Who am I?

What is individuality?

What is group behaviour?

What is the real personality?

Personality Development is in fashion these days. Every small town is also full of many such institutes that claim to bring a total turn around in the personality of its students. But are they able to define the word personality in a sense acceptable to all? I doubt.

One definition is SWOT. As everybody must have read, this acronym represents strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The first two are individual variables while the other two are environmental variables. Some experts opine that SWOT is the personality while personality development includes the conversion of weaknesses into strengths and threats into opportunities.

Another definition is Mask Theory. Believers of this camp say that everyone has two personalities - the real one and the explicit one. They also say that no one, absolutely no one in the world today, can afford to be totally transparent. We have some animal instincts which are hidden in the garb of a social smile. Let us have an example. When you are just about to go to bed at the end of a hectic day and some relative or friend turns up, how do you react? The real one would be a frank reminder of the time and the social etiquette of seeking appointment before visiting someone, but in all probability, the explicit one would be to welcome them with a broad smile.

The third definition is based on the reaction to a stimulus. We all react to many things available around us. But this reaction depends on our personality. Same stimulus may evoke different responses from different people. Slapping to a staunch believer of Jesus may result in getting the second cheek offered while the same action may possibly bring a violent reaction from other people.

Which theory appeals to you most? What is the real personality? I am confused. I find some essence and practical wisdom in all of them. While the SWOT theory tells me what to do (convert weaknesses into strengths and threats into opportunities) while the mask theory tells me how to do the same. And the third theory gives me some tips to judge other people by observing their reactions to different situations.

One thing is very sure. Individuality and group behaviour are very different things. While in a group, one tends to sacrifice his very personal set of beliefs which may not be a very wise thing to do.

I must not allow my individuality to get lost in a crowd, or to use a better word, a mob!

Action and reaction

'Life is only two percent how it comes to me and ninety eight percent how i react to it.' Many people would accept this in theory. But Karl Marx (1818-1883) was an exception.

This German philosopher started his campaign with the communist manifesto and ended with the call "Workers of the world, unite!" He strongly advocated that everybody should be given equal remuneration for doing whatever they are good at. In his opinion, being a human being entitles one a place in a classless society where everyone deserves equal returns irrespective of their contribution.

His philosophy can be explained in three stages :
1. Thesis : The bourgeoisie have exploited the proletariat for many generations.
2. Antithesis : The workers will overthrow the capitalistic class and set up a dictatorship of their own. In such a way, they will take revenge from the bourgeoisie.
3. Synthesis : In the long run, it will all culminate into a classless society.

Marx strongly believed that managers getting a sum many times more than the working class by way of remuneration is a clear evidence of exploitation. He also propounded that this difference is illogical and against the principles of natural justice.

This morning, i read a story about a king and his prime minister in a Hindu religious book (Shastra) and found it suitable to prove that 'Life is only two percent how it comes to me and ninety eight percent how i react to it'.

In the story, many workers go to the king and complain against the difference in the remuneration structure of the prime minister and the workers. They also said that they worked for the whole day and the prime minister just sat doing nothing. The king called his prime minister in and also sent someone to bring an elephant.When the elephant was brought, the king handed the same over to the workers and asked them to weigh it. All the workers came back after 4-5 hours without success as they had been unable to find a scale large enough to weigh the elephant. Now the same job was assigned to the prime minister. He came back within an hour with the exact weight being 4850 units. When asked, he narrated the entire process. "I went to the river, took the elephant on a boat and noted the watermark. Then the boat was taken in the water again without the elephant. This time i had weights put in the boat until the same watermark was touched." The workers were able to see the sense. They accepted the rationale of the remuneration structure and went back.

What does the story tell us? One always gets paid in the exact ratio of the value he or she adds to the organisation. You need to respond quickly and effectively to the requirements of your employer. And this ability only decides your remuneration.

This ability depends on many factors. The family background, upbringing, schooling, hobbies, environment, value system, spirituality etc. play their respective roles in the same. But the most important factor is - the candidate's burning desire to add some value. The hunger inside becomes passion which gets reflected in the sincerity of efforts. Your Alma mater is just trying to provide you some opportunities to increase the same. How one utilises the same is entirely one's own discretion.

The Economic Times reports that the ratio of highest package offered and the average package in IIMs this year is nearly 14:1. What should be the ratio of the highest to the lowest package? The law of averages gives us the probable answer - 196:1. And all these management graduates were offered similar teachings and facilities!

Yes! I agree.'Life is only two percent how it comes to me and ninety eight percent how i react to it.' Marx is an aberration.

And what i want to achieve is that.......

"And how do you intend to find a solution to this problem?" Dr APJ Abdul Kalam asks the young boys and girls of India. Everyone in the audience is stunned. They are emotionally charged but unable to provide a befitting reply. And Dr Kalam then shares his vision 2020 with all of them and suddenly everything begins to make sense.



Sounds like a riddle? Yes, it does. Allow me to tell you the context.



Dr APJ Abdul Kalam has made a very pertinent observation in his book 'Ignited Minds'. He says that India was under British control for a very long period. And a very big majority had started to accept the situation as a must-be. Then in the year 1857, they first saw the dream of free India. Every Indian started to desire freedom and strive for it. It took a poor and oppressed nation 90 years to achieve that vision. But the bottom line is very clear. If everybody has a common vision, a nation is able to realize it sooner or later.



Dr Kalam then asks, "And what is the vision today? What is it that we are trying to achieve? If freedom from the British inspired every Indian from 1857 onwards, do we have any such burning desire today?" And he goes on to say that absence of any such common cause or vision only is the biggest problem before us. When an entire nation does not know where to go, where would it go? Nowhere is the only possible answer. And this is the pressing problem of today, feels Dr Kalam.

The situation can be compared with many travellers walking here and there with no destination in sight. They walk daily, sometimes they come back, sometimes they take random turns and as a result they never reach anywhere. As a nation, what do we intend to achieve? It's a pity that the vision is not clear.

Many business schools teach Goal Setting to their students. Nearly all the companies begin with a mission statement. What about our national vision?

Dr Kalam has definitely blessed us with a very good vision document by way of his book Vision 2020. A number of people, who went through the visionary exhortation, have appreciated the same. But i do not want to share the gist of the same here. Rather i want to throw this question open here. What should be the driving force for India today? Can you please express yourself in not more than one sentence? I hope this may lead us somewhere.

Let your vision for mother India be visible here, continuously.

Faith vs Responsibility

Human relations are a very interesting and complex mix. HR has definitely grown to become an independent discipline of its own and is regarded as crucial for any business organisation. Still, it is studied as a part of many other disciplines as well. Sociology, Economics, Psychology etc are not complete without the study of human relations. Even Law as a subject studies and considers HR. For example, Section 15 of the Indian Contract Act, 1872 discusses influence as one of factors that may affect the consent of a party regarding a contractual understanding.

But i want to talk about something which is instrumental in one to one relationship. There are many relations where utmost good faith is required. The relationship between, for example, a doctor and his patient, a lawyer and his client, a teacher and his student or parents and their child falls in the same category.

What is the binding force in such relations. I will call it faith and responsibility balance. Patient has faith and doctor has responsibility. Client has faith and lawyer has responsibility.And similarly, student keeps faith and teacher fulfils responsibility.

Now, this balance is very crucial. There can be a financial implication also but that is less important in such relations. It is very easy for a doctor to fulfil his contractual liability by prescribing medication and treatment but responsibility has a bigger spectrum. And the same is true for the other mentioned relationships too.

Now what binds a doctor, a lawyer or a teacher is not merely contract but faith. Money can buy services but not responsibility. It arises out of faith only. And the moment one party loses the faith, the other party is relieved of the responsibility.

Yes! This point is very important in human relations. Have faith! For God's sake, never lose it. The moment we lose faith, we relieve the service provider professional from his responsibility!

A course in Salesmanship!

What makes us an effective salesperson?

