Which Way Heaven...

When I read the great masterpiece Madhushala by the excellsior himself, Late Shri Harivansh Rai Bacchhan ji, I always feel that the Pathik is always asking these questions like "Which way heaven?", "How far form here? How long will it take?", while he goes about his journey, he contantly imagines what heaven must be like, this or that, the imagination as such is always dictated by the desires and regrets as well as aspirations and experience gathered after years of wanderlust. Human choices are very complex equations, never perfectly balanced, for there is actually no balance, for the outcome will vary with each variable used, so many number of times and added or subtracted from an infinitude that is made up of such numerous smaller equations. It is that sometimes it seems that we are not making the choice, but the choice is making us. And well, do you have the gall to deny this, I don't think so!

says Bazz Luhrmann, "Your choices are half chance and so are everybody else's."

Sometimes we can simply imagine a choice and bring it to the 3 dimensional material universe and sometimes, in fact most of the times, we may be also be able to influence the 4th dimension of Time. So says the rule of reversibility, or what ever it is called. They say that there are two ways the universe works. Number one is mundane. We see the thing first and the image in the mind is formed later and then we recognize what our worthy eyes are seeing. The other way is interesting, first you have to see something in the mind and then will you see it right there in front of your eyes. It is very true, reverse reaction will take up energy and will not take place until the catalyst of Will is not present, but with these two present in necessary and sufficient amounts, it will be done.

It is very comforting to know that there are several things that will always be out of the domain of general understanding, such is the domain of faith, it exists if you know it does, if you think it does not, well, it thinks the same and disappears. Thus most of our philosophers might propound that will is an important instrument to realize and materialize our most mundane ideas, wishes, etc. But more important is the faith which comes only when one is sure that with this materialization, the goodness in self and thus all around will only increase so much or more!

So I want to have faith, that will assure me that my will is not directing me the wrong way!

See you soon, in the domain of sheer existence at will, in that region of hope where we find all answers but they are irrelevant, where we stop asking which way heaven, and thus findout, it is Heaven all the way!

It is immense pleasure to be writing again, but do forgive me for being so irregular ! :P

Such a long journey!!

So, well, am back after this disturbing hiatus.
Disturbing hiatus, because a hiatus is probably a disturbing period. I mean, look at Egypt, Libya, Tunisia....and may be...may be....who knows...China...after some time. I do feel that oppression is a good catalyst for brewing trouble. and China is presently trying to balance a see-saw, well no doubt about that. One one side it has this educated subject and on the other side it has it's own anachronistic, but functional, bureaucracy. Correct me if I am wrong.
A difficult question then arises. What were the masses doing for the past 30-41 years. It won't take an expert to answer that this is not the same mass.
the Feb 21 issue of Outlook, Mr. Vinod Mehta, in the column "Delhi Diary" writes that just bacause an uprising isn't in the offing in India, doesn't mean India is any better. Infact, like many others he compares Elections with the Pressure cookers safety valve. And to support this he offers figures comparing Per Capita Income of Egypt and Per Capita Income of a particular adivasi tribe in India. I find this comparison irrelevant. I am not taking sides, even if I should like to do that. But the fact that India has maintained that SYSTEM of Democracy, itself seems to me a milestone. And i still see how people remember the emergency, not too dearly. Though ofcourse the exception is Gurcharan Das, who, in his book "India Unbound" states that "the emergency was too good to last". But these are subjective statements. From what I see today, with the benefit of hindsight, i can say, Emergency might have been good or bad, but it did no good that was enduring.
And at the end we come to the same old statement..."All spent, and nothing endures".
So here comes an end to my blabber..............blah....blah....blah....
P.S.
I am trying to explain my self a few things ....
Like T. S. Eliot, who does not want to ASK for this man's favor or that man's scope, am too obviously left with that wretched feeling that leaves you with one total satisfaction of having tried. That gives you the strength to go on and NEVER look back, not in anger, not remorse, not in revelry either.

Pedestrian at Priority

Hi,

I read this somewhere,

"Just to remind myself and whoever wished to be; Today is the first day of the rest of life...just live it." Kudos to life.
And coming to USA, I have got a great deal lot to tell. I treasure my wide eyed wonder that usually surfaces and will show up again and again till the time the rigmarole of the daily life makes my marrow go callous.

One thing you can't help about noticing in this country is "SPACE", tangible and intangible, Space to move about and space to think through as you do so. They aren't bothered by new faces, I mean the Americans. I go for a walk everyday, and I haven't had an experience when somebody has not wished me a Good Morning or Evening. Seemingly this is a very minor point that you smile at somebody, wish somebody, though you never came across that person in the past and it is very unsure that it may happen in the future too. But to me it is symbolic of the pace with which they can cope up or even embrace CHANGE. I hope I am not exaggerating the significance of my observation lest it might degenerate in to being treated as a poetic license. But tell me, Don't you agree?

