An intelligent enemy rather than a foolish friend.

                My roots go right till the other side of Hindukush Mountain Range in Afghanistan. Something today, incidentally, reminded of an old proverb that originated from that great land of Afghanistan, a country known for unparalleled tales of friendships and unmatched venom for enemies. The proverb goes like this..... "An intelligent enemy rather than a foolish friend" and another variation of the same that explains it better (linguistic barriers matter, you see!).... "A wise enemy is better than a foolish friend". More about it a bit later!

                     We celebrated my birthday by rafting down the Ganges (all 30 odd Kms of it) and that too despite the fact that frequency of accidental deaths during rafting there has suddenly gone up this year. I would share an experience that would justify such an act. You see, whenever the raft gets into a rapid, it starts bouncing around and for some brief moments, raft literally remains in air. During those times, when you try to use your oar, many a time, the oar completes the swing without touching the waves or water. Such moments illustrate the power of wild nature and likelihood of man getting defeated in the process. And defeat generally translates into something fatal too. But every time that kind of a challenge was faced, I could feel the excitement building inside (techos would call it Adrenaline Rush) and as we fought and fought and managed our way out of whirlpools, a sense of satisfaction would begin to set in. Such feelings can not be explained in words........ and the fatal attraction continues even today!

                      So, a person like me, with a kink that makes me face and enjoy challenges, a few things come naturally. Some wise man said once that a warrior must know his adversary..... someone, despite all projected brilliance in management, just erred on this aspect today. And as I try and re-construct what would have happened in such a disastrous decision making, the first para of this post (on top) gets applied...... as Doyle sir says, case studies must be related to theories and I have done that simply. Fun has just about begun!