My Airport Body Scanner Adventures

I am writing this while flying over icy Lake Michigan - reminiscing great moments and wonderful friends I have made during my few years in this part of the world. This lake has always amazed me. For its sheer vastness. For its seeming calm. And for its relentless ability to blow strong winds on its western shores while blessing eastern Michigan with copious snow. The Lake is always a conversation topic.

But let's talk about something else. About these exciting machines that look like space capsules that you so wanna kiss. You see, back during my childhood, I loved picture books with space capsules. The closed space & white body suits fascinated me and I grew up wanting to be an astronaut.

God was kind. He knew my deficiencies. And prepared me for a job I was better suited for. Yet, somewhere in the overall karmic scheme of things, He has ensured that I am in close touch with my first love.

Yes Ladies and Gentlemen, I am talking about these wondrous machines called Full Body Scanners at airports. Whoever designed them sure had a great sense of humor. I am positive that he wanted travellers to always be mentally alert while traveling. And so designed the game called 'Keep Guessing'.

I passed through the London Capsule last week. Wearing the same stuff  I typically wear. But the London Dude had other plans. He beeped. The screener told me to remove the shoe and pass. Beep again. Turned out that my belt was the culprit.

JFK was a charm. The Glassy Gladiator let me past with my belt on.

Atlanta Cockpit was next. It beeped coz of my 2 micron gold chain. (Question to you Dear Reader: why do these scanners catch a thin chain but NOT chunky gold rings?)

Milwaukee  Miracle was next. It beeped coz I had the belt. At EXACTLY the moment I finished Security Check, the airline paged me to return to the ticketing counter coz TSA cannot open the TSA lock on my suitcase. (Got that? I didn't). 

After going all the way down, I gingerly approached Security Check again. I removed my belt, said my prayers and watched all the TSA staff laugh at me as I approached the Capsule. 

It beeped again. 

This time, it was the gold chain.

Boston, Philly, Mexico City and SFO are next on my list. Dear Airport Scanner, I think I got you figured. I will remove my belt and pack my chain. 

And yet I know you will surprise me. 

Aah.... the joys of flying!!!!

Climbing Mountains with Rahul Dravid

I attended a technical summit today. It was meant to showcase database technologies, cloud computing, analytical advancements and software development principles. Very very geeky stuff that I do not completely understand. And never will.

 

I put myself through this grind only because the Celebrity Speaker was Rahul Dravid.

 

Dravid's 30 minute speech was on "Staying Ahead". It might well have been called "How to be a Complete Man". The crisp presentation was laced with self-deprecating wit and minimal slides. While coming across as extempore, it was clearly very thoroughly prepared. Drawing on examples from his playing days, Dravid spoke about the principles that helped him stay ahead. Here is a (paraphrased) summary:

 

Laying the Platform

I became famous while playing international cricket for 16 years.  But before that, I spent 5 years playing domestic cricket in places like Sambalpur and Hubli. I played on all types of wickets and against all types of spin. My true foundation was laid during this time.

 

Always remember the Chinese bamboo which hardly grows out of the ground for its first 5 years. In the next 6 weeks, it grows to an unbelievable 90 feet. So what does the plant do underground during the 5 years? It lays the platform for the future by creating strong roots.

 

Driven by Success

I scored 95 on my Lord's debut in 1996. While I was very happy with my score, I was of course disappointed that I did not get the other 5. In hindsight, I am glad that I did not because I may have become complacent. While the 95 helped me realise that I was equipped to play at this level, missing the century developed inside me the hunger to do better.

 

Driven by Failure

I was dropped in ODIs in 1999 and felt like blaming everyone. A few days later, I was taken aside and advised I could either sit and blame everyone or try to fix my flaws and do better. So I  became obsessed with analysing my game, identifying my flaws, seeking expert advise, and practicing differently. I went on to score 10000 runs in ODIs, but looking back, getting dropped from ODIs was a very good thing.

 

It All Comes Together
The next 7 years were the best part of my life with everything coming together. I became very adaptable (took up wicketkeeping), played fantastic games like Calcutta and Adelaide, learned from players like Sachin and Anil to never rest on my laurels and worked on my diet.

 

 

Failing Again

The 2007 World Cup was a huge disappointment. Fans who booked tickets a year in advance to watch a likely India vs Pak match were instead treated to an Ireland vs Scotland fare at Barbados. As much as 2007 was painful,  2008-09 was worse.

 

It's one thing to fail when you are young. But failing when you are older is something else because you are watched and scrutinised. It is also very humbling. My past reputation carried me through that period. After a string of bad scores, I was almost certain that I was playing my last game for India since the selectors were about to decide on the team for the New Zealand tour within a week. But I struggled through a 100 in that game and barely got selected.

 

Falling in Love Again

I was soon learning to enjoy the game again and not be too worried about what comes next. Good scores against New Zealand and England followed.

 

Climbing my Mountain

By 2012, I felt I had climbed my mountain and it was the right time to quit the game. I felt that the younger generation must now be given the opportunity. I have no regrets on my decision.

