Sunday Sambar - staple diet for applying thoughts

My Anger of Insight

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 17:50:00 +0000

“Between stimulus and response there is space and in that space lies our power to choose our response…” Ever since I had heard this statement from a Senior leader of the organization I had joined as a programmer during my induction, it remained with me. Probably merely as knowledge / memory. Quite motivated by that inspiring and insightful speech, I bought my first ever self help book (7 Habits ) from Shanbagh’s premier book stall on my way to M.G Road office , immediately after walking out of that induction meeting @ Lavelle Road. It is altogether another matter that it took almost 4 years for me to progress from the first chapter and complete the book. I managed that feat only during one of the Y2K projects when I could not take that boring work anymore. After that I did spend a good amount of time and energy trying to increase that space. But as the saying goes, at the end of day proof of the pudding is in the eating. As I had more “reactions” over the years than the “responses”, I am fully aware that, that space is Work in progress. . I did have my moments of glory when I did respond really magnificently under very trying circumstances. Those were really rare and indeed few and far between.
I had realized that I do need to do some more work on that to make it an Understanding on last Saturday. I had reacted in anger on two separate occasions in unrelated incidents within a few hours. First with the Engineering team of a developer / builder and second time with a good friend of mine. It won’t be fair for me to depict those situations as it will be rather a subjective one sided view. But it would suffice to say that regardless the nature of stimulus I did not respond. Probably I was too angry than necessary, the bad feeling did stay lingering inside me for another 24 hours.
As I had found out in many wonderful occasions in my life, cometh the hour and cometh the hour and cometh the man. A very good friend of mine, who had not called me for a very long time, called and realizing that I am not in the best frame of mind, was kind enough to share one of his life changing experiences. Probably loving kindness has this power of even moving providence and all sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. Soon I had the chance to see the wonderful speech of Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor. Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor is a Harvard-trained brain scientist who suffered a stroke in 1996--at the age of 37--in the left hemisphere of her brain. She spoke of her experience at the 2008 TED Conference and wrote a book titled "My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey". This is the 90 second rule from the book “My Stroke of Insight” (Dr. Jill Bolte Taylor): When a person has a reaction to something in their environment, there’s a 90 second chemical process that happens in the body; after that, any remaining emotional response is just the person choosing to stay in that emotional loop. That is, something happens in the external world and chemicals are flushed through your body which puts it on full alert. For those chemicals to totally flush out of the body it takes less than 90 seconds. This means that for 90 seconds you can watch the process happening, you can feel it happening, and then you can watch it go away. After that, if you continue to feel fear, anger, and so on, you need to look at the thoughts that you’re thinking that are re-stimulating the circuitry that is resulting in you having this physiological response over and over again.
So it is a remarkable point. Nature permits you to be in that state for a maximum of 90 seconds. (One might wonder why 90 Seconds. A research says that when people wait up to about a minute and a half, their sense of how much time has elapsed is fairly accurate. Anything over ninety or so seconds, however, and their sense of time distorts—if you ask how long they’ve been waiting, their honest answer can often be a much exaggerated one. So probably the inner timer works that way. )
So as long as one is able to lead oneself those 90 seconds with awareness when you really feel that adrenaline rush without choosing neither flight or fight reactions, one is able to respond and absolutely ensure freedom and happiness not only to self but to others as well. I think the passive "flight" response is repression and denial of anger for safety and aggressive behavior is associated with the "fight" responses.
As I had already stated: “the proof of the pudding is in the eating”.. Sooner than I had wished I had to discuss a rather serious matter with my better half ( in all respects) who perceived my stated position about that matter was way off the mark. Even though I did feel that rush of anger in those initial moments, I was prepared for those initial moments, to my surprise I spoke with so much clarity and objectivity and solved the matter.
So it does work. I can vouch for that.
Life is often bizarre, not easy and magnificent. Most often magnificent.
With this note, without much ado, I wish to end one of the chapters of my life.
My blog sundaysamabar.blogspot.com.
As Budha had stated some 2000 years back, Law of impermanence is applicable to everything. Sincere heartfelt appreciations for reading and responding (& not reacting to my attempt at Writing.).
One never knows, about tomorrow.
But no more serving @ Sunday sambar 

Patriotism is the last refuge of...

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 18:51:00 +0000

Dr. Samuel Johnson who often has been described as "arguably the most distinguished man of letters in English history" and whose lasting legacy is Johnson’s Dictionary of English Language is also known for his take on Patriotism. The context in which he said to have remarked “Patriotism is the last resort of S@@###s” is not very clear. It is good to validate the context in current geopolitical scenario. A couple of articles published in leading Indian media over the last fortnight on diverse topics had a common theme. Patriotism.
Let me quote Dr. Venkitaraman Ramakrishnan who won the Nobel prize for Chemistry recently. “ People have also taken offence at my comment about nationality being an accident of birth. However, they don’t seem to notice the first part of the sentence: We are all human beings. Accident or not, I remain grateful to all the dedicated teachers I had throughout my years. Others have said I have disowned my roots. Since 2002, I have come almost every year to India. In these visits, I have spent time on institute campuses giving lectures or talking to colleagues and students about their work, and stayed in the campus guest house. I have not spent my time staying in fancy hotels and going sightseeing without them. …..In my case, I am lucky to have had a combination of education, opportunities and a great team of co-workers to have made a contribution to an important problem. I am not personally that important. If I hadn’t existed, this work would still have been done. It is the work that is important, and that should be what excites people. Finally, there are many excellent scientists in India and elsewhere who will never win a Nobel prize. But their work is no less interesting and people should find out about what they do. My visits to India confirm that it has great potential and bright young students. A little less nationalistic hero worship will go a long way to fulfill that potential. “
In my view, that is the perception of one simple soul’s great way of looking at life and work.
And the second article was about Force India “Our “Own” Formula 1 team, which is in stark contrast of previously quoted article. Infact the only Formula 1 team in the circuit which uses a country’s name and wears Patriotism on the sleeve.
“Those who are getting worked up - due to nationalistic reasons. Apart from the money, there’s little that’s Indian in the team. Of the 28 key team personnel listed on their website, only one is from India – Mallya. Mercedes Benz supplies the engine, McLaren the gearbox. The drivers are European. Force India is the only team on the Formula One circuit that uses a country’s name. “
Probably that is the business of Patriotism. Or Patriotism of business. “Patriotic Indians” hardly remember it is the same person who hired one Kevin Peterson at an astronomical sum to lead his franchise in India Premier League and then had to rely on our own old war horse Anil Kumble to save the blushes. Infact there was nothing royal or Challenging about it till Mr. Kumble took over the mantle. Mr. Kumble who is a perfect professional whether he represents the country, state or club , did a fantastic job without thinking about the money Mr. Peterson took home for a score line of 1s and 0s..
It is really surprising that most of the people hardly realize that Nationalistic and Religious fervor are two conditioning tools smart guys have used from time immemorial to influence the unsuspecting common Janata and have their way. Whether it is in business or politics.
Probably that is the context in which Samuel Johnson had remarked that “Patriotism is the last refuge of ……”. His scholarly work of English Dictionary said to have remained the top seller in its category for some 150 years. And his statement w.r.t Patriotism will remain relevant in varied contexts till the mankind lasts in this planet.

Love + Logic = Light ( Light bulb i.e.!)

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 17:41:00 +0000

Love + Logic = light (light bulb i.e.!)
This is the story of two utter failures and many half baked successes in my life of recent times. Notions of success and failure do bring in the filter of pass mark and exam context. The wholesome credit for that self examination belongs to Dr. Richard McHugh, venerable NLP Guru. It was Dr. McHugh who drilled into my bird brain the most important concept I learned (still learning!) about the Art of communication. The ideas of “The meaning of our communication is the response we get and there are no resistant listeners but only inflexible speakers” were quite difficult to grasp and even more difficult to practice..

Almost like showing the final scene of Alfred Hitchcock movie at the start of the movie itself, I have told you the back ground of my failures and half successes. Now Let us delve into the stories. I would like to emphasize on the word Story rather than incidents, because that was another concept Dr. McHugh taught us... Any perception of a human being is a Story and history is nothing but his /her story. So here we go.
Even though the two protagonists of the first part of the story were as different as chalk and cheese, there are many striking similarities in their temperament, their world view and their approach to life. I did know them for quite some time and it was quite bizarre that most of the communication between us happened thru emails. Also I am keen to add, that though the available evidences seems to suggest otherwise, both of them assumed they are perfectly right in all matters of contention, and the position of the undersigned or for that matter anyone else always lay in the realm of Grey or Black ( in their HUMBLE view ).

