Green signals

Published in Deccan Herald - 02nd March 2006

ज़िन्दगी - कुछ उसूल

पुरानी गलतियों की याद में मत अटको 

उन्हें बेजान बेमोल धूल समझकर झटको

ज़िन्दगी में आगे बढ़ना है तो

नज़र हमेशा सामने ही रहने दो

कुछ रिश्ते हैं कम पलों के लिए

थोड़ा ही जलके बुझ जाते हैं जैसे दिये

उन्हें अपने गले लगाके मत जीना

नहीं तो पड़ेगा अपने आँसूओंको पीना

कुछ लोग लगते तो हैं बहुत अच्छे

लेकिन दिल के मामले में निकलते हैं कच्चे

लोगों को परखना बहुत ज़रूरी है

क्योंकि कई लोगों की जुबां नहीं छुरी  है

यूं तो सब कहते हैं हमेशा खुश रहो

पर इसके लिए तुम अन्याय ना कभी करो ना सहो

दूसरों को खुश करते करते खुद को ना भूल जाओ

सच्चाई से अच्छा काम करने मैं ख़ुशी पाओ

कोई तुम्हारे साथ चले या ना चले

अकेले आये थे तुम अकेले ही भले

बस इतना याद रखना ज़रूर

ऊपरवाला पास है तो सब दुख रहेंगे दूर

27^th May 2019

Going Concern Concept - From Business to Life

When I look around and observe people’s behavior, I am often reminded of something I learnt during my correspondence course in Accounting. That is, the Going Concern Concept, which supposes that a company will continue to operate indefinitely, and not go out of business and liquidate its assets.

Accounting is not my favourite subject at all, not even one of them, so I do not remember most of what I have learnt of it. Yet I remember this one concept because I am able to relate it to life and understand life (read people’s behavior) – at least sometimes.

When applied to life, the Going Concern Concept simply means assuming that life will go on endlessly without any need to make the slightest change or let go totally. See what I mean? All of a sudden, several thoughts arise, and I am compelled to see both the good and the not-so-good sides of the Concept.

Going Concern Concept applied to life is the reason

       * Why we keep our efforts going even in difficult situations. It is the prime fuel for the fire in the the belly when we take on challenges with the hope that we will overcome them and emerge victorious someday.

      * Why we are urged to plan for our future. Be it investing into education and acquiring degrees, putting money into a new savings scheme, training for the next marathon or beginning a new diet, we do it because life seems permanent and predictable, atleast to a certain extent.

Sadly, the same Concept applied to life is also the reason

       * Why many mindlessly chase their dreams even at the cost of their own health, peace and joy. The ‘I-me-myself’ attitude that is so evident these days, is bound to corrode into the quality of one’s life sooner or later, and make it difficult for those around also. This is futile, for, very soon, the going stops and everything hankered after is left behind when the person is gone. The Ambassador car was once ‘Road King’ and a status symbol for those who owned it, but is it now?

      * Why some put off responsibilities. When asked about her saving habits despite earning a good salary, a 20-something lady boldly said that she spends all her earnings because “life is to be enjoyed”. As for savings, she opined that anyway her salary would keep increasing and she would start saving when she really had surplus funds to save.

I know a few well-educated and affluent people who put off making a will vowing to do it someday – so much for their confidence in that ‘someday’ which may never come their way.

      * For the hesitation behind doing good deeds. Different people refrain from registering their organs for donation for different reasons – superstitions, fear of the unknown and so on. One stands out in my memory because she said she would considering registering as a donor when she grew old.

One of my dear colleagues plans to volunteer in old age homes after her retirement – another case of ‘someday’ planning.

Notwithstanding the various diligent efforts we indulge in to keep ill-health and other adversities from affecting the quality of our life, or cutting it short abruptly, we do not know when exactly our end will come.

Hence, it is for our own good that we build our plans and aspirations around the unfailing reality of life and its mortality, and live meaningfully and fruitfully. Needless to say, we have but one life to live, which is different from a business concern which can be wound up and a new one begun.