This much-talked-of topic is most misunderstood too. Everybody has an opinion on the same and the variety of available tips seems to qualify for being called noise. Recently i was reading a book 'What they still don't teach at Harvard Business School' and got a very simplified answer to the same. The formula suggested is refreshingly simple and precise.

The book presents four direct priciples to learn to sell effectively:

1. Know the Product

2. Meet a lot of people

3. Ask them to buy

4. Use common sense

That's it.

It made a lot of sense to me. The first point clearly tells every salesperson to be sure of always staying in the know of everything that the prospect may expect from him or her. Knowledge is power and it wins trust. It creates confidence. People always tend to prefer knowledgeable sales persons.

The second point is the most obvious one and the most commonly ignored one too! Meeting new people either by way of cold calling or through some promotional events is very important. Meeting them in normal course of life is even better.

The third point is all about focus. To the first timers it also teaches the importance of being on target - at all times. Some initial hesitation must be overcome if one wants to practise this point of action.

And the last point is the most important one. It's all about common sense but common sense is so uncommon these days! If one ventures to list out the mistakes one has committed in sales meetings a very vast majority of them can be covered under the heading 'lack of common sense'. Possibly a very narrow focus causes many to ignore what is visible to the neutral eye.

Try to apply these priciples in whatever you sell and see the result. And of course, we all know that selling is omnipresent!

Money, Time and Energy

Mobile has redefined the art of networking. How to make friends and how to keep the relations rejuvenated - has long been a subject matter for active discussion among thinkers and self-styled management gurus. But a small handset has challenged all those time-tested principles and techniques.

And the entire science of making friends and influencing people has come down to just two principles :
How to make friends ? Send them a message every day.
How to maintain relations? Send them a positive good morning message every day.

I do not entirely agree with these two rules. But many of my friends, relatives and students do treat them as gospel truths. And i am the victim. Every morning i receive tens of messages and the fact that you can't delete a message without opening it increases the agony. Of course, these commonplace messages do remind me of the sender but the vibrations sent telepathically from my side are not always positive.

But this morning i got a message which caught my attention and even after deleting it immediately, it refuses to leave me. And the message is :

3 stupid stages of life :
TEEN : You have time and energy but no money
ADULT : You have money and energy but no time
OLD : You have money and time but no energy!
So live every moment fully!!

How can we come out of this rut? If teens spare some time for a part time job and earn their pocket money or if adults tend to become better time managers or if the old ones continue to exercise and remain in shape - one would say. But is it that simple?

About the teen age, I am not very sure. But i can say one thing with reasonable conviction. Managing time for family and physical exercise in the adult age can help a lot. And some benefits will continue to be available in the old age as well. This may well be the most crucial life style challenge before the working population the world over today.

And the most important learning. Cellphones are just a tool. How to use it - is a valuable skill to learn!

Rajesh Khanna and the art of Time Management

Movies are a very popular source of entertainment. They also provide a very effective direction to society. In India, the young generation has always been crazy for bollywood and its movies. There have been countless actors and actresses, some of them have become stars and a very special few could get the label of superstars. Rajesh Khanna was crowned as the first superstar of Indian cinema. I want to specifically refer to one of his dialogues of one of his movies. The movie was named 'Bavarchi' (The chef). In a particular scene, he says, 'It's very simple to be great. But, it is very difficult to be simple!'

* * * * *

Time management is a very important tool to make optimum use of a person's calibre and efficiency. We are all fully aware of the fact that the almighty gives us a daily pension of 86400 seconds only. And this pension is available to everyone without any discrimination. Nobody will dispute the fact that our future entirely depends on use (or misuse) of this pension. And there are some very simple principles of time management which everyone is aware of. Let us try to enlist the most important of them.

1. Never postpone something for tomorrow that can be done today.
2. Have a time for everything and everything should be done on time.
3. Prioritize.
4. Make a to do list and keep on ticking the activities as you complete them.
5. Develop a full stop culture. Shun the comma habits.
6. Get up early. Start early. Be regular.

These are simple observations. Everyone of us has heard of them so many times. We know that these will help us greatly in our job. And we tend to promise to ourselves that we will follow them in future. And many of us keep on ignoring them in our practice.

It is really simple to be great!
But, it is definitely not easy to be simple!!

* * * * *

And let me tell you one more fact about Rajesh Khanna. He was not very punctual. He was usually very late on his sets. And i remember having read somewhere that many directors preferred Amitabh Bachchan to him primarily because Big B happened to be a much better time manager. More often that not, he was dot on time.

* * * * *
It is really simple to be great!
But, it is definitely not easy to be simple!!
And, today it is very important to follow these simple rules!!!

To get or to give?

Think big, Aim big, Think like a winner, Badi Soch Ka Bada Jadoo, You can win, You'll see it if you believe it etc. are very common titles or themes of what we get to read now a days. Today's child grows up while planning to start it big. Names like Dhirubhai Ambani, Sunil Bharti Mittal and Gautam Adani seem so close to him. Everybody is taught, encouraged and trained to look at oneself in the mirror and remind one that the future has just one thing in store and that is golden tremendous unending success. Low aim is crime and nobody is a criminal in the coming generation.

All this is fundamentally right. This helps everybody to overcome the mental barriers. The confidence is boosted up to a great extent. And when such a positive optimistic individual goes for any job, he reminds himself to be a die hard optimist. The idea of thinking big enters his soul and every action coming out is anything but realistic. When the interviewer asks him to state his career objective, prompt comes the reply, 'I want to be the CEO of a big multi national corporation'. This is expected to impress the interviewer and to have a big start.

But there seems to be a fundamental disconnect. What about the unglamorous but solid foundation? Nobody plasters or paints the foundation pillars below the ground level. But it is unquestionably the first step of a beautiful building. What should be the foundation of a successful corporate career?

Let me put this in another words. What should be initial focus of a career seeker? What i am going to get from this job or what i am going to contribute to this job. I am sure every experienced person knows that no corporate house would ever allow a performer to leave. To be very frank, performers with proven track record are so less in proportion in the work force today that they are always in demand. Let me give you some examples. Try to find out about the first job and the first assignment of Jamsetji Nusservanji Tata, Dhirubhai Ambani, G D Birla, L N Mittal, N R Narayana Murthy, Azim Premji, Satyen (Sam) Gangaram Pitroda, Verghese Kurien, Subhash Chandra or Cawasji Nanabhoy Davar. All of them are shining examples of one and the only one fundamental principle of making a successful corporate career and that is -

"The more you strive to give, the more you get,
The more you strive to get, the less you get."

"If i always strive to give my best to the company i serve, it will do its best to retain me and to do the best it can do for me. In case it fires me in spite of that, my thanks to the great lord that it saved me from a sinking ship!"

And by the way, one should never reply to the career objective question as in the example above. No interviewer likes to listen to that because in crude street language it would mean, "Main tumhara Boss banana chahta hun." A perfect recipe for failure. Isn't it?

The third side of the coin

I had my first job offer to work as an assistant accountant with a commercial automobile company. The year was 1988. I was a fresh commerce graduate. And it was perfectly natural for a young graduate to think of creativity and innovation as the only requirements for growth and development. As it happens with every young brain in that age, my mind was also full of new ideas and i used to consider it my primary duty to flood everyone i came across with those ideas.

It was a campus selection. (Yes! Simple B.Com. pass outs were offered jobs through their colleges in those times prior to LPG!) Eight of us were called for on site selection process. Finally three of us could manage to get final job offers. The salary offered was Rs. 1475 per month. Ultimately none of us finally joined but this decision had nothing to do with the compensation figures. In fact, one simple wall plate containing some instructions for the new recruits had played the spoilsport.

And what did that plate read? It just carried four simple instructions:

1. Boss is always right!
2. Shut your mouth and do your duty!
3. Any confusion? Go to number 1 !!
4. Any suggestion? Go to number 2 !!

All of us preferred not to join the place where our creativity and innovation were not welcome.

