Who is your Mentor ?

 

Mentor is a person who can make a significant impact on your career or on your company, drawing on the expertise and experience that person has. Whom you choose as or who gets thrusted upon you to play a mentorship role can be a game changer for you.

It will be fun and also useful to be aware of the nuances with respect to mentor and mentorship to help you choose and benefit from mentors. The role of the mentor is not standard or same in all context. There are different roles that a mentor can play.

The mentor could bring superior subject matter expertise to help you to solve a problem or guide you through corporate web. For example, if you are trying raise funds for your new venture and if you have no prior experience in this, a mentor who may have had extensive exposure as a venture capitalist can be a great help in dealing with multiple service providers and to get the best possible deal. Or if you are considering organisation wide computerisation, someone who have lived through this transformation could help you to be ready for challenges on the way.

The mentor could offer references and endorsements with people of influence and relevance for your growth through his/her network. For example, when you are raising funds, some one who have dealt multiple investors and have had the experience to understand the agenda of the diverse players could help you to refine your investment pitch and may even give reference to different investors.

The mentor could be someone could act as a sounding board for your ideas and provide a philosophical foundation for your initiatives and decisions.  For example, someone who has had good experience in guiding organisational growth could help you in your process of developing alternate growth strategies, evaluating them and make a choice.

While a good mentor may be a mix of all, very often the larger focus may be in a few roles based on their comfort and your priorities.  A genuine mentor with appropriate experience and right intention can make a big difference to you and your company. They can add significant value in helping you to evolve strategies, guide your team, select better tools, turbocharge your marketing and magnify your public relation. Therefore. it will be great for any company to have a mentorship program established as it can contribute to its overall development through development and retention of good managers.

While we give due attention when working with a mentor there is another important dimension, we should be conscious of when choosing and or working with a mentor.

Ideally a mentor would be a person who has achieved certain stature and/ or position that he plays the role of a mentor as a giver and not a taker. Let us go a little deeper on the difference between giver and taker. The giver is a person who has more to give to the mentee. They are self-confident and will work with you to bring the best out of you and also not try to usurp the credit for your achievement, but help you to grow in your role. They will spent time to understand your context, the opportunities available, challenges you face, the strategies your following and proposing and identify your weaknesses and will give you considered advice. They will help you to track progress and act as a sounding board to help you to continuously refine your way forardy

The takers are those who act or pretend to act as your mentor, primarily to enhance their agenda. They will manage to make you doubt yourself and make it look like you are surviving on their ideas. The worst is when often they have nothing really to offer. They are too impatient to understand your context, your challenges, your option and their merits and weaknesses.  They will ask you about all your thoughts and make general comments and motherhood statements with no real value addition and at best may keep goading you to up your aspirations with no suggestions or input or support to make it happen. If you end up succeeding, they will go around announcing to the whole world that your success is courtesy their idea.

You have to be mindful of such people when you choose your mentors independent of their stature and position so that you don’t end up with the latter category. Very often they are in this position because they are better at managing their environment and more than willing to sell their souls for a price. For them end justifies the means with ‘end’ defined as maximising personal agenda. They are too happy to live off the hard work of the doers and smart in edging out the doers in due course like the pirates. (Read this post https://rollingstone-revelations.blogspot.com/2012/05/some-people-all-time-humour.html for a light hearted depiction of such mentors)

Sometimes they are thrusted upon you as advisors, or consultants or directors with you having no choice. Then you will have to have your strategy to protect you from them or manage them and may be the  support of another genuine mentor who will help you in your attempt for self-preservation.

C’est la vie!

“A mentor is someone who allows you to see the hope inside yourself.” Oprah Winfrey – Host, Producer, Author & Philanthropist

Flight to Freedom (Leisure)

I was always a water person. As a child, I enjoyed swimming. I moved on to rowing and then I learnt the joy of windsailing in Jakarta. Then I experimented with to scuba diving. When I moved to Mumbai my passion for the sea still persisted and Colaba sailing club enabled me to pursue this. An early morning sail out into the deep blue sea, (I can’t vouch for the blueness of Mumbai sea!) with the sea princess caressing every inch of my body with her wet and salty embrace, still fills me with an exhilaration that is difficult to express in words.


