Goals and Achievement

 Goals are personal, or institutional- at the workplace. Some of these are at odds. For example, working hard, without adequate rest at your job may be good for the Employer -assuming you are a productive worker-but may take a toll on your health/personal life, if you are not careful. Spending time with kids, spouse, parents or others takes a hit, unless you have friends at workplaces.

Also, a much-needed change of scenery may not take place. It's refreshing to actually meet new people, on a regular basis. That includes re-meeting old friends whom you may not have met. But it could be new people, or experiences that help the mind (and therefore, body) to cope with constant work pressures.

There are countries and economies that stress a work-life balance, and are usually rated as being among the 'happiest' in the world. Even if you dispute those rankings, there's something to be said for a Work/Life balance. If you don't believe me. read two excellent books by Ricardo Semler- Maverick, and The Seven Day Weekend. He might convince you.

Forgetfully Yours

 Ok, before I forget what I wanted to write about, this is about a book that I just got, and have almost finished reading. 

Many good points the author makes- it's called The Almanack of Naval Ravikant. The author is someone else. But he-Naval- is a real guy who tweets, blogs and gives interviews. An Indian immigrant to the U.S.

" Doctors won’t make you healthy. Nutritionists won’t make you slim. Teachers won’t make you smart. Gurus won’t make you calm. Mentors won’t make you rich. Trainers won’t make you fit. Ultimately, you have to take responsibility. Save yourself. " 

One of many nice quotes. Another one goes something like "No one can beat you at being you." Advocating authenticity.

"Decision-making is everything," (not an exact quote) according to another pointer from the book. 

Read the book if you want more. It's also available free online I believe. 

Colleagues No More

 I mean ones who are no more, or who have passed away.

Recently, a former roommate from the school hostel at Hyderabad passed away. He was generally in good health, and had no history of any problems. Just died of a heart attack. 

That made me think of some others who were my colleagues or friends. One was a lively faculty member at IMT in Ghaziabad. I came to know she died after a battle with cancer, after I had left IMT. Had no idea she was ill, even. Maybe it was discovered later. 

Another three that died early. My good friend and classmate at Osmania engineering seems to have had some kind of a rare infection many years ago, and died from it, though most people survive. A colleague at IFIM, and at KIAMS, who may have brought it on himself, with his lifestyle. And earlier, yet another colleague and great friend in the U.S., who also had an early demise, probably caused by some lifestyle and consequential issues.

COVID has been relatively kind to my friends' circle and most who got it came away unscathed. Not so with office colleagues, some of whom lost a loved one.

Year 2 of The Coronavirus Pandemic

 It was around a year ago that we first heard about this new virus. Never imagined that it could have such a profound impact on lives. Historically, humankind has lived in jungles with predators, ill-equipped to deal with them. The way our ancestors survived was by using their brains to develop tools that they could use to protect themselves and also to hunt for food-non-vegetarian food. Today, with an excess of humans on the planet, nature may want to restore the balance-and man is helping, with chemical or other weapons, biological ones too. These have been used in parts of the world, to carry out mass killing.

Anyway, the point is, this is not the only pandemic we have to worry about. We have a few vaccines, and will invent more, and it will pass-in a year, maybe. At least the life-threatening part will. It may morph into another virus like the common cold virus, which also has no cure. But it has forced us to re-evaluate what is important for Nature and for Humankind, I hope. Why can't governments around the world concentrate their energies on Healthcare for all, at a low cost, even if it's not free? Why are natural disasters man-made, more often than not? Why do we almost always focus on the non-essentials, except in a pandemic or other emergencies/disasters? Are exams really important? This last is a question for the education sector, particularly in India. Learning can happen without necessarily having so many exams. At least, that's my theory, and it can be tested. I once worked in an institute of management where, due to time pressure, we admitted students without an entrance exam, only through a personal interview and they were as good as any other subsequent batch of students. Prior academic performance indication was already available through some other certificates they had. Just an example of how it did work.

I also wonder how the world, with so many resources-particularly human resources-at its disposal, cannot organise itself to focus on the essentials. Among world leaders of this century and the last, I can only recall Gandhiji advocating simple living. What would he have thought of the world in 2021? I wonder...

Of Lockdowns and Beyond

Just when airlines thought they had got their act together and would fly higher into profits, the Covid-19 has virtually grounded them all. Domestic flights too, till April 14th. (in India)

So after the lockdowns end, when they do, will normality return to air travel, hospitality, and all the rest? Business travel is likely to pick up first, followed by a cautious uptick in personal travel, and finally, leisure travel or tourism. People are likely to be wary of international travel for a few months at least.