I rather limit my descriptions of them so that their identity is not compromised at all. It is not really important for one to know who these folks are. Rather than it would suffice to know, that in my own self righteous way I took many personal snide remarks in email chains from them, before reacting in response or responding in reaction in a clinical fashion like a Surgeon. The only difference being Surgeons apply Anesthesia before wielding their scalpel , why I ensure my innocuous remarks loaded with subliminal messages enter their brain while they are absolutely AWARE. . Usually when I do that, I do justify myself , remembering Krishna’s Shishupala story (where the Lord forgave 100 insults before hitting out) and Jesus ‘s mandate that we have to forgive 7 times 70 wrongs. It is taken, that my own cut off point counted in one hand (being an ordinary mortal human being) sounds quite liberal enough. The way the recipients recoils in violet fashion to those “innocuous remarks” does give the small dark and cold corner in my mind a momentary satisfaction. Soon sanity prevails when I realize that once again I have failed once again in the Dr. McHugh litmus test of communication.
Now the half baked success stories. Not long back I could negotiate with an hardnosed , smart builder to withdraw their demand of some Rs. 55 k just before registration of my apartment . I had to really blow hot and cold with them for a few weeks, before they finally relented. The most satisfactory successes come when I am able to convince my sons of small things, which often takes a long time in talking it over. (With 4.5 years old Manu and 2.5 year old son Rishi.) While the theory of whatever little I know, comes from Mr. Mchugh, the practical part of it I absolutely owe it to Manu and Rishi. (It is altogether a different matter, that they have their way most of the times. :-))
Last week after I was reflecting about one of the episodes on communication which ended up in utter failure, I found it quite interesting to note that while failures had common floors of past baggage as well as thrust on email communication, the successes came from either when the focus and purpose of communication was absolutely on the issue or when there was an absolute trust and love in the air. (As in the case with my kids.).
Regardless the vast progress we human beings have made in all the spheres in life, I believe the way we think and act have not changed since time immemorial. So it is fascinating to note that even though there are voluminous texts and research papers on the art and science of persuasive communication, but none captured the essence of it so beautifully like Aristotle. He divided the means of persuasion into three categories Ethos, Pathos and Logos. Ethos or ethical appeal means convincing by the character of the author / speaker. Pathos means persuading by appealing to listener’s emotions and Logos means persuading by the use of reasoning.
Ethos can be considered as base ingredient, since without it no persuasion or communication ever happens. As Emerson rightly put it, “what you are speaks so loudly, I can’t even hear you speaking”.
I believe all of us have a door in our heart which only can be opened from inside. . Most of the sensible people leave the door a bit ajar, only when they feel they are understood perfectly. The kind knock at that door can be termed as empathetic listening. (Love). When the door is slightly opened, that is the time to put our thinking cap and present Data, analysis and Logic. Without the initial empathetic listening, all our Logic never ever reaches its intended target.
When it works out well, that is when you see the Light bulb lighting on top of the listeners head.
As I found out from my own experience, the toughest part is Empathetic listening. The number of impediments to this can be quite long.. Past history between the Actors in the act of communication, our own Ego, impatience, lack of time, the basic need in each of one us to be heard and tendency to hog the air waves , all can force the door @ the Heart of listener close tightly. Also we need to be aware that by being empathetic, neither we are agreeing nor conceding any ground w.r.t views. We are just acknowledging with respect, that his/her view point may have merit in it. Our own conduct in empathetic listening, by being patient, by being respectful and by acknowledging is what opens the door in the heart. Once the door opens, one doesn’t have to be a Cicero to convey the message.
Love + Logic = light (bulb!).

Tribute to Ranjan Acharya

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 03:27:00 +0000

Last week after attending the funeral of one of my close relatives, I sat down to write on blog about the people who had made an impact on me.. The names came to my mind quite effortlessly and I chose to write only about the souls who are no more. Who was visible only to my mind’s eye? Funnily enough it was because of Ranjan, I started writing a blog.. Long time back after reading one of his articles published in Wipro Corp website ( I think after Dileep left , he had taken that mantle), when I asked him from where can I learn to write , he had replied that we can learn writing only by writing and asked me to start writing a journal everyday.. The reply mail also came with an anecdote on Bernard Shaw, who seemed to have written for more than 10 years before his first work was published.. I did take that advice and wrote for a few years in my journal. But I kept them hidden away from critiques, like kids hide peacock feathers in their notebooks.. After I had rejoined Wipro, I had shared my first blog with him and I had reminded him about his advice and Bernard Shaw anecdote.. Pat came the reply, Bernard Shaw can’t get it wrong, rite ?.
That was just one of the very few encounters (which were few and far between in last 13 years ) I had with Ranjan , after the really memorable first one in 1996 when I went to Lavelle road office for my HR interview to join erstwhile Wipro systems. I was supposed to meet one Gautam Sircar @ 10: 30 am.. But I was stuck in that famous lift and was saved well after 10: 30 am.. I came out blazing to meet my interviewer, tie in my hand, crumpled shirt in sweat and tears in my eyes. I think “Compassionate one “ was coming out of VC’s cabin and even though he was hurrying he did have time to spot me and help me out.. He took me to Gautam and asked him to take the interview after I had cooled down.. Maybe the compassion was contagious and Gautam just had a friendly chat with me for some time.. As I was walking out, I met him again. To his question of “whether I was selected or not”, I just replied I don’t know.. He just asked me to wait , went and asked that same question to Gautam and announced with that gracious smile, that I can collect my appt. order that day evening, from same office. As per his suggestion, I had my lunch @ Oasis, the mallu restaurant @ Church street and after the movie @ Galaxy, went and collected my appt. order. There it was signed Ranjan Acharya, General Manager. That was when I knew his name.
Much later, I had met him regarding Toastmaster club, NLP club@ Wipro etc.. But the best quote I remember was , when I went to him with a request to have my NLP Training session @ Wipro. Immly, he had called Kayo and Uma Sundaram and asked them to arrange one. When one of them was very subtlety expressing their doubt in my expertise in leading a session, he told them in his characteristic style that even a Govt. organization like IAF trusts their rookie pilots with those costly planes.. In Vishy’s case at least he has a safe copilot (Daniel Pacheco) to guide him.. And that was my first training session @ Wipro..
When I rejoined Wipro and went to meet him. He did not remember my name.. But did recognize me as the Toastmaster and exclaimed, “we Could start that club again”… I could sense that he was not doing well Health wise, but his Spirit was intact..
Last Saturday when I had met Joseph during the Mitr anniversary, I asked him about Ranjan. When he told me that he is not well, I never thought the end will come so fast.. May be the God wanted someone to start Leadership courses in Heaven.
In his stint he did live up to his name Ranjan - one who gladdens others heart and Acharya - One who practices what he preaches.

Lasting impressions of some remarkable lives from close quarters…

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:55:00 +0000

As our bus drove into Mannarkkad (which literally means Soil + rivers + forest) across the new bridge over Nellipuzha River, I felt the connection simply because I was born, raised and lived there for so many years. I was returning with my brother Sasi, to help our mother pack up and leave for Kollegal, the place she lived before she got married to my dad. Just some 24 hours had passed, since we attended the funeral @ Mysore of Raja mamma, one of local sons of soil.
Our neighbor @ Mannarkkad, who really is a well meaning lady , told me it may be really sad that my mother has to leave the place she loved and lived for more than 40 years. In her view it was sadder than Raja mama’s death. My mind failed to register the logic. Also I failed to convince her, that it hardly matters, since all of us will be bestowed with the opportunity to leave. Sooner or later.
I myself had left that place mentally, the moment my dear dad was buried, in probably the most scenic and beautiful burial ground in the world, adjoining the river he loved so much. When a local strong arm, tried to take over the tract of land which was owned by the small and dwindling Kannada speaking community, where generations of our ancestors were buried (and may be still sleeping listening to the hoary tunes of Kuntipuzha river), my father fought against him and ensured the place remained with us. Probably he was ensuring that greedy strangers with no values won’t encroach and disturb his very last slumber.
Having crossed so many tragic moments lately, it just seemed odd that this one would make any difference. But still i couldn’t quite put my finger on why it felt different. Maybe only, when someone known to you goes back to Mother Earth as basic elements, we steal some precious moments to step back and think what life means to us and more importantly what matters to us. Then it struck me that it was the people, who live still in my mind long after they are gone from here. It had nothing to do with the environment.
They weren’t many. I could count within my hands… They weren’t famous people in that sense of the word. When some of them died, only near and dear knew, wept and prayed for their souls.. Nevertheless they were really remarkable people, who led remarkable lives.

This is my homage to them..

I am not sure whether all of these impressions in my mind are captured thru my eyes and ears during my time with them. Some of them would have crept into my mind from the legends I have heard about them from others. It makes no difference to me. It should not, for you as well. Nothing is more malleable than reality. Life itself becomes the ultimate creative act, as you realize and become aware, that you are making your world from your own way of applying thoughts.

