Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
முதல் ஆண்டு நினைவு அஞ்சலி
வல்லமை தாராயோ
இன்றுடன் ஒர் வருடம். ஆம், தந்தையில்லா பிள்ளையாய் நான் வாழ வற்புறுத்தப்பட்டு இன்றுடன் ஒர் வருடம். கடந்த ஒர் ஆண்டை அசை போடுகின்றேன்.... நான் தேடி பார்த்தும் குறை ஒன்றும் கண்டு விட முடியவில்லை. என்னை நல்ல நிலையிலேயே விட்டுச் சென்றிருக்கிறார். நல்ல கல்வி, செல்வத்தை தேடி ஓடத் தேவையற்ற நிலை, அன்பைப் பொலிய தாய், வேண்டுமென்று கேட்குமுன்னே உதவும் உற்றார், வேறன்ன வேண்டும் இம்மானுட பிறவிக்கு? “குறையொன்றும் இல்லை கண்ணா, கோவிந்தா, கோபாலா” என்று பாடிக் கொண்டிருக்க வேண்டும்.
ஆனால் அதுவன்று என் மனனிலை. ஏதோ ஓர் ஏக்கம், ஏதோ ஓர் வெறுமை. ஆம் என் பிடி வாதத்திற்கு ஈடு கொடுத்து, நான் எதிர்ப்பேன் என்றும் பொருட்படுத்தாமல் என் தவறுகளை கண்டித்து, என் தேவைகளை நானே அறியும் முன்னே பூர்த்தி செய்யுது, இன்னும் எவ்வளவோ இல்லாமல் வாழ்க்கை ஓர் வெறுமையாகத்தான் தோன்றுகிறது.
ஒரு பொழுதும் நேரடியாக பேசிக் கொண்டதில்லை, இருப்பினும் ஓரு பொழுதும் இருந்ததில்லை எண்ண இடைவெளி. இருவரும் ஓற்ற வழியில் சிந்ததில்லை, இருப்பினும் சொல்லாமலே ஒருவர் முடிவை மற்றொறுவர் அறிந்தே இருந்தோம். வள்ளுவன் வாக்கிற்கினங்க “இவன் தந்தை இவனை பெற என்னோற்றான் கொள்” என பெருமைப் பட வைக்கவில்லை இருப்பினும் அத்தகு மக்கட்க்கு மேல் மெச்சப் பட்டேன்.
அந்தோ இவை அனைத்தும் ஓர் நாளில் மறைந்ததை தாங்கும் பக்குவத்தை கற்றுக் கொடுக்க தவறினாரே. என்னை மழுமை படுத்திய பின்பே காலனுக்கு தன்னை இறையாக்கியவரை கண்டு விடும் கண்ணீர் அவர் ஆன்மாவை கழங்க வைக்கும் என்று உணர்ந்த என் மனம், அவர் இல்லாமல் வாழ்க்கை முன்னே சென்றுதானாக வேண்டுமென என ஏனோ உணர மறுக்கிறது. உலகில் அனைத்தும் ஓர் சக்தி, அவற்றின் அதிர்வழைகள் மட்டுமே வேறென தெறிந்தும் அதனை ஏற்க பக்குவப் படாத மனத்துடன் எங்ஙகனம் இவ்வாழ்வின் தேடலைத் தொடருவேன்?
ஆனால் நான் நின்று விட போவதில்லை. வாழ்வில் பொருளையோ, வாழ்வின் பொருளையோ தேடி ஓடப் போவதமில்லை. எதுவும் நிலையில்லை என்ற புலத்துடன், என்னுள் இருக்கும் ஆனந்தத்தை மட்டுமே நோக்க எத்ததனிக்கிறேன். என்னை பக்குவப்பட வழி நடத்த வேண்டு்ம் என் தந்தையே!
“உலகாள எண்ணி,
பல பினி கண்டு,
நின்னடி சறனடைந்தேன்,
என் கண் திறவாயோ?”
இன்றுடன் ஒர் வருடம். ஆம், தந்தையில்லா பிள்ளையாய் நான் வாழ வற்புறுத்தப்பட்டு இன்றுடன் ஒர் வருடம். கடந்த ஒர் ஆண்டை அசை போடுகின்றேன்.... நான் தேடி பார்த்தும் குறை ஒன்றும் கண்டு விட முடியவில்லை. என்னை நல்ல நிலையிலேயே விட்டுச் சென்றிருக்கிறார். நல்ல கல்வி, செல்வத்தை தேடி ஓடத் தேவையற்ற நிலை, அன்பைப் பொலிய தாய், வேண்டுமென்று கேட்குமுன்னே உதவும் உற்றார், வேறன்ன வேண்டும் இம்மானுட பிறவிக்கு? “குறையொன்றும் இல்லை கண்ணா, கோவிந்தா, கோபாலா” என்று பாடிக் கொண்டிருக்க வேண்டும்.
ஆனால் அதுவன்று என் மனனிலை. ஏதோ ஓர் ஏக்கம், ஏதோ ஓர் வெறுமை. ஆம் என் பிடி வாதத்திற்கு ஈடு கொடுத்து, நான் எதிர்ப்பேன் என்றும் பொருட்படுத்தாமல் என் தவறுகளை கண்டித்து, என் தேவைகளை நானே அறியும் முன்னே பூர்த்தி செய்யுது, இன்னும் எவ்வளவோ இல்லாமல் வாழ்க்கை ஓர் வெறுமையாகத்தான் தோன்றுகிறது.
ஒரு பொழுதும் நேரடியாக பேசிக் கொண்டதில்லை, இருப்பினும் ஓரு பொழுதும் இருந்ததில்லை எண்ண இடைவெளி. இருவரும் ஓற்ற வழியில் சிந்ததில்லை, இருப்பினும் சொல்லாமலே ஒருவர் முடிவை மற்றொறுவர் அறிந்தே இருந்தோம். வள்ளுவன் வாக்கிற்கினங்க “இவன் தந்தை இவனை பெற என்னோற்றான் கொள்” என பெருமைப் பட வைக்கவில்லை இருப்பினும் அத்தகு மக்கட்க்கு மேல் மெச்சப் பட்டேன்.
