Saturday, September 27, 2008
come to think of it, here i am sitting before my favorite companion- the computer and pondering about life's ways with my favorite drink of buttermilk in one hand and an inviting novel by Jeffery Archer on the table beckoning me to hit the bed, and i suddenly feel like shreiking 'Eureka!" I think i have hit upon it- we tend to take most things in life mundane because we miss out on the smaller pleasures that life offers our way...getting up late, not very sure about the shower, the breakfast taken in several intervals, friends calling in to say a hi, a distant ache of a companion, the need to create the 'fiasco' of being 'out' on a saturday night....all this are simple pleasures if we live up to it fully...but lemme rethink, how many of us do? these are things that most of us take for granted, and i am reminded that i still belong to the group of lucky ones when i look around me...never mind, there is always the section that gets things almost without even wishing for it, but when i look around, i find people so engrossed in pushing the day that it is a boon to take a break and take things as they come, allowing us to be surprised though it was a part of the plan! Funny when i write these lines out coz mostly down in our hearts, all of us feel lonely, bored, not knowing what to do, wishing for more action, hoping that things would get going and we would not know where we would find ourself in the next hour...but of all the sweetest experience of living life comes our way when we REALLY REALLY TAKE A BREAK...and tell ourselves 'k...this is also fun!'
Friday, September 26, 2008
To hell with privacy!
Yup i mean it when i say i feel there is no privacy left in this world. Everyone seems to know everything about everyone...then what is the fun? I just read a blog of Rajesh where he has also expressed a concern about his blog being hacked...blame it on technology was all that came to my mind. but if one were to consider the alternative, it is best to stay away from something that is not yours. Maybe i am a fool to consider that such ethics exist...here i was writing about a boss of mine who is a true mentor to me and from whom i had expected to derive a lot of learning experience, and then comes the information that this is freely avaliable on the net with just key word searches...anyways, i think it is safe to say what you think is the safest way of saying it...To hell with privacy really...
Yup i mean it when i say i feel there is no privacy left in this world. Everyone seems to know everything about everyone...then what is the fun? I just read a blog of Rajesh where he has also expressed a concern about his blog being hacked...blame it on technology was all that came to my mind. but if one were to consider the alternative, it is best to stay away from something that is not yours. Maybe i am a fool to consider that such ethics exist...here i was writing about a boss of mine who is a true mentor to me and from whom i had expected to derive a lot of learning experience, and then comes the information that this is freely avaliable on the net with just key word searches...anyways, i think it is safe to say what you think is the safest way of saying it...To hell with privacy really...
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Tracing out old friends can be really really tough...i just logged on to orkut and was lost in an ocean of information (many of which i mistook) were my old friends...the funny thing was i called a guy called Karthik thinking he was one of my classmates...good chap turned out to be someone i dont even know...gosh..how very embarassing...but anyways...one thing realized very clearly...ITS DIFFICULT to touch base with friends once you lose touch...lemme see...this blogging is a relief...kinda writing your own diary...
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
BE THE GRAVITY – IT NEVER HAS A BAD DAY
The credit should really be given to Sir Isaac Newton for it was he who coined the word ‘gravity,’ gave it a value of 9.8 m/s², and called it the gravitational constant G. He discovered that there is a specific force, which we call gravity that is required to change the speed or direction of something that is moving. This same force he figured must cause apples to fall from trees! After researching this hypothesis he wrote the law of gravity. This law is a mathematical explanation for the way that things attract based on experiments and observations and to it we add – it never has a bad day…the explanation becomes simple if you metaphorically link yourself as the force that changes the pace and direction of something that is moving (your team). You then become the force of attraction that binds, and helps your team achieve greater results. True leadership is not the attention one draws, but the influence one exerts. The law of gravity (Newton hypothecated that it is a constant) bears testimony to the fact that this influence paves the way for things to take shape– the way a leader does to his team. It never has a bad day because it remains a force that motivates and in turn yields results.
A boy was visiting the mountains once, very young, with his father. It was during this trip that he got introduced to the concept of the ‘echo.’ Whatever was thrown to the mountains, it gave it back and resounded with it. Then the father explained: "People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. If you want more out of your team, create more for it in your heart. If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence. This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life; Life will give you back everything you have given to it." Be the gravity, it never has a bad day.
Life’s lessons for success come to us when we are fully prepared for it. A leader truly prepares his team for learning the lessons, gives direction, and then lets them surprise him with the results. An excerpt from ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho acts as an apt backdrop for this understanding. A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through the desert and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.
Rather than finding a saintly man, though, our hero, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesmen came and went, people were conversing, a small orchestra was playing, and there was a table covered with the most delicious food in that part of the world. The wise man conversed with everyone, and the boy had to wait for 2 hours before it was his turn to be given the man’s attention.