Let me start with the one whose untimely demise triggered this.
Infinite Grace. That is the way Rajamamma had lived and left this world. If grace is infinite, how could anyone be outside its boundaries? He reckoned, a mentally challenged but physically overgrown son of neighborhood tea stall owner as worthy of his mindshare and friendship in the same manner he had treated his wealthy friends, some of them who had inherited thousands of acres. His door was always open to the near and dear. His contagiously Ready smile and affectionate greeting welcomed us all at any point of time.
Always poised and balanced. I don’t remember seeing him hurried or harried. He put people at ease effortlessly.. And everyone was at ease at his presence... One who always dressed elegantly… Even for the last few months, when he was constrained to a wheel chair, one would not have found him with an unkempt beard, or shabby cloths.
More remarkable was the way he had faced his terminal illness.. He fought such a valiant battle against the crippling illness with such grace… May be he had decided, even when he had insufferable pains, he does not have to be one. Someone who cared for others in the most selfless manner.. Someone who thought about organizing a surprise birthday party to his wife from his wheel chair or trying to take care of my aged uncle who did not have many in his own family to look after him or trying to look for a suitable bridegroom for my sister in law…
He was a mentor par excellence for many in my generation and well wisher for many others. Personally I owe it to him for convincing me to stay back and complete my Engineering @ Hubli, finding me my life partner, teaching me that enjoying an evening drink is not a sin as long as I know my limits..And more importantly having shown fine and gracious way of living in the present for the future. Two incidents that readily comes up in my mind are the way he was quizzing my brother about getting Air-conditioning for the restaurant he was planning to start @ Mysore, while waiting for an appointment for Bypass surgery @ Narayana Hrudayalaya and the way he was looking forward to start card games from his wheel chair. For him the present moment is what really mattered and past was well left way behind where it belonged.
His positivity, generosity, kindness and the Great Spirit will outlive his death.
Neelakanta Doddappa
He was the first cousin of my dad… And probably one of the closest friends of my dad. I grew up on heady tales his brilliance and intellectual prowess.. Someone who could challenge World Bank consultants from Canada on the design of Arch dam @ Idukki.. One who could bring in innovative changes in hydro electric dam designs which could earn him an honorary membership of American Society of civil Engineers.. It is said that one the consultants had forwarded his brilliant ideas and that was good enough to earn him an honorary membership… If he was not afflicted with Parkinson disease at an pretty early age, I think he would have made much more impact in India like an E.M. Sreedharan. .. When I got an admission to Engineering, he presented me with a very old book on Metrics and measurement ( Originally written in German and translated to English) and he said , that is all one needs to know as an Engineer other than basic principles of things work.. It was quite amazing to see him solve problems from Integral calculus when his mind appeared to be free from the clutches of the disease.. Once I remember him telling my dad, that he finds it difficult to remember so many things including faces, except for Mathematics.. Last month when I had met my high school headmaster ( who was a classmate of Neelakanta Doddappa @ Intermediate), he told me if one person who could answer all the questions of a present day engineering entrances, probably it was Neelakantan.. Probably that compliment from a classmate after some 60 odd years says it all. I had lost the book he had presented to me. But one thing I retained was his signature.. I had designed my own signature after the one he had signed on that book. Of course his was more precise, and contoured to perfection like that Arch dam.
Gopalathatha
He was my favorite teacher who showed me the world of Jiddu Krishnamurthy, Frijit Capra and rationalism. My grandmother’s cousin, I had first seen him when he walked into attend his estranged brother’s funeral. I was told he had gone away from home after some misunderstanding and never returned to his home town for a very long time. Immly after he returned, the first thing he started was to open his free tuition centre. And soon my Dad ushered me and brother into his class. And I remained there for a very very long time till his death. A remarkable human being and teacher, who did not allow the tragedies of his own life (he had lost his wife very early and later in his life had to see his young son succumb to Leukemia) to distract or deter from his mission of imparting knowledge to many. One of early recipients of National Teacher Award ( For some reason he had hung his photo with Ms. Indira Gandhi to the corners of inner room ( may be after emergency), but he had proudly displayed the Brass peacock along with a note from one of his students just behind his seat), he stood out for his scholarly knowledge of English language, Literature, philosophy and economics.. Someone who lead his life like a disciplined Zen master’s, with pristine purity like his usual attire of white shirt and dhoti. What stuck to my mind forever, was his stoic expression even at his son’s funeral and his short and bland sentences which often conveyed much more than what he said. I felt he often kept a clinical distance between himself, his emotions and even his pain. My last memory of him was when I visited him at his hospital bed. He was diagnosed with cancer, which had spread throughout his body.. I had taken the small book of Siddhartha to read during my travel to the hospital in Perinthanmanna which was just one hour by road from Mannarkkad. He asked me to read a passage from it and as I was reading the passage about rebirth he stopped me . He told me about how Albert Camu, one of his favorite authors. Albert Camu died in a road accident and the great irony was he hated travelling by road and he had a train ticket to his destination in his pocket when he died. He just said thru his smile, that life is just like that. He was dead and gone within another week and I deliberately avoided attending his funeral. I just wanted to retain my last memory of him as it is.
Another person whom I wanted to write about was my dad, but then I think he has never gone away from me.. The kindest and most generous soul I have ever known was always there for me and I am sure he will be there forever..
I am not sure whether in Heaven they get to read blogs, or for that matter the existence of Heaven itself. I wish them well whole heartedly with immense gratitude.

whiz Kids : Percepts and Concepts

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 16:38:00 +0000

Recent appointment of Nandan Nilekani as head of UID project brought back the old clamoring of “Bring the professionals to Govt” which filled the pages of pink papers during the recent election run of Capt. Gopinath and Meera Sanyal. With due respect to one of the most celebrated Indian businessman of this generation, I would urge the reader to not to rush in taking sides and read the following passage.
In this context, it was quite interesting to read the havoc created by the foremost whiz kid in govt. of this era, Robert McNamara who died recently. McNamara was criticized for applying his abstract thinking to management of the Vietnam War, ignoring the human and moral elements of the conflict. It was said, "McNamara treated everybody like they were a spare part on a Ford".
In his later years McNamara sought to atone for his role, and advocated a rethinking of the US and UK nuclear posture, advocating nuclear disarmament. But it was too little too late. His grudging mea culpa was just not good enough for a generation who had known him as Bomber Bob whose great abilities in statistics just ensured more Japanese and Vietnamese deaths and maiming.
When William F Buckley said that he would rather be governed by the first 2000 people in the Boston Telephone directory than by two thousand Harvard Professors, he did have valid point.
As De Bono rightly said “Many highly intelligent people are poor thinkers. Many people of average intelligence are skilled thinkers. The power of a car is separate from the way the car is driven. One has to watch the movie Enron: the smartest people in the room to see this opinion at its extreme.
In much more moderated view a high powered IQ without the ability of empathetic perception is a sure recipe to disaster. High powered IQ will just take us faster to the brink. If the reams of papers have to be believed Nandan is someone who was blessed with equal amount of EQ to match his famed IQ.
I end my case with a great passage from Peter Drucker’s semi-autobiographical account “Adventures of a bystander”.
In the chapter titled “Ernest Freedberg’s World,” Drucker writes about two old-line merchants. The first of these, called “Uncle Henry” by those who knew him, was the founder and owner of a large and successful department store. When Drucker met him, he was already in his eighties. Uncle Henry was a businessman who did things by intuition more than by formal analysis, and his own son Irving, a Harvard B-School graduate, was appalled at “the unsystematic and unscientific way the store was being run.”
Drucker remembers his conversations with Uncle Henry. “He would tell stories constantly, always to do with a late consignment of ladies’ hats, or a shipment of mismatched umbrellas, or the notions counter. His stories would drive me up the wall. But gradually I learned to listen, at least with one ear. For surprisingly enough he always leaped to a generalization from the farrago of anecdotes and stocking sizes and color promotions in lieu of markdowns for mismatched umbrellas.”

Reflecting many years later, Drucker observes: “There are lots of people with grasshopper minds who can only go from one specific to another–from stockings to buttons, for instance, or from one experiment to another–and never get to the generalization and the concept. They are to be found among scientists as often as among merchants. But I have learned that the mind of the good merchant, as also of the good artist or good scientist, works the way Uncle Henry’s mind worked. It starts out with the most specific, the most concrete, and then reaches for the generalization.” Drucker also knew another leading merchant, Charles Kellstadt (who had once run Sears.) Kellstadt and Drucker served together on a Department of Defense advisory board (on procurement policy), and Kellstadt told “the same kind of stories Uncle Henry had told.” Drucker says that his fellow board members “suffered greatly from his interminable and apparently pointless anecdotes.”
On one occasion, a “whiz kid” (this was during the McNamara era) was presenting a proposal for a radically new approach to defense pricing policy. Kellstadt “began to tell a story of the bargain basement in the store in Chillicothe, Ohio, where he had held his first managerial job, and of some problem there with the cup sizes of women’s bras. He would stop every few sentences and ask the bewildered Assistant Secretary a question about bras, then goes on. Finally, the Assistant Secretary said, “You don’t understand Mr. Kellstadt; I’m talking about concepts.” “So am I,” said Charlie, quite indignant, and went on. Ten minutes later all of us on the board realized that he had demolished the entire proposal by showing us that it was far too complex, made far too many assumptions, and contains far too many ifs, buts, and whens.” After the meeting, another board member (dean of a major engineering school) said admiringly, “Charlie that was a virtuoso performance. But why did you have to drag in the cup sizes of the bras in your bargain basement forty years ago?” Drucker reports that Charlie was surprised by the question: “How else can I see a problem in my mind’s eye?”
From these two encounters, Drucker draws this conclusion:“Fifty years or more ago the Uncle Henry’s and the Charlie Kellstadts dominated; then it was necessary for Son Irvin to emphasize systems, principles, and abstractions. There was need to balance the overly perceptual with a little conceptual discipline. I still remember the sense of liberation during those years in London when I stumbled onto the then new Symbolical Logic (which I later taught a few times), with its safeguards against tautologies and false analogies, against generalizing from isolated events, that is, from anecdotes, and its tools of semantic rigor. But now we again need the Uncle Henrys and Charlie Kellstadts. We have gone much too far toward dependence on untested quantification, toward symmetrical and purely formal models, toward argument from postulates rather than from experience, and toward moving from abstraction to abstraction without once touching the solid ground of concreteness. We are in danger of forgetting what Plato taught at the very beginning of systematic analysis and thought in the West, in two of the most beautiful and moving of his Dialogues, the Phaedrus and the Krito…They teach us that experience without the test of logic is not “rhetoric” but chitchat, and that logic without the test of experience is not “logic” but absurdity. Now we need to learn again what Charlie Kellstadt meant when he said, “How else can I see a problem in my mind’s eye?””

Modi and Macbeth.

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sat, 02 May 2009 07:19:00 +0000

This is in response to Suhel Seth’s article Why India needs a Modi?” http://www.financialexpress.com/news/why-india-needs-narendra-modi/375103/0.

It is not as if we should take cocktail circuit socialites, admen “intellectuals” and writers of salacious trashy novels that seriously. Their self righteous nature (which blooms to its full under the TV studio arc lights) and grandiose statements (Post 26 /11) can even dull the so called Spirit of Mumbai. (It reflected in the voting % of Mumbai South.). But it is important to point out the hollowness and thoughtlessness of such arguments.

