Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
Last week a college student was referred to me by one of the line manager, with a request to assess her spoken English skills. To do this, it was essential to have her speak in English and I simply asked her to narrate a story. I did observe her English language skills as she told me the story but more importantly I though that I should share her story with you.
The young lady told me a story that she had read in the Sanskrit language as a school student, about a bird that had two faces but one body. I must admit that I cannot recollect the name of this bird. The story goes that the 2 faced bird once came across some tempting food grains lying on the ground near a hut. As soon as the bird saw it, one of face said "Wow. These grains look tempting. Let me go ahead and eat them". However the other face said "Don't eat it.it is very likely to be laced with poison by the humans staying in the hut. It may be a trap."The first face did not take any heed of the other, went ahead and ate the grains.
To its horror the grains were indeed poisoned. The bird died and along with it, both the faces died too.
The moral of the story, the young lady said, is that we all are like the bird. We all have two faces. One of them does things that are in our interest, while the other may not. However we need to understand that at a deeper level both of them are connected. They both enjoy the good fruits of positive actions and they both suffer the ill effects of negative ones.
What is important is - which face do we listen to?
Have a great week!!
Monday, August 29, 2005
Monday, August 22, 2005
The best seats are lying vacant...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!!
Yesterday I made a presentation to a group of over 100 students at a college in Mumbai. I make presentations at campus very often and I have frequently observed that a lot of students tend to leave the first few rows in the auditorium vacant and occupy seats from row 4 or 5, even if there are no guest reservations for the first rows (I don't see a reason, however I have seen this happen at a number of colleges).
What happens then, is that students who enter the auditorium late tend to just stand at the back (if there are no seats available at the back). Some students who arrive even later end up standing in the door trying to peep in to get a glimpse of what is happening inside. If they now have to get to the first rows its tough. According to me the first rows are the best seats. If you are sitting there, you get the best view of the matter being presented, get to hear clearly and understand everything that is said and get the first opportunities to ask questions to get all the information that you want. To get to these best seats now the people standing outside need to push their way through the students standing in the passageway and climb over those squatting on steps. They would unsettle all these folks and the late comers prefer to just stand where they are. In the bargain they end up getting a poor view of the proceedings. So what actually happens is that the best seats in the auditorium are actually lying vacant!!
Now, here is my take on this phenomenon.. (And I wonder if many of you would agree with this viewpoint). I would like you to assume that the best positions in your chosen field of work are actually lying vacant. If you have arrived early, you have to make sure that you take up one of the best positions rather than settling for Row 4 or 5. If you think you have arrived late (many times you can't control your time of your arrival), you need to understand that you will not go to these best positions unless you push your way through or climb over people who are simply squatting in the way. In the process you may unsettle some of them, but that is no reason for YOU to stand outside. I am sure you will agree that it is an absolute waste if the best positions anywhere are lying unoccupied and people are standing outside waiting to get a glimpse of the action.
Wouldn't you rather occupy the best seats rather than settle for anything less?I would like each one of us to believe that there are always vacant seats in the front and there is always room at the top.. someone needs to stand up and get there.
Have a great week.
Yesterday I made a presentation to a group of over 100 students at a college in Mumbai. I make presentations at campus very often and I have frequently observed that a lot of students tend to leave the first few rows in the auditorium vacant and occupy seats from row 4 or 5, even if there are no guest reservations for the first rows (I don't see a reason, however I have seen this happen at a number of colleges).
What happens then, is that students who enter the auditorium late tend to just stand at the back (if there are no seats available at the back). Some students who arrive even later end up standing in the door trying to peep in to get a glimpse of what is happening inside. If they now have to get to the first rows its tough. According to me the first rows are the best seats. If you are sitting there, you get the best view of the matter being presented, get to hear clearly and understand everything that is said and get the first opportunities to ask questions to get all the information that you want. To get to these best seats now the people standing outside need to push their way through the students standing in the passageway and climb over those squatting on steps. They would unsettle all these folks and the late comers prefer to just stand where they are. In the bargain they end up getting a poor view of the proceedings. So what actually happens is that the best seats in the auditorium are actually lying vacant!!
