A state of mind(-less-ness)

One of the professions I have aspired for in my early adult-hood is to become a journalist. You know, not the boring kinds, but the more interesting, taking-celebrity-interviews kinds. Love the glam! ;)

Well, I couldn't fulfill that fantasy, but every now and then, whenever I get an opportunity, I do make it a point to hold some conversation with a 'celebrity', at any place they are comfortable. Most of the times, they choose my mind.

Had such a conversation recently, so I'm sharing with you...have a read. :)

An Indian ‘youth’ of Italian origin called Naam-toh-suna-hi-hoga completes his education in some foreign land and comes back to India because the economic condition in other countries is not as promising as it is here. Almost as soon as he comes here, his aspirations of making it big in the corporate world go for a toss once he realizes his (lack of) competence when pitted against all the others. However, in the course of his disillusionment and realizations, he makes some friends in the ‘right’ places and starts spending time with them.

What began as a bunch of people trying to give a direction to the youth of the country slowly and steadily takes the shape of present-day politics and our protagonist starts seeing green everywhere around him. Not only that, being naturally endowed with above-average intelligence, he starts seeing the green in USD and other denominations, in place of INR!

“I must up my ante, if I am to achieve my life’s goals”, thinks our hero and rolls up his sleeves. He now clads himself in a white kurta-pajama and sports a 3-4 day beard to look like the common man he seeks to inspire. He increases the glamour of his presentations by going to the houses of the poor, eating with them, talking about them in conferences in 5-star hotels…..Basically, he was looking to create an image of the “bridge” between the rich and the poor.

Hmmmm, smart. However, what happened next is what happens always. You see, in the course of talented people bringing about change, they lose focus. Our hero struggles to maintain a balance between his political goal of being the change he wants to see and his vested interests (“This is a business in the service industry, after all!”). In an effort to be as pragmatic as possible, he becomes a little philosophical as the growth of his kitty surpasses his expectations and ambitions…

All was well till one fine day, Naam-toh-suna-hi-hoga, in a particularly philosophical mood, dropped bombshells after bombshells. Of course, the interview was with yours truly. Here are the excerpts:

I: Sir, a lot of people in the country look up to you as their youth icon. Pardon my saying so, but do still consider yourself as “youth”?

Hero: “Youth” is a state of mind. If you have the confidence, you will remain a youth for as long as you want.

(!!)

I: Er, true Sir, philosophically speaking. However, my question is more in the practical arena. What the junta wants to know is, isn’t it time now for you to move to a more mature audience to pitch yourself as the best candidate for the top job in the country?

Hero: This is your state of mind.

I: Huh?

Hero:

I: Anyways, moving on Sir…what do think about the ever-increasing divide between the rich and the poor in the country?

Hero: The divide is all in the mind. It is only about confidence.

I: Err, can you please elaborate on this Sir?

Hero: Look, money is a state of mind. Whether you are rich or not is your state of mind. Similarly, whether you are poor is also a state of mind. When both are but states of mind, isn’t the divide between the rich and the poor a state of mind as well? Induction, actually. Simple, no?

I: If you say so Sir. You are a big personality. Anyways, Can you please share your take on how to revive the growth in the industry?

Hero: (Calmly, as if preaching a sermon) See, growth is a state of mind. If you have the confidence, you will grow against all odds. In fact, we have launched a nation-wide challenge to prepare you all to grow against all odds. This will make you stronger in the times to come…

I (unable to control any longer): What!? You plan to play with our lives, the lives of the common man!?

Hero: (Smiling) Calm down, my friend. It is only in the face of adversity that one realizes the strength of one’s character…

I: Sir, don’t play with the lives of the common people. You won’t be able to bear the strength of their wrath!

Hero:  (Looking into his phone as a message tone beeps) That is their state of mind. I am confident about reigning over the masses…

I: What absurdity!!? Just who do you think you are!!?

(How stupid of me to blurt it out like this! Of course, everyone knows who he is! Moreover, everyone knows his stature too! #StupidCommonMan)

If you think I was blurting things without thinking…read on… (He was still looking at and typing something in his phone)

Hero: I am but a state of mi… (Suddenly alert) Sorry, can you please repeat your question?

I could hear drum-rolls, fellas...Dhrrrr...dhrr....dhrrummm.....This guy had the quality to bring in the Apocalypse. And with that, all the misery in this world would end. For there will be no world to breed misery.

I (Getting up): Thank you Sir. We have heard what we wanted to hear. And this time, we concur. Thanks a lot.