How do you rate this decision? Twenty one years have passed, and even today i can't decide. I am a teacher and entrepreneur, Krishnakant an advocate and Rajesh a school teacher. And the company? It has also grown to become indisputable market leader in its own category.

We can never have water tight compartments in life. Everything is relative. Isn't it?

These days will never come back!

What is it that a modern student covets most?



One view : He wants to enjoy every moment of his student life. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available.



Second view : He wants to learn maximum and enrich his knowledge bank as much as possible. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available.



Third view : He loves his friends and cherishes their company! He wants to enjoy every second of accompanying his friends and is always ready to sacrifice his own individual needs for the same. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available.



Fourth view : He is confused. He knows that these days will never come back and so he must make maximum out of every second available. And so, he is even more confused. He is afraid of making any wrong choice. Hence, every day begins with a dilemma and ends in the same. When he enjoys himself or with his friends, a feeling of guilt grips him. Am i using my time to the fullest? Is this what my parents expect of me? And when, he dedicates his time to learning and personality enrichment, he also feels that he is missing something. Oh! But for the adventures of youth! The sheer pleasure of being in the right company at the right age!!

I can't offer any solutions. This post is not written to give any advice or something like that. The only purpose of this post is to throw this question open to you all, smart young readers. What do you think about this confusion? Don't you think that we need some more frank honest expressions, particularly from the young generation, on this perennial quandary?

Power Shift - what next?

"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested" said sir Francis Bacon. A great thought but only from the readers' perspective. What about the authors? Do they also write books with a particular objective in mind?


Let us take the case of some world famous books and their authors. What was the purpose of Alvin Toffler when he wrote Power Shift? Was it a systematic enquiry of the historical power shifts or merely a recording of History? Did the master want to record the past events or find an undercurrent that can be extrapolated to predict future? Was it an expression of musings or an attempt to institutionalise a new medium of scientific enquiry with social trends as the raw material?

Take the case of "Discovery of India" by Jawaharlal Nehru. I am sure all the readers of this book have their opinions on the utility and character of the book. But let us try to scan the purpose of the genius brain behind writing the book. Was it intended to be a History text book? Or did he attempt to present the real India, unknown to the world prior to that? Or was it an intellectual experiment conducted by the author to enable him to read a lot and present the reflections thereon to the western world?

OK. Let's move to the book 'Mere Sapno ka Bharat' by Mahatma Gandhi. Did he aspire to give a direction to the freedom struggle or provide a vision to the leaders then? Was it an attempt to legitimise the demand for freedom or to provide a road map for the post independence era?

The process of this enquiry is of course interesting but without any trustworthy conclusions.

Let me suggest an approach for the young leaders. Before reading a book, just scan through the introductory part. Then contemplate on the theme. Write down your thoughts in a notebook. Also write down the expectations from the book. Now is the time to go through the book at length. After completing the same, try to write the message of the book. Now we can compare our own prior writings with this newly acquired wisdom. The delta is the contribution of the book to the mind. This is what the writer has been able to achieve.

Impact of some books can also be judged by extrapolating the subject. For example, Power Shift tells us about the changing currency of power. In the beginning, it was muscle power only. Power flew from the barrel of a gun at that time. Jiski Lathi uski Bhains! (The buffalo belongs to the one with the weapon!) But soon it changed. And came the advent of money. Money became the next currency of power. Moneyed ones were able to hire musclemen and get things done. And then came the latest shift. Knowledge has become the most significant currency of power. We are of course living in a knowledge economy today. Knowledge is power.

In my humble opinion, conveying this should not be the sole purpose of this great intellectual experiment. The reader must be able to apply this knowledge and understanding. Can we predict the future? What will dethrone knowledge from its present seat of power? I want to end this post with this open ended question.

I will summarize it in these many words. Muscle power gave way to money power and that was the first power shift. Money power is giving way to the knowledge power and this has been the second and the latest power shift. What will be the next?

Indian wedding system - a bad Economics?

"Observation is the key to learning. There is no dearth of learning opportunities around us but there is certainly a deficiency of attention management. If one can be trained to have a keen observation and honest contemplation, learning will be automatic and self enrichment will always be an ongoing process."



I do not recall exactly who imbued this in my mind, my mother may have been that person, but i can recollect that this was an imprint with me and i always tried to follow this since very early days of my schooling. I would sit in the class always in the first row and would listen to every word my teacher spoke in the class very carefully and try to retain it. The same habit extended to all those social situations also where i was able to accept someone as my role-model.



My cousin, elder to me at least by 10 years or more, is a knowledge professional. These days he works for a very popular Hindi newspaper. He has always been a very eloquent speaker and i have always made it a point to listen to him with undivided attention whenever we meet. His rational approach has always attracted me. He has always challenged the practice of following the traditions without applying one's own logic.



Some twenty five years ago, we were sitting on the occasion of some marriage in the family. He was the centre of attention for everyone. He was talking with someone (not directly to me) about Indian wedding system. He said, " I don't understand why we spend so much money on wedding ceremonies. It's a very bad Economics and a bad Sociology as well. So much money is wasted. Moreover, so many man hours are wasted. And to add to the problems, the couple getting married is so much involved in the rituals that the natural love between them and the thrill of getting married is also lost. I suggest something better. Both the families should go to some hill station with the couple. A very small but closely knit family function should be held for the marriage and then everyone should come back leaving the couple behind."



The idea appealed to me. I accepted his argument that the existing system was very bad Economics. As time passed, this idea gained strength. Then somehow, Indian festivities also were added to the same list. I began to believe that celebrating Diwali with so much fireworks and decoration etc. is a sheer wastage of money.



When i studied Economics for my masters, everything changed. The study of socialism gave me a new perspective. And when i read the theory of Prof. Pigou about welfare, an entire new thought sequence dawned upon me. And today i can say with conviction that welfare Economics supports Indian wedding system and festivities in most of the cases. Excepting some systems like dowry etc. all the other rituals not only pass the test of socialism but they also promote the cause of human welfare and economic well being of our nation. Allow me to present this case in a simple language.

Prof Pigou says that welfare of a nation can be ensured in any or both of the two ways. First, the Gross National Product should go up. Second, the flow of money should take place from the rich to the poor. And Indian wedding system fulfills both the requirements. The celebrations and the extravaganza not only increases Economic activity and increases GNP in the process, but also transfers the funds from the rich to the poor. Just pay some attention to the fact that who is spending and who is getting; and you can hear the soul of Prof Pigou appreciating our wedding traditions.

And how is the declared national objective of socialism achieved by this? When the flow of money takes place from the haves to the have-nots, the difference between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat is bound to diminish! Naturally, socialists should support these traditions.

So, one can say with conviction that our festivities and our rituals are a very good Economics.

Does it imply that i support the extravaganza? Not at all! On a very personal level i will always continue to believe that economic sense alone cannot justify many traditions of society. I still find the scale of celebrations irrational. And by the way, I am not a socialist either!

The idea of having weddings on hill stations cannot be scrapped that easily!

Dear Human beings! What about some food, drinks, sleep and sex?

God made a man. Man made the world!

Na.. God made the world and man made a beautiful world!

Na.. God thought and man was there! Man thought and civilised world is here!

In whatever way may it be put forth, it is impossible to belittle human contribution in giving its present shape to the world. If we want to summarise, it can be expressed in just one word i.e. positive.

* * *

Let us ask a question to ourselves now. In what activities do we spend our maximum time and attention? What are our prime concerns? What issues occupy a major chunk of our thinking?

* * *

About 28 years ago, a survey was conducted on this topic. Nearly 800 young boys and girls of Europe were asked these questions. And the results were not astonishing. They listed out just five issues - Food, drinks, rest (sleep), self defence (including offence) and sex.

***

One spiritual Guru of Indian origin, when he came to know of the survey and the results thereof, commented, " Every creature on this earth - animal, bird or insect - is capable of enjoying all these five activities. In some forms of life, they are much more capable than human beings in these areas. And if we believe in human superiority in all the forms of life, there must be some other, and more important, purpose of our existence."

