Sincere but not Serious approach to life!

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"Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible."

Viktor Frankl - Man's Search for Meaning

Someone’s Gotta Go

Heard about an upcoming Fox show called Someone’s Gotta Go ? It is in the producer's words “a reality series in which real companies that are struggling to stay afloat in this lousy economy agree to let their staffs decide who among them will get pink-slipped to cut costs ”.

I just cannot believe that layoffs can become such trivial and disgusting shows. I just hope that the show dies a quick death as it would be a shame if it becomes a hit, or worse, develops a loyal enough following to prompt others to consider even more degrading forms of entertainment.

Live for today!

John Quelch, a Marketing Professor from Harvard Business School in a recently published HBR article argued that in a recession, consumers should be segmented by how they emotionally react to this challenging environment than by demographics. He identified 4 types consumer groups based on their reactions to the recession:

• Slam on the breaks
• Pained but patient
• Live for Today
• Comfortably Well placed

If i look around, i can see all these types in my office alone. There are people who have suddenly stopped eating out, some who have cut down on spending and others who are'nt affected at all.

As for the" Live for Today" group, the Professor says that this group will continue their pre-recession lifestyle until they lose their jobs.

May this tribe increase and not lose thier jobs, so that there is spending and we can get out of the recession..

I Heard It Through The Grapevine

"People say believe half of what you see, son

And none of what you hear

But I can't help bein' confused

If it's true please tell me Sir

Do you plan to let me go

For the other guy you hired before?"

Adapted from the Lyrics of the Marvin Gaye Song : I Heard It Through The Grapevine

Apologies to Songwriters: Norman Whitfield & Barrett Strong

During these challenging times, everybody in the organization seems to think they have a crystal ball and the ability to predict the future! Offices are full of rumors--rumors that are possibly wrong and that create anxiety and conflict for everyone. On part of the management, they assume that the employees know nothing about their plans and it takes them by surprise when they announce a change and it turns out that the employees have known it for days. All the time they would have been blind and deaf, because everyone would have heard it through the grapevine.

Rumors often start because of misunderstandings, or because information wasn't communicated quickly and clearly. Management needs to avoid those traps by instituting regular, easy-to-access communication channels. While you cannot control what employees say, you can monitor the rumors and immediately squelch all the false ones. Management should also realise that in the absence of information, employees will create their own, so they need to make sure they have all the data they need. Employees will keep tuning into the grapevine to know the real story or the "kernel of truth".

I Am God!

"Those who are not fit to live in this world, i give them boon - that's death and those who can’t live in this world , i give them death - thats a boon".

Naan Kadavul

Some movies might have made your stomach turn from what you see, some might scare you for life, some may have just made you mad and you go "WTF".

Either way, they fall into the category of "disturbing movies". I had movies like "Trainspotting", "Irreversible", "A Clockwork Orange", "120 Days of Sodom", "Oldboy" and "The Shining" in this list. The new addition to my list is a Tamil movie, " Naan Kadavul" by Bala. (Disclaimer: I could understand only 40% of the dialogues, but i believe ,it isnt a handicap). The closest movie in visual comparison is a 1932 movie "Freaks", about sideshow circus freaks based on the short story "Spurs" by Tod Robbins. The voiceover from that movie "But for an accident of birth, you might be as they are" still rings in my ears.

Bala, the director of “Naan Kadavul” is known for his films about protagonists who live at the margins. But there are too many loopholes and irritating aspects in this movie, which are unexpected from a Director of his caliber:
• The closing minutes of the movie have some badly edited scenes and the climax appears to be rushed.
• The long scene in the police station involving look-alikes of MGR, Sivaji and Rajni was quite unnecessary and breaks the rhythm of the movie in the first half.
• The lead actresses’ migration from the hill cave to a church and then to the hands of the villain is not explained.
• The climatic fight appears very cinematic in a "realistic" movie like this.

The bright spots in the movie are the acting by the lead actors and technical team. The superb BGM by Illayaraja in the second of the movie lifts the scenes to a higher plane.

