“Jesus, I love you like an octopus”

My six-year old amazes me with her ability to connect to things she sees around.

Diya does an extempore prayer at our family prayer time while I stick to my routine recitation from the prayer book. She has her list of complaints (predominantly about Mamma being unfair with restricted TV viewing and control on visit to her friends’ flats), which comes after a thanking session for every good thing (in her terms) on that day with display of smiley and star she earned in her notebook, paintings made by her, chocolate wrappers etc. She ends the prayer with ‘Thank you Jesus, Thank you Lord’ and the concluding part more or less remained consistent and predictable.

Yesterday, Diya was in a real good mood to pray after her preparation for catechism exam. The thanking and complaining sessions were lengthier than usual. The surprise came in the end. She concluded the session with ‘Thank you Jesus, Thank you Lord, I love you like an octopus’. Clueless of what she meant of loving like an octopus, I sought instant gratification of my doubt. “Amma, it is because octopus has 3 hearts, and with 3 hearts octopus can love much more than a human being with 1 heart”

Well, that sounded quite reasonable.

contemporary face of Onam

Onam is celebrated by Keralites as the home coming of Mahabali, the king under whose rule ‘all men were equal, no one was poor and there was no theft or dread of thieves’. The sales figures of alcoholic beverages in the State during the season yet again proved parity among people with rich and poor contributing to a whopping 135 crore sales revenue by both Beverages Corporation and Consumer fed in a single week.

The Communist Government in the State may see this as a step towards achieving their Socialist objectives.

I got this humble thought of a typical ‘Onappookkalam’ using flowers getting replaced with a contemporary ‘kalam’ which depicts the meaning of Onam (more appropriately) such as this one in the coming years when I saw this picture forwarded by a friend.

inky pinky ponky...

There are issues we discuss over and over again, often overshooting the scheduled time of meetings, extending the work week to Saturdays, still not succeeding in reaching a decision. The work plan I make for the week goes into doldrums when I spend a major part of the business day in conference rooms.

I am impressed with Diya, my 6-year old daughter taking instantaneous decisions effortlessly with the tough situations of her age.

She has 2 GEMS, pink and green. Which one to eat first..inky pinky ponky...

She has to read the English Reader and practice writing Hindi words for dictation. She hates to do both. She coaxes Mamma to compromise with one of those for the day and Mamma wants her to choose between the two... inky pinky ponky...

boxing, olympics and more..

Boxing has never been an interesting soprt to me. In the first place, I thought that those punches are inhuman and belong to a primitive age. Sights of blood drippng from boxing rings made me switch channels when I chanced to have glimpse of this sport on TV.

My mental block is partly attributed to association of this sport with Mike Tyson, famous for his off the Ring activities with a chain of criminal records to beat any sportsman the history has seen given the fact that the only two names I can recollect are that of Muhammed Ali and Mike Tyson with my limited knowledge of this sport.

It was a revelation to me that this sport is not about muscle power, but tactics. I could not have thought I would become a great fan of this sport I'm today, and Virendar, Jitendar and Akhil, my heroes!!

I enjoy the sport despite knowing the rules of the game primarily because it brought the sheen of a Olympic medal to India, a non-performer of all times whose only intention appears to save its face with a bronze or sliver from the risk of being counted among the countries at the bottom of the medal tally, which are either too small to send a decent delegation to Olympics or just waking up to modern civilisation.

The way these boys have come up with their humble social background achieveing success through their sheer hardwork and dedication with minimal support from the system talks about where India has to begin its efforts.

If one Thomas Master in Koruthode (a remote village in Kerala) can produce 3 Olympians (Anju Boby George, Shiny Wilson & Jincy Philip) and many athletes of national repute,(http://www.outlookindia.com/mad.asp?fname=Making&synopsis=&subsubsec=Kerala&fodname=20051024&personname=K.P.+Thomas) it is a testimony that we can do a better a job with a concerted effort in finding talent and providing training and environment to grow them.

