Dudes and Dudettes!

The recent Olympics ended with India winning 6 medals. There were some terrific performances by many players, who unfortunately did not make it to the podium. Then there was Karan Thapar who interviewed the sports minister on the Devils advocate. As always, Mr. Thapar had done it in his own way.. why this, why not that and so on. The poor minister did not have answers to most of the questions. for a question like why only six medals for a 1.2 billion population country, I think we all know the answer. There would be no medals with this sports infrastructure. When there are only 3 or 4 synthetic hockey fields in the entire country, how can the Indian hockey team perform on the International stage. So is it right to blame the minister, which had been done enough at all levels

I remember a speech by Shri H.K. Dua, a very respected journalist and Member of parliament, at Manfest (the Management festival of IIM L) in Jan 2011. The theme for that edition of Manfest was Vision 2030, hence there were some extravagant speeches on the vision for future. Shri H.K. Dua started his speech by this sentence which I still remember "I am happy to come from a place of cynicism to a place where there is hope". He was referring to Delhi as a place of cynicism, and that forum as a place of hope, as the discussions were on future. He raised some startling points like the lack of future strategy in the government. When Baba Atomic research was started by Rajiv Gandhi or when the space program was started by Dr. Satish Dhavan with such strong vision for the future, the current politicians are busy saving their governments and showing some numbers for the current year.

Today being the independence day and I being in Calcutta, IIM Calcutta seemed the best place to go for the flag hoisting. I was disappointed, to say the least, by the indifference shown by the batch. Before I say anything else, I would say that this is the case with any other institution and I do not have any personal grudge on IIM Calcutta or its members. Coming back to the flag hoisting, people saw us with their eyebrows raised when we told them that we came for flag hoisting. The cultural events post the flag hoisting did get the same treatment, Attending the flag hoisting has become so uncool that my friend preferred to act as if we have come for something else. Its not the dude thing.

The book "Imagining India" by Nandan Nilekani, though starts with a flowery picture of India, about how the world cannot afford to leave India behind. But towards the end, it also points out that we are running fast towards future, without a vision. This could be in infrastructure, education, healthcare etc. Mr Dua in his talk talked on the same point that we are looking forward to our generation. He was optimistic that institutions like the IIMs or the IITs would not fail the country. But by virtue of being in an institution in the same cadre, I sometimes feel that the students of these institutions are being molded in a way, which is no where near the expectations of people like Mr. Dua. I neither blame the faculty nor the academic curriculum of these institutions for the same.

I do not blame the politicians, who generally do some temporary things and try not to loose their vote bank. I do not blame them because, we are not so different. The indifference shown by the batch today morning, can be seen everywhere, in every campus. With "whats in it for me" being the trend, the indifference has reached the peak levels. Society, environment and country are not even on the radar. The days when greats like Rajiv Gandhi, bringing the IT into India against opposition, or the setting up of Bhaba atomic research institute, where a strong vision is required, are gone. People are stuck onto the current results or short term returns. This is the same at every level, starting from students to politicians.

After few weeks in the glamorous corporate world, I realized the above case is truly applicable here also. Numbers are the only quintessential indicator of any job. When the managers from the top are bugging the employees for numbers, we can't expect employees to draw strategies for the future. Students like us, who are already used to the MY thing get into the groove easily. And once in the corporate world, the peer pressure and also the task of impressing the bosses would add to the reasons to make the numbers of the current week/month/quarter attractive.

I do not understand how different is this indifference shown to being selfish. My life, my job, my parties.. The "whats in it for me?" has become the trend. I am not blaming the students and I can also say that I am in the same pool. I do not know if this kind of thinking is wrong but somehow it did not seem right to me. Keeping the big things aside, we loose the sensitivity to small joys of life like appreciating classical music or dance, arts, social service, joy of singing the national anthem at a flag hoisting, joy of talking to a teacher for a long time etc. We stop respecting and listening to people who have learned so much in their lives like the professors, politicians etc.

So dear dudes and dudettes, it is not un-cool to be sensitive to few things in life, which we long forgot.

