Thoughts@WORK

Morality

2010-10-04T22:15:00.001+05:00

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ,describes "morality" as :

-descriptively to refer to a code of conduct put forward by a society or, some other group, such as a religion, or accepted by an individual for his/her own behavior

This is the common understanding most of us have about morality, there is another statement which is more powerful, Which states -

-morality can be used, normatively to refer to a code of conduct that, given specified conditions, would be put forward by all rational persons

There is nice story narrated by Osho on this aspect.

There was King who since he was getting old, called his son and told him to go and meet his master and learn about "morality"

The Price travels far into the forest, crosses mountains and meets the old master and tells him "Master, King is getting old and he has sent me here to learn about Morality. Teach me, I'm in hurry". Master Replies " If you are in a hurry you should return back, it takes time to learn anything new and if you are interested your first step is to learn about patience"

Prince thinks for a while and decides to give it a try. Master says "You need to develop patience. You will spend time cleaning, watering the plants. In between I will come and hit you with a stick and it is up to you to escape from it"

During the first week he gets hit by the master many times but the lesson about patience keeps him calm. Slowly he develops intuition about when the master is coming and becomes successful in escaping. At this point, Master says "You are doing well. Now I will replace this stick with a real sword, you need to take your learning to next level"

By that time Price had developed confidence. Whether it is a stick or a sword, it is more do to with being aware. He agrees and he escapes the sword for many days.

One day Master comes and says "Now we need to take the training to next level. I will also hit you when you are asleep. I will start with a wooden stick"

Prince gets worried for a moment. But this challenge excites him and he agrees. Again first few weeks he gets hit by the wooden stick and later he becomes more aware and starts escaping from the hit. After sometime the Master switches over to sword but the prince was able escape that also.

One day while working in the garden the price gets the thought "All these days he is hitting me, I should try hitting him once". The Master who is walking few yards away looks back and says "Don't ever think about that".

Prince gets shock of his life and falls at his feet, the Master says "When you are fully aware, even the sound of thought you can hear. Start becoming more aware". Prince starts practicing more and once in a while he starts getting strong intuition that Master is coming to hit him at that he goes to Master who is busy reading and asks him "Do you wanted to hit me ?" , Master looks and smiles "Yes !, I wanted to complete this page and then come and hit you".

After few days Master calls the prince and says "Dear Prince you have been a good student. Your training is complete today. Go back your father, he is waiting for you"

Confident Price asks "Master the training was good but I came here to Learn about Morality"

Master says "A person who is aware is always moral"

Morality is not just Right or Wrong it is about ability understand the situation and being fully aware, taking action which is appropriate for that situation. As the master said

"A person who is aware is always moral"

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Three Law’s of Performance-3

2010-09-20T23:09:00.001+05:00

In this concluding part we will look at the Third Law of Performance.

The First law states:

How People perform correlates to how situation occurs to them

The Second Law of performance is

How a situation occurs arises in language

The Third Law of performance is

Future-based language transforms how situations occur to people

Future based language is also called as "Generative Language", it has the power to create new futures, to craft vision, and to eliminate the blinders that prevent people from seeing possibilities

It does not describe how a situation occurs; it transforms how it occurs. It does this by re-writing the future.

Before we look into the Power of Future, let's understand what our default future is.

Answer this question "How much money you are going to save/earn this year?"

Based on your past experience you are kind of certain that you are going to save/earn not more than some x amount, right?

This is the outcome of the default future, which is completely based on past, it consists of our expectations, fears, hopes and predictions.

The default future influences how the situation occurs in the present.

The Future based language projects a new future that replaces what people see coming. The future goes from default to "invented" future.

The new future is created in declaration – it is inventing a possibility and then to commit fully to that declaration. Throughout the history we have seen many examples.

Gandhi said "India shall be free" and committed his life for that cause and now we are free.

Ratan Tata said "a car for 1 lakh" and we have a Nano. This declaration not only created a car but along with it created a new possibility of innovation and creativity.

The Future based language

· Inspire action for everyone involved

· Fulfill the concerns of all

These three laws of performances are universal.

Let's use them to create and fulfill a future that matter to us.

(Source : Three Laws of Performance Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan.)

Three Law’s of Performance-2

2010-09-13T22:20:00.001+05:00

Last week saw the first law of performance

The First law states:

How People perform correlates to how situation occurs to them

The Second Law of performance is

How a situation occurs arises in language

Let's focus our attention to understand the phrase ' ....arises in Language'

The Language includes – body language, facial expression, verbal, non verbal expression, tone, pictures, drawings, music and other actions that have a symbolic intent.

One most important factor in second law is focus on what is "not said". The unsaid but communicated include assumptions, expectations, regrets, resentments, interpretations, significance and issues that occur as dangerous.

In the real world everything arises in language – The objects like car, house which occupy space arise in language.

The concepts like Finance, knowledge also arise in language. Ultimately everything in the real world arises in Language.

The Second Law gives an access to how things occur to you. Start observing how a situation occurs to you and for others, and then you will start appreciating the two laws.

Start noticing –

· What people say

· What People don't say but still communicate

· People's postures, gestures, facial expressions, tone of voice

· What People write

Also notice the network of conversation around you especially at work where the performance matters.

Ask these questions

· How does the situation occurs to people, such that people are having these conversations?

· Which of these conversations are productive? And which are ineffective?

· What is the relationship between your performance issue and this network of conversations?

You will observe the situation inside the second law of performance and how a situation occurs arises in language.

(Source : Three Laws of Performance Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan.)

Three Law’s of Performance-1

2010-09-06T20:09:00.001+05:00

In the book "Three Laws of Performance", authors Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan provide beautiful insights into the principles that govern the performance in human beings.

Performance is a measure of both efficiency and effectiveness. Performance is most important parameter in today's world.

The First law states:

How People perform correlates to how situation occurs to them

It says that the performance is correlated to the "occurring" world.

Let's look into this word "occur" –

In any given situation, a person looks at a situation from certain perspective. Imagine that the situation is captured on a video camera. The video recording depends on the angle at which the situation is recorded. If the camera is covered with yellow filter, the recording will have yellowish color on the video.

Similarly for a person how a situation occurs depends on the perspective and the filters. In human beings the filters may be the opinions, judgment, logic and past experience.

You might have experienced, some people when faced with challenge might work with lot of enthusiasm and energy while others are threatened and working hard to survive.

If you can really observe and understand from the place the person is taking the action, you will see that the person is taking action as per the occurring world.

Later we will look at the other two laws that help in altering the occurring world.

Once the occurring world is altered, automatically the action will also be consistent with it. Once the actions are different the results that is produced will be different. Once again the First law –

How People perform correlates to how situation occurs to them

(Source : Three Laws of Performance Steve Zaffron and Dave Logan.)

Zen Koans

2010-08-30T22:22:00.001+05:00

Koan is a Japanese word that comes from the Chinese, kung-an, that means public dictate. It is a reference to examples that are meant to guide life; or in the case of Zen, these dictates are meant to be catalysts for awakening one's true/deep/pure nature. Koans are a method of training the mind in order to achieve the state of Zen meditation.

It consists of a story, dialogue, question, or statement, the meaning of which cannot be understood by rational thinking but may be accessible through intuition. One widely known kōan is "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

They are not puzzles, riddles or problems to be solved- which have a definite answer.

Koans are not rational questions with final linear conclusions. They are especially designed for one purpose; this purpose is to open the mind that has been closed by habitual responses to the world and reality.

The Zen monks dwell in theses Koans and suddenly they "GET-IT" and it is said that , they get enlightened.

For the Koan "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

"The sound of one hand clapping is the sound of one hand clapping" .

"Why is the color of grass is green?", "The color of grass is green because the color of grass is green"

These are just examples – The real power is reveled when you apply this to your life.

"Why my wife/husband/mother-in-law/manager fights with me?", "My wife/husband/mother-in-law/manager fights with me because my wife/husband/mother-in-law/manager fights with me".

Once you GET-IT, you will have the power to look at life the way it is, and the way it is not. You can see the situation AS IT IS. You will experience being in the presence of "NOW".

"What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

Thinking Hats

2010-03-28T18:31:00.001+05:00

Thinking is a natural process for human beings. We think that we think, but many times we don't think when it is required. Just having thoughts is not thinking. Thinking is a process, it requires effort and it results in some action.

To aid in thinking process Edward de Bono has designed a framework, it is called 'Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats'. These hats are imaginary; they are used to aid the thinking in one direction.

When it is used in groups, everyone wears the same hat then they will be thinking in the same direction in parallel.

The White Hat – The white hat indicates exclusive focus on information. Information like what is available, missing, required etc.

The Red Hat - The red hat allows the free expression of feeling, intuition, hunches and emotions without apology and without explanation. The red hat asks the person to express the feeling at that point of time.

The Black Hat – The black hat is used for critical thinking. It is for caution and stops us doing things which are dangerous, damaging and unworkable. It is very useful but should not be overused in the name of being critical.

The Yellow Hat- The Yellow hat is logical positive hat. Under this hat one seeks the values and benefits. When the thinker is wearing this hat he looks to see how the idea can be made workable and put into practice.

The Green Hat – The Green hat is a creative hat, under the green hat the thinker looks at alternatives. It is action oriented and opens up new possibilities.

The Blue Hat - The Blue hat is control hat, it is concerned with the management of the thinking process. It takes care of defining the problem and what is being thought about. "Thinking about what?"

There is no fixed sequence for using the hats, one best practice is to start with blue and end with blue and use the other hats in between.

This is a very brief overview of the Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats.

Now the next step is observing how many times you think and how many times you are just having thoughts. Then look at the various ideas which are not yet implemented (or problems not solved).

Start thinking about them using six hats. Go through the thinking process. At the end you will have some action items and get into action without wasting your time.

Six hats is a tool that you can use.

The actions will you give you what you want, not just your ideas. But what "Actions" you have to take will come from your Thinking!.

The ‘un’ Professional – Part 2

2010-03-21T18:11:00.001+05:00

This week, lets look at the points from Subroto Bagchi's book the "The Professional", about what constitutes unprofessional conduct.

1. Missing a deadline

You have given your DVD player for repair. How many times you receive it on time? If it is not ready do you get the communication?

