Simplicity

Running as a hobby; my journey so far…

2010-11-20T14:23:00.003-06:00

I remember when I was in the 5th grade I won the first prize in 100 meters running. It was a proud moment for me and my parents. However, as with most middle-class families in the 80s, my parents (especially my dad) thought that such sports are not for girls and I should just focus on my studies. I never really showed interest in sports after that, and hence my interest in running faded away…

Fast forward 2010, I am standing in Coral 9 with my dear friend Gina to run the San Antonio Rock ‘N’ Roll half-marathon on Nov 14th – my first, and definitely many more to come. I trained to run the 2009 half-marathon but had to drop out at the last minute due to a persisting lower back problem. I trained harder after that and finally ran this one – finished it in 2:50. Never during the race did I once think about the pain or why I was doing it, I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the run. I guess that is what happens when you find your calling…

Well, the journey so far has been a truly exhilarating experience, and here I am to share it with people who want to experience the joy of running but for some reason never actually get there. Read on…

The Comeback!

My comeback to running was, is and will always be wholly attributed to Mr.G. When I first met him at our Chennai office, I remember him always leaving office in the evening to run and then come back and work late into the nights. No matter how busy he was or what kind of weather it was, he would go running. Considering he came from an army family background, I thought it was something he grew up doing and he was an exception. I completely brushed aside the idea of me getting back to running, conveniently assuming it’s too late to start. I guess it was my luck that I happened to be in the US at the same time as Mr.G, because even in the US he continued to follow his regime of running. A chance tagging along with him on one of his runs at the medical center was my first comeback to running after years. I was so unfit at that time that I could barely run 400m at a stretch; I remember taking 2 breaks during the 400m run, and finishing the 800m length with great difficulty. But I loved it. I started doing those short runs and they really helped me shed off a few kilos. That was in year 2004, when I was in my mid 20’s.

A fresh Start…

Back in India after that trip, I stopped running for 2 years. Yes. I got lazy again and the interest died. However, towards the end of 2006 (November) when I was pursuing my MBA, I decided to start running again. I started with short 1 Km runs slowly taking it up to 3 Km. I would run every single day – rain or shine – how much I ran did not matter, the aim was to discipline myself to run everyday. That’s the first thing anybody wanting to make running a hobby has to focus on – Discipline. Running is something one needs to pursue it long enough for it to grow on you (well, that’s true with any other activity as well!). However, with running/any sport, since it is physically challenging, the first thought that comes to us is to give up, mind dictates our body and we get tired quickly. As with my own example; before 2006, I never pursued it long enough to start loving it. But this time, I was going to make sure I did everything right. I made a conscious effort to run regularly irrespective of the distance. That brought in discipline and I started organizing every other activity of mine around my running schedule.

From Nov 2006 to Oct 2007, I would run regularly – 1.5 to 2 Km runs everyday for 5 months, till I finished my MBA in April 2007. After that I started running 3 days a week but would run 3+ Kms everyday. It’s funny how great that 3 Km run seemed to me at that time, I was on top of the world! I guess I was more proud of my ability to stay disciplined and go for a run as frequently as I planned, than the length of the runs. Whenever my mind would start telling me to stop I would think why do I want to stop - are my legs/back aching, am I really tired or is it my mind that is weakening my spirits, and I would continue running. Running had more impact on my life than just help loose a weight, my outlook towards everything in life started becoming more positive, there was definite glow on my face and I was more alert and energetic in everything I did than before. I would feel terribly guilty if I missed a day’s run for some reason, and would struggle to sleep. Most importantly, running started dictating what I ate, as I now knew how difficult it was to burn off those calories, I started being more conscious of what I ate. I’ll discuss more about eating habits in a bit. But in general, for beginners, it is very important to eat in moderation, completely avoiding oily or fatty foods. When you first start running, the body is losing a lot of fat, craving for it to be restored, so anything that you eat immediately after your work out gets converted to fat if you are not conscious of what you eat. For the first 6 months when I started running, all I ate was 3 phulkas + 1 cup dal + 1 cup veggies for dinner. I used to run in the evening around 7 pm and eat my dinner at 9 pm. Lunch was my heaviest meal with a cup of rice added to the dinner menu I mentioned. Lastly, do not forget to drink a LOT of water!

From Nov 07 to Dec 07, I did not run much at all – that’s when I got married, and was busy preparing to relocate to the US. Also, those 2 months gave me enough time to successfully gain back almost 60% of the weight I had lost in those 10 months time – I had lost 7 Kilos and I successfully gained back 4 Kilos in those 2 months! LOL!

From now on, no looking back...

From Jan 07 to March 07, I was too lazy to start running again, remember I had let my body sink into a comfortable state by eating wrong! And then, there was a wake-up call. What was I doing? 10 months of hard work and I was letting it go down the drain! I decided to start running again. Not to forget that I was now with Mr.G and there was no way he would let me sit on my ass while he was running! Ha! I was back again at the medical center where Mr.G had helped me make a comeback in 2004. Somewhere in mid 2007 I started running and I haven’t stopped ever since, and I do not intend to ever stop unless god starts getting jealous of me and breaks my legs or something. I started with my regularly 800m continuous runs (suddenly I had to start counting everything in miles now!) which increased to 2 laps at a stretch and I reached a point when I could run 4 laps at a stretch (2 miles/ 3.2.Kms). After a while, I joined a gym as it was too cold to run outside. That opened my eyes to a different level of running.

Joining a gym was one of the best things to do after moving to the US. While running outside is fun and a lot tougher, running on a treadmill is great for endurance training/speed training. Also, I realized the importance of weight training and mixing other machine workouts with running. As much as one grows to love running, there will be days when you don’t feel like running and you need an alternative work out to keep you on your toes – elliptical/cross trainer/spinning/biking are all great alternatives.

I realized when I run on the treadmill I am able to run faster than on the outside track, simply because on a treadmill you can vary the speed and as you increase the speed you have no other choice but to keep up with that speed. Treadmill speed challenges you to run faster, while running outside you control the speed and tend to run slower. At least, that’s the case with me. As I started running regularly on the treadmill, my form and pace improved and that helped me run better and for a longer time outside. From July 07 to July 08 I had trained enough to reach a speed of 7.5 mph from 5 mph; truly, I have come a long way. In July 08, I ran 5 miles in 42 minutes at a stretch and that was the most fulfilling moment of my life. That’s when I truly understood the meaning of the words “runner’s high” and one has to experience it to wholly relate to it. Since then, there has been no looking back! I try to run 3-5 miles, 4 times a week; I sometimes try to do a long run of 7-8 miles once a week. When I do the long run, I try not to run more 2.5 miles on other days or I just do spinning/biking or even walking to loosen up the muscles.

From July 07 to Oct 07, I lot 8 kilos/17.6 lbs, going from 64 Kilos to 56 Kilos. I cannot tell you how great I feel! Ask my friends who have seen me when I was 69 Kilos (during 2002-2004 before I made a comeback to running) how different I look now. I was never obese but my short height definitely made me look fat. After last 3 years of efforts that have gone into my running and work out in general, I don’t think I can ever gain back that weight even if I tried hard. One unique gift of being in the US is you get inspired by the dedication people show towards fitness here. I see 80 year olds in my gym walking on the treadmill, doing weights and cannot but be inspired by them. Not to forget Mr.G’s dedication to sports is simply too great and infectious to not be inspired. People twice my age (ok, now I have to reveal my age! Sigh! Let’s say very early 30s) easily run a couple of miles in my gym, so there is no way I am doing anything less than them. The bottom-line is there is no age/background required to start building a workout regime, or running in specific. I started when I was in my late 20s, and I realized it was only my mental block towards running that was holding me back and nothing else. It surely helps to have company because that way you stay motivated, so try to find a running partner. After sometime when you start loving it, you will want to run alone, as it gives you a thrill to just be on your own, think, and just enjoy the run. I personally enjoy running alone, not that I hate company, but I will just fine if I have to run alone.

Eating healthy is important

I discussed about proper eating habits in the beginning of this post. This is something anyone who wants to pursue running for a long term should be extremely conscious of. I know some people mark-off some days as cheat days and eat their heart’s content. But I personally believe in eating whatever one feels like eating, but in moderation. So, if I feel like eating fries, I eat a few fries and fulfill my urge instead of waiting for the “cheat day” to eat a bag of large fries adding 1000 calories at once. Anything eaten in moderation can be burnt off easily in the next run and you are back to your routine. A single day’s wrong eating can screw up the schedule for weeks. Believe me. I have been through that. An interesting change that automatically occurs in our eating habits when we start working out regularly is – we hardly crave for unhealthy food, at least not too often that you feel like eating junk food. There are times when I crave for pastries, fries, sweets or ghee in food, but my mind automatically rejects this craving if starts repeating often. And the funny thing is when I eat these things, I don’t rest till I have burnt it off! Ha! That’s the stage one should try to reach wherein you no more let any fat stick on to your body, you just burn it off before it does.

The fact that I’m a vegetarian and I love to cook, solves half of my problem, but also leaves me protein deprived. I try to add as much sprouts/lentils as possible to my diet to make sure I get enough protein. I eat a lot of greens and fresh fruits. My only weakness is rice…but I have learnt to control the quantity, and make an effort to burn it off when I over eat.