After that I shifted to Delhi; a city far far away from the sea. I could no longer manage my morning sail out into the sea before getting busy with the daily grind.

I met Rahul who became a good friend within a very short time. May be some connection from our previous incarnation: - ). I shared with him my frustration of not being able to indulge in something that connected me wuth the nature and tickled my adrenal glands.

He offered to find me a solution. He asked me to join him on a Saturday early morrning. Both of us got into my car. Rahul took the driver’s seat. I was all excited and my heart was filled with anticipation. I was looking forward to any surprise. From the highway we turned into a side lane. The road was narrow and deserted. It was luscious green all around. We reached the destination in few minutes.

What a sight. All those beauties standing out in the field, enjoying the early rays of sun. I could not take my eyes off them. Rahul asked me to choose one and mount her.

“Don’t worry. I have selected a gentle one for you. She will be nice to you. Once you mount her and she is on the go, you should start your up-and-down motion with her rhythm” He explained to me the basics of dealing with them.

Before this, I had sat on a horse only at those touristy places where the groom held the reins and the horse walked along placidly. In the club the groom helped me to mount the horse and then handed me the reins and a whip. I was filled with trepidation. Rahul rode up to me.

“Koshy start trotting” He suggested.

“How?”

“Rub your heels against the girth of the horse” He explained.

I did what he asked me to and the horse (her name was jungle baby) started trotting.

Oh My god, I was bouncing up and down and my back hurt.

“Koshy you have to move up and down, kind of like sit ups, along with the rhythm of the trot” Rahul started his lesson.

As I proceeded with my riding for couple of days I realized that it was not going to be easy to be a good rider. A lot to learn! The moment a person mounts, the horse realizes how good a rider he is. When it realizes that you are a novice, it decides what to do. Each horse has his /her own personality. Some are gentle and well behaved. Some are lazy and just won’t move, while others are rascals and will try to throw you off.

A few days into my riding, one morning as I was mounting a horse some fellow riders invited me to join them for a hack in the forest behind the club. I decided it was worth a try. As we trotted into the wild, the horse picked up speed and I was both scared and ecstatic. Rahul was behind me. Suddenly the rider in front shifted to a canter. Meenakshi, my horse followed suit. I did not know that when a horse started cantering I had to stop sit-ups and just sit. So I continued to do sit-ups and I was getting thrown up and down. I thought that I was going to fall off.

“Koshy stop the up-down motions and sit steady” Rahul yelled.

I pulled at the reins and Meenakhi slowed down.

I was hooked. But I had to pay the price to get some level of mastery on these animals. Only then could I take him where I wanted and not the other way! For the first few days my back and hip joints hurt, and I could not walk normally. May be it raised a few eyebrows and some of my friends asked me to my face what my latest pastime was. I experienced what we mean by "a pain in the butt"  However all these are nothing but minor irritants in comparison to the feeling of exhilaration I had when a horse zipped along the tracks.

I knew that horse riding could be a good exercise for the horse; but I never knew that it could be an exercise for the rider too. That is because I had only sat on a horse that walked slowly. But as I graduated to a trot, a canter and a gallop and when I learned to balance on my toes in the stirrup and do continuous sit ups I realized that the rider does get some exercise too.

Whenever I am in Delhi I try not to miss my early morning rides. Some days I stay back in the arena, some days I go for hack rides in the forest behind the club and on some days I practice my jumps over the hurdles. Now I know what Shakespeare meant when he worte  “When I bestride him, I soar, I am a hawk: he trots the air; the earth sings when he touches it; the basest horn of his hoof is more musical than the pipe of Hermes.”

Tail Piece: When I moved over to Delhi from Mumbai, there was no more sailing. When I moved over to consulting from industry it was like a metamorphosis from being mother to a nanny or from a builder to an architect; life had changed 180 degree .I was out of my comfort zone. I had two options; either to look behind with fondness and regret or to look ahead for new adventures. I chose the latter and I am having fun!

“I hate the word success. To have succeeded is to have finished one’s goal in life. It is like the male spider that gets eaten up when it succeeds in its courtship. I like the stage of continuous becoming, with a goal in front and not behind” Bernard Shaw.