Is there a point is expecting a sportsperson to practice 8 or 12 hours a day to excel in his sports and bring Olympic glory, when he has to fight for his and his family's sustenance? This becomes the role of the system (read as government) to provide this along with infrastructure and training facilities for sports.

driving in India

Another interesting e-mail forward.. You'll enjoy every bit of it if you have experienced the traffic in Bangalore.

The Dutch Software Company, BAAN has opened an office in Hyderabad and has been bringing in some of their staff from the Netherlands to work in India. This is an article written about the driving conditions in India by Coen Jeukens, functional Architect for BAAN.

For the benefit of people visiting India and daring to drive on Indian roads, I offer a few hints for survival. This is applicable to every place in India except Bihar, where life outside a vehicle is only marginally safer. Indian Road rules broadly operate within the domain of Karma where you do your best and leave the results to your insurance company.

So here are the driving hints:
Do we drive on the left or right of the road? The answer is "both". Basically you start on the left side of the road, unless it is occupied. In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess. Just trust your instincts, ascertain the direction, and proceed. Most drivers don't drive, but just aim their vehicles in the intended direction.

Don't you get discouraged or underestimate yourself. Except for a belief in reincarnation, the other drivers are not in any better position.

Don't stop at pedestrian crossings just because some fool wants to cross the road. You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back. Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly or has come to a dead stop because some minister is in town. Still, some idiot may try to wade across, but then, let us not talk ill of the dead.

Blowing your horn is not a sign of protest as in some countries where we honk to express joy, romance or just bare lust (two brisk blasts). Here, it may be to show your resentment, frustration, or just to mobilize a dozing cow in the middle of the bazaar.

Keep informative books in the glove compartment. You may read them during traffic jams, while awaiting the chief minister'smotorcade, or waiting for the rain waters to recede.

Night driving on Indian roads can be an exhilarating experience. The roads do not have shoulders, only occasional boulders.

Truck Drivers are the James Bonds of India and are licensed to kill.

Often you may encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above the ground. This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a single light on; usually the left one. It could be the right one, but never get too close to investigate. You may end up proving your point posthumously.

During the daytime, trucks are more visible, except that the drivers will never signal. Often you will observe that the cleaner who sits next to the driver, will project his hand and wave hysterically.

Occasionally you might see what looks like a UFO with blinking coloured lights and weird sounds emanating from within. This is an illuminated bus, full of happy pilgrims singing bhajans. These pilgrims go at breakneck speed, seeking contact with the Almighty and often meeting with success.

I must add a positive point also. Rash and fast driving in residential areas has been prevented by providing a "speed breaker" which is two for each house. This mound, incidentally, covers the water and drainage pipes for that residence and is left untarred for easy identification by the corporation authorities, should they want to recover the pipe for year-end accounting.

Good Luck and God be with you!

ant and grasshopper

A satirical attribute to the plight of Indian soceity... I saw this e-mail forward doing rounds and thought it merits a post.

U.S Version
Ant & Grasshopper :
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its house and laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant is a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter ,the Ant is warm and well fed.
The Grasshopper has no food or shelter so he dies out in the cold.

