IMPACT

With ISB in the venerable list of the top Global schools (FT Ranking), things look quite rosy for other schools also. So...how is it going to affect the local scenario. Some possible outcomes according to me –

The Indian schools will reinvent themselves to fulfill the criteria and the requirements of the most prestigious international rankings. The three most respected rankings are WSJ (Wall Street Journal), FT (Financial Times) and BW (Business Week). Unless a business school finds a place in one of these lists, it better try to reinvent itself.

IIM-A shall the next Indian school to appear in the FT rankings, but not before 2009. According to FT criteria, a program/b school must have been operational for a minimum of 5 years and 3 batches must have passed out. They have to bank on their one year MBA to suit the FT criteria – GMAT, Work ex etc. But once they enter, they will be pretty high in the List. But interestingly, they will be in the ranks (Global MBA) due to the new One Year MBA.

The International rankings will see a host of Indian schools circulating, quite high in the list. Indian schools always had the abilities, but may be due to complacency, they never took serious interest in prestigious international rankings. As a result they never reinvented themselves. They were happy with local Indian rankings. Now with ISB starting the trend of global rankings, things look extremely good for the Indian top schools.

Organizations like AICTE hopefully will get out of the bureaucratic outlook and pay attention to the real issues of education.

The age of international sophisticated accreditations for Indian B-Schools is around the corner – Once again, by all probabilities, ISB will be the 1st Indian school to get the most prestigious international accreditation – AACSB.
International accreditations are a must to maintain international standards.

The narrow minded parochial mindset of the top Indian B-Schools will be replaced by a more competitive global outlook. They will stop reacting to changes. ISB always has a lot of critics, primarily because this six year old school keeps on achieving one laurel after another. But then, I believe that there are two types of critics – a critic, who criticizes to earn money...basically that, his profession; and the other who is jealous. And there is no point in remaining jealous. In fact I have always believed that our schools can benefit a lot by cooperating with each other….the same way as the likes of Harvard, Wharton, MIT and Kellogs cooperate with each other.

The number of international applicants will rise in Indian schools

And last but not the least, the research culture will pick up. And by research, I mean the quality research

India, I believe, is the only country apart from US, which has the potential to have at least 5 colleges in top 20. Let’s hope for the best. And by 2010, it should be possible.

ABHINAYA UNFOLDS

Just 3 more days remain for Abhinaya to unfold...

http://www.abhinaya.in/

THREE BOOKS AND ISB

Read “Made in America” by Sam Walton…the saga of the creation of the Worlds biggest organization….from the voice of Sam Walton himself.

This book is amazing….depicts the heart of Wal-Mart…..its technology, sophisticated distribution system, associates culture…..

Also Sam Walton has depicted himself through this book…as he broke all frontiers of success…His famous Hula dance in the Wall Street…his Saturday mornings with his associates…his fleet of little airplanes which he piloted himself….and all such stories which were instrumental in building the Wal-Mart culture.

The ideas of Sam are as entertaining as it can be…and I will like to include two lines from the book…

This one is about the basic marketing trick, which Sam asks his associates to practice

“From this day forward, I solemnly promise and declare that every time a customer comes within 10 ft of me , I will smile look him in the eye, and greet him”

This one is about having the right person at the right time

“All along the history of Wal-Mart has been marked by having the right people in the right job when we needed them the most. We had Whitaker, straight out of the get-after-it-and stay-after-it old school, to help get us started, Ferold , a methodical hardworking German, to get us organized, Ron Mayer a whiz at computers to get our systems going, Jack Shewmaker, a brilliant shoot-from-the-hip executive with a store managers mentality and David Glass who could step up in a crisis, keep his cool, and eventually get control of a company that became so big that it was hard to comprehend".

Also read “Wise and Otherwise” by Sudha Murthy….a book depicting individual instances….extremely simple book….with powerful messages in the Indian context

The third book was “Teaching the Elephant to Dance” by James Belasco….a book about Change Management….This book is informative…well researched …but somehow I felt it was too textual in nature (may be because I was reading “Made in America” also during the same time...

