Goodbye Anandi Bua

This is the most difficult blog posting of my life but I still want to carry on despite my feelings. This post is dedicated to a woman 'Anandi' who stood for happiness and joy, who brought joy to all and even in her most difficult times never forgot to smile. It is very hard to believe that she is no longer in our midst. She fought till her last breath with cancer and lost the battle on May 20, 2009 at 10.20 AM IST with a smile. It has been a very difficult moment for those who were fortunate enough to love her. However, hard it has been for me to come to terms with her death, I promise to live by the ideals she stood for. She stood for joy and that is what I will be for the rest of my life. That will be my tribute to this brave and courageous soul who lives in my heart now. May God bless her and give her the best He has to offer wherever she is. I love you Anandi Bua and miss you very dearly!

Managers versus Leaders

I have been wondering - what's the difference. I hear about so many B-schools opening in India, about graduates getting salaries equivalent to those they'll be paid if they were to graduate from any of the top schools in the world. But, how many of these managers are actually leaders? Are these schools churning out leaders or managers? Are these schools serving the society by creating leaders or are these schools making money for their trust or owners by creating managers? In truth how many of the graduates of these schools are leaders ? But before I pass an opinion on these schools, how is a leader different from a manager?

I was confused by the difference between managers and leaders. What makes an individual a manager and what makes an individual a leader? In my experience, a manager is a person who can envision, plan and execute. Then what does a leader do and how is the leader different from a manager? While reading the biographies of some great leaders some traits appear to be common to all of them - leadership is taking a step forward when 99.9% of the reasons are against that step. Leaders anyways take that step. Call it faith in themselves, or the invisible and the unknown but leaders rise above the ordinary reality. Managers wait till there is 99.9% certainity and then execute their plans. Does it mean that managers do not have faith in themselves, the unknown and the invisible - well may be or may be not - but certainly most managers accept their own limitations.

Leaders are not stopped by opposition, resistance, discouragement, multiple no etc. Most leaders persist and believe in their vision and their work. The stories of Vinobha Bhave, Ela Bhatt, Aung Sang Suu Kyi, Gandhi are inspiring. Managers persist till they find some workable solution or till the time persistence makes sense.

Leaders put interest of others before their own self interest. I don't know what managers do, but I am certain that true leaders are motivated by much more than their own self-interest.

I am still studying this topic and will keep adding to this post as I find more points.

If bullets in their own backyard can't wake people up, then what will!

26/11 happened in South Mumbai and the public outrage at the post-26/11 demonstrations (the demonstration at the Gateway of India on Dec 6) made me think that people were serious - serious to bring about a change. At-last, people were shaking-off their apathy and waking up. But April 30, 2009 presented a completely different picture. What happened to those promises to bring about a change in those post-26/11 demonstrations, where did that public outrage disappear? Why was the voter turnout a mere 43% in Mumbai. If bullets in our own backyard can't wake us up then what will? I am heartbroken to see this public callousness?

Gandhi said 'Be the change you want to see', change begins with us - but unfortunately many of us chose to use the long weekend to go on a holiday rather than vote. Many of us missed out on the opportunity to be the change we wanted to see. God forbid, if 26/11 repeats, what will we do? Demonstrations, ad-campaigns - I am sure we will do that all, but at that time who will believe us, who will trust our seriousness and our anger? By abstaining from our duty to vote haven't we exposed our vulnerability and haven't we have become an easy prey to politicians who can now use us at their will to meet their vested interests and give us the easy reason; 'you chose us'!

My heart goes out to the activists who campaigned day and night urging people to vote. What a waste of their effort, what a waste of resources but above all what a brutal waste of an opportunity! This act of ours is totally unforgivable.

Sad but true - from Narayana Murthy of Infosya

We are not a nation of doers; we are a nation which believes that our articulation is our accomplishment.

Laws of Life ... funny but true!

Law of queue: If you change queues, the one you have left will start to move faster than the one you are in now.
Law of the Telephone: When you dial a wrong number, you never get an engaged tone.
Law of Mechanical Repair: After your hands become coated with grease, your nose will begin to itch.
Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to theLeast accessible corner.
Law of the Alibi: If you tell the boss you were late for work because you had a flat tire, the next morning you will have a flat tire.
Bath THEOREM: When the body is immersed in water, the telephone rings.
LAW OF ENCOUNTERS: The probability of meeting someone you know increases when you are with someone you don't want to be seen with.
LAW of the RESULT: When you try to prove to someone that a machine won't work, it will!
LAW OF BIOMECHANICS: The severity of the itch is inversely proportional to the reach. THEATRE RULE: People with the seats at the furthest from the aisle arrive last.
LAW OF COFFEE: As soon as you sit down for a cup of hot coffee, your boss will ask you to do something which will last until the coffee is cold.

(taken from an anonymous source)