Why do we need sports in life

Been a long time that I've blogged, but felt I should record it.

Over the weekend, after a hard fought Nilaa's volleyball game, I was having a conversation with her coach and the conversation turned to why did Nilaa get to a sport. He had his reasons, but mine was, sports is very much a good medium that builds an attitude for life. He was like, how so? Sports allows us to be in the real. It doesn't matter what your previous point was, you have to get back to reality to face the next ball. And it puts you in the moment. He was like, this is a good perspective.

This is exactly what I used to tell both my girls. Learn that attitude from sport! I still practice to get out at least once a week even after 40, is just to practice to be in the moment. 

Sports gives you attitude!! Allows you to practice CAP Of life. Committement, Attitude, Passion!!

So get out and give yourselves an exposure to a sport and most importantly to your kids!

Possibility from Probability

 Just a random thought...

Can possibility and probability co-exist? While in theory, it is not possible, I think in reality all of us are a real good example of them. 

Let's look at it simply. We are one in a billion which is allowed by an egg, That is the probability. From there on, here we are a possibility. If that tiny little sperm can beat all odds and bring us into reality, what can we not acheive?

All of us are born acheivers! It is just that we need to keep it going!

Regards,
Raj.

Lesson from Tides and Sun.

Last month, at dawn, on a Chennai beach resort, I happened to be sipping a coffee in a relaxed fashion and watching the Sun rise over Bay of Bengal!

I was seeing this beautiful work of Universe/Galaxy/Mother Earth in play. As serene and calming it was, this is what was stuck with me on how arrogant or in one sense igonorant, we have all become.

What do tides teach us? Perseverance: They keep trying every moment to breach the shore. They never give up!

What does Sun teach us? Hope: Each day Sun comes (I know earth rotates and not Sun) back with a hope that we will get better and not giving up on us, giving us another chance.

Imagine, if the tides succeed and/or Sun gives up! It is destruction! That is how fragile we are as the potentially only conscience in this universe, at least at this point!

The lesson I took from that morning is, keep hoping and persevere! If we lose hope and don't keep trying, life ends!

Regards,

Raj.

Integrity undefined

There was a question on Integrity in one of the conversations I was having with my friends. Not sure if I read it somewhere, but, here was what I said as my definition.

Integrity is not about doing something right when someone is watching, but it is about not doing the wrong thing when none is watching! Meaning, doing the right thing, being the right thing at all times! Is it possible? I believe yes! If we are true to ourselves, I think we can!!

Regards,
Raj.

What is Lust?

Most often than not, people tend to portray lust as a very dangerous, derogatory, unwanted, unneeded and unpleasant factor. Especially relating to Humans.

In my view, lust is the most misunderstood and misrepresented term and only defined from the view of sexual desires within the confines of physical pleasure. Little does anyone acknowledge that without lust this world wouldn't even grow. Let's try dissecting my statement. If lust is something that attracts opposite genders physically, that's a bee does to a flower, which creates pollination turning a flower into a fruit and in turn giving us seeds to have more trees! Likewise, a male-female attraction is what allowed to world to blossom into what it is now! And that attraction was fair and square because of lust, how can that be scary than being sacred!  

Not sure how and when every culture started disrespecting lust. But in tamil literature, to be very specific our own Thiruvalluvar defines all of his kurals under categories. அறத்துப்பால் (pronounced as Arathupaal meaning Morality), பொருட்பால் (pronounced as porutpaal meaning Material), காமத்துப்பால் (pronounced as Kaamathupaal meaning desires and Kaamam alone translates to lust); 3rd one being what we are speaking about. If Valluvar defined it as one of the main elements/pillars of your life, it has to be important. After all, all of tamil literature references back to Thirukkural! 

Over the course of time, Lust from being one important element of life to, being the most dangerous element, I think, the humans made it into that! 

So in all, my perspective, Lust is like every other emotion, feeling and also the most basic instinct that any living being has. There should be no shame in admitting to that!

Regards,

Raj.

Employee Engagement

In today's corporate world there are a lot of initiatives that are run for improving their employee engagement index. Somewhere, I think there is a disconnect on what it means to the employee. In my view, I think, the more often than not, the whole discussion of Employee engagement for some strange but valid reasons are revolving around fun, outing, lunch, family and so on. I feel it is absolutely necessary, however, in my view it just probably 10% of it.

