Signs

This has been the saddest experience of my life, as I was very close to my mom in spite of the distance. She was a loving and caring woman who loved life and people and it makes me very sad that she no longer will be able to enjoy the life she loved so much. She loved to travel, to eat, to meet friends, to watch movies, to read books and to be with her family and even though she was 80 years old and with poor health for the last couple of weeks, it’s very difficult for me to comprehend that she can no longer inhabit this world she enjoyed so much.

I’m eager and happy to get on with work, knowing that all business problems always have a solution, which is not the case with health and life issues. I’m looking forward to seeing you and talking to you at the soonest occasion

My manager's mother passed away recently and she was away for close to a month. When she came in, she sent a very touching note, a part of which I have pasted here (without her permission). I found the last line very interesting. 'Knowing that all business problems always have a solution, not.....'

I sometimes wonder that our lives are so complex, difficult and for most parts out of our control that may be we yearn for that feeling of control, that certitude which would enable us to say, if we do X, Y will happen and so on. And it is this nature of business i.e. problems can be solved and that most things are causal, that, it is so alluring, that many people give 'business' so much importance, sometimes at the cost of other also important things in life.

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I am turning out to be a big believer in signs. I have noticed that I am in a unclear situation, I have been fortunate to read ‘signs’ that have made me pause, re think, re assess and decide the right course of action. And every single time I have recognized and acted on these signs, I have chosen the 'better option'. I can't call it right decision, but definitely the 'better option'. This signs talk sounds so mumbo-jumbo, hocus-pocus right? Let me try and explain.

By signs, I don’t mean some sudden writing which appears from nowhere but I think I mean an intuitive feeling. A phenomenon, where I am able to comprehend a situation for more than what it looks at first sight, go behind and beyond and understand what it means in a broader context. I know all this talk of signs sounds like witch craft or something but it is not.

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There is this other article I read - 'How Will you measure your life’ by Prof. Clayton M Christenson in the Harvard Business Review. The article raises interesting points and has drawn diverse reactions. I reproduce one part of it here that I quite liked.

It’s crucial to take a sense of humility into the world. By the time you make it to a top graduate school, almost all your learning has come from people who are smarter and more experienced than you: parents, teachers, bosses. But once you’ve finished at Harvard Business School or any other top academic institution, the vast majority of people you’ll interact with on a day-to-day basis may not be smarter than you. And if your attitude is that only smarter people have something to teach you, your learning opportunities will be very limited. But if you have a humble eagerness to learn something from everybody, your learning opportunities will be unlimited.

That is an astute observation. While we are not all pricks by default, meritocracy which we all swear by as the panacea to all problems in the world, is in my circles at least, defined by certain restrictive cues like the name of school or college, designation on our visiting card, the locality where we have bought houses, vacation destinations, fortune 500 ranking of our employer and so on. And we often compare ourselves with people who are better off or in our perception have accumulated more tick marks on list that invariably has items similar to the ones listed above. And these people become the smart people we want to associate with/ learn from and hence by the nature of limited capacity, energy, time, we don't seem to learn things from the rest. Thus it is not by choice that we ignore or close our minds to others, but just by social conditioning.

Of course, this also begs a larger question. How should we define merit?

Its only words....

I came across this news article yesterday. Brazil has setup a Grammar hotline. You can now dial in - ask your doubts and experts will answer. The reason they say is that 'Brazilians are sensitive about making grammatical errors, which are often associated with a lack of education.'

Well, I do not think that grammatical errors imply a lack of education. Neither do I believe that proficiency in a language is a pre-requisite for success. Take the example of Indians like me. Most of us are not native English speakers. We are invariably bi-lingual if not tri-lingual or even multi-lingual. I can safely claim that I am proficient in English and can speak/write/read - Hindi and Tamil and can speak and understand Kannada and a bit of Bengali and can understand a bit of Gujarati. And almost all Indians I know are multi-lingual. So when we talk, we switch between two or even three languages, often in the same sentence. The rules of grammar are different in each of these languages. Hence we aren't often grammatically right when we speak. But hey, as long as we get the message across, it is fine, right? May be.

So what about when we write? We don't write in three languages. We do so in only one. Writing doesn't demand instantaneous reaction or spontaneous expression. In fact it gives us enough time to proof read for errors, if any. So then, are we justified in being a little more critical of errors when they occur in writing?

I think the discussion is not as simple as right vs. wrong or justified vs. unjustified, I would like to view the question in the broader context. Why is writing and writing well so important? Why do I and many others place a premium on the written word?

In this age of complexity and high noise, the ability to express our thoughts and ideas in a simple and cogent manner is a skill that is very scarce. Spoken words suffer from transmission loss. Our writing has the ability to travel both geographically and across time. Putting our thoughts down on paper, many a times, helps ourselves get clearer about the topic. As we write, we are often forced to think beyond gut reactions. We are forced to differentiate and discern between judgments /biases and facts and thus and many a times we re-evaluate our own points of view. Writing necessitates us to understand who our reader or audience is, expect or anticipate their questions and answer them in advance. This definitely develops our own intellectual faculties and many a times signals maturity of our thought process. We slowly but surely learn to appreciate nuances and subtexts better.