What about retail? A lot of business has actually come to the small kirana stores, as they are within walking distance of most houses, and are an essential service. Maybe bigger stores will take a while in India at least, to get back all their customers. They might have to incentivise customers. We are, in the meantime, re-discovering the virtues of small businesses. Hopefully, mom and pop stores will continue to thrive in India, and not just for groceries- given the employment challenges, they have the potential to keep the families working.

Hygiene-related products may see a sustained interest, because this crisis has taught everyone the importance of washing hands and disinfecting surfaces that you can.

A simpler lifestyle might result for a while, having got used to the necessities and being able to live without a lot of discretionary spends. Marketers of many discretionary goods will have to work harder to attract customers.

Getting the lost mojo back into many economic sectors will take quite a while. Hope it happens within a year or two. If not, education may also suffer-higher education, more so. Hopefully, allocations to the health sector will go up across countries.

Talking the Walk

We hear about corporates on TV waxing eloquent about Walking the Talk. So I figured I would talk about the reverse.

What does it take to go for a walk? By itself, it is a boring activity, unless you are playing Golf. If there are compulsions, like the doc telling you that it is a choice between your life here and in Heaven, you may go walking, but otherwise, it's like an injection you'd rather avoid..

But there is one reason that you will go for a walk, jumping with joy..when you can talk to your heart's content. Go with a friend who you can talk to without inhibition. Then, the walk becomes an excuse for the talk, and stops hurting.

So talk the walk, instead of walking the talk. You will look forward to the experience!

On Politeness

Continuing my observations about the Japanese, they are polite to a fault. We can probably learn this quality from them, if not how to run bullet trains and other trains-on time.

Being on time is also a sign of politeness, in my view. It indicates to others you are meeting that you value their time, and therefore, them. Indians are on the contrary, known for an Indian Standard Time that varies from 30 minutes to an hour or more after the announced time. It penalises the people who actually show up on time, and causes all sorts of problems.

But back to general politeness. It costs nothing, like a smile, and generates returns that may be manifold. It reduces tension, promotes flow of good feeling, and am sure, has health benefits to the one who is being polite. I am exempting situations where you may have to shed it in extreme circumstances, for good reasons.

Try it, for a day or two. We can then add it to our Swachchata Abhiyan (Cleanliness Drive). As soon as we find a Hindi word for it, of course.

Delhi Government and Governance

What is governance? The Delhi governance imbroglio inspired this one.

Defence is a part of it, and so is law and order.

Apart from these, it should ideally be, at least in a democracy, people who serve the citizens. Citizen services include transportation, housing, health, water, drainage, education and so on. How to provide these in a fair and just manner is what the government needs to decide- and implement.
It does not include showing undue favours, transferring officials every few months, or wasting time on activities detrimental to providing services to citizens.

Democratic governments can do a lot of damage by not doing any of the things they need to do. Also by doling out free goodies to sections of people (or all the people) forever. That kills motivation to work for a living. The poor and helpless deserve help but usually don't get it.

Also, by wasting time in controlling the private sector without a good reason. Rules can be framed transparently, and independent regulators with professionals left to regulate various sectors.

The challenges are vast, and sometimes technology can help. Applications for a passport, ration card, driver's license (barring the test itself), registration of land, and many more can easily be made online with scanned documents and verification within a time-bound manner ( a service guarantee?) by officials concerned. If not, it should be deemed correct. Responsibility must shift to the officials for proving anyone wrong. This would improve governance manifold.

I Decide

Gathering from all my six senses as to what works, I decided-for me, that's a BIG Deal, as I am not a decision-maker by nature-more of a vacillator. But now, inspired by some great guys, I have decided. That I will walk to Kedarnath.

You may well ask, why Kedarnath?

I'd reply, "Why not?"

It's a holy journey, so I can wash a few sins off-bathing in the Ganga is too cold a way of doing it, for me.

It's a good, healthy walk, so I can shed a few pounds, along with my sins.

It is cool out there, so this is a good time to be there- I can't afford to go to Europe.

It is a politically correct thing to do- compared to going to Bangkok.

I might just make it to the headlines.

What if there is a lanslide? Well, it's better to be buried in mud, rather than bury my head in sand!

Cynicism and Optimism

The reactions to PM Modi's speeches are bipolar- you either love them or hate them. The unfortunate part of our history for the last decade has been that cynicism has replaced optimism. Actually, everyone knows the problems we have as a nation AND the solutions to these. In 1991, they were articulated well by Manmohan Singh in his historic budget speech.

It is indeed ironic that it took the (once-in-opposition) BJP PM to re-articulate them for us. And that the same Dr. Singh allowed things to drift in the other direction-away from reform- when he had the chance. Anyway, the lost decade apart, one can still solve most problems by working at them, bit by bit. No one has a magic wand, not the US, not Russia, nor some messiah from above. We need to work on the agenda we set ourselves.

