When you experience the Sai Moment, it will transform you....

As we walked towards Entrance Gate 3 of the Shirdi Sai Baba temple, a person walked to us and said that he will get us a VIP (Very Important Person) Darshan without the crowds. Of course, this was for a fee. We just walked past him as though we had not heard him and walked in to the temple. This was exactly what Sai Baba had talked against in the 19th Century. He didn't want any such difference based on economic criteria or for that matter any such criteria. These touts and many of us have forgotten the very tenets that Sai stood for and now make a living out of the temple in ways that leave a lot to be desired.

As he helped the elderly lady up the staircase, I saw the Sai in him. Another one bought tea for those who could not afford it. So many others donated blood at the temple's blood camp. Many others stood as volunteers helping and guiding pilgrims through the confusing temple campus. Still, so many others served water free to all those who needed it. There was a Sai in every one of them.

Many a time, we forget to see all these Sais in the temple and focus on those few touts who sell their souls to make a living. 

After the darshan, we headed back to the hotel. It was a really hot afternoon. We were tired and stopped for a cold mango milkshake. As we enjoyed the milkshake, an elderly lady walked up to us and asked for some money. One look at her and somehow I felt I had reached her soul. Not sure why this happened to me, but it did. She needed something cold too and she was very hungry. Yet, there was calm in the eyes and total peace in the face. I got her a milkshake. She lifted her frail hands, placed it on my head and blessed. She then pointed to her eyes and gestured to me that she saw me. I saw peace and calm in her despite the fact that she did not have food and was asking others for it. I saw Sai in her. I had experienced the Sai moment!!!

As we headed back to the hotel to get some rest before we left for Bangalore, I couldn't help but think of this experience. Sai had given me this amazing opportunity to be of service to this elderly lady. In turn, I got peace, calm and a feeling that I am unable to describe. The feeling brought up all kinds of emotions inside me. My wife had brought me to the temple as it was our 25th Wedding Anniversary and she said that it would be the best experience for both of us. Indeed, it was!!!

If we are lucky, each of us will have these moments...and these moments can be experienced right through our lives. The search is inside each of us and I am convinced. It is, for me, recognizing the fact that we are each given opportunities to pour our love and be of help to those who need it. If we choose to grab these opportunities and are grateful that we got these opportunities,  we become the chosen ones and will experience the Sai Moment.

Take this to the corporate world or in to our every day lives - as Leaders, we can seize these moments that come to us daily. I don't believe that we need to go searching for these Sai Moments. They present themselves to us in various types and forms. The true Leader recognizes these moments and is there to make a difference to her/his organization and the world around her/him. In turn, these Sai Moments transform the Leader in to a better human being...after all, Leadership is all about being human and not just about human beings.

Technology becomes the best pacifier...

As the two year old grew restless and cranky, I watched to see how his parents would respond. He had been throwing a tantrum for 5 minutes. They reacted more than responded. Out came the smart phone from the bag, was handed over and the child was all quiet in a matter of seconds, totally engrossed in the gadget. This is a true story….

As I walked out of the school’s auditorium, I could see my daughter with her friends. They had not met in months as my daughter had moved to a new school. They all missed each other. Two of them came over and gave such a tight hug to my daughter and one of them started crying. As they hugged each other, they drew comfort and everything settled in so quickly. This is the pacifier that I am used to - The human touch. Most of the times, no words are needed. There is no better pacifier in this world than the touch of the mother or father or a very good friend or relative.

I am still wondering how we got to a situation where we managed to get a gadget to become a pacifier instead of someone who we know and love. We are in a world of instant gratification. We have improved our standards of living and have reached a stage where we do not want to say “No” to our children – ever!!! So much so that we do not differentiate between a need or a want. Everything is satiated in minutes. The children don’t have to wait and over a period of time, they do not want to wait.

I do sincerely believe that we will be judged by history as a series of generations that did not know how to raise our children. This is also because we are so busy in our own lives – work, commute, visiting friends, some fun time, etc. that we do not have time for our children – so, we let technology take over and outsource bringing up our children with Schools, Day Care Centres, Nannies, Grand-parents….and, of course, Technology - the Television/Play Stations/Smart Phones set the rules.

I prefer my children playing football on the field and not on a smart phone or laptop. They need to fall, get hurt, fight with their friends, make up with them in no time, run around, sweat, roll in the sand, etc….if they do not do these, they grow up to be loners with a whole load of friends on Facebook or We Chat or the likes…I am sure you get the drift (no offence meant to Facebook or We Chat).

I have seen a significant increase in children in the age group of 2 to 6 with developmental delays – could be speech delay, unable to get along with other children, children lost in themselves, children not being able to concentrate or focus on anything for even 10 seconds, children not wanting to play…and the list goes on. I have also seen a significant increase in the number of parents who do not want their children to play out in the sand or under the sun, want soft flooring in play areas so that their children don’t get hurt if they fall, want sponge padded cricket bats and balls…here again, the list goes on.

I guess, we have forgotten the concept of Parenting because we have outsourced it. And for everything, of course, there is Google…I jokingly call such parents as Google Parents – they read up on Google, don’t want to take risks on trying something out with their child and then come back and blame the school when things get rough.

If you chose to become a parent, then, do what is good for your child – spend time with her/him. S/he needs that. If you cannot do this, you are not doing your role as a parent. Say “no” when you have to, draw the line, tell children their role in the family, get them to help you in household work, send them out to play with their friends, specify study time, give them time to themselves…If you believe, you cannot do all of this, then, you lose your right to be or become a parent!!!

The arbitrage game is over....

All Indian companies have been playing the arbitrage game since the 1980s. These companies talk of going up the value chain, of having kicked the arbitrage game, etc. But, they are still steeped in it. Otherwise, why would they still hire in our colleges for ready-to-code experts? And in such large numbers….

The recent announcement by Infosys that it will be hiring 10,000 people in the US is being widely reported as a move to please President Trump and his administration. Whilst Infy says that it supports the idea of more American jobs, it also mentions the truth somewhere else. It talks of rapidly changing technology and the need to be closer to customers.

Technology has always been changing. There has always been a need to be closer to customers. There was always need for empathy. So, nothing new. What is new is that the change in technology is now more towards Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Digital, Analytics and Data Sciences. Machines are doing more of the work that humans were doing hitherto. This has resulted in significant skill set and business model changes. The education systems in Europe and US lend themselves to better meet the needs of the new age rather than the rote learning systems in India. The need now is more of Leaders…original thinkers…empathetic thinkers…design thinkers….and at scale. The need is more of people who are better at self-learning. Universities in US and Europe do not get students who are ready-to-use coders in languages like Java and C++. They prepare students who can learn and unlearn rapidly. That is the need of the hour.