Published in LinkedIn - 29th March 2019

Keep Learning - Make that a Way of Life

An oft-repeated joke is of a man who stood by a shredder and sought the help of a lady colleague passing by. Very helpfully, she passed the paper into the feeder. In the meanwhile, the man said, “2 copies please”. Obviously, he wanted to copy the document but the document ended up getting shredded, for he had not learnt the difference between a copier and shredder, leave alone how to operate it, probably because he never thought it would be of any use. This goes to prove how imperative it is to learn whatever we can.

We have heard that Knowledge is power. A few differ saying knowledge is only potential power meaning it can be powerful only when it is put to use. Yet, it pays to keep acquiring knowledge for we never know when we may need it.

Learning is rudimentary where one learns just enough to survive as a newborn babe learns to suck milk or a student learns his lessons to pass his exams or a job-hunter to land a job. Learning has to go beyond what is absolutely necessary for an individual to grow into a well-informed, an interesting and a resourceful person, impacting not only himself but also those around.

Learning comes from unexpected quarters. I realized this when I observed a young girl next door. The 6^th grader was learning English – plurals, genders, opposites and so on. She nodded half-heartedly even as her mother went on to explain that being proficient in English would help her in understanding other subjects also, and picked up the guitar. As she strummed the latest song that she had learnt, she alongside sang ‘Doe a dear, a female deer ………’ when suddenly her eyes became big as though she had struck on a treasure. For suddenly she had learnt that doe is a female deer. It was an Eureka moment for her.

An open mind and a willing heart are all that are required to keep learning from each and every circumstance.

Learning opens up new and unforeseen opportunities in profession, relationships, and many other aspects of life. My nephew learnt the guitar from the internet and is now a part of a rock band which goes around giving paid performances at reputed locations and events. This also goes to prove that learning is not limited to a classroom or to books and other formal portals.

Learning can be life-saving. When I volunteered for a free training in fire fighting and fire prevention, I learnt techniques of handling fire emergencies, one of which actually helped me deal with a fire right inside my kitchen, without using any of the fire extinguishers, because there was none in my house. I still remember how my neighbor rued the fact that his cousin passed away on the way to hospital after he complained of breathlessness, because he had not learnt CPR procedure even when a hospital team had offered it in their office.

For our own sake, learning should be continuous; what starts from the womb should end only at the tomb meaning we should keep learning throughout our life, which is the only way we keep ourselves mentally agile, something which is so essential to live a healthy life.

- Published in LinkedIn on 17th July 2015

Being the Right People

Being a right-brained person, I don’t understand the technicality behind elections much – the alignment between the various parties, seat sharing and all that. However, if there is one prominent thing that happens near election time, it is the way the media analyses every candidate for his strengths and drawbacks, with respect to the expectations the electorate has from him and concludes what the elected person will have to accomplish once he comes to power.

While the issues are specific to the regions or the communities, Namma Bengaluru people are often caught looking forward to the new leader to provide a clean city with a well disciplined traffic (read vehicles and roads) and lower cost of living, foremost of all.

It is not wrong to do that. However, I believe we are not so powerless that we cannot do anything at all without their help. We can help ourselves in many ways.  

Before we ask for a clean city, let us remember the ‘prevention is better than cure’ mantra. We should adopt cleanliness as our motto for all times. We need to segregate waste, composting the green either individually or collectively and getting the dry waste to the recycling centres, use water responsibly, and treat waste water and reuse it appropriately. We are fortunate to have several citizens’ groups – zero waste and composting, to name a few – who are doing environment-friendly things; we need to follow their good practices, tweaking them to suit our circumstances, and do our bit towards a cleaner city.

While it is easy to complain whenever we get stuck in traffic jams, we need to reflect on our behavior and observe traffic rules at all times. Many want safe roads, but given a choice don’t think twice before flouting lane discipline; some two wheeler riders even go on the footpath forgetting it is for the feet not for the tyres. No one wants accidents but not many refrain from driving after drinking, risking not only their life but that of unsuspecting innocent others on and off the roads. Road rage is on the rise, with patience on the road being a rare commodity. Therefore it is essential to get a good control over one’s mind before taking to the wheel, considering driving as only the means to get from one place to another not to flaunt one’s prowess on the vehicle one possesses.

