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!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
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!
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!
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, October 5, 2009
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?
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?