Yesterday’s world cup match and the last over given to Nehra by Dhoni.

Personally I am disappointed at what happened yesterday. Lot of us would say the last over should have been given to Bhajji because:

1.He a tried and tested bowler.
2.He is the in bowler in form with wickets in the match.

Let me think for Dhoni (obviously speculating here.):

1.As a leader he thinks differently and wants to back his team players. He did give Jakati a chance in World Cup T20 finals who came out with flying colours.

2.Does not mind losing the battle (match) to win the war(World Cup). He wanted to try out his option and willing to take a chance. Imagine Nehra coming out with flying colours we could have had a strike bowler at death for the Super8 stage.

3. Give your struggling team member a chance and bet on him to do it for you.Really believing in him. In my arrogant opinion I don’t think he is stupid.

The question that comes to my mind is “As a leader would I be able to take a chance than play safe?”

Full disclosure :

I do have a personal bias to Dhoni as a person I like him for the following reasons:

1.He came up in cricket without god fathers. He used to ask his room mates to drop him at Ranji stadium for matches as he did not have a bike. He was working as a train ticket examiner at that time.

2.He will take his 2000 CC bike for a spin early in the morning (his passion bikes )and not wake his body gaurds as he did not want to disturb their sleep for his personal wishes.

3.He does a victory huddle with team ( Chennai Super kings lost in finals to Rajasthan Royals ) after “losing” to celebrate the team efforts.

4.Plays music  on DVD for marriage no fan fare whereas he could have had stars performing live bands – Humility.

There must have zillion times the thought comes to my mind that “Oh my job is tough”.

There is the neighborhood small shop (Kirana/potti kadai) at the end of the street I live. I frequent the shop daily for over 20 years. This is 6×5 feet shop stacked with all sorts of stuff from chocolates to soap etc. Also there is a stove to make tea or coffee for customers. This shop does not have electricity which means no ventilation or fan. Imagine being inside this tin shack on a hot summer day. There hardly space to sit comfortably. This is run by a man all through this years. He must be pretty old at least 70 now.

Look at his working / operating conditions.

1.He opens the shop at 5 in the morning. He needs 30 mins everyday to setup things as he needs to layout stuff. He needs to be up and running by 5.30 am to service customers on their way to work from laborers to execs. Meeting their needs of tea,coffee,cigarettes etc.

2.He needs the same time to close shop. He starts closing down by 10.30 pm. Must be he reaches home by 12 and would be lucky to catch a 5 hour sleep before he is back next day morning to open the shop.

3.The shop is open on all days even weekdays. Lately I see it closed on Sunday afternoons must be the man is really getting old. The fact is his being a “commodity commodity” business he loses customer loyalty just like that he is under pressure. In fact I have myself switched loyalty at times because once I started going to a different shop on Sundays, the same continues on weekdays as well. I need to take extra effort to remind myself to go to this shop.

4.There is no lunch time or break time for this guy. As there is no one else to step in for him.

5.At times I see his daughter helping him out. Nowadays she is there daily must be because this guy is getting old.

6.He can’t call in sick. There is no one to call.

7.He can’t take a vacation or go for functions as there is no substitute. ( HR issues )

8.He does not get paid on time. Believe there are a lot of guys who keep “account” with him which means they buy on credit. Not to mention some cops/govt employees who can think it their liberty to bump a few cigarettes/tea from this poor roadside vendor. (Financial issues )

9.Additionally he is at the mercy of the distributors who push him for doing enough sales. I believe this shopkeeper has sales target to meet, otherwise the cigarette distributor will not give him stock next time. (Sales pressure )

10.Within his shack he has to stock sufficient quantity of all small stuff without over stacking. Am sure he can teach a thing or too about inventory management to the “Supply Chain” folks.

The next instance was I on my family vacation to Ladakh an year ago. We were going to Pangong lake this was a tough ride of 6 hours from Leh where we were staying. This was in end of May.According to the folks there that was pleasant weather. I am from Chennai so any cold is “COLD” for me . This was a tough journey even though we were in a Swaraj Mazda and fully covered in winter clothing.Soon we were riding along the  straight long road with absolutely no life in sight this includes trees or shrubs as well. Of course, humans or shelters where out of the question. The line of sight would have been at least 20 kms.