 

So I really have no prescription for success to help you stay ahead. What I have spoken here is my path and you need to figure yours. But I will tell you that it is important for you to figure which mountain to climb. For that, you must also be able to understand yourself. And then do things without expecting much in return. You must enjoy the journey and the process while dealing with both success and failure.

 

What worked best for me are the moments when I played the game for the right reasons, viz. enjoy the game, entertain people and make friends. It was when I started thinking 'What Next' that I was failing. I figured this over time and answers mostly came from within.

 

It was obviously a speech that evoked thunderous applause. And towards the end, answers to two audience questions revealed great maturity and wit.

 

On dealing with sledging: I realised that I did better when I stayed in my bubble. I performed worse when I lost my cool. There are others who could deal with sledging. But I figured that staying in my space works best for me.

 

On how the name 'Wall' came about: You know, I have always suspected it was some news editor who sat in his desk, looked into the future and wanted to be able to say "the wall crumbles" or "a brick comes off the wall" one day. Humor aside, seriously, I have no idea.

 

Watching Dravid speak, it was abundantly clear that nothing has crumbled. Even today, the Wall stands Tall.

Revisiting History Two Decades Later....

Back during my school days, books for the academic year would be issued a few weeks prior to the school opening. You were expected to cover and label them during this period. School administrators in those days loved emulating Henry Ford, I think. Just as Mr. Henry decreed that his customers could have their Model T painted in any color as long as it was black, schools allowed book covers of any color as long as they were brown. Girls in class invariably drew beautiful patterns in blue ink to make the book look appealing. Boys being boys believed that applying sticker labels was appealing enough.

There were two subjects whose books I would completely finish reading even before the school year began. One was English. History was another. Flipping through historical events was an engaging exercise to magically go back in time and apply vivid imagination to people, places and things. Stories do that to you. Full Disclosure: two other subjects were hardly touched even after the school year ended - Math and Science {grin}.

Reading history in those days was also a structured opening of the mind. You knew much of Indian civilization, kingdoms, invaders, British colonialists and the Indian leaders of independence by Class 8. Class 9 exposed you to European history. And Class 10 - among other things - was about the World Wars, Iron Curtain, and 40 years of independent India.

But imagination had limits.

How do you relate to the Berlin Airlift at a time when internet was non-existent, TV was Doordarshan and the Encyclopedia Britannica way too expensive? The Berlin Airlift operation involved allied planes flying into Berlin to supply food and fuel when the Soviet Union blockaded land routes to Berlin. But then, how could the Soviet Union blockade ALL of Berlin?

And what was the deal about the Wall? The city was anyway divided between West Germany & East Germany. How did it matter that the East decided to formalise it by putting a wall around?

Why did 'Ich bin ein Berliner' by JFK and 'Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall' by Reagan elicit thunderous applause by the crowds? Why are they rated - even today - among the greatest speeches ever made?

The limitation of history is that it only tells what happened, thereby resulting in naive questions like above. To fully understand why, you sometimes have to go there.

My first view of the Wall was that it was not imposing. 12 feet in height, a benevolent looking curvature at the top and no spikes don't give you the shivers. Plus, the East Side Gallery - as this section is called - is today painted in vibrant color.

           

 

 










But answers begin to unravel when you pore deep - and look at old maps.

When the four victorious powers of WWII divided Germany into four administrative zones (each zone administered by a victor), Berlin was in the middle of the Soviet zone. Since Berlin was the historic capital, they also agreed to divide Berlin into four sectors with the Soviets guaranteeing permanent air routes into the city. As relations between the Soviets & the rest began to deteriorate, the Soviets blockaded all land supply routes into Berlin in order to force the other 3 powers to evacuate the city. The result was the Airlift using the previously agreed air routes that turned the view of the allies by the German public from 'occupiers' to 'saviors'.

Berlin's sectors continued to exist even after the formation of West & East Germany. It remained an undivided city with people from the east working in higher paying factories of the west and people from the west shopping in the east where goods were cheap. Heck, trains ran all around Berlin too.

Until 12 years later, when East Germany woke up to the fact that nearly 20% of its population had emigrated to the west via Berlin. And promptly put up the Wall and barbed wire around West Berlin, creating in effect a walled city of 100 miles. Families were separated, friends were split and a city population was sorrounded by an enemy.

That explains the emotion among teeming masses gathered to hear JFK & Reagan. When a nation and city united for long is suddenly separated by brutal regimes and artificial structures, expressions of solidarity swell emotion, evoke pride and make you work harder to reunite.

The remnants of the Wall today are a reminder that regimes that separate people and curb freedoms will one day ultimately fail. And a wake-up call to the rest of the world that there are other brutal regimes too.

        

 

Experiencing Blindness - Dialogue in the Dark

It's 12:15 AM on Sunday and I am at the Hamburg Central Train Station about to board the 12:38 AM intercity to Bremen, the city I have come on business a couple of weeks ago. Travel in Europe is a charm. Connectivity is fantastic, passengers mill about past midnight and there are so many places to see.

 

Visiting places during weekends while on business all week has another advantage. You  can plan getaways till the end, buy last minute tickets and still make your trip memorable.