The other 90% is all about (not in any particular order). There could be many more to this list as well.

• line of sight (how do I contribute to overall organization’s goals)
• how employees feel valued (rewards, recognition, appreciation)
• am I listened (skip levels, luncheons)?
• how my mistakes are received (encouragement to be innovative, am I shielded by my manager)?
• how is my team environment (support from my peers, friends)
• how secured do I feel about my company’s prospects (any press release or rumors within market)?
• am I respected for what I’m (Manager treating everyone equitably)?
• do I have a work environment where I can contribute (training's/support system)?
• does my manager care about me and my well being (professionally and also personally)?
• am I learning constantly (new challenge)?
• are my ideas received well (or at least not ridiculed)?
• have I grown (career progression, new role)?

These all directly relate to the immediate manager on how he/she manages his team mates. How well has a manager enabled, respected, trusted, challenged, motivated, related, empathized with his/her direct report is what it matters. The manager's leadership styles, character, personality and most importantly honesty and integrity of the manager matter a lot. And as one of my friend said, there is no specific formula for Employee Engagement and it cannot be generalized, for all we know, even the above factors may mean different to different individuals. 

It is also all about those intangible emotions like passion, pride, honesty, integrity, commitment, respect, trust and so on and these have to be exhibited by the manager first and which will trickle down to the team. These can never be measured with numbers!

To me, Employee Engagement starts and stops with the immediate manager! It is a huge responsibility on the manager's shoulders to keep an employee feeling engaged and have him/her motivated to be committed to the organization, particularly in these trying times that we have put ourselves in!

- Raj

CAP for Life.....

A lot of times, I've heard people talking about productivity, ability and capability and how to improve these.

To me, these are a bit abstract terms and are very dependent on a lot of other factors.

Rather than talking about people's views on these terms/factors, I would state what my understanding and belief are how to achieve these and what people should worry about or concentrate on to improve them. Here is what I call CAP of life.


C - I would work on the commitment of a person than his/her capability. I know that capability, while it can be improved, I feel that it depends on a person's COMMITMENT towards that. If we do not have a commitment towards a certain cause, I would say, no matter what capability we have within ourselves we would never be able to achieve that cause.

A - If I were to groom a person in my team, I would not worry about hi/hers ability much. I would rather look deep into his/her attitude on life! No matter what your ability is, if you do not have the right attitude, you are as good as nothing. Attitude can be changed and with that ones ability to perform to the expectations enhances! So let us concentrate on our ATTITUDE and ability will follow.

P - Productivity. This of course is probably dependent on Ability and Capability of an individual. So one has to have the attitude and commitment to improve him/herself. However, what's so more important is the PASSION he/she has towards the cause. Without PASSION, nothing goes on in life! I keep telling my team the below. 

Cleaning shit or having sex, do it with passion for it defines whether you are doing a shitty job or a sexy job.
With Passion - a sexy job in cleaning shit; Without passion - A shitty job in having sex!
(forgive my choice of words)


My thought - Without COMMITMENT, ATTITUDE and PASSION, nothing moves on in life!

- Raj

Charity at Work!

I know almost all of us do this one called Charity.
After all, what the parents gave us is in itself Charity. Almost all, does give a lot satisfaction; Be it on the road, be it a cheque to an organization, be it for your maids and so. Because all these will give a sense thankfulness back be it immediate or be it late. And we know that deep down in the heart.

But there is one charity that you know deep down in your heart that it is betrayal. That is actions and help that you do at your job which benefits others either by ourselves or by themselves like by grabbing attention, claiming that they did it, sidelining people, politics and so on. It happens day in and day out and mostly by people whom we know. I know it really takes a lot of character to remain afloat when these things happen continuously and when you lack the support from your management, but then, that is the key! That is your character! Do not change it! 

And deep down we know it is after all charity and charity is supposed to give us a good life! 
And deep down we know betrayals ruin life!

So all betrayals, take it as a charity from you! Do not change your character, most importantly do no move away from being charitable! Giving is really good thing! Only people who give know the satisfaction out. It doesn't matter if you were fooled or you did it on your own! You are giving! Keep doing it.

One day, life will show the fruits of it, it will be sweet for you and ripe for the ones who betrayed! And for the ones who received it sweet, we will always enjoy. And for the ones who had it ripe, they have no choice as it would be too late!