INDIAN Version:
The Ant works hard in the withering heat all summer building its houseand laying up supplies for the winter.
The Grasshopper thinks the Ant's a fool and laughs & dances & plays the summer away.
Come winter, the shivering Grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the Ant should be allowed to be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving.
NDTV, BBC, CNN show up to provide pictures of the shivering Grasshopper next to a video of the Ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food.
The World is stunned by the sharp contrast.
How can this be that this poor Grasshopper is allowed to suffer so?
Arundhati Roy stages a demonstration in front of the Ant's house.
Medha Patkar goes on a fast along with other Grasshoppers demanding that Grasshoppers be relocated to warmer climates during winter.
Amnesty International and Koffi Annan criticizes the Indian Government for not upholding the fundamental rights of the Grasshopper.
The Internet is flooded with online petitions seeking support to the Grasshopper (many promising Heaven and Everlasting Peace for prompt support as against the wrath of God for non-compliance).
Opposition MPs stage a walkout.
Left parties call for "Bharat Bandh"in West Bengal and Kerala demanding a Judicial Enquiry.
CPM in Kerala immediately passes a law preventing Ants from working hard in the heat so as to bring about equality of poverty among Ants and Grasshoppers.
BJP wants Sonia Gandhi's apology.
Lalu Prasad allocates one free coach to Grasshoppers on all Indian Railway Trains, aptly named as the 'Grasshopper Rath'.
Finally, the Judicial Committee drafts the 'Prevention of Terrorism Against Grasshoppers Act' [POTAGA], with effect from the beginning of the winter.
Arjun Singh makes 'Special Reservation' for Grasshoppers in Educational Institutions & in Government Services.
The Ant is fined for failing to comply with POTAGA and having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, it's home is confiscated by the Government and handed over to the Grasshopper in a ceremony covered by NDTV.
Arundhati Roy calls it 'A Triumph of Justice'.
Lalu calls it 'Socialistic Justice'.
CPM calls it the 'Revolutionary Resurgence of the Downtrodden'.
Koffi Annan invites the Grasshopper to address the UN General Assembly.
…………………
Many years later...
The Ant has since migrated to the US and set up a multi-billion dollar company in Silicon Valley ..
100s of Grasshoppers still die of starvation despite reservation somewhere in India ....
As a result of loosing lot of hard working Ants and feeding the Grasshoppers, India is still a developing country!!!.

I am not of the opinion that public sector is not contributing to the Indian economy. But, the Sixth Pay Commission proposal, if implemented, will worsen the fiscal situation which is already in a bad shape with a huge farm loan waiver. If Government thinks that private sector is a key contributor to the economy and it needs to thrive, it should stop exploiting the private sector.

career options in vogue

This generation is better off with a slew of career possibilities they can explore and choose the one they are happy with.

With an IPL (Indian Premier League) franchisee importing cheerleaders, cheerleading became the next career option for Indian youth.

Thanks to BJP Government in State, Bangalore is seeing a surge in demand for astrologers and Vaasthu consultants with all official meetings scheduled in consultation with astrologers and government quarters renovated for Vaasthu compliance.

learning Hindi

One more week for Diya’s school to reopen after summer vacation. All those lessons she gobbled up in her UKG level lay buried under two months of play. To add to that, she is going to a regular ICSE school for grade 1 from Montessori which means she has to learn Hindi.

I taught her Hindi alphabets by promising all her favourite things on her birthday. Now, she wants a ‘smiley’ sticker on the page she finished. No doubt, a ‘smiley’ has to be earned. Seeing me critically looking at the alphabets for mistakes, she snatched the book and ran to her table to correct something.

“Amma, I forgot to draw hair for ‘au’. Now, give me a smiley”

women's day

Another Women’s day pass by… Marketers, fully aware of women’s role as a consumer jumped into the fray with special offers and discounts. It was not limited to women centric products. Marketers of white goods too capitalized on this once a year event with their special discount to women customers.

I can’t agree completely with the argument that sparked off among group of people at work and their claim that women gain nothing out of this Day dedicated for them. There are visible benefits that Women’s day bring to certain category of people and economy (which by misfortune doesn’t include millions of underprivileged women living in rural India deprived of education and financial independence).

a. After a slow down in US economy was reported, Indian middle class consumers have been adopting a conservative approach to spending. This day dedicated for the cause of women lured middle class women with special discount offers, which they often fall prey to, thus giving a push to consumption contributing to the health of our economy.

b. Urban women felt empowered when their husbands and brothers took them out for shopping (of things they never had an opinion) to get the best of deals available in town.

c. Feminist activists got an opportunity to enlighten women of different class and stature about the war they wage with the opposite sex by means of debates and discussion forums organized to mark the day.

