Ageism in the work place

“Irrespective of our age or the generation we were born in, we look forward to live, love, lead, learn, and we all need to leave a legacy – hide not your talents, they for use were made.“

Globally the working generations are broadly classified into:

• Baby Boomers: Born between 1946 and 1964. They are currently between 56 and 74 years old. They have seen hard times and scarce resources, and therefore focus on savings and stability with no conspicuous consumption. 
• Gen X: Born between 1965 and 1980 ; they are currently between 40-55 years old. They have seen more stability and better times. Rise of private sector jobs and mobility and movement to other countries with changes in lifestyles. 
• Gen Y: Millennial's were born between 1980 and 1994; they are currently between 24-34 years old. All basic need met, no scarcity. Instant gratification, more conscious of environment, much more comfortable and dependent on technology. 
• Gen z: The newest generation and were born between 1996 and 2015. They are currently between 5-24 years old. Born with abundance of everything including technology. Extremely high dependency on technology. Focus on higher order things. 
• Gen Alpha are the kids today born after 2015 . 

Ageism, also spelled agism, is stereotyping and/or discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their age. This may be casual or systematic. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe discrimination against seniors, and patterned on sexism and racism.

Diversity is the variety or differences we see around us, and inclusion is when every member feels that they belong to the team and the organisation. It refers to an organisational effort and the practice in which different groups or individuals having different background are culturally and socially accepted and treated equally. What makes us do different things are social conditioning, value and belief system, past experiences, need to align with majority, creating biases and Prejudices. 

Generation is a group of people who are born and live at the same time, regarded collectively. There are commonalities in the way a generation thinks, act and behaves because of the time period they live in, events - historical, social, economic, political, value and belief systems, aspirations, approach to life and career. 

This is important because we have four generations working together - so generational diversity is already there. Each generation brings unique strength which can help the organisation. It generates different perspective, ideas, thinking, skills. Multi generational teams perform far better in the long run. Not understanding and working with this aspect of diversity could be counterproductive, leading to conflicts, delays and dissatisfaction. 

How and where the generations differ are:

1) Communication: Traditional/ Baby boomers prefer formal and proper channel of communication, acknowledgement is not always expected as it was low; Gen X has a mix of formal and informal communication, expect acknowledgment in terms of fair compensation and other benefits. Gen Y prefer direct/informal communication. Expect acknowledgement, praise, growth, regular feedback and support. Gen Z is comfortable with multiple mode of communication including phase to phase. A lot more imaginary and like videos with shot attention spans and preference for digital communicaiton.

2) Work Life Balance: Traditionalists/BB have no such expectation, Gen X has less rigid boundaries, personal life is acknowledged as important, For Gen Y fluidity between work and life and productivity  is more important than time spend at work, Gen Z is more likely to pursue their passion, they get work done, anytime, anywhere, split tasking. 

3) Aspirations and Growth: For Traditionalists/BB growth  is based on years of work and experience. For Gen X years of work along with results determine growth. For Gen Y performance determines growth, Gen z will want to work with organisations that support the right cause, will expect flexibility and growth, may switch jobs more frequently more focused on domain than on designation. 

4) Relationship with leadership and authority: Traditionalists/BB respect and rarely question leadership and authority, they are formal and distant. Gen X has a more casual and respectful relationship, for them collaboration and merit become important, Gen Y has casual relationship with authority, Performance is more important than authority, respect has to be earned and is not automatically given to a position. Gen Z respect authority, but also expect an equal relationship. They expect closer and friendly relationship with people in hierarchy. 

5) Use of and dependency on technology: Traditionalists/BB use only on need basis, Gen X added a lot more technology into their life and work, this became a tool for their growth and productivity. Gen Y cannot imagine a life without technology. For Gen Z technology is like breath, they are born with it, and is well versed in it. 

Irrespective of which generation you belong to, what is common is that all generations look for effective leadership, appreciation and recognition, making an impact, growth, respect, work life balance, safety and security. We are not responsible for our generational background. Understand and be sensitive to the challenges and needs of each group. Value their values. Communicate with all generations without judging or assuming. 

Some Do's and Don't to remember when managing different gen's are : do your homework, treat others the way they want to be treated, educate self;  listen, respect others values, built an open culture, seek everyone's ideas, share were the organisation is going, how they fit in and how they prepare, giving feedback will often mean guiding not evaluating. Understand personal lives are important. Rethink policies, Pay and benefits must satisfy the needs of each generation's unique perspective, attitude and values about work. Don't judge people based on any one aspect of diversity, don't  always follow status quo, don't equate performance solely with seniority and position, don't discriminate and differentiate people. 

It is interesting to note that we hear a lot about the 'digital natives'; well baby boomers are digital founders. When baby boomers go out of the way and do things like variety coloring of their hair, fancy dressing etc. we call them bold, but when the Gen z does the same, some call them crazy why? Some understand and accept people as they are

Born in 1933 and died in 1920 at the age of 87, Ruth Bander Ginsburg or Notorious RBG as she was affectionately called, she spend her life working for gender equality and women's right. So this is not a new concept. What we enjoy today, is the gift from our elder generation, and it's our right and our duty to protect it and make it better for the generations to come. 

Ruth Bader Ginsburg/Quotes

My mother told me to be a lady. And for her, that meant be your own person, be independent.

I said on the equality side of it, that it is essential to a woman's equality with man that she be the decision-maker, that her choice be controlling.

Women will only have true equality when men share with them the responsibility of bringing up the next generation.

The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg spent a lifetime flourishing in the face of adversity before being appointed a Supreme Court justice, where she successfully fought against gender discrimination and unified the liberal block of the court. She was born Joan Ruth Bader on March 15, 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother heavily influenced her early life and watched Ginsburg excel at James Madison High School, but was diagnosed with cancer and died the day before Ginsburg’s high school graduation. Ginsburg’s success in academia continued throughout her years at Cornell University, where she graduated at the top of her class in 1954. That same year, Ruth Bader became Ruth Bader Ginsburg after marrying her husband Martin, who was a first-year law student at Cornell when they met. After graduation, she put her education on hold to start a family. She had her first child in 1955, shortly after her husband was drafted for two years of military service. Upon her husband’s return from his service, Ginsburg enrolled at Harvard Law. Instead of creating sweeping limitations on gender discrimination, she attacked specific areas of discrimination and violations of women’s rights one at a time, so as to send a message to the legislatures on what they can and cannot do. She was playfully and notably dubbed "The Notorious R.B.G." by a law student, a reference to the late Brooklyn-born rapper The Notorious B.I.G., and she later embraced the moniker. Her attitude is that major social change should not come from the courts, but from Congress and other legislatures. This method allows for social change to remain in Congress’ power while also receiving guidance from the court. Ginsburg does not shy away from giving pointed guidance when she feels the need. 

