“At least to my knowledge.”
“In my humble opinion.”
“If I am not wrong.”
“Hope you don’t mind.”
Every day, we are faced with a typical situation where in we hide behind these phrases. Why is that so? Are we trying to be polite? No! We do so, simply because, we fear the sting of “embarrassment”, if proven otherwise!

What do people fear about being publicly embarrassed? I suspect it might be because, it could prove fatal! Yes, people do commit suicide because they were embarrassed!

Last week, it was just another meeting at our local Toastmasters club*.

Again a session of table topics, and the usual suspects walked up to the lectern, got their topic, and fumbled with words (mind you “words” not even “sentences”) for about 10 seconds and walked back for a round of applause! It is customary in Toastmasters to applaud all speakers regardless of the quality of their performance, just to encourage people! As someone who believed, “One is either a winner or a mere spectator”, I never commended a poor performance. There was never a sense of purpose in my applause at the club meetings so, it was just the ritualistic thud thud thud….

I used to wonder, how embarrassing it must be for those losers who were not able to string together a few theme-related words or coherent sentences for a mere 10 seconds. This was happening for quite some time. That evening, after the meeting, during a casual talk, I stumbled on a startling revelation that one of the speakers was the wife of the President of our club. The very moment I came to know of this fact, my world view about “embarrassment” had changed for ever.

This man, the President of our club, a man of great stature, admired for his public speaking skills, did not have any qualms or embarrassment in bringing his wife, who possessed less than adequate public speaking skills, to the Toastmasters club. It then occurred to me that he would have been a real loser if he had felt embarrassed and had left his wife at home. By not feeling embarrassed and bringing his wife to the very same club, he showed extraordinary levels of maturity, sincerity and importantly, lead by example as to how one could be successful if he/she were to shed the cloak of embarrassment. I am sure his wife and our fellow Toastmaster will one day become a competent speaker!

When I extrapolated the same to other speakers who fumble at the lectern week after week, I can only admire them. The new perspective which I acquired, helped me identify the enduring spirit in people, who, do not feel “embarrassed” but continue to have a go at it, week after week just to ensure they improve their public speaking skills.

I have come to realize that one has a lot to lose by feeling embarrassed.

I have been dying to have a line or quote from myself which people could use. Therefore when I framed the quote “Embarrassment is the proudest virtue of a loser”, I was delighted! But as always, there was a thought lingering at the back of my mind that I might make a big fool out of myself by claiming the competence and wisdom to frame a quote. So, I wanted to dilute my stance by adding one of the escape lines mentioned above like, “In my opinion, embarrassment is the etc….”

But then, I realized that I was going back to the same old bad habit of wearing the cloak of embarrassment! I have shed that cloak now. Instead, if someone can prove that the quote was already attributed to a great thinker, I will apologize and get on to the job of shaping another quote. Otherwise, I will never frame a quote in my life!

Also, if people who committed suicide because of embarrassment, had just stepped back and thought for a second, they would have realized that it is always a better choice to live and be embarrassed for a moment rather than die and be remembered as a coward!

Next week when I go to my local Toastmasters club, my applause will have a sense of purpose and will probably louder than anybody else’s!

* Toastmasters International is a movement started in 1924 at Santa Anna USA by a visionary called Ralph C. Smedley with an objective to improve public speaking skills and build leadership qualities in an individual. A typical meeting consists of 3 parts (prepared speech session, evaluation of the prepared speeches and then a table topic session). The table topic session gives every member a chance to speak extempore for 2 minutes on a given topic. Today there are about 200,000 members and the movement is spread across 82 countries.

For more details visit: www.toastmasters.org

Recently, when I saw and read about hate crimes and racist attacks, my heart went out to the college kids who bore the brunt of attacks. It must have been traumatic for the parents who saw their kids on television with horrific injuries! Punitive action should be taken against the attackers – no doubt!

But, if you think a little deeper, what we witnessed was just another case of random violence which went terribly wrong, and the ramification was severe because the attacker and victim were of a different skin colour!

Why do people with darker skin need to feel that they are facing “racial” discrimination? Do dark skinned people implicitly admit that fairer skinned people are superior? Are dark skinned people not racist or discriminatory as well?

Consider the following situations…

1. A trader at a tourist location charging more for a bottle of water from a “foreigner” than he would for a fellow country man.

2. Our own Indian government which charges different rates for foreigners and citizens to visit Taj Mahal. I am quoting this as an example because, if our government had built the monument and is collecting a toll to recover the investment, it would be absolutely acceptable to have a two-tier admission fee. But, we invited the tourists and encourage them to travel to India and see the best of it, didn’t we? Why discriminate against them?

3. In India, it’s a common sight to see “chinkis” (someone please sue me for using this word) from the North Eastern states waiting on us or cleaning up in restaurants. Why? Do we secretly believe that this is their core competence?

4. “Sardarji” jokes are the most popular e-mail forwards!

5. We all love making fun of “Madrasi” accents when Indians from the south speak Hindi!

6. Reservations for “SC/ ST / OBC / MBC / BC” – Oh my God! What s blatant admission of our racist or discriminatory behavior!

7. Why on earth is “Fair and Lovely” running ads that encourage people to become fair? Isn’t this the most racist advertisement and product ever? Or are the products catering to a need in some of us who prefer to have lighter toned skin?

8. The so-called representatives of the oppressed class – the political parties, spreading messages like “Tilak, tarazoo aur talwar unko maaro juthe chaar” – which means “Hit the brahmins, businessmen and warrior class with shoes”!

9. Imagine the innumerable situations when we have made fun of foreigners. Think of Incredible India – a campaign run by our Indian government which strives to persuade natives to treat foreigners with respect. Why does the government have to do this if we were not already differentiating people based on color, ethnicity, religion and nationality?

10. After conference calls in IT companies, when we get together to discuss smugly how Americans or whites in general cannot do mathematics and how they are unable to understand a simple concept or design, are we not being racist?

11. How many times have you seen a dark skinned male in a marketing and sales team in our new age IT companies?

12. Let us go a little international.
a. Rwanda – An African country torn apart by civil war between two clans: the Hutus and Tutsis. The only physical feature that separates them is one has a longer nose than the other, nothing more.
b. Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka. Both are dark skinned but there is bloodshed.
c. I am sure an informed African would be able to make a laundry list (Senegal, Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia etc) of the brutalities committed by his own people against his own people in his own continent!

Given these examples, I believe that dark skinned people are just being hypocrites by calling the fairer skinned ones “racists.”

Come to think of it, I believe the term “racism” is used only in cases where a lighter skinned person is the attacker and dark skinned person is the victim. We as humans, by nature, differentiate ourselves on the basis of skin colour, the language we speak, the religion we follow and and so on. But why do we see such rage and media coverage only when we experience discrimination based on the colour of our skin?

I believe that racial discrimination is no bigger evil than any other form of discrimination!

Furthermore, all forms of discrimination we see, hear, do and experience in our day to day lives, eventually culminate in racial profiling and hence I tend to believe that, probably, there is a racist in all of us. It is simply that most of us don’t go around wielding weapons and attacking people. However, we do certainly hurt people, especially those different from us (socially, economically and in any other way less fortunate than us) in many subtle ways (knowingly or unknowingly) in our day to day lives.

There is only so much one could contain using laws and legislations. Humanity has come a long way on the issues of slavery and human trafficking. Beyond these, there are certain human tendencies, which, cannot be overcome but have to be endured. The best we can do is to strive to avoid confrontations or to level the playing field!

In the recent case in Australia, what could we have done differently to avoid confrontation?

Simple: “Be a Roman in Rome”!

When we travel to a foreign land for any purpose, it is our responsibility to integrate as far as possible with the society. We should respect the local customs, culture, values and belief systems. We should accept that we are an alien in a foreign land and should make an effort to understand and adapt to their way of life.

To understand how we can overcome subtle forms of discrimination at the work place, let us take another example. The world has become a “flat” and a multi-cultural work place. There have been stories in the past where racial discrimination formed a glass ceiling for many talented individuals. Today, an Armani suit, a game of golf and standardized wine and dine etiquette, seem to level cultural disparities and have allowed people from a different ethnic backgrounds to take charge of large multi-national companies. Again, the underlying theme is to be a Roman in Rome and immerse oneself in the corporate culture where ever in the world the company might be located.