2. Non escalation of issues on time

Today is Monday; you know that your team will not complete the work by Friday to meet the dead line , when do you tell your customer that you will miss the deadline?

3. Non – disclosure

How many times you disclose the conflict of interest in your business?

4. Not respecting privacy of information

A famous personality might have taken a service from you. How many times you take consent from that person before sharing information about him/her?. Or son/daughter of a famous personality might be working in your team. Do you take care of their privacy?

5. Not respecting "Need to know"

Do you take care of the confidentiality of information with your spouse, relatives and friends?

6. Plagiarism

How many times you have come across people cut and pasting your slides and passing it as their own?

7. Passing on the blame

When something goes wrong how many times you have taken responsibility? Or how many times you were blamed for others mistake?

8. Overstating qualification and experience

How many times you have come across resumes stating 3 years experience when the technology itself is just 2 years old?

9. Mindless job hopping

The attitude "I was OK, My organization was not"

10. Unsuitable Appearance

Do you wear professional attire to suite your job? Do you maintain personal hygiene?

Look at these points from both as service provider and as consumer.

Many times we don't even expect a professional service from others, we keep on working on ourselves and try being professionals; others may be just taking your professionalism for granted, may be it is time for you to start questioning that.

(Reference: Main points from The Professional – Subroto Bagachi )

The ‘un’ Professional

2010-03-14T12:39:00.001+05:00

Yesterday I was going to a bank near my house. To avoid being guilty of adding to traffic chaos I choose to use the public transport. Within a few minutes I got into a bus. I gave 5 Rs to the conductor, he immediately gave few coins back to me and I was furious, I knew these guys cheat the public and the government, they are unprofessional. In a fraction of second all these thoughts crossed my mind. But next thing he did was took bundle of tickets from his bag and gave me a 3Rsticket and went ahead shouting "Tickets .. tickets".

In the next stop a young man, smartly dressed came in. When the conductor came, hegave few coins and said that he will get down at the near by stop. I could clearly see the conductor was not happy but he was not in a position to demand from the young man.

This incident made me to share few thoughts on being a Professional.

It is not enough that we behave professionally; we also should empower others to perform their duties professionally.

One way to distinguish what is being professional is to look at what is NOT professional.

Some of the traits or practices of being unprofessional I could list down are given here.

These apply to all roles, whether you are CEO or Security Guard or Sales Manager (and of course a software engineer!)

1. Not honoring your commitments

2. Taking-up roles for which you are not qualified/competent

3. Not being in communication with relevant stakeholders

4. Not being punctual

5. Engaging in gossip about the organization and/or co-workers

Founder of MindTree Subroto Bagchi has written book called "The Professional" covering various aspects of being a professional. We will cover some points from it in the next week's article.

The Eight Sufferings

2010-03-14T12:38:00.001+05:00

Buddha's first teaching after he got enlightened was that all life is suffering. Life is changing constantly and everything is impermanent. He distinguished these eight sufferings.

The first four are related to the physical body.

Birth, Old age, Sickness and Death

There is constant effort to avoid the suffering due to birth, old age, sickness and death. Though these are natural, people spend lot of effort and money to avoid these sufferings.

As soon as a person is born, the suffering starts with the expectation to perform well in the society.

People spend time and money in make-up, plastic surgery to avoid looking old, they think they can avoid aging.

Lot of money is spent to avoid falling sick. Finally people are not present that eventually they are going to die. They fight for power and success as if they are going to live forever.

The other set of four sufferings are not physical they arise from mind.

Being separated from those you love – many time people go away from loved ones to create happiness, but the very act of being separated causes suffering.

Being in the presence of those you dislike

Like and dislike are the two sides of the same coin in the matter of suffering. People suffer when they are in the presence of people whom they dislike.

Not getting what you desire

There are enough things like the job, promotion, car, house and so on. When people don't get what the desire, there is a suffering

The imbalance of five skandhas (heaps of energy)

The five skandhas are form(body), feelings, perceptions, impulses and consciousness. When they are not in harmony like overweight (form) or being too emotional (feelings) causes suffering.

Once you see all these suffering from the context impermanence it will disappear. Nothing is permanent everything is changing and suffering is optional!

(Source/Reference: Compass of Zen – Seung Sahn)

200 N/O

2010-03-14T12:37:00.001+05:00

The cricket website crickinfo reports " .. It took nearly 40 years of waiting and it was well worth it. Sachin Tendulkar chose one of the better bowling attacks doing the rounds, to eclipse the record for the highest score, before bringing up the first double-hundred in ODI history. The spectators at the Captain Roop Singh Stadium became the envy of cricket fans as they witnessed one of the country's favourite sporting heroes play a breathtaking innings which not only set up a 153-run annihilation but also the series victory."

Yes ! It is once again Sachin Tendulkar creating a history by a scoring the first ever double century in the One Day Cricket.

Even if you are not a great follower of cricket, you can't escape the influence of this person. Watching him play is a joy and inspiration to millions of Indians.

I remember one particular incident; I think it is almost a decade ago, during world cup he lost his beloved father and he had rushed to India to attend the funeral. He missed one match in which India lost. Next match he was there and scored a century and dedicated it to his father. What a way pay tribute!

Like any other sports person when he was in his lean period, media wrote about his performance he did not say anything rather he showed it on the ground.

That is SACHIN TENDULKAR.

FEAR !

2010-02-21T19:19:00.001+05:00

Fear is one of the experiences that we all go through. It has multiple dimensions - It may be a fear of failure, fear of public speaking, fear of being left out, fear of adversity, fear of losing control, fear of parents, fear of supervisor, fear of being caught, fear of confrontation, fear of rejection, fear of death, fear of accident, fear of losing job/money/loved ones, fear of losing your edge, fear of consequence, fear of unknown.

The amount and degree of fear is situational, for some there may be lot of fear during speaking in public but might have less fear when speaking to small group.

Fear also varies over a period of time; person may have fear initially when he/she started the business and as the time passes the fear might come down.

One might develop different types of fear due to experiences in life also.

There is another type of fear that comes from danger to life itself, like when you are attacked by a wild life or getting robed at gun point.

If you notice fear is always there with you. Just take a moment and see if you can identify the presence of fear right now (don't look at the source/reason just get present!).

Fear is like snake that is there within you, if you try to fight it out through your mind it also starts fighting back. If you just leave it will be just there and will not harm you.

How to handle fear?

One way to handle fear is to look at the impact. When one is under the control of fear what it stops is "action", say for example you have the fear of failure and you want to start a business.

What fear stops is to take action towards what is required to make the business run. Fear directs your attention for survival. One of the safest ways to avoid failure is "NO – ACTION"

To handle fear what is required is COURAGE, it is not the absence of fear but it is your willingness to take action in the presence of fear. Capt. Gopinath says it in his biography narrating his experience during the war "…I spent the night walking from trench to trench under the cover of darkness. It is not that we were not sacred. Courage is the counterpoint of fear. Courage appears when in war or business one is indeed sacred."

Give space for fear and let it be.

Photography - Cameras

2010-02-21T19:13:00.003+05:00

Camera is one of the most important elements of your photography; it captures the light in order to create the image you want. Again remember it just captures the light you do rest of the things!
What we need to remember is buying a expensive high end camera may not give you the best picture. Also if you are interested to pursue it as serious hobby, look at the overall cost of additional lenses, filters, batteries, storage and additional hard disk, printing etc.
Cameras can be classified in multiple ways and there is a huge overlap between various camera segments. One way to look at is Analog/ Film based Camera and Digital Camera or based on the features it provides.
Since it is era of Digital Cameras; let’s focus on the types of Digital Cameras. Before that I want to clear the myth about Mega Pixels (MP) in digital cameras.
See the illustration above; same number of pixels are placed on both the sensors. As the number of MP increases it can store more information and better quality but it also depends on the size of the pixel that depends on the size of the sensor.
It is not only the pixels but also the size of the sensor is important.
Digital Camera’s can be placed under
· Point shoot cameras (Compacts)
· Prosumer (Bridge)
· Digital single lens reflex cameras(DSLR)
Point shoot cameras compact, lightweight and great for point-and-shoot photo-taking. Affordability and compactness makes it very attractive for general purpose photography. Approximate price range is from Rs 5000 to Rs20,000
Prosumer or Bridge levels between a professional and compact camera. It has light weight and affordability of the compact camera and range of features of a professional camera. These cameras provide wide range of features including manual mode for creative shooting. It has varied zoom lens capacity which is useful for macro to wild life photography.
Approximate price range Rs. 18,000- 40,000
Digital single lens reflex cameras(DSLR)
The main advantage of DSL is large image sensor (and bigger pixels) . Photographs can be enlarged for printing. Other advantage is; it provides the facility to interchange lenses thus giving you wide range of options from macro to landscapes to wildlife.
DSLR starts around Rs 28,000 and goes till few lakhs. (plus lens anywhere between Rs. 3000 to few lakhs). If you are serious it is worth to invest in DSLR.
Hope this gives some idea about the world of cameras.

Buddha Sid!

2010-02-07T16:48:00.003+05:00

You might have seen the movie ‘Wake-up Sid!’ or at least heard about it. The translation of the Sanskrit word “Buddha” is ‘wake-up’. So Buddha Sid is another way of saying ‘Wake-up Sid’. Wake-up to “attain your true self”

Let’s look at how things exist for us. Suppose if you don’t know what is “Coffee”?
One of the dimensions is, to explain it along time –Coffee starts from a coffee seed, which is sown in the ground, then the plant gives the coffee beans. These beans are dried, these dried beans are fried at certain temperature and then packed and sent to the coffee shop, in the shop they are grinded to create a powder, and then the powder is mixed with boiling water and then filtered to prepare a cup of coffee.
This is more logical, progressive along the dimension of time.

Another dimension is along space, Coffee is very good drink, it has very good aroma, it’s color ranges from light brown to dark brown. In some countries coffee is mixed with hot milk and sugar. Some people prefer coffee without sugar. Coffee is refreshing in nature. Now a day’s coffee is available all over the world.
It is more in the domain of emotions and experience.

Another dimension is – Take a cup of coffee, take a big sip, “slurrr !”… and drink it. “Aaha !”
This dimension is something beyond experience and logic.
You just “Get it” … you get what “Coffee” is !!

