Sidz Blog

Where's the innocence gone?

2009-11-30T00:28:00.003+05:30

This evening, we had some innocent fun. Oh yes, it was me and my pals here at college. We chose to play a game from our childhood, something I used to be really fond of. And during those few minutes, each one of us was just as happy as innocent kids are. As we closed it, once again we were all serious individuals with loads of thoughts in our minds, to each one his own. And this is what left me wondering long enough, to come up with the lines that proceed.

Why is it so that as we grow older, one of the purest qualities of human nature, the quality of innocence drifts away gradually? Why is every grown-up so different from his childhood? Or are we all just actors, hiding our real self, adorning our cloak of maturity and wisdom, because this is what the society we live in expects us to be like?

As we grow, there are so many biases that we face. For instance when parents say,” Oh come on! You are not a kid anymore” or “Don’t be childish!” or “You are not mature enough. Look at this friend of yours who is so wise and responsible, takes his decisions for himself”.

Wish things had been different. Wish there was no such obligation to adorn this cloak. Wish my childhood had stayed longer and if not, wish at least the society wouldn't have looked askance on grown-ups who chose to stay the same, with their child-like innocence on.

Bagchi and his Bio

2009-11-09T01:23:00.004+05:30

The post carries my 20 cents on Subroto Bagchi’s “Go Kiss the World”. In the initial pages, it felt like just another autobiography with a lot of effort put in to make it a literary piece, clearly evident by the drama woven around simple incidents of an average childhood story. Some would say that the emphasis here is on the family connection and the petty details, though I find it to be an average account.

However, towards the later part of Bagchi’s career, that of the sowing of Mindtree’s seed, its nurture and growth are definitely worth a read. Here are some of my takeaways:

 How important it is to create memorability in your first meeting! As they say, first impression is the last impression.

 Why is Laalach such a buri balaa? The mention of the story from Panchtantra about the Brahmin and the clever tiger where the tiger being weak, offers the Brahmin his golden bangles for penance and entices the Brahmin to take a dip into the pond before receiving it. The Brahmin gets stuck in the pond’s mud and the tiger devours him. Who killed the man? Is it the tiger or the man’s greed?

 The importance of not having the word ‘panic’ in your lexicon. And the importance of taking time to think rather than taking hasty decisions in the crisis hours where the flow of emotions tends to work against you.

 That ‘All growth can be inherently destructive’- Drucker

You would say that these are all lessons we’ve already heard of, so what’s extra that Bagchi has offered!

Well, the most important aspect is that it’s simplicity with which success can be attained, just by pure effort and being there at the right places at the right times. The story reinforces the idea that one doesn’t have to be an extraordinary person to make big. All one needs is focus and the rest just follows.

P.S.: Subroto Bagchi is the co-founder of Mindtree Solutions

The Kite Runner, Me and the Journey

2009-10-17T11:17:00.005+05:30

A lot has been happening these many days and I regret not being able to give enough time to something I’ve started to love, the love of penning my thoughts down.

Another semester has gone, taking me closer to the completion of my MBA and here I am today, writing from my train to home. Of course I’ll post this draft once I am in the confines of my home, when every byte of data will struggle to get uploaded from my small town’s BSNL broadband - a service that promises much more than its ability to deliver.

Its 3:15 p.m. now on the second day of my journey, a 46.5 hours one in total, with me on the side upper berth where there’s just enough space for me to lie down straight and yet I’m glad. Not because I’m perched high, glad because I could finish reading this awesome piece by Khalid Hosseini, “The Kite Runner” in a period of a day and a half straight. This is not how I usually spend my monotonous and long train journeys, I prefer peeping out of the tinted window and occasionally chatting with complete strangers around.

But this time, the vibes were not just right and I decided to get immersed in “The Kite Runner”. Now that it’s read, I’m glad that I began. The desire to read it was stronger because of the fervor with which Shreya gave me this one in my hand and said “You must read this” while I stood confused in front of the fiction section of our an year and a half young library. And now, I’ve been so moved by the story that I decided to pen down a few thoughts about it.