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"Musing of my Partner in Sin"

Some People All the Time.. Humour

Major Desai retired from the army and returned to his hometown. Many people wondered with the kind of network he claimed to have and the heroism in the wars that he boasted about why he did not go further up at least to be a brigadier. As per him he had got bored of being in the army and hence he decided to quit and be back where he belonged. Of course there are few skeptics who raise their eyebrows on this claim. Maybe they are just jealous of his charm and popularity; especially with the Municipal commissioner and the local Sub Inspector who are his drinking buddies.

In the second month after he returned home, his neighbor came and asked him whether he had any way to find out the results of the soldier selection in Indian Army, Neighbor’s son had appeared for the selection. Major Desai remembered that one of his old buddies Havildar Sharma from the army may be able to find out about the results. Havildar Sharma helped him and gave him list of all the five young lads who qualified from Major Desai’s home town. Major promptly informed all the five families and they were all impressed by the ‘connects’ Major Desai had. Now for the whole town Desai became Major Saab.

In the next selection season many parents approached Major Saab in advance to seek help for their lads. He offered to help on two conditions. He will first evaluate these lads as he would not like to recommend nincompoops to the Army. He should be given Rs 1 lac in advance for each lad who passes his evaluation. The money was not for him; but to make some in the selection committee happy! But he promised that he would return the money of those who do not get selected.

He interviewed about 30 lads and agreed to recommend for 10. When the selection team came to town he was there at the ground where physical examination was being held. He walked up to Captain who was the team leader shook hands and introduced himself. They had few army jokes to share. Major Saab of course knew by name many a colonels and brigadier’s who were his ‘batch mates’. Capt was impressed. The lads from his town saw Major Saab pointing his hands in their direction and were convinced that he had put in a word to the captain. Actually, Major Saab was describing the story about the temple that was behind the ground in the same direction as the prospective soldiers were standing. After these pleasantries Major Saab returned home.

When the selection process was completed, Havildar Sharma informed Major Saab in advance, before the results were announced, about the outcome. Seven lads from his town were selected. Out of these, five were from the lot who paid him. He met the parents of the other two and told them that they would not be selected unless some action is taken immediately. He asked for Rs 2 lac for each with the promise that he would return the money if they were not selected. Of course they were selected Five out of the original 10 who had paid him were also selected. Major Saab was a gentleman. He returned 1 lac to all the five who did not get selected. He made sure that every other person in the town knew about what he did for the lads of the town. Municipal commissioner arranged a felicitation ceremony in his honor.

Major Saab is not an exception.We come across some in all walks of life. When the stakes are high very often Major Saabs appear to manage a lead. Most of us have a small Major Saab hiding in us too, though we feel ashamed to let him loose. But then it is for us to choose! 


Shame is like everything else; live with it for long enough and it becomes part of the furniture. SALMAN RUSHDIE,

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“It is elementary my son” (humour)

One of my friends mailed me this funny story. Once upon a time on a cold wintry morning a sparrow was out from his comfortable nest looking for few morsels to fill his stomach. It was too cold and the wind was so harsh, that the sparrow fell down almost frozen. He was lying there helpless. Then a bull passed by and pooed on him. The hot manure warmed the little sparrow and he felt very comfortable. He was happy and he started to sing. A cat heard the song and it found the sparrow relaxing in the warm poo and it pulled the sparrow out of the poo and ate him up.

There are four morals we learn from this story.

i) Those who shit on you may not be your enemies: In our life and career, there will be many instances when the action of somebody will harm, belittle or demean us. Very often it may not be intentional; but just coincidence or matter of his survival. If we look from the other person’s point of view, there may be extenuating circumstance if not genuine reason. Sometimes it could be their revenge or they could be absolute a--holes. Whatever be the reason we suffer and we feel hurt.


The important thing is that we need to survive this assault, this insult or this harm. If we get caught up in the anger and spent our time in planning for revenge, we waste our time, our effort and our health which otherwise could be channelized for towards more fruitful end.


