Practice vs. Theory…

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Today in a casual meeting with an elder cousin, we got into a discussion about what’s practical and might not be taught in the books but is how things actually get done in real life. This got me thinking about the wide gap between our education and real life.

Well, I am an idealist, sort-of, and I keep observing that most things that happen around aren’t how they are supposed to.  And it creates a frustration sometimes –  why is our education system always focused on the theories rather than practice!

Why are we taught so many things which never come to our aid later on but we unnecessarily cram them to pass? Why can’t we chose what we want to study early on in our lives and if later we feel so, change over to a completely different stream and pursue it? Why is there so much of emphasis on getting it right the first time?

These questions always cross my mind and I keep wondering if there’s a way to overhaul the complete system and let children discover and learn and find their way in life all on their own. I haven’t yet come across some radical idea though!

Maybe we ought to change the way education is imparted right from the beginning and through the teenage. More of practicals, on the field trainings, visits to actual places of work – all imbibed with the regular stuff on other things that we are taught, to give the angle of practice and reality. And then the students who would come out wouldn’t have to struggle in the real world. And we wouldn’t waste so much time studying unnecessary things.

Welcome your suggestions on this and hopefully there’s something different that can be done in the field of education…

In My Humble Opinion! Really???

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Everyone loves an opinion. Specially as the giver! And there’s nothing humble about it.

In my observations, I have seen a lot of people giving unsolicited opinions all across town. They just love telling anyone who would give an ear, everything they might or might not know! And they rarely shy away from this practice, whatever might the situation be…

So what’s the real reason behind this high-handedness? I have been thinking about it for sometime, and the only relation I can see is the need to make oneself heard. To feel superior. To boast!

But all of this should be uncool. Should be… Then why is it not?

One plausible reason is, its a kind of rub-on on others. Many people see others give opinions and add their own to propagate their beliefs and arguments. They supplement to feel more self-worth. And the chain goes on…

And what about the person on the receiving end? Poor soul feels the burden but lets it be, to not offend the aggressor. And in turn gets more IMHO’s. That’s precisely how it’s encouraged!

The simplest way to deal with such guys and situations – Ignore completely and feign arrogance. That’s a easy way to dissuade further transgressions!

As I believe, each person thinks, behaves, acts as per his/her understanding and its nobody’s business to give unsolicited opinions to anyone. Period.

Except, if it’s your wife then all this becomes not so true! 🙂

The Year That Was Meant to be! What?

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1 day remains in this year 2014! Whoa!

I am out of it finally OR I can’t believe this year just went by… Which of these do you identify with? Which was your year???

As I look at a lot of posts and articles about the year ending and attached reviews about everything from Hindi film industry to some of the biggest f@$#!#!, I cannot think but notice one important aspect…

Most people who come out with positive pointers and a feel-good review of their own year-gone-by haven’t had such a smooth ride after all. Everyone goes through ups and downs and it rarely happens that an entire year passes by without some downward spiral, however small it might be. Then what do these people focus on that makes them say that the year was great/good? I suppose its the eternal hope and the anticipation with which the future awaits that makes them see the positives even in the negatives…

And what about those who think their year wasn’t as great as they had planned out to be? Well, most of them I believe are yet to experience the positives of the negatives – the good things that happened because of the bad things!!! I am a firm believer in the thought process that “Whatever happens, happens for the good”. And as some wise man said – “If things go as per plan, good for you; if they don’t, its better!” And I believe that whatever bad these people experienced during the year, they haven’t been able to still reconcile and see the good out of it, something which will come out in the open very soon…

In a nutshell, life is always good. All experiences teach us something, good or better, never the worse. So, lets rejoice that this year has gone by without some major wrong happening to self, and even if you can’t see it now, believe me, that’s how the universe has conspired to make things right for us.

Let 2015 come on, and lets make the best of it!!! Happy new year and wishing everyone discovers the best of themselves in this new year!!!