Late Friday, at the end of a very sweltering day, I suddenly decided to go to Hamburg on Saturday. Tripadvisor and YouTube listed 10 places. Most were regulars that you come across any sightseeing calendar in any part of the world (a historic building, a museum, an old business district etc) but one listing was intriguing.

Because it was not a place to sightsee. It was a place meant to experience blindness.

 

Dialog Im Dunkeln (Dialogue in the Dark) is an exhibition conceived 20 years ago by journalist Andreas Heinecke to help people understand that blindness is neither a disability nor a curse, but just a different set of abilities that fellow citizens have. It is meant to raise awareness of people with sight on what it means to be blind. And to be appreciative and more inclusive of the blind fellow person.

For 90 minutes, our group of seven - white canes in hand and not much physical hand holding - was led through a series of chambers in total darkness by a guide who easily remembered our names and our relative positions. We stepped into a park, walked on gravel, smelt spices, touched vegetables, crossed a road, walked on a bridge, traveled by boat, squatted on the floor to listen to music, and enjoyed our drinks in a bar.

It is in moments like these that you tip your hat to the human spirit. We were strangers yet were instinctively helping each other. We tolerated when someone stepped on our shoes. Not one person spoke out loud. And we were not just hearing, but truly listening.

The guide was outstanding. A half Sri Lankan and half German, she had been born blind. Her English was flawless and she had a sweet firm voice. She banged on walls and advised us to follow the sound. Or made one of us lead - and help - the rest. Sometimes she was ahead and sometimes behind. She took our money in the bar, knew the amount, returned the change, opened the cooler (it had no lights but I got the Sprite I ordered) and handed over refreshments. She was focused on helping us realise that lack of vision is not an end but an opportunity to employ our other senses to still experience joy.

 

Words like 'visually challenged' or 'visually impacted' were never used during this tour. Blindness is a state, she said, that's just different.

We never saw her. But we will never forget her.

If there is ever a chance that the blind exhibition comes to your town, please don't miss it. Hamburg is one permanent location. So is Hyderabad in India. Other cities host them too.

Darkness can shed so much light.

Reflections at 40

Sometime in the early 90s on Doordarshan, Dimple Kapadia was asked if there was anything about her life that she would change. A few weeks ago, while filling up a personality questionnaire, I was asked the same question. I don't know if I can genuinely claim to have 'arrived', but I can't resist sporting a smug smile when I say that at some minuscule karmic level, Dimple & I are in the same league – wherever that is.

 

That set me thinking. If a left-of-field question could make me travel back 20 years, why not just lace a post with 40 observations & pontifications - some gleaned from my life and many by watching others live theirs – as I enter my fourth decade? Not only would it be a welcome change from my (ir)regular dose of structured seriousness, it would also make me feel less guilty about parlaying my voyeuristic insights into the public bathhouse called the internet.

1.    Adolescent scrawny kids sporting thick glasses, possessing average social skills and suffering from perpetual foot-in-the-mouth syndrome come out ok.

2.    Foot-in-the-mouth syndrome has limits. Read here for a profound lesson.

3.    For the record, smooth-talking kids turn out ok too.

4.    The queue other than the one you are in always moves faster. This applies to traffic queues, promotion queues (at work), and bus ticket queues. Erratic switching between queues and creating Nobel-Prize-level algorithms make things worse.

5.    Learn to enjoy the journey more than the destination. A dustbin and an exam helped me understand this.

6.    Hard work trumps intelligence.

7.    Knowing what to say, when to say, and how to say trumps hard work.

8.    It is perfectly fine to have crazy meaningless goals sometimes. I once called an illogical flash of insight ‘10-20-30’ for wanting to work in 10 countries, sight-see in 20, and visit 30 US states. After a 7-9-27 record over 18 years, I am glad I came up with it.

9.    Never forget to say Thank You. With a Smile.

10.  Never forget to say Sorry. With Empathy.

11.  Add Highly Expensive Gift to the above rule when saying sorry to wife / girlfriend.

12.  For a lady apologizing to her husband / boyfriend, a kiss is enough. Men come cheap.

13.  Remain grounded. Because however good you are, someone will be better.

14.  Don't fret about your company not caring about 'long term' employees and hiring 'outsiders' at higher pay. Stuff happens. Ultimately, incomes for EVERYBODY average out.

15.  NEVER let money guide your career decision. Yes - this is basic stuff, but I am amazed how many people want to learn this the hard way.

16.  Volunteer for hard, thankless, or boring jobs at work. These are surefire ways to get noticed.

17.  Work presents opportunities to both roll up your sleeves to jump into the pit and staying above to guide your team. Success is figuring what to do when. So master both strategy and tactics.

18.  Work-life balance doesn’t exist. Aspire for work-family balance. That is called Life.

19.  Someone at some moment will ignorantly mark the entire world in 'To' and not in 'bcc'. The result will be a nerve-wracking typhoon of glorious email replies including about 50 that will say 'Please do not reply to all'. In moments like this, BREATHE.

