Music gives character and energy to the film. There are people who watch movies only for its songs even though the film script, its casts and director would be not be of their liking. The songs in the movie resonate various moods, stir emotions, and most importantly play a pivotal role in the narrative. It’s not just the song but even the background score that adds to the narrative. Although few directors have experimented and have been fairly successful to showcase movies without songs, but watching a Bollywood movie without good songs is akin to eating food without salt!
Often film songs get popular even before the film is released. There was a time when people would walk humming these songs in theatres and as soon as the song was being played on the screen, people would whistle and sing loudly. But these days you hardly get to see such acts and unfortunately even the film songs albeit released early are seldom alluring and interesting.
But have you ever wondered why the songs composed before 90’s still appeal to us?
Well most of these songs had amazing lyrics, and were sung by legends. Even the lip sync by great actors on the screen appeared surrealistic. These songs were composed by legendary music directors and many of them were based on Indian Ragas. Although there are cases of few music directors plagiarising music from other cultures, but most of their songs were original and continue to remain etched in our memory forever.
While there are many raga based songs sung by the inimitable Talat Mahmood, Manna Dey, Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Suresh Wadkar and other male singers, I have endeavoured to list below some of my favourite songs sung by female singers along with their ragas. These ragas have been borrowed from various blogs. Most of these songs convey various emotions of love, happiness, tranquility, sorrow, lust, longing, devotion, separation, dream etc. These songs transcend not just gender but even generations. Indeed a good song is infectious regardless of language, age, religion, gender, caste and creed.
Before I enumerate the list, let me confess that I know very little about ragas and of course I haven’t even received any formal training in Hindustani classical music. My mother and wife are trained classical singers and whatever little information not knowledge I have gained is through my discussions with them. When I was in primary school, my mother did attempt to teach me harmonium and even introduced me to a Guru who tried his best to teach me classical singing however as a child I preferred the cricket bat and soccer rather than playing with the Tanpura and Tabla. Over the period of time and thanks to Radio and films, I managed to develop a profound liking and appreciation for music including Hindustani classical.
Perhaps one of the reasons why the old songs are still popular is because they tend to liven your mood and this is only possible if the songs are based on Ragas. Whilst the songs are made on many ragas, the most common ragas used in Hindi films are the following:
Pahadi, Khamaj , Pilu, Kirwani, Bhairavi, Yaman , Shivaranjani, , Kedar, Lalit, Jhinjhinoti, Charukeshi, Darbari Kannada, 7. Malkauns, Bihag, Bageshree, Des & Darbari Kanada
Typically Classical music comprises of ‘Sur’, ‘Taal’ and ‘Laya’, based on appropriate 'Raag'. In its simplest form, the Tabla renders ‘Taal’, harmonium/ other instruments - ‘Laya’, while the singer resonates ‘Sur’- meticulously and melodiously bringing the language or expressions to life.
Indian classical music is based on 'Raga' which is a rhythmic expression of a mood. Raga is not a scale or a tune or a mode. It is more like a framework that binds all these things together. Each raga has a name and generally has an associated time of day when it is best performed, depending on the mood it projects. Ragas ‘induce an emotion’ in the song and can be recognised through patterns.
Identifying or appreciating a raga does not require any formal training. The best way to identify a raag is to listen to a song and ask someone to identify its Raga. Learn this raga, by listening to the song and try humming along with it. Then turn off the song, and try humming along the same tune, but with variations. After some practice, you must start searching for songs that may appear similar or have similar pattern to the song whose Raga you have just learnt. The other method is to listen to the instrumental music.
Pakaad or bandish are the most dominating notes of a given raga. Each raga has its own bandish. If two songs sound similar then they would have same bandish and thus belong to the same raga. It is also said that you can recognize the raga of a song while listening to it from a farther distance rather than by listening to it closer. This is because as you go farther from the source of vocal sound, you do not listen to any words from the song, but you only hear the dominating notes or bandish of the song. Once you hear the bandish, you can easily recognize the raga of the song.
Every Raga is derived from some Thaat or Scale. The ten thaats are Bilawal, Kalyan, Khamaj, Bhairav, Poorvi, Marwa, Kafi, Asavari, Bhairavi and Todi. All the thaats mentioned above are also ragas; and yet a thaat is a very different musical entity from a raga.
Khamaj - Raga Khamaj belongs to Khamaj Thaat and rendered in the late evening.
Bhairav - Raga Bhairav is an early morning Raga and belongs to Bhairav Thaat.
Todi - Raga Todi is a morning Raga and belongs to Todi Thaat.
Bilawal - Raga Bilawal is also a morning Raga and derived from Bilawal Thaat.
Asavari - Raga Asavari is a late morning Raga and belongs to Asavari Thaat.
Poorvi - Raga Poorvi belongs to Poorvi Thaat. It is a Sandhiprakash Raga, and is rendered at dusk, that is the time when the day ends.
Marwa - Raga Marwa is a dusk/ early evening Raga and derived from Marwa Thaat.
Kalyan - Raga Kalyan is an evening Raga and belongs to Kalyan Thaat.
Kafi - Raga Kafi belongs to Kafi Thaat and usually rendered in the late evening.
Bhairavi - Raag Bhairavi belongs to Bhairavi Thaat and is a morning raga.
Exponents of Indian classical music say that an entire life span is too short to learn about Indian classical music. Perhaps that is the beauty of this music. Nonetheless lets not stop ourselves from delving into it and the best way to immerse and appreciate is by listening to film songs based on ragas. Here’s my favourite list of raga based film songs:
1. Piya Banwari - Raaga Bihagda - sung by one of my all time favourite singer Asha Bhosle, Gulzhar’s lyrics, Panchamda’s melliflous music and filmed on the irrestible Diva and Queen of Bollywood- Rekha.
2. Jaise Radha Ne Mala Japi – Raag Bhairavi - Lata’s honeyed voice and Mumtaz looks incredibly beautiful and sensous.
3. Ajeeb dastan Hai Yeh – Raag Puria dhanshree
4. Zulmi Sangh aakh ladi – Raag Pahadi need to be verified
5. Aaj kaal Paaon Zameen Par Nahi Padte Mere – Raag Lalit
6. Rim Jhim Gire Sawan – Raag Pilu
7. Silli Hawa Choo Gayi – Raag Puria Dhanshree
8. Raina Biti Jaye, Shyam Na Aye - Raag Lalit
9. O Sajna, Barakha Bahara Ayi – Raag Khammaj
10. Naa, Jiyaa Laage Naa Tere Bina Mera Kahin - Raag Malgunji – sung by Lata didi in Hindi and Bengali. Salil Choudhary’s masterful composition in both the language.
11. Jaa Re, Jaa Re Ud Jaa Re Panchhi- Raag Bhairavi – Lata Mangeshkar soulful singing. Another Salil Choudhary masterpiece. Also check out original composition sung by Lata in Bengali
12. Tujhse Naaraj Nahi Zindagi Hairan hu main – Lata – Raag Pilu…Although the male version of Anup Ghosal is more soothing.
13. Aja Re, Paradesi - Raag Bageshri
14. Bainya Na Dharo- Raag Charukesi
15. Tu jahan jahan chalega, mera saya saath hoga - Raga Nand (or Anandi)
16. Is Mod Se Jate Hai - Raag Kalyan
17. Jane Kya Baat Hai – Lata – Raag Bhairav
18. Aur Kya Ehde Wafa Hote Hain – no idea about the Raga
19. Roz Roz Daali Daali Kya Likh Jaye.... Raag Kalyan.
20. Prabhu tero nam jo gae phal - Hum Dono Raga: Dhani
21. Tere Bina Jiya Jaaye na- Ghar – Raag Kalyani – Duet but Kishore only sings one stanza
22. Mose chal kiye jaye hai re hai hai dekho saiyan beiman – Raga: Jhinjhoti
23. Chura liya hai tum ne jo dil ko, nazar nahin churana sanam........Raag Pilu
24. Ye Dil Aur Unki – Raag Pahadi
25. Bada Natkhat Hai Re Krishna Kahaiya – Raag Khammaj
26. Jhoothay naina bolay - Raga: Bilaskhani Todi
27. Mora Gora Ang Lai ley – Raga – you should tell me ?
Each song mentioned above is incredibly beautiful. Whilst everyone will have their own favourites, there is a possibility that some of these songs will be part of your favourites as well. There will be many good songs which I may have inadvertently missed but please do let me know so as to add in the list. While it has been little challenging to list down which is the best song amongst all, however based on the some combination like the quality of rendition, the degree of semi classical / classical music, lyrics, singer, the ragas and variations used including the actors on whom the song is screened, I have been able to identify my preference. The main purpose of listing these songs is merely to listen to them again and again ...so as to enhance my knowledge on ragas.
Like movies and books, music is one of those enriching, expensive trans-generational tools that anybody can appreciate. So next time you hear a song, try and hum it and search for a similar song so as to identify its raga.
.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Monday, February 13, 2012
SCAMPER For Creativity !...
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” – Albert Einstein
While most people associate creativity with art, design or building complex structures, algorithm and software codes, however being creative really means improvisation. It also means ability to trouble shoot, solve problems and think of innovative ways of doing things.
Problem-solving and decision-making are closely linked, and each requires creativity in identifying and developing options. Generally a problem is a situation, or issue that remains unresolved and makes it difficult to accomplish a desired result. A problem is typically perceived when an individual, group, or organization becomes aware of a significant difference between what is desired and what actually is.
Creative problem solving process is often characterized by the divergent nature of human thought and action. Divergent thinking is thinking outwards. It is the ability to be imaginative, develop original, unique ideas and then come up with a solution or results. Divergent thinking generates numerous creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. It is often used in conjunction with convergent thinking. Convergent thinking is based on collection of facts and data from various sources to arrive at particular logical solution. Both divergent and convergent thinking is required to solve problems.
Problem solving is the process by which a situation is analyzed, a workable solution is determined, and corrective action is taken. The common milestones of problem solving
are:
• Define (or clarify) the problem
• Analyze causes
• Generate ideas (identify alternatives)
• Evaluate or Weigh up ideas (assess alternatives)
• Choose or Make a decision (select an alternative)
• Determine next steps to implement the solution
• Evaluate whether the problem was solved or not
To gain Competitive advantage, every organization is striving for innovation, yet very few organizations like Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Tata, 3M etc are able to come up with breakthrough or disruptive innovations.
There is no dearth of creativity and problem solving training. Interestingly organizations spend considerable resource to gauge convergent thinking - Standard IQ tests, Pattern recognition, testing knowledge, logic thought flow and ability to solve problems etc. However there aren’t any tests to measure divergent thinking process. Since creativity requires both convergent and divergent thinking skills, progressive organizations are now encouraging their employees to undergo various trainings to improve both these types of thinking skills.
Apparently creativity can be learnt. Often it requires a specific or different approach to make us think outside of our traditional thinking patterns. There are various techniques of problem solving, lateral thinking and even developing creativity.
