Audio Blog 2: Ambedkar, Gandhi and Secular India

Let me begin by congratulating the darling of the LOC Team, Mnx on her wedding locks. 
As we witness two hearts unite as one, we pray your unity will always remain strong by letting the chords of love that bind you strengthen over time. Many warm wishes on your wedding.

Thanks to other members that some of use were able to be part of this virtually.
Congratulations to Gokul too on taking the leap of faith and deciding to get married.

Whatever is being written here are the personal views of the author and are subjected to agreement or disagreement. And a request to all members, Please share your views !!

First Audio Blog: Oct 2nd Saluting Gandhi on his Birthday!

Whatever is being written here are the personal views of the author and are subjected to agreement or disagreement. And a request to all members, Please share your views !!

Transition from Working to Getting Work Done

There is a major career transition point when a person needs to shift from doing the work to getting work done through others. The transition is difficult for many. It means giving up direct control over the work, which involves more risk. More need to trust and equip others to get the work done. And a shift in focus from personal achievement to enabling and empowering others. Another major transition happens when a leader stops being the expert in a particular function, area, discipline, and instead starts

Leading the experts. A tough transition again—to give up being the person most in –the- know. Leaders who succeed at these transitions start developing new skills and know when it’s time to stop relying on the old. They learn to set clear expectations, to track progress, and to communicate information that people need to do their jobs. Their focus shifts to helping others develop their skills and gain confidence. Guide. Delegate. And trust. Navigate these leadership rites of passage and you’ll not only help other people be successful in their roles, you’ll be on your way to becoming more successful in yours.

Never tell people how to do things.

Tell them what to do and they will surprise you

with their ingenuity.

George S. Patton –United States Army general

  

Whatever is being written here are the personal views of the author and are subjected to agreement or disagreement. And a request to all members, Please share your views !!

Happy Independence Day to all.

The first article that I opened on my browser today was http://thelogicalindian.com/news/25000-farmers-seek-presidents-permission-to-hang-themselves-on-independence-day/
I was sad. But I had no idea what to do about it. I cannot not even find the exact reason why this is happening. Who is responsible? Government policies? Capitalism ?Export/Import? Climate change?We-the consumers???? It will be great if anyone here can explain what we, the 'aam admis' can do.

Then, while mindlessly scrolling through facebook news I came across this http://thelogicalindian.com/story-feed/awareness/simple-ways-you-can-be-a-better-citizen-and-contribute-to-the-society/.
This video shows everything I want to do and I want others to do. I became happy again.


Whatever is being written here are the personal views of the author and are subjected to agreement or disagreement. And a request to all members, Please share your views !!

Random Post. Chennai June, 2015

Blogging at the breakfast table at a hotel in Chennai. I think this idea of complimentary breakfast buffet suits me well. I am most hungry at this time of the day anyways.

Chennai never ceases to amaze me. Every time I come here I have to tone down my expectations in terms of the luxury you expect from a metropolitan and on the other side increase the freshness quotient expected from India's 5th largest city.
Chennai is beautiful, serene and have a presence in its own unique way. No wonder people love it. Specially if you are talking to a native Tamilian.

Quite a lot is happening around and at a fast pace. I was trying to figure out my passions in life the other week and when I hit a roadblock I reached out to my wonderful friends for their opinions. Frankly, I wasn't surprised by the variety of answers which I got, and it did help me clear out a few doubts which crept in during this exercise. Alas, I haven't reached a particular conclusion, other than the fact that Passion is not something which HAPPENS to you, it is something which you CHOOSE to do with your life. And I am yet to choose.

Also that is not the only thing I haven't chosen. The pressure form the family to choose and to settle down has gone up a few levels. "It's high time" is what PD can relate to ..... I have no doubts about settling down, and as Rai demonstrated that there is nothing wrong with calling it a day when you meet the right person, it has only strengthened my idea of marriage.