10 Reasons to work with a Gujarati! ;O)

      Just the other day, we were having a discussion on which all Indian communities make better/best business people...as usual, the most common names cropped up - Marwaris (duh!), Sindhis, Gujaratis, etc. etc. As we were debating about the best 'clan', I came up with a few points that make Gujaratis stand out when compared to others... (#psst! Taken extra care to not include any MBA-ish and cliched terms... ;) )

1. They are like your personal Munnabhai MBBS – they’ll lift up your mood in every interaction!
2. You are assured a lifetime of personal relation, without making too much of effort!
3. You are assured of honesty in dealings!
4. If you ever make a mistake anywhere in dealing with them, they will treat it as just that – a Mistake – and not a breach of trust!
5. If they ever make a mistake, you can be sure they will rectify it without a fuss! Most of the times, they’ll point it out before you can!
6. You can sleep well at night if your money’s with a Gujarati! Most of the times, he will be more concerned about returning your money than you will be about getting it back!
7. You can be assured of quality. That’s the one thing we don’t compromise on.
8. You can be assured of one thing – which is that a Gujarati will earn and let you earn too! Unlike some people, who will juice out your margins and not bother whether you’ll survive. Our underlying thought is always, “He also has a family to feed, yaar!” …and that makes a lot of difference in your approach to business!
9. A Gujarati will leave no stone unturned to satisfy your requirements! He will travel half the world if he has to, but he will get you what you want!
10. Narendra Modi is on his way to become the PM of India…do you have a choice???

Beginning of a Level Playing Field?

Primatologist Fraans de Waal, in his book, "The Bonobo and the Atheist: In Search of Humanism among the Primates", argues that we believe in God because we are moral rather than we are moral because we believe in God.

 In other words morality has evolved over time as we have. De Waal says, "there is little evidence that other animals judge the appropriateness of actions that do not directly affect themselves, yet, in their behavior, we recognize the same values we pursue ourselves.

Strange, for isn't the same behaviour common to people these days? I mean, we as a species are increasingly becoming less and less concerned about the appropriateness of the actions of others ("Let him/her do whatever they want to...what's it to us?") and more concerned about ourselves, our actions, achievements, disappointments, etc.

So, are we slowly but surely becoming like the primates? On the return journey to complete the full circle? To help Him create a level playing field on Earth? ;)

RG vs. NaMo...RG vs. NaMo.... (Ppl) XL at a No-Brainer!!

Just look at the amount of debate that is going on everywhere about who should be the next PM of India!! Even more astonishing...just look at the level of stupidity people will stoop down to just for the sake of debating who might prove to be a better PM -- Rahul Gandhi (RG) or Narendra Modi (NaMo) !!

I know there is a lot of heat in the political circles regarding this issue and which is PERFECTLY FINE.....for they are the people in the know about a lot of facts which the common masses aren't. Rahul Gandhi may not have any political achievements to show off. In fact, he might not have ANY achievements in his life to show off. But, he did achieve one thing which no one else other than his sister could achieve -- being born a Gandhi in the famous Gandhi family. So there are grounds why he can become a PM. He is also more articulate, less stoic, more young and less likely to tow his mother's line all the time (assuming that he is like most kids! ;) )...so on most counts, he might turn out to be better than the current PM.  (Please note that the pun in the above sentence bares my confusion over the matter! :P )

However, there is a reason why I find the debate among the common masses to be stupid. Because, they are the ones who can actually "feel" the impact of any politician/leader's work. My question to the general masses is -- have you felt any impact - let alone positive impact - of RG's work!? Wazzat you say.....what "work"!? EXACTLY.

On the other hand, everyone has seen the impact of NaMo's work. Today, Gujarat is in the top 3 states of India (in the league of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu) in terms of overall growth. Once you know this, there is no reason to go into the nitty-gritties of industrialization, tourism, etc. etc. because no state can prosper so much without holistic development. 

Have you ever heard of RG vocalizing his vision for even his party?? No. He is a PM-hopeful who has never laid down a Vision-Mission for his party in public; you expect him to have a vision for this country of 1.2 billion + ??

On the other hand, NaMo lays out his vision of Gujarat - and what his team of aides have envisioned freely and openly in every forum that he gets an opportunity to do so. And he has the capacity to see them through. I am aware that there are a lot of stories going on in the media about his fudging a lot of growth stories.....but my contention is very simple --hey, what's the worst case scenario - 5 out of 10 of his claims are false? Can't be. The cat would have come of the bag way earlier then. So shall we say 5/10 claims are exaggerated? Do I hear an acceptable OK? Cool, we'll tow this line. So, a lot of his claims are exaggerated. By exaggeration, we mean that he would have achieved 1 and claimed to achieve more than 1. 

If you'll sit back and ponder for a while my friends, and take your thoughts on a state-by-state journey, you'll come to understand that it is still a superb achievement to have a positive 1 being created by any CM in India!!! Coupled with this, since we we already agreed that the other 5 of his claims are not exaggerated but real, I think we have a clear picture in front of us!

For, if you keenly observe Modi's style MO, you'll notice that he runs his state like a businessman would run his business, like a CMO would be thinking about his product lines, strategies, sales, branding, etc., like a CFO would think about shareholder wealth maximization, like a CTO would think about maximizing the smoothness of ops through his contributions. Like a CEO, who will get an irreplaceable high by seeing his company move forward. Like a man would protect and take care of his family. Like a mother would raise her child.

Don't compare RG to Modi. He has not gone through so much in his political career to be able to withstand it. And don't degrade Modi by comparing him to a child-in-comparison.

Business Failure or Fail-Your?

