Back 2 My Roots !

I was holding this thoughts for quite sometime, but with a definite purpose. Next week, I am joining back my home organization - getting back to my roots! The organization that has had a positive significance on me, The organization where I started my 1st job, The organization that has a long lasting emotional bond on me, The organization where I learnt, The organization where I grew up, The organization that has made me what I am today, The organization that's more like my second home, The organization that gave me some wonderful set of friends,peers and supervisors.

The prime reason for this move; is the kind of emotional bondage that still pulled me back into the organization. Rather I should say that, it was a kind of feeling that I was not able to come out of it. I understood that having spent close to 9yrs in an organization, that too your very first organization - its was extremely difficult for me to come out of that relationship. After changing my job, I realized that the emotional ties within me dominated my actions to a very large extent and I had very minimal control over it. In fact, at the end of the 2nd month I lost my humour,at the end of the 4th, I started getting depressed and then I felt as if I had left one half of me in my previous organization. Think this was the breaking point for me and I got in touch with my well wishers there to see if there are any good opportunities for me. I was just driven by my instinct and purely followed my heart. Nothing more and nothing less!

Finally a good opportunity came in my way and I decided to take it up with an open mind. I also understood that the kind of passion and attachment that you have towards your organization, is the key factor that determines the depth and breadth of your learning and contribution towards your organization. If you miss that attachment towards your organization, then you can only be an outer winner and not an inner winner. You might successful, but not satisfied. Having worked so long with an organization, I missed it very badly.

When I sit back,reflect and contemplate the series of events - I think somewhere I messed it up due to the vulnerability of my age, lack of maturity and certain other support systems I did not have.Emotionally it was very difficult accept the disconnect. Every step I took,every move I made, every method I implemented,- I realized that my home organization has dominated my thoughts,actions,feelings and emotions. It's been hard for me to come in terms with the reality- that I have joined another organization.

Though the time I spent in my new organization helped me to learn and deploy aspects of Agile and Scrum, interact with some high profile customers,doing my bit of presales,but still I was missing something. So, I am now going back to get that satisfaction back into my stream and thoughts.

Couple of people know to me, told me that probably I am making an emotional decision of going back to my previous organization. But to me, I am just following my heart and I just want to learn from my mistakes and keep improving. That's it!
But I definitely enjoyed this process and it's a been a different kind of learning experience for me.

To be or not to be Saurav Ganguly!

One of the recent events that has caused me a certain level of discomfort is - Saurav Ganguly's decision to retire from the International Cricket Space. His outbursts and emotions are very much warranted and understandable. Though, I am not a lover of Saurav as a player, I really respect him for all his leadership capabilities. He is a tremendous leader with a sense of vision and an excellent motivator. After Kapil, Saurav is someone who stood for his mates and who gets down with his views upright. He is NOT just a captain, but a true LEADER. He is the one and probably the only one, who brought in that aggresive spirit into the Indian Team. He is the one, who made others to stop for a moment and take a look into the spirit of the Indan team. If the youngsters in the team today are performing well, it definitely has a great bearing on Saurav.

He really backed the youngsters,embraced failures,encouraged them to take risks,stood by them and helped them to evolve as an individual. He continuously helped the team to build their physical and emotional infrastructure. If the youngsters like Shewag,Harbhajan,Yuvraj,Kaif,Zaheer,Nehra etc are dominating the game today - it is ONLY due to the tremendous backing and support they got from Saurav. He was a real leader who gave the sense of freedom and motivation to his mates. He even backed Rahul and Sachin during their difficult times.
Another aspect, that I admire about Saurav - is that he gave back something to the opposition, whenever they rubbed India in the wrong way. Be it Flintoff,Ponting - they had to be given a taste of their own medicine and Saurav had the guts to do it.