External depends on Internal

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Last week after hogging endlessly at my in-laws place, on my way back, I decided that I have to become healthy…

Its not that I am overly obese or have gross vital stats but somehow I am not feeling good inside with the extra kilos I have put on and want to do away with it. Hence the new resolution even before the new year kicked in. I just couldn’t  wait! (and I have already started with the daily regimen I set out).

And yet, I got drawn to something of an irony when I looked around me. Being  healthy is the most often heard wish or resolution people make for themselves and wish for others. Yet, when we look at the general trends and figure it out, health parameters across the board are falling. So what’s going wrong?

My guess is, people are just subscribing to being healthy as a fad, seeing others around them. It’s an endless chain hence, which does rope in a lot of people but doesn’t benefit many. Why? Simply because I will work towards my health only when I really feel about it. Otherwise, you be damned – I won’t heed your advice, or anything else which pushes me involuntarily towards it. 

Come to think of it, most things we do in our life are because we want to do them. Not because someone somewhere told us to. And definitely not until we are pushed from within to go ahead and do it.

External push rarely works!!! Unless accompanied by the internal clamouring… And my guess is for all things!

The Culture of Reading!?.

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Yesterday, after almost a zillion years, I heard a few golden words from my wife. “I am enjoying reading these days!” It was music to my years. I immediately opened all of my library and took out some 15 minutes to suggest her 3-4 books that she could read immediately. And watching her read is almost a sadistic pleasure – “I told you so!” kinds… 🙂

Reading to me is therapeutic. I have been reading ever since I was born. My cousins tease me that I was so adamant a toddler, I would ask them to loudly recite comic books they were reading! I enjoy reading everywhere, for 2-3 hours on a daily basis, and not only when I am on a train/plane. And as a result, I have always encountered baffled minds when they see/observe/hear about my incessant reading. How can you? Isn’t it boring? I just cannot read…

I always wonder why? How could someone not enjoy the sheer pleasure of reading something new, getting to know new things/viewpoints/ideas. And I always reasoned that it was perhaps because Indians don’t cultivate reading habits from childhood. But I was wrong! This is true universally – people don’t like to read. They would much rather watch TV or play games or indulge in other activities than read.

Why oh Why? Perhaps, education ruins the prospects by making people dislike books. Anyways, I guess its probably inertia to do something which engages the mind in ways it doesn’t like to be engaged. Like, it took me almost eternity to return to blogging. Although I had decided to write regularly for the umpteenth time, it was only when I finally left my inertia and got off my @#$, did I write this first one (after a long time I mean).

So what can we do to remove inertia to get more people to read? What can possibly pique the interest of someone towards reading? Maybe there is a new business idea here that I can think of! Any suggestions? Do write to me, will be more than glad to give you credit for its success!

Happy reading then, till I fill in this space with another one of my masterpieces (seriously, I thought this out)!!!

Football and the Indian Development Saga?

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I guess India is not absolutely the right place to write about the World Cup but then I am constrained for choices. As it happens, the on-going football World Cup, the 4-yearly pilgrimage for old-style fans of the beautiful game ( I say old style because these days most football followers stick to the various domestic leagues only, whereas I prefer the nation vs nation format) has again raised the question of where are we as a country in this game!

Well, Sunil Chhetri is definitely trying to do his best in the studio (a poorly conceived and executed pre and post match show by Sony). The social media is flush with tweets and shares and likes for all things football. The newspapers are giving prominent page-space to the event (even Hindi ones, which definitely means more people in the hinterland following the sport now). And the Janata can’t stop talking about the late night games and the sleepy eyes one encounters every day. And all of these are definitely encouraging signs for us all…

Yet, when we look at India’s standing in the world order of football it’s way dismal. Watching one of the matches my brother commented, when Nigeria which is such a woefully underdeveloped country can qualify and give some of the better ones a run for their money, what’s wrong with India. And my instant answer was – we don’t have grassroots development.

