God is in danger because of believers!

God is great!

He is defined as omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent.

But nowadays, his authority is challenged time and again. And the question comes up, who is harming the kingdom of Almighty - his followers (believers) or non-believers?

My take is - those who claim to be his believers are harming his image. Those who don't believe in him can't harm him at all.

Like it or not, but those who believe in God are expected to live up to it. The feeling of his existence and his being there for us is expected to produce a continuous sense of protection. This belief is bound to take one in an emotion of bliss. One should be serene and calm in all situations.

But what do we see? We have so many believers in the world today who claim to be staunch believers in discussions but are sometimes short of proving it by their actions and reactions. And the world around gets a clear message, 'If this is the behavior of a believer, He might not be there!' What bigger disservice to the almighty is possible?

Watch your heart.

Watch your eyes.

Watch your actions.

Watch your reactions.

Watch your thoughts.

Dear believers, watch yourself. You are solely responsible for your Karma but you are bringing a bad name to the almighty.

Let us bring our belief into action! In whatever we do!!

Sportspersons ain't needed in sports!

Recently, I put a query on a popular social networking site, "Why can't we have a simple rule that only sports persons can run sports institutions and only academicians can run academic institutions?" This question had really been puzzling me for a number of days and I wanted to use the online social media to have a quick round of general opinion survey. The outcome was a pleasant surprise.

I got 10 replies in all. A simple reading of the same will prove that all of them are frank and honest expressions straight from the heart.

Some of them really felt that relevant field experience is a must to administrate a field. A very learned lady opined, "The forthcoming Commonwealth Games makes one ponder. Why? Sonna tapp kar hei Kundan banta hai, Agar sona lohar ke haath mey dey diya jaye to kya hoga. Yeh haal kuch aise hei hai." It was very clear from this opinion that absence of relevant experience decreases the acceptability of a person and keeps him on test in the eyes of public. Similarly, a very ambitious and energetic young engineer expressed his views in these words, "Exactly sir! Common sense is so uncommon these days & moreover it's India, sir, jahan sab ek ajube se kam nahi he!"

On the other hand, many of them clearly supported the other view. They believed that management is a professional job, may it be academic or sports, the tricks of institution management are same everywhere. "To run an institution some manipulative and administrative skills are required which are not the mandatory conditions to be a good sportsperson." Another one said, "Institutions need to be run by capable Leaders. Be it Sports or Academic; Managing both requires sound knowledge and more than knowledge Matured Head and Right Attitude..I'm not for sportsmen to run sport institutions and other way round......There are examples which support this and vice versa. We have seen Greg Chapel leading Australian's Cricket Camp successfully and failed to do so with Indian Team. Our great Dr A P J Abdul Kalam is a great leader and has been able to play multiple roles and has been one of the most successful leaders of all times." And another experienced administrator posted, "They can be good as faculty. But administrators are administrators. By that way sanitation, health, civic people cannot run municipal corporation. We need planners, executors and administrators."

The discussion was very enjoyable, of course! It was getting very difficult for me to moderate the same as the arguments from both the sides sounded very logical ones. I asked to myself, "How would i strike a golden mean in the ongoing debate?" And then suddenly someone commented as a reply to the same query, "Life is complicated ...that's why this world is also complicated." A very good way to wind up a discussion. And this comment actually did the same. But the question remained.

I conducted a little survey in the real world. And the results were shocking. Politicians are everywhere. Builders are everywhere. Liquor merchants are everywhere. Education and Sports are controlled by them in this nation to a great extent.

Should we complain? Should we object? No! I can't. I simply object to the optimism of our dear futurologist Mr Alvin Toffler. Knowledge is not yet power. At least not in our dear India. Muscle power and money power still hold the baton. And who dares to challenge?

Systemic and systematic downfall of the system!

Who is more responsible for the falling standards(?) of education in India today - students or teachers?

This was the topic given to a group of 12 school students for a general discussion in a spoken English class. The consensus that emerged was interesting. The group concluded that some students are at fault, some teachers may also be at fault but largely it is the responsibility of the 'System'.

