The Code of KANAK

We hear so much about Sun Tzu's The Art of War. It talks about the art of fighting a war based of the strategies adopted by attackers and defenders. I had never heard of any Indian book talk about strategies when so many great wars have been fought on Indian soil and won. Never did I hear talk about adopting the different formations like the ones used on Kurukshetra in real life situations in business. By a stroke of luck, in the book I am currently reading called 'Mrityunjaya-The Death Conqueror' came across this one and a half page dialogue between Kanak, a trusted minister and King Dhritarashtra 

Duryodhana strongly believes that the throne of Hastinapur rightly belongs to the Kauravas and the Pandavas as the whole world calls them are not the sons of Pandu. Therefore the Pandavas should be banished from the Hastinapur kingdom and he requests his father, King Dhritharashtra to order accordingly. Dhritharashtra does not believe this but in his heart he wants his son Duryodhana to be the successor. Caught between fatherly affection and duty he summons Minister Kanak to advice the right choice. Kanak does not answer the choice but instead poured words of wisdom that still applies today.

" Kanak says, "Maharaja, a man should always stand firm by his own efforts. The world fears only those who are unshakably strong. That is why all deeds have to be performed from a position of strength alone.

Never let anyone in on the weaknesses of your kingdom - let this be your main aim. Every enemy will exploit your weakness. Discover your enemy's weakness, use it to your advantage, and attack first; or else you will repent. 
Draw your limbs in like a tortoise and warily extend your neck to know the lay of the land. 

Never criticize uselessly. Never expose your true nature to anyone, certainly not to any official employed by you. 

Prefer to keep your eyes closed if that is called for, and open them only when they have the power to destroy the world. Ears, eyes and mouth - these are in your control - so don't indulge them excessively. And remember that one's hands are also one's senses. These hands have been given to us by nature so that, whenever required, we use them to cover eyes, ears and mouth.

Even if an enemy is feeble, don't underestimate him. The Palmyra is a small plant, but in no time at all it shoots straight up to the sky. The nutmeg fruit never grows on a castor-oil plant. A spark is infinitesimal but it can create a conflagration. If you spare a baby snake, don't think it will forget to sting when it grows up. No matter how weak and small an enemy is, he can exact a heavy toll in the end. Even if such an enemy professes gentle humility for any reason, don’t be taken in by his crocodile tears. Dispatch instantly to the realm of Yama any impassioned enemy out to do mischief. Conciliation, winning over by gifts, punishment, intrigue- use any means to finish off an enemy. An enemy is like the wild cactus - a tough and hardy plant. Even if you uproot it and throw it on a plot of barren land, it will somehow succeed in re-rooting itself. Its vicious thorns on both sides regain their sharpness. That is why one should always smile even when angry, and talk sweetly - but always do what one wants to do. 

Never speak insultingly to anyone. Speak sweetly to an enemy before attacking him, and even more sweetly after attacking. 

Never allow beggars and traitors to flourish in your kingdom. Beggars encourage laziness, and traitors pass on important official secrets to enemies and foment disaffection. 

Learn to suspect even those who you should not suspect; test them, and never let any free who are found wanting, for they are like fierce snakes lurking in cattle grounds. 

See that spies are located in your kingdom and your enemy's kingdom. It is not enough to have an espionage system, it is necessary for the king to become a spy himself and see that it is working. The spies planted in other kingdoms should be atheists, unmarried and liars. Such spies do not betray their country out of fear of divine punishment or because they are emotionally attached to their families. 

No one should know the whole truth about your kingdom. 

If after a peace treaty with an enemy, a person becomes smugly self-satisfied, consider him to be a man sleeping atop a tall tree. Only when he falls off, his eyes open or not open at all. The reason is that a treaty is never a total victory. A treaty is simply an acknowledgment in writing that a compromise has been made. Therefore, rather than signing to such a compromise, it is better to defeat an enemy when he is at a certain disadvantage, whether depletion of food, geographical circumstances, his morale etc. If such conditions are not available, they should be created in order to rout him. 

A raja should always keep these life's objectives in mind and act in accordance to them. If for any reason he is unable to do so, then he should transfer his royal authority to the hands of a competent and dutiful regent and proceed to his renunciation stage of his life. A raja's life is not intended to spent only in relishing exquisite cuisine, strutting about in flamboyant dresses and roaming in the royal chariot with a golden crown adorning his head. For a raja, and for the kingdom, peasants who grow rich harvest by the sweat of their brow in the sun-scorched fields are not felons meant for forced labor. The soldiers who fearlessly risk their lives for the defense of their country and the enhancement of its glory, like the silk cotton plant scattering its wealth, are surely not madmen. The red richness of their blood gives a shining magnificence to the nation; their flesh is the fertilizer of the national tree, whose delicious fruits are relished by king and subjects alike. What kind of raja is he, and what kind of kingdom is he ruling, who cannot be loyal to such sweat and such blood?""