Let me clarify one thing. When I say “Be a Roman in Rome”, I am certainly not suggesting that you to compromise on your fundamental value system. All I am suggesting is work towards integrating with the alien system instead of standing out. Take the example of a metal plate. When we fix a fracture with a metal plate, the device is designed to integrate with the human body – or at the least not to be allergic to it!

We humans will continue to have our own perspectives, prejudices and in some way or the other discriminate against others for all kinds of reasons. Think of this world as an ecosystem. There is a certain hierarchy and an inherent flow of energy one level to another. This flow is the essence of life. Ups and downs, highs and lows, good and bad, right and wrong, superior and inferior are the prime movers of material life on this planet. So discrimination or to put it positively, “preferences or preferential treatment” will always exist! The only way to overcome discrimination in any facet of life is by being a “Roman in Rome”.

So, let us not make much ado about nothing! The latest incidents are typical examples of certain natural human tendencies which were blown out of proportion by middlemen like the media and politicians who thrive on sensationalism and cheap publicity. We need to understand that no one is better than the other and that it is natural for humans to differentiate and react.

I am sure that the examples I shared with you might have sparked off a debate in your minds or at least provoked some thoughts. Please feel free to share your thoughts on the same!

I happened to watch this movie “Gone Baby Gone” recently. The story line is about a kidnapping which is shrouded in mystery. A private detective, the protagonist, who is hired to help out the investigation, finds out that the kidnapper is none other than the just-retired, honorable sheriff who had lost his child in a conflict and very badly wanted to father a child.

On the other hand, the kidnapped child’s natural mother is addicted to drugs and cannot care for her daughter. However, since her daughter’s kidnapping she has shown signs of becoming a more responsible person.

The core of the movie is the dilemma which the protagonist faces once he uncovers the truth.

The investigator is faced with a dilemma as to whether he should hand over the child to her mother who might not care for her or to leave her with the sheriff who will love, care and provide for her until she becomes an adult.

What should the protagonist do?

A video shot by National Geographic during an African safari gives us this scenario – a calf was attacked by 4 lion cubs which had the calf in their hold. There were around 50 African bison, which stood helpless and were about to witness the death of the little calf. The guards and crew of National Geographic also watched the incident but had guns in their hand! They could fire in the air and disperse the cubs and release the little calf or be mere spectators!

What should the guards and crew do?

Here’s another example, which many of you can probably could relate to:

A senior manager of a large MNC quit his job and started off on his own. The top executives in that MNC were his mentors, ex-bosses and good friends. A new assignment comes up in the MNC and they invite proposals from firms. This senior manager who has branched off on his own also participates in the process. He is aware of the project, the company culture and all other nuts and bolts which are required for successful completion of the work. Also his rates are low and nowhere near to his rivals. He charges actual + a thin margin as he doesn’t have to incur other sales and marketing costs. The proposal is otherwise professional. The top executives understand that the reason behind a strong proposal from their ex-colleague is his thorough knowledge of the company’s internals.

Should the top executives award him the contract or should they set aside his proposal and evaluate other proposals?

During one of my meetings at the Toastmasters’ Club, a very experienced toastmaster for 16 years delivered a fantastic speech. During the same meeting, there was a new member presenting his first speech as the icebreaker! He also did a good job but nothing in comparison to the experienced toastmaster. At the end of the session people voted for the best speaker. No marks for guessing. It was the experienced toastmaster. When he went on stage he offered to give the award to the new member who delivered the icebreaker speech.

The winner’s conscience did not permit him to accept the award. Was he right in going against the collective wisdom of the crowds?

When I reflect on certain incidents, statements and behavior of my friends, family and colleagues, I realize that most of their time and energy are spent on following the dictates of their conscience. I am no different, I too have been there, seen it and done it!

We all have spent quite a bit of time and energy in justifying our acts and words in one way or another. This compulsive need to be guided by our conscience takes a toll on human energy. We feel depressed when we are seen to be arrogant or inconsiderate, but feel elated when perceived otherwise.

We not only want to do the right things but also seen to be doing the right things. Is this necessary? Should we not keep it simple and say that it is all a perception issue. After all, the post-modern theory which is in vogue is that of “situational ethics” where the sense of right or wrong is relative to the situation. Tolerance is the key and any form of intolerance is considered sacrilegious. So, why bother about proving to the world that we heed our conscience? Let us regard others’ take on the situation as perceptional and opinionated and move on! But, something told me that this is not “right”!

I did some research to understand the root cause for all the decisions we make in situations like the ones mentioned above. As usual the research has taken me more than a month, raised quite a few questions, including the very existence of God! The final destination or the root-cause, I settled for was – the universal truth! The book The New Tolerance, by Josh McDowell and Bob Hostetler was the clincher that adjudicated my internal debate between situational ethics and universal truth/God and delivered the judgment in favor of the existence of universal truth and God!

The debate was well-structured by the authors of the article. Hence, I would like to cite them throughout the argument.

They say that whenever people encounter situations as presented above, if they were to apply “situational ethics” vis-à-vis “comparison to universal truth”, the world would be led into a subjective mentality of “whatever feels good”, which could have a devastating effect on the society.

What is “good” or “right” to you may be “bad” or “wrong” to someone else!

So, on the question of existence of absolute truth they conclude, “…If there are no absolutes, no reality, chaos ensues. Take the law of gravity for instance. If it were not an absolute, we could not be certain we could stand or sit in one place until we decided to move. Or if 2 + 2 did not always equal 4…What a mess that would be, but thankfully 2 + 2 does equal 4. There is absolute truth and it can be found and understood…”

To further cement their argument on absolute truth, they present pieces of evidence for the existence of absolute truth and hence God!

“Yes. First, there is the human conscience, that within us that tells us the world should be a “certain way,” and that some things are “right” and some are “wrong.”

The second pointer is science…”Science is simply the pursuit of knowledge, the study of what we know and the quest to know more. Therefore, all scientific study must by necessity be founded upon the belief that there are objective realities that exist in the world and that these realities can be discovered and proven…”

The third issue for consideration “… All the religions of the world attempt to give meaning and definition to life. They are born out of mankind’s desire for something more than simple existence…”

The authors also present interesting arguments against the atheist camps! They say that, if one were to claim absolutely that “God does not exist” then, the claim is itself fundamentally flawed. The claim of atheists is based on their “absolute knowledge or truth that God does not exist” which is contradictory to their belief that there is no “absolute truth”!

In conclusion, the authors’ state, “And if there is indeed a Creator, then He becomes the standard for absolute truth…”

Though the “universal truths” are generally accepted and recognized as the official formula of ethics and morals, they have come to be debatable in our post modern society. Not long ago, slavery, racism or discrimination in any form, family planning, abortion, euthanasia, gay and transsexual rights were taken for granted and treated as non-issues, prohibited topics and were consistently ignored. Today, the voices have grown stronger and effected some action.

Does this mean our society is weaning away from the universal truth and is following “situational ethics” or the principles of “cultural relativism” which we discussed above? The answer in my opinion is, No! The society is learning to be more tolerant and become more inclusive! The society wants these issues listed above to be added to the realm of universal truths! That way we can develop a sustainable society which is tolerant and inclusive.

In essence, there is a certain right or wrong, good or bad and it is judged against the universal truth which has been given to mankind by the Creator. We need to accept the fact that we are accountable for what we say and do. This means that we cannot apply the logic of situational ethics and get away with our words and deeds. I am not suggesting that we should explain and defend every act and deed of ours, but just that we need to be conscious of our behavior and if we realize (internally) that there is a scope for improvement, we should endeavor to do so!

I would like to conclude with this true story. The conflict in Bosnia and Serbia left thousands dead. It was one of the worst ethnic cleansings in recent times. The international community, UN and a team of scientists are spending hundreds of millions of dollars trying to put together sets of 208 bones from different mass graves just to identify those who are dead and prove to the culprits that there is evidence of who was murdered and hence prosecute the murderers for their crime.