So do not lose passion and do not lose pride! These will ensure that you will sail through!
Cheers!


- Raj.

Lesson from Traffic Signal.

I thought, life is as simple as waiting at a cross during a red signal! 


We never see a traffic red signal as a road block, rather we see it a check and also one that allows the people from different directions to move forward! It also allows us a moment to sit back, relax and see where we are at and how others move forward. Sometimes, we even tend to change course looking at the traffic ahead. While we wait at the cross, we know for sure that there will be a green signal that will allow us to move forward.


Like wise, in life all obstacles are like Red traffic signal. When we face one, we kind of take stock at what we have and where we are headed towards. If need be, we can change course from there on wards. The key is, when we face adversity (red signal), we need to give it sometime for us to move forward from there! All we need to know is that a red signal will always be followed by a green signal! So stay optimistic and stay afloat in times of adversity! Your time will come for you to move forward!


Regards,
Raj

Optimism?

I felt I should pen this one as I believe this is what I'm.
Treat mistakes as lessons; When you do the right thing, you remain modest.
Treat challenges as opportunities; When you face adversity, you remain focused.
Treat failures as successes; When you think you have succeeded, you remain humble.


I never feared failure, in fact never thought I failed. I've always thought I've under achieved. Any achievement is a success. This I think keeps me optimistic about the future.

If we lose our optimism, there are no lessons, there are no opportunities and eventually no success. 

- Raj
I remain convinced that there is no generic scale to measure success, for it is very relative. 

Leadership by Ownership.

On the 13th Of March, 2012, I was returning from Singapore with Leela and Nilaa after the MVP function and trip to Malaysia. We were flying Jet Airways which was delayed by more than 7 hours. As always, the in flight services were not up to the mark and I don't know why Jet Airways has become so bad.


However, this is not about that and we as customers will always complain about the service. It is about an young flight attendant called Runal and how his attitude and passion inspired me.


The boarding was supposed to be 2:00 PM and we almost ran to the gate at Singapore after all the free lunch and duty paid purchases (you know what) and somehow reached on time to secure place for baggage. The flight was normal cramped one and the take was good. Then came the service, the food was not to our liking, but we were not complaining as we had a blast of a lunch within Changi Airport. And Wine was disappointing.


As always, I took the Aisle seat, Leela next and Nilaa on the window seat. There was a Gentleman called Srini (name changed) seated on the other side of the Aisle, who I believe was flying from the US and was on the phone until take off. Probably due to jet lag or tiredness because of the long wait at Changi, he dozed off and was not even taking food served. 


The flight was normal after an hour and Nilaa wanted to use the rest room. Just when I was taking here, Srini was walking ahead of us towards the rear side rest room. The path was blocked because the flight attendants were serving food still. Srini probably was feeling uncomfortable and was desperate to get to the rear. But the passage was blocked and seeing his desperation, people were trying to help him go past the food cart. Just when crossed, he just crashed and fainted on the floor. Quickly, people chipped in sprayed water, pulse was checked and he somehow regained consciousness but was too week. There were seats which were made free for him to lie down and he was given a juice and may be it was low sugar. However, he dozed of again. And it was this young man called Runal who was leading the taking care part of it with others as well. I also for my part informed them about his seat number and that it could be low sugar as he could not have had food in a long time and got back to my seat with Nilaa.


I had collected the passport, mobile phone and the boarding card of Srini and was waiting to hand it over to one of the flight attendants. Runal was back to collect the food tray and he was standing next to me in no time. I handed it over to him and was checking how Srini was doing and was suggesting that may be lot of fluids should help Srini. And for his part Runal was checking what exactly happened and I explained things as I saw it. He took note of all of it and out curiosity I was saying may be a doctor on board could help and that it was the first time I've experienced such a thing. 


He was looking at me calmly and said, "Don't worry sir. I'll never let anything happen grave on my flight." I was really inspired by his statement. Here was a flight attendant who was probably the lowest in the organizational chain of Jet Airways from Naresh Goyal's until him and yet was stating my flight! It might sound a bit arrogant, but to me it was assuring. He wanted to ensure that none on his flight should feel insecure and was exhibiting sheer passion which really inspired me.


This is what leaders do. They take ownership, inspire people and guide them to success. They run what ever they own as their company. Leadership is not complete without 100% ownership which I always understood, but Runal made me realize it one more time. Am sure Runal would really fare well in his life because he is a leader. All the best Runal.