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Rules..!!

Break the rules!!
OMG! So many rules!!
Make your own rules!!
Life is no fun without breaking rules!!

There are rules. Everywhere. There are rules to trade on the Newyork stock exchange. There are traffic rules. There are rules for a school kid, to polish his shoes. Again, there are rules, everywhere. We are now in a world where there is rule book for a school kid going to Kindergarten to a young adult buying his new vehicle, rules for walking, driving, flying and sometimes even standing. We are so used to rules that we make our own set of rules to our children - no TV after 9PM or no writing on the walls.

The four lines at the starting of the post are how most people react when they hear the word rules. One can understand that with so many rules, one is fed up to follow any more of them. So we have people riding bikes without helmets, people jumping the signals to get back home quickly, whining about the security checks at the mall, whining about the rules at work etc. Then there are also people who look for a way past rules, looking for a loop hole or twist the rules in our favor. When everyone is so upset with rules, there are new and new rules being added in the rule books everyday - starting from the constitutions of the nations to the set of rules at home. Why is this happening?

I was shocked to read that before 1990s, the pilots left the cockpit doors open during the flight. Till as recent as 2003-04, there were no metal detectors in the malls. There were fewer road rules till a few years back. The first anti-terrorist unit was started after the Munich Olympics disaster. There were no clear rules to investigate money laundering and financial fraud till the Satyam's fiasco. Its clear by the trend that we are bringing this on ourselves.The making of a rule is always  because of a person who has caused his fellow beings some pain. Hence the concerned governing bodies make rules to prevent the repetition of the event.

The financial melt down of the US economy, allegedly caused by the greed of the financial services industry of US, drove millions of people jobless around the world. The largest consumers of dirty fuel - the Telco's and the IT giants of the world, are causing irreparable damage to the environment. These instances show that sometimes, when we tweak the rules, we may not foresee the damage or the extent of the damage. A simple example could be a drunk person, driving a car. The car, which has now become a weapon in his hands, has the potential to cause immense pain not only to that person but also to innocent people on the road. A housewife demanding plastic carry bags from the shopkeeper would not understand that her small act may lead to so many environmental problems, which are fatal for her children's generation. Hence, we should understand that sometimes, the rules are made for greater good, which we may not understand at that point.

"You are remembered for the rules you break", as said by Douglas Mc Arthur, the chief of US Army during world war 2. The story of Rajat Gupta, who was indicted for insider trading, makes a perfect example for the quote. His life story has been a perfect fairy tale of fulfillment of an American dream: orphaned at 18, graduation from IIT Delhi, MBA from Harvard, first non-American managing director (worldwide) of McKinsey and Co, director of Goldman Sach's board, director of Procter & Gamble's board, adviser to the UN Secretary General, trustee of Rockefeller Foundation, adviser of several prestigious companies and NGOs, personally worth $84 million. He was the brain behind, and one of the founding fathers of, ISB Hyderabad; he contributed significantly to make it a world-class institution. When the government instituted the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman Award, he was the first Indian-American to be honored. Gupta, at the peak of his career, could do no wrong; he was wining and dining with the likes of Bill Clinton, Bill Gates and Kofi Annan. All it took was the greed to make $50-100 million of easy money. (Courtesy: The Economic Times, June 23rd 2012)

Albert Einstein said "You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else". The fact that the existence of rules are only for the betterment of us and also the people around us is somehow missing. Let us understand that a game is said to be played well, only when it is played within the rules.



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Conscience... My dear friend...

Rome, 27th Nov 2011. I'm standing in one of the greatest cathedrals of the world, St Peters. The holy place for over 30% of worlds population. I'm standing in the midst of some of most spectacular pieces of art by masters like Michelangelo, Bernini etc. Hundreds of statues of saints and holy men, all around me, glaring down at me. I should have been absorbed by the sanctity of the place. I should have been amazed at the masterpieces of art and architecture. I should have been carried away into a peaceful trance by the melodious music of the organ. Why am I not feeling anything of these.