The international community, could easily prosecute the culprits as the whole world knows who committed the crimes, and give the hundreds of millions of dollars to Africa and help alleviate poverty there. But is it the right thing to do? No, every person who is charged needs a chance to be proven innocent or guilty as charged and punished accordingly. By spending the millions we could bring some respect back to the dead and their surviving families in a sense that, even after death, there is someone who will fight for justice and ensure that it is delivered to the survivors.

This ability to rationalize and internalize is a trait unique to human beings. It is not to be found among other forms of life. The rationalization will work only when we believe in a superior universal truth.

This ability to rationalize and internalize is according to me – God!

I have come across two kinds of people. First kind are the ones who want to get something done and they get it done no matter what (read as beg, borrow or steal). The second kind are those who eventually get things done by playing the game of “war of attrition”!

Then I came across the third kind. Smart, energetic, enthusiastic, brimming with ideas but who do not have either the ability to get it done or play the attrition game. In their lifetime, they come up with some brilliant idea, suggestion, or cause but never succeed in getting them off the ground. They get themselves entangled in a mesh of political quagmire and run out of steam before they can see their idea see the light of the day.

I think many of us fall in this category. I am sure many of you will be able to re-collect instances from your days at school, college, work place, home and social life. If you had a chance to trace back, you will find that someone else picked up the baton from where you dropped and achieved glory. You tend to say to yourself that “If only, I had not dropped the ball…I would have been” or even worse reminisce, “You know what, it was my idea!”

This recent photograph which I took, of kids near my house celebrating the festival of colour “Holi” has an interesting story behind it and got me thinking on the concept of political will. They were the only group celebrating Holi! Un-fazed by the lack of interest amongst the elders around, they went about having fun which they wanted to. When I approached them for a photograph they were more than willing to pose for me. I interviewed a few of them and heard their story of enduring spirit and uncovered the following story…

It seems that when the kids approached their parents for resources needed to celebrate Holi, the response was lukewarm. They were challenged with hurdle after hurdle like, home work, health issues, society/apartment association regulations on using colours within the premises, practical difficulties of cleaning up, special project (being a long holiday most of them had special projects which they needed to complete and bring back after their small vacation), impending examinations which are just round the corner, they were even told the lame stories on how their favourite film stars did not celebrate Holi as a mark of paying homage to the Mumbai 26/11 incident and so on. The parents piled up hurdles as if it their life depended on it.

However, the children had made up their mind! All they wanted was to have a blast and celebrate Holi and that they would do it.

They got together, planned out their study schedule and homework for the coming week. For the special projects, the kids had an idea! They volunteered for the topic “Holi Celebrations” for the special project in their respective classes. This way they could use special projects as an excuse when they lobbied with their parents. Confused? So was I…

Well, they offered their parents that If they celebrated Holi, they could click pictures and write about the event at their society and would get the project completed by themselves instead of passing it on to them (which is usually the case). This way the parents would be glad to know that they got all the 4 days for themselves. Otherwise they would have to do a lot of research for the projects.

Once they were done with their internal housekeeping, they identified the area where they would play Holi, and what kind of ammunition they would use like water guns, powder sprays, foams. It was during this conversation that they decided that they would not use eggs, tomatoes or any such item which was costly and also compromised on some of the colours which were known to be made of harmful chemical dyes. They came up with some regulations like wearing a slipper, not so costly T-shirts or trousers, and also committed to use swimming glasses to protect their eyes. Thus they made their list of resources that looked pretty good, and approvable.

I also understand from some of the seniors in the group that they made a cute little speech at the monthly society/apartment owners’ association meeting on how they intended to go about their preparation. So, the proposal was completed and presented to individual parents and then the association as a whole!

Do you think these kids were making up this story? I don’t think so! The coherence in narration of incidents and the enthusiasm with which each kid pitched in to explain their hard earned fun moved me.

Is this an isolated incident where kids have shown an astounding example of political will? Here are a few more examples of kids having their way:

• A wailing kid in the wide aisle of a grocery store.
• A kid completing his homework early and doing some helping around at home only to ask for time out to play.
• Kids complaining to a visiting relative about how their parents would not buy them a toy which they very badly want and eventually making the relative feel that he/she should buy it for the kid!
• Kids telling a story of how beautiful their friend’s wrist watch is and why they too need one. They don’t stop there usually. They ask their parents the way to get it. I mean they try to understand from the “giver”, what it would take to get one for themselves.
• Kids seeking and getting the permission of their parents to attend a school picnic.

In the cases discussed above, one thing stands out. In the psychology of children it is ingrained that they have to pursue their ideas or wants to achieve the desired result. They know they have to lobby hard; they tend to understand what tactic works well and when to use what tactic without hurting their future chances. This uncanny ability to persuade without hampering your future chances is called political will! We too have been there, done it or at least have seen it!

Why is it that we lose this political will as we grow up?

At work place, I have seen some brilliant programmers come up with some intelligent tool that automates a very tedious process. They wish that it be used enterprise wide. However, when they encounter the very first challenge or a set of challenges they give up. The tool never sees the light of the day.

Do you know the story of now famous Arvind Adiga, the author of “White Tiger”? Before his work was published and won the Man Booker Prize, he was rejected by every major publishing house in India. That did not deter him. But unfortunately, for every Arvind Adiga there are many others who have put their work in their attics and have given up!

Many innovations, books, arts, ideas have died a silent death because of the lack of political will on the part of the innovator to push it into the system.

When I set out to understand the reason behind giving up instead of having the political will to push the ideas forward, I chanced upon an article by Diane Kennedy Pike. She theorizes a reason why we lose the political will as we grow up. According to her, people develop a sense of distaste for arguments and conflicts as they grow up. They perceive that it is important for them to be “liked by others” than to hold on to their principles and convictions.

This obsessive compulsive disorder for being “liked by other” is what strips you of one of the most important character, namely, the political will, which as a child you carried in abundance and were getting things done the way you thought was right!

During conflicts whilst you are pursuing an idea, you might be faced with hurtful comments. There could be people lobbying against you and your principles. But if it is correct and if you believe it could change people’s lives, stay put! The key is to stay the course on your principles, ideas and convictions, not to take criticisms personally, be passionate about the cause and at the same time be dispassionate in engagement.

Further Diane Kennedy Pike notes,  “I recognize now that to bring about any change at the group level takes tremendous commitment. First, there must be a vision of what is possible. Then, there must be a willingness to sustain that vision through all the stages: presentation of it, support for it, organizing practical programs to implement it, recruiting others to participate in the programs, spending hours talking with people, carrying on when you feel you are the only one who cares, not allowing criticism, rumours, and name-calling to discourage you, allowing others to get the credit when what you envisioned finally begins to manifest, and supporting those who are willing to carry on the vision now that it has become a reality. This is how I would define political will.”

I would like to end with a personal story which made me learn the importance of political will and hence re-build it as a part of my character and also helped develop my tolerance towards “dirty politics”.

I started the student placement office at my college in 2001. It was tough time for technology companies in India. People started remarking about the lack of traction in placements and also were speculating about mismanagement of funds. They demanded a disclosure of accounts. I quit at that very instant. I could not take the fact that people did not trust me. There was no problem with the accounts, and I would have been cleared of all the charges. But I was afraid that such conflicts were going to make me only more unpopular and also that it was a thankless job. Later, I learnt that someone else picked up from where I had left, disclosed the accounts, was cleared of all charges and as luck would have it, a few weeks into his leadership, the placements started happening at my college. The homework which I had done was paying off. He took all the credit for turning around a system that I had abandoned!

I learnt my lesson on political will and vowed to myself that I will never reminisce “You know what, I was the one who started all this placements…”

I refuse to be a loser, just because I do not have political will!

Sustainability is his mantra! Not because he is pitching for clean energy via wind turbines, solar panels only but also, for asking the corporate to be responsible towards the society and environment as well. Making them spend the dollars they have raked in over the last 100 years!

His speech at the Jt. Session of Congress evoked a flurry of responses in all the news channels and business newspapers. All the capitalists of new India cloaked in the disguise of “entrepreneurs” crying foul! US capitalists dwarfed us Indians by getting their own Bobby in Washington DC to lead the clarion call within minutes of the president’s speech!