However, Indian corporates cannot accept this bitter truth at this point in time. They have been too steeped in making money without realizing that the age of arbitrage has long passed over and new technologies need new skill sets. They have not pro-actively worked with Universities in India to demand a change in syllabus. We still teach what is relevant for the 1990s and the early 2000s. Our students are equipped for technologies of the past. It will take us years to catch up to build such skill sets at scale and in good quality. The US and European Universities are years ahead of us. However, demographics are not in favour of US and Europe. So, they will have to import talent from countries like India. Indians will now study in US and European Universities and get hired by the likes of Infosys in scale, not in India, but in various countries.

Indian corporates will be forced to hire in US and Europe. It is different that Rightist Governments in these geographies are pushing companies to hire locally. However, it suits Indian companies really well. Billings will be higher given changes in need for skill sets. So, Indian companies can afford to hire from across the world.

The question arises if Infosys can hire 10,000 in the US over the next 2 to 3 years. I am quite sure they can. There are thousands of computer engineers landing up in the US to study. They need to be hired and trained differently to make them useful to the new Digital Economy. Will it be a struggle? Absolutely yes. However, it can happen. Just imagine engineers from across the world learning at the Infosys Institute in Mysore…learning how to navigate this Digital World. And with teachers from across the world. That day is not far away and our corporates and schools have no choice but to change.

Brahma and Brahmos - The Leadership Deficit

We have only seen wars for centuries now. There have always been Kings (read Leaders) who have had unbridled ambitions - to conquer and win what is not theirs - be that land, be that other forms of wealth, be that women. Such Leaders - Alexander, Napoleon, Chandragupta, Asoka, Babur, Akbar, Robert Clive, etc have always been celebrated by us. These are people who caused the deaths of thousands of humans and yet we see them as great Leaders. Then the 2 World Wars and, more recently, the relentless wars across different parts of this world.

These leaders were then supplemented by unscrupulous business persons. From small traders to East India Company to now the Multinationals, humans have caused havoc on this planet and unleashed the worst kind of behaviour on themselves and other creatures.

Spiritual Leaders appeared but whatever they preached was turned in to "code", made in to religion and, today, this has become the biggest business opportunity in the world.  This world lacks genuine leaders - people who can just speak the truth, leaders who can help, leaders who can give, leaders who genuinely have concern for all fellow creatures - be that human or any other species.

There is a huge need for love, healing, tolerance, giving and a human race that is not driven by greed and such unbridled ambition. Bringing this to the corporate world, we really need leaders who are kind and compassionate. We have enough of them who believe they are right and will do everything or anything to meet the next quarter numbers/results.  We need leaders who are kind, not right. How can we make this happen? It needs a different set of Leaders to get the next generation of Leaders ready. We need a new Takshashila, a new Nalanda, a new Oxford, a new Harvard, a new MIT...new Institutions that inculcate values that are not what they are today. Values that help youngsters understand that true Leadership strength lies inside each of us and not outside. We need Leaders who are deeply spiritual, not driven by religion. For example, if each of us understand that half our lungs are in the tree outside, will we cut down that tree? If we understand that we need marine life to preserve the oceans, will be do such wanton hunting down of those creatures? That artificial fattening animals before they are slaughtered for meat in order to increase productivity is backfiring on all of us. We need Leaders who will bring to book corporates and other leaders who are driven by greed.

We are 7 billion on this earth now. We were around 1.6 billion in 1900. Have grown over 4 times in 117 years but the earth and its resources are the same. We have been resourceful and exploited the earth and the creatures that live on it. However, we have not been mindful in our relentless chase for control over resources. We have cheated, bribed, taken bribes, lied, killed, maimed, etc...all on our way to what we call success.

The Leadership Qualities that companies are recruiting for now include leading to serve, building value for shareholders, building relationships, collaboration, personal courage, having a vision, etc.... however, all these end with "Maximisation of shareholder wealth" that was a maxim floated by American Thought Leaders back in the 1930s. This maxim has long lost its significance. Instead of maximizing stakeholder wealth, we must focus on shareholders wealth. Leaders are rewarded to focus on shareholders. Obviously, there is a lack of focus on other stakeholders. Profits are important but if they become the only goal, we swing to extremes in terms of behaviours. Whatever, we say, corporates are now measured in these terms. The "Street" is interested only in "Top Line and Bottom Line".

If we want new Leadership, the values we are driven by have to be different. These cannot be "profit at any cost". As Gus Speth says, "I used to think the top environmental problems were biodiversity loss, ecosystem collapse and climate change. I thought that with 30 years of good science we could address those problems. But, I was wrong. The top environmental problems are selfishness, greed and apathy...and to deal with those, we need a spiritual and cultural transformation. And, we scientists don't know how to do that."

The Lord Brahma, the Creator (as per Hindu Belief), must be wondering why the Brahmos Missile, a cruise missile and a destroyer, is named after him. Well, it is not - it is named after two rivers, the Brahmaputra and the Moskva...and, He does not seem to know that His creation uses His name to destroy.

Reflections on Relationships

As I sat down to meditate in the dimly lit room, I looked at the Linga Bhairavi picture. Her large eyes looked straight at me and were fiery...somewhat frightening...as though she was angry. Over the years, I have come to realize that whenever I smiled at her, she was smiling back. When I was sad, it appeared that she was sad too. When I was angry, it appeared that she was angry too. Whatever type of energy I gave out, I seemed to get back from her. She was reflecting my mood!!!

Likewise, in every aspect of life. What you give is what you get. If you sow happiness, peace, calm, truth, respect, love, you get back all of these and you get them back in abundance. If you sow anger, jealousy, hatred, lies, violence, you get back all of these and, I believe, in good measure too. So, you have to choose what you want. People call this Karma - the Universal Law of Cause and Effect - As you sow, so shall you reap.

I came across this story which is from Associated Press and reported by Kurt Westervelt. I must thank my good friend, Anoop Bakhtani, for forwarding this story to me.

On March 23, 1994 the medical examiner viewed the body of Ronald Opus and concluded that he died from a shotgun wound to the head. Mr. Opus had jumped from the top of a ten-story building intending to commit suicide. He left a note to the effect indicating his despondency. As he fell past the ninth floor his life was interrupted by a shotgun blast passing through a window, which killed him instantly. Neither the shooter nor the deceased was aware that a safety net had been installed just below the eighth floor level to protect some building workers and that Ronald Opus would not have been able to complete his suicide the way he had planned.