I had been to few of the holiest places, most scenic places, darkest places of Europe, in the last 2-3 months of my exchange program. Darkest places like Sachsenhausen where the Nazis and Communists slaughtered hundreds of thousands of innocents. The indifference to pain, pleasure or joy of the place has been puzzling me over the past few weeks. It is more of the scruples from the inside that is taking over the emotions of the exterior senses.

In the recent few years of my life, after I started differentiating between the good and the bad of the world, I came across many people/institutions which are on both sides of the wall. Through movies, books and travel, I came to know about many Mahatmas of the world, who with their uncompromising determination have changes the world in a way or the other. On the other end of the spectrum are cruel and brutal crimes committed by people, corruption, scandals, riots etc etc. Amazingly, only few of those poor souls have ever confessed or repented. Why.

As said by Mahatma Gandhi, "In matters of conscience, the law of the majority has no place." Beginning from the Magna-carta, the first ever document of modern law, to the most recent laws, conscience is one thing, which every human has to face one day or the other. "There is a higher court than courts of justice and that is the court of conscience. It supersedes all other court"; an other master quote by the Mahatma. Our conscience could be the supreme power inside us which could work wonders by taking us to greater heights, and it can also lead us into lonely and depressed phases of our lives.

How wonderful it is to have a clean conscience through out our lives; the wonders it can make with our lives, the peace it can bring into our lives, the beauty it can add to our lives...

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Can we measure life?

Can we measure life? What is a good life or what is bad? Can we rate life by the number of years a person lived? Or by the money he/she made? Or the number of educational degrees? Or the number of companies he started or the job he was in? Or the number of people he helped and the donations made? Or by the faith he had? Or is life completely meaningless? (Except when you are a Hitler or a Gandhi). I liked the way Morgan Freeman said in some movie, "You measure your life by the people measure their lives by you".

This weird question has been lingering in my mind for the past few days. One of the reasons I can think of is the kind of movies I have been watching lately, like 'The bucket list'. The second reason was my visit to the Chateau of Versailles where the Kings of France lived until the French revolution in 1789. And also, I believe any post of mine reflects my current mood (however hard I try to hide!). I am still not sure of the things I want to convey with this blog, so kindly bear with me.

Coming back to the topic, any type of search with strings like 'good life' or 'measuring life' or 'life' always yield at least a few results on 'how to make life successful'. One of these searches popped out the following interpretation of success, which I think is never taught anymore. Ralph Waldo Emerson defined success with these words: "To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you lived. This is to have succeeded."

So what is a good life. One of the most common philosophies of life we observe these days is the 'life is a celebration' or 'the only chance to enjoy' philosophy. Work hard, party harder is the new mantra. A close friend of mine, who is absolutely happy with this philosophy, said that he is not going to change his lifestyle unless he is forced to. Yeah its true too. Why change if we are happy. I am not complaining but it still does not answer my question. Though these things are commonly seen these days, unfortunately, things like these are not taught in any schools. Few weeks back, a professor of ours had narrated a small story while ending his course. Though the story does not answer the question, it beautifully summarizes many issues in life.

"One day, an old professor of the School of Public Management in France, was invited to lecture on the topic of “Efficient Time Management” in front of a group of 15 executive managers representing the largest, most successful companies in America. The lecture was one in a series of 5 lectures conducted in one day, and the old professor was given 1 hour to lecture. Standing in front of this group of elite managers, who were willing to write down every word that would come out of the famous professor’s mouth, the professor slowly met eyes with each manager, one by one, and finally said, “we are going to conduct an experiment”.

From under the table that stood between the professor and the listeners, the professor pulled out a big glass jar and gently placed it in front of him. Next, he pulled out from under the table a bag of stones, each the size of a tennis ball, and placed the stones one by one in the jar. He did so until there was no room to add another stone in the jar. Lifting his gaze to the managers, the professor asked, “Is the jar full?” The managers replied, “Yes”. The professor paused for a moment, and replied, “Really?”