I find this analysis very thought provoking and transformational.

Let us start observing our thought process. Whenever we find ourselves contemplating on any of these five issues, we should remind ourselves that though there is nothing unnatural in this, yet it is not making full use of our existence as a human being on this planet. We are born for some greater purposes. Let us find them out and achieve them. We must behave sometimes as a human being and not only as an animal.

Almighty has a plan for my life and that's all i need to know!

India vs. Bharat

What is the population of India?
10 to 15 crores.

But I have read somewhere that the number is even more than 100 crores.
No, that's wrong. The population of India is only 10 to 15 cores.

It can't be wrong. India is second most populated country of the world.
No, that's wrong. India has very less population.

There are many problems in India such as unemployment, inflation and poverty.
Wrong! There are no problems in India other than some recessionary trends and swine flue!

* * * * *

I am sure by now, many of you have guessed the matters right. We are living in a land co-inhabited by two different nations that is India and Bharat. India, a nation of 10 to 15 crore population, is growing fast while on the other hand, Bharat, a nation of 100 crores is languishing.

If you somewhat agree with this analysis, or find it worth examining, please continue to read. If you find this dangerous like two-nation theory of Jinnah, please curse the author and stop reading.

Let us have some distinguishing features of India and Bharat.

1. India talks in English. Bharat follows the adage Char Kos par paani badle, aath kos par baani.
( Water quality changes after every four miles and the dialect spoken changes after every eight miles).

2. India is riding on the wave of IT revolution. Bharat is struggling to make every child literate. For many Bharatiya people, the proverb Kala Akshar Bhains barabar is fully applicable.

3. Indian people are winning the world. While inhabitants of Bharat are busy in their own villages.

4. India is perceived to be a global power. Bharat is still seen as a land of snake charmers.

5. The hot issues of discussion in India are swine flue, gay rights, proposed change in IIT admission criteria etc. Bharat is still engaged in discussing about the availability of electricity, water and roads.

6. India does not vote. It considers itself much above the Hoi Polloi election process. Bharat desperately wants to vote, primarily to earn the freebies associated with casting a vote.

7. India is net savvy. Bharat is stuck in the net of poverty.

8. India is working on the target of making it India's century. The vision 2020 has become the policy document. Bharat is somewhere lost between changing times or, better if we say, is nostalgic about history and just wants to keep on reliving it.

* * * *

Who are we - Indians or Bharatiyas? Where do we live - in India or in Bharat? A very difficult question indeed! Our survival depends on any one of both the nations as per the demand of the situation. In many cases the shopkeeper is Indian and the customers are Bharatiya. Exactly the opposite also happens in many other cases. With some planned thinking, everyone of us can think of many such examples. Everyday on the road, we find both type of people passing by us. And the paradox is that while India depends on Bharat for its manpower needs, the vice versa happens for many other things as well. Hence we really need to find a model of peaceful co-existence.

The peculiarity of the situation is that holistically a solution has to be found in unison without creating disjoint pieces.

End note on the terminating sentence : Recently i was part of a corporate meeting. A lot of discussion took place. Part of that was absolutely superficial. A lot of meaningless sentences were used just to impress the audience, not to convey any sensible message. After the meeting, it was found that many statements used during the discussion were so general and colorless in nature that they can be used anywhere. The last sentence of this post is one such example. Try to use it in any situation you like. Chances are that it will suit everywhere. But just exercise one precaution. The peculiarity of the situation is that holistically a solution has to be found in unison without creating disjoint pieces. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

Prepare! Prepare!! Prepare!!!

The year was 1992. I had just completed my Company Secretaryship course. I had been busy with my coaching classes for the last 4 years and it was a very enjoyable experience. My father was very happy with my getting a professional qualification because to him, it meant my getting rid of a below dignity job.

In the month of August 1992, i was sitting in the lounge with my father. He was anxiously looking at the entrance gate time and again. I asked him, "Papa! Are you expecting someone?" " No, no! Absolutely nobody", he replied nervously. I felt uncomfortable. Why is he behaving in such a manner?

Then Dr B.G.Sharma appeared. He was retired principal of the biggest college of our town and a very good friend of my father. I welcomed him, offered him a seat and proceeded to leave. I did not want to become a disturbance between two friends. "Sit down, Barkhurdar!", he ordered me in his authoritative voice, " i have come to talk to you only." " Yes, Sir!" i showed my respect. "Sit down." I obeyed. "What do you do these days?" "I teach. I run this coaching class." I pointed my finger at the sign board. "That's okay. But what do you intend to do as a profession?" I was shocked at the sarcasm. "This is my hobby and this is my profession. I enjoy this job and by god's grace, i earn a good amount - much more than a college professor! I want to continue this only." He overlooked my nasty comment as a childish mistake and continued, " Beta. Trust my experience. This is a good job to pursue along with your studies only. Now you are a professional. You must get a respectable job. You must free this room that you have occupied for your so called coaching class. We will play bridge here."

I don't recall the entire conversation but one thing was sure. I was able to understand that it was a stage managed show. My father and Dr Sharma had planned for the evening and i was the target to be brainwashed. And they had done the homework very well. I was informed about a good opening in a nearby city and was convinced to apply for the same. I was excited about this new possibility.

I applied for the job. The position was Asstt Company Secretary. I was very confident of getting the job. A teaching experience of four years had made me overconfident. This is a professional hazard of teaching. As one comes across students most of the time, one tends to think of himself as a superman. Two or three blows are required to teach the realities of life to such creatures. One such blow was waiting for me.

I was called for the interview. I reached the venue before time and began to talk to the people present there. A gentleman there asked me about my background and i told him my entire life story.

When i was asked to enter the interview room, i was slightly overconfident. When i saw the same gentleman sitting at the centre of the three member panel, i was ecstatic. He took out my business card from his pocket and showed to the other members. Then he asked me just one question, "How much do you earn from this?" I told him slightly inflated figures as per my habit and temperament. And then i heard this, " I think you should not waste your precious time here. We won't be paying you this much here initially." " But, sir!" i begged for an opportunity. "Thank you, you may leave now." He was curt and i came out, humbled and broken.

When i reached home, the news of the proceeding was already there. My father was visibly very upset. But he did not ask for any explanation.

I learnt two things from this episode.

One who fails to prepare is preparing for failure. We must try to foresee every situation and decide our role in the same.

You can't give up something that you don't have! First earn something and then you have a chance to choose to have it or not.

And these lessons are universal. They apply to every situation. May it be studies, may it be placements or may it be any competition!

Networking needs commitment! Networking helps to fulfil other commitments!!

They say man is a social animal. Very true. We live in a society, everybody knows and accepts. But the lesser-felt fact is that the society we live in is expanding everyday. If Mr John interacted and dealt with x persons in his entire lifetime, and if other things remain the same, Mr Johnson will interact and deal with 2x persons in his lifetime. Unnecessary clarification : They both belong to the same family and the names are indicative of their relationship! :-)

Now this growing periphery of human interactions requires one to follow some disciplined networking habits. We come across many people in the normal course of life who are very likeable, interesting and of course, useful. We want to stay in touch. We tell ourselves to do so. We promise to call back or meet again. We make a mental note to do the same. Still many times many of us are unable to keep the contact alive. To be very frank and honest, i also suffer from this disease. And one more fact based on personal observation, around 9 out of 10 people i know also have this bad habit. What do we call it? Lack of commitment can be the answer.

Networking needs commitment. And a successful career growth needs networking. We all know about some habits of wealth and success. I would definitely rank this committed networking among the top three in the list of such habits.

Last evening i was witness to the magic of networking and commitment. While i was sitting with a senior colleague of mine at PROTON, the issue of placements came up for discussion. After some initial discussion, someone commented, 'Hum sabko apne apne network ko use karna padega!' This provided the ignition. And i observed with great astonishment that this senior colleague of mine started calling his CEO friends. In about an hour, 10 calls were made. Every call to the CEO of some company. A lot of discussion took place on every call - about the company, about the economy, about recession and about the trends of revival, and of course about placements.