In Buddhism the first approach is called Hinayana, the second is called Mahayana and the last one is called Zen.

All the three dimensions have specific importance, while first two approaches are based on the past the third approach is focusing on the present.
“Buddha Sid” :-)
(Article Source Reference – Compass of Zen- Zen Master Seung Sahn) To subscribe to the newsletter write to - mithare@gmail.com

Photography - 4

2010-01-31T22:26:00.002+05:00

Photographs are created by exposing light on a photo sensitive material, earlier it was films and now it is a sensor in a digital camera.

A photograph is dependent on three factors to control the quantity of light required.
1. Shutter speed
2. Aperture
3. Sensitivity of film/sensor
In the above diagram, I’m using a quantity of water as an analogy for the quantity of light.
First let’s look at Shutter Speed – it is a measure of how fast the camera shutter opens and closes. This determines the amount of light that is entered. We need more light in dark and less light when the surroundings are bright.
Shutter speed is measured in seconds. ( 1/30s is larger than 1/1000, in cameras it is shown as 30, 1000 etc.)
Next we look at the aperture; it is nothing but the opening through which the light travels. It is normally denoted by f-number. (f/2.8, f/4,f/8,f/16 etc.)
Smaller the f-number larger the aperture, more quantity of light is allowed to pass through.
The last factors is Sensitivity, it is measured in ISO number, lower the ISO number more sensitive the film or the sensor. The advantage of digital camera is, you can set the sensitivity. Earlier in film cameras the sensitivity was fixed. (like Kodak 200,400 etc) . Typically the ISO value ranges from 100 to 1600.
In digital camera you can play around with these three parameters to get a perfect photograph.
Apart from these parameters the most important element that impacts your photograph is the type lens used. (below 21 mm as Macro, 35mm medium, 50mm normal, 85-135 Telephoto/zoom, above 300mm Super Telephoto)
Go ahead and experiment !

Photography - 2

2010-01-24T14:38:00.006+05:00

Photography is like painting; here you use light instead of paints to create your image. Unlike painting it is quick and can be done anywhere any time. But it is similar in the way you use the canvas to put the subjects. (For the technically inclined it is called Composition)
Choose what you want cover (subject) in your photograph, in the above set of pictures-First (1) picture captures, The Dog, Ball and bags in the background etc. Picture 2 indicates what areas you can include in the photograph. Picture 3 indicates the final picture, you might decide to include the tennis ball to indicate the playful nature of the dog or you can exclude it.
When you are taking Landscape/Nature we can use the rule of 1/3rd .
Divide the frame horizontally and/or vertically into three parts. For landscapes one part cover sky, other for the subject and one part for land. If you are taking picture of a person, divide the frame vertically into three parts and have the person at one side.

If there is railing/road in the frame, have it end at one corner, as shown by the arrow in the above picture.
Finally there are two principles that one should follow in photography
1. Follow all the rules
2. Break all the rules

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Photography - 1

2010-01-18T07:52:00.001+05:00

They say … "A picture is worth thousand words" - true indeed in the context of photography. It is a great medium that captures the scene, the emotion and feeling. It is a medium that can freeze the time. When we see an old photograph,it brings back the old sweet memories with nostalgia.

In the last decade with advancement of Technology, photography has become affordable. We have decent cameras in mobile phones these days.

Photography is combination art and engineering.

I'm not an expert in photography, but I love photography and taking pictures. In this series I will share some basics so that we can learn and improve.

What is photography?- according to me, it is a process of taking a picture on a camera. From the time you think, select the subject, capture it on your camera, download (or process if it is a film camera) , post process, print, store and share with others.

At each stage there is chance to learn and enjoy.

There are no good or bad photographs- there are just photographs. In next few weeks I will share different aspects - from types of Cameras to some basics of photography.

Just enjoy the journey!

Two wolves

2010-01-10T22:31:00.001+05:00

Every year we start with a New Year resolution and in a few days time it goes out of existence. Not only resolutions many projects, new initiatives, hobbies we lose the enthusiasm. We start with lots good intentions after some time we lose interest.

After some time you stop doing anything new due failure of earlier initiatives.

What stops you is not the failures but the conversation you have about that failure, Your mind tells you something like- "You can't, just leave it", "again you will fail" , "You are stupid"

This is automatic; as soon as you start your journey, your mind or some little voice inside you will tell you that - it is not for you.

It is very important to listen to your self. What you listen to you is very important.

Let me illustrate that with this beautiful story -

A Zen master was teaching his disciple monk about what is life: "A fight is going on inside me," said the master. "it is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves."

One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego

The other one is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, sincerity, humility, kindness, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith.

"The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too"

The monk thought it about a minute and then asked the master, "Master, which wolf will win?"

The Zen master simply replied "The one you feed"

It is simply where you channel your energy. When you start any new project, initiative; you start with some intention and purpose, Keep that alive.

During the journey you will face lot of hurdles, disempowering thoughts that take you away from your path. At that time just look at which wolf is winning – it will be definitely – The one you feed.

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published in Thoughts@Work Newsletter - to subscribe, write to mithare@gmail.com

2010

2010-01-03T22:59:00.001+05:00

The year 2010 is already here, it is a good time to spend some quality time and create what you want to accomplish this year.

Create goals which inspire you. It is not just the destination; it is the journey that matters.

The following five points are for you to support you in accomplishing your goals.

1. Honor your word – Give and keep your word, do what you said you will do, by the time you said you will do it, if you are not going to do it communicate as soon as you come to know about it.

2. Go Ahead and Make Mistakes – Most of us have a block for being perfect. We mistake being perfect for excellence. Excellence comes from continuous improvement and learning from mistakes.

3. Develop efficiency – It is the ability to cause and make things happen. Everyday practice doing daily tasks better than what you normally do.

4. Be present to you goals but always focus on your actions. Only ACTIONS will give you Results, Nothing else. You can't play football looking at the scoreboard; your focus needs to be on your actions.

5. Also it is not just winning the game that matters, what really matters is, how you play the game and why you are playing the game. When you play just don't play, Play to WIN. Play and enjoy the journey of your life."The possibility of your dream coming true makes life interesting"! –from Alchemist

Gifts !

2009-12-28T23:11:00.003+05:00

Gift is something special we all have received or given it to someone. Sometimes, finding a right gift to person you love is as challenging as finding a life partner. Very few of us can pick-up a right gift to the right person.

Mostly gifts are given during some occasion like marriage, birthday or some festivals. There are some special occasions too, like you are meeting your loved ones after long time or leaving them for good.

Giving gift is really an opportunity to express and communicate to the person, how much they matter to you. Merriam-webster dictionary mentions "Gift" as "power of giving".

It is powerful tool that can make difference in the relationship you with that person.

One important thing to be present in giving the gifts is the authenticity – that is the value of the gift is determined by the intention rather than the cost of the gift.

Anything given with full love is always priceless.

Peter F Drucker

2009-12-20T22:49:00.002+05:00

Peter Ferdinand Drucker was a writer, management consultant, and self-described "social ecologist". Drucker was born in Vienna, the capital of Austria, in a small village named Kaasgraben in 1909.

After completing his studies in Vienna he moved to Germany for employment and opportunity to study further. Later he relocated to London when Nazi control was getting stronger in Germany. In 1934 after his marriage to Doris Schmitz, the couple permanently relocated to the United States.

In the US he started his career as professor and writer, after his initial book "The Future of Industrial Man" he got a opportunity to study General Motors. The study resulted in the book, "Concept of the Corporation"- It describes what management is, how managers are selected, how they act, and how a corporation is organized into management units at different scales It also seeks to explain the role and position of large corporations in modern society.

Later for many decades he continuously contributed to the growth of management thinking.

Drucker taught that management is "a liberal art," and he infused his management advice with interdisciplinary lessons from history, sociology, psychology, philosophy, culture and religion.

Drucker's 39 books have been translated into more than thirty languages. He also wrote regular column in the Wall Street Journal for 20 years and contributed frequently to the Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Economist.

He continued to act as a consultant to businesses and non-profit organizations well into his nineties.

Drucker died November 11, 2005 in Claremont, California of natural causes at 95.

Some of his famous Quotes

"The best way to predict the future is to create it."

"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things."

"What's measured improves."

"Rank does not confer privilege or give power. It imposes responsibility."

(This article is tribute to Drucker centennial 1909-2009)

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Happiness

2009-12-13T22:51:00.001+05:00

One important aspect of our life is being happy. We generally don't confront what it takes to be happy. Quite often you have a vague sense of how to be happy, but we are not at the source of it.

We all are in the pursuit of happiness. We think that we are going to make our life work and we will be happy.

You think that when you get educated that that's going to solve all your problems and handle things; or when you get married, have kids or when you get divorced, or when you buy that big car or that new job and so on.

You think there is something that is going to make things work, and nothing makes things work.

The fact of the matter is that there isn't anything that's going to make anybody happy.

Once you confront that there isn't anything that's going to make you happy. You can stop chasing happiness and start looking at the source of happiness or the secret of happiness.

The secret is, you get that there isn't anything that's going to make you happy and there isn't any secret of happiness. You stop chasing happiness.

Once you stop the chase you will experience that happiness is not where you are looking for; happiness is where you are and you are where the happiness is.

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Loneliness

2009-12-06T23:36:00.002+05:00

As human beings all of us experience some kind of loneliness at some point in time. It is not just what you feel when you are alone, Loneliness is a feeling where you experience a powerful surge of emptiness and solitude. You might experience loneliness even when you are in a group.

On the other hand Solitude is different, it is the state of being alone and secluded from other people, and often implies having made a conscious choice to be alone.

In my opinion the key thing is, knowing that are experiencing loneliness. Then next step is being in communication with another person about your loneliness.

Since it is natural to feel loneliness once in a while don't resist it. Also be aware that you are not the only one who feeling loneliness.

As Mexican poet and writer says "Solitude is the profoundest fact of the human condition. Man is the only being who knows he is alone." , Only we can know that we are alone!

Famous writer Gulzar has captured the mood of a loner in this beautiful song - Ek Akela is shaher mein … (A loner in this town ..) , from the movie Gharonda.