If we are in a situation where we have to deal with with unadulterated a—holes, it is better to kick them out or get out from such a place. (The book “No Asshole Rule” by Robert I. Sutton makes an interesting reading on this topic)


On the other hand, if we hurt somebody (specially their ego) we need to keep in mind that most humans love to get back and take revenge. If we want to avoid escalation of this conflict, we should either try to patch up or make sure that we are not in the line of fire of they won’t dare to react :-).


ii) Those who take you out of shit may not be your friend. When we are down and out, many of our old friends may not take a second look at us. Then we come across somebody who is keen to deal with us. We feel thankful and obliged. May be they are good Samaritans; maybe they are trying to take advantage of our plight or weakness. Even if it is genuine good will, don’t overstay our welcome; else he may not remain our friend

We need assess the situation dispassionately. The temporary setback should not make us succumb to any deal. The failure or loss in one arena does not diminish our value in all spheres; there is no need to feel defensive and no need to negotiate from an area of weakness. We negotiate based on what we are good at and more so based on our faith in ourselves.


iii) When you are in deep shit, keep your mouth shut: Some of us are very trusting, which is very good if we mix it with prudence. When the chips are against us, we need to be more careful about what we share, what we complain about, what we cry out loud about, or what challenges we broadcast or whom we trust. Discretion becomes all the more critical or else we give us away.

iv) Eventhough it may provdie some comfort shit is still shit:  Very often when we indulge in actions that are illegal, currupt, unfair or unscrupulous we may derive certain money, fame, pleasure and comfort. But if we decide to wallow in this shit, one day it is going to catch up. Remember the big cats know where to look for.
“I consider it a mark of great prudence in a man to abstain from threats or any contemptuous expressions, for neither of these weaken the enemy, but threats make him more cautious, and the other excites his hatred, and a desire to revenge himself” Niccolo Machiavelli

“Monkey and Me”

I was surprised when I read in National Geographic.Com that “A comparison of Clint's genetic blueprints with that of the human genome shows that our closest living relatives share 96 percent of our DNA. The number of genetic differences between humans and chimps is ten times smaller than that between mice and rats.”

With such few percentage point differences, see what we have managed to achieve in comparison with our simian cousins! We have built cities, cars and aeroplanes and have walked on moon while our cousins are still hanging from trees. Truly remarkable.

Then recently I came across a book written by Mr.Richard Conniff titled “The ape in the corner office”. This book provides a nice exposition on the similarity between the behaviour of apes and human beings. The focus of this book is more on the human behaviour in corporate setting.

The strategies we use to establish our ‘alpha’ status, grovelling and flattery we employ to get our way, the fights we have and how we makeup, how we use language to groom our colleagues and our bosses; all appear to be the same what our ancestors have been employing for millions of years. Just that the scientific progress helped us to have better and diverse tools for innovative implementation of these strategies!!.

Look at the way the Chimpanzees establish their pecking order and the alpha status. It is not just based on brute force. It is derived from a combination of the leadership skill, courage to take decision, strength of the network and also cunning and political manoeuvring; just like human organisations. The relative proportion of each element may vary. When the proportion skews more towards cunning there is a higher chance for group disintegration.

Many scientists have pointed in spite of all the scientific progress, the source of our base emotions and insecurities have not changed for millions of years. Now it has dawned on me that it is not just with respect to genes that we are 96% apes, many of us in our behaviour and inner desires resemble our ancestors more than we think we do!

Therefore, when we learn to look deep and understand the base emotions and inner drives that provoke us to act in certain fashion we may be able to have a better control on ourselves. This understanding could also help us in our relationships as it might give us a perspective on how the other person could react or why the other person reacted in certain manner.

“We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.” Stephen Hawking

Your slip is showing - Humour

Once upon a time there was a king and one day into his court walked in a man who was almost blind and looked quite frail. He wanted an audience with the king and as the king was in a good mood he relented. He asked the king

“Lord will you give me a job in your court?”

The king was flabbergasted. He asked him,

“What is that you have that makes you worthy of my court?”

‘My lord I can touch anything and anybody and judge its worth”

“Ha! I don’t need anybody’s help to make such judgements. I am the king and I know what to do. But I am in a good mood today and I am allowing you to stay in the barracks. You can have rice and lentils every day.”

After that, the king just forgot about the whole incident. Our blind friend was not asked for any advice. Days went by. One day a merchant came to the king’s court. He had a magnificent horse to sell. The horse looked royal and trotted with majesty. The king couldn’t take his eyes off and was willing to pay anything to buy it. Then the minister reminded the king.

“Let us ask the blind man what he thinks.”

The blind man was summoned. He touched the horse. Then he commented.

