A whiff of the sea!

This morning as I sat sipping my first cup of coffee, looking down happily at a couple of brightly colored birds, circling a thicket, I was in bliss. My balcony is a wonderful observation post.Rather short lived though as my son, broke in and asked me if I knew what a 'storm jib' was. The glint in his eye indicated that he was fairly certain that I did not.

However I know what a jib sail is and by extension what a storm jib is. Exploring further, I got to learn, that he was reading a lesson in English which concerned a family on a sea adventure, on a sailing boat, in choppy seas.

I could smell the salty sea, as we talked about more nautical terms.....the circling birds banished from my thoughts. I was in a canter now, nicely warmed up on the subject, as I felt that I was best qualified to deal with this lesson on sailing ships and rough seas.I even offered my son, the possibility of visiting his school and taking this lesson. I could also, throw in a few pirate stories for good measure.

Much to my chagrin, I found my pupils interest waning and him edging away. I coldly enquired if he did not want to know the technical nuances of the story or what? I know of his disinterest, in taking to the sea as a profession, but knowledge was knowledge, and it was good to delve in depth into something that you do not know too much about.


Apparently that does not hold good anymore.......you read to pass an exam or score marks.That too English as a language, get it done with and over with. Knowledge be damned.As far as I'm concerned, this policy is fatally flawed as an approach. Cognitive skills develop, when you experience and understand, varied scenarios in adequate depth and not by skimming the surface.The key terms are varied and depth of experience.

This is Gen Y and who can argue or do I feel bad because an opportunity to talk at length about the sea..................who knows but I do care!

As for the birds, they were joined, by a few more, possibly their friends or relatives tweeting away with gusto, calming my troubled mind but leaving the whiff of the sea in the balmy air, with thougts of sailing ships and choppy seas.

Where does the buck stop?

The recent spat, between, the governments of Japan and China, was very interesting on a number of counts.

The story.......

A Chinese fishing boat skipper, by design or otherwise, strayed into Japanese territorial waters off a disputed island, called Senkaku Islands, in the East China Sea, North East of Taiwan. Worse the boat collided with a Japanese Coast Guard ship and the Chinese skipper was arrested and promptly shipped off to Japan for trial.

From China, the reaction was fast and furious. The Japanese ambassador, was summoned over six times, once at 2 AM, and a demand was made for the immediate release of the fishing boat skipper.All this for a fishing boat skipper, nosing around a group of uninhabited islands.

Contrast this with our reaction to the Common Wealth Games imbroglio. Yesterday, the Prime Minister of India, is said to have pulled up the Minister of Sports. The question is where does the buck stop? Who is accountable for the mess? Is being pulled up a good enough penalt

Latest reports indicate that the Japanese have released the boat and its skipper, only to have the Chinese up the ante and demand a state apology from the Japs. Nobody is in any doubt, where the buck stops here!

The cost of cheap labor....................

Over the years my apparel at home has been shorts and a sweat shirt. While this might sit well on a twenty something, it has begun to look rather unseemly now. ( or so I have been told )To get over this, I made my way, one evening, recently to a rather upmarket mall on the Bannerghatta Road, here in Bengaluru, to buy a 'night suit'.
My upbeat mood soon turned sour as I was spun from one counter to the next. I faithfully, toured Jockey, Levis, Tommy Hilfiger and even Adidas.........finally losing my cool when directed to the ladies lingerie section, by a bumbling sales person who was evidently poorly trained & probably even more poorly paid.
The floor, Asst.Manager, an MBA, after a flurry of activity, told me that night suits were out of stock, for the moment, but I could return later. I was beaten and retreated, with my tail between my legs, swearing never to return.
The point is, many of us seem, to confuse the labor rate and the cost of labor. Many establishments home in on cheap labor rater try to figure out the cost of that labor.Cheap labor with poor productivity, is in essence, costlier, than skilled labor who can deliver, at what is seemingly a higher labor rate.
Who would you have had to head the committee for the Common Wealth Games, at Delhi ? A career politician, or, a professional who on the face of it appears costly? I guess, in retrospect, that is a no brainer......

As saying goes, don't mistake, motion and progress........and for the moment, I press on with the shorts!

A camel is a horse........

A camel is a horse designed by a committee” Committee decision-making has been criticized for producing ugly, generic results.

Never the less, I love committees where constructive conflict exists and there is a vigorous exchange of ideas and thoughts. In the least it precludes 'group think' and one person hijacking a committee.