Listen to this song at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VKpKkGnl0k

Looking back ...

2009-12-01T19:04:00.001+05:00

We are almost approaching the year end. One more month, 4 more weeks or just another 30 days, this year will complete. The end of 2009 also signifies end of this decade.

It is a good time to look back and complete things which are unfinished. It is time to re-look at your investments or savings for Tax benefit or the holiday that you planned at the beginning of the year which is still in the planning phase.

It may also include meeting the old school friend or inviting your neighbor for dinner or joining the guitar /sitar class. Buying a new gadget or upgrading your music system or getting rid of that personal loan from the MNC bank.

It may be that pending work of building your own website or buying a new house or starting gym/yoga or a new diet or buying new of clothes.

It may be your plan to visit that old-age home or donating money for some under privileged.

It may be just having your favorite black forest pastry or mug of beer with your best friend or taking your parents out for dinner.

Also it is time to relook at your future and create it. Write down the 10 things you want in life. Be ready to embrace the new decade and the New Year the year 2010.

Responsibility

2009-11-22T20:39:00.001+05:00

What comes to your mind when you hear the word "Responsibility"?, most often it comes across as a burden, pressure and something to do with power.

Responsibility exists more like a cause and effect relationship. If you work hard you will be successful. Your success is co-related to the amount of hard work you do.

When you are responsible, you also get the credit or blame based on the results you have accomplished or failed to accomplish.

If you look at all the above views of Responsibility, they all are based on the past (i.e things which have already happened)

We can view Responsibility in a new context, which is based on the future. We can look at responsibility as "Ability to respond", i.e what you are willing to do from now onwards.

It is your willingness to take action and make things happen. It is a process of creation and empowering self and others in taking action.

It is based on freedom and choice.

So when you take up any responsibility you are not the cause for what happened, rather you are willing to create what is required.

So now can take responsibility for your life?

Biography - Randy Pausch

2009-11-08T22:44:00.001+05:00

Randolph Frederick "Randy" Pausch was an American professor of computer science and human-computer interaction and design at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Pausch learned that he had a terminal case of pancreatic cancer in September 2006.

He gave an upbeat lecture entitled "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams" on September 18, 2007 at Carnegie Mellon, which became a popular YouTube video and led to other media appearances.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji5_MqicxSo&feature=related)

He then co-authored a book called The Last Lecture on the same theme, which became a New York Times best-seller. Pausch died of complications from pancreatic cancer on July 25, 2008.

Some Quotes

Never lose the child-like wonder. It's just too important. It's what drives us.

Don't complain; just work harder.

If I could only give three words of advice, they would be, "tell the truth." If I got three more words, I'd add: "All the time."

Never give up

Health

2009-11-01T17:14:00.001+05:00

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity". Some people have also added Finance to the list.

Further, the meaning of the highlighted words is given below.

state - a: mode or condition of being <a state of readiness> b : condition of mind or temperament

complete - a : having all necessary parts, elements, or steps <a complete diet>

being - the quality or state of having existence b (1) : something conceivable as existing (2) : something that actually exists (3) : the totality of existing things c : conscious existence

We all know that the health is important. We all are busy chasing wealth and in the process losing health, most of the times we end up losing both.

Health is very important aspect of our life. One way to manage is to look at the context for health, ask yourself "Why health?". One of my friend has shared this- he has created a context that "My Health –is for my children". He has quit smoking and is taking care of his health.

Look at the context for your health then the actions to manage will follow.

Biography - Roman Polanski

2009-10-25T18:22:00.001+05:00

Roman Polanski is one of the greatest contemporary directors.

Polanski has directed is 'The Pianist(2002)'. The film has won three Academy Awards- for Best Director, Best Actor and Best Adapted Screenplay. It was also awarded seven French Césars and many more awards.

Roman Polanski was born in August 18, 1933, in Paris, France. Within few years of his birth, his parents moved to Poland. His father had a plastic business in Krakow, Poland. Though his parents were not rich they provided him with everything that he wanted.

Before the World War II Germans gained control over Poland and the trouble for the Jewish families began. Polanski's family was forced to move into a Jewish Ghetto. Later both his parents were taken to the Nazi concentration Camps. Roman lost his mother and reunited with his father after the war.

As he was growing up he had made up his mind to become part of the cinema world. In 1962 he made his first movie "Knife in the water" that received significant attention.

His personal life was not peaceful. His pregnant wife, Sharon Tate was brutally murdered in New York. Later he was also convicted in US court for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor. He then fled to Europe and continued making movies.

In 2002 he made holocaust movie The Pianist; It is an adaptation of the autobiography, by Jewish-Polish musician Władysław Szpilman.

The Pianist is one of the greatest movies done on the subject of holocaust. Another such movie is Schindler's List Directed by Steven Spielberg. When Spielberg wanted to make Schindler's List he had asked Roman Polanski to direct it but Polanski had refused.

Polanski has made numerous films and acted in a few. Some of his movies are Death and the Maiden, Bitter Moon, Tess, Chinatown, Frantic, Pirates, The Pianist, The Ninth Gate, Oliver Twist, Rosemary's Baby

Last week he was arrested by the Swiss Police. US govt. has requested Swiss Govt. for extradition of Polanski.

The Law of Attraction

2009-10-18T09:25:00.001+05:00

According to followers of this law, thoughts have an energy which attracts whatever it is the person is thinking of. In order to control this energy to one's advantage, proponents state that people must practice four things

Know exactly what you want.

Ask the universe for it.

Feel, behave and know as if the object of your desire is already yours (visualize).

Be open to receive it and let go of (the attachment to) the outcome

The Secret book written by Rhonda Byrne is also based on this premise. There is also a notion that universe understands simple sentences and avoid using "not" in your communication. For example instead of saying "I should not be late", you can say "I should be on time". Similarly instead of saying "I should not fail", say "I should Pass"

There may be many more such notions- I'm not an expert on this subject, but from using common sense, we can infer a few things.

Clarity brings action and only actions produce results.

If you look at the four points mentioned above, they talk about bringing in clarity in the matters you are dealing with. Suppose you want to buy a car, once you bring in the clarity about what car you want to buy, other actions will follow - like looking for finance, looking for nearby dealership, booking the car and finally having it.

The next thing is about avoiding "not" in a communication- in the action domain "not" is very difficult to process or understand - for example if someone asks "what do you want eat?", if you say "Not Idli" , then there will be infinite possibilities about what you can eat. Instead if you simply say "Dosa" then it can be served faster and quicker.

When you say "I should not fail" you are visualizing failure, when you say "I should Pass" you are visualizing success. It is easier for brain to process what you visualize.

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Please don’t ‘mind’

2009-10-12T01:18:00.001+05:00

Please don't 'mind'

Once a Zen master and his monk were travelling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was falling. As they come round a bend, they met a lovely girl in silk kimono and sash, unable to cross the intersection because of the mud.

'Come on girl' said the Zen master at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried over the mud. The monk was upset and did not speak until late night when they reached the monastery.

Then he could no longer restrain himself. "We monks" he said, "Don't go near females, especially young and lovely ones, It is dangerous, Why did you do that? "

Zen Master replied "I left her there long back, why are you still carrying her?"

This how we are, most of the time we are not even carrying the lovely girl, we are carrying the mud in our head.

we get overwhelmed by the amount "Things to Do" in our life.

In order to prepare for a better tomorrow we are losing our today, the present the 'right now!'

There are so many things stuffed in our mind. Mind is very powerful it controls our actions, emotions and our experience. It keeps us always busy and ensure that we don't enjoy the present moment 'the right now' , we are trapped in our mind.

One way to come out of mind is knowing you have thoughts and you are not your thoughts, you have emotions but you are not your emotions, you have feelings but you are not your feelings.

You have the power to choose your thoughts, actions and feelings.

Now you can drop the young lady!

My "Self"

2009-10-04T01:13:00.001+05:00

vaishnav jan to tene kahiye, je peed paraaee jaNe re ...

[He is the true Vaishnava who knows and feels another's woes as his own]

par dukkhe upkar kare toye, man abhiman na aaNe re

[Ever ready to serve others who are unhappy, he never lets vanity get to his head]

Mahatma Gandhi used to sing this is a beautiful bhajan. On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti let's take his concept of Non-violence little further. It is non violence against "self". It might appear strange but it is also important. Look at your relationship with your 'self'.

Just look at how many times you make yourself wrong, you feel like a failure, blame yourself, feel guilty, consider yourself as 'not good enough' so on.

The amount or intensity at which you make yourself wrong might differ from one person to another. But have you noticed that you keep punishing yourself?

This is also some kind of violence. It might be due to various reasons but we all do it.

I'm inviting you to consider the possibility of unconditional love for yourself.

How about practicing non violence with your 'self'?

Try this game, at least play this game for a week. The rules of the games are to notice when you are making yourself wrong. Whenever you make yourself wrong put coin in a box. At the end of the week count the coins, multiply the total sum with 100. That is the total amount you have to treat yourself. Do whatever you want to do with that money. That will also show you how much pain you cause to yourself in physical form.

Also share this game with your friends and invite them also to take on this. When you can give love to yourself you can give it others also.

Now, Can you love your 'self' ?

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Managing Oneself-5

2009-08-30T22:20:00.001+05:00

Where do I belong? and What is my contribution?

The answer to the three questions: What are my strengths?, How do I perform?, What are my Values?

Enable you to decide where you belong.

This is not a decision that most people can or should make at the beginning of their career. By the time one passes his/her mid twenties you will know what are your strengths. You should know how you perform and your values.

And then finally you should be able to decide where you belong. Or you should know where you don't belong.

If you are good as an individual contributor you should not take assignment/role of managing a team, if you can not make decisions you should not be in decision making role. Knowing whether you effective in a large organization or you will be successful in small organization is also important.

Lastly but more importantly be aware that what you think you are may not be accurate. Spend sufficient time in collecting data from feedback analysis.

For knowing where one belongs makes ordinary people- hardworking, competent but mediocre otherwise - into outstanding performers.

The next question one should look into is What is my contribution? , this is moving from knowledge to action. The question is not " What do I want to

contribute?" , it is not "What I am told to contribute?" It is "What should I contribute?"