Let me share a simple and yet powerful technique to spark creativity and problem solving abilities. The technique is called SCAMPER.
SCAMPER was conceived by Bob Earle and is an acronym that is made up of the fundamental concepts of gathering additional information:
S - Substitute
C- Combine
A – Adapt
M – Modify/ Magnify
P- Purpose
E – Eliminate
R – Rearrange/ Reverse
SCAMPER is based on the notion that creative work, original ideas and everything you define as "new" is nothing else but a remix of something that is already out there. The SCAMPER method allows anyone to strengthen their ability to question, imagine, and adapt even in situations where it would seem that there are no more creative options available. At its very essence, SCAMPER is a powerful checklist of suggestions that prompts to think and look at things in different ways.
The first step in using the SCAMPER technique is by clearly stating the problem or the idea that is being developed. This technique can be applied to any problems whether its product, service or process improvement or even in personal life.
Consider, for instance, the problem "How can I increase sales in the business?"
Following the SCAMPER recipe, here are a few questions one could ask:
S (Substitute): "What can I substitute in my selling process?"
C (Combine): "How can I combine selling with other activities?"
A (Adapt): "What can I adapt or copy from someone else’s selling process?"
M (Magnify): "What can I magnify or put more emphasis on when selling?"
P (Put to Other Uses): "How can I put my selling to other uses?"
E (Eliminate): "What can I eliminate or simplify in my selling process?"
R (Rearrange): "How can I change, reorder or reverse the way I sell?"
There are many ways to use SCAMPER. For example, one can sequentially go through all the questions or focus on each question until all possibilities are exhausted.
One can generate multiple questions using SCAMPER acronym. For instance Substitution can mean materials, resources, persons, even timelines or facilities. Combination is key when working with objects and creating new items or even an alliance or partnership. Adaptation is working around problems or changing the process or function of the issue to work within the necessary structures. Modifications are changes to the situation that forces you to think of it in a completely different light. You can put the item to other purposes or redirect energies by applying the next step. Eliminating waste and extraneous detail will help you get to the heart of the work at hand. Reversal and rearrangement allows you to more easily wrap your mind around the item and look at it from different angles.
So what are you waiting for, just use this technique and SCAMPER your way to developing creativity!
"The choices we make dictate the lives we lead.” - Danny De Vito (Renaissance Man)
Creative problem solving process is often characterized by the divergent nature of human thought and action. Divergent thinking is thinking outwards. It is the ability to be imaginative, develop original, unique ideas and then come up with a solution or results. Divergent thinking generates numerous creative ideas by exploring many possible solutions. It is often used in conjunction with convergent thinking. Convergent thinking is based on collection of facts and data from various sources to arrive at particular logical solution. Both divergent and convergent thinking is required to solve problems.
Problem solving is the process by which a situation is analyzed, a workable solution is determined, and corrective action is taken. The common milestones of problem solving
are:
• Define (or clarify) the problem
• Analyze causes
• Generate ideas (identify alternatives)
• Evaluate or Weigh up ideas (assess alternatives)
• Choose or Make a decision (select an alternative)
• Determine next steps to implement the solution
• Evaluate whether the problem was solved or not
To gain Competitive advantage, every organization is striving for innovation, yet very few organizations like Google, Apple, Facebook, Microsoft, Tata, 3M etc are able to come up with breakthrough or disruptive innovations.
There is no dearth of creativity and problem solving training. Interestingly organizations spend considerable resource to gauge convergent thinking - Standard IQ tests, Pattern recognition, testing knowledge, logic thought flow and ability to solve problems etc. However there aren’t any tests to measure divergent thinking process. Since creativity requires both convergent and divergent thinking skills, progressive organizations are now encouraging their employees to undergo various trainings to improve both these types of thinking skills.
Apparently creativity can be learnt. Often it requires a specific or different approach to make us think outside of our traditional thinking patterns. There are various techniques of problem solving, lateral thinking and even developing creativity.
Let me share a simple and yet powerful technique to spark creativity and problem solving abilities. The technique is called SCAMPER.
SCAMPER was conceived by Bob Earle and is an acronym that is made up of the fundamental concepts of gathering additional information:
S - Substitute
C- Combine
A – Adapt
M – Modify/ Magnify
P- Purpose
E – Eliminate
R – Rearrange/ Reverse
SCAMPER is based on the notion that creative work, original ideas and everything you define as "new" is nothing else but a remix of something that is already out there. The SCAMPER method allows anyone to strengthen their ability to question, imagine, and adapt even in situations where it would seem that there are no more creative options available. At its very essence, SCAMPER is a powerful checklist of suggestions that prompts to think and look at things in different ways.
The first step in using the SCAMPER technique is by clearly stating the problem or the idea that is being developed. This technique can be applied to any problems whether its product, service or process improvement or even in personal life.
Consider, for instance, the problem "How can I increase sales in the business?"
Following the SCAMPER recipe, here are a few questions one could ask:
S (Substitute): "What can I substitute in my selling process?"
C (Combine): "How can I combine selling with other activities?"
A (Adapt): "What can I adapt or copy from someone else’s selling process?"
M (Magnify): "What can I magnify or put more emphasis on when selling?"
P (Put to Other Uses): "How can I put my selling to other uses?"
E (Eliminate): "What can I eliminate or simplify in my selling process?"
R (Rearrange): "How can I change, reorder or reverse the way I sell?"
There are many ways to use SCAMPER. For example, one can sequentially go through all the questions or focus on each question until all possibilities are exhausted.
One can generate multiple questions using SCAMPER acronym. For instance Substitution can mean materials, resources, persons, even timelines or facilities. Combination is key when working with objects and creating new items or even an alliance or partnership. Adaptation is working around problems or changing the process or function of the issue to work within the necessary structures. Modifications are changes to the situation that forces you to think of it in a completely different light. You can put the item to other purposes or redirect energies by applying the next step. Eliminating waste and extraneous detail will help you get to the heart of the work at hand. Reversal and rearrangement allows you to more easily wrap your mind around the item and look at it from different angles.
So what are you waiting for, just use this technique and SCAMPER your way to developing creativity!
"The choices we make dictate the lives we lead.” - Danny De Vito (Renaissance Man)
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Promoting Core Culture While Retaining Sub Cultures !...
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Organisational Culture reflects the personality of any organisation. Different cultures reflect different norms of behaviours which are determined by tasks, habits, environment and different types of personalities. There are various definitions in the literature, but in essence, Organisational culture is the sum of values, habits, and rules that influence how things get done within the organization.
Generally culture is obsrved at three levels in any organisation. The first being Physical. This is observed through dress code, building, office layout, the technology used, forms, templates, systems, process, recreational and welfare facilities etc. The second level consists of Values. Values are reflected through employee behaviours. The third and deepest level is the Beliefs.
Organisational Culture reflects the personality of any organisation. Different cultures reflect different norms of behaviours which are determined by tasks, habits, environment and different types of personalities. There are various definitions in the literature, but in essence, Organisational culture is the sum of values, habits, and rules that influence how things get done within the organization.Generally culture is obsrved at three levels in any organisation. The first being Physical. This is observed through dress code, building, office layout, the technology used, forms, templates, systems, process, recreational and welfare facilities etc. The second level consists of Values. Values are reflected through employee behaviours. The third and deepest level is the Beliefs.
Differentiated Culture – Sub Cultures and Counter Cultures
While we are discussing about culture, it is important to understand sub cultures and counter cultures and both play a pivotal role in shaping organisational culture.
Every organization has a differentiated culture which indicates a system of sub cultures. The term “subculture” is normally associated with images of deviants, delinquents, gangs, and other nonconformists such as hippies, punk teenagers, or occult members. But subcultures also represent tolerated deviations that do not disrupt the normative solidarity of the larger culture’s values. Organizational sub cultures may be based on affiliations to various groups such as departments, workgroups like software developers, sales, customer support teams, operations and service groups, line and support functions, organisational hierarchies, such as management and executive staff; professional and occupational affiliations; socio-demographic categories such as sex, ethnicity, age, or nationality; informal groups; or even atmosphere in work groups e.g. loud and gregarious, subdued and quiet, studious and focused; styles of social interaction e.g. debating ideas, accepting direction, conforming to one voice, chattering during meetings etc.
Countercultures are often unacceptable to members of the larger organization. Members of countercultures hold discordant values and, by virtue of their membership, explicitly oppose certain aspects of the larger culture.
The main difference between cultures and sub cultures is that a culture is a unitary whole while subcultures paint a picture of multiple small cultures coexisting within the same organization.
While we are discussing about culture, it is important to understand sub cultures and counter cultures and both play a pivotal role in shaping organisational culture.
Every organization has a differentiated culture which indicates a system of sub cultures. The term “subculture” is normally associated with images of deviants, delinquents, gangs, and other nonconformists such as hippies, punk teenagers, or occult members. But subcultures also represent tolerated deviations that do not disrupt the normative solidarity of the larger culture’s values. Organizational sub cultures may be based on affiliations to various groups such as departments, workgroups like software developers, sales, customer support teams, operations and service groups, line and support functions, organisational hierarchies, such as management and executive staff; professional and occupational affiliations; socio-demographic categories such as sex, ethnicity, age, or nationality; informal groups; or even atmosphere in work groups e.g. loud and gregarious, subdued and quiet, studious and focused; styles of social interaction e.g. debating ideas, accepting direction, conforming to one voice, chattering during meetings etc.
Countercultures are often unacceptable to members of the larger organization. Members of countercultures hold discordant values and, by virtue of their membership, explicitly oppose certain aspects of the larger culture.
The main difference between cultures and sub cultures is that a culture is a unitary whole while subcultures paint a picture of multiple small cultures coexisting within the same organization.
Having different subcultures is not necessarily a bad thing. In fact its existence often induces diversity, adds vitality to various operating units. As organisations expand globally, exporting an organisation’s culture needs more than exporting formats or setting up offices and factories abroad. Globally operated organisations accept that certain aspects of corporate culture may not gel well in some countries. Thus, an amalgamation of core culture with regional sub culture is apt. The glue that binds all threads of the organisation across geographies – is the core culture built on core values- merging with different sub cultures. For instance large Groups like Tata’s have numerous companies, each having its distinct characteristics, sub cultures and yet all these companies embody the shared Tata Values and Code of Conduct. Similarly Google has different sub cultures across geography and within various teams but what binds all Googlers and their stakeholders are their ‘Ten guiding core principles’.
Ethnocentrism & Parochialism
While conducting business globally, one cannot completely avoid the existence of ethnocentrism and parochialism. Ethnocentrism and Parochial attitude is the result of interaction with a different culture.
Everybody can be accused on ethnocentrism at least once in their lives. Every dominant culture tends to think of itself as supreme and centre of the world. For example, during the reign of the Chinese empire, China believed that it was ‘The middle kingdom’ and even the Japanese, Koreans and Cambodians - all referred to China as the middle kingdom. The British Empire drew the modern world maps with the Zero longitude passing through London - thus making England as the center of the world. US today refer to non-Americans as "Aliens" - a term which shows the ethnocentric attitude.