So that’s about the books….

Ah yes…..now something about ISB….Its official now…..ISB is ranked 20, in the world, by the influential Financial Times (FT)…..once again, my Alma mater has broken all records…..and this time the records are not just in the Indian context….its global….the youngest B-School to make it to these rankings (In fact, TOP 20)…ISB has indeed redefined the concept of Indian B School education….

A SWEET POST

300 posts already posted in this blog…So want my 301st post to have something special…

Let me post something, which I really liked.... This was written by EM six months back.

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About twenty yrs back from today a three yrs old kid was sitting along with her grandfather in his lap in an arm chair in the porch of the verandah….JJ (Grandfather in Oriya) chair that is what we used to refer that chair as.It was his favourite chair.

Kid : JJ what does puuo mean??

JJ : It means son

Kid : Why do u call Appa as puuo??Is he ur son??

JJ : Yes, he is my puuo

Kid : Who is my puuo??

JJ : Ha ha, who do u want ur puuo to be??

Kid : Can I choose my Puuo JJ??

JJ : Yes, u can…so whom do u choose then as ur puuo??

Kid : U….u be my puuo from today JJ…will u be??

JJ : Ha ha sure my dear…but then who ll be ur JJ if I be ur puuo!!

Kid : (After some serious thot) we will shorten JJma’s name as JJ….if I need a JJ

JJ : Ha ha ha ok

And so he became my puuo from being my JJ :).He used to feed me when I used to throw tantrums and find excuses for not eating making my mother give up on me in frustration.He wud bribe me with chocolates and toys and make me drink milk and then take all the credit for accomplishing the great task.My puuo and I wud together have bitter gourd curry together…..I eating on his behalf and he on my behalf….. and the bitterness of the curry would get drowned in our laughter and togetherness. He taught me alphabets before joining school.He taught me the difference between multiplication and divison…when I could never differentiate between them.He taught me multiplication tables till 12th table and I could never learn higher than 12th table till date.And today he’s taught me cooking even :)!I wud coax him to tell me the story of his childhood and he wud willingly accept to narrate the incidents of his childhood to me umpteen number of times without getting tired of it.He wud listen to my endless ranting and answer each and every single question that I ask.He wud blackmail me saying that if I had my bath early in the morning he wud allow me to enter the puja room and have Prasad and I wud always manage to sneak in and have the Prasad without bath.And he wud behave as if he could never make out tht I had sneaked in and finished the Prasad.I wud ask him “what do u do with the Prasad when I am not around Puuo”…and he wud reply “feed it to the sparrows so that they take it to u in their beaks”!!And I wud keep searching for sparrows at my place for the Prasad.He wud say “Grow up soon dear I am getting old”…and I wud reply “Don’t worry Puuo I ll grow up soon and we will both get old together”.

Days passed and distances grew.I got tied up with studies and cud manage to meet him only once in a yr.He wud complain “U call me puuo and don’t care for ur puuo.U simply disappear”….I wud reply “No JJ!!Me really tied up.I need to secure a seat JJ.After that I promise I ll always be with u”…..he replied “Fine!!I will get it for u…will u be happy then and not worry”….It sounded like those days in my childhood when I used to cry for toys and he wud say “Fine now don’t cry I will get u toys from my secret trunk…ll u be happy then”……and I wud forget all abt the toys and secretly sit down to ransack the secret trunk when my grandfather was not around. My puuo couldn’t see me worried ever.Whenever I wud get worried abt my results my puuo wud motivate me by narrating his experience and the way he had pursued his dreams by making it to Stanford University and completed his Phd .He had taught me pursuing ur dreams is all that matters ….don’t worry abt the results…just never give up. Tears filled his eyes when I had gifted him a dhoti and kurta with my first salary.He put away the dhoti and kurta in his secret trunk as usual :)!!I wud say “Puuo come and stay with me.Then we can have lot of fun” and his reply wud always be “No my dear just like that is ur house this is my house…ur Puuo is happy in his house…Next I ll go to God’s house from here”….And I wud retort “JJ!!Don’t talk nonsense.You had promised that we ll get old together”….”Yes my dear I remember my promise. We will get old together.U and I togther.That is why I made the prev. statement”.I never understood then what he meant.But today I understand the true meaning of his statement that he had made then.He had meant he wud always be there with me in my memories and we wud together get old.Isn’t that what u meant Puuo?? :)!