In the previous era very few people had the choice of making a contribution, today we have the privilege of making the contribution. Live a life of Freedom.

Managing Oneself- Part 4

2009-08-24T22:56:00.001+05:00

How do I Learn?

The next thing one should know after "How do I perform?" is, how one learns. We saw last week being a reader or listener impacts how you perform.

Next thing to look at how one learns, few of us learn by reading and some by listening and some others by writing. Winston Churchill is an example who did poorly in school, which focused on learning by reading and listening where as Churchill's trait was learning by writing.

Don't force yourself to know how you learn, start observing yourself and use the feedback mechanism and you will know over a period of time.

To ask "How do I perform?" and "How do I learn?" are the two most important questions. But they are no means the only questions.

Other thing to know about yourself is do you perform well under Stress, or you perform well under a predictable environment. Are you a good manager or good subordinate? Are you a decision maker or executor?

Next thing you should know is, do you perform well in a team or you can perform better as an individual contributor.

So far we have looked at various aspects of one's identity and persona. To be able to manage oneself, one finally has to know "What are my values?",

Drucker call it as a Mirror test, when you take any action your value system will tell you is it the right thing or not. When you look yourself in the mirror you can face yourself when you are in harmony with your values.

At your workplace, if the organization values and your values are in conflict you cannot perform.

Values are and should be the ultimate test.

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Managing Oneself - 3

2009-08-16T08:28:00.001+05:00

Last week we looked at "What are your strengths?", this week we look at equally important question "How do I perform?". Very few people know how they get things done. Many of us don't even know that people perform differently.

One of the main reasons for this is during our school days all of us were told how do things, rarely any us had an opportunity to look at how we learnt, what are the different ways to accomplish the same task.

Now as grown-ups we neither do thing as they are meant to be done nor do we create new ways of doing things. The impact is we don't have the results that we want.

How one performs is very individual. It is part of his/her persona. There are few personality traits that usually determine how one achieves results.

First thing to know about how one performs is whether one is a reader or a listener. Very few people know that there are readers and listeners, and that very few people are both. Even fewer people know which of the two they themselves are.

One small example is, consider your manager is listener and you are a reader, in that case to give an update on your project status you might send an e-mail. Whereas your manager might prefer that you call-up and update. You might also observe that you too have your preferences; you might be comfortable talking and listening whereas others might want to write down, or send a mail.

You might also observe that some people are great, when it comes to presenting, participation in meetings, whereas their skills in preparing slides or reports are mediocre.

The point is you should know how you perform, where you can produce results. In the next article we will look into How do I learn? And my Values.

Managing oneself -2

2009-08-16T08:26:00.001+05:00

Last week we saw the importance of managing oneself. We are looking at these questions

· Who Am I ? What are my strengths?

· How do I work?

· Where do I belong?

· What is my contribution?

This week let's look at Who Am I ? What are my strengths?

One aspect of knowing yourself and about your strength is making an inventory of your strengths and weakness.

You think you know your strengths but most of the time you know where you are not good at, that is also not accurate. Since we constantly focus and work on where we are not good at we don't focus much on our strengths. Don't go by what you think or feel as your strengths as your strengths. Also don't go by what others say also.

One way as suggested by Drucker, to identify your strengths is to do a feedback analysis. Whenever you make a key decision or take a key action, write down what you will expect will happen and after 9 or 12 months compare the actual result with you expectation. Over the years you will start noticing the difference.

As the outcome of the feedback analysis is first - concentrate on your strengths; put yourself where your strengths can produce results. Second work on improving your strengths and third discover where your intellectual arrogance is causing a barrier and

overcome it. What I mean by this is we take pride in our expertise or domain and we take pride in showing our ignorance in other fields. For example a hardcore network engineer takes pride in his ignorance that he can't understand people and their emotions or a top ranked HR executive will say that she can't be with these technical stuff like machines or cars etc. You don't have to be an expert in other fields but identify these barriers related to your strengths and overcome it. These are your blind spots.

Also observe areas in your life where you are not taking any actions, No action No result. Look at your behavior or manners are you too strong (assertive/ arrogant ?) too mild (helping/sincere) adjust them as per the need. Same type of behavior may be a constraint at times, be present to what is appropriate.

To summarize, focus on your strengths; it takes far less effort moving from competent to excellence than incompetent to meritocracy.

Managing Oneself-Part I

2009-08-02T18:25:00.001+05:00

All of us spend considerable amount of time improving the process at work, learning new tools and techniques to improve productivity and efficiency. Seldom spend our time in understanding oneself. We don't put enough time in understanding the human machinery. We have great understanding of the human physiology and psychology but still our understanding of 'self' is limited.

It is especially very important for the "Knowledge Worker" to know about how one performs. In last few decades the way people are working is transforming, new types of organization roles are evolving, there more avenues for people to make living. Unlike the 80's and 90's one need not have work for single company nor have stick to the career one has chosen. One can choose the career what inspires him/her. It is not uncommon that we come across people starting totally a new career like Investment banker starting restaurant or becoming a wild-life photographer.

At the same time number of people who are losing their jobs, not able to manage their career, going through stress at work is also increasing alarmingly.

With this context we will examine few fundamental questions that help in managing oneself. This series is based on Peter Druckers article "Managing Oneself" , which has influenced me tremendously.

You have to ask these questions

Who Am I ? What are my strengths? How do

I work?
Where do I belong?
What is my contribution?

Will discuss these questions in subsequent articles, till then dwell into these questions try to find answers.

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I'm Sorry !

2009-07-12T19:41:00.001+05:00

One of the basic emotions that all we go through is "Guilt". Whenever we don't deliver on what we promised or when we did not keep the promise, or when have not produced the results that is expected from us, the immediate response after we say "I'm sorry!" is the experience of guilt.

For some of you the reason you get into the guilt mode may be different. But all of us get into the mode of feeling guilty. There may be various reasons for feeling and experiencing the guilt. Today we are not looking at why we experience "guilt" and how to come out of it. Rather we will look into what to do next after get into guilt mode.

Consider you have promised a friend that you will join in his/her birthday party. Unfortunately you forgot. Next day you remember and you are feeling guilty about it. Does feeling guilty and miserable compensate for not attending the party?, NO

You might say that you really wanted to go and that person means lot to you.

If you observe guilt is cover up for not being responsible. If you really wanted to go then you could have set – up a reminder. Written on the wall or you could asked another friend to join you or remind you. In spite of all these as human beings we may still we might forget!

In that case rather being guilty, we can be responsible and communicate to the impacted person that he/she really matter to you and you could not make it. That's it.

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Tribute to MJ

2009-07-05T11:29:00.003+05:00

I'm Gonna Make A Change
For Once In My Life
It's Gonna Feel Real Good
Gonna Make A Difference
Gonna Make It Right...

These are the lines from Michael Jackson's famous song "Man in the mirror". Last week the king of music Michael Jackson died. I think all of us have enjoyed his dance or music some time or the other. I remember during my school days I used sit late in the night for the Grammy Award ceremony in Doordarshan.
When they used to show Jacksons songs, it used take away all the tardiness of sitting late in the night. We used to go from place to place just to watch that one 'moon walk'.
This article is the tribute to the 'Thriller' who 'Off the wall' came out of 'Bad' publicity to create 'History' and became 'invincible '.

His message to the world --
Heal the world
Make it a better place
For you and for me and the entire human race
There are people dying
If you care enough for the living
Make a better place for
You and for me.

His fans all over the globe are saying ….
If I Can't Be With You
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
And If I Stop . . .
Then Tell Me, Just What Will I Do
I Just Can't Stop Loving You

What is the source ? Complete Article

2009-07-05T11:26:00.002+05:00

The belief system, I so agree with it.

The universe has a strange way of presenting itself to give every time you need, want or desire something. Only that you have to ask yourself if you were in the place to receive it. There is miracle happening every moment, you just got to be in that place. The place of receiving it.
There is a story I heard:
Once a man died and the angel came to lead him to the gate of heaven. He saw many things lined up along the way, and every thing was what he needed, wanted and desired in life. He asks the angel “whose things are these?” She says “yours, you did not pick them up”

I always thought that it usually is ‘love’ at the bottom of it all for what a human being is in search of. Strangely it is not because:
Say, if money was what you were after for the house you wanted to buy, may be it is not the house itself, it is the feeling of living in that house.
Next, who will be witness to this feeling and then will this be witnessed with love????
You set out to choose, of who can be witness to your feelings and who you can share it with. You would also like to give a meaning to your feelings that determines the life you will choose to live and to live that life you set ideals, standards, principles and values. These will need maintenance and will need money so you get busy to go after the money. The cycle continues.
Though there was an intention of love to dwell in every aspect, your home, your companion as your witness, the meaning you want to give to your life, but the actions that you take here leaves you only working hard. The feeling that you wanted to experience is often lost.

What I learnt was that each of what we go about in pursuit of is a form of energy… the money, the feeling, the feeling which gives rise to wants, needs and desires…..though I see that they are separate areas in life, we weave it and collapse one area over the other, slowly this becomes life. And now why and where you began this quest …were you looking for love??? Ironically, loving is giving and if you go looking for it you will never find it… the cycle continues yet…

Contributed by Vyshali

What is at the source?

2009-06-21T19:55:00.002+05:00

Sometime back we discussed about the believe system, Vyshali has sent some views on the same.

The belief system, I so agree with it.

There is a story I heard:

Once a man died and the angel came to lead him to the gate of heaven. He saw many things lined up along the way, and every thing was what he needed, wanted and desired in life. He asks the angel "whose things are these?" She says "yours, you did

not pick them up"

I always thought that it usually is 'love' at the bottom of it all for what a human being is in search of. Strangely it is not

(To be continued next week)

Contributed by Vyshali

Something for the first time?

2009-06-14T11:15:00.001+05:00

Last year around this time I went in my new Alto on a journey covering 1505 KMs covering costal Karnataka. It was adventurous, fun and boring at times. I'm glad to share few thoughts which I captured during my journey ..!