அந்தோ இவை அனைத்தும் ஓர் நாளில் மறைந்ததை தாங்கும் பக்குவத்தை கற்றுக் கொடுக்க தவறினாரே. என்னை மழுமை படுத்திய பின்பே காலனுக்கு தன்னை இறையாக்கியவரை கண்டு விடும் கண்ணீர் அவர் ஆன்மாவை கழங்க வைக்கும் என்று உணர்ந்த என் மனம், அவர் இல்லாமல் வாழ்க்கை முன்னே சென்றுதானாக வேண்டுமென என ஏனோ உணர மறுக்கிறது. உலகில் அனைத்தும் ஓர் சக்தி, அவற்றின் அதிர்வழைகள் மட்டுமே வேறென தெறிந்தும் அதனை ஏற்க பக்குவப் படாத மனத்துடன் எங்ஙகனம் இவ்வாழ்வின் தேடலைத் தொடருவேன்?
ஆனால் நான் நின்று விட போவதில்லை. வாழ்வில் பொருளையோ, வாழ்வின் பொருளையோ தேடி ஓடப் போவதமில்லை. எதுவும் நிலையில்லை என்ற புலத்துடன், என்னுள் இருக்கும் ஆனந்தத்தை மட்டுமே நோக்க எத்ததனிக்கிறேன். என்னை பக்குவப்பட வழி நடத்த வேண்டு்ம் என் தந்தையே!
“உலகாள எண்ணி,
பல பினி கண்டு,
நின்னடி சறனடைந்தேன்,
என் கண் திறவாயோ?”
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Can I ever achieve the "BLISS"
I am one of the guys who get confused a lot about the ways to attain that so called eternal “Bliss”. I am not clear which is the best path to attain this, an atheist’s route or theist’s route? In fact I am not clear about which is correct Theism or Atheism. This blog is essentially meant to pour out some of my confused thoughts on this subject rather than putting any of my arguments for or against either side. I am just hoping to get some insights from the readers.
“Aum Saha Naavavathu Sahanau Bhunaktu
Saha Veeryam Kara Vaavahai
Tejasvi Naavadheetamastu Maa Vidwishaavahai
Aum Shantih Shantih Shantihi”
Meaning: May the Lord protect us both, may He nourish us both, may we work together with great vigor (divine strength). May we both acquire brilliance of our intellect through our studies, may we not hate each other. Let there be peace, peace, peace.
The Atheist:
Let me start with the birth. Preliminary question that everybody gets at least once in their live is “why am I born?”. The spiritual side gives different opinion on this. Hinduism says “ You are born because of your sin in earlier births”. Most other religions say “Your life will be over if you commit sins”. If I were to go by Hinduism I would say God is source of problems, because he sends me to the earth without a target. In a corporate, I will be clearly given a target and at any point in time I would know it and hence I would work towards that goal and try and achieve the same. In the absence of any target, not only me but any employee would do whatever gives him the happiness. This applies for the world also. Why the God has not set that target???? If one can do whatever he wants to do for his happiness then why is he not allowed being happy always?
The logical conclusion of the above argument should lead to what other religions say, i.e don’t do sins during this birth is correct.
“Aum Saha Naavavathu Sahanau Bhunaktu
Saha Veeryam Kara Vaavahai
Tejasvi Naavadheetamastu Maa Vidwishaavahai
Aum Shantih Shantih Shantihi”
Meaning: May the Lord protect us both, may He nourish us both, may we work together with great vigor (divine strength). May we both acquire brilliance of our intellect through our studies, may we not hate each other. Let there be peace, peace, peace.
The Atheist:
Let me start with the birth. Preliminary question that everybody gets at least once in their live is “why am I born?”. The spiritual side gives different opinion on this. Hinduism says “ You are born because of your sin in earlier births”. Most other religions say “Your life will be over if you commit sins”. If I were to go by Hinduism I would say God is source of problems, because he sends me to the earth without a target. In a corporate, I will be clearly given a target and at any point in time I would know it and hence I would work towards that goal and try and achieve the same. In the absence of any target, not only me but any employee would do whatever gives him the happiness. This applies for the world also. Why the God has not set that target???? If one can do whatever he wants to do for his happiness then why is he not allowed being happy always?
The logical conclusion of the above argument should lead to what other religions say, i.e don’t do sins during this birth is correct.
Agreed, but what is the point a) Whatever good I do, I am not going to outlive this world. b) Day in and day out I feel the pains and sorrows of live. So, better do the sins live happily and get rid of this world soon. So, more the sins, more the happiness and sooner release from world prison.
Before proceeding further I would like to pour out the confusion on the meaning of sin itself. Going by standard definition - Sin rather “Non-Sin” is something that doesn’t cause trouble to anybody. I am afraid that this definition would fit in only for a sin free world, where only one guy does sins. For example a thief is hiding in my house and an angry crowd is chasing him to beat him down. If I protect the thief then I am supporting a sinner, if I hand him over to the crowd I’m supporting another group of sinners. If I take the third route of handing him over to police myself, this still will not make me a non sinner. As the police man is not going to treat him as a living being (to say the least) and thus make me supporter of another sinner.
So, what is God trying to accomplish by sending me to the world? He has neither made the target clear nor the process clears (life tasks) but, constantly nudges me with day to day troubles. Going by this argument one should conclude that God wants to prove that he is the superior being and hence creates situations and always wins himself. This is like a cricket match in which man is the batsman and God is everything else like bowler, fieldsman and most importantly the umpire. Hahahhah what is the point in playing this match???!!!!!!!!!! My head is spinning.
The Theist:
People who stopped with the last para would have concluded this is one other atheist’s cribbing. I vouch am a struck in the middle guy. I do pray God. So, where is God? Assume that you have never tasted anything sweet, if I come to you and say that Sugarcane is sweetest thing in the world, what will you realize? You will just think I am a crook speaking about a non-existent thing.
My belief is God may be in temples or could be, as Vedas say everything is “Bhramam/ God” i.e same energy vibrating in different frequencies, but I am just not able to realize it.