One way to look at "Naan Kadavul" is that it is incredibly hard-hitting and it truly portrays the harsh realities of life. The other way to look at it is that by the second half of the movie, you are so desensitized by the scenes that nothing seems disturbing anymore.

Where "Naan Kadavul" succeeds, is in forcing us to contemplate and think: "Is death, a boon for some?"

(At the end of the movie, I was mightily pleased with myself for not forcing my friend to rush his dinner to catch the movie in time. Not that i can rush him!. It just wasn’t worth it. But, does anything provide the gratification which food does? I will cherish and remember the Chakkari Pongal a lot lot more than the movie.)

Quintessence of Dust

"What a piece of work is a man! How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form and moving how express and admirable! In action how like an angel! In apprehension how like a god! The beauty of the world! The paragon of animals!

And yet, to me, what is this quintessence of dust? Man delights not me: no, nor woman neither, though by your smiling you seem to say so." -

Shakespeare's Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Act II, Scene II

Reflections and Resolutions

As each holiday season approaches, some revel in welcoming the New Year ahead; others quietly mourn the passing of time gone by. Year-end reflections precede resolutions and 2008 has been a year most would rather forget. It will go down in political and economic history as a terrible year.

It would be trite to write about what i did last year and my resolutions, lets just conclude that it has been a rollercoaster ride and i look forward to what awaits in the New Year..

As the world spirals into recession it would be wise to recall the Easterlin paradox: Happiness in a country can, atleast sometimes, be unrelated to income.

May your 2009 be happy and prosperous. And remember...

"Lots of things will happen no matter what you do. But some things will only happen if you make them happen."

Anguish...

"I am angry, frustrated and depressed. I am angry at the manic dogs of war who have invaded Mumbai. I am frustrated by the impotence of my government in Mumbai and Delhi, tone-deaf to the anguish of my fellow citizens. And I am depressed at the damage being done to the idea of India. " MJ Akbar

Pursuit of Happiness

"Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist. " - Epicurus

A pamphlet announcing the opening of a new bar & restaurant near my home named Epicurus, triggered memories of my childhood when i used to naively think that Epicurus was an European restaurant chain because of the numerous outlets of the same name that i encountered. Only later in my life, i came to know that Epicurus, the ancient greek philosopher inspired his followers to seek to live without pain or fear and was certainly ahead of his time in his belief that the existence and behavior of everything in the world is based on the movement of invisible particles, which we now know to be atoms.

Few philosophers have come up with more suggestive and more relevant answers to the pursuit of happiness than Epicurus. He taught that the point of all one's actions was to attain pleasure (conceived of as tranquility) for oneself, and that this could be done by limiting one's desires and by banishing the fear of the gods and of death.

Epicurus' hedonism was widely denounced in the ancient world as undermining traditional morality. In the modern age, we think of Epicureanism as a life of eating and drinking to excess in order to best enjoy life. However, this was never the intention of Epicurus, who merely wanted people to understand that to experience modest pleasures will allow fear and pain to subside, in itself creating the greatest pleasure of all: a life of contentment through equilibrium.

The Age of Anxiety

Both professor and prophet depress,

For vision and longer view

Agree in predicting a day

Of convulsion and vast evil,

When the Cold Societies clash

Or the masses are set in motion

To overrun the earth,

And the great brain which began

With lucid dialectics

Ends in a horrid madness.

(W.H.Auden, The Age of Anxiety)

Peter Drucker in his book "The Age of Discontinuity" said that "corporations can't provide their workers with economic security if the companies' own future is highly insecure." The unending turmoil in the Global Financial Markets has sparked deep fears for jobs and wages, despite the bailout packages from US, China and other members of the G20.

The combination of increased uncertainities found in everyday life with the insecurities of the global economy is potent. The lack of control which many of us have our everyday lives means that we must all learn to ride the " juggernaut of modernity".

End of an era

" The passing of champions can be cathartic; it is part of the large, primitive theatrics that sports perform. "

Sports is an activity in which even the greatest winners, finally lose, if only because their bodies eventually give out on them and they can no longer do what they once did with what seemed such magnificent ease that set them apart from other mortals.

