Then it hit on us – Why don’t we rent a horror movie – so we did just that and found that to be a funny way to bring in 2012 head-on ..

Anyways thats not the subj of my post.. If you have noticed, i havent done a single post in 2011 – oh my!!! Where did my creativity ran to? Where were the self-help gurus and the guys who talked loudly about the resolutions on Jan 1st 2011? Anyways, i want to atone for my sins – which means i will try to write more in 2012 and mess this part of cyber space some more .. he he ..

Stay tuned folks – till my next post comes, enjoy this song from Kerala band – Avial

Avial – Nagumo

Many HR professionals – executives and head hunters seems so bereft of the quality to see a person through the skin. I came across one who was so stubborn to hear her point of view that she abruptly stopped the interview. As the company was prestigeous, that negative vibe felt reverberating like ripples in my conscience. But, then my mind whispered: “If that fool can’t see through you, why the hell do you want to work for her? Its better not to work for such as dumb ass”.

Almost every HR executive i have come across screws this up. The way they bargain with a 20 to 40% hike in salary will put the fish merchants to shame. My point is, you are not buying a ‘product’…are you? You are making an investment…so don’t hold that two three pennies in your purse, which the candidate deserves.

Where is the humanity? The human element in Human Resources?!

But, there are some things which he will have to give attention, if he wants the world to appreciate his humility. Micheal Moore’s words in my inbox rightly captures the sentiment people have to Obama’s Nobel news:

“Congratulations President Obama on the Nobel Peace Prize — Now Please Earn it!

Friday, October 9th, 2009

Dear President Obama,

How outstanding that you’ve been recognized today as a man of peace. Your swift, early pronouncements — you will close Guantanamo, you will bring the troops home from Iraq, you want a nuclear weapon-free world, you admitted to the Iranians that we overthrew their democratically-elected president in 1953, you made that great speech to the Islamic world in Cairo, you’ve eliminated that useless term “The War on Terror,” you’ve put an end to torture — these have all made us and the rest of the world feel a bit more safe considering the disaster of the past eight years. In eight months you have done an about face and taken this country in a much more sane direction.

But…

The irony that you have been awarded this prize on the 2nd day of the ninth year of our War in Afghanistan is not lost on anyone. You are truly at a crossroads now. You can listen to the generals and expand the war (only to result in a far-too-predictable defeat) or you can declare Bush’s Wars over, and bring all the troops home. Now. That’s what a true man of peace would do.

There is nothing wrong with you doing what the last guy failed to do — capture the man or men responsible for the mass murder of 3,000 people on 9/11. BUT YOU CANNOT DO THAT WITH TANKS AND TROOPS. You are pursuing a criminal, not an army. You do not use a stick of dynamite to get rid of a mouse.

The Taliban is another matter. That is a problem for the people of Afghanistan to resolve — just as we did in 1776, the French did in 1789, the Cubans did in 1959, the Nicaraguans did in 1979 and the people of East Berlin did in 1989. One thing is certain through all revolutions by people who wish to be free — they ultimately have to bring about that freedom themselves. Others can be supportive, but freedom can not be delivered from the front seat of someone else’s Humvee.

You have to end our involvement in Afghanistan now. If you don’t, you’ll have no choice but to return the prize to Oslo.”

Yours,
Michael Moore

Well said Mr Moore !

The views were splendid, the sun rays as virgin as ever, the breeze with that romantic aura, the trees flirting with the wind, the birds singing to beat beethoven’s compositions.

Ooty, a sister place of Kodaikanal is a hill station some 4 hours away. But, i couldn’t help thinking about the stark destinies they are in now. Ooty, reachable easily from bangalore and other states such as Kerala have born the brunt of commercialisation. The once prestine green hills now wear a ‘bald man’ look. People from Bangalore often wonder why they travelled to Ooty to see themselves caught up in another traffic jam!.

The Tamil Nadu Tourism development corporation i guess is least bothered. There are no green initiatives such as planting trees or some city-civic initiative such as keeping the town clean or anything. I feel they have taken Ooty for granted for a long time, that they have passed the tipping point of returning back. Kodaikanal may not be far behind from this neglect, beacuse the same body takes care of the tourist places in Kodaikanal.

But for now, Kodaikanal is a beauty and Ooty is dead and gone.

R.I.P Ooty..we will miss you…

When i take a look at the world around me, there is nothing that comes to my mind than cynicism. The pimple cream my cousin uses has these words etched onto it – It deep cleanses your skin and pores and keeps you fresh. Garnier, the competitor says the same thing on their cream..L’Oreal ? – Oh yes! Hmm, the pimple specialist and ‘others’ say the same things!. Another classical example – Its been more than half a century (50 yrs) since the modern Israeli-Palestinian conflict started and Israel has defied and violated many international accords. They haven’t even read the full Goldstone’s UN report on Gazza massacre before rejecting it! Goldstone told Al Jazeera: “I’m surprised that Israel has so speedily read a 575-page report and so quickly rejected it.” Every time US comes with a peace process, both sides will say they will put every effort into it..yeah! for 50 years, they been trying to do this! Cynicism again..yeah ! Another example – my parents been trying to find a good girl for me for some time and each time a potential one’s dad comes and goes – its still back to square 1! Cynicism – You betcha!