So, “Anbe Sivam”- Love is God? I don’t think so. What will I get in return for love? Every love in this world has some selfish motives attached to it. Though the mother’s love has the least of selfish motives, still it can’t be counted out. If mother’s love is selfless then all child should be the same, which is not the case. ( I am not elaborating on this as that is not the purpose here). “Love at large and don’t expect anything” is as good as killing yourself. I mean why live just to serve the mankind?
Social systems cause of this trouble?
I think our social system is something that needs to be blamed for this situation. Social systems had been framed according to the times in which they started evolving, but over a period of time we are getting confused whether the system should evolve along with the changing times or stick to whatever is already there. “Is the man for system or is the system for man” I don’t know.
For example take this marriage system. Vedas say both Sanyasa and Family life are kind of Dharmas i.e “IL-Aram”(family life dharma) and “Thuravu-Aram”(sage life dharma). But somewhere in the Upanishad it says by birth human beings are indebted to do certain activities and hence getting Sanyasa is a sin. In some other place it says, to attain the “Bliss” one should leave family life. But this never speaks about the third path that is Bramacharyam!!!, as if it does not exist.
Another instance.
Before proceeding further I would like to pour out the confusion on the meaning of sin itself. Going by standard definition - Sin rather “Non-Sin” is something that doesn’t cause trouble to anybody. I am afraid that this definition would fit in only for a sin free world, where only one guy does sins. For example a thief is hiding in my house and an angry crowd is chasing him to beat him down. If I protect the thief then I am supporting a sinner, if I hand him over to the crowd I’m supporting another group of sinners. If I take the third route of handing him over to police myself, this still will not make me a non sinner. As the police man is not going to treat him as a living being (to say the least) and thus make me supporter of another sinner.
So, what is God trying to accomplish by sending me to the world? He has neither made the target clear nor the process clears (life tasks) but, constantly nudges me with day to day troubles. Going by this argument one should conclude that God wants to prove that he is the superior being and hence creates situations and always wins himself. This is like a cricket match in which man is the batsman and God is everything else like bowler, fieldsman and most importantly the umpire. Hahahhah what is the point in playing this match???!!!!!!!!!! My head is spinning.
The Theist:
People who stopped with the last para would have concluded this is one other atheist’s cribbing. I vouch am a struck in the middle guy. I do pray God. So, where is God? Assume that you have never tasted anything sweet, if I come to you and say that Sugarcane is sweetest thing in the world, what will you realize? You will just think I am a crook speaking about a non-existent thing.
My belief is God may be in temples or could be, as Vedas say everything is “Bhramam/ God” i.e same energy vibrating in different frequencies, but I am just not able to realize it.
So, “Anbe Sivam”- Love is God? I don’t think so. What will I get in return for love? Every love in this world has some selfish motives attached to it. Though the mother’s love has the least of selfish motives, still it can’t be counted out. If mother’s love is selfless then all child should be the same, which is not the case. ( I am not elaborating on this as that is not the purpose here). “Love at large and don’t expect anything” is as good as killing yourself. I mean why live just to serve the mankind?
Social systems cause of this trouble?
I think our social system is something that needs to be blamed for this situation. Social systems had been framed according to the times in which they started evolving, but over a period of time we are getting confused whether the system should evolve along with the changing times or stick to whatever is already there. “Is the man for system or is the system for man” I don’t know.
For example take this marriage system. Vedas say both Sanyasa and Family life are kind of Dharmas i.e “IL-Aram”(family life dharma) and “Thuravu-Aram”(sage life dharma). But somewhere in the Upanishad it says by birth human beings are indebted to do certain activities and hence getting Sanyasa is a sin. In some other place it says, to attain the “Bliss” one should leave family life. But this never speaks about the third path that is Bramacharyam!!!, as if it does not exist.
Another instance.
Vedas consistently say their purpose is to help the human being attain the Bliss. The path that Vedas suggest to attain Bliss is something like “treat all moments equally” or “take both sorrows and happiness in the same way”. If that is the case then what is the need for Atharvana Veda, the Veda that is meant for teaching ways to win over enemies, through things like black magic.
Thinking or rather getting confused with all these thoughts, the conclusion that I am heading to is, while there exists something called God (because I am not winning in all aspects of life) the social systems that are supposedly created to help the man is confusing the mankind between acceptable social clauses and the Bliss. Now we are in a stalemate, we can neither leave the social systems and attain Bliss nor live with the social system and face all the troubles with indifference. I am just thinking why cant one try the less traveled / discussed path of “Bramacharya” or Bachelorhood to reach the so called Bliss. Though Bramacharya may not be panacea couldn’t that be a better path?
May be readers can provide me with more insights.
P.S: I have discussed about Vedas in many places because I know at least a little about them, as I was a Hindu by birth. However this in no way means that I am saying other religions suggest a better living way or inferior living way.
Thinking or rather getting confused with all these thoughts, the conclusion that I am heading to is, while there exists something called God (because I am not winning in all aspects of life) the social systems that are supposedly created to help the man is confusing the mankind between acceptable social clauses and the Bliss. Now we are in a stalemate, we can neither leave the social systems and attain Bliss nor live with the social system and face all the troubles with indifference. I am just thinking why cant one try the less traveled / discussed path of “Bramacharya” or Bachelorhood to reach the so called Bliss. Though Bramacharya may not be panacea couldn’t that be a better path?
May be readers can provide me with more insights.
P.S: I have discussed about Vedas in many places because I know at least a little about them, as I was a Hindu by birth. However this in no way means that I am saying other religions suggest a better living way or inferior living way.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Scarmbled Thought 2
God knows how to make one forget a sorrow!!! Simple create a bigger sorrow an he will forget the old one....he is guiding me perfectly for this :)
Friday, November 9, 2007
Scrambled Thoughts
In the darkness,
At the trough of hopes,
Times u wanna collapse in to the laps of mother earth…
Redmind yourself that life is an oxymoron.