A lot of people crib about rising prices despite earning well. I wonder why they don’t grow their own food to whatever extent possible. Then they would be sure of consuming food free from pesticides, the physical activity would add to healthier bodies and the back to soil connection is a wonderful experience too. Children learn that food comes from a plant not from the refrigerator. The home made compost can go to the garden and make the soil richer.  

The bottom line here is, why wait for the right candidate to do us good? Let us be good people ourselves.

- Published in LinkedIn on 3rd January 2019

Things you should not do once you put in your papers

Things you should not do once you put in your papers

 Courtesy – Clipart Library

Coming to office as usual, I checked my email for anything that might need my urgent action. My attention was caught by the words ‘Au Revoir‘, and I was curious to know who was leaving. As I opened the mail, I was surprised to know that it was from Raju, one of my dear colleagues, one who I used to meet every day and in fact, had met the earlier day at breakfast. We had exchanged niceties and then shared news about our families – he about his extended family in God’s Own Country, Kerala, and me about my only daughter.

It struck me very sharply that Raju had not said anything about his last day in office even when we had met in person. His mail was very nicely worded and knowing his weakness in English, it was evident that Raju had copy-pasted a lot of sentences from other farewell mails. Yet, he had been careful to share his phone number and email ID, leaving an option for us to keep in touch with him.

No matter how much - or from which angle - I reflect on this sort of behaviour, I realise most people take pride in keeping their exit a secret till the last minute and then send a farewell mail in a desperate bid to make everyone feel that they wish to be kept in touch with.

I request not to be misunderstood. I am not asking for details of the new job to be divulged, but there is nothing wrong in sharing that one is leaving, atleast a day or two before, if not much earlier. Secrecy breeds rumours which are avoidable. I am compelled to put down many more things that a person should not do once he puts in his papers.

Needless to say, these are not exhaustive and are purely based on my opinion.

1.   Do not talk irrelevant

Open offices are quite common these days and working in cubicles in an open office requires you to observe certain constraints, more so when you have decided to leave your current employer. You should not waste others’ time chatting loudly about irrelevant things, for you may have quit, but they still have work to do. It is wrong to waste others’ time and distract them when they are engrossed at work. Your relentless prattle is likely to disturb all around you.

Remember – It can be hard for them to correct you but should someone do it, it can be very embarrassing for you. Also, this time, when workload is probably less, can be utilised productively in catching up with people, something that you could not do before, for want of time.

2.   Do not compare

You have no business comparing circumstances at the current employer with the supposedly good times you are expecting at the new workplace. Be it remuneration, perks, job timing, benefits, or something else, all are different for different roles and responsibilities, and discussing them loosely is not a good thing to do.

Remember – There are good and not-so-good aspects to every job and the new workplace is no exception to this. Unhealthy comparison can end up injecting pessimism into the environment of the current workplace and that’s simply not done. Also, this is the place where you aspired to work in, before joining here.

3.   Do not shirk work

Do not just let go once you put in your papers. You may have handed over very well to your successor but it’s only fair that you work sincerely till the last day of your term with the current employer as you will be paid fairly anyway. It is your one last chance to show your integrity. Indulging in gossip, taking too many leaves, spending too much time in the cafeteria or at the coffee corner – all these smack of unprofessionalism.

Remember – People may or may not remember you for your achievements or capabilities, but they will surely not forget if you shirk your responsibilities in the last lap of your tenure here. This ‘free time’ can be made use of to connect with someone – perhaps your senior or manager – and learn from them something that can help in your next job.