The sooner we start, the sooner we get there. And we have to learn to understand what is good for us as a people- a country, indeed, the world (but after we set ourselves straight). That we need productivity, jobs, health, education and infrastructure stares us in the face everyday. Point is, what are we going to do about it?

This is just a reiteration of the fact that optimism and hard work can at least help us improve our lot. No amount of cribbing or wishful thinking will. We still have a good chance. Let's take it.

Indexes for Personal Life

Indexes like the Stock Market and Wholesale Price/Consumer Price are critical to a man's well-being. But why stop there? I have developed the following indexes (patents pending) for helping measuring your own well-being. No, it's Ok. You don't have to thank me.

Health Index: Inverse of the No. of antibiotics you popped in the last six months, plus inverse of the no. of doc visits in the last six months

Relationships Index: No. of ships of various kinds that you are into, minus those that you are out of

Relative-control Index: (No. of relatives in close proximity with micro-level hyper control syndrome) to the power of 'N', where N is the no. of such relatives

Happiness Index: Average No. of  likes on your last five facebook statuses and/or cover photos, added to the blog viewership of your last ten blog posts, minus no. of real meetings with your friends.

Unhappiness Index: No. of scheming mothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, shouting news anchors, experts on TV debates, repairmen of any kind that you encountered in the last 24 hours, all added together. Add 20 points to this if you watched Himesh Reshamiya on the small screen.

Kejriwal Index- Closely related to the above. Number of times you watched Kejriwal's antics on TV. This is independently capable of causing Unhappiness or Mirth depending on how you look at it.

All About Bacteria

This is a very interesting book, though I don't agree with all that it proposes in terms of lifestyle changes. It is written by a guy called Ravi Mantha, who is a health activist.

His major proposition is that preventing ill-health is better than treating bad health. Agree 100%. Also, his remarks on the pharma industry trying to increase sales of drugs and costly treatments are bang on.

He suggests that bacteria are good, necessary, and we are mostly bacteria, and the world as we don''t know it, is also mostly bacteria, with humans and complex organisms in a minority.

He has some interesting theories (supported by some research mostly) on treatments too. But his emphasis is on prevention of sickness.

Major points- iron in excess is bad for health and causes many health problems, some fatal. Not in a day, but over a few years. He quotes some treatments that are similar to bloodletting that was practised in the medieval times, as a cure. Only, he says it can be a civilised blood donation instead, and that can cure you of some excess iron related problems like boils and more!

Red wine and spirits like whiskey are good in moderation. I love this!

Grains (rice and wheat) are bad, and so is sugar. I don't know if that is true, if the diet is balanced.

Broad spectrum antibiotics are bad because they clean out good and bad bacteria from the tummy, and can cause serious problems as a result. In general, antibiotics are overused. Probably true.

Vitamin supplements, household disinfectants, and hospital visits (except in an emergency) all face his ire, because they are no good.

Kissing is highly recommended, and so is egg yolk. I love this guy! You will adore bacteria too, if you read this.

Transport Trauma

Now that petrol is quite expensive, I believe we must have a national innovation reality show to replace the current ones which involve dancing, singing, and emotional atyaachar at various levels. This is the likely scenario of the contestants.

The Garib Rath presented by Laloo. Will run on chaara eaten by the horses, and supplied by an un-ending supply appearing out of nowhere on demand.

The Amir rath presented by Mr. Laksmi Mittal or any other billionaire. This will be a Merc which does not use fuel, but will be borne by four or more people like a paalki and will run on voice control. A in, you tell them where to go, and they will.

The middle class rath, which RK Lakshman's Common Man will present, and will combine whatever jugaad these guys can put together after paying all the taxes on their hard-earned money. Maybe it will have an old bull, a goat or a dog pulling a sled. But the problem would be to make it snow, to make this work. Maybe another jugaad can do the needful.

Those who can, will drive a rath. Others will take a walk, and reduce their medical bills. Diabetes, obesity and heart problems will disappear, and doctors will also find time to take a long walk. And Bill Bryson won't be able to make cracks about people not walking any more.

Skyrocketing Becomes Expensive

Those who used to be high-fliers will soon be grounded. The price of petrol will actually be the only thing which can go skyrocketing, not the people who use the stuff as fuel to get themselves going. So you are not going anywhere anytime soon.

Environmentally, this may not be such a bad thing. There may be less vehicular pollution, and there may be a few more people who walk to save money. Breathing petrol fumes is not much fun anyway. Hopefully, it will stir people into researching alternative fuels and ways of going from place A to Place B. A good joke I read on Facebook the other day says poor people walk miles to find food and rich people walk miles to digest food.

All in all, a good move that might save us from bankruptcy, and bad health. Cheers!