"Ordinarily," Dr Mills continued, "A person, who sets out to commit suicide and ultimately succeeds, even though the mechanism might not be what he intended, is still defined as committing suicide." That Mr. Opus was shot on the way to certain death, but probably would not have been successful because of the safety net, caused the medical examiner to feel that he had a homicide on his hands. The room on the ninth floor, where the shotgun blast emanated, was occupied by an elderly man and his wife. They were arguing vigorously and he was threatening her with a shotgun. The man was so upset that when he pulled the trigger he completely missed his wife and the pellets went through the window striking Mr. Opus.

When one intends to kill subject "A" but kills subject "B" in the attempt, one is guilty of the murder of subject "B". When confronted with the murder charge the old man and his wife were both adamant and both said that they thought the shotgun was unloaded. The old man said it was a long-standing habit to threaten his wife with the unloaded shotgun. He had no intention to murder her. Therefore the killing of Mr. Opus appeared to be an accident; that is, if the gun had been accidentally loaded.

The continuing investigation turned up a witness who saw the old couple's son loading the shotgun about six weeks prior to the fatal accident. It transpired that the old lady had cut off her son's financial support and the son, knowing the propensity of his father to use the shotgun threateningly, loaded the gun with the expectation that his father would shoot his mother. Since the loader of the gun was aware of this, he was guilty of the murder even though he didn't actually pull the trigger.

The case now becomes one of murder on the part of the son for the death of Ronald Opus. Now comes the exquisite twist.

Further investigation revealed that the son was, in fact, Ronald Opus. He had become increasingly despondent over the failure of his attempt to engineer his mother's murder. This led him to jump off the ten-story building on March 23rd, only to be killed by a shotgun blast passing through the ninth story window.

The son had actually murdered himself, so the medical examiner closed the case as a suicide.

There are so many such stories. Bring this to the corporate world and you see the same everywhere. The people you meet on your way up are the same you meet on your way down. It is those relationships that you build that matters. It helps build trust and confidence in the long run at an individual level.

It has been over 3 years that I have moved out of active corporate life. It took me over a year to settle down to do what I wanted. However, I was not fully occupied. So, I decided to keep myself busy. As I was wondering what I should do, I felt that my key strengths were Leadership and Innovation. So, I decided to focus on Leadership Workshops initially and then, few months later, took up Workshops on Design Thinking. As I went about marketing my services, it was wonderful to see all my old friends come forward to help. They trusted that I would do a decent job and gave me assignments. Clearly, the time I had taken to build relationships was working for me now. As a dear friend put it, "It is Brand Ravi working for you now. Before long, the brand of the work that you do in this new avatar will take over."

When I look back, I believe that it is good Karma. As I close this post, I think of what Buddha says, "Be kind to all creatures. That is true religion."

The VUCA World - Who Cares

So much is talked of our world - that it is filled with Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity. Every time, one or more of the VUCA elements set in, there are opportunities waiting to be exploited.  So, I am not sure what worries us? In fact, we should be happy. This world is throwing so many opportunities at us and we are not using them.

All of us settle in to a comfort zone and just don't like to be disturbed. Any change that is likely (even remotely) to get us out of this comfort zone becomes a massive change and we struggle to accept this change. I am sure many of us who have lived in different cities and/or countries will vouch that each time we shifted, it was a huge task. Once we moved mentally, the physical move was a breeze. Many of us struggle to make this mental move and so, everything else becomes difficult. How many times have we searched for jobs in the city that we live in? We may not like the organization that we work for but we don't move till we get a better role/job in the same city - hopefully, closer home!!! And guess what, we have reasons for this - family, children's schooling (as though other places in the world don't have schools), and the like - I am sure you get the drift.

Recently, I talked to a Leadership group on the VUCA world. To me a VUCA world is a bundle of opportunities that we should welcome with both arms open rather than fear. This comes with years of conditioning that "change" is good. Look at the disruption happening around in this world. As the old order gives way to the new, some companies who still embrace the "old" are struggling while those who are riding the "new" wave are enjoying this change. One of the leaders commented that a lot of these changes are far away from India and would take few years to come. So, he still had time to sweat the assets that he had in the "old" wave. Whilst he was partially correct, I asked him as to what he is doing to re-skill his large organization as they will not be in a position to handle the new requirements. He responded that his teams have identified the "good" ones and are spending on their training and also investing on them to bring in the new wave. However, he planned to let go many others as they were unwilling to embrace the change. I asked him if it was easier to just re-train his staff rather than hire new ones because they were used to the culture of his organization, they were with him for years, etc. His response was that it was easier to buy out the skill sets by hiring instead of spending money on re-training those who just didn't want to get re-trained.

This is the crux of most of the VUCA issues. We don't want to move out of our comfort zones to re-skill ourselves. Over my career spanning 35 years, I have re-skilled myself over 10 times - once every 3 years!!! And, I expect this to become once every 2 years as technology becomes all pervasive. What made it easy for me to re-skill continuously? It was the ability to manage myself, read the needs of the market, prepare myself for change and actually change. 

So, it all starts with you!!! If you are ready to change, the VUCA world will actually mean nothing. All this talk of VUCA Leadership, etc all starts and ends with the individual. Manage yourself and you will manage the ever changing world around you. VUCA would then read as Velocity (or Vision), Unorthodoxy (or Understanding), Co-Creation (or Collaboration or Clarity) and Abundance (or Agility)....you will be in a position to decide how the acronym should read!!!

A dose of Empathy - helps design Life better

I had a placard in my room that read, "Please wear a smile while entering my space. It is part of the attire."  Most of us seem to have forgotten to smile. There is so much to smile for but we don't seem to appreciate that. We go through life with a long and serious face. I was wondering why this is so?

The spirit of giving, of being grateful for whatever we have, of just being cheerful and fun loving, of making a fool of yourself at times, at putting a smile in to the face of someone else, are all part of us. We need to just bring them out.

Why are only few able to bring it out? Empathy is the answer. Warren Buffet refers to the ovarian lottery. What he means is that if you are studying in a good school or college or your parents can afford to feed you, you are better off than 85% of the world. Would you trade your place for being born again? Most would not as the chances of being in the 85% is higher than the 15%. So, he recognises that those who have won the ovarian lottery should recognise that and do everything in their power to help those who have not. There will be some who have moved from the 85% to the 15%. These people will not only understand what it is to be in the 85% but also feel what it is to be in the 85%. So, they will definitely do their best to help the rest. This empathy is what will see the world go around with lesser and lesser of violence, terrorism, theft, murders, etc.