In the absence of time, our maturity alone can count our age, all that is needed is empathy.

“It’s not loving a man that makes life harder for gay guys, it’s homophobia. It’s not the color of their skin that makes life harder for people of color; it’s racism. It’s not having vaginas that makes life harder for women, it’s sexism. And it’s ageism, far more than the passage of time, that makes growing older harder for all of us.”
― Ashton Applewhite, This Chair Rocks: A Manifesto Against Ageism

Mindfulness

The essence of mindfulness lies in being in the here-and-now, and being radically aware of it. To navigate a new path and still be able to arrive at your destination in a reasonable time needs you to have your wits about you. Mindfulness helps us navigate this new path. Research has shown that it helps alleviate stress, reduces emotional reactivity, improves our immunity, builds resilience to distress and even enhances memory, not to mention improving overall general health and well-being as well alleviates heart disease.

Understand stress, identify the source, symptom’s and sign’s (3s’s) of stress and learn various strategies to cope up with stress.

Strategies using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and  mindfulness to cope with stress.

Stress is not always  negative – there are positive stress as well, which keep us going. Negative stress is called distress

Most common forms of stress :

Two sides of same common are – Anxiety and depression.

Anxiety – about future, about unknown and how will we cope – what if?

Depression –  about past. some thing unpleasant happen in life – you are not able to come into terms with it.

Panic – last for 10 to 15 minutes but has lot of  physical symptoms.

Social anxiety .

Sources and symptoms of stress:

Physiological stress – Illness, lack of sleep, poor nutrition etc.

Cognitive/Psychological stressors – Attitude, belief, our own thoughts,

Socio-Cultural Stressors  - Financial problems, relationship issues,

Environmental stress - pandemic

 How can managers become more aware of workplace stress?

Talk about it ; talk about non work related stuff. Know the symptoms of stress.

Be more resilient

Learn mindfulness practice to deal with day to day stress challenges in life.

Provide open and non judgmental space to team.  That is how we are wired – to be judgmental.

Have open ended question – when you listen to others problem 

Group sessions are powerful – They help people to come together, and give them assurance.  Exposure – cohesiveness. ; councelling; 1-1 session

Being mindful entails the following principles:  ·     

Intentional awareness of experiences occurring in the present.

Surveying the moment without judgment.

Letting go of the past and not living through the future.  

Not over-identifying with one’s own feelings, accepting them as they are.

Not striving towards anything other than the complete presence.

Be present in the present.  

• Mindfulness-image-by-Doug-Neill /Courtesy Google.

Being fearless when building a business

 A wonderful session by Kartic Srinivasan

We are usually challenged with:

• Inspiration
• Failure
• Decision 
• Purpose

Inspiration:

Inspirations can come from anywhere:

• Place
• Person
• Animal 
• Thing

You are never too young to dream big.

Failure:

Anyone who has never made a mistake has not tried anything new. - Albert Einstein

Failing fast:

• Short-term vs. Long-term
• Evolution vs. Transformation
• Risk vs. Reward

Decision Making:

What drives decision making?

• Data
• Emotion
• Intution

Purpose:

Having purpose makes it clear: I want:

• Fame
• Financial Freedom
• Do cool things with cool people
• Happiness

Find inspiration, turn it into positive and kick off. Expect to fail 90% of the time, but do it quickly, recover, and make sure your purpose is still intact!

Kailash-Mansarovar

 And a poem here: 

Kailash…13/8/2020 (12:50PM)

A buzzing sound kept wailing in my ear

I couldn’t block it, I couldn’t ignore it

I went towards that direction 

A direction that leads me to an unknown.

A madly desire kept flaming in my heart

I couldn’t put it off, I couldn’t suppress it

I went towards that direction

A direction that shows me who I’m not.

As I walked towards You,

With merciless, You stroke me with a lightning bolt

My ear was trumpeted, my heart was cramped with pain 

Pain with my ignorance

Pain with my ego

I cried out Who am I, Who Am I?

With merciless, You went back in silence 

But the pain was so intensified that make my seeking exploded!

The scream of Not Knowing piercing in thin air

My question is never been answered by You.

I continue to walk…

I continue to seek within…

To the direction that no longer the same as before

To the direction that leads me to realize Who am I!

Two years after; the same day i.e 31st August get to read:

https://news.rediff.com/commentary/2020/aug/31/china-builds-missile-site-at-kailashmansarovar/c48550bd94053f4edd119844aaa7b689?fbclid=IwAR0JBD8ZDwGpm9ZC36SSEy4mBBl14svHk7mUcdIqasx5-nO_ikrBXuTAOrA

Wondering what has the world come to? This pic brings back great memories of a beautiful journey towards bliss and peace and this place to be used as missile site. What a contrast! An aggressive provocation by the Chinese or whatsoever. 

The article say:

Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar, commonly known as the Kailash-Mansarovar site is revered by four religions and is linked to culture and spiritual scriptures in India. While the Hindus consider the site as the abode of Shiva and his consort Parvati, the Tibetan Buddhists call the mountain Kang Rimpoche, the "Precious One of Glacial Snow," and revere it as the abode of Demchog and his consort, Dorje Phagmo.

The Jains call the mountain Astapada and consider it to be the place where the first of their 24 spiritual masters achieved liberation. The Bons, adherents of the pre-Buddhist religion of Tibet, term the mountain Tise and revere it the dwelling place of the sky goddess, Sipaimen.