Life is so strange really….we are forced to accept the rules of nature.Much as we wud love to hold on to our dear ones we know that if we do so it will only get worse.Although its painful to depart from your loved ones u will have to console urself telling that its better if they are taken care of by God in his house than they withering away infront of ur eyes.U can’t pause time…u can’t stop age.And its also strange that when ur loved ones depart its only then that all the memories of the days that u spent together surfaces and u try clinging on to them like u never did before.U get so tied up with other responsibilities in ur life that although u know u love them dearly and they are there waiting impatiently to just catch a glimpse of u ….u just don’t have the time to be with them…and the memories just lie at the back of ur mind undisturbed….u don’t have the time to re-live them.So, that is what he had meant then that he can always stay in my memories and I will realise and relive the long lost childhood days with him all over again while he watches me do so from God’s abode…..and that’s how he will watch me getting old , sitting in the JJ chair , along with him :) !Hope you are keeping a secret trunk there too in God’s house Puuo.And I am sure this time God will make sure that ur secret trunk is not ransacked by any naughty kid around. And here I will take care of your favourite chair :)!

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BUILT TO LAST

The latest addition to my small collection of business books is “Built to Last” by Jim Collins and Jerry Porras...a relatively old management classic.

This book , though full of jargons, proved to be a good read. Even its content-list is a collection of jargons….Clock building not time telling….No “tyranny of the Or” …more than profits…preserve the core…BHAGs….cult-like cultures….try a lot of stuff and keep what works…home grown management….good enough never is….the end of the beginning…building the vision…core ideologies….core competencies…etc.

The amount of research backing this book is stupendous and evident. The methodology followed is simple… “How are visionary companies different from comparison companies” …the definition of visionary and comparison are defined in the first chapter itself. Lots and lots of companies well-described…from the day one of their birth.

Jim Collins has beautifully described a visionary company as follows...just loved it...

Visionary company…A visionary company is like a great work of Art…Think of Michelangelo’s scenes from Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel or his statue of David. Think of a great and enduring novel, like Huckleberry Finn or Crime and Punishment. Think of Beethovan’s Ninth Symphony or Shakespeare’s Henry V. Think of a beautifully designed building like the masterpieces of Frank Lloyd Wright or Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. You cannot point to any one single item that makes the whole thing work; it’s the entire work – all the pieces working together to create an overall effect – that leads to enduring greatness. And it’s not just the big pieces, but also the itty-bitty details – the turn of phrase, the change of pace at just the right moment, the perfect offcenter placement of a window, a subtle expression sculpted into the eyes.

TO END THE YEAR

Three books to conclude this year…. thin books but sweet ones…

“Our iceberg is melting” by John Kotter and Holger Rathgeber…a fable, with penguins as characters, that took me back to the lectures I had attended on “Change Management”, reflecting the golden rules that lead to a successful change and a new culture -

Creating sense of urgency
Pull together the team
Develop change vision
Communicate
Empower others to act
Produce short term wins
Don’t let up
Create a new culture

“Is New York Burning” by Dominique Lappiere and Larry Collins…. one of the fastest books (if such a phrase exists) I have ever read…a novel that involves the contemporary political situation and real life characters…. One thing that was particularly striking in this book is the depiction of Condoleeza Rice as a master negotiator.

“Screw it…. Lets do it” …a quick- read of “Losing my Virginity” by Richard Branson… a collection of Richard Branson’s favorite quotes with brief description of the events associated with the respective quotes.

TWO MORE

Read one more book on magical realism – “The Life of Pi” by Yann Martel.

A perusal of this book might give the impression that Yann Martel has described the adventures of a cast-way, who successfully spent 227 days in the Pacific with a Bengal tiger as companion. But this book is not just about survival instinct. It’s about pragmatism, yet it is about philosophy.