Last but not the least…

Running can be a truly exhilarating experience if pursued correctly. For one to enjoy it for a long time, it is important to avoid injuries by overdoing or doing it wrong. A lot of us make the mistake of not giving the body enough time to warm up and cool down, which causes most of the injuries. Please do proper stretching and walking before and after the run to avoid cramps. I have had the opportunity to meet some great athletes here in the US, who are now in their late 50s & 60s but are still actively pursuing some intensive sports, – Tennis, Squash, biking and running, of course! Some of these guys have run more marathons than any youngsters I know of. Their secret to success is the time these guys have invested in training. Yes, Training. One cannot wake up one day and decided to run 5 miles, some might actually succeed but never be able to run again.

Running requires a lot of training to sustain it for a long time…running a mile in 10 minutes is different from running for 90 minutes. The body has to be trained to sustain the run for a certain time and/or a certain speed. So, beginners – please choose your own pace to train but make sure you are slowly adding speed/distance to reach your desired goal. Also, listen to your body, stop when you are hurting – really hurting, like I said in the earlier sections, our mind is very cunning and makes you believe you are tired even when you have barely started running, give it time, bear the pain for a while to see if it is real, else keep going till the time you control your mind to do the things the way you want it. You will be amazed at how much control your mind has over your body…the trick is to break that control and take charge of your mind. The more you do it, the faster you will get there. Sorry, but there are no short cuts- no pain, no gain! But let me tell you something, if someone like me who had absolutely no background of any sports can do it starting when I was in my late 20s then anyone can do it! Go for it!

Okay, I might not be a great example – how about Fauja Singh? http://www.sikhiwiki.org/index.php/Fauja_Singh – the oldest marathon runner in the world – an Indian born Sikh living in London who started running at the age of 89! His half & full-marathon timings are way better than a lot of people 1/4th of his age. His is a story that I doubt will fail to inspire anyone. Period.

Picture Perfect! The Beautiful Bear Lake ...

2010-07-14T16:28:00.000-05:00

What can I say?

2010-07-14T16:27:00.000-05:00

A Snow Necklace!

2010-07-14T16:25:00.000-05:00

A Road to No Where...

2010-07-14T16:24:00.000-05:00

A Trip to the Rocky Mountains National Park

2010-07-11T19:27:00.005-05:00

The much awaited July 4th weekend was fast nearing, but we had not made any great plans to make use of those holidays...driving down to Houston to see NASA was on the list, but for some reason we did not have enough enthusiasm to pursue it. You know how it is, when you stay close to an attraction you are not so motivated to go and see it, you always keep brushing the ideas aside saying -oh, it is nearby we can do it anytime...that anytime has not happened in the last 3 years! :) Finally, when we got down to thinking of places we could go - Yosemite National Park (NP), Glacier NP, Yellowstone NP phew...we thought Yellowstone might be a good idea - I started checking tickets on June 25th for travel on July 1st or 2nd...wah! How smart of me. What was I even thinking! One quick look at the ticket prices told us we had waited too long to check tickets, and then we started thinking of alternatives - how about flying down to Denver (relatively cheaper airfare) and then drive down to Yellowstone in Wyoming. Good thinking on my part! That's when I realized why not go to the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado, it is one among the many must-see national parks, and so began our trip to the RMNP, a choice we will never ever regret.

Air tickets booked to Denver, lodge reservations made at YMCA (thanks to my manager Mike's suggestion who lives in Denver and has been to RMNP many at times), car rental taken care of (thanks to hotwire - got an unbelievable deal from Hertz!) and last but not the least my shopping (how can I forget this? I'm going hiking - I need sunscreen, hat, sunglasses, summer wear and a zillion other things, ha!) done! Eagerly waiting to fly out of the super hot San Antonio!

We took a late evening flight to Denver via Phoenix. Flight delayed by 45 mins in SAT which means we will miss the connecting in Phoenix. The first minor screw-up of our trip, despite many more to occur during the trip, we got through it all easily and the trip was a success. I checked with the counter agent, and he assured me that they will hold the connecting in Phoenix. That's what they did - we made it to Denver on time. Next stop - Hertz car rental - quick in and out, trying to open the boot of the Nissan Versa, we are unable to open it. I call an assistant who tries to do the same and tells us this model does not have boot space. I'm telling you that was the dumbest thing I have heard - the boot is clearly seen, she cannot figure out how to open it and announces this model does not have a bootspace, whatever. She upgraded us to a mid-size car, a brand new Corolla! Wah, good for us. We drive out of the Hertz parking lot laughing at that girl but silently thanking her, and head to our hotel in Loveland to hit the sack for the night.

Day 1 - Nothing else can motivate Mr. Gandhi to wake up early other than Squash (or Sports/Gym in general) and food. He wakes me up at 8 am (!) to eat the hot continental breakfast at the hotel. Well, it was worth losing the sleep - hot waffles, eggs, fruits, bagel, bread, muffin and a choice of juices and coffee/tea. Glad we had that breakfast; we are all kicked up to hit the road to RMNP. We check-out of the hotel and start our journey towards Estes Park (The town is named after a Missouri native Joel Estes, who founded Estes Park in 1859), a cute little town at the foothills of RMNP.

Our first stop was at the YMCA office to confirm our lodging reservations. The campus is huge and offers everything one needs to explore the Rockies, and a ton of activities to enjoy as a family without having to leave the campus –Campfires, Hiking, Fishing, Mini Golf, Tennis, Horseshoe, Fly Fishing, Climbing Wall, Rafting, Horseback Rides, and Mountain biking are a few among the many other activities that YMCA offers. The location itself is in the midst of RMNP spread over 800+ acres of land at an elevation of 8,010 ft above sea level, presenting some spectacular views of the Rockies. One could just sit on the patio of the lodge and gaze at these mountains for days together. Btw, the YMCA campus also has a fully stocked library, a dining hall to seat 700+ people offering breakfast/lunch/dinner at reasonable rates (BF comes free with lodge reservations), and a nurses station to take care of you incase you fall ill!!. Truly impressive. I could spend an entire week here doing things without ever leaving the campus.

After ensuring our lodge reservations are still good (peak season attracts ample overbooking, did not want to take a chance with that) we start off on our scenic drive, a must-do thing here on 2 roads – Old Trail Ridge Road and Old Fall River Road. Due to lack of time to do both of them we chose the former. Old Trail Ridge Road is the longest continues highway (34) in the US with a distance of 48 miles, and reaching an elevation of 12,183 ft. The road starts at Estes Park on the east and traverses the RMNP to Grand Lake in the west, and opens only from early summer due to heavy snowfall during winters. The drive offers breathtaking views of the Rockies – numerous streams in the midst of blissful greenery, the tundra region with low lying tiny wild flowers (called the alpine avens) between the rocks, and the snow packed glaciers, as we drive up the road going from tree line to subalpine to alpine region. There are many view points where one can park the car and enjoy the scenic beauty. Our first stop was at the Rainbow Curve- provides an excellent view of Horseshoe Park, Alluvial Fan and the Beaver Ponds. Elevation: 10,875 feet. Second stop - Forest Canyon, provides an excellent view of Forest Canyon and the Mountains that make up the Continental Divide. Elevation: 11,758 feet. Third stop - Rock Cut Overlook. Elevation: 12,178. There is a Tundra Communities Trailhead – a one mile hike (2-way) that provides some spectacular views of glaciers. The next stop Lava Cliffs (12,048 ft) was closed for construction and we went straight to the Alpine Visitor Center. Elevation: 11,796 feet. It took us 3.5 hours to do this stretch due to the many stops we made on our way. We had to return back from here as driving the whole length of the road till the Grand Lake entrance meant we would have to spend the night there and drive back the next morning. Well, we had already passed the highest elevation point of the road (Rock Cut -12,178 ft) and going the full length was mostly downhill to the other side. I’m sure we missed some great views, but for the sake of making the most of limited time we decided to drive back to YMCA at Estes Park.

The night at the YMCA Estes Park lodge after a delicious Mexican dinner was all that we needed to relax from the day long driving we did (or rather, Vikrant did). Before we knew, the cool air from the mountains had put us to a sound sleep. Oh, did I mention, none of the YMCA lodges have TV in them, except family cottages. I think this is a brilliant idea, since lying on the lodge bed and watching the TV is not the idea of a vacation. Also, the mobile signal is extremely spotty, giving us the much needed break from phone, Internet and TV!

Day 2 – We decided to take it easy on day 2 as the idea of this vacation was to relax. We woke up late, and went straight to feed us to a sumptuous lunch at YMCA, and drove down to check out the Estes Park Gondola ride (The Gondola ride was part of the earlier plan which was to drive down to Vail – a picturesque ski resort 3 hours drive from Estes Park on day 3; however, we changed plans as we realized how much more we could do at Estes Park). The Gondola ride took us to the top of Prospect Mountain that provides a great view of Lake Estes, Long’s Peak and the Continental divide. We spent a peaceful 2 hours on this mountain enjoying the scenic views and feeding Chipmunks! Yes, there are so many chipmunks here that one could spend an entire day going “nuts” running after them. It is such a sight to see them run to you, take the nut, run back and hide behind a rock and eat them – they have a very systematic way of eating nuts – first of all, they always take one nut at a time. They break the whole groundnut into 2 pieces, take one half of the pod, break the hard shell, remove the skin on the nut and keep it aside. They repeat this process for the 2nd pod and then start eating the nuts. Isn’t it impressive?