“Lord, this horse is majestic. But he has a major flaw. Take him for a long ride. He won’t last”

The horse was taken for a long ride and the blind man was proved right. The King was happy. He ordered that the blind man be treated to a feast.

Time went by. Then one day a jeweller came to the king’s court. He had some exquisite jewellery. The king was almost ready to pay the ridiculous price the trader demanded. However, the minister again suggested that the blind man be called.

He came, touched and commented.

“Look at this angle, you can notice a blemish”.

Again the King saved lots of money. He ordered that the blind man be treated to a great meal again.

Then the king had a wild thought. He turned to the blind man and asked.

“Touch me and tell me what my worth is”

“I don’t need to touch you Lord. You are son of a cook”

“What nonsense!!!” The king roared. “Don’t you know I am the king?”

“ Yes my lord, I know you are the king”

The king called him into his anteroom and confided.

“Yes, I am really the son the cook at the queen mother’s father’s court. I was adopted by the king when the king lost his son. But then how did you know? It was a well kept secret”

“Don’t feel offended my lord. Your actions revealed your worth. When I first came and offered my services, you could not even appreciate what I could do for you. Then it was just your whim that you agreed to call me for opinion when the horse trader and the jeweller visited you; that too on the advice of the minister. I saved you lot of money. But what you offered me in return was more food!”

“You never could recognise what difference my skills could make to your life. You are so full of yourself. Your response showed lack of depth in your thinking and vision; you had to be the son of the cook. Even though you have reached the position of a king, you have not managed to shake out your insecurities and rise up in your stature to match your position. In your heart you are still the son of a cook.” (आप तो बावर्ची के बेटे हो l आपकी औकात इतनी ही है )

This is a story narrated by one of my friends. Learning from the story?

We may often come across actions that are totally irrational, irresponsible or just plain stupid. Action by people who have not matured in their thinking, their vision, their ability to appreciate the way the world around them is changing, the way the business and governance is being transformed and the way the customer expectations are metamorphosing.

What are our options?

i) Tolerate them; They may not mean any harm; it is just that they are not capable of anything better. Don’t fret! Learn to deal with these bozos. There are lots of them around. This learning may be critical for a healthy heart and a sane mind.

ii) Contain them: When we have to assign people to critical positions, spend some effort to assess whether they are capable to assume the responsibility. Great cooks don’t make great kings.

iii) Work around them: Sometime they may become big stumbling blocks. Rational discussions won’t cut ice with them. You have to have strategies to work around them.

Do read “Hitchhiker’s guide to corporate galaxy Part 1 and Part 2 for survival kit.

“Just like swine disdains pearls and asses prefer thistles, so is eloquence wasted upon the ignorant and culture unavailing to the uncouth” Unknown

Tour of Duty - Fiction

I was excited when our HR manager asked me if I would like to volunteer for a community service project in Mobuto in Africa sponsored by our company. Being a multinational company with presence all over country, we sponsored a variety of community service projects in under-developed countries.

I was bored of the routine office life and was keen to have some adventure in my life. A six month assignment in a tribal village in the beautiful rain forests of Africa sounded appealing. It was a fully paid holiday and there was a special hardship allowance. It also satisfied a craving in my heart for doing something for the poor and needy. So I agreed wholeheartedly.

This particular project was a part of a large project under the aegis of the Bank. The field level supervision was by an NGO and many sub-projects were sponsored by companies like ours.

After a long journey from Singapore and a long ride in a Pejaro, we finally reached Mobuto a small town which was the coordinating office for the community welfare projects of that rejoin. We were taken to the guest house maintained by the NGO. Quite a nice and comfortable set up; with air conditioners, mosquito proofing and all the amenities that a city-bred fellow like me would be happy to have.

The project sponsored by my company provided for educational support for three tribal villages. We had set up a primary school that could accommodate about 100 students. The school tried to teach the students how to read and write, elements of basic hygiene etc. It had teachers who were trained locals. Our project also funded a continuous supply of faculty support like me who would come for six months assignments partly to upgrade the quality of teachers and partly to supervise the work.

I stayed in the guest house and first couple of weeks were spent in acclimatising to the new place and learning the language. In the evening the local project co-ordinator who was from UK on a one year assignment came over for a whisky and some local gossip. He also narrated how the local chief was being well taken care to ensure that the mining right to the nearby Copper Mines were not jeopardised by the rebels.

