Buttermilk Man!

These days lunch and dinner are a bit excruciating.South Indians are fond of ending their meal with curd ( cultured yogurt ) and I'm no exception. I love the stuff, but can only watch as my son laps it up with gusto( cream and all ), while I do with buttermilk or majige ( Kannada ). This due to my wife's latest health diktat.

This is not a health spiel, so don't run away. This is not so much about Karnataka's Upa Lokayukta, Justice Majjige, who understandably on cloud nine, after having taken up the onerous post, a day ago.The poor man, unfortunately suffered a massive cardiac arrest & is now being treated, in of Bengaluru's many hospitals.
The point I'm trying to make, is about a full career. A career where your health does not give way, midway, leaving you gasping for breath and broken before you get to the finish line and breast the proverbial tape.These days people work their careers as if there is no tomorrow, frenetic and in the fast lane. The buzz word- work hard, party harder. I wish all of us were James Bond. Away from reel life, realities are different. The Human body & mind need the time and space to recover, and needs to be pampered, not inundated with stress, smoke and spirits.
A career is a marathon. A race that needs to be spaced out. You cannot do the thing in ten seconds. That's for the glorious few who run the 100 meters. That's for the shooting stars.

You need to be a career athlete, not a flash in the pan!
As for the Upa Lokayukta, I guess the post is up for grabs!As for majige, I'm getting to like the damn stuff........It's cheaper you see and that helps in these days of rising inflation!

The golden compass!

Yesterday, I spent, some time with a friend, from many years ago. I had invited him to be the Chief Guest, of our Executive Management Program here at ABS. He had reluctantly agreed & I'm glad he did because we had a few good laughs.Purushottam is now the CEO of a IT firm here at Bangalore.

As youngsters, he preparing to crack the CAT exam & me the Merchant Navy & Defense exams, we would spend time playing cricket or stuffing ourselves at small joints serving Marwari or Punjabi food, where the food was great & easy on the pocket.Soon we parted ways, he heading for the IIM( B ) & I the Merchant Navy.We lost touch.

Post the program, while he declined to eat anything, he told me that as very senior guy at a major IT firm, he had quit his job one day, to do nothing, as he feared a burnout.After doing absolutely nothing for a while, he returned to head a small IT firm & takes life easy.

What is burnout?

"Burnout is the gradual process by which a person, in response to prolonged stress and physical, mental and emotional strain, detaches from work and other meaningful relationships. The result is lowered productivity, cynicism, confusion...a feeling of being drained, having nothing more to give."

Unfortunately the phenomenon is getting to be quite common these days & fortunate are the few who recognize the warning signs and course correct.Burnout is not for the wimps, but for those who have gone the distance and then decided to jump ship!

I'm reasonably certain that with the pace of change that we have today, burn out is going to be a word much bandied about and folks will have to reinvent themselves, if they are to remain competitive and lead meaningful lives.( What is meaningful is debatable?)

In today's hyper-competitive economy, we can easily fall prey to burnout that comes from information overload,perpetual busyness and constantly racing against the clock. In his book Crazy Busy, Edward Hallowell writes that being too busy can become a habit so entrenched that it makes us slaves to a lifestyle we don't like, but can't escape: "You can be so busy that you don't even take the time to decide what actually does matter the most to you, let alone make the time to do it." What's more, many of us "get lost in work" while watching our health, relationships, and outside interests suffer.

In this context it is fundamental to be 'selfish' and look at what is good for you and your little world.Next time you have that 'empty' feeling & little things do not make you laugh,or you are unable to respond to affection, probably it's time to get the compass out and check your course......................Every one of us has a compass, deep within ourselves, delve & get the damn thing out!

" Don't worry, be happy".

The last few days have been tough for me for various reasons, top of the list, being the fact that I've had to evaluate a great number of answer sheets.In doing so I broke into a cold sweat, when I could not find one answer sheet & literally turned my office and home upside down in locating the errant script. The episode ended well & the answer sheet was located, much to my relief, with the rest of the sheets.

Later on in the day I received a call from a friend, who commands a ship. The guy was in the dumps, as in the course events his ship had lost its rudder. The rudder is akin to the steering wheel in a car and without which, you cannot move.The losses, in terms of operational costs and down time, repair cost etc are humongous and my friend was very worried and distraught. I tried to calm him down, and in course of the conversation, he said, that, I must be having a wonderful time, without the responsibilities and worries that he carried as Captain.

My mind drifted back to the much discussed answer script.As ship Captain, I carried the same responsibilities, a couple of years ago & would have laughed at anybody who would have suggested that I should be worried over a missing paper ! How times change & our trigger's change............

The human mind is an amazing piece of equipment & can take a beating but once acquired, the habit of worrying seems hard to stop. We're raised to worry and aren't considered "grown up" until we perfect the art. Children are told: "you'd better start worrying about your future". If you look very happy and gung ho, you're seen as irresponsible, childish, aimless and folk tell you to get real.I had a boss who was suspicious if you so much as smiled !The secret for many is to have a woe begone look all the time and behave as if they carry the weight of the world on their shoulders.Incessant worry saps energy and life & is the greatest source of stress.

Many years back there was a song that went like, " Don't worry, be happy".

I wish I could believe that! Do you guys out there?????????????

Why Hillary did what she did?

A concept from OB that has often made me think ( I agree, that I'm found wanting in this area on occasion ) is that of 'Emotional Load'. Emotion load is an interesting manifestation of growing consumerism,customer focus and hype. Emotion load comes into play, when you can get that smile on to your face at the flick of a switch and make it disappear at short notice. When the smile does not reach your eyes and you smile because it is good to be seen smiling. Folk who made this an art, were of course the Americans ! The air hostess, in airlines to the store lady at Walmart are all trained and trained again to be super cool and flash a 1000 $ smile, when they bump into you. Makes everybody feel good to see that smile. But then think again, does it really make everybody feel good ? You are in a really miserable mood and you have to put on an act for people who you do not know, or maybe even care about. You have had a blazing row with your spouse and have to be nice to customers, who are queuing up with complaints. How does it work ? The first to rebel were the Europeans. The French Will have nothing of it and so when you saunter in to the little shop selling perfume not far from the Eiffel Tower, you may receive a cold welcome from a not too friendly sales person. If you feel aggrieved then it is you problem. While being uber cool and poised does have its, plus, the down side is that, people suffering from emotional load, place themselves under severe stress and even tually breakdown and many suffer prolonged bouts of depression. When Walmart imported their famous 'Walmart Jingle' to Germany, many German's found it ridiculous and apparently hid in the wash room, rather than take part in this bonding ritual which is an integral part of Walmart America. The point is where is this little piece leading? Yesterday, one my favourite ladies, gave it to our neighbors the Pakistanis. On a four day visit to Pakistan, Hillary Clinton, Secerary of State, USA ( I wish we could have ladies like that governing us ) found herself hemmed in by hostile journalists at a power lunch gave it to them right where it mattered. The lady shed her load and told the Pakistanis where to get off. In effect she said that the Pakistani leadership was dishonest and that Pakistanis should cease, to expect to be pampered any more. The message was loud and clear, and left both the Americans and Pakistanis squirming. Attaboy Hillary!!!!!! Emotional load is on the rise, in our over the hill business ventures and many a time you can see the hollowness. The most consistent act that I saw was in the shopping malls in Taiwan. The pretty girls,with even prettier clothes would make you feel special. The effect of all this is that, these days when I see a genuine smile that reaches the eyes, it warms my heart and leaves me floored. That is why I'm glad I teach youngsters, because you can see genuine joy in the young on occasion's when they flash that big uninhibited smile and forget to be politically correct.