Straight from the Common Man’s Heart

Disclaimer- The thoughts, expressed here are mine and do not promote, endorse or reflect any political agenda. Any similarity is completely coincidental and fictional.

For those less informed, well before Arvind Kejriwal chose the name “AAM Admi” for his political party, my blog was named the common man’s blog, inspired by the great cartoonist of our times, Shri RK Laxman. The smiling mascot of the common man adorned the website for some time, before it got replaced by a human identity (had to change it, as the site was becoming popular and there could have been copyright issuesJ).

There is a little bit of history related to the christening of the blog site as the common man, and I envisaged one before christening it. The common man has humorical satire of presenting his ideas. Laxman’s cartoons provoke the masses, to do something different even during the grimmest situations in life. Thus was born the Common Man’s Blog.

For the uninitiated here is a video that quickly shows a glimpse of his cartoons.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-q0yM6vuww

So, remembering the common man on the last day of the year, here is the tale that I am going to narrate, which can inspire you to do something distinctly in the year to come. Trust me; the words carry a little bit of weight, as I can predict to some extent, the shape of things to come.

Speak out and stand out - The time has now arrived to come out and speak, with the rise of the AAM admi, let your decibels rise for what is good. Be heard if you are correct, and you have the temerity as well as the audacity to stand by your words. For more than a decade the voice of the common was suppressed, whether it was get a simple license issued, or if it was to get a license issued for a new plant. From a pin to plane, everything single thing demanded vitamin M (money as usually termed by me). The times have arrived, and the common man has now the voice to speak against injustice, uncouth behaviour, corruption and any other malice in the society. So go ahead and shout and your voices will be heard.

Strive for a corruption free society – The country has been struggling and fighting against the burden of this disease since independence, and it has spread its tentacles across spheres. Every minor thing that needs to be accomplished, is achieved under the shades of corruption, not any more. Kejriwal and his men have shown, that in the dawn of the 21^st century, corrupts will not be tolerated, the power hungry buffoon politician’s will be toppled and the society will rout this evil called corruption. Let us move toghether and in unison to achieve a corruption free society. The first step has been taken, lets walk an extra mile to achieve the goal of a corruption free society.

Encourage changes in the sphere of your work and dwelling – Kejriwal rightly points out that, he does not have a magic wand and I strongly second that. Governments, administrators do not have silver bullets to change economies, cities overnight, and nothing can be achieved without the support of the people. It is integral that the beginning has been made and it is crucial to take make the next move. It’s our responsibility, let’s start small, by stopping to litter around, by respecting traffic lights, by ceasing to spit at public places, by not honking at public places, by raising our voices against eve teasing. I believe change is possible, and it only needs courage and conviction.

Support, strive and sacrifice – It has never been easy to achieve the ideal conditions for living. We need to support the people at the helm, strive to inject the desired changes that we envisage in our society and sacrifice our comfort so that our future generations can see a new dawn and live in a society better society.

Happy New year and lets strive for a change starting today.

Drawing Parallels from the Marathon Sessions

I have been a runner for quite sometime, but this time I intended to do something distinctly, and that was to challenge myself to run a marathon. I was aware about the benefits of running, but i simultaneously also intended to run for the pursuit of a goal, and there began a saga. A saga, which I intend to communicate to the world, that what lessons can be drawn, in our professional lives by staying fit, and how does one excel at work.  The lessons when implemented, in our professional lives can yield fantastic results, and can prove fruitful to our units, verticals and the organisation as a whole. The messages are reflected in an alliterative sense, which are easy to remember and yet implementable.

Prior preparation prevents poor performance - One of the integral practices that you intend to follow before running a marathon is preparation. It is imperative, that when you intend to run long races in life, both in professional as well as personal spheres, you intend to prepare. You need to check, whether you can carry the burden of the responsibility on your shoulders. Ditto, is the case in our professional lives, when we head towards an important confluence, or when we are elevated to a particular position, we need to analyse ourselves  and try answering some simple, yet vital questions.

Are we prepared to take the role ? Are we prepared to respond to the client ? Is there any information that is missing ? Have we done our homework properly ? What is that, which makes us capable of leading a team ? Do I posses the desired skills to lead ?

If one is able to find responses, to the above indicative yet simple questions, it can be inferred that the individual is prepared. Running a marathon needs preparation, but so does running a vertical, unit or an organsiation.