After two weeks of familiarisation to the local culture, I visited the school which was about 20 km into the forests. The three local teachers were a pleasant lot and shared with me the challenges they face in attracting, retaining and educating the tribal kids who would rather go in to the forests to pick fruits and firewood.

By the time I finished my chat with the teachers, David came over to collect the package that I had carried for him. I was surprised to see a young handsome white gentleman about 22 years of age. He was from Boston and was staying in the village to help them and teach them with better community health. He has been there for almost 18 months. I was impressed by his dedication and commitment.

Every day I visited the village school I also ensured that I visited David and spent some time with him. I wanted to do whatever that I could to provide moral support to this self-sacrificing boy.

He took me to his hut and introduced me to his wife. She was a young and beautiful girl and obviously adored her husband. They had been married to each other for a year and were blessed with a small baby. My respect for him multiplied ten times for having given this girl a family and support.

We became good friends. As my days of community support were almost coming to an end, David joined me one day at the guest house for a drink. We were discussing our future plans. He confided with me that he plans to leave this village back to US within six months. I was taken aback.

“What about Suru and the kid?” I asked

“What about her? It is a small side story in a project that has helped me get admission to Harvard” David quipped.

“Moreover the local support has contributed to my project a lot and Suru made stay here a lot more pleasurable”

I felt better; especially since I had started wondering about the cost-benefit of my project.

(After posting serious stuff for many weeks, this is an attempt again in storytelling. Any resemblance to living characters or incidences may be intentional.

This effort attempts multiple goals, like a piece of modern art.

At the basic level, is just a narration of a story adapted from something I heard, to see how I could handle the narration!.

Above this, it tries to make some observations on the motives of individuals, institutions and even nations in many of the community service initiatives.

On the one hand why should one bother at the underlying agenda if the benefits are tangible and otherwise un-available.

But sometimes don't these welfare initiatives lead to exploitation and get used for unfair discrimination. Some of the extreme views on child labour and environmental protection are examples of this.

I don’t intent to make any value judgement here; but just a reminder that the first impression may not always be the right expression of reality!)

Don’t let the king doze off....

Amadeus is a masterpiece movie based on the story of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart which went on to bag eight Oscars. In this movie, Saliery is the court composer of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II. Mozart arrives at Vienna and Saliery got to observe the unbelievable talent of young Mozart which was almost like ‘god expressing himself’ through Mozart.

Saliery being an outstanding musician himself realised the true potential of Mozart. But he could not accept the fact that God chose an irreverent and lewd kid to deliver such heavenly music.

Mozart was on the go. He was bringing out master pieces one after the other and compared to the genius that he was, the other musicians of the time including Saliery looked pale and mediocre. Many could not stand this ignominy and were filled with jealousy. They were looking for ways to arrest the meteoric ascent of Mozart.

Mozart was once performing his latest compositions to an audience which included the king. It was a brilliant piece. Although the king always believed that he was a connoisseur of music and he was a mentor of music and musicians, he had no natural taste or ability to recognize novel innovations.

As the performance proceeded, the king nodded, sort of fell asleep. You should have seen the face of the fellow musicians. They mood changed from melancholy to ecstasy.

Why? The King was nodding off!

This means that there is no royal endorsement for the new masterpiece. The whisper campaign was on, in full swing. That was the beginning of the end for Mozart...

The moral of the story; don’t let the king fall asleep.

Why? If you are not yet a celebrity, you need endorsement because many people follow only what has been endorsed by the ‘knowledgeable’

I read about an experiment by Washington Post as a as part of a social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. They got Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world to play incognito some of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars at a metro station at Washington DC. In the few hours he played, nobody really bothered and he managed a collection of $ 32. Two days before his performance in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theatre in Boston and the seats averaged $100! (Watch the video)



The recognition, support and resource allocations are only for what the big boss appears to be interested in.

This happens to in both government and in corporate. The short cut to please the big man is what you learn in your nursery class

“Yes Sir, Yes Sir, Three Bags Full."

With such sycophancy among the courtesans you sure can't let the king doze off.

That was a cynical way of looking at the real world. There is no point in being cynical. The practical question is how do we use this phenomenon to work for you?

