Rishta

मुझको भी तरकीब सिखा कोई यार जुलाहे,

अक्सर तुझको देखा है कि ताना बुनते
जहाँ कोई तागा टूट गया या ख़त्म हुआ
फिर से बांध के
और सिरा कोई जोड़ के उसमे
आगे बुनने लगते हो
तेरे इस ताने में लेकिन
इक भी गाँठ गिरह बुनतर कि
देख नही सकता कोई

मैंने तो इक बार बुना था एक ही रिश्ता
लेकिन उसकी सारी गिरहें
साफ नज़र आती हैं मेरे यार जुलाहे



गुलज़ार के इन अशारों को जिए जाते हैं...

Vijay Perth!!

For all the connoisseurs of test cricket and ardent followers of the fortunes of Indian cricket, today has been a great day for cricket as a team game. The joy of being an Indian cricket follower today did not merely stem from the fact that victory has been achieved after a demoralising defeat...the vanquished are a champion team of all times...and the venue reamined unpregnable for last decade and definitely not breached by anyone from the descendants of the Indus Valley Civilisation.

This victory did not come about due to precociuosness of the prodigal son, who attempted the first breach nearly two decades ago, nor did it come from the single minded resolve of the Wall...neither from the silken stroke of the God of Off-side nor from the guile of Jumbo or any Very Very Special Innings. This victory emphasised the fact that cricket, too is a team game...it needs eleven to tango.

How many times have a test match been won, without a single century or a pfeiffer, that too against the well entrenched opposition, playing to the opponent's strength.

Given what happenned on and off the circket field in last fortnight, it wouldn't have been out of place if Kumble exhorted his troops on the eve of the Perth Test using the following words of the Bard of Avon...

Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words-
Harry the King, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester-
Be in their flowing cups freshly rememb'red.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition;
And gentlemen in England now-a-bed
Shall think themselves accurs'd they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

-King Henry V

This band of brothers....let the glory be theirs....Amen!!

Time Well Spent...

Couple of decades ago, as a schoolboy, the idiot box beckoned...and a certain Siddharth Basu helped us understand that this box isn't as idiotic as it is made it out to be. Well that was well before Derekisation of quizzing scene and it commercialisation. Some relics of that bygone era, who got initiated into quizzing for the love of quizzing decided to get together and revive the quizzing culture in the City of Djinns, which was losing out to traditional leaders like Kolkata and Hyderabad and upstarts like Pune and Bangalore.

Kutub Quizzers, a motley group of people including a practising Army Doctor, a Management Consultant on sabbatical, one of the country's quizzing dinosaurs, an academic and couple of graduate engineers, keep organising open quizzes...sometimes oriented around a theme. Their last session at IIT-D, lived up to the expectations of high quality quizzing and trivia hunting ...Sample this:

1. Rohan Wijeweera started which radical organisation in late 60's, which got financial and logitical support from countries across the ideological spectrum?
2. Which Central Asian country's capital is a distortation of Sanskrit word for "two days after Saturday"?
3. What is the state motto of NY state, which in Latin means "High or Super"
4. Which brand of lingerie, started by Vivien Westwood's son, means a troublemaker in French?
5. Which word comes into the English language from the joisting competitions of the medieval ages?

And there were connects, meta connects and mega connects...It was indeed time well spent and it didn't hurt that I was paired with a तोडू quizzer, which helped us nose ahead of the team of veteran quizzers to win this round.

How the Poli (really) tics at Workplace?!

R. N. Iyer's column posted by Eternal Rebel, touched or rather emphasised the issue of building and fostering relationships...something which is the heart of any constructive political process within an organisation. The practice of such a process actually requires understanding the dynamics of these relationships at the workplace and then involving oneself into it in a manner, which makes this web of symbiotic relationships work for individual and organisational goals/objectives.

It is not necessary that one needs to get involved in a political process, constructive or otherwise and at the workplace there would be people who would be keeping themselves inert from all these. Like it happens in every case, there is a spectrum, where at one end there are people who are politically inert, those who either don't have the inclination nor do they find it important to actively participate in such a process. At the other extreme lie politically vicious people who would like to perpetuate and propagate a political environment by manipulating people and situations for self-aggrandisement at the cost of organisational goals. In between these two extremes lie the politically aware, who get involved in this political process by exhibiting an ability to influence the actions of the individuals in the web of organisational relationships, in a manner, which enables the individuals involved to achieve their goals in tandem with the organisational goals.

