Do I continue accommodating the requests and whims of someone who is rigid and inflexible all the time or do I just tell him/her to go **** a tree?<br />
<br />
But sometimes it gets darker and skirts matters of conduct and integrity. Do I cheat because I am dealing with a cheater and he has cheated me anyway? Do I indulge in sharp practices to settle scores with someone who has anyway taken advantage of me?<br />
<br />
And then there's the role of reciprocity in international relations. Does possession of nuclear arms truly act as a deterrent or does it in fact, spur an arms race? Does stoic diplomacy always yield results or should you once in a while just get out of your chair and kick the aggressor hard where it hurts? By the same token, does aggression cause the opponent to cower or does it just foster a sense of hatred and revenge?<br />
<br />
The answers aren't easy to come by and there's hardly ever a clear-cut answer or a black-and-white choice to make. There is always the temporary and vindictive joy to be sought by repaying unkindness with inkindness, but there's also the danger of setting of a continuing chain reaction.<br />
<br />
<br />
Most far-reaching though, is perhaps reciprocity's other side: its utility as a subtle but effective behaviour-influencing tool. Reciprocity is after all, the basic human instinct to mirror the very treatment one receives.<br />
<br />
When it comes to dealing with difficult people, I consider my father's and grandfather's track record to be an exemplary one. I have seen them persuasively drive things to an advantageous closure with many a obstinate moron, arrogant scoundrel and shrewd manipulator where the instinct of the average person - mine, certainly - would be to just reach out and deliver one tight slap. At least verbally, if not physically.<br />
<br />
My abilities are a far cry from theirs but my limited attempts have yielded fascinating results. Be it trying to inculcate simple disciplines at the work-place, be it laying down an implicit code of conduct with children, be it making requests for some extra effort or be it negotiating prices with a measly vendor - not only has kindness, respect or considerate behaviour been reciprocated, but more importantly, by not succumbing to the temptation of reciprocating, tact won the day.<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
<br />
That is not to say that you blindly turn the other cheek. Indeed, experts believe that Gandhiji's <i>satyagraha </i>would have failed had it been Hitler and not the British that he was dealing with. In times of such quandary, I am reminded of another story I read. This one too, in Amar Chitra Katha, and is one that balanced out in some way, the story of the kind king's chariot.<br />
<br />
There was this cobra that used to menace a village till one day, an ascetic bemoaned him to leave the villagers in peace. The cobra heeds this advice and begins to lead a peaceful life. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
A few days later, some children from the village happen to see the cobra lying still. They presume the cobra is asleep and decide to avenge all the months of trouble they faced at the hands of the snake and attacking it sticks and stones. Heeding the sage's advice, the cobra lies still and is badly injured.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
That evening, the sage happens to come by and finds the injured cobra and asks what happened. When he hears what happened, he admonishes the cobra for lying still when he was attacked. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
"<i>I told you not to bite, but I didn't tell you not to hiss".</i></div>
</div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-23363406780904177812013-03-03T23:22:00.000+05:302013-03-04T12:36:01.580+05:30Through the Looking Glass<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfM8d-z8xpdf_aKhW1fbtclBie4n2nsl4IjhXU-RSwpPaK8LkkonoJy7NTxQvFc2h_5sCsAMTw5Yksxx7WkuM8oVvxYBfGcycWNhP4VUO32U5wmXKadxSUk-T_-9x27BOZmegW7Q/s1600/GoldenGate_RearView_FullSize_Cropped.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfM8d-z8xpdf_aKhW1fbtclBie4n2nsl4IjhXU-RSwpPaK8LkkonoJy7NTxQvFc2h_5sCsAMTw5Yksxx7WkuM8oVvxYBfGcycWNhP4VUO32U5wmXKadxSUk-T_-9x27BOZmegW7Q/s320/GoldenGate_RearView_FullSize_Cropped.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div>
<span style="clear: left; color: black; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">Before my very eyes, a year has passed!</span></div>
<div>
<span style="clear: left; color: black; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></span></div>
<div>
<span style="clear: left; color: black; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">At this time last year, I had just woken up with an overwhelming sense of "melancholy anticipation" as my wife and I prepared to turn the page on what has clearly been the most exhilarating chapter of our lives.</span><br />
<span style="clear: left; color: black; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="clear: left; color: black; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">Notwithstanding our kind friends who stopped by to help (one of whom just took the day off impromptu in order to help us!), the tasks for the day ahead were as daunting as they were trivial: daunting in terms of the sheer volume of pending work, and yet seeming so trivial in comparison to the enormous leap of faith we were about to take and the uncertainties - of sorts - that lay ahead.</span><br />
<span style="clear: left; color: black; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><br /></span>
<span style="clear: left; color: black; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">As I look back, I am bemused at the paradoxes that have defined the year - the very things we cherished so much turned out to be the source of our pain: the very friends with whom we forged the strongest bonds were the very cause of our relocation becoming so difficult! The very values, practices and mindsets that gave us our foundation as children and then as adults turned out to be at loggerheads with what lay ahead, as we grappled with a transition that spanned geographies and professions and a transition that had to bridge generation gaps and lifestyle-whitespaces.</span></div>
<div>
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<span style="clear: left; color: black; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;">As I lay suspended between yesterday and tomorrow, it is perhaps time to stop being fixated on the reflection in the mirror and focus on what lies ahead. It is perhaps time to look "through the looking glass". </span></div>
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Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-89437851283960406242013-01-13T14:23:00.002+05:302013-01-13T14:29:02.117+05:30Nokia: Never Say Die<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRiLIOkCuJOiicjECdFWNVmXAMZ8YAc0fc4i4Ol-wmGy-mHSvga8_hbkZmAze9C9Jj3RBPRZhCOguG_8krjpL2ErwvxrgMBLBoO9POO0HMoLE6eIlhdPEGt1jQvbhaNjXpaYQvA/s1600/no3310_00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYRiLIOkCuJOiicjECdFWNVmXAMZ8YAc0fc4i4Ol-wmGy-mHSvga8_hbkZmAze9C9Jj3RBPRZhCOguG_8krjpL2ErwvxrgMBLBoO9POO0HMoLE6eIlhdPEGt1jQvbhaNjXpaYQvA/s200/no3310_00.jpg" width="137" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nokia 3310 - victim of <br />its own success</i></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I have been a loyal Nokia user for the last 12 years, ever since I starting using mobile phones - with the Nokia 3310 (the first ever product incidentally, which I have heard of being killed by its own manufacturer because it was cannibalizing the sales of other products).<br />
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In the beginning, it was the intuitiveness and standardization - of UI, charger and accessories - that won me over. Even though Nokia clearly missed the bus around 2005-2006 - and probably the whole point too - I continued to be an ardent fan of Nokia primarily because of the ruggedness of their phones. After briefly eloping with Sony and HTC for a couple of years, I returned home to Nokia in 2008 even at the peak of doomsday predictions pouring in from all quarters.<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5t5I7FYh_lqEyCqpSxd4uATIoqiK-3y2ho9-AKERA6Ag0HhNnpHzS3p42hioKJvRaYmCAWAcPY6ZPX9lFUftcmkSx1hQPhXI11Y8cWG26QodohfvZ-J2jo7utOqbMdZLpetj97g/s1600/PhoneReturned.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5t5I7FYh_lqEyCqpSxd4uATIoqiK-3y2ho9-AKERA6Ag0HhNnpHzS3p42hioKJvRaYmCAWAcPY6ZPX9lFUftcmkSx1hQPhXI11Y8cWG26QodohfvZ-J2jo7utOqbMdZLpetj97g/s200/PhoneReturned.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Connecting People: <br />Your Nokia is always returned!</i></td></tr>
