The Global Indian

So i got touristy in Barcelona over the last two weeks. the reason for this change in heart? Indian friends exploring the city and I going along with them to experience the fun and the beauty.

So the list began with an Indian couple from Dublin, an Indian from London, another one from Canada, and another from North Carolina, another from California and one more from Dubai. One more from Prague and then one from Germany are next in line. and oh btw, the first couple, the wife is studying in Hamburg.

phew. talk about being ubiquitous. and then we wonder why we have to go through the pain of getting visas. if now with the requirement of visas, one can find a mini-India everywhere you go, imagine what the world would be like if visas were not required for Indians. :)

But then, thats essentially a part of Indian culture as well. like hutch. wherever you go, our network follows. we are a big happy family, and that also means, we are there for each other through thick and thin. and then we may bicker when living in the same house back home, but distances make the heart grow fonder. remember the ever-gracious sindhi couple on my first day in Barcelona? they helped me call up family back home, drove me to the city from the airport, gave me food at home and put me on the bus that dropped me within a block from my new home. then another time when Nairobi was a question mark in my head, i got an indian contact who gave me information i needed, promptly and honestly. i can keep going, the list of examples is endless...

guess it comes from the warm natured people. no matter how "modernized" we get, the small things, of sharing and caring, of "atithi devo bhava", of bollywood and spicy food, of saving on self and spending on the other, Indianness is a way of life.

u cant wish it away. guess u dont wanna. To India in the New Year!! Cheers!

a matter of perspectives

Beauty and Indian-ness are two topics, the perspectives on which i want to talk about.

Beauty is a function of time whereas character is permanent. so while we accept beautiful people in our social circle with glee, we also end up ignoring people who dont comply with our definition of beauty. and one day when the black duckling becomes a swan, we do an about-turn. of course the duckling should feel good about being accepted now. but does it?

i do not want to create the impression of being cynical towards beauty. let me also add, that appearance and character both contribute to the personality. i am only questioning the attitude towards considering which one as a more important measure of a person being acceptable in a social circle. what would you base your evaluation of a person on? appearance or character? framing this question makes us think in obvious terms. but when faced with real life situations, we flounder. so to keep it simple i follow a rule. if you change your behaviour towards me as a function of my appearance, i do not give you the chance to do that anymore. i stay away.

Indian-ness is about tolerance. on one hand tolerance has given us the treasure of diversity - a rich heritage of cultural influences, a highly-evolved multi-religious fabric, and extensive thought leadership spanning back to centuries ago. on the other hand it has led to the tendency of accepting what should not be accepted. right from the plundering during the British era, to today's corruption and lack of discipline.

also we like to live in past glory, and like to blame the british for our lack of progress. i believe the problem is with us people. we chose to remain as they left us. why do we look the other way when someone breaks the law? why do we restrict the freedom of thought in our children? why do we mix religious preferences and political views? we choose to live in our limited world because we cannot afford to spend time and money on changing the society. for it will not change by the efforts of one person. if you don't be like the crowd, you will be crushed, and the crowd will continue to be as it is.

when i thought about social initiatives i didnt find any takers in India who thought this could be a profession after MBA. here almost everyone, including Indians, thinks about giving back to the society and how MBA will make the process faster and more efficient. its time to refine out tolerance levels, customizing them to different aspects of life.

let me leave you with some food for thought. this article to me reflects how tolerance to being segregated and victimized has led a section of people to continue to struggle to become a part of the society at large.

http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/indus-calling/entry/the-liberal-hindu-is-on

Blackmail 1973

first movie i watched online and ended up watching it in a span of three days.. the streaming speed, and the memory limit made sure i couldn't watch it all in one go. but Dharmendra's acting and Vijay Anand's direction kept me hooked.

i literally bumped into this movie. i was watching the song "chori chori hum gori se pyar karenge" on youtube, my spanish friend "sarita" had just watched it and we were gossiping about it. and in the suggestions window, there was a song "mile mile do badan". i went to that link and then from there i found out that the evergreen hit "pal pal dil ke paas" is from the same movie, named "Blackmail". the old movies buff that i am, i hadnt seen this movie, so decided to check it out. another one of my word pulling stories there.

so this movie interestingly has only one review comment on the whole of the internet, and which is why i am attempting one here. i found it quite well-made, ably supported by masters of acting Dharmendra, Rakhee, Shatrughan Sinha, Madan Puri and Iftekaar. the editing is crisp and every scene adds to the story, credit to which would definitely go to Vijay Anand. While this movie may not be counted mong his masterpieces Guide, Teesri Manzil and Jewel Thief, the engaging pace and depth of linkages between each scene is evident here as well.