Firstly it was pointed out that Modi is not the only politician out there who is communal. 1984 Sikh Riots and the Congress involvement is always raised as a way of defending indefensible. The role played by politicians of all hues and shades in dividing people on religious / regional / Linguistic lines for political benefit in Indian context is well documented. (Even CPI (M) had enlisted someone like Abu Nasser Madany for petty political gains.) Most of them live in the Grey area of spectrum (between Black and white). But none like Modi, has ever crossed over to the Black side of the spectrum. No Indian politician of significance had allegation against him of directly involved in a planned pogrom like " after Godhra riots". Atleast i could not remember any one who is being projected as the Future Prime Minister. Probably the exasperated advice of A.B. Vajpayee to Modi to follow Rajadharma says it all. Nobody has ever used the pain of such a tragedy again, again and again for electoral benefits. If Jagdish Tytler should be denied a ticket to contest for a Lok Sabha election, what is the criterion by which people project Modi as Indian Prime Minister. An absurd argument was raised that he was given a clean chit by Nanavati commission. One should remember that same Nanavati commission had suggested a “Probability” about Tytler’s involvement in Sikh riot based upon an affidavit of a victim, thought the affidavit of a ADGP of Gujarat Police Mr. Srikumar’s affidavit and evidences suggesting the involvement of Modi, are of no relevance. So in my opinioin, it is more of whitewashing effort, which in all probability will end up in dustbins of history after Raghavan’s committee’s investigation.

The main point about is Modi's passion for development. I find this argument quite amusing. Gujarat was one of the most industrialized states along with Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, even before Modi cam e to the scene. It was not that bad. He did not have to start from Gound Zero. Gujarat was never a Orissa or Bihar. While we do appreciate the passion for development of Narendra Modi and do consider it as one of his plus points , we also have to compare him other CMs in India who have made their mark in that area. Nitish Kumar, Sheila Dixit, Shivaraj Chouhan etc are no way inferior to a Modi in their zeal and commitment for developing their states. Probably they may be lacking in the ability to show their frugal nature and childlike passion to the likes of Suhel Seth (while hiding a designer wardrobe and expensive watches!) .:-) . And most importantly they don’t have to carry the burden of the allegation of being an Abettor of such a heinous crime in their shoulders. We need more like them . India do have space for more Nitish Kumars and Shivaraj Chouhans and Sheilas..

But even one Modi, is just too much.

In Shakespeare's Macbeth, Lady Macbeth begins to compulsively wash her hands in an attempt to cleanse an imagined stain, representing her guilty conscience regarding crimes she had committed and induced her husband to commit.

Is the Missionary zeal and commitment of Modi towards development , a futile attempt like Lady Macbeth ?

Bofors BJP and The Truth

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:41:00 +0000

Due to the effort of The Hindu / N Ram and Chitra Subramanyam, there are no more Secrets in Bofors Deal. We the readers of The Hindu knows it like daylight. I still remember the codewords of the accounts Lotus , Tulip etc.. Also the reported attempts to coverup from Shankaranand committee to Madhav Singh Solanki are well documented.

But as a general public and Citizen of India, i wonder why BJP was not able to take this to a logical conclusion when they were in power.. After all, Arun Jaitley lead this investigation as Addl. Solicitor General during V.P.Singh regime and Law minister for Vajpayee.

The Delhi Highcourt acquitted the accused because the investigating agency could not submit authenticated Swiss documents. Why Arun Jaitley and BJP Govt did not appeal against the High court verdict, even though Govt. was supposed to appeal within 6 months of the verdict. They sat over the verdict for full five months...

The answer could be found in the following artcile. Pls read the Article by Praveen Swami in Frontline. http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1507/15071080.htm.

"Several senior party figures were involved in the Bofors-centred campaign that brought V.P. Singh to power in 1989, but the personal closeness of some top persons in the BJP hierarchy to the Hinduja family is an open secret. Documentary evidence published by The Hindu in 1988-89 clearly links some of the Hinduja brothers to the Bofors payments and the prolonged attempt to cover up the scandal"

It is quite possible that save some one, they had to let go the other. Also a closed case, will be of little use as a Political Weapon.

Rhetoric and Cheap Rabble rousing.. Narendra Modi, Priyanka Gandhi

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sun, 12 Apr 2009 17:04:00 +0000

Election season is back in India. And i am having a great time.. I have been a great admirer of Indian political scene for a very long time.. I just love the Debates, exchanges, great speeches and rhetoric and this great event which has no parallel any where else in the world. Unlike other "Typical Middle class Indians who appear on India's "News Trader " (as per Narendra Modi) 24 * 7 channels", i am not politician hater or basher..More or less, our politicians are not that bad.. Compare our state of affiars with that of Pakistan... Even though i do wish our current political discourse and debate could be of better standard. I just love great orators.. (even though their tribe in in extinction ) I believe ability to communicate, and communicate well is one talent which should be appreciated..I think Obama's ability to connect thru convincing communication was good enough to erase the gap in administratlive abilities and credentials of his opponent. I am quite fortunate to have listened to an EMS Namboothirpad, Vajpayee, E.K Nayanar and many others during election time ... They were simply great. Superb command over language and very dignified. Infact thier election meeting were attended by all the general public in additon to their won party members and sympathesizers.
Our current netas and 24 * 7 TV channels does not understand, we can still put , people on the other side on the mat very gently and graciously like in Aikido. ( of the present lot, Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram, Arun Jaitley will still command respect .. And we can add Lalu yadav and Manishankar Aiyer as well to the list).
I request all the other current generation of Indian Netas to read the book Lion and Unicorn which narrates the rivalry between Disraeli and Gladstone.. Let me add a few examples..
EMS first Chief Minister of Kerala was well known for wisdom and his terrible stammering.. AFter the election, one of the Western journalist had asked him wheter he stammer always.. Pat came the reply "No only when i speak.." Now some good ones from Churchil .
"When you have to kill a man, it costs nothing to be polite" -- Winston Churchill
Lady Astor: "Winston, if I were your wife I'd put poison in your coffee."Winston: "Nancy, if I were your husband I'd drink it."
"A modest man, who has much to be modest about." -- Winston Churchill On Clement Atlee
"The Americans will always do the right thing... after they've exhausted all the alternatives." -- Winston Churchill
To sign off let me write my take on Narendra Modi's comment of Gudiya on Priyanka Gandhi and Congress. Some one should remind Mr. Modi that long time back, some one called Indira Gandhi a Goonghi Gudiya.. And later what a leader she turned out to be.. It is said A.B.Vajpayee called her Goddess Durga after India's victory over Pakistan in Bangaldesh war.. Will History repeats itself ? Let us wait and watch.. ( May i hasten to add that i am not particularly a great fan of Neither Modi nor dynastic politics..). Let us elect Omar Abdulla. His 2 minute speech during the Nuclear treaty debate in the Parliament was just too good.

Journey's with Kabir

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 18:26:00 +0000

Till now, I was never much into folk and Sufi music and Documentary films..By being part of Kabir Festival had changed that.

It was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.. It was mix of classical music and some Music from “Wilderness”.. ( As one of the Artist from Rajasthan explained.)… Even as an uninitiated layman of Music, I could say that in Folk artist ‘s and Qawali there was more life and less of Music. Probably they were not much worried about the notes and swaras and layas…

The best part of the whole experience was the documentary film Koi Sunta Hai ? focused on Kumar Gandharva. Kumar Gandharva was recognised for his musical genius at the age of twelve when Pundit Deodhar took him under his wings, later an unfortunate ailment of tuberculosis left him with just one lung. For Ten long years he could not sing, when his musical prowess at its peak.. He retreated to Dewas , a place in present day Madhya Pradesh. It is said that he regained his health and passion for music after listening to nirguna bhajans of Kabir sung by wanderers /beggars/monks.

PFB an article on journeys with Kabir ( published in Deccan Herald. )

Journeys with Kabir

Yamini Vijayan retraces Kabirs footsteps with Shabnam Virmani.

It still rings in my ears, that monotonous forced chanting that echoed through our classrooms, as we all recited Kabir’s dohas. We would mumble through our yawns, pinch each other while repeating them, almost meaninglessly. It would have never occurred to me then how far ahead of his times Kabir was. Was it because we were too young to understand then or were we not exposed to his powerful ideologies in the right manner?

But why would we turn to a 15th century weaver, a mystic poet, so many centuries later, do we not have enough heroes of our time? Maybe because right now sentiments are brittle, divisive politics are being played out right in front of our eyes and it has become difficult to cling onto hope without turning away from injustice. Today, when communal tensions have managed to make daily headlines, it seems like an appropriate time to go back to Kabir’s beliefs. A champion of Hindu-Muslim unity, Kabir’s bold opposition to superstitious beliefs, empty ritualism and caste distinctions in religion has always made him stand out as a symbol of non-conformity. But today, when religion is being used manipulatively, for all the wrong reasons, Kabir’s remarkably secular voice returns, as a breath of fresh air.

Last week, at multiple venues in Bangalore, a festival celebrating the ideas of Kabir — ‘Koi Sunta Hai’ — was organised through film screenings, seminars, discussions and live musical performances by folk, classical and Sufi singers. The director of the festival, documentary filmmaker Shabnam Virmani says, “The title of the festival draws on a phrase from a Kabir song that urges us to stop and listen. I hope in some small moment in this festival we will quieten down and allow ourselves to get nudged by Kabir away from dogma and self-righteous assertion towards listening with compassion and empathy.”