The pictures of Hassan & Ali, Amir & his Baba, Rahim Khan, Soraya & her parents, Aseef, the Talibs and the landscapes of Kabul – before & after, are all painted so clearly in my mind now that I won’t wonder if my tonight’s train dream will have them all or maybe there won’t be any dream at all, maybe no sleep even, all because I’m going home after ONE LONG YEAR. The last time I’d been home was on the morning of Diwali’08 and tomorrow will be Diwali’09, exactly a year has passed and I keep wondering of things that would’ve changed. There’s so much drama entwined with all our lives that often I feel, the direction of it all is just perfect, something that no human can judge and no Oscar can reward.

I could witness some serious drama in the pages of “The Kite Runner” too and I’m left wondering at the deadly skill that the art of writing could be, wondering that how easily could Amir write his first story, how naturally he got the talent of writing ‘irony’ in the same, and how simply his illiterate servant Ali’s illiterate son Hassan, who later turned out to be his half brother, had pointed out the ‘plot hole’ in his interesting small first story.

I had never realized this before until I read from Khalid’s pen – not that there are people in this world who mean every word they say, but the fact that these people think that everyone else does the same too. So when they speak of something, casually do they take the words of everyone else, as if they were also meant exactly like them! How true & how fascinating!!

I was fascinated by the drive that Amir had to win the kite flying tournament so that in the eyes of his Baba, he could become someone who was looked at, not seen, listened to, and not heard. So much to strive, for a dream that was not his own, but his Baba’s. A whole lot of the world does that and I’m not judging the extent to which it might be right.

But yes, the drama woven around the tournament was so captivating that I regret not having learnt the art so far. Maybe this time when I’m home, when my neighbours’ kite will be up in the sky on the festival of Chatth, 6 days after Diwali, I’ll try my hands at it and in those moments, maybe I’d think of Amir to get the rush of adrenaline, a must to drive one crazy at any sport.

At one point, I could not keep myself from smiling when I found the melodrama that a Bollywood film has, when towards the end, in desperation to save a loved one’s life, Atheists turn to God, pray, become believers and stay on like that.

Also did I find out that a dialogue from one of my recent favourite romantic movies, ‘Jaane Tu’ was an abridged version of the lines by Hosseini – ‘You can take Afghans out of Paghman, but you can’t take Paghman out of Afghans’. Pardon me for my ignorance if something like this is a clichéd phrase that the author had passingly mentioned. And if it is not, we should appreciate Bollywood for being so diverse!

The crux of The Kite Runner’s story is something I’m not disclosing here. It’s a recommended read for all those of you passionate about fiction and who at the same time wants a peek into the Afghanistan of the Monarchs, the Rebels and the Taliban.
It makes me wonder though, how people change for and with power and how they forget the larger interests of humanity in this quest of theirs, which they shamelessly try to justify in the name of God, of religion and of the past.

Siddharth
(Onboard Sanghmitra Express)

Religion & Me

2009-07-29T15:49:00.003+05:30

Before writing this post, I am definitely sure of one thing that no matter what your religious view is (or is not); you will find something here that you can relate to.

Born and brought up in a deeply religious Jain family, there’ve been quite a few customs/rituals that have become a part of my daily life. And these have not come up by my choices or my conscious decisions, rather as learning from my parents and grandparents as to what is right and what is not. Isn’t this the case with many of us?

Don’t the majority of us look up to God only when we get into some trouble or when we need something really badly and are worried that we are not strong enough to get out of the trouble or not capable enough to achieve the need!

Even those who religiously follow the customs would agree that the best they achieve out of their prayers is a sense of security that there is a power higher up which will save them from the perils that might come on their way. And that, in their times of need, they can offer prayers, make wishes and in the hope that these will be granted, continue to do their daily chores with a little more ease. Believe me when I say this that I do the same too and the kind of support I receive by the mere offering of these prayers is inexplicable.