Now, here is my take on this phenomenon.. (And I wonder if many of you would agree with this viewpoint). I would like you to assume that the best positions in your chosen field of work are actually lying vacant. If you have arrived early, you have to make sure that you take up one of the best positions rather than settling for Row 4 or 5. If you think you have arrived late (many times you can't control your time of your arrival), you need to understand that you will not go to these best positions unless you push your way through or climb over people who are simply squatting in the way. In the process you may unsettle some of them, but that is no reason for YOU to stand outside. I am sure you will agree that it is an absolute waste if the best positions anywhere are lying unoccupied and people are standing outside waiting to get a glimpse of the action.
Wouldn't you rather occupy the best seats rather than settle for anything less?I would like each one of us to believe that there are always vacant seats in the front and there is always room at the top.. someone needs to stand up and get there.
Have a great week.
Monday, August 15, 2005
On independance day...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning and wish you a very Happy Independence day!
The real foundation of Progressive India…
During my recent visit to the US, I started reading the book “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. The book is indeed outstanding. Without any hesitation I would highly recommend it to everyone who wants to understand what it is going to take to survive in the new “flat” world. In no uncertain terms Friedman has clearly stated that not only individuals and Companies but also countries need to sit up and take note of the changing world if they have to survive in the new flat and complex world.
One of the important factors that he has researched in his book is National leadership. He writes
The real foundation of Progressive India…
During my recent visit to the US, I started reading the book “The World is Flat” by Thomas Friedman. The book is indeed outstanding. Without any hesitation I would highly recommend it to everyone who wants to understand what it is going to take to survive in the new “flat” world. In no uncertain terms Friedman has clearly stated that not only individuals and Companies but also countries need to sit up and take note of the changing world if they have to survive in the new flat and complex world.
One of the important factors that he has researched in his book is National leadership. He writes
“Venture capitalist John Doeer once remarked to me “You talk to the leadership in China and they are all Engineers and they get what is going on immediately. The Americans don’t because they are all lawyers”. Added Bill Gates “When you meet Chinese politicians, they are all scientist and engineers. You can have a numeric discussion with them- you are never discussing “give me a one liner to embarrass my political rivals”. You are meeting with an intelligent bureaucracy”. WOW!!
Compare that now with our MPs and MLAs, whom we can vote to power. Barring a few top officials (thankfully) such as our present PM and President, I think we will pretty much struggle to identify highly educated politicians. Because we believe that politics is not for the educated. Just imaging - If your child were to grow up to become an engineer and tell you that he wants to contest the local public election, you would probably look at him as if you had seen a ghost. However there is need to change this way of thinking because unless we have the right people making decisions of National interest we would not progress to our potential.
In 1961 American President Kennedy had his vision for America – “To put a man on the moon”.
For us today the vision is - “To put every Indian boy and girl through school”. If we can do that we will do a great service to our country. So, will this happen overnight? Obviously, “NO”. Kennedy’s vision of putting a man on the moon had a 10 year timeframe. We can expect our vision to take even longer.
If you are reading this email in India you can probably contribute by doing something. For one, if we can spare some funds we could help a rural Indian student to gain access to education in cities. You might have heard of the “Vidyarthi Sahayyak Samiti” an institution (Pune Phone: 25533631) that helps rural students to take higher education in Pune and people like you and me can for a small amount of money “adopt” a student and help his / her education under the earn and learn scheme. Even if each one of us does a small act as this it will go a long way in helping this vision.
When education is spread far and wide and is accessible to all, we can expect that the educated would contest the elections and the educated would vote and that would be a huge change. Let us please not call this a dream. Let us call this a vision. On this Independence Day, let us commit to helping the education of at least one Indian child each year…
Have a great week and a great independence day.
Regards,
Sudhanshu Pandit.
Monday, August 15, 2005.
Monday, August 8, 2005
Spiderman...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!
