7 months down and still waiting.......

As I was casually walking along the empty roads after dinner today, my friend exclaimed "Today is 26th June. Exactly 7 months back, 26/11 happened. Do you think anything has changed in the last seven months?? Are we safer than before??"

I soon got lost in thoughts. Looking back at what happened 7 months back and all the events that have taken place in succession, I still am not confident about where we have headed. The roots of our financial capital were shaken, many lives were lost, a few important heads were rolled, a big inquiry was initiated, the lone terrorist caught alive was tried in the court. But still nothing major has really happened. Some laws were passed in the Parliament against terrorism.

But lets analyse the situation today. Life in Mumbai, which people claim, has this indomitable fighting spirit, where trains will still be running on parallel tracks even if a bomb blast occurs on one, has just moved on. Some gallantry medals have been bestowed on the dead warriors and they too have been forgotten. Diplomatic pressure was mounted on the Pakistan Govt for a few days and then God alone knows the status. We still do not know whats happening with the Kasab trial. The Chief Minister who lost his job, is now a minister at the centre. So nothing major has really happened.

The other day, I was shocked to read an article in the newspaper which said out of 44 X Ray scanners in the Mumbai International airport, 34 failed to detect arms. Isnt that shocking? Thats not all. All the security checks wherever they happen, are only for the sake of formality. The metal detectors generally beep for every passing person and nobody really bothers about the intensity of the beep. There was a case in a mall in Hyderabad, where an armed civilian, crossed 11 metal detectors before being caught. In a posh 5 star hotel in Delhi, one person carried ammunition inside his car, just to check how prepared are we for any such emergencies. If you really want to check, then do a thorough check. What use is all these tamashas for?

Having said that, do we as responsible citizens, co-operate while a check is being done? We crib if we are asked to pass through a metal detector. We get angry if someone asks us to open our car. We get freaked up when someone wants to frisk us. "How can someone doubt a well educated and a civilised person like that?" is the general reaction. But we fail to realise that anyone intending to do any crime, will of course not portray himself like a terrorist with masks and guns. When he wants to plant a bomb or an explosive, he will come in the outfit which makes him as close to the "civilised and educated" person. As citizens, we should realise this and co-operate whenever some security check is going on. We need to understand that it is for our benefit only.

All said and done, two wrongs do not make a right. The Govt. cannot blame the civilians and have to do something about national security. Unless something is done about that, we will continue to see the 9/11's and the 7/7's and the 26/11's.

People living in glass houses should not throw stones at others!!!

There seems to be no end to the attacks happening on the Indian students in Australia. But the bigger point to be wondered is whether the way Indians are protesting against these attacks are justified.

You simply cannot go and block the traffic or shout slogans and protest as it happens in India. No country would tolerate any outsider coming there and protesting against it. The Australian Government has time and again said that they are in the process of providing security and protection to the Indian students, but most of it is still going in vain. Every morning, we get to read of "just another one off attack" on an Indian student. Yes, we get angry. We get frustrated. But going and protesting like this is not a solution to the problem.

We find racism everywhere. Even in our own country, look at the way foreigners are treated. Molestation, rape and even murder in some cases are not new in India. You can hardly forget a Scarlett Keeling who was raped and murdered on the beaches of Goa not so long ago. Nor can you forget a couple of German tourists molested in Mumbai. So its not that we are all gentlemen. Why talk about foreigners? Have we really been able to get over what Raj Thackeray and his MNS has been doing to Biharis and UPites in Mumbai? Isn't that a sort of a racial discrimination?

Having said that, I do not say that we should keep mum. The best way to solve the Australian issue is to build diplomatic pressure on Australia to do something "effective". We all agree that Australian Government is doing something. But we want results. The attacks should stop. They should realise that if that does not happen, people would stop considering Australia as a destination for higher education. Currently, Australia is the second largest country after the US of A which attracts 36000 Indians every year for higher educations. If things do not change, it won't be long before UK or Germany may take over that coveted position. One more thing that can be done is boycotting Australian products. Do not buy their products. Protest in this way. In fact I was glad to note a couple of days back, a wine shop in Mumbai openly protesting against the attacks by not selling the Australian Fosters beer.

Though much more needs to be done and the onus solely lies on the Governments, both Indian and Australian, I can surely say that violent protests are definitely not the way! As they say, people living in glass houses should not throw stones at others!

Never give up!!

"Failure is only when you give up trying; till then its only that you have not succeeded".


These words may seem very heavy and philosophical at the top of the page. But lets just ponder over it. I came across it in one the book of success stories of IIM A graduates - Stay Hungry Stay Foolish. I had put this up as my tag line in gtalk and one of my friends asked me if i really believed in this words. I spent no time in shouting "Yes, Of course!!" Somehow we could not debate much over it. But then, I started pondering over it.


I recently came across the address by Apple CEO Steve Jobs' Commencement Address to the MBA graduates at Stanford a few years back. I have recently finished reading autobiographies of Lee Iacocca and Lance Armstrong. Why go so far? Take the case of our very own NR Narayanamurthy. All of these have not become so successful just by chance. And its not only hard work. Its much more than that. More than anything, these people had a strong will to succeed
.

Steve Jobs was fired from Apple, the company he had founded. But he came back strongly, founded a new company, and forced Apple to take it over and now he is again a part of Apple. Lee Iacocca, was the CEO of Ford. He was fired from that coveted position by Henry Ford because of some differences. He went on to become the CEO of Chrysler and lifted it out of bankruptcy. Lance Armstrong, battled testicular cancer which had spread up to his chest, recovered from it and went on to win 8 Tour de France titles from then on. NRN needs no introduction to us Indians. The hardships faced by him and his team in the early days were simply innumerable. Compare it to what Infosys is today!


All the people have only one thing in common. They never gave up when situations were tough. They never quit trying. They led by setting examples and that is why they are all role models and icons for millions of people all over the world today.


This quality is all the more important for leaders. Because they have a huge number of people following them. Here I can give a classic example of what I have closely seen. When I was working, we had launched a new vehicle which failed to meet our expectations. Moreover, we were entangled in a legal battle with a competitor over some IPR infringement, which we lost in the interim injunction. As a result a lot of us were disappointed and demotivated. But our MD, never gave up. He asked the R&D team to change the design and come up with an alternative till such time that the final order of the court came. Because of this perseverance, the R&D team came up with a modified design in record time. If the MD had given up, the top management too would not have taken much interest. The field team was anyway demotivated. And if this continued, the dealers and vendors would have totally lost confidence in us. And the competitor would have achieved his objective.


So I still stand by whatever I have written. Because I am a strong believer in the words, "If everything is going fine in life, enjoy. It is not going to last long. If things are not going fine, even then enjoy, they aren't going to last long either"

Test of patience!!!

Student to faculty advisor.

S: Sir, I wish to apply for finance specialisation. Will there be any test for it?

F: If the number of applicants exceeds the number of seats available, then a test will be conducted for screening the people.

S: Sir, was the test conducted last year?

F: Yes, it was.

S: Sir, will it be onjective type or subjective?

F: Last year it was objective, so it may be objective this year also.

S: Sir, will it be computer based or on paper?

F: Last year it was on paper, it will be on paper this year also.(Whats this guy up to ????????)

S: Sir, do we have to use pen or pencil?

F: You can use anything (He is definitely gonna kill me!!!)

Now this is getting on the nerves of the professor

S: Sir, do we have to tick the right answer or shade the circle?

Professor gets mad and escapes!

Incidentally, in our college the maximum number of seats offered for finance is 45. So if there are more number of people opting to take finance specialisation, there will be a test conducted followed by an interview to filter and select the 45.