Once again, he reached under the table and pulled out a bag full of pebbles. Carefully, the professor poured the pebbles in and slightly rattled the jar, allowing the pebbles to slip through the larger stones, until they settled at the bottom. Again, the professor lifted his gaze to his audience and asked, “Is the jar full?” At this point, the managers began to understand his intentions. One replied, “Apparently not!”

“Correct”, replied the old professor, now pulling out a bag of sand from under the table. Cautiously, the professor poured the sand into the jar. The sand filled up the spaces between the stones and the pebbles. Yet again, the professor asked, “Is the jar full?” Without hesitation, the entire group of students replied in unison, “NO!”

“Correct”, replied the professor. And as was expected by the students, the professor reached for the pitcher of water that was on the table, and poured water in the jar until it was absolutely full. The professor now lifted his gaze once again and asked, “What great truth can we surmise from this experiment?”

With his thoughts on the lecture topic, one manager quickly replied, “We learn that as full as our schedules may appear, if we only increase our effort, it is always possible to add more meetings and tasks”. “No”, replied the professor. The great truth that we can conclude from this experiment is: If we don’t put all the larger stones in the jar first, we will never be able to fit all of them later.

The auditorium fell silent, as every manager processed the significance of the professor’s words in their entirety. The old professor continued, “What are the large stones in your life? Health? Family? Friends? Your goals? Doing what you love? Fighting for a Cause? Taking time for yourself?” What we must remember is that it is most important to include the lager stones in our lives, because if we don’t do so, we are likely to miss out on life altogether. If we give priority to the smaller things in life (pebbles & sand), our lives will be filled up with less important things, leaving little or no time for the things in our lives that are most important to us. Because of this, never forget to ask yourself, What are the Large Stones in your Life? And once you identify them, be sure to put them first in your “Jar of Life”. With a warm wave of his hand, the professor bid farewell to the managers, and slowly walked out of the room. Take care of the large stones first – the things that REALLY matter. Set your priorities. The rest are just pebbles and sand. If you put the sand or the pebbles into the jar first, there will be no room left for the stones. The same goes for your life. If you spend all your energy and time on the small stuff, you will never have room for things that are truly most important."

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The Quarter Life Crisis

Here you are, in your mid-20s - the best time of your life, at least that's what everyone says. Your 'I am independent' claim now has the legal stamp of economics; the college campus lingers in nostalgia; 'work hard, party harder' is the new mantra. But the euphoria is evaporating. The adrenaline rush leaves a hangover that seems impossible to shake off. Disillusionment looms large with a million-dollar question: What next? Welcome. You have just been hit by the quarter-life crisis. The transition from college to the real world sets the stage for the quarter-life crisis, hitting those in their early and mid-20s. Work, independence, new responsibilities, relationships hankering for "long-term commitment" and "meaningful" layers, all add to an anxiety not known until now. The phrase ‘quarter-life crisis’ gained currency in the West in 2001, when two twenty-somethings made a fortune writing on their peer’s crises in "Quarter life Crisis: The Unique Challenges of Life in your Twenties". This has become an unrecognized epidemic, sweeping an entire generation reared on an array of choices and rising expectations.

Oh yea! Everybody goes through this phase; some face this crisis for long and some for short phases. I recently read a post which goes like this, "At 27, Atul has the life dreams are made of: an MBA from a top management institute, out-of-turn raises every few months, whirlwind world tours on work and a stunner for his arm candy at corporate dos. Three job switches in the last nine months have landed this finance whiz in a top managerial position. But lately, he has been fighting gnawing self-doubts. “I make big bucks, but have no time to spend them. I don’t feel driven to achieve anything anymore… Should I have chosen another profession?” says the alpha achiever, who is also beginning to question his four-year-old relationship." Unfortunately the messages like these are increasing, its just that we don't always observe these in the bracket of quarter life crisis.

