The Blue Mug

So the name was BLUE MUG. When I told my friend that I was going to see a play by this name, her immediate reaction was - 'Of course I know why you're going. You love all things MUG', referring to my bizarre hobby of collecting mugs. Frankly speaking, my curiosity in the play was piqued primarily for this reason. Plus it boasted of a rocking star cast - Konkona Sen Sharma, Vinay Pathak, Rajat Kapoor, Sheeba Chadha and Munish Bhardwaj. Plus, I was going to go watch a play after sooooooooooooooo long. Plus, it was term 8, time to start living up whatever little Hyderabad has to offer - no offence, but Hyd is small compared to Maximum City.

So there we went to watch the BLUE MUG. Unfortunately, the title words make an appearance all of thrice throughout the play. And right at the start, they said that they have no props. So there went all my hopes of seeing a blue mug. Secretly I was hoping to get tiny blue mugs along with our tickets, as an ad gimmick - call it wishful thinking, but what else can you expect out of a mug collector? So, anyway, no freebie blue mug, no props, so no real life blue mug. I went running from a class, straight to the play, so no mug of coffee either. Although after reaching the venue, I was made to wait in a serpentine line to enter the air conditioned, mosquito-free part of the audi, before crowding up to enter the actual theater, which we entered after almost an hour! But since I was with my gang, it never really hurt. Plus I was too busy displaying my histrionics, for who knows where I could be 'the new find of 2010'????

Then the play started. The audi was good, albeit a tad cold. The artistes were awesome. Their lines were perfect, the lights were perfect. But in an attempt to tie the whole play to a theme around memories, according to me, something was lost. Ok, I am not a theater afficionado, but I appreciate art and entertainment. Note to self - visit Prithvi and Rangsharda more often, so I have more entities in my consideration set. (Did I just say consideration set???) Anyway. The play certainly had its moments. At some places, like in Ranvir's portrayal of a Punjabi with a 15 minute memory, the humor was strong, and at some places, rather contrived. The play, according to me could not be classified as either serious or humorous, and I prefer silos, so that I can make up my mind whether to come out smiling or reflective.

Sheeba Chadha is an amazing artiste. But her parts were motley to say the least. Glass pieces, to Saharanpur to suddenly Babri Masjid? Yeah, seemed just like the movie Page 3 that aspired to cover all aspects from drug addiction, to paedophilia, to riots to what not! Again, Koko according to me was wasted. Her talent certainly deserves more depth in terms of character. There some portions, like the five petal leaf part, which my little brain didn't quite get the relevance of. So, part serious, part humorous, somewhere frightfully deep, and somewhere ridiculously banal, this play should rather have been called motley or scrapbook or collage! It certainly had its moments and the talent was amazing, and in terms of portraying a theme around memories - their variety and the emptiness of a life without memories was well portrayed. For me, though, it was another tryst with art, theater after a long time, exercise for the right side of my brain, and yet another topic to blog about.

Tiger

This has been one helluvan eventful weekend indeed! And yes, Tiger has been in the middle of it all as well. There are just 1411 left, the hoarding claims, and today's papers spoke of 2 more that succumbed. So, 1409 pieces of our National Animal! I just wonder. If this is the fate of our national animal, what could be the fate of all other species in India?

Hoardings, TV ads scream out - 'SAVE THE TIGER'. The idea is to spread awareness amongst our people, about the plight of the tiger. But you know what? Those who need to know, know. The poachers know that the numbers are dwindling. But Chinese medicine demands a killed, mutilated tiger. And how does it matter? Some random animal is killed for medicine. After all, a human being would be cured, only to go on and pillage the environment further. Ok, I may sound harsh. But there are always alternative routes to co-exist, right? If Chinese medicine exterminates a species in totality, tomorrow, this same tiger-parts driven cure would need to move to something else. Why not move to that something else before Stripey loses its mom?

But I guess, we can blame this on the very nature of humanity. I allude to the movie Avatar - (pop culture drives points across more effortlessly). So, the huge red bird, in the movie is a predator and slays the smaller birds, which are the Navi peoples' mounts. So, the princess makes a comment, that the red bird never looks up, since it is never the prey. And this point is used by our hero to tame the red bird and win the peoples' respect as the movie pulls on. So, my point is, that the human race has never been plundered and preyed upon by a more superior species. And yes, this feeling of invincibility has made us nonchalant towards others we share our environment with. Every other entity is inconsequential in the human side of things. And unless something comes to sting us personally, we don't bother about anyone else. Tomorrow, if an arcane tribe develops a medicine for H1N1 or HIV, that needs human liver oil, I wonder about the consequences!