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The upside of the scorn heaped upon me for my open and stubborn loyalty for this then-pronounced-dead brand, came in the form of safety: I could leave my phone and bluetooth headset lying around anywhere in the office and at parties without fear of theft or loss: not only was there no one who cared to "keep a Nokia for themselves", but also, everyone knew it was mine so it was always returned to me!<br />
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Over and above all the falls my various Nokia handsets have survived, the most startling experience with Nokia's ruggedness came late in 2011 when I accidentally drove the edge of a tyre of my 4,500-lb SUV over my BH-607 bluetooth headset. The collage below tells you the story of what happened to it - viz., almost nothing! Of course, it isn't really usable, but it still works!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrER8PrruJvNQsILGLN5YesRqeNzrrTFezxB04KJXRAID_jBNdcsfREUHRenxCwmOcu_8bEtXqC_xB6An2UJyOvdpa0Ar9BgywcGKn49o7sVPF7HwSKKrDxvpCMMp7D2DHVraOQQ/s1600/StoryOfARunOverBH607.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="121" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrER8PrruJvNQsILGLN5YesRqeNzrrTFezxB04KJXRAID_jBNdcsfREUHRenxCwmOcu_8bEtXqC_xB6An2UJyOvdpa0Ar9BgywcGKn49o7sVPF7HwSKKrDxvpCMMp7D2DHVraOQQ/s640/StoryOfARunOverBH607.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Story of a BH-607 run over by a 4,500-lb SUV - it survived!<br />(note the red light in the last picture indicating that the unit is charging)</i></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJin6zkJxfsw4y7rrCiRpcTqGKxFdnHFphpYPYq27R1Y2jyifoCj4tOy0w2YDF450x8iITbwmjtJojgTVaCLSSHGzg3wwplFq7De7zYMn7E6z9RdaWtp6fZkebmq4ehdMbwIyUw/s1600/Nokia-Lumia-920-hero-jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKJin6zkJxfsw4y7rrCiRpcTqGKxFdnHFphpYPYq27R1Y2jyifoCj4tOy0w2YDF450x8iITbwmjtJojgTVaCLSSHGzg3wwplFq7De7zYMn7E6z9RdaWtp6fZkebmq4ehdMbwIyUw/s200/Nokia-Lumia-920-hero-jpg.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Nokia Lumia 920<br />as featured on <a href="http://www.nokia.com/">http://www.nokia.com</a></i></td></tr>
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Perhaps their products are a reflection of the company's attitude - ruggedness, perseverance and a never-say-die attitude. Even if sometimes fuelled by oblivion to what just happened in the real word! :)<br />
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While the Lumia series - most recently, the 920 - seems to have raised a flicker of hope, doomsday predictions haven't totally disappeared.<br />
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And yet, that does not seem to have deterred the spirit of the company in keeping at its goal.<br />
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However, what really bowled me over was my E-71 battery's performance in the last 72 hours - I was travelling and forgot to carry my charger. Unlike in the days gone by, Nokia chargers are hard to find and I had to literally reach out through my network to pull strings to get a Nokia charger. While I did get a charger, the morning I was to travel back, at 7AM, the phone began beeping "Low Battery". Given that the phone and battery are almost 3.5+ years old I knew the battery was already on an extended lease of life.<br />
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I had my fingers crossed even as I was frantically communicating over SMS, calls and WhatsApp with friends I had to meet that morning.Despite its incessant protests all morning, it was only at 2PM just as I was boarding my flight, that the battery finally gave up.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPtqWciNwkvAEFjtdzwTTRCnaoHl3R7xkRE1YzNaCxbCBmzzWZzN_wkqadUHKHy00TlKmubBou2qamcQKi_7kUTJObmxMMRLNmWVKTXznNB9-VALf7DTCTvnhVTltoPz1VyRWKag/s1600/Nokia_StayingAlive.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="93" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPtqWciNwkvAEFjtdzwTTRCnaoHl3R7xkRE1YzNaCxbCBmzzWZzN_wkqadUHKHy00TlKmubBou2qamcQKi_7kUTJObmxMMRLNmWVKTXznNB9-VALf7DTCTvnhVTltoPz1VyRWKag/s320/Nokia_StayingAlive.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Nokia is dead! Long Live Nokia! </div>
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Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-92051551480785031792012-12-20T22:06:00.003+05:302012-12-20T22:08:55.967+05:30Back to School!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRQNGWDbVsJCsfdplSimPBjFPWaU5UUeAUIXiiHqjEO1S7j-d7uuyoaOvDrUWScDk7NJF1BLaUPBEFgYqV01qaNZz-nYWvbrsqzKMLojzAssIlVvcoD9-LS0_PaGVYBH3_48IyA/s1600/18122012472.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMRQNGWDbVsJCsfdplSimPBjFPWaU5UUeAUIXiiHqjEO1S7j-d7uuyoaOvDrUWScDk7NJF1BLaUPBEFgYqV01qaNZz-nYWvbrsqzKMLojzAssIlVvcoD9-LS0_PaGVYBH3_48IyA/s320/18122012472.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: left;">Earlier this week, I had the privilege of accompanying my wife to her alma mater where she was invited as the Chief Guest for her school's Annual Day celebrations.</span>
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The Canara Institutions (of which my wife's school is a part), much like Loyola High School in Margao where I studied, is over a century old. They have both defined the lives of multiple generations - often within the same family - and are what I consider, "institutions with a soul". I cannot describe what I mean by that, but those of you who have studied in either - or similar - institutions will know what I mean.<br />
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It was at this Annual Day that I suddenly realized that in March of this (academic) year, I complete 20 years since I walked out of "high school" - and with it, walked into a new world, leaving the many pure and simple pleasures of school life behind. It's been 20 years since I attended programs like the Annual Day, Sports Day and so on.</div>
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Some of these memories have been coming back through my cousins and of course, my own son as I see and hear them prepare for some of these functions and events. But it is quite something else to be physically present there and transport yourself through a decade or two - or three - and a million memories. All in a matter of minutes, without Picasa, without Facebook, without external hard disks, without an electronic screen.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPByFnXzszLaaHPoHKAHpg65xZYyRPIjYvd_35CjGv89GiBaHQ-o1CZtkEsKjyXdZ2N3NcpHZ8kGW3edwACnhXV9NqnbilclryjeoEqlN7MFCSl_-pyKyJ6bfeYtKjc4JI3wL_YA/s1600/18122012474.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPByFnXzszLaaHPoHKAHpg65xZYyRPIjYvd_35CjGv89GiBaHQ-o1CZtkEsKjyXdZ2N3NcpHZ8kGW3edwACnhXV9NqnbilclryjeoEqlN7MFCSl_-pyKyJ6bfeYtKjc4JI3wL_YA/s320/18122012474.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
But it isn't the memories I am writing about.</div>
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There was something else that caught my attention - and rekindled my joy and my optimism.</div>
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It was the children.</div>
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Be it the march-past, martial arts display, nursery kids' program, prize distribution or the MCs, the spark in their eyes was so uniformly present. In fact it got to a point where I engaged in a furtive exercise to find a kid who was merely going through the motions without that spark - I am glad to say it was an exercise in futility. The confidence with which even the nursery kids were strutting their stuff, was amazing. The few kids I got a chance to talk to - albeit briefly - caught my attention because of the confident tone in which they were speaking to a total stranger.</div>
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Even at the risk of muting the efforts of their teachers and parents, I had to hand it to the kids.</div>
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In the backdrop of all the nonsense that has been demoralising me in the last few months, the spirit I saw in these kids was a morale booster.<br />
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It was a reaffirmation of how traditional institutions can adapt to the times to measure up and prepare the next generation. Being a reputed but traditional institution in a semi-urban but fairly conservative setting, I had expected good quality and high standards. But I had also expected an air of resigned contentment even if without any complacency. The spark and enthusiasm I saw in the children - and the measures taken by the school to gear itself up for modernization - took me completely by surprise.<br />
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Fortunately, a very pleasant - and encouraging - one.<br />