The statistics are startling. At any point of time, around one third of the population in the age group 18 - 28 suffer from this crisis. And though I could not get any statistics relevant to India, I definitely think that this number is much large, at least close to 60%. As part of international student exchange program, I am currently studying at a B School in France. When I talk to students here who are studying economics and come to B school, who leave engineering and come to B school; I could not stop myself from asking "whats the plan?", "what next?", may be owing to our system which mostly works on plans. I am amazed to find that no body here has a plan as such. They are studying here because they feel its good. The people here are not looking for easy money or good jobs and they are not afraid to live on little money and temporary jobs. People here are not scared of the future which sometimes pity the systems back home. Of course people here enjoy many privileges like small population, no or very less competition etc.; and in contrast the huge and ever increasing population in India, meagerly growing industrial opportunities, demanding education sector etc. might all become the reasons.

You are a software engineer, just out of college, living in a nice cool apartment with a peaceful white collar job. There is QLC here too, to switch jobs, not getting the deserved credit, give CAT or GMAT etc. In students, QLC is common in students of the best of B schools to students of a normal engineering college in a remote place. It is unfortunate that there is QLC in students as young as 7 - 8th standard which is being exploited by IIT coaching centres and intermediate colleges. QLC about relationships is more common too; some express it, some dont, but it is there.

“This crisis is a product of our times. Young people want to jump from one ladder to another, exhausting their goals very early on. They then begin to question everything about their lives.”, says Dr Amit Sen, a psychiatrist who sees children and young adults. The 20s are bringing with them a “nervous self-awareness,” says a 30-year-old lecturer at a leading DU college. “Students now indulge in a lot of self-questioning, which isn’t philosophical like -- ‘What’s my purpose in life’ — but, ‘Oh god, are my friends going to do better in life than me?’” Psychologist NK Chadha, head of DU’s department of adult, continuing education and extension, says, “Students choose careers depending on what pays more, and end up paying with their peace of mind.”

So my dear friends, you are not alone. Everyone around you is also going through the same confusion, anxiety and internal suffering. After all, there is no rule that there should be an answer to every "why"...

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Far from the madding crowd..

I remember studying in my primary school that over 70% of Indians live in villages. I had an opportunity to live in one of the typical villages, on the west coast of India, for around two months in this summer. It was Kharoi village in the Kutch district of Gujarat. Though I did live in a village, I had the privilege to live in a wonderful campus with lush green lawns, a lake and beautiful food and housing etc, the accommodation provided by the organisation where I was doing my summer internship.

My first realization was that villages are no more as shown in movies. Everything is available in a village starting from mobile connections to internet data cards. People own computers, digital TVs etc. etc. I understood why companies are gunning each other for the rural market share. The only difference is that people spend there for necessity than luxury. So if you want a tooth brush or a soap, be ready to get 2-3 types of tooth brushes, all costing less than 10 and for soaps you would get dettol or hammam or godrej No.1.

The most beautiful experience was the purity of the villages. The night sky is very clear and we can see the whole blanket of stars. I did not even realize that it has been years that stars in the night sky are no longer visible, thanks to the various types of pollution. The water in the lakes is pure. Its a beautiful sight, as depicted in many paintings and poems, to see many people walking to the lake early in the morning. Its even more beautiful when the lake is full of ducks and many other birds. The climate is remarkable. Even in Kutch, one of the most dry places in the country, and even in the peak of summer, there is a cool breeze by evening. Its a pity that these people and these places are made to suffer because of climate change caused by the luxuries of the urban world.

Some startling differences are people in villages have lot of time. They don't have 9 to 9 jobs or late night meetings or weekend works. They have all the time in the world and sights of 2-3 people sitting on the verandahs of their houses chit chatting the whole day is very common. Also, there are a few people who worked in the nearest towns or nearby villages, who leave early and come late.

People there are healthy. These are the people who are still obeying the laws of the nature w.r.t. to our bodies. They don't hit the gym or follow a diet. Their lifestyle by nature is free of all the junk food. Their day to day physical work gives them the much needed exercise.

People are caring and friendly. This is shown in many movies and it was so good to experience it. People show lot of concern and offer a lot of help if you tell them that you are not from the village. And it doubles if you say that you are not from Gujarat.