So, what can we do? Honestly, I don't know. The poachers clearly don't care. China is too huge a market. Chinese are known for their scant regard towards anyone but themselves. Laws are lax. Poaching is not punished with severe penalties. The money is huge in the grey market for tiger parts. Here is some perspective. A newspaper report says that 10 grams of tiger parts sells for $30. 10 grams of Silver costs $5! In front of the bullet, the ferocious tiger is powerless. We faced a similar situation early on vis-a-vis the ivory of the tusker. But then ivory was banned, and the problem subsided. Does anyone have the guts to ban Chinese medicine that needs tiger parts? Does anyone have the guts to take on these international cartels and nip the market at its source? A mass movement by you and I, to spread awareness is good. We care. Granted. But this issue is like terrorism. Nabbing the terrorists and punishing them, is just a symptomatic cure. The issue is in the source, and unless terror funding and terror perpetrators and planners are picked up and taken out, the problem shall prevail. Till then, Save the Tiger, Save nature - from us...

No na nein non Part 1

Saying 'no' to someone almost certainly the most difficult thing for us to do. People have said that cultures play a role here and Japanese and Chinese perhaps never say no, because its impolite to say 'no' according to their cultures. But for me, I prefer the closure that comes with a no. At least I've cut out the expectation that goes with a 'non-no'. Unfortunately, those who interact with me, do not know this specific preference of mine! And as a result, the anecdotes are plenty. Here are some - The first in a trilogy :)

I lost my cell phone. Yes, sob sob. I loved my Moto, and I lost it. And with it went my sim. The service provider told me that once I'd blocked it, it would be defunct. So I began my expeditions to cancel my sim card. On every trip though, I was met by expressions that began with "WHAAAAAT???? YOU WANT TO CANCEL YOUR SIM CARD???? Oh no! My bonus is gone" and ended with, "Oh Lord, forgive her for she knows not what she does". And several trips and conversations at various octave levels later, I was told that my sim had been laid to rest. All was good with the world, when suddenly one day, a friend of mine said that a guy answered my phone! And that day I was at an all girls pajama party. No I am not telling you what happened at the party, but I was perplexed. The next day, another friend told me about a guy speaking some weird regional dialect when she called my number. And at this point, I went from perplexed to shocked. And the final straw on the camel's back came when my Jason Bourne instincts, made me call my own number. And instead of speaking to myself (don't laugh), I was talking to some guy!

That's it. I called customer service, expecting the issue to be resolved, only to learn that the piped music was 'never say noooooooooo'. So I called, and I waited, and while I was explaining my problem, they kept cutting me mid-sentence, to... tell me my problem!

'Ma'am, you have a number with us for so long.'

I wish I'd said (IWIS) - 'reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally? I wonder why!!!' I said, "Yes, you see, I'd lost..."

'Ma'am you reported a lost sim card 2 days ago'

IWIS - 'Thank you for telling me, I had been hunting for it in my safety deposit box' I said," Yes, so the issue..."

'Ma'am, we've issued a new sim card and it has been operational since yesterday'

IWIS - 'Ah! indeed. I wonder who's cell phone I am calling from!!!' But by this time, I was a tad angry. Sensing my irritation, she quickly asked me what my problem was. I told her, and she gave me a complaint number and said that she'd revert. I let a day go, with newer reports of strange men receiving my phone calls.

The next day I called again, and the same process repeats, with a guy this time. And yes, I got a different complaint number. This went on, till one day, I said, "Can you or can you not help me?"

"Yes, ma'am, we can. Here is your complaint number".

"Enough of complaint numbers, connect me to your manager."

"I am sorry ma'am, but what would that be regarding?"

IWIS ' I want to ask him out you moron!!' I said, "I am frustrated with complaint numbers, and I want you to tell me whether you can solve my problem, yes or no."

"Yes ma'am. Our person is looking into it. Meanwhile, please note your COMPLAINT NUMBER"

And that was when I solved my problem with one simple message. With a boiling temper, I got to writing my message - 'Hey everyone, please note my new number ......'

My Avatar

Long long time ago; Well, not really that long ago, I'd put in a piece on the perils of social networking. Right here - 'The perils of the social network'.

Yup! FB is addictive. And with Buzz on Gmail, I guess I am a vociferous entity online, completely against the demure dame I am in real life. Ok, don't blame me, but demure dame seemed too good to resist writing! Anyway, on one of my thoughtful jaunts, which I somehow undertake only on FB, I posted a random thought - 'What have I turned into'. The responses were immediate. 'Crackpot', ' Caffeine-addicted thought centered maniac', 'human being', and so on. While I guffawed and grunted at these answers, what amazed me, was the ripple effect a single inane thought could trigger. And that is indeed the power of Web 2.0, as it is called. Within minutes news spreads, the feedback is immediate, almost, and the collaborative effect is huge.