As Paul Parkin puts it beautifully, "Empathy is not about thinking that it is like a hat that we need to put on. Oh, someone is in distress, let me put on my empathy hat and punch in the empathy time. It is better that empathy is like the spectacles that we wear. It shapes the way we see things and connect to people and circumstances all the time. And when the other person also wears spectacles, the connection gets to the deepest level."

Bring it to the corporate world, and you will see empathy is now being seen as the key to all design principles - be that process, products, people related problems, customer problems, etc. Design Thinking focuses on empathy. Design Thinking knows that each one of us is born with the capability to empathize. However, it is left to us to cultivate it. Paul Parkin who did his research on empathy, put it beautifully - What is needed is the ability to observe a situation and forge communication that is inquisitive, non-judgemental, validating and compassionate. What this does is that it primarily changes us and the narrative that we end up having about others in ourselves. We look at others and the situations that they are, in the kindest way possible. 

If this world has to be a better place to live in, we need more and more of us to be empathetic. Unless, we find this aspect of our life, we will go through life without actually living it. As Dalai Lama puts it, "We need more humans to be kind rather than correct."

Leadership is about doing the right things....

When I brought her home, she was less than a foot tall and was few weeks old. Today, she stands tall at close to 40 feet and towers over our home…she is our favourite Christmas tree. Nobody expected her to grow this tall when we planted her in front of the house. We thought she would be around 15 to 20 feet and that was the height that we wanted so that we could get her properly decorated during Christmas, take a look at the top of her from our roof, etc. But, life wanted something else and she did the right thing by going with what life wanted – she grew to 40 feet and is still going strong!!!

Like this lovely Christmas tree, there are many who do the right thing…not just do things right. There are many who just want to do things right even if they are the wrong things. As I watched the debate in the Indian Parliament, I was surprised to see some young leaders from the current Opposition Party in India say things that I am sure even they would not stand by in private. Yes, of course, lots of things are said in the heat of the moment. Yes, of course, lots of things are said because you are in the opposition party. But, when it comes to what is best for the nation, there cannot be division along party lines. It should only be dictated by the conscience and true Leaders focus on doing what is right rather than doing things right.

Similarly, when it comes to the workplace, true leaders stand out when they stand up for what is right and do what is right by the organization and their team rather than getting things right. That is the difference between a leader and a manager. The manager focuses on doing things the right way whilst the leader focuses on doing the right thing.

What is right or wrong, depends on the circumstances of the case and will be subject to different opinions. That is why we find so many decisions trashed by people who take charge as leaders and say things that are uncharitable about their predecessor. They do not know the situation in which their predecessor was when s/he took that decision.

Many a time I have been asked as to why I took some decisions in favour of employees rather than the organization. I always held, and still do hold, the belief that Leaders should be kind rather than right. The person sitting in front of you is more important than the organization that both of you work for. Here, I have always felt that taking the side of the individual (not when the person has committed a crime or a fraud) over the corporation was the right thing to do. So much so that some of my HR Business Partners would call me a weak leader who did not have the courage to take those “tough” decisions. “So be it”, was my response always.

When the honey hunter in the Sundarbans stood in front of the hive filled with honey, he cut out only 75% of it. He could have been more efficient if he had cut the whole hive off. He then said a prayer and set off. He came back in to the jungles after few months to the same tree and found a full hive of honey!!! By leaving the 25%, he had brought the honey bees back to re-build the hive. He had been effective. Just imagine, searching for a new place in the whole jungle to figure out where the bees have set up their hive. He avoided that and saved considerable time. He did the right thing by leaving behind the 25%. He would have done things right if he had cut off 100% of the hive. In other words, he would have been efficient but not effective. Peter Drucker said this, “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right thing.”

So many Akbars bring out the Krishna in all of us daily…

My friend, Venkat, was thankful as the bumpy ride in to Purulia District came to an end and his car stopped over at the Chargali Village (a remote location in the midst of nowhere!!!). He badly needed to step out of the Ambassador Car and stretch. With a population of around 2500, this village has a small school with around 150 children. eVidyaloka (www.evidyaloka.org), a not-for-profit social enterprise, has set up a Digital Classroom for remote education and works with around 90 of these children providing them with high quality schooling. Education that is carried along in the 3G networks from over 110 cities across the world to remote villages like Chargali.

Akbar Ansari is there to ensure that this school functions and children are all studying instead of working in the fields. He has influenced people and the government to set up this school and get in children to study. He is putting that society in to the digital and development orbit that they could not have otherwise imagined.

Chargali, is a story of hope and aspirations being delivered over 3G Networks – not just education. And Akbar is leaving no stone unturned to make this happen – literally, he is in the farm the whole day and then comes over to the school. To ensure safe keeping of the systems, he sleeps in the school itself.

As I tuned in to the English News Channels that evening, all channels seemed to be carrying news of someone taking objection to the way a lady had dressed herself as his religion, he said, didn’t permit this kind of dress. As I watched in absolute disbelief, I could not but remember how Akbar was working hard in Chargali to empower children of the new India. And, here was someone else on TV being divisive. And the fun was that the TV Channels were not giving air time to Akbar but to this other person!!!

I couldn’t help but think how two inventions of humankind were at work – first, the divisive lines of religion that has ripped apart humanity and secondly, the wires of data that are helping connect them back…time will tell whether better sense prevails or not…maybe, it is time for another Krishna or for the Krishna of our Collective Consciousness to surface. As this thought came to me, my friend messaged me the lyrics of the song Krishna Nee Begane Baro (sung by Hariharan of Colonial Cousins) – “Come back as Jesus, come back and save the world. Preserve the future of every boy and girl. Come back as Rama, forgive us for what we’ve done…Come back as Allah…Come back as anyone…Krishna Nee Begane Baro.”

Akbar and Venkat - two individuals separated by many rivers and mountains – one who wants to make a difference to the children of Chargali and the other who wants to make a difference to the children of India. Both, driven by a common goal – make this world a better place to live in!!!

It is people like Venkat and Akbar that bring out the Krishna/Allah/Jesus in all of us. As Venkat got in to the car to head back, he was lost in thought. His mind wandered to a quote he had read, “Sometimes, you find yourself in the middle of nowhere and, sometimes, in the middle of nowhere, you find yourself.”

L&L

If you thought that L&L is a corporate short form like Johnson & Johnson, well, that is not correct...it stands for Love and Laughter. As I was walking to this mentoring session, I was wondering what is in store for me in this session. Every session with this individual had been a huge learning for me. This was someone who seemed to see the negatives in life. He somehow just saw conspiracies around him and I told him that if the start point in relationships was trust, there was no conspiracy. Somehow, after having been bitten so many times, he was struggling to start on the premise of trust.

