I believe that Life shows its reflection in all walks of life...... a crumpled flower shows how life exists in giving fragrance to the hand that crushes it..... babies show how simple; life can be in the absence of knowledge... and the equity market shows how things even out in the long run...
It is common knowledge in the equity industry that the only person who wins in a continuous bout of trading, is the broker.... not the trader..... so common sense propagates the idea of staying invested for a longer period of time.... historically, the equity market has showed a return of 15-20%, even on investments which were forgotten about for 5 years or so!!...... The same holds true for life too....
Life is an investment and we stay invested by using the currency of work...... so my advice is, stay invested and reap returns...... The saying "good things come to those who wait" is all but misleading..... good things come to those who work and dont wait for results..... When Bhagvad Gita says "karmanye waadi karasye, maa phaleshu kadachana" (do your deed and dont expect any returns), it is not actually proliferating the virtue of philanthropy..... what it actually means to say is that "do your work and but dont run after your returns..... money follows those who dont follow it".....
The day we start looking at monetary benefits as a side effect of hard work and not its means and ends...... that day, we will prosper... in the truest meaning of that term....
Parallel Tracks
Travelling in Indian railways is always an enlightening experience; especially for those endowed with the ability to discern the extraordinary from the ordinary. The other day I travelled a distance of 400 km on Indian railways and learnt things which I would never have learnt (nor would I have been interested in learning). Here are some excerpts.
It is said that time is the biggest leveller of them all. A wonderful dialogue from an even more wonderful movie goes something like "After the game is over, both the king and the pawn go back into the same box". But come to think of it, so is railways. You can hardly select the religion, caste or even, gender of the passenger sitting next to you. But I really feel that the gender option should be customizable (what say Mr. L.P. Yadav?). On a given day, at a given time, all the people going to the same destination are equals... with equal right to claim seat, eat, breathe, drink and enjoy the journey.
It is a well known fact that much of modern intellectuality has brewed in the coffee pots of various coffee house. Friends, philosophers and comrades discussed everything under the sun. Railways is the new age coffee house. Here, the future of local state governments are discussed and also whether saas-bahu serials must continue or not (and contrary to popular misconception, it is never a one sided debate!)... As long as the person next to you, doesn't have any personal enmity with you, you might get away with any topic!
I for example learnt the interesting aspect of an otherwise staid world of textile marketing, the Haj pilgrimage, the contract system and how the loopholes in them are taken advantage of. I hereby propose to include a frequent long distance train journey in all MBA curriculum. And I suppose everyone on this side of Vastrapur, Ahmedabad will agree with me....
It is said that time is the biggest leveller of them all. A wonderful dialogue from an even more wonderful movie goes something like "After the game is over, both the king and the pawn go back into the same box". But come to think of it, so is railways. You can hardly select the religion, caste or even, gender of the passenger sitting next to you. But I really feel that the gender option should be customizable (what say Mr. L.P. Yadav?). On a given day, at a given time, all the people going to the same destination are equals... with equal right to claim seat, eat, breathe, drink and enjoy the journey.
It is a well known fact that much of modern intellectuality has brewed in the coffee pots of various coffee house. Friends, philosophers and comrades discussed everything under the sun. Railways is the new age coffee house. Here, the future of local state governments are discussed and also whether saas-bahu serials must continue or not (and contrary to popular misconception, it is never a one sided debate!)... As long as the person next to you, doesn't have any personal enmity with you, you might get away with any topic!
I for example learnt the interesting aspect of an otherwise staid world of textile marketing, the Haj pilgrimage, the contract system and how the loopholes in them are taken advantage of. I hereby propose to include a frequent long distance train journey in all MBA curriculum. And I suppose everyone on this side of Vastrapur, Ahmedabad will agree with me....
V...