20.  Official conference calls and apartment association meetings have one thing in common. Everyone believes it is their democratic right to offer useless opinions without taking ownership. In moments like this, BREATHE DEEPLY.

21.  Read. It irrigates your thinking.

22.  Travel. It polishes your thinking.

23.  Watch TED talks, enjoy late-night comedy and listen to music.

24.  Laugh.

25.  Never let perfect be the enemy of the good.

26.  Don't try the above line while talking to wife.

27.  Be kind.

28.  Keep your promises. That alone builds trust.

29.  Cherish, nurture and cultivate relationships. You will learn so much from them and will have so much to offer.

30.  The quietest person in the room holds the most answers. Seek that person.

31.  Have role models. They keep you aligned.

32.  Be a role model to others. They keep you from straying.

33.  Develop a moral compass. It will point you to your True North.

34.  The best counsel you get during moments of self-doubt is from the person in the mirror. Developing the ability to objectively listen to that person is called introspection.

35.  What goes around comes around. Therefore, be careful and considerate with your actions.

36.  Dreams always come true, but not when you want them or how you want them. Accept this with grace.

37.  Be a sponge. Always.

38.  Giving provides the greatest meaning.

39.  You will discover true unconditional love.

40.  Your life will oscillate between staying content and remaining hungry. The level of balance that you seek between the two is your autobiography.

Oprah Winfrey Fixes my Seven Year Itch

I still remember that conversation several years ago. It was an off-site meeting from work. Out of the blue, somewhere in the midst of it all, we were addressed as 'future leaders'. I did not see that coming. Questions swirled. Lots of them.

When did I suddenly become a leader? Why now? How? Was it because I was managing more people? What was that precise 'cut-off' when I ceased being a manager and transitioned into a leader? (Regular readers will easily discern my dilemma; after all, I have partially addressed it here, here, and here.)

But I had a more fundamental issue. For years, I had truly believed that entry level engineers at work or stay at home women running their household could be leaders in every sense of the word. So if 'years of experience' was irrelevant to leadership, what was?

Thus began a journey of seven years of discovery. (Note to newly-weds: The seven year itch is real. Just that it has nothing to do with marriage most of the time.)

I love commencement speeches. The speaker tries to pack years of experience into something that grads can relate to. Wisdom is dispensed in a manner that is not sanctimonious. And there is much to reflect on.

Oprah Winfrey's commencement speech at Harvard in May was one such gem.

The challenge of life, I have found, is to build a resume that doesn’t simply tell a story about what you want to be, but it's a story about who you want to be. It's a resume that doesn't just tell a story about what you wanna accomplish, but why. A story that’s not just a collection of titles, and positions, but a story that’s really about your purpose. Because when you inevitably stumble and find yourself stuck in a hole, that is the story that will get you out. What is your true calling, what is your dharma, what is your true purpose?

Oprah was asking grads to discover why they exist (you will not get answers right away, she added, and boy, wasn't she right) as the first step. I recalled a saying that I read elsewhere that seemed to be the perfect next step. The longest distance that you will ever take in life - it goes - is the eighteen inches between your heart and your head. Aligning what we do (action) with what we want (passion) is that second step.

Which brings me back to Leadership. The best definition about Leadership that I have read in these seven years has been from the book What You're Really Meant to Do. Robert Kaplan defines leadership as the ability to figure out what you believe and then summon the courage to appropriately act on those beliefs. These actions must be geared towards adding value to an enterprise and making a positive impact on others. No mention of titles, empires, budgets or power.

And therein lay the answers to my long quest in simple terms. When you discover your calling, undertake that 18 inch journey, and repeatedly demonstrate the courage to live your beliefs, you become a Leader.

No one said this would be easy. But it holds good for entry level engineers. For stay at home ladies. And for people that carry seven year itches.

The Best Bad Idea is also a Winner

You sometimes need to get to the clouds to understand the world below.

On the way home from Europe last week, I decided to watch two movies on the plane instead of finishing a book (Moneyball by Michael Lewis, if you want to know).

There are only bad options. This is about finding the best one says CIA specialist Tony Mendez.

Do you have a better bad idea than this? asks Cyrus Vance, the US Secretary of State.

This is the best bad idea we have sir, by far replies Tony's supervisor Jack O'Donnell.

Hearing this, Cyrus Vance authorizes Operation Argo, a mission to rescue six US embassy personnel trapped in the Canadian ambassador's residence in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution.

The rescue team had evaluated several options before choosing Argo. Supplying bicycles to the six so that they can get to the nearby border is a non-starter due to the huge logistics effort. Getting them to pose as English teachers of an international school returning home is ruled out since there are no operational international schools by then. Providing them IDs as crop consultants is rejected because crop consultants don't work in snowy winters.

Make no mistake. There are only bad options in Argo.

Bad news, bad news, even if it's good news, it's bad news intones a character in Batman Begins on the same flight. The League of Shadows has the perfect answer. Criminals thrive on the indulgence of society's understanding says Ra's al Ghul. His radical answer is to wipe out society to wipe out crime. 

Make no mistake. There are only bad options in Batman Begins.