It was a well spent afternoon on the top of Prospect Mountain, but before we could call it a day, something had to happen. Our 3rd screw-up during the trip – while connecting the GPS to the car plug, there was a spark and I GPS stopped working. Without a GPS, we would be totally lost, so we drove back to YMCA to check where we could find a new GPS at Estes Park. Made a few phone calls and finally found a RadioShack outlet. The store keeper checked our GPS and told us to use the alternative connector in the car and it should work fine, thank god! So, GPS problem solved – we don’t need a new one! We thanked him and drove off to find a nice place for dinner. It seems to have been our lucky day – we found a Nepali restaurant serving delicious Indian food in the Estes Park downtown. It was right next to the Subway joint we were heading towards! We happily ordered a list of dishes for to go and drove back to YMCA as Mr. Gandhi wanted to go for a run before dinner. At YMCA, I sat at the administration building patio and read a book, while Mr. Gandhi went for a run in the chilly weather of Colorado at 10 PM, after which we enjoyed our absolutely delightful Indian meal in the YMCA lodge lobby on a rustic wood dining table in front of warm fireplace, a dinner that we will remember for life. Mr. G would not call it a night till he charted out a hiking plan for next day. He read about the strenuous rated 2.5 mile hike to the Emerald Lake overlook in one of the travel guide. That was to be our next day’s adventure.

Day 3: We started our day with a sumptuous breakfast at YMCA, and drove straight to the Bear Lake trailhead from where we were to begin our hiking adventure. At the trailhead, after making some enquiry I realized the hike to Flattop Mountain is 4.5 miles one-way (an estimated 6 hours to & fro for the hike) as against the 2.5 miles Mr. G had mentioned. I’m like what the heck, I can do it. I have been running for the past 2 years and do 5-mile runs frequently. Worst case, I’ll stop when I cannot walk anymore and wait for Vikrant to do the full length and comeback. This is a decision that I’ll never regret making. We start walking towards Bear Lake from where various trailheads diverge. We take the one saying Flattop Mountain. After hiking for nearly an hour, we reach Dream Lake overlook – our first milestone, we are still in the tree line zone, though. Another hour of hiking and we reach Emerald Lake overlook, the lake is named aptly after the beautiful green color of the lake. We are now above the tree line, sub-alpine region consisting of small shrub like trees, and I can feel the air getting thinner, but still much better than what we were about to experience in the next one hour.

The hike from Emerald lake overlook to the flattop mountain was a killer last leg of the journey. We started entering the alpine tundra region where there are no trees to protect you from the sun rays, and the air keeps getting thinner, the terrain is full of uneven rocks and the hike suddenly becomes very difficult. After 2.5 hours of hiking I wanted to give up. Just then, we met some people climbing down and asked they how far were we from the flattop and they said another 30 minutes. This knowledge motivated me and I started hiking again. Well, it actually took us one more hour to reach the flattop. Finally, after 3.5 hours of painstaking hiking we reached the flattop mountain to realize the pain was truly worth it. The first look of the Tyndall Glacier from the flattop is beyond what words can explain – simply mind blowing. We spotted a few marmots here that were curiously looking at us as we were invading their territory. We started our hike at 12.30 pm (not a great time to start the hike as the sun rays kill you to no end) and reach the top at 4 p.m. As we reached the flattop we could see clouds moving towards us and it was pretty scary – the thought of getting killed by a thunderstorm on a mountain was not encouraging. I started praying as Mr. G was not yet satisfied with the adventure and wanted to quickly do an extra length of the trail; he went till the Hallet’s Peak and Tonahutu trailhead (after reaching our hotel, we researched about this trail and discovered that this trail leads us to the Grand Lake entrance on the west side of the Rockies – so, one could start from Bear Lake in the east and reach Grand Lake on the west following this trail – it will however, take a good 16-20 hours to do the entire length, one-way!), while I waited at the Flattop Mountain summit. Finally, after 25 minutes he emerges out of the cloud, climbing down the slippery snow pile. I had to shout to him to keep him on track as the visibility was extremely limited.

As we started our climb down the trail away from the Flattop Mountain, I could not help but smile at the amazing journey we had undertaken – a sense of achievement gushed inside me and I forgot all about the heaviness in my legs. Mr. G is now in a hurry to get back as the clouds are so thick that we could barely see each other. We start walking fast biding goodbye to the marmot, the glacier, the tundra rocks, the beautiful wild flowers and the clouds…the climb downhill was relatively easy and quicker, though sometimes steep and slippery. As we climbed down the tundra region and entered the sub-alpine region to reach Emerald Lake overlook, we realized why the people whom we met while climbing up miscalculated the time taken to go from Emerald Lake to Flattop. The climb down from flattop to the lake overlook took us 30 minutes but the climb up took us close to an hour. Never mind, if not for that wrong guidance I probably would have stopped at Emerald Lake overlook. There were 2 other Russian couples other than us at the flattop and like us they were also trying to beat the clouds and quickly climb down the mountain.

It took us 2 hours to hike down the trail before we hit Bear Lake and spent a few minutes there. We started driving back from the Bear Lake, feeling fully charged, and reminiscing the beautiful views of the mountains we had seen in those 6 hours – an adventure we will cherish for life. As we were nearing YMCA we realized that our body energy reserves were slowly nearing zero depletion and we needed to refuel fast – our next stop, Nepal’s Café, yet again – the food totally captivated us! We ordered lots of food to go and drove back to YMCA.

On that night when we were relaxing in the YMCA lobby, we noticed an old man getting things ready for a presentation. Mr. G went to help him and found out that the chair were being arranged for a family reunion presentation. The man, who is the head of the family, had put together a video highlighting the achievements of the entire family – 3 sons, their wives, 8 grandchildren, and a message from his own 89-year old mother. We were so moved by this event that we could not help but sneak from the first floor lobby to get a glimpse of this family and their responses to the video presentation.

Day 4: The last morning of our trip at YMCA, we really don’t want to leave this place but all good things have to come to an end. We do not want to miss any fun and head straight to the dining hall to take advantage of the free breakfast at YMCA. After a brief stop at the gift shop we start our journey back to the airport. Well, we quickly detoured. Mr.G had been for the past 3 days wondering about a road he had seen on one of the mountains near YMCA and his curiosity as to where it leads to was killing him. So, here we go…we take a detour to check it out. It turns out the road leads to private residences on the hill top. We drove all the way up to the end of the road that provides some great views of the mountains, and a birds-eye view of the entire YMCA campus. Finally, with Mr.G’s curiosity satisfied we start driving towards the airport, btw, we drove through Roosevelt national forest while on highway 36, and it was pretty cool. As we neared the airport, we could still see the Rockies from far away, all I could think of then is – we will be back again!

As we checked-in at the curbside, our boarding passes indicated that we were on the stand-by list and this was to be last screw-up of the trip. Thankfully, after 2 hours of unpredictability, our seats got confirmed and we were on the plane to San Antonio. But, guess what? We got exit row seats allotted, giving us more leg room and a relaxing journey back to our home sweet home. Well, all’s well that ends well.

Back to Blogging!

2010-07-10T13:21:00.001-05:00

Wow! I can't believe it has been 3 years since I wrote my last post. Time flies! Well, quite a few things have changed in my life since 07, I got married in Dec 07, moved to the US the same month and had to transition in my job and personal life in a new country. I had been to the US before making the move for good in 07, but setting up base here on a long-term basis took some time for me to settle down.

I now live in San Antonio, Texas and continue to work for the same consulting firm I used to while in Chennai - Frost &Sullivan. I have thought about writing on my blog many a times under multiple instances, but something or the other pops and my thought fades away before I can get to writing. This time, however, I guess the motivation was strong enough to make me sit down and write about my experience of a trip I took recently to the Rocky Mountains National Park. I guess I just love documenting things I love doing - travel is one among them.

In the past 3 years, I have been busy setting up our home, immersing myself in my job that has provided me with ample opportunity to travel and see new places and meet with some great people, and understand the American culture in a much more deeper sense than I had ever done in my previous short visits to this country. I'll write about all of these things in my future blogs...but for now let's get started with an interesting one - my travelogue on the trip to Rocky Mountains!

Visit to Anantha Padmanabhaswamy Temple in Adyar, Chennai

2007-07-07T11:26:00.000-05:00

I visited Anantha Padmanabhaswamy temple today in Adyar. My friend and I were roaming around shopping in that area when I mentioned to her that I have heard a lot about this temple, but had never been there. We decide to visit the temple.

The first feeling I got when I entered that temple is of total peace of mind. The Siddhivinayak idol on the right hand side of the entrance is such a beauty to the eyes - it personifies strength,comfort, power,solidarity, and what not...the sight of Lord Vinayak was so gripping that I was moved to tears...some powerful aura absorbed me. My friend and I had been discussing about how complex life can get, what kind of helpless situations we can get in..etc..in general about life. The sight of this god just took away all the mental strain and I was in eternal bliss...absolutely!