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Like someone rightly said, "<i>We worry about what a child will become tomorrow; yet we forget that (s)he is already someone today</i>"!<br />
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After having briefly "gone back to school", the journey coming back home turned out to be a journey back to reality, when the attender on the Rajdhani Express came around asking for tips!<br />
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Looks like we have a lot of people we need to send (back) to school!</div>
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Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-21628869167589243552012-08-13T22:40:00.000+05:302012-08-13T23:06:21.969+05:30When the Troubleshooter got into Trouble!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGk0tzOiATwxJNai2NVRa5v0KK6YOUSNSuLb5cb6Sk62TWdyWFt65SHHZMZV2DtLcXmp_d5pifRVCzsFSewmrVCwEB06QDY0Xzi_J91ObxHWV8IwiPDCvsNpPkV_XJvNymAjpCw/s1600/frikipix_somebody_get_fireman.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="124" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNGk0tzOiATwxJNai2NVRa5v0KK6YOUSNSuLb5cb6Sk62TWdyWFt65SHHZMZV2DtLcXmp_d5pifRVCzsFSewmrVCwEB06QDY0Xzi_J91ObxHWV8IwiPDCvsNpPkV_XJvNymAjpCw/s200/frikipix_somebody_get_fireman.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image source: <a href="http://www.frikipix.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/frikipix_somebody_get_fireman.jpg" target="_blank">http://www.frikipix.com/...</a></td></tr>
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I vividly remember my high-school science teacher telling us - when teaching us about electricity - "Don't try to be a good samaritan if you see a wire lying on the road. It might just be live!".<br />
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I was a live and mute (dumbfounded, actually!) witness this morning to exactly this. Except that a sense of guilt and embarrassment far overshadowed my amusement.<br />
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I was easing my car into the parking slot this morning in Panaji and inadvertently rolled into a ditch that ran between the road shoulder and the footpath. I had seen it before parking but didn't realize it would create trouble; and was in fact trying to do my own bit by making sure the car wasn't obstructing traffic. The ditch was about 8 inches wide and about 4 inches deep. Even then it would still have been a non-issue except that for some weird reason the front tires that were in the ditch kept spinning and the car wouldn't budge (I realized but only later, that there was in fact a very simple explanation for this).<br />
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While there was no damage whatsoever to the car, it was perched awkwardly enough to attract attention. Nothing like a little excitement on a Monday morning - and that too for Goans - so in 30 seconds flat even though it was before 9AM on a Monday, there were at least 3-5 friendly onlookers who came to "supervise", "advise", "oversee" and "guide" the rescue operation.<br />
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After about a minute of futile rubber-burning, a onlooker about 20 feet away who had been thoughtfully watching this until now stepped forward because he saw something I hadn't and gave me some meaningful advice. And stood bang in front of the car to make sure I did it right. All I had to do was turn the tires a bit to help the tire get better traction on the edge of the road so the car would move without the tires spinning.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikIN9YXM7UOn5tDyl70QHLX6bAq2hqOqq-1q6GuyERdiM-h9fpcivq8_j5zqlN7yUFhfu_Udlho2T6dPClUyslm7kjw-liC7fuSAxq-AUvT_zLuPtV1gy_sQxc9A78zHpE8SYG1A/s1600/3401206062_140437d4b8_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikIN9YXM7UOn5tDyl70QHLX6bAq2hqOqq-1q6GuyERdiM-h9fpcivq8_j5zqlN7yUFhfu_Udlho2T6dPClUyslm7kjw-liC7fuSAxq-AUvT_zLuPtV1gy_sQxc9A78zHpE8SYG1A/s320/3401206062_140437d4b8_z.jpg" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Under CC license from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jpo2/3401206062/sizes/z/in/photostream/" target="_blank">Flickr</a></td></tr>
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I took his advice.<br />
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I turned the steering.<br />
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And hit the accelerator.<br />
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It would been a brilliant idea. If only I had turned the steering a little more.<br />
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The net - or rather, wet - result was that the onlooker got splattered with fresh mud! On his white shirt and black trousers! On a Monday morning!<br />
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As I rushed out of the car to apologize, the poor Samaritan gave me a weak I-know-it-was-not-your-fault-but-dude-wtf smile and walked away shaking his head in disbelief.<br />
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Mr. Good Samaritan, my apologies. Thank you for your help this morning and may God bless you. I hope you had a good day after this and have a wonderful week ahead!<br />
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Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-63378960291452910002012-08-13T21:44:00.002+05:302012-08-13T21:44:28.869+05:30Thank You!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Gagan Narang, Saina Nehwal, MC Mary Kom, Vijay Kumar, Yogeshwar Dutt and Sushil Kumar: take a bow as we salute you. <br/><br/>
You excelled in the face of every odd - paltry training infrastructure, dysfunctional political environment, stepchild treatment to every sport other than cricket and in the shadow of meritocracy's death. <br/><br/>
THANK YOU!<br /></div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-51374861279239533412012-04-19T22:59:00.001+05:302012-12-08T13:01:42.196+05:30The Circle of Life<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNnfZaUgEblWYOVQHcphM9SFGeS4klxlwzN-pzSLf4UYG21YCQsgl7g58n396VR-G5V-mtvoDnGx7s3Ba32Q3WsEMMGqiXOOnTKTZxK5J5zzW5HLpucHosjmOAuMqijpMdU0kT1Q/s1600/Lionkingcharacters.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNnfZaUgEblWYOVQHcphM9SFGeS4klxlwzN-pzSLf4UYG21YCQsgl7g58n396VR-G5V-mtvoDnGx7s3Ba32Q3WsEMMGqiXOOnTKTZxK5J5zzW5HLpucHosjmOAuMqijpMdU0kT1Q/s320/Lionkingcharacters.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Image Source: http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/The_Lion_King</td></tr>
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My memories of my childhood evoke only emotions of joy and
happiness. And the nostalgia that goes with it. I had the privilege of a happy childhood thanks to my parents, grandparents and uncles.<br />
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An integral part of those
memories are mental images of full-of-life, vibrant grandparents, parents,
uncles, aunts, neighbors, neighbour’s neighbours and who-have-you. All in their
prime of life.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The insatiable and inscrutable desire to "grow big" was also
an integral part of childhood for all my friends and me – in whatever terms the
notion of "big" was defined in our teeny brains back then.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So grow big, we did. My cousins, friends and me. And then
off we went to college, for post-graduation, for our jobs. Chasing our dreams
and aspirations.<br />
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In my case, my dreams and aspirations brought me back home.<o:p></o:p></div>
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I returned to join the family business after a 14-year stint
away from home. Needless to say, it was – is – a H.U.G.E transition for me – I
switched not just my "job" and my industry, but I also transported myself across timezones,
geographies, economies, cultures and pretty much darn near everything that defined
my world.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
As I settled in, I was thrown off-guard by something I
always knew and was always conscious of, but never prepared myself for. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
The circle of life.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I was prepared for culture change, for generation gaps, for
differences in mindsets, for unaligned perspectives and priorities. But the
circle of life, I was not prepared for.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Pretty much all those full-of-life, vibrant grandparents,
uncles, aunts, neighbours, neighbour’s neighbours and who-have-you had moved on
in age. Many of them had even moved on from this world. And why wouldn’t they?