It was a very good experience. Apart from getting some very good openings for placements, a lot of other revelations sprang up. It became clear that the trends of partial revival of Indian economy are sectoral only. While some sectors such as Telecom and Realty are showing promise, some others like Commercial Vehicles industry are still in the dock. And a very big learning was discovered. When some CEO or any profit centre in charge starts with the cliche "The fundamentals of this country are rock solid", it's a definite evidence that the company is in a soup!

The best part was that we did get to know about some real placement opportunities. But the most useful learning for me was that you must be committed in your networking habits. It certainly helps. And how does it help? It helps you in fulfilling your other commitments!

It proves that the world is round. Commitment helps networking and networking helps to fulfill other commitments. Amen.

Life lessons - from Marathon!

How can we test whether a particular fact or observation is a universal truth?

Our mind is a thinking machine. It keeps on thinking in every situation. Our inner voice is never tired of commenting on every event, every incident and every person we come across. Dr Manas C. Fuloria has very rightly termed it 'the thinking life'. In this thinking life, we come across many facts and also observe many things. Sometimes these thoughts and ideas become permanent but mostly they get lost as time passes.

Recently i watched a marathon taking place. It refreshed some well known facts in my mind. We all know that it is not advisable to start the race with our full speed. Such a strategy will tire us and we may not be capable to complete the race. It is always advisable to start the race in a slow, comfortable but agile speed and gradually increase it as our body gets habitual to the process. Our speed steadily keeps on growing as we progress.

Now this fact caught my attention. I kept on thinking this for quite some time. Then it struck upon me that our entire life can also be compared to a marathon. It is also a long race.

The most striking feature is that of speed. After some contemplation, i came to the conclusion that the speed strategy applies to our life also. If we start our life running very fast, we get tired very early. I have seen many people who started their life in a hurry and got retired also in a hurry! Of course, there are some exceptions to this rule. There may be some top performers who began early, who began in a style and continued it for very long and stayed in shape. But, we all would agree that Sachin Tendulkar is an exception only. And exceptions never become the rule. They can never take the place of a suitable example.

There is one more explanation to this factor. When someone starts his career with a very high responsibility job, it often happens that the person may find the duties, responsibilities and the challenges too demanding. And his mind soon gets conditioned as a loser. His graph comes down quickly.

On the other hand, when you start slow and steady, you get the benefit of margin of errors! And in this gradual process, you develop confidence and a positive 'i can do' mindset. After some initial successes, one is ready to take on greater challenges. Isn't it similar to a marathon?

Yes! The speed strategy of marathon is a universal truth! It applies to life in a very general sense. Can you please suggest me some particular cases where the marathon case applies?

The secret of earning a lot of money - guaranteed!

When i passed out higher secondary examination in 1985 and took admission in a commerce college for my B.Com., the first question put up before the class by the first teacher on the very first day was, "What is the one thing your desire most in life?"

This simple question animated the classroom. The fear, the suspense and the confusion of the first day of college life just evaporated in thin air. Nearly everybody participated. The students sitting in the front rows caught this opportunity and tried to impress the teacher (as is the case with them- always). They uttered some words which were probably not the honest replies but were more correct politically. Responses like satisfaction, growth, service for the nation etc. echoed. But then some honesty prevailed. One boy told assertively, 'money'. Many others agreed with him. One backbencher shouted, "more money than my would be wife could spend" and everybody laughed. It was clear that the majority of the class opted for a lot of money. And the teacher was also kind enough to allow us to stay with our dreams. He then elaborated how we could earn money by pursuing the job at hand i.e. college education properly.

After 24 years, i realise that our focus was not totally appropriate. If someone would ask me today, i would say, 'satisfying the job at hand with 100% activity, efficiency and effectiveness'.

Why would i say such an abstract thing in response to a simple materialistic question? Because this is not only my personal experience but also the summary of my interaction on the subject with all those achievers whom i was lucky enough to meet. One wants a lot of things in life. The primary ones are money, social respect, the satisfaction of fulfilling challenges and continuous growth. And all these can be achieved by following just one principle - satisfying the available job with heart and soul.

What interests a person? If you devote yourself entirely to the job before you and try to achieve it wholeheartedly and don't miss any chance to enjoy it as a game too, it is bound to interest you.

And what causes a person to grow? When your immediate boss is of the opinion that you are performing much better than expected, you grow. And when this information reaches the ultimate boss, you grow faster!

And what satisfies a person? If you are able to complete a seemingly-impossible task successfully, nothing can be more satisfying.

Please allow me to repeat the one point formula - satisfying the available job with heart and soul.

Someone has very rightly said, "Either you chase money or money chases you".

My advice to someone who is starting career today would be just this. Don't care about money or the salary package. Just get any job and devote yourself totally. Apply your intelligence and perform the job ethically. Network properly. And the universal principle 'either you chase money or money chases you' works in your favour. Period.

Some questions draw the attention of every generation. And many of us learn only after committing the same mistakes. Some errors are generation independent. Isn't it?

History is in the making!

Being a teacher, it is imperative for me to update myself on a regular basis. Hence, i always ensure to get new ideas. And as the great Indian Vedas have very rightly said it, " Let noble ideas come to you from all sources and directions"; i try to learn from all possible sources. But two sources are so powerful learning tools that they overshadow every other tool. And they are : students and books.

I want to mention one particular experience that i had with a student many years ago. I was sitting in my 144 square feet front office cum class room. The year may have been 1993 or 1994. And this young boy, let us call him Rakesh, came asking for me. I asked him to sit down and observed him. He seemed to me to be an average boy passing through very struggling phase of life. He initiated the discussion. "Sir! Mujhe CA karna hai." I began the examination.

"What is your percentage of class 10?
"48"
"Oh! And how much is class 12?"
"47"
"Okay! And what do you do presently?"
"Sir! I have just completed B.Com."
"With 46%!", i mocked.
"Yes sir! Exactly!!", he replied.
"And what is your father?"
"Sir! He is a rickshaw puller."

The analysis was complete. And i had made up my mind. I decided to keep aside my commercial considerations and call a spade a spade. I said to him in very clear terms, " Dekho Rakesh! Mujhe nahi lagta ki tum CA kar paoge. Kahin Typing Computer seekh kar koi chhota mota job kar lo." He looked at me with a rude shock on his face. Then he nervously said, "Theek hai, sir" and left. I was very happy with myself for being honest, straightforward and saving his valuable time and money.

Time and tide wait for none. After about 6 or 7 years, when i was sitting in the same office at around the same time, a smart youthful person entered and asked, "Mujhe pahchana?" I could not and said so. He fired, "Aaj se 7 saal pahle tumne kaha tha ki mai CA nahi kar sakta aur maine CA kar liya hai. Ab Bolna mat kabhi kisi ko Aisi baat. Tumne bahut discourage kiya tha mujhko us din!" After applying some pressure to the memory, i was able to have a partial recall of the earlier case. I was shocked and ashamed. I desperately wanted to make up for my wrong deed. I decided to do some marketing. I smiled, offered my hand to him and requested him to sit down. In a very friendly voice, i commented, " I am sorry, dost, but you will have to agree with me that my bad behaviour in fact encouraged you to perform better to teach me a lesson." He agreed. And i then said, " So, you must agree that i also have some role in your success." He also smiled at this and we became friends.

Today Rakesh is state accounts head of a very prestigious newspaper. We meet once every year on Dussehera, when he comes to Ujjain.

And in this manner, every year i am reminded of a simple fact. Never underestimate any human being. Every individual have a tremendous potential of transforming himself or herself totally. First impression can be faulty, specially in the case of people with will power and commitment. And of course, the package you get at your first job is never reflective of your true potential. I am sure, every reader of this post has met at least one senior person who has told him about his initial salary of Rs. 50 or 60 per month and then compared with present day income of lakhs.