Ethnocentrism results when managers recognize the differences in cultures - but have a tendency to think that their culture and their way of doing things is - the right way, the only way and the best way. Any deviation from their culture or from their way of doing things is seen as "distortion" or as a "mistake" or as "Wrong way".
Parochial attitude refers to a person’s inability to see cultural differences. This is exactly the opposite of ethnocentrism. Managers who are sent abroad often meet people who are also dressed in suits and speak their language - this prompts them to ignore all other cultural differences and make them think that all others are "just like us".
Apparently ethnocentrism can be both a bad and good thing. It is good to be proud of one's heritage, country, and culture. Ethnocentrism can lead to social integration and strong personal, patriotism, and group ties. However, like anything in life, extremes are bad. Therefore extreme ethnocentrism can breed racism, hate crimes, and even wars.
Ethnocentrism & Parochialism
While conducting business globally, one cannot completely avoid the existence of ethnocentrism and parochialism. Ethnocentrism and Parochial attitude is the result of interaction with a different culture.
Everybody can be accused on ethnocentrism at least once in their lives. Every dominant culture tends to think of itself as supreme and centre of the world. For example, during the reign of the Chinese empire, China believed that it was ‘The middle kingdom’ and even the Japanese, Koreans and Cambodians - all referred to China as the middle kingdom. The British Empire drew the modern world maps with the Zero longitude passing through London - thus making England as the center of the world. US today refer to non-Americans as "Aliens" - a term which shows the ethnocentric attitude.
Ethnocentrism results when managers recognize the differences in cultures - but have a tendency to think that their culture and their way of doing things is - the right way, the only way and the best way. Any deviation from their culture or from their way of doing things is seen as "distortion" or as a "mistake" or as "Wrong way".
Parochial attitude refers to a person’s inability to see cultural differences. This is exactly the opposite of ethnocentrism. Managers who are sent abroad often meet people who are also dressed in suits and speak their language - this prompts them to ignore all other cultural differences and make them think that all others are "just like us".
Apparently ethnocentrism can be both a bad and good thing. It is good to be proud of one's heritage, country, and culture. Ethnocentrism can lead to social integration and strong personal, patriotism, and group ties. However, like anything in life, extremes are bad. Therefore extreme ethnocentrism can breed racism, hate crimes, and even wars.
Shared Values
The bedrock of culture is shared values. In any firm, along with the clearly articulated company goals and values, employees are also inadvertently guided with a set of widely held informal beliefs, attitudes, behaviours and principles that develops over a period of time. Consistent, reinforced behaviors evolve into habits. And habits are a powerful force in defining how employees do their work. Rules in this definition are those policies and procedures that are generally respected and followed within the organization. All these factors combine to influence "how things are done around here." One has to go beyond merely posting Values on the wall or talking about them; one has to live them.
The bedrock of culture is shared values. In any firm, along with the clearly articulated company goals and values, employees are also inadvertently guided with a set of widely held informal beliefs, attitudes, behaviours and principles that develops over a period of time. Consistent, reinforced behaviors evolve into habits. And habits are a powerful force in defining how employees do their work. Rules in this definition are those policies and procedures that are generally respected and followed within the organization. All these factors combine to influence "how things are done around here." One has to go beyond merely posting Values on the wall or talking about them; one has to live them.
Communication is the mortar in building a strong firm culture. Reward schemes should encourage employees who embody firm's core values. Few things will undermine culture more than having leaders and managers who fail to operate by the firm's values. Managers often get blinded by impressive resumes. But it is critical to focus on candidate's personality, values, accomplishments, and work habits. Hiring for cultural fitment has assumed greater importance. That does not mean only hiring people from competitor or similar industry. Good organisations always scout talent from different walks of life and ensure that candidates are willing to espouse organisational values.
The Importance of Organizational Alignment
Organisational culture is nothing less than the basic DNA of an organization and acts as a foundation for the structures, systems, processes and actions that support business strategy. Donald Tosti and Stephanie Jackson describe two prevalent forces shaping corporate activity and results: (1) strategy and (2) culture. The Strategy path defines what needs to be done and defines guidelines for setting goals, objectives, doing activities to obtain desired results. The Culture path emphasizes how things are normally done. Culture emerges from values, practices and behaviours required to produce desired results. The best firms strive to maintain an alignment between the two paths.
The Importance of Organizational Alignment
Organisational culture is nothing less than the basic DNA of an organization and acts as a foundation for the structures, systems, processes and actions that support business strategy. Donald Tosti and Stephanie Jackson describe two prevalent forces shaping corporate activity and results: (1) strategy and (2) culture. The Strategy path defines what needs to be done and defines guidelines for setting goals, objectives, doing activities to obtain desired results. The Culture path emphasizes how things are normally done. Culture emerges from values, practices and behaviours required to produce desired results. The best firms strive to maintain an alignment between the two paths.
Conclusion
Every firm has a characteristic culture and no two are the same. Apparently, there are no right or wrong cultures, only functional and dysfunctional ones. Some organisational cultures are well defined while others evolve serendipitously. The strongest corporate cultures are designed and shaped intentionally by management and employees working together. The firm's leadership obviously exerts strong influence on its culture and often reflects some degree of the personality and values of the firm's leaders. Operating effectively with or in different cultures often requires a significant change in leadership style and behaviour. Embracing diversity helps executives learn to work with unfamiliar environments. Managing and promoting the right core culture and retaining sub cultures is the single most important challenge for leaders and employees across all levels.
Every firm has a characteristic culture and no two are the same. Apparently, there are no right or wrong cultures, only functional and dysfunctional ones. Some organisational cultures are well defined while others evolve serendipitously. The strongest corporate cultures are designed and shaped intentionally by management and employees working together. The firm's leadership obviously exerts strong influence on its culture and often reflects some degree of the personality and values of the firm's leaders. Operating effectively with or in different cultures often requires a significant change in leadership style and behaviour. Embracing diversity helps executives learn to work with unfamiliar environments. Managing and promoting the right core culture and retaining sub cultures is the single most important challenge for leaders and employees across all levels.
Thursday, January 26, 2012
Blunder Down Under !...
Its little strange for a hostile flat continent known for its great barrier reef, hard wickets, hot temperatures, bush fires, floods, dessert, drought, venomous reptiles, kangaroos, koalas and eucalyptus trees to become the world's thirteenth largest economy with one of the highest per capita income.
There is something intriguing about Australia that makes it triumphant in every sport. Almost every test series, you get to see a new fast bowlers and batsmen who continue the legacy of demolishing visiting teams without any remorse. Australia prides itself on being a sporting nation. Such is the value they put on athletic pursuits that various states squabble over becoming ‘sporting capital of the Australia’. Perhaps it is this competitive and hostile environment that makes them dominate not just in cricket but even in hockey, rugby, swimming, rowing and other sports. No wonder the Australian cricket team celebrates its victories by singing …
“Under the Southern Cross I Stand ,
A sprig of wattle in my hand,
A native of my native land,
Australia you little beauty..” (while singing the word ‘ little’ gets replaced by profanities)
And by now even the despondent Indian team down under must have learnt this song by heart…
Incidentally, there are some similarities between India and Australia. Both these countries are blessed with natural resources and wonderful bio diversity. The traffic keeps left and people act and think ‘right’ - when it comes to democracy. Both these nations have helped England to win the World War. January 26th is an important date for both these nations. Australia celebrates ‘Australia Day’ that commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 while India celebrates it ‘Republic Day’ to commemorate the date on which the Constitution came into force. Moreover both of them have also been champions in hockey and cricket. There could be many such similarities and yet there are many things - unique and different.
Cricket in the late 70’s - 80’s were dominated by the cavalier and flamboyant West Indies. By early eighties, the Packers Circus ceased to exists and soon the legendary Aussies - Greg Chappell, Lillie, Thompson and Marsh retired. Even Kim Hughes was at the twilight of his career. However the 1986-87 series in India saw the revival of Australian cricket under the leadership of Allan Border who had a daunting task of rebuilding a new team. The world cup win in 1987 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata established the Aussie prowess. Later under Steve Waugh and Ponting’s captaincy, the Aussies continued to remain undisputed champions in all forms of the game for more than a decade.
Since the 90’s every team has strived to excel against Australia. It is not easy to tour down under. The sun is fierce under a southern sky, colours stand bold and the afternoon sun casts deep shadows stretching out to the horizon. Shadows tend to trick the eyes in the harsh Australian sunlight and energy sapping heat...but this is where champions emerged. Such has been their dominance that many teams have crumbled and careers got demolished.
During the 90’s, Indian cricket found itself at the bottom of the pile. It was confounded with match fixing allegations, blatant nepotism, inscrutable power play, and politicians vying for membership within various cricket boards. Amidst this turbulent background, the mantle of captaincy was handed over to the young and brave Sourav Ganguly, who like Border, had a tough task of rebuilding a team that would play with passion and pride.
Ganguly lead from the front and was aptly supported by board president and his team mates in Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble, Srinath and Prasad. In 2001, Sehwag, Agarkar, Zaheer and Harbhajan joined this gang and the wheels turned full circle. Tendulkar’s defiant knock in the first test in Mumbai set the stage but it was Laxman and Dravid’s epic partnership of 376 runs in Kolkata that set the ball rolling. This team went on to create history and shattered Steve Waugh’s dream of winning the final frontier. Coincidentally, the Aussie denouement started at the same venue where they had won the World Cup in 1987.
The tour to Australia in 2003- 4 instilled the belief that India can again win matches overseas. But later under Ricky Ponting’s captaincy, Australia regained their pole position and convincingly defeated India in the world cup final in South Africa. However it was in 2007 under Kumble’s captaincy and with his immortal comments on the infamous monkey gate episode at Sydney that made India stamp its authority on world cricket. It took us more than twenty years to level the series in Australia and the manner in which the Indian team played was seen to be believed.
Kumble retired and Dravid became the new leader. Under his captaincy India won the series in West Indies and in England. The search for new captain, lead to the arrival of a certain M.S Dhoni. Dhoni represented the new generation – carefree, flamboyant, stylish, talented, articulate and hard hitting wicket keeper batsman. Under his leadership the team ranked no 1 in all formats of cricket.
Dhoni must have realized that like captaincy, the Midas spell and the rankings do come with a shelf life. Barring the Melbourne test, India could not create nor did they seize any opportunity to bounce back in any tests. It’s been only 10 months since India won the world cup and already we have lost our number one ranking by loosing seven tests on a trot and the chances of loosing in Adelaide looks inevitable. Before every test, expectations grew and like Tendulkar’s 100th international ton collapsed. Even the stock markets appear predictable these days. Despite their several tours, it is indeed disheartening that Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman would never again be able to win together a test series in Australia. There is feeling of resentment everywhere. The players look disorientated, hapless and their response to media hides any semblance of sanity. Gautam Gambhir whose batting defines grit made startling comments about preparing ‘rank turners’ for visiting teams and making pitches conducive to home team. Undoubtedly these comments are not just ill timed but prevaricates the truth and clearly reflect the frustrations of Indian players. Instead of focusing on preparing pitches that helps our batsmen to play on bouncy track, Indian players want us to think regressively. It’s not just Gambhir but even during Sydney test, Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharma passed similar comments to Warner. Instead of involving in verbal banter, its time some of these young players understand, improve their technique and make their bat and ball do the talking.