Here is an account my experience on Women’s day;

The Company I work for has a customary practice of welcoming women employees with a personalized card signed by the Head of the Organisation, a packet of sweets and a rose flower on Women’s day. This time, the HR Dept went a step further to organize a chat show with a State Women’s Commission office bearer.

In a meeting hall which can seat 500 people, the audience of 12 women in a Company employing 150 raised many eyebrows. The Organisers seemed unshackled with a thin audience as they didn't expect a woman activist to be a crowd puller among a group of professionals . Murmurs were heard that attendance would have been far better, had it been a ‘beautician’ as Guest Speaker.

The distinguished Speaker with her unfaltering flair for speech talked about women’s strengths in spite of their inability to measure up to the muscular power of men. She left the captive audience of IT professionals in a state of confusion when she proclaimed that lesser heart attack cases among women is a testimony of women’s high endurance levels. I do not know if she was ignorant of the fact that women are protected against cardiac problems to a greater extend by nature and after the age of 45, both genders are equally susceptible to this threat. I reassured myself thinking she wanted to give a quantifiable or tangible proof of her views on women’s endurance levels.

The Speaker went on to address the main topic for discussion- challenges faced by working women and the safeguards. Her narration goes like this, ‘ With boom in IT industry, the time spent by women in workplace has increased considerably. This leads to more interaction with male colleagues. This can grow into sharing personal problems and develop into intimacy. Intimacy creates romantic instincts…’

She cautioned the audience consisting of mothers and married women not to get into this trap. The speech was no different from a sensational story appeared in Times of India on work conditions in BPO sector. I was happy that the Speaker didn’t take help of a legislation (which she was doing liberally throughout the speech) to safeguard women against this threat at workplace, in her terms, the biggest challenge for the working women of today.

Her advice to the unmarried girls in the audience was to prepare themselves to ‘cope with’ their future husbands and in-laws.

No woman India, contributing in her own ways to their family units and society at large will be interested in waging a war against men. What they need is the space to blossom into a complete individual while fulfilling her traditional roles of a mother and wife.

A woman’s focus is on her family, which she puts above any other need of hers. Along with the well being of her family members is her craving for material. Man’s need to please his woman weighs higher than any of his other needs and he sets out to fulfill her material needs. Family organisation revolves around this dynamics.

Next time, when you find a man in most expensive of cars, give it a thought. He may be trying to please his woman than enjoying a ride!

small fish

I found a small fish on a small pit with handful of water under the scorching sun. Certain about the pit drying up in a day, I came by to see the dead fish. I saw a river running from the pit which took the fish safe to the sea.

your work matters

“Look, Amma! It’s for you, and I made it!”

Seeing the glow in her eyes, I changed the ‘what is it’ look on my face to that of awe and said,

“Wow! It’s wonderful. Did you make this?”

She gracefully accepted my compliment and replied with charm, “Yes, For you!”

The carry bag made of gift-wrappers was seen changing places for a week to enjoy short stints on top of dressing table, DVD player and fish tank, the display spots which she thought were strategic in capturing attention in the house till it was abandoned on top of the fridge with the arrival of a kite she made at her craft class.

The meaning of work is more about having the excitement and creativity you would show at your work as a first grader rather than what you do. There are many who see work as repetitive and routine. Complaining about work gives a positive reinforcement to the feeling of monotony and leads to a frustrating experience. A change in perception can make your mundane tasks monumental if you are prepared for that. All work has meaning and all work can make a difference. This is a simple and time tested formula for those who want to stay happy with work and life.

Anything with predictability ceases to be challenging for many. This is part of human nature. You are doing the same work which you once found exciting. Over the time, a pattern of work sets in without your conscious effort. Now, you are clearer on where you are heading to. Learn to accept the rhythm and bring in creativity and innovation to experience variety at work.