With the instinctive quality of curiosity that all humans are born with, I’ve had my set of many questions too and in response to those many, I’ve got a few answers, a fewer of which have convinced me and others till date have failed to do so. All these unanswered or unconvincingly answered questions on God, on religion or on the many aspects of our social lives have made me realize that learning on these will come from time to time and in many hidden ways. All I need to do is to keep my eyes open and follow my own way.

SIBM Bangalore : The Year That Was

2009-06-24T01:10:00.016+05:30

This is an attempt to share some of the experiences that the pioneer batch at SIBM Bangalore, had in the year just gone by and I’m sure this will give all the new joinees, a lot of things to look forward to in the days to come.

It all started with an induction an year ago on 16th June- with butterflies in our stomachs, with some smart and pretty faces, some confident ones and some apprehensive- yet all determined to start on this beautiful journey of MBA life.

A little later we had a formal inaugural by Shri Arjun Singh- the then Cabinet Minister of Human Resource Development, in the presence of our founder and Chancellor – Padma Shri Dr. S.B. Majumdar and many other dignitaries.

The student leadership team came next, under the presidentship of Satej and thus started the student-driven institute in its true sense.The first wave of pride came our way when Bikash and Mudit won the Business Plan Contest at IIM Bangalore. And by then, each one of us had started to actively participate in events and competitions nationwide as the proponents of this new entity - SIBM Bangalore.

A little later, there was this confusing period of zeroing-in on our specializations which ultimately all of us did and the course progressed.And then, towards the end of the first semester, we had our Prof. Pankaj Gupta joining the institute as the first director, which marked the point for many more things to come and all for the better.

The second semester began in November with a flurry of activities and the academic rigor had just set in with visiting faculty from the best institutes. Our entrepreneurship cell was inaugurated on 15th November by Mr. Rakesh Shukla, Founder & CEO – The Writer’s Block.

Apart from the many guest lectures from industry stalwarts and CEOs(including Mr. Bijou Kurien-President and Chief Executive-Lifestyle Division, Reliance Retail; Mr. Shailesh Chaturvedi-CEO - Tommy Hilfiger Apparel India; Dr. Sudarshan K Maini-Chairman, Maini Group of Industries(REVA Cars); Mr. Vinay Luthra-MD, KSTDC; Mr. Suhas Gopinath-CEO & President, Globals Inc.and others), we hosted a colloquium on the Global Economic Downturn on 28th December where the keynote speaker was the very eminent- Dr. S.P.Kothari, M.D., Global Head of Equity Research at Barclays Global Investors.

On the 1st of December, the very active and socially responsible students of our batch participated in an AIDS awareness campaign in the city organized by the Team Daayitva in association with Action Aid, an international agency. The event brought out the humane face of SIBM Bangalore and was followed by more such initiatives.

The month of February saw another grand event, a HR conclave viz., “Audeamus” on leadership challenges in the current economic scenario, chaired by Mr. Ranjan Acharya, Sr. V.P. at Wipro in the presence of eminent panelists.

All through this period of one year, there was wholesome learning for us - both didactic and experiential. And of course, there was our fair share of fun and frolic.
The year ended with the commencement of our summer internships which brought with it valuable insights into the corporate world.

At this stage, I get my satisfaction from the fact that I’ve been involved with some of the major events that happened last year in some or the other way. The hard work that I had put in with my friends from Team Daayitva really paid off with the success of the AIDS awareness campaign. And as the compere and organizing team member of Audeamus, I got to learn a lot from the hurdles the team faced.

I must also mention that all through the year, I have met great people and the best part is, my wonderful friends here, who are now an inseparable part of my support system.

And now, the journey continues…..

More about Life here at the SIBM blog!!

The Sudarshan Kriya

2009-06-16T23:04:00.015+05:30

Recently, I was fortunate enough to participate in the basic course conducted by the Art of Living foundation here at Electronic City. And I feel that the experience that I had is something I must share with all my friends, fellows, family and also the visitors to my blog.