So, I tried a different path with him - the path of love and laughter. You don't need to trust the person, but you can always wish the person that only good happens to her/him. For that to happen, only love and laughter were needed. Are we in a position to provide that love and laughter to everyone in our lives?

A difficult question and one that I struggle with many times. How can I bring myself to think that only good should happen to someone who has always wanted to trouble me in some way or the other? Someone who has been a thorn in my personal life or has played petty politics at office to ruin my reputation or has just been an absolute pain to see or live with or work with daily. And then it struck me - I am not doing this for him/her...I am doing this for myself. If you want happiness, love and laughter in your life, think only good things can happen to you and for others.

As someone said, "There is no better medicine than a good dose of love and laughter everyday." Doesn't mean you kind of wear a "Love and Laughter" hat and punch in some L&L time - it is how you live your life - what you speak, how you carry yourself, your thoughts, your mindset and everything about you - it should be positive not only for you but for everyone who comes in touch with you.

I tend to do this L&L in spurts. I tried this out for the first time in 1988 and somehow life changed for me. I did this again in 1992 and then in 1998....life changed significantly. Somehow, I have not been able to do this since then. But, it is inside each one of us and each one of us is capable of L&L - only that we do not choose to bring it out.

What was the impact on me when it was L&L time? I can remember the happiness around, the atmosphere was electric always and all around me were only positive thoughts. Life was not a bore - there was never a dull moment. Every moment seemed to send me a signal that there is a reason to smile. Most importantly, I was aware of all this. Just imagine your life being like this? And guess what - it is inside each of us - only that we choose not to opt for pressing the button!!!

We wake up everyday wanting it to be a great day. But within few minutes of waking up, we are surfing the news only to see how so many disagreeable things are happening around us in this world. So, the best thing would be to stop looking at your mobile or tablet or the TV in the morning. Focus on yourself, what you are going to do that day, get some exercise and meditation and get on with some reading that will make you a better individual. Start looking at the positive side of everything in life - I said everything!!! 

Yakov Smirnoff said, "I believe that love and laughter can only happen when one person takes the time to think about what would cause the other person to feel good. If love is the treasure, laughter is key."

I am trying to bring this practice back this year - we can each make 2017 the best year yet for us - go for L&L!!!

History books and pride in our country....

After 18 months of going on steroids for a skin virus, I was told that this virus would remain dormant and strike as and when required. It will be around for 25+ years. Every time it strikes, it will be the same steroids. The side effects of the steroids were not worth the trouble. I looked around for alternatives and was told that the old Indian Medicinal system, Ayurveda, had a solution. So, after 3 years, I decided to meet an Ayurvedic Doctor. He took a look at my skin, felt my pulse and wrote out his prescription. He asked me to pick up the medicines at the counter in his pharmacy. I did that. I meet him every 2 months and have never had an attack since then. Don’t mistake me….I am not against the allopathy form of medicine. This true story is to convey that I had not had the courage to try out the Indian version like many of us in India….I wondered why?

A look in to the history text books in India will be part of the answer. When I studied history in school in India, I read it from two really thick text books. A small part in the beginning taught us the Indus Valley Civilization and then some parts of recorded history like the Maurya Dynasty.  The balance of the books (around 80%-85% of the books) were on the successive invasion of India by various tribes from the North West. I learnt how India was annexed by successive rulers like the Ghazni, Ghori, the Slave Dynasty, the Mughals and then the British. I learnt how we were kicked around in succession by various countries. I learnt all this in a foreign language (English). I did not learn the language in which all our original texts were written up – Sanskrit. Over a period of time, I learnt to appreciate everything foreign from clothing, to food, to way of life and also medicine. Nothing wrong in any of this….but I did not know that there was an India before all this…and that it was an amazing civilization. I am not giving this as an excuse but this is a fact for most Indians today.

It was not just me but my dad and his dad had also learnt only parts of the amazing civilization that existed. We all thought and believed that our great epics were fiction (mythology) and all characters were fictitious. I grew up believing the same. The Indian History Texts (Puranaas) talked of the Maurya Dynasty and the ones after that and I believed that part because the Greek Historians also wrote about them. I didn’t believe anything else that the Puranaas wrote on and recorded and they had a lot before these periods. I always needed a foreign text or confirmation on a fact about India before I believed it. I had lost pride in everything Indian.

Oppenheimer’s response to a question on how he felt having exploded the first atomic bomb on earth was the eye opener. He said, “Not the first atomic bomb but the first one in modern history.”….he clearly believed that the description in Mahabharata given on a device that caused destruction all around was actually the first atomic bomb in recorded history. And then, suddenly, Mahabharata was no more just a story book or long poem written by some Sage Veda Vyasa. It became a reality.  Even today, many of my generation and the generation before that and all after my generation still believe that Ramayana and Mahabharata are mythology.

I believe that it is time to re-write our history books, to re-introduce Sanskrit as a compulsory language to learn and bring to life what we have been thinking as stories. There is now enough archaeological evidence that our great epics were a good representation of the happenings of those days. In typical Indian style they were written in verses and the interpretation could be varied. The inner meaning was understood by few and passed down by word of mouth. This was the mistake they made. Information was not democratized.

Many temples in South East Asia, Middle East (as far of as Lebanon where an ancient pyramid has been found with a lotus carved in it) have Indian Architectural influence. The Brihadeswara Temple in Tanjore has amongst its various carvings, one carving of a European King and one of a Chinese Emperor. How, such an accurate depiction was possible seems to baffle historians as movement across these countries started only in the 1300s as recorded by history. Similarly, the Shaolin Kung Fu style of Martial Art seems to have travelled from India to China. Not that some form of martial arts did not exist in China before that. However, the Shaolin Kung-Fu style seems to be influenced from the Indian Form that the Indian Monk Bodhidharma took from India. He seems to have worked with various Buddhist Monks to help translate Sanskrit Books of knowledge to Chinese. These are recorded in history as in the period somewhere between 380 and 500 CE (or AD)…no one seems to have an exact timeline.

The work done by Indians in the field of Maths, Astronomy, General and Spiritual Well-being (Yoga), Medicine, is there to be seen. Only that we have not learnt the language and we have quickly lost that history and they remain as names that we recall now and then and say that they are great. These are the scholars that need to be studied in our history. This is the history that we need in our books in India….this is the history that should be for most part of our books. The last 1000 years need to be studied too…but then that is only the last 1000 years in a history that spans thousands of years. It should only get that space it deserves – definitely not most of the text books that we study.