But it was disappointing to see him, being treated shabily due to the board politics - starting with the Greg Chappell's episode. What was more disgusting was the fact that - they guys who were there in the team today(due credit to Saurav), didn't come to support his cause. That's the way, people are in today's world(or in today's India?). Definitely Saurav will be remembered as one of the greatest captain's of this era and he also displayed his resilience to the entire world- by making the greatest comeback in the history of cricket. If the other cricketing nations, fear India today - it's largely due to Saurav's leadership abilities and the aggressive spirit that he has instilled into every cell of the Indian Team.

Rise Above The Ashes !!!

Sep 6th is a very important day in my life. That was the day, I joined Alcatel and took up my 1st job. But this sep 6th 2008; I was not a part of Alcatel anymore. Yes; definitely feeling nostalgic, but that's how life is. I have understood that I had to move on and raise above my discomfort and uncertanity.

If you are now living in the lowest status of life, a life that always has a storm, great disappointments and failures, don't be discouraged and worry my friend. You can rise, Rise Above the Ashes!

Yes, you can rise above the ashes for you are destined to be a conqueror of this world.The Loving God gave you the power of choice to choose and to live the ideal life that you want. Therefore, stop wasting your time living a mediocre life. Learn to stand once again and prove to the world that you are a "dare to fail" individual who cannot be easily swayed and cannot be easily discouraged by the challenges of life.Beginning today, tag yourself with a higher price. Dream a big dream. Think a big plan for your life and make a firm resolution to dare mighty things to make your plan into reality.To achieve your dreams, always work hard with definite purpose and don't ever think of backsliding because the world cannot be won with a doubtful spirit.So, move on and don't ever give up!Always motivate your mind to have faith and believe in yourself. Remember, the larger your faith, the smaller your fears. The great your trust, the lesser your doubts. The stronger your beliefs, the weaker your worries. Therefore, keep your faith and believe in yourself for it will guide, help and bring you to the door of success!

If the time comes and the sparks tempt you to give up and go back to the life of mediocrity, remind yourself with these words... My Loving God balances my life by giving me enough blessings to keep me happy, enough failures to keep me humble and enough trials to keep me strong in the challenges of life. Therefore, I will face these tests of life with an open-mind, enthusiasm, persistence, and determination that once again, I can rise! Rise Above the Ashes!

Finally, remember my friend, that the Loving God helps those who help themselves! Good Luck to your Journey in Life!
(PS: This message is extracted from www.Motivateus.com)

Friendship Day !

August 3rd is celebrated as Friendship day. My thanks to all my friends, I have come across. Thanks for being such a good friend and extending your support,help and wishes. It's been great to have you into my life. Have a great friendship day.
Wishing you and your family lot of good health,happiness and luck in the years to come!

One info that I would like to share at this moment :

August 1st 2008 marked - 100 days of continuous communication(on a daily basis) by Amitabh to his readers via his blog. There was so much to learn from him.

Inspite of his gruelling schedules,illhealth,travelling,shooting,recording,promos,meeting,acting,discussing,time with family...his sense of commitment to reflect his thoughts on a daily basis for 100 days non-stop is something amazing. This is a true reflection of his time management and loads of energy that he has in store. From him - the best lessons that I learnt is : There is always time in a day to do everything; if you are attached to it!

To top all of it; he finds time not to just write his own blog, but also reads the invidual comments from the readers and replies to them. True sense of commitment, isn't it?

Happy Friendship Day!

Enroute to hell !

Time and again; I see a very bad sight of leghorn chickens, carried upside down- tied(in a large numbers) to the handlebars of the cycle and the rear parts of the scooter/bike. It's a very sorry sight to see how animals are treated in the most cruel fashion in our country.
It's clear that these chickens are taken to be killed; but let's treat them with some respect on their way to hell!

Most of chickens, get burn from the heat that gets generated from the 2 wheeler silencer and worst, they passively inhale the harmful gases like CO as well. Some of them even hit the ground when the 2 wheeler guy takes a heroic turn and some chicken heads and legs gets damaged in the cycle spokes and tyres.