My career is stuck in a long-term rut. I feel guilty going to work by leaving my child home. My company pays peanuts and expects me to be a super performer. India has become a hopeless place to live. These dialogues play day after day in our lives. It sometimes looks like we are surrounded by perennially dark choices where picking the best is in itself an endless struggle. We fret, sweat, lose hope, and seek guidance only to fall, fail, crumble and lose heart.

Make no mistake. Sometimes, there are only bad options in life.

It is because art imitates life that we instinctively understand the constraints and challenges an actor faces while confronting bad choices. We see in that moment our own self being portrayed on the big screen. We relate with the actor and cry in her pain. We are one.

But what perennially surprises me is that we somehow forget this oneness by assuming that reel and real lives have contrasting endings. Nothing is farther from the truth.

Why do we fall Bruce? So that we learn to pick ourselves up.

Bruce Wayne follows this advice from his dad to reject Ra's al Ghul's extremist view and becomes Batman. The characters in Argo, coached by Ben Affleck who plays Tony Mendez, fly out as regular passengers under the noses of Iranian security guards in broad daylight by posing as a Canadian film crew returning home after scouting for film locations within Iran.

And in the movie called Life, when all is seemingly lost and the world closing in, we humans intuitively realize that there are no super heroes or heroic secret agents. We create our destiny by playing the actor and the script writer while constantly looking up to the Director somewhere up there for guidance and support. And by fighting to pick the best bad idea within the professional, economic, societal and personal whirlpools, we redeem ourselves by making our tomorrows a tad better than todays.

Yes, in the end, real life imitates reel life because there is a bit of Batman and a bit of Ben Affleck in all of us. We just forget this too often.

Make no mistake. The best bad idea is also a winner. I just had to reach the clouds to learn that lesson.

Boman Irani meets Narayana Murthy

Boman Irani asks N.R. Narayana Murthy on the Achievers' Club program on Star World why he does not want to run for public office. The answer is vintage NRN. Logical, data-driven and to the point.

NRN says he does not understand why politicians must not have a retirement age when bureaucrats and private sector employees do. He mentions that Mathematics problems that used to take him an hour to solve in his younger days now take him three. He further adds that he does not have as much energy as he once did. And here's the kicker. He thinks he may meet the minimum threshold to do certain things in life, but doing things in life must all be about being the best and not about meeting bare minimums.

Mr. Murthy's logic does make you smile. How nice it would be if our MLAs and MPs take up a math test before filing their nomination. Or take up a 100m sprint to measure their energy level. Or heck, maybe just read a joke so that they honestly ask themselves how long it took for that to sink in.

Setting a retirement age for the political class is a pipe dream. No politician will pass a law that restricts him. The closest to a 'restriction' that has been conceived thus far is the term limit, but that works only in the presidential form of democracy.

But once in a while, it does feel nice to indulge in such entertaining fantasies like R.K. Laxman's Common Man and laugh off the humor. Plus ponder over a wonderful recipe to ensure fewer bare minimums....

Women's Advancement in the Age of Mayajaal

We humans are an interesting bunch. Someone suggests a visionary way forward and we say that it does not meet the ground reality. Another points out how things are changing on the ground and we question the larger purpose.

Women must relentlessly advance and be on par with men. This statement is wishful thinking for some who point to orthodox Islamic societies or primitive Indian rural enclaves as examples of being anything but empowering. Others question the meaning of such advancement when women in general do not feel safe on our streets. They argue that advancement does not matter when life is in danger. 

It seems we constantly like our Top-Down vs. Bottom-up debates....

The Pentagon yesterday approved women to serve on the front lines of combat. A former Marine in the Wall Street Journal questions the wisdom. You can read it here (warning: some parts are graphic). When hygiene is compromised - he asks - should we not follow societal norms? Guests on Morning Joe that I watch online every day think otherwise. Women, they argue, have been on the front lines of combat for a while. This move just formally recognizes it. 

So I ask you. Is the Pentagon move a top-down approach where the agency's vision allows more women to get into combat roles? Or is it a bottom-up move where a vision blesses an already operational activity?

On Sep. 11 2001, a bearded extremist unleashed terror. His view was that women must not interact with men in public and must remain in the household. It turned out that his relentless pursuer is an American CIA woman (name unknown and called Maya in the movie Zero Dark Thirty). It is Maya who repeatedly clings to - and relentlessly pushes - the idea that the path to Bin Laden must lie through his personal courier when others think otherwise. (Note to Bin Laden: An American woman got you. Howzzat?)

So I ask again. Was there a Maya because the CIA changed rules to allow women in clandestine roles decades ago? Or did the CIA already have women in such roles before the agency formalized it?

And we can forever extend these questions to women in leadership roles,women in labor-intensive jobs  who just want to make ends meet, and to countless women who are not even allowed to step out of their households. Such debates can be emotional, spirited and occasionally frustrating.