But this same thought also made me think again. Yeah, I do nothing else but think! So, I'd just recently seen the movie Avatar, and the concept of a man telebonding with his blue Navi Avatar was cool. But interestingly, we're all doing the same thing. One human being has numerous Avatars. One on Orkut, one on Facebook, one on Blogger, one on twitter, one on Flickr, one on Picasa. Sometimes, they're all one avatar. But many-a-time, since these avatars are not created concurrently, they are all different, and also have privacy rules set such that specific target audiences alone get to see em! Oh yeah! I am many Navi people :)

All this is great. Jason Bourne has 5 passports, and I have 5 identities online. But there have to be flip sides right? Like Bourne has the passports and cash, but no memory and a Carlos/ Stepan Spalko/ Fadi in hot pursuit. So, social networking, while great has one major flip. And that is the fact that this cuts out real social bonding. And the funniest thing happened to me some time back. I got an FB friend request from this chap in my class. I knew his face, but we'd never really interacted. And now, I was in a fix. If I'd ignored the request, I'd look like a conceited snob. If I accepted, well, how could I, I didn't really know him! But then, out of guilt at not being more socially active in trying to know everyone around me, I accepted the request. And then, Tadaaaa..... the next day, I went to get myself a coffee, and this chap walked right in front of me. I smiled, a big smile of recognition, of friendship, of long lost kinship, of.. ok, you get the point. And what happened next, made me, rather makes me want to go jump off into that water body behind the chai wali tapri. (More on chaai wali tapri later, right now, focus on big picture please). So, as I flashed my 1000 watt smile, this guy, my newly added friend on FB, gave me a puzzled, perplexed look. A look that said in no less words, 'DO I KNOW YOU?????'

And that is where the perils of the social network came crashing down on me. I decided, 'No more conscience/ guilt driven social networking. For me, Facebook shall no longer remain just my book of FACES. Before accepting a friend request, I will ensure I say one real HI to the target first and then Facebook him/ her. At least I can prevent jumping off into a smelly water body and getting drenched up to the ankles!

I read somewhere, that people were moving from emails to Twitter. And I thought. Wow! From the Greek running messengers to pigeons, to smoke signals, to post, courier and email. And when emails started, people lamented the fact that handwriting grew murkier by the day. The emotion that manifests itself in the written hand, suddenly was lost. And now, we are moving from the written word to the Twittered word. So, I guess v nd 2 b prepped 2 read msgs dat luk like German txts or Hebrew codes, going fwd. I can only imagine how bful all dis wld luk n only wish my English teacher cld c how gr8 my riting skills r in dis currnt mode of comm.

To be or what to be

People keep saying that you need to be different. Stand out from the crowd. Everyone is special and different. Follow your dreams to make your mark in the world. And so on and so forth. And all through life, we go on, believing that we are indeed the next best thing after penicillin. Well, elders would say, no harm in igniting a fire within the generation to go ahead and achieve their goals. And I agree. No harm done in letting us go on with stars in our eyes. Harm is done only when these stars end up becoming shooting stars! Red giant to a white dwarf indeed!

So what is the whole deal about having to be different? Standing out from the crowd that everyone touts all the time. Does it make sense? Well, diversity can perhaps take one to Harvard - like in the movie Legally Blonde maybe. But in life, this diversity comes to sting one back. You are so different from the typical mould, that others don't know where to fit you! And from being a model prototype, you become the outcast, the atypical! And that definitely hurts.

But take the other view. People can't cast you into any of their pre-decided moulds. They expect you to change. Change who you are, how you act, who you deal with, change everything. Project what you are in a way that appeals to others, in a way that others want to see you. That hurts all the more. Why? Because you are in a way shedding what you are, and you are turning into something you have no clue about. And in all probability, you will end up being neither yourself, nor what others want you to be, but rather a weird half-baked concoction that dangles somewhere in between. And that is certainly not very nice.

But what is wrong in being yourself? Why adhere to peer-created mores? Why be politically correct and refrain from calling a spade a spade? The answer is simple. No man is an island. You are what you are perceived to be. And you will be perceived only if others like what they perceive. I know, it is a bit circular in reasoning, but think about it. If being me is so contrary to what others perceive, then it's a sign that what I am is perhaps not as liked by others. And individuality to the extent of being loathed is definitely not what even the most individualistic, self-willed person would want.

So, till society exists, duplicity in all its forms, will perhaps persist. Perhaps that is why behavior is a science, complete with hypotheses, findings, conclusions and underlying principles.

Mumbai - Please leave my city as she is

I am a Mumbaiphile. I love everything about my city - the people, the lifestyle, the culture, the vivacity, the safety, the public transport infrastructure, the everything. Yeah, I know, people may exclaim, "Public transport? Dangling on the foot board of a Virar local is public transport?" All I can say is, well, we at least have a Virar Local, unlike several other cities, where one needs to call a cab to get to places, let alone hail one on the roads. So comparatively Mumbai is a lot better.