*I give due credit and acknowledgment to Mr.Sivaji Sawant from whose book 'Mrityunjaya- The Death Conqueror. The Story of Karna.' this excerpt has been quoted.

Decision making

Everyone faces a situation in their lives where they confront themselves with the task of making a tough decision. The situation no matter if it is light or tough, a decision has to be made. No one can teach a person on what decisions to make because every situation or condition is different from one another and I am not here to do that.

Getting insights from a literature that I reviewed recently, it provided with endless thinking aspects on how a decision should be made. It proved that decision making is multi-dimensional activity where the many dimensions are based in the thinking before the final decision is made.

Its widely advised that all decisions should be made with a calm mind. But many of us do not follow this and most of the times takes decisions to calm the mind. Only a calm mind analyses the whole picture weighing down the pros and cons, rethinking over and adequately allowing time before settling down. In other case when we take decisions to calm the mind, the decision making becomes secondary and our state of mind becomes the first point of importance. So to be at peace a hasty decision is made.

A decision is also be made putting in front the two important paradigms, righteousness and love. Righteousness and love are like the Sun and the Moon. A decision made out of love will please the ones whom you are making the decision for and provide comfort just like the Moon and the cool breeziness of the night, but there is darkness behind it which may grip you anytime when the moon disappears. A righteous decision is like the Sun because it can be hot, bright and hard to make, but in the end it always spreads brightness.

Larger than Life

I may draw huge amounts of criticism trying to convey this subject because recently I was at the recieving end when I tried to prove my point about an important personality. Yes, Larger than Life is what we see around in our daily lives and around the world as well. Since I am not a world renowned traveller or a historian or a philosopher, I will just keep my subject to my home country India and Indians. By now way this is a write up to tarnish any feelings, emotions, sentiments or demolish the structures created in ones mind that was built over the years. We Indians always believe in larger than life characters and individual worshipping is higher here than anywhere else in the world. This is perhaps why we have more Godmen in the country than Gods. In Hindu religion where you have a God for your every need in life, a God for every natural aspect you see around, it is under this religion you see the highest number of Godmen. Chritianity and Islam are also not far behind with their clergymen enjoying more powerful positions than the almighty himself among the subjects. Their voices are heard and followed strongly as if its fallen from the heavenly gates. Importance of a God is limited only to an idol or a name and under which the utilization happens. Pathetic isn't it??? Now I will draw you to another case where I was isolated for speaking my mind. Sachin Tendulkar is one of the greatest cricketers to play the game and his importance and role in the development of Indian cricket is unquestionable. Like every Indian, I too am a great fan of his who holds the breath as long as the man is playing on the field. As every sportsperson Sachin Tendulkar also grew old and as age started to catch up, performances declined. I felt he was extending his time beyond what is probable and he was not making any valuable contribution to the team. This is where the Larger than Life personality comes into play. Because of his stature and fan base and because the x number of cricket fanatics just want to see the person on screen, an oppurtunity that is waiting for the next is either delayed or denied. The reason here is not Sachin Tendulkar or his performance, the sad part is people love the person more than the game itself. It is cricket who made the man called Sachin Tendulkar, not the other way around. I do not wish to see a horrible game when I know his performance is below par just because Mr. Tendulkar does not want to retire as he still continues to enjoy the game. Enjoying your game and performing is world apart. Here the game of cricket is irrelevant, people glue their eyes on the screen because one man is playing. Irony isn't it??? Same can be said in case of films. Many extraordinary creative attempts and good movies fail to find any audience but crap movies that features a popular movie star strikes gold. Larger than life movie actors and their crazy fans have nothing to do with what went in the film. More than the movie, its only their favorite actors screen presence that is required. Result is good and out of box creative attempts gets the beating and such attempts less encouraged. Be it in Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Telegu or any regional film these Larger than Life stars command over the movie world. Pity isn't it????? Politics which is part of every common man's life is also not free from such charactors. Every regional party has a larger than life picture who has powers to control the moods of the followers. They have such dangerous authority that they can anytime decide the fate of any common man under their radar of operations. A perfect example would be the Gandhi family ( Not the Mahatma Gandhi family but the Nehru converted Gandhi family). The recent lot of jokers without any accomplishments under their belt still holds enviable control over masses only because Indian conscience is addicted to the Gandhi name. People idolize Gandhi over the country itself. Poor man Mahatma Gandhi fought for the country and the counrty was his priority. If only the common man put India the counrty in forefront than any person or personality we would have achieved a great deal. I really do not see this as we are a generation of people who cannot see beyond the beyond. Dangerous isn't it??? We can keep on debating the reason for this. We may also come to the conclusion of what is wrong in such an approach. What is wrong if I like a movie star, a cricketer, a politician or even the words of a Godman....it is my personal choice. Yes personal choices, we only live with our personal choices and do not care for a wider one. From our beginning we are not taught to see the broader picture. Our education system also does not allow this. I leave it to you all readers to decide. Is this concern of mine right or wrong? The subject what I have taken is valid or invalid? .......................??