4.   Do not avoid interactions

Do not avoid personal touch with your current colleagues, especially those that have helped you even once. Meet up with all you know, atleast from a few days to the last day. It’s not nice going away silently and then sending a ‘Farewell to all of you’ note saying ‘let’s keep in touch’ when you didn’t mean it anyway. I wonder how many will be willing to help Raju if he calls them for something, for he didn’t take time to meet them before he left his current workplace.

Remember – Contacts are just that – contacts. It doesn’t matter who it is. Smile, shake hands if suitable, say some memorable words, have lunch together, do whatever it takes to stay in the memory of the colleagues you are leaving, for as long as possible. It doesn’t take much for out of sight to become out of mind.

Published in LinkedIn on 31st December 2018

Instilling freshness into an existing job

Whatever job we take up, we do so out of choice. It is up to us to deliver it using all the resources we have at our disposal or find another job rather than complain about the very job we once desired to have.

On my commute from office to home in the Volvo bus, I saw two young ladies boarding the bus even as they were busy discussing their professional progress, annual appraisal, benefits of one job over the other, should they consider job-hopping and things like that. Suddenly, one remarked, “One shitty job is like another shitty job” leaving my mouth open. The girls were commuting in an AC bus, with a laptop hanging from their shoulders and an office tag from their necks, so it was obvious they worked in a swanky office of a software company of repute, one of many in that area. Yet, they called their job shitty.

I could not take my mind off their casual remark. When a person is unemployed or looking out for a job, the wish is to land a good job but once the job becomes routine, people begin to find excuses as to why it is boring, not to their taste, so on and so forth. They fail to realise that this job was the very one which they desired to have when they were jobless.

Nothing remains new forever. Whether it is a job, a relationship, a neighbourhood or something else, everything loses its sheen sooner or later. But it does not mean that it has to remain so. The good news is that each one of us has the capability of making pleasant change/s in the current situation to transform the mundane into meaningful or even magical.

The photograph I have posted on top of this article is an example of what I attempt to say. It is one of the many commonly seen carts of vendors selling roasted peanuts and this one was outside a mall. There were many other carts vying for attention of the visitors to the mall, but this young vendor had strived to make his cart stand out – and his job interesting – by creatively arranging the cones in which he would give the peanuts. Surely enough, only that cart drew my attention, none other. I liked the efforts he had taken to make his cart look attractive without any extra investment.

A resort that I recently visited allows its guests to get their pets along, so they don’t have to worry about leaving them behind, and hence thoroughly enjoy their stay and recommend it to others also. The resort also has its own pets so that people who love animals but can’t keep them at home for whatever reason can enjoy their company in the resort. If reviews on social media are anything to go by, the place is doing really well, but the icing on the cake is that the resort manager and his staff now have the pleasure of having new pets visit them every now and then so there is so much fun amidst work. It’s a win-win for the guests and the resort staff.   

One of my gardening friends persuaded his office administration to spare a small area around his office building and started a vegetable garden, which he and his colleagues tend to in their spare time. The produce is distributed on need basis. They say this is very therapeutic and a healthy way to break the monotony of a desk job.

Coming back to the ladies, they could take up something worthwhile to engage in – volunteering for the deprived, visiting a hospital with terminally ill patients, even learning something new – atleast once a week.

We often fix a date for everyone in the team or the department or the entire office, to come to work dressed in ethnic wear. A few of us have had potluck lunch sessions that invariably involved sharing of recipes and exchange of health trivia during and after the lunch. A senior executive used to distribute red roses to all women – even the housekeeping staff – on Valentine’s Day. Come February, everyone used to look forward to this single rose from the gentleman. All these are examples that even small initiatives infuse excitement into the atmosphere.

Instilling freshness into the ordinary does not have to burn a hole in the pocket, or take up all the time on hand. It all depends on the willingness for where there is a will there is a way. 

I have only suggested on how employees can help themselves. Organisations or workplaces have specific functions within the HR department to focus on things to do to keep employees engaged in their jobs, so that they do not feel frustrated with the drudgery of their work and look out for ‘interesting’ options elsewhere. That will be the subject matter of another article if not another book.

Published in LinkedIn on 4th December 2018