We lit Deepam in front of Siddivinayk and Navagraha, and then entered the main temple...that of Lord Padmanabha Swamy...Oh, what a sight it was...absolutely encaptivating..the same peaceful and blissful feeling, the feeling of fullness, the feeling of positive energy, the feeling of hope...it was like god telling me - "why do you unnecessarily worry yourself about so many things...I'm the wire puller..I will make everything alright"....

For some reason, I really liked this temple...I felt good being there...I generally do not like temples when there is too much crowd around, and I do not like some temples at all because of the way they are built or the kind of priest they have...whatever. However, this temple was different, even with lots of people around me...I could only feel one thing - an amazing aura, flow of positive energy around me...absolute faith of people in the god...this temple gave me a sense of fulfillment, an unexplainable feeling...a positive aura...I really loved the feeling! I know for sure I will keep going back to this temple...those of you who are religious and love visiting temples, should give this temple a visit.

Transitioning from being an elder sister to a friend...it is a tough journey

2007-06-16T12:31:00.000-05:00

I used to feel jealous of her when my mom carried her in her arms, I used to throw tantrums and create a scene if my dad spent more time with her than me...I used to shy away from my parents and spend more time with my grandparents as I just used to desist her presence, we used fight all the time - I have pushed her from the stairs and she would go rolling down, only to be back crying aloud and my mom giving me a good spanking ...lol!

Till the time, life took a turn and I realized the responsibility I had as a elder sister...mom fell ill and stayed that way for long...very very long, and I stepped in take care of my sister. From taking care of her in school, to bringing her back home, to help her finish homework, to feed her lunch & dinner, to help her at every step - be it a fancy dress competition or a painting competition or anything under this sky... I had a say in it. She would come running to me for every small thing...

Things do not remain the same, you see...One fine day, I realize during a casual conversation with my sister how much things have changed - Yes, she has grown up, she can take care of herself, make her own decisions, wants to be left to herself in whatever she does...she has become an independent individual, which all of us do at some point in time in life. I need to understand this, take this in my stride and let her fly...be there only to help if she falls...but this goddamn heart does not understand this...it just refuses to accept the fact! I feel bad if she does not tell me even a small thing that happened, either something she bought or some place she went...They say its important for parents to be a friend to their kids when they grow up, I agree, but I can see how difficult it must be...if I, as a sister am finding it so difficult.

I know its gonna be a journey, a tough one, till I realize that all of us need that space to do our own things...The journey has just begun...

The Importance of Building Self-trustworthiness...

2007-06-13T10:43:00.000-05:00

This is a topic that I have wanted to write about for quite sometime now...the importance of this fact struck me very hard when I heard to a guest lecture at my college by Alok Sharma - India Head, Apple Computers

This guy, with his simple but absolutely dignified demeanor left me convinced about a thought that I have always believed it - the importance of having a clean conscience and building respect for oneself in one's own eyes. How does one build trustworthiness - with oneself and others? I believe, it is by defining one’s values, principles and rules in life and living by it, come what may. Honoring a promise made to oneself. A person who can do this will automatically build trust about himself/herself with people around.

Mr. Sharma spoke about the emphasis he lays on the importance of living by his beliefs and values in life - that of righteousness. He quoted an example where he put his job at stake to avoid paying bribe in a business deal - this incident irked questions from the audience about how one can survive in this bad world if we were to follow such rules or stick to such principles. In response to this, he quoted an incident where he happened to meet Azim Premji who gave a simple answer to this so called difficult question - Azimji's answer -"One does not get profitable by paying bribes to middlemen, in fact the returns get reduced - because, once a set-up is created using middlemen to get work done, the expectation increases at each level,and at the end, though the number of projects got is more, the returns definitely get diminished, as so many people need to be satisfied in between" - So true, but this is beyond understanding of 99 percent of the people.

But one thing is certain- I believe, the moment you make your principles clear to people and set their expectations right, how much ever they might bad mouth you in front of you as well as behind your back - they will dare not try any tricks with you. All the blabbering they do in front of you about how foolish you are to follow Gandhism - if I can say so- they do it only because they do not have the guts to be like you or follow the path of righteousness. Of course, there are many people who respect such values and principles in life - otherwise, there would not be a Infy or a Wipro or a MindTree Consulting...am sure there are many more, which do not come to my mind now...

Once we have all this defined, building a personal & organizational value system becomes easier - even if we cannot change much of organizational values, we can surely change the organization -but for that we need to define and prioritize our values in life.

Among many things that he spoke about, something that I remember very well is the leadership attributes one should develop - Beliefs,Values,Character,and Knowledge. To quote him -" As a good manager, hire people who can perform at least one function better that you can do"- In this world of insecurity, managers could probably take a cue from these lines.

Last but not the least, he spoke about how simple day-to-day things in our life can help us build self trustworthiness - something which I regularly follow - I could relate to it so much...I'm sure most of us can relate to it...take for example -practicing a fitness regime - it is so common for all of us to plan with great passion to run 5 km or go to gym for 30 mins daily or cut down on all our favorite food - only to end up doing 1/10th or none of what we planned and feeling terribly depressed about not being able to follow what we set out to do.

Believe me, these small promises made to oneself and not being able to fulfill them can bring one's morale down to a large extent. At least to me, fulfilling any commitment made by me to myself or to anyone is of utmost importance, else something inside my heart troubles me endlessly. Alok gave a simple suggestion of how it is better to set small goals and fulfill them, instead of making big plans only to see them fail. Taking the same fitness example - set short-term goals, probably going to gym 2 -3 times in a week or running 2 km daily or 3 days a week or whatever is comfortable for one -but, keep up the promise made and achieve those goals. This is what builds self-trustworthiness.

This thing about building self-trustworthiness is so satisfying, especially the act of following a short but regular fitness regime is so fulfilling to me...that I came back from my jog today and immediately decide to write this blog.

The run...the sweat...the satisfaction of doing what I promised myself...the pride of bettering myself everyday...its an amazing feeling!

There are so many instances which we can use to practice this and enrich our lives – be it at work (setting short internal deadlines for activities at work) or at home (following a well planned regime for day-to-day chores, cooking, cleaning etc…) or with our social life(control over spending or over indulging)…once we start doing it for one or two activities, automatically we search for fulfillment and meaning in everything that we do…I’m trying, failing at times, learning, nevertheless -getting back on my feet and trying harder…I want it to be a continuing journey, though it is tough and slow...it is better than quickly achieving something and losing it much before we realize what we achieved.

"Relationships" - for a change, its about the love between siblings....

2007-06-06T00:08:00.001-05:00

I happened to read this moving article on WSJ. It provoked me beyond words and brought me back to think about something that I have always believed in - westerners value feelings and relationships more than we Indians boast about ourselves...the media has painted a very wrong picture about them -that they lack patience, they have no family values...believe me, having lived in the US for considerable amount of time and having been friends with more Americans than Indians settled there..these people value family and relationships as much as or more than we do. They give it everything it takes to make a relationship succeed and really struggle hard to maintain it for long. But, yes..they are not hypocrites like most Indians are to drag on with a relationship if things are just not the same...they just move on...is that wrong?? If dragging on with something gone sour is patience, then I personally would not like to have that kind of a patient attitude. Each one's life is precious enough to be wasted on someone who does not value it...

Anyways, without divulging too much from the topic, I urge you guys to read on the following article. In a world where day in and day out we see brothers fighting over property, over whose gonna look after their parents, bragging about how money they spent on their sister's wedding...etc..etc.. here's a truly inspriring article about two brothers.

After a Brain Injury, a Business Plan

When an accident damaged his brother, Rob Groeschen built a company to help himBy THOMAS M. BURTONJune 6, 2007;

One evening in 2003, Rob Groeschen received a disturbing phone call. An irate man in Cincinnati had found Mr. Groeschen's older brother Tom, then 39 years old, wandering in his backyard. Mr. Groeschen got in his car and finally found his brother hours later across the Ohio River in Kentucky.

WSJ's Thomas Burton visits a company that aims to provide disabled workers with useful, rewarding work. Cincinnati-based In Return was founded by Rob Groeschen after his brother, Tom, suffered a traumatic brain injury. "I screwed up again," Tom said. Then he promptly forgot what had happened.

Not long after that, Rob Groeschen decided he had to do something about his brother. As children, they had been best friends. But since Tom suffered severe brain damage in a 1983 car crash, he had struggled to resume a normal life, while Rob watched in an agony of guilt and frustration. "I ran away from Tom's accident for years," Rob says. "But it always haunted me."

An estimated nine million people in the U.S. are disabled from stroke, traumatic brain injury or brain hemorrhage. While rehabilitation helps some, many remain like Tom Groeschen, unable to function at anywhere near their former capacity. People with brain injury vary widely in their abilities, from day to day. Often their memory and thought processes are damaged by their injury. Sometimes their accidents batter their judgment and their actions occasionally can veer wildly into the inappropriate.

Yet, with few options for additional help, most have nowhere else to go but back to an unwelcoming world. Some must depend heavily on their families, most of whom are ill-prepared to deal with a family member who has changed profoundly. Even the most attentive families are forced to simply watch as loved ones degenerate.