I must admit that I love to watch cartoon films………even now :-). Tom and Jerry are my perennial favorites and on a number of occasions Revati and myself are engrossed watching Jerry mouse as he makes Tom run around in circles before knocking him out cold. In my opinion, Tom and Jerry is creativity at its peak.
On the action front Superman and Spiderman are my favorites. Most of you would be aware that Spiderman made a lot of news recently when the movie set new records across the world on the box office and I am sure you took time off to see the movie. One of the most compelling and at the same time touching moments in the film is the death of Uncle Ben.
The very foundation of Spiderman is a statement by uncle Ben “With Great Power, comes Great Responsibility”. What a very powerful statement this is. As Peter takes on the mantle of Spiderman this advice guides him on the path of using his incredible powers in a very responsible manner. However in the real world as we look around us we will see so many examples of unashamed and irresponsible behaviour of powerful people. We don’t have to look far. In the context of our own city and country our corporators and ministers are supposed to be powerful people. They control the huge amount of money that is supposed to provide for public services. One look at our roads, public transport and other public services will convince us that all these public “servants” watched Spiderman only for its entertainment value. They threw away a great chance of understanding the real equation between power and responsibility. As we grow and take on positions of power, we should remember Spidey and more importantly Uncle Ben. Spidey used his powers, not in his self interest but in interest of justice. He used them for protecting and nurturing and not for destruction and control.
Spiderman may very well be fiction, but what he stands for is real stuff of solid substance and that is why he is such a hero to be emulated.
Have a great week!!
I must admit that I love to watch cartoon films………even now :-). Tom and Jerry are my perennial favorites and on a number of occasions Revati and myself are engrossed watching Jerry mouse as he makes Tom run around in circles before knocking him out cold. In my opinion, Tom and Jerry is creativity at its peak.
On the action front Superman and Spiderman are my favorites. Most of you would be aware that Spiderman made a lot of news recently when the movie set new records across the world on the box office and I am sure you took time off to see the movie. One of the most compelling and at the same time touching moments in the film is the death of Uncle Ben.
The very foundation of Spiderman is a statement by uncle Ben “With Great Power, comes Great Responsibility”. What a very powerful statement this is. As Peter takes on the mantle of Spiderman this advice guides him on the path of using his incredible powers in a very responsible manner. However in the real world as we look around us we will see so many examples of unashamed and irresponsible behaviour of powerful people. We don’t have to look far. In the context of our own city and country our corporators and ministers are supposed to be powerful people. They control the huge amount of money that is supposed to provide for public services. One look at our roads, public transport and other public services will convince us that all these public “servants” watched Spiderman only for its entertainment value. They threw away a great chance of understanding the real equation between power and responsibility. As we grow and take on positions of power, we should remember Spidey and more importantly Uncle Ben. Spidey used his powers, not in his self interest but in interest of justice. He used them for protecting and nurturing and not for destruction and control.
Spiderman may very well be fiction, but what he stands for is real stuff of solid substance and that is why he is such a hero to be emulated.
Have a great week!!
Monday, August 1, 2005
When Mumbai goes under water...
Greetings to you this Monday Morning !!
It is 23:55, Sunday Night as I send this out. I am writing this as I sit in a train traveling from Amhedabad to Pune – a journey which usually takes 13 hours, today would be taking over 24 hours. When Mumbai goes under water, you don’t need to be in Mumbai to feel the effects, you could be anywhere in the world. My heart goes out to people in Mumbai who have been severely affected by the unprecedented rains and the least I can do is pray that the rain gods offer respite to Mumbai and offer it SOON. What I went through (along with 14 of my colleagues), in the last 48 hours has been an absolutely wild experience. I definitely want to share this with you, of course provided you have the time to read. The sequence of events that have unfolded in the last 48 hours…
- Friday July 29 – 19:30 pm, Pune Railway Station : 15 of us board the Ahimsa express to Ahmedabad to visit the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute at Gandhinagar for recruitment. The plan is to start the Company presentation at 9:00 am on the next day. As I board the train I hear an announcement. The Mumbai rail link is cut off. The train will be diverted from a different route and may be late. I get worried, but can’t do much.