Although we are all aware that some athlete heros in team sports are primarily selfless, some largely selfish, it is very possible to have a hero who has it both ways, fulfilling his own hero's destiny while fighting unrelentingly for his team. Such a mythic man, is Anil Kumble.

Kumble's decision to retire has plunged the Indian Cricket fans into pathos. The moment carried an accumulation of memories and meanings that are involved in the drama of great athletes aging, failing and retiring.

There will be no way of estimating Kumble's value to the Indian Cricket team from a dignity and morale standpoint and Ganguly's value for getting under the opposition's skin. There are relatively very few athletes like Kumble and Ganguly whose glories and declines seem to acquire an emotional importance.

I shudder to think of the day when the "Great Man" bids farewell to Cricket. It will certainly be a day of national mourning.

Four Days in Hyderabad

A good meal begins with expectation, continues with gratification, and ends with satisfaction.

When it comes to food, Hyderabad is vibrant, innovative and open to gastronomic ideas. It is a city of appetite. A four day restaurant crawl across the city is just not enough to savor the Hyderabadi/Andhra cuisine. There will always be uneaten meals, restaurants unvisited and foods untried.

Friday 10/10 - Chutney's -Chiranjeevi Dosa, Babai Idli, Filter coffee; Angeethi - Roti, Biryani, Karela and Cashew Curry; Paradise - Veg. Biryani, Qubani ka Meetha; Irani Chai, Tie Biscuit at Blue Sea Cafe

Saturday 11/10 - Chutney's -Guntur Idli, MLA Pesarattu; Annapoorna Andhra Mess- Andhra Thali-Gonugura Chutney, Tomato Pappu, Bangaladumpa Veypudi, Aratikayala Kura

Sunday 12/10 - Upma at Home; Mutton Biryani, Sheer Korma at Cafe Bahar; Chai, Osmania Biscuit at Blue Sea; Rayalaseema Thali with Ragi Sangati at Rayalaseema Ruchulu

Monday 13/10 - Kamat, Secunderabad - Rava Idli, Masala Dosa, Filter coffee; Gujju Thali at Gujarati Bhojanalay; Falooda at Shadab; Andhra Thali at Abhiruchi, Chai, Samosa at Hilton Cafe

Clockwatchers

"I used to work in a bank. There was this button on the desk and I kept looking at it every day for a month, and finally I just pushed it... it was the alarm. They never tell you anything because they're afraid you'll take their stupid jobs." - A dialogue from the film, Clockwatchers(1998).

The experience of being underloaded, of too little responsibility and work is more stressful than being overloaded. If you are overloaded, atleast you feel needed and useful, even if you are overworked, overwhelmed and exhausted. We all have a choice between tolerating the routine ("being a clock watcher"), or standing up and making a change.

Most of us start our careers with lofty ambitions but do we eventually become what we despise the most? Do we all become clockwatchers and architects of our own petty domains and self-important delusions?

Doing a favour to Google

Blogs are the saviours for search engines, as without them the likes of Google would have very little fresh content to index, other than brand new sites which are few and far between.

As someone who belives in Google's credo of doing no evil, i wanted to contribute some content to the blog today.

I did not want to write about the financial crisis because a vast patch in the amazon forests have already disappaeared in analysing the debacle. I did not want to write about Saurav Ganguly's retirement as he will contradict anything he says or does the very next day. I did not want to write on when Sachin will cross Brian Lara's record, as at this rate it will be next year(if he is still around).I did not want to write on the anguish of allowing Ponting to make a century in the first test of the tour as visitors are gods for us and we have a history of redeeming visiting batsmen(remember the resurgence of Matt Hayden?). I did not want to write on the Telugu movie i saw yesterday, as you have to make fun of it to keep from getting angry, I mean really angry. I did not want to write on Lewis Hamilton's disastorous outing in the Japan GP, as he is again messing up his chances to win the championship. I did not want to write on Chinese manufacturing beacuse if they are not manufacturing kids' toys with lead paint or contaminating pet food, they are mixing toxins in toothpaste and milk.