Brainstorming techniques are used by businesses to foster innovation and often produces amazing results. Have a holistic approach to work. Treat your work or task at hand as a business unit and think of means to improvise your methods to do it. Do not loose focus on other functional areas overlapping with yours. It doesn’t hurt to have your process making significant contribution to other areas as well and not limiting to yours.

Why is it important to be passionate about work?

The work you do reflect on you. The Company and the project you are working for speak a lot about what you are and how you think at that point of time. The passion and commitment you bring to work is the brand you build at the workplace. It is a measure of how alive and engaged are you at work. When your work is counted, you are counted. Your self esteem goes up. Meaningful work is a prerequisite for a fulfilling life.

harthal

Carelessly flipping through the pages of Malayala Manorama, I was reliving the experience of a harthal in Kerala, the cosmetic face of ‘bandh’ banned by law.

Ten years back I could only think of the multi-pronged benefits a bandh brought to my family. With my hand on heart, I can say that like mine there was many a family who used to look forward to a bandh or harthal.

For me, it was god sent with a day off from college with numerous incentives. Getting up early and travelling by bus 20km one side with high chances of missing the direct bus that goes till college doorstep was not an easy task. A day off also meant postponement of practical record submission dates, class tests etc apart from a great saving of half day’s toil in the midst of foul smelling gases in Chemistry practical lab struggling with pipettes, burettes and titrations. A bandh was a silver lining in an otherwise dull life of 5 days of college and 2 days of special tuitions a week from dawn to dusk.

Equally or more happy was my Mamma. Her daily chore of getting up at 4 am to prepare breakfast, pack lunch for all and rushing to school by 9am made her sick. She never complained. Rather, she found solace in those harthal days which came with a bang irrespective of the reason. It would have brought her some health benefits for sure. I have seen her working like a machine day in and day out feeding the family and earning for comforts of the family. Weekends were harder with cooking and serving for 5-6 people additionally who used to work in our farms. Her children, who were pursuing dreams of becoming professionals, were rather not allowed to lend a helping hand. It is not only that Amma can start lazy on a harthal day, she doesn’t have to go and sign the Attendance Register in Headmaster’s cabin. Latecomers were asked to sign the register in front of Headmaster and Amma had to undergo this humiliation till she went on to become Headmistress of the school towards end of her tenure.

For Pappa, it was a long way to work in city from our farmhouse. He too loved harthal though he never considered saving in petrol as valid reason to be happy. Rather, he liked to spend a day in political discussion with the Congress ward committee members and overseeing the activities in the farm.

Given the fact that the lessons in Chemistry and endurance tests in the practical lab haven’t made any significant contribution to my career, I would not regret the days lost in harthal. Neither the government school which was in news for 100% failure in public examination, nor the government office which takes weeks to move a file to the next desk was affected with the absence of the likes of my Amma and Pappa.

The conclusion is; Harthal was a blessing in disguise those days.

Looking back, those were care free days, a luxury Malayalee still enjoys. Don’t blame politicians for this. Though it might look alarming to the corporate sector to loose productivity for a day, Malayalees by nature cherishes harthals.

I read about initiatives by Government to create an investor-friendly environment in the State. It is hard to believe that single window clearance will do any good in attracting investors when the pillars constructed by Punj Lloyd for the proposed flyovers in the capital city stands tall and spreads a glee for years to welcome the oft visiting Pravasi Malayalees like me.

My humble message to Malayalees who are addicted to lethargy (thy name is harthal); “Change or Perish”. Kerala missed the bus to its neighbouring states who didn't have much to boast about their human and natural resources and even to West Bengal leading the foray in attracting foreign investments from the so called capitalist forces. It would not be a bad idea for Malayalees upbeat about high literacy rates and an economy thriving on NRI and pravasi Malayalee earnings to look around and see how rest of the country is catching with development.