Category: Personal Reflections

I used to fancy myself as an “amatuer” artist, until one day when one of my oldest friends, (and he is quite old), took the wind out, by letting me know that my paintings suck. So there ended my tryst with painting as I downgraded my rating from “amatuer painter” to “attempted painter”. So when this harsh critic commented positively about these TidBits it surely was a shot in the arm or rather fingers to start typing.

These are indeed harsh times. What once was status symbol i.e owning a Blackberry, today is down to the last alphabet “Z” trying hard to awake the interest of customers who have gone to sleep amidst all the zzzz…Z10, Z20, Z30 etc etc.

Stock Markets seem to be taking small baby steps almost as if trying to avoid a major fall by rising too high…falls do hurt…especially for amatuer investors like me. I wonder, who has my money? It baffles me, who takes it, bloody thieves…this is daylight robbery. Good that the Stock Exchange remains closed during night.

Asaram has been granted time to cool off his libido behind bars or maybe to allow for the heat to cool off.

Ranbaxy has made a remarkable drug to rejuvenate hair growth, it is so effective that even the tablets have started sprouting hair…

Rupee continues to remain weak despite all the varied treatment…ending with a Get Well Soon message.

I think i will practice and try to hone my skills. Always good to keep options open. With the Economy wavering like an withered old leaf, and Rupee joing the para club and extending its free fall, it is always better to have options. I cannot defy Whipple and lie about my age and prove George Chandler Whipple wrong.

Ganeshji as he departed seems to have answered the prayers and departed leaving a upbeat rupee and soaring sensex. Hope that the sensex gives a fillip and we get to hear good things about the economy as well. Somehow I could never corelate the two. How can SENSEX determine the economic growth ? It definitely is a misnomer, or maybe not. I am no expert so I would refrain from treading in this uncharted area.

Apple continues to make life difficult for die hard Apple Fans by continuing to name new products with names that are confusing. The iPad, The New iPad, The Newer iPad, and iPhone 5, 5s, 5b…etc.

Iran is now exploring new business opportunities. $500000 is the ransom demand for releasing the Indian Oil Tanker. Business diversification…life after when there is no more oil to sell ?

And Syria wants to join the Nuclear & Chemical Ban Treaty….maybe the change of heart comes after having tested its futility…

‘If you spend all your time dwelling on what’s due to happen next, you lose your ability to appreciate the full value of all that’s happening right now!’

The Father of the Nation, took up cudgels against the might of the British, with a series of well defined strategies. Non-cooperation, civil disobedience, non-tolerance of subjugating to the British. All these were quite successful and justified in that era. We certainly seem to have carried that legacy in a more lethaly modified version. A rather innocuous remark is enough to trigger the “demon” of intolerance, enough to batter the “offender” brutally. Enough to trigger “communal” violence. We will not allow a particular genre of music to be played citing “religious” reasons. Is God really divided up there too? If yes then it would be mayhem out there as well.

Even in our personal lives we have become quite intolerant. Between Husbands & Wives, Siblings, relations, Friends etc etc. We react almost immediately in this era of intolerance. Express anger vehemently and clash. There is no room for patience. It is an situation which would affect our social system. One of the very first things that was taught in Civics, was that “Man is a social animal….the “social” tag seems to be on very thin ice. Why just India, the story is same across the World.

Could not help wondering about the transformation in our expectationsfrom the Almighty. In the past prayers were offered during festivals for peace & blessings. Today we spend hundreds of crores and seek blessings of diety to improve the “economy”, most definitely the need of the hour. We must also thank the Ex-PM Late. Shri. P.V. Narasimha Rao & the present PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, for opening up the Economy and creating the awareness. Today, even the street hawker, laments the downward trend in the economic growth.

Ego clash may have cost us one more medal in the last Olympics. Leander Paes has proved how wrong the Managers of the Lawn Tennis Association managed. But who cares !!

Best Wishes on Ganesh Chaturthi.

Just the other day a simple innocous question asked by one of my friends set me off deliberating. What am I passionate about ? Am I following what my heart and mind desires ? Now on the veneer it would seem to be quite an easy to answer question, but when I looked deeply I was not quite sure. I have managed to create and run a fairly successful small business, and as a first generation entrepreneur I can safely say that it was the passion to achieve something that set me going. Yes for 15 years I have labouriously slogged to get to where I am today. But is it what I really wanted to do or was it merely following the Darwanian theory of survival et all.

Reflecting back I am not quite sure. Have I been in control of my life thus far or has life driven me on its own charted growth with me being just a passenger. My early years were never charted of that I am pretty certain. I managed to finist schooling in a stream which was not my forte at all. However, after that I switched to a subject which was again everything but out of choise. Then the decision to join the Armed Forces was never a greatly deliberated one. After going through the motions of the Training obtaining a commission, and deciding within the first year itself that I would stay on only for the stipulated period of 5 years.

