Fly a kite!

Throw your dreams into space like a kite, you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country.
- Anais Nin

Spring is coming, happy kite flying! :)
Sunny smiles & greetings for Makar Sankranti, Bihu, Pongal & Lohri!

A note from the past

When both your phones conk off, you get the drift. The universe wants to strip away your over connected attachment with the world for you to experience the silent no-phone state; maybe it wants to offer you the opportunity to be a monk. People of the app era have probably forgotten that the phone still has the basic features of dialing the number to call or text/sms to drop a short message, which only acts as a catalyst for the conspiracy.

Oh well, so I was fiddling with multiple stone age phones to transfer a decent ringtone so that the stones do not blare out. I came across many pictures that I took or collected more than four or even five years ago, the ones that I thought were lost forever. There was no Pinterest back then to pin the quotes or pictures you liked or Facebook was not so popular to spam everyone's wall, you just stored them in your own folder.

And one gem image quote from the past flashed right in my face :

Love is not blind. It sees more and not less, but because it sees more it is willing to see less.


True that, even now.

Change is the only constant

We are what our experiences and learning over the years have been. Our environment, friends, families mold us or get accustomed to what we are; you think you know yourself very well.

And just when you think life cannot change, your perspectives and liking cannot change after a certain age, things change.

I'm done with Bombay & caffeine  - says the coffee loving Bombayite

The smart phone conks off

My phone's conked off and the zen like peace minus the incessant notifications is too gratifying to mar with a repair/replacement . Of course I have an office phone which keeps the work & essentials going on. But it's not a smart phone and I guess that keeps me smart with my time and things to focus on.

Book a ticket & just leave

Book a ticket & just leave - It sounds outlandish, crazy & action on impulse without much after thought.

Yet there comes a moment when you feel like doing exactly that, to meet an old friend, to be at your favourite place, to do what you love the most. Your some day is right now.

And I never thought I would be one of those to actually do that. Another win for the new year. 2014 has been rolling out brilliantly so far! Hope the vibe continues all year long :)

Motivation

Inspiration. Sign of leadership.

This is an email shared by a team lead with the immediate reporting team in my organization.

Dear All,

A thought:

While we go about the process of delivery on our KRAs and delegated tasks, each one of us should ask ourselves on a periodical basis the following question:

What have I contributed today? What output have I given for today?

I ask the above question to myself whenever I hit the pillow every night. And I do not always like the answer I receive from my conscience.

While such questions are easy to answer when one is in a line function (eg: as a BM or Area Manager or RBM etc in our structure for example), it is difficult to define discreet output on daily basis in our line of responsibility, but nevertheless, one does get a sense whether one has climbed a few steps during the day or walking against the motion of escalator throughout the day, basically remaining unchanged in position. The next stage is whether the answer moves you or does not move you. If the answer is mostly positive, it is actually good for the person. However, if the answer is mostly negative, and still one does not get moved, it is bad news in the long run.

I keep on telling myself that I first work for myself and then for any organization. What do I mean when I say that I work for myself. I mean that every day I need to produce and contribute value in the world. If I work in an organization, then the world is mostly that organization. Also, in the process of creating value for the organization, I end up learning something new every day, I end up getting an extra experience which makes me more knowledgeable.

Life is short. There is so much to do…in professional life as well as personal life. We have set short term deadlines for ourselves in terms of what we want to achieve and get cracking on the work at hand. Our world is made up of people who surround us like family, relatives, colleagues etc. Let us be known amongst the people we live with as Achievers and Go-getters.

We have got some clarity for ourselves in the last few discussions (oral and written) we have had. Let us get cracking on them (still I feel that we are yet to become fully responsible for our commitments)  and ask ourselves at the end of the day as to what we achieved during the day. I witness myself and others accepting miniscule output as normal, which should not be. I want ourselves to be responsible when we give commitments since we end up often breaking our commitments by explaining to ourselves that outcome was not possible due to whatever reason. I request all of us to stick to our commitments and be known as the best team in Co.

Disagreements

People have different information, but they think the root of their disagreement is that the other person has bad judgement or bad manners or bad values. In fact, most people would share your opinions if they had the same information. The only useful thing is examining the differences in your assumptions and adding to each other's information. Some times that is enough to make viewpoints converge over time.
- Scott Adams, God's Debris

Happy New Year

I've found a reason for me
To change who I used to be
A reason to start over new
And the reason is you.


Footnote [Edit added on 12th Jan'14]:
People come in your life for a reason, season or a lifetime. Pick the good, keep the nice pieces and be thankful for the happy times. Life is short. You only live once.

2013: The year that was

While most of us could be busy thinking about New Year resolutions, I would rather look back at the year that was. 

Listing out the opinions and quotes by friends, acquaintances, colleagues & people that I found profound, interesting, nice or worth a thought... These are strictly from people I have had conversations with, not from social media sites, books, or internet. Oh yes, I have a sharp memory & I will always remember you by your words. 

Sometimes, happiness is just a phone call away.

Discipline of the mind is first step towards tranquility and peace.

Sometimes when you let people do whatever they want to, they give in. The more you try to reason, guide or mold, the more rebellious they feel.

Relationships are supposed to be genuinely nice and free of power play. But people may not operate that way.

Being straight forward makes it easier for everyone, but people will take their time & be diplomatic.

I don't care about one's past, but I surely want to know how much fun that person can be.

Trust the process and it's people. Keep calm.

Equality is a myth in real life. We only derive notional happiness aspiring for it.

People are sometimes kinder than what they portray. The boundaries they build are to test the waters.

The only way to make a bad situation worse is to get angry. It's a useless emotion & doesn't help solve anything.

Silence is understood as acceptance of others' views and that you have nothing to counter it.

Don't take shit from anyone. Ever.

Keep your email messages uncluttered, clean & neat. Avoid fluff.

To be the best, consistently compare yourself with the best.

Always keep your options open, else you will stagnate and time will move on.

It's not about what the role is, it is what you make out of that role. There are innumerable possibilities.

How can any person who is serious about career be partying every weekend? There must be some worthwhile venture apart from the job to keep one's mind sharp. Otherwise time is spent on endless consumption and enjoyment these days. Stop consuming & start creating.

Don't be the 99 percent. Strive to be in the 1 percent. Crossroads be damned.

Have a spectacular new year!

Books & people

Seeing someone reading a book you love is seeing a book recommending a person.

Source: Tumblr