Knowing

Be short and brief in everything

People will be grateful - and 

May find it sweet if it not inspiring.

Do not prolong, neither the talk nor the life

It becomes bitter and boring -and

People will pray for your absence.

Who knows? I am only guessing

If Bhagat Singh had lived longer, 

People might have called him a dictator - and

If Mahatma had survived longer, 

People might have considered him as nuisance.

Knowing when to begin is important

But knowing when to end is the secret to the greatness

Charisma

It was a country side with a beautiful beach. People gather there for picnic and take sea bath. At times the sea is rough and windy, and some people get drowned and die. A group of young guys watched these kinds of occasional accidents in dismay, and they decided to do something. They started an association, and the motto was simple and straight forward: “Save the people from drowning in the sea”. They were filled with the missionary zeal, and day and night performed their selfless service.

People of the city were impressed with the result produced by them. And they donated lots of money, and many joined the association. When the number increased, they needed to formulate many rules and regulations, grievance committee was formed, recruit cell was constructed, and parties and seminars were organized to engage the members. As the time passed, the association's main activities were many except saving the people from drowning. Some youngsters were shocked at the functioning of the association, they accused the authorities of betraying the original spirit, and they decided to form a new association with the simple motto:”saving people from drowning”.

The new association wanted to make a point and they made it. The general public was impressed with the courage and dedication of the new association and donated large amount of money to the new association. And many were attracted to the new association and joined it with great enthusiasm. As the time passed, and as the number increased they too decided that they need new guidelines and rules to govern the new association. New structure was established, recruitment policies were formulated and to engage the members, workshops, seminars and parties were organized. And they too became too busy with too many things except saving people from drowning. And this irritated some young minds; they felt betrayed and decided to start a brand new association which will faithfully serve the people from drowning. And the story continues….

Charisma is compromised with organizational structure and regulations. But without rules and structure charisma can disappear altogether. The one strikes a fine balance between the two, manages to maintain the creativity (charisma) and continuity for a long time. It is the art of eating the cake and have it too.

predicament

During the last academic year, representatives of an organization came to give a talk for students. It is more of students and company interaction. It is routine exercise where students come to know about companies and the managers getting the feel of students. It is optional for organizations but compulsory for students. 

On that day, all students were assembled and a manager of a company X, with much enthusiasm started his address with a tautological question: Can anyone explain the reason for your coming for this talk? One first year student answered spontaneously, “We are here, otherwise we will be fined Rs.500” All the students burst out laughing. The members of the placement committee started seeing stars in the day, and the manager laughed nervously.

Simple question and an honest answer, matter should have been over then and there. But the student became hero for few and a villain for many. The members of the committee were upset and agitated, because it is an integral part of placement process, and if a student irritates the recruiting company, it can result in unwanted reactions.

I could understand the anger of the committee members at the same time I could sympathize with the innocence of the student. As a student I have been in the position of that student many a times; innocently saying something outrageous, mainly to deal with the boredom that class room creates, and eventually finding myself in a thick of storm.

Once during the class on medical ethics, the professor asked the question; can the child who is mentally retarded be killed? Some said yes, and some others no. I was sitting in the last row, and the professor asked me what my opinion is. I said, “No, the child should not be killed just because he is mentally retarded” The professor further enquired, “Why do you say that, what are your reasons?” Spontaneously I answered, “See, all of us are mentally retarded, only degree varies, therefore that child can’t be killed” Surprisingly all my class mates laughed out loud, but the professor was angry.

My intention was neither making fun of the argument nor irritating the professor. Unknowingly I ended up doing both. In the eyes of the professor I became the villain, my friends congratulated me for being radical hero, and girls in the class thought I am a comedian. I did not want any of the roles; all I wanted was sleeping in the class. Sometimes, if the time is not alright, anything can happen. Now the irony is that I am teaching ethics too.

I still sympathize with that student and also understand the predicament of the placement committee. 

The Iron Lady

Simplicity is the beauty of this film. Starts with the hallucination of Margaret Thatcher in her old age. She instructs and corrects her husband who is no more in this world. The director mingles her present with her past brilliantly. She redeems her present with the memories of the past, just like John Nash used his logical thinking to overcome his hallucinations.

The film is narrated in a non-linear style. It is in the form of flash-back mode. The critical incidents that shaped the life and the leadership style of Thatcher are breath taking.  Intelligently chosen events tells us the story convincingly.