But it is in the intensity of such debates that we miss the broader point. In our search for absolutes, we forget that the evolution of human action is much like economics (nobody understands a thing until some PhD cracks it decades later to win the Nobel Prize). Life always has been a combination of top-down and bottom-up. And does the approach really matter? After all, rudimentary laws allowed men and women to work once upon a time. When women entered the workforce in large numbers, laws were enhanced to guarantee equality. Some pockets remained regressive resulting in a soul-lifting Malala Yousufzai or a tragic Jyoti Singh Pandey. In response, the society will evolve with better laws and tighter enforcement.

This is called development. It is chaotic but forward leaning, and imperfect yet relentless. Improvise we must, but never should we lose heart.

Where is my India going?

Introspection, debate, anger, and anguish. India has had plenty over the past 2 weeks. The recent violent rape has shaken us all. A lot of people say this is a turning point. Others contend that nothing would change. Some ask for retributive justice. Many want 'comprehensive' change without quite comprehending the extent of comprehensiveness. The nation cries for action.

Media personalities talk about the falling standards in public conduct. There is a debate whether the Indian movie and music industry should 'self regulate' when it comes to its depiction of the Indian woman. An article in New York Times the other day mentions how India calls certain acts of sexual harassment as 'eve teasing' as if it is a shade better.

Hearing regressive feudal voices feels like rubbing sandpaper on a blackboard. A member of Parliament wants to ban skirts in schools. A scientist questions why the rape victim was out at 10 PM. A khap panchayat leader opposes death penalty for rapists. If you have found yourself saying "things have gotten worse" and asking "where is my India going?", you are not alone.

But India, to me, is going somewhere, and definitely for the better. For a few years now, we have at least been acknowledging, talking and debating the issues of the day. At times, we have no answers. At other times, answers come aplenty. The journey over the past decade has been chaotic, noisy and frustrating.

But evolved we have. Urban India is no longer willing to put up with nonsense. Rural India is speaking up. To paraphrase Ronald Reagan's classic question "Are you better off today than you were a decade ago?", the answer is a resounding Yes. And adding fuel are today's 20-somethings who clamor for meaningful change. (Why ever not? This is a generation that grew up in the age of instant phone connections; if you tell them that things take time, they instantly ask why.)

The inept politician does not realize this yet. Nor does the feudal lord. They assume that these movements will fizzle out. That we will go back to 'chalta hai' times.

But we won't. From Jessica Lal & Nitish Katara to RTI & anti-corruption marches, the tolerance levels of the common man has changed. The demographic shift of the nation is steadily apparent and increasingly activist. India - both urban and rural - is rising. The rotten apples within the political class, law enforcement, judiciary, and business who choose to ignore this lesson do so at their own peril.

Yes - it will be a happier new year 2013.....

Wishing you all a Peanuts Holiday Season

'Tis the holiday season. A time to cheer, relax and recharge. By reading comic strips.

Most of you know about my love for Peanuts. Friends have notched points for gifting me Peanuts collectibles (books, stuffed toys, tags, decorative sets, a salt-and-pepper shaker and even a trash can). These characters pervade my life. Even the web address of this page is a nod to the college-going-class-bunking Joe Cool (who is an avatar in Snoopy's fantasy land).

It was not always this way. Charlie Brown & Snoopy had merited only an occasional viewing in the Sunday newspaper. It was only after flipping through PEANUTS A Golden Celebration - about 12 years ago - did I understand why Peanuts was the No. 1 comic strip of all time. The book, published in 1999 to commemorate 50 years of Peanuts, was a treasure trove of famous strips accompanied by Charles Schulz's insightful comments.

Do personalities evolve? You bet. To the left is a collage of strips from the book that show the hunched-Beethoven-loving-plastic-piano-playing Schroeder's evolution in style and form over the years. The first strip is from the 50s, the second from the 60s and the last belongs to the 80s. 





It is often said that there is minimal tolerance to contrary points of view today due to extreme talk-radio and opinionated media. Well, one look at this letter from the 60s from someone yet to get a grip on school desegregation tells you strong opinions - regardless of media influence - have always existed. And if you still harbour some doubts, how about the Thanksgiving strip below that triggered such a robust response?
  

  

Snoopy's affinity to a turkey....

.... resulted in THIS?

This holiday season, I figured that I would go one-up on the Golden Celebration. Enter Celebrating Peanuts - 60 Years. This 500+ page hardcover edition is bigger, glossier and grander than its predecessor. And every bit as magical.

 

As I take leave to bury myself in this massive masterpiece, I want to take a moment to acknowledge your unlimited support and encouragement during 2012. Every time I thought that I had nothing more to add, someone would ask "when's your next blog?" Creativity blossoms when there is interest. Thank you.

 

Wish you and your loved ones a wonderful holiday season and a fabulous new year.

Snoopy Common Sense Approach
Edition 1

Snoopy Common Sense Approach
Edition 2

 

 

Exam Time

Writing a paper and pencil exam. Without a word of preparation. Priceless.

Infosys encourages us to undertake a certification exam every 6 months. This exam can either be internal or external. You just accumulate more points when you take an external test.

