Pipes of shame.....

I have been crossing these pipes for last 1 year or more. If I were to put a camera which would capture the images on what purpose the pipe it will be called just that "Pipes of Shame....". These are huge pipes laid just next to a huge open drain pipe near Airport Rd Bangalore for last year my BBMP - that is Bangalore Muncipalty.

I cross these pipes everyday morning around 9 and come back around 6pm. Why? because I walk to office and these are lying there for all of us to see. You might cringe (if anybody reads this that is....) but I have seen youngsters looking here and there and using these pipes as urinals, there was a day when I saw a mother breast feeding her child in these same pipes and one day I saw a father sitting and counselling her daughter probably for an interview and so on and so forth.

I stay in a nearby appartment and since these pipes were not laid out but digging was done, the entire basement was flooded and some 25/30 cars including mine was submerged under water and yes there was no water / electricity for 2 days.

We spoke to BBMP / MLA et al. And we were promised that all car bills will be paid up and within 21 days walls would be built so that the same would not happen again. Well the answer or action for the same is a foregone conclusion.....nothing happened.

But every time, I look at these pipes the picture of the mother comes infront of me and I start hating the word development.

The Social Network…

I saw the social Network with awe, intrigue and lot of excitement. It’s rare that you get a glimpse of what goes on inside a geniuses mind. The impact when the idea hits the world, and the politics, machinations of the industry, the battle between the idealism of an idea and the reality of a commercial world.

Don’t we all have all ideas? Don’t we all want to see it grow roots, blossom, bear fruits which are enjoyed by others. I am no different, everyday my head buzzes with ideas which I want to plant. But because of the security & trappings of my current life I push the idea out of my mind. But, I do not want to discuss my ideas…..I was more keen (as I am always is, these days) to understand “how can I help ideas to germinates in my kids mind”. Some say I am obsessed with my kids…well then I am. Don’t mind.

A lot of people especially people who have read abroad and come back (although I do not want to generalize that) have rubbished our education system and I am no different. But whenever I read this I only question myself. OK. Great! So, what’s going to happen to my babies I can’t wait for the system to change I want my kids to invent the next “Social network, maybe artificial network – where u do not need ipads / touch system, I am sure by then PC’s will cease to exist. I can also see lot of correlation with the corporate world – we need to innovate today and generate results for next quarter, not wait for the IT systems to get in place.. which might take yrs. I know it’s a long journey…so I need to start NOW!!!

I also read a very interesting article a few days back (and I have been reading a lots of them in last few years)on how fresher’s out of MBA courses have started doing things on their own – a lot is on the technology front and how solves our life although I feel we are just complicating or life more n more by giving us too many choices. But what I like about this article was these kids had the audacity and courage to create things for the society in large – well let me say it, for villagers. Now a days we have started defining society as 200 kms / 500 km’s around your office but most products / innovation are for the top end of the pyramid. These fresher’s have created purifiers costing 300/- which can be afforded by villagers and few other products in the same line.

I kept thinking – The social network was launched because it was cool for boys to rate girls in the campus and what every boys & girls aspired for in that age. And I said “Do I want that to be starting thought before they discover / invent something.” It looked too silly and shallow as a thought. I know the same got evolved in a larger need for the populance to stay connected. And, I guess I will be equally proud if my kids can do that as compared to a product / idea which serve as the social need of the country.

What I am scared of is something which Mark mentions in the movie. “It was cool to hang out in the canteens / pubs but now it will be cool to hang out on the net.” Millions of young Indians are doing just that, resulting in ideas / thoughts breakthroughs in that sphere. In a way it’s a parallel world, cocooned in the comforts provided by us – the parents. Many of our kids have actually not seen India in which we grew up.

The touch-feel-see-experience-learn cycle is something which we as parents should never lose sight of, because that is what will define their thoughts / imaginations and probably the next new big discovery. We have the responsibility to make them sensitive to the environment and explain the real India and it’s value.

http://changents.com/trina-talukdar. Earier on today I was reading an article in DNA which spoke about Trina who runs a small NGO called Kranti from her rented house had been asked to vacate because they preferred married women. Read about her to understand what I mean about being aware of the world and taking action.

To Let Go & To Not Let Go…..

There are times in all our life when we just cannot let go of things. There are things at job, new questions for which either you do not have an answer or you feel there is no point in asking for an answer – but the voices keep coming back at you, pounding your head giving you sleepless nights. All of us have gone thru this including me.

This is especially true when 1000’s of people across organizations stand outside their department head’s room and wait for the verdict to pass. Will I get an A or a B or a C? Because, that will decide the amount of variable pay I will get. I know the feeling – the rush of blood, racing heart beats, cold n sweaty hands, because I go thru the same and I know many of my team members will go thru the same. More importantly in today’s high inflation market for many middle employees the variable pay will just about tide them over and maybe buy that LCD TV or plan for that holiday which they have been discussing with their better half or parents/brothers.

For many of us this is a make or break point in their relationship with their organization. Because that day or moment when the “verdict” is made, the company makes a statement of how valuable he/she is. It’s a statement which is the outcome of last 364 days spent in hard work and a noble intent of taking the company or a project forward. For all those people who do not have direct subordinate a “B” is a downright insult. Most “C” feel / know the verdict and would have planned an exit. But for those who have people reporting in to them “they start appreciating the bell curve” and realize that all cannot be A or C so most of them will be B.

But over a period of time I realized these are really the small things to sweat for. Ultimately life is not about to hold on to the grade / rating. Yes that is important but there are so many other things – like the learning’s which you would have had over last one year, the amount of knowledge you would have imparted to people below and above, the time you would have spent with your family because your boss & company was understanding enough, the time when the organization and your boss stood behind you when you screwed up on the artwork, the time when the organization listened to you and told you. “Go ahead. We are with you on that. Let’s take the plunge.”

Compare this with your children, what’s important – the grades she gets or the smile on her face when she says she is singing in the choir or when her poem got selected for the school magazine, or her teacher came home and dropped your daughter because the school van did not turn up. Do you grade your relationships with your family, friends, and relation and keep upgrading it every year. No, you do not let go of such relationships, on the contrary you work hard to fulfill small promises made to your family, treasure the small moments as your children grow up.

“Letting Go” as a core principle of life and has been the key premise for “satisfaction n fulfillment” by many spiritual leaders (especially in today’s materialistic world)….but I always debated the same and my contra argument was “Life is not always about letting go but it’s about making the right choice of what to let go and what not to let go. We are often forced to make this choice on a daily basis. It’s better we be wiser now or regret later”.

Every time I see birds in a cage, I want to free them I want them to fly and soar. Be free, now & forever. I clicked this beautiful snap....even inside the cage when they are trapped and caged for life they share a moment of togetherness unaware (& not bothered) about the surrounding. Yes we all feel caged once in a while - at home, at workplace but then this is our place our little world & we have to be sensitive to each other to make this place (& life)worthwhile place to be in.