It is always the unique talents which separate a person from others elevate her/him to the leadership position. It is these talents which attract other people to support her/him. At the same time it is these very talents which bring her/him down eventually. Every talent and strategy comes with an expiry date. Unless a leader is aware of this predicament, she/he will live longer only to become villains.

Thatcher was a woman of great substance and conviction. Her fresh and bold approach to the ailing Brittan brings hope and a sense of purpose to the people of that nation. Her no-nonsense style of taking decisions makes her the only man in the parliament. The journey to the top was smooth and fast in spite she being the only woman among the elected representatives. As she produces results, critics take back seat, and she moves from being bold to bolder and boldest. Then the inevitable takes place, her strength becomes her weakness. And like most of the high achievers, she too fails to notice the dissent among her loyal supporters.

It is an irony; when something does not work, we repeat the same approach harder and longer, blissfully closing our eyes and heart to different alternatives. Thus Thatcher’s glorious era come to an abrupt end.

The film is a must for every aspiring leader in any realm of life.

Shadow in Us

We all are endowed with sufficient amount of weakness, shadows, problems, negative experiences and sins. Some are obsessed with overcoming them and  others are blissfully unaware of them, and some inadvertently boasting about them. All three groups are in no win situation. spiralling down is inevitable.

External forces do not create the negatives within us, they might have triggered the problem in us but they are not the authors of our problems and sinfulness. Being in darkness is an existential condition; we are born with the potentiality to become psychopaths.

Most of the self help books are busy highlighting the problem behaviors and then advise us on how to control and overcome them. They forget that it is battle that is lost before even the first shot is fired. Valli in Ramayana is the classical representation of fighting with shadows in us. If you fight against him half of your strength will go to him, and added to that he himself is a powerful person, so the battle against him will result in failure for anyone.

Our mind has a tendency to look at reality in a binary system. Either we must overcome it or surrender to it; Win or lose; defeat or get defeated. But there is the third way, an alternative we often fail to recognize. Transform the negatives; it is not same as overcoming. The process of transformation is slow and tedious. It is not a conclusion but remains a process which will lead us to the conclusion. It is always three steps forward and two steps backward journey. It is not a linear but essentially not linear.

People who do not transform their  shadows and problems will invariably transmit them to others and the next generation. And keep the society sick perpetually.

Graduation

In the month of march, 2011, one of the graduating student (second year completed) met me on the corridor by chance or may be by mistake and with utmost sincerity said to me, “Two years at XIMB is the best of my entire life, at least so far. And I am very sad to leave the campus.” I too with utmost sincerity responded to him, “If you do not want to go away from XIMB, I can make necessary arrangements for you repeat the course.” The student literally jumped away from me and said, “No sir, I did not mean that.” I did not leave him, “OK, if you do not want to repeat, then you can join FPM program, and it will keep you on the campus for four years and afterwards you can become a faculty. Since you had best of time here, why not have it for longer period of time. More is merrier. You will be an example of perpetual happiness which is just little short of enlightenment.” He did not buy any of my improved offers and my persuasion skills failed miserably. He said, “Sir, I have important work, I must leave you now, see you latter” I knew that he will run for cover if he happens to see me in future.

I went to my room and I was in a rather deep reflective mood. How is that he could see his entire two years at XIMB as one of happiest days in his life. Does it mean that he did not have any negative experiences? What the hell are we doing as professors? That can’t be true, I have seen in the facebook, our students hitting the blackboard with their heads while preparing for exams, condemning the entire educational system. So what has really happened? The possibility is that he along with his friends might have discussed how they enjoyed their life in the last two years, narrating positive events from JLT to outbound learning. Then took those positive and pleasurable experiences and painted the entire two years with those positive feelings. Thus his mind erased negative experiences and made him see only positive things.

It is then I started feeling guilty that I have spoiled his game. I should have allowed him to continue to live in that positive state of mind; at least till he leaves the campus. I am sure there will be some other students who will recollect only the negative experiences and paint their entire two years with those negative feelings and remain in the state of depression, whereas, this student, fortunately, had selected only positive events and generalized them in a generous way.

This year, on the same corridor, on the same month another student (graduating) said the same things – life at XIMB was the best etc… Having become bit wiser, I just congratulated him and wished him all the best. Having a positive illusion is not a bad thing. After all what is reality? Whatever our mind projects are the reality as and when that happens.

