The Hyderabad Diaries - The Cop Farce

 There is much activity going on in the twin cities now. Apparently there is a COP II or something like that going on (and I have no clue what it is about). I tried to find out and got bored and let it be. I heard someone say it is about biodiversity - saw an ad about a sparrow. It's apparent that people have realised that we need to live and let live - and surprisingly - there is now an awareness that there are many other species alive around us. Can you believe it? We are not the only ones here? And I guess the conference is all about that with a whole bunch of ministers and other very important people waxing eloquent about biodiverisity.

I really don't have a problem with that. But I do see these hurried efforts to beautify the city at the last minute (and make it all up like we have always been 'biodiverse'). Suddenly small plants are being planted along the road medians with little patches of grass being stuck around it to give it all a green look. This is going on all over the place and in a couple of days the entire city will perhaps be full of plants and grass. To make it more realistic we may even see some sparrows being let loose and some other extinct birds and animals as well. For a city that has no regard to saving up green spaces, a city that has become a concrete jungle thanks to callous laws and greedy officials and politicians, it is really the most hypocritical thing to do. I do wish some of the delegates take a tip down the 'not your normal routes' to see why this conference has to take place at all.

It will not change by putting up a few plants and sticking some grass and putting up emotional hoardings. We need to create new lung spaces. We need to reclaim the lost and encroached parks and maintain them. We need to create more playing areas for children. We need more water bodies to look at. We need more peace and tranquility and spaces within colonies for the old and the young. We certainly need more trees and greenery all through the year. I'd rather half the cost of this conference goes towards such initiatives that go towards creation of green facilities immediately. Biodiversity will happen automatically if we respect all that is around us - not by having conferences and painting the city green.

Anjali - But we are all Different

The walk in the park saw us checking out some birds busy doing their own thing. I told Anjali that it appeared funny that birds seem to have a life so different - they build their nests, search for food, eat it and just go on. And the same with the animals. 'They don't have to go to school, no tv, no brushing their teeth etc,' I said trying to drive my point home.

After listening to my rather impassioned argument Anjali decided to put it to rest.
'But we are all so different no nanna,' she said. 'Birds will do their things, animals will do their things and we will do our things. Even you and I are different because we do different things no. That's all. Everyone will do what they can.'

I agree. No point trying to club and categorise. Let each one be.

Doghi - Movie Review

'Doghi' is a Marathi movie set in rural Maharashtra and revolves around two sisters who are very close. It starts sometime when the older sister Gauri (Renuka Daftardar) is scheduled to be married and there is great festivity in the household. Relatives coming in and much talk that reveals the household's share of troubles - debts and other troubles of a farmer and so on. The sisters go to visit a temple on the advise of their elders before the groom's party arrives and they go accompanied by their uncle from Bombay (Sadashiv Amupakar). On the way back the uncle notices in the newspaper that the groom's party had an accident and that they had all died while coming to the village.

The incident causes a stroke to the father and he becomes an invalid. People shun the older girl as an ill omen. Money dries up. As things go from bad to worse, the uncle tells the mother that he will take the older girl- the one with the bad luck to Bombay and that he would send her a money order every month. Without as much as showing a thing the director conveys the decision with great effect - the girl would be a prostitute in Bombay. Money starts flowing in and things look up for the family. The younger one Krishna (Sonali Kulkarni) is now in line for marriage and the uncle finds a young idealist working for an NGO for her.

All's well until Gauri decides to join the festivities and the mother feels the pinch of her unfortunate daughter's shadow on the marriage. She tries to discourage her from coming and does not welcome her - despite knowing the tragedy that befell her stoic daughter. Gauri feels left out and walks out as the marriage is about to take place when she is refused the bridesmaid's jobs. Krishna however convinces her to stay, convinces her guilt ridden mother to accept her daughter and also finds her older sister a groom from the group of young social activists. Gauri stays back in the village, never to return to her life as a prostitute in Bombay.

'Doghi' is a simple theme told very powerfully. It addresses so many issues that lie underneath and that are not told or discussed and it does that wonderfully. The only thing that struck me as odd was that the girl had to become a prostitute - could she not have worked as help or something else? But perhaps that is the truth, perhaps it is based on a true story, because truth is certainly stranger than fiction and there is certainly no logic to how truth unfolds. The girls did a wonderful job and so did their mother and all other characters. 'Doghi' is slow and intense and powerful. Watch it if you get a chance.