* Main purpose of life is to find "The purpose of life"

* Journey of life is beautiful as long as your focus is not the destination

* Reaching the destination safe is important but it is not the only thing

* Just don't over take for the sake of overtaking, unless you want to go ahead

* When you are overtaking don't look at the person whom you are overtaking, have your view in the front, to go ahead

* Everyone wants to travel

* On a long journey, just prepare for your next stop.

* Start your journey with full tank (of petrol)

* When you want to stop, STOP

* Trust yourself, if you can not… trust your car

* If you are afraid of loneliness, don't start your journey alone!

* You are never alone in any journey; you will always have your thoughts with you.

* Best way to enjoy a journey when you are alone is to have cell-phone with GPRS

* Don't worry about raising fuel price; they are never going to come down.

* If you don't write well, take a good camera!

* At one point you should complete your journey, so that you can take the next one

* There in nothing like "The purpose of life", you create one.

I'm inviting you to look at "When was the last time I did something for the first time?"

Do something new this week and enjoy life!

(The interesting details of the journey are at http://bystander-raghav.blogspot.com/2008_06_01_archive.html posted live during the journey using mobile blogging )

Destiny…few more thoughts!

2009-06-07T23:35:00.001+05:00

After last week's article I got lot of inputs and views about destiny. Extending that idea in this week's column.

What we said last week was

.. some People sometime believe in destiny and sometimes not, they are the ones who have lot of stress, confusion. They are not in action, they have fear of consequence. So, either you believe in destiny or not, it does not matter. What matters is you having the freedom.

What I want to stress upon is, you having the freedom. One access to be free is, not being positional about your point of view. The point of view may be "I believe in destiny" or " I don't believe in Destiny".

May be depending on the situation and context you make choice.

Do you believe Destiny?

2009-05-28T21:14:00.000+05:00

In the opening scene of the Oscar winning film "Slumdog Millionaire" , a title card is presented: "Jamal Malik is one question away from winning 20 million rupees. How did he do it? (A) He cheated, (B) He's lucky, (C) He's a genius, (D) It is written

In the end the hero Jamal and his lost love meet at the railway station and they share a kiss. It is then revealed that the correct answer to the opening question is "D) it is written", implying that it is destiny.

This article is not about the movie but about destiny. Do you believe in Destiny?

It is very interesting question, if you completely believe in destiny then everything is written, when I say everything, it is each and every thing. Whatever you have or going to have, your thoughts, your emotions, your decisions , your moods, what you eat, what you do, your experience is all predetermined and it is written. You are just a one character in a movie, everything is planned, you may not be aware of that plan but everything is written, it is your Destiny.

There is another point of view, that is for those who don't believe in destiny, may be we can call them "Karma-Yogis", who believe in taking action , and whatever they have is a consequence of the actions they have taken. They believe in "Best way to predict your future is to create it", they create their own future.

People who believe in destiny, keep doing their work, since whatever they do is written. They don't think much, keep doing their work and enjoy life fully. They have the experience of tremendous freedom!.

People who don't believe in destiny, keep doing their work since they know they have to create what they need. They don't think much, keep doing their work and enjoy life fully. They also have the experience of tremendous freedom!.

There are many who sometime believe in destiny and sometimes not, they are the ones who have lot of stress, confusion. They are not in action, they have fear of consequence.

So, either you believe in destiny or not, it does not matter. What matters is, you having the freedom.

Do you believe in Destiny?

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Objectivism -2

2009-05-25T20:51:00.001+05:00

Ayn Rand's philosophy is based on three axioms: the Axiom of Existence, the Law of Identity, and the Axiom of Consciousness. Rand defined an axiom as "a statement that identifies the base of knowledge and of any further statement pertaining to that knowledge, a statement necessarily contained in all others whether any particular speaker chooses to identify it or not. An axiom is a proposition that defeats its opponents by the fact that they have to accept it and use it in the process of any attempt to deny it. As Leonard Peikoff noted, Rand's argumentation "is not a proof that the axioms of existence, consciousness, and identity are true. It is proof that they are axioms that they are at the base of knowledge and thus inescapable.

Objectivism holds that reality exists independent from consciousness; that individual persons are in contact with this reality through sensory perception; that human beings can gain objective knowledge from perception through the process of concept formation; that the proper moral purpose of one's life is the pursuit of one's own happiness or rational self-interest; that the only social system consistent with this morality is full respect for individual rights, embodied in pure laissez-faire capitalism; and that the role of art in human life is to transform man's widest metaphysical ideas, by selective reproduction of reality, into a physical form—a work of art—that he can comprehend and respond to.

The Objectivist ethic begins with a meta-ethical question: why do human beings need a code of values? The Objectivist answer is that humans, as beings of volitional consciousness, need such a code in order to survive as human beings.

Objectivism maintains that human beings, unlike lower organisms, cannot act automatically to further their own survival. For man, the conceptual faculty is his tool for survival. An organism that possesses a faculty of sensation relies on its pleasure-pain mechanism; an animal that operates at the level of perception can use its perceptions to instinctively go through its essentially cyclic life; but a human being must rely on an integrated whole of his perceptual (rooted in sensations) and conceptual faculties.

(Contributed by Padma)

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Objectivism -1

2009-05-19T09:22:00.001+05:00

My philosophy, in essence, is the concept of man as a heroic being, with his own happiness as the moral purpose of his life, with productive achievement as his noblest activity, and reason as his only absolute.

—Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged 35th anniversary edition

Ayn Rand characterized Objectivism as a philosophy for living on earth, grounded in reality, and aimed at defining man's nature and the nature of the world in which he lives. Rand presented her philosophy through her novels The Fountainhead, Atlas Shrugged, and other works. She elaborated on her ideas in The Objectivist Newsletter, The Objectivist, The Ayn Rand Letter, Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, and other non-fiction books.

Objectivism derives its name from its conception of knowledge and values as objective: neither intrinsic nor subjective. According to Rand, concepts and values are not intrinsic to external reality, nor are they merely subjective (by which Rand means "arbitrary" or "created by [one's] feelings, desires, 'intuitions, or whims"; like wishful thinking). Rather, valid concepts and values are, as she wrote, "determined by the nature of reality, but to be discovered by man's mind.

Rand chose Objectivism as the name of her philosophy because her ideal term to label a philosophy based on the primacy of existence,

Existentialism, had already been adopted to describe the philosophy of Kierkegaard and later Sartre. The name is capitalized to distinguish it from other philosophical positions to which the term "objectivism" has sometimes been applied

Rand's philosophy is based on three axioms: the Axiom of Existence, the Law of Identity, and the Axiom of Consciousness. Rand defined an axiom as "a statement that identifies the base of knowledge and of any further statement pertaining to that knowledge, a statement necessarily contained in all others whether any particular speaker chooses to identify it or not. (…continued Next week)

(Contributed by Padma )

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The Alchemist -4

2009-05-10T17:12:00.001+05:00

The shepherd's journey towards his treasure continues. In this concluding series I will not reveal whether he gets his treasure or not, please read the book to find out. I will definitely share some of the important conversations and some more details from his journey.

This is the piece of the discussion between boy and the Alchemist.

"You already know all you need to know ...except one thing"

"People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them. Or that they'll be unable to achieve them... Tell you hear that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself"

"Is that the one thing I still needed to know?" asked the boy,

" No" said the alchemist answered " What you still need to know is this: before the dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we have learned as we've moved towards that dream.

That's the point at which most people give up. It is the point at which, as we say in the language of the

desert, 'one dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon' "

Isn't it true for all of us? many times we give up things which matter to us before they are realized, somewhere doubting our abilities or giving up to the circumstances.

Darkest hour of dawn comes just before the dawn
One is loved because one is loved. No reason is needed for loving
Men dream more about coming home than about leaving
There is only one way to learn - It is through action
It can not be understood by reason alone
Everyone on earth has a tresure that awaits him
Finally ...

When a perosn really desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dreams

END OF SERIES ON ALCHEMIST

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The Alchemist -3 ...contd

2009-05-03T22:17:00.001+05:00

The shepherd leaves the crystal merchant and goes in search of the treasure following his dreams. He comes across Englishman, who was in search of Alchemist, who can purify the metals. The boy will be looking at the volumes of books that Englishman was carrying. Some of the conversation between them …

"Well, then, why do we need all these books?" the boy asked. "So that we can understand those few lines." the Englishman answered. …

"Can't you just observe men and omens in order to understand the language?" the boy asked.

"You have a mania for simplifying everything," answered the Englishman irritated.

What I liked in that conversation is, there many things in life that are simple, just by looking at them or by common sense we can resolve it but we make it so complicated and significant!! . Most of the time, we can't see that the things are simple.

Some of the best lines from the book.

People need not fear the unknown if they are capable of achieving what they need and want
Everyone has his or her own way of learning

The closer he got to the realization of his dream, the more difficult things became.

Eat when it is time to eat. And move along when it's time to move along

The dunes are changed by the wind, but the desert never changes

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The Alchemist 2

2009-04-25T10:06:00.001+05:00

The shepherd gets a dream about treasure and he follows his dreams. In this journey life takes him to various places and he encounters many unexpected things. One very interesting part is, this shepherd will be working with crystal merchant. When the merchant was young all he wanted to do was set up a shop, earn money to go on a pilgrimage to Mecca. The conversation between the boy and the merchant is follows.

"Well, why don't you go to Mecca now ?" asked the boy.

"Because it's the thought of the Mecca that keeps me alive. That's what help me face these days that are al the same…. I'm afraid that if my dream is realized. I will have no reason to go on leaving"

I would like to bring forth two points , one is a powerful dream keeps you "alive", that bring you sense of purpose, action and energy. Observe how you will be when you are joining a new job, getting married or starting new business or planning to go for trek/vacation . That dream keeps you awake. There is a experience of life that is adventurous.

Second one more important, we don't want to realize many dreams that are very important. We have a fear that if that dream is realized you will have no reason to go on leaving. This may not be present for you but I invite you look into it. Some things like you may want to build a beautiful house. Now financially if it is possible to build such house, you will not do it. Or there might be some relationships which are not working many times you don't go and resolve because you don't know how it will be once it is resolved. So create a future that inspires you.