Virtues tend to leave a bitter aftertaste and vices are, by default, addictive. That is the sad fact of life. Truth is bitter, truth is blunt, truth has the potential to make enemies out of friends. Whereas, a little bit of false flattery has a good chance of getting u that elusive promotion. Bitter gourd, in spite of all the goodness that it is purported to give, is still..... well...... Bitter. Sugar is by default; sweet. If all things good, taste bad and if all things bad, taste good; then it makes one wonder..... Why did my parents, siblings, peers, teachers, uncles and aunties and distant cousins, go to such extents to teach me what is good and what is bad? and why was I taught to do the good and shun from evil?..... Why did they install version 1.1 of Morality software when they knew about its obsolescence and gradual substitution by version 1.2?
A child comes into this earth like a clean slate.... in the beginning of life, things are just told... never explained.... in the words of law, everything is based on rules and not articles.... And then, we start to question.... and all hell breaks loose... We learn through a tedious process of unlearning.... makes one wonder..... why go through all this fracas? why not say the truth from the very beginning?
The answer according to me lies in simple statement which has always stuck to me "we all live in a constant hope"...... a father teaching his child not to lie knows that he, himself, is lying.... but he lives in a constant hope.... he is hoping against hope that the world will miraculously change for his kid and what he is being taught now, will help him in future..... All good things are taught to us in a hope that its obsolescence will be reversed.... so the next time, someone tries to show you what is good and what is bad.... take it with a pinch of salt.... but take it, nonetheless.... who are we to underestimate the potency of hope?
A child comes into this earth like a clean slate.... in the beginning of life, things are just told... never explained.... in the words of law, everything is based on rules and not articles.... And then, we start to question.... and all hell breaks loose... We learn through a tedious process of unlearning.... makes one wonder..... why go through all this fracas? why not say the truth from the very beginning?
The answer according to me lies in simple statement which has always stuck to me "we all live in a constant hope"...... a father teaching his child not to lie knows that he, himself, is lying.... but he lives in a constant hope.... he is hoping against hope that the world will miraculously change for his kid and what he is being taught now, will help him in future..... All good things are taught to us in a hope that its obsolescence will be reversed.... so the next time, someone tries to show you what is good and what is bad.... take it with a pinch of salt.... but take it, nonetheless.... who are we to underestimate the potency of hope?
of Giants and dwarfs...
The greatness of an event, a person or a monument is best understood keeping in mind the period of its occurrence. It is relatively easier, today, to stir the fundamentals of conscience and to erect a pseudo-army to fight a plausible cause... given the fact that one can reach the masses through sms, orkut and emails among others..... This is what makes Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi a Mahatma Gandhi..... He stirred the conscience of millions and fought an empire bigger than the Goliath himself..and all this, in the absence of any amenity except perhaps a telegram or a seat in the third class compartment of the railways... Hence, when we conveniently try to imagine the greatness of a person like Mr. Gandhi, we make the mistake of imagining its occurrence in today's circumstances..
Lets have a more recent and popular example. We love comparison. The greatness of a person is only as much as who he/she is compared to. Hence, Lord Ram is a hero because he defeated Ravana.... Likewise, in order to gauge the superstardom of Shah Rukh Khan, we have to compare him with Amitabh Bachchan.... But truly speaking, what is the comparison?... isn't it like comparing between apples and oranges?... What Mr. Bachchan did in 1970s may not be replicated by SRK... and the opposite is true as well... Is it really a necessity that for making our line longer, we make the other lines look shorter?...
We emulated the flight of birds in our aeroplanes.... the martial arts borrows liberally from the antics of a monkey or a snake..... but we have still not been able to emulate symbiosis.... We help our friend in studies but make sure that he doesn't score as much as us... we help to only that extent that which makes a discernible effect.... here, I have to clarify that I speak for the average, not for the exceptions.... A worthy exception to this law, according to me, are two people..... Fathers and Professors.... I have never seen, heard or read about an incident where a father was not happy when his son starts earning more than him.... In fact, it could well be the happiest day for a father when a son (or daughter) gets a starting salary more than what he might be earning after decades of experience.... the same holds true for professors too.... A professor earning Rs. 4-5 lacs per annum is only too happy to see his student go on to earn in multiples of that figure.... If only these instances were an average rather than an exception...