At the trough of hopes,
Times u wanna collapse in to the laps of mother earth…
Redmind yourself that life is an oxymoron.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Entrepreneurship the formula for “live and let live”
“Become an entrepreneur” this is the phrase that I repeatedly tell to myself ever since I completed reading “Rich dad poor dad” series by Robert kiosaki. After reading this book I was very much convinced that there is only one way to become wealthy & have a lot of personal time. It is “Being on your own”. But something that immediately came to my mind is, if a dumb guy like me can understand this so easily why many of my fellow Indians have not understood this? Why many fellow Indians are still relying on their pay checks for their sustenance? Why even (many) the alumni of famed b-schools look for an overseas offer rather than starting on their own? I had searched for an answer for this question in quite a few places and had discussed this with many of my friends, but still could not get a solid answer.
One fine day I realised that the answer for this question lies in me. I fit in many criteria that define an elite club. I have a good education, was an alumnus of a reasonably good b-school, have completed CFA in no time (forgive me for boasting), have moved reasonably well in corporate ladder but still I don’t have the courage to start something on my own. It struck me, if I find the reason for my reluctance to do something on my own, then I am done with the answer.
During my school days my employed parents always advised me to become an engineer or a doctor. I am sure my parents would have suggested me the best possible thing within their purview. But why my parents did not think about making me a business magnet? The answer lies in the environment in which they were brought up during their childhood. They were born just after mother India was freed from the hands of British Empire. Needless to say that this is the period in which most of the Indian families were in poverty and the Nehru government has initiated lot of public sector plans to employ the Indian population. So, the only aim of our previous generation is to study well and get in to a government job. In essence survival is the key and government has made an easy way out for this. Having attained this they always wanted me to take this easy route and settle in life.
Ya, I could hear you saying “so what? If you are boasting that you belong to elite club, why don’t you think?” The fact is my mindset never got an opportunity to change. In my b-school “placements” was the buzz word from day one. Entrepreneurial capabilities were not even discussed for the sake of discussing during those days. When I came out of the b-school the corporate world welcomed me with its arms wide open. The salaries were lucrative and I could grow at a good pace too. So, even though I toyed with the idea of business quite often I never had the courage to risk leaving my high paid job, clearly an act of cowardice.
Now, when I step back and see my career I could see that what I perceived as growth and good pay is just an illusion. The reason why I am saying this is a) corporate growth more often than not, is just a change in designation. Whatever designation I get, somebody will still be goading me. b) The good pay will not be sufficient to make me obtain my financial freedom. Once I stop working I will go bankrupt sooner or later. On the other hand business gurus will continue to earn the same money because they have created a system which generates money. Let me make this point bit more clear with an example here, let us take example of Mr.Ambani who is owner(major share holder) of a listed fortune 500 company. Now, if he stops working Reliance will still continue to generate money because there are other stake (share) holders who have vested interest in the company and thus Mr.Ambwani will continue to earn. The only loss for Mr.Ambani on his retirement would be his further growth, but financially he will stay where he is.
The interesting story about the Indian working community is most of it is capable of running corporate, but are just reluctant. There are “n” number of CEOs who successfully run companies yet very few have ventured their own. Let us take Mr. Kamath, he has taken ICICI to great heights in no time. ICICI is matching the asset levels and penetration of SBI which has a history of nearly hundred years. No one can deny that ICICI’s CEO played key role in attaining this phenomenal feet. Yet, he is still an employee. May be he is getting his ESOPs’ but still he is not an entrepreneur. I am not sure about his personal case for not being on his own, but my gut suggests that he too belongs to the typical Indian working community. I am sure I can bring out quite a lot of examples, if it is not Mr. Kamath.
Having discussed what prevents us from becoming “real” bosses, let us also briefly see what it takes to become one such. I am sure whatever I am going to say is not a panacea, but I can assure you that it will be good starting point. When I analyse the case of successful entrepreneurs I could categorise them in to two groups. ( I am speaking about first generation entrepreneurs here, not the ones who latch on to their forefather’s business). 1) People who hadn’t had a sophisticated life. These people are forced to look out for opportunities and when they did it, there was no looking back for them. People like Mr. Dell, Mr. Gates, Mr. Ambwani will fall in to this category. 2) People who are innovators as part of their profession. These people bring out ideas as part of their profession, at some point in time they had decide to en-cash the ideas for themselves and started business on their own. Men like Mr. Edison, Mr. Morito, Mr. Narayanan Moorthy will fall in this group.
So, by virtue of our culture, family background and present sophistications in life most of us are ruled of the option of becoming part of category ‘a’. Nevertheless, the category ‘b’ is still open but we are turning blind eyes to it. When I was writing this piece one of my close friend pinged me saying that “ his job is hectic”. I just said him dude why should we slog in like this, let us start something on our own. “I neither have the money nor ideas about the kind of businesses that can be done” came the reply. This is the typical case of most of us (including me). We find reasons why it can’t be done rather than thinking how it can be done. We come out with lot of innovative reasons like time, family background, risks bla bla bla for not doing anything but are not even ready to give a thought about starting something on own. The simple and only reason behind this is – We don’t want to come out of our established safe routine.
It is high time guys we should start thinking about being on our own. This will not only help ourselves but our community, our country and in fact the whole world. There is also a moral/ethical reason for starting a business. I read a book which stated “if somebody comes to you in hunger don’t give them fish but teach them to fish, because giving a fish would serve him one meal whereas teaching to fish would give him a life”. When we start something on our own we will continue to earn at least what we are earning now(save me for initial period), if not more, but the amount of jobs and opportunities you can create for others through your venture is much much more. Eventually, the amount of God’s grace that you can earn through providing a career for two men and thus a life for two families is much higher than feeding hundreds of beggars in a day.
Let me make another point clear at this juncture. I am not suggesting that all of us should quit our present jobs and start a business tomorrow, but all I am suggesting is “be vigilant”. There will be lot of business ideas around you in your day to life, in office, in house, in fact everywhere. Scout for them, keep it in top of your mind, once you get few workable ideas prepare a solid business plan with all your learning in life and start some thing on your own. Again don’t crib for lack of finance and make me to remind you of the quote “It’s not the money that is scarce, but it is the idea that is scarce”. So, guys when we commit ourselves to the cause we can definitely raise all the resources irrespective of whatever comes in the way.