But of late, the more I mention Mumbai with the fervence and affection of a Carrie Bradshaw (The New Yorkphile from the show Sex and the City), people look upon me derisively. They say that I speak fondly of a city that is apparently only for the Marathi people. And I feel like screaming - Mumbai would lose its charm if it became yet another vernacular city. I know how tough it was for me, despite being a southie to find my way in a city like Thrissur in Kerala. All signboards were in Malayalam, hardly anyone spoke Hindi, let alone English and my sign language skills just got perfect post my stint there! I can't begin to imagine my city without my Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Tamil and Telugu speaking friends. In fact the multi-lingualism is what defines the pot-pourri called Mumbai.

India alone is home to several 100 languages and dialects. The Constituion of India recognizes 18 regional languages. Which is why we have a national language - Hindi. Granted, one language should not supplant another. But trying to fractionally distillate a country that has finally merged into one united entity (calls for separate states notwithstanding) is not just counter-productive, it is wrong. Imagine petroleum. It takes millions of years to form and only a few hours to fractionate. At least some good comes out of the fractionation process, but dividing a country as diverse as India on the basis of language, serves no purpose whatsoever.

Take the example of politicians blaming actors for supporting Pakistani cricketers for the IPL. I find that rather funny. The purpose of a sport or music is to unite warring factions. This has been the case right from the days of the Olympics, when all wars were suspended during the period of the games. And now statements like 'SRK is a Muslim first and an Indian later' are ridiculous. Both SRK and Aamir Khan have Hindu wives! How on earth can they possibly be religious fanatics??? Just to score media brownie points, our politicos make statements and that really shows our country in poor light.

Several foreign countries would do anything to have our kind of diversity - geographic, cultural, linguistic - you name it, we have it. And we, instead of thriving on it, squander it away on mindless, petty things. I hope we realize the gift we have and learn to cherish it, before it's too late. Mumbai, my city the way I know it, is great just because it is a melting pot of cultures and languages. I hope no one kills the soul of my city by bringing in mindless divisions, that serve no purpose whatsoever.

I feel bad for...

A few of my favorite things would probably align a lot with raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. So here is a list of things I won't say I don't like, but rather things I feel bad for. To a large extent, I guess my list will have bits and pieces from each of your lists as well. So here goes.

1. I feel bad for the ignorant. Now, people may say that ignorance is bliss. But I guess people who don't know, lose out on the pleasures of knowing. For example, people who associate the color red with just a Coke salesperson, for lack of knowledge of anything like a Ferrari, or Manchester United or Michael Schumacher - well, I feel bad that their gamut of knowledge is quite contrived, and they lose out on phenomena like Man U in Old Trafford or Tifosi.


2. I feel bad for those who are idea maniacs. Well, their genius as regards coming up with ideas is phenomenal. But many a time, they take the stance of the trigger happy shooter. If you come up with something, they are the first to shoot it down. 'So what is the alternative?', you ask. 'I don't know, but certainly not what you churned out', comes the reply. Why feel bad for them? I guess because they sure will find it hard when they meet another of their species!


3. I feel bad for those who borrow things and lose them. And I'm sure you've had cases through school and college, where someone in a hurry borrows your pen and your favorite Cross is what you have on you. You lend it with a high degree of reluctance and wait and watch for the person to return it, when suddenly he says, "Oops! I guess I left it at the counter. Sorry", and walks off. Similar is the case of the person who borrows your favorite book and returns a book with dog-eared mangled pages. Why feel bad for them? Well, simply because of their gross lack of sensitivity and because of their callousness towards dealing with others.


4. I feel bad for the egoistic, successful person. One who believes he/she is invincible, just because he/she has achieved the elements of his/her task list. Why? Simply because they are dealt the highest level of hypocrisy. Everyone around them basks in their glory, desperately wants to be associated with them, acts as if they are the person's true friends. But in reality, all these emotions manifest themselves up until the time that the emotion can bring about a worthy use.


5. And last, but not the least, I feel bad for one who puts up with the above types of people, without raising so much as a finger of protest when any of their actions wrong them. Why? Because they are just too simple for this dog-eat-dog world, and they sincerely need to go on a treasure hunt to find their lost self esteem.

That's it. It is indeed a small list, unlike my lists of random thoughts, or Whys. Thank God for that, since a longer list may have meant more ruffled feathers! This post may have been a bit rough and acerbic. But these are just thoughts. Think about it, and you may realize that you run a similar list as well.