Last and the most important, people are happy. With the least of the resources, very little options, people are content and happy. Of course there are a few people who aspire to go to the city, who want to become rich; majority of them cherish their current lifestyle and are absolutely satisfied.

So to all those people who are scared of a rural stint, there is no reason to be apprehensive. All you need is some good food and some good transport to reach the nearest city or town, and you can be sure of an experience of a life time.

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What is wrong with the US..?

I am from a state where there is at least one child from every home who studies in Texas, California, Kansas, Virginia, Newyork and so on.. Believe me, there is a temple at around 40KM from Hyderabad which is called visa temple. People go there with their passports so that their visa interview is successful. Not only in my State, many people dream of studying in US, working in US, living in US. People keep talking about I20s, H1s, B1s all the time. My intention is not to sound condescending at all. There was a time when I gave my GMAT and Toefl and had almost packed my bags before I dropped the plans. Studying or working in US has become on of the major goals of many people across the world. Its not wrong at all considering the promise of prosperity, freedom and novelty in the US. Thus starts the American dream for many.

After all, US is a great nation. America was the first nation to bring the concept of freedom to this Earth. The great American revolution gave rise to a 'free nation' resulting in a series of social, political, and intellectual transformations in early American society and government, collectively referred to as the American Enlightenment. They bravely rejected the age old British ideas and ideologies and were the first people is embrace 'liberalism'. They made a moral decision that slavery was wrong and a nation cannot be half free. America were the first to implement right to vote and right to employment for women. They defeated totalitarianism and won a war in the Pacific and the Atlantic simultaneously. They cured some fearsome diseases like Polio. They pioneered the industrial revolution. The merits are absolutely flawless, making the US an inspiration for many developing nations.

But there are a few issues which were stuck in my mind for the last few weeks. The first is the the recent recession. I remember reading that the cause of recession were the vast number of housing loans and the causes of the recession were so complex and nobody had absolutely any idea. But the recent movie "Inside job" (A must watch if you haven't) clearly shows that everybody knew sensed recession as early as late 2006. Many bigshots like the heads of all major banks, heads of federal agencies of US like the head of the federal reserve, federal bank and many more were involved. The painful part was that sheer greed of a few people in US caused a catastrphy throughout the world. Millions of people were literally thrown out of their homes. Europe spearheaded in implementing regulations on many financial instruments and though the US itself was one of the worstly affected countries, it did not implement any regulations on the financial derivatives markets, which was the main cause of the recession. We do not even know if US has taken any measures for to stop another financial melt down. Does it make US greater that any other country of the world?

The other troubling issue is the environmental issues. Many of us think Indian cities are dirty compared to the clean and polished streets of the US. But US is not so clean after all. The per-capita carbon emission in the US is around 18 compared to 5.6 of the entire developed world. India's is around 1.2 making India a lot cleaner than the US. The auto emission standards of the US are still around Euro 2 when the entire Europe is following Euro 5. Luckily when the states of US like California started taking the initiative and implemented high efficiency standards for the US, the automakers like Ford, GM and Chrysler sued the state that they cannot sell their vehicles in those states. These so called mighty auto makers haven't recognized the fact that these inefficient vehicle manufacturing have made them impotent to sell their cars in many European nations, which was the main reason for their bankruptcy protection in 2008. In a country where there are over 750 cars to every 1000 people, shouldn't there by high efficiency standards? Moreover, US and Australia are the only two developed nations which haven't complied with the Kyoto protocol, which is aimed at fighting climate change.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Are they really to end the tyranny and to end the terrorism? The tragic 9/11 attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon, are they really by terrorists. These were some of the many questions raised by the conspiracy theories. After watching so many movies and also some facts about what the US is capable of, the answer to most of these conspiracy theories seems possible. May be US needed constant supply of oil at very cheap rates for the next 50 - 100 years or may be they wanted to maintain the supremacy on the world. We never know.

Uncle Sam, are you listening?

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