It is so amusing to read/know that people in the west are so cool and open with failing of their businesses...I mean, they don't feel conscious opening admitting that so-and-so venture of theirs did not do well and they had to shut shop...and that this year they are planning on spending a lot of family time, taking vacations, doing community work, etc..as the last couple of years was a lot of work and stress..!!!!

Case-in-point: I was reading about this gentleman Michael Wolfe ... no, not This Mr. Wolfe, who is an American poet, etc. but This Mr. Wolfe....on Quora and FB and he was talking about his start-up which didn't do well and so he was shutting it down....

Contrast it to the way Indians, or broadly South-East Asians, would deal with this situation...

A typical middle-class Indian whose business is dwindling would go off all social media activity - or maybe stop posting anything and restrict himself only to reading what everyone else is doing. He would never mention it to anyone that his business is about to shut down. He would bring his expenses down to the absolute minimal. He would lessen his social interactions, in the embarrassment lest someone should ask him, " Hows the market?" and he is not able to pretend well! Spending time with the family and planning to go on a vacation (because the recent past has been stressful) will be part of his nightmares!

The failure of a business is taken very personally here, because people are very emotionally attached to their business. In fact, there was this survey somewhere in a British college when I was in XLRI which was titled " Emotional Ownership of Business". I had taken part in the survey and the student conducting it was gracious enough to share a copy of the results...and it showed that Indians are most emotionally attached to their businesses, followed by Britishers!!

Digression aside....the running of a business is taken to be directly proportional to a person's capabilities here....and who wants to be labelled as incompetent! But it is intriguing to see that it might not be the case out there in the west....or is it just that the people I have heard/read about were just careless and shameless to admit to the whole world that their business failed but it doesn't affect them....at least not enough to not post on social networking sites!?

If it isn't the case there....how do they perceive the failure of a business? Just a matter-of-fact incident? 

Of Sharks and Minds

Read this quote today by this gentleman, Hugh B. Brown -

"Every man is a diary in which he writes one story while intending to write another. His humblest moment is when he compares the two." - Hugh B. Brown

Profound. I don't see too many ways in which the spirit of what he said could have been expressed more clearly in simpler words. Curious, I searched online about him, and the results impressed me even more...Click here to know more about him if the bug bites you too ;)

I read this and I was wondering how it is so easy for some people to put their thoughts to words...wish I had the knack...think I could make a small difference to my life and hopefully...to a few more if I had the skills!

By the by, read the quote more than once...at different speeds...and notice the barrage of thoughts that enter your conscious mind when you start thinking on the same...the different events in your lives - they could be small events, insignificant moments where you did something you didn't intend to or did it in a manner you didn't intend to - will just pop out of nowhere and you'll be surprised how our minds are always ready to throw up our mistakes in front of us the moment they see us vulnerable enough! ;) To the brain's credit, that's good...because it shows that it is always ready to help one improve oneself...

But on the other hand, it also shows what an absolute sadist the mind is!! Like a shark....it will eat itself up when it has no other option for food!! ;) ;O)

Waaah! what an analogy!!!!
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P.S. The only difference here being that the shark ends up killing itself, while the mind grows the more it eats itself (introspects)... :D

Commitment...Sallu Style!

 Just thought... if self-improvement is a goal for anyone, one can be rest assured one is moving in that direction if one follows a very simple principle, albeit strictly - fulfill your commitments on time. Make sure you do not renege/procrastinate on any promises/commitments you make. If you can follow this rule consistently, you'll be amazed with the results...for there can be only 2 outcomes in following this principle - (i) You meet your commitments or (ii) You don't.

If you do, well...you earn kudos. You can be happy, successful, etc. etc. More importantly, you'll be one of the very few around yourself who fulfills a promise. And 'on time'?? Well, that'll surely be your favorite icing on the cake!! Sit back and analyse this for a while...you'll realize almost everyone just gives global gas when it comes to this, be it for a delivery, production time, meeting for a movie, making a plan on Sunday......

If you don't (but your standards about self-performance are set high), you'll be chided, sniggered at, ignored in the future, meet with fake promises in return, etc. etc. But more importantly, on introspection, you value in your own eyes will/should come down. Your inner self will start coming to terms with the reality that you are not the hot-shot you imagine yourself to be. Now, if you are an escapist, you'll stop committing to people about almost anything, only to find out that people don't think much about you if you cannot commit.

Now, if you are like me, you won't like that...and so, the next time you make a promise to anyone about anything, you'll want to make sure you fulfill it, so that you can look at yourself in the mirror with your head held high.

Love.....Yawn!!

For all those of you who think that people "fall in love" and all those stupid, humbug-ish arguments about females choosing a mate because they might have struck a "chord" somewhere...click on the link below:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexy_son_hypothesis

I am critical about the general definition of "Love" as expounded by the Mango people and have always believed that it has nothing to do in case of mate-selection...and the above article - in a way - just goes on to prove it. Not only that, it also hints at the completely "un-emotional" process of mate-selection in females. Heck, for all you know, males might be more emotional than females here!!!