Success and Excess - II

Somehow success and excess always seem to go hand in hand. A while ago when the China - Arunachal Pradesh conflict was at its peak, the visa issue, the rock painting fiasco and so on, elicited 'Power, Politics, Success and Excess'. A talk about ethics and transgressions and how you always have a choice came out in 'How much is too much'. And today, again, on the topic of where to draw a line, here are some thoughts.

One of my professors mentioned a very interesting trend in hedge funds . He said, "Some firms are engineered to blow up." He spoke of LTCM and Bear Stearns' 2 funds that were forced to fold. LTCM failed in a macro sense because of a black swan that no one expected. No one dreamt that Russia, America's cold war nemesis and erstwhile feared superpower would default! But one can always argue against such exigencies and ask why risk management practices weren't more robust to prevent even the rarest of rare events from causing damage. Then when we speak of Bear Stearns that broke because of massive exposure to subprime lending and the subsequent drying up of credit markets, one asks again, isn't it a manifestation of excesses? Why didn't people stem the exposure long before the situation went beyond salvage? Take GM. Why do entities need to blow up to 'bailout size' and then justify bailouts saying that they are too big to fail?

Take hedge funds again. We came to know that John Merriweather of LTCM, recently floated his third or fourth fund after busting subsequent funds! Who would have lent him money, you ask? Well, every fund makes some money for some (to the tune of several millions) and loses money for some others. Those who make money, do so thanks to discerningly or luckily removing their money from the fund at the right time and they will lend to these fund managers in their new escapedes, despite the previous fund's having folded! They get the guts to lend again, thanks to the confidence built by having several million dollars of disposable income! The poor, loyal, unsuspecting bunch end up on the left tail of the bell curve, and these are the scapegoats who bear the brunt of irrational exuberance displayed in excesses by successful managers, or they are unfortunate souls who think that their pot of gold just needs an ounce more ! And these people, well, many-a-time, aren't able to reach even 50% of their starting baseline level of affluence! And the story goes on and on.

So more often than not, success leads to excess and this excess can catapult some to untouched heights, while thrusting some others into the chasms of lonely failures. So is regulation the key? Now apparently there are thoughts of regulating some hedge funds by a central authority. Being a strong proponent of efficient markets and classical economic theory, all I can say is - entities that have thrived through self regulation are better off being left alone. Humans never interfere in the laws of the jungle, but somehow, a justice system exists and functions (more efficiently) in the wilderness. So we are better off observing the beauty of self-regulation, Darwinian theory of selection, machinations of the wheels of fortune and the extremes of successes and excesses playing out in front of our eyes, rather than pillage the same with concrete barriers that can destroy this beauty.

Such are the ways of the world. Every black has a white, every God has a satan, every right has a wrong and every winner has a loser.

60 years of the Indian Republic

60 years of the Indian Republic today. We do have a lot to feel proud of. Two years ago, when we celebrated our 61st year of independence, I wrote this piece on 61 years of aspiration. Yes, we do have our problems and issues, vis-a-vis all-round development, all-inclusive growth, corruption, population, caste differences, etc etc. But the hope remained. Since we are a young nation, we have a lot to learn and a long way to go. We are very very early on the learning curve and as classical global economics says, the lesser developed you are, the faster you grow (the concept applies to capital accumulated by a country, and I choose to extend it to development as well).

We have made a mark in several areas. We have won accolades in the international arena for our deft manner of handling the economic crisis. Our financial systems have been robust. When the world around us was crumbling like a tower of cards, we showed a minor dip in GDP growth, still clocking 7.9% when a greater part of the world reeled in negative growth numbers. We won 2 Oscars last year, won an Olympic Gold and we also reached the moon. Over the past 60 years, we have never had a miscarriage of democracy, with the only attempt during the emergency being cruelly punished in the subsequent election. Our democracy continues to be our strong point, with the world having more faith in the Indian story primarily because ideologically, our country risk is a lot lesser.

But we still have a lot of ground to cover. We are the only stable peaceful nation in South Asia, and that puts us in a precarious position, with our neighbors being consumed by the tentacles of terror. Our own peace and safety were very cruelly jolted in 2008, with the terror attacks in Mumbai. The perpetrators have still not been brought to book. Sardar Patel, all of 60 years ago went on a mission to integrate all our princely states and built an India. Now again, separatist movements are raising their ugly heads, demanding a separate Telengana, a separate Gorkhaland, and now UP apparently should be trifurcated! When I was in school there were 25 states and 7 union territories. At this rate of fragmentation, I hope we don't say that India is x countries, y states and w territories. All inclusive growth is still all elusive, and the repercussions of the same are train hijacks, maoist attacks and demands at gun point. We still have the dubious record of hosting Asia's largest slum, and we take morbid pleasure in this pain point, by indulging in 'slum tourism' - disgusting indeed.

