Decide Today

                   Hi guys, as we embark on our new leg of management training, ie Summer Internship, there is a small, little issue I would recommend for all of us to consider. Many of us are anxious about the upcoming internship that is being perceived as a long slog. Many others who have had some exposure to the industry in the past, do realise the difficulties young trainees face under such circumstances. There are others who want to play the ball as per its merit, leaving out worrying part as of now.

                  Well, all you guys are right in your own rights. I, however, have a small recommendation to make. It is today and not once the internship begins or ends that we need to decide how our experiences are gonna be. It is an event, rather a series of events lined up over next 8-10 weeks but the beauty of our minds is such that our decision today will decide how it is gonna be out there in the field. If we decide that it will be good, believe me, it will be good as well as educative. If we are pessimistic today, no amount of positive experiences can change the outcome that gets decided in the process today.

                    Someone has rightly said that it is important to re-arrange the furniture (beautiful, if fixtures too!) just before such an experience and everything will fall in place. Training, if done properly, enables us to be up to the mark as and when challenges are thrown at us in future. So, lets tell ourselves, in our own secret ways, that we are gonna enjoy a lot and come out of the module pretty learned, educated and more confident. The results will the, I am confident, follow the trend.

                        Wishing you all a very Happy Summer Internship!

Bliss ON!

             There are times when you just feel a kind of bliss in your surroundings, in your existence..... a sense of general happiness as they put across colloquially. Invariably, the associated feeling of being a bit clueless about the actual reason for such an aura surrounding you, adds on to the mystique of the whole phenomenon. And I say , 'a bit clueless' because depending on age and phase of one's life, one can always find a reason or two to explain the state of mind. So, to a youngster, it could be falling in love (even though love is independent of age, I am trying to be as close to the mean as possible!), for an oldie, it could be watching grandchildren grow and for the lot in-between, reasons could be in-between too.  So, as I key in these words, I am focussing on the general ambience and aura that set us off to our much awaited summer internships earlier today.

                   With 3rd Trimester winding up today, we are a freer lot, at least for a little while. With the pressure of exams over and with a little break ranging from a few days to a week and a half for most of us, happiness was bound to be felt but then we have been through similar situations on at least two occasions over past one year. This was, however, definitely different. The overall handling of the trimester and the fact that signing off was a bit different this time, leads me to conclude that it had something to do with the aura at Era these days. Whether it was generally handling of the trimester or breaks or exams or the informal chit-chat session to wind up the day or a keenly contested competition of a different kind OR a mix of all this....whatever it was, the end result was good. Just have a look-see at some of the closing moments..... bliss can be felt, I am sure!

                         (The Spitfires of EBS)

                Brings me to an issue that was discussed during the chat today. The key question was about the ease or difficulty that people generally face while opening up to others and whether it is humanly possible to share everything with someone or the other? And we had mixed responses: someone claimed to be like an 'open book' (open or closed, book needs to be read and who has the time?); someone else thought he was 'totally transparent' (and yet he could be seen...........not really like 'Memoirs of an Invisible Man'). Well, that was on a lighter side. My personal view is that even if we grant ourselves our obligations (related to our respective professions) to keep certain things to ourselves, it is still very difficult to be 100% open in all other aspects. Like someone said even though we are not counting the attitude or reliability of other people around us, the trend remains the same. I look at life and such issues as a circle..... a circle that begins with our birth and ends with our departure. And unless we have reasons to kick the buckets too soon, most of us will land up as oldies. They say that a person becomes a child again as she grows old. So, it is either the child or the oldie (practically a child again) who can afford to be 100% honest in her confessions. We do not have to conduct research to make ourselves believe that children are actually very honest. Just a look within our family or friend circles and we will feel the truth. As far as oldies are concerned, lets have a look at some of the most honestly written autobiographies/ accounts, our own dear Mr Khushwant Singh for example, and we can conclude that even though exceptions are always there and yet the oldies do tend to be honest. To everyone else, except children of two categories, life does not allow such a privilege.
                    Dilli is getting too warm.... time to run; run to a place known for its greenery and tropical weather even though traffic nowadays is a bit of pain there! 
                         SO LONG....! 

Counting the Blessings!

                     There are few things in life we tend to take for granted and, thus, generally find ourselves in some kind of a soup (recipes not being relevant here)! Be it our relationships or health or security...... and the list goes on. Then there are few more things that we possess but do not either know about such things or simply ignore them. One such thing is using our 'Common Sense', a virtue that is NOT commonly used. And yet there are few more things that have great implications but we, the lesser mortals, as a general rule, simply do not count such things since they are too small or too insignificant in our schemes of things. Small little blessings that we get when our kids hug us or when an unknown driver, whom you have allowed some space before yourself on a defunct traffic light, smiles back at you before speeding off or when you say,' Thanx' to an unsuspecting tea-stall vendor at a footpath and he looks back at you, wondering as well as amused at such an unusual occurrence. In general, we ignore the values of such gestures irrespective of their sources and reasons. I think that is why we encounter more frustration/irritation (and resultant constipation....ha, ha) than pure happiness on regular basis. 