Indicators of Inefficiency

The general indicators of inefficiency as I see them.

1) When all talk is about others improving their work and responsibility - and not about one's own.

2) When there is no plan and all that there is is hot air.

3) When there is no clarity of role, no concrete action - just bombastic, impractical and unviable proposals.

4) When sweeping statements are made without any basis with a lot of unnecessary but popular emotion.

5) When there is no logical, well thought of or reasonable discussion and only argument and anger - the idea is to obfuscate.

6) When one gets angry when questioned or when one diverts the topic.

7) When one avoids the main issues repeatedly

8) When one looks for excuses, shifts blame all the time and does not take any responsibility.

9) When one does not listen to expert advise.

10) When one does not ask or think of ways to improve and grow efficiency in one's area.

11) When one fails to implement any system that is directed towards transparency and accountability

12) When one obscures roles, misinterprets boundaries - and does everything but their work.

If you come across any of the above in you or around you - beware. There is inefficiency around and you need to ask some straight questions or think of other ways to get your work done.

Not surprisingly, one can see that most of them apply to political leaders.

A Walk in The Park

There is a little park that I visit every other day. It is interesting to see the goings on in the park at various times during the day.

Early in the morning, even before dawn, we have the really serious walkers  and yoga practitioners walking about and contorting themselves silently like ghosts. This is a time when everything is really tranquil and no one dares to even switch on their mobiles and their music players. All music is heard through head phones - the silence is so intimidating. The lake is deathly still without a ripple, the only sounds are those of bird calls and soft footsteps and perhaps the breathing of a desperate pranayama practitioner.

As the sun rises and we go the other side of 6 a.m. we find the noisier public joining in. Encouraged by ambient sounds of traffic and people talking and wishing one another loudly, some of these walkers start playing music on their mobiles, loud enough for a kacheri. Devotional songs, suprabhatam, Hindi film songs, Telugu film songs, FM radio - everything is game as they walk around with loud music in their hands, No one can escape it. Some play this music while they exercise, the music playing loudly by their side. Some carry it along in their hands.

And then come the party goers who normally walk in a pack and who have old friends in their regular places. Their general talk is about how the party was last night, how the drink was, how much more to drink and so on. They occupy the entire walkway and do not move an inch lest they miss out some golden words of wisdom on the drink and food. Others normally duck and weave, swear and suffer, slow down or choose alternate routes to avoid these. These gangs also get upset if anyone occupies their regular space. By now there is much raucous banter, less walking and more time pass. Also this gang has a lot of health issues that they keep discussing. In sharp contrast to this loud gang is the quiet and well behaved yoga gang which goes about with utmost and sometimes rather overtly supercilious humility, content in the knowledge that they are healthier than the others.

There are young lovers who come on the pretext of an early morning walk or a game of shuttle but they are all flirting with one another. There are old people trying to extend their lives through some exercise. There are those who are struck down by some debility already and are struggling along. There are young joggers who fly about and there are middle aged uncles who huff and puff behind fat tummies tucked into tight t shirts. And by the side are those who are doing their own brand of exercises, some weird ones that we have never seen, some breathing exercises that are a hybrid variety of all one has seen where men and women snort like horses and then some who insist on clapping or making such harsh sounds. Much activity goes on during this hour.

Slowly as the hour of exercise fades and people go back to their homes to get ready and go to their workplaces, the lazy ones who wish to sun themselves troop in with their newspapers. They make no effort to walk or run and merely park themselves in the park and read the newspaper in complete silence. These are the unemployed people and are quiet content with their current state in life. A few couples might catch up on an early morning rendezvous but then that is about it - perhaps a couple of aged people at best. The sun is now beating down and the birds have beat it as well.