Words of Wisdom.

A few quotes of this yours truly over the years!


Passion is a choice, not an emotion.
Circumstances defines emotions, but how we remain passionate despite our circumstances is a choice!!

No one dump for anyone except for oneself...

The difference between Good and Great!
Both enjoy tremendous success. However, the great remain Humble!
Success without humility means nothing!


Good people are part of Success Stories.
Great People make those Stories!

Leaders choose what problem to live with!

Life is all about taking small but right steps!

Ego is the best poison to kill any relationship!

Honesty is not easy, but it is the only one that helps!

Fact of Life: Ladies teach Patience to men; Men teach Perseverance to Ladies.

You can desire for a lot, but know what you need and be happy when you get what you need! For this shall be the difference between greed and content!

While other teachers train you and give tests, Life trains you by testing!

No Problem solves by itself or can be differed! FACE IT straight away!


Cleaning shit or having sex, do it with passion for it defines whether you are doing a shitty job or a sexy job.
With Passion - a sexy job in cleaning shit; Without passion - A shitty job in having sex!

Being Proactive is not about completing a task (that you were supposed to do) ahead of schedule. It is about doing a task that none expected you to do, in an efficient and effective way. It is about taking an initiative, seeing through it till the end!

Things are not as complicated as they seem when we look at them retrospectively. So take life as simple as you can.

Information, if only it is shared, it becomes an experience of mine, else it remains as a distinct memory within myself.

To me no question is stupid or intelligent because the nature of the question depends on the answer! Anyone who has the guts to ask any sort of question to me is intelligent as he wants to learn more!

It is my experience.. when you have two choices and you are unable to decide which you "think" is the right one and you decide to flip a coin.... The right option will be known moments after you flip the coin up and you "feel" the right option even before the coin starts descending... You would desperately want the coin to take your feeling and give the right choice... 

Moral of the statement... do what you feel is right.. If it was wrong, you try to make it right or learn to live with it. And no regrets... 


மேகம் என்று என்னை எள்ளி நகை ஆடாதே...
மேகங்கள் மோதி தான் இடியும் மின்னலும்... 
நான் இடித்தால் வெடித்தால்...

If you think am a cloud that would just pass by.. 
Beware... 
Am the source of thunder and light....

Embrace each person according to his or her characteristics, not position or title.

Everyone you encounter is your teacher!

 உடல் உழைக்க சொல்வேன்.. அதில் பிழைக்க சொல்வேன்...

 "I'm responsible for what I say, not for what you understand!"

 A wise man once sat in the audience & cracked a joke.

 All laughed like crazy. After a moment he cracked the same joke again and a little less people laughed this time. He cracked the same joke again & again, when there was no laughter in the crowd, he smiled and said,

 When u can’t laugh on the same joke again & again, then why do u keep crying over the same thing over and over again....

 Learn to move on

- Anonymous

The Letter 'P'

I do not know why, but I like this letter P, for most words that start with it are very important to us in life.
I keep insisting in the below words in my team!

Passion, Pride.

No matter what job you do, if you do it with passion and take pride in that, we derive satisfaction and we learn something new even if it gets monotonous.

A person without a passion is like a dead rat.

Of course there are quite a few other words.
Patience
Perseverance
Practice
Performance

But with all due respect, these words do not match the impact that Passion and Pride give us in life!

An Amazing letter called P :)

- Raj

Successful Marriages.

Remember 3Cs in Married life.
Commitment, Compromise and Communication.
If you have these 3Cs with your best half, life will be smooth!

- Yours Truly!

And remember to have these with with only one ;)

Innovation

In the recent past, for all good reasons, there were a lot of dicussions that I happened to be on where Innovation was a term that was coming across as the most important thing. I do not deny it and for an organization that is as huge as mine, innovation should be the bare minimum we have to have in us.

However, when I heard something like let us start innovating, bring people together to innovate, I was a bit amused.

Is Innovation so simple? Can I bring in a few people together and say Innovate and they start doing that. I mean not just straight away, but say within an years time can they innovate? I bet no. Because, there is something called lateral thinking which is very important in any innovation as is the ability to have crazy ideas. People have to have it in them to be innovative. It needs a lot of passion, commitment, courage, hard work and ability to perservere as the pressure of time will always be there.