This post might look pessimistic, with the paragraph on issues being larger than that on achievements. But that is not true. If anything, we Indians believe in optimism and given that by 2050, India's average age of population would only by 35, ours is indeed a young country with stars in her eyes and an ebullient enthusiasm to match. Yes, the path is fraught with challenges, but we will surpass them all and emerge developed!

ISB is 12th in the World :)

Yup! ISB is ranked 12th among global B schools by Financial Times. And we celebrated! It is indeed a great feeling when you are in the school when it gets accolades. So we had a huge cake, and several pastries with the number 12 'Jell-O' ed on them. And then rather than have a candle, we had a huuuuuge ice sculpture that read the number 12 :). The aqueducts (I like calling those channels around the atrium aqueducts), were filled with water and flowers and ISB FT 12 motifs were put in as floaters. The whole school gathered in the atrium with pom-poms, noisemakers, party poppers and a whole lot of enthusiasm and literally brought the roof down with the celebrations! What a day indeed!!

ISB as a brand is built not just by our faculty or by our current students. To a very large extent, the brand is dependent on the people who get into the outside world post MBA - the alumni. So, when the school takes in a bunch of really smart people, trains them with some of the best faculty world-over and sends them out to make a difference in the world, good things do indeed happen. And what is decidedly noteworthy is the fact that the school is hardly 8 years old.

Several people expect an MBA to catapult everyone to posts of CEOs across the board. But I'd say that MBA is not like tequila (or tech school). It is more like wine. The more time you allow between making the wine and drinking it, the better it is. Likewise, the effect of the brand would begin to permeate through our lives as time progresses. A Rolex was not the premium, respected brand on the day it was launched. Over time it has garnered the respect and that automatically rubs on to the wearer today.

But for me, the fact that I have had the oppportunity to be associated with several super achievers who were once students of this school itself is a humbling feeling. It just means that we as alumnus beginning April have a bigger role to play in taking our alma mater to greater heights. No one said being Amitabh Bacchan would be easy. But ask Abhishek and he'll tell you about the pressures of being Amitabh's son. So as we move on, the bar is higher, the expectations steeper, the effort needed greater, and the results sweeter. So with that thought and a deep level of determination, I say - ISB Rocks, and it is our job now to collectively move it higher. "20 < 15 < 12 < Next is what???"

Another snippet of wisdom

A friend sent this to me a while ago, and as is the usual practice, what I want to hold on to over time, I put up on my blog. So in continuation with 'My tryst with Ithaca', 'Where has the time gone?', and 'A life so frivolous', here is the other snippet of wisdom. (Do open the above links in a new window). The theme is constant - don't run behind something frivolous. Life is bigger, better and at the end of the running, you might reach a goalpost looking at which you wonder why you ran all this distance in the first place.

A boat docked in a tiny Goan village. A tourist from Mumbai complimented the Goan fisherman on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took him to catch them.

'Not very long,' answered the fisherman.
'But then, why didn't you stay out longer and catch more?' asked the Mumbaite.

The Goan fisherman explained that his small catch was sufficient to meet his needs and those of his family.

The Mumbaite asked, 'But what do you do with the rest of your time?'

'I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, and take a siesta with my wife. In the evenings, I go into the village to see my friends, play guitar, sing a few songs... I have a full life.'

The Mumbaite interrupted, 'I have an MBA from IIM-A, and I can help you! You should start by fishing longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra revenue, you can buy a bigger boat.'

'And after that?' asked the Goan.

'With the extra money the larger boat will bring, you can buy a second one and a third one and so on until you have an entire fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to a middle man, you can then negotiate directly with the processing plants and maybe even open your own plant. You can then leave this little village and move to Panjim, or even Mumbai. From there you can direct your huge new enterprise.'

'How long would that take?' asked the Goan.

'Twenty, perhaps twenty-five years,' replied the Mumbaite.

'And after that?'
'Afterwards? Well my Friend, That's when it gets really interesting,' chuckled the Mumbaite, 'When your business gets really big, you can start selling stocks and make millions!'

'Millions? Really? And after that?' asked the Goan.
'After that you'll be able to retire, live in a tiny village near the coast, sleep late, play with your children, catch a few fish, take a siesta with your wife and spend your evenings doing what you like with your buddies.'

'With all due respect sir, but that's exactly what I am doing now. So what's the point wasting 25 years?' asked the Goan.

And the moral of the story is? Know where you're going in life. You may already be there. And if you're elsewhere, aspiring to be somewhere else, find out where you really want to be

Quick and dirty? I guess not...

So yesterday's post was all on how I'd like the GMAT life - quick, no waiting, life in perpetual motion. The more I think about how life is these days, I guess we are indeed inching towards that end goal.