Dedication determination and discipline - the words are not unheard, and neither are they being spoken for the first time, but what is important is that, they are being reflected, and reflections are based on facts. In our professional lives, many a times we may not succeed in achieving, customer delight, project executions prior to deadlines, satisfactory client engagements and many other tasks, and I feel all this can be achieved, by the '3D" principle,  i.e. Dedication, Determination and Discipline. The pursuit of goals should be done in a dedicated manner, the determination shoud be 'rock strong' and the discipline should not be compromised. One needs to dedicate onself to a task, with a strong determination and a rigorous discipline, and I see no reason, that any task can becomes non-achievable. 

Gun for a goal and garner the gains- Simply execution of tasks will not lead you anywhere, you have to keep the goal in mind. The goal should be unequivocal, practical and time bound. Goal setting is important, when I initiated my runs, I completed a km (kilometere) in 7mins and 15 secs and I set a goal to myself to lower it, and with practice, i lowered it to 6 mins a kilometer. I had a goal in my mind, that if I am able to run a 6 mins a kilometer, I would be to achieve the goal of completing the marathon, under 150 mins, and which I was able to do so. The moral, 'gun for the gain and gain it" and nothing seems impossible.

Deliver on the dedicated day - All said and done, you have prepared, you are determined, and the goal is clear. Now, what is left is delivery, on the day of delivery, be calm and relaxed. You have done what was intended out of you, go with the flow, enjoy the day and keep the focus on the goal. While executing, don't cease, there would be times when you would feel tired, your body may give up, you may feel you are running alone, which is quite parallel, when we are executing and delivering results to our clients and stake holders, but then drawn strength from your mental stamina and see the difference. The task becomes minuscule, the energy flows in and the desire to achieve the goal becomes stronger and stronger. The mind empowers the body and the goal which seemed to be a goliath, now seems venerable, and you as David will conquer Goliath.

The morals are simple, yet effective and the parallels drawn are strong enough to achieve any task, goal or mission and that we intend to achieve in our life. The message, is simple, prepare, dedicate, set a goal and deliver. Keep running and stay motivated.

My Cycling Diaries

One of my very fond addictions include, not that i have many of them, but of course one of them entails my keen affinity towards cycling. My cycling trips have been a real eye opener and have endowed me with some important lessons, which I seldom want to part away with. I am sharing the lessons that I learnt during the course of this rigor, which I presume would motivate others to take up cycling as a hobby or a fitness sport.

Unequivocal vision - As you cycle around the crowded streets, the busy roads occupied by the heavy
locomotives, they huddled lanes filled with

mortals, you have one thing in mind is to clear yourself from the ever ending chaos. The vision is to reach a peace of solace, where you can enjoy the ride, feel the nature and immerse yourself in the process of cycling. I found that the analogy is applicable in my life too, there are times when we are caught up in the quagmire of whether to take up an intended step or not. We ruminate upon the repercussions of our action. The fact is that, the pursuit of vision should not disturbed by any of the factors, as you maneuver you way to a place with peace,  you need to remember that it is applicable in your own life. Think that the peaceful place is the vision, drive yourself, push yourself till you reach the place. Stay in the zone for sometime, but again challenge yourself as milestones cannot be constant, they need to be altered at periodic intervals. Go back to the chaos, find your way back and fill the bliss.

The never say die attitude - The second critical lesson was developing a 'never say die' attitude. While cycling you face strong winds against you, sometimes even the physical stress that you endure is enormous. There comes a point when you are exhausted, dead tired and you want to give up but and then the destination is far, the goal is unaccomplished and so you start developing an attitude of not giving up. You build a will to live, a will to conquer any obstacle that shows up on the way. The metaphor holds true to my life till date. I developed a tendency to  face challenges with perseverance, positive attitude and a patient temperament.

Networking is built by good habits - I often meet people on my way, who admire by bike by lauding its looks and then finally boiling down to the question (kitne ka liya?), which means how much did you pay for it? I refrain from answering that question  as I avoid to brag about my bike, which I brought after paying an astronomical amount. During the conversations, I had an opportunity to network with a lot of good people, who started thinking of initiating cycling as a hobby and I am glad that I am able to infect them with the pursuit of a fine habit.  True if bad habits are infectious, even the good ones are and one cannot even escape from it, but one thing to be kept in the mind is to persistently follow the habit without giving it up.

Effort to go that extra mile - I found that cycling as a hobby always motivates you to go that extra mile, take that extra step, put that added effort to accomplish tasks. It teaches you that the human body is amazing and all the pains rest in the mind, the moment you cease to think over the pain you start winning every battle, every obstacle posed in front of you. I started drawing some important parallels from this process. It built the faith within me that I can go an extra mile, put that extra effort to accomplish personal as well as professional tasks.