Focus Illusion

Expectation exaggerates facts and the reality. If one is desperate for something and somebody, then desperation gets multiplied.

As a kid, I used to wait for Christmas day, as if it is going to be the greatest and happiest day. But every Christmas passed away just like any other day with minor differences.

Mind creates and exaggerates every positive expectation beyond its true manifestation. It adds more color and spice and makes it much bigger than what could happen in reality. So when the D-day comes, the most waited person or thing arrives, nothing much happens, it is pleasant but nothing out of the world experience. We have exaggerated so much in our anticipation; the reality fails to measure up to the expectation. Thus even after some positive thing has taken place, we remain disappointed. And it is called focus illusion, too much of a focus, moves things out of focus.

But the good thing is that it works in the opposite direction too. If something worse we expect to happen, then when that worst thing occurs, it won’t be that bad as we have expected. The real pain won’t be as painful as we have imagined and anticipated. Only drawback is that we might have lived in negative mood; fretting, condemning and self-pitying for considerable amount of time.

Is ‘focus illusion’ good or bad? Whether we like it or not, our minds operate in this manner, the sensible thing will be to become aware of it and avoid as much as possible. In case we are addicted to prolonged miseries or euphoria, then ‘focus illusion’ is the way to live our life.

The Gossip

                                                                             

Is gossiping a bad habit? Waste of time and energy? Or does it have higher purpose that one needs to master the art of gossiping?

Some psychologists term it as ‘the relational aggression’; it can break relationship among friends and may lead some people to the brink of committing suicide. And that is the dark side of gossiping, if we do it recklessly, we can harm others and ourselves.

Some say that men gossip only about money and success, whereas woman gossip about almost everything. This statement is too good to be true, maybe it was true when men were the sole bread winners and controlled not only their affairs but also every others, but in present day woman and men measure up similar standard when it comes to gossiping, there may be a minor insignificant difference.

In fact, gossiping has many positive points, and it is not easy to be a master gossiper.

First up all, gossiping is an intellectual activity. You have to keep your mind, eyes and ears sharp to pick up news about others. And that is not enough; you must be an interesting and powerful communicator. Words must flow from tongue like water (I am not referring to salivation, but similar to it).

Then you need to add emotion in what you are sharing, and the most important thing is you need to add masala – exaggeration is a must, if you tell exactly what had happened, people mistake you for a news reporter, you need to use imagination and add whatever is necessary, but do not overdo it, if you overdo it then people will call you a liar. And liars are neither respected nor believed, you will end up spoiling not only the game but also your name.

Remember, in gossiping, content is not much important, what brings excitement is the process of the delivery system. Recent research study points out; your brain cells remain active and alive if you are a good gossiper.

And gossiping is inherently a community activity, it binds a group, it provides warning signal about the bad boss and neighbors’ wife/husband. It forewarns you. One who is forewarned is forearmed.

Anthropologists suggest that gossiping has played a major role in the language development, without gossiping, language might have remained very limited and without many vocabularies. If you think that it is writers and scholars are responsible for the development of a language, you are wrong. In any case, only a good gossiper can become a good story teller and a scholar.

The third important contribution of gossiping is that it serves as a moral instruction and guardian of moral system. When I share a gossip with someone (it will be always about a third person), I am telling him not only what is wrong with the third person but also indirectly I am warning him not to be like him. If you behave like that person, then some will gossip about you. Thus the fear being gossiped deters people from indulging in wrongful activities.

And the final and the most important benefit of gossiping is that it increases our self esteem, especially if the gossip is about some successful and high achievers. We feel great that the great persons also are very cheap, that means I am greater than the so-called the great people. This improves one’s self worth tremendously without doing any extraordinary work. Good name and feeling gained without sweating.

The wisdom statement, “Too much of anything is dangerous” is applicable to gossiping too. If you over do it, then people will become very cautious in your presence and eventually hate you and expel you from their group. Moderation is the key word as always. Do it intelligently and sparingly, people will treat you with respect.

Procrastination

I have heard even successful people (who has achieved a lot) complaining about the problem called procrastination.

Procrastination by definition is putting off works till the last minute, that is unless a reward or punishment is imminent one postpones doing what one is expected to do.