All those who feel that this is related deeply to spirituality and that only those very keen on it should go for such a course are wrong. After my tryst with it, I can say firmly that if you have not yet experienced what this very powerful technique of Sudarshan Kriya can do to your body and mind, you are really missing something in life. And when I talk about the greatness of the course, it’s not just the calmness and relaxation that one gets after doing the Kriya but also the wisdom that comes from the five sutras given by His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, the universally revered spiritual and humanitarian leader.

For more on my views about the course you can either call or mail me at siddharth.anand@ymail.com. Please click on the tab below to join the Art of Living group for people residing in Electronic City, Bangalore.

Click to join Art_Of_Living_Ecity

Efficiency & The Human Factor

2009-06-01T19:15:00.018+05:30

My days at SIBM Bangalore have been bringing with them insights of all kinds. The period of my summer internship has been a really great experience and has brought with it something new every other day.

Today during a discussion with my project guide who is the Head of TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) and Manufacturing Excellence at SKF, the issue of the factors responsible for lost efficiency came up. To this my guide said that the role of the human factor is by far the most important for productivity and efficiency.He said that if an industry has an efficiency of 70%, its the human factor that can take it from there to 90% and beyond that the other factors come in. Technology comes the last when its effect on lost efficiency is considered.

Although his views have been so framed as a result of his 18+ years of experience in companies like TVS, Arcelor-Mittal etc., I still find it difficult to comprehend the extent of the human factor's importance. Of course if this very factor wishes to bring the efficiency down, it can be achieved in no time. But taking it up from there would definitely need a deep resolve, a connection with the larger goal and loads of motivation for achievement.

The initiatives taken at SKF under TPM with a great deal of involvement from its employees are in some way trying to change the mindset of this human factor. The SKF India unit which now has nearly $325mn of revenues is in a transition phase and it aspires to become a billion $ firm soon. The company is thus taking its most important resources quite seriously.

In my last post, I talked about how employees come first so as to put customers first, and here we have this live example supporting the view.Though the extent to which SKF will go in this direction is something to be watched for.

The Customer Comes Second

2009-05-21T23:49:00.007+05:30

Shocked?

Then who comes first??

"It's employees" says Hal Rosenbluth, CEO of Rosenbluth International in his book titled "The Customer Comes Second".

"If you genuinely want to put customers first, you must put employees more first" says Tom Peters.

Quite insightful, isn't it!

How important is Design?

2009-05-16T09:47:00.007+05:30

Dear Readers, lately I've been reading 'The pursuit of WOW!" by Tom Peters and I want to share some of the interesting insights from the book in few of my next posts.

The one about Design goes this way:

"Vital.For products, sure. But, paradoxically, design is more important for services."

And then Tom goes about quoting Harvard marketing guru Ted Levitt: "If your product is tangible(plane,boat,car,penknife), distinguish yourself from the herd by emphasizing intangibles(e.g.,service). If your product is intangible (banking services, travel services), distinguish yourself from the masses by emphasizing the tangible- to wit, design. "

The example of FedEx comes next.

"Fedex which offers timely delivery service also stands out on the tangibles.

Tangibles, such as spiffy-and clean-trucks.(why, for God's sake, don't companies realize that trucks are a fabulous/awful form of advertising?) And easy-to-use forms.

(Why, once again, don't most businesses understand that forms are part of their signature and therefore great/awful advertisements for their businesses?)

So if you're in a service business, worry a lot if you're not working on the tangibles." says Peters.

I found this to be interesting and I am not sure whether our marketing fellows already learn about it, its definitely worth sharing.

Please post your valuable comments to make this blog post worth.

The SWEET side of Vowels

2009-04-24T00:51:00.004+05:30

Ever wondered the reason for having nicknames for all your good friends? What makes you decide the nickname (if it’s derived from the true one)? Or even the nicknames we are called at home by?

Well if we observe the many nicknames that surround us, there definitely lies an answer to all these Qs.

I feel that it’s the “sweet” factor that makes a nickname likable.
Think of some of your dear friends’ names and the nicknames you have given them. Do you observe that each of the resultants have a common factor towards the end of them? The nicknames of your sweet friends will definitely be having the “sweet vowels” as I call them, towards their end. The phonetics being aa, i, y, ee, u and oo.