To me, Innovation can neither be a choice nor a force. I cannot, one day, stand up and say from today on I'll be an innovator, nor my boss can come and say, come on Raj you will have to be an innovator and I feel very stupid to even think that from next day onwards I shall start doing things differently.

Innovation is not just doing things differently. It is also doing different things. It requires will to change the way of life. It needs support. It can be in any form or department of the organization. It can be anything technical, operational and a lot of times even in management.

Innovation has to be a culture. It has to be in the DNA of a person and in the larger context, should also be in the DNA of the organization. As always, culture can only be fostered and not forced. We will have to give and take time to bring in the culture or even change or nuture this culture.

And in today's world, with everyone talking about time and cost (not price) it is not easy for someone to just innovate as he/she will need time and space to even think, then execute, test and have the fruits of the results.

Looking back, I know I have a few things that I have innovated at work and I think it helped. I just have to document them and may be share it with larger audience.

So in essence, innovation can never be forced upon. It can be fostered by instilling passion within the organizaation to be different and think differently.

- Raj.

Management Vs. Leadership

There is an ever ending debate and discussion on Management and leadership.

This recently surfaced in a forum called Key Talent @ HP and I was part of it. Don't ask me if I'm key to HP or if I have the talent ;). I, in fact asked the same question myself to the anchor.

Never the less, that is not the topic of discussion now. I thought of penning down my thoughts on these two and what differentiates a Leader from a Manager. Of course both these roles are good, equally important, and I mean no disrespect to management.

- Raj

Here we go....

Of course, the simple meaning could be Leaders lead and Managers manage. But the question always lingers on what more do the leaders bring in. How do they ensure the organization sees the difference. Here are my simple and short thoughts.

Managers Manage the battle; Leaders Lead the war.

Managers Plan; Leaders Stratergize.

Managers Debate; Leaders Decide.

Managers Delegate; Leaders Own.

Managers are for a Team no matter the size of it; Leaders are for an organization and no matter the size of it.

Managers enforce Processes; Leaders define Policies.
Managers Train; Leaders Mentor.

Managers Challenge; Leaders Inspire.
Managers Solve Problems they live with; Leaders Choose what Problems they live with.

Managers Manage Change; Leaders are the Change.

While the debate can invariably go on for ever, the fact is leaders inspire change in the minds and lives of their team. Leaders make people believe in the cause and galvanize them to march towards the cause, no matter how grave or great that could be!

As they say, leaders are not made; they are born. It has to come from within.

One cannot be a leader because he/she was appointed. He/She should have inherent capabilities of decision making and owning them immaterial of their results! Most importantly, he/she should have ownership towards the followers and understand that each and everyone is unique and has something to offer towards the cause.

Well, in today's corporate world, these may be hard to exhibit and sometimes ones who have these qualities may even be ridiculed, but only by people above them and if you are a leader you will not be judged by people above you but by people who follow you.

Leadership is all about coaching, mentoring, guiding, inspiring, enabling and empowering the next level people and after which I sit in the grand stand enjoying the view of them succeeding! And the grand stand view would simply be very amazing while it is not so easy to get into that!

Be the Leader and be the Change!

- Raj

Steve Jobs

Steve Jobs! A man who is responsible for the world to change the way it operated!
Thanks Steve. Not just from an Apple perspective, but as an human and a source of inspiration to all of us. You let us all know that life is nothing but a journey until death and only we can choose to make it worth a journey!


You did and am glad to have lived during your times!


May you rest in peace!


- Raj

Congress, Lokpal, Ramdev, Civil Representatives and Stupid Indians!

Congress Achieved what it wanted to achieve with Ramdev!

Now the focus is on Ramdev and the attrocities and not on Lok Pal!

Even The civil representatives are curious about this and are boycotting the panel discussion today and will do so even tomorrow! What a shame! What a shame!

Congratulations Kapil Sibal, you now can get highest rating during your performance appraisal this year!

Ramdev, we all know your political ambitions and if ever your have true intentions, fight along with others and with pragmatic requests. If everyone with money starts doing this, what is the difference between corporate lobbyists and you? Both of you do it because of excess money! They have bought MPs and you are trying to make them! Stop it for now and ensure that Lokpal is tabled!

Stupid Indians: We can now bet that Lokpal will not be tabled this monsoon session and we can very confidently say that it will never be! I will be glad if am wrong!

- Raj

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