This phenomenon is witnessed among monkeys. They would not do things unless they either see a stick or a plantain. No wonder we too have inherited their habit.

But by suppressing a gene that makes dopamine chemical (which seems to be the reward learner), one can make monkeys to work consistently. So if we want a person to be workaholic then all we have to do is suppress that gene.

 And other research studies point out many other causes for human beings to procrastinate.  –  fear of failure, fear of success, temptation, laziness, lack of purpose and motivation … etc. But working out on fears and purposes is a long short. Many ‘Time management’ books are becoming best sellers because; they rarely help a person to stop procrastinating.

For me procrastination sounds similar to the management concept ‘Just in Time’. I can’t understand why people perceive procrastination as a problem. What is the point is doing something today, which can be done tomorrow?

For me procrastination is not a problem, it is strength, since our mind has learned that things can be done at the last minute, we do it at the last minute. If it were to have caused problems and pains then we will not dare to postpone. Nothing that sort has happened, hence we procrastinate.

Suppose repeatedly I have faced dire consequences due to procrastination, then something is seriously wrong and we definitely need medical (genetic operation) or psychiatrist’s help. Otherwise one should not too much worry about procrastination.

If creatively we use procrastination, it can become our best habit. Suppose I want take revenge, and I decide to procrastinate on it, my image among friends will be better off (they might treat me as a living saint). Suppose I want to smoke and decide to procrastinate on it, my health will improve ( of course ITC will not be happy about it).

So if you have the tendency to procrastinate, then do not treat it as a problem, it is one more positive habit in your repository, you can use it when it is necessary to make life enjoyable.

Control freak

From childhood onwards we have been directly or indirectly encouraged to be not a control freak. One of the popular, rather irritating topics given to students is to speak on was ‘If I would become prime minister, what would I do?” The funny thing is that even that speech was written by some teacher, who had given shape to his or her unfulfilled dreams and frustrations.

Due to the pressure from parents, friends, teachers and the society, our life has indeed become the pressure cooker as Rajkumar Hirani points out. Everyone tries to control us, sometimes in the name of protecting us other times for the sake of the better world (others).

Then when we grow up, everyone says we need to control our life. Academicians articulate that the locus of control must be internal. But when did they train us to take control over our life? The joke is that guys who tell us to take control are the ones who are controlled most, either they are controlled by an idea which was not invented by them or by other sale personnel.

Yet few of us manage to become control freaks. They must be mutants, they are not functioning as per the program, and as per the way they have been brain-washed. They are the outcasts, trying to live life as per their desires and compulsions.

When I am around control freaks, I am both liberated and suffocated. It is liberating because one more joker has joined the chain of the control system which have been guiding (or misguiding) my life. And it is also suffocating because one more person is acting as if he is carrying my weight.

But I truly appreciate them; at least they make efforts to shape the world as per their convenience. If a group has many control freaks, fights and quarrels will be the only entertainment. In case of it having only one control freak, he will be seen as the leader and liberator. If there are no control freaks, then the group will be subjugated by another group that has one control freak.

Successful leadership means that one has to be a control freak as well as side-track or eliminate all other control freaks. Either through persuasion (asking him to leave and join some other department/company) or spoiling their names and making them unpopular (eliminating them). The best control freak is the one who creates the illusion that everyone believes that he or she is obeying out of free-will.

Same people, same structure and same activities…

I was asked to evaluate a school called xyz situated in a city abc.  Since it was a friendly request and I do not say no to friends (only regret latter), I ventured out in that exercise. As usual, everyone was aware of the vital problem, yet no one was speaking about it. It is there I remembered the old saying that consultancy is nothing but looking at the client’s watch and telling what time it is.

Yet, like an objective evaluator I interacted with the all parties and came to the same conclusion which was known to everyone. So everyone accepted my findings. I told them that you guys have two options – either leave the school or fix the hooligans (or just eliminate them) who are in the form of teachers. The management was eager to handover the school, they were waiting for some so called expert to give the verdict.

When they tried to handover the school, all the involved parties got panicked. And there was commotion among the teachers and everyone except the management wanted the present administrators to continue. As usual, management gave in to the relentless request.

The joke is not over, the management once against asked me to conduct workshop for the same teachers. Einstein, long ago, said, “Repeating the same things again and again, and expecting different result is the definition of stupidity” (the original quote is somewhat different, but meaning is same). Now in this school, nothing is changed – same administrators, same situation and same structure and same activities, yet everyone is piously hoping that things will turn out different this time.