By now, you know how we chai-buddies inspire each another as we consume awesome filter coffee and tea twice a day at Hatti-Kaapi. This is where crazy ideas are encouraged and exchanged. Some months ago, the brightest among our lot encouraged me to complete an external certification exam. After brief thought, I decided to listen to Mr. Bright and give it a twirl.

Another colleague handed over the exam material. It weighed 3 kg. Thrice I opened the first page only to fall asleep in 5 minutes. Next I glanced through the table of contents to fathom if I could 'reverse-engineer' the details. No luck there. I randomly picked pages for numerical problems. The 3 kg monster was pure theory.

4 months whirred by without a single word of preparation.

The exam day arrived last weekend. That morning, it took me 20 minutes to find two pencils, a sharpener and an eraser. There was no pencil box to put this stuff in, so Priya lent me a pouch that holds her cooling glasses. I also carried her old solar calculator from her B.Com days. The hall ticket was printed just 5 minutes before starting the car. When I finally took the test, answers were determined through logic gleaned from Calvin and Hobbes comic strips, 'strategic' sounding words, inky-pinky-ponky methods and pure coin tosses. In the past, I would spend the last 15 minutes of any exam in reviewing answers. This time, there was so such conflict. Masala Dosa at Adigas next door vs. 15 minutes for review? Coin tosses are not wasted on such obvious choices.

Looking back, I wouldn't have scripted this experience better. Lack of preparation for an exam was an unknown phenomenon for me until now. While never a topper, I would always finish near the top. Preparation was the key. (What choice - other than preparation - do you have when you belong to a traditional middle-class South Indian family where cousins get nothing less than multiple gold medals?) And now, with nothing to lose, the entire experience was such a rush of joy. Maybe that is why Anupam Kher's speech resonated so well last night.
 

So Mr. Bright, what's your next big idea?

Excellence

Infosys hosted its Annual Awards for Excellence (AFE) today. If there is ever a lesson you need on how a multi-country-multi-city-annual-corporate event must be conducted, this is it. Every step of the 2.5 hour event is amazingly choreographed, seamlessly integrated and flawlessly presented by Infoscions every step of the way.

 

All global Infosys locations participate simultaneously in the AFE. Hence, when award announcements are made for a project / unit that comprises of members working across several locations, the team members across these locations can walk up to the stage simultaneously to collect their awards. To me, it seems that we have not only pioneered the global delivery model but have also refined the global recognition model. The AFE celebrates the best of values that Infosys represents viz. Excellence.

 

We also invite an eminent personality as the Chief Guest for the AFE who represents excellence in his / her field of work. Anil Kumble has been here before and so has Barkha Dutt. Naseeruddin Shah was invited in 2010 while 2011 was the year of A.R. Rehman. Today, it was the versatile Anupam Kher.

 

When greats speak to you, what remain in your mind are their simple words and rustic wisdom. When you stop fearing failure, Mr. Kher said, you automatically start on a path to excellence. Learn to listen well and learn from others. And above all, an actor must always remember that he is no different than a carpenter. Both of them just execute things. But an actor lets things get to his head because he sees others write something about him. That reminded me so much about Naseeruddin Shah's speech about excellence a couple of years ago. We all start small. We just want to do the simple things right. Excellence comes much later.

 

Starting small. Listening. Staying true to yourself. Remaining grounded. That’s the path to excellence for you. How easy to remember. And how easily we forget….

Tracking the year....

I have long accepted that tracking & reviewing is a necessity in my professional life. This activity is not something new to you to understand as a reader. You set out to do something. You track. You bucket it into a few measures. You learn. And then you start over. After all, this is what experienced gurus have been telling us to do for ages - whether you are at work or at home. It is not always fun to review old numbers, but then you get my point that this is something you must do as a 'best practice'.

I am equally clear that as much we may think that such best practices are inculcated during our college years, the reality is that you can zoom from cradle to 40 years in just a second and still understand the concept. I mean - just look at the eco-system around you right now. Log into facebook & you will see a delightful button that serves a personalized 2012 Year in Review. Isn't that cool? Flick CNN-IBN & you will see the 'Person of the Year' program for the next 2 weeks. December is the only month in the year when Santa Claus is so busy running while the rest of the world is so busy reviewing. (I wonder whether this is why the New Year resolutions are so popular. Since you have spent the entire month thinking - the thinking goes - can you at least not decide on something by Jan 1?)

Tracking & reviewing what I have done may not be fun. But tracking & reviewing what others have is a lazy man's delight. And that is precisely where I found myself an hour ago. It is Time Magazine’s season for the Person of the Year. This is something I have loved guessing every year in the past but have lost track of in recent years. It was interesting to scan the profiles that have kept us engaged & entertained through 2012. Mr. 'Gangnam' Psy is at one end of the spectrum. Malala Yousufzai - the brave Pakistani girl who braved a Taliban bullet & wants to continue to speak up for women's rights - is at the other. In the middle are politicians, entertainers & sportspersons. All in all, a good list.

Obama won a tough re-election, but I doubt he would make it. Aung San Suu Kyi and Thein Sein from Burma have come out of 2 decades of turmoil, but I would rather wait to see a better life for Burma before elevating them. Sportspersons entertained us at the London Olympics, but somehow no one took my breath away.