Remember Dravid once said,” The media lacks perspective” and everyday they are blatantly sensationalizing purported rift and dissent in team. Such innuendoes not only vitiate the atmosphere, but demoralize the players and create misunderstandings. This could only create fissures and suspicions within the team. Such news bytes make the diagnosis appear simple but the cure impossible. India lost because they never played like true champions. The players have vehemently denied the existence of any dissent and even conflict. If at all there exists any difference then it lies in the way the Indians are playing their cricket.
Come to think of, the fall from grace in cricket is merely symptomatic of a much greater issue and almost every senior player resonates with this notion. Former players are not loosing any opportunity of remonstration and are eagerly washing dirty linen in public.
Ideally with a strong batting line up, there isnt any need for Virat Kohli or even the talented Rohit Sharma to be in the playing eleven or for that matter to get a chance to bat. Ideally they must arrive at the crease when the when the scores read 250 or 300 for 4. But Indian captains have always being defensive with a 7- 4 combinations. Its time Dhoni bats up, making way for a fifth bowler. He just has to take a leaf out of Gilchrist or Sanghakara’s batting.
The struggling Australian batsmen have made our bowlers look pedestrian for their lack of discipline, consistency and ability to take 20 wickets. Our fielders are unfit and lethargic. Barring T-20, Ashwin hasn’t made any impact in other domestic tournaments. It will take a while for him to leave his mark as a bowler in test cricket. Ishant is unable to take wickets and lacks swing. Zaheer is exceptional but like other seniors is equally lethargic on field. Umesh Yadav looks promising but it is ridiculous to expect him to run down the opposition single handedly. Instead of playing in IPL, the young pacers should learn from Zaheer and get some exposure in county cricket.
The only batsman who looked confident and compact is Tendulkar but even his runs couldn’t save us from defeat. Instead of castigating Virat Kohli and Laxman for not performing, we must also evaluate the performances of our opening pair and other senior players. As luck would have it, Kohli’s century in Adelaide symbolizes his arrival in Test arena. Barring the first innings of Perth, there is no doubt that Laxman has faltered and so have the other team members. Laxman’s selection has never been very smooth and when Ganguly made his come back in Nagpur, Laxman had to play at number 6.
Often cricket tends to portray the state of a nation. Before 1989, the Indian economy was governed with socialist philosophy, license Raj and the meagre 3- 4% Hindu rate of growth. With the balance of payment crisis in 1989-91, India under the leadership of P.V. Narsimha Rao along with the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh took the correct step of liberalization, privatization and globalization. It was the same time when Tendulkar made his debut and with his scintillating performances spread the game across small towns and villages. Since the time Tendulkar made his debut, the results have been staggering- excluding the Adelaide test, India has played 203 tests with 69 wins and 57 defeats.
It’s a strange coincidence that Manmohan Singh who is now our Prime Minister is grappling with sputtering economic growth, rampant corruption, rising inflation, interest rates and fiscal deficit. Strangely even Tendulkar with his impeccable records is facing problems in playing a match winning knock or even scoring his 100th international Ton!
The selection committee that included India’s top batsmen in 90’s deserves due credit. Young Ganguly and Dravid were able to push Vengsarkar, Manjrekar, Amre, and Azhar out of the team despite being good performers. The time has now come to take hard decisions and induct new talent. The young talent may initially fail but under a good experienced captain and coach the Indian team will be able to bounce back quickly. The next overseas tour is in 2014 and therefore for the next couple of years, the senior players should be picked on rotation so as to mentor the youngsters.
Dravid and Tendulkar would be perfect for this role. More than half of India’s population is below 25 years and since their infancy, haven’t seen an Indian team without Tendulkar. For them and even for the remaining older generation, it will be daunting to imagine a team without Tendulkar. And watching a test match without Dravid is as good as conceding the series even before the coin is tossed. If it was not for their stellar performance, India wouldn’t have become a super power in world cricket. Playing in rotation would also help Indian fans to come to terms with reality and subtly help the senior players to have a graceful exit, which they richly deserve.
Its time we learn from the Australians and avoid procrastination. Their selectors are professionals, passionate, objective and at times even ruthless. The bowlers who get picked must consistently swing and bowl fast. Their bench strengths boast of fearless and talented batsmen keeping even the stalwarts on their toes. Regardless of their age and aura, their players have to work on their fitness and respect tradition. Australian captains have lead from the front and play an attacking game. Aussies relentlessly strives to win and unlike their opponents do not wait for the opponents to lose it.
There is a dire need to emulate these qualities in Indian cricket. This can happen if the selectors start the cleanout and rebuilding process. Consistently high performing players in domestic tournaments (exclude IPL) should get exclusively picked to play in India ‘A’ and test team. Earlier players came to state teams through University and local tournaments. In recent years the trend has changed. Maybe there is a need to induct a separate Ranji Team for all University players. IPL performers can become part of T20 or one day team matches but the number of IPL matches and limited over’s tournament should get drastically reduced. Players must realise whether junior or senior, retention in the National Team should be an honour that requires constant performance to hold onto, not a right.
Immediately after the ignominious loss at Sydney, BCCI announced their favourite IPL tournament schedule. Like our politicians, nothing changes in Indian cricket. Many years ago, Harsha Bhogle had commented that, “It is always the best administered, rather than the best coached, team that wins matches. Good administrators create systems that allow players to do well.” Not surprising that the worst administered sides hail from the subcontinent. Indian cricket needs a reality check; but the selectors seem to be still snoozing.
There is something intriguing about Australia that makes it triumphant in every sport. Almost every test series, you get to see a new fast bowlers and batsmen who continue the legacy of demolishing visiting teams without any remorse. Australia prides itself on being a sporting nation. Such is the value they put on athletic pursuits that various states squabble over becoming ‘sporting capital of the Australia’. Perhaps it is this competitive and hostile environment that makes them dominate not just in cricket but even in hockey, rugby, swimming, rowing and other sports. No wonder the Australian cricket team celebrates its victories by singing …
“Under the Southern Cross I Stand ,
A sprig of wattle in my hand,
A native of my native land,
Australia you little beauty..” (while singing the word ‘ little’ gets replaced by profanities)
And by now even the despondent Indian team down under must have learnt this song by heart…
Incidentally, there are some similarities between India and Australia. Both these countries are blessed with natural resources and wonderful bio diversity. The traffic keeps left and people act and think ‘right’ - when it comes to democracy. Both these nations have helped England to win the World War. January 26th is an important date for both these nations. Australia celebrates ‘Australia Day’ that commemorates the arrival of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove in 1788 while India celebrates it ‘Republic Day’ to commemorate the date on which the Constitution came into force. Moreover both of them have also been champions in hockey and cricket. There could be many such similarities and yet there are many things - unique and different.
Cricket in the late 70’s - 80’s were dominated by the cavalier and flamboyant West Indies. By early eighties, the Packers Circus ceased to exists and soon the legendary Aussies - Greg Chappell, Lillie, Thompson and Marsh retired. Even Kim Hughes was at the twilight of his career. However the 1986-87 series in India saw the revival of Australian cricket under the leadership of Allan Border who had a daunting task of rebuilding a new team. The world cup win in 1987 at Eden Gardens in Kolkata established the Aussie prowess. Later under Steve Waugh and Ponting’s captaincy, the Aussies continued to remain undisputed champions in all forms of the game for more than a decade.
Since the 90’s every team has strived to excel against Australia. It is not easy to tour down under. The sun is fierce under a southern sky, colours stand bold and the afternoon sun casts deep shadows stretching out to the horizon. Shadows tend to trick the eyes in the harsh Australian sunlight and energy sapping heat...but this is where champions emerged. Such has been their dominance that many teams have crumbled and careers got demolished.
During the 90’s, Indian cricket found itself at the bottom of the pile. It was confounded with match fixing allegations, blatant nepotism, inscrutable power play, and politicians vying for membership within various cricket boards. Amidst this turbulent background, the mantle of captaincy was handed over to the young and brave Sourav Ganguly, who like Border, had a tough task of rebuilding a team that would play with passion and pride.
Ganguly lead from the front and was aptly supported by board president and his team mates in Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman, Kumble, Srinath and Prasad. In 2001, Sehwag, Agarkar, Zaheer and Harbhajan joined this gang and the wheels turned full circle. Tendulkar’s defiant knock in the first test in Mumbai set the stage but it was Laxman and Dravid’s epic partnership of 376 runs in Kolkata that set the ball rolling. This team went on to create history and shattered Steve Waugh’s dream of winning the final frontier. Coincidentally, the Aussie denouement started at the same venue where they had won the World Cup in 1987.
The tour to Australia in 2003- 4 instilled the belief that India can again win matches overseas. But later under Ricky Ponting’s captaincy, Australia regained their pole position and convincingly defeated India in the world cup final in South Africa. However it was in 2007 under Kumble’s captaincy and with his immortal comments on the infamous monkey gate episode at Sydney that made India stamp its authority on world cricket. It took us more than twenty years to level the series in Australia and the manner in which the Indian team played was seen to be believed.
Kumble retired and Dravid became the new leader. Under his captaincy India won the series in West Indies and in England. The search for new captain, lead to the arrival of a certain M.S Dhoni. Dhoni represented the new generation – carefree, flamboyant, stylish, talented, articulate and hard hitting wicket keeper batsman. Under his leadership the team ranked no 1 in all formats of cricket.
Dhoni must have realized that like captaincy, the Midas spell and the rankings do come with a shelf life. Barring the Melbourne test, India could not create nor did they seize any opportunity to bounce back in any tests. It’s been only 10 months since India won the world cup and already we have lost our number one ranking by loosing seven tests on a trot and the chances of loosing in Adelaide looks inevitable. Before every test, expectations grew and like Tendulkar’s 100th international ton collapsed. Even the stock markets appear predictable these days. Despite their several tours, it is indeed disheartening that Tendulkar, Dravid and Laxman would never again be able to win together a test series in Australia. There is feeling of resentment everywhere. The players look disorientated, hapless and their response to media hides any semblance of sanity. Gautam Gambhir whose batting defines grit made startling comments about preparing ‘rank turners’ for visiting teams and making pitches conducive to home team. Undoubtedly these comments are not just ill timed but prevaricates the truth and clearly reflect the frustrations of Indian players. Instead of focusing on preparing pitches that helps our batsmen to play on bouncy track, Indian players want us to think regressively. It’s not just Gambhir but even during Sydney test, Virat Kohli and Ishant Sharma passed similar comments to Warner. Instead of involving in verbal banter, its time some of these young players understand, improve their technique and make their bat and ball do the talking.