As the Common Wealth Games, of Delhi sinks further and the city adds a new chapter to its history, one wonders what the CWG committee was up to? Why and how did the committee, headed by a career politician, allow the situation to come to such a pass.

If the camel is really a horse designed by a committee, then, this was a committee which was full of ideas and probably acted after getting everybody on board. The CWG is the antithesis.

People who dissent in group gatherings can be a pain in the backside, but they serve a vital role.An acrimonious pair were the former British Prime Ministers Blair and his successor Brown. At the height of their conflict, Blair, received advise that he should boot Brown out of his cabinet. Better sense prevailed and he did not.

Lyndon Johnson, the American president, put it more aptly, when he is said to have said:

It's better to have a person inside the tent and pissing out rather than, having him outside pissing in!!!!!!


Well said indeed.........a view I endorse........................

KISS!

Few of us are so blessed as to be good at everything that we attempt to do and as children it gives us sleepless nights to be thinking of the approaching math exam or the test on social studies which is just beyond the horizon. Hindi gave me the heebijeebies, through school.

How do we respond to this nightmare scenario? We devote a lot of good time in trying to shore up weak areas! We concentrate on our weaknesses.

Now look at the following scenario.

Tatum O'Neal, the talented young Hollywood actor won an academy award at ten years, for her role in Paper Moon and her acting career was underway. At fourteen, while on the sets of 'International Velvet' since she was under aged and not attending school regularly, she was visited on the sets by an 'Education Inspector', who told Tatum that her marks in math was a cause for concern. Tatum's response was, to the effect that, he should not worry since she would hire an accountant when she grew up!In other words she refused to be drawn away from her primary strength, which was acting.

She followed the KISS principle, which would translate as 'Keep It Simple Stupid'.
I wish all of us could be that way.......and not squander resources pursuing weaknesses.

Situational Awareness!

There is this story, where, Sherlock Holmes and his lieutenant Watson are striding down, a London sidewalk, deep in conversation, when Holmes, without breaking a stride remarks- " She must be very beautiful"!

Watson is bewildered, cause it is out of context and Holmes is generally not prone to talking women. More so because the only other people, are two young men approaching them from the opposite direction.............

Holmes seeing his friends confusion, tells him that there is a woman behind them and sure enough there is a strikingly pretty girl walking up! Watson's next query is, "How did you know, without looking back?" Holmes simply says " I saw the way the two young men looked behind us and the deduction was easy..........."

Simple as it may seem, one of the great detective's strengths was his 'situational awareness'. Holmes was never ever taken by surprise by a situation.He was always aware of what was going on around him...............a far cry from how many of us are!

Education is great but being aware is more so..........

Why this spiel?

A day ago, two sailors were kidnapped for ransom, from a dredging ship in Cameroon. The ship belongs to a Belgian firm and one of the biggest in the business. The Luxembourg-flagged dredger, belongs to Jan De Nul and the crew kidnapped were a Croatian and the other a Filipino.The kidnappers- thugs from Nigeria! The classic receipe for an International incident.......Was the MNC situationally aware? Your guess is as good as mine!

Substance over Style!

The man who once famously is said to have said, that ‘Indian actresses are like chicken. They can be laid anytime’ is at it once more. Imran Khan, former Pakistan fast bowler and politician says that, the cricket match fixing nexus operates out of Mumbai possibly implying how innocent cricketers from Pakistan are lured into a den of vice and dishonesty. The spot betting saga, which has landed Pakistan’s cricket into a sinking vortex, is the point of discussion.Imran goes on to say, that the malice exists across the cricketing world, further confusing the issue.
Mohammed Aamer, the sixteen year prodigy from across the border is cited to have strayed from the straight and narrow, due to his inexperience, lack of education and direction from more senior colleagues in the Pakistan cricket team. While tragic, this is an argument law enforcers are not going to buy.
Evidently there is a deep rot in the Pakistani system, which needs to be addressed by them and the cancer cannot be wished away by attributing their ills on an India, that till not long ago was considered to be staid and boring. If the Khan would have his way, he would attribute the floods and the ‘Talibanization’ of Pakistan to Indian complicity.
Attributing your ills on an external source is a wonderful short term trick, to keep you going, but in the long run leads one up the garden path. You want to hit solid gold, not be a flash in the pan. Substance always scores over style, is my call! As for the Khan, maybe he could take an inward peek….