Again some of the good sentences from the book …

To realize one's destiny is a person's only real obligation
If you start out by promising what you don't even have yet, you'll loose your desire to work toward getting it
He gad to choose between something he had become accustomed to and something wanted to have
I'm like everyone else- I see the world in terms of what I would like to see happen, not actually does
He had not a cent in his pocket, but he had faith

The Alchemist !

2009-04-19T19:56:00.003+05:00

The Alchemist written by Brazilian author Paulo Coelho, is about a magical fable about following your dream. If you have already read the book you will enjoy going back to your dreams in these articles, if you haven't read the book I'm sure you are going to read the book soon.

The whole story and climax in the novel is about following your dream, the journey and realization of that dream. In initial sections our hero 'the Shepherd' has conversation with his father about his interest in traveling. The dialogue is follows.

His Father says "The people who come here have lot of money to spend, so they can afford to travel. Amongst us, the only one who travel are the shepherds"
"Well, then I'll be shepherd "

This is how the boy becomes shepherd , he chooses what he wants to do. So many times in our life we come across things which we really want to do and due to various reasons we don't choose them. May be you don’t have big enough dream. I heard it somewhere " A big dream is not something which wake you -up from the sleep but something that does not allow you to sleep"

Some the sentences in the book are truly amazing and some of them are
The possibility of a dream come true makes Life interesting
All they think about is food and water
A shepherd always takes his chances with wolves and with drought. And that's what makes a shepherd's life exciting
It is simple things in life that are extraordinary
I only interpret dreams. I don't know how to turn them into reality
If someone isn't what others want them to be, the others become angry
Everyone seems to have a clear idea about how other people should lead their lives, but none about his or her own
Worlds greatest lie : It is this that at certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our loves becomes controlled by fate. That's world's greatest lie

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Living on the Edge !

2009-04-12T21:06:00.001+05:00

In next few weeks the annual result of many companies will be out.
It will further impact the market sentiments. There will be some layoff and many more rumors. People will stop spending and they will be conscious in making big purchases. Employee will be extra careful at their work places. Everywhere there will be environment of 'being cautious'. I was looking at how it was before , the degree of to which I was cautious was not high but still I was cautious.
Whatever may be the economic condition most of us 'Play safe' , be it a buying car, investing in a property, marriage , vacation, education and job. For what we are playing safe ? Why we are saving everything for tomorrow?
For more than 100 years people unsuccessfully tried to climb the Mount Everest and died, When
Edmund Hilary was asked why he wants to climb, he said "because it is there, it is just the challenge. I know on top of Everest there is nothing, it is just the experience of being on top of the world".
All of us want to be in our comfort zone, but the beauty of life is outside of it, on the edge.

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Yesterday one person died in Bangalore while doing "Bungee-Jump" , Here I want add is ... Live on the edge .. and be responsible !. Look at what works and what doesn't ... Don't stop jumping but ensure that the knots are right.

Lets pray for the family who lost a young man.

'Luck' by choice

2009-04-02T23:36:00.004+05:00

Few days back in one of the courses I got this definition of 'Luck". It goes like this "The shortest time taken to act on any opportunity" and the leader also said that opportunities are always in the air. Looks interesting right?
Look at your life and see the situations when you felt you were lucky? Now you can see there were some actions you took without thinking about the consequence and as a result of that you got what you wanted. Just look back at different situations. If you are not finding any situations then you are pessimist develop some optimism. Consider you are lucky, because you are reading this article!!
Jokes apart what I really want you to get is - You can have 'Luck' by choice.

The access is operating from a place of 'unknown'. Consider whatever you have at present or you don't have, is a function of all the actions and decisions you took so far, and we always take actions when we know something about the result/outcome. You write exam knowing that you will pass or fail, you will go to movie knowing that it will either good or bad. I'm not saying that you will know the results but what I'm saying is, you will know all the possible outcomes.
Now the access to 'Luck' by choice is act on any opportunity without losing any time and being open to operate from the place of "unknown'.
Many of you might not be clear on how to operate from the place of ‘unknown’, which is exactly what I'm trying to tell, you don't have to be clear and know it - Just Act!

Black holes

2009-03-30T20:45:00.003+05:00

Few weeks back we were looking at the various aspects of Reality. Some concepts in Physics are still not proved fully and one of them is "Black Holes". A black hole is a massive object whose gravitational field is so intense that it prevents any form of matter or radiation from escaping. The term derives from the fact that its absorption of visible light renders the hole invisible and indistinguishable from the black space around it.

A black hole is often defined by its escape velocity, the minimum velocity that must be attained to escape from the gravitational pull of some object. For example, the escape velocity of an object on Earth is equal to 11 km/s. No matter the object, be it a rocket or baseball, it must go at least 11 km/s to avoid falling back to the Earth's surface due to Earth's gravity. The escape velocity of an object depends on how compact it is; that is, the ratio of its mass to radius. A black hole is an object so compact that, within a certain distance of it, even the speed of light is not fast enough to escape.
A black hole's mass is concentrated at a point called a singularity. Surrounding the singularity is a theoretical sphere called the event horizon. The event horizon marks the 'point of no return', a boundary that, if crossed, inevitably leads falling matter and radiation towards the singularity. This sphere is a kind of spatial extension of the black hole.
So whatever matter goes into the Black hole becomes part of it, it becomes "Nothing". So how about you putting things which are bothering you into the Black hole?
(Information on Black hole is from Internet source)

What matters to you?

2009-03-21T08:52:00.001+05:00

Have you ever asked this question to yourself?
"What matters to me?”, I'm sure many of us have not confronted with this questions, "What really matters? " at the surface level you might think that I know what matters to me, but ask yourself is that really matters to you?, I don't have the answers to what should matter to you and/or what matters to you, but it is interesting to look at this questions.
The second mart of the process is to ask "Why it matters to you?", You can make a list if things on a sheet of paper that you think that matter to you and you can say that having these things in my life matters to me. Then ask the questions "Why it matters?", to your surprise many things which you thought matter to you may not may not really matter to you. Then you will have the clarity on what you want. You can make a plan to acquire it.
Just to share my own example, for some days I was thinking "What matters to me is having lot of money", then when I asked the second question " Why I want to have money and how much?”.I was not clear. I put some effort and started looking at why I want to have more money. I wanted more money to buy a big Car, a Digital Camera and to Travel . Then again I asked Why? And I went to more specific things like which car?
Which Camera? Where I want to travel? Etc.
This gave me an idea about the amount of money that I want. It came to around 18-20 lakh. I saw having a big car does not really matter to me but having a camera and travelling matters to me. Travelling to any place interests me.
When I relooked at this, the amount of money required came down to 70-80 thousand. This I can afford and have it also!.
The whole point is if you are really clear what really matters to you, you might be able to have it in most of the cases. I agree there may be some things which really matter to you and it may be difficult to have it.
But don't struggle for things which really do not matter. May be going home at six might matter to you but you may be putting extra hours in office to get that promotion/designation which really may not matter to you, you may be putting in extra hours just to be in the race.
Look at "What matters to you?"

Nano.."That's because a promise is a promise," Ratan Tata

2008-01-11T11:14:00.000+05:00

Nano

It is indeed the moment of pride for all of us.

Chairman Ratan Tata drove the long-awaited car on to the stage at the Auto Expo in the capital and announced that it would have a dealer price of Rs 1,00,000 as promised five years ago, even though commodity prices had gone up. "That's because a promise is a promise," Tata said.

One of the important aspect of leadership is Integrity , honoring your word.

Year end post “acknowledge“

2007-12-28T09:43:00.000+05:00

acknowledge

ac·knowl·edge

means ...

1: to recognize the rights, authority, or status of
2: to disclose knowledge of or agreement with
3 a: to express gratitude or obligation for b: to take notice of c: to make known the receipt of
4: to recognize as genuine or valid

Inflected Form(s): ac·knowl·edged; ac·knowl·edg·ing Etymology: ac- (as in accord) + knowledge Date: 15th century

Source : http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/acknowledge

This post is not about English !, but more about the act of acknowledgement. Look at the third meaning “.. to express gratitude”

This is the last week of the year and good time to reflect on the year passed by. As Socrates said “The unexamined life is really not worth living”. As I was sharing my thoughts on the leadership, one of the most important traits of leaders is that they always acknowledge. They acknowledge their successes, failures, fears, victories, limitations, ideas, contributions and teams.

By acknowledging we accept things the way they are and get an access to create something new.

It is time to acknowledge all the contributions (however small or big ) by people in your life !
Acknowledge your
- Parents
- Children
- Boss
- Spouse
- Friend
- Neighbor
- Calssmates
- Room mates
- News Paper Guy
- Milk man
- House maid
- Driver
- Car was person
- Security Guard
- Traffic Police
- Shop keeper
- Mechanic
- Doctor
- Bank Manager
- School friends
- College friends
- Community
- Association
- .. ….

So on and on …. And last but not the least , most important person to be acknowledged is “YOU” . I acknowledge you for who you are, I acknowledge you for reading this blog.

Theatre v/s Theater

2007-04-05T11:01:00.000+05:00

Theatre v/s Theater

While proof reading the design of our Arabian nights tickets, I came across this, after googling for some time got the answers in the wikipedia. It is interesting to know about this …

Theatre (or theater, see spelling differences) (from French "théâtre", from Greek "theatron", meaning "place of seeing") is the branch of the performing arts concerned with acting out stories in front of an audience using combinations of speech, gesture, mime, puppets, music, dance, sound and spectacle — indeed any one or more elements of the other performing arts. Theatre has been defined as what "occurs when one or more human beings, isolated in time and/or space, present themselves to another or others."[1] In addition to the standard narrative dialogue style, theatre takes other forms, such as opera, ballet, mime, kabuki, puppetry, classical Indian dance, Chinese opera, mummers' plays, improvisational theatre and pantomime.

A theater or theatre is a structure where theatrical works or plays are performed or other performances such as musical concerts may be given. While a theater is not required for performance (as in environmental theatre or street theatre), a theater serves to define the acting and audience spaces and organize the theater space as well as provide facilities for the performers, the technical crew and the audience.

Right here ... right now !

2007-04-02T17:21:00.000+05:00

Weekend was hectic with hardly 3 weeks left for the play. (We are making the Gurappanpalya slum kids to perform Arabian nights in English at Rangashankara ).