Remember Dravid once said,” The media lacks perspective” and everyday they are blatantly sensationalizing purported rift and dissent in team. Such innuendoes not only vitiate the atmosphere, but demoralize the players and create misunderstandings. This could only create fissures and suspicions within the team. Such news bytes make the diagnosis appear simple but the cure impossible. India lost because they never played like true champions. The players have vehemently denied the existence of any dissent and even conflict. If at all there exists any difference then it lies in the way the Indians are playing their cricket.
Come to think of, the fall from grace in cricket is merely symptomatic of a much greater issue and almost every senior player resonates with this notion. Former players are not loosing any opportunity of remonstration and are eagerly washing dirty linen in public.
Ideally with a strong batting line up, there isnt any need for Virat Kohli or even the talented Rohit Sharma to be in the playing eleven or for that matter to get a chance to bat. Ideally they must arrive at the crease when the when the scores read 250 or 300 for 4. But Indian captains have always being defensive with a 7- 4 combinations. Its time Dhoni bats up, making way for a fifth bowler. He just has to take a leaf out of Gilchrist or Sanghakara’s batting.
The struggling Australian batsmen have made our bowlers look pedestrian for their lack of discipline, consistency and ability to take 20 wickets. Our fielders are unfit and lethargic. Barring T-20, Ashwin hasn’t made any impact in other domestic tournaments. It will take a while for him to leave his mark as a bowler in test cricket. Ishant is unable to take wickets and lacks swing. Zaheer is exceptional but like other seniors is equally lethargic on field. Umesh Yadav looks promising but it is ridiculous to expect him to run down the opposition single handedly. Instead of playing in IPL, the young pacers should learn from Zaheer and get some exposure in county cricket.
The only batsman who looked confident and compact is Tendulkar but even his runs couldn’t save us from defeat. Instead of castigating Virat Kohli and Laxman for not performing, we must also evaluate the performances of our opening pair and other senior players. As luck would have it, Kohli’s century in Adelaide symbolizes his arrival in Test arena. Barring the first innings of Perth, there is no doubt that Laxman has faltered and so have the other team members. Laxman’s selection has never been very smooth and when Ganguly made his come back in Nagpur, Laxman had to play at number 6.
Often cricket tends to portray the state of a nation. Before 1989, the Indian economy was governed with socialist philosophy, license Raj and the meagre 3- 4% Hindu rate of growth. With the balance of payment crisis in 1989-91, India under the leadership of P.V. Narsimha Rao along with the then Finance Minister Manmohan Singh took the correct step of liberalization, privatization and globalization. It was the same time when Tendulkar made his debut and with his scintillating performances spread the game across small towns and villages. Since the time Tendulkar made his debut, the results have been staggering- excluding the Adelaide test, India has played 203 tests with 69 wins and 57 defeats.
It’s a strange coincidence that Manmohan Singh who is now our Prime Minister is grappling with sputtering economic growth, rampant corruption, rising inflation, interest rates and fiscal deficit. Strangely even Tendulkar with his impeccable records is facing problems in playing a match winning knock or even scoring his 100th international Ton!
The selection committee that included India’s top batsmen in 90’s deserves due credit. Young Ganguly and Dravid were able to push Vengsarkar, Manjrekar, Amre, and Azhar out of the team despite being good performers. The time has now come to take hard decisions and induct new talent. The young talent may initially fail but under a good experienced captain and coach the Indian team will be able to bounce back quickly. The next overseas tour is in 2014 and therefore for the next couple of years, the senior players should be picked on rotation so as to mentor the youngsters.
Dravid and Tendulkar would be perfect for this role. More than half of India’s population is below 25 years and since their infancy, haven’t seen an Indian team without Tendulkar. For them and even for the remaining older generation, it will be daunting to imagine a team without Tendulkar. And watching a test match without Dravid is as good as conceding the series even before the coin is tossed. If it was not for their stellar performance, India wouldn’t have become a super power in world cricket. Playing in rotation would also help Indian fans to come to terms with reality and subtly help the senior players to have a graceful exit, which they richly deserve.
Its time we learn from the Australians and avoid procrastination. Their selectors are professionals, passionate, objective and at times even ruthless. The bowlers who get picked must consistently swing and bowl fast. Their bench strengths boast of fearless and talented batsmen keeping even the stalwarts on their toes. Regardless of their age and aura, their players have to work on their fitness and respect tradition. Australian captains have lead from the front and play an attacking game. Aussies relentlessly strives to win and unlike their opponents do not wait for the opponents to lose it.
There is a dire need to emulate these qualities in Indian cricket. This can happen if the selectors start the cleanout and rebuilding process. Consistently high performing players in domestic tournaments (exclude IPL) should get exclusively picked to play in India ‘A’ and test team. Earlier players came to state teams through University and local tournaments. In recent years the trend has changed. Maybe there is a need to induct a separate Ranji Team for all University players. IPL performers can become part of T20 or one day team matches but the number of IPL matches and limited over’s tournament should get drastically reduced. Players must realise whether junior or senior, retention in the National Team should be an honour that requires constant performance to hold onto, not a right.
Immediately after the ignominious loss at Sydney, BCCI announced their favourite IPL tournament schedule. Like our politicians, nothing changes in Indian cricket. Many years ago, Harsha Bhogle had commented that, “It is always the best administered, rather than the best coached, team that wins matches. Good administrators create systems that allow players to do well.” Not surprising that the worst administered sides hail from the subcontinent. Indian cricket needs a reality check; but the selectors seem to be still snoozing.
Monday, December 26, 2011
St John's High School - Class of 1986 - The Joy of Reunion !...
There was a sudden spring and bounce in our feet as we rushed through those never ending stairs that promised to lead us back into past. Going past a small hallway surrounded by the food counters at Grand Blossoms hall in Mumbai, we entered a large hall exclusively reserved for the occasion. Suddenly the eyes glazed over and the mind went into perma frost. Little did we realize that we would be creating history and we did, by being part of the St John’s High School, The Class of 1986 Reunion.
The hall had good illumination and was elegantly decorated. The photographs of four houses were prominently displayed on either side of the wall. The red and white coloured balloons with printed name of our School and our batch year looked alluring. A small stage was built in the center and next to it was a large masked screen. The banners located strategically at the gates and hanging over the stage looked beautiful. On the left side of the stage was a long table that displayed the various gifts and flower bouquets while on the other side, the DJ with his consol was already in his rhythm.
The atmosphere was abuzz with communication. The lip smacking starters accompanied with mocktails were served non stop. The dinner counter had delectable food with a live pasta counter and seasonal desserts.
It’s been 25 long years since we had left our school. The threads of discussion to have a reunion started on school Google group created by Alwyn and later it got cascaded to various chat sites online. Thanks to Alwyn who came up with the idea of having a school reunion to celebrate this occasion. The ubiquity of social media helped to reconstitute a faithful remnant of organizing team and we were under way.
With Samir, Adeline, Amit, Suresh, Renuka, Mamta and Sunil Nair, we had a formidable team that met religiously, sacrificing their weekends, often sneaking from office to meet and plan the entire event. The organizing team also garnered help from Madhavi Patel, Rajeev Madhavan, Vinod Halkarni, Ganesh Pandit, Vinod Kamath, Santosh Shetty, Shilpa Bhise, Sajid Sheikh and Naresh who blossomed in the end (The pun unintended – the Natural Flower! – Contact Sunil Nair for more details)
The first debates were about the dates and the venue, given that our school is now altogether a different institute managed by different organisation. But the deciding factor in organizing a event of this magnitude were the budgets and most importantly the attendance. Thankfully the response generated by NRI buddies comprising of Asma, Alwyn, Rajesh, Prasad, Sathya, Sajeev and Atul just to name a few spurred all of us into action and we were able to freeze the date.
If it wasn’t for Amit Mehrotra who allowed us to meet at his Arihant Classes, we would have struggled to plan the event peacefully. Samir Mullaji helped us with a beautiful venue.
The most difficult part of reunion was to establish contacts with long lost friends. With many changing their residence and girls happily married with new names, it was one of the onerous tasks to trace everyone. Then are those who have their email i.d.’s but rarely access mails… and there are many who do not still return phone calls….or even SMS. The other challenge was tracing Teachers and staff.
Well thanks to our batchmates like Suresh Balan, Madhavi Patel, Vinod Halkarni, Adeline Pires, Renuka Acharya, and few others….who painstakingly managed to contact some of our long lost friends and boy weren’t we glad to see many of them at the reunion.
The other challenge we encountered was pertaining to collection. Despite the rising interest rates, inflation and salary increments becoming an illusion, we were delighted to receive contribution from many. A magnanimous contribution from Samir Shah helped us a lot. Thank you so much Samir….
There is something intriguing about school unions. It makes some people get so excited that they jump on a plane, fly across the continents, and in case of Sathya even changed three flights only to be here whilst at the same time there are people who live within walking distance and still wouldn’t come if you paid them!
For some of us it is a look to the past and regression into all the feelings of childhood. For others it is a look into the future and a realization that the light at the end of the tunnel is actually the oncoming train of Mid Life Crisis bearing down upon them. If at all you had any of those feelings on the night of reunion, don’t worry, you were not alone.
One cannot rule out the possibility of experiencing some feelings of trepidation or otherwise while attending a reunion. Meeting an old buddy, or to come across those that have done well in life, or even coming across that classmate who must tried to bully you in class or seeing that the teacher or the girl whom you had first crush on and who isn't quite as you remembered can sometimes be very unnerving.
There were few who desperately tried their best to attend, but due to some last minute exigencies had to miss it. Whilst the attendance was noteworthy, we also missed several batchmates whom we are yet to trace.
Thanks to Rajesh Mishra and his Google hangouts, we managed to rope in the baldies - Alwyn, Sajeev, Atul & Swaroop. Kamlesh & Paul also joined the hangout. We did miss them and their patience was indeed admirable. Seating patiently glued to a computer and watching the past re-appear in various forms can be an exhilarating experience. It was nice to hear Swaroop’s voice after 25 years on my mobile.
After a brief introduction of the agenda by Nishant, it was time to get nostalgic. The film “Back to School” brought back memories and captured few textures of school life. It had music that lifted the mood, and was accompanied with a short commentary from Nishant and his office colleague Ekta. The film cleverly portrayed life at school and paid tribute to teachers. In short, the film was almost like a dot on the exclamation mark.
Suresh and Naresh managed to meet Dr (Mrs.) Mabel Aranha, our School Principal. Even at the age of 77, Mrs. Aranha was punctual and eagerly waiting for both of them. It was indeed overwhelming and ecstatic to talk with Mrs. Aranha over the phone. Mrs. Aranha instantly agreed for the video recording but slightly hesitated for she wasn’t dressed for the occasion. Somehow Suresh convinced her and using mobile phones, they successfully recorded her speech which was later incorporated in the film.