The only way to stop such cruelty to animals is to practice vegetarianism. Break the deman and supply chain - when there is no demand for these chickens/animals, atleast then will we treat them as a fellow being - with due respect which they deserve?

The Art of Parenting !

Today I was at myself, dropping and bringing back Arjuun from his playschool(Seeds at Adyar). Whenever I go to his school to drop him in the morning; I feel a bit uncomfortable to leave him and come back. At times; when I am about to enter the school gate - I feel like taking him back home. Then I shake my head and watch Arjuun for sometime(without his notice, until he gets settled) and then I come back home. Watching the kids play,connect , interact and communicate really provides me a lot of inputs on how develop the art of parenting.

1) As a parent we should help the kids to add life to their years; rather than adding years to life.

2) Adding life to years is Growing ; adding years to your life is Ageing. We should help them to grow and be open to learn new dimensions from them.

3) We should also help the kids to understand - Whenever they make a choice; they also choose the consequences that come with that choice. If we are able to get this message to the kids in the right way - then it will help them to make their independent decision.

4) Every man needs a good female friend and every female needs a good male friend. I am not talking about the spouse here! So often this aspect is missed and neglected. This generation kids should be sensitive to this fact and should build on this.

I havee read in many books that for a female - it is very difficult to get a true friend(male or female) and if they are able to get hold of a true male friend, they are extremely blessed and it helps them to a great extent in their life. Females who have true male friends have achieved a lot in their life and they are extremely satisfied and content.
It makes them a real inner winner.

5) As a parent, another important attribute that we must exhibit to the kids is acceptance. They should be willing to accept the fact that life is always not fair and they will have to face the downs. Once they learn this acceptance - they can generate intelligence and creativity from this acceptance to help them overcome adverse situations.

6) Subroto has stated in his book Go kiss the world that ' The job of real leaders is to continuously build infrastructures - Physical,Intellectual and Emotional '.

I think the job of a parent is to continuously build that emotional infrastructure. What do you think?

Lessons Learnt from Go KISS THE WORLD !

Yesterday, I completed the book written by Subroto and today I registered my feedback and wishes to Subroto(in his blog site) for coming out with such a book that adds a lot of value to the life of every professional(IT or non-IT).

Some key take aways for me are the following:

1) Open your mind before you open your mouth - Many times I have never done this in my personal and professional life. Life will be so much better and happy we are able to practice this.
2) When you make a choice; you also choose the consequences that come with the choice.
3) To get; you must first give.
4) Self doubt is positive.
5) Frustration is always a function of your ambition and your capability.

Frustration = f(Ambition - Capability).

High performance achievers set very high standards for themselves and for others. The also expect others to follow that - which will not happen in many cases. Hence they get frustrated easily, because of their inability to change the system. So to reduce our frustration levels, we have only 2 choices - Reduce your ambition or enhance your capability levels.

6) Practice humility and simplicity.
7) Great leaders do not emerge out of brilliance; but out of resilience.
8) Connect with people.
9) Passion always takes you higher.
10) Give importance to small people down the line - Pleasing your boss is not important, but making your team member comfortable and happy is very important.
11) Life is all about constant negotiation in every sphere and there is nothing to feel bad about this.
12) Money is not the source of happiness.
13) Look beyond yourself - try to see the pain of others.
14) Forgive yourself and others for the mistakes.
Finally,
15) It's all in the mind and mind only !

Thank you Subroto for this book and more for the lessons that I learnt from your priceless masterpiece.

Go Kiss the World !

The above words are not mine; but I am able to relate to them very easily. These were the last words of Subroto Bagchi's Mother - so motivating and powerful; that it made him to discover a great company called "Mind Tree". Infact I am now reading this book written by Subroto Bagchi. Half way through this book; I find myself at a bit of crossroads. I recently did come out of Alcatel( organization that I was working for the last 8.5yrs) and joined another organization.