The placing of the missile at the sacred site, which is also the origin of four transnational rivers -- Indus, Brahmaputra, Sutlej and Karnali, a major tributary of the Ganges, menaces India, which has refused to back down against Chinese aggression on the Line of Actual Control (LAC)

Despite being a relatively modest peak at 6,638 meters (21,778 feet), Mount Kailash remains unclimbed. Both out of respect for its sacredness and due to numerous reported difficulties and inexplicable events experienced by climbers, no successful summit attempts have been recorded. 

It is widely believed that any attempt to climb the mountain would be met with supernatural resistance. 💯

15th August and Atmanirbhar Bharat

 15th of August marks the 73rd anniversary of the day India got freedom from the British rule. She was full of ideals and liberalism. Our constitution was not perfect, but it was crafted by learned men and women who had come through the horrors of a fratricidal partition and sought to create a more united future. They understood that India was capable of much good, but could also unleash terrible self-destructive forces, something some of our current leaders would do well to understand. So they drafted a document that attempts to draw out the best in us in a spirit of common purpose and pride. What better resolution for the new decade than to re-dedicate ourselves to ensuring that this spirit burns strongly in each one of us? In these troublesome times, let us work together to make India that shining example of tolerance and respect that our founders envisioned, a beacon once more for a weary world. Let that be our task for the new decade. To be Self reliant and truly independent by being self sufficient.

At the conclusion of his book, Making of India's Constitution, retired Supreme Court of India justice Hans Raj Khanna wrote:

"If the Indian constitution is our heritage bequeathed to us by our founding fathers, no less are we, the people of India, the trustees and custodians of the values which pulsate within its provisions! A constitution is not a parchment of paper, it is a way of life and has to be lived up to. Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty and in the final analysis, its only keepers are the people."

Outsourcing, is ever on its rise. Because people look for better service, rather than doing it all by self, they are willing to hand over non core activities of theirs to the specialist in that specific area, whether it is accounting, HR, transportation, marketing or whatever. We have Indian brains leading Global companies, and Indians consuming or using global goods and services. We can make in India and use Made in India goods. 

With waste management proving profitable, the world over, Indian entrepreneurs look at rubbish as a resource to build new business. People are making liquid fuel using plastic and organic waste. All the developments would be of waste, if the waste is not properly managed, and clean atmosphere provided for the residence, travelers and workers. 

Infrastructure in India is improving whether it is roads, ports, retail outlets, communication, banking or insurance. But still there is dearth of electricity or agricultural products.

 In a world where you can be anything, let us be ourselves!!! Let us ask what positive we can give to our country too!!

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15 अगस्त के दिन भारत की 73 वीं वर्षगांठ पर ब्रिटिश शासन से आजादी मिली। वह आदर्शों और उदारवाद से भरी थी। हमारा संविधान सही नहीं था, लेकिन इसे उन विद्वान पुरुषों और महिलाओं द्वारा तैयार किया गया था जो एक भ्रामक विभाजन की भयावहता के माध्यम से आए थे और एक अधिक एकजुट भविष्य बनाने की मांग की थी। वे समझते थे कि भारत बहुत अच्छा करने में सक्षम है, लेकिन भयानक आत्म-विनाशकारी शक्तियों को भी हटा सकता है, हमारे कुछ मौजूदा नेताओं को समझने के लिए कुछ करना होगा। इसलिए उन्होंने एक दस्तावेज का मसौदा तैयार किया, जो सामान्य उद्देश्य और गर्व की भावना से हमारे भीतर सर्वश्रेष्ठ को बाहर निकालने का प्रयास करता है। नए दशक के लिए खुद को फिर से समर्पित करने से बेहतर यह सुनिश्चित करने के लिए कि यह भावना हममें से हर एक में दृढ़ता से जलती है? इन परेशानियों के समय में, भारत को सहिष्णुता और सम्मान की मिसाल बनाने के लिए एक साथ काम करते हैं, जो हमारे संस्थापकों ने कल्पना की थी, एक थके हुए दुनिया के लिए एक बार फिर से। नए दशक के लिए हमारा काम होने दीजिए। आत्मनिर्भर होने के लिए आत्मनिर्भर होना और वास्तव में स्वतंत्र होना।

अपनी पुस्तक मेकिंग ऑफ इंडिया के संविधान के समापन पर, भारत के सेवानिवृत्त सुप्रीम कोर्ट के न्यायाधीश हंस राज खन्ना ने लिखा:

"यदि भारतीय संविधान हमारे संस्थापक पिता द्वारा हमारे लिए वसीयत की गई है, तो हम कम नहीं हैं, भारत के लोग, उन मूल्यों के ट्रस्टी और संरक्षक, जो इसके प्रावधानों के भीतर स्पंदित होते हैं! एक संविधान कागज़ का एक चर्मपत्र नहीं है, यह है! जीवन का एक तरीका है और इसे जीना है। शाश्वत सतर्कता स्वतंत्रता की कीमत है और अंतिम विश्लेषण में, इसके एकमात्र रखवाले लोग हैं। "

आउटसोर्सिंग, कभी अपने उदय पर है। क्योंकि लोग बेहतर सेवा की तलाश करते हैं, यह सब स्वयं करने के बजाय, वे अपने विशिष्ट गतिविधियों को उस विशिष्ट क्षेत्र में विशेषज्ञ को सौंपने के लिए तैयार हैं, चाहे वह लेखांकन, मानव संसाधन, परिवहन, विपणन या जो भी हो। हमारे पास वैश्विक कंपनियों, और वैश्विक वस्तुओं और सेवाओं का उपभोग या उपयोग करने वाले भारतीय दिमाग हैं। हम भारत में बना सकते हैं और मेड इन इंडिया माल का उपयोग कर सकते हैं।

कचरा प्रबंधन लाभदायक साबित होने के साथ, दुनिया भर में, भारतीय उद्यमी नए व्यवसाय बनाने के लिए एक संसाधन के रूप में बकवास दिखते हैं। लोग प्लास्टिक और जैविक कचरे का उपयोग करके तरल ईंधन बना रहे हैं। सारा विकास बेकार होगा, अगर कचरे का प्रबंधन ठीक से नहीं किया जाता है, और निवास, यात्रियों और श्रमिकों के लिए स्वच्छ वातावरण प्रदान किया जाता है।

भारत में इन्फ्रास्ट्रक्चर में सुधार हो रहा है चाहे वह सड़कें, बंदरगाह, रिटेल आउटलेट, संचार, बैंकिंग या बीमा हो। लेकिन फिर भी बिजली या कृषि उत्पादों की कमी है।

एक ऐसी दुनिया में जहाँ आप कुछ भी हो सकते हैं, हमें खुद बनने दें !!! आइए हम पूछें कि हम अपने देश को भी क्या सकारात्मक दे सकते हैं !!