                   Being an early riser, I am out of my niche at 0430h or so everyday. Today (as also the day before), I felt a bit of nip in the early morning breeze. Well guys, we are already in May! As a matter of routine, it must have been a situation warranting calls like 'May Day, May Day!'. But look at the little mercy from the Heavens..... on 02nd May, there is a bit of chill in the air. For a generation that thrives on modern day gadgets like ACs and Refrigerators, it may make no difference (especially so when most of us are lazy enough not to make an effort to feel such blessings) but think about those who neither have such luxuries nor have any other option but to slog for a living and we can see the difference. And of course, there are many more creatures who have no option but to rough it out during harsh weather conditions. It is not that summers will not come eventually (days are already pretty warm) but for such a small luxury, there is a case for each one of us to look up and give HIM a smile! And yes, time too to count our blessings.

                 Today is a break before a heavy weight exam tomorrow. Not a big deal, one may feel! But it has taken pressure off us. Most of us, as I know it now, were generally relaxing yesterday and we are in a better state of mind to take on some nasty equations and equally dirty formulae. Even though we might not have felt it, stress has suddenly reduced and we have probably added a day or two to our earthly lives. Another reason to thank someone and count our blessings!

                  Most of north India shook yesterday, third time in recent times; reminded me of devastations that I happened to closely witness in Kashmir (October of 2005) and Marathwada(September of 1993). I am sure all of us do realise as to what and how much can go wrong when Earth takes a deep breath or two. Fortunately, we have been spared any harm. I am sure you all will agree with me when I propose to look up and give that GUY a big smile!

                   May He give us many more such blessings and grant us the good sense of appreciating and counting such blessings!

Being Whatever!

                         It all started with "Being Human" campaign initiated by Salman a few calendars ago. Today, leading retail stores have special corners for this brand even though the numbers being sold off the pavements (obviously fake ones) outnumber the more genuine ones by huge numbers! But sale is not the point here today.

                Till a few months back, my FB id used to be 'Being AJ' (till the very end of last Leap Year; I gave up FB thereafter), even though it had nothing to do with 'Being Human' stuff. But again, that is not the point here today.

               It is 'being something else' that makes a huge difference in our lives and that is simply "Being Sensitive"! Ask any of the married ladies anyday and the main crib (besides many others, of course.... ladies will be ladies after all!) that they would bring out would be the fact that with the passage of time, their hubbies have stopped being sensitive! But even that is not the point here today.

                   The point being referred here is the attitude in our day to day professional dealings. I like to be kind to animals, I may/may not be as sensitive as a husband today (I would rather not investigate the matter for my own sake) but I must understand the need of being sensitive to people around me beyond my own family and neighbourhood strays. So, when someone called up yesterday, just to share the information that a pending point (attendance!) had been sorted out and the technical glitch had been resolved, I felt so very nice. A gesture that reflected sensitivity on part of the person concerned, really moved me. And if we were to actually look at the issues around us, including the hardcore professional ones, this attitude of being sensitive can really do wonders. I am sure the trend at EBS continues and we all imbibe the same as part of our grooming at EBS.

               While having a chit-chat with a colleague yesterday, we just looked at the changes that we have seen at EBS. The magnitude of such changes being irrelevant, many such changes have brought in happiness for most of us. Whether it was an effort to follow the timetable ruthlessly rather than opting for a softer option of changing it at the last moment OR it was the way Holi break was planned (compared with that of Diwali) OR overall scheduling of the curriculum of this trimester (so much more balanced) OR reacting immediately on receipt of a complain (Neelu would do better before placing Biryaani on the menu next time) OR increased tolerance towards dresses that Generation ## prefers OR more systematic and smoother conduct of the ongoing exams...(and the list goes on), things have been consistently changing for good. While there will always be cribs and complaints, such gestures, even though apparently small, mean a lot to most of us. No doubts then that we are maturing as an institute. And if this 'tadka' of sensitivity keeps getting stirred every now and then, the fragrance will only spread and so would the fame.

              Life goes on; exams or no exams! Today, one student walked in with a bar of chocolates in hand. Apparently, the 'best wishes' had been delivered to him just before the exams and being a great fussy eater that he is (his frame would show), he had opted to carry it inside the exam hall! Obviously, he was checked for the same. A few moments later, his phone began to vibrate when a faculty was, as latter put it across lightly, 'just two inches away' from him. It can safely be assumed that caller was again an important person! So, there he was - caught and relieved of chocolate; caught and denied the pleasure of receiving wishes from someone special. But then everything has a time and place and to his bad luck, both timings and venue had turned out to be wrong ones! The saving grace was the fact that it was a simple phone and no case of making use of technology to obtain assistance during an exam was made out against him. But for many of us who had been struggling with the question paper at that moment, the incident gave us a big relief.... things can always be worse...... (ha, ha, ha!)!