The world around us is not the ones which were told to us in bed time stories – its not Alice in wonderland..its Alice in blunder land.. You see all anomalies every where – the girl you feel the most pretty and innocent  puts up with her obnoxious and awkward boy friend, your close friend is a big racist, the ultra rich uncle who offers you unsolicited advice really never cared a dime, the manager you admired for being ‘collaborative’ takes a low road and shows a perverted bias to your ‘show-off/one man show’ colleague… the list goes on and on..this is what made me a cynic!

But some times i feel there are some holes of hope sneaking in…the garnier face wash seems like working! or one girl’s dad realizes my true worth (the case where i don’t see the “$ $” in his eyes)..May be the Israelis and Palestinians will finally sit across a table…So, i don’t agree with people who call me a cynic, i would add to that – i am an optimistic cynic – and may be that’s the way to wade through this weird weird world!..Rainy and sunny days may be God’s way of telling this

Some days back, India became one of the super powers to launch a nuclear powered attack submarine. They say this feat has catapulled India into the league of powerful countries. And the Indian media was abuzz with excitement about the achievement. But, one small news item caught my eye. The essence of the news was journalists asking Indian navy top brass and defence elite about whether this is actually a “Made in India” product. When i saw this, i was a bit irrate. Being a patriotic Indian, i found mysef whispeing beneath my skin- “Why you idiots, can’t Indians make one?Why are you so suspicious about Indian capabilities!”. Days passed by and so did the news item from my memory.

Few days back, i found myself at the wheel of my uncle’s  one year old car from Maruti Suzuki – The Zen Estillo. “Horrible” would be a gross understatement to describe how the car handled. I feel as if am sitting on a big carboard box on four wheels, much like my childhood fantasy coming true! And, as i kept mumbling and cursing about the car’s quality, something else struck me – Its a “Made in India” tagged car!. This car had been designed by the Maruti engineers in India. Thats when i understood the true mocking meaning which lied underneath the question that journalists asked about whether the submarine was “actually” made by India!.

Indians are accustomed to the poor quality products made by many Indian companies, that they were bit hesitatant to believe Indians designed the nuclear sub without the help of good ole Russians. I sometimes wonder how the engineers in Maruti-Suzuki can design such a crap of a car! Suzuki is a giant in small car design! Maruti has decades of experience in domestic market and still, they could not design a proper,simple fun to drive car? !!

May be i should also set aside my patriotism and wonder whether the “Made in India” tag is as mature as a “Made in Japan” tag!. Japan was once despised for their low quality products.But after the quality revolution, they reinvented what “quality” meant. And now Japan is a synonym for Quality. We Indians and Chinese may have a lesson or two in it. May be the Chinese and Indians are ‘Chini-Chini-Bhai-Bhai’ on this matter!

From my schooling days, i have noticed people with immense potential being caged up in written dogmas and text books. Their imagination and creativity nipped in the bud. Sure, if you ask me – “Then where are you going to learn Newton’s gravitational law or theories, i may well say ” I don’t know”. My point is this – great minds like Muhammad ibn Musa Khwarizmi or Newton didn’t have to learn something some body told them. They learned,observed and contributed to the body of knowledge. But, today many kids who may be running around us are the future Khwarizmis and Newtons of the world. But, they start off their journey to intellectual curiosity with those teachers who have neither been trained to teach properly the budding minds, nor are they true to the cause. Majority of them just want to earn a livelihood or contribute to the earnings of the family. And they don’t hell care, if a Khwarizmi or Newton is amongst his/her batch.

Learning becomes a stressful experience with the most rotten discovery in modern times – “exams”! Kids who are known for their independence from fear are systematically nurtured to fear, because if you do bad in exams, your parents are gonna scold you, and the peer pressure is there to top it.With each variety of exams – Xmas exams,quarterly exams, final exams and with adults it turns out to entrance exams, CAT exams, GMATs, TOFELS and whatever acronyms you can bestow upon the ‘system of fear’!.

Newton observed and discovered, Modern day people sit in concrete rooms and stare at the ceiling or printed photo of Newton sitting under a tree and the apple falling and just learns it by heart.This is just a small tip of the iceberg. The world is full of educated people – those with double degrees,diplomas,doctorates and what not.. I have seen colleagues,friends,uncles,relatives all fail miserable when it comes to human sense. No body would include ‘empathy’ as a parameter for enriched education.  I have seen people with doctorates safeguarding knowledge and hoarding it..To me, they don’t deserve even the lowest form of recognition.