Let me quote a few examples. the relationship between Shatrughan Sinha and Rakhee is conveyed through a song which is light hearted, has them both jumping around and uses the lyrics "sharbati aankhen" from the previous scene. showing that somehow the depth is lacking. whereas, the same between dharmendra and rakhee is shown through "pal pal dil ke paas", a song which i can't praise enough. the lyrics are deep, the location is romantic and the pace slow to leave the lingering effect. no wonder it is a classic. then the way the story progresses, does justice to the 145 min duration of the movie. there is a lot of attention to detail as well, how shatrughan sinha times his revelation to rakhee with the entry of dharmendra, (which turns the movie around), the way rakhee's father is involved and yet unaware of the true story (so that he cannot be held guilty) and more. then there are the short but deep lessons on trust, understanding, loyalty, friendship and responsibility conveyed throughout the storyline.

the film also has its bollywood glitches, the action and chase sequences, dharmendra beating up the whole world, a man shot in the neck still alive to say the one last important line, but i can overlook all that to still say that the movie was quite a make.

check it out for yourself if this intrigues you!

the power of words

life during vacations is about finding a word and digging deeper.. the beauty of this is how you find one word and then it reminds you of Draupadi's Sari, albeit in a different way.. you keep pulling, the flow can go on endlessly, one word leading to another and another.

random musings of a desi about some firsts she experienced here.. that's what this space is all about. so this time it was the storehouse of information that is internet. (i will not use the word knowledge here, given the scope and retention of information being limited and variable from person to person.)

So the christmas break starts and suddenly i realise i was fitting in so much in a single day during the first term that just ended, that my day suddenly feels malnourished without new information. so i move beyond the five elements of the net and approach it with the eyes of an explorer. and the search begins.

house music: so Bob Sinclar performed here last weekend. if that name isnt familiar then this blogpost is meant for you. while my frnds went to his party, i looked up on google and found the word house music. and since then i have a youtube window open listening to his and other house artists' famous songs, and have realised how familiar these tunes are. i had danced to his songs and never cared about finding what they were or who they were by .

pantomime: this was a random fluke, some news website led me to an article about how Pamela Anderson was in the eye of a storm for having taken up a pantomime role. so i got to know about this completely different aspect of theatre in the UK which happens around Chrsitmas and New Year, and has its own set of performances and celebrities. just for trivia this year they are performing Alladin and Pam is the genie.

CSR: this goes back to the DGDW conference while searching for people, attendees, participants interested Corporate Social Responsibility, and i realise how this world is indeed thriving on a common fabric. it seems to me that people who are making something of their lives are increasingly cognizant about giving back to the society. but their efforts although congruent, aren't yet coinciding. it seems that everybody has the same aim and is working in silos. the future seems bright and this gets added to my "someday" list.

camel jockey: this is a classic example of endless-pulling of the sari. it started with a post on facebook about this interesting video on TED about sixth sense technology. (TED is a non-profit about spreading ideas and stands for Technology Entertainment Design and their last conference was held in Mysore). while this video on Sixth Sense Technology by Pranav Mistry was immensely interesting, what caught my attention was Sunitha Krishnan's talk on sex slavery. it was hitting and had a deeply unsettling influence. very similar to those stories that stay back with you forever. making you feel fortunate for all that you are and have, thanking Him for protecting you from tortures that others have suffered from. camel jockey is what it sounds like- a person riding on a camel in a race. the difference and relevance to this comes into picture because these riders are children who are sold off by their parents particularly in west Asia. i still remember the line on wiki quoting a person that these child camel jockeys live in conditions worse than prisoners. the tortures and abuse they suffer from is what relates it to sex slavery. if you still dont get it, think Shantaram in Arthur Road Prison, think Neil Nitin Mukesh in Jail and you might get your endless sari.

absynth: the one alcohol that is banned, and somehow this makes me feel justified in my apprehensions towards alcohol. i found out about how indian bhaang is a happy drug, not smooth but making you do the same things over and over again, while absynth brings out your violent tendencies, sending your life into a spiral devoid of all control. reading on about both smoking and alcohol, how alcohol is seemingly harmless but has long term effects on your health, while smoking tops the list of causes of most preventable diseases.

leaving you with a lingering thought.. Sunitha left me with a question, can i open my mind in my limited world? which brought me to another one, do i realise how limited my world is? which brings me to my new aim of finding answers to these questions. perhaps, just for the fun of it, i can call it my new year resolution. now thats another pulling-word, and i go back to pulling it.

The Internet Warp

Life goes on outside the MBA zone, and those in it are caught in their own world. Thanks to technology, we are still connected. in fact my world has shifted from the 5 elements of Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Space to the five elements of Emails, Websites, Adobe, Facebook, and Save. I can vouch to say that my world revolves around them.

When my niece was born two days ago on 7th Dec, I got the news, saw her pics and heard her voice over Email. I searched Websites looking for recipes to make an apple pie in celebration, giving the event an international twist. these webpages were fighting for memory space with several Adobe pdf documents spelling out Financial Accounting and Decision Analysis. then i posted the news with pics of the apple pie on Facebook. And now I am saving her pics all over, and in my mindspace.