We had been riding along this deserted stretch for an hour after getting off the main highway. We saw 2 figures in the horizon.At first I thought it was some animal or clothes fluttering on a stick ahead of us. We drove for another good 5-10 mins before we came closer only to realize they were 2 women walking with a basket like a cooler box.I was thinking when I saw -”Hmm cooler box here, what are they carrying beer? or maybe they carry stuff to keep it hot”. The driver stopped and chatted with them. He turned and requested if he could give them a lift.I said-”Yes”.Both of got in and sat down on the floor of the vehicle as the seats were already full with passengers.We were a group traveling.They traveled along with us for at-least 25 mins talking with the driver in Ladakhi( the local dialect) which we could not understand.They were chatting cheerfully cracking jokes etc.Then the vehicle stopped in the middle of nowhere.I was wondering why, when the driver just got up and opened the door. The 2 women turned to us gave a small bow with a BIG smile and got down. Ignore the tents in the photo below they are makeshift.

I was wondering what the hell they were doing, getting down in the middle of nowhere.As the vehicle started to move again I asked the driver why they got down there.He said they needed to walk to a village tangential to the road for another 15 kms.I leaned out of the window to see a small track to walk, heading into the mountains.”It will take them 3 hours to get the village”-the driver said with a smile. Wow!! my head was spinning. I don’t how long or how far they were walking till we gave them a lift.But I know for sure that they are going to walk for another 3 hours. We dropped them around 4 pm and am sure it will be night before they reach the village and that too with cold and winds. My heart literally stopped at that thought.Bear in mind there are no trees or shelters to take rest ABSOLUTELY NOTHING but the cold winds to keep them company not even a rock to take shelter for 5 mins. When I recovered I asked the driver-”Do they work in Leh and are going back to their village?”. What the driver told just blew me away and my so-called sense of (ego/pride/professional commitment)  whatever, I don’t know!”.It was a humbling experience.

Those women where with the government medical service.They were the health nurses working for the Govt Hospital in Leh. This is the nearest recognized medical facility.There are some military camps with doctors which locals can use in case of emergency.But for any serious ailments they have to travel to Ladakh. The woman’s job was to carry vaccines into the village and give vaccinations to the babies.This includes vaccines like small-pox to polio. These women it seems spend 2 days to reach a village.They get some small travel allowance but that does not help as there is no transport.The statements-”The cab did not come on time/The cab was dirty/The cab was noisy etc..” made by colleagues came to my mind.I too had those thoughts at times but never encouraged it.I remember the unreserved travel in coaches which I used to make during my college days. But these government staff and their sincerity in doing the work blew my ego/pride about my professional sky high.What I did was in cozy air conditioned cabs/hotels/offices is nothing compared to the harsh conditions they faced. They stay overnight in the village then comeback to Leh to collect supplies and head to another village.They don’t have any government assigned vehicles.They hit the road and if they are lucky hitch a ride with tourists or military vehicles passing along.Don’t forget the risk of women are taking by hitching a ride with strange men in deserted roads.The harsh conditions of weather , the insecurity of conditions they work under is really mind blowing.They don’t obviously get paid even a fraction of what we get paid.They work hard and sincerely.Thanks to that even our government works in those far flung areas.Nobody would even know if these women dumped the medicines in a garbage and went home and slept.But they did not. To me personally there people are famous  icons, leaders who inspire me. Along with those list with equal priority are the folks like the ones above who motivate me about commitment,hard work and sincerity.Every the thought of “Tough job or Tough life” comes to mind. I have a mental picture of these people appearing before me with a smile and asking me-”Kumaran, did you just say ‘Tough’?”.

P.S: This is a blog I have been writing for a long time in installments. During one of the recent days I was a the shop and stuck up a conversation with the lady. Turns out she is his wife and not daughter. There must be at least 15 years difference between them which was common during those days.Now to add to the bleakness above. She is managing the shop now because the old man is having trouble with his memory forget credits given, does not reorder inventory on time and to top it that guy has a drinking problem. Came to know they run on loan for operating expense at a rate of 5 Rs to a 100 per day. That works out to whopping 150% per month. This is locally called “Thandal”. Looks like the women is left holding the fort. Woman fighting in the middle of Metro to a women walking in the cold deserted roads I salute/respect you. A special thanks to these unsaid people who motivate me and help me feel good about the life I have been blessed with all along.