Shabnam has been working on the Kabir project since 2002. Her project has taken the form of four films, a collection of music CDs and books with Kabir’s poetry, along with the translations. An artist in residence at the Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology, Bangalore, Shabnam feels that for her, Kabir has been a medium to find herself. So, what triggered her personal quest that led her to different parts of the country and even across borders in search of Kabir and his various manifestations? “There were many reasons. One of them was the Godhra riots. I was in Ahmedabad at the time. Also, I wanted to do something related to music, unadulterated music...,” she says.

Shabnam’s set of four films — Journeys with Kabir — zoom in on the lives of an urban folklorist, a social activist, a Zen Buddhist scholar, a Dalit folk singer, a Muslim qawwal, a neo-fascist cleric of a Kabir sect — each of them bringing us closer to the revelation that there is no single Kabir, but instead, that he takes on different forms.
But her films go far beyond the confines of personal lives of those who have found meaning in Kabir’s philosophy, spilling over into socio-political issues, delving into the core of Hindu-Muslim politics and the concept of man-made boundaries. Shabnam also travels to Pakistan, only to discover that Kabir has touched lives even across borders. As she journeys with Kabir singers, stumbling upon revelations, old and new, it is likely that we find ourselves travelling alongside, engrossed in Kabir’s verses.

The Kabir festival that was organised brought together musicians from diverse backgrounds into shared performance spaces, initiating dialogue and cross-cultural collaborations. It also gave people an opportunity to understand Kabir through music, films and engage in his transformative poetry.

At IIM, Bangalore, after the screening of her film, Had Anhad: Journeys with Ram and Kabir, a visibly stirred audience asked her how her six-year-long project had affected her. “I seem to be lapsing into clichés, but it’s been a joyous journey, a transformative experience,” she says, breaking into a wide sincere smile.

Shabnam is also a Kabir singer. Have you always been a singer, I ask her. “I have always been fond of music. But it is the democratic ethos of the folk singers and the nasha of being on the road with these singers that inspired me to take to music.” A man from the audience walked up to Shabnam before he left and asked her how she had managed to find all the singers in her films. “You sniff them out. I used to be a journalist,” she replied.

The Kabir project is a way of finding beautiful, powerful voices and helping them strengthen it. “There is so much darkness anyway,” as Shabnam puts it. Hopefully, many of us would draw inspiration from Shabnam’s journey, as she urges us to travel more, read Kabir’s poetry, listen to Kabir’s music and make links to our own lives.

For more details, log on to http://www.kabirproject.org/

The Kabir Project

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 16:43:00 +0000

I have watched some of these documentaries thru NDTV last month… They were really good and captivating. I am attaching the program schedule. I have put in my calendar. I recommend it quite highly...

Vishy

The Kabir Festival is week long event, a festive yet critical immersion in the ideas of the 15th century mystic weaver poet Kabir, through a series of film screenings, live music concerts by folk, classical and Sufi singers from India and Pakistan, discussions, seminars, an exhibition and outreach events in colleges, institutions of higher education, socio-cultural and religious communities in and around, Bangalore.

The festival would be an opportunity for audiences to experience the joy of Kabir in song, while engaging with the radically transformative power of his poetry. It would offer a powerful encounter with the philosophy of Kabir, hopefully generating moments of critical self-awareness and reflection on ideas of cultural identity and social divisions, death and impermanence, oral traditions and the nature of knowledge. It would offer an opportunity for singers from diverse musical and cultural traditions in India and Pakistan to come together in one performative space and share and exchange notes on the oral traditions of Kabir that they represent.

Envisioned by filmmaker Shabnam Virmani (see http://www.kabirproject.org/), the event is an outcome of her experiences consisting of a series of musical journeys in quest of the socio-political and spiritual legacy of Kabir in our contemporary worlds.
This project has been supported by the Ford Foundation and resulted not only in the production of a series of films, music CDs and books, but also many relationships, workshops, festivals and social networks spun off by this 5-year journey.
A range of events are planned as part of this festival in satellite locations and a central venue. They revolve around the 4 recently completed feature-length musical documentaries and the presence of 7 fine singers of Kabir in our midst.

It is an open invitation!

Was Doing Time !

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:14:00 +0000

A few weeks back, when I had published 2 -3 blogs in a week, an esteemed colleague of mine, had told me that instead of Sunday Sambar, i should rename it as everyday sambar. J . Incidentally after that, I was hardpressed for time, i let Sambar drop in my list of priorities. (Not becoz of the Everyday sambar comment.. I swear!) . But i should admit, it was quite nice to receive a note from a good friend of mine, urging me not to convert this into a monthly sambar. He told me in his kind words, that he was really looking forward to my Sunday Sambar servings. So here i go again....

I was away for two weeks. Was doing my time (literally). Was attending my annual Vipassana course. The only difference from a real prison, here we were volunteering to be IN , to be free from Outside World. For almost 10 days.. No Blackberrys /Cell phones. No Emails… No TV. No FM. No Newspapers.. No Reading material… No Talking / Communicating in any other means. Just imagine you are cutting yourself from the outside world, when the latest breaking news was Raju’s (a)Satyam confession and South Africa’s last innings chase of Aussie total and ego on an even keel.

The program is rigorous to say the least. No participant is allowed to leave until the end of the course. All stimuli in the form of reading, writing and talking are forbidden. After a delicious vegetarian lunch at 11.30 a.m., there is nothing but tea and fruits at 5 p.m. And that's the easy part. It's the meditation that is grueling. Continuing virtually nonstop, save for a few breaks for food and rest, it calls for formidable levels of self-control and concentration.

What is Vipassana?

Vipassana in my opinion is the simplest meditation in the world.

“Vipassana is one of two main categories of Buddhist meditation, and means ''insight'' in the Pali language of the Buddhist texts. It is a kind of meditation, found in the Theravada tradition, that aims at an understanding of dukkha or ''suffering,'' anicca or ''impermanence,'' and anatta or ''not-self.'' The Theravada tradition is based on the teachings of Buddha as found in the earliest texts.

Buddhists in South and Southeast Asia practice this 2500-year-old tradition. Vipassana is also called ''Insight meditation'' because the purpose is to give the meditator an accurate understanding of the nature of reality. It helps us explore the deepest levels of the mind, and offers direct access into the spiritual realm without addressing deities or spirits.” (Source unknown.)

Teachers?

This meditation approach was probably discovered by Gautama Buddha, 500 years before the birth of Christ. Although the practice of Vipassana faded for the most part after the seventh century, a Burmese businessman, S. N. Goenka, visited a monastery in the 1950s where it was still practiced by a small group of monks. He was so impressed with this meditation technique that he introduced Vipassana to prison inmates and helped spread the practice around the world. It was quite pleasant to meet Goenkas. I had chosen the centre next Global Pagoda this time. And Goenkaji was there. Even though he was not really doing well, Health wise, was very gracious to meet us. He does not demand ( Manasa Vacha Karmana) Guru like reverence from his Students. I did feel the same kind of respect and love i had felt towards some of the teachers who taught me. (Devaki Teacher ( My 1st std teacher) who could manage bunch of 50 odd brats with that benign smile, without ever needing Shouting or Corporal punishment , Gopalakrishnan Master ( my Grandpa's cousin and who was my mentor and tution teacher, who was a Gandhian , National award winning teacher ) , my headmaster Manimaster who stood out for his knowledge and command of English language & , Dr. Richard Mchugh ( who taught me NLP))......

Why did I choose Vipassana?

Meditation always intrigued me and I have learnt a lot of techniques which I would practice on and off--with unsuccessful results. I don't know whether there was anything wrong with the methods; I probably didn't practice them correctly. Or in some cases I did not feel comfortable being part of a Cult / Guru Worshipping brigade. In any case, I was not happy with my meditation and was looking for something else.

My search for something that does not violate my values did end with Vipassana. The way of the Buddha is not a religion. It has no belief system. No Dogma. I should add that I did take my time on deciding to do this.Even after it was recommended by Dr. Richard McHugh.

Should you do it?

I truly believe that all of us have a “door of change within ourselves”, which can be opened only from inside.

Let me end with a quote from Buddha “Don’t accept something: because you have heard it many times; because it has been believed traditionally for generation; because it is believed by a large number of people; because it is in accordance with your scriptures; because it seems logical; because it is in line with your own belies; because it is proclaimed by your teacher, who has an attractiveypersonality and for whom you have great respect.

Accept it only after you have realized it yourself at the experiential level and have found it to be wholesome and beneficial to one and all. Then, not only accept it but also live up to it. “ I have experienced it. I have accepted it and i am going to live up to it.

An Irish toast in this new year eve.. Till we meet again.

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 15:51:00 +0000

What is the one quality God has given us, in order to not only endure & survive all the troubles of this current world(Terror, Stock market crash, Madoff, recession, global warming etc), but also thrive and enjoy our life ?

Is it our capacity to hope? Is it our ability to put the entire burden on God thru prayers?

I think it is the sense of humor. If you care to notice, all the races which has undergone persecution at the hand of fellow human beings in history (Jews, Sikhs or Irish) seemed have developed this quality in abundance. Ability to laugh at them and at the world and then move on enjoy life.

On this new year eve, I wish to raise this Irish Toast to each one of you, whose paths may have crisscrossed mine during 2008..( or may again in coming years J )

May you live as long as you want and

Never want as long as you live.

May you be in heaven a full hour
before the devil knows you are dead.

May your heart be light and happy,
May your smile be big and wide,
and may your pockets always have
a coin or two inside!

Always remember to forget
the troubles that passed away.
But never forget to remember
the blessings that come each day.

May you always have a clean shirt, a clear conscience,

and enough coins in your pocket to buy a pint!