For instance, consider a Siddhu, an Ashu, a Puttu, a Ribu, a Gomzy, a Guddu, a Jeny and the like.

Not convinced ? Noticed that those of your friends whose names already end with these sweet vowels, have not got a derived nickname?

Probably because the name is already “sweet”! Most such names end with aa, i and y.

You might choose to differ and I would love to get your views on this very banal interest of mine.

The White Tiger ( Was that really White?)

2009-03-05T19:25:00.008+05:30

Ironically, me - a so called budding manager (though that’s not what I prefer to be called as, especially considering the way I’m managing myself these days) could finally manage in a long time to finish reading this so very popular Booker Prize winning book by Aravind Adiga, “The White Tiger”. And as I keep it back to the shelf, my apprehensions are troubling my thoughts. You might wonder, why so?

For those of you who have read the book already will most likely share this concern with me on whether this one is a story of a white tiger which is rare to find or of just another brown one!

The protagonist Balram Halwai alias Ashok Sharma in his letter to the Chinese premier talks about almost all the twists and turns his life has taken so far including some of those special instances of a servant-master relationship where at times he is very loyal to the masters and at others, a very selfish being trying to suck out as much money as to satisfy his cravings, the extreme case being the murder of his master.

Well I feel that such a story is not of Balram’s alone but that of every human being, isn’t this our ingrained trait to be looking out for every single opportunity that can be exploited, be it in monetary terms or otherwise!

Doubts apart, I loved these lines by Adiga while summing up the comparative on the scenarios of 1947 and the present, “In the old days there were one thousand castes and destinies in India. These days, there are just two castes: Men with Big Bellies, and Men with Small Bellies. And only two destinies: eat- or get eaten up.”

Apt, right?

Coming out of the CoW DunG

2009-02-25T15:43:00.007+05:30

Wondering HOW? Well before you make an opinion that Sid has probably gone mad, let me make it clear that it’s not our sacred Cow’s dung that I am talking about, rather it’s about the “Conventional Wisdom of the Dominant Group”. The acronym was just for the hygiene factor associated with it, where it is considered as sacred by a few and filthy by others. Isn’t it the same with the CoW DunG that I am talking about?

How tied we are to what prevails around us, how little is our resistance to the many generally accepted facts, maybe we are all too passive or maybe we don’t want to come out of the cozy and warm comfort zones that we have formed amidst the CoW DunG. And those who actually tend to do so are either doomed or go a long way ahead, the initial tough times being common in both the cases. Don’t we have the example of the great Galileo who went ahead against the prevailing myth that Earth was the center of the universe to the more rightful one of Sun being the center of the solar system (though the difference between solar system and universe was not very clear then) and had to suffer hardships by the decree of the Holy Office in Rome.

I am confused. Can someone suggest what is the best way ahead…..staying in or coming out of the cowdung?

I find it appropriate to mention that the term has been in use for quite some time though more in the context of techniques for problem solving and of course more often in its true sense!!:-)

The 5 B's

2009-02-17T19:06:00.007+05:30

What I have been wondering for quite some time is that, can creativity be actually taught? I am sure my friends at SIBM would have thought about it too with the very mention of a subject of that sort and that too carrying 2 credits!!

There have been many discussions in our classes and my Prof. has tried his best to convince us on the issue that it can be taught. And honestly speaking, little did I believe in him. Until today when in the process of working on an assignment, I found out a simple and logical reason for it, something that we all are subconsciously aware of but have probably never bothered to think about.

Let me now put forth the idea. It is related to studies done on the human brain and the various waves found within. The study says that the presence of theta waves in the human brain is responsible for the generation of ideas and so to come up with novel ideas, the person has to identify a place or an activity which stimulates the generation of these theta waves.
Proposed is a model of the 5B’s :-

Let me give a brief overview of these,

BATH: It has been found that when warm water flows on one’s head, and the head is massaged a bit while at bath, theta waves get generated and that is what makes us feel very pleased. Thoughts during bath may sometimes be actually very-2 creative and some of you must have experienced it as well. Remember the “Eureka” moment of Archimedes in a bath tub!!