David Ogilvy, famously said, In an organization if each one of you hire a person who is less qualified than you, then you end up becoming an organization of dwarfs..... but if each one of you hires a person who is better than yourself, then you are an organization of Giants..... So, it is really up to us, do we want our future generation to inherit a nation of dwarfs or a nation of Giants....
Lets have a more recent and popular example. We love comparison. The greatness of a person is only as much as who he/she is compared to. Hence, Lord Ram is a hero because he defeated Ravana.... Likewise, in order to gauge the superstardom of Shah Rukh Khan, we have to compare him with Amitabh Bachchan.... But truly speaking, what is the comparison?... isn't it like comparing between apples and oranges?... What Mr. Bachchan did in 1970s may not be replicated by SRK... and the opposite is true as well... Is it really a necessity that for making our line longer, we make the other lines look shorter?...
We emulated the flight of birds in our aeroplanes.... the martial arts borrows liberally from the antics of a monkey or a snake..... but we have still not been able to emulate symbiosis.... We help our friend in studies but make sure that he doesn't score as much as us... we help to only that extent that which makes a discernible effect.... here, I have to clarify that I speak for the average, not for the exceptions.... A worthy exception to this law, according to me, are two people..... Fathers and Professors.... I have never seen, heard or read about an incident where a father was not happy when his son starts earning more than him.... In fact, it could well be the happiest day for a father when a son (or daughter) gets a starting salary more than what he might be earning after decades of experience.... the same holds true for professors too.... A professor earning Rs. 4-5 lacs per annum is only too happy to see his student go on to earn in multiples of that figure.... If only these instances were an average rather than an exception...
David Ogilvy, famously said, In an organization if each one of you hire a person who is less qualified than you, then you end up becoming an organization of dwarfs..... but if each one of you hires a person who is better than yourself, then you are an organization of Giants..... So, it is really up to us, do we want our future generation to inherit a nation of dwarfs or a nation of Giants....
I rest my case....... maybe not....
One of my professors always advises us not to give prime importance to the placement salary while opting for a job. He says "Money will follow you when you learn not to follow it".... All my life I've been on a lookout competitions where I might get some fame, fortune (?) and that elusive certificate or a citation..... Strangely, most of my merits have come in the last year of my college life... I present here, the transcript of my speech at a debate held the previous week. My first ever debate.
The topic was "Should industrialization and growth be promoted at the cost of Environment?"
____________________________________________________________
“My Name is Krishnamurthi Kumar. I am a student of Faculty of Management Studies. And I will be speaking AGAINST the motion.
Breaking News: Yesterday (18th October, 2007), I was watching the news, actively for a change, and came to know that we have our first set of refugees. Not from a terrorist attack or an earthquake, but from climate change. Yes, the people of Sagar Island in West Bengal have lost their homes because the waters of the Bay of Bengal decided to pay them a visit.
Before I contribute to this debate, I must admit two things. I am a student of management so I must admit that an industrialized nation or a developed economy is going to help me much more, at least financially. Why I say this is so that all of you may understand that I know the gravity of the words I speak. The other thing I would like to admit is that I, myself, have never planted a tree.
But we are not here to discuss what we did or did not do. The topic here is not that whether “Should we have promoted industrialization and growth at the cost of environment?” The topic of discussion today is “Should Industrialization and growth be promoted at the cost of environment?” So from the way I look at it, there is a future element embedded in this topic.
While we are talking about future, lets start with the past, India has come a long way from being an agrarian economy, one which depends on the soil, to the first instance of being called the next developed economy, one which depends on what is actually built on that soil. But somewhere down the line, we forgot the matrix on which this whole development was taking place. As the building grew higher and higher, we forgot the foundation on which this building stands.
