Life's Designer

after a long foodless day, aaloo ki sabzi and bread with dahi cheeni seems to be the best meal possible. then you chance upon "the green mile" on TV, followed by "Iqbal" in clips spread across youtube and online movie. talk about simple pleasures of life. and miracles. how happiness can come about in the most unsuspecting situations and how these unsuspecting situations weave together into miracles.

as life's jigsaw puzzle starts coming together, i can see how many incidents and lessons have been correlated and are leading me to things that seems predestined. i am thinking about a tattoo in my head and the teacher says, "i want you guys to tattoo this formula on your forearm". or I am in a panel discussion, gtalking a friend about staying healthy vs. smoking (he was reading an earlier blogpost) and the panel speaker says," stay healthy. stop smoking." small things like these. and then bigger things. a guy who has this smirk on his face when he criticises others (pretty much everyone else, this is a very recent bad streak he has picked up) and he injures his lower lip. such that he can't talk or smile till the stitches are taken off. or another one that takes the cake. a friend gets an internship offer and he is very happy about it. the offer is then withdrawn 3 weeks later. another month goes by. and an interview lead that went cold 3 months ago, suddenly gets activated and converts into a much better, more prestigious and exciting internship offer. big things like these.

so what do i make of it? we are all threads in an embroidery in the making. someone up there has a design in mind and all we know is the path we are taking, marked in front of us and the knots that we become when we go to the rough side. sometimes we get an idea, but for the most part, it just looks messy. the many threads we crisscross and get knotted together. but there will be a time when we will have left behind an imprint of a beautiful flower, a flowing pattern, a rainbow of colours. we just need to keep going, keep being led by that super-designer. keep our eyes open for this miracle to be fulfilled..

Being an Engipreneur

who is an engineer? someone who adapts the findings of science to the use of man. who is an entrepreneur? one who creates a product on his account. (to quote one of the many internet definitions). what am i thinking? to be both. adapt the findings of science to create a product on my account for the use of man.

to simplify the above and move away from these definitions, let me set the context. now that i am in a classroom which does not comprise of just engineers, i get perspectives on what people have done and plan to do with their lives. life, the biggest asset we have and ourselves, the biggest capital we have. when we add the structured mathematical approach of an engineer to the creative liberating ideas of an entrepreneur, we have a heady combination. add to that some garnishing of responsibility and you have it. and this is what excites me right now.

When i attended the DGDW conference, what struck me most was the sheer variety of options that one has in the responsible business sector. each problem transforms into an idea worthy of creating social returns. and this does not mean non-financial returns. further it also does not mean non-structured approach. you don't find people selling rotational programs that promise development of leadership in our generation for a better future. and yet they accomplish it all the same. they don't come to tell you what problem they want you to solve, they ask you what you would like to do. that calls for a thorough self-assessment and even if in the end you find a different calling, at least you did gain out of an honest assessment. all is not hunky-dory i admit, but then no sector is. there is need for more professionals, more consolidation, on the whole a better streamlining of resources and an attitude change of taking this sector not as a "third" one, but as "another" one.

So far its still limited to excitement for me, but i have found the seeds to plant. and i have the sowing season still far ahead of me, so that i can cure these seeds. as i learn to build my plan and find ways to execute it, i urge you do stop and think. think about what you want from life. that one legacy that you would be proud of before you close your eyes on your final day. as i do the same, i will keep you posted.

Trade-offs: the bane of the MBA

there are others too, "it depends", "point of view" and the typical accounting terminologies of cost and margin that becomes colloquial language. but for now i want to talk about trade-offs.

i want to buy a camera. i start with a point of reference. the last camera purchase among my acquaintances was a sony cybershot. so i go to the link, and at the bottom of the page i find suggestions for similar cameras of the same or of different brands. once i figure out the brand preference, i go to the camera features, price, appearance, convenience and sort them out one by one. in each of these decisions, i make a trade-off. i want the colour quality of canon more than the sleek design of sony. i want a more affordable price rather than 2 mp more of resolution and so on. each point makes you identify a trade-off and decide which side weighs heavier.

and the trade-offs of life. i want to be healthy versus i want to smoke. i want to go for an early morning jog versus i want to sleep for those '5 more minutes'. i want to study versus i want to talk to a friend. talking with family, breathing, enjoying a happy slow meal, enjoyment and relaxation are increasingly getting traded off for more urgent needs. to pay off a credit card bill. to get a job paying 20000 euros more. soon these trade-offs lead to compromises. i cant call a mobile on skype because i dont have a credit card. not matter it may mean you dont call your friends anymore who dont have skype accounts. i wont tell this to her because she will be upset on me. no matter it may mean that you dont share your worries and problems with your loved ones anymore. i want to be settled before i get married. no matter it may mean further drifting away as distances increase.

what do we live for? another mba? more competition? higher grades? better salaries? richer clothes? swankier cars? or that one more hug, that one more walk by the river, that simple meal cooked fresh and with love in your own kitchen. we may be doing well, but are we doing any good? who decides this trade-off?

clouds in the sky

it is only when i went down south of spain during easter that i realised what was it about the sky that i had been missing.. it was clouds. not the rain clouds, but the fluffy sparse ones that stretch across the sky giving it a mild blue colour. the ones which draw your attention to them, particularly on a road trip. when you start playing games of which cloud looks like which thing and then mom scolds you, "stop it, you are distracting the driver".

and then in a broader sense, clouds are elementary to indian life. the summer is so harsh, the first sight of change in the clouds' colours can send waves of celebrations.. how gray colour can be a symbol of joy. you try and estimate, are these clouds gonna stay or are they just a fleeting shade and will get blown away by the next gust of the cruel hot wind. but as the clouds get denser and the wind becomes a cool breeze, the sun becomes a mere shadow of itself, you see the sky turn a shade of gray and then come the rains followed by the festivities.. oh i miss monsoons.. right from sustaining 60% of the farming population, to festivals, to goodies, to clothes, to traffic jams, to movies and romance, monsoon defines the moods of indian people.. even as i write, scenes of drenching rain are whizzing past me...

clouds for me are a sign of rejuvenation, of happiness, of lightheartedness, of simple plain white joy. and since here its all about a clear blue sky, i miss clouds. because its cold, rain is a sign of displeasure and further cold. unlike back home, i cannot dare to think of getting drenched in the rain and then go home and enjoy garam chai with pyaaz ke pakode.

when i go back home, i will look forward to my cloud. lighthearted, innocent, fleeting across the landscape with no worries to bother about.. thats your beauty, your gift to be preserved. and when you feel burdened and gray, its time shed some moisture and rise up again.. light and white..