Let us break the glass ceiling and let’s be on our own guys. Let this Diwali, the festival of lights enlighten our thoughts. See you all in next Global entrepreneurial summit.(Ithu konjam over than irundhalum oru finishing puchukaga)
One fine day I realised that the answer for this question lies in me. I fit in many criteria that define an elite club. I have a good education, was an alumnus of a reasonably good b-school, have completed CFA in no time (forgive me for boasting), have moved reasonably well in corporate ladder but still I don’t have the courage to start something on my own. It struck me, if I find the reason for my reluctance to do something on my own, then I am done with the answer.
During my school days my employed parents always advised me to become an engineer or a doctor. I am sure my parents would have suggested me the best possible thing within their purview. But why my parents did not think about making me a business magnet? The answer lies in the environment in which they were brought up during their childhood. They were born just after mother India was freed from the hands of British Empire. Needless to say that this is the period in which most of the Indian families were in poverty and the Nehru government has initiated lot of public sector plans to employ the Indian population. So, the only aim of our previous generation is to study well and get in to a government job. In essence survival is the key and government has made an easy way out for this. Having attained this they always wanted me to take this easy route and settle in life.
Ya, I could hear you saying “so what? If you are boasting that you belong to elite club, why don’t you think?” The fact is my mindset never got an opportunity to change. In my b-school “placements” was the buzz word from day one. Entrepreneurial capabilities were not even discussed for the sake of discussing during those days. When I came out of the b-school the corporate world welcomed me with its arms wide open. The salaries were lucrative and I could grow at a good pace too. So, even though I toyed with the idea of business quite often I never had the courage to risk leaving my high paid job, clearly an act of cowardice.
Now, when I step back and see my career I could see that what I perceived as growth and good pay is just an illusion. The reason why I am saying this is a) corporate growth more often than not, is just a change in designation. Whatever designation I get, somebody will still be goading me. b) The good pay will not be sufficient to make me obtain my financial freedom. Once I stop working I will go bankrupt sooner or later. On the other hand business gurus will continue to earn the same money because they have created a system which generates money. Let me make this point bit more clear with an example here, let us take example of Mr.Ambani who is owner(major share holder) of a listed fortune 500 company. Now, if he stops working Reliance will still continue to generate money because there are other stake (share) holders who have vested interest in the company and thus Mr.Ambwani will continue to earn. The only loss for Mr.Ambani on his retirement would be his further growth, but financially he will stay where he is.
The interesting story about the Indian working community is most of it is capable of running corporate, but are just reluctant. There are “n” number of CEOs who successfully run companies yet very few have ventured their own. Let us take Mr. Kamath, he has taken ICICI to great heights in no time. ICICI is matching the asset levels and penetration of SBI which has a history of nearly hundred years. No one can deny that ICICI’s CEO played key role in attaining this phenomenal feet. Yet, he is still an employee. May be he is getting his ESOPs’ but still he is not an entrepreneur. I am not sure about his personal case for not being on his own, but my gut suggests that he too belongs to the typical Indian working community. I am sure I can bring out quite a lot of examples, if it is not Mr. Kamath.
Having discussed what prevents us from becoming “real” bosses, let us also briefly see what it takes to become one such. I am sure whatever I am going to say is not a panacea, but I can assure you that it will be good starting point. When I analyse the case of successful entrepreneurs I could categorise them in to two groups. ( I am speaking about first generation entrepreneurs here, not the ones who latch on to their forefather’s business). 1) People who hadn’t had a sophisticated life. These people are forced to look out for opportunities and when they did it, there was no looking back for them. People like Mr. Dell, Mr. Gates, Mr. Ambwani will fall in to this category. 2) People who are innovators as part of their profession. These people bring out ideas as part of their profession, at some point in time they had decide to en-cash the ideas for themselves and started business on their own. Men like Mr. Edison, Mr. Morito, Mr. Narayanan Moorthy will fall in this group.
So, by virtue of our culture, family background and present sophistications in life most of us are ruled of the option of becoming part of category ‘a’. Nevertheless, the category ‘b’ is still open but we are turning blind eyes to it. When I was writing this piece one of my close friend pinged me saying that “ his job is hectic”. I just said him dude why should we slog in like this, let us start something on our own. “I neither have the money nor ideas about the kind of businesses that can be done” came the reply. This is the typical case of most of us (including me). We find reasons why it can’t be done rather than thinking how it can be done. We come out with lot of innovative reasons like time, family background, risks bla bla bla for not doing anything but are not even ready to give a thought about starting something on own. The simple and only reason behind this is – We don’t want to come out of our established safe routine.
It is high time guys we should start thinking about being on our own. This will not only help ourselves but our community, our country and in fact the whole world. There is also a moral/ethical reason for starting a business. I read a book which stated “if somebody comes to you in hunger don’t give them fish but teach them to fish, because giving a fish would serve him one meal whereas teaching to fish would give him a life”. When we start something on our own we will continue to earn at least what we are earning now(save me for initial period), if not more, but the amount of jobs and opportunities you can create for others through your venture is much much more. Eventually, the amount of God’s grace that you can earn through providing a career for two men and thus a life for two families is much higher than feeding hundreds of beggars in a day.
Let me make another point clear at this juncture. I am not suggesting that all of us should quit our present jobs and start a business tomorrow, but all I am suggesting is “be vigilant”. There will be lot of business ideas around you in your day to life, in office, in house, in fact everywhere. Scout for them, keep it in top of your mind, once you get few workable ideas prepare a solid business plan with all your learning in life and start some thing on your own. Again don’t crib for lack of finance and make me to remind you of the quote “It’s not the money that is scarce, but it is the idea that is scarce”. So, guys when we commit ourselves to the cause we can definitely raise all the resources irrespective of whatever comes in the way.
Let us break the glass ceiling and let’s be on our own guys. Let this Diwali, the festival of lights enlighten our thoughts. See you all in next Global entrepreneurial summit.(Ithu konjam over than irundhalum oru finishing puchukaga)
Though master of slaves, we are still slave of a master.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Dubai – A tourist’s dream land
Last week when I posted about Bahrain, I received two predominant comments 1) My picture on the page looks like I am very sad 2) Compared to my write ups about my travel experience in Europe, this pot was very non-humorous. My answer to both these is same; it only reflects my present state of mind. I have lost some (one) of the important treasure in my life and it still pains. In fact the objective of this outing is to divert my mind from these things. So, friends this post will be like a Chinese noodles compared to my previous write ups of Indian noodle types. Oops!!! (for) tube lights, this write up will be non-spicy without any humour.