May neighbors respect you, Trouble neglect you,
the angels protect you, And heaven accept you.

May you have the hindsight to know where you've been,

the foresight to know where you are going,
and the insight to know when you have gone too far.

May misfortune follow you the rest of your life,

and never catch up.

May your mornings bring joy
and your evenings bring peace...
May your troubles grow less
as your blessings increase!

May you get all your wishes but one,
so that you will always have something to strive for.

Till we meet again, Godspeed …

Footnote: Probably my liking of Irish is a direct result of knowing Dr. Richard McHugh. I consider quite fortunate to be a student of this venerable NLP guru. His attitude to life, fortitude & dignified bearing was really striking. He seemed to have more Indianess than many of us. A man of incredible energy even in his late 70s, which he attributes to disciplined living and awareness, he is also Jesuit Priest (Infact someone who spoke about Buddha, Vipassana and Demello with equal élan.) It was quite amazing that he could hold the interest of motley crowd for more than 4 weeks. While he taught NLP techniques, subconsciously he directed many of us towards Demello, Vipassana and Spirituality. He travels around the world teaching NLP and lives out of two small suitcases. And absolutely carry no other baggage including saint hood. (Literally!). May he spend many more years in this wonderful world spreading goodness.

On Corporate (mis)governance.

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 17:34:00 +0000

This corporate news bulletin which was quite overlooked 3 months ago suddenly became very significant in the present context.

“Satyam Computer Services Ltd. (NYSE: SAY), a leading global consulting and information technology services provider, has won the coveted Golden Peacock Global Award for Excellence in Corporate Governance for 2008. ……..

"It is a real honor for Satyam to receive such a prestigious award,” said Srinivas Vadlamani, Satyam CFO. “It is a testament to our efforts to continually innovate and advance corporate governance best practices in our industry and around the world."

http://www.satyam.com/media/pr6Sep08.asp

I remember one of the recipients of Malcom Baldridge award filed for Bankruptsy immediate after they won the award. J. Some of these awards seem to be jinxed.

Present woes of Satyam are well documented and do not deserve any more space. So this post is not about Satyam’s present state of affairs.

There was an interesting monologue from Suhel Seth on Governance or lack of it in India during the many debates in our 24 * 7 TV studios after the Mumbai Terror attack. Suhel Seth was seething. (Very rightly so.). . The Business community (the booted and suited ones) & the Anchors were all over the political class. They had diagnosed what ails our govt. and political class and had clear prescriptive solutions.

It was reported in NDTV, that Maytas real value is Rs. 21 crore. How can someone with 8 % of shares utilize $ 1? 6 Billion to buy highly overrated companies promoted by their own family. It is interesting to note that Satyam board comprises four academicians, a former Union Cabinet Secretary and one of the founders of Intel’s Pentium chip. Probably the slick marketing of the resumes of these worthies had won for Satyam the Golden Peacock award for corporate governance this year

One of them Prof. Krishna Palepu’s bio data in HBS website reads “In the area of corporate governance, Professor Palepu’s work focuses on how to make corporate boards more effective, and on improving corporate disclosure. Professor Palepu teaches these topics in several HBS executive education programmes aimed at members of corporate boards: Making Corporate Boards More Effective, Audit Committees in a New Era of Governance. He also co-led Harvard Business School’s Corporate Governance, Leadership, and Values initiative, launched in response to the recent wave of corporate scandals and governance failures.” It was a different matter, that Mr. Palepu was a longtime advisor to Satyam.

Some time back Union Finance Minister P.Chidambaram stated in the floor of Parliament that “the big industrial companies/borrowers have been the top defaulters." The amount owed by Indian Business houses was a staggering Rs. 50,000 crores. It was quite amusing to read “Responding to members' demand that the names of big defaulters be published, he said there was a provision in the Reserve Bank of India Act that mandated confidentiality.” One should see this in contrast to the ways and means Banks adopt against poor peasants of this country driving them to Suicides.

How come the Indian Public don’t get to hear any condemnation from the likes of CIIs / ASSOCHAMs / Tavleen Singh’s and Suhel Seths ?

We Indians do deserve better Governance, Government and certainly better political leaders. Also don’t we deserve better Business persons? Sadly the voices that keep harping on Politicians and Govt are never raised against their own ilk, even when they are caught with their pants down.

Why can’t they start the changes they want to see in others with themselves?

I wonder how many of the present day Business houses, have the moral right to preach to a pick pocket. (Leave alone other sections of the society).

Objective Analysis of Jaswant Singh's Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 16:23:00 +0000

Jaswant Singh is one of the few Indian politicians to have been the Minister for Defence, Finance and External Affairs. A self described social democrat, he is also one of the few BJP leaders who don’t belong to the Parivar (I mean “Sangh” ). It was rumored that he was Vajpayee’s first choice as Finance Minister , but was vetoed by “folks @ Nagpur” ( 7 Race course Road power centre for BJP). Even though, his performance during NDA rule was quite creditworthy, his critics say his lasting legacy was the picture of India’s External Affairs Minister escorting Terrorists to Kandahar, which according to me is highly unfair.

The purpose of this essay is not to go into the merits or demerits of his Kandahar Trip. But rather this is an attempt in analyzing his thought process during those tense moments of Kandahar hijack episode. I did see his NDTV interview on that episode after 26/11. He said his decision w.r.t Kandahar was taken with the principle, that the lives of 166 people who were held hostage in that Indian Airlines plane are precious. You can’t argue with that.

Let us go back in time machine and be flies on the wall in the meeting room of Cabinet (i.e. GOI Cabinet ministerial meeting room.)

You could hear, Mr. Singh in his baritone voice, arguing for the exchange of terrorists in lieu of hostages. His arguments are really impressive.

Lives of 166 people vs. the harm Mazood Azhar and his two colleagues can bring to India. The first part is absolutely certain. As someone who bored even Strobe Talbot to death and agreement in marathon negotiations about Indo – US friendship, Mr. Singh can talk to the folks at Kandahar and ensure the safety of our citizens. For the second part of the equation, we need to bring in people who are good in Probability theory as well as sooth saying. Who knows, transformed by the magnanimity offered by Govt. Of India, L.K. Advani and Jaswant Singh, Mazood Azhar might decide to turn into a “Father Theresa” and serve the humanity here after. If he goes back to his old ways, then let us keep requesting Pakistan governments (plural is intended, because at any point of time, Pakistan is known to be ruled by 5 – 6 power centers!) to return him to India, so that any future Govt. @ Delhi can use him as exchange material for future hostage crises.

So it was quite an easy decision to make. A certain present vs. “an uncertain future”.

Send Mazood Azhar to Kandahar. “Curtain” on Act 1.

Come back to the present interview. We should salute the integrity of Mr. Singh who did own up the responsibility of the act. (Unlike Mr. Advani who t don’t (can’t ) remember that episode at all, even though he wrote an 800 odd page volume about rest of his life (except the Kandahar). ). Also we should appreciate the value Mr. Singh ascribes to Lives of Indian citizens. He was not a soothsayer to predict that instead of those 166 lives we saved @ Kandahar, Mazood Azhar took away a bigger number through the mad acts of his lunatic Fanatics.

What I really don’t appreciate ( & understand ) is the second part of the statement which said “if a Kandahar hijack-like situation arose again, he would do the same (release terrorists in lieu of hostages)”.

There is a fair chance that Mr. Singh may return as a Cabinet Minister in the next government. (Either if Advani gets lucky or MMS does an Obama act). Now those terrorists know what to do. Whether we have a TADA /POTA/ Strongest Law in the entire universe (which I would call a – Run – JET LI law), hijack a plane /bus / auto rickshaw, and fax/email the demands to the Govt.

Govt. Of India should appoint a Protocol Officer to take care of such requests and exchange procedures, instead of assigning the responsibility of escorting the released prisoners to External Affairs Minister…

Rahul Dravid and Cricket's soul

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:49:00 +0000

This article on Rahul Dravid ‘s predicament was published (in Tehelka) immediately after the IPL 20 -20 tournament. Probably Dravid’s not-so-good-times started after the disastrous IPL tournament stint for Bangalore challengers and the humiliating appraisal by his "Employer". With due respect, i wanted to acknowledge that Mallya is someone who has built a big business empire with some classical shrewd strategies (Even Sun Tzu would have been proud of!).. He also competes with the likes of Pirelli in dishing out spicy calendars and flying the Tricolor quite high in the sky. .. But it is altogehter a different game to face the likes of Allan Donald, Bret Lee & Shoaib Akthar etc on the fast bouncy pitches and score some 8001 runs @ No. 3. To paraphrase a famous vernacular expression "one needs a different kind of kidney" to acheive what Rahul "the Wall" Dravid has achieved.

I am one of those old fashioned who prefer Test matches compared to the wham-bham variety of Twenty Twenty. One can’t get better thrills than the sight of Tendulkar (& Yuvraj Singh) chasing England total on a fifth day Chennai pitch, a Lara battling alone (almost) in turning tables against an abusive aussie Attack , and Laxman waving his magic wand at those bewildered Kangaroos. These are the memories , which are going to linger in our memory for ever. (Btw how many of us remember Yuvraj Singh's six sixes or Yusuf Pathan's heaves @ IPL. It is like the new Hindi Tunes. We refresh our "RAM" with the new catchy tune evey second day. But the main memory is reserved for those ever green hits. )
I was (still I am) a big fan of Dravid, even though do believe Rohit Sharma can be groomed to be a good No. 3 batsman.

And I am glad Rahul batted quite resolutely back to form today at Mohali. Sincere Best Wishes to him.