From Silk To Silcon - Jeffrey E. Garten

 "A tale of globalization and leadership that is both sweeping and personal. It’s a guide to the future as well as to the past.” --Walter Isaacson

So said the back cover of the book. 

From Good reads: So well explained there; did not think I could rewrite better:

This book was 45th of 2020. Waiting for sometime to be read. Guess I had to do few research before I read this to get a clear understanding so the delay, and the earlier reads of this year was a foundation for this. 

"The story of globalization, the most powerful force in history, as told through the life and times of ten people who changed the world by their singular, spectacular accomplishments.

This is the first book to look at the history of globalization through the lens of individuals who did something transformative, as opposed to describing globalization through trends, policies, or particular industries. From Silk to Silicon tells the story of who these men and women were, what they did, how they did it and how their achievements continue to shape our world today. They include:

• Genghis Khan, who united east and west by conquest and by opening new trade routes built on groundbreaking transportation, communications, and management innovations.

• Mayer Amschel Rothschild, who arose from an oppressive Jewish ghetto to establish the most powerful bank the world has seen, and ushered in an era of global finance.

• Cyrus Field, who became the father of global communications by leading the effort to build the transatlantic telegraph, the forerunner to global radio, TV, and the worldwide Internet.

• Margaret Thatcher, whose controversial policies opened the gusher of substantially free markets that linked economies across borders.

• Andy Grove, a Hungarian refugee from the Nazis who built the company—Intel—that figured out how to manufacture complex computer chips on a mass, commercial scale and laid the foundation for Silicon Valley’s computer revolution.

Through these stories Jeffrey E. Garten finds the common links between these figure and probes critical questions including: How much influence can any one person have in fundamentally changing the world? And how have past trends in globalization affected the present and how will they shape the future? From Silk to Silicon is an essential book to understanding the past—and the future—of the most powerful force of our times."

The others featuring in this book are:

Prince Henry: The explorer who made a science of discovery.

Robert Clive: The Rogue who captured India for The British Empire

John D. Rockefeller: The Titan who built The Energy Industry and also launched Global Philantrhropy

Jean Monnet: The Diplomat Who reinvented Europe

Deng Xiaoping: The Pragmatist who relaunched China

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The past Empires with long history are:

Macedonian Empire, 323 BC,

Roman Empire - 125 CE

Mongol Empire, 1297

Spanish Empire, 1790

British Empire, 1920

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The best could be yet to come, as the current hedgehogs have much more powerful tools to shape globalization. We have had people like Gates and Job's, in recent years and more yet to come.

Krishna & Janmashtami

Krishna

A poorna Yogi,

An epitome of consciousness,

The one who achieved it all, in one life time,

Yet, did not.

The who defined the fresh frontiers of life,

In each role that he played:

A son everyone craves for,

A friend who you seek,

A lover that you need,

A king you can become,

A strategist who always wins,

A brother, a citizen, a master of masters.

The one who mastered, the science of attaining divinity and living it. 

Not just with eyes closed, but with eyes open,

The one who lived among us as one of us, 

The one who taught us, being divine is a possibility,

An exploration any less is mediocrity, 

Unlock the divinity in you,

Let the Krishna in you be born today!

SOME BASIC HISTORICAL FACTS ABOUT KRISHNA

Krishna was born 5,252 years  ago as on 11/08/2020. 

Year of Birth: 3228BC

Month: Shravan 

Day:  Ashtami

Nakshatra:- Rohini

Day:- Wednesday

Time:- 00:00 A.M.

Shri Krishna lived 125 years, 08 months & 07 days.

Hence,

Date of Birth:- 18th July, 3102 BCE.

Date of Death:- 18th February 3228 

When Krishna was 89 years old, the mega war - Kurukshetra war took place. 

He died 36 years after the Kurukshetra war.

Kurukshetra War was started on Mrigashira Shukla Ekadashi,BCE 3139.

i.e 8th December 3139 and ended on 25th December, 3139. (There was a Solar eclipse between 3pm to 5pm on 21st December, 3139. 

Bhishma died on 2nd February, First Ekadasi of the Uttarayana, in 3138BC.)

Krishna  is worshipped as:

Krishna Kanhaiyya : Mathura

Jagannath:- In Odisha

Vithoba:- In Maharashtra

Srinath:- In Rajasthan

Dwarakadheesh:- In Gujarat

Ranchhod:- In Gujaarat

Krishna : Udipi, Karnataka

Bilological Father:- Vasudeva

Biological Mother:- Devaki

Adopted Father:- Nanda 

Adopted Mother:- Yashoda

Elder Brother:- Balaram

Sister:- Subhadra 

Birth Place:- Mathura

Wives: Rukmini, Satyabhama, Jambavati, Kalindi, Mitravinda, Nagnajiti, Bhadra, Lakshmana 

Krishna is reported to have Killed only 4 people in his life time. Chanoora - the Wrestler

Kamsa - his maternal uncle

Shishupaala and Dantavakra - his cousins. 

Life was not fair to him at all. 

His mother was from Ugra clan, and Father from Yadava clan,  interracial marriage. 

He was born dark skinned.

He was not named at all, throughout his life. The whole village of Gokul started calling him the black one - Krishna. He was ridiculed and teased for being black, short and adopted too. His childhood was wrought with life threatening situations.

Drought and threat of wild wolves made them shift from Gokul to vrindavan at the age 9. 

He stayed in Vrindavan till 14-16 years. He killed his own uncle at the age - 14-16 years at Mathura. He then released  his biological mother and father. 

He never returned to Vrindavan ever again. 

He had to migrate to Dwaraka from Mathura due to threat of a Sindhu King - Kala Yaavana. He defeated Jarasandha with the help of Vainatheya Tribes on Gomantaka hill (now Goa).