You are creating history! Every moment, every time. And never underestimate yourself! No one can make you feel inferior without your own consent. Not even your average first salary figures in times of recession!

A very common experience!

Recently, i got a new home. The construction had been going on for the last 15 months. We had earlier expected it to be over by February, 2009. Then i kept on asking the Engineer of the project every month about the probable date of completion. And he would always reply, "withing the next thirty days". This went on for six months unabated. The same questions and the same answers were repeated month after month.

When i lost my patience, i fixed the date of housewarming. I went to meet my astrological consultant ( the Pundit , of course!) on 20 September. He suggested 28 September. I took the risk and played the gamble. I told the engineer and every other work contractor involved that i wanted them out of site on or before 27 but not before completing the work. They looked at me in disbelief. Then i daily went to the site and would repeat the same thing on a regular basis. After 3 days, all of them suddenly came to action. Everybody began to work whole night and with a stronger work force. My home was ready on 27 evening!

I know that it's not a unique experience. Everyone of us comes across similar situations in our normal course of life. But can we derive some learning here? Let me try to present them one by one.

1. Always assign deadlines. Otherwise we never tend to complete any work at all. Deadlines give birth to a sense of urgency and target. But more importantly, they make the job at hand a game which everybody wants to win. And of course, achievement motivation also plays its role.

2. Nobody, absolutely NOBODY is an exception to this rule. I realised that each one of us, of whatever background or profession, falls in the same category. Without having a last date approaching fast, we just can't avoid the omnipresent and omnipotent habit of procrastination taking over us.

3. Reinforcing the target regularly is even more important than setting it. Do you remember the habitual process of preparing time tables for personal studies during school days and then discovering the soothing fact that following them is practically impossible? When anybody gives us something to do and never reinforces it, we tend to believe in medium to long term that he has also forgotten it and nothing more should be done now!

4. When you change your ways, people do not trust you initially. Your regular efforts are required to convince them of your sincerity. Your keenness to obtain the positive results alone is not sufficient. Your tenacity and regular follow up is a better management tool that works.

5. All of us are able to perform faster than how we normally do. Yes! It's a fact! We can and hence we should always try to work more and faster. It's not only more rewarding but satisfying too.

I have an idea to share here. I would love to have the feedback from the readers of this post on this. Try to find out any 5 events of your past life that you could have completed in less time, in case you were given a stricter deadline. And then, try to list out the possible implications of the same.

I understand that the world is becoming more and more challenging and demanding day by day. and I KNOW that we are ready for the same.

May the soul of Adam Smith rest in peace!

When i first read Economics as a subject in 1982, i was fascinated by many things. The classical views of Adam Smith, welfare orientation of Alfred Marshall, rational choice based views of Robbins - it's really been an intellectual feast since then. Even today i am able to recollect some chapters and topics of my first text book on Economics. The definitions we read at that time - capitalism, socialism and mixed economy are more or less still fresh in the memory. But these words have suddenly begun to seem meaningless today.

The great recession of 2008-09 (i am sure many Economists will have a very interesting and intellectual satisfying time discussing the relevance and appropriateness of the adjective 'great' here!) has definitely shaken the trust of many advocates of free economy. They have lost all faith in 'the invisible hand'. Protectionism has come back. Even the strongest ones are coming up with direct or indirect protectionist policies. Democrats are behaving like republicans. Private sector enterprises are demanding (and, in many cases, having them too!) bail out packages unashamedly. The broken walls between different states have been re-erected overnight. And, of course, this is all being done to protect Capitalism!

Is it time to coin the term 'neo-capitalism'? One possible definition would be "Neo-capitalism is the economic policy that provides for socialistic measures taken up by recession hit economies in the name of providing required push to the automatic structural adjustment needed to recover".

May the soul of Adam Smith rest in peace.

Creating the first impression

When two people meet, the initial few minutes are very important. These two or three minutes set the pace of the entire meeting. As both the parties tend to form an opinion about the other one during this period, it's very crucial to have it right. If i am allowed to use cliche, one must try to make a very positive first impression because one never gets a second chance to do the same.

So, what can be done to initiate a successful meeting? Can there be some golden principles for the same? Let me share a simple observation with you all today through this post. My eight year old son, who never gets tired claiming to be my best friend, refreshed this lesson to me yesterday.

I normally get back to my home by nine o'clock. As i am a family man and i know that a successful family life is a precondition for your professional success too, we have some traditions amongst us. One unwritten rule is that everyone of us can express one expectation in a day and others must try to fulfil it, if it's not utterly impossible or undesirable. And as must be the case in many Indian families, i am sure, the man returning from the work place is mostly at the receiving end of these expectations.

So, when i returned home last evening by a quarter past nine, my eight year old son, Astitva, came out running and shouting happily. He greeted me and announced, "Chalo! Sab ready ho jao. Mere partner ke liye paani lao aur ab hum sab khana khayenge!" At the same time, my daughter, thirteen, came out in a very pensive mood and informed me about some electronic breakdown. She also informed me about some problem in our home PC caused by this and requested me to get it repaired as soon as possible. To this, our little master commented, "Arre didi! Abhi kyon bolti ho? Unko andar aane to do, baithne to do. Khana khane ke baad wo mana nahi karenge. Pahle unko smile dekar greet karna chahiye."

Oh! It was a revelation to me. I got a pleasant surprise and many thoughts. The first thought, How quickly do children grow up? The second one, It's really important to start a meeting with positivity. The third one, It's always easy for all of us to listen to demands after a warm welcome. And of course, energy and enthusiasm are the key to create a positive first impression.

Let us try to phrase the management learning out of this. The success of a meeting depends on many things. One of them is the supportive mindset of the two parties. And the initial warmth is instrumental to this. When we meet someone, display of energy, enthusiasm, warmth and sincere pleasure is a must. It not only sets the tone of the meeting, but also increases the possibility of a favourable agreement!

Let it be a positive promise! Every beginning of every interaction - will begin with an enthusiastic smile!

A case for balancing contradictory hopes!

Young minds are full of hope. Hope, it seems, justifies their existence and energy. Sometimes they have many hopes - contradicting with one another. And this causes tremendous confusion.

Today i met one such mind. He is very active and smart. He always makes his presence felt by his original and intellectually-rich contributions in any ongoing discussion. I have interacted with him in Entrepreneurship class. We normally discuss successful first generation entrepreneurs and their success secrets in the class. Every discussion starts with taking the case of a successful business idea. We also discuss how it was executed and then we proceed to a brain storming session. Everybody presents his or her thoughts about some other possible versions and formats of the same idea. Normally we end up generating tens of exciting business ideas. This young mind whom i mentioned earlier always participates in this amrit manthan and any observer can easily judge his hunger for material growth in such discussions.

But today was a different day. The discussion took a very interesting turn and soon we found ourselves discussing about spirituality and meditation. Everybody had a lot to say. Someone also commented, "This field also offers tremendous entrepreneurial opportunities". Everybody agreed. And i noted that the subject of discussion in this blog post today, the young mind, was becoming restless and asking a lot of questions. The struggle inside was clearly visible on his face. We discussed a lot of things. We discussed science, philosophy and religion. We agreed on the following issues :

1. Total disbelief in all superstitions is also a superstition!

2. Science is systematic knowledge of any branch of study. Philosophy is systematised science and religion is systematised philosophy.

3. Astrology can be a science but a very large number of available practitioners are quacks.

4. Meditation is a way to concentrate our entire attention at one target.

5. We have many beliefs prevalent in our society. There can be three categories of these beliefs : proved ones, disproved ones and those which are neither proved nor disproved. Not following the first category is ignorance. Following the second category is sheer superstition. Well, regarding the third category, we concluded that considering the long customary usage, following them will be a little more logical than not trusting them.

6. If having non-vegetarian food is a sin, why not eating grains too? Of course, they are also seeds and thus they do contain possibility of life!