If we look at it objectively, as I did after making the comment (yes, like most of us, I was just trying to sound cool and authoritative at that time), this theory does ring a bell. Why?

To begin with, Indians are taught from their childhood that sports and games are bad. “Padhoge, likhoge, Banoge Nawab; Kheloge, Koodoge, Banoge Kharab”. This is such a deep psyche with us people that it takes a typical rebel to go against the grain of the society and emerge on a field to play sports professionally.

Yes, we are changing and it is becoming common now-a-days to find sportsmen everywhere in India but then most of them are cricketers, trying to make some quick bucks in the only sport that pays handsomely. People don’t want to look at sports as a serious profession because they are unsure about earning their livelihood from it. And this can only change when we develop…

Cutting it short, this bias is basically there because Indians haven’t seen the other side of the coin – people can follow whatever their passion or liking is and they will be able to make a living out of it. And it doesn’t matter if you are educated or not, the views are almost the same. So how do we change this?

My take is – if India develops fast and people start seeing opportunities everywhere, the propensity to get into alternative fields will be more. We will then not only have more sportsmen but more teachers, more scientists, more of all professions and people will be happy in their chosen line, something akin to the US or other highly developed countries!

The Long Absence…

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Reading news today morning, I came across an article claiming that the new government isn’t interacting with the media as much as it used to be; it is almost as if they have voluntarily decided to be under the radar. This reminded me of my long absence from the blogging world…

Now, the news article might have been hinting at some broad political strategy. My absence has been rather non-strategical. Its been plain simple – I haven’t been writing! But there are reasons why I was missing for almost last 3 months.

Well, I took to reading a lot (a habit which has always been there and surprises my wife even to this day – c’mon honey you have got to give me credit that I have stuck to it inspite of accusations of all kinds from you), started writing a novel (whoa, a long cherished version of mine), traveled and self-reflected a lot (business and personal), spent time with the family (quite naturally because IPL is not something you can watch all day as opposed to the on-going world cup), and even started a new venture and on the verge of another! Quite something…

Naturally all these things took precedence and I just abstained from writing. But having emerged victorious to this other side (proof is in this post), I can emphatically say that from now on I am going to be more regular (sounds familiar, eh). In fact, I am going to publish a new post each week and perhaps 2 if I feel up to it. And I know, some of you (ok, most of you) might not be very happy with my return (who am I writing for then?), I will still write to improve myself and to prove to myself that I can! (Obama style!!!)

Cheers to the new wave of my blogs then! See you all with the next post soon…

The David vs Goliath Path

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This morning, sitting at home, I decided to catch up on some cricket action in the ongoing World T20 in Bangladesh. I was curious to see the game between Netherlands and South Africa, having read some tweets pointing to a possible upset that didn’t happen.

What really happened? A newbie side came out all guns blazing to restrict a good batting lineup from scoring too many runs; and then their batsmen had a field day playing fearlessly to some outstanding bowlers and fielders. And it was perhaps a little bit of luck that saved South Africa on the day…

As the match progressed, and Netherlands faltered to reach the finish line, I went into my own thoughts of how and why this happens. Now there is something that always inspires in us a sleeping awe whenever we hear about these big vs small contests, nobodys fighting somebodys. Well, it does inspire in me! How is it that someone relatively unknown, obscure suddenly gathers the courage and guts to fight the big guns?

This is true in battles, in sports, and in the mad world of business all the time. And it has got to do sometimes with luck, but mostly the reason behind such unexpected results is the mindset that the David carries when he fights the Goliath. Mindset plays a major role in the emergence of the victor! And that is true all the times…

When the Small player comes out to face the challenges, being fearless and undeterred and in most cases knowing he/she is doing the right thing, just goes all out to achieve what is set in sight. The Bigger player becomes complacent or sometimes even arrogant, both responses a sure sign of a stalling mindset, to ignore the Small one and hence loses out in the contest. And irrespective of whether there are challengers or not, whether big players exist or not, the ones who enter the field with the right mindset, go on to win. That explains the emergence of an Ambani, or a Mittal, or a Sachin, or an Amitabh. They just don’t give up come what may, focused all the way on their goals. And that is what makes them a champion!