He rebuilt Dwaraka. He then left to Sandipani's Ashram in Ujjain to start his schooling at age 16-18. He had to fight the pirates from Afrika and rescue his teachers son - Punardatta who was kidnapped near Prabhasa, a sea port in Gujarat. 

After his education, he came to know about his cousins fate of Vanvas. He came to their rescue in Wax house and later his cousins got married to Draupadi. His role was immense in this saga. 

Then, he helped his cousins to establish Indraprastha and their Kingdom. 

He saved Draupadi from embarrassment. 

He stood by his cousins during their exile.

He stood by them and made them win the Kurushetra war. 

He saw his cherished city, Dwaraka washed away. 

In conversation with Karna, once Krishna say: "Remember one thing, Karna. Everybody has challenges in life. But what is Right (Dharma) is known to your mind (conscience). No matter how much unfairness there is in life, how many times we were disgraced, how many times we were denied what was due to us, what is important is how you react and which path you choose at that time. Life’s unfairness does not give you license to walk the wrong path…"

There are so many interpretations to stories and history, and one goes to the extend, that what made Krishna popular and famous is because of him choosing Dharma - inspite of not having all. Karna and Krishna both were denied of many things since birth, to the extend that Karna could at least marry the one he loved, Krishna had to leave even her behind. But inspite of all hardship, Krishna followed Dharma. 

He was killed by a hunter in nearby forest. 

He never did any miracles. His life was not a successful one. There was not a single moment when he was at peace throughout his life. At every turn he had challenges and even more bigger challenges. He faced everything and everyone with a sense of responsibility and yet remained unattached. He is the only person who knew the past and probably future, yet he lived at that present moment always. 

He and his life is truly an example for every human being.

Temple & God

 Tagore condemned temple with 'no god' 

120 years back exactly on this day when Rammandir has been christened ... 20 Shrabon, August 5 ... Rabindranath Tagore wrote this lines ... So prophetic ... English translation from Bengali ... (The translation taken from the wall of Banojyotsna Lahiry)

There is no god in that temple”, said the Saint.

The King was enraged;

“No God? Oh Saint, aren’t you speaking like an atheist?

On the throne studded with priceless gems, beams the golden idol,

And yet, you proclaim that’s empty?”

“It’s not empty; It’s rather full of the Royal pride.

You have bestowed yourself, oh King, not the God of this world”,

Remarked the saint.

The King frowned, “2 million golden coins

Were showered on that grand structure that kisses the sky,

I offered it to the Gods after performing all the necessary rituals,

And you dare claim that in such a grand temple,

There is no presence of God”?

The Saint calmly replied, “in the very year in which, twenty million of your subjects were struck by a terrible drought;

The pauperized masses without any food or shelter,

came begging at your door crying for help, only to be turned away,

they were forced to take refuge in forests, caves, camping under roadside foliages, derelict old temples;

and in that very year

when you spent 2 million gold to build that grand temple of your's,

that was the day when God pronounced:

“My eternal home is lit by everlasting lamps,

In the midst of an azure sky,

In my home the foundations are built with the values:

Of Truth, Peace, Compassion and Love.

The poverty stricken puny miser,

Who could not provide shelter to his own homeless subjects,

Does he really fancy of giving me a home?”

That is the day God left that Temple of yours.

And joined the poor beside the roads, under the trees.

Like emptiness of the froth in the vast seas,

Your mundane temple is as hollow.

It’s just a bubble of wealth and pride.’

The enraged King howled,

“oh you sham cretin of a person,

Leave my kingdom this instant’.

The Saint replied calmly,

“The very place where you have exiled the Divine,

Kindly banish the devout too".

----Rabindranath Tagore,

20th of Shravan (that is 6th August).  1307 (as per Bengali Calendar)

Courtesy: Buroshiva Dasgupta

-----------------------------------------------------

God! If you believe in the existence of God, who do you think God is? 

One who provide us everything! What would a provide want? Peaceful co-existence right!

Why this dramas, fights, and misunderstanding?

The Ayodhya Ram Mandir campaign has played the most significant part in the RSS's socio-political acceptance in India despite vehement opposition from its critics.

Madhukar Dattatray Deoras, commonly known as Balasaheb Deoras was the third RSS Chief. The Ram Mandir at Janmabhoomi - the birthplace of Lord Ram - was not on the RSS agenda during the tenures of previous RSS chiefs. The RSS in its initial decades considered it a too local issue even for a big state like Uttar Pradesh. Two incidents shifted the RSS's focus on the Ram Mandir construction, which had been a localised campaign of the sadhus belonging to akhadas (religious sects) in Ayodhya.

In the book, titled "RSS: A View to the Inside", authors Walter Andersen and Shridhar Damle have mentioned that Swadeshi - use and promotion of indigenous products - and ban on cow slaughter were the core cultural agendas of the RSS.

The first incident was a mass conversion of Dalits to Islam in the Meenakshipuram village in Tamil Nadu in 1981. The second incident had a Congress hand in it.

In 1983, then senior Congress leader from Uttar Pradesh Dau Dayal Khanna declared from a VHP platform that the mosques in Ayodhya, Mathura and Kashi would have to go. The religious places of the Hindus should be reclaimed, he had suggested. Deoras was surprised to know in 1983 that there were locks on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex.

The Dharma Sansad decided to work for the unification of Hindu society and reclaiming the three religious sites mentioned by Congress leader Khanna. The same year, the RSS made a show with large banners showing Ram Lalla behind the locks across Uttar Pradesh.

Ram Shila Pujan (worship of bricks with Ram engraved on them) was organised. And, finally at the Palanpur conclave, the RSS formally adopted the construction of Ram Mandir as its resolution in 1989.

The clamour of Ram Mandir had started paying a dividend for the RSS in Hindu society and the BJP in politics. The BJP had emerged in the role of king-maker in 1989 Lok Sabha election.

Three years later, the RSS and its affiliate organisations including the VHP and the BJP had generated enough popular support to that a massive crow of karsevaks could dare to bring down the Babri Masjid despite a promise by the BJP's state government to the Centre under the Congress. Advaniji lead the show. Ashok Singhal was the chief architect of the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. 