I was accompanied my college junior Ravi, who is also working in Bahrain. Our flight was at 7.30 pm on 11-0ct-2007 and Ravi called me at 6’ o clock and told that he is still on the way. His tone was scared and he told the ticket mentions check-in is 3 hours before flight, without knowing checking in can be done till 1hr before flight. Common this is my chance…. Once he reached airport I started giving him gyans about boarding flights, procedure for immigration etc... He listened all these with a grave look for around 2 hours till we boarded in the flight and finally told, Nirmal u know “Am in Bahrain, which means I have undergone immigration already”. I just erred “Arasiyala ithu ellam saggam aapa” and remained silent for rest of our journey.
The flight landed about an hour late at 10.30 (Dubai is one hour ahead of Bahraini time). The grandness of Dubai begins in airport itself. Huge airport…with escalators even for moving horizontally. Though I had been to Dubai airport it still kept me amazed. This time I was more pro-active, I asked Ravi “had u been here already?” No came the answer. So, I started my gyan session about Dubai air port “Apada…Inga oruthan matitanda …evlo alandhalum ketkuranda”. However our excitement didn’t last long, when we reached the immigration counter there was huuuuge queue. We were sure that the night was out. We were standing in queue but how can a blabbering mouth be calm? We innovated a (fool proof!!!) system with which immigration can be automated and were discussing why it was important for an economy like Dubai which plans to make tourism as the 2nd largest contributor to its GDP (ok verum vayila vada sutom…poduma). At around 3.00 am our entry to the city was cleared, but not the nightmare. There was a huge queue for Taxi and my knowledge of queuing theory said that it would take another 4 hours to hire a taxi. So, we went out of airport to hire a taxi. My goodness, taxi drivers are least bothered to stop or even listen what we are asking and to our dismay Ravi had booked the lodge in Sarjah which is about 30 mins travel from airport. Finally we hired a taxi run by paki guy and managed to reach the hotel by 4 am. Having decided next day is gone we slept at around 5 am.
Chinna veerapan (CV), another junior in my college who is working in Sarjah joined us at around 1 pm next day. We started of our tour with a visit to sharjah city centre. Though there were lot of things to do in the mall, we ended up posing near the women dolls in the lifestyle showrooms. We wandered in the mall for around 2hrs with the usual oath “For lot many years now we are going out only with guys, this is goanna be my last outing with guys”, I guess this oath taking is goanna continue for some more time to come. Then we decided to go out to Dubai. I insisted that we should use the public transport system which is a Volvo bus. Nevertheless fat lady continued to sing, again there was a huge queue for bus, and so cursing Ravi for booking the room in sarjah we hired a taxi.
We got a drop in Deira Dubai, but we wanted to go to Burj Dubai, which is in the other side of sea/ back water. To connect this they have tunnel which goes under the sea and public boat system (called as Abra). We opted for boat which hardly takes 10 mins to reach the other side. In Deira we went through the old souq which is like Bazaar Street. Bargaining is the key for shopping here, every other shop contains an Indian sales person and made me feel home. I was just reminded of the SMS that came about Sreesanth after the 20-20 finals. (Paki hit the ball back without knowing that a mallu will be there in every nook and corner of this world).
Next day CV opted out of our group, sighting official works, so Ravi and I went for desert safari. A land cruiser jeep picked us up and we had to travel for around 45 mins to reach sand dunes. Normally I would enjoy watching through the windows in these kind of situations, but somehow heavy heartedly I was laid back in the head rest with a heavy heart. May be my mind was just revolving around an issue but jeep moved, we reached the sand dunes. At the entrance the driver reduced the air in tyres to half and said to Puzzled looking me “saab otherwise it won’t be possible to drive in the sand”. The safari was marvellous to say the least. Those of you who are interested in roller coaster ride just try this, moving up and down in the mountain of sand…oops it requires stupendous driving skills and the way they organised it with around 20 jeeps rallying like a snake is also commendable.
Then we were taken to dinner arranged by the touring company. The place had every other thing that Arab culture is known for, Seesaw (smoking tube), mehandhi, Arab men and women dress to name a few. Ravi and I got dressed up in Sheik dress and shot few snaps. The dinner was also very good with options from western to eastern items. Then came the highlight of the trip, the ‘belly dance’. We had a few shots with her but for me it is nothing more than a live Indian film song. I just felt like repeating comedian sathiyan dialogue in Mayavi “ ni ellam nadicha padatha(film) than 3 hrs parpanga, enga thalivi simran nadich naan posteria 3 hrs parpen”.
We reached sarjah late in the nite, but CV had already made plans for Pub, so couldn’t decline. Sahrjah being the cultural capital of emirates, pubs and prostitution are strictly not allowed so we had to travel to Ajman which is 10 mins drive. I spent the night with soft drinks and dancing (roaming). Prostitutes from the world’s most populated country are available at anybody’s disposal in these places. Thank god it is one of the few un-ethical things that had never crossed my mind. However we spent time till 4 am in the morning. Yes henceforth nobody can say “vaypu kidikathathu naala than ni thapu panalai” at me. Yeah!!!
Next day we wanted to roam around the city, Ravi wanted to opt for double decker tourist service (Big bus). I started saying“ravi from my experience in Paris tour…” he just cut me short and told, “ I don’t know what is your experience, but from my experience I understand that you boast a lot about your only other overseas trip”. Now am trapped had to shut up my a__. We got on top of the double decker bus and watched the beauty of Dubai. The world’s largest floating bridge, Gold souq, in-number able sky scrappers to name a few.