A closer look at the book takes the reader through a religious and spiritual journey, which is quite unique and novel. Pi Patel, the teenage protagonist of this novel practices all the three religions – Hinduism, Islam, Christianity. The reaction of the individual self-acclaimed protectors of religion towards Pi is interesting.

Pi, his family and all the animals (Pi’s dad was a zoo keeper) were migrating to Canada when the Tsim-Tsum (the ship which they had boarded) sank…. Pi was the lone human survivor…. he lost his world but he gained another…this book is about his new world.

Its about seeking harmony with the universe…spiritual illumination…. wild adventure…religion and faith…. restless energy and peace… all at the same time

But like any other book on magical realism, this book deserves a slow read.

The other book which I completed is “Losing my Virginity” by Richard Branson. Its about the real life adventures of Richard, while building the Virgin brand. A perfect management book…without all the drab jargons…and with the excitement of a roller coaster ride. An exhilarating experience it was…to get an idea of Richard’s definition of the perfect life…and perfect work.

SNOW

"Every life is like a snowflake: individual existences might look identical from afar, but to understand one’s own eternally mysterious uniqueness one had only to plot the mysteries of one’s own snowflake".

Orhan Pamuk's "Snow" is a complicated book. It’s about a journalist who arrives in the city of Kars in Turkish border. Kars was going through tough times politically, with deep rooted religious impact. Confusing times, religious turmoil, the city of Kars….and within this setting….the life of characters like Ka (the westernized Turkish journalist), Blue (the Islamic fundamental), Ipek (childhood crush of Ka, and …..let me not kill the suspense), Kadife (Ipek’s sister and Blue’s lover) and a myriad of other characters.

Since Orhan Pamuk has deeply portrayed the inner turmoil of each of the characters, I did not find the pace of this book fast enough…a style of writing where the protagonist is not an inspiring hero, but an ordinary human being... with all the sub-conscious happenings.

The distinct element that is pervasive throughout this book is the regular usage of snowflakes to describe any situation or emotion. Its winter time in Kars….with heavy snowfall... and the whole context is submerged within the nature of snowflakes.

IN ANOTHER WORLD

Its as if I am living in a different world….where life is nothing but revenue, profit, Q3 results, Q4 estimations…last one odd week has kept me busy…even more than what ISB managed to make me slog…

But yeah…at the end of the day…after 18 restless hours, when I get to bed, it is a sweet feeling…a mix of tiredness and a realization of a day well spent.

Not been able to read much over the last week...handling three books at a time since the last one month…Mein Kampf, Snow and Losing my virginity….and maybe it will take another month to complete these books.

Somehow could not resist writing about the first half of Mein Kampf…It is about Hitler’s complex thoughts and justifications.

From indifference to interest…. from interest to obsession…. from obsession to hatred…. Hitler’s anti-Semitic tendencies and his hatred for democracy and the then incumbent society traced this path…. Hatred is such a complicated emotion…. it grows within in a strange manner…. it stems from the way one aligns ones thoughts and understanding. This is exactly what this book is all about…unmitigated hatred… that originated from one of the most complicated genius the world has ever seen…

It’s strange to learn that little Hitler always dreamt of pursuing an artistic career – in painting and architecture. But he groomed himself to walk a different path…. and the dreaded complication of his thoughts that he allowed himself to drift into, proved too costly for the entire world.

He hated almost everything, which he thought was weakening the discipline of the German culture. He hated the education system, the attitude of the bourgeoisie, the politicians, their way of doing things…. and the interesting thing is that he got himself convincing reasons for doing so. He has clearly explained why he hated the then German democracy (of the early 20th century), the education system, the selfish politicians…. with cogent facts and convincing reasons. Intense nationalism was all that he could think about those days. He developed his thoughts into defining the ideal education, print media and method of governance and a whole lot of such issues…. and … thus took shape the most dreaded word in the History of mankind – Nazism.