The wise man listened attentively to the boy’s explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn’t have the time just then to explain the secret. He suggested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours.
“Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something, said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil in it. As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill.”
The boy began climbing and descending the many stairways of the palace, all the while keeping his eye fixed on the two drops of oil. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was.
“Well, asked the wise man, ‘did you see the Persian tapestries that are in the dining room. Did you see the garden that took the master gardener 10 years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in the library?”
The boy was embarrassed and confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.
“Then go back and observe the marvels of the palace,” said the wise man.
Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon, returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all the works of art on the ceilings and walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains, the beauty of the flowers. Upon returning, he related everything with great élan to the wise man.
“But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?” asked the wise man.
Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy realized that the oil was gone.
“Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you,’ said the wise man. ‘The secret of happiness and success is to see all the marvels of the world, and never forget the drops of oil on the spoon.’ The lesson we can derive out of this anecdote is that, this is what a true leader does – he inculcates in us the potential to observe the marvels around (work made fun) and yet excel in our 2 drops (excellence). A true leader is the gravity…a force that binds, incites energy, infuses enthusiasm…he never has a bad day!
The credit should really be given to Sir Isaac Newton for it was he who coined the word ‘gravity,’ gave it a value of 9.8 m/s², and called it the gravitational constant G. He discovered that there is a specific force, which we call gravity that is required to change the speed or direction of something that is moving. This same force he figured must cause apples to fall from trees! After researching this hypothesis he wrote the law of gravity. This law is a mathematical explanation for the way that things attract based on experiments and observations and to it we add – it never has a bad day…the explanation becomes simple if you metaphorically link yourself as the force that changes the pace and direction of something that is moving (your team). You then become the force of attraction that binds, and helps your team achieve greater results. True leadership is not the attention one draws, but the influence one exerts. The law of gravity (Newton hypothecated that it is a constant) bears testimony to the fact that this influence paves the way for things to take shape– the way a leader does to his team. It never has a bad day because it remains a force that motivates and in turn yields results.
A boy was visiting the mountains once, very young, with his father. It was during this trip that he got introduced to the concept of the ‘echo.’ Whatever was thrown to the mountains, it gave it back and resounded with it. Then the father explained: "People call this ECHO, but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. If you want more out of your team, create more for it in your heart. If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence. This relationship applies to everything, in all aspects of life; Life will give you back everything you have given to it." Be the gravity, it never has a bad day.
Life’s lessons for success come to us when we are fully prepared for it. A leader truly prepares his team for learning the lessons, gives direction, and then lets them surprise him with the results. An excerpt from ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho acts as an apt backdrop for this understanding. A certain shopkeeper sent his son to learn the secret of happiness from the wisest man in the world. The lad wandered through the desert and finally came upon a beautiful castle, high atop a mountain. It was there that the wise man lived.
Rather than finding a saintly man, though, our hero, on entering the main room of the castle, saw a hive of activity: tradesmen came and went, people were conversing, a small orchestra was playing, and there was a table covered with the most delicious food in that part of the world. The wise man conversed with everyone, and the boy had to wait for 2 hours before it was his turn to be given the man’s attention.
The wise man listened attentively to the boy’s explanation of why he had come, but told him that he didn’t have the time just then to explain the secret. He suggested that the boy look around the palace and return in two hours.
“Meanwhile, I want to ask you to do something, said the wise man, handing the boy a teaspoon that held two drops of oil in it. As you wander around, carry this spoon with you without allowing the oil to spill.”
The boy began climbing and descending the many stairways of the palace, all the while keeping his eye fixed on the two drops of oil. After two hours, he returned to the room where the wise man was.
“Well, asked the wise man, ‘did you see the Persian tapestries that are in the dining room. Did you see the garden that took the master gardener 10 years to create? Did you notice the beautiful parchments in the library?”
The boy was embarrassed and confessed that he had observed nothing. His only concern had been not to spill the oil that the wise man had entrusted to him.
“Then go back and observe the marvels of the palace,” said the wise man.
Relieved, the boy picked up the spoon, returned to his exploration of the palace, this time observing all the works of art on the ceilings and walls. He saw the gardens, the mountains, the beauty of the flowers. Upon returning, he related everything with great élan to the wise man.
“But where are the drops of oil I entrusted to you?” asked the wise man.
Looking down at the spoon he held, the boy realized that the oil was gone.
“Well, there is only one piece of advice I can give you,’ said the wise man. ‘The secret of happiness and success is to see all the marvels of the world, and never forget the drops of oil on the spoon.’ The lesson we can derive out of this anecdote is that, this is what a true leader does – he inculcates in us the potential to observe the marvels around (work made fun) and yet excel in our 2 drops (excellence). A true leader is the gravity…a force that binds, incites energy, infuses enthusiasm…he never has a bad day!
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