This is a serious topic and I believe that we should wake up and help our friends in the NCERT to re-write the history books to reflect accurately what a truly great nation we were and are. If you want pride in your nation, it is a must that you learn its fantastic history in the right manner and with an accurate version. We should not be a nation that will believe its history only when it is stated by a foreigner.

There is no need to be ashamed of our past. This is not saffronization as we are made to believe. This is the real history. So, let us wake up and re-write the books.

Chasing Shadows

"When you are in the light, everything follows you. But when you enter in to the dark, even your shadow doesn't follow you" - Unknown. There are many such sayings on how a shadow leaves you when it is dark. And these statements have been made in different contexts. However, most of the times they have been made in the context of a Leader having to be in the limelight to have followers.

As in a shadow, a Leader is only as good if s/he has followers or that is what we think. Do we really need followership to show that we are Leaders? If we wanted others to follow us, who are we following? As Joseph Campbell said, "If the path before you is clear, you're probably on someone else's." And, as this saying goes, we are both followers and leaders at the same time.

A leader needs some followership as that is what helps her/him to tread a new path. However, a person becomes a leader only when s/he creates more leaders, not just followers.

In my personal experience, I have tried hard to create leaders. Today, as I look back on my career, I see so many who worked with me occupying various positions across different companies. They are the Leaders of today and will create the leaders of the future. It is heartening to see so many of my colleagues take on the challenges that the corporate world faces today and trying their best to change paradigms.

They say that Leaders must hire their future bosses. But, let us look back on our career to see how many leaders would work for someone who they hired. I have seen few who have done that and have been amazing at that. When I asked them how they did it, I got various responses but the common threads were that they all understood their limitations well. They were all driven by the role they wanted to play and not by the position or who they reported to. They understood clearly what stage they were in life and, therefore, what motivated them.   If I ask myself would I do that, the honest answer will be that I will struggle. I can say that of all those who worked with me, there are few individuals I would not mind working for. But for most others, I would struggle.

Many of us struggle to give up a powerful position or role. Nothing wrong in that because that is what we have strived for all these years - not to give it up. However, personal priorities keep changing and we must recognize that and find that balance between personal priorities and work. Some struggle to get back to a job after having quit it. Personally, I have gone through this dilemma. We struggle with ourselves more than anything else. Did we fail and is that why we want to move back to a job? So, long as we have learnt from the experience, I do not see anything as a failure. Life teaches us all that we need. Only, we need to be patient and reflect to be able to pick up those lessons. I never found it a problem to move back to a job when personal circumstances changed and I thought that it was best for me at that point in time to get back to the corporate world. All it needs is the flexibility to understand the situation and move on in life. 

As I walked along the street I crossed a street light and as the light came from behind me, my shadow suddenly came in front of me and was taller than me. I was following the shadow!!!

Leadership is everywhere....

When we generally ask the question of a gathering as to who thinks they are a leader, very few hands go up. This is because we see a leader as someone really successful or a politician who has made it or a very senior corporate person who is on top, etc. We tend to believe that leaders are those people who have seen it, done it all kind of people.

The flooding in South India over the last few weeks brought out leaders from real life. They were everywhere. From the person who swam in fast flowing water risking his life to save a family, to someone who cooked silently and fed few hundreds who needed food, to someone who gave his boat (read his source of livelihood) to rescue people, to someone who gave up his food package and went hungry for that night so that a younger child could eat, all of these people are leaders. They have shown leadership and it is for us to take a look and recognize them.

Yes, leadership is everywhere. It is within each of us. It is for us to recognize it, awaken it and let it flow. When you stood by your family member when s/he needed you, you were a leader. When you told the truth to your parent despite knowing that you would be chided, you were a leader. When you accepted and apologized for an error you made, you were a leader. When you kept your calm under fire, you were a leader. When you woke up to put your little brother to sleep so that your mom is not disturbed you were a leader. When you gave up your piece of bread to your little sister and waited for mom to come back with a few more pieces, you were a leader. Like this, there are thousands and thousands of examples of leadership that we see and experience in everyday life. However, we do not seem to acknowledge or appreciate them.

As John Maxwell says, "Leadership is not about titles, positions or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another." When we look at our lives, for most part what happens to us is only a small part. How we react to or deal with what happens to us is what determines who we are. Our attitude defines leadership. Let us now bring this to our homes and to our work place.

When we show that we are dealing with a situation with calm and maturity, with speed and agility, with integrity and honesty, people start seeing us as role models. Such role models (whatever be their position in the organization) are the real leaders in the organization. They end up building informal networks, they are able to influence the way the organization thinks not because of the power of their position, but because people see them as someone who they can trust and would like to emulate. They may not always have their way, but in the end they are able to influence the organization significantly. I am sure each of you reading this blogpost is smiling because you already are thinking of someone who is like this or you yourself is such a person. At home, your family is watching you. If you are a person who walks the talk, who is transparent, who is filled with love, who has the time for the family, you are the role model.

When the floods in South India caused havoc, many people decided to help out the impacted. I was one of them. I sent out an appeal for contributions and few of us worked to organize storage, transport and then distribution to many flooded areas in Chennai. This exercise brought out leaders across the society. People travelled 2 hours to get relief material in to our central location in Bangalore. Something amazing happened when one person put out my request within his group. He is someone who is a Senior Manager in a large multinational in Bangalore. He organizes pilgrimages, prayer sessions and helps people without expecting anything in return. A mail from him to his friends brought in close to 5 tons of relief material. So many people just walked in to contribute. On the day we had to send the materials, we ended up with 7.5 tons. This had to be sorted and re-packed and loaded in to the truck. 25 people helped us do this...except for 4 of them, everyone else was volunteering. Each of these people did not know who the materials were going to. They knew that they could make a difference by volunteering, by contributing, by coming forward to help when it was needed. Leadership is not about winning. It is not about power. It is about the ability in each one of us to empower ourselves and others. 

As John Quincy Adams says, "When you inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."

Outsourcing Karma and Parenting...

My wife and I were discussing as to why we willingly give away our wealth to children or part with it to our children but hesitate when we think of giving it to others or for other causes, however worthy the cause may be. My wife talked of the spiritual side of this. She told me that the souls of the parents are indebted to the souls of their children. That is why parents keep giving more than they receive from children. They give without a thought of whether they will receive anything from their children. This is also part of karma.