From being a little toddler myself back then, I have my own toddler now, so
it’s only natural that time has moved on for everyone else too.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Yet, it’s not as if I visited home for the first time in 14
years – I’ve been meeting these folks almost every year. But somehow, my mind’s
eye was not seeing what my physical eye was transmitting. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Until now.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Just as I was struggling to settle into my new environs, the
realization hit me that the circle of life was in full play. Even before I
could attempt to take that in my stride, I was knocked back even more when I
accidentally ran into the funeral procession of a friend’s father.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
I had grown up, but apparently, wasn’t ready to grow up.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Of course, much of my immediate circle is still full of
energy, but the signs are beginning to show.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
What brought me to the brink of this emotional churn though,
was the passing of my maternal grandmother this morning. At the ripe old age of
88, my maternal grandmother breathed her last. <o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All my student life and almost through to graduation, I had
this rather uncommon privilege of having all my 4 grandparents alive – their
individual and collective influence was the lynchpin of my value system and
character over & above everything my parents taught me.<br />
<br />
As I reflect upon the lives my grandparents led, I feel like a dwarf - whatever I may have achieved, I don't think I can make the kind of sacrifices they have made all through their lives. In particular, my grandmothers - both of them. While my paternal grandmother was compassion in its purest form, my maternal grandmother consistently and unflinchingly subjugated herself, her wishes and her interests for the greater good of her family.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Today, with her passing, it dawned on me that life was
beckoning me to prepare for the journey ahead.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
To traverse the circle of life.</div>
</div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-49570020571269575412012-01-04T10:54:00.000+05:302012-02-15T20:55:58.569+05:30Spiritual Intelligence: International Religion of the 21st Century?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Prelude</b></span><br />
<br />
Religion it would seem, has failed us.<br />
<br />
Prayer was to have helped us find salvation and good karma was to have paved the way for a promising destiny. Evil should have vanquished at the hands of good and the villains should have long-rotted in hell. Peace, love and discipline – preached by all religions – should have prevailed.<br />
<br />
Instead, we find thugs leading the good life while honest citizens languish and terrible fates seem to befall the best of people we know. Religious figureheads seem as scam-prone as politicians and even temple trusts are not immune to embezzlement. Ethnic strife is, ironically, fuelled – not quelled - by religious beliefs and views.<br />
<br />
In contrast, the long-decried materialistic ways of the West that focus on instant gratification seem to offer a more predictable and higher standard of living than our spiritual ways that promise a pathway to a future paradise.<br />
<br />
The scientific method has empowered us with so much information that the fabric and credibility of religion have been impacted.<br />
<br />
But has it really?<br />
<br />
Have we truly been empowered by information or are the dangers of applying half-knowledge lurking round the corner?<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><b><br />
</b></span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: large;">Genesis</span></b><br />
<br />
Indians are by nature heavily influenced by culture and tradition and in a sense, fairly possessive about them too. And that's not bad at all. Except that when the culture and tradition are not “scientifically-grounded”, it's easy for us to get confused.<br />
<br />
Needless to say, our culture and traditions are heavily influenced by our religion and compounded by regional variations. Given that we have no dearth of regions or religions in India, the resulting mix of culture and tradition based on religion is both, strong and fragile, widespread and localized.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
Until the mid-to-late-1980s, the Indian milieu was ultra-conservative; almost orthodox. A uniform civil code was never enforced, though thankfully we have been a secular state. Social norms and local culture were tightly aligned with religious traditions and practices. Families were patriarchal – if not joint families – and it was not uncommon for the patriarch's scope of decision-making to extend to choice of a career and spouse. Baseless superstitions disguised as tradition were passed down generations and readily accepted. A wrecked marriage usually spelt eternal doom for both spouses – divorce was an option that only a bold few in urban areas would dare consider. <br />
<br />
A few discreet hoardings for Nirodh were the only public depictions of sex – cameras in Bollywood would still abruptly swing upwards if lips came within 12 inches of each other. Marriage was the implicit threshold beyond which no liberties were allowed with the dress-code for women and even then, modesty was the overarching theme of all attire.<br />
<br />
This milieu sustained itself largely because we were a scarcity economy with low literacy levels. Financial dependence on the patriarch often translated into emotional dependence which set the stage for compliance and obedience without complaint. Low literacy levels meant that traditional and religious practices were accepted more out of fear than as a consequence of rational analysis.<br />
<br />
This was the era before the internet, cable TV, mobile phones, Facebook and Twitter.<br />
<br />
Then came the era of economic liberalization starting in 1991. We didn't see that coming.<br />
<br />
<div><br />
</div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Transformation</b></span><br />
<br />
What started as a trickle of western influence through cable TV exposure developed into a tsunami before our very eyes. Going with the flow was the only choice – there was no alternative.<br />
<br />
None of these influences were – or are – bad in their own right. It's just that our culture and tradition were not scientifically-grounded. We easily got confused. All of us. Our generation got confused because we were getting mixed signals as we grew up. The previous generation was in a fix because on one hand, they found it difficult to defend the very practices they had willingly complied with, while on the other hand, for the very same reason, they found it difficult to discard them overnight.<br />
<br />
Liberalization had literally opened the floodgates. Greater access to information through the internet and exposure to foreign culture through cable TV opened our eyes to newer and different ways of life; increased international travel broadened our horizons and influx of multi-national brands and products offered an abundance, variety and quality that was hitherto unknown.<br />
<br />
Obviously, this had a transformational effect on our society. The economic prosperity that set in with liberalization fuelled the transformation because it redefined the economy and with it, the nation. Unorganized sectors saw an infusion of commercialization for the first time. Privatization brought in competition and access to contemporary technologies thus putting world-class but affordable technology at our disposal.<br />
<br />
There was a sea change - the internet, predictable supply of vegetables, packaged grains and pulses, fast-food culture, better healthcare, international fashion brands priced for India, proliferation of PCs and so much more.<br />
<br />
All this allowed us to shift our focus from eternally saving for a rainy day to consuming for the present. Idle dreams suddenly became achievable aspirations (albeit fueled by greed). <b>In that shift alone, our standard of living and our way of thinking were redefined more radically in 5 years than they had been in the last 30 years</b>. <br />
<div><br />
</div><br />
<div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Transition and Soul Searching</span></b></div><div><br />
</div><div>With all these changes came the inevitable changes to culture. And with those changes came the inevitable fallout to another important constituent: our value system.</div><div><br />
</div><div>As the transformation reflected in everything from our consumption patterns and dress codes to the role of religion in our lives and our value system, the burgeoning middle-class was suddenly feeling the throes of growth and the transition. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Value systems provide us the same anchor and guiding path that the Mission-Vision-Values provide a corporate entity. When that foundation is shaken and when the faith is diluted, what results is a lot of soul-searching. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Of course, there's the universal black & white code of conduct that tells us what is right and wrong even in the face of all this transformation, but there's also a lot of gray area that's usually difficult to rationalize or defend one way or another. Sometimes it's about our values itself (e.g., casual sex), sometimes about a social duty or obligation (e.g., caring for aging parents) and sometimes it's about a culture or tradition that we may or may not agree with or understand but has nevertheless been passed on for generations (e.g., how we treat guests or how a son-in-law is treated). Often, we confuse a tradition we barely understand for a value we want to defend or protect. Or, we confuse a value we have lived by, for a tradition that can be dismissed because it is convenient to do so. </div><div><br />
</div><div>That's when the waters get muddied even more and rebels-without-a-cause – or worse, moral police – are born. </div><div><br />
</div><div>Inter-caste marriages, pre-marital or live-in relationships, regulating what our children read/watch/speak, accommodating the preferences of others to adjust our own plans, our stands on body piercing and body art, single or unmarried parents, etc. are all examples of these gray areas. More subtle examples – but impactful in equal measure – are the mindsets and attitudes we nurture in our children towards elders, towards God, towards our values and towards a fluid definition of "culture" and "tradition". </div><div><br />
</div><div>In many of these cases, lack of resistance for a particular point of view does not necessarily imply acceptance. Also in many cases, there are practical difficulties posed by geographic separation or financial constraints that inhibit people from aligning their actions with their beliefs and wishes. If all that and the current Indian setting wasn't already in a flux and posing challenges, an upwardly and globally mobile Indian middle-class has brought in more influences to add to the confusion.</div><div><br />
</div><div><br />
</div><div><b><span style="font-size: large;">Spirituality and Spiritual Intelligence</span></b></div><div><br />
</div><div>So where does that leave us? Has our culture outlived its relevance and purpose? Is it time to hive religion overboard? Do we need a value-system overhaul?</div><div><br />