Wishing Meenakshi all the very best as she is next in line to finally drop down the anchors before she starts another fabulous journey.

Whatever is being written here are the personal views of the author and are subjected to agreement or disagreement. And a request to all members, Please share your views !!

Yoga and Youth: The Millennium Era

Do you practice yoga? Does your family practice yoga?
Do you want to practice yoga? Do you think yoga is important for the development for a sound mind and healthy body? Do you think kids should start practicing yoga from childhood?
- See more at: http://www.aiducatenow.org/international-yoga-day-event/#sthash.R9xpEzmW.dpuf

Do you practice yoga? Does your family practice yoga?
Do you want to practice yoga? Do you think yoga is important for the development for a sound mind and healthy body? Do you think kids should start practicing yoga from childhood?
- See more at: http://www.aiducatenow.org/international-yoga-day-event/#sthash.R9xpEzmW.dpuf

Do you practice yoga? Does your family practice yoga?
Do you want to practice yoga? Do you think yoga is important for the development for a sound mind and healthy body? Do you think kids should start practicing yoga from childhood?
- See more at: http://www.aiducatenow.org/international-yoga-day-event/#sthash.R9xpEzmW.dpuMy friend f

My friend asked me to write for an event which she's conducting half way across the world. It's a pleasant feeling looking at the number of doors/ social platforms she is knocking on, to make this event a successful one. What event? How do we derive motivation for events like these?

We are LOC. We are different, but equally mesmerizing is the difference in the approach that the Millennium generation is showing towards life. Before I come to the actual topic of this article I would want to acknowledge that based on my readings of recent history I haven't seen a whole generation so motivated for the social good. I am in no way underestimating the great freedom struggles fought by millions in the past. This new wave of being part of a social movement comes close. Youngsters are turning down plum packages, even quitting their jobs to join these movements. The number of NGOs which are being run, managed or supported by young inspired minds has sky rocketed. The world needs it. We need all the positivity in the world and the outer world if we can get that too.

Our dependence on technology in the recent times has supposedly increased our efficiency. We are safe to assume that it has gone up rather than down when we look at all the development which is happening around us. The speed at which construction happens, speed of automobiles, internet all are up from what the world has ever seen. With that comes the challenge of our minds expanding its horizons and either soak up all it can, or focus on what it should. And surprise surprise... The answer lies in a practice which is thousands of years old. Yoga.

It’s a proud moment for India. And please pardon my switching between the topics of ‘youth’, ‘Yoga’, and ‘Young India’.

I am not sure how the world looks at Indian practices but in India, everything which is western has an enhanced intrinsic value attached to it. Indian youth over the years has been fascinated by the opportunities which globalization has opened for them. I can’t blame my own generation for that. We have seen ourselves struggling with what we had (our own practices) and have seen the chaotic output which is so prevalent all over the country and hence it’s natural for us to look out for solutions for our problems. This is where life comes back to complete a full cycle.

When we look at this cycle from business point of view, we realize that it makes mutual sense for both East and the West to support each other. Western culture and practices have captured our imaginations by doing everything they can. Everything we see around us, from the modern buildings, advertisements in all formats, music, news, talk shows, the way we run business, the way we plan our holiday trips, all in all the way we plan our lives, are all influenced by the West. 

That was the business point of view. From a more holistic view of mind, body and soul it’s the same cycle once again.

The wheels are turning. After a long time India has a leader who is truly leading us by treading a path for the youth of this country. He has every quality to become a world leader which is evident from the fact that when he proposed the idea of ‘World Yoga Day’ in the United Nations; it got an unprecedented acceptance from almost 200 countries. I certainly don’t want to mix politics with this topic but I guess there is no harm in giving someone credit for wherever it’s due.

Now let’s talk about to Yoga.