My entire family rejoiced my birth. Our family is one big united with all uncles, aunts, grandparents living together. We are a simple living group. We do what is needed for bare survival. We are not greedy and do not have a luxurious lifestyle. We are a colony now going about lives.

We are what others call a Eusocial group.This means that we are a very social group.We are not individualists or selfish ones.We believe in helping each other with specific members of our community doing what suits the group best.We are not taught team work.We are born team members and die team members.It is in our DNA, trust me!!. Our team or colony is usually in hundreds at a minimum if not more. We also have colonies with several million individuals.

We also have a natural talent for science and engineering.I would not be boasting if I said we build some coolest architectures without any training the world has seen.In fact when we make our structures to ensure there is proper air-conditioning to all parts without use of any energy. We also sometimes have gardens in which we grow food for our consumption inside our structures.We have some natural mechanisms built to protect ours selves from predators with some smart techniques to cover our tracks.We could definitely take a class or two to the espionage agencies all over the world.As I said above some classify our society as casteist with many being assigned to do only those jobs.But let me tell we have our benefits and reasons for doing the same.

For such a big colony with many members we are mostly vegetarian.We are also very conscious in our preferences of food.There is hardly any living plant that we eat.Most of the time we eat and live off dead plants.There hardly has been a case of we cutting trees for our survival or comfort.The plants that we eat are only for hunger they are neither for comfort or taste.We do this just for our basic survival.I repeat again it mostly dead plants.We do not kill living plants also for our food.

We were leading our lives in a peaceful manner when the fateful dark day arrived.It was a day as usual we were going about our work them suddenly we hear a big hissing sound from the skies above

us.We looked up to see a shower or rain to descend on us.This was with a cloud forming fast.We were bracing our selves for rain when the rain drops started hitting our skins.There was a distinct smell which began to cause irritation to our eyes and ears.It started burning our skins.It dawned on us that the chemical war was declared on us.We realized that the aliens had started this attack.We do not know why they are doing this to us.They are attacking us unprovoked.But we are not strong enough to fight them.I see my family choking and dying in front of me.Everybody is running all over the place trying o cover.But the gases are so powerful that they are sneaking into our underground tunnels.Alas!! we have no defense against the aliens.My eyes are beginning to darken and am losing consciousness.

The only thought running in my mind as I breathe my last breadth -”Why us, my family what harm have we done to others other than living our life the way we were supposed too…………”

“OK, maam the job is done.Those termites are gone you don’t have to worry about your leather TV couch anymore”-the terminator said with a big smile on his victorious face to his customer as he walked away from the couch towards the main door.

Please do see this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGaT0B__2DM by Sir David Attenborough.

What I want to share is just a personal opinion, hoping to know what others think about it.

I was travelling in the U.S recently and had a chance to interact to few of my close friends from college.When we were discussing about our kids and how they have grown are interacting with us, this thought came across to me.

Is Indian culture about the way we talk, behave, dress or arts etc? I felt maybe it is something a little different.

There are two traits which is strong in the environment which makes the Indian culture Hierarchy and Resource Constraints.

 Hierarchy

Whether we like it hierarchy exists everywhere, but it is transforming. In my house even today I take permission( to be honest at least FYI my dad if I am going to be late in coming back). One thing this helps me in work it is much easier for me handle hierarchies than my counterparts in U.S. Interestingly they grew here but have spent close to 20 years there that their thinking has transformed. I am not judging that it is good or bad here. It is an observation. They find it difficult to comprehend this rules of hierarchy in functioning of systems at work or outside. I find U.S returned colleagues struggling to adapt this culture over here.