</div><div>Maybe, but I would tread with caution. I would be judicious in choosing which elements of my culture I would let go and I would certainly be very wary of any reconfiguration of my value system.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I've had my share of confusion as to what I will hold on to and what I will let go. I've also had my share of doubts about our culture. I've even been shaken by encounters with greedy temple priests and people in my community whose spirituality and conscience – let alone religious fervor – seems to be controlled by the same switch that controls the spotlight on which their behavior is based. I've been incensed by temple trustees of means and letters who are content with pomp & splendor in religious activities without any vision or channel to serve the needy.<br />
</div><div>But all through, my value system – many elements of which were intricately linked to my culture and my religion - has unfailingly, unwaveringly stood me in good stead. More importantly, myriad incidents and a few close calls have caused me to look at culture, religion, spirituality and values in a new light and have caused me to reflect deeply. Not to mention that even developed nations still reel under the horrors of child abuse, incest, miscarriage of justice and worse, with all their technology advances, mature jurisprudence and diligent caution.<br />
<br />
</div><div>Religion as we profess it today, is stretched to its limits in dealing with modern society's needs. A globally mobile population gives rise to the need for "cultural portability" and clearly, religion in its current form has its limitations. Try for instance, scheduling a marriage in the US based on a date and time that is auspicious. Or performing a "<i>gana-homa</i>" before moving into your new house in the US.<br />
<br />
</div><div>Clearly, there is a need for change. Indeed, the Bhagvad Gita itself exhorts change and Hindu philosophy even embodies the doctrine of "Mimamsa" – viz., investigation into the nature of "dharma" based on interpretations, revelations and provisions of the Vedas, thus laying the foundation for informed change.<br />
<br />
</div><div>How then does one deal with these dynamics? For me, the answer lies in spirituality.<br />
<br />
</div><div>I have come to regard spirituality much like the institution of marriage – not everything can be reduced to a formula and not all is a bed of roses. But it is still a bed of roses; the thorns regularly serve as "hedonism arrestors". In the long run, the companionship provides much-needed emotional support at a very personal level. Like marriage, everyone has their own personal views and not everyone needs to be married to be happy, stable and emotionally secure.<br />
<br />
</div><div>There's spirituality and there's religion. And there's an overlap between the two. Most Indians of my generation have grown up in the thick of the overlap. Increasingly, people are gravitating towards the spirituality end of the overlap. What frightens me – and perhaps what has driven the shift towards spirituality – are the people who are religious without being spiritual.<br />
<br />
</div><div>So what does this mean for me?<br />
<br />
</div><div>My value system has proved its worth and its mettle. I will not have anyone or anything redefining that.</div><div>My/our culture is something that has taken some weathering but it prevails and will (must) adapt continuously. Attitudes that nurture respect and attitudes of conservative consumption as opposed to one of wastage are definitely two tenets of our culture that I will strive to protect and imbibe in my children.<br />
<br />
</div><div>I will not resist rites & rituals but will refuse to be party to practices that imply indignity to another individual or are counter-productive to the cause of larger good they must embody. It is not our culture to rebel and I respect that, but I also recognize that controlled and selective rebellion is sometimes a necessary agent of change.<br />
<br />
</div><div>Spirituality then will be the guiding light to help me apply my values, adapt my culture and profess my faith. When the time comes – which will be sooner than I think – I pray I will have the right answers to the tough questions that my children are sure to ask.<br />
<br />
</div><div>Interestingly, "spiritual intelligence" – an emerging concept and body of knowledge – attempts to establish a "spiritual correlate to IQ". Whether it is a fad that will fizzle out remains to be seen, but clearly, spirituality is gaining ground as a new frontier that is seamless over faiths, cultures, ethnicities and geographies.<br />
<br />
</div><div>Like the French philosopher and Nobel prize winner Albert Camus said, "I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't and die to find out there is"!<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Acknowledgments</u></b>:<br />
Thanks are due to my close friend Vinatha Pai, for her constructive feedback and to my uncle, Gurudatt Mallya for his inputs and validations and in particular for making me aware of “Mimamsa”. Both of them readily took time out of their busy schedules to help me refine this article.<br />
<br />
<u><b>References</b></u>:<br />
1.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>Wikipedia – <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spirituality">Spirituality</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spiritual_intelligence">Spiritual Intelligence</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma">Karma</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karma">Religion</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimamsa">Mimamsa</a><br />
2.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>War of the Worldviews: Science vs. Spirituality, Deepak Chopra and Leonard Mlodinow<br />
3.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>HBR Blog Network: Mastering the Art of Living Meaningfull Well (<a href="http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2011/12/mastering_the_art_of_living_me.html">http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2011/12/mastering_the_art_of_living_me.html</a>)</div></div></div>Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-21164106781857039032011-12-30T22:07:00.000+05:302011-12-30T22:12:36.692+05:30FasTrak Fool or Foolish FasTrak?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">There's this guy - or gal - who seems to be making a habit of it. Either evading the toll or wrongly getting into the FasTrak lane.<br />
<br />
Same car, same place. White Nissan hatchback/truck bearing plate number 3POH888 (number changed, of course). Bay Bridge. Twice in 5 months. A white-colored Nissan, mind you, a white-colored Nissan.<br />
<br />
Why do I care?<br />
<br />
Because the blokes at FasTrak want to be "in the wrong lane" too. They keeping sending the violation notices to me. Because my car bears the number 3PQH888. The first time I dismissed it because there was clearly a human error caused by the "O" resembling the "Q" and all other numbers/alphabets being an exact match.<br />
<br />
That they made the same mistake again is surprising enough, but what really gets me is that the Toll Notices contained the description of my car too: a Black Not-Nissan Sedan. Accompanied by the picture of the white Nissan.<br />
<br />
Somebody, please slow down and look before you rush.</div>Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-81990677628649506022011-10-30T05:37:00.000+05:302016-07-05T18:19:50.618+05:30Occupational Hazards<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Hr4H5aCuDeHvd4qkiY-YGL8AYVj7TEAR4YdYPRsi8LUvq06Ig6gqRjrOv6u0aFoqsoI_TG_DCq60hkL9RHokS1kpaZC-cHvJ2sPY63z9Kvw21mPXu9EF5dZAna6WZAlxHgFibQ/s1600/FireEater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4Hr4H5aCuDeHvd4qkiY-YGL8AYVj7TEAR4YdYPRsi8LUvq06Ig6gqRjrOv6u0aFoqsoI_TG_DCq60hkL9RHokS1kpaZC-cHvJ2sPY63z9Kvw21mPXu9EF5dZAna6WZAlxHgFibQ/s1600/FireEater.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Used under CCL from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/kuminiac/5031763752/in/photostream/">kuminiac's album</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Like the fire eater pictured here, EVERY profession - without exception - has its own occupational hazards. Some are just more visible and some have a greater element of physical danger, but it's always there. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Often, some professions are romanticized by society and the media (e.g., software engineering in India) or are vilified by its own circumstances, actions and then some more by society and the media (e.g., police forces). To a point that its occupational hazards are completely obfuscated.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Over the years, I have been struck by a different perspective of "occupational hazard" - viz., how the core soft skills (separate from the job-related competencies) exercised in one's profession tend to unwittingly and inadvertently define the individual.<br />
<br />
The following are examples (in no particular order) that I have encountered in my personal life - examples where I have seen professionals excel at their core skills and outperform their colleagues and then seen that very skill reflecting in their personal lives <i>in ways that they may not have always wanted</i> and <i>in ways they may not even realize</i>. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="3"><tbody>
<tr> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid black;" width="15%"><b>Profession</b></td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid black;" width="45%"><b>Key soft skills</b></td> <td style="border-bottom: 1px solid black;"><b>Observed Impact</b></td> </tr>
<tr><td colspan="3"></td></tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">Doctors</td> <td valign="top">Fine blend of compassion and detachment: Compassion to connect with the patient's pain, illness and suffering; detachment to ensure that the doctor can be part of the solution and not become part of the problem. This helps them deal with misery - and often, death - that they must bravely come face-to-face with every single day.</td> <td valign="top">Convey an image of being hardened when they talk about pain, misery and death (and the circumstances that bring these on) with detachment. The very detachment that makes them excel at their profession.</td> </tr>
<tr><td colspan="3"></td></tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">Sales*</td> <td valign="top">- Eloquence & Confidence<br />
- Optimism without being foolish<br />
- Zero fear of rejection without being shameless</td> <td valign="top">Elan even in the absence of sufficient data and greater tolerance for white lies.</td> </tr>
<tr><td colspan="3"></td></tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">Accounts & Finance</td> <td valign="top">- Drive "accountability" down to the penny(/cent/paisa)<br />
- Draw confidence and comfort from a balanced ledger<br />
- Keen financial impact analysis ability</td> <td valign="top">Tendency to seek greater comfort in arithmetic than in math - i.e., have trouble seeing the larger picture and putting things in perspective.</td> </tr>
<tr><td colspan="3"></td></tr>
<tr> <td valign="top">Software Engineers*</td> <td valign="top">- Syntactic and computational precision<br />
- Top-down, divide & conquer problem-solving approach</td> <td valign="top">Have a black & white perspective of life - often ignoring or failing to comprehend the hues & colors of the human touch. Often sacrificing semantic appreciation for syntactic precision*</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