To me Yoga is a way of life. If I were to pick some fundamental ideas around it, they would be –

1.      Breathing,

2.      Meditation,

3.      Physical Fitness.

1.      Breathing.

What surprises me and I know it’s a cliché that we had this practice with us for so long now but we know so little about it. Breathing is the single most important activity which all living things do. But do we do it right?

If only we can focus on the way we breathe it is known to take care of a whole lot of common ailments out of the picture. And not just ailments; think about the moment when you were angry, sad, anxious, excited, grieved, hyper active – if only your brain can get more oxygen during these emotionally charged instants you would be surprised how much control you gain over yourself and your thought process.

That tip where people tell you to count to ten when you are angry is a way to let you breathe between the emotion of feeling anger and action you are about to take.

Needless to say that breathing helps in physical activities like nothing else does. With proper breathing you can run an extra mile, can do some extra push ups, can be more active and accurate in whatever sport you are playing.

Yoga is full of breathing exercises. It is inherent in any posture, position and ‘kriya’ as they call it. Next time you are following any asana in Yoga, focus on the way one is supposed to breathe during the whole activity.

 

2.   Meditation. This got to be the most difficult of all practices in Yoga. This is where you experience ‘nothingness’, or at least try to. 10 minutes of meditation when you either try to focus on ‘ONE’ thing or ‘nothingness’ is known to recharge your mind and soul for all the chaos the world has to offer to you. It helps you taking sound decisions, having deep and fulfilling relationships, derive happiness from almost everything around you and most importantly stay calm in difficult situations so that you can handle them well. 

Again all Yoga asanas in it's true form help you remove all other thoughts from your mind and focus on the activity at hand which becomes the starting point of meditation.

3. Physical Fitness. This is where the rubber meets the road. In the fast life that we live in where everything is instant Yoga asanas may seem like a simple stretching exercise. But don't be fooled by what it seems to be. Yoga has been known to be one of the most effective exercises when it comes to weight loss, strength building, stamina building and overall fitness exercises. Some of my favorite Yoga Asanas are - Surya Namaskar and Bikram Yoga.

Towards the end I would like to leave you with a simple thought that while we all have got just one life to live, let's live it fully and the only way to do it is to be healthy for the most of the duration we are here. 20 minutes of Yoga a day will go a long way in enriching your mind, body and soul like very few other things do.

Do you practice yoga? Does your family practice yoga?
Do you want to practice yoga? Do you think yoga is important for the development for a sound mind and healthy body? Do you think kids should start practicing yoga from childhood?
- See more at: http://www.aiducatenow.org/international-yoga-day-event/#sthash.R9xpEzmW.dpuf

Whatever is being written here are the personal views of the author and are subjected to agreement or disagreement. And a request to all members, Please share your views !!

Writing about experience withYoga-Celebrating International Yoga Day

Hi All, apologies for not coming here to write very often. The credit goes to my disability of expressing my thoughts in writing in the exact way I want to express. Most of the time when I start writing a thought, at the end I find that the written words are expressing something totally different. But I like to read and that means I encourage others to write.

That's why I am here today, to encourage and request you guys to write for my website. Not exactly my website, it's the website of the non profit organisation I volunteer for. http://www.aiducatenow.org

For international yoga day I am organising an online article writing contest on this website. The  winning articles will be published in our website as a blog. Also a 25$(Around ₹1500) amazon gift card is there for the winner. Find details http://www.aiducatenow.org/international-yoga-day-event/

 My request to all is to jot down a few thoughts about yoga and send me. I am sure everybody has thought about practicing yoga, some has already started and some not. Those who already practice yoga or pranayama , my request to them is to write about their experience. Those who have not yet started practicing surely have some passive experience of Yoga, positive or negative. Please take out some time and write few words and send it to me by 19th June .

 I know it's  a very short window. And nobody except me is more sorry for the fact that I didn't write this blog sooner.

I really really need help from you guys to make this event a success.

Though there is a concept of winner for sake of competition, I am planning to publish all the entries on the website on yoga day. So Please take out a few minutes and write on your experience of the idea of Yoga.