Effective writing is what I refer to as the ability to write well. I would in fact argue that our readers are investing their time to read and interpret what we are trying to say. So in a sense, we owe it to our readers to invest our own time, to enable easy comprehension. Not all of us are gifted with linguistic skills to write lyrically or poetically, but in this day and age we all have access to spell check and grammar-check tools. When we make the effort to spell check and grammar-proof our writing, we are in fact telling the reader that we appreciate and value his or her time. It signals that that we pay attention even to the smallest of details.

In professional context, I don't have to over emphasize the value of the written word. We are as good as our ideas and our ideas are worthwhile only if the receiver gets what we are trying to say. Our managers and business leaders have little time, so effective communication is of paramount importance. What we need to realise is that in today's electronic world, our written word travels before us. It builds a mental image and influences the perception of the writer in the reader's mind. And why wouldn’t we want to leave a positive impression?

Increasingly, we are concluding business deals via mails and documents alone, without interacting even once personally or over telephone with the other party. In such cases, it is crucial that we take effort to communicate effectively, so that we may influence the deal positively. I would even reckon that if we write well, with attention to details by dotting all the i's and crossing the t’s, our client or manager or business partner could very well believe that we would be as meticulous about our work/projects as we are about our written note.

Now, we write in different contexts. An email, a chat conversation, a personal invitation or a thank you note and so on. We don't necessarily have content that is intellectually heavy that needs to be thought through, simplified, communicated effectively all the time. I am sure our friends and acquaintances understand our message when we communicate using short forms or even non-grammatical terms. They could only care less about spellings, grammar, framework, thought process etc. So do we need to spell check, grammar-proof our writing even for a simple chat conversation? I am biased to say yes. It is my very personal point of view that we should make every effort to write well. After all, our friends are still investing time and effort and by taking pains to enable easy comprehension, we are only appreciative of their effort. Also, if we want to make a habit of writing well, why exclude certain conversations/ interactions. Excellence is after all achieved only when best practices become a habit. I would also contend that our friends are the best people to hone our grammar and spelling skills with. We are, after all most receptive to their criticism.

Finally, I would like to leave you with a cheeky note. When God gave the Ten Commandments, he wrote them / got Moses to write them down on stones vs. just sermonising. Now, I wonder why.

Welcome to Singapore!

Ok, I am back, by popular demand. A couple of weeks ago, I got an email from a reader who wondered why I wasn't writing as frequently anymore. Honestly, I did not know that there were people who read this blog other than a few people I know. So now that I am popular (yeah!), I am back to writing more.

I remember the day I landed in Singapore in May. It was 5.30 am on a Sunday morning. I cleared immigration, pulled out two big suitcases from the carousel and languorously dragged myself and my suitcases out of the airport. I stepped out, looked around, looked at a familiar face, smiled and walked ahead two steps. Something did not seem right. Then I looked at the familiar face again. My friend Uma Thurman (to borrow from Penguin) came rushing at me and gave me a big hug with a loud 'Hi' that made everyone around give us a big stare. I took a few seconds to realize what was happening. 'You wouldn't think that we would not receive you is it? Welcome to Singapore!! '.

I secretly hope that someone receives me at airports and railway stations wherever I go, but having stayed and traveled alone most of last 10 years, I never expect anyone ever. I was totally surprised to see her at the airport. Absolutely touched. Poor her, she got up at 5.15 on a Sunday morning, waking her husband up in the process. Somewhere amidst all this thinking, I realised that Uma Thurman mentioned that 'we are here to receive you'. So I asked her, who is 'We'?

She pointed me to the escalator. As if right out of a classic airport scene in a movie, Penguin descends. Only background music was missing. She limps across swiftly. Penguin had twisted her ankle the previous evening, yet was cheerfully limping over at 5 am to receive me.

As we went over to my guest house to drop my luggage, I heard their sinister plans. They wanted to garland me, play loud music at the airport amongst other things to embarrass me. However, luckily, that plan could not be executed. After dropping luggage off at my guest house, we went to Uma Thurman's house where she made amazing blueberry and choco-chip pancakes. Slurp! Pancakes/ waffles with maple syrup are among my favourite breakfast items. The start in Singapore couldn't have got better.

I got a call from my friend Sp, who couldn't make it to the airport as she had an early morning shoot. Yeah, she is acting in an amateur movie (something like Hyderabad blues) and I can bet, she is going to be amazing at it. She is playing the lead actress. So Yea Sp, invited me over to her place in the evening and was quite insistent that I meet her that evening itself. Later that evening when I landed over at her place, she whipped out a carrot cake which she had baked amidst her busy schedule for my birthday. So I cut my birthday cake, blowing a small candle, wishing hmm.., for good luck. The cake was absolutely fabulous.