* I am a software engineer by profession and my "recent" transition to a technical pre-sales role required a little bit of transformation. Kind of an "<a href="http://www.suhasmallya.com/2014/09/the-story-of-my-upgrade-to-colour.html" target="_blank">upgrade to color</a>". I must admit therefore that I am called upon to practice a combination of skills of these two professions and consequently, am equally prone to a combination of their impact.<br />
<br />
<br />
Of course, the foregoing is not intended to ridicule any profession or professional - true professionals are ones to be saluted and admired in any field. Like I have pointed out before, the emphasis is on "<i>ways that they may not have always wanted</i>" and "<i>ways they may not even realize</i>.". <br />
<br />
The foregoing is just a conclusion I have drawn that leaves me bemused. It has made me realize that there are more occupational "hazards" and more perspectives to these "hazards" than meet the eye. And most importantly, it has served as an eye-opener for me and led me to some serious introspection. </div>
</div>
Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-50039352977660374842011-10-03T13:02:00.000+05:302011-10-03T13:24:43.846+05:30Naming Ceremony: What's in a Name?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><i>"A rose by any other name would smell just as sweet"</i><br />
<i> - William Shakespeare</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i>"Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose"*</i><br />
<i> - Gertrude Stein</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
Last week, I got involved in helping someone find a name for his new venture. For reasons of confidentiality, I cannot talk about the venture nor the name that we closed out on, but the process was an interesting and intriguing one.<br />
<br />
My last - and perhaps, my only other - really serious project at identifying a name was when my wife was carrying our baby. While my wife and I sifted through many names, the "framework" was simple and the decision-making straightforward. The framework/parameters were that we both wanted a name that was easy to pronounce and easy across cultures, had a meaning that we would be proud to have our child live up to and was not a “retro” name. The decision-making was simple: we had to both like it.<br />
<br />
With the business venture, though I had not expected it to be all too easy, it was a trifle more challenging than I had imagined. Whatever the approach to coming up with a list of names, it had to have a corresponding or phonetically similar domain name available, should not already have been trademarked/copyrighted and had to be "culturally scalable".<br />
<br />
While my friend went with right-brain gut, I resorted to left-brain structure to compensate for my handicap in creativity. I came up with a table that looked roughly like this:<br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; margin-left: 5.4pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;"><tbody>
<tr> <td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 99.9pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="background: #D9D9D9; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.05in;" valign="top" width="101"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">Descriptive<o:p></o:p></div></td> <td style="background: #D9D9D9; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.95pt;" valign="top" width="119"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">Suggestive<o:p></o:p></div></td> <td style="background: #D9D9D9; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">Arbitrary<o:p></o:p></div></td> <td style="background: #D9D9D9; border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;">Fanciful<o:p></o:p></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 99.9pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Color-coding<o:p></o:p></div></td> <td colspan="4" style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 294.15pt;" valign="top" width="392"><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 20.7pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="color: red; font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: red;">Domain not available<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 20.7pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="color: #0000cc; font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: #0000cc;">Domain parked – may be available<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: 20.7pt; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: 0in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><span style="color: green; font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font: normal normal normal 7pt/normal 'Times New Roman';"> </span></span><span style="color: green;">Domain available<o:p></o:p></span></div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="background: #D9D9D9; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 99.9pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">One word<o:p></o:p></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.05in;" valign="top" width="101"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.95pt;" valign="top" width="119"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="background: #D9D9D9; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 99.9pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Two words<o:p></o:p></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.05in;" valign="top" width="101"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.95pt;" valign="top" width="119"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="background: #D9D9D9; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 99.9pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Multi-Syllable<o:p></o:p></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.05in;" valign="top" width="101"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.95pt;" valign="top" width="119"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> </tr>
<tr> <td style="background: #D9D9D9; border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-background-themecolor: background1; mso-background-themeshade: 217; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 99.9pt;" valign="top" width="133"><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">Alliteration-style<o:p></o:p></div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 1.05in;" valign="top" width="101"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 88.95pt;" valign="top" width="119"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> <td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: .9in;" valign="top" width="86"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; text-align: center;"><br />
</div></td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Within the table, all names considered were listed and color-coded to indicate availability of the corresponding domain name. The X-axis helped profile the name based on its meaning – or lack of it – while the Y-axis helped identify names of different compositions. </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">I originally started out with just "Descriptive" and "Non-descriptive" on the X-axis but the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_naming">Wikipedia page on "Product Naming"</a> helped me put more structure around it.</div><br />
<br />
Eventually, we went with a name that my friend pulled out of his hat, but the table above did help me "brainstorm with myself" and generate a bunch of names.<br />
<br />
Like I said, I found the process very interesting and am wondering how one would come up with a name if you didn't want to engage a pricey branding/marketing organization and if your creative juices weren’t flowing. <b>Would be happy to get inputs from my readers</b>.<br />
<br />
Of course, once you build the brand even “fanciful" and "arbitrary" names will sound nice and even logical – Google, Twitter, Cisco, Apple are all excellent examples. These are neither descriptive nor associated with the founder’s name – e.g., Tata, Ferrari, Ford, Toyota, Mercedes, etc. – and yet, have built a powerful image and perception around the brand.<br />
<br />
Last but not the least – and the real motivation for this post – is that I began reflecting upon a few <b>Indian </b>logos/brand names that we grew up with as children. I marvel at how these brands acquired mindshare without the benefit of extensive market research, without mass marketing and without social media. All of these brands are brands that were descriptive as well as suggestive as well as fanciful as well as rich in the meaning they conveyed. All but one – at least in my eyes – were also rich in the quality they delivered (and there will be no prizes for guessing which one I think, did not deliver that quality).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqq-5K42SNb9Z4pQYuoYpNtaOzlf0l-KIAJ-9rTrjrzzDy9PtD4UG3I3fKWjlcmbr3C3DWhEl7nMf9RXasJwWYnghZlP05-Qlmsy8fMgBmlq7edXNTFVIJphKwsZ028UFhik8jxg/s1600/LogosCollage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqq-5K42SNb9Z4pQYuoYpNtaOzlf0l-KIAJ-9rTrjrzzDy9PtD4UG3I3fKWjlcmbr3C3DWhEl7nMf9RXasJwWYnghZlP05-Qlmsy8fMgBmlq7edXNTFVIJphKwsZ028UFhik8jxg/s640/LogosCollage.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br />
<br />
The next time I see or hear a name that makes me wonder what it means or why someone chose that name, I am sure I will spare a little empathy for the person who had to make the decision.<br />
<br />
After all, even though I Google for something I want to find and tweet something I want to announce, and Like something I like and even though I grew up reading Amar Chitra Katha and drinking Rasna, left to me, I would never have come up with these names. Names that resonate in so many hearts and minds across the world.<br />
<br />
Even though a rose would smell as sweet by any name called, a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose*.<br />
<br />
<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">*I have of course, twisted the interpretation of this slightly, for effect</span></i></div>Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-20012119790148862822011-09-23T08:43:00.000+05:302011-09-23T08:54:15.012+05:30Good Work, Goa Police!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Unlike my other posts, this one is not humorous, introspective, sarcastic or reflective. This one is a grim, true story.<br />
<br />
Often, we hear of incompetence, shoddiness, bungling and apathy on part of the Police - whether in Goa or elsewhere. It may stem from a lack of skills, lack of willingness, lack of diligence, lack of integrity, whatever... you get the picture. And it's a rather prevalent picture.<br />
<br />
The same "energy" that fuels my angst when I hear of such incidents is fueling my obligation now - along with other factors - to recognize and publicize some outstanding work that Goa Police did this week.<br />
<br />
Earlier this week, on 19th Sept., a 10-year-old was kidnapped from outside his school in Margao, at 1:30PM. Goa Police employed a combination of good old police work and surprising tact & professionalism instead of plain force to effect a successful rescue and nab the pieces of human garbage that perpetrated this crime. In just about 4 hours, the boy was rescued and by 8:30PM he was home after a 25km. journey and after completing all the police paperwork and procedures.<br />
<br />