But at this point of time; I am finding it very difficult to disconnect from Alcatel.Every step I take, every move I make, every method I implement, every individual I interact - I have realized that Alcatel has dominated my thoughts,actions,feelings and emotions. It's been hard for me to come interms with the reality- that I have now joined another organization. Even when I am exchanging greetings with others; I still tell them I work for Alcatel. Then somewhere my mind rings a bell to ask - " Are you still with Alcatel"?

I don't know why this is going through my mind- May be Alcatel was my 1st job, was with the organization for the last 8.5yrs, was more like a 2nd home,excellent mix of people,great teams to work with,wonderful leaders who had a great vision to see the invisible,great friends,positive culture and motivating environment. I also started my career there and progressively evolved with the organization.

After I started reading the book written by Subroto; the question that comes to my mind is the following :

Did I make a mistake by coming out of Alcatel? May be yes, may be not? Could be due to the vulnerability of my age, my maturity(or the lack of it) and certain other support systems I did not have when I made the decision. Should I have been talked into by somebody?
I really don't know and don't have an answer to these questions that keeps coming back at me in a hard way. But if I had make a mistake - I don't feel bad to accept that and learn from my mistake. Emotionally- it's been a down for me( I wouldn't say an up); I take these lessons as part of my learning curve and move forward.
Do I have a choice? For whatever decision I have made - I can blame nobody else, but me and me only.

When I left Alcatel; I wanted to learn six sigma? This was the core reason. I am very much doing that and infact more learning interms of Agile,Scrum etc. But at the same time, I have very much understood that there is another angle that enhances the breadth of your learning - which is the attachment,respect and passion that you have towards your organization? Did I miss this angle somewhere? Is it a irreversible miss?

Though workwise,I do not see an issue - emotionally yes, I am finding it hard to seperate myself from Alcatel. It's a continuous battle between my mind and heart. I will have to wait and see who wins the battle?

Back after a long time!

I am back into this after a long time and this time it's special - bcos Arjuun is just sitting on my lap and giving me instructions on how I shud go thro with this post. Special thanks to Shiva for helping me to come terms with my blog. I very well know that my blog was almost dead for the last couple of months; due to certain variety of reasons. I will be more frequent from now on. Not in a position to complete my write up today;since Arjuun is not allowing me to proceed further.

Want to post some thoughts on change management aspects; will do so tomorrow. Until then take care and have fun. Arjuun says a big HI to all of you !

No Time 2 Blog !

I am back to this space after a very looooooooooong time,more than 2 months infact. Honestly speaking,I was just on my toes for the last couple of months due to a variety of changes. Yes,change - The change so far has been good,tough and has pumped in a lot of learning. Overall it was constructive and has my opened my risk taking abilities.

- Change in my job.
- Change in my work culture.
- Change of environment.
- Change of people.
- Change in work location.
- Change in my mode of travelling.
- Change in the distance that I need to commute(daily).
- Change in my attitude.
- Change in my thinking.
- Change in my daily routines.
- Change in my health patterns.
- Change in my weight.
- Change in my hobbies.
- Change in my work life balance.
- Change in my working methods.
- Change in my learning rate.
- Change in my communication management.
- Change in my blogging patterns.

In my new company, there are certain policies which prevents the individual from blogging using IDs that has extensions like yahoo,gmail etc.Since I also do not have a net connection at home,I really cudn't accomodate a specific time slot for my blog.Hence it just went out off track.
So it's time for me to get a net connection at home.

One aspect that I have realized after changing my job, is that the change process helps an individual to come in terms with new opportunities and challenges. It just enhances an individual's risk taking possibilities and makes him/her more confident,competetive and aggressive in the market. This is what I have experienced.

I still do not know,if the change is good or bad - I am just going through it at the moment. But I should say it is definitely constructive and opens up a new dimension. You now get a feeling that you are no longer swimming inside a tumbler and the whole world is open for you to explore,learn and contribute.