We got down at Dubai museum, the museum looked so deserted at the first sight. Back home my cousin living in US had given lot of hype about this museum, but after seeing this condition I started cursing her. When we are about to leave we found steps like the ones that we see in Indian Ghost films leading to underground… dark and falcon birds hanging over. With kind of suspicion we got down slowly but there lied the real museum. Unlike typical museum where one can find articles of old ages this museum was full of plaster idols that depict the living style of Arabs in various forms of life. I just said “see ravi they have managed to create a museum out of nothing” had quick thought and continued “ they have created a marvellous city out of nothing, cant they built this museum then?”, made sense. Then we got on to the palace through Big bus. Again this is not as great as modern day saddam’s palace, but throws light on their trading relationships around the world. They have used all currencies from Indian rupees to British pounds during early 20th century. Realising that they didn’t had even a proper currency I just thought “Maadu maikira payaluku imbutu valvaa?”, jokes apart it appealed to me that even autocracy with proper visionary in top would lead to betterment, on the other hand democracy with selfish morons around, will lead to a great downfall.
From there we went to Jumeirah beach via Jumeirah Madina, the only mosque that is open for non-Muslims. A good sculptural work. Then we spent some time in Jumeirah beach, what else screaming at pairs, “Ennda nama matum epo paaru thaniyave beachuku varom”. Then we went to madyint jumeirah a mall exclusively meant for art works, it made even an art blind like me to appreciate things. The world’s first 7 star hotel “burj al arab” is also located in this region. A visit to this (vadikai parkrathu) will cost around Rs.2500!!! We consoled ourselves saying that ir-respective of number of stars all food are goanna come out as s__t” and decided not to go in. Finally we hit sack at 11 pm with the thought that like erstwhile hutch’s “thodi dhur mai” ad, Dubai’s places to visit list will never end.
Next day we packed things and handed over our luggage in cloak room before starting our trip. Then we took a public transport bus and reached for the much hyped “dhow cruise” / “water bus”. But it was nothing but the sea water trip(same as trip between Burj and desire Dubai), but in a sophisticated cruise for a longer time. By now we are more familiar with place, so spent this trip in just photo shooting.
Then after lot of struggle we reached “mall of emirates” through public transport. Oops what a mall, it is like you name it we have it. Retail giants like Carrefour looks like nothing inside this mall. The highlight of this mall is “ski Dubai”, the artificial snow land which is maintained at -2 degree Celsius. You have ice skating, skiing, winches on top of Ice Mountains etc… in the park. Due to time constraint we could not enjoy there. One thing is sure visit Dubai at least once, either as a bachelor with joy of looking at gals or as a couple with scariness of becoming bankrupt!! (I never mentioned women are spending freaks). It is not the cost but the options that will make you bankrupt by shopping.
By now we were running out of time so we came out and were looking for taxi. An Indian approached us and offered a drop to airport at a relatively cheaper price. The Indian mentality forced us to choose this, but soon we were told by the driver that he is also new to Dubai and hence he don’t know the way properly. My goodness, he kept on roaming before finally dropping us at airport. I just thought we could have hired him to roam around Dubai instead of opting for the costly “Big bus”!!
Finally we boarded the flight and reached Bahrain at 3AM. However, the objective of the trip, to get out of dissonance about Bahrain was defeated by a huge margin, after visiting Dubai my heart is feeling so heavy about landing in this deserted place and this continues to add to my already existing pains. Nevertheless, a good outing has come to an end and I need to live with reality!!
Guess this will inspire at least a couple of my friends to visit Dubai.
I was accompanied my college junior Ravi, who is also working in Bahrain. Our flight was at 7.30 pm on 11-0ct-2007 and Ravi called me at 6’ o clock and told that he is still on the way. His tone was scared and he told the ticket mentions check-in is 3 hours before flight, without knowing checking in can be done till 1hr before flight. Common this is my chance…. Once he reached airport I started giving him gyans about boarding flights, procedure for immigration etc... He listened all these with a grave look for around 2 hours till we boarded in the flight and finally told, Nirmal u know “Am in Bahrain, which means I have undergone immigration already”. I just erred “Arasiyala ithu ellam saggam aapa” and remained silent for rest of our journey.
The flight landed about an hour late at 10.30 (Dubai is one hour ahead of Bahraini time). The grandness of Dubai begins in airport itself. Huge airport…with escalators even for moving horizontally. Though I had been to Dubai airport it still kept me amazed. This time I was more pro-active, I asked Ravi “had u been here already?” No came the answer. So, I started my gyan session about Dubai air port “Apada…Inga oruthan matitanda …evlo alandhalum ketkuranda”. However our excitement didn’t last long, when we reached the immigration counter there was huuuuge queue. We were sure that the night was out. We were standing in queue but how can a blabbering mouth be calm? We innovated a (fool proof!!!) system with which immigration can be automated and were discussing why it was important for an economy like Dubai which plans to make tourism as the 2nd largest contributor to its GDP (ok verum vayila vada sutom…poduma). At around 3.00 am our entry to the city was cleared, but not the nightmare. There was a huge queue for Taxi and my knowledge of queuing theory said that it would take another 4 hours to hire a taxi. So, we went out of airport to hire a taxi. My goodness, taxi drivers are least bothered to stop or even listen what we are asking and to our dismay Ravi had booked the lodge in Sarjah which is about 30 mins travel from airport. Finally we hired a taxi run by paki guy and managed to reach the hotel by 4 am. Having decided next day is gone we slept at around 5 am.
Chinna veerapan (CV), another junior in my college who is working in Sarjah joined us at around 1 pm next day. We started of our tour with a visit to sharjah city centre. Though there were lot of things to do in the mall, we ended up posing near the women dolls in the lifestyle showrooms. We wandered in the mall for around 2hrs with the usual oath “For lot many years now we are going out only with guys, this is goanna be my last outing with guys”, I guess this oath taking is goanna continue for some more time to come. Then we decided to go out to Dubai. I insisted that we should use the public transport system which is a Volvo bus. Nevertheless fat lady continued to sing, again there was a huge queue for bus, and so cursing Ravi for booking the room in sarjah we hired a taxi.
We got a drop in Deira Dubai, but we wanted to go to Burj Dubai, which is in the other side of sea/ back water. To connect this they have tunnel which goes under the sea and public boat system (called as Abra). We opted for boat which hardly takes 10 mins to reach the other side. In Deira we went through the old souq which is like Bazaar Street. Bargaining is the key for shopping here, every other shop contains an Indian sales person and made me feel home. I was just reminded of the SMS that came about Sreesanth after the 20-20 finals. (Paki hit the ball back without knowing that a mallu will be there in every nook and corner of this world).