To cut a long story short, Goa Police swung into action in no time. They deployed 4 teams of plain-clothes policemen, hired 4 private cars so as to not arouse suspicion, worked with cell service providers to trace the call and place a real-time track on the kidnappers' movements and had clearly anticipated possible moves by the kidnappers. They reportedly sealed the borders as well when the cell movement indicated an eastward path. Indeed, the final rescue required them to move to Plan B since the kidnappers put paid to Plan A at the last minute. Whether they did go in with a Plan B in the first place or not, they did come up with one.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAObjrQx3Am-12URb2mh8cHJugeliDaqqUVasW-SVOz4xjTSIKxSw4lHVClY6H0TvlQ5CTcMbJJjWcb37_jsmSAt4ZdX_qoA7B07hl4p6OpBlKqxIY_4uJ1dxWKvLby-12gcAraA/s1600/GoaPolice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAObjrQx3Am-12URb2mh8cHJugeliDaqqUVasW-SVOz4xjTSIKxSw4lHVClY6H0TvlQ5CTcMbJJjWcb37_jsmSAt4ZdX_qoA7B07hl4p6OpBlKqxIY_4uJ1dxWKvLby-12gcAraA/s1600/GoaPolice.jpg" /></a></div>Moreover, going by all reports, all this happened without any reward being offered or sought. And no strings pulled. The victim reached out and Goa Police answered their call of duty.<br />
<br />
While one does not want such incidents happening anywhere to anyone, hopefully, this will raise the bar. And hence, confidence. Of Goa Police in itself and of the public at large. Hopefully, the perpetrators will remain behind bars without any attempts by "vested interests" to "influence" a milder outcome. Hopefully, this will become Goa Police's norm and will extend to spheres other than child-related crimes as well.<br />
<br />
<b>Good work, Goa Police! I salute you on this one.</b></div>Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-85877013596056000872011-08-29T03:58:00.000+05:302011-10-05T05:38:14.796+05:30India Against Corruption. Really?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><b><u><br />
</u></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndZx_Q9EpwLMLHn7qtHvGD8XbwZvPrE1V8Z1miDEvttFt-EEW0xV45Ymf-Q73zn7SvCxFjb94ZzIP4bJpziBmyyZ_6Tl8MF2_pQiBrsiMzajxmvxW3S3NsMcTA0Cyxcy099FixQ/s1600/ZuariBridge.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="133" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjndZx_Q9EpwLMLHn7qtHvGD8XbwZvPrE1V8Z1miDEvttFt-EEW0xV45Ymf-Q73zn7SvCxFjb94ZzIP4bJpziBmyyZ_6Tl8MF2_pQiBrsiMzajxmvxW3S3NsMcTA0Cyxcy099FixQ/s200/ZuariBridge.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><b><u>Scene 1</u></b>: Borim Bridge Toll Plaza (when toll was still being collected)<br />
<u>Actors</u>: X, a well-to-do businessman, driving his car; my father, the co-passenger.<br />
<br />
X pulls out a small chit from the glove compartment that resembles the toll ticket, holds it up through the windshield and without rolling down his window tries to convince the ticket agent that it is in fact a return ticket he had purchased earlier in the day. After all, he asks my Dad, why pay the princely sum of Rs. 6/- for a confounded toll?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b style="text-decoration: underline;">Scene 2</b>: ~1998, Goa<br />
<u>Actor</u>: MBA from IIM-C, Regional Sales Manager for Goa for one of India's largest pvt-sector enterprise, talking to his Dad over a phone call<br />
<br />
"<i>Aur haan, Daddy, yahan pe driver license chahiye hoga; ek karvake bhej dijiyega</i>" (And oh, yes! I think I'm going to need my Driving License here; please process one and send it to me)<br />
<br />
<br />
<b><u>Scene 3</u></b>: 2007, Conference Room, One of the Largest Pvt. Sector Banks in the country<br />
<u>Actors</u>: Sr. GM - Technology and his cohorts, me and two of my very senior colleagues (including our own GM)<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBBjbTPDIV_sJKHtyJzK4qlMhyphenhyphenKyOYXpsGOtICCBHgoRljsT1pGuOqeayqbO1D1ROKRPkZkAAQzbh64vAdofpmBVR7OIEtEAenqVI3dvh3qX9-bTBjcMt0gIpXReDu4pPEIaMBjQ/s1600/ConferenceRoom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBBjbTPDIV_sJKHtyJzK4qlMhyphenhyphenKyOYXpsGOtICCBHgoRljsT1pGuOqeayqbO1D1ROKRPkZkAAQzbh64vAdofpmBVR7OIEtEAenqVI3dvh3qX9-bTBjcMt0gIpXReDu4pPEIaMBjQ/s1600/ConferenceRoom.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Under CCL from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/emsl/4331028848/sizes/o/in/photostream/">EMSL's Album</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>(I mentioned the year and "Technology" so you understand the significance of what I am about say). We - about 12 of us - are all seated and awaiting the Sr. GM. He walks in 5 minutes later and to my shock (and that of my colleagues), everyone in the room except my 2 colleagues and I, stood up when he walked in, waited till he sat down and then seated themselves. In 2007. In the technology function. I later found out this was the culture in the Bank across lines, across functions.<br />
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<b><u>Scene 4</u></b>: Hyatt Regency, Mumbai<br />
<u>Actors</u>: CEO of a small but professionally-managed company, couple of his colleagues, me - off for dinner<br />
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There is a security blanket in effect with all guests being asked to pass through a metal detector. CEO assures the guard that he is carrying no weapon and <i>walks around the detector, past the people waiting in line</i>.<br />
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<b><u>Scene 5</u></b>: Any day in any city in India<br />
<u>Actors</u>: Anyone you know - possibly including you and me<br />
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Parking across a gate or in a no-parking zone or driving up a one-way street because I am doing it "<i>only this time</i>" or I am in default "<i>for only for 2 minutes</i>" or because "<i>there isn't really any traffic that will get affected by it</i>". And the same goes for (not) complying with civic laws when building a house (protruding the gate on the footpath as a small example), sense of cleanliness when discarding garbage, standing in line at a Passport Office. The list goes on. (With a sense of guilt and shame, I will admit that I have once parked blocking a gate because I needed "only two minutes" to sprint across the road to pick up something and the next parking lot was a good 100 metres down the road.)<br />
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Cut to the present day.<br />
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<br />
Little else - other than our victory perhaps over Sri Lanka in the Cricket World Cup - has polarized the nation or galvanized it onto the streets in recent times as has the "Anna Hazare" movement (barring of course, His Holiness the Imam of Jama Masjid of Delhi for whom Islam appears to be above the nation and the noble Mayawati who wants reservation in the Lokpal. I wonder why we haven't yet exported these two natural resources of ours yet). Anyway, possessed by the moment, I too - like every other well-meaning Indian - have mentally joined and wholly support the cause.<br />
<br />
I too hate corruption and nepotism and its ugly under-belly. I too hate a state of anarchy where money and power rather than order and scruples drive action. So clearly - even ignoring many of the concerns I have for the practicality of what the Jan Lokpal is stipulating and the extent to which enforcement will actually happen - it is a great victory that we will have some Constitutional mechanism to check corruption.<br />
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But contrary to the celebratory mood, much as I am an optimist at heart, I am not rejoicing. At least, not yet.<br />
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Rather, I pause to ponder and reflect.<br />
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I ask myself, are WE THE PEOPLE, really AGAINST corruption?<br />
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That power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely, is as much as a truth of life as the fact that we will get hungry and thirsty, that we need companionship, that we need sleep and so on.<br />
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So what's the point I am getting to?<br />
<br />
Simply this: yes, we need to rid ourselves of the scourge of corruption and nothing short of a mass movement and shock treatment will galvanize the machinery into accountability, but are we - we, the People - truly, really ready to rid ourselves of "corruption"?<br />
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Alas, there I have some doubts.<br />
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<b>For, "corruption" isn't the mere act of demanding money</b> - or some benefit - to get a task done; irrespective of whether that "task" for which the bribe is sought is a duty in the first place or whether it is to bend a rule.<br />
<br />
To me, "corruption" is a larger scourge. A larger problem. It is about <b>dereliction of duty</b>. It is about <b>willful abrogation of a code of conduct</b>. It is about <b>willfully subjugating the right in favor of the convenient</b> (often, sacrificing larger good for personal gain). It is about <b>willfully</b> - and often without proper justification - <b>abdicating oneself from rules and order</b> while holding others accountable to it. <b>And then, paying to get away with it all. Or expecting to be paid to turn a blind eye.</b><br />
<br />
None of the examples I have cited above has involved a single bureaucrat, politician or thug. And hence I ask again: are we as individuals ready to moderate and even relinquish our "power"? Will we use the "power of our freedom" responsibly? Are we willing to be unconditionally subject to the same rules, the same order, the same integrity, the same accountability that we want to hold others accountable to?<br />
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Will our respectable businessman pay the toll? Will the MBA ever acquire a sense of right and wrong? Will that Sr. GM be ready to and confident of establishing his authority through true leadership than a cheesy show of feigned respect? Or will he feel threatened without that show of strength? Will my humble CEO friend subject himself to the same rules that other non-CEO citizens subject themselves to? Above all, will I park properly, file my taxes diligently, dispose off garbage responsibly, abide by the law wilfully and wholly without finding reasons, excuses and justifications to circumvent it?<br />
<br />
<br />
While I hate pretty much everything our politicians embody and the fact that many of our current-day political figureheads are but common thugs and scoundrels of dubious character, when I reflect upon these scenarios and ask these questions, I find my righteous indignation wilting away.<br />
<br />
I believe there is some truth in the saying "People get the Government they deserve". Never mind the role of lobbyists, corruption, vested interests and political agendas. At some level, and <u>to a limited extent</u>, I believe a lot of the nonsense that exists in the system today is there because we have allowed it to be there. For, corruption is a universal and global phenomenon, but there are perhaps few other democracies in the world where it has caused the rot it has in our Motherland. And thus, the Minister who wants special treatment at an airport, in a plane or at a mela, is a reflection of the adulation we seek for any position of power we occupy. The lack of enforcement of rules is a reflection of the exemption we seek because our situation is "truly" an exception to the rule.<br />
<br />