Capitalists fear him and I too am fearful. There is a difference though. I am afraid that the one sensible guy whom we have found after almost a century to champion the cause of common man might be “silenced”! I wish and pray for the well being of Obama and his family.

This article is an unconventional didactic exegesis! So, it’s going to be a long one. And also, let me warn you, if you are not an Obama fan, you might just want to drop off here or dig in and comment your rebuttal!

“The fact is, our economy did not fall into decline overnight. Nor did all of our problems begin when the housing market collapsed or the stock market sank…we import more oil today than ever before…The cost of health care eats up more and more of our savings each year…and though all of these challenges went unsolved, we still managed to spend more money and pile up more debt… .We have lived through an era where too often short-term gains were prized over long-term prosperity, where we failed to look beyond the next payment, the next quarter, or the next election.”

How true? Didn’t we all know that Americans lived their life by the day? Is he wrong in coming out in public and admitting it? He just ripped off the band-aid buddy, nothing more!

“A surplus became an excuse to transfer wealth to the wealthy instead of an opportunity to invest in our future… .Regulations  were gutted for the sake of a quick profit at the expense of a healthy market. People bought homes they knew they couldn’t afford from banks and lenders who pushed those bad loans anyway.”

Have you heard this from any of the banks who lent irresponsibly or the people who took them? No! Instead we were immersed in a usual US media blitz on “subprime mortgage crisis”. After all what can we expect from a country that calls its jails “correction facilities” and killing innocent civilians as “collateral damage”. The common American was all along kept away from harsh realities by flooding him with such jargons which anyway the high school dropout wouldn’t understand. Their life was watched the world over as the biggest “True man show” ever! The Americans also were so gullible and at times I should say were high on grass!

“…they will be held accountable by me and the American people for every dollar they spend… I’ve appointed a proven and aggressive inspector general to ferret out any and all cases of waste and fraud…” Which means nobody and nothing was ever held responsible in US. Some one said, “Nothing is guaranteed in the US but everybody gets a chance, but, not all get a chance in the UK, but once they do, it is guaranteed!” So typical of the American lifestyle, which by the way they take pride in calling it “our way of life” – what the heck! Here is a man who has never used this phrase! A man who criticizes with an open heart, the same “way of life” which has brought them to where they are today!

Read on, do you now wonder if Robin Hood is back?

“…It’s a plan that won’t help speculators or that neighbour down the street who bought a house he could never hope to afford, this time, CEOs won’t be able to use taxpayer money to pad their paychecks, or buy fancy drapes, or disappear on a private jet. Those days are over…”

“…It is time to put in place tough, new common-sense rules of the road so that our financial market rewards drive and innovation and punishes shortcuts and abuse…”

“…In order to save our children from a future of debt, we will also end the tax breaks for the wealthiest 2 percent of Americans…”

And here comes the clincher!

“…I do not accept a future where the jobs and industries of tomorrow take root beyond our borders…”

I say, Robin Hood is Barack!

There are two things which I want to talk about, especially on the clincher. Obama is not against outsourcing. He suggests that any new technology / innovation done BY an American company, needs to happen in the US. This is fairly simple. He is willing to provide tax benefits for such firms and encourage them to utilize the resources of his country. In fact he is pitching to the big businesses to do work in the US and get rewarded as well for that.

Secondly, did you know that US business conglomerates are so big that their value is more than that of GDP of some of the nations put together and in certain cases equal to the GDP of some of the biggest developing nations? These businesses have moved from the US to cheaper cost of production locations and are charging a bomb from the other US businesses located in US. On top of that every year, these big companies, gross 300$ billion from their “offshore” locations and take that money back into the US by paying a paltry 5% tax to the US Government. In such scenarios, all he is suggesting is that he will not provide a tax haven anymore and just pay the 35% corporate you are supposed to pay!

OK, in case you are the ‘Joe the plumber’, let me simplify it for you.

1. US companies (IBM, Accenture, Mc D, Pepsi, PWC, Mc Kinsey etc.) had reached a saturation point in the US market.
2. The US Gov told the businesses, “You go out and start off your business in offshore locations, get more revenues and when you bring the money back into US, instead of paying 35% corporate tax, pay me just 5% tax. I will allow you to do this for a long, long time and you bring back wealth into America.”
3. These companies utilized the opportunities and ventured out.
4. When they realized the potential of countries like India (services) and China (manufacturing), they started shipping jobs to India and got a cost arbitrage and also utilized the tax haven in their country.
5. Double whammy as they call it in US, Joe!

Now, for Indian “Ramu the IT guy”…I am sure you would have been immersed in offshore/onsite model, travels, free trade, global market, share market stories by now. Also, I am pretty confident that you would have wanted to multiply your money and invested heavily in share markets! Suppose you had the shares of HLL (Hindustan Lever Ltd.) which is a subsidiary of Unilever (UK). You would be glad that you invested in a multi-national company and since you are receiving dividends you would have become an advocate of free trade. If you carefully examine what the Unilevers of the world are doing, you will realize that they are swindling money from your country (read India) mate!

Again, let me simplify it for you. It is day time robbery my friend! When HLL announces dividends, being the largest shareholder, Unilever (UK) gets money. It goes back to UK or if it were a US company it goes back to US. Poor Governments of the UK/US, in a move to encourage their so called entrepreneurs in a free trade practice, had announced that they can bring back the capital at 5% interest rate. Finally, the money lands in the company coffers and the CEOs and top brass burp it away over champagne in a private jet somewhere in the south of Europe in a Mediterranean island with their girl friends! The point to note is that they are not investing enough money back into the country where they are consuming their resources from and also not paying appropriate taxes to their motherland as well! Double Whammy buddy!!

This guy Barack Obama, the US President, a sensible guy, finally, is not sticking up to his capitalist friends. He is talking about common sense and common people.

Look at the people whom he got inspiration from. Leonard Abess, a bank president from Miami who reportedly cashed out of his company, took a $60 million bonus, and gave it out to all 399 people who worked for him, plus another 72 who used to work for him, Greensburg, Kansas, a town that was completely destroyed by a tornado and its story of reconstruction, Ty’Sheoma Bethea, the young girl from that school he visited in Dillon, South Carolina who wrote a letter to his administration that she wants her school restored back!

He is trying hard to bring in the “change” he promised. Unlike our Indian government he is not throwing “spare change” to the common man like farm loan waiver, fuel price cuts, some petty tax cuts, in the garb of stimulus plans. Our CEOs and financial analysts need to wake up to the fact that he is the President of United States of America and not this planet!

I have confidence after listening to his speech that he will bring back the American economy on track! In this very same speech, he says he will restore faith in G 20 nations regarding American economy. “…for the world depends on us having a strong economy, just as our economy depends on the strength of the world’s!”

Let’s say “We want change!”  Hail Barack – Robin Hood of our times and the true sustainability champion!

Rajasthan Royals started off as the underdogs and went on to win the Indian Premier League (IPL 2008 season). 2008 culminated with two significant achievements from the underdogs’ camp. India’s successful moon mission and Barack Obama!

Underdog theme continues to inspire every day. With AR Rehman being crowned as the Hollywood music king and lesser known crew from Slumdog Millionaire winning all the awards ever instituted in the international film circles, underdogs have added another feather to their cap!

Well, who exactly is an underdog? There are a few interesting theories on the phrase derivation of “underdogs” and “top dogs”, dating back to the 19th century stories on wood-sawing and dog fights. The latest derivation claim in 20th century relates to an article in the Sports Review on prize hunting or hunting dogs! Wherever it originated from, according to me, an underdog is the “who’s so what?” and a top dog is the “who is who”.

The audience love underdogs in a competition. You know why? There are two reasons, and these reasons have evolved depending on the political, social and economic climate of the time and place.

Reason 1: The audience consider themselves the master and want to see the underdog succumb to them to satiate their thirst for supremacy.

Remember the ancient Romans and their arena fights? Impoverished slaves used to fight the ultimate roman fighting machine (a knight) or a tiger. The slaves used to muster up even the last ounce of survival instinct to fight a losing battle and eventually succumb to the master!