Parents not only give away wealth but their time in bringing up children. Driving them around to various classes, spending time to teach them, helping them with their school work, etc. All this is part of their karma as at the soul level they are indebted to the souls of their children.

It was the Dussehra Festival in India. A celebration of the triumph of Good over Evil. A nine-day festival. People travel across India to spend time with their families. Schools are generally closed for 2 weeks during that month. My wife and I had also closed our school and were looking forward to getting some rest. I got a call from someone who asked if we were going to conduct remedial math classes for other school children at our School. Without pausing she continued, “My son has scored poorly in the first term math exams. He needs to be helped. I am wondering if you would like to take math classes for him during these holidays and then continue with it afterwards. I am willing to pay the fees, whatever it may be.”

To me it sounded like, “Here, take all the money that you want and teach him maths.” Though her soul was indebted to her son’s soul and that she needed to spend time with him, she decided to replace that time with money and outsource her karma to our school. Some parents do not know what to do with children during holidays. They prefer that they are in some School doing some activity. Sounds familiar?? I am sure all of us have gone through this in some form or the other. We don’t mind handing over some of our responsibilities if someone else will take it.  We don’t mind paying for it. Karma is being outsourced!!!

More and more parents are finding it difficult to juggle between their careers and their personal lives. Most people working in cities are spending few hours on commute everyday apart from long hours at work. This just puts tremendous stress in their lives. Taking care of children has become difficult. They find it easier to just hand over their children to a School or a Day Care and be more of weekend parents.

The current factory model of schooling does not augur well for average to below average students. They get left behind in class. From a School's perspective it is not possible to have less than 35 children to a class. It is not economically viable. In India, real estate prices have sky rocketed. The cost of setting a school does not make it financially viable if the school has less than 35 students to a class. If there are less numbers, the fee to be collected shoots up significantly. Parents want the facilities, the best of teachers, etc. (and rightfully so) but do not want to pay for that. Given this situation, schools end up taking 35 to 40 children to a classroom. This does put pressure on teachers. Over 50% of the learning happens at home. Parents have to spend that time. Given the pressures they have at work, they are not able to spend time. Hence, they expect the school to be in charge of everything - from the academics of the child to her/his values to her/his sports program to her/his dance/music, etc.

Parents are, therefore, losing their status as role models for their children. In many cases they are becoming poor role models as they have outsourced value education to the School. While Value Education talks of various things to children, in actual life, they are witness to something that is different  - eg. it is fine to bribe to get out of trouble (if you have broken the law), it is fine to break a traffic rule; it is fine to tell a lie to get out of a situation (and now we have colours for lies - white lies meaning something that is not harmful), it is fine to keep your room untidy, it is fine to spend most of your time on a gadget rather than on a play field, it is fine to sit in front of a TV for hours together, and so on. This is because parents just do not have the time to spend with their children. Both of them need a career (and there is nothing wrong with this). But, then, we are making a conscious choice that quality time with children will be limited to none. The child now starts believing that this is the way the world works. 

Guess what happens when the child starts rebelling when s/he gets in to teens? The School is to blame. The School has not taught values, the school has not focused on academics, the school has taught the child poor habits and so s/he is more focused on gadgets and TV than books. Now we know that Karma is fully outsourced.

“Not only is there often a right and wrong, but what goes around does come around, Karma exists, chickens do come home to roost, and as my mother, Phyllis, liked to say, “There is always a day of reckoning.” The good among the great understand that every choice we make adds to the strength or weakness of our spirits—ourselves, or to use an old fashioned word for the same idea, our souls. That is every human’s life work: to construct an identity bit by bit, to walk a path step by step, to live a life that is worthy of something higher, lighter, more fulfilling, and maybe even everlasting.” ― Donald Van de Mark, The Good Among the Great: 19 Traits of the Most Admirable, Creative, and Joyous People

Take this to the workplace. Whether you do the work yourself or delegate it to your teams, you are accountable for the outcomes of the work done. In the event of an issue within your organization, would you go to the customer and say that it was a mistake made by one of your team members? Would you tell him that you cannot be held accountable for mistakes made by one your team members? When you delegate work, you still feel accountable. This is exactly the situation in a school too. Even though you delegate education to them, you are accountable for how well your children perform. At the end of the day, you are accountable for the values they have imbibed. If this is clear and you work towards this, you will see drastically different results with your child at home and with the customer at work.

What goes around definitely comes around. It is best that we understand that "we reap what we sow". We cannot outsource this. We are accountable for every action of ours even if that is outsourcing our parenting. When we look back, the time spent with our children and with people around us are all that live within us. The money we made, the success we had in our careers, etc. all pale into insignificance. Life is full of choices and come with their own consequences...so, are outsourcing our karma and parenting!!!

Deriving benefits from Generation Gaps in the workplace...

"If you are a Hotmail user, we will not hire you", said an advertisement. "These baby boomers are now leaders in various organizations and dont understand what the millennial want." I am sure you all have heard this. Personally, I believe that these gaps in generation exist but they have more benefits, if the diversity of the teams are leveraged properly.

It is true that generational gaps exist. This is because each generation is born in to a different context. In to a world that is quite different from the earlier generations. For my grand dad, having a fan in his house was a luxury. For my daughter, this will sound absurd as she was born in a house with fans and air conditioners. Similarly, with gadgets. When I was born, there were no computers in India. Today, children are born in to a world filled with gadgets that network the whole world.

Given the different environments and contexts that generations are born in to, the thought process will be different. How they view a particular situation will be different. How well they collaborate will be different. However, the innate fact that we are all human beings does not change. The same emotions run within all of us - whether a grand dad who was born in 1930s or a millennial.

From an organization perspective, it is essential to note few key things about all its employees:

a) Everyone wants to be treated with respect and as a human being;

b) Everyone wants to be seen as part of team and contributing to the organization;

c) Everyone would like to know how her/his work contributes to the end objectives of the organization; and

d) Everyone wants to be compensated fairly for her/his contribution.

This is true of all employees whether they belong to the baby boomer generation or a millennial. These basic aspects of managing employees have not changed and will probably never change. Every other aspect such as how one leverages technology to approach work, what are some of the drivers at work, etc. change based on the context in to which we are born.

I was sitting through a talk where an elderly lady was speaking to young high school children. She said, "You children have it very easy. You do not understand the value of money. You want your parents to buy you gadgets every year. In our days we needed to walk 5 kilometres to School crossing 2 streams along the way. When I went to college I had a bi-cycle. We lived in small houses that did not even have fans." She had lost the audience as they just could not relate to what she was saying. So what if she had to walk 5 kms to School? Their problems now included someone in class having a cooler gadget or the air-conditioner in the car not working or they having to come by bus because the car has gone for servicing, etc.