As I tucked into my bed that night, slowly drifting to sleep, I smiled at the great start I had in Singapore.

Invictus

It has been a long break away from the blog. The writing has been more infrequent than ever

Over the past few months, I have moved to my new role in Singapore. I am slowly settling down into my new assignment. My major markets are China and Philippines, which are quite different from the ones that I am used to. I hope to travel to these markets frequently, even maybe as frequently as I did to Delhi, Ludhiana and Chandigarh in the past few years.

I have found a house in Singapore and would be moving in next week. This will be fourth house shifting in 4 months. I am totally tired with all this house shifting business. Hopefully this should be the last one for a while to come.

I got a chance to make a very hurriedly planned trip to Shanghai and Manila for two days each. I was extremely excited. New countries, new places. Most of my business trips are the same- airport, hotel, conference room, hotel and airport. This one was also no different.

Shanghai was the first stop. The great Shanghai Expo is currently on. The Shanghai Expo lasts for 180 days. Yes, you read that right, it lasts for 6 whole months. It is an expo where each country has a pavilion, yes people, pavilion and not a stall. The size of each pavilion is massive. The expo is drawing close to 400,000 visitors daily. Overall in 6 months they expect 70 million visitors. Here is the link. http://en.expo2010.cn/. I don’t think that the Chinese ever think in anything less that Gigantic terms.

The entire city of shanghai is geared up for the expo. Tourists, businessmen from all over the world are in Shanghai now. The number of Indian businessmen and families that I saw at the immigration line and in the hotel was staggering. Most of them were there for the Expo, scouting for business opportunities and partnerships and new markets. Since our trip was planned at the last minute we struggled to get hotel bookings. We finally managed Holiday Inn express. After landing in Shanghai, I wanted to extend my stay by a day, so that I could get to go around the city, but alas, there were no hotels. Not even for backpackers. Quite disappointed I returned to Singapore without seeing much of the city.

I however managed to squeeze out an evening where I visited the post expat hangout area of Shanghai. I don't remember the name of the place. It was in Chinese and I couldn't pronounce it properly. I had to get it written down on a piece of paper and I showed it to the taxi driver in Shanghai who took me there. I managed to capture a few pictures of the place

In Shanghai, the predominant language is Mandarin. While the hotel receptionist may speak smattering English, the people on the road – shopkeepers cab drivers etc do not speak or understand English. So I did have difficulty in getting around, asking directions. I had to get everything written in Mandarin and show the sheet of paper to the people to get directions, order food and so on.

Manilla was like homecoming. The moment I reached the airport, I saw a huge queue at the immigration and it was exactly like how it would be in Madras or Mumbai. As we drove through the city to reach our hotel, the place reminded me of Mumbai for some reason. People spoke English, the shop name boards were in English and Filipino. There were big skyscrapers, a bay area, slums and shanties. I felt I was home :)

Again, I got only a few hours for a brisk walk around the hotel, which again happened to be an expat area in Manila - Green belt. It had a lot of good restaurants, shopping malls etc. I ate dinner at Cafe Havana, a Cuban restaurant in Mexico. They had some unique items in the menu which looked very interesting. With limited choice for a vegetarian, I tried their vegetarian Paella - which is actually a Spanish (or Valencian to be precise) dish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paella The Paella was outstanding. Supremely tasty. Café Havana also had some good music and some dancing. A must visit place.

One picture of Greenbelt and one of the hotel where I stayed

The flight hours were long. Singapore shanghai is 5.5 hrs and Singapore Manila is 3 hours. All my flights were during the day. I was able to utilise my in flight hours to catch up on a lot of movies. I think I saw 6 English and one Spanish movie. The Spanish was of course for Penolope Cruz. Sigh!! Of the movies that I watched, Invictus has since stayed with me. Invictus is story of how Nelson Mandela tries to unite the fledgling nation of South Africa using the Rugby world cup in 1995 when rugby was in fact seen as the symbol of apartheid. A well shot movie by Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman as Mandela was almost like mimicry. He has acted just like Mandela. Wow! The soundtrack of the movie is very good and even during the movie I found myself responding to the background score. Here is one of South Africa's popular songs - a very catchy, light hearted one. Do have a listen.

But the highlight of the movie is the poem 'Invictus'. Nelson Mandela derived strength from this poem while he was imprisoned for 9000 days (27 years). I was introduced to this poem with Morgan Freeman reciting it. I have reproduced it here ..

Invictus

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley

I have always been a sucker for words. They move me. And Invictus seems to have that effect on me. The poem may seem dark and cynical but it isn't so. It is liberating. May be we all can draw some much needed inspiration in our lives.Here is Barack Obama, talking about the power of words. This is during the election run up. So obviously ignore the political rhetoric and listen to him.