Five entries caught my eye. Hillary Clinton has been an amazing American Secretary of State for the past four years & is capping off a remarkable innings (for now). Tough, Disciplined, and Tireless are words often used to describe her. She is also a policy wonk respected for her intellect and hard work.

The undocumented immigrants reached a tipping point in American politics. A number of them will soon come out of the shadows and will change the demographic mix of America. Hopefully the national dialogue also changes with words like 'amnesty' and ‘self deportation’ being replaced with measured fairness. 

Three entries share a common thread of scientific discovery. Felix Baumgartner jumped from the edge of space. The Mars Rover landed 160 million miles away. The Higgs Boson was simply the God Particle. Individually, they represent a significant breakthrough. But collectively they represented the human will to - yet again - expand the frontiers of science. Work in each of these three areas will continue to grow in the decades hence. And – like science always does – will only make the future generations better.

Here’s what I think. The Scientific Discoveries of 2012 must make it as the Time POY. With Hillary Clinton & the undocumented immigrants as the runners-up. Now let's see what the jury thinks on Dec 19....

Men Apart, Every Man an Emperor

It is not very often that I post blogs as frequently as a day apart, but today was no ordinary day. 5:30 PM is when one wants to pack up and look forward to going home. But some of us were sufficiently piqued to go to the Convention Centre at the Infosys campus to watch the Territorial Army Symphony Fusion Orchestra perform. (Note: I don’t ever think I can articulate the experience of being in the Infosys Convention Centre…. let’s just say that the sound system ,seating, video projection and the stage make up a truly world class auditorium.)

When Col. Deora, Commanding Officer of the Territorial Army (TA) came on stage to deliver the inaugural speech, he looked the part. Tall. Commanding. The ‘Army’ moustache. (Do I say that I was swayed into labeling him based on appearance? You bet!!!) What followed was a 5 minute lesson. On Leadership. Humility. Patriotism. And Public Speaking. I paraphrase… but the essence of his speech was thus: The TA is an all-volunteer force and the second line of defense after the Indian Army. Being a member of the TA cannot be a profession or a source of employment. In fact, you must already be employed elsewhere if you want to join us. You serve only when called. The front line soldiers of today’s battles are no longer the regular soldiers as we know them, but YOU, this multitude of professionals in the audience. The battles of the 21st century are not of matter but of mind. Gone are the days when armies move into a rich country to occupy it, and after establishing a beachhead, allow colonial structures to be developed. And we are here to talk to you, salute you and entertain you.

For a Commanding Officer to say that about us, I was amazed. Now, I am under no illusion that the software and consulting profession can match a soldier’s heroics. Soldiers fight battles. Or lose limbs. Or get hurt. We on the other hand shed our only drop of blood to that mandated medical test before getting a work permit.

Yet.... everything of what he said was true. The current crop of Indian professionals establish beachheads in new lands - with a difference. We go global not to colonize. But to co-opt. Co-exist. And co-create. Every time one of us travels overseas, (s)he does more than create a solution or offer a service. We represent our nation, and very often with dignity & pride. Understated yet efficient, we extend value and transform companies. At the same time, we do not gloss over our country’s limitations. We come back to inculcate the same global best practices that we have learnt on our journeys. And to make a difference at home.

The Territorial Army Fusion Band then took over. For the next 90 minutes, Infoscions were treated to a melody of instruments as varied as woodwinds, percussion, strings, brass, and pipe. Indian and Western tunes were played with flute, bagpipes, clarinet, drums, horns, trumpets, violins, saxophones, tabla and santoor. Ek Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai was followed with Somewhere My Love. Then came the popular Nepali folk song Resham Firiri. It was only today that I learned Surangani is not a Goan song, but a Sinhalese original. When John Newton’s Amazing Grace came up, it was clear that wherever you are, redemption and forgiveness hold true. The Indian Territorial Army Song was a pleasure to listen. And when the Infosys song, This is My Infy, was played, it was nothing less than a standing ovation (this amateur video is the closest that there is of this song in the public domain).

But the heart tugging moments were truly the patriotic ones. Who can beat Lata in Aye Meri Watan Ki Logon? I swear that I tear up every time I watch or hear Sandese Aate Hain. How about Kandhon Se Milte Hain Kandhe? Or our eternal favorite, Saare Jahan Se Acha. Playing of the National Anthem completed a memorable evening.

Two things remain. Col. Deora’s exhortation to us at the end to never hesitate to go beyond the last mountain while we will take care of defending our land. And the banner that read Men Apart, Every Man an Emperor. “What manner of men are these?" asked Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery as he reflected on an elite fighting force, the Parachute Regiment. "They are, in fact, men apart, every man an emperor”. The Indian Territorial Army lives up to the same principles....

It was difficult not to have goosebumps or teary eyes at the end of it all. We take a bow, Dear Soldiers, to your Leadership, Patriotism...... and Humility. Jai Hind!!!

PS: If you know of better links to any of the above, please send them over. I will replace the current links.