Till a few decades ago, books and fiction had Great Expectations from the Mayor of Casterbridge or Tess of the D'urbervilles, where descriptions of the context covered more than half the book. Stories were replete with maps, descriptions of the perfect evenings, or detailed descriptions of a lady's beauty, ending with a strong line like 'Estella was between pretty and beautiful'! Short stories were so short that a 500 page tome typically housed 6 stories! I can understand the motivations behind the voluminous mode of writing back then! They were the dark ages, and unlike the days of today, people truly had precious little to do!

And then the Chase era began. The race against time and a villain to reach the truth. James Hadley Chase, Erle Stanley Gardner (maybe it was the fact that they all had 3 words in their names, that made them write crisper!). But that era pushed the erstwhile granddaddies of fiction into the hall of fame called 'literature'. A dusty corner of huge school libraries (where only the bold literature graduates dared to venture into) was dedicated to those who created the genre called fiction.

But even that got too slow, and Arthur Hailey and Robert Ludlum made their grand entry. Hailey and Ludlum, had a following, and they became 'thinking writers' - it took one some cogitative effort to fathom the plot, but the die-hard loyalists never left their side. For a while they caught the peoples' fancy, till a certain Mr. Sheldon made his foray into fiction. After that, speedy, crisp, page-turning writing became the flavor of the season.

Take cricket for instance. I know of cricket fans who to date spend their winter holidays watching the Boxing Day test match! But the proportion of such fans has since come down tremendously. At a point of time a decade ago, people spent hours watching a one-day series. Great duels were set as day-and-night matches to draw bigger crowds. Then came twenty20. If one can see 2 matches (4 teams) on one day, why spend time watching 50 overs per team? There is only so much a team can do, and what they can't achieve in 20 overs, they can't achieve in 50 overs, became the belief. Short and crisp was the mantra here as well!

Now I wonder how far this can go. Can it go the way we used to play cricket as kids? One over per team - since all of us used to want to bat (and only one kid used to bring the bat to the game)? That sure can be fun to watch, although unless the teams dressed in sharp contrasts like say red teams and blue teams, the viewer would be stumped! English country decorum of white cricket uniforms would have to go out the window! As for books - Shakespeare once wrote - Brevity is the soul of wit. Little did he know while writing Hamlet that this would indeed be personified in the art of writing several years thence! So brace yourselves for the one paragraph short story in the future. I sure don't think I can write those!! (My blog is a testimony to that :) )

In anticipation

Anticipation - is a feeling beyond just one associated with waiting for something. What the emotions associated with anticipation are, is dependent on what you're waiting in anticipation for.

According to me, there are 3 main categories of anticipation. One, where the outcome is definitely positive. Like maybe waiting 9 months for your child, or even the wait before a last exam! Over here, the anticipation feels good. You enjoy the wait, although you do wish the wait would end soon, so you can get to the part of enjoying the result of the wait. But the waiting never really hurts!

Then there is the anticipation of something bad. Like waiting for a coworker to come in to work, only for you to have to let him go thereafter. That wait hurts. One, you don't know whether the guy would react. Second, you don't know whether the guy would react like you expect him to! The outcome is decidedly painful, and the wait is even more painful. You desperately wish to get it over with and move on to the more painful part of living with yourself after the task is done!

And the third category of anticipation is the one that hurts the most. And this is the wait for the uncertain outcome! Like the wait for an exam score. Or the wait for the result of an interview. or the first phone call after a date. I could go on and on, the list is perhaps endless. But the wait, you wish never existed! This wait sends your heart on a flutter-spree - (wonder whether such a word even exists). This wait involves a lot of 'what-if' analysis. You dream and imagine - 'well, if I get this score, I can do this and that and that. If he calls me, maybe I should act this way. If I don't get that job, I am up the creek without a paddle. But throughout this painful wait, there is a strong glimmer of hope. You keep waiting, hoping strongly in your heart of hearts that maybe a positive outcome would result. You ask why is this the most painful? Well, because, if the outcome is negative, the wait and the hope all comes crashing down, and any crash hurts like hell!

So while waiting may be nice in some cases, I personally prefer a GMAT style life. Click your last answer and your score pops up in less than 1 minute. No damaged nails, no guzzled caffeine, no frantic phone calls, nothing. Just finish a task, get a result and KEEP MOVING IN LIFE! Life is much too short to waste waiting in anticipation. The electric bulb was never invented in a waiting room. If only various stake holders of our lives would realize that, then the collective productivity of humanity would go up almost a million times! So anticipating a life sans waits...

Bow down or bow out?

Today's post is a story.