At the same time, I also believe the winds of change blowing across the political landscape now - law catching up with (Chief) ministers, the increased thrust on e-governance and constructive programs (no matter how poorly administered) - is a reflection respectively, of the growing intolerance for such nonsense and the growing recognition of the need for development, systems & order. Most importantly - and most gratifying - a growing ACCEPTANCE of the need for systems & order.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPXwFbfWRU1ZkLsFIFHs9Vy2g-G7EkEsuIKq4UXFTkb8MmhK5NLzRDHXVRs-e-mNjEIT-Zlu80LLbwaFfkix_LBm2WshiVdBpSKDI68D1_s4koa_ux1u3pQyXNfLLYZVjfCQ1oA/s1600/IAC.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitPXwFbfWRU1ZkLsFIFHs9Vy2g-G7EkEsuIKq4UXFTkb8MmhK5NLzRDHXVRs-e-mNjEIT-Zlu80LLbwaFfkix_LBm2WshiVdBpSKDI68D1_s4koa_ux1u3pQyXNfLLYZVjfCQ1oA/s1600/IAC.bmp" /></a></div><b>In conclusion</b>: I am more enthused by the India Against Corruption Movement because it signified the willingness and ability of the nation to rise collectively and concertedly against nonsense than because it helped push the Jan Lokpal Bill through.<br />
<br />
It is a sad reality that corruption has eaten away the fabric of all our public machinery such that any and everything requires palms to be greased. There is no justification and no excuse for that and we must mercilessly go after the scoundrels and break the legs of the parallel economy that corruption has spawned. I do not think NOT paying a bribe is a still a practical path to take, but that is not the point of my post.<br />
<br />
The point is that we can only truly rid ourselves of corruption if WE, THE PEOPLE, will - in the words of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi - "<i>be the change we want to see in the world</i>". Only if the functioning of a Constitutional body like the Jan Lokpal is supplemented by a chance in OUR attitude and mindsets. Only when we put community, society, state and nation above ourselves. Only then - like Rabindranath Tagore said - can India awake into that heaven of freedom.<br />
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As these thoughts poured through my head, my eyes rested upon this apt reminder on the <a href="http://www.indiaagainstcorruption.org/">IAC website</a> for each of us. Starting with me:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAQJd9wFhdzpEQbQOVGoAwwfQoHT2ZzubtCgwpMRpNQ7E4WupVAG8Gj1ysrbfPBZl6dkUJzAddaFwUJQ3CnqrL0TAJ9M4y4K09rmF_q0fklsukz6J3Ff6Xd-FHwRNooXRwBdjmw/s1600/YouCan.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="59" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiAQJd9wFhdzpEQbQOVGoAwwfQoHT2ZzubtCgwpMRpNQ7E4WupVAG8Gj1ysrbfPBZl6dkUJzAddaFwUJQ3CnqrL0TAJ9M4y4K09rmF_q0fklsukz6J3Ff6Xd-FHwRNooXRwBdjmw/s320/YouCan.bmp" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I intend to do my bit.</div></div>Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22761815.post-79673203268040071302011-08-05T10:20:00.000+05:302012-12-05T18:00:19.200+05:30Ironies: A Study of Contrasts<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglzjvLos9f1doe2X4I78HA4oRpoOrAUhdJySERYmN8rVpTFrXJQ51oedPEzKpvN2VMl-SryPXUqvATYKiktccrVL37Curg0Zuk4CznSmr5S3bA-lR9cJsLG5vZm-tajdOp3H0Ygg/s1600/BakerStreetTubeSituationalIrony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglzjvLos9f1doe2X4I78HA4oRpoOrAUhdJySERYmN8rVpTFrXJQ51oedPEzKpvN2VMl-SryPXUqvATYKiktccrVL37Curg0Zuk4CznSmr5S3bA-lR9cJsLG5vZm-tajdOp3H0Ygg/s200/BakerStreetTubeSituationalIrony.jpg" width="175" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From Wikipedia - reportedly taken <br />
at Baker Street Tub Station</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">\<span class="unicode" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; font-family: 'lucida sans unicode'; font-size: 0.9em; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">ˈ</span>ī-rə-nē - noun - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 20px;"><span class="ssens"><em class="sn" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: bold;"> </em><em class="ssn" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">(1)</em> <strong>:</strong> incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result </span><span class="ssens"><em class="ssn" style="font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal;">(2)</em> <strong>:</strong> an event or result marked by such incongruity</span></span><br />
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<i>This is a compilation of "calling-it-as-I-see-it" observations based on my life in India and the US. It is neither anti-India or anti-USA, nor for that matter, pro-India or pro-US. It is like I said, a compilation of calling-it-as-I-see-it observations. I know there is more than meets the eye to most of these and surely, there are rational explanations for others, but here goes:</i><br />
<i><br />
</i><br />
<i><br />
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<br />
<div class="MsoPlainText">
India is a tolerant state, but we have no patience.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Americans on the other hand are generally patient, but have low tolerance.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
The US is a dominant global force, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but GK about the world (in particular, geography and culture) is surprisingly poor.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
India is fiercely territorial, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but wants to adopt (read: ape) all trends foreign.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Whereas, the US is inherently cosmopolitan, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but will resist new ways or balk at non-American ways of doing things </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
(e.g., my wife's gynecologist who freaked out and cautioned against</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
contamination when she found out we were making curds at home)<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Indians tend to over-engineer and have complex decision-making setups, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but Americans have trouble placing or processing a simple order for "coffee" </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
(Colombian vs. French Roast vs. Vanilla vs ..., </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
with cream vs. without cream, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
sugar vs. Splenda, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
here vs. to-go). </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Or water (regular vs. sparkling, plain vs. flavored, with ice vs. without ice).<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Americans have sophisticated recycling technology, but haven't learnt conservation.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Indians believe in karma and after-life and are God-fearing, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but seem to care little about reputation and lie without compunction.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Life in America revolves around instant-gratification, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but Americans are much better at seeing the big picture.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Whereas, instant-gratification is not our culture, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but we have narrow perspectives and short-term views.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
And yet, Indians save for a rainy day, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
While the Americans live for today.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
The US has an outstanding social support infrastructure, sophisticated medical technologies and established, widespread healthcare networks and infrastructure, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
And yet, the fabric of domestic support is rather fractured, its population is plagued by life-threatening or arcane allergies and it is easier to buy a gun than life-saving drugs.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
We've inherited bureaucracy that can nauseate, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but haven't inculcated system-oriented/process-driven thinking.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Americans are light on bureaucracy, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but are highly process-oriented.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
And yet (or perhaps, I should say "therefore") </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
no one handles chaos and surprises as well as Indians do.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Americans are paranoid about privacy </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
And yet, acts, facts and artifacts they expose to public view </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
makes "private" a redundant word in the dictionary.<o:p></o:p><br />
<br />
Conversely, India gave the world the Kama Sutra,<br />
but we rebel at the idea of formal sex education.<br />
And yet, make Bollywood movies that are so suggestive,<br />
It might make the Playboy look like an Archies comic book.<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
The Americans have almost made creativity a science,<br />
And yet, India produces far better ads than the US.<br />
<br />
Indians are very particular about "what others will think" and love to give advice,</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but get very defensive when we receive even constructive feedback.<o:p></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
America is by & large a "cold country" (even the supposedly-harsh summer only lasts a couple of months), but it's obsession with ice and fascination with cold meals is inscrutable.<i><o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Indians are subservient by nature,</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but find it very difficult to follow any rules.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Whereas Americans, care a damn, </div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but are sticklers for the rule.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Americans are extremely civil and affable,</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Always smiling, holding the door for you and waiting,</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
And yet, are litigious to a point that makes you wonder</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
whether money is indeed the key to happiness.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
India is a country of a billion people,</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
but we are yet to learn how to conquer scale.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br />
America is high on hygiene,<br />
but the only place they find to put up water fountains is outside public restrooms.<br />
<br />
We are high on rituals and ceremonies in India,<br />
but don't quite have the penchant for "doing things in style".<br />
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Religion and spirituality do not matter in the US like they do in India,</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
and yet, "In God We Trust" is the official motto of the USA.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Much as I am sometimes harshly sarcastic about life in both nations,</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Fact is, I have enjoyed the best of both nations</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
And have had the privilege of living in what I consider to be the best states in both nations:</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Goa and California.</div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
Jai Hind! In God We Trust!</div>
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Suhas M Mallyahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07994064209811321230noreply@blogger.com8