In essence our educational systems have failed miserably in their founding mission. Today you learn for a job. In earlier times, people learned for the joy of discovery,for the adrenalin rush of serendipity..And when you study for a job, the world tells you to choose your mission of life, before you get rid of your huggies. They want you to choose your career before your inner mind and heart wakes up to your real passion.That’s how our educational system is designed – before you land a job, you have to decide whether you want to be a doctor or an engineer, even if the poor fellow would have a nascent liking for astronomy. So, now you are forced to study livers instead of stars – why? Because the world around you – the relatives, the leprosy like uncles, your ever concerned cynical friends all judge you by the money and not your knowledge. And not to miss – the future fiance and her/his father’s judgment criteria. In an essence, we are not allowing kids or young men to take chances with their lives – with their passions – with their careers. Because that’s how our educational system and societal rewards are designed.

Okay! i agree that there are elite institutions that do churn out top-notch people like the Harvard or Wharton or IIMs. But, i have seen plenty of common men and women who haven’t gone to the ivy league institutions, who are far more intelligent and having whole sense of world. Circumstances have been the enemy in many times for them, not the lack of hunger for knowledge or intelligence. They have empathy in plenty whereas, i have seen plenty of IIM kinda graduates oozing with hubris. Having attended one of their management meets, i have seen how the hype and entrenched power of alumni networking have helped them gain unfair recognition in many cases, including bloated pay cheques.

In the end, managing people will need empathy and common sense more than pie-charts and case studies.

Having pondered over all these anarchy, i seem to feel that all our educational systems  and components of it – ivy leagues or B grade colleges, exams or interviews are all screwed up in their own way!. I doubt if we have passed the tipping point of going back and re-inventing how we learn and teach human beings.This, i think will be the biggest mistake that we have done to humanity and those budding geniuses who run around us!

Today, a collegue of mine commented on my painstakingly grown beard – “what is this beard and all!” So i downplayed it as the new trend among film stars. But he was not convinced. And quipped – “If you trim the moustache and grow the beard,they will think somthing else!” ..(Hey, didn’t Abraham Lincoln have such a beard !)

Which kept the wheels of thought turning in me. Wasn’t that a racist comment?

Yes, i think it is..Its much like a phobia these days – a fear of beard – beard -o- phobia!.

He very well knew that devout muslims grew beard and trim moustache and with the people who commits acts of terrorism growing beards, his comment implied that i may be mistaken for a “terrorist”! How misleading a prejudiced view i thought. There are even relatives of mine, who can’t resist taking a jibe at my lovely beard !

Thanks to our omniprescent media – electronic and print which splashes and made ‘bearded men’ affiliated to the terrorism much like the pavlov’s dog!.

Then, i did a search on the internet to learn about the history of beard and the prejudiced views it generated. Frankly, rather than getting enraged for the comment, i ended up being enriched by it! It really has changed my views about the beard.. it actually is something to be taken seriously

Let me start with the wise Greeks. A Greek saying goes like this – “There are two kinds of people in this world that go around beardless — boys and women — and I am neither one.”- Hm.. a macho one !

People grow beard for many reasons – not just “religious niravana” as my colleague implied!. In earlier days, it was considered a sign of masculinity, of virility. It also keeps the face warm, particularly in some cold counties. Its also stylish – being’ in’ and ‘out ‘ of the fashion world.Some also consider it as a sign of wisdom or intellectual edge. Some famous intellectuals include Chinese philosopher Confucius, the famous psychiatrist Sigmend Freud,Prophet Jesus,writer – Ernest Hemigway, revolutionary – Karl Marx, Jerry Garcia, singer – John lenon, The erstwhile American president – Abraham Lincoln (he did that for a female admirer!). And the list goes on here and here!

Even if its got do with religion, what the heck? ! Who cares a damn ? Its your face and its a democracy! You can do what you want with your face! Its not some body else’s face i am scribbling on! 

This BBC article on beard has some informative nuggets about the history of beard, the reasons and so on! And even the wikipedia sported a ‘beard’ page!

In the end i think the beard is part of a person – a part of his identity, much like the baldness of Harsha Bhogle is his identity (I think he screwed it up with his new hair transplant!). And people should learn to respect that, whatever be the  reason. And it doesnt mean that a terrorist wants a beard to bomb! Its pathetic to see such kind of prejudiced views creeping into the society. Its very much a symbol of how images affect people’s rational thinking!

‘In Russia,during the times of the Tzar Peter , he began to tax facial fuzz. An unusual amount of Russians preferred to pay the tax rather than part with their beards’. I think i will side with the Russians this time!

A tape which shows the UAE royal sheik, torturing a man is doing the rounds on internet. I don’t think there is anything to be surprised about this, when you know about the kind of autocratic sheiks in middle east today.

The tapes are a testament to the numbness the money and power has brought to the sheiki elite of Arabs. It’s a total contradiction and annihilation of what great erstwhile middle east rules such as Salahudhin advocated through his rule.

I felt ‘angry’ and thought – ‘some international law should catch this aggressor’ , then i thought – he is the law !

It’s been told that the tortured man had evaded a 5000$ from a grain-deal with the prince. Ah, the prince’s luxury Mercedes” tyre might cost the same money. For him, it was not the money, it was his hubris to be displayed.

Shocking to realise that old despots still live inside modern rulers!

So much so, for the liberal sheiks of UAE!