* * * * *

People normally tend to criticize politicians for many of their problems. Whatever may be the level of the problem : local, regional or national - it is some or the other politician or sometimes the entire political class that is to be blamed. A very big majority believes that politics is the last haven for the scoundrels. This conclusion may have a strong opposition too. But still, few will dispute the fact that good people are finding it very tough to enter the field of politics. And why is it so? Ask anyone and the most likely answer would hold the 'System' responsible for this challenging situation.

* * * * *


The role of Media is also in news these days. Print, audio-visual or electronic, all types of media are under the scanner. Many people tend to whisper about the need to regulate the sector. Nearly all the political parties, in private confidential discussions, impress the need to bring a set of regulations to make media behave. But no one dares to say anything in public. 'Paid news' has become such a known phenomenon, still nobody raises a voice officially. Why so? "What can be done? It is the System of the day!"

* * * * *

Let us again come to the field of education. What is the condition of our universities today? Everybody is aware about the pressure tactics adopted in the appointment of vice chancellors. Campuses have become the playing field of the various political parties. But nobody seems to worry. It is the 'System' of the day!

* * * * *

Let us ponder for a moment. Why is it so that we all tend to accept the system? We all believe that the system has to be accepted without any question. And when any sincere, intelligent, independent minded entrepreneur wants to establish something new and better, the system tries its level best not to allow this positive change to become the order of the day. And not so surprisingly, when an average person wants to establish his own enterprise without any big positive change or vision, the system never opposes, rather supports the same.

As a nation, have we ceased to be alive and kicking? How long will the system of accepting follies of the System continue?

Let me make one suggestion. Students should be encouraged to prepare the model rules for various systems. Let them be in public domain. Online social media can be a very good plateform for everyone to keep a watch and contribute.

Let me ask two things to my readers. One, can you try to define the System? And two, can some independent group take up the task of preparing model code of conduct for the media today?

Active non-action or productive busyness

Today i read a very interesting write-up by the great Management thinker Sumantra Ghoshal. This write-up provides tremendous insights about the criminal wastage of executive time and also suggests the solution for the same.

I suggest everyone to read it.

"NO DOUBT, executives are under incredible pressure to perform, and they have far too much to do, even when they work 12-hour days. But the fact is, very few managers use their time as effectively as they could. They think they’re attending to pressing matters, but they’re really just spinning their wheels. The awareness that unproductive busyness — what we call “active non-action” — is a hazard for managers is not new. Managers themselves bemoan the problem, and researchers have examined it. But the underlying dynamics of the behaviour are less well understood. For the past 10 years, we have studied the behaviour of busy managers in nearly a dozen large companies. Our findings suggest that fully 90% of managers squander their time in all sorts of ineffective activities. We came to the conclusion that managers who take effective action (those who make difficult — even seemingly impossible — things happen) rely on a combination of two traits: focus and energy. Think of focus as concentrated attention — the ability to zero in on a goal and see the task through to completion.

Focused managers aren’t in reactive mode; they choose not to respond immediately to every issue that comes their way or get sidetracked from their goals by distractions like e-mail, meetings, setbacks, and unforeseen demands. Because they have a clear understanding of what they want to accomplish, they carefully weigh their options before selecting a course of action."

In search of failure....

What is the sure shot way to success?

Oh! It seems so commonplace! There is a plethora of books on such topics. A number of self-proclaimed management gurus, Success gurus, motivation gurus etc have devoted millions of pages to describe and prescribe the same. Then why this question? And why this blog post?

This morning i read a book with the title In Search of Failure. An interesting, funny book that tells the young generation not only to expect and accept failure but also to enjoy it. The book does provide an interesting reading. But i am not going to discuss the gist or the message of the book here. I'll just tell you the idea that struck me when i saw the title of the book.

And that is :

"The sure shot way to success lies in search of failure".

Failure does not happen at one stroke. Something somewhere is always failing. And when the degree of failure reaches tipping point, two things happen simultaneously. One, the failure becomes noticeable to all. Two, the failure becomes so big that it is now very difficult to reverse the procedure i.e. to convert the failure into success.

Hence, the secret of success lies in search of failure. Keep on searching failures in the system. And if you are able to find it before the tipping point, congratulate yourself. Success will be easier now. And if you are not able to find out any failure in the system or the organization, bad news!

"The sure shot way to failure lies in not finding any failures".

Interesting? Frightening? A play of words? Your decision, please. I just shared what came to my mind.