When the class was over, he came to me and expressed his desire to ask a few questions. Both of us sat at Chaupaal for the same. He asked me a direct question, "Sir! I hope to be a very successful and rich entrepreneur. I also hope to reach spiritual heights. Aren't they contradictory?" He also informed me that this confusion had existed for the last four years or so. These hopes definitely look conflicting. The situation apparently offers a choice. After some discussion we decided to search for some examples. We found some astonishing ones. A politician, a scientist and a scientist cum thought leader. Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein and Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, to be precise. And drawing the conclusion was very simple. It is the game of maintaining balance. But many great people have successfully done so.

The lessons for me: First, two contradictory hopes can be fulfilled simultaneously. And the second, the young minds today are very much aware and full of enquiry.

The future of great Indian quest for truth is safe!

That's life - in a classroom!

Life is a gift of God!

Life is a war!

Life is a continuous struggle!

Life is a positive opportunity to realize the best out of us!

Life is a reward of past Karma!

Life is a punishment of past misdeeds!

*****

This is something we never know of and always want to comment on. Everyone views life differently and sometimes the same person views different phases of life differently. And hence it was very interesting to listen to young boys and girls discuss the topic "For me, life is .........." as a classroom exercise. Normally, we allow the discussion to go on for about 30 minutes, but this went on for more than 50 minutes. I was spellbound while listening to various viewpoints as listed above. Then suddenly this bright mind spoke up, "Life is just life. The canvass of life is so big that it just cannot be put in any watertight compartment. Life has various colours. It is a collection of all possible moods and variations. No other word can define it. Life is just life."

Everybody was stunned for a moment. Then all of them began to clap and the discussion was successfully over. For me, it was a new experience. A discussion evolves so naturally, proceeds so interestingly and ends so beautifully.

All discussions do contain a golden mean. There is always a fundamental truth waiting to be explored. As a knowledge society, we must encourage all sort of intellectual debates on all topics. A self evident fact is always there. Open discussion facilitates it to come on the surface.

Shouldn't our classrooms be more interactive? Isn't it time for teachers to take a back seat and let the students uncover the truth for themselves?

It's so rewarding to be positive!

Every business model offers you many choices. How do you build your business - reflects your vision and choice. Sometimes, it may be easier to follow short cuts to increase sales and earn profits but in the long run, creating a positive brand is probably the only feasible option.

This belief of ours got validated again this year. At PT Universe, we follow certain practices and keep on observing trends of the market. One such observation threw light on some interesting facts.

This is related with PT Education. We have always tried to build up the brand around many positive features such as updated course ware, dedicated faculty, technology driven process engine, the spirit of Kar Ke Dikhayenge!, online doubt solving service etc. It is our policy never to comment about our competitors. When any enquiry asks about any competitor, we never talk negative. We just say, "We can only tell you about our offering. We are very sure that it will help you."

At different locations we face different competitors. One such local player put up very strong competition in at least two of our locations. Their strategy was simple. They tried to create anti PT market. Their entire game plan was negative. They tried to convert our every positive into negative. They spread rumours against us. Whenever any student visited them for counselling, their first sentence would be, "PT people are great marketers. They just zap you. Their entire focus is on convincing you to join them. If you go to meet them, they will definitely convince you." Sometimes they would say, "PT people are inhuman. If you are late by one minute, they would not allow you in the classroom." On one such occasion, their CEO told in the classroom, "PT people know some black magic!"

One very specific feature of teaching field is that many of the prospects are young boys and girls. A very high level of maturity may not always be expected from them. It is not impossible for crafty players to make use of this in their favour. It happened in this case also. With the passage of time, this competitor of ours started gaining some ground. Although they could never match our strengths and quality of delivery, they were able to capture nearly 30% of the market share in a duopoly market. The loss of market share was not very painful considering the continuous increase of market size. Still it was hurting our geometric growth targets.

Watching this negativity gaining some ground had been very disheartening. Some moments of introspection and policy review did occur, but ultimately we were able to stick to our policy of creating our brand by showcasing our positives only. On the other hand, our local competitor also stuck to his game plan and earned some quick profits by irrigating this anti PT constituency.

This year we saw entry of some new players in these two particular locations. And lo! In no time, this local competitor of ours lost nearly all of his business! And these new competitors hardly had any effect on us! When we analysed the situation, our faith and belief in creating a positive brand became stronger. We came to know that getting business by showing negatives of the competitors never helps in the long run. If player Y develops anti X market, it is not a pro Y market. And hence, entry of player Z will immediately hurt player Y, but not player X.

Yes! Ethical policies do make great business sense! It's always better to create Brand Equity by showcasing the positives! Some things never change and they should never change either.

Let us retain our positivity - in all circumstances!

Something very fundamental

I conducted a seminar on the theme 'Power of Positive Habits' this Sunday. "What are the three qualities that summarize the essential qualities of a corporate professional today?" I was asked by one of the students after the seminar.

This was an open question. There can be many possible answers. Many would be correct and suitable too. My immediate answer was activity, efficiency and effectiveness. Let us define them :

Activity : The ability to devote your time and energy to the job at hand. The more the time and energy devoted, the more active you are.

Efficiency: The relative pace and productivity of working i.e. output achieved divided by inputs applied. To put in very simple terms, it can be work divided by time.

Effectiveness: The results produced show the effectiveness i.e. the final output of the active efficiency.

This much is simple. But now the more important question : is there a choice between these? No. In fact, they always go together. When we are more active i.e. we work more, our efficiency also goes up. We tend to work faster when we practise more. Similarly, with greater devotion and speed, the possibility of getting positive end results also goes up!

How simple and interesting! The more we work, the more results we produce at a faster rate.

Time to tie up the lace?

Life is bigger than this! And more enjoyable too!!

Sometimes we try a lot to achieve something and hence ignore many other things. After failing to achieve the particular thing, we divert our attention towards the other things that have just left having knocked our door unsuccessfully many times, and to our horror, we discover that this was the thing we had been trying to achieve!

Sometimes we pursue a cause so passionately that it occupies all our energy and attention. Despite working so hard, it keeps slipping away. The more we miss it, the greater is the desire to have it. The more we desire for it, the greater is its propensity to give us a slip. And the vicious circle continues!

Sounds familiar. Isn't it?

The world has its own ways to teach us and to reward us. And lucky are those who learn these ways early in life. Others pick up these only after facing a lot of hardships. Let me share with you one such principle today. You may choose to call it a pearl of wisdom or just one observation. But please don't commit the mistake of calling it sheer pessimism and rejecting it. I had done the same when i was nearly twenty and it took me another twenty years to understand the same!

To put the things straight, this can be expressed in these many words, "Scarcity creates value!" or "Either you chase it or it chases you!" or "It's okay to be focused but it's better to keep enjoying the journey!"

Yes! All three expressions tell us the same lesson.

One can read the Economist with a feeling of determination to top the next quiz. And one can just read it with a sense of duty. And one can just read it to enjoy the interesting turn of events of the world and be fascinated about it. Who do you think stands the best chance to win the prize?

When one enters the mesmerizing world of marketing and concept selling, one faces the same dilemma again. One can make sure to have maximum calls per prospect and try one's best to get the word from the prospect's mouth before others. Or one can just analyse the actual need of the prospect, make him notice clearly that the product in question satisfies the need really well, leave one's business card and then proceed to the next prospect. Who do you think stands a better chance to get the order?

When one chases some target or a mission, it is an interesting scene for those who watch from the fence. They are also able to analyse the moves very well. You might have observed that when two people play Chess and the third one watches them, it's mostly the third one who thinks the best moves! Why is it so?

Now, the obvious answers. The one who enjoys reading is most likely to retain the facts and to win, of course! Similarly, the one who has clearly proved the value of his offering tends to get maximum orders. And yes, when you watch from a distance, you get a clearer picture!