Travelogue

Initially I thought of posting one blog every month, but then after being consistent for 3 months I found it difficult to set the pace due to unavoidable commitments. The primary reason for skipping my blog last month was because of travelling and therefore I thought it would be nice to share some of my experiences in this area.

I am not an extensive traveller or as a matter of fact travelled to a range of destinations like many can claim. But my travels to the places I have visited or been sometimes proved to be an eye opener and from such experiences I have benefitted a lot. I strongly recommend that one must travel to identify the differences, apply the best practice, make comparison and change accordingly. Ever wondered why the Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Sinagpore are the best places to visit. Ok, Amsterdam might be famous for something else, but only a small percentage goes in for that. Unarguably I can say that my visits to Amsterdam and Singapore were the best and continue to be so. While both of them stay apart in their class, there is something very important to take from it. Starting with Amsterdam or Netherlands, the place is the best for the ultimate relaxation. Many talk about carbon footprint and pollution, but these people here really implement those ideas. I felt ashamed of myself when I saw men and women in their elegant suits riding a bycycle to the nearest station to catch their train for work. I am sure most of these people can afford to have their personal means of luxury transport, but working along with the government to keep their country clean. People are really friendly and they treat you as one among themselves. They are very open when it comes to helping you and even if they do not English, they try their best to communicate via body languages.

Singapore stands in a different class off it own through its tourism friendly nature. I was surprised by the fact that all citizens of Singapore have exactly the same frame of mind when it comes to customer service or more appropriately tourist service. They have long identified that their daily bread and surivial lies in the hands of the visiting tourists. It is really amazing to see the extent to which they go to deliver that extra bit. Though a concrete jungle in the making, they have tried their best to keep it green wherever they can and they try very hard it hard to maintain the attractions that their famous for. It is highly recommended that Singapore should be once visited in a lifetime. The story is entirely different if you sit in boat for a hour and cross waters to the neighbouring country "Malaysia". Malaysia, a rich country blessed with natural beauty and resources lacks that punch when it comes to service. Though it must be appreciated that for a visitor it is less expensive place, you cannot feel any warmth in reception. If I were a manager to rate an employee called Malaysia, I would put it on the "meets target" performace.

I would always rate a policeman in UK the very best and well behaved whereas in some countries they are feared more than the criminals and goons. Majority of them address you as 'sir' while in conversation with you and they maintain such presence that is very approachable. Also the levels of customer service is very high and you can be sure that you will be detailed on each an every point including the aspect of your own safety. Another important aspect what you notice here is transportion system and how it is carried out. The age old transportation system sets an example or role model on how effective it can be made used to the public.

If you ask me which is the most beautiful place on earth, from pictures I would say Kashmir, but in reality it is Scotland. Extremely cold place but the natural beauty is awe inspiring and it will atleast once flash your mind that the only heaven in the world be this place. The Scots are extremely proud of themselves and believe they are atleast two step above the English. They are pride in their history, culture, traditions and reach any extent in preserving them. Once you visit Scotland, you will know why that is the best place to produce the finest Scotch whiskies. Travelling along mainland Europe some countries especially France and Germany, their pride rests with their languages spoken. I had bitter experiences where they replied back to me in their own language when I talked in English. Later I found that, even if majority of people know English they do not like talking in it and they proudly speak their native tongue. Earlier this was only applied to visitors from neighbouring countries but now they are on a global approach. No wonder it was advised to me before I visited these places that I should learn the very basics to survive as still there are a large majority who don’t speak English especially in the outskirts.