Now the article i was talking about:

Rahul Dravid’s loss of dignity in the IPL tells of a deeper malaise in the cricketing world where talent is judged against the weight of money, says NISSIM MANNATHUKKAREN http://www.tehelka.com/story_main39.asp?filename=hub210608sellingcriket.asp

Maps in our Mind

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:32:00 +0000

This post is not about Mind maps, rather the borders/maps we create in our own mind. And this is in response to the statement made by our Hon. Home Minister, PC. "Original Nagaland Maps lost" - http://ibnlive.in.com/news/original-nagaland-maps-lost-chidambaram/80773-3.html.

I sincerely pray, at least we have Map of India in safe custody :-).

Having said that, it is interesting to wonder whether “Mother Earth” keep a Map and differentiate between Countries. Like all mothers (or most of them), Mother Earth too could be quite impartial and love all her sons and daughters in equal measure.

It is known that certain animals do mark their territory and guard it quite zealously. But Human beings are supposed to be "Evolved further” compared to Animals. We boast about Self Awareness which Animals does not possess.

At the same time, still we retain some of the animal Instincts intact with us.

Probably we created the Maps in our mind and then in paper. There are Maps which delineates Nations, States, and even Districts within States. It helps us to distinguish between "Us" and "Them"... Anybody within the line is “Us” and anybody outside the line is “Them". I worked in Germany for almost six months in 1998. It was almost 9 years, since the demolition of the Berlin Wall. One of my German Colleagues was discussing about the Integration between East and West Germany. His brother who was a communist chose to live in East Germany. Even though they started meeting again in family reunions, they recognized the fact that the walls in their mind were not yet demolished. He was jokingly telling me that it is tougher to break the walls in our mind compared to the Berlin wall. Also I do follow with interest, the stories about reunion of Korean families who were separated after the Korean War.

While we talk about Pakistan and Bangladesh, we forget the fact that they were part of the same country not long back. People complain about Bangladeshi infiltrators (which may be valid), but I don’t see anyone talking about the need to seal our borders with Nepal. Don’t they think, Maoist elements in Nepal could be helping to fan the naxalite strife in India? What about the support we had provided to LTTE over the years. Even though after the Rajiv Gandhi murder, our support was not overt, I am sure still there are elements in Union of India who support the cause of Tamil Elam in Srilanka.

Hardly we realize, that we apply the same perspective, mentality and attitude within our own country. How is it different from Amchi Mumbai, Mannina Maga, Namma Bengaluru, Madrasi and Ente Keralam etc? When the enemy from outside takes central stage, we forget our own borders, just for the moment. The moment “the perceived threat” from outside, wanes, it is back to square one. Mumbai for Marathas... and Bangalore for Kannadigas... I was asking a friend of mine from Mumbai, why there were only posters of Hemant Karkare, Salaskars and Khamte in Mumbai.. Don’t they think a Gajendra Singh or Sandeep Unnikrishnan deserve the same treatment? Why the coverage of election from Mizoram was so poor in our national channels compared to even Chhattisgarh? Chinese seems to be wanting our north eastern states more than we do. :-).

Regionalism, nationalism, Linguistic chauvinism & Jingoism are some of the Isms along with a lot of Religion "isms" and Economisms (capitalism and communism); we created to separate us from one another.

I understand there are no easy answers to this. It is not easy to change the structure of our thoughts and the way we live that easily.

It is not easy to transcend the boundaries in our mind. Very few people in the history of mankind were able to achieve that. A Tagore, A Bertrand Russell, A Gandhi...

One thing I am sure about is, the candle lights Barkha Dutt started lighting in Mumbai may not be enough to drive away the darkness in our minds. We may need Search lights.

$ 50 Billion Fraud ? A New Low for Wall Street ?

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 02:27:00 +0000

A $ 50 Billion Fraud ? A new low for Wall street ? Probably, this is what Obama meant when he stated " It is going to get worse, before it is going to get better "... My worry is how much worse it can get and when it is going to get better. How many more skeletons are going to tumble out of those Wall steet cupboards..

From the Wall Street Journal:
Bernard L. Madoff, a former chairman of the Nasdaq Stock Market and a force in Wall Street trading for nearly 50 years, was arrested by federal agents Thursday a day after telling two senior employees that his investment advisory business was "a giant Ponzi scheme."In separate complaints filed Thursday, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the federal government alleged that Mr. Madoff had bilked his investors out of tens of billions of dollars.The Securities and Exchange Commission, in a civil complaint, accused Mr. Madoff of an "ongoing $50 billion Ponzi scheme," asking a judge to seize the firm and its assets."Our complaint alleges a stunning fraud that appears to be of epic proportions," said Andrew M. Calamari, associate director of enforcement in the SEC's New York office. Out of more than $17 billion in assets under management by Mr. Madoff's firm at the start of 2008, essentially all the assets appear to be missing, the SEC alleged.In a separate criminal complaint, Federal Bureau of Investigations agent Theodore Cacioppi said Mr. Madoff's investment advisory business had "deceived investors by operating a securities business in which he traded and lost investor money, and then paid certain investors purported returns on investment with the principal received from other, different investors, which resulted in losses of approximately billions of dollars."...The FBI complaint quotes two senior Madoff employees as saying that Madoff Investment Securities' proprietary trading and market-making activities are run separately from its investment advisory business. The complaint said investors' losses came from the firm's asset-management arm, which Mr. Madoff ran on a separate floor of the firm's offices. These employees said Mr. Madoff kept the financial statements from the firm under lock and key and was "cryptic" about the firm's investment advisory business, according to the complaint....The criminal complaint says Mr. Madoff told the two that he believed losses from his fraud exceeded $50 billion. That figure couldn't be confirmed.....Earlier this month, the criminal complaint says, Mr. Madoff told one of the senior employees that "clients had requested approximately $7 billion in redemptions, that he was struggling to obtain the liquidity necessary to meet those obligations."...Mr. Madoff told investors that he returned an average of 15.7% per year going back to January 1996, according to Hennessee Group LLC, an adviser to hedge-fund investors. Between January 1996 and December 2004, when Mr. Madoff's fund provided monthly returns, there were only three reported down months. Most months chalked up returns between 1% and 1.5%Mr. Madoff told investors that his strategy was trading in and out of large-cap stocks and buying options on those shares. When the firm did not see opportunities in the market the strategy was to shift to U.S. Treasuries, according to fund marketing documents and people familiar with his strategy.
From Bloomberg:Madoff faces as much as 20 years in prison and a $5 million fine if convicted. His New York-based firm was the 23rd largest market maker on Nasdaq in October, handling a daily average of about 50 million shares a day, exchange data show. It specialized in handling orders from online brokers in some of the largest U.S. companies, including General Electric Co. and Citigroup Inc.
According to RealMoney.com columnist Doug Kass, general partner and investment manager of hedge fund Seabreeze Partners Short LP and Seabreeze Partners Short Offshore Fund, Ltd., today's late-breaking report of an alleged massive fraud at a well known investment firm could be "the biggest story of the year." In his view, it is bigger than Enron, bigger than Boesky and bigger than Tyco. It attacks at the core of investor confidence -- because, if true, and this could happen ... investors might think that almost anything imaginable could happen to the money they have entrusted to their fudiciaries.

Are you a Leader ?

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 12:20:00 +0000

I believe, it is apt to start with the following quote, which in my opinion captures the essence of leadership beautifully. Let me quote Dee Hock, founder of Visa “Here is the very heart and soul of the matter. If you look to lead, invest at least 40% of your time managing yourself -- your ethics, character, principles, purpose, motivation, and conduct. Invest at least 30% managing those with authority over you, and 15% managing your peers. Use the remainder to induce those you "work for" to understand and practice the theory. I use the terms "work for" advisedly, for if you don't understand that you should be working for your mislabeled "subordinates," you haven't understood anything. Lead yourself, lead your superiors, lead your peers, and free your people to do the same. All else is trivia.

My own experience suggests that we need to invest that more than 90 % of our resources (time and energy) in leading ourselves. If we do that part (leading ourselves) with integrity, then everything else falls in place.

To answer to the question,” Am I a leader?”, I would like to state every human being has the potential to be a Leader and no one can label himself /herself as a Leader all the time. Leadership is nothing but a state of mind. When Life offers us tough questions, if we are in the “Leadership state of mind”, it enables us to answer the question fairly and justly. When we fail to do that, then we cease to be a leader for that moment. In another words, every human being in this world has the potential to be a leader and Leadership is nothing but the “Momentary responses” we offer to the challenges and opportunities life offers us.

The anonymous person who faced Chinese tanks in Tiananmen Square was a great leader at that point of time. At the same time the so called “Leaders” of our time cease to be a Leader many a times.

My own ideas of Leadership (Leadership is a state of mind, everybody has the potential to be a leader and momentary leadership) have evolved from my own experiments with Truth .

So I would like to redefine the question “Are you a leader at this moment?”

I truly believe “You Are , at this moment of time”.

Ideas for Change : Preachers and Practioners ?

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 17:31:00 +0000

Ideas for Change: the NDTV Profit program (Telecast on Dec 6) with corporate honchos anchored by Shivnath Thukral and Omkar Goswamy was better than (only slightly) many other run-of- the-mill After- Terror-what- next programs. There were many refreshing and insightful views from the Coated and booted CEOs... Then there were some views which had the Simi Garewal touch & class.

One point that stuck to my mind was made by Kishor Biyani of Future Group. He was ardently talking about "Principle Centered Leadership” and “Paradigm Change". And then he spoilt his case by "being honest" about the Speed Money his company was "compelled" to pay as Bribe for the 28 odd licenses each one of his outlets supposed to get from Govt./civic bodies. He sounded so helpless about the "Speed Money", as if his company did not have a Choice. Absolutely no space between the stimulus (of “Speed money" seeking) and the Response (of speed money giving).