Looks like that I will be continued to be employed for ages to come …..

Marketing

My friend, who is the charge of the house, asked me to buy sausages and parottas for the evening celebration.  Since I was free and in a mood of doing something, I agreed with his proposal. I took the bike and went to the shop near the railway station, asked the shop keeper to give me sausage. He opened the fridge and gave me a packet of chicken sausage. I told him that chicken sausage is good but pork sausage is the best, so give me the best. The shop keeper told me that in Bhubaneswar pork sausage is not a favored item. I told him, “Listen gentleman, a good business man is the one who sells what is not liked by the people. If you sell what is preferred then you just react to the situation. You must learn to create demand, that is the real challenge, and that alone will give you the job satisfaction. So start selling what is not favored by the local people”. He looked at me in total confusion, and I left him to give some time for the reflection.

Then I went to the mall named ‘The world’. There I wanted to buy parottas. I asked for the ashwini parottas, but the helper said that onion paratottas are the best and that is available. Since she was trying to sell me what I did not want, I could not come with any argument. After few minutes, I told her, “I think that you are not familiar with Indian tradition, in India we divide food items into three categories: sattvic food which are good and filled with positive energy, rajasic food are neutral food which neither good nor bad, and tamasic food which are filled with negative energy. Onion comes under tamasic food, which means onion parottas are filled with negative energies and you are irresponsibly promoting negative energy which means that you are a dangerous person”. I thought that she would get angry and scold me, but she was just smiling. I did not know what else to say, I was feeling guilty that I have offended a good soul, who is truly enlightened.  It is then I realized that she does not understand English, but she was fluent in Oriya and Hindi.

As I was leaving, a girl stopped me saying it is a promotional item, and she showed me chicken kawaap and many other chicken items. I told her that I do not like chicken. She said, “You do not like chicken, no problem, but I am sure you would like chicken tandoori, it is so tasty”. I said that listen girl, I am allergic to birds literally and figuratively, if you have anything other than chicken items for example fish, mutton or even snake and dog, I will be happy to give it a try. Hearing the words snakes and dogs, she could not say anything more, and I took that opportunity and left the place.

Then I went to the reliance food. Though I am basically very skeptic about reliance, since I did not have any more choice, I settled for it. As I expected their mall had all brands that were not familiar to me, and what I wanted was not kept there. I just cursed Dhirubhai Ambani and his vision then left the place without talking to anyone.

I went for the marketing with the empty bag, and I returned with the empty bag. And it resembled the human existence. When my friend asked me about what I have brought, I told him that nothing is worth buying in Bhubaneswar, I am going to Mumbai tomorrow and I will get all things from there. But he refused to believe me, he concluded that as usual I have forgotten the real business and wailed away time in side business.

The girl with the dragon tattoo

The novel by Stieg Larsson is well conceived and executed with strong impact. Tattoo girl Lisbeth Salander lacks in social skills but a genius in collecting information (Researcher, not academic)  and the other important character Mikael Blomkvisti is a financial reporter with high moral standard but safely keeps sexual morality at distance.

The author must have feminist orientation, throughout the story he embarrasses our conscience with lots of important and relevant statistics connected with women and their exploitation in the society. It is disturbing to say the least.

It is thriller with substance. Behavioral patterns of sadists and abused children are narrated eloquently and convincingly. The success of any novel is in evoking emotional bond with the main characters, and Larsson seems to have succeeded effortlessly.

The author does not have much appreciation for financial bankers and stock brokers; he presents them as mafia and shark.  The novel touches upon many themes – computer hacking, stock market, journalism, family feud (those who romanticizes the greatness of joint family must read it for proper enlightenment) to mention few. His psychological insights are pretty accurate.

Pick up the novel, if you have time and if you like reading thriller, I am sure you won’t regret.

Train Journey

One of my recurring nightmares is that of train journey. In the dream, either I miss the train or I get down to buy something and the train leaves. Out of sheer desperation I start running behind the train on the track, sometimes I managed to catch the train (may be the effect of watching Rajnikant’s film).

Getting up in the morning, I used to wonder why the hell this kind of dreams repeatedly come to me. I am fully aware, it is our anxiety, fear, insecurity or some suppressed desires which form the major contents of a dream. So I sat down to recall all my mis-adventures with train journeys.