Mrs. Aranha in her speech thanked Suresh and Naresh for inviting her for the reunion event. She also mentioned that our school emphasized personality development and not just intellectual development of students. She graciously thanked all teachers and staff and gave her blessings to all students.
A two minute silence was observed to pay tribute to some of our deceased teachers, friends and family members of everyone assembled.
Mamta Jain’s welcome speech was indeed splendid just like her long dangling earrings …with her sonorous voice, coupled with few anecdotes and immaculate oration she managed to thrill the crowd.
Sometimes age brings a certain realization and reunion presents a perfect opportunity for confession and acknowledgment that people CAN and sometimes DO change. Perhaps even take a shot at REDEMPTION!…
Through his extempore, Sudhir Hegde induced humour which is characteristic of him but also confessed to few things. I don’t know whether he was taking a shot at redemption or just playing to the gallery since he called me to edit his speech in the video. There is no way that his speech will get edited. His speech took everyone with surprise and few of them were even shocked. During his speech, the teachers appeared to be in a state of bewilderment.
As kids many of us must have been involved in playing pranks and have occasionally misbehaved. To my mind, Sudhir’s speech was one of the best and honest speeches, I have heard in a long time. At least there was someone trying to live our school's core values - ‘Brave and Truth’. During his rendition, I was impressed to observe Sudhir’s confidence and courage, and even learnt lessons in public speaking.
It was great to meet everyone from different classes. Many of us were meeting for the first time in 25 years. It was nice to see Asma, Prasad flying from Singapore and Rajesh, Sathya arriving from US. While Bharti arrived from Delhi, Vanashree Sathe and Anand Poudwal drove down from Pune. Aftab Alam came with his family from Goa and there may be many others who travelled from distant places for this reunion.
We did miss the tedious predictable sequence of student speeches filled with nostalgia and new experiences common during most reunions. However the main highlight of the event was the felicitation ceremony followed with some evocative speeches by Teachers.
Naresh Singh in his speech profoundly thanked all teachers, for they are the ones who selflessly shaped our life, inculcated values and made us into fine citizens.
As a token of our gratitude, admiration and respect, all the assembled teachers were felicitated with a memento and bouquet. The teacher’s speeches were evocative and inspiring. Mrs. Pinto, Mrs. Mahima Karekar and Mr. Nair Sir waxed eloquent on the charms of school life, the importance of values and learning. They shared their unique experiences and were visibly happy to be part of this momentous occasion.
Mrs. Nagarkar’s speech in Marathi was redolent of her craft lessons and those bright afternoons in primarary school. Speaking with passion, her speech moved the entire audience. It was also nice to see the other teachers Mr. Acharya, Mrs. Arora, Mrs. Sethi, Mrs. Vijaya Menon and Mrs. Devi Manohari at the reunion and all of them spoke with equaly aplomb. Along with the teachers our staff members Kishore, Jayaprakash, Joshi and Ganpat were equally delighted to be part of this event.
The evening was wonderful with good music, some novel games where we also had teachers participating with the same enthusiasm. It was marvellous to see everyone participating in the team games and cheering their respective divisions. The team games added variety. The C division won the finals while the A division managed to scrape past the B division in the final round. History seemed to have got repeated when in the final GK round the three contenders Ganesh Pandit – C division, Asma Siddiqui – B division and Prasad Menon – A division - were fighting tooth and nail.
Despite thinning at the top or widenining down low, everyone looked stunningly gorgeous and handsome. And it’s always a good sight to see such figures and shapes dancing with abandon to the music of Kolavari. Finally don’t they say life begins at 40?
A quick vote of thanks proposed by Nishant and Amit was followed with group photos. This is where we missed our friends who were glued virtually. After dinner we had Rajesh Mishra along with Samir Shah urging everyone to share their experiences and even made our friends from virtual world interact with the real world.
Like an old autograph book, the memory book kept circulating around, urging everyone to record their sentiments and contact details. A beautiful ‘Cup of Joy’ with the school emblem and a small ‘Key Chain’ to lock Happiness and Memories were diligently presented as return gifts to everyone.
Towards the end, The Class of 86 Reunion provided us with PERSPECTIVE about ourselves and others, and the opportunity of RE-CONNECTION. As life progresses the amount of people who have KNOWN you for a LONG time or have known you at KEY MOMENTS of your life is obviously less. That makes reunions valuable, perhaps in ways we haven’t yet realized. There were lots of laughs, and it is important that we value and cherish- what we all shared and the possibilities of this occasion.
The 25th Reunion celebration helped us to rejoice, relive and reminisce those wonderful times we spent at St John’s High School, Goregaon― a time when we were together almost every day ― played together, studied together, danced together ― went through puberty together ― when we formed many of the values we now hold dear, and many of the most intimate, precious and lasting friendships of our lives.
Although I am an eternal optimist, I doubt if we would be able to organize a reunion again… of such magnitude …and I pray and hope to be proved wrong. Perhaps we could think of having another bigger reunion five years from now. But for that to happen, many smaller meetings must frequently take place.
Until then, Class of ’86, lets all stay connected, trace our lost friends and plan to meet up again but hopefully in a little less that 25 years. Remember we were blessed to meet each other on Friday the night of 23rd Dec 2011...
Hoped everyone had a great night!
The hall had good illumination and was elegantly decorated. The photographs of four houses were prominently displayed on either side of the wall. The red and white coloured balloons with printed name of our School and our batch year looked alluring. A small stage was built in the center and next to it was a large masked screen. The banners located strategically at the gates and hanging over the stage looked beautiful. On the left side of the stage was a long table that displayed the various gifts and flower bouquets while on the other side, the DJ with his consol was already in his rhythm.
The atmosphere was abuzz with communication. The lip smacking starters accompanied with mocktails were served non stop. The dinner counter had delectable food with a live pasta counter and seasonal desserts.
It’s been 25 long years since we had left our school. The threads of discussion to have a reunion started on school Google group created by Alwyn and later it got cascaded to various chat sites online. Thanks to Alwyn who came up with the idea of having a school reunion to celebrate this occasion. The ubiquity of social media helped to reconstitute a faithful remnant of organizing team and we were under way.
With Samir, Adeline, Amit, Suresh, Renuka, Mamta and Sunil Nair, we had a formidable team that met religiously, sacrificing their weekends, often sneaking from office to meet and plan the entire event. The organizing team also garnered help from Madhavi Patel, Rajeev Madhavan, Vinod Halkarni, Ganesh Pandit, Vinod Kamath, Santosh Shetty, Shilpa Bhise, Sajid Sheikh and Naresh who blossomed in the end (The pun unintended – the Natural Flower! – Contact Sunil Nair for more details)
The first debates were about the dates and the venue, given that our school is now altogether a different institute managed by different organisation. But the deciding factor in organizing a event of this magnitude were the budgets and most importantly the attendance. Thankfully the response generated by NRI buddies comprising of Asma, Alwyn, Rajesh, Prasad, Sathya, Sajeev and Atul just to name a few spurred all of us into action and we were able to freeze the date.
If it wasn’t for Amit Mehrotra who allowed us to meet at his Arihant Classes, we would have struggled to plan the event peacefully. Samir Mullaji helped us with a beautiful venue.
The most difficult part of reunion was to establish contacts with long lost friends. With many changing their residence and girls happily married with new names, it was one of the onerous tasks to trace everyone. Then are those who have their email i.d.’s but rarely access mails… and there are many who do not still return phone calls….or even SMS. The other challenge was tracing Teachers and staff.
Well thanks to our batchmates like Suresh Balan, Madhavi Patel, Vinod Halkarni, Adeline Pires, Renuka Acharya, and few others….who painstakingly managed to contact some of our long lost friends and boy weren’t we glad to see many of them at the reunion.
The other challenge we encountered was pertaining to collection. Despite the rising interest rates, inflation and salary increments becoming an illusion, we were delighted to receive contribution from many. A magnanimous contribution from Samir Shah helped us a lot. Thank you so much Samir….
There is something intriguing about school unions. It makes some people get so excited that they jump on a plane, fly across the continents, and in case of Sathya even changed three flights only to be here whilst at the same time there are people who live within walking distance and still wouldn’t come if you paid them!
For some of us it is a look to the past and regression into all the feelings of childhood. For others it is a look into the future and a realization that the light at the end of the tunnel is actually the oncoming train of Mid Life Crisis bearing down upon them. If at all you had any of those feelings on the night of reunion, don’t worry, you were not alone.
One cannot rule out the possibility of experiencing some feelings of trepidation or otherwise while attending a reunion. Meeting an old buddy, or to come across those that have done well in life, or even coming across that classmate who must tried to bully you in class or seeing that the teacher or the girl whom you had first crush on and who isn't quite as you remembered can sometimes be very unnerving.
There were few who desperately tried their best to attend, but due to some last minute exigencies had to miss it. Whilst the attendance was noteworthy, we also missed several batchmates whom we are yet to trace.
Thanks to Rajesh Mishra and his Google hangouts, we managed to rope in the baldies - Alwyn, Sajeev, Atul & Swaroop. Kamlesh & Paul also joined the hangout. We did miss them and their patience was indeed admirable. Seating patiently glued to a computer and watching the past re-appear in various forms can be an exhilarating experience. It was nice to hear Swaroop’s voice after 25 years on my mobile.
After a brief introduction of the agenda by Nishant, it was time to get nostalgic. The film “Back to School” brought back memories and captured few textures of school life. It had music that lifted the mood, and was accompanied with a short commentary from Nishant and his office colleague Ekta. The film cleverly portrayed life at school and paid tribute to teachers. In short, the film was almost like a dot on the exclamation mark.
Suresh and Naresh managed to meet Dr (Mrs.) Mabel Aranha, our School Principal. Even at the age of 77, Mrs. Aranha was punctual and eagerly waiting for both of them. It was indeed overwhelming and ecstatic to talk with Mrs. Aranha over the phone. Mrs. Aranha instantly agreed for the video recording but slightly hesitated for she wasn’t dressed for the occasion. Somehow Suresh convinced her and using mobile phones, they successfully recorded her speech which was later incorporated in the film.
Mrs. Aranha in her speech thanked Suresh and Naresh for inviting her for the reunion event. She also mentioned that our school emphasized personality development and not just intellectual development of students. She graciously thanked all teachers and staff and gave her blessings to all students.
A two minute silence was observed to pay tribute to some of our deceased teachers, friends and family members of everyone assembled.
Mamta Jain’s welcome speech was indeed splendid just like her long dangling earrings …with her sonorous voice, coupled with few anecdotes and immaculate oration she managed to thrill the crowd.
Sometimes age brings a certain realization and reunion presents a perfect opportunity for confession and acknowledgment that people CAN and sometimes DO change. Perhaps even take a shot at REDEMPTION!…
Through his extempore, Sudhir Hegde induced humour which is characteristic of him but also confessed to few things. I don’t know whether he was taking a shot at redemption or just playing to the gallery since he called me to edit his speech in the video. There is no way that his speech will get edited. His speech took everyone with surprise and few of them were even shocked. During his speech, the teachers appeared to be in a state of bewilderment.