I was reflecting on one thought during the weekend, “Why we do thing that we do ?” Is it ‘cos “we want to do” or “we have to do”?, What inspires people to do things that they do? And “Why I’m doing, what I’m doing right now?” “Why I’m not happy about this?”

This time our team is not working as a cohesive team, every time follow-up is required or they are not motivated to do the things not only the team even the kids at the slum not practicing regularly, they don’t seem to be enthusiastic about performing at a place like Rangashamkara.

First I looked at “Why I’m doing, what I’m doing right now?” “Why I’m not happy about this?”,

I started looking at various aspects , social service , to selfishness , time pass, to please others , looking good, suppressed, my wife makes me do it !, making difference , sincerity , commitment, create a new world etc.. etc.. etc

Suddenly I got present to “what is missing”, What was missing was “ context”. I created context. To make Tangamma (one of the kids in the slum) to perform at Ranga shankara , I f I don’t do it she will not get the opportunity to perform there. Waw..! I said .. but still I was not happy .. why?...

It took some more time for me distinguish, what came to my rescue was the distinction “Commitment v/s Attachment” which I got during my SELP in Landmark, Commitment is doing things without getting affected by how thing are going where as attachment is driven by emotions, there is a sense of “good” and “bad” , “happy” and “sad”.

All the while I was doing thing out of attachment. Once I identified this aspect of my being I got present to my commitment and my “word”. I declared to …showcase Arabian nights as one of the best plays ever played at Ranga shankara .. and be in ACTION.

Next question to resolve was “Why we do thing that we do ?” is it ‘cos we want to do or we have to do ?

It become clear to me once I created my context, There is nothing in this world “I have to do “ , everything in life is choice and consequence of choosing it. We choose but resist the consequence. So answer what I got was … we do things ‘cos “ We choose to do it”

Lastly “What inspires people to do things they do?” I got what inspires me to do thing what I do? But I really don’t know what inspires you to do things which you do?
May be the answer is in the Question?

Year 2007 New Year .. New Day

2007-01-02T10:05:00.000+05:00

What a day to start with, got up early and had great experience of emerging India
My day ..
8:00 Reading Paper
8:15 Prepare for office
8:40 Brake fast
8:55 Left home
9:00 Bus stop ( No mood to ask the auto guy … mostly they won’t come and/or ask extra money )
9:04 Saw red Volo City Bus

9:05 Boarded the Bus to office
9:14 In front of office !
9:16 Walk to the building
9:18 Take the elevator
9: 20 Log in and Start a NEW DAY on a NEW YEAR

What is important was the small experience of commuting through the bus to work it was amazing , it is happening here in INDIA.

In search of my 'self'

2006-12-15T19:05:00.000+05:00

After long time I have come to my blog space … Thanks to the shameless Sri (Oops it is not the Sri Sri of Art of Living … my friend Sridhar http://sridharj.blogspot.com ) who was pestering me to add some comments …

Unfortunately readers have to wait for some more time to know my thought on ‘Who am I?’ and 'in search of myself'

… it is weekend and I’m leaving office now … till then you can ask your self .. ‘Who am I?’

India – world of possibilities

2006-01-26T23:13:00.000+05:00

Thursday, January 26, 2006

Republic day greetings !

Today is Republic day and is it my privilege to born in this great country. India is young democratic country and is in the process of transforming from ‘developing’ to ‘developed’ country. It is a great opportunity for all us to be there in this juncture because, we are part of this transformation. We can part of this transformation either as a bystander, just being away and watching it from the stands or by participating, actively playing role in this transformation, playing the game, being on the court. I invite you to play the game. Yes once we decide to play the game next questions arises is ‘which game?’ , Below are the list of games that one can pick up and start playing. These are picked up from the Business Today. Jan 15th 2006 issue. It is on of the best compilation of the current state and opportunities for India. So here is the list , Where you can participate and be in the cause of creating a new world. New India , India – world of possibilities.

Making India as economic superpower
To make India #1 FDI destination in the world
To make Indian companies to be among the worlds 10 largest
To make ‘Made in India’ preferred tag
To make Indian cities ‘World Class’
To secure our energy future
To ensure clean water to all
To make Indian Capital market to lead the country’s growth
To electrify all our villages
To provide brick and mortar housing to every Indian
To ensure healthcare for all
To eradicate poverty
To achieve universal quality education
To become a nation of innovators
To make India one of the world’s top five tourist destinations
To create a market out of India’s poor
To win a Nobel prize
To win a Olympic Gold
To make one in four Indian own a car
To raise per capita income of $250 a month
To bridge the digital divide
To empower poor farmers
To increase the number of women in our workforce
To beat the AIDS epidemic
To rid India of corruption

These are 25 areas where you can take a stand and create new world. I have taken on #13 achieve universal quality education along with my favorite to make ‘people to identify their potential’ . So go on take up on or two and play full. What I really liked about this list it is fully not NGO types ( I mean social service, I have great respect for social service that needs bigger heart!, but I'm more materialistic ), most of them are entrepreneurial (It is like adventure sports!! high Adeline game), once realized they make difference in your life and life of others. In just 10 years the mobile phones have made difference in our lives. It has created the possibility of communication almost affordable to all.

So once again happy Republic day and lets’ play the game to create New India, India – world of possibilities.

Leadership and Leaders: Peter F. Drucker

2005-11-26T09:42:00.000+05:00

The best way to predict the future is to create it.
Peter F. Drucker

One of the greatest human beings of our time Peter F. Drucker has died this month. Certainly on of the greatest management thinkers, philosopher, historian, academician who has touched, moved and inspired millions of millions of people across the globe through his teachings, seminars, writings and books.

In ‘Management challenges for 21st century’, he has very clearly mentioned about ‘Managing oneself ‘, the last part of the book which talks about identifying ones strengths and using it to become from competent to excellent.

In the other book ‘Effective Executive’ he has nicely mentioned of effective executives produce results. First of all clearing stating that effectiveness can be learned.

In the book (so called his Autobiography) , “Adventures of the Bystander” he has beautifully pictured through his words, the social and political scenes of his early ages, especially of Europe during world war.

One of the major distinctions observed during the IT revolution was not on high computes or software, his distinction of ‘information’ what he said in his writings was, the first revolution occurred when ‘Writing’ was invented, the second when ‘the books’ in manuscripts were made, the third when the ‘printing’ was invented and what we are observing now is fourth.

The Times of India, in its article has mentioned ‘ Don’t reduce Renaissance man to management expert’, It is true, he is beyond adjectives, Peter F. Drucker is Peter F. Drucker. Period.

Leadership Integrity

2005-10-30T23:20:00.000+05:00

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing." -- Albert Schweitzer

Leadership Integrity

One of the most important Qualities of leaders is Integrity, it is the state of being whole and complete; honoring one’s word as oneself

As mentioned by Albert Schweitzer, Leaders ‘Walk the Talk’ , leadership is not a position it is action. Producing results, influencing people around them and produce results from their actions.

"The world is made up of three kinds of people: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who say 'What happened?'" – Anonymous

Qualities of Leader : Transform

2005-09-01T15:07:00.000+05:00

I think leadership is all about transformation. Leader creates this transformation for self and for others. It is all about being aware of own strengths and identify potential in others and make them realize it.

Go through this wonderful story , * From “Born to Win”, by Muriel James and Dorothy Jongeward

Once upon a time, while walking through the forest, a certain man found a young eagle. He took it home and put it in his barnyard where it soon learned to eat chicken feed and to behave as chickens behave.

One day a naturalist who was passing by inquired of the owner why it was that an eagle, the king of all birds, should be confirmed to live in the barnyard with the chickens.

“Since I have given it chicken feed and trained to be a chicken, it has never learned to fly,” replied the owner. “ it behaves as chickens behave, so it is no longer an eagle.”

“Still,” insisted naturalist, “it has the heart of an eagle and can surely be taught to fly.”

After talking it over, the two men agreed to find out whether this was possible. Gently the naturalist took eagle in his arms and said, “You belong to the sky and not to the earth. Stretch forth wings and fly.”

The eagle, however, was confused; he did know who he was, and, seeing the chickens eating their food, he jumped down to be with them again.

Undismayed, the naturalist took the eagle on the following day, up on the roof of the house, and urged him again, saying, “You are an eagle. Stretch forth your wings and fly.” But the eagle was afraid of his unknown self and world and jumped down once more for the chicken food.

On the third day the naturalist rose early and took the eagle out of the barnyard to a high mountain. There, he held the king of birds high above him and encouraged him again, saying, “You are an eagle. You belong to the sky as well as to the earth. Stretch forth your wings now, and fly.”

The eagle looked around, back towards the barnyard and up to the sky. Still he did not fly. Then the naturalist lifted him straight towards the sun and it happened that the eagle began to tremble, slowly he stretched his wings. At last, with a triumphant cry, he soared away into the heavens.

It may be that the eagle still remembers the chickens with nostalgia; it may even be that he occasionally revisits the barnyard. But as far as anyone knows, he has never returned to lead the life of chicken. He was an eagle though he had been kept and tamed as a chicken.

Ultimately it is Leaders responsibility to identify the potential. The naturalist identified that the eagle between those chicken and made it realize it’s potential. Also note that he did not choose chicken and made eagle out of it. That is leaders can not do magic but what they definitely do is make possible things possible which look impossible.

Thoughts on Leadership

2005-08-25T09:59:00.000+05:00

“Two pages in two months…..”, “Client is not happy with your work, you may have to return……”

“ What happened??, what we did not do well ??” “What we should do now ??” ….

It all started when I was on assignment at customer place, one day my manager came and informed me that the things are not in a good state and client is not very pleased with my work. I was also told to focus on work which does not involve external clients and I lack ‘Thought leadership’.
The last point stuck me very strongly, whether to accept it or reject and on what basis?? .. then after sometime I smiled and concluded that I may or may not have ‘Thought leadership” but definitely I have my “Thoughts on leadership” and hence this blog. I also decided to use the name which I used use for my mailing list way back in 1998-99 “Thoughts@WORK” to use as my blog name ( Sincerely I was not aware till recently that there is company called Thought Works, hope I’m not doing a copyright/trademark infringement!! )

This is the story about my blogs