• I had to take the train from Madurai to Chennai, and I entered the correct coach, but someone else had occupied it. I showed him my ticket saying it is my seat. That person looked at the ticket quietly then said, “Yes, it is your seat, but you have come one earlier” I had to leave the place embarrassed, tried to talk to the T.T, but he sternly told me not to waste his time.

• I was travelling from Jamshedpur to Chennai. At Vizak, the train stops for nearly 30 minutes. I got down from the train, sat on the platform and started reading a magazine. I was so involved in reading, and did not notice the train leaving the station. Fellow platformer shook my shoulder and pointed out that my train is leaving. Luckily I could run and jump into the train. But the thought of missing the train along with my bags troubled my mind for a longer period of time.

• I had to give a talk at Berhampur, and I went catch the train. Since I reached 40 minutes earlier, thought of reading something. The same thing happened, almost I missed the train. I had to run and get into the last coach. Then onwards I have given up the habit of reading on the platform.

I could recollect several similar endeavors with train journey and I noted them down on that day. Surprisingly, the nightmares of missing trains and running after them have stopped. Bring the dream to the conscious mind and integrate the associated fears and anxieties, they stop bothering us. Of course some dreams we do not want to stop coming back; them we should not integrate with our conscious mind. Suppose silk-smita is dancing in the dream, why on earth one needs to stop her from dancing? (effect of dirty picture)

Bottling Up

Champagne bottles are aesthetically made; their appearance is great but taste like spoiled pepper water. No wonder in parties people open them not for drinking but to pour it over other people. Indian cricket team followed this ritual after winning world cup, and it perfectly make sense. My favorite drink is vodka, since once upon a time I was a communist and I like to keep some connection with Russia, at least in drinking.

It is good to bottle up alcohol and wine in magnificently prepared bottle, but bottling up emotion is a dangerous habit. If one does not learn to let out irritation and heart burns at regular and appropriate intervals, he may end up exploding at wrong time for any minor reason. This not only embarrasses oneself and creates guilt feeling; it also could harm the innocent bystander who is trying to joke with you.

I am not saying that you need to shout at people every time someone annoys you. But constructively express your disliking. The supreme example is Bertrand Russell.

Once Bertrand Russell entered a club of which he was a member. He kept his umbrella on the stand and joined his friends for the party. When the party was over, as he was leaving, he became aware that someone has taken his umbrella. Immediately he wrote a note saying, “Dear Noble Man, kindly return my umbrella at my house address”. His friend who read the note was surprised and said to Russell, “You are calling a person who has taken your umbrella as a noble man, what is wrong with you?” Russell answered, “Look in this club only gentlemen and noble men are allowed to enter, and a person who takes away other person’s umbrella cannot be a gentleman, that is the reason I addressed him as a noble man”

There is always a way to get things done without exploding and without bottling up your feelings. All you need is something called imagination.

Fair coin

“I have a fair coin. When I tossed it, I got ‘head’ 99 times consistently. What is the probability of getting ‘head’ on the 100^th time when I will toss?”

I asked this question to some of the candidates who came for the interview, invariably everyone answered that the probability of getting 'head' on 100th time is .5

One thing is clear that they did not read the book ‘Black Swan’, because the question was taken from that book. The other thing that is crystal clear is that they are good at statistics but very naive in dealing with the world of grey. They are just blind to the data provided and totally trusting the statement that the coin is fair.

On tossing, if a coin turns up ‘head’ for 99 times consistently then how can that be a fair coin? One has to be a blind believer (another term for a fanatic) to believe that the coin is fair. How can anyone deny the data? Coincidences take place, but to believe that 99 times coincidence has taken place is beyond imagination. Yet not a single one noticed the trap. They took some time and reflected to come up with the answer .5

In the question asked, there are two parts – one is an assumption and the other is the data. Assumption is that the coin is fair, and the data is 99 times it has turned up with ‘head’. We believe the assumption and ignore the data provided. No wonder, any street smart guy is able to take us for a ride time and again, and we too prefer to live in the world of ignorance.

Because questioning assumptions demands not only sharp intelligence but also courage.