There was once a country that had been colonized by certain powers-that-be. These powers-that-be felt glorified by their power to make the country bow to their wishes. The country was primarily agrarian and the harvests were typically very lucrative in open markets. And historically the colonizer had reaped profits from these harvests. Throughout the year, they'd send their representatives to come and check on the people, regularly, and try to teach them the right ways of farming. But to ensure that the people adhered to their code of conduct of genuflecting to them, they used brute force. Novel methods of forcing people were employed and out of fear, the country bowed low.

As time progressed, however, these powers-that-be were told that brute force was no longer in vogue and that subtlety was more respected, they backed off from their obtrusive, blatantly arm twisting tactics of exercising control to something more discrete. They decided to exercise control only in the harvesting season. by trying to build a pecking order story around themselves when it came to harvests. Yes, markets were free. Yes, farmers were allowed to sell their produce in open markets and the best produce got the best price, regardless of the buyer. All these rules applied in a weird twisted Henry Ford way (Remember - you get the choice of all colors as long as it is black?) So, the rule was that the colonizer would get right of way, at their prices and their whims on the produce. Once their granaries and coffers were full, the remaining produce could be sold off to the market, if any. All other market players were expected to wait for the colonizer to finish so that they could get their scrapings. And wait they did, for if they did not wait, they didn't get any produce. And yes, people knew that what the colonizer was doing was wrong and completely against normal economic theory. Those who did not agree to this plan - well, no one disagreed. Like I said, they bowed low, out of plain fear.

Over the years, they genuflected. When asked why, they said that the rains were undependable. It rained one year resulting in a bounty and was dry in the next, resulting in a failure. No open market would promise to buy produce when cyclical characteristics were so haphazard each year, and when uncertainties allowed no projections to ever be correct.

"But what about being cheated in years when you have a great crop and the market is willing to pay you more?", someone asked.

"Well, let's say that loss is the price we pay for security in down years", a farmer replied. "Besides, majority of the people here don't get wonderful crops. They get average harvests and average harvests typically get average prices in the open market. At least selling to the colonizer adds some snob value, if not anything else. So, people are very keen only to sell to the colonizer, and they bee-line up to the colonizer's granaries to offload their produce and get their money. So the country has decreed that we would sell to no one else but the colonizer and unless he gives us permission, we won't visit the open market. "

But one farmer (Mr X) was different. He consistently grew a good crop every year and felt himself stifled by the country's policies. He felt that arm twisting and pressure tactics served no one any good and that free markets by and far were the most efficient means to ensure profit for hard work. So, he decided one day, not to bow down to the colonizer. Everyone expected him to face the ire of the collection agents, with probable bloodshed. They sat glued to the TV watching what the news covered about the talks between this farmer and the colonizer. The dialogues went on for a while that seemed like eternity! The colonizer began to get agitated. They threatened to boycott the farmer forever. They threatened never to support him in case he had a crop failure. The farmer looked upon all of this calmly. And with a mild smile said, " Do your worst. I believe in myself and my skills. My losing you, would be your loss and not mine. But if you are so insecure about yourself, such that you need to frighten people to get your way, since you feel that other buyers in the open market will manage to get a better deal, I suggest, that you take a vacation and introspect on what you need to change about your image. Maybe you need a downward revision in your perception rating, and that would bring your true core and your perceived core on par. Maybe I am wrong, and you do have a stellar image on par with strong core values. Allow the farmers to then take a decision, based on what they value. As for me, rusticate me if you will, for I will, no matter what you do, go to the market."

So saying, he left the negotiation table, went to the open market with his produce and got double of what he had cumulatively received over all the past years. Feeling cheated, and knowing that X's precedent was on their side, several other farmers who had confidence in themselves ventured into the open market, despite threats from the colonizer. The trickle converted to a cascade as people realized the hollowness of the threats and the lack of core values in the colonizer. Eventually, prosperity prevailed and everybody lived happily ever after.

So, when forced to bow, everyone has a choice. Not everyone chooses not to bow, since they perhaps feel insecure about the unknown future, that could come about, if they did not bow. But as they say, fortune favors the brave and blaming country policies for genuflection, are unfounded claims! You always have a choice of whether to bow down or bow out.

10 more random thoughts

1. What hurts more? Having what you don't want or not having what you really want?
2. What hurts more? Not getting what you want or not getting what you think you want?
3. Why do things inconsequential in the distant future have severe repercussions on near future events?
4. Why is the greater part of humankind frightfully optimistic?
5. Everything is ephemeral, just the cycles of highs and lows are constant.
6. Some people never give up on you despite your giving up on yourself.
7. People are different, but their differentiating factors are all the same.
8. Risk and reward are positively correlated. But where stakes are high, effort and reward are almost always negatively correlated.
9. Your core skill almost always is of consequence only in the long run, with zero short term benefits.
10. Clairvoyance could be such a stress reliever!!