Whatever is being written here are the personal views of the author and are subjected to agreement or disagreement. 

The Year 2015 so far...

Whatever is being written here are the personal views of the author and are subjected to agreement or disagreement. And a request to all members, Please share your views !!

THE MILLENNIAL QUEST FOR PASSION & MEANING AT WORK: YOUR NEW COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE : Borrowed from Kristin Boe

The Millennial Quest for passion meaning at work your new competitive advantage.


“My dad has been at the same company for almost thirty years.  The way older generations were raised is you find something and stick with it. With our generation it is about finding your passion. If you aren’t happy, quit, and find something else! We are much more open to switching majors, changing careers and starting fresh.”
- Julie Strand, age 23, sales representative at C.H. Robinson Worldwide...


The above quote is an excerpt from the book, The M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation is Rocking the Workforce, and Julie’s words really encapsulate an overall desire and driving force of the Millennial generation, of which I am a part. Like it or not, this generation—my generation—wants to derive meaning out of our work; it’s a daily activity that simply takes up too much of our lives to leave us feeling unfulfilled or left wanting more. We want work that draws upon our passions, which are wide-ranging and diverse. Some of us might actually want to do non-profit or charitable work, while others, like myself, may find meaning in feeling like the work that we enjoy and do makes a difference at an organization that we are proud to work for.  So call us entitled, narcissistic, naïve, or just kind of awesome, but the overwhelming majority of my generation wants to wake up each morning energized by the fact that our work offers us additional meaning and fuels our passionate lives.

With this in mind, it seems that this Millennial quest for meaning and passion at work is something that companies will need to face as my generation continues to fill the ranks in the workforce. If we are ignored, true to Julie’s quote, it could mean high (expensive and disruptive) turnover rates among the youngest and soon-to-be-largest cohort in your workplace. But here’s the good news—if harnessed appropriately, this Millennial search for passion and meaning could turn into a real source of competitive advantage for your organization. In fact, a recent study by Deloitte found that workers who bring passion to their jobs are more easily able to navigate challenges and accelerate performance improvement, increasing their overall productivity and creating a competitive advantage for their organization as a result.  The study also cites that companies that focus on creating environments that foster passion and that hire passionate people (like Millennials) will be better equipped to respond to the diverse challenges of the globalized competitive landscape.

Call me opportunistic, but Leaders, doesn’t this seem like a perfect situation? You know that unlocking your employees’ passions at work can create a competitive advantage for your company, and the largest and newest population of your workforce wants to find meaningful work that they are passionate about.  So now the question becomes: how can you help unleash the passions of your workforce?

For most people, finding your passion at work is something that takes time to unearth.  It takes experiencing your work and discovering where your passions lie. It also means experiencing and exploring the work of others to see if you can uncover hidden passions through connecting with colleagues to learn from their experiences, knowledge, and perspectives. In this way, technology-enabled social learning is a great way to help get your employees sharing with one another and uncovering their passions while learning and developing (Can you say, “Killing two birds with one stone?”). Most Millennials know that our first job probably isn’t going to be the role we are the most passionate about in our entire careers, because everyone has to start somewhere and the current job market isn’t doing us any favors. That said, what we do expect is the flexibility to explore our passions and interests at work. If there aren’t mechanisms that allow for this exploration within the boundaries of our organization, we will search for our career-related passions by leveraging our personal networks that we are quite adept at keeping via social media (and to Julie’s point, find another opportunity outside of your organization).

In my mind, it’s never too late to find additional passions, interests, and meaning in your life, and in this way, technology-enabled social learning can also be a tool to help your multigenerational workforce discover how they can be even more connected to their work. Like Meghan Biro stated in a recent Forbesarticle on the topic, “Beneath any generational divide, we all want the same from our jobs: to be engaged and fulfilled mind, body and soul.” So start thinking about how you can provide employees, Millennial or not, the means and flexibility to explore, find their passions, and discover what makes their work meaningful, and you might just score some increased productivity and an edge over your competitors as a result.