To Rob Groeschen, 42, standing by finally became unacceptable. As a bashful kid, he had idolized Tom, a high-school football hero. More than 20 years later, Rob, who had become a wealthy businessman, decided to complete the reversal of roles: He created an unusual new business to help Tom, and gave himself a new mid-career mission.

* * *Applause washed over Tom Groeschen, then 18, as he rose to accept a trophy naming him one of the top 22 high-school football players in Kentucky. One of those clapping was his younger brother Rob, then 16.

Tom and Rob, the youngest of the six children of Jack and LaVern Groeschen (pronounced GRESH-en), grew up in Fort Thomas, Ky., a hilly suburb across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Their father died when they were still in grade school.

Tom was athletic and gregarious, Rob scrawny and shy. When they played pickup baseball, Tom always chose his brother first, saving Rob the embarrassment of being chosen last. In high school, blond, good-looking Tom was homecoming king, prom king and the star running back for Highlands High School's 1981 state championship team. Rob was basically unnoticed, lacking motivation for classes or sports. An old friend of Rob's, John Bankemper, recalls, "Rob was the one no one ever had any expectations of."

But Tom let Rob hang out with his older friends and, if anyone picked on Rob, Tom intervened. The night of the football banquet, Tom insisted that Rob attend and sit next to him. "Tom was the coolest," Rob says. "I was proud just to be his brother."

Around midnight on Aug. 10, 1983, two police officers knocked on the Groeschens' door. They told Mrs. Groeschen that Tom, who was about to start his sophomore year at Eastern Kentucky University, had been in an auto crash. Assuming it was minor, she and Rob drove to a nearby hospital where they learned, to their shock, that Tom actually was at the nearest trauma center, the University Hospital in Cincinnati.

Earlier that night, Tom and a friend had been partying on an Ohio River houseboat. Around 9 p.m., they went for something to eat. Police later found Tom's green Dodge Charger smashed into a guardrail off Interstate 471 in northern Kentucky. His friend was lying outside the car with a broken nose and multiple cuts. Tom was unconscious in the rear of the car, with only a faint pulse. It's not clear who had been driving; both Tom and his friend say they don't remember, and police say no records remain.

Tom had suffered severe head trauma and a collapsed lung and, for a few moments, his heart had stopped. Three days passed before his family knew he would even live. Mrs. Groeschen recalls a social worker speaking to her in a hushed tone: "You'll have to bury the person you knew, and accept the person you have now."

Tom Groeschen lingered in a coma for more than three months, withering away to 135 pounds, down from his playing weight of 195 on his 5-foot-11 frame. One day Rob picked up his brother's leg and was horrified to see how spindly it was.

That fall, Rob started school at Eastern Kentucky, where he had planned to join Tom. His mind was elsewhere. "I felt I should come home," Rob says. "I was feeling that the light was on me now. It was, 'Now what are you going to do?' "

In November, Mrs. Groeschen moved Tom to the Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital in Lexington, Ky. Rob visited most days, watching Tom struggle as therapists tried to teach him how to speak, walk and hold a fork. Tom's determination made a big impression on Rob, almost the way Tom's football stardom had.

Sometimes friends accompanied Rob on visits. They noticed he was uncharacteristically silent afterward. After one visit, he told his friend Brad Kisker, "One day I know I'm going to be Tom's caretaker."

Tom left the rehab center in February 1984 after officials told the Groeschens there wasn't much more to do for him. By then, he could walk mostly on his own, pushing his wheelchair. He could speak somewhat intelligibly, though his voice often trailed off.
Many families at this point place their loved ones in a nursing home. But Mrs. Groeschen rejected that idea, believing that Tom would return to normal.

Mrs. Groeschen had Tom audit classes at Northern Kentucky University. He dropped out after a month when professors concluded he couldn't retain information. Nor could Tom handle plumbing and painting classes at a vocational school. He took a job in a kitchen, but got fired after cutting himself chopping radishes and bleeding on food. He lost a grocery-store job because he couldn't control the floor-polisher. He flunked a tryout at a bakery when he couldn't work the cake-icing applicator.

Eventually, over many months, the Groeschens came to realize the old Tom might never truly return. "It was, 'We can do this, we can do that,' " says LaVern Groeschen. "Well, we couldn't."

Home from college in the summer of 1984, Rob took Tom out for beers at a local pub. Friends wanted to reminisce about high school and football. Tom grinned, but couldn't remember any of his glory days. A wandering eye at times made him look strange. Rob's friends sympathized, but that just made him relive the accident. "I would think, why not me?" he says now. "Why didn't it happen to an underachiever?"

Seven years later, Rob was succeeding professionally in Orlando, Fla. He had moved there after graduating from college in 1987, and taken a job driving a hazardous-waste truck for Safety-Kleen, an environmental-services company. His easy manner appealed to customers. Safety-Kleen put him through several leadership programs and in 1990 named him a sales manager.

He called Tom weekly but left his brother's care largely to his mother. During visits home, "being around Tom would drive me crazy," Rob recalls. When Tom set a drinking glass down, he often put it precariously on the edge of a table. Outside, Tom skipped down the street, careful not to step on sidewalk cracks. Rob often felt relieved upon returning to Florida.
For a while he dated a physical therapist. Rob already was feeling he should be doing more for Tom, and she encouraged him to do it. He liked his carefree life in Orlando, but worried that if he didn't act soon, he might never.

In 1991, he asked Safety-Kleen for a transfer. The company gave him a bigger managerial job in Ohio. "I was more confident that I could make a difference in his life just by my presence," Rob says. "He was one of my programs, one of the things I needed to do."

* * *Tom was living with his mother in Fort Thomas, a short drive away. He and Rob saw each other every few days. When Rob started dating Brenda Hatton, a schoolteacher, he had Tom tag along with them to Cincinnati Reds baseball and Cincinnati Bengals football games.
At times, it was awkward. Like many people with traumatic brain injury, Tom had lost some ability to recognize inappropriate behavior. Seeing a pretty woman, he'd make the lewd sort of remark an adolescent might make. Sometimes he'd go to the restroom and disappear, and Rob would have to search the stadium for him.

Brenda took it mostly in stride. She thought she knew how much Tom meant to Rob. But she was especially moved by what happened the night Rob took her to a Safety-Kleen awards banquet in 1993. After accepting a plaque for his sales performance, Rob returned to his table in tears. He was remembering the football banquet he'd attended with Tom all those years ago, and he was thinking about how Tom's achievements since the accident had inspired him to succeed for both of them.

"This is for Tom," he told Brenda. "I couldn't have done this without Tom."
At the same time, Rob was learning that what he could do for his brother was limited. He and their mother tried to find Tom jobs, but again he wasn't up to most of them. For years, they tried to get him into an assisted-living apartment, but Tom performed too well on reading and other tests to qualify.

Many people in Tom's condition face similar obstacles. Tom isn't retarded -- he's brain-injured. And many brain-injured people vary widely in their abilities. The assisted-living apartments have limited capacity and are intended for the profoundly impaired. When tested, Tom, ever the competitor, rose to the challenge -- and ruled himself out by doing too well.
Tom finally found a job he was able to hold onto, cleaning bathrooms at a truck stop on Interstate 75 in northern Kentucky near Cincinnati. Each morning, he woke at 5 a.m. to take buses two hours to work. After work, he took the bus back home to his mother's house, then usually fell asleep watching television. He no longer had any friends. When asked what he did for a living, he responded disparagingly, "I clean up s- after people." He held the job for a decade, eventually earning $7 an hour. He frequently told his mother and brother that he regretted the night of his accident. "I screwed up again," was a constant refrain.

Like many brain-injured people, Tom developed self-destructive habits. He started smoking. He shoplifted dozens of cigarette lighters. When Rob explained that stealing was wrong, Tom couldn't understand, arguing that the stores had plenty of lighters, Rob says.

Some nights Tom got lost coming home. He missed transfers, fell asleep in bus stations and sometimes just wandered off for no apparent reason. Each time, Rob spent hours looking for him.

That's what happened in 2003 when Tom wound up in a strange backyard in a rough Cincinnati neighborhood. A resident thought Tom was drunk, Rob says. Tom gave the man a phone number for Mrs. Groeschen, who called Rob. Rob told Tom to stay put. But by the time Rob arrived, Tom was on a bus heading in the wrong direction. Rob finally tracked him down at 11 p.m. at the bus station in Covington, Ky.

By then, Rob had started his own business, a recycling and hazardous-waste-handling company called Resource One. With such big customers as Sherwin-Williams Co. and the Honda America unit of Honda Motor Co., Rob built it into a $12 million a year business, growing at 30% and more annually. He and Brenda, now his wife, lived with three daughters in a hilltop home overlooking woods and a creek.

But for all of his success, his "program" for Tom wasn't working. His hope was to find a job for Tom that was rewarding and a semi-independent place for him to live. He began to think of potential environmental-services businesses that could employ people like Tom. The jobs had to be simple and safe, yet challenging enough to be rewarding. If such a company could turn a profit, it could become that last link in the chain to help brain-injured people re-enter society, Rob thought.