You name the analogy and I can fit it into these new 5 elements of my conscious. and my world is crazier with the inclusion of internet on mobile. When is the next bus coming to my stop? Who got crazy on facebook? What does the S&P500 index read today? How do i get to blah blah metro station? What is the temperature today? all at the click of a button.

In the past two days, I have also experienced revelations online. yes very soulful revelations. How human relationships are stretching across the globe, at any time there are more than 1 country locations flashing gtalk window, and more and more of us are touching foreign waters. Family, friends, known, unknown all merging onto one fabric of communication. And then you start encountering truth, that people may have been shy talking face to face, but feel comfortable mailing or chatting about. or simply posting on social networks or blogs.

And its not just fun, its serious business. from banking to blogging, I don't want to start writing the 5th grade student's essay on the utilities of the internet. But i do want to take this moment, to stand back and see the revolution i have been a part of, and am racing along to keep pace with. the internet revolution, the one that puts your body, mind and soul in the virtual world.

so step back, take it in, and then go on, keep running!

Driven by ambition.. but

Guided by values.. this is what this MBA experience is teaching me. i dont know if this program found me or i found it, but in the end the find is worth it. be it the combination of search for my passion with sophisticated management tools and matrices, or the juxta-positioning of making money with doing good in the society, the experience could not have been closer to a perfect balance.

the idea i want to highlight today is the importance of keeping a slow and steady pace, to have your eyes firmly set on your goal, but without losing sight of the path taken and the potential obstacles in it. it is good to be driven by emotions, but it is ignorant behaviour to follow the herd and not pay attention to facts indicating a fallacy in what drives your emotions.

For example, the tendency of bunking a class. Someone wants to bunk the class, some more join his herd. the herd gets bigger and so does the adhesive pull of the herd. no matter the attendance policy of the administration, the potential action, the low marginal advantage of missing class, and the bigger disadvantage of bring rude to a fellow human being, the loved or hated professor.

On a bigger scale, i came across the example of why NASA's Challenger mission failed. on the one hand, there was scientific and logical evidence of flaws in the design which predicted the accident with enough accuracy. engineers said that weather conditions below a certain temperature would lead to the rubber rings in the rocket launchers to burst, thereby causing a possible explosion. however, the pressure to launch was building up. the mission was being followed keenly, with live telecast of the launch being planned across the country's educational institutions. In fact, the above mentioned conclusive evidence led to postponing the launch couple of times, but the effect did not hold on, and the pressure of expectations caught up again. and in the end the launch led to killing of 7 astronauts and it was a pity that ambition had to take precedence over safety of lives.

and perhaps on the biggest scale so far, ambition drove the world into a global financial crisis. the sub-prime bubble burst, leading to a credit crunch, severely affecting demand and supply equilibrium all over the world, sending the world into the worst recession ever. this was driven by the ambition of cleverly making money by betting on a risk someone else had already taken. everyone was doing it, so why should i be the one to not take advantage of this windfall? there was enough evidence about the incapability of the borrower to repay his loans, about the gaping flaws in the financial cycle based on ignoring the lop-sidedness of credit rating of borrowers, of disassociating debts with liabilities to pay it back. of basically warming your hands off the fire burning on someone else's firewood. the result as everyone knows, shook the entire global economy and to such an extent that the struggle to revive continues.

the bigger the ambition, the bigger are the chances to get blinded by it. although it is also true that higher the risk, higher is the gain, but then for the gain to be realized, the ambition-holder has to sustain the risk, and not at the cost of someone else. courage cannot be borrowed, and neither can rewards.

Doing Good and Doing Well

The Doing Good and Doing Well Conference is being hosted by Responsible Business Club at IESE Business School on the 26 and 27th of February 2010. This conference is a leading event on responsible business in Europe and this year, expects to attract over 100 speakers and over 800 students and professionals. It will provide the opportunity for a dynamic exchange of ideas and information on the latest advances in fields ranging from agribusiness to CSR measurement.

The conference events include two days of major keynote addresses, panel sessions, a Career Forum, a Cleantech Investment Round and a Social Entrepreneur Workshop. In addition to providing education and awareness on Responsible Business, the conference is a premier networking event for key executives.

Keynote speakers include Michel Camdessus, Managing Director of the IMF from 1987-2000 and Zein Abdalla, CEO of PepsiCo Europe. We have additionally confirmed over 50 speakers from such firms as Charity Bank, Pfizer, Generation Investment, Aavishkar Investment, Roshan, UNDP, FAO, AGRA and Adidas. Please see our website at http://dgdw.iese.edu for the full list of confirmed speakers.

I am highly excited by this event as I am leading a panel on CSR in Service Sector (in the sense that I am organising it). We have a exciting line-up of panel discussions and at the moment, this is the reason why I have lost meri raaton ki neend and mere din ka chain.

Opinions, comments, are most welcome! If you can think of someone who might be interested in attending this conference, as an individual or as a company, feel free to direct him/her to me.