This was my third attempt at this book…. and finally I completed the first half of Mein Kampf

DECEMBER

The sweeping breeze from the hills proving its presence….the red morning sun making its way through the fog…the crackling sound of the fire providing warmth to the people around….the wide, lonely roads guiding its daily commuters….

December is back once again...a month, whose responsibility is to close the year.

A THOUSAND SUNS

The impact of having been through the experience of “City of Joy” tempted me to pick up one more Dominique Lappiere classic, and this book turned out to be one of the most amazing books, I have ever read. “A Thousand Suns” is one of those books, which I will love to preserve in my personal collection forever. It’s a collection of separate documentaries, which Dominique has collected as a result of his experience as a journalist. But Dominique is no ordinary journalist and he captures no ordinary situation and no ordinary people. The real life characters that adorn this magnificent book are as varied as the intense socio-economic and political situations that they live in.

This book is distinct from other journalistic representations. This can be attributed to Dominique’s articulate and soulful exploration of the individual, silhouetted against the complicacy of the situation.

A pirate who dared to topple the dictatorial regime in Portugal by hijacking a cruise liner…. a matador whose reputation rose to elevate him to the status of the most popular Spaniard ever…. a Japanese assassin who used to think about butterflies in his free time…the architects of Israel who crafted immeasurable achievements…a passionate elephant lover who later sacrificed his life for the cause of elephants against poachers in Africa…. the accomplices of Nathuram Godse…a criminal sentenced to capital punishment…and many other heartrending accounts ornate the intensity of this book.

Dominique has also pictured some personal accounts including his love for cars and long excursions all over the globe and his experience when he was suspected of cancer…. the first depicted one of his passions while the second aroused his worst trepidations. Also, his association with Larry Collins is presented time and again, with systematic accounts of the phenomenal books they have written together.

Will try to get hold of some more of such phenomenal DL books…. about History cum Journalism cum inspiration.

READINGS WHILE COMMUTING

Four hours reserved for traveling to and fro everyday seems to be pretty interesting these days. Weekend readings are thus easily transferred to weekday readings… in the trains of Mumbai.

Read a book, which I have always wanted to read earlier… "The City of Joy” by Dominique Lapierre…a book depicting the slums of Calcutta… about people like Stephan Kovalski and Max Loeb…about lives of characters like Hasari Pal and Aloka…about diseases…about the human horses…about floods and droughts…
This book is a tragedy its entire course, yet the element of hope and selflessness is very strong. But I guess Lapierre likes to move in one dimension…I mean when he elevates characters, he elevates them completely to sainthood…. maybe its true as this book is based on real life picture…. but I cannot imagine that someone can be as selfless as Kovalski or Max.
However this book has left an impression…I read this 500-pager in the local trains of Mumbai…and every time I look outside the window of a train…when I see the slums, this storyline of this book gets so easily reflected.

Also read Zig…the autobiography of Zig Ziglar, the successful marketer and public speaker…its always a different feeling to read an autobiography…its as if the person is sitting close to you and speaking his glorious life out. In this book, Zig describes his childhood, each of his family members and their impact on his career and life, about the Redhead, about the early financial constraints, failures and finally super success. But the distinguishing feature is his transformation into a devoted Christian during the journey of his life. At times, the later half of his book sounds slightly Biblical, but his approach to life is different and this book is definitely worth a read.

Autobiographies are like case studies…. they keep on reminding one philosophy and that is
“Isn’t hindsight marvelous for honing wisdom?”

ELEMENTS OF CONFUSION

Options are often associated with confusion. After MBA, this has been a regular feature in life. The scope of my expectations of my career is getting redefined.
May be a more diplomatically correct way of putting it is “widening of scope”.