The other thing that stands out is the respect for the "Pedestrian and cyclewala's". At the Traffic Signal is written "Vehicles must give way to pedestrians".There is a seperate lane for Bikers!

On the toll booths on a highway, you can say where the possibility of finding a pedestrian is approximately nil, it is written with black on yellow, "WATCH OUT FOR PEDESTRIANS".

Walking is such a convenient option here with a whole lane dedicated to you!!

Everyday I have a a whole lot of arguments and counter arguments with myself. When I am in the kitchen, I think the best invention in the world is the TISSUE. Often after having an Orbit after a meal, I feel the chewing gum is the best invention ever, otherwise I also include internet,
the micro-wave oven, etc, etc.

But the point that I am trying to make is that every effort is made so that the human effort required per task can be minimized.

But I miss being on my own here. In India it was so easy to be on your own. We have buses that take care of the majority that does not own an automobile. Here I am not so sure of that. Presently I feel crippled without a car. But my friend in Newark says that the train service in NJ and NY is good. Did I not say, I am very new here!

I am in no case denigrating India for not having all things that USA has to offer, but yes I do wish that someday, and I hope that day soon turns up, common man will be the VIP in India. Things are difficult, looking at our geography, our population, level of technology, etc. but things are possible.

Personally, I have great respect for the Delhi Metro, it makes life convenient for that common man who votes, works, and hopes that someday we will be THERE!

Wonderstruck!!

“And I feel the excitement that only a free man can feel, at the beginning of his long journey, the conclusion of which is uncertain.
I hope to cross the border,
I hope to shake hands with my friend,
I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams….I Hope.”

Thus Red meets his friend Andy just at the Pacific…I am in love with this dialogue-“Hope is a good thing, in fact the best of things, and good things never die!”

How true…good things never die! Actually we never let go of good things…we do not want to!!
“Rehna tu, hai jaise tu, thoda sa dard tu, thoda sukoon, thoda sa resham, tu humdum, thoda sa khurdura, kabhi to lad jaye, ya ad jaye, ya masti se bharaa, tujhe badalna, na chahoon, ratti bhar bhi sanam, bina sajaawat, banaawat, na zyada na hi kam!!”

The song articulates that wretched feeling that a pining lover undergoes…at her wanton desired one…I am a lover, my love is life. How fickle it is, like a mistress with severe mood swings, but also like a mother that scolds the child when there is some mistake!!

I can run and hide from all of you…, but not from my life, THE CONSCIENCE, it follows me wherever I go!! So it is impossible to leave anything unfinished here, in this territory, called life, sooner or later you will have to do it…sooner or later define success or failure in our pathetic jargons…sooner or later will decide intelligence and , and Ourselves. Myself!!
When I was 20, and committed a mistake, I found it better to NOT admit, but today, when am 25, I find it easier admitting it…these five years have not changed me much , but have taught me that- Things will not always go my way!!
I am better off being wrong, because when I am right, I am dangerous!!-so says my anger control point-No.4.
Life is not destiny, it is not fate. Life is a bunch of options and you have time to choose and not choose, Time to say hi or just pass as if you never met, Time to sleep and pass sleepless nights, Time to think or just buy Time, Time to ask questions or silence those asking you, Time to admit, Time to defend, Time, Time , Time…you have a benefit of hindsight, but of foresight, no, I have none!!

I am , today I can say, very happy with the choices I have made, the blunders that owe something to me…but , I hope I have learnt , I am happy that I was criticized by somebody so severely that it just seemed impossible not to take it seriously…I have made my choices…and will make a many…I hope I do not repeat mistakes, I hope I understand my own weaknesses, I hope I be contrite at my mistakes, I hope I rejoice at this point when I know-That- I DESERVE TO LEARN- Goodday!!

Don't feel good:(

Hi,
I hope I have been good all along...no matter how much you try , but life never turns out purrfect...the most curious thing about it is that it is unpredictable. Sometimes defying reason as if on purpose...and sometimes out there on cue to help you..miscievous ...if that is not a euphemism...let it be only life...no synonym exists!!
Let us see what..
1 Ankita leaving today, yes, am not feeling too good about it...there is some sort of a charisma in her that enlivens every moment that I spend with her...sometimes illogical...she sometimes mutters the most witty epigrams..huhh! Unlike me and my mom...who are so used to eclat that now our marrow got callous and we re intereset in some simple things...But ankita is very different...she has intuitive innocence...that goes a long way to help her...you don't find many people like her...I have found none...not becoz she is my sister...I hope that is not the reason...atleast not intended...umm!! I write later....bye!!

Do they speak!!

That's near Maan Sarovar...

This is the recent visit to Haridwar, in the Ashram where we put up!!

Ganga Ghat in Kumbh-just before sandhya Aarti!