Next day CV opted out of our group, sighting official works, so Ravi and I went for desert safari. A land cruiser jeep picked us up and we had to travel for around 45 mins to reach sand dunes. Normally I would enjoy watching through the windows in these kind of situations, but somehow heavy heartedly I was laid back in the head rest with a heavy heart. May be my mind was just revolving around an issue but jeep moved, we reached the sand dunes. At the entrance the driver reduced the air in tyres to half and said to Puzzled looking me “saab otherwise it won’t be possible to drive in the sand”. The safari was marvellous to say the least. Those of you who are interested in roller coaster ride just try this, moving up and down in the mountain of sand…oops it requires stupendous driving skills and the way they organised it with around 20 jeeps rallying like a snake is also commendable.
Then we were taken to dinner arranged by the touring company. The place had every other thing that Arab culture is known for, Seesaw (smoking tube), mehandhi, Arab men and women dress to name a few. Ravi and I got dressed up in Sheik dress and shot few snaps. The dinner was also very good with options from western to eastern items. Then came the highlight of the trip, the ‘belly dance’. We had a few shots with her but for me it is nothing more than a live Indian film song. I just felt like repeating comedian sathiyan dialogue in Mayavi “ ni ellam nadicha padatha(film) than 3 hrs parpanga, enga thalivi simran nadich naan posteria 3 hrs parpen”.
We reached sarjah late in the nite, but CV had already made plans for Pub, so couldn’t decline. Sahrjah being the cultural capital of emirates, pubs and prostitution are strictly not allowed so we had to travel to Ajman which is 10 mins drive. I spent the night with soft drinks and dancing (roaming). Prostitutes from the world’s most populated country are available at anybody’s disposal in these places. Thank god it is one of the few un-ethical things that had never crossed my mind. However we spent time till 4 am in the morning. Yes henceforth nobody can say “vaypu kidikathathu naala than ni thapu panalai” at me. Yeah!!!
Next day we wanted to roam around the city, Ravi wanted to opt for double decker tourist service (Big bus). I started saying“ravi from my experience in Paris tour…” he just cut me short and told, “ I don’t know what is your experience, but from my experience I understand that you boast a lot about your only other overseas trip”. Now am trapped had to shut up my a__. We got on top of the double decker bus and watched the beauty of Dubai. The world’s largest floating bridge, Gold souq, in-number able sky scrappers to name a few.
We got down at Dubai museum, the museum looked so deserted at the first sight. Back home my cousin living in US had given lot of hype about this museum, but after seeing this condition I started cursing her. When we are about to leave we found steps like the ones that we see in Indian Ghost films leading to underground… dark and falcon birds hanging over. With kind of suspicion we got down slowly but there lied the real museum. Unlike typical museum where one can find articles of old ages this museum was full of plaster idols that depict the living style of Arabs in various forms of life. I just said “see ravi they have managed to create a museum out of nothing” had quick thought and continued “ they have created a marvellous city out of nothing, cant they built this museum then?”, made sense. Then we got on to the palace through Big bus. Again this is not as great as modern day saddam’s palace, but throws light on their trading relationships around the world. They have used all currencies from Indian rupees to British pounds during early 20th century. Realising that they didn’t had even a proper currency I just thought “Maadu maikira payaluku imbutu valvaa?”, jokes apart it appealed to me that even autocracy with proper visionary in top would lead to betterment, on the other hand democracy with selfish morons around, will lead to a great downfall.
From there we went to Jumeirah beach via Jumeirah Madina, the only mosque that is open for non-Muslims. A good sculptural work. Then we spent some time in Jumeirah beach, what else screaming at pairs, “Ennda nama matum epo paaru thaniyave beachuku varom”. Then we went to madyint jumeirah a mall exclusively meant for art works, it made even an art blind like me to appreciate things. The world’s first 7 star hotel “burj al arab” is also located in this region. A visit to this (vadikai parkrathu) will cost around Rs.2500!!! We consoled ourselves saying that ir-respective of number of stars all food are goanna come out as s__t” and decided not to go in. Finally we hit sack at 11 pm with the thought that like erstwhile hutch’s “thodi dhur mai” ad, Dubai’s places to visit list will never end.
Next day we packed things and handed over our luggage in cloak room before starting our trip. Then we took a public transport bus and reached for the much hyped “dhow cruise” / “water bus”. But it was nothing but the sea water trip(same as trip between Burj and desire Dubai), but in a sophisticated cruise for a longer time. By now we are more familiar with place, so spent this trip in just photo shooting.
Then after lot of struggle we reached “mall of emirates” through public transport. Oops what a mall, it is like you name it we have it. Retail giants like Carrefour looks like nothing inside this mall. The highlight of this mall is “ski Dubai”, the artificial snow land which is maintained at -2 degree Celsius. You have ice skating, skiing, winches on top of Ice Mountains etc… in the park. Due to time constraint we could not enjoy there. One thing is sure visit Dubai at least once, either as a bachelor with joy of looking at gals or as a couple with scariness of becoming bankrupt!! (I never mentioned women are spending freaks). It is not the cost but the options that will make you bankrupt by shopping.
By now we were running out of time so we came out and were looking for taxi. An Indian approached us and offered a drop to airport at a relatively cheaper price. The Indian mentality forced us to choose this, but soon we were told by the driver that he is also new to Dubai and hence he don’t know the way properly. My goodness, he kept on roaming before finally dropping us at airport. I just thought we could have hired him to roam around Dubai instead of opting for the costly “Big bus”!!
Finally we boarded the flight and reached Bahrain at 3AM. However, the objective of the trip, to get out of dissonance about Bahrain was defeated by a huge margin, after visiting Dubai my heart is feeling so heavy about landing in this deserted place and this continues to add to my already existing pains. Nevertheless, a good outing has come to an end and I need to live with reality!!
Guess this will inspire at least a couple of my friends to visit Dubai.
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