Reason 2: The audience can actually empathize not just sympathize, with the underdog and root for it to become the top dog!

The American presidential election in 2008 is a classic example. People loved Barack Obama the underdog! The son of an African-American immigrant, father of 2 kids, who has struggled hard to be where he is, has no personal business affiliations, not just another candidate who claimed patriotism via war hysteria. The people of America could actually relate to him… because most of them had been there sometime or the other in their lives.

Apart from these reasons as to why any audience love underdogs in a competition, there is an important element which an underdog brings on board. It is the “power of possibility”! There is an ever lurking chance that the underdog might win and “upset” the party or as with changing times there is an immense possibility of crowning a new champion.

As it is rightly called the Champions League Football Tournament is a testimony to the fact that underdogs are interesting! The tournament has a complex structure and one can rest assured that only a true champion can emerge out of it! The year was 2004, the year of underdogs; the 3 of the final 4 playing for the cup were lesser known clubs. FC Porto, Deportivo La Coruña, AS Monaco. The 4th club was Chelsea. FC Porto won the cup! It was led by a then unknown man, José Mourinho! This underdog went on to become the top-dog in football circuit. He became a champion in his first season and a double premier league winner with the famous Chelsea football club, brand ambassador for Samsung mobile and the theme of many a best sellers capped by his authorized biography “Made in Portugal”. This champion is an inspiring example of the underdog to top dog story.

There are umpteen such stories that have been told so far and all have been massive hits at the box office and they will continue to be! Rocky, The mighty ducks, Waterboy,  Dodgeball: A true underdog story, Lagaan, Taare Zamin par, Slumdog Millionaire, just to list a few famous ones. Every movie went on to win Oscars or nominations at least! In a website for film reviews, Anthony Chatfield a freelance writer notes, “Underdog themed stories will never die. They capture an aspect of everyday life that we all feel at one point or another Рthat desire to belong and be respected…” It is so true!

We can now understand why people love underdogs and the value addition they bring on board. But who creates these underdogs? I think it is just a state of mind. It is purely a perspective of the “who’s who” about “who’s so what”!

Rajasthan Royals, ISRO, Barack Obama, AR Rehman, the crew of Slumdog Millionaire, José Mourinho listed in this article are all extraordinary. They always had high quality content! Over a period of time, the “who’s who” or pros become complacent and think that some entities in a competition both do not have the required talent or depth and hence don’t give them a chance of winning! What they fail to understand is that it is actually the underdog who filters the ordinary from the extra-ordinary and brings out the true champion.

Given that this is a perspective issue and not an actual problem of being the underdog, is it cool to be an underdog? And importantly, how do you know if you are an underdog?

In my opinion it is OK to be the underdog at times in a given system. During the process of working your way through the system, as an underdog, you have an advantage which no one has. Your innate talent mixed with the absence of “fear of failure” makes a charming cocktail, which, when served, rocks the system and catapults you to the rock star status!

You realize that you are the underdog when people around you consistently say that you have the talent and you don’t have any fear of failure! So, how long do you remain an underdog? Not long… the moment you achieve certain goals within a system and get recognized you are no longer considered an underdog! A fear of failure sets in and inhibits one from experimenting. Then, how do you become a top dog?

Underdogs enhance a competition; they inspire and enable people to aspire, they present unlimited possibilities! The connotation of underdog might not be all that positive, but definitely it is not negative. To become a top dog, you need to shed your fear of failure. Continue to experiment and learn, never underestimate your competition as underdog, for, underdogs are not someone whom you ignore, but someone you watch out for. I love to quote great leaders and opinion makers. One such quote from Mahatma Gandhi is “First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.” To turn yourself into a top dog, draw inspiration from underdogs!

So, next time you watch a movie or a game of football or if you are listening to sales pitch or evaluating a competition or interviewing prospective employees, look out for the underdog!

You might win yourself a champion!

–

Sundararaman Viswanathan is engineer by qualification, manager by profession, aspiring writer and a wannabe entrepreneur at heart. He currently works as a Transition Manager, with vast experience in managing the support of mission critical IT systems.

The gravity of the statement did not hit me until recently when, again, I was moved by the common thread that connected a few disparate incidents! The common thread was “suspicion”.

I set out on a journey to understand suspicion! The objective was to find out why do we suspect? Should we suspect at all? If so what to suspect and importantly when to stop?

I think it’s in our nature as humans to doubt anything and everything. Biblical character the Doubting Thomas who doubted the resurrection of Christ himself is a typical example of how far we humans could go with suspicion! Now, if you say that you are a believer and have never doubted anything or anybody, please drop me a note, because, it is rarely in human kind we have had believers and I would be blessed to meet one!

Coming back to the story…

The root of suspicion is the inability to understand a particular thing or person. When someone does not understand something or someone they become insecure and consequently feel guilty. And as Shakespeare says, “Suspicion always haunts the guilty mind!” The level of insecurity manifests in the magnitude of the action that follows, results of which could turn out to be either positive or negative.

There is a whole list of words to contextualize suspicion – doubt, misgiving, distrust, mistrust, disbelief, wariness, scepticism. Instead of eliminating this concept we have encouraged it! This means that our society actually encouraged suspicion as a thought process. Usually a thought process drives creativity. When that creativity is channelized in the right way we witness miracles. In effect, how creative we get with our suspicion and how well it is channelized decides whether we become an inventor or an intruder. So, in essence, my take is that it is OK to suspect!

A closely knit family, were celebrating a big event one day! There were quite a few people who participated. The following day a member of the house figured out that they had lost precious jewellery. The family suspected one close relative to have stolen it. After some discussions they added the house maids also to the suspects’ list. With each round of deliberation, it became a laundry list of suspects featuring the kith and kin resulting in heated arguments and heartaches.

Finally, the family decided to let go of the issue and make good for the lost jewellery. They did so because they did not want to name and shame someone (if it were a close relative) and also because they would not be able to deliver the harsh actions like a police complaint if it turned out to be someone who was socially and economically weak.

However, the discussion on “suspects” left a bitter taste amongst the family members. Suspicion took a toll on the person who lost the jewellery and others affected by the incident so much so that they were not able to treat/look at the “suspects” the same way as before.

On the other hand, let us look at some situations where suspicion has helped! Had the explorers not suspected that the earth is round, we would not have found the Americas. Had John Nash not suspected Adam Smith’s economic wisdom we wouldn’t have “Nash’s equilibrium” which has changed the face of competition, trade negotiations, game theory etc. To close the loop, but for suspicion, Saint Thomas would have remained “Doubting Thomas” and not become “Saint Thomas the believer”!

The solution lies in this quote: To be suspicious is not a fault. To be suspicious all the time without coming to a conclusion is the defect. – Terence (a Roman dramatist)

Most of us cannot be “the believer” who knows “the truth” during one lifetime, so it is OK to suspect and doubt anything and everything. But if we cannot act on the outcome of a suspicion, we should not continue to be suspicious. When we feel that we are lost in suspicion about someone or something, the first thing we need to do is to seek to understand!

As they say, “When in doubt ask!”

–

Sundararaman Viswanathan is engineer by qualification, manager by profession, aspiring writer and a wannabe entrepreneur at heart. He currently works as a Transition Manager, with vast experience in managing the support of mission critical IT systems.

Why I am writing about this book is especially because this book justifies my belief that there is no unselfish generous deed! The author says that even an altruist is selfish as, in a way, when he/she does an unselfish act it eventually is for his/her own happiness in return. This made me feel really happy that my opinion on altruism is not just a trivial thought but a topic written about by great minds.

Just when I had completed reading this book, an interesting incident happened at my work place which went on to justify Raghunathan’s views that we Indians have weak self-regulation and weaker regulations, weak enforcements and weaker punishments.

Now, look at this situation. How many of us apply for a leave and do not return on the day when we are supposed to be back? I guess all of us have done this at some point of time. Given the great manager I consider myself to be, I follow a unique principle. I grant leave to anybody at any point of time without asking questions/clarification on the condition that they actually come back on the appointed day and not ask for extension of their leave.