Let us bring this to the work place. I have heard people who are baby boomers say that a job is for a life time. You get in to a job and a company and that is it. You should not be looking at any other company. They talk of career being a rat race and dog eat dog but still say, in the same breath, that Collaboration is a must. It seemed to be a rat race because the generation then was focused on building personal financial capital. They saw the job as a means to doing that. It helped them own a new and larger house, pay for better schooling and expenses. So, the more the money, the better the living standards. Therefore, the job was critical and promotions in the job were even more critical. They fought tooth and nail to get promotions and many a time used unfair means. So, this was a rat race for them. Their grandchildren are now in a situation where they live in large houses and have a very good standard of living. Their objective in life is no more capital accumulation. It is more about getting excited at work every day. It is about working with others and doing things differently. The paradigm has shifted but our older friends still keep talking of dog eat dog. This is the generational gap and how it plays out.

As a Leader, I have found it useful to remember the four points that are mentioned above in this article and have used it to lead a team across 58 countries with an age range of 22 to 64. The principles given above worked really well across all age groups and across geographies. I noticed that attention was needed in the way we approached work from a technology perspective and from the perspective of what could motivate a particular age group. Though individual motivation was driven by the circumstances in which that particular individual was, we could come up with some general conclusions for each geography.

I also noticed that where we could combine generations in to projects, we got the best of few worlds. This is best described in the picture given. We not only looked at the baby boomers mentoring the millennials but also reverse mentoring. It worked wonders in driving an organization to move from an output driven one to an outcome driven one.

Yes, generational gaps do exist. They are because we are born and conditioned by the circumstances in which we grow up. This conditioning is very strong and though times change, our ability to change does not keep pace with changing times. The behavioural issues created by these gaps can go out of hand if we are not careful in handling situations. However, if we focus on the 4 aspects mentioned above and use a large dose of common sense, we can derive benefits from these gaps.

As I was picking flowers....

It had rained very heavily the previous night. The morning was cool and it was still dark. I went out to pick flowers. I had planted some flower bearing plants that had grown to 7 feet height and formed a barrier in front of my house. The plants, as I had said to myself while planting them years ago, would grow up to give me flowers and also filter the dust coming from the road in to the house. I thought that in return for doing this, I would water and nurture the plants daily. This was the deal that I had struck with the plants as I planted them.

Guess what...the plants neither needed my nurturing nor the water to grow. Even though I did this and also forgot to water them on few days, they got in alternate systems to source water and nourishment from under the ground and grew to be tall and sturdy.

As I picked the flowers today, my hands got really dirty. The dust and grime were what the plants were taking from the road and not allowing to get past in to the house. They had been doing their part of the bargain faithfully. As this thought crossed my mind, I was struck by something else. These plants had grown by themselves. They did not depend on me. They did not strike any bargain with me. They did not commit to me that they would stand there and protect my house from the dust and give me flowers. Yet, they did both of those and much more that I was not seeing or realizing. As far as these plants were concerned, there was no deal. This deal was only in my head. They stood there quietly, knew what was to be done to grow, knew when it was time to give flowers, took the dust on to themselves, gave away precious oxygen that human beings needed, gave food for insects, were a safe place for a cat to hide away her kitten till they grew up...and so much more. In all their stillness and calmness, they seemed to understand the reason for their existence. And, here I was, with the supposed 6th sense, trying to make a deal with these plants and most importantly, not knowing the reason for my existence.

Funny...and such is life. The so called smartest species does not know why it exists and all of the other so called dumb ones go about their lives knowing fully well what they need to do. Someone said that if all the insects in the world died, this planet would perish within 50 years. And, if all humans died, more species in this planets will survive in the next 50 years. So, not sure who are the smart ones.

Let us bring this concept to the work place. Just imagine working in an organization that does not know why it exists or the team that you work with not knowing why it exists and also why it does what it does. This is the Mission or Purpose Statement for Organizations or Teams. There are many organizations who believe they exist for some reason while they actually do for completely different reasons. It took a biscuit company decades to figure out that they were in the business of nutrition and not food. Not that they made poor quality biscuits because of that. However, its focus was on selling food items rather than good health to its customers. When the company realized this, it started off by selling biscuits fortified with vitamins and minerals. Their product lines are changing and the way they communicate to their customers and the public in general, has started changing. Most importantly, the employees now talk of nutrition instead of food.

Just think of the millions of people working in back offices of companies that have customers located thousands of miles away from their back offices. People working in these back-offices do not know who their customers are. They are given a process and told not to deviate - so, most of them know how to do the work but do not know why they are doing it. Just imagine a workforce not knowing why they actually are doing what they are doing on a day to day basis. How will they be able to relate the work that they are doing to the objectives of the organization? If they do not understand the big picture, we all know that their engagement levels will be lower.

There is so much damage caused if we do not understand the nature of our jobs and how it contributes to the organization.  What damage will all of us be doing to this world if we do not know why we were born and why we exist? This is the reality for most of us as we plod through life. There are many who find their calling in life and there are many more who just don't and die without ever having found out what was their true calling or why they came in to this world.

The best of leaders have always had an inspiring vision for their organization, have been able to communicate that vision effectively to the entire organization and made every member of their team understand how their work contributes to that vision.

Apart from making me understand the need for knowing why I existed, the plants were also trying to convey to me few other things regarding being contended in doing what comes naturally to me i.e. playing to my strengths. They gave away flowers, they gave away oxygen and they gave shade and protection. They were giving. For their existence and the support to the ecology, nature was working to ensure that the ground gave them the support to live.

So, if as humans, we knew why we were here and played our roles effectively, the world will work to ensure that we get what we need to live. The plants were telling me more now. Yes, they taught me how to live. They also were trying to convey to me that their needs were limited and could be received without paying any money.

As these thoughts went through me, I looked at these plants and asked questions to myself - What if I were to just be still as these plants (read as calmness inside me rather than physical stillness) and just be happy with what I am? Would it work? How are so many seekers in different parts of the world just happy being what they are and with minimum needs? Is this what is needed to be happy or contended? Was this happiness? 

The thoughts kept pushing me back to what Buddha said thousands of years ago. Let go of desires (maybe try and reduce them), let go of greed (again, maybe try and reduce it) and once we do that, we realize that happiness lies within each one of us. Any other kind of happiness seems to be transient. Similarly, being content resided in us. And it brings about a calmness inside that is all pervading. The plants had taught me so many lessons by their very existence.