Get you Packaging and Endorsement right!

Then the next big challenge is to get the right endorsement from relevant people. Let them buy in your ideas and endorse it. For that you have to make it relevant for them. (For a survival kit, take a look at “Hitchhiker’s guide to corporate galaxy Part 1
and Part 2)

If you think that mere brilliance of your idea or product will get due acceptance, you are wrong.

The world we live in is a world of exploding options. So you need smart strategies to catch and retain attention. (Don’t forget that the underlying idea/ product will have to be good to avoid it turning out to be fad)

C’est la Vie!!

Can you blame me.. (Fiction)

When I first saw him at the pet store in a small little cage cuddled up in a corner, he looked like bundle of cotton. Suddenly this bundle of joy was up and running towards us. That naughty little cuddly face reached out to lick my extended palms which send an electric shock up my spine. I knew I had fallen in love. The shriek of excitement from my baby daughter who was near me, made it clear that that she shared the same sentiments.

We took him home with no hesitation. Soon he became a part of our family. The perfect companion for my daughter, the one I look forward to meet when I return home.

He is so quiet and gentle. He barks a bit when he feels ignored. Even that is so gentle and it doesn’t irk me at all.

He runs to me in the morning when he sees my eyes open. He is out with me when I go to make my morning coffee.

He tags along with me all around the house. He waits outside the loo patiently till I am out and he is beside us when we sit down for a round of loo.

He jumps up and runs to me any time I call, irrespective of what he is doing. He is too happy to put his affectionate face on my lap and be there till I tell him to buzz off.

He gets excited when some bitches passes by. But if I call he is back to me with a sheepish grin.

When I am angry I shout a bit. But never does he shout back.

Even if I kick him in anger (which I will never do) I know he will not hold it against me.

He doesn’t spend the whole day in office. He is always there when I call him.

He doesn’t go out gallivanting with friends. He is happy to come out with me any time I want or anywhere I want.

He protests, but doesn’t make an issue when I want to be out with my friends.

He doesn’t go for binges or stag parties leaving me alone at home.

He is not too finicky about food. No complaints on what is cooked at home.

He looks so handsome and that make my friends jealous.

Can you blame me for caring for my dog more than my husband!!

Of beggars being choosers… (fiction)

Summer has gradually set in. The day is nearly unbearable, but the strong cold wind from the snow-clad Himalayas still manages to keep the evenings cool.

After a grueling day at the office, crunching numbers and making strategies to con my unwilling brothers, I was eagerly awaiting for a pleasant evening with a beautiful damsel who has agreed for an evening outing. She also, like me, is a yuppie looking for an intellectual companionship. The fact that we belong to opposite sex adds spice to the intellectual deliberations for the evening (after all, the spice is what makes the food tasty).

The dress code for the new breed is quite different from the conventional romantic couple out for a date. Levi jeans (torn), T-shirt and leather chappals with carefully tousled casual looking hairstyle. Natural setting is the ‘in thing’ these days. Unable to go far away from the city, we decided to compromise for the mundane Nehru Park, which I must say is a poor substitute.

After a stroll along the length and breadth of the park, we finally found a place without much intrusion into our privacy. The small talk ranges from trends in modern Indian cinema to Advaita to management theory (you see we are an intellectual duo).

And then he comes.

The pyjama is torn, stitched all around. Haven’t had a bath for days. A pleading look in his eyes, he is trying to earn his livelihood. He sees both of us sitting in a cozy chair, deeply involved in talking.

But he is quite an intelligent fellow. He approaches me straight. Tells me that he hasn’t had anything to eat the whole day. He is trying to strum the soft cords of my hearts at its social consciousness. I just can’t help showing how magnanimous a gentleman I am. Casually I handed over a one rupee note to him, hoping that he will fall at my legs with gratitude.

“What Sir, a good dinner at the dhaba would cost me five rupees, the cigarette you are smoking costs three rupees, are you not giving me the cost of even one cigarette. You privileged one, is this your great generosity”………….

He seems to be going into a lecture on the increase in cost of living and the exploitation of the poor by the ills like me.

The lady with me is having a hearty laugh at me squirming at his harangue. I was desperately trying to find a way to save my face.

Who told you, beggars cannot be choosers!!