One of my team members does not turn up and violates the mutual agreement. In this case though he has used an additional day’s leave, and some satisfaction points, he has lost the credibility and reward points from me in the long run. I was stupefied at the analysis of game theorists on human behavior, especially  Raghunathan’s analysis of Indians. Because, the situation described above is not a common one abroad. Think this through my friends, why will not rest of the world glaringly look down at us in spite of all the brilliance we have? We need to start working towards improving our behavior soon, as, when the world truly becomes a global village, we could soon become outcasts.

The callousness with which we have behaved in incidents relating to beating up of a petty thief in Bihar, an unattended bleeding naked woman in CST terminus in the busy Mumbai suburban rail compartment, the inconsiderate sting operations for the sake of money, broadcasting gory images of Hyderabad/Bombay bomb blasts and terror attacks are a few other examples of Indianness which further vindicate Mr. Raghunathan’s views/claims.

On the other hand, recently, there are quite a few programs being aired on Discovery channel that discuss/portray India in a good light. This is a paradigm shift from the days when the world media made documentaries only about our poverty, illiteracy, AIDS and health care issues. Especially program about Delhi Metro was heartening. Programs about young Indian business tycoons on the breakfast show on CNN IBN show how well we as a nation are progressing in terms of entrepreneurship.
All said and done, we need to think if we should take pride in the phrases, “It happens only in India” and “We are like that only!”
–
Sundararaman Viswanathan is engineer by qualification, manager by profession, aspiring writer and a wannabe entrepreneur at heart. He currently works as a Transition Manager, with vast experience in managing the support of mission critical IT systems.

During the premier of a latest movie, a director was explaining how different the movie was from all other movies ever made. At least to my knowledge this is what every director has had to say for every movie that has ever been made. Also, if you notice, any product or service that is ever brought out to the market has claimed some differentiator or the other. Sometimes the public spat between competitors has gotten as ugly as the recent one between two health drinks (Complan and Horlicks).

This fixation to differentiate is not restricted to particular person, product/service or geography. This has got to do with everybody and everything! Is it really necessary that one should differentiate from others? Can’t we sell anything [be it ourselves or a product/service] without differentiating? Should we believe that “Winners don’t do different things, they do things differently”? Is it a taboo to be similar?

I did read up quite a bit on this. The journey took me to fascinating pieces of wisdom ranging from the dictionary meaning of difference, to differential calculus, Aristotle, genetics, search for identity, Unique Selling Proposition (USP), psychology and philosophy. Had I not decided to stop and just pen down my thoughts, it would probably never have come to a logical conclusion!

Let me walk you through some instances; provide insights into the material which I read during this research and share my thoughts on this topic.

Need to differentiate: A phenomenon that has gained significance since the start of Neolithic era. It is driven by the two most important objectives of survival and creating an identity for oneself.

It is ingrained in our human DNA to differentiate. In a recent article published in the Science Daily on Dec 22nd 2008, some Israeli scientists have discovered the gene responsible for differentiation.

It seems that, at a very early stage of human development, all cells of the embryo are identical, but are very flexible and carry within them the potential to become any tissue type, whether it be muscle, skin, liver or brain. This cell differentiation process begins at about the time that the embryo settles into the uterus. By activating a certain set of genes, the embryo can make muscle cells. By turning on a different set, these same immature cells can become liver. Other gene sets are responsible for additional tissues. Though this discovery is very important for organ replacement and related medical advancements, it is quite intriguing to know that the differentiation process is very much part of our DNA.

Given that we need differentiation to be created and survive in the first place, let us see why we need to use differentiation as a technique to create an identity? Let us use some analytical tool say “Shame”!!! Surprised? Read on…

This example is close to my heart. As an engineering student, whenever I used to attend inter-college cultural symposiums, I observed that the arts and science graduates were always the best when it came to cultural events like fashion shows, orchestra, singing, dancing, painting etc. I used to wonder as to why the engineering students lagged behind in this effort.

Unlike other parts of the world where people choose arts and science as a subject of study, in our part of the world, it is only by chance that they end up in arts and science, at least a majority of them. So, it is a shame to be an arts and science graduate in Indian society which values children / students based only on their academic credentials only and nothing else.

In his book “Psychology of Shame”, Gershen Kaufman notes both positive and negative impacts of shame. In my opinion this case is a classic example of positive impact of shame. The quest for differentness/separateness amongst the arts and science graduates is amplified by the shame which was inflicted upon them. In their striving for separateness/differentness, the students acquired mastery / competence in other fields which showed up in the results of the cultural events thus helping them create an identity for themselves.

It was in this analysis  I understood that, the two factors behind “individuation” [or self differentiation] are (1) The need for separation/differentness and (2) competence/mastery required in achieving the differentness.

Probably the understanding of this concept is what prompted Rosser Reeves to innovate and come up with the concept of Unique Selling Proposition (USP). He believed that if an advertisement/commercial brought out the “unique proposition” in a product/service, it could position the brand at a convenient point in consumer’s minds, enhance the sales, and even make consumers switch from other brands. Today, every other advertisement positions a product/service as unique, different!

These instances were sufficient enough for me to understand the need, significance and evolution and implementation of differentiation. Now, my question is, does differentiation create only positive responses? Doesn’t look like it.

I have also come across some strong arguments against creating differences and identity. Look at the major conflicts around the world. They are primarily based on human, regional, inter/intra religious and political differences. There are other benign conflicts as well in education, business, sports which engulf our lives when they touch us.

In the quest to differentiate, we create or end up creating a world of differences. So what do we do? We start diversity training!!

Since Obama’s election to Presidency, there is a renewed focus on diversity! Every business, school and institution is working on imparting diversity training to its associates. However, diversity tolerance doesn’t come in a day. Laurie B Lippin co-author of the recently published book “Understanding Whiteness/Unraveling Racism” says, it takes a life time of training to appreciate diversity and differences. Firstly one needs to understand who they are and what their preferences are before they appreciate someone else’s different preference. John Kremer and Ian Schermbrucker renowned psychologists in a brilliant article say, “Yes, you can be forced to walk in someone else’s shoes, but when your abiding memory is simply that they are uncomfortable then the purpose of the exercise may be lost.”

Conflicts due to human differences have consumed so much resources and probably much more to level them.

As, we can see differentiators have created both excitement and contempt. Now that we have seen both sides of the coin, what is it that I feel about differentiation?

In my opinion, it is necessary for an entity to create an identity. However, differentiation need not be the only way to accomplish it. We should not look at differentiation as a strategy to make up for our current situation or inherent flaws.  We need to critically analyze at each stage in an initiative/self evolution if it is absolutely necessary to differentiate to achieve the goal as someone said, “In a struggle to create an identity we develop differences. In more ways than not it inhibits growth and we end up fighting the differences rather than really appreciating them and learning from them.”

Rosser Reeves, the man who coined the term USP, himself believed that “It was a waste of money to claim uniqueness that doesn’t exist…Money would be better spent building some kind of meaningful advantage into a product before launching a costly advertising campaign to promote it.”

In essence, a quality product or service, good intent/nature of people, sincerity in search for excellence and similar genuine efforts in all walks of life will definitely stand out and carve an identity for itself. Rather than spend our time and effort on creating differences and differentiators, we should use differentiators as a supplement to the uniqueness that we are, and of which we create.

Before embarking on this journey of discovery of differences, I sincerely did not expect that a simple word “difference” would have been so much discussed, researched and deliberated upon. Now that I have shared some thoughts for you to ponder, let me continue with my exploration. For those who thought this article is going to be nothing different from my earlier posts, I hope to have made a difference!

–

Sundararaman Viswanathan is engineer by qualification, manager by profession, aspiring writer and a wannabe entrepreneur at heart. He currently works as a Transition Manager, with vast experience in managing the support of mission critical IT systems.

At the end of the contest, the child walked out and gave an interview, justifying her poor performance and blaming it on her sore throat. To set the context, my knowledge of carnatic music no better than my knowledge of the exact location of the Holy Grail. But I can certainly discern the difference between a song and noise, sense and drivel. It was absolute babble! There was no traceable evidence of training in singing/music.