In 2004, Rob began discussing the idea with his business manager and accountant, Kathy O'Brien. To learn about options for the brain-injured, they visited rehab centers and workplaces for the impaired in Arkansas, Tennessee and Illinois.

Nationally, there are few working situations well-suited to people with brain injuries. "The difficulty with traumatic brain injury is that a person once had a higher level of function," says Gregory O'Shanick, national medical director of the Brain Injury Association of America. In general, "a person with brain injury will experience depression in an environment like a sheltered workshop," he says.

The ideal workplace would strike a balance between simple tasks and encouragement of growth, while offering sufficient break time and honing of social skills. For example, workers would be given chances to master simple tasks like assembling products but also the chance to gradually expand their responsibilities; many brain-injured people once had greater abilities and can get frustrated if they're not challenged. At the same time, the ideal workplace would integrate the teaching of "life skills" like appropriate conversation and behavior -- activities normally done with specialized therapists.

* * *As he considered the options, Rob tapped thoughts about his motivations into a home computer. "I personally have not recovered from Tom's accident but continue to look for reasons and answers," Rob wrote in the fall of 2004. One night soon after that, he announced to Brenda, "I can't wait for something to open up for Tom. I have to do it myself."
On Jan. 2, 2005, Rob opened a warehouse-and-office facility in Blue Ash, Ohio, a Cincinnati suburb. It housed his thriving original business, plus a new nonprofit company he called In Return. His plan was that the new company would hire people with special needs, especially those with brain injuries. With its nonprofit tax advantage, he thought the company could make money by selling products used in industrial maintenance to absorb spills, among other items.

Rob says the company's name signifies both a return to normal life for the brain-injured, and his personal payback to Tom. Rob, Tom and other employees marked the occasion with a small champagne party in the front office. Tom drank nonalcoholic champagne.
Many mornings, Tom and the five other brain-injured workers recite a pledge of self-esteem written by author and therapist Virginia Satir. "There is no one else exactly like me," they recite. "I know there are aspects about myself that puzzle me...I can discard that which is unfitting, keep the rest and invent something new for that which I discarded."
Then they go to work stuffing ground-up rags and defective diaper fabric into 4-foot-long pieces of blue cloth to make industrial "socks." The socks are used by In Return customers, like Honda, to soak up manufacturing oil and grease. Each worker stamps each sock he makes with his own stamp. They take 10-minute breaks every hour.

There are pool and ping-pong tables, and general manager Charlie Parris, who isn't brain-injured, brings in outside instructors to teach writing, art, exercises and other skills. Some workers put together gift baskets, another product that the company sells.
In Return is losing money so far, but Rob is convinced that he simply needs to market his products better.

In Return was 18 months old when Rob's friend and financial adviser, Monte Hazelbaker, grilled him about its finances at a Cincinnati Reds game. Rob confessed he already had lost $200,000 on the venture.

"Wouldn't it be easier to hire Tom at Resource One and shut down In Return?" Mr. Hazelbaker recalls asking. "You could give money to charity. You could lease out part of the building."
"I'm well aware of that," Rob said. "But no one's going to do what I'm doing." He felt there were few other places that offered employment intended to support people with brain injuries.
Running both In Return and his other company has put a strain on Rob's marriage. Brenda says she initially wasn't disturbed three years ago when Rob announced his plans for In Return. "It was definitely just dropped on me," she says. "Had I looked into a crystal ball and seen the tons of extra stress this would cause, well, frustration is getting the upper hand now."

She says Rob sometimes seems emotionally absent around her and their three daughters. "I have these feelings like, 'Listen buddy, you've got to slow down.' And yet I feel bad about saying that because he's doing such good."

Last Christmas morning, Brenda tearfully confronted Rob. "I miss you," she said. "You're putting yourself on an island." He promised to do better.

Recently, though, he says he was surprised when he realized his daughter Jackie was about to celebrate her 5th birthday; he had been so busy, he simply didn't focus on how fast she was growing up. That especially disappointed Brenda because Rob usually makes a big deal out of birthdays. She says she thinks she knows where "his crazy need to go-go-go" may come from. "It's as if he's trying to be two people."

Rob acknowledges that his efforts to make In Return a success have distracted him from his family, and says he's trying to remedy that. "I don't want to be a workaholic," he says. "But I am."

People who have seen Tom lately say they hardly recognize him. He used to sit alone, eyes downcast, trying to be invisible. He slurred his words if he talked at all; now he generally speaks more clearly.

On the job, he smiles. He smokes less and has quit shoplifting. He works out on a stair machine daily. Jennifer Cavitt, a University of Cincinnati neurologist who sees Tom occasionally, says, "He has a more positive attitude, and part of this no doubt is from his enjoyment of the new job situation."

The job provides structure for Tom, but offers room to develop: He has begun managing other workers some, and works on various product lines. At In Return, most of the manufacturing is simple -- such as stuffing absorbent material into cloth and the like. But Tom gets a chance to train new workers and to be in charge of one product line, recycling defective shock absorbers. And all the workers get the chance to socialize during breaks and work on physical development and skills like writing and artwork. Rob believes that, if he can make the business sustainable, it can be replicated elsewhere to return the brain-injured to society.

Tom even shows flashes of humor. After learning how to send email at work, Tom sent one to Rob, who was out of town: "We're making some changes around here."
Tom, now 43 years old, recently was approved for an assisted-living apartment. He proudly calls it "my one-bedroom mansion." But, asked about his youth, he says, "I don't remember growing up."

Outside his warehouse, the sign for In Return sits above the one for Resource One, Rob's for-profit company. Rob says he wants to hire more workers at In Return and start a van service to shuttle them to and from work. He'd love to train future greenhouse workers if he can find money to build a greenhouse. "Within our walls we can help 30 people," Rob says. "I want to help 300."

More than anything, Rob wants to broaden the possibilities for his brother. He thinks Tom might someday be able to manage others like himself, maybe even get married and have children. "I'm not sure there is a ceiling," Rob says.

As for Rob, In Return "certainly has given me a purpose in life," he says. He still looks up to his brother, saying, "I can't imagine moving on from this earth not knowing what will happen to Tom."

Dream Come True!

2007-05-10T12:06:00.000-05:00

Dream Come True!!
April 22nd, 2007 will remain special to me throughout my life...this is the day my MBA convocation was held when I graduated from Great Lakes Institute of Management.

Its been quite a journey reaching this far...I have always wanted to do my MBA since my engineering days..If fate would have permitted, I would have done it then itself..but no, there was something elso in store for me...I worked for nearly 5 yrs and then joined Great Lakes. I could very clearly see the reason why I was destined to do my MBA now..the amount of learning that happens once you join school after a rich stint of work-ex is simply phenomenal...it totally enhances your thinking and outlook about so many things...will not dive deep into this area as the learning I have had is too close to my current job.

What I like most about the convocation is that it was blessed by Mrs. Sudha Murthy's presence. A human being I admire from the bottom of my heart ( I have written at length about her in my earlier posts)...my respect for her has increased beyond imagination after meeting her in person. The lady living up to her simple lifestyle turned up in a cotton saree and hair decked with frest Jasmine flowers. In her address to the gathering she emphasized on her simple beliefs that give us utmost pleasure in life and urged us to take time out to live one's life by being contended, instead of just chasing money at the cost of not enjoying what you have on hand - the lively dinner that you have with your parents, the simple walks you go for with you spouse or the time you spend getting your child do the homework - all this bonding cannot be replaced by earning millions..the lady quoted a real-life experience of one of her students about the same in less than 10 mins address and left the entire audience spell bound with her simple speech that had such a profound meaning..Ma'am I am so glad that I took my degree from you...I will ever be thankful to god for this opportunity!

So, the dream come true caption of this post is for dual reasons - primarily for meeting Mrs. Sudha Murthy and secondly for having earned my MBA degree!:))

Attitude

2007-03-31T11:14:00.000-05:00

Terribly frustrated about people's attitude!It really beats me how people can speak lowly about something they got into by their own choice. Take for example, how most people feel about their jobs...8 out of 10 people I meet speak ill about their previous companies or their current companies. Think about it, you are in a situation because either you chose to get into it or were in one or the other way forced to get into it based on the situational factors. Once you are there, whats the point in bullshitting about how bad the role was or pay was or ur boss was....heights of MEDIOCRITY. If you felt you were capable of being in some other better role/company/pay then you should have got it..for whatever reasons you did not get it and landed up in your current situation, one needs to focus and make the most of learning from it.

This is a major attitude problem in most employees today...what they don't probably understand is they are questioning their own thinking and decision making ability by bullshitting about their situation. Arre, you try to get the best of all - you want to be in your home town, work in a office where ur girlfriend works, you want to get a meaty role despite ur misfit for the role and over and above that u want a 6 o 7 figure salary!! I wish life was so easy...where you got all this on a platter.

Time and again, I have seen such people who cannot take pride in what they are doing or their job, fail miserably in their careers..world is a very small place- this statement could not have been truer than before. One should think twice before speaking ill about their companies and roles and managers as there is not too much option for such people. Its just a churn happening all the time, where there are 6-7 companies and you keep jumping from one to another among these 7 only. One could be genuinely unhappy with their current jobs, but whats the need to publicly speak ill about it, cause you are degrading urself by accepting that "YOU" did a mistake by getting into that situation. Realize what you have done, and silently look for something better or whatever you feel is good for you. Confession is different from Complaining..I have heard some people genuinely confessing that their current roles or jobs are not crafted out for them and hence they need to change..such people silently find their way out, instead of cribbing and sticking on to what they are currently doing.