Evolution (Effect of Kudankulam visit)

 Long time ago

When a monkey managed

To become a man

        

        ‘Order’ emerged

        ‘Disorder’ multiplied

         Government was formed

         Corruption was glorified

         Gods were created

         Humans were scarified

         Wealth has increased

         Poverty is amplified

Monkeys of the world

Forgive us

For shattering your dreams

Chennai Admission Interview – 2012

Warning: observations are limited only to my experience at Chennai Admission Inerview-2012, scientific conclusion is neither possible nor required.

•  Boys outnumbered girls at an alarming ratio of 9.5 : 0.5. This ratio is much lower than any other previous years. Either girls have seen the meaninglessness (farce) of pursuing MBA studies and they are opting out or boys are becoming smarter and smarter, which is not an encouraging sign from sociological perspective.

•  “I want to be an entrepreneur, not now but eventually, five years down the line” was the readymade answer given by majority of candidates till last year, when they were asked the question, “Why MBA?” This year, for a change they have decided to tell the truth – it is just a career move. When they speak truth they are very charming and convincing.
• 
  
• Almost all candidates have been attending multiple interviews across the country. Considerable amount of money is being spent on travelling alone. Management institutes must come up with a solution to ease their pain. Some were totally exhausted from various interviews and their only concern was – ‘I give a damn whether you select or not, just stop asking questions and let me go.’

Interview 2012 (Fishing from the Fish-Tank)

Admission interview has begun for the management institutes. I went to Bangalore for the same. My preliminary observation is that over 95% of students are from engineering background. And over 95% of engineering graduates were from one of the following branches: Computer Science, Information System / Communication and Electrical/Electronic or both. And the overwhelming number of students is with work experience. Infosys, TCS and Cognizance dominate the list. This is the classical case of fishing from the fish-tank. Looks like either younger generation is very eager to leave these companies or they have the best of talents who could crack entrance examination.

This information is regarding Bangalore only, that too only about the first five days. If the situation is similar in all cities and all centers, then even God can’t help us –homogeneous group lead to one line of thought and action, and engulf itself with one kind of discussion and conclusion. Already engineering students dominate the management institutes, and now it is going to be specific branches of engineering students who are going to rule the circus.

People are already analyzing the data and coming with several interpretations. Following are some of the hypothetical propositions, they can be totally wrong:

1.  Software engineers are very soft and coding for years is driving them crazy and they are cracking, as a result they end up cracking admission tests too.
2. Seven years ago the best of the lot went into to these branches of engineering, so it is a natural outcome.
3. Software engineers have more free times in comparison with others and so they spend more time for the preparation.
4.  XAT and CAT are designed to suit students with engineering background.

Whatever may be the reason, the outcome can’t be changed. Postmortem doe s not give much kick for me. When something is inevitable, we need to celebrate it by embracing it (one more reason to hit the bottle).

When I was a student, it was less than 30% who came with engineering degree for personal management and little more for the business management programs, lot more was with science, art and commerce degrees. As the world being increasingly dominated by machines, engineers started dominating the schools of management.

For an expert with hammer, everything will look like nail, for experts in engineering; everything is going to be either nuts and bolts or zeroes and ones.

Life is going to be boring for sure in the coming years and I am contemplating on taking sabbatical. Where to go? and what to do?  still remain  mysteries

Three Glasses

A man entered the bar and ordered for three glasses of beer. The waiter was surprised, in his long and dedicated service, he had never witnessed one person ordering at a time three glasses of beer. Since the owner had repeatedly instructed that customer is god, he just followed the order. Brought three glasses of beer and placed in front of the man.

Out of curiosity, the waiter asked the question, “Sir, you are alone then why three glasses?”

The man answered, “It is a family union, and  I hate to drink alone. One glass is for my brother living in USA, the second one is for my brother working in Dubai and the third one is for me.”

The waiter was truly impressed. And he admired the bond among brothers. Always he knew that there is a method to madness when it comes to people who love drinking in the bar.

The man repeated the same ritual of ordering three glasses whenever he visited the bar. Then one day, the man ordered two glasses of beer only. The waiter was disturbed and concerned. After serving the two glasses of beer, the waiter inquired, “Hope everything is OK, is there anything wrong with any of your brothers?”

The man in his stoic tone answered, “My brother in USA is doing well and fine. My brother at Dubai is wonderful and in peak of health. I have ordered only two glasses of beer because I have given up drinking”

There is always a method to madness and do not forget there is more than one way in which one can give up drinks.