Resource Constraints

There are resource constraints every where in India. From roads to housing to things at work. Being in I.T I can comment on a few things. Product guys in U.S take RAM on computers for granted.In India it is a struggle to get 2GB machines but newer products expect 8GB to be a decent system requirement.The fact is this is a huge constraint. When I walk into our offices in U.S I find desktops with dual monitors that too 19 inch ones and individual rooms for developers to help them work productively.It is cool and nice. I love dual monitors and I ratify it does improve productivity. But in India dual monitors is unimaginable. Recently I saw LCD monitors fixed on the walls of developers and the developer’s desktop reduced to a foot in breadth. Gosh it causes a serious pain in the neck ( pun intended ). There is no way adjust the angle of those monitors also. Hey screw ergonomics, space matters and real estate is expensive.

But the beauty of Indian culture is to accept these attributes as a natural occurrencea and work with it. Imagine a society where all are equal, life will be quite boring actually. If all are intelligent then the word intelligent becomes “just about average”. In physics if there is now high/low how will the electricity flow. There will be have and have-nots. The challenge in life is to accept and work with it. But it is an interesting game we try to equalize it only to realise, we tipped the scale in another direction. Think about the U.S supporting the mujaheddin to balance out Russia, they ended up creating a different kind of imbalance. We will have resource constraints at all levels and in different contexts. Constraints helps us innovate, invent. This introduces newer constraints. Read this “Parable of Horseshit“  interestingly cars( fuel guzzlers and CO2 emitters) where a solution climatic problem at some point in history now we have it and that is a problem.  I think the nice thing about Indian culture helps you embrace these constraints in a positive manner and work with it. It helps us look at constraints with a more positive attitude at least for me. This culture helps accept a constraints without too much frustration. In India you always expect to have constraints and there is a dearth for resources. The environment helps us build this culture – “there are constraints and challenges learn to work with it to succeed.”. Sometimes I feel the western culture does not have as their environment does have a need for it. Which I think works in that environment.

Would love to hear other thoughts/views on this.

P.S : I have assumed readers are in India when I started writing this post, I realise that there are readers from outside India also. Please read it in this perspective.

Ahimsa seems to be cliched word nowadays or seems practically obsolete. But the philosophy of Ahimsa I feel, is relevant.

Ahmisa is the opposite of Himsa which means “Violence” this needs to be interpreted as not just physical violence but mental violence. I consider violence is an act performed to inflict PAIN be it physical or mental. So Ahimsa is the art of not causing pain to others in any form.

In this blog my quick thoughts at Ahmisa in the house and at work.
Himsa at home
* As children we talk back / defy parents.
* As spouses we scold / put down / insult / scorn our partners.
* As parents we do the same to our kids.

Himsa at Work
* Admonish subordinates when they make a mistake.
* Put down support staff.
* Launch verbal/non-verbal attacks on peers when in competition.

Somethings which come to my mind
* Never insult or scold loved ones.
* React in a delayed manner. Hold back instant reactions.
* Consciously make sure you do not hurt anyone with words. Pain caused by words never heal.
* NEVER EVER INSULT people. You can never win by insulting, maybe you can put them down for sometime. It is difference between capturing and winning over.
* Even though people around you don’t meet your standards in ethics/ hard work/ cleanliness/ sincerity whatever THEY STILL HAVE TO RESPECTED AS HUMANS. Having a bad habit is a criteria to treat another person as a lesser mortal ( being a smoker I personally know how this hurts). I guess that is also DISCRIMINATION. Discrimination in any form is bad.

I can hear people saying – “Dude, this is easier said than done , Thanks for the advice.”

Let me share some tips that I try to practice to achieve the above someday it will become a natural part of me I hope . It’s  all about mental conditioning and hard work.

* Never think low of another person just because the other does meet your expectations. He does deserve respect as a human being. For e.g. this could be your 3 year old kid who did not drink milk for the 100th time.
* There is no way you can expect to get respected by someone who you just insulted.
* More often than not the ones who are subdued momentarily look for a chance to rebel. A friend of mine after adjusting to his parents for 30 years refuse to come to India just his parents stay here.

If we make a conscious effort not to inflict pain even unintentionally to people around us , our lives will become better. I guess there is a “Selfish” motive of wanting to do this , that being, I having a peaceful and harmonious life with my surroundings.

Would love to hear from others if I am practical or too theoretical here.

P.S. This a repost from my personal blog.