Sunday, April 22, 2012

if you have to push back.....

..... if you have to push back, who do you push back? those who try to get too close or those who believe in their own dignity? those who love to criticize others or those who introspect and then speak about everyone else? those who love to hear the sound of their own voice or those who simply appreciate? those who take the horse to the water or those who try and make it drink? those who love you till they smother you or those who hate you and want to speed up your destruction?

......if you have to push back, push back those who are negative in their thoughts - whether they love you or hate you should not matter. Even age and relationship must not matter. They may appreciate you, but then they may be biased.You must, must push back someone who is selfish though they may be good to you. Never listen to an idea which is limited to you or the idea generator- the idea must maximize the positive fallout of any activity.

"....... it little profits that an idle king, matched with an aged wife, I meet and dole, unequal laws unto a savage race...." (From Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson).... this is just what has inspired me since I read it and understood it. I live by it; it is my mantra.

........ and then having understood that doling out unequal laws(read ideas), biased laws(again, read ideas)and laws(yet again, ideas) which are partial and unbalanced will most certainly result in less profits and more losses, I now ponder over whether there is one benchmark or many permutations and combinations for which thought or idea is right and what is wrong. I then arrive at the conclusion that while there may be many rights and wrongs, we again benchmark any action against the positive impact, and we will find the success rate gets higher- better- more assured. The decision then, to push back or not to push back, will be more correct than before. Before means when we were just not evaluating. Just going by who loved us and which peer group we belonged to; and who was coming forward with an idea or concept or simply who was asking us to do something. The idea was overshadowed by the person- the thought was eclipsed by who it belonged to.

..........so pushing back is a science because its a studied decision which determines the growth path of an initiative or idea.

........also pushing back is an art because any idea can be pushed back and re-formed or re-stated in a positive manner to be of any use. When something is generated, it is only fair that we explore how best to use it. I dont believe in flatly refusing to look at it because on the face of it, it looks negative;

I never would blindly say no.

....... as for pushing back people, once we are clear about the good or the bad, and we feel responsible for lesser mistakes, or minimum error, then we are eligible to judge them  and then push back. But before attaining that confidence level we all need to look at ourselves closely. Are we being fair?

Thursday, April 12, 2012

i the proud indian

Wrote this on March 20, 2012, but just kept it on my desktop- you see, the wifi had timed out by the time I could upload this post :)
But i am determined to share this thought with you, so here goes.......

March 20, 2012: I am at Terminal 3 at IGI airport and i feel like i am in one of the best airports in the world- this is domestic departures, by the way. Its so impressive. Just so good!

Just now a group of some 40 men, women and children went past, with "thaila" and tin cans and "gathris" on their heads- their women wore shocking pink saris with shiny sequins and the children kept on shouting with joy and exploding with "amma re!" sounding shouts and just ran on the carpeted walk to the gates in their shiny moccasins and plastic flip flops. As I can see they are travelling by air, and that speaks so much for itself.... the men had big holdall looking things on their heads and wore dhoti kurtas, with salt and pepper stubble and sinewy hands which have worked hard in the fields and farms.

Well, we use to read a fairy tale where one princess wanted to marry a man who was at once the richest and the poorest... so she found a man in tattered clothing who was sitting on a golden throne in a palace and she proposed to him. That was a fairy tale, but in my lovely India, this actually happens. 

All these shocking pink saree clad women and the dhoti clad men and the semi clothed children shouting with joy are rich in their enthusiasm to enjoy whatever life throws at them- the group I saw had no hangups at all. And here I sit and keep looking at my hair wondering whether I am presentable or looking like I have tumbled out of bed! Its five in the morning, you see!

This is why I love India. Its all there for us to see... we have no pretentions. We talk and blaspheme our country and our people whenever we can; we spare no one. We are not shy to talk about how bad we are; we are also very proud about how good  we are. We love to make ourselves heard; and we love to hear our own voice too! Wish I could change this bit.... wish we could look at the good side and help others recognize how we can make it better for all of us.

Other than this, I adore my country the way it is. The dusty leaves, the true natural flower fragrances unspoilt by hybrid cultivation and the raw eagerness of the people far outweigh the negative aspects like corruption and politics.Why cant we just take this enthusiasm and and spread it so far and wide that every negative vibe gets smothered in its warm embrace and turns around to accept the good things just waiting for us?

OK, now my free trial time is getting over. The wifi will snap in a bit and I am not going to buy more time! so see you later.
I LOVE MY INDIA.
Cheers!