With no shortage of skilled people available all the time, companies do not take lightly to this kind of Attitude where one is always cribbing about them. Apparently, it will show in your work. To go beyond these 6-7 companies, it requires much more than medicore thinking, especially in your attitude..you could probably fit the role in terms of skills, but you will get outrightly rejected because of your attitude...and let me tell you,only such companies can offer you meaty roles!

God really help such people who despite all their education, do not have the ability to take resposibility for their situation. If one does not cultivate this culture of taking responsibility or being accountable in the beginning of one's career, they do not or rather "cannot" go far! Having the right attitude is important to succeed in one;s profession. Someone somewhere said -"A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn't feel like it." So true!

"The cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing." -Oscar Wilde,

Someone beautifully summarized it:
Responsibility begins with the willingness to be cause in the matter of one's life. Ultimately, it is a context from which one chooses to live. Responsibility is not burden, fault, praise, blame, credit, shame or guilt. In responsibility, there is no evaluation of good or bad, right or wrong. There is simply what's so, and your stand. Being responsible starts with the willingness to deal with a situation from the view of life that you are the generator of what you do, what you have and what you are. That is not the truth. It is a place to stand. No one can make you responsible, nor can you impose responsibility on another. It is a grace you give yourself - an empowering context that leaves you with a say in the matter of life.-Werner Erhard

Placements- My Perspective

2007-03-08T07:14:00.000-06:00

Heartthrobs of Recruiters

Ajay Bailur-the heartthrob of Infosys- the kudos he got from Infy HR and the tempting offer of role they made to him, says it all.

Kuldeep Singh Tahim - his CTS interviewer is so impressed with this chap that he takes him around to introduce him to the other panelists from the company. Do I need to say more?

Indranil Das - Castrol is so impressed with our Dada that the company creates a role specifically to suit Dada's strategic (?)requirements...they created a strategic role for this guy!…hats off!

A true gentleman -Karthik Ravichandran - heartthrob of Infy & HCL - they literally fought to get this guy, this guy agreed to stick to HCL as per the college rules when his dream was to work for Infosys. Amazing display of maturity! One might argue that anyone would have agreed to what college said…well, yes…but with a lot of coaxing to be done and by feeling totally dejected. But this guy amazed me with his calmness, composure and the grace with which he accepted to stick to HCL.

My favorite - Bala Pradeep Raj - Gives up one passion -finance (HSBC) to pursue another passion - work for Wipro! Apparently, the passion he gave up fulfilled Sriram's passion to be in HSBC. Both you guys have done enough good karma to have been in this situation!

Never say die! -Punit Vasu - this guy ran from pillar to post, attending a series of interviews, mostly in vain. I could see his tears clearly, till he bagged 2 offers in the evening. Punit, I'm proud of you for having chosen MindTree...a person of your character should be working with someone like Subroto Bagchi.

Lady Luck's favorite - Manan Sharma - He lost out on Grow Talent which was 99.999% through...he attended DSCL just to give it a shot and made it, only to know he had lost on Grow Talent…after this he goes to Genpact and comes out with flying colors!!I was almost in tears thinking of how will I tell him abt grow talent!! However, his good karma kept him in good stead..

You WILL get what you deserve if only you persevere - Pradeep Sonthalia -the finance stud (a true marwari too) was not too happy abt his TCS offer…obviously what will a marwari do in an IT firm:-)) the dude just rocked in Langham's interview and ended with a tempting offer in investment banking! Now that’s what u truly deserve!

Life is not about maths, always...So close, yet so far - Chandrashekar - This person accepts an offer from IBM and signs out of the process only to know that CTS has made him an absolutely tempting offer. Does he sulk? No..instead, cooly analyzes the roles and goes on to say, after the role is still good. Not an iota of depression because of the compensation difference. True display of life's experience and maturity. My respect towards you has only doubled, Sir!

Best Buddies -Recruiter's pick

Genpact -Mahalakshmi - This cute little girl impressed Genpact so much that they requested her to be the buddy next day as well, and on the final day asked her why she din apply to any IT companies(well, u can guess what they were hinting at?)...she single handedly handled a company that recruited 2 VPs!

Tenacity at its best - Neha and Balaji.A who acted as buddies to IBM. They only know what all they had to go through! It was by large, the toughest company to handle..Almost nothing was in place to begin with when this company landed at Green Meadows. They ended up making the maximum offers! Kudos to you both!

Vinodh Jeyraj- Ramco Systems -All those people who are placed in Ramco, you definitely owe big thanks to this guy! Btw, he also handled Godrej/CSC…tremendous effort, Vinu!! Thanks a ton!
Akash, Tejas – Wipro – the less said the better about the confusion these guys had to deal with…upon that the efforts they put in to “send people in”- u know what I mean :-)

Simplicity Personified - The following buddies came in, worked and just left as though it was their duty towards other students...when they are one among the students! Its amazing how some of them carried out the roles with little help from the committee...A real-time display of team spirit! Kudos to all you guys!

Kamal/Sathya – Infosys
Hardeep/Tejas – HCL
Sandeep Khanna- CTS
Anil/Divya Arora – Langham Capital
Parag Kulkarni- MindTree ( they were very impressed with him:-))
Preethy, Srinidhi, Srivathsan Sridharan, Indra – Photon Infotech
Sathya Sainath Reddy - HSBC - A true professional! I can't say more...
Mahesh/Sandeep/Tommy - TCS
Balaji.M/Srivathsan - TVS Electronics
Satyam - Pramod/Tamoghna(apna Tommy) -All those people who are placed in Satyam, you definitely owe a big thanks to these guys!

I must say a few lines that I love the most....

"Make no display of your talents or attainments; for every one will clearly see, admire, and acknowledge them, so long as you cover them with the beautiful veil of modesty"

The sad part is most people among the batch probably don’t even realize what it takes to have been a buddy on that day and have slogged it out for others sake! Nevertheless, what these guys did only defines their strength of character! You guys were a boon to placement committee on these days. Thank You!

A perfect person to work with - Mathangi Ashok -she slogged with me day in and day out on those 3 days even while she had her own interviews to worry about. What amazes me most is- she never ever craves for even a thankyou at the end of all her hard work...what matters to her is only to get the work done and then she vanishes before even u realize what she has done and want to thank her.

A selfless character - Praveen Pantula- the amount of work this guy has put for our placements is simply unmatched. Period. Especially when he was not even looking for placements!

A really strong character - Vishal Prasad - this guy did all the running around for 3 complete days...at the end when he did not get anything that he was looking for...he did not even blink a eye...something which very few can actually take in his/her own stride...amazingly strong character!

Placement Director's favorites - Manik/Sitashwa/Souparno - Every day, these guys will religiously go and meet him and sit on his head till they get status on every company. Without these guys' behind-the-scene efforts, those 3 days would have been a nightmare. Believe me when I say that.Period

Admin's favorite - Prasad/Kotler/Amit -These guys gave it all to ensure smooth functioning of activities on those 3 days ...from cabs to be arranged for recruiters to buses for students, food at the right time for all, they really made it a memorable experience for all! Thanks, guys! The arragements truly reflected your experience of handling things.

Guys -Not to forget Jagannath, who provided such a support in his unique style by adding humor to the entire process, every now and then! Thanks, Uncle:-)

A big thanks to all those who did not feature here but definitely contributed by just being with your friends and motivating them on those 3 days.."Actions speak louder than words" and you guys really proved it..some names come to my mind and some don't, at the risk of forgetting to mention them and hurting them, I chose not to name those I remember.

Each one of you will remain special to me in your own way.....thanks for being what you are!

Well, friends- as with every good thing there are some bad memories too…like some of the self-centered characters that I witnessed, the "I care a damn about who gets placed unless I have an offer" kind of people, 'why should I offer to work, someone else will take care of it' kind of characters...we saw them all...the less said about them the better. God help such people in their corporate life with this kind of an attitude!

2007-03-07T13:12:00.000-06:00

International Womens Day 2007!

I vaguely remember the first time I heard about existence of such a day..it was 4 years ago, probably. I still cannot figure out the reason behind having a single day dedicated to celebrate something like womanhood, same with a day dedicated to express your love-valentine's day...such psuedo celebrations really beats me. Nyways, after hearing all the hype that is being created around regarding this day, I decided to dedicate a piece to one woman I admire the most, other than my mom, of course!

Sudha Murthy. This name needs no introduction. Also the story of how she wrote to Telco on an open post card, only to be called for an interview, her meeting with Narayana Murthy through a common friend, their getting married eventually is also know to most people. When Narayana Murthy started Infosys, Sudha Murthy was a receptionist-cum-clerk-cum- programmer, and had to look into organising everything, a venture that was started with Rs.10,000 given by her to her husband.When she was asked to join the board of Infosys by Nandan Nilakeni..her husband did not approve of it... it would be either one of them on the board. The lady too the tough decision, though it was very difficult for her to accept the same at that point in time.