From Europe as I moved to far east in the land of rising Sun, I learned the importance of mutual respect. You do not just alone respect people above you, but everyone you know and everyone you do not know. Japan as a country teaches so much about patience, respect, calmness and service oriented midset. I think this is why the products that come of out this country is loved equally by all as it produces it with customer in focus. The moment you set foot in this country you can witness a wave of change that you never felt anywhere else. You get the kind of respect you never received anywhere in the world and all of a sudden you feel important. Language is a big problem and English is made to bits and pieces for convenience. If you are not an ardrent seafood lover, then you are in big big trouble.

Though I have travelled other places as well I have only highlighted some of the above because I felt it is the mindset of the people that set these countries apart. For a country to progress or get moulded into a developed one, the mindset of the people that live in must be directed to it. For example, if Singapore wasn't that tourist friendly, I do not think people would visit there or recommend someone to visit there. Scottish mindset for preserving their rich heritage is what sets them apart from the English or other countries. Japan's mindset of focusing people makes it produce the finest products in the world. Each country have something to teach us and probably this is when someone said "learn from experiences".

Travelling through the length and breadth of India, I felt sad that I never met even a single Indian, but I met a lot of people who were Marathis, Gujarathis, Bengalis, Tamilians, Punjabis, Malayalees etc etc. One may say we are Unity in Diversity, but I couldn't sense that. We have states were people from other states are not welcomed, we have states where waters of rivers are not shared, we have states where people are fighting to spilt it, we have states where the national flag is not hoisted on a republic day. I do not want to point at only negatives, but projecting a rosy picture does not help us to reach the progressive path. First we need to indentify ourselves as one, work as one and then live as one. Nation should be give priority and patriotism should run through the blood. Changes do not happen in an instant therefore work should be done at a grass root level starting with our kids and their education. If measures are done now, we may see changes happening in atleast 20 years time, else God save us...

The Big fish and the Small fish

During the initial days of my MBA course while in London, one of my Professors ( I believe it was Prof Geoff Lancaster) asked us this very important question that would shape our careers for the future. His question was not so relevant at that time, but once we graduated and came out to the real world; the question kept dawning us. There is no right or wrong answer to this question but whatever answer you chose would determine the path of your career. I believe every bloke passing out should be ready and be prepared to face the question himself. The million dollar question was,

"Do you want to be a Big fish in a Small pond or a Small fish in a Big pond".

The question here is more applicable to those who are in the early phases and mid phases of their career and once thay are at their prime this becomes totally irrelevant. The Big and Small in the context of the question refers to what position you would like to start or be in the pond called as organization. There is a world of oppurtunities out there and it all comes down to you to chose the one which is more suited to the needs. You may choose to start your career as a trainee in a big company or in the middle of your career you may choose to join as a Manager in a large organizatiion which answers the question being a small fish in a big pond. From my experience and some experiences of others I learned that, starting careers as a small fish in a big pond gives you more freedom and room to grow. You have a lot of area to swim around, gaining experience swimming with other big fishes, spacious environment, vast resources and the risk of the pond getting dry in summer is less. Your encounter with lot of and different types of fishes mean that your survival depends on your ability to compete. Only the fittest, the meanest and the toughest survive such situations and out of the many only a handful come to the forefront. If you are not among them then you end up being at the back of the queue for the rest of your careers.

On the other hand starting your career at the top of the ladder or in the middle of the career you make a move to join a small company in a senior position would deem you to be a big fish in a small pond. The immediate advantages would be social status, credibility, power and fat pockets. Being a big fish here, your size limits you the freedom to move around and at times you have reached your potential growth. In this position you will not have much to learn from others and have to gain things on your own. People look up to you for advises and before taking such responsibilities, one should have enough ammunition in armoury. This is a high risk position and if you are unsuccessful in such roles, that itself may spell the end of your careers. The experience you get here can propel you to big ponds you will be always measured against your success rate.

Each of the situation has its own advantages and disadvantages and as said before there is no right or wrong answer to this question. Your right answer should suit your vision and the path that takes you to to your vision coupled with hard work, determination and immense focus. As per Abraham Maslow's heirarchy of needs the last stage for the individual need is self actualization and the ultimate goal here is to be a Big fish in a Big pond. The path that takes you there is your right answer.

The Working Years

Along with a group of my friends from college and work I attended a seminar not so long ago, the subject and content of the seminar was career planning and progression. All through the session the speaker was placing the importance of a good career and how to advance the ladder to reach the top. After the session I had this debate taken up with my friends to find out where their vision takes them upto; some wanted to be the CEO's, some wanted to start their own setups and be extremely successful in that, some could see them being immediate managers, some wanted to be important persons that takes them across the world etc etc. I myself wanted to answer that question, but I caught up in a dilemma- do I want to have a successful career so as to enjoy a busy life or do I want to have a quality life. Now quality is a perception; what may seem to be quality for me may not be the same quality for others, but the question remains what is a quality life?