In a related incident, a child got traumatized because of the comments made by the jury of a reality show. I did watch the fateful show and the performance was pathetic.

During one of my trips to the UK in 2005, The Professional Association of Teachers discussed an idea that the label of failure could undermine pupils’ enthusiasm. Liz Beattie, a retired teacher, proposed to delete the word ‘fail’ from the educational vocabulary to be replaced with the concept of ‘deferred success’.

As I pondered over these disparate incidents, one thing stood out clearly. People have become averse to the competitive atmosphere which we live in. They do not want any more winners or losers. They just want to participate, have “fun”, make a decent living and get on with life without having to compete with anybody. Given the kind of competitive person I am, I never bothered to take a different perspective. I always believed that one should deserve to desire and that there is no way to “succeed” in life without defeating someone or some system. I admired the then education secretary Ruth Kelly when he rejected the proposal to replace the word “fail” with “deferred success” and said, “I think I might give them nought (0) out of 10 for this proposal.”

However the rethink instinct did kick in…

The culture of competition, winning and losing, victory and defeat has been propagated since centuries. What was primarily reserved for the historically competitive North American/western culture has come to stay and has influenced cultures which otherwise have always depicted a co-operative means of achieving goals, prosperity and happiness.
I read an article titled “The Case against Competition” by Alfie Kohn. The author notes, Americans typically recognize only two legitimate positions: enthusiastic support and qualified support. The first view holds that competition builds character and produces excellence. The second stance admits that our society has gotten carried away with the need to be Number One that we push too hard and too fast to become winners – but insists on a “healthy competition” and argues that both are wrong. He opens out a third front which says “co-operation” and “mutually exclusive goals alignment” yields better results than a competitive environment.

If you come to think of it, in India, especially in spite of our population and the competition we have had to contend with, we were taught to co-operate, let go, take turns in winning, give and take and still to “succeed”. As children we were asked to give up and cooperate in a game for the visiting relative kids. Those experiences did not leave a bad taste; instead we all had great fun. We were asked to give unconditional love to all our relatives no matter what. Earlier to English education, there was no sense of competition amongst kids and no comparisons were made. Each kid was unique and praised for whatever they did and respected for who they were. Take the example of the Pandavas in the Mahabharat or the brotherhood in Ramayan. There was never a comparison made, each kid was respected for the unique skill he brought on to the table. These great epics are testimony to our culture or cooperation and not comparative competition.

The following quote by George Washington Carver also struck me hard: “How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these…”

Does that mean we do not compete at all?

Well, the answer is both yes and no. Yes, we should not compete with others, but we should with ourselves. Great paintings, compositions, books, inventions were not made by competing with others. Each one of the greatest luminaries achieved glory by competing with themselves and their last achievement but cooperating with other contemporaries. The stories of their rivalries are part of the folklore to create an enthusiasm amongst the next generation, just like the rivalries created between say Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar.

When I think back, the child’s poor performance in the reality show was never an issue to me. What bothered me the most was the justification and self exoneration!

First of all, I blame the parents for letting their kids compete with others without adequate training. Secondly, for vindicating them for the disqualification using lame excuses. For the parents, probably during their days, pushing themselves hard did not earn the desired psychological or materialistic result. But that shouldn’t be the reason to tolerate their children for not pushing themselves harder or allowing them to cover up their lackadaisical performance and worse permitting the children to settle for mediocrity.

Do encourage the kids to compete with others, but arm them adequately so that they do not get hurt. Enable them to perform better than they did last time and not compare with another kid, never give conditional love. Teach them to cooperate.

This theory of cooperation by Alfie Kohn could change the way people, societies, countries and humanity interact. The competitive culture if replaced by a co-operative culture will definitely be a sustainable model to extend our stay on this planet as humans.

–

Sundararaman Viswanathan is engineer by qualification, manager by profession, aspiring writer and a wannabe entrepreneur at heart. He currently works as a Transition Manager, with vast experience in managing the support of mission critical IT systems.

What’s with this small, less, stuff? I just don’t get it! Why do people throng/yearn to be part of and take pride in being in a member of a small team, institute, event, company, community or even a country? Is there a problem in associating ourselves with BIG and abundant?

Curious George in me kicked in and I landed on this interesting concept… “Small is beautiful” a movement founded by Leopold Kohr a great economist. He is best known for his work The Breakdown of Nations which in today’s times makes sense more than ever! I quote from the book:

“There seems to be only one cause behind all forms of social misery: bigness. Oversimplified as this may seem, we shall find the idea more easily acceptable if we consider that bigness, or oversize, is really much more than just a social problem. It appears to be the one and only problem permeating all creation. Whenever something is wrong, something is too big. And if the body of a people becomes diseased with the fever of aggression, brutality, collectivism, or massive idiocy, it is not because it has fallen victim to bad leadership or mental derangement. It is because human beings, so charming as individuals or in small aggregations have been welded onto over concentrated social units.”

The section of the book quoted above provided answers to all my questions on a platter.

Everything in this world started small and had a sense of responsibility and sincerity. This brought exclusivity and charm to it. Everybody respected, admired and celebrated all small things until they grew big. The individual responsibility and sincerity of people of the small entity emanated and shone more than the collective negativity of the entity. But once the entity grew big, its demand to consume eventually consumed itself.

Look at the US, its demand to consume energy to keep up the growth has eventually consumed itself. Satyam was consumed by the power and money it was required to create it in the first place. The same applies to artisans; initially they consume less intellectual resources to create a few masterpieces because it is only needed to supplement their genius. But when they start off big on a journey of mass production, they start consuming more intellectual resources that the line between inspiration and plagiarism becomes a blur.

Well, then, does it mean that we cannot produce quality output in large quantities? What is the God in small things that makes them beautiful? How to grow big quantitatively as well and still be as admired as when we were small?

According to me the God which makes small things beautiful is responsibility and sincerity! In the pursuit of growth we should not let responsibility and sincerity to be frittered away, nor overlook the ethics and obligations. Nor consume more than we contribute. Adopt a “responsible growth” path. A growth which is accountable to the environment we live in, a growth which is reasonable and not meteoric and surreal.

These growth stories will not be publicized because they might not be sensational to the media. There might not have been a miracle. It would have been a hard and arduous journey, but we should identify such growth stories in all walks of life, acknowledge, admire and benchmark them for future.

That way we will be able to make everything big – beautiful, exclusive and charming as it should be!

–

Sundararaman Viswanathan is engineer by qualification, manager by profession, aspiring writer and a wannabe entrepreneur at heart. He currently works as a Transition Manager, with vast experience in managing the support of mission critical IT systems.

I have lots of friends and their friends and their friends… who are married. Have heard enough stories, seen lives/relationships falling apart and getting together stronger than before. I feel the same way as ex-President Bush when I hear the words WMD. Just that it means something different to me. I read it as Weapons of Marriage Destruction. Yes, there are several weapons which a husband/wife uses while expressing their difference of opinion and perspectives on various issues.

I would like to categorize the weapons like this:

1. Short distance (sur)face to (sur)face missiles – shouting at each other on face.

2. Long distance air to air missiles – shouting at each other over phone.

As conventional wisdom says these are non-nuclear and hence the impact is contained.

But the fun is when ballistic missiles are used. I am talking about NOT talking! Just like this statement, life gets complicated. Situations can be turned from bad to worse and to worst by just NOT talking. Usually this weapon of NOT talking is employed through both modes of delivery as explained above. The first mode has less impact because still there is an option of making up. But when the weapon of NOT talking is delivered over phone (air to air missile), its impact is huge. The communication gap would widen and could result in possible separation.

Finally, the clincher is tipping the warhead with nuclear material – NO TALK and NO SEX. The mode of delivery is (sur)face to (sur)face. This has a deadly impact.

When two nations or empires go to war, they use nuclear weapon as the last option. Probably you would have heard/read in Indian mythology that Brahmastra (Indian mythological equivalent of atom bomb) was never used.

The moment a couple start employing the nuclear option as the first option, remember, they are going down the path of complete annihilation. No one wins. Both end up losing.

The moment a fight/argument moves from just a difference of opinion it should stop.