Is it very difficult to set up a goal, proceed towards it and yet be detached? No, it's not. Just remind yourself that life is very big. Much bigger than this. And this too shall pass.

Let's enjoy the journey. Don't worry too much about the destination. Just make sure that the road is the right one. And keep travelling and keep enjoying. Just live life and be happy! Stay positive! Someone has rightly said that life is too serious to be taken seriously.

Eureka!

I was in class 5 when i first discovered the art of killing two birds with one stone. And who taught me this? My father.

My father, a trainer and mentor of insurance salespeople, had a very large family to support. And that too, within limited means. And he always wanted to break the glass ceiling. If not possible for himself, he desperately wanted his children to live differently. And he tried to use every opportunity to fulfil this purpose.

So, when i was in class 5, one day at my school, i came to know that new chappals make you feel comfortable and also make you look smarter. A new pair of chappals also helps you winning new friends and influencing people! To be precise, one boy wore new chappals on a particular day, and everybody was impressed. In our Sarkari Hindi medium school populated mostly by children coming from underprivileged families, this was not very common. I too was impressed and decided to test my fortunes.

When i reached home that day, my father was at home for lunch. Possibly, he was waiting for the same and so was engrossed in reading a newspaper just to kill time. I reached him and demanded in an assertive voice, " Papa! I want a new pair of chappals for myself!" He took his face out of the newspaper, stared at my face and retorted, " Jao! Padhai karo. Kitab mein se chappalen nikalengi!" I was taken aback. "How is it possible?" "Because I am saying so. Don't argue and open your books" came the reply.



Very soon, it became a trend. When i demanded a bicycle for commuting to my new school which was 4 km away from home, i got the same answer / suggestion. " Padhai karo, kitabo se hi cycle bhi nikalegi!" And, of course, the same reply was given to me whenever i demanded a new dress or something like that.



He did kill two birds with a stone. He put me in an undefendable position. One can't carry on any discussion or demand after hearing this. And he also ensured that as soon as the discussion ended, i went to study and opened my books.



Today, i know he was right. Books and, for that purpose, the right knowledge, are really the source of all material growth. We are really living in a knowledge economy. Knowledge is the power today. Knowledge is a fully convertible currency. You can convert it into money any time. And the magic! After giving you the money, it continues to stay with you!! It is very much unlike that proverbial golden egg producing hen. Even if you kill it to get all the golden eggs, it continues to be alive and keeps on giving one golden egg daily!

Yes! My father was right. Kitabon se sab kuchh nikalta hai. Apart from the material things such as chappals, dresses, bicycles, cars and houses, books give you dreams as well as the capacity to realize them!

Know thyself! Should we? or can we?

Oh! I got one more opportunity to interact with a young mind yesterday. This is the greatest benefit i have as a teacher. So many young brains - energetic, courageous, innovative and of course, unpolluted to a large extent - are always available to be explored. Interaction with them is always refreshing and full of new ideas. But for this, some steps have to be followed. First, pierce their defence. Motivate / force them to be their own selves. Make them speak their mind. And then second, listen with an open mind. Don't allow your teacher to interrupt in between. Just facilitate the discussion with leading questions and enjoy the bliss!

I know that many teachers know all these tricks. They also replenish their bank of ideas following this process. I am also sure that it greatly benefits the young minds as well. They speak up, feel relaxed and in the end, they tend to know themselves better. A perfect win-win situation, isn't it?

Last evening, i travelled with a young mind. She is preparing for CAT. She also happens to be a full time working executive at a professionally managed and fast growing education group. After four or five aborted attempts, finally, i was able to make her speak up.

She began with the central idea first. "I don't know what will happen in future with me. I just follow the advice of the most trusted person around." I noted that the words 'most trusted' were preceding 'person' and not 'advice'. She continuously referred her daddyji to be the most trusted person in her life. I raised the question about the placement of the adjectives. And she gave me the most shining idea of the evening, albeit unknowingly, " How do you know the trustworthiness of an idea unless you try that out?" I tried to reason. But she was not in a mood to relent. " Sir! Aap hi to kahte hain na ki everything is changing. We can never predict the next thirty years of life and existence." I preferred to listen.

Yes, it may be true. We human beings are students of the most important discipline of study i.e. How to live life? We are ever evolving. Then, is it feasible or even possible to know ourselves? Doesn't knowing one's true self imply one's being a static fellow? Should i try to know myself as an individual or should i believe that every moment i can choose to be whatever i like to be. Should i know how hardworking i am or should i decide to be as much hardworking as i can be at a given situation? If someone tells me that i lose temper quite often, he probably means that i did lose my temper in his or her presence more than i should or need. Period.

Yes! We need not know ourselves. We just need to decide how we choose to be!

And what is your opinion Mr/Ms Student?

Daily when i open the newspaper in the morning, Asmita, my daughter - a class 8th student, is preparing to go to school. Astitva, his younger brother and a student of class 3rd, is also following suit. I find them busy arranging their books and notebooks while packing their schoolbags. Normally they refer their homework diary to check whether they have not missed out anything. They also check their daily school schedule to ensure they are carrying the right set of books for the day. When Astitva finds me observing him, he usually throws some question. These questions are rather very casual ones such as,
"Did you also have to carry such a heavy bag when you were my age?" or
" Will i also carry such a small bag when i will be your age?" or sometimes
"I am really annoyed at this rigorous schedule!" or even
"In my scheme of things, schools would be much different!"

When i find myself unwilling or sometimes unprepared to reply to these questions, i push myself in the headlines. For the last so many days, more often than not, i find some musings by our honourable HRD minister about his innovative and striking ideas about 'just going to happen' change in our education system. To every action, there is a reaction - equally forceful. I also find some opinions by status quoists. They mostly happen to be senior teachers or some parents or some bureaucrats or some 'swantah sukhay' letter writers.

People are really busy thinking about education. Everybody is contributing to this intellectual noise. All of us are, in some way or the other, responsible for this ideational pollution. AICTE must go! - says some educational revolutionary. Long live AICTE! - says some beneficiary of the the present system. We must have uniform syllabus!-says some reformist. No need to meddle with the system that has produced some of the best brains(!) of the world! - says someone.

The noise confuses me. I just listened my child say something about education. I want to find that in the newspaper. No, it's not there. "Did you say something about education system, my son?" He doesn't reply. But, my wife rebukes me. The kids have already left for the school.

Isn't the newspaper or the media at large missing their frank, off the cuff remarks? Or we have chosen to be selectively deaf?

The real question is, "who will decide the future of educational controllers such as AICTE?". Shouldn't we listen to the technical and professional students or even better, the potential recruiters?

Order or disorder - is the million dollar question

(A poem starts here)
O God!
You gave me birth
You only shall decide my death
My life span is controlled by thee
But O my dear God!
Will thee not allow me
To have my own signature
On this life?
This life
Of course, gifted by you
Must carry my own imprints.
O my dear God!
I am very polite - when i say so -
Kindly! Dare not interfere with this little span.
O my dear God!
I am sure you understand the emotions of this child of yours!
( The poem ends here)

Order only can make us exist and disorder only can make us evolve. I want to evolve because i want to make some change. To evolve i must create disorder. To evolve i must exist and to exist! I must retain the order. Thus i express my fundamental confusion.

So, i need to define the limitation of my existence. It must be minimum possible - just to survive - so that i can have some canvas to paint my evolution. Very interesting. If i exist fully, i just exist. No contribution of mine and no growth of my individuality. If i evolve at full pace, i cease to exist. Hence minimum existence only allows me to grow and evolve.

So, let us come to the conclusion. I'll control my existence parameters. I'll try not to make my existence felt in as many areas as possible. I'll become like water - colorless and tasteless. Then, i'll be able to create some space for disorder. Disorder - which will enhance my individuality and let me evolve to my maximum possible.

The lesson for all of us - the more we limit ourselves, the more we are able to expand ourselves.

Lesson number two - follow common minimum order for survival and let your imagination redefine the rules for all the rest!

Be yourself. All the best.