As kids many of us must have been involved in playing pranks and have occasionally misbehaved. To my mind, Sudhir’s speech was one of the best and honest speeches, I have heard in a long time. At least there was someone trying to live our school's core values - ‘Brave and Truth’. During his rendition, I was impressed to observe Sudhir’s confidence and courage, and even learnt lessons in public speaking.
It was great to meet everyone from different classes. Many of us were meeting for the first time in 25 years. It was nice to see Asma, Prasad flying from Singapore and Rajesh, Sathya arriving from US. While Bharti arrived from Delhi, Vanashree Sathe and Anand Poudwal drove down from Pune. Aftab Alam came with his family from Goa and there may be many others who travelled from distant places for this reunion.
We did miss the tedious predictable sequence of student speeches filled with nostalgia and new experiences common during most reunions. However the main highlight of the event was the felicitation ceremony followed with some evocative speeches by Teachers.
Naresh Singh in his speech profoundly thanked all teachers, for they are the ones who selflessly shaped our life, inculcated values and made us into fine citizens.
As a token of our gratitude, admiration and respect, all the assembled teachers were felicitated with a memento and bouquet. The teacher’s speeches were evocative and inspiring. Mrs. Pinto, Mrs. Mahima Karekar and Mr. Nair Sir waxed eloquent on the charms of school life, the importance of values and learning. They shared their unique experiences and were visibly happy to be part of this momentous occasion.
Mrs. Nagarkar’s speech in Marathi was redolent of her craft lessons and those bright afternoons in primarary school. Speaking with passion, her speech moved the entire audience. It was also nice to see the other teachers Mr. Acharya, Mrs. Arora, Mrs. Sethi, Mrs. Vijaya Menon and Mrs. Devi Manohari at the reunion and all of them spoke with equaly aplomb. Along with the teachers our staff members Kishore, Jayaprakash, Joshi and Ganpat were equally delighted to be part of this event.
The evening was wonderful with good music, some novel games where we also had teachers participating with the same enthusiasm. It was marvellous to see everyone participating in the team games and cheering their respective divisions. The team games added variety. The C division won the finals while the A division managed to scrape past the B division in the final round. History seemed to have got repeated when in the final GK round the three contenders Ganesh Pandit – C division, Asma Siddiqui – B division and Prasad Menon – A division - were fighting tooth and nail.
Despite thinning at the top or widenining down low, everyone looked stunningly gorgeous and handsome. And it’s always a good sight to see such figures and shapes dancing with abandon to the music of Kolavari. Finally don’t they say life begins at 40?
A quick vote of thanks proposed by Nishant and Amit was followed with group photos. This is where we missed our friends who were glued virtually. After dinner we had Rajesh Mishra along with Samir Shah urging everyone to share their experiences and even made our friends from virtual world interact with the real world.
Like an old autograph book, the memory book kept circulating around, urging everyone to record their sentiments and contact details. A beautiful ‘Cup of Joy’ with the school emblem and a small ‘Key Chain’ to lock Happiness and Memories were diligently presented as return gifts to everyone.
Towards the end, The Class of 86 Reunion provided us with PERSPECTIVE about ourselves and others, and the opportunity of RE-CONNECTION. As life progresses the amount of people who have KNOWN you for a LONG time or have known you at KEY MOMENTS of your life is obviously less. That makes reunions valuable, perhaps in ways we haven’t yet realized. There were lots of laughs, and it is important that we value and cherish- what we all shared and the possibilities of this occasion.
The 25th Reunion celebration helped us to rejoice, relive and reminisce those wonderful times we spent at St John’s High School, Goregaon― a time when we were together almost every day ― played together, studied together, danced together ― went through puberty together ― when we formed many of the values we now hold dear, and many of the most intimate, precious and lasting friendships of our lives.
Although I am an eternal optimist, I doubt if we would be able to organize a reunion again… of such magnitude …and I pray and hope to be proved wrong. Perhaps we could think of having another bigger reunion five years from now. But for that to happen, many smaller meetings must frequently take place.
Until then, Class of ’86, lets all stay connected, trace our lost friends and plan to meet up again but hopefully in a little less that 25 years. Remember we were blessed to meet each other on Friday the night of 23rd Dec 2011...
Hoped everyone had a great night!
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Kiss the Frog – To Zinda Ho Tum!...
You have probably heard this story of a frog being kissed by a princess. There is another story of a young man who also heard a frog calling out, “Please kiss me, I’ll become a beautiful princess and be yours for a day.” He quickly picked it up and put it in his backpack. The poor frog pleaded for a kiss and kept increasing the reward from a day to a week to month to a year, but to no avail. Finally when the young man did not react to an offer of a lifetime of companionship, the frog finally asked as to why it was not being kissed. The young man casually walked on and said “Look I am an engineer … a talking frog is really cool as far as I am concerned.”
‘Kissing the Frog’ to get the handsome prince is a metaphor for all the intimidating opportunities in your life that you would rather avoid than explore. It also implies moving out of your comfort zone.
Undoubtedly, engineering college was one place that made me feel alive, excited and helped shape my character. The auspicious occasion of Indian engineering day is perhaps the perfect time to reminisce some of the student experience.
The initial days at engineering college is like entering a rabbit hole where a different world begins to unfold. You come across some wonderful people and make new friends from various parts who are brilliant, ambitious, opinionated, arrogant and as years go by, they become humble. The stimulating discussions quickly end in debates that generate diverse perspectives. Opinions are constantly challenged and an eternal quest to find scientific, logical, analytical answers for everything including your own existence begins. Students from urban area blame their circumstances, while students from rural areas create circumstances, seize opportunities and even motivate you to study using lanterns.
Life in engineering college is full of surprise. Every week there is a new time table but things rarely happen as per the plans. The lecturer has already started the fourth chapter even before you have understood the earlier chapters. Even before you soak in the new environment, it’s time for submission of term work. Like a chameleon, your grades also change every semester. The professors and staff, who welcomed you with a broad smile, will smile during the valediction ceremony. Each moment reminds you of the immortal quote from ‘Alice in Wonderland’, “Reeling and writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the different branches of arithmetic -- Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.”
By the end of the first year, many students are in a state of shock. The academic probation (read ATKT) induces a change in personality. Extroverts become introverts and introverts are on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. Although ATKT provides some respite, students start refraining from attending family functions and marriages. Well Shit Happens! However, failure instills discipline, dedication and determination so as to savour the joy of success. You become resilient and realize that both engineering and life are governed by a sinusoidal curve.
The workshops are an interesting place where you develop skills in filing, carpentry, welding and learn accuracy and precision. You get to experience the hardships encountered by workers in the factories and start respecting dignity of labour. Engineering inadvertently helps to conquer your inhibitions and subtly reminds to continuously improve your own performance. Make many friends Kyunki Har Ek Dost Zaruri Hota Hai. You need their support, guidance and certainly as proxy. The group exercises make you realize that success largely depends on effective collaboration.
The standard books were always out of stock and therefore some of us had to borrow books authored by unknown authors. The atmosphere was so competitive that some of the toppers in the class would ridicule you for referring to unknown books. Some of these unknown books featured wealth of information, replete with beautiful illustrations and incisive research. Instead of generating curiosity, encouraging critical approbation of different books and research papers, the faculty promoted education based on rote. These unknown books do cultivate varied reading habit.
Some of us were overawed with designing various girders, bridges and cantilevers, while the chemical engineering students struggled with Stoichiometry equations and the coulometer measuring various constants – Avogadro, Rydeberg, and Planck. Students from electronics engineering grappled with AM/ FM signals, microprocessors 8080/8085 despite the advent of Pentium. Having friends from different engineering disciplines subtly increases your awareness about other subjects which can be useful while working on multi-discipline projects and especially in today’s knowledge economy.
The word “engineering” is derived from the Latin word “ingeniare” means “to design” or “to create”. Typically final year students prefer to work on conventional projects, but it is extremely critical to work on some innovative projects. There is nothing great in constructing 10,000 litres water tanks made from concrete, but designing and constructing water tanks made from Ferrocement still makes me proud. (Ferrocement structures are composite structures designed and built without using bricks or concrete). By working on innovative projects, you start believing in what seems impossible.
There was one group exercise that I can never forget. The class was divided in groups of six and we had to conduct a topographical survey. The six of us headed out with survey instrument, levelling rod, measuring tape, chain, pegs and hammer etc to the nearby field. One of my good friend and I were in the same group, so we decided to skip and join the group later. The Indian team was playing against England, we decided to stay back and watch the match. After some time we rushed back to the field. By the time we joined the group, the survey was almost done. Based on the survey findings the group members plotted the readings on a sheet and both of us blatantly copied it. In two weeks time, a viva voce was scheduled and students were interviewed in pair. As luck would have it, my friend and I were paired together. The professor asked us questions on surveying, levelling, contouring etc. Both of us replied correctly with immense confidence. The professor then pointed to the drawing sheet and asked us to identify the points from where we took the fore and back bearings of each survey lines and how did we go about it? We were so impressed with our earlier replies that without even looking at each other, immediately our fingers indicated different points on the opposite ends of the sheet. The professor raised his eyebrow and reprimanded us with another grueling assignment. Our answers had generated a hearty laugh but it also brought to fore that engineering and life - its all about execution.
Hostel life teaches you lessons in trust, managing finance, cooking, washing and survival. You find solace in various form of music; emote with ghazzals and bollywood songs. You draw inspiration from the philosophies of Ayn Rand, Bertrand Russell, Aldous Huxley and rock on with Jim Morrison and Led Zeppelin. Some intelligent students even make notes about their deft moves at bridge tournament. Participation in sports, tech-fest, and various activities provide with enriching experience in event and even project management. All these extra-curricular activities play a vital role in developing your personality.
If you are studying engineering in some village, you also get to witness social entrepreneurship. With engineering college in the village, a gradual change begins and soon the village metamorphosis into a modern town. Local villagers offer their homes on rent, women provide lunch tiffins to students, canteens transform into restaurants, grocery stores supply stationeries, STD booth owners install photocopier machines and lab assistants start part- time computer training centers. Literacy rates begin to improve, villagers get employed in college, and the urban students reverse migration makes few people entrepreneurs.
While the quality of the staff and education could be debatable but in years to come there seems to be some semblance of improvement at these institutes. Regardless of the facilities, faculty and quality of education, contrary to the engineer above, engineering students wherever they study, invariably learn to kiss the metaphorical frog or any anthropomorphic creatures and go on to do well in life. Perhaps these inspiring words, from Imran (movie Zindagi Na Mile Doobara), convey how engineers live their Life to the fullest…
“Dilon mein tum apni betaabiyan leke chal rahe ho, toh zinda ho tum,
Nazar mein khwaabon ki bijliyan leke chal rahe ho, toh zinda ho tum“
Happy Indian Engineering Day!
‘Kissing the Frog’ to get the handsome prince is a metaphor for all the intimidating opportunities in your life that you would rather avoid than explore. It also implies moving out of your comfort zone.