I would say that even if you are contemplating for a challenging change, go for it - it is only a temporary feeling/phase.As an individual it helps you to learn,experience and appreciate the change management process that life has in store for you. At the end it helps you to accept and come out of the challenge with more zeal,enthusiasm and diverse experience/learning.

Love that has broken all the Boundaries !!!

Yesterday, in the news paper I read the article about the return of the Indian Prisoner named Kashmir Singh from Pakistan, after a looooong 35yrs in jail. Kashmir Singh was arrested by the pakistan authorities on the charges of spying 35 years back(He was 30yrs at the time of his arrest). His wife Paramjit Kaur, was just 25yrs when he was arrested and until today she is eagerly waiting for him. 35yrs gruelling years has passed away and Paramjit Kaur is now 60 and her husband is 65.

Parmajit Kaur has taken care of her mother-in-law till her last moment, until she passed away in december 2007. Paramjit Kaur is now waiting on the border to have her husband after 35yrs. She has expressed that she is very much apprehensive of the emotions that she will go through since she was just 25yrs and her husband was just 30yrs, when he was arrested.

I was really moved when I read this. What a sense of true sacrifice from Paramjit Kaur. She has lived a life that has broken all the boundary's of true love.

Her love is truely unconditional that was full of hope,patience,optimism,strength,
lonliness,trust,caring,attitude and what not..... I just don't have the words to express.

But definitely she has shown to the world what LOVE is all about.Her love is just spontaneous and
real that is beyond sex,comfort,money,expectations,luxury,property,security,
sharing,togetherness,relationship and opportunities.

I pray to god to give Paramjit Kaur and her husband all the good health,wealth,happiness and prosperity in the years to come. Finally, true love will always create a WIN - WIN !!!

IPL : High Profile Cash Cow !

Indian Premier League(IPL) auctions that were held couple of days back, really saw some big names being auctioned for heavy cash. IPL was launched by BCCI, as an opposition to the ICL but I am not sure if it is doing good to the spirit of cricket.

International Cricket League(ICL) was promoted by Kapil Dev to develop and nurture the talent of the players who were not provided opportunities by BCCI. Then it was backed up by many senior players like Sandip Patil,Madan Lal etc whose skills and talents were not utilized by BCCI. ICL atleast provided a good platform for these players and coaches to contribute back something to cricket and at the same time earn some money. But it did not spoil the spirit of cricket and the value of the players.

IPL was then launched with the sole intention of hitting back at the ICL and they found a very good means of making more money by involving the business men and cinema stars. By this way BCCI has made huge sum of profits and has opened a new door for rich people to become richer and richer.

- High profile film stars and business men has used this as a good avenue to invest their black money and buy out the teams.
- They very well know that they can make huge profits here without too many risks from marketing,ads,sponsorships,selling the coverage rights and having some star players in their team.
- Also for the players it's a good money making proposition.

But finally is IPL really helping the spirit of cricket? or is it all out to attack ICL
and confirm it's monopoly in India. This is a huge question mark? But
only the common man and cricket fans are bothered about this -Neither BCCI/IPL nor the players/stars?

It's time for a Change !

I was always interested in the dynamics of change management, bcos I firmly believe that any change is always good. It opens you up to a completely different environment, learning,development, perspective,people and thought process. After 8 yrs of my association with Alcatel -Lucent, I have put down my papers inorder to pursue new career opportunities. It was a very difficult decision for me to take, but I had to take it at this point of time inorder to enhance my learning curve. This will take me out of my comfort zone and will expose me to a new positive environment.

- In that way, 2008 has given me a good start to move forward.
- 2007 was a stabilization period for me, with lots of fun and love with Arjuun.
- 2006 was bad, bcos I went through a personal crisis. I came out of it only in the year end and it took yr 2007 to stabilize and come back in control.
- 2005 was the best of all, with my son Arjuun coming into my life.

From my learning, I now believe that we should be able to embrace any change with a lot of positive energy and this will help us to move forward successfully in life.