This is the only picture of Father Pinto that I have!! I remember him as the best teacher and guide...I will see you again Father!!

Some Photu's for my own benefit...

An HR article written for a consultancy :))

Do something every day that you don't want to do; this is the golden rule for acquiring the habit of doing your duty without pain.
Mark Twain

Middle Management Positions that our free market offers are not free enough, neither for the employee nor for the employer. And whatever freedom is available with the CTC, is corrupted due to the boredom that besets organizational work. Yes, our able HR Executives will argue that there are planned a surfeit of “Activities” to keep the employees away from that insidious operator, but nothing is far from reality. Boredom Exists and if we can, someday, calculate the cost of that boredom, it will be formidable at the least.
First, according to psychologists there can be “n” number of reasons for boredom, but I will narrow them down to dwell with in the organizational ambit
Excessive hierarchy- Series of “Approvals and signatures” on a document lead to a protracted process. The intent of such formats is laudable no doubt, but the effect is lack of accountability. That dynamism of “owning up to the task” is lost and mediocrity is fostered.
The Bottleneck- Remember E.Goldratt’s “The Goal”, “If my efficiency is ascertained by the next slowest process, I’d better work at that pace”.
The Job Allocated: If what is to be done is not at par with the capacity of the employee, but above or below her working average, rethink allocation!
How high may I fly: Stagnation. “However hard I work, there is no recognition, leave aside rewards.”
Partiality: This follows us right from the primary school classrooms up to the corporate board-rooms.
Like I said, “n” number of reasons. The underlying malaise for most of these is fortunately (or unfortunately) is lack of empowerment. Employees, the productive ones (there are two types of these, One-who really do the job well, Two-those who want to show that they can do the job well!) need that push that the mother eagle gives to her eaglets so that they venture out in to the skies! In organizational context, this push is Empowerment.

In their book “Blue Ocean Strategy” Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, both professors from INSEAD, discuss how to “CREATE” virgin market spaces, the Blue (unexplored) Oceans away from the Red Oceans of bloody competition. This book deals essentially with marketing. But I find its application almost as much in HR as in Marketing. It was Vineet Nayyar of HCL Technologies, who, for the first time used this term. And believe me, it is a mesmerizing one.

THE BLUE OCEAN EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE

He equated a company to a big group of several sub-companies. Each of these subs’s handled by a group of employees. Now each employee is the owner of his sub. The performance of the sub is her performance and vice-versa. This concept is not a virgin one. It has been tried in the Garment industry where it is called a modular system of manufacturing. The only requirement of this system is that the people in the process should be dynamic and Multi skilled. It is the process that makes them such. They own up to collective success or failure, they make better team-workers, they do quality work and the co-ordination amongst the team members is such that occasional absence of one team member does not hamper the productivity of the group.

This is what the 21st century knowledge economy is all about.

Empowerment will not make breakthrough, but it will definitely make a space for it. That is what we have to do, make a space, a void and then fill it!

I seem to be savoring a little pedantry, but let me present an improvisation. The first rule of empowerment is to “value” contributions, any contribution to the organizational goal, to give space to ideas, any idea that is reasonably positive. This works as a message “Your contribution is Valuable, Keep giving”, “Your ideas are helping us think, Pour in!” Everybody likes feeling important. Imagine a birthday with nobody to wish you!

Sam Walton appreciates competition with in the organization, but he clarifies that pitting one against another is not the same as creating factions within. Beware of factions, if you see somebody making them, break them. But they are not so evident, and so the remedy is to be proactive and nip them in the bud. Factions are the No.1 enemy of the organization. They make it fall within! Imagine a family in which children do not love their parents, Fallout is similar for organizations with schisms- You are then empowering schisms.
All of us have subtle preferences, and as long as they are subtle, it’s okay. But if they are evident then they will simply feed gossip! Everybody wants to be the boss’s favorite but the boss should like being Everyone’s favorite i.e. IMPARTIAL BEHAVIOUR.

In Guy Finley’s words,
Everything and everybody that resists correction is part of the problem.

Empowerment speaks when one respects one’s job, value’s oneself as an important link not as a cog in the wheel which can be easily replaced. It speaks when a mistake can be pinned down to one process. Not playing pass!
There will be theories and suggestions galore for posterity and later, but the execution is the main problem! We know it is good, but how to go about doing it. Whose function is it to empower the employees-HR or Top Management! We’d say both! But that is the part of the problem! Something that one OR the other could do, and consequently neither did! But is it a function at all? I object! Empowerment is not anybody’s function. It is a policy. If employees are empowered, it is there in the fabric of the organization. Can appreciation be a function? Can “Impartial Behavior” be a function? These are values, not functions or responsibilities.
“I work with the XYZ concern” OR “I work in the XYZ concern” there is a whale of a difference! Let’s be the first statement!
Have a Good Day!!
-Ettishri B Rajput