But to say that we forgot to conserve the environment wont be entirely true. We must remember that saving the environment and all its constituents was always a part of our culture. I am sure anyone who has read the history books would remember the “Chipko Movement”. So what went wrong? I say, Apathy. But to understand how that happened we must look at things in context.
30-40 years back, when India started its process of industrialization, it faced a very unique problem. It lacked the process, the patent and the technical knowledge but had lots of natural resources. So it compensated its absence of technology with the excess of resources. But can we give this same excuse today? No! Today if one wants, one can go that extra mile in order to do something for the environment. It could be something as simple as switching to CFL tubes instead of light bulbs or turning up the temperature of the AC to the ambient temperature of 24°C instead of that cosy 19°C. Even small acts like these can go a long way in conserving the environment.
That was about the past and the present, now let’s take a look at the future. Nature gives us two options. Either we take Preventive measures or nature will take Corrective measures. Now its up to us to decide whether we want rampant growth or sustained development.
Those in the audience who still believe that Industrialization should be promoted at ANY cost; I offer you my best wishes. Try explaining this to those villagers who lost their homes in Sagar Island. Thank you!”
__________________________________________________________
P.S: For the record, I WON THE FIRST PRIZE!!!!
The topic was "Should industrialization and growth be promoted at the cost of Environment?"
____________________________________________________________
“My Name is Krishnamurthi Kumar. I am a student of Faculty of Management Studies. And I will be speaking AGAINST the motion.
Breaking News: Yesterday (18th October, 2007), I was watching the news, actively for a change, and came to know that we have our first set of refugees. Not from a terrorist attack or an earthquake, but from climate change. Yes, the people of Sagar Island in West Bengal have lost their homes because the waters of the Bay of Bengal decided to pay them a visit.
Before I contribute to this debate, I must admit two things. I am a student of management so I must admit that an industrialized nation or a developed economy is going to help me much more, at least financially. Why I say this is so that all of you may understand that I know the gravity of the words I speak. The other thing I would like to admit is that I, myself, have never planted a tree.
But we are not here to discuss what we did or did not do. The topic here is not that whether “Should we have promoted industrialization and growth at the cost of environment?” The topic of discussion today is “Should Industrialization and growth be promoted at the cost of environment?” So from the way I look at it, there is a future element embedded in this topic.
While we are talking about future, lets start with the past, India has come a long way from being an agrarian economy, one which depends on the soil, to the first instance of being called the next developed economy, one which depends on what is actually built on that soil. But somewhere down the line, we forgot the matrix on which this whole development was taking place. As the building grew higher and higher, we forgot the foundation on which this building stands.
But to say that we forgot to conserve the environment wont be entirely true. We must remember that saving the environment and all its constituents was always a part of our culture. I am sure anyone who has read the history books would remember the “Chipko Movement”. So what went wrong? I say, Apathy. But to understand how that happened we must look at things in context.
30-40 years back, when India started its process of industrialization, it faced a very unique problem. It lacked the process, the patent and the technical knowledge but had lots of natural resources. So it compensated its absence of technology with the excess of resources. But can we give this same excuse today? No! Today if one wants, one can go that extra mile in order to do something for the environment. It could be something as simple as switching to CFL tubes instead of light bulbs or turning up the temperature of the AC to the ambient temperature of 24°C instead of that cosy 19°C. Even small acts like these can go a long way in conserving the environment.
That was about the past and the present, now let’s take a look at the future. Nature gives us two options. Either we take Preventive measures or nature will take Corrective measures. Now its up to us to decide whether we want rampant growth or sustained development.
Those in the audience who still believe that Industrialization should be promoted at ANY cost; I offer you my best wishes. Try explaining this to those villagers who lost their homes in Sagar Island. Thank you!”
__________________________________________________________
P.S: For the record, I WON THE FIRST PRIZE!!!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)