BRANDY: Ever seen people in their drunken state showing the best of their creative side by singing, dancing and u know the whats, at least in movies if not actually? It is again the release of theta waves.

BED: Dreams are a manifestation of the same phenomenon to a certain extent, however the theta being more prominent when a person is just about to sleep i.e. in a state towards sleep.

BUS: It is the monotony of travel in a bus and the rhythmic vibrations that cause the same.

BABY: Though I may not be the right person to say this considering my lack of experience in this domain, nurturing babies actually does give the parents a deep sense of pleasure and satisfaction and to help them think of creative ways to make the baby feel good.

Before I close, let me tell you that the credit to having such an insight does not go to me. Rather it is due to the author David O’ Dell in whose book I found out the 5B’s and brought it forward to you all.

I now believe that picking up one out of these five B’s might help us think creatively, particularly when a slight orientation to the idea already exists in our subconscious. This is a personal opinion and my fellow bloggers might differ on the same, the extent of which I would love to know by your comments on the idea.

The New Year's Resolution

2008-12-29T01:45:00.008+05:30

Here goes another year

Carrying with it cheer and despair

Remember how it all began

A celebration of I don’t know what

That midnight cake on the apartment terrace

With a gathering of some unknown faces

Yet everyone seemed so joyful

To usher the New Year in

With resolutions to follow the year through

Honestly I took a few too

And don’t even remember what those were!!

Isn’t this an irony?

How copycats can humans be

Though we have our own minds

We think through someone else’s

And let our thoughts shape in the autumn

As kites without strings

Going with the winds.

Another new year’s day arrives

But no resolutions for me this time

Everyday will be a new one for me

So will be its resolution

And that too as per what I feel

Not a copycat again!!!!

By.....Siddharth Anand

It's been raining for a while!!!!

2008-11-21T00:43:00.002+05:30

The pit-a-pat of the rain
Takes with it all the pain.
Till yesterday, the days were bright
With the scorching sun in broad daylight
Which made everything so dull and dry
Even thoughts didn't come, how hard I tried.

With the college days just gone by
Life. it seems has stopped for a while
Miss all the friends, the life in there
The fun is all gone and everyone too.
The ways have been parted, lines drawn
All are treading their own new ways.
I got to take mine too but its hard to begin
With the mind so very occupied
By thoughts of all the days gone by
And to add to it all, the sweltering heat
Made things just worse and tough to survive.

The rain this day brings me respite
With the pitter patter of the rain
The pulse seems normal again
A whole new life lies ahead
There are hopes and aspirations

And at this moment, I do decide
To dedicate these lines to all my friends
With memories of whom shall I proceed
On the newly set path.
And with a hope to stay connected to all of u always
My wishes n prayers here again.

By Siddharth Anand

On The Way

2008-10-13T02:32:00.002+05:30

A time does come in life

When the goal is near

But the ways aren’t clear

When things going well and fine,

Turn topsy-turvy and take your mind

When sunny days look dark as night

And starlit nights show cloudy skies

When the water crystal clear,

Looks full of mud and smear

And the rising sun on top of the hill,

Seems going down.

That’s the time,

The time to close your eyes and think

What is that which makes you shrink?

Is it the greatness of your goal?

Or just the outlook of your soul?

Quietly in your puzzled mind,

Will come a reply for you to mind,

“The goal is near and it’s all your fear

Let it go and open your eyes

All are same- the day, the night and the sun.”

Now that the dreams are all over

Its time to toil and labour

The time to pave new ways

Out of the maze you got in.

But in these steps towards your goal

Do not forget to leave a trail.

As when you finally reach the goal

And tell the people all your tale

They may doubt what you say

And will grow suspicious day by day

Then the trail you would’ve left behind

Will let all know, you are one of your kind.

The meandering river of your life

Will finally reach its sea

And the vast empire of serenity

Will be yours.

By.........Siddharth Anand