I think the first deliberated choice that I made was when I decided to become an entrepreneur. Yes besides the usual rollicking of the life in the Army, this was one decision that set me going. There were the usual troughs and crests but all through the tempest of establishment I enjoyed doing what I was doing for the first time in my life. The usual transformational changes have taken place and the need to be creative and keep creating new vistas and avenues is what I am truly passionate about. I would want to take my chances. I have never gambled in the conventional sense but I feel that I have been gambling with life all this while. Taking chances …

Last evening I met up with some of my mates from my Army days. Some especially close as we have shared quite a few memories besides stuff. The comradeship continues to this day without any abberation whatsoever. I sometimes do wonder as to why is there this stark difference between how we bond in the uniformed world and in the civy street. Even though there is fierce competition within the same motley group but the spirit of the term coursemates is just as significant. Anyway not to dwell too much as my idealist mate in the group woudl want to profess an equally opposite view sheathed in sarcasm. But it does feel good to let the hair down once in a while. And yes now that we are past caring for the triviliaties.

Just as well, if producing legislation alone produced civilized societies, India would most certainly be the envy of the World. Over the years since Independence India has become a Sovereign, Socialist and secular Republic. Apart from cramming for reproduction in the score sheet so as to secure high grades what exactly is the meaning of these words. How many of us would be able to explain ! It would seem that we tried to encaptulate the ideal state as envisaged by Plato without really going into the details of how it would eventually turn out. Our Law makers did use Plato as the role model in drafting. He wrote THE REPUBLIC and LAWS. He was preceded by two others, Solon, the lawgiver who gifted Athens Democracy, and Draco, from whose tough laws we get the adjective DRACONIAN. Plato did examine and modified what his predecessors had drafted.

Despite being surrounded by comfort, people continue to be unhappy. Is personal fulfillment so difficult to achieve ? While discussing some of these aspects an intresting theory was put forth by a very close and dear friend. An idealist that he is, he talked about the power of the sub-conscious. What is the difference between the power of the mind and the power of the sub-conscious. What or who controls what ? I have always read that Mind is the most powerful transmittor which has been the basis of all the man made subsequent radio or transmission related inventions and discoveries. Is there a difference between the sub-conscious and the power of the mind. What controls what. When we think about achieving everlasting peace and happiness, we should always turn to the lives of the great prophets, saints and mystics. In every age, they existed and despite facing a multitude of challenges and opposition, they managed to live in a state of peace and bliss.

We have to get to a stage where we realize the more we have or own will never give us any true satisfaction. True happiness is in being satisfied with whatever we have. But then the mind is always putting desires into us. Meditation would help in controlling and quitening the Mind. If that be so then the mind can be brought under control. The sub-conscious would certainly help in achieving this aim. The path to connect with oneself is within. We often wonder that with billions and billions of souls floating does God have the wherewithal to track and monitor each, but then yes, God is within each one of us, in the form of the sub-conscious. The inner voice – we have just got to learn the techniques of how to rise above body consciousness…….

We often cite numerous reasons and obstacles that prevent us from moving forward and achieving our goals whatever they may be. All of these obstacles, though, pale into insignificance when we compare them to the greatest barrier a human being can ever encounter. Self doubt! If we don’t believe in ourselves, we will never get anywhere. And if we do, there is no hurdle we cannot conquer.

It is the beginning of the end. To be ground to ashes, and from it to be reborn. The allegory of the Phoenix has always been held in awe. When this experience was depicted in one of the Harry Porter Movies it came quite close to imagination. But what remains to be seen is whether the energy to rebuild would exist. Have been living in a glass capsule for quite some time. It is rather fragile and suddenly as you look the fear creeps in. Seems to have been a fantasy – a long long dream, long enough to become a nightmare.

How do you measure the factor of “doing well”. It is only what others see from the outside !! And it generally has no factual credibility. It surely is going to be a long and harsh Winter, as preparations begin for boarding up and begin the process of shut down. There are NO gurantees in Business. The success of one venture cannot be used as a platform of success for another. You have to do something. No One effort would be successful. A variety of efforts are required.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Why can we not be like the birds. Twittering around without any care – free – free from all the worries and tensions. Not a care except to peck on some food when hungry, and dip into some water when thirsty. Why God, what did we do wrong?

What we see today is a collage of mad scramble, intolerance, anger, frustration an all in all chaos. The situation in varying degrees is similar throughout the entire World. Where is it all leading to – ultimately to a chaotic explosion.

– Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Location:Dehradun

The other day I received one of those inspirational messages, on how to learn to let go of the branches and soar into the sky. In the same vein, I had met one of my old Army buddy, who had an idea and also seemed reasonably confident of his idea. I suggested that we should try to realize this plan and create a Company where both of us can be investors. The entire enthusiasm died down in an instance and was replaced by excuses.

I have had similar experiences with prospective “ENTREPRENEURS” who despite nursing ambitions, did not actually want to actually let go of the branch. Entrepreneurs with Risk Insurance. Yes a majority of us given an opportunity would like to get “free” and soar into the open skies, but do not want to take any risk. It simply is impossible to have a completely win-win situation.

Over the past 12 years, since i started my business, I have encountered many such cases. Some who had dithered at that point (when the risk was all mine), would not mind taking a comfortable risk as on date.

Expressing and voicing my own thoughts and views. Tried it sometime back. Wish to do it more often now on…..