- Sat, July 30 – 9:00 am, (In the train): We should have started the presentation now- But we discover that we are 10 hours away from Ahmedabad and helpless. We are lucky to be born in an era of mobiles. A few calls and we are able to inform the college about our situation.
- Sat, July 30 – 21:00 hrs, Ahmedabad – Finally we are there, a whooping 12 hours behind schedule. What is really admirable is that nearly ALL students are there, waiting. They will attend the presentation from 21:15 to 22:00 and then they will take a two hour technical test on Computer Science subjects. Commendable.
- Sunday, July 31, 00:30 : My colleagues get down to the work of evaluating the test written by students. We should take an hour…that will be 1:30am when all students will assemble in the hall. At 1:30 am we declare the results… and are off to the hotel to hit the sack.Its been a long day. I look at the watch as I close my eyes. 2:30 am. I have a flight out of Ahmedabad to Mumbai at 7:00 in the morning.
- Sunday, July 31, 5:15 am: The alarm clock jolts me out of sleep. Need to move….Ahmedabad airport is 30 mins away. At 6:00 am, I am at the airport. That’s when the bad news starts coming in. First its only Flights to Mumbai being delayed. The next I hear is the Mumbai airport is closed. But flights will go.
- Sunday, July 31, 11:30 am: Nearly six hours into the wait, I hear the inevitable – All flights to and from Mumbai are cancelled. All rail links to Mumbai are snapped. TV screens are flashing incredible pictures of what is happening in Mumbai. I can’t believe my eyes. Balasaheb Thakery in a boat?. What in the world would be happening to the common man then?. I get back to reality. I need to get to Pune. My option is to take a bus with all my other colleagues in the evening to Pune. I call the travel agency. “The bus sir” he he says “goes through Mumbai”. I am scared now. I call my friends Nikhil Khanapurkar and Vivek Godbole, in Mumbai for an update. “It has been raining throughout the night”, they tell me. Now, even the bus is dangerous. Need a safer alternative.
- Sunday, 12:30 pm (Ahmedabad railway station): I am alone. All my colleagues are working in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. I was anyway not supposed to be there at this time so I have some band width to do something. I need to get 13 train tickets to Pune. Train departs in 4 hours from now. I meet Ismail Sheikh. He Promises to help me get past the long Queus for a nominal fee. I accept the offer. Lady luck smiles on me. I get all tickets – RAC. Should get confirmed soon says the official. “Rs 5600/- Sir”, he says. God, I don’t have that much cash on me. “No problem Sir, Indian Railways accepts VISA”. God bless VISA. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the tickets to be confirmed. I call Rishikesh – “Cancel the bus tickets, we will take the train” I tell him.
- Sunday, 15:30 (Ahmedabad Railway station): Wow, we will finally board the train to Pune. We enter the station……and discover – Train is 4 hours late. Damn. Back to the hotel. Lets get some rest. Two hours later I connect to www.indianrail.gov.in . All 13 tickets are confirmed. Phew !!!
- Sunday, 19:00 (Ahmedabad railway station): The train chugs in the station. We board. Train moves at 19:45. We should be in Pune in 24 hours, hopefully.
When Mumbai halts the country slows down. We in the train are lucky; we at least are getting to go home. In Mumbai, people no longer have homes. Their lives have been washed away by an unbelievable 36 inches of rainfall. They don’t have electricity, drinking water or food. But they are fighting. All they can do is hope……hope that the rain gods will offer respite.Have a great week!! And spare a moment to pray for Mumbai…
It is 23:55, Sunday Night as I send this out. I am writing this as I sit in a train traveling from Amhedabad to Pune – a journey which usually takes 13 hours, today would be taking over 24 hours. When Mumbai goes under water, you don’t need to be in Mumbai to feel the effects, you could be anywhere in the world. My heart goes out to people in Mumbai who have been severely affected by the unprecedented rains and the least I can do is pray that the rain gods offer respite to Mumbai and offer it SOON. What I went through (along with 14 of my colleagues), in the last 48 hours has been an absolutely wild experience. I definitely want to share this with you, of course provided you have the time to read. The sequence of events that have unfolded in the last 48 hours…
- Friday July 29 – 19:30 pm, Pune Railway Station : 15 of us board the Ahimsa express to Ahmedabad to visit the Dhirubhai Ambani Institute at Gandhinagar for recruitment. The plan is to start the Company presentation at 9:00 am on the next day. As I board the train I hear an announcement. The Mumbai rail link is cut off. The train will be diverted from a different route and may be late. I get worried, but can’t do much.