As the day progresses the park is generally taken over by lovers and their faithful followers, the voyeurs. Couples find excellent spots to express themselves. Some neck openly with boys trying to go further and the girls trying to prevent progress, some are content at holding hands, some merely talk and some do not even talk. You can easily make out which stage the relationship is in by the number of smiles and tears and angry faces. Voyeurs also find excellent spots, like combat soldiers, to view the amorous activities without being disturbed. And so continues the time of intimacy which leaves lovers hot and flushed and wanting more. Same with voyeurs.

The evenings are for families. Little children, mothers, fathers, uncles, aunts, grandparents, prams, toys, food, ice creams, running etc takes over the park. Some lovers, some exercisers, still remain. But now there is total chaos. Pickpockets have a field day and slowly the park drifts to a quiet end except for some rustling behind the bushes that the security guard investigates and lest off with a small personal fine.

The night belongs to the boozers or the more adventurous. And as the day turns into night much drama happens to the human life while the animal and plant life go about smoothly with their lives in an unaffected manner, undisturbed by the prospect of death, not worried about hypertension or diabetes, yoga or walking.

Back to another day at the park!

Needed urgently - A sense of humour, a sense of honour

The way we are arresting cartoonists (and even people who forward cartoons) and putting them away in jail on charges of sedition shows our sharply deteriorating sense of humour. Cartoons are all about caricaturing the perceived truth. So our anger at these cartoons is an indication that it has certainly touched a raw nerve somewhere.

The way we are targeting soft targets and letting the big bullies go scot free - those who uproot communities and rock societies with mass murder through hate speeches and outright divisive comments, shows our lack of a sense of honour. We fear their backlash and let them rant and rave, let them beat up and bully innocents, treat them with kid's gloves and arrest a few menials - if at all.

I think its time we got them both back - a capacity to laugh at ourselves and a capacity to stand by and do the right thing and not get scared by bullies.

Anyone game?

Thought for the Day - The Creation of Belief

The most important part of any campaign is the creation of 'belief' within the team. Belief to me is the thought that one get handle any situation.

How does one do it is the question. How does one believe that they can wriggle out of any situation? How does one believe that he can do it? It certainly has a lot to do with (1) a mad desire that one would achieve the goal at whatever cost and (2) what the individual or the team has done before. The first is about belief creating the experience and the second is about experience creating the belief. One about thought preceding action and the second about action preceding or shaping thought.

Thought before action
If one believes strongly in a particular outcome  as in telling oneself that 'I must win this game at any cost' or 'I must do climb Everest at any cost', the thought has set in firmly even ahead of the experience. The 'I' is the person's ownership for the goal and he or she has 'decided' first and clearly. What follows next is the logical following of all the right steps, followed though with extreme diligence by the person because he has already taken 'ownership' for his goal and is now going through the process of experiencing in a logical and purposeful manner. he or she will then prepare accordingly, gather knowledge, simulate the experience and be fully prepared. Preparation that adds a lot to the creation of 'belief'. The feeling of having been there and done that.

Experience before thought
The other way is to have been in a situation or have 'experienced' it first. This could happen as a result of a plan or could have happened by chance. But in such cases it is important to understand the exact process of how one went through the process - simulated or real. Just having been there is huge (being on the Everest is huge) and you probably have greater belief than someone who has not been in that situation.You can, if yo can recreate the process in detail create the plan and understand the various aspects of it. By doing so you can compare what you have experienced to what you believe is the 'process' and you can then make sense of it all - including the areas where you made mistakes and areas that you could have handled more efficiently.

To have experienced the toughest opposition and understood the process with some expert help (coach) is best (like Arjuna did). To have experienced it even in a simulated manner and then make sense of the process is second best (like Ekalavya did). To have the wisdom of those who have experienced it and then try to simulate it or understand it is third best.

For a cricketer simply it is about playing more matches against the toughest oppositions in the most extenuating circumstances that creates the belief best. (I have been there, I know.) Or simulate the same situations and practise again and again until the mind feels that you have prepared enough and for the toughest opposition.

Belief is created by stretching one's known limits. Only when you are out of your comfort zone, when you are against the best, when you are in a system of total uncertainty are you questioning your belief, what is known to you. And when you ask questions and come through, you have greater and stronger belief. So stretch those limits all the time, go out of your comfort zone, deal with the best and understand what you did right. You have then created belief that you can 'handle it', whatever it is.