This ability to influence can create a constructive and positive political environment only when the practitioners have the following:

• Competence: The ability to carry out the tasks assumed or allocated efficiently and effectively, which may arise through functional expertise or experience or both. Without competence no one is taken seriously at the workplace
• Confidence: It is not only important to know the task and carry it out well but the consciousness and self-belief that the work can be carried out, which is necessary to assert one's competence at the workplace
• Credibility: This is the currency of the politically aware practitioner. Without credibility the ability to influence does not arise and this credibility gets established not only with competence and confidence but through myriad inter-personal interactions with other individuals involved in this political web of the organisation
• Trust: Finally, competence, confidence and credibility establishes trust

Without the above, the politically aware can't practice the art of constructive politics at the workplace or worse would end up at the politically vicious end of the spectrum.

B - Schools & Man Management

I say Chaps ! This is my first contribution and is directly attributed to the very cause of the unanimity that binds us together. Its a pleasure being a part of this and we shall raise a small toast to this effect at American Diner soon (drinks are to my account till 8.00 pm)

Apropos to 'Poli-tics' (a thought - would 'Poli-toxic' been a better headline ?).

I discovered this article randomly surfing Rediff and would like to share, its the eternal paradox that one can find one's self to be and we are no different in our (in)signifcant ways.

"Goals, strategy, mission, numbers, methods, profits, so on and so forth -- B-school education teaches you a lot about these and other business jargons.
Of course, it is good to impart management education through a systematic and syllabi-led approach -- based on the learning and experiences of many management thinkers and practitioners.
This obviously manifests into a better understanding of the business environment and the situations you may encounter while shouldering responsibilities in a real environment.
Having said that, have you ever wondered why good leaders are always able to handle complex situations involving far complex people, creating a win-win situation, balancing all the coordinates?
The essence of running a business -- large, medium or small -- is actually being able to drive the most valuable resource, that is, its people, in a cohesive and synergistic manner for the growth of the organisation and also the individuals that make the organisation.
This is something that can never be taught in any B-school -- since managing people will never have time-tested, fixed and structured formulae as against most of the other business issues.
The issue of managing people percolates right from within the organisation to the multitude of external stakeholders. It is crucial to establish the right relationships necessary for any business to survive and foster, having to deal with many constituents such as customers, investors, bankers, government and society among others.
The role of relationships can never be ruled out in any corporate environment, be it internal or external. Growth of any organisation is directly proportional to the ability to forge and manage suitable relationships by the personnel at the helm in the organisation.
And this is something that B-schools may not be able to teach through their curricula, however, rigorous and thought out they are. I believe it can be achieved by a lot of practice, keen observation and understanding of people, and one's ability to work with people from diverse backgrounds.
Beyond the good groundwork, grooming and grilling of an individual to make a successful business manager by any B-school, factors such as gaining continuous insights into the human mind and striking a right chord on the relationship front plays a major role in creating leaders."

(R N Iyer graduated from IIM, Ahmedabad, in 1991.)

Why Poli-tics in Office !!

What a topic to start the year with, but homo sapiens is as much apolitical as (s)he is asexual (see what I mean!!!)...


We encounter politics everywhere...the society we live in, the workplace and even in immediate and extended familial relationships. Remember as children when we used to squeal about our sibling to our parents, so as to make ourselves good in their eyes...what's this if not politics. Perhaps, that's the reason, why we look at politics through a Machiavellian prism (though it isn't as negative as it meant out to be...but that's for another blog) oriented towards pursuit of power through crass manipulation. But this is only one aspect of it and we tend to lose our perspective over this because this is what get projected through formal and informal media of communications. The truth is that wherever humans interact, a political phenomenon exist...the workplace being no different...and so does a choice, whether to remain inert or be pro-active by participating in a constructive political process.

Now, how does one define a constructive process?...not an easy answer but simple nonetheless. A process which facilitates the alignment of individual goals towards effective and efficient achievement of organisations goals..(phew!!).

Next logical question is what does it take to partake in this process? Simply put, the following:

• an understanding of the web of professional and inter-personal relationships existing at the workplace, which to a large extent is driven by the formal hierarchical structures, but also gets developed through innumerable non-professional interactions amongst various individuals
• identification of symbiotic (as opposed to synergistic) relationships, which one can develop with each individual in this web of relationships.

Finally, what is the outcome of this process (well, the alignment of individual & organisational goal being at its place...) or rather what does this process entail...

1. Networking across departments, divisions, geographies to create these symbiotic relationships
2. Reinforcement of one's own capabilities and worth without attempting to blow one's own trumpet...be confident not arrogant
3. Being professional... a seemingly vague expression, but then certain things are better understood than explained
4. गीता का सार - कर्म कर फल कि चिंता मत कर (as opposed to इच्छा) This is a critical aspect...offering any support, advice, help or favour may not get returned in the same coin, but it creates goodwill and credibility, the currency of this process

How to work through these process and the things to keep in mind...well that would need a series of such blogs...