- Sat, July 30 – 9:00 am, (In the train): We should have started the presentation now- But we discover that we are 10 hours away from Ahmedabad and helpless. We are lucky to be born in an era of mobiles. A few calls and we are able to inform the college about our situation.
- Sat, July 30 – 21:00 hrs, Ahmedabad – Finally we are there, a whooping 12 hours behind schedule. What is really admirable is that nearly ALL students are there, waiting. They will attend the presentation from 21:15 to 22:00 and then they will take a two hour technical test on Computer Science subjects. Commendable.
- Sunday, July 31, 00:30 : My colleagues get down to the work of evaluating the test written by students. We should take an hour…that will be 1:30am when all students will assemble in the hall. At 1:30 am we declare the results… and are off to the hotel to hit the sack.Its been a long day. I look at the watch as I close my eyes. 2:30 am. I have a flight out of Ahmedabad to Mumbai at 7:00 in the morning.
- Sunday, July 31, 5:15 am: The alarm clock jolts me out of sleep. Need to move….Ahmedabad airport is 30 mins away. At 6:00 am, I am at the airport. That’s when the bad news starts coming in. First its only Flights to Mumbai being delayed. The next I hear is the Mumbai airport is closed. But flights will go.
- Sunday, July 31, 11:30 am: Nearly six hours into the wait, I hear the inevitable – All flights to and from Mumbai are cancelled. All rail links to Mumbai are snapped. TV screens are flashing incredible pictures of what is happening in Mumbai. I can’t believe my eyes. Balasaheb Thakery in a boat?. What in the world would be happening to the common man then?. I get back to reality. I need to get to Pune. My option is to take a bus with all my other colleagues in the evening to Pune. I call the travel agency. “The bus sir” he he says “goes through Mumbai”. I am scared now. I call my friends Nikhil Khanapurkar and Vivek Godbole, in Mumbai for an update. “It has been raining throughout the night”, they tell me. Now, even the bus is dangerous. Need a safer alternative.
- Sunday, 12:30 pm (Ahmedabad railway station): I am alone. All my colleagues are working in Ahmedabad and Gandhinagar. I was anyway not supposed to be there at this time so I have some band width to do something. I need to get 13 train tickets to Pune. Train departs in 4 hours from now. I meet Ismail Sheikh. He Promises to help me get past the long Queus for a nominal fee. I accept the offer. Lady luck smiles on me. I get all tickets – RAC. Should get confirmed soon says the official. “Rs 5600/- Sir”, he says. God, I don’t have that much cash on me. “No problem Sir, Indian Railways accepts VISA”. God bless VISA. I am keeping my fingers crossed for the tickets to be confirmed. I call Rishikesh – “Cancel the bus tickets, we will take the train” I tell him.
- Sunday, 15:30 (Ahmedabad Railway station): Wow, we will finally board the train to Pune. We enter the station……and discover – Train is 4 hours late. Damn. Back to the hotel. Lets get some rest. Two hours later I connect to www.indianrail.gov.in . All 13 tickets are confirmed. Phew !!!
- Sunday, 19:00 (Ahmedabad railway station): The train chugs in the station. We board. Train moves at 19:45. We should be in Pune in 24 hours, hopefully.
When Mumbai halts the country slows down. We in the train are lucky; we at least are getting to go home. In Mumbai, people no longer have homes. Their lives have been washed away by an unbelievable 36 inches of rainfall. They don’t have electricity, drinking water or food. But they are fighting. All they can do is hope……hope that the rain gods will offer respite.Have a great week!! And spare a moment to pray for Mumbai…
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