Feel like weighing in on this subject of Millennials and/or meaningful and passionate work? Tweet at me using this twitter handle @3creek. I would love to hear your insights, thoughts, and personal perspectives on the topic!

Whatever is being written here are the personal views of the author and are subjected to agreement or disagreement. And a request to all members, Please share your views !!

The case for hiring from Tier II and Tier III Colleges (Apr 01 - Apr 15, 2015)

As a part of my New Year resolution, I am gonna pen down 1 post (min 500 words) every fortnight.

Over the last half of a decade, I have worked with a lot of youngsters. The number is significantly high (in tunes of 50,000) and the experience of interacting with them has been very enriching. I have worked in the learning and development team for a couple of MNCs and I now can safely say that I have a background in analyzing behaviors especially from an organization point of view.

When I look at the competition which exists at the entry level of most of the competitive companies the first target from the recruitment team is to get the day 1 in the college when the hiring begins. Reason: Everyone wants the cream. Well, sounds logical, isn’t it?

Not really. When you look at numbers in terms of the performance of people over a period of time, you will be surprised. Now we know that the word ‘performance’ is vague and includes a lot of factors, for clarity we can simply relate it to the ROI from the organization point of view. The data suggests that the ROI from every employee who is hired from a premier institute compared to one who isn’t is not different. And if you dig a bit deeper in terms of (a) the longevity of the career of employees, and (b) the positivity he/ she carries around them it hints towards slightly more commitment from the guys coming from non-premier institutes.

There are reasons behind this ROI shift over time. People hired from top tier institutes not only cost more, they also carry an air of arrogance around them and right from the beginning of their career. They aren’t flexible working on various tasks; in and around their primary job.

Over the last decade or so the way education has made way into the second level of cities of India. A direct analogy can be seen from the cricket field. Gone are the days when half of the team used to come from metros like Mumbai which has a rich and deep cricketing history. Because of the new found exposure; players from relatively smaller cities are making way into the national scene. Similarly students from lesser known colleges can be seen to have the hunger to run shoulders with the best and the humility to carry them professionally at the workplace.

From a Human Resource point of view and from the view of learning and development, we know that if the basics like attitude are in place, there are certain types of skills which can be transferred to an individual. Most of the organizations nowadays have either incorporated an in house learning and development team or they outsource it. Whatever they do, they can’t deny the contribution of the training which has a long term impact on ROI of any organization. Once a firm has invested in a sound L&D team, it makes sense for them to look for candidates who have the right mindset as the first priority and skills can be taken care later on.

There are a number of examples in which organizations have consciously invested in getting people on board from tier – II and tier III colleges and prepare them through a robust training and development plan. Researches have shown that the ROI through such process has been significantly higher in such cases.

Whatever is being written here are the personal views of the author and are subjected to agreement or disagreement. And a request to all members, Please share your views !!

Random Thoughts... Important Ones (Mar 16 - Mar 31, 2015)

As a part of my New Year resolution, I am gonna pen down 1 post (min 500 words) every fortnight.

This post has to be about the sensational discussion we started on FB by revisiting one of the most glorious events we organized at NERIST. It has to be about the initiative which some of us have taken to motivate current students to embark upon this truly magnificent journey of clubs at college. And without a doubt, this post also has to be about the ICC World Cup-2015.

Apart from writing posts for the LOC blog, couple of things I have been doing regularly are reading and running. Though with all the travel in the past month and partly because of the complex 11th book of the year - 'Fifth Discipline' reading has been slow this month. But that didn't stop me from completing the controversial book - 'Fifty Shades of Grey' while running all those miles in the past week. (Hint: Audio Book). 

Caution: Don't try this particular book with speakers ON.