Think!

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Sundararaman Viswanathan is engineer by qualification, manager by profession, aspiring writer and a wannabe entrepreneur at heart. He currently works as a Transition Manager, with vast experience in managing the support of mission critical IT systems.

Recession! Not quite what we expected huh! The dream run, the bull run, ball of a time… and countless other descriptions of the times gone by all sound distant now, a far cry!

People losing jobs, inability to pay up the credit, no taxes, no revenue to the government, no money in the market, no cash available to extend credit, no new enterprise, banks and companies going bankrupt, it has come a full cycle. This economic situation has affected everybody, left, right and the center (literally and metaphorically speaking). People grappling with the situation are getting hooked up to anything that remotely sounds, looks or feels hopeful about it.

Look at the 2 million strong gathering for the inauguration of the 44th President of the United States. Do you think they came to see an African American take oath? Not entirely! They came to witness what “audacity of hope” could achieve!

They had come to witness the miracle that was, hope, which fuelled a single man to achieve whatever he did for himself, his family and his country. They see a messiah in Obama and expect him to lead them out of the shambles. I call him a messiah because rarely in the history of mankind have individuals exhibited such courage and been an embodiment of hope during difficult times. Whenever they did, they were immortalized as messiah. Though he does not have a magic wand to weave and alleviate the situation, at least people think  that there is something new to get excited about, something which they could use to sleep over on a difficult night.

Not just Obama, there are people who have looked up to their spouses, family, friends, colleagues, mentors, bosses….So what makes someone a messiah or at the least a mortal who people could look up to in times of hardship? Well, as you might have guessed by now, the answer is HOPE.

I recently came across an e-mail forward which read, “Hope – it is the feeling which you have when you go to sleep without knowing if you will wake up the next day but still have plans already made for it.” No hope is good if you do not trust it. A similar e-mail forward had this story which was really intriguing: “Trust is a feeling that a one year old child has, when you throw him up in the air & catch him again…he still laughs and enjoys it…in case he doubts, he will cry when you throw him in the air, that means the child is doubting on your capabilities…and whether you would really catch him or not.” Same way…only people who do not have trust in hope, worry during troubled times!

So a positive thought process, the ability to look at the brighter side of things, a good hope with the trust of the little child is the key.

During an interesting conversation with my uncle, I gave him what I thought was a predicament. It goes like “If you ever are in a situation where you, your wife and your father were drowning, and if you get a chance to wish for one person who could be saved, whom you will pick?” Without any hesitation he replied, “Me.” I was stupefied at the answer and more so the speed at which he answered.

His reasoning was simple. If he was gone, then he wouldn’t need to be worried as to what happened to the other two. And if he were alive, he was confident that he could do at least something about them. Subhash Ghai a renowned Indian film maker once said “Unlike in cinema and everything else, there is no second take in life.” So, if one believes that all they need to worry about is their life and everything else in life can be reclaimed, they sure can relieve themselves of the entire emotional burden which they carry.

I have had a few occasions thankfully as an emancipator. I have tried my best, over a cup of coffee, a mug of beer or across the table. I have shared whatever positive I came across and hope to have instilled some confidence, and positive mindset.

Some of my queer perspectives about this whole new situation did lighten up a few souls.

For example, the social stigma (in India) around “losing a job” is getting eroded by the day. Not long ago before the lay-offs became the news of the day, it was a sin if you lost your job. People were worried to such an extent that they committed suicide for losing their jobs. But now, it is OK for someone to lose a job. The society at large understands the situation. In fact retrenchment is discussed in a lighter vein.

Let us take a look at the spending habits. The young generation of Indian BPO and IT folk who started with lavish spending have been caught on the wrong foot in their very first step. They have learnt a simple but valuable economic lesson “Do not spend more than you make” very early in their lives. This is a significant development.

I had a chat with the director of finance of a large multi-national. He had some interesting insights as well. According to him, a down turn in economy is good. This is what differentiates the boys from men, the mediocre from good whether it is companies, people, and technology or as a matter of fact just about anything. He said that this is the right time for some brilliant ideas to flourish. People will now look at the fundamentals of anything and just not the speculation in the market.

So if one were to derive an inference, it is the right time for us to differentiate ourselves. Do whatever we had been wishing to do. To take up endeavors which we had feared might fail. As FDR said during similar times, “We have nothing to fear but fear itself…”

Nothing to worry about other than our own life and wearing the cap of hope with the feather of trust of a one year old kid will make us “the emancipator”.

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Sundararaman Viswanathan is engineer by qualification, manager by profession, aspiring writer and a wannabe entrepreneur at heart. He currently works as a Transition Manager, with vast experience in managing the support of mission critical IT systems.

I read this at an aquarium in Kuala Lumpur. Given that most of the creatures are facing extinction in the order of magnificence they exude, I felt aquarium was probably the most appropriate place as the beauty and splendor of the aquatic life is just breath taking.

Recently I saw an advertisement in Doordarshan (National TV channel in India) about preserving national monuments. A kid walks up to a couple who scribble on the monument and reprimands them for doing so. Then the kid recites a small poem about greatness and national pride. It is heartening to see that Indian Government or at least some bureaucrat has understood the essence of preservation which is to teach it first.

Just an extrapolation into our day-to-day lives: When people say simple things like they lost your gift, forgot to call you or forgot your phone number or address it leads to a myriad of questions – Do they want to preserve the relationship/friendship? Do they love/care about you? Do they understand you? Were they taught to understand you? Who should teach them by the way?

I guess the answer lies in “you”.

It’s high time we understand the concept of learning by experience and treating everybody with unconditional love and respect and teach the same to our fellow human beings. Otherwise, we will end up preserving everything for the posterity, be it trees, tigers, climate, friendships, relationships, or for that matter our very own selves. Interestingly even the deadliest and fastest of predators, the cheetah, does not intend to hurt the gazelle for the sake of it but only because, it has to! But we humans hurt and hunt, deprecate and destroy without much reason other than fun! Finally, when someone shows some alarming numbers (of the falling tiger population or climate change) or when relationships/friendships become estranged or when someone whom we “used” to love/care for dies, we suddenly feel the need to preserve anything and everything related to them. I guess the failed children of deserted parents need special mention in this category of preservers.

Take this thought a little further and impersonal. Imagine this story; boss of an organization had the worst day at office with a belligerent customer, he vents it all on his business head, who in turn passes it down the chain and finally a cab driver gets the worst end of the stick from an irate employee who gets dropped at night after a long day’s work trying to solve the issue reported by the very same customer. The driver feels humiliated. Now, he is at the bottom of the food chain. Where can he go? Whom can he shout at? He cannot shout at fellow motorist as it is late in the night and no self-respecting woman will take domestic violence, so he decides to go to a prostitute. This is not something which I made up, but one of the discussion papers on AIDS has highlighted that it is prevalent amongst drivers who are affected by road rage and inept at fighting back for their self-esteem. They take this route to sanguinity from their state of despondency. Today, we have potentially led ourselves to a crisis called AIDS. If, one of them in the chain had been rational and reacted with patience, could we have potentially averted an impending disaster?

This might sound as an immoderate story and a haughty claim of saving the planet and humanity but David A. Shiang, an extra-ordinary thinker of our times, says, “The notion of ascertaining deep truths through the mind may sound far-fetched, but it is the revolutionary nature of the human experience that makes this kind of knowledge possible.” He also says that the human mind has the capacity to understand the fundamental reality and argues that many of our deepest insights are the result of experience and not mathematics, measurement or experiment. Any stretch of imagination is permissible and the learning gained through this kind of thinking, insight and experience is the route to achieving higher-consciousness which a select few like Buddha, Jesus, and Prophet Mohamed have achieved.

I think I have shared some hard learnt experience on unconditional love in my own style or if I were to be a little pedagogic, have taught the importance of unconditional love. Now, think twice when you humble, hurt or hunt for some one. You never know what you would end up preserving!

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Sundararaman Viswanathan is engineer by qualification, manager by profession, aspiring writer and a wannabe entrepreneur at heart. He currently works as a Transition Manager, with vast experience in managing the support of mission critical IT systems.