I started my career in shipbuilding, in various yards, working with steel and machines. I loved it. But somehow I thought that if I continue doing the same thing, I might not get the real flavor of the corporate…. the very word “corporate” was almost synonymous with seduction (even today, it is…)

Decided to pursue MBA with the idea of entering the strategic and financial aspects of shipping…MBA followed…. During MBA also, confusion was rampant …I considered it more sensible to look beyond shipping (expanding the scope), but then decided to fix a limit based on my past experience and aspirations…. My ambitions expanded from shipping sector to the energy sector…mostly into construction business…thought that way it will much more diverse…. Earlier had a decent idea of how ships were constructed…. wanted to explore the nuances of construction in power lines, oil pipelines, oceanic offshore structures. However decided to restrict myself only to the planning and strategic roles…. idea was to work for a few years, witness business closely and then plan for a doctorate….

But, more I stay in the industry, more is this element of confusion…. learning in job is decent…but what I have realized is that learning in one job or in one designation is slow and at times monotonous. Of course one can learn a lot of things…. but working for a huge organization has its own disadvantages. There are lot of advantages as well, but somehow I feel that the disadvantages are getting more pronounced now. A huge organization is very different culturally (especially in India)…. hierarchy levels…. power bases…complicated methods of promotions…. etc. One way to deal with this is to restrict to one huge organization and keep growing within…slowly and steadily…. may be an SBU head by early 40s…. There is more security in life this way…. but then the excitement level gets diminished…the excitement level that is easily available in a small and flat organization…

Somehow feel that the security of being in a huge organization is detrimental to my aspirations…. need more excitement and more challenges in life…

What is the optimum period I should stay in my present organization? What should be the nature of the next organization? Will I be happier in industry or consultancy? When do I apply for univs? Is it a great idea to pursue doctorate after a couple of years, or later in life once I get saturated with the seduction of the corporate? What do I compromise if I choose one option over another? Time to get myself answers to so many questions…need to plan out the next stage of career….

NEW

A new year in life…..
A new place to live in…..
A new set of neighbors around….
A new route to office….

Everything looks so different….

FEYNMAN'S RAINBOW

Feynman’s Rainbow - This book is about the experience of a young Physics post-doctorate Leonard Mlodinow, who had just joined Caltech as a researcher a couple of decades ago. There he came across two ( no, three) legends of the world of atoms, photons and quarks…the legendary Richard Feynman, another Nobel laureate Murray Gell-Mann and the idiosyncratic originator of the string theory, John Schwarz.

The approaches of Feynman as against Murray is nicely described by Leonard- by using the analogies of the Babylonian and the Greek. While Murray believed in description of eternal and immutable patterns in mathematical form, Feynman worshipped nature itself…in his imaginations. The idiosyncrasies of Schwarz are almost perfect.

But what takes this book about photons, quarks and the string theory much beyond mathematical Physics is the confusion of Leonard in his life and Feynman’s answers to his confusions. Then, Feynman was terminally ill with cancer. Leonard had recorded his conversations with Feynman and after twenty years he decided to write this book.

Feynman loved to imagine….he was not religious…he believed more in biology than in God….but in his imaginations….there is an element, which can be no way categorized as just mortal. Here is a piece where he asks Leonard to think about atoms.

“Go look at an electron microscope photograph of an atom. Don’t just glance at it. It is very important that you examine it very closely. Think about what it means. And then answer this question. Does it make your heart flutter?”It’s a yes or no question. No equations allowed.”

Leonard had asked a number of questions and the final question was “Who are you as a person – and how has being a scientist influenced your character?”…. and the two page answer, given by Feynman is worth keeping in your personal diary to read again and again later.

ONCE AGAIN

Almost half a year into my new job…2007 is left with only two more months…. and once again time making me realize its pace….

Life is moving on with all its flavors…and as usual, it’s the books which makes me see deeper into such varied flavors…. these days are reminiscent of days when the most popular places to witness your midnight dreams used to be the crowded airports….

Read some books…. tried to understand a different breed of books including those by M.V.Kamath (on his stories about press, journalism and celebrities). Read some very old classics which, I couldn’t appreciate much…. and finally a simple book by a little known author about physics and life…loved it and will write about it in my next post.

GOLDEN ART

I was thinking about this for quite sometime…and after a long process, I finally managed to come up with the list of my all time favorite movies. It was tough to select these from the long list of movies… here they are…. not on the basis of rank….