On 17th Oct 2015 Ashok Singhal nominated Dr. Subramanian Swamy to lead Ram Mandir Movement. 

Many Ayodhya crusaders were not part of the event, but RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat spoke at the Bhoomi Pooja ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. 

Modi wearing a mukut while offering prayers was it right? But who am I to say? 

The Hagia Sophia was a mosque until 1935, when it became a museum in a new, secular Turkish republic. The change of status was annulled last month, and the building is now a mosque again.

The Hagia Sophia was built as a Christian church in the year 537 by the Eastern Roman emperor Justinian I, in what was then Constantinople. The building stood as the largest cathedral in the world for nearly a thousand years. When the city fell to the Ottomans in 1453, Mehmed II converted it into a mosque, destroyed its relics, plastered over iconography he considered idolatrous and added Islamic features such as the minarets that encircle its magnificent dome today. The Hagia Sophia remained the principal mosque of the city, renamed Istanbul, for over a century and a half, until the Sultan Ahmed Mosque—colloquially called the Blue Mosque—was completed in 1616.

Will the history repeat?

Lessons from the Nature

Nature was, is and will continue to be our greatest teacher, provided we look at it, and try to imbibe her teachings. Not sure why, for me nature was always divine mother and therefore feminine. And of all her blessings - the mountains, valley, sea, rives and plains.

Often wonder, if the Sun also try to tell us, everything will revolve around you, if you are powerful?  Isn't it interesting, to know that still, Children are thought that the Sun rise in the east and set in the west, when we know Sun is stationary, and it is the earth that is moving. 

Often remember the planetarium visit, the moon games, and similar to sun, the myth of moon changing size, when it is just the waxing and waning phases of the moon, which are the changes in the amount of the surface of the moon, that are lit up over the course of a month, as viewed from earth. And, the light we see coming from the moon isn't moonlight at all - it's sunlight!

So much of misinterpretations, misconceptions and perceptions! So is life with variety of people and thoughts - dreams and limited resources. 

With mother nature being most divine and powerful, let us be Thankful and protect her for the future generations. In what language do rain fall over tormented cities, and what is her religion? 

When our survival is in question, it is a big issue in our lives. But the moment it is taken care of, it doesn't seem to mean anything. Life begins with survival. Don't compare your life with others, what meant to be yours is already making its way to you....what was never your's is starting to flee from you. With time it will all make sense. For now bear the confusion and focus on licing fully in the present. Don't let your whole life be "I'll be happy when". Be happy now. Remember everything is but changing phases. " When you are in a dark place, you think you are buried, but you may be planted."

The day Sun and sea spoke to me, I stopped expecting gratitude and dropped the need for appreciation. Do you know what they told me? They asked " Do you find people appreciating us? May be 1%, most don't even consciously realise that we exist. We know that if we stop working for a day, there would be huge chaos, confusion and disturbance. Our sense of duty makes us very accountable to perform every moment." That day, I not only dropped expecting gratitude, but felt sorry for those who do not realise and appreciate the good in others. Especially those who forget the way they traveled, for whom parents, siblings and relatives were no more important but a burden...

In this days of gossips, rumors and false news; trying to remember and act as per the triple filter test -  anecdote of the great Greek philosopher, Socrates. 

Per the story, one day a disciple of Socrates was quite agitated, and said that he had met a friend of Socrates who spoke badly of him, Socrates asked him to calm down and send the message through thriple filter; and if not it was'nt worthy of being heard; they were:

“Are you absolutely sure that what you’re going to tell me is true?”

“Is what you’re going to tell me good or not?” 

“Is what you have to say about my friend going to help me?” 

“If what you want to tell me isn’t true, isn’t good, and isn’t even useful, why would I want to hear it?”

Thanks Life for letting me Live, Love, Lead, Learn and for The Light! Help me spread it across. 

Good to Great - Jim Collins

 In 1996, Jim Collins with 21 research team set out to answer one simple question 'Can a good company become great and if so how? The research team synthesized the results to identify the drivers of good to great transformations and there by achieve cumulative stock returns 6.9 times the stock market in fifteen years. For me this was 45th of 2020

The chapters are divided into:

1. Good is the enemy of great - The scope of the project

The abbreviated story of this particular odyssey of curiosity is divided into phases viz:

Phase 1: The Search

Phase 2: Comparison companies

Phase 3: Inside the black box to find how good results can become great results 

Phase 4: Chaos to concepts

Findings inside the box were:

Leaders came from within 

Going from good to great is not linked to executive compensation

Strategy was not the key

They focused on what not to do and what to stop doing (Start, Stop, Continue)

Technology has nothing to do with change

Greatness is largely a matter of conscious choice. 

Transformation was a process of buildup followed by breakthrough, broken into three broad stages: disciplined people, disciplined thought and disciplined action. 

2. Level 5 Leadership - the good to great leaders are self-effacing, quiet, reserved, even shy - these leaders are a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will. The type of leader required is humble and ferocious. 

3. First who....then what - First get right people into the bus, in the right seat, and get wrong people off the bus, before deciding where to drive it. The right people are the most important asset. How companies set the foundation for their shift. 

4. Confront the brutal facts (Yet never lost faith) - Maintain unwavering faith that you can and will prevail in the end, regardless of the difficulties, AND at the same time have the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be. The duality that lead to greatness.

5. The hedgehog concept (Simplicity within the three circles) - Transcend the curse of competence. Core business if not best in the world must be replaced with a simple concept that reflects deep understanding of three intersecting circles. How to find the one big thing you company must focus on. "What can we be the best in the world at? (And equally important—what can we not be the best at?) What is the economic denominator that best drives our economic engine (profit or cash flow per “x”)? And what are our core people deeply passionate about? Answer those three questions honestly, facing the brutal facts without blinking, and you’ll begin to see your Hedgehog Concept emerge. "

6. A culture of discipline - When you have disciplined people, you don't need hierarchy. When you have disciplined thought, you don't need bureaucracy. When you have disciplined action, you don't need excessive controls. When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great performance. The magical alchemy of great performance. " Stop doing anything and everything that doesn't fit tightly within their Hedgehog Concept. " Don't just have a "To-Do List" have a 'Stop doing" list. 