How can we benefit from this all? Well, if we always keep our goals clear and our mindset positive, nothing in this world is impossible. Too many times we give up on things when the going gets tough. Too many people don’t fulfil their life’s destiny because there are people discouraging them. All this negativity stops people from trying and becoming what they set out to achieve, living their life in mediocrity…

We just have to remember a simple thing – Even if there are a hundred challenges or a thousand nay-sayers, the David will win over the Goliath, provided he has the right perspective and a strong mindset to boot!!! And we will also be remembered and talked about in some corner of the world some day, even if we are small today…

Unifying India

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The other day I was sitting with one of my friends and we were just talking about random stuff when I was drawn to a rather normal detail – he is a Bengali, his wife is a Sindhi. It’s nothing out of the blue, I mean people are getting married as per their choice all over the place. But something in this detail stuck to me!

Well, to put things straight, even I have had a love marriage (a rather long labour of love for 5 years before we tied the knot :)). I am a Brahmin from MP and my wife a Marwari from Jharkhand. And we have instances in our family of inter-religion marriages as well, so it’s nothing awkward for me that two people of different castes/religions get married. What really stuck me was the amalgamation of cultures that’s happening across the board within our generation.

In older times, when arranged marriages used to be the norm, most of the alliances were in same religion/caste and to a great extent, even region. It was likeness that paved the way for a successful marriage! Remember, old aunties saying “she is of the same caste, will be able to adjust easily”…

But come our generation, the concept of arranged marriages has been overtaken by people marrying each other based on their choices. And that’s quite a profound thing that’s happening right now in India. As more and more of us get married into different castes/religions/cultures, I believe we are becoming more tolerant of the way others in the society live. And that’s great because it, in my opinion, is bringing the people of India closer.

Imagine, after a few years when Muslims will be marrying Hindus openly without any drama, Sikhs will be getting hitched to Christians and Rajputs to South Indian Brahmins, and so on. The simple idea of marrying based on your choice will create a strong harmony amongst religions, societies and castes that years of efforts couldn’t do! It’s already started, and it’s only going to become better with age! 🙂

Hopefully then films like 2 States would no longer be novelty amongst most people in the hinterland, it will be a commonplace occurrence surrounding one of the most beautiful institutions that India has taught the world how to be successful in. And it will be an India not only tolerant of its diversities but proud of the vastness of its amalgamated culture!!!

The Thrill of Building

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Last month I was at my home with parents for some work with respect to one of our businesses. Most of my free time got spent on the balcony, watching a band of construction workers diligently put together the building opposite to our newly constructed house. And as I watched them, a thought stuck to me (which you can guess took some unsticking to do :P)

That band of workers worked each day in sun/rain/wind/shade to put together an apartment complex where none of them were going to live. And as I observed them each day, I was more and more fascinated by this aspect of how the lives of entrepreneurs unfold…

Most entrepreneurs will agree to this – the fun is in the journey and the climb, the view from the top is lonesome and it’s not the destination that matters. Which suggests, building something should be of prime interest to us!

However, most people make this mistake on too squarely focusing on the end point, worrying endlessly about how it’s all going to turn out in the final race. To put it mildly, if the foundation is strong, if the journey is challenging, if the process followed is good, the end result will be just fine!

This gets displayed in our daily lives also. We fret and fume over small things gone wrong, fight with others and get angry on ourselves if we don’t get what we want, but rarely reflect back on was the building process right? And if it is, temporary setbacks or delays aren’t much to bother about then…

The thrill of building is what keeps people alive, that joy of something that you envisioned taking shape in front of you is unmatchable. It’s true for painters, for artists, for entrepreneurs, for sportsmen, for leaders, and I guess it’s true for all the so called “normal” people as well. Here’s to the spirit of the “Go for it” attitude!!!