Now, this is where the crux of the matter is...this lady sacrificed something which many girls of this age would die for, but the beauty is despite all this, she goes on to make a name for herself through her writing & philanthrophy.Her sucesss lies in being a good mother, a good wife, and most importantly,being a good human being. One does not to be the smartest engineer or a smart corporate manager to be branded as successful woman! It takes a lot to have sacrificed all that you aspired for in career, but just move on and create a space and stature for yourself! Hats off to this woman!

Her idea of woman’s empowerment as she says, “is old-fashioned. I believe that it is the woman who should make more career sacrifices for the sake of keeping family values intact. She has to work harder than a man to keep the balance between work and home. But it is always worth that extra effort,’’ she says and adds with a smile: ‘‘The children end up being closer to their mother.’’

Great words from a woman who could have been an engineer/manager/entrepreneur/ceo ....what not? But she chose to be a woman and only that! no wonder, every guy searches for qualities of his own mother in his girlfriend/wife...

M'am, here's an heartfelt thanks for being an inspiration to so many, by just being yourself!

Final words:
Dedicating one particular day, organizing lavish functions and inviting speakers to come and give gyan does not make any sense to me to celebrate this day, especially when the listeners invited to such functions are the last people who will need this gyan. An ideal thing could be to probably empower the powerless by helping them in whatever way we can...as our Philosophy guru says..there is no replacement to "Karma Yoga"...few ways of doing karma yoga to those who have to start from scratch - be polite to your maid,she is after all another woman trying to making a living by washing your dirty pots and clothes,pass a smile at the sabziwaali/phoolwaali..ask her how her kids are..the joy on her face is something that you cannot probably replace by giving a 100 rupee note..

All you women out there, please do some good karma of making some powerless woman's life better than what it is... now, that is what I would call a reason to celebrate everyday as a happy womens day!

2007-03-06T13:04:00.000-06:00

Trip to Kodai Kanal (26th of March to 28th of March)

Feb 26th –
8.00 pm- Abhi’s dad picked us up & dropped us at Egmore Station
9.30 pm- We board Pandian Express
10.00 pm – Hunger strikes! Thanks to Abhi and Balaji, they offered to bring dinner for us. Idli with tomato chutney, & curd rice. Eternal bliss to all of us, except Dada, who is unable to figure out the pleasure we south Indians derive out of eating curd rice.Mathangi resists the temptation as she had had her dinner at home, at last, she gives up and goes for a second roundJ

Feb 27th
3.00 am – Mathangi & Balaji are olarufying as they don feel sleepy! Dada is keeping an eye on everyone by lying down in Padmanabha swamy styleJ

5.00 am – We reach Kodai Road station from where we took a cab to Kodai Hill, which is an hour and half long journey. Actually, we hit straight to Mathangi’s estate, which is like 30 mins drive from Kodai Hills. The journey was simply mind boggling as our car zigzagged through the curvy hills. As we started climbing up, the chillness only increased and all our tiredness seemed to vanish due to the encapsulating beauty around.

7.30 am-Mathangi’s Estate – Till the time we reached the estate, we were all discussing of resting for a while, probably take a quick nap before we started towards Kodai. However, as we landed in this beautiful estate in the middle of the hills, we all were so captivated by the beauty of nature around us that all our tiredness of the journey just vanished. Nature at its best! That is what it was! No internet, no traffic noises, no pollutions, no programs on television (though they had done), the only noise was that of birds chirping, various noises from insects and cool breeze blowing across our face.

10.15 am- Break fast – Hot Idli with chutney and sambar

10.30 am- Trekking! – We trekked downhill and return inside the estate. A really short trek, but felt good doing it after years!

11.00 am – On our way to Kodai. We hit straight to the lake to do boating, guess what? We took a rowing boat with no clue whatsoever as to how to row. I totally freaked at the thought as I do not know swimming. Kamal took the task of rowing, after a short period of trial and error; he started navigating the boat towards the other end of the lake. He mastered the art so quickly that we rechristened him Capt.KamalJ. Guys, everyone time the weight shifted from one end to another, thanks to Dada who could not stay stable for long, my heart skipped a beat. It’s a different thing that all the others – Kamal, Indranil, Mathangi and Krishna promised to save me if the boat tossed upside down…grrrrrrrrrrh!
12.45 pm- Cycling – All my friends decided to go cycling, except me and Balaji. We decide to walk along the lake till our friends return. Felt nice to have a long chat with mama, caught up on a lot of
things!

3.00 pm – Lunch time – We grabbed a quick lunch at Hotel Hilton before we started our return journey to the estate. South Indian cannot cook good north indian food and vice versa. Period. Halted at food world to pick up some stuff…oh man, you should have seen the variety of home-made chocolates displayed here.

4.00 pm – Most of the gang are fast asleep, except Mats, me & Kamal. We decide to play badminton. It was after 8 long years that I held a racket in my hand and I was playing against a State-level champion (Mathangi). She made me realized how long it was since I had played the sport. But it was good fun. Balaji joined us after sometime and before we knew all of us played the game for 3 hrs at a stretch. It’s time to freshen-up and settle down around the campfire.

7.30 pm- Campfire – I, Mats and Dada had decided on having a small drink (just to ensure that we don’t catch cold, guys, believe usJ). Dada went for red wine & we both settled for Vodka (this is why we stopped on our way back home from KodaiJ). Bonfire, drink in our hand, friends around me, music to soothe the ears and the setup is in a estate house located amidst the hills with chillness biting into our skin – do I need to say more?

9.10 pm– Feeling a little high, I start off on a 4 course dinner!

10.30 pm- Time to hit the bed. Before I know I’m fast asleep.

28th of Feb

6.30 am – Woke up to a beautiful view of sunrise from our room. Could not think of anything but grabbed the camera and ventured into the estate to do some photography. I managed to get some great pics. After one hour for strolling in the estate I walk towards the kitchen to have some chai, and what do I see? 5people, vaguely resembling my friends, are involved in some serious discussion with paper strewn all over the dining table. What’s the occasion? IB exam that was due next day. I tried in vain to disturb them so they would wrap up and we could chit-chat L hard luck! So, I decided to go back to my photography.

9.30 am – Breakfast – This time its dosa and upma with pudhina chutney

11.00 am – Boating at Kodai Lake, yes, again! This time around it’s the peddle boat J

12.00 noon – Cycling – This time me & Balaji joined the group, we took a tandem cycle J(Why??Coz I donno cyclingL) It was an amazing ride (probably not for Balaji, as he was the one peddling and I was the pillion rider). After a while Kamal and Mathangi took turns with me on the tandem cycle. Guess what, Kamal managed to race on this cycle, leaving all other single riders behind…yippee! 3 cheers to cycling champion Kamal.

1.30 pm – Coakers walk (also called the suicide point) - A British guy roamed around in the hills and discovered this spot, hence the name. Truly a breathtaking view from the hilltop. One wrong step and it’s the end all of a person.

2.15 pm – Lunch at a Punjabi restaurant. South Indian cannot cook good north indian food and vice versa. Period.

2.45 pm – A bit of shopping, spices and fruits!

3.30 pm – On our way back to the estate, with a heavy heart that all good things have to come to an end

4.30 pm – Sat in the garden to enjoy the peace around for a while, pondering how much activity has transpired in less than 32 hrs…time to pack up!

6.30 pm – On our way to Kodai station – The topic of discussion varies from communism in Kolkata to history of politics in TN. How important is to love the company for one to love the job?? A heated debate continues….

8.15 pm – Kodai Road Station

8.45 pm – We start walking towards our platform, Mathangi is walking behind me. I just put my luggage on the platform and look around, only to find her shouting in pain. She has fallen and twisted her leg. We rush to her and help her get up and sit on the chair. Her leg is swollen beyond imagination L Kamal & Krishna managed to get some pain relievers and ointment. We kept ice pack on the swelling and it seemed to be subsiding. We have a train to catch in next 8-10 mins, she has to walk to the platform…she is not even able to put her feet down. Best part, train stops precisely for 2 mins at Kodai Road junction…what do we do? Take her to Madurai for treatment, she is in deep pain giving us a fear that it could be a fracture…Thankfully, swelling started coming down and we decided to continue our journey. Called for a wheel chair, shifted her to the platform… now the big question, will we be able to shift her inside the train, and all of us (6) manage to get in with our entire luggage. A real-time operations scenario- Kamal & Balaji decides to help her get on to the train. 4 of us decide to take the entire luggage and hop on to the train from the other entrance. Train approaches and the action began. We just manage to hop-on with all the luggage and train starts moving…right on time! It was a truly learning experience.

1st of March
5.30 am – Egmore Station – Helped Mathangi hop-on to her car and the rest of us took a cab back home.

Deepavali - 'the awareness of inner light'

2006-10-25T03:53:00.000-05:00

Diwali at home!

It’s strange how things change in life. So near, yet so far...It's in March 2002 that I moved to Chennai when I took up a job with a business partner of Tata Telecom. One year passed by, and I shifted to Frost & Sullivan. Three and half years have rolled by, and I'm here at Great Lakes, since 6 months to pursue my MBA. Life at F&S was a roller-coaster ride, fast paced, highly consuming and