7. Technology Accelerators - They never use technology as the primary means of igniting a transformation, yet paradoxically, they are pioneers in the application of carefully selected technologies. Technology is a trap unless used right. 

8. The fly wheel and the doom loop - How to build sustained momentum and avoid the 'new regime, new revolution' doom loop. The process resembled relentlessly pushing a giant heavy flywheel in one direction, turn upon turn, building momentum until a point of breakthrough and beyond. 

9. From Good to Great to Built to last (Concepts) - Sustained great results to Enduring great company. Applying good to great concepts help generate Sustained great results this with build to last concepts help us have enduring great companies. 

Help create enduring great organisation.  You can accomplish anything in life, provided that you do not mind who gets the credit. 

https://www.jimcollins.com/article_topics/articles/good-to-great.html

 The basic message is this: Build your own flywheel. You can do it. You can start to build momentum in something for which you've got responsibility. You can build a great department. You can build a great church community. You can take every one of these ideas and apply them to your own work or your own life.

BHAG - Big Hairy Audacious Goal.

Ring for Jeeves @ P.G. Wodehouse - Author

Shashi Tharoor's favourite author is what I call him. Pelham Grenville Wodehouse was born in 1881 in Guildford, the son of a civil servant and educated at Dulwich college. He married in  1914 and took American citizenship in 1955. He was created a knight of the British Empire in the 1975 New Years Honours List. He died on St. Valentine's day, 1975 at the age of ninety-three. 

He published around 100 books. He created two of the best known and best loved characters in twentieth centuries literature in Jeeves, the ever resourceful 'gentleman's personal gentleman', and the good hearted young blundered Bertie Wooster.  Their exploit first collected in carry on, Jeeves, were chronicled in fourteen books and have been repeatedly adapted for television, video and stage. He also created Lord Emsworth, the Hon. Galahad Threepwood, Psmith and the numerous members of the Drones Club. 

P.G. Wodehouse said, 'I believe there are two ways of writing novels. One is mine, making a sort of musical comedy without music and ignoring real life altogether, the other is going right deep down into life and not caring a damn'.

Ring for Jeeves was 44th of 2020.

Only Jeeves novel in which his employer, Bertie Wooster, does not appear (though he is mentioned), and the only Jeeves story narrated in the third person.Set in the early 1950s, the story concerns Bill Belfry, Lord Rowcester, an English aristocrat who is in financial trouble. His future relies on the problem-solving abilities of Jeeves, who is temporarily serving as Bill's butler. Jeeves has been loaned to the former Bill Belfry, now styled the 9th Earl of Rowcester (pronounced just like “Roaster”). 

And so we find young Lord Rowcester living in a decaying pile of medieval stone, desperate for a source of funds to plug the holes in the roof and to provide for his bride-to-be, a veterinary surgeon named Jill Wyvern. It’s all very well for his brother-in-law, Sir Roderick Carmoyle (Rory to his friends), to work at Harrige’s department store. Even Bertie Wooster has fallen in the world, to the extent that he must go to school to learn how to darn his own sox. But Bill wants ready money and fast. While Jill, Rory, and Bill’s sister Monica (a.k.a. “Moke”) think His Lordship is doing something for the Agricultural Board, in fact he has taken Jeeves’ advice and set up shop as a bookie, disguised under a false mustache, an eyepatch, a loud suit and tie, and the name of Honest Patch Perkins.

Things start to heat up when a beefy, red-faced, Anglo-Malay hunter named Captain Biggar wins a double at the horse races and his bookie—our own Honest Patch—finds himself £3,000 short of being able to pay. Bill and Jeeves flee, Biggar pursuing them nearly as far as Rowcester Abbey, where they doff their disguises and brace themselves for what comes next. What comes next is a farce involving a rich, house-hunting American widow with a taste for ghosts; a diamond pendant with a loose clasp; an old white hunter whose noodle has been so cooked by the tropical sun that he has but a light grasp of reality, though he never quite loses touch with the gentlemen’s code; an embarrassing relative who can be relied on to say the wrong thing at the wrong time; a horse race in which so much depends on an unfavored horse closing in from behind; a household staff full of pimply teenagers; and a tough old magistrate who makes up his mind to ask a neighbor for the loan of a horsewhip, only to use it on him.

Besides this, it is a romantic comedy with two couples whose happiness is endangered by the silly goings-on. It a crime story in which the culprit is more worried about making amends for his crime than facing the music. It is an adventure that gives full scope to the ingenuity of Jeeves, who not only knows what horse to bet on, but who can usually come up with a fiendishly clever scheme for dealing with sticky situations. Even when most strongly moved, Jeeves registers emotion by no more than a faint twitch of the eyebrow. Yet, somehow, there is a marvelous eloquence in his utterances such as, “Yes, my lord,” and, “Indeed, my lord,” and, “Most disturbing, my Lord.”

The dialogue sparkles. The protagonist’s nervousness gives spice to the high-spirited high-jinks. And if the narration seems to lack some of the unflagging zest of a first-person Bertie Wooster yarn, it compensates by making one think that the whole business would go off like a bang on the stage. This is well, since Wodehouse adapted this book from his own play Come On, Jeeves, co-authored by Guy Bolton. While it doesn’t have all of the magic we have come to expect from Jeeves-and-Wooster stories, it is filled with a perhaps more grown-up hilarity, based on more grown-up times, and speaking to a more grown-up audience. 

Out of curiosity googled and found:

Jeeves and Wooster Reading List

• The Inimitable Jeeves (1923)*
• Carry On, Jeeves (1925)*
• Very Good Jeeves (1930)*
• Right Ho, Jeeves (1934; US title Brinkley Manor)
• The Code of the Woosters (1938)
• Joy in the Morning (1946)
• The Mating Season (1949)
• Jeeves and the Feudal Spirit (1955; US title Bertie Wooster Sees it Through)
• Jeeves in the Offing (1960; US title How Right You Are, Jeeves)
• Thank You, Jeeves (1934)
• Stiff Upper Lip, Jeeves (1963)
• Much Obliged, Jeeves (1971; US title Jeeves and the Ties that Bind)
• Aunts Aren’t Gentlemen (1974; US title The Cat-Nappers)

Lean In Sheryl Sandberg

First chapter titled "The leadership Ambition Gap: What would you do if you weren't afraid?" of the book lays out some of the complex challenges women face and each subsequent 10 chapters focuses on an adjustment or difference that we can make ourselves: increasing our self confidence.  They are titled as Sit on the table; success and likeablity; It's a Jungle gym, not a ladder; Are you my Mentor?; Seek and speak your truth; Don't leave Before you leave; Make your partner a real partner; The Myth of doing it all; Let's start talking about it and working through toward Equality. 