I sense the lessons drawn are crucial and can help anyone reach their goals and accomplish any feat that they they are impossible. The one line conclusion for my hobby is - "Impossibles are done right away, miracles take may take some time".  Adopt the sport and see the difference. The time has started and I am away for my cycling.

Delhi haat – A vibrant destination to visit

As times have passed by, I have  cultivated a new habit of wandering and watching colours and appreciating beauty (I know the different kinds of beauty, that exists in the world, but I restrain myself to inanimate natural as well as the artificial beauty).

During one of wanderings, I had an opportunity to take my mother out to Delhi Haat and show her the lively place and in the process delve myself into the amazing world of different shades prevalent at this place. As I meandered, through the different set up shops of the ever crowded Delhi haat, I had a few thoughts that flashed through my mind and so this piece of literature originated in my cerebrum.

Life is full of colours and you need to see through it  to feel the bliss – As I browsed through the stalls and the shops, what made me contented was the vivacious colors displayed through the different items, some hanging inside the shops, some outside. The colors inside the shop would attract you to peep in and soothe your eyes; while the ones outside ones would urge you to see through them, and realize that life is colorful across all the ends with some shades of grey occasionally, testing your patience and optimism. 

A foreigner trying to bargain a good deal

Is it a Noah’s Ark on earth? – As you walk across these distinct shops inside the periphery of the “haat” you will sense that there multifarious audience walking past you. They come in different shapes, shades and colors, some haggling, cheerful, a few of them complaining and cursing the humid weather. The place would urge you to ruminate, that whether the haat is a place, where the different human species on the earth have been encapsulated at one place. It would be as if it’s a Noah’s Ark stationed right at the heart of Delhi.

Open your heart and mind – It is imperative, that during the course of your visit you keep your heart and mind open. The mind would enable you to peep in through the different layers existing in the society, and their reaction, as well as response to their needs. You will learn how individual diligently bargain to the astronomical figures quoted by the shop keepers for their products and how others make a vulgar display of their wealth. Your heart on the other hand, would sense the colors and would compel you to appreciate the beauty around and encourage you to spread the optimism as you walk past the shops.

Match your thought with the colour

Colors to match your thoughts – Even amongst the colorful and the bright atmosphere spread across the haat, there would be some colors which would impact you to a great extent, some colors would be soothing, some would be spirited, some would be enraging and some would be off course dull. Each colour could be a metaphor for the life that you are living, the spirited colour would make you feel rubicund, and the dull would sap your cheerful thoughts, the mystique's ones would urge you to think about questions, which have gone unanswered during the soliloquy that you carry out with yourself many a times. 

 Hangout and feel the difference – It’s a cool place to hangout especially if you are wandering aficionado and one who appreciates the dynamism and vivacity preserved in the in animate objects created by humankind. Go there with an open mind and an open heart, who knows you might feel as if you are in a Noah’s Ark as I felt during the course of my visit.

Raanjhanaa – a potpourri worth a watch

Usually movies portraying inter caste love begin with the protagonist and the partner either eloping away or getting into belligerence with their guardians to get united. After I saw Raanjhanaa just realized that the sequential events of a movie can be designed to taste the audiences, if the characters are intense and also if the director has the conviction that the idea would work. "Raanjhanaa" shot in the streets of Banaras, aptly portrays the vivacious colors, the primordial tradition of Banaras. The movie is an assortment of puppy love, affection for power, the belligerent narrow mindset of the people living in the smaller towns of India.

The movie initiates with the protagonist (Dhanush) of the movie falling in love with the feminine character (Sonam Kapoor), associated with a different religion. The character is so woven in the affection that the memories do not wade away, even when he enters the threshold of his youth, although the feminine character has already erased her memories and had begun a new chapter in her life. The protagonist is portrayed as an emotional fool, with a sadistic appeal, who tries to assist the female lead, by arranging to unite her with the character, which she loves.

Enter (Abhay Deol) a student union leader and the other man in our lead lady’s life who tries to tie the knot with her by portraying himself as the man from her religion. Meanwhile our sadistic, male character, who learns about the truth, that the other man does not belong to the religion as that of the female lead, tries to seek revenge by revealing the truth to the family members of the female character.

The movie here takes an interesting turn as (Abhay Deol) loses his life and the female lead trying to find a reason to live. The movie post the event represents a mystical twist and displays the advent of jealousy and vengeance, the lust for power and the indefatigable urge in human to turn towards repentance in case of a wrong done. Nicely casted with some spicy dialogue delivery and intense character representation does definitely make the movie worth a watch.