Life is Beautiful
The Pursuit of Happiness
Braveheart
Shawshank Redemption
Cast Away
Forrest Gump
The Patriot
Schindler’s List
Seven Samurai
Titanic

MY OLDEST FRIEND

He is my oldest friend. I can address him as my friend as he always likes to call me his friend. But, he is one of those people, whom I genuinely like to address as “Sir”. He is one of the oldest alums of IIT kharagpur and is presently one of the most respected names in the maritime world. I met him for the first time after I graduated from IIT. And after that, he has been my guide and mentor. I love to drop at his office, whenever I get a chance and today morning I got one such chance. And I got this chance after a span of almost four years.

I stayed in his office for little more than an hour. We talked about a number of issues - both professional and personal. And as usual, he stressed the importance of two necessary skills in life – one is “relationship management” and the other is “money management”. Just “money-management” will not be enough to live a happy life. Similarly, it might not be very practical to limit to “relationship management” only.

During this one-hour stay, I also met some other people, who had almost disappeared from my memory lane.

A great Saturday morning….

AN EVENING WITH ENTREPRENEURS

Yesterday evening...until the early hours of today morning, I spent my time with two of the most amazing individuals I have ever met in my life – Sandy and Aky. Aky was in the process of building his stall for the International Maritime Exhibition to be held in Mumbai. It was so nice to realize that he has achieved so much over the last one year. The company, which he formed a year back, is destined for great success.

And when Sandy is around, every individual around, always find himself/herself bursting with laughter. And yesterday was no different. Sandy is all set to start his yard soon...his favorite yachts and boats will be a reality soon.

We kept on talking and discussing so many things. Dil (let me restrict his nick to the first three letters) was there as well, and shared his ideas, though he belongs to a different sector. Coddie joined late night. He had started a company (in the automotive sector) a couple of years back in Chennai and the last one-year has been a real booster for him…

One thing I have noted while being with entrepreneurs…..the atmosphere is always charged up…with excitement, passion, ideas and optimism. I hope I could find myself in the same league as these people….but then my favorite line was there to console me.

“ Patience, my friend, is the biggest virtue”….

BUTTERFLY

I like to read blogs of other people…. the old ones remind me of my past and the new ones introduce me to different people, though it is a kind of one sided introduction…but whatever be the case, this exposes me to the thoughts of other people….

Lately, I was reading a blog, where the writer had written about certain things, which can be easily summed up to one single word…and that is “loneliness”. I doubt if there is any sane soul in this world who has managed to escape this syndrome…. I don’t know if it is right to say that introverts are more lonely than extroverts…In fact, my little experience makes me believe that extroverts get more lonely than introverts…. it is always easier for introverts to recharge themselves back….

There can be different reasons for loneliness…career aspirations, heartbreaks, a sudden loss…. and even at times…no clear reason…. sometimes we just don’t realize why we are lonely, even though we are surrounded by people and activities…. May be the factor is directly related to our inner connection to the exterior world….

Now…. everyone, at times, feels lonely…. and I feel that a person should be smart enough to realize what to do if she faces this feeling…One way is to move deeper into ones own shell…. and I feel that’s not the right thing to do…after all, the days of life are limited…. and each day of individual brooding can lead to loss of such precious moments…which with little effort can turn very beautiful….

Now…the second and perhaps the right thing to do when one realizes that she is getting lonely…is to get out of own shell…. instead look deeper into the exterior world…. reconnect back with long lost friends (just because time did not permit earlier)…. make new friends…world is full of amazing people…try to know as many of these wonderful people as possible…try to be a part of the joy and sorrow of other people…if possible help someone…. learn something different…try something new…enjoy the walk over the sunset…. have a walk to the mountains (or hills) or anything different……if the sea is close, then spend some time in the beach, listening to the breaking waves….enjoy the star studded night sky…..feel the infiniteness in everything…..and then ask yourself…. “Am I still feeling lonely”?

And let me quote something, which I liked a lot “Life is like a butterfly, you can either chase it, or let it come to you”…