What would have happened, had his group followed an "Anti Bribe policy". In the short run, the time taken by his group to establish shops would have increased, there by decreasing his profit margin for the calendar year. At the same time, would not it have strengthened the moral fibre of his organization.

Note, he is not a budding entrepreneur whose very survival is at stake. He is someone who has done pretty well in life. Someone who has built a Retail empire in no time. Someone who competes with the mighty Reliance in Retail space.

I am not viewing with the "holier than thou” lens. I understand there are lots of things out there in the Grey... (Not in black and white...)...

The choices for a business house (according to me) are:

Either do the Business, the way it is done now... Pay the “Speed Money"... Boast about the reduction in cycle time for opening new outlets, Talk about Economies of scale, Operating efficiency and Return to the stake holders, (but avoid talking about Principle centered leadership and Paradigm Change)

Or stand up to the system, make the initial sacrifice and then Preach to others.

One is not expected to do both at the same time. They are absolutely mutually exclusive.

Every Change that we wish to see outside there should start from within.

We need to Practice, before we Preach.

Enough is Enough !

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 17:48:00 +0000

If a system has to work optimally, all components should work as it should. Every component of a system should understand, that its freedom ends when another component's freedom starts.
Fortunately or unfortunately ours is a democratic system. There are many components that makes this complex eco system tick. Common Public (Atheists, Middle ground to Fanatics), Politicians (Manmohan Singh to Pappu Yadav), Civil Servants, Media ( The Hindu to infinite number of blogs), Security Forces , Human right activists ( Arundathi Roy, PUCL , Krishna Iyer) or plain dissenters constitute this eco system. If one of the components tries to oscilate beyond its defined wave length band, the whole system will go out of sync. There will be cacophony instead of symphony.
Our governing system does have its own shortcomings. But is the shortcomings only limited to the governing class ? I beg to differ. As a society we deserve the politicians we have...( Let someone publish the voting % of South Mumbai since 1993 for all the elections from corporation to parliament). To extend that logic, we also deserve the media we have. ( Here our Learned anchors gets mixed up between Tu Tu Main Main serials and a serious meanigful debate)
We have raised questions about Pakistan, Terrorists & Our netas .. It is high time to ask the same questions about our electronic media. Are they doing a fully constructive job after the Mumbai blasts (regardless their good inentions) ? . NDTV gets some one like Simi Grewal , who wants nothing but "Carpet Bombing" of Pakistan and "We wont pay any more taxes" rhetoric ...( Wow... another Civil disobdience movement).. Dont they realize such empty rhetoric at such a traumatic and emotional moment, may influence many.
I was so glad that Govt. of India chose Julious Rebeiro and KPS Gill to take care of Punjab Terrorism.. Otherwise, Punjab would have been History by now :-)..
Times Now tv now keep asking this much "loaded" question to its viewers " Will the Kasav go the way Afsal Guru. Will a Billion people be cheated of justice ?"

Do they realize Murugan who was sentenced to death for Rajiv Gandhi Assasination is still languishing in Indian Prison without being hanged ? (Accused 3: Sriharan alias Murugan alias Thas alias Indu Master; Sri Lankan; arrested on June 14, 1991; confessional statement recorded on Aug 8, 1991. On May 11, 1998 The honorable supreme court did upheld the conviction and punishment. ) Wasn't Mr. Advani the home minister and Arun Jaitely the law minister for such a long time. Did they think, the brutal assasination of Mr. Rajiv Gandhi is less of crime, compared to Parliament attack. For the last 4 years. isn't Sonia Gandhi the "real PM" of India according to her detractors ? Couldn't she have done somthing to advance the execution date of her husband's murderers?
The reason why they dont interfere in these matters (according to me), they do have a conscience and a belief in humanity. They may be also beleiving that Individual retribution and revenge does not help us in anyway.
Wasn’t Satwant Singh , the convicted murderer of Mrs. Gandhi defended by none other than Ram Jethmalani who later went on to take the responsibility of Law ministry in Vajpayee cabinet .. ( Isn’t this Indianess we should preserve. The Law minster of our great nation was someone who was a great professional. Did that diminish his stature ? Absolutely no.)

I am really amazed at the fact, this calumny about Afzal Guru was allowed to grow as cactus in Indian minds by vested interests.
In 1947, India won its independence along with Pakistan. After so many years, regardless of our shortcomings, if we have done pretty well as a nation, it is only because of the value system left behind our founding fathers. Look at our neighbor. It is going to be a failed nation. As a nation we survived many of the trials and tribulations, only because our Core values which are still strong. We will not only survive the latest crisis, but also thrive, despite our godforsaken system, despite some of the politicians (who only think about Votebank politics), despite some of the elements in media and despite some of our citizens who are so shortsighted their horizon starts at their nose..

The Socialites of South Mumbai hardly realize that we ordinary Indians ( From Assam to J& K) have endured all these Trauma thru ages... They woke up and made this a matter of India, only when there favorite restaurant Wasabi was hit.

It is high time we realize that we need to Respond and not react...

And Respond with Good judgement..

We need to separate SUBATANCE from NOISE ....

We need to be TOUGH, but without losing HUMAN TOUCH..

We need to be ANGRY , but should NOT LET ANGER BLIND OUR EYES..

Accountability- The need of the hour in India

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 09:22:00 +0000

Good.. At last People Power started working.....There is a silverline in the cloud
Shivaraj Patil, R.R. PAtil and Deshmukh... It would have been better had they resigned on their own accord... It is quite obvious, a bit of "persuasion" was needed to make them turn inwards and face their Conscience..:-)
What i did not understand, is the hue and cry made by the "party with a difference"...
It is not as if Things started happening just after Shivaraj Patil toook over the charge @ home ministry....
There were huge lapses during Advani's time as well.. ( the way IA flight was allowed to go to Kandahar, Parliament attack, Akshardam Temple attack, Godhra Train carnage, the way Bangladesh Rifles killed Indian soldiers and Mother of all Blunders - Kargil where our soldiers had to fight enemy with some really bad gear.).... Nobody felt, some body has to own up responsibility.
If you happen to view our TV Channels over the last few days, there were a lot of anger and frustration from people. It is quite valid.. But people should remember that Anger is a precious commodity.. Need to channel this anger into positive direction and worthwhile acctions..
In my humble opinion the need of the hour, Two Fundamental changes.
One w.r.t Election rules, so that we are empowered to recall our represenatative (Panchayat, MLA or MP) at any point of time in his /her tenure. A memorandom with a basic % of electorate should force the Election Commision to have a relection. It is going to cost us a bit more. ( It can be done quite easily with EVMs).. But compared to the cost of letting these folks rule without any Accountability, it should not matter.

Second: For Executive and Governance let us stipulate that MLA and MPs can not be Ministers. Let them concentrate on taking care of their constituencies and legislative business.
Let PM and CM fill the executive post from all the talent available in the country. Let the Defence Minsiter be some one who has retired from Army / Navy /Airforce.... Let us have a Health minister like Devi Shetty or Dr. Venugopal.. For Education, let them appoint some one like Prof. Yashpal....

Urgent Requirement... Home Minister... Attractive Perks for Deserving Candidates

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 10:14:00 +0000

Ideal Candidate will be a Professional Security expert who understands the Security needs and concerns of a Big, democratic and complex nation.

Should be a leader who will be able to rise above petty partisan outlooks ( whether minority appeasing or majority appeasing.)

Should not go by the DNA of the person in question.. Should allow the investgating agency and courts to decide on the Innocence of the accused.

Should not be particular about looking trendy or fashionable.. Should be ready to wear the standard khaki uniform for the next 5 years.

Should not have crocodile tears while thinking about "Sadhvi's" or "Other Religious leaders" who gets arrested in connection with the crimes they commit.

Should not be so foolish to announce in live television " 200 NSG commnados have left Delhi @ 10:30 pm and will be taking part in the operation"

Should not be some one "who will send out the most wanted terrorist" outside the prison as a state guest escorted by our External affairs minister

Should not doubt the integrity of some one like Hemant Karkare

Wont see the Naxal problem as "the problem by some misguided youth"

Will see Terrorist as a Terrorist.. Wont go by religion, color, language or nationality..

Wont hesitate hanging a convicted terrorist... ( If he is some one who helps an attack on our parliament.. or some one mastermind the assasination of a former Prime Minister..)

Eligbile candidates pls apply to....

India - Against Terror...

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:15:00 +0000

We got to learn to walk, before we can start to Run...
Before being able to tackle enemies from outside, we should be able to take care of internal problems..
What are these Internal Problems...
People who whip up regional passion for petty ends... ( From "Assam" to "Marathi Manoos" to "Mannina Magas" to J&K)....
People who exploit religion... ( Imam's who give Fatwas, Parivar's whose vision of india is different from ours... and those Preachers who think they need to convert people to save them...)
People for whom Ideology is more important than the concept of India..( those Naxalites, Communists who see the world thru the lens of China etc)..
Only then, we will be able to stand up to enemies from outside..

Concept of India- Lesson No: 1

noreply@blogger.com (Vishy Sankara) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 09:10:00 +0000

See the irony of the day...:-)
To save the "Duplicate Paper Tiger", they needed a lungiwala Madrasi ( remember his Uncle, Original Paper Tiger's hey days....) from a "Bihar Regiment" to sacrifice his life.....
Sorry folks... I am not whipping up regional passion...
I really pray that these guys, wake up....
Our Country will be saved only when we grow out of this "Narrow selfish vertical views",who dont

understand or respect the Concept of India.