She puts forth that there is no one definition of success or happiness, and not every women want career or children, and do not advocate that all should have the same objective. We each have to chart our own unique course and define which goals fit our lives, values and dreams. Whatever we do, we must lean in, and increasing the number of women in positions of power is a necessary element of true equality. 

Sandberg devotes only three of the book’s 11 chapters to work/family balance. The rest are about how women can take charge of their own careers and push forward at a time when gender bias is more alive and well than most of us may want to admit. 

A book that has a powerful message but that is also full of personal vulnerability and first-hand anecdotes, packed with statistics and footnoted studies that back her points. She writes about her divorce in her 20s and how she felt it signified a personal failing, about how, as a girl, she felt ashamed when people called her “bossy,” and how she was racked with self-doubt while a college student, even though she was near the top of her class at Harvard.

1. It’s incredibly difficult to manage both career and motherhood, even before you give birth.

2. She considers herself a feminist who benefits from the struggles of the activists who battled for women’s rights.

3. She points out that men still run the world.

4. She gets it about women’s compensation.

5. She believes the feminist revolution has stalled.

6. She argues convincingly that internal obstacles hold women back.

7. She makes a strong contrarian point about mentors.

8. Women should ask their partners to do at least half the parenting work.

9. It’s important to have this conversation. -  talk about getting ahead and what it means to seek leadership roles.

This book was 43 rd of 2020.

The great realisation : Corona

The book on "The great realisation : Sometime you got to get sick, to get better." So true. Yet to be released, most probably in September.

The youtube narration was just super, Tomprobablyfollery:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nw5KQMXDiM4

Here are the words to Tom Foolery’s video of his poem “The Great Realisation”
“Tell me the one about the virus again, then I’ll go to bed”.

“But, my boy, you’re growing weary, sleepy thoughts about your head”.

“That one’s my favourite. Please, I promise, just once more”.

“Okay, snuggle down, my boy, but I know you all too well.

This story starts before then in a world I once would dwell”.

“It was a world of waste and wonder, of poverty and plenty,

Back before we understood why hindsight’s 2020

You see, the people came up with companies to trade across all lands

But they swelled and got much bigger than we ever could have planned

We always had our wants, but now, it got so quick

You could have anything you dreamed of, in a day and with a click

We noticed families had stopped talking, that’s not to say they never spoke

But the meaning must have melted and the work life balance broke

And the children’s eyes grew squarer and every toddler had a phone

They filtered out the imperfections, but amidst the noise, they felt alone.

And every day the skies grew thicker, ‘till you couldn’t see the stars,

So, we flew in planes to find them, while down below we filled our cars.

We drove around all day in circles, we’d forgotten how to run

We swopped the grass for tarmac, shrunk the parks ‘till there were none

We filled the sea with plastic because our waste was never capped

Until, each day when you went fishing, you’d pull them out already wrapped

And while we drank and smoked and gambled, our leaders taught us why

It’s best to not upset the lobbies, more convenient to die

But then in 2020, a new virus came our way,

The governments reacted and told us all to hide away

But while we were all hidden, amidst the fear and all the while,

The people dusted off their instincts, they remembered how to smile

They started clapping to say thank you and calling up their mums

And while the car keys gathered dust, they would look forward to their runs

And with the skies less full of voyagers, the earth began to breathe

And the beaches bore new wildlife that scuttled off into the seas

Some people started dancing, some were singing, some were baking

We’d grown so used to bad news, but some good news was in the making

And so when we found the cure and were allowed to go outside

We all preferred the world we found to the one we’d left behind

Old habits became extinct and they made way for the new

And every simple act of kindness was now given its due”

“But why did it take us so long to bring the people back together?”

“Well, sometimes you’ve got to get sick, my boy, before you start feeling better

Now, lie down and dream of tomorrow and all the things that we can do

And who knows, if you dream hard enough, maybe some of them will come true

We now call it The Great Realisation and yes, since then, there have been many

But that’s the story of how it started and why hindsight’s 2020”

The world we dwelled - It was a world of waste and wonder , poverty and plenty.........Then in 2020 the virus came, Government told us to hide....They started calling mom's, clapping, earth began to breathe, people started dancing, singing and baking.....Good news was on it's way......

*Before Corona*

Before Corona I was a longing for a salary hike,

today I am longing for my salary

Before Corona I was longing for my promotion,

today I am holding on to my position

Before Corona I was thinking about quitting my job,

today I am strongly sticking to my job

Before corona I refused to carry my laptop to my home,

today I have moved my office to my home

Before Corona I was planning for a long vacation,

today I am waiting to go back to my workstation

Before Corona I was waiting for a weekend,

today I am waiting when will corona end

Before Corona I was using video call to say hi to my friends and relatives,

today I am on a video call with my neighbours too

Before Corona I was dressed for the occasion,

today there are no occasions to dress

Before Corona I was worried about the future,

today I am worried about the present

*An invisible virus has changed the way we think and live*

As per doctors, there are 3-4 possibilities that might end the widespread of COVID-19.

1. Herd immunity - 60% gets the disease and spread reduces. Millions will die during the course of time.

2. Virus mutation - Virus losing its power over a period of time. Possibility is less considering the amount of strength virus possess currently.

3. Vaccine - A vaccination to prevent the disease. Takes longer time to invent, manufacture and inject to humans.

4. Capsule - If invented, could be the best possible way just like we controlled h1n1 and malaria etc.

Till that time use mask while speaking to reduce the quantity of virus spread leading to mild symptomed disease for the infected. Studies say that the widespread in NY, USA was controlled with people using masks strictly.

What about you? What did you figure out? Do tell.That mad rush made the world ugly, all would be beautiful, if we slow down. Nature, relationship, and everything around and within us. Is mine