Undoubtedly, engineering college was one place that made me feel alive, excited and helped shape my character. The auspicious occasion of Indian engineering day is perhaps the perfect time to reminisce some of the student experience.
The initial days at engineering college is like entering a rabbit hole where a different world begins to unfold. You come across some wonderful people and make new friends from various parts who are brilliant, ambitious, opinionated, arrogant and as years go by, they become humble. The stimulating discussions quickly end in debates that generate diverse perspectives. Opinions are constantly challenged and an eternal quest to find scientific, logical, analytical answers for everything including your own existence begins. Students from urban area blame their circumstances, while students from rural areas create circumstances, seize opportunities and even motivate you to study using lanterns.
Life in engineering college is full of surprise. Every week there is a new time table but things rarely happen as per the plans. The lecturer has already started the fourth chapter even before you have understood the earlier chapters. Even before you soak in the new environment, it’s time for submission of term work. Like a chameleon, your grades also change every semester. The professors and staff, who welcomed you with a broad smile, will smile during the valediction ceremony. Each moment reminds you of the immortal quote from ‘Alice in Wonderland’, “Reeling and writhing, of course, to begin with, and then the different branches of arithmetic -- Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision.”
By the end of the first year, many students are in a state of shock. The academic probation (read ATKT) induces a change in personality. Extroverts become introverts and introverts are on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. Although ATKT provides some respite, students start refraining from attending family functions and marriages. Well Shit Happens! However, failure instills discipline, dedication and determination so as to savour the joy of success. You become resilient and realize that both engineering and life are governed by a sinusoidal curve.
The workshops are an interesting place where you develop skills in filing, carpentry, welding and learn accuracy and precision. You get to experience the hardships encountered by workers in the factories and start respecting dignity of labour. Engineering inadvertently helps to conquer your inhibitions and subtly reminds to continuously improve your own performance. Make many friends Kyunki Har Ek Dost Zaruri Hota Hai. You need their support, guidance and certainly as proxy. The group exercises make you realize that success largely depends on effective collaboration.
The standard books were always out of stock and therefore some of us had to borrow books authored by unknown authors. The atmosphere was so competitive that some of the toppers in the class would ridicule you for referring to unknown books. Some of these unknown books featured wealth of information, replete with beautiful illustrations and incisive research. Instead of generating curiosity, encouraging critical approbation of different books and research papers, the faculty promoted education based on rote. These unknown books do cultivate varied reading habit.
Some of us were overawed with designing various girders, bridges and cantilevers, while the chemical engineering students struggled with Stoichiometry equations and the coulometer measuring various constants – Avogadro, Rydeberg, and Planck. Students from electronics engineering grappled with AM/ FM signals, microprocessors 8080/8085 despite the advent of Pentium. Having friends from different engineering disciplines subtly increases your awareness about other subjects which can be useful while working on multi-discipline projects and especially in today’s knowledge economy.
The word “engineering” is derived from the Latin word “ingeniare” means “to design” or “to create”. Typically final year students prefer to work on conventional projects, but it is extremely critical to work on some innovative projects. There is nothing great in constructing 10,000 litres water tanks made from concrete, but designing and constructing water tanks made from Ferrocement still makes me proud. (Ferrocement structures are composite structures designed and built without using bricks or concrete). By working on innovative projects, you start believing in what seems impossible.
There was one group exercise that I can never forget. The class was divided in groups of six and we had to conduct a topographical survey. The six of us headed out with survey instrument, levelling rod, measuring tape, chain, pegs and hammer etc to the nearby field. One of my good friend and I were in the same group, so we decided to skip and join the group later. The Indian team was playing against England, we decided to stay back and watch the match. After some time we rushed back to the field. By the time we joined the group, the survey was almost done. Based on the survey findings the group members plotted the readings on a sheet and both of us blatantly copied it. In two weeks time, a viva voce was scheduled and students were interviewed in pair. As luck would have it, my friend and I were paired together. The professor asked us questions on surveying, levelling, contouring etc. Both of us replied correctly with immense confidence. The professor then pointed to the drawing sheet and asked us to identify the points from where we took the fore and back bearings of each survey lines and how did we go about it? We were so impressed with our earlier replies that without even looking at each other, immediately our fingers indicated different points on the opposite ends of the sheet. The professor raised his eyebrow and reprimanded us with another grueling assignment. Our answers had generated a hearty laugh but it also brought to fore that engineering and life - its all about execution.
Hostel life teaches you lessons in trust, managing finance, cooking, washing and survival. You find solace in various form of music; emote with ghazzals and bollywood songs. You draw inspiration from the philosophies of Ayn Rand, Bertrand Russell, Aldous Huxley and rock on with Jim Morrison and Led Zeppelin. Some intelligent students even make notes about their deft moves at bridge tournament. Participation in sports, tech-fest, and various activities provide with enriching experience in event and even project management. All these extra-curricular activities play a vital role in developing your personality.
If you are studying engineering in some village, you also get to witness social entrepreneurship. With engineering college in the village, a gradual change begins and soon the village metamorphosis into a modern town. Local villagers offer their homes on rent, women provide lunch tiffins to students, canteens transform into restaurants, grocery stores supply stationeries, STD booth owners install photocopier machines and lab assistants start part- time computer training centers. Literacy rates begin to improve, villagers get employed in college, and the urban students reverse migration makes few people entrepreneurs.
While the quality of the staff and education could be debatable but in years to come there seems to be some semblance of improvement at these institutes. Regardless of the facilities, faculty and quality of education, contrary to the engineer above, engineering students wherever they study, invariably learn to kiss the metaphorical frog or any anthropomorphic creatures and go on to do well in life. Perhaps these inspiring words, from Imran (movie Zindagi Na Mile Doobara), convey how engineers live their Life to the fullest…
“Dilon mein tum apni betaabiyan leke chal rahe ho, toh zinda ho tum,
Nazar mein khwaabon ki bijliyan leke chal rahe ho, toh zinda ho tum“
Happy Indian Engineering Day!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
The Debt Trap !....
In a gruesome competitive and capitalist, world, along with top grades one also needs to be a consistent high performer. Apparently, the quest for higher grades, spectacular economic performance and higher credit ratings are also sought by all countries. No wonder when the grades and ratings falls, it creates furore, even panic and all of this was evident last week!
There is a famous aphorism “When the US sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold”. With Standard & Poor downgrading the United States government's credit rating from AAA to AA+, the aphorism has again got triggered sending shock-wave and creating panic across the globe. The decision is based on political situation and therefore the S & P downgrade may appear symbolic but the ratings do not belie severe financial implications to the US economy.
Let me try and list down how this credit rating impacts US and the global economy.
The U.S. debt over $14.3 trillion is the largest in the world and is the sum of all outstanding debt owed by the Federal Government. Nearly two-thirds is the public debt, which is owed to the people, businesses and foreign governments who bought Treasury bills, notes and bonds. The rest is owed by the government and held as Government Account securities. Most of this is owed to Social Security and other trust funds, which were running surpluses. For many decades, the US government had a great credit rating (AAA), making it easier to raise money from other countries at very low interest rates. The US borrowed blatantly that it finally hit the debt ceiling. The debt ceiling is a self imposed limit for US Government borrowing. The Government recently decided to increase the debt ceiling but that implied its credit worthiness and weakening of US economy. As soon as the debt ceiling was increased, the S&P downgraded the US long-term debt to AA+.
So what made this debt large?
Government debt is an accumulation of budget deficits. Year after year, the government continued to cut taxes and increase spending. There is still no consensus among Congress as the Republicans are not ready to increase tax cuts and Democrats are still harping on sponsoring welfare measures. One of the reasons for increase in debt is due to the Social Security Trust Fund. Instead of investing revenue from Social Security Trust Fund, which was collected through payroll taxes leveraged on Baby Boomers, the Fund was loaned to Government to finance the increasing deficit spending. This interest-free loan kept Treasury Bond interest rates low and allowed more debt financing.
The other reason for increase in debt is due to Treasury Bonds. The US and China are two sides of a same economy. US have outsourced its production and manufacturing to low cost China and later spends its dollars to buy the produced goods. So, foreign countries like China ($1.1 trillion) and Japan ($ 900 billion) kept on increasing their holdings of Treasury Bonds as a safe haven, at low interest rates and thereby managed to keep their currencies low relative to the dollar.
The debt also increased due to other factors. The two wars dipped heavily into Government surplus. To add to that, in 2008 the real estate bubble followed with subsequent sub-prime mortgage crisis brought down several large banking and financial organisations. In order to bail out the failing financial institutions from becoming bankrupt, the US Government had to dole out huge amount of money. Because of this people stopped spending and that led to economic recession and job losses. With rising unemployment, government found difficult to raise money from taxes and so they reduced tax cuts. It would have also been expensive for US to borrow trillions of dollars from other countries to offer as stimulus packages to failing companies and therefore US decided to print money.
In hindsight the doling of money, coupled with restrictions on immigration appears to have been a temporary respite since it failed to promote industrial growth, attract entrepreneurs, create more jobs and generate income for government. The government also ignored austerity measures to reduce government spending and all these led to widening of the fiscal deficit.
How U.S. Debt Affects the Economy
The US government debt is a benchmark for global financial markets. For the past few months, the US economy has been under severe stress and the GDP growth appears stunted. There is a slow down in industrial production, decline in employment rates and warning signs of so called double –dip recession. A credit rating downgrade will definitely impact the world. Investors will demand a higher return for holding US government debt. This would mean increase in interest rates, increase in asset prices which in turn would diminish demand for US Treasuries, putting downward pressure on the dollar and thus slowing the economy.
By the time Baby Boomers retire, the Social Security funds have to be repaid. Since this money has been already spent, resources have to be identified to repay this loan. That would mean higher taxes.
As an outcome of all these developments, the demand for gold which is seen as safe haven has increased manifold. Clearly the U.S. economy is caught in a debt-trap. Globally there will be clamour for an alternative global reserve currency, but the dollar will continue to hold sway for want of a real contender. Meanwhile U.S. will have to set in structural reforms, increase taxes and control fiscal deficit as a corrective measure. Recovery would be a long-drawn and painful process.
The downgrading is certainly not good for Indian exports with falling dollar. Even imports would be impacted. Companies with higher exposure to developed economies will be more vulnerable and Capex plans will be prolonged.
However as far the Indian economy is concerned, the downgrade would have only temporary impact on the nation's domestic consumption-based and service-led economy. The RBI has acknowledged ample liquidity and market hygiene in India. Baring gold and silver, a slower global economy could reduce commodity and oil prices which may bring down India’s inflation. There could be a possibility of higher inflows of foreign institutional investor (FII) funds which will lead to appreciation of the rupee, and in turn bring down the current account deficit.
But lets not get complacent since we are equally confounded with our own demons of corruption, terrorism, inflation, interest rates and falling industrial production. In weeks to come, the effects of the US crisis would be clearer until then we must aggressively implement reforms and practice good governance.
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