Books read so far in 2015:

1. The Pregnant King - Devdutt Pattanaik
2. I am Malala
3. Private India
4. Kane and Abel
5. A Prisoner of Birth
6. Asura - The Tale of the Vanquished
7. What Color is your parachute
8. Karna's Wife
9. The sense of an ending
10. Our moon has blood clots
11. Timeless steel - Rahul Dravid
12. Fifty Shades of Grey

In the earlier post this month I mentioned how the name Tongam Rina struck as a familiar one. When she made the North East in particular and the whole Nation in general, proud by winning the CNN IBN Indian of the Year for Public Service. She was the guest of honor and part of the judging panel in the all-time hit Faculty vs Students debate which swept NERIST by surprise back in 2008. Congratulation are in order for her and here’s wishing her all the very best for her future. It was also a moment to reflect upon how the alma mater has been performing since we left it over half a decade ago. Thanks to some very thought provoking points shared by Manish da, Sachindra Pandey da and Barthakur Sir we got an insight that things are not very harmonious. Long comments were written about how things have deteriorated for nobody's advantage. Rohit Rai had been very instrumental in handling the fort from the LOC point of view.

But this is where LOC has been always relevant. As in this video, Debi beautifully explained that at LOC; we have always been the brand of people who don't sit there and let things happen the way they are happening. We are the ones who change things. And we are on track to do our bit to ignite that spark once again.

Desired Output: To enhance the communication skills, Build self-confidence, Excel in the skills required to work in a team.

How to do it: Current Students of NERIST should form clubs/ groups, formal/ informal, and meet regularly to discuss random topics. The size of the group should be limited and like-minded personalities should come together and stay invested for their own good and for the greater good of the group.

Once the groups are up and running they can connect with Alumni periodically  

Additional Advantages: When young minds work in groups, share their thoughts with each other not limited by any formal authority, there are very words apart from 'magic' which can describe what they can create or achieve. Having worked with young minds for over 5 years now, I know that most interviewers are looking for the stories (real ones of course) which students have to share. There is no two way about the fact that academics is the MOST IMPORTANT ingredient of the dish which anyone can cook during their college life. That builds the analytical ability specially from an engineering student point of view. But they are like the hygiene skills, the icing on the cake has to be the ability to share your ideas and the ability to work in groups. 

In short, this will help them with the interviews and if that's not enough it's a sure shot journey to self-discovery.

Stakeholders: Current students (Everything is about you, so you guys have to take the first few steps on your own), Faculty Members (Always willing to guide the students, students may have to choose the right one; at the right time; and at the right platform), and Alumni (Never before in history have we been so connected with NERIST and we are more than excited to guide and assist in whatever way we can).

Progress: Two groups of students (8 and 7) met three alumni members over google hangout where we set the context of the initiative. We focused on the importance of having clubs at college and shared our experiences with them.

Next Step: The idea is to encourage more and more students to form such concise groups and start meeting regularly. Every once in a while (when they want to interact with alumni, as in when they have specific questions in their mind about life beyond NERIST) they can set up a video call us; the third stakeholder.

 ICC World Cup-2015

Since I know enough has been written about the performance of the Indian cricket team over the past few weeks, I will keep my analysis very short. When defending world champions - India started the journey in the current tournament we had little hopes from them. May be all we wanted was a. A win over arch rivals Pakistan, B. No upsets against the minnows, and C. A decent fighting spirit against the mighty favorite teams.

India did surprise us all. Winning all their group league matches was no mean feat, where they played like champions. As an ardent Indian Cricket Fan, I felt proud of the team’s performance. They played to the best of their abilities against a formidable opponent who was better on their home turf.

The social media for a couple of days was full of nonsensical analysis of the loss and failed to recognize the valiant efforts of the whole team and support staff throughout the tournament. Sometimes social media can be such a headache.

Whatever is being written here are the personal views of the author and are subjected to agreement or disagreement. And a request to all members, Please share your views !!