Long ago I read a story, believe I read this in my teens. I did not fully understand its implications of how it would come into an effect on our future lives. Narrating the story, there was this man in his mid forties who used to spend his whole day sitting on a river bank and fishing using a fishing rod. Sitting for almost 4-6 hrs a day, somedays he used to catch upto 5-10 fishes and somedays return without anything. He used to take home 1-2 fishes for his meal and rest he would sell it to a local shop for small amount of money. This routine continued for long time; A successful business man who also happened to be in his mid forties came to see this continuing act and decided to advice the other man.

He went up to him and said, "Why are you wasting your time with a fishing rod to catch a few fishes, and instead buy a fishing net and in less time catch more fishes.

The first man replied, "What will I get if I catch more fishes"

The business man, " With more fishes in less time, you can sell all of them and earn more money"

The first man, "What can I then do with more money"

The business man, " With more money, you can buy a small boat"

The first man, "What can I do with a small boat"

The business man, "With small boat, you can go further into the river and catch more fish and sell for more money"

The first man, " What can I do with that more money?"

The business man, " With more money you can buy a bigger boat and go into the sea and catch more fish and sell for even more money"

The first man, " What can I do with again more money?"

The business man, " You can employ more people, buy fishing boats and send all of them to sea and earn more money catching fish"

The first man, "What can I do with even more money?"

The business man, "You can then employ more people to run your business and relax

The first man, " What do you think I am doing now?.

Most of us are like the business man, we think of earning more and more instead of earning enough. We think of living in the future when we have the option and oppurtunity to live in the present. Me myself have asked at times why should I be so busy and what for am I aiming. Should I aim to lead a better life or should I aim to lead a busier life. A busier life means, probably I will grow up the career ladder, be a CEO, travel lots of places and have more money in the bank. A busier life also means, I have less time for myself, less time for my friends, less time for my wife and kids, less time to socialize and less time to appreciate the good things in life. I will grow on to a stage where when I retire, I will have plenty of money in the bank, a good house, a decent car to travel in, but then my kids would have grown up and gone their way, lesser number of friends, relatives that are no longer closer to me and get confined to the four corners of my house. Well to me a quality life is not something like this, but enough money to survive, enjoy my kids growing up, spend time with my wife sharing our love, meet up with friends and family, celebrating every ocassions that come in, go for movies and then retire with lot of people to socialize with. However the dilemma continues because everyone has to find a balance between the two life styles.

The NRI Vacation

Recently I came back from my vacation in India and sitting back in my rented apartment in Dubai, I came to a conclusion that I was even more tired and exhausted than the whole year of work put together. We NRI's (at least in Middle East) are given specific period to take break from work, relax and come back refreshed for the next 365 days. If the ‘I’ in the NRI is replaced by any other alphabet or combination of alphabets then the resulting breed would smartly utilize their time for an eventful break. Since I belong to that ‘I’ class, I like every other ‘I’s’ always opt to go to our nativeland year after year, a big mistake if you think you can relax your break period.

I always prepare my mind before every vacation to not repeat the same mistakes I did year after year, but in the end fall to the same trap. Not many would understand this situation unless they have experienced this sort of pressure. I counted the days I’ve been in India and the days I was at home. 25 days went by enjoying my foot firmly pressed to the soil of my homeland, but hardly 4 days passed by enjoying the comfort and warmth of my own house before coming back to the rented house in Dubai. The more time I spend on roads and visits than relaxing at home. The day an NRI sets foot on the home soil, a lot of expectations also set foot on his shoulders. He is expected to meet those expectations rather than the priority of being with his own family. In the end you end up more time on transport buses, trains, taxi’s, autorikshaws or to say more time spend on movable assets than immovable assets.

I know I will repeat the same mistake in spite of writing this blog, but sometimes I feel people do not understand what it takes to get a deserved break. We NRI’s spend majority of our lives in rented apartments, away from our loved ones and away from our motherland. 90% of the time is sacrificed to live the balance 10% in quality. Huge amount of savings are spend to set up a house so that a few days of the year can be spend in it, sometimes even that becomes a distant dream.

People living in India can be so demanding that they expect those coming from abroad to come and visit them, it is a kind of right to their very existence. If the visit is not made, then it becomes a matter or pride and status and I myself make many of those visits not out of a sincere reason, but to seal the revolting mouths. At times I have prayed that if and only if those expecting me to come and visit them would understand me and people like me, our position, our valued time, our intentions, our cravings and our desperations.