Now that i have put in lot of indexable words in this post, i will stop the rant!

Are counter offers counter productive?

"The best way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it"- Oscar Wilde

The rationale and resolution of resigning takes a pounding for most people just as a revised compensation package is put on the table. The temptation to continue in a familiar work environment is very strong and many succumb to it.

The moment an employee resigns, if the management needs her/him, they will immediately flatter the employee with:

"We need you" (Until you serve your purpose and we find a replacement).
"You can't do this to us at this time." (You have to feel guilty about leaving)
"We never knew you were unhappy." (We don't care about a employee feedback system)
"We're sorry for the current state but you're too valuable, and we need you" (Of course they're sorry. You're about to leave on your terms, not theirs.)
"We were just about to give you a promotion/raise, and it was confidential until now".( You were'nt worth it till now. We were holding out the promotion till you want to leave, we have saved money till now)
"The big boss wants to meet with you before you make your final decision"(You were invisible to us till yesterday, but as we need to fill your vacany with an expense, the boss will try to save the expense)

The downtrends of accepting a counteroffer are that :

Instantly ruin all credibility with your new employer - he'll never give you another chance; the word will get around, and you'll come off looking like a gold-digger rather than a good employee;

Your present employer will no longer trust you; and you may wonder why you had to go to the point of resignation to get what they now think you're worth.

You can perhaps imagine a counter-offer so enormous that you'd be nuts to turn it down - but there will always be a catch.

Is it better to stay the chosen course?

Andalucian idle and the Malaga magic

I have learned that sales can be fun, except at the end of the year, the end of the half year, the end of the quarter, and sometimes the end of the month when you need to reach your quota. This is when your destiny is controlled by Gods, aka customers, who may or may not opt to buy your stuff at fire sale prices. Or, when management makes decisions that take success out of your hands, but places the blame securely in your lap. After the hullabaloo at the end of the year, you look forward to the annual company meetings which promise those free trips to lush tropical resorts, exclusive country clubs, and five-star restaurants. It is also the time that the bean counters enforce all standards of frugality and forces you to travel in cattle class and share rooms.

The smarter among the salespeople have realized that there are many legitimate ways of funding your personal life - to admittedly a small degree - through your business life, like planning a vacation to coincide with your travel to the annual company meeting. This time around, five of us decided to make a visit to Spain. But due to some irrational exuberance, two of the group missed getting the Visa on time and rest of us made the visit. At the outset, there was no intention of making a quixotic tour, but it ended like one.

I expected Spain's Malaga to be a tacky town, brimming over with charter flight tourists on their way to the Costa del Sol, avoided by anyone with an allergy to resort towns. But I found none of the package tourists looking for bacon and egg breakfasts and instead a solid Spanish crowd eating croissant and drinking coffee as they stood at bars late each morning. It seems tourists give Andalucía’s charming city not a second glance before heading to the horribly crowded beaches of the Costa del Sol.

But it is gorgeous location to happily spend a week, a month, eating tapas and drinking wine, or shopping for bread, cheese and vegetables at the huge indoor market to picnic in a lush park, with friends and a two Euro bottle of sangria. It would take that long for anyone to learn to navigate the winding cobblestone laid old streets, which luckily all seem to lead, in the end, to the main plaza. And to be able to find the Picasso museum - testament to Malaga's famous son - whenever you like, rather than because chance leads you to it.

The Moors occupied Malaga until the mid fifteenth century and have left their mark on the city's historic centre and its 10th century fortress, La Alcazaba. After the Moors, the city became one of the biggest trading centres on the european peninsula. Now Malaga is a charming hybrid of old and new, a shopper's dream as well as an historian's. We submerged ourselves in the streets and the gorgeous markets, which are a food lover's fantasy, overflowing with olives, meats, cheeses and breads, tapas bars and vegetable vendors.

All through Andalusia and especially in sleepy villages like Mijas, we walked hours every day until we began to recognize corners, streets and plazas, knew where to get the best coffee and veg sandwiches, and had been ripped off by street side hawkers.

Our road journey took us inland to Ronda and Granada, where we stopped roadside in golden fields watching others eat delights like calamari and avocados, while we stuffed ourselves with bottle after bottle of mineral water and sandwiches. Ronda is layered with history, with monuments of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance periods, as well as the impressive neo-classical Plaza de Toros, which is one of the oldest bullrings in Spain. Ronda's bullring is said to be the birthplace of the school of bullfighting on foot (Matadors) rather than horseback (Picadors).
If Ronda and Granada mesmerized us with magnificent manmade structures, the caves of Nerja wore testimony to the fact that nature is the best architect of all. It was as if clothes of rock were folded and stuck to the ceiling. It was truly amazing to be in a place which has been formed over 225 million years. To be reminded of being a speck in the universe is always humbling and gratifying too.

In the land of Don Quixote, you cannot help but follow the legend. On the last day of the sojourn, on a whim, we decide to go the rock of Gibraltar. Till that quixotic moment, we had followed a meticulous plan and the trip was a breeze. We knew that it was in a different administrative territory and our visa did not allow us to enter. However we decided to take a chance and reach there. Things just got better when one of us even forgot to bring the passport along. We entered Gibraltar, without anyone checking our credentials and spent 4 hours exploring the rock and the town. It was heartening to see the city center market full of Indian businessmen and bore testimony to their acumen, ambition and drive. On our way out of Gibraltar, we were told that we cannot reenter Schengen as we had only a single entry visa. But, as the officials were embarrassed and flummoxed by their slip of letting us in, they let us go after we assured that they we were flying out of Spain the same evening.

There are days in your life which you want to package and relive, day after day, exactly the same way. The vacation in Spain merited it, though we were feeling the withdrawal symptoms of being away from work. We returned back utterly glad for the Andalucían idle and the Malaga magic.

The Chinese Spectacle

The Summer Olympics got off to a start with a breathtaking and spectacular opening ceremony choreographed by Chinese Director Zhang Yimou. Zhang is known for movies like Raise the Red Lantern, Story of Qiu Ju and the recent blockbuster Curse of the Golden Flower. The opening ceremony was full with deeply symbolic elements of the Chinese culture and history. It was a gigantic task to distill 5000 years of Chinese culture and present it in 50 minutes with such aplomb.

I was left wondering how the Olympic rings were created out of thin air?

After all the controversy that the Olympic torch attracted, I was curious on how the cauldron will be lit. Chinese gymnastics legend Li Ning was hoisted by steel cables from the floor to just below the stadium's rim, where he ran a lap around the crest of the Bird's Nest, then lit the Olympic cauldron.

This was remarkable enough, but fell short of astonishing sight in the Barcelona Olympics where Paralympic games archer Antonio Rebollo lit the Olympic flame by shooting an arrow over the cauldron. The fact that Antonio is blind elevated the spectacle to a whole new level, which is arduous to match.

Childhood Dreams

Have you really achieved your childhood dreams or are you among the vast majority of people who just swim through life and take it as it comes? Is fulfillment of dreams essential to give a meaning to life or do you have a nihilist approach to life?

Last week saw the passing away of Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon. Randy gave his phenomenal ‘Last Lecture’ at CMU after he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The lecture he gave-‘Really achieving Childhood Dreams’ combines humour, intelligence and inspiration. It is about overcoming obstacles, enabling dreams of others and seizing every moment. If you have not heard the lecture, do watch it on YouTube at http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&feature=related

‘We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand’ – Randy Pausch

Life's Paradoxes

Respect for the individual vs. Criticism
Being disciplined vs. Being innovative
Taking risks vs. Avoiding mistakes
Being an extrovert vs. Being an introvert
Knowing the details vs. Delegating responsibility
Fast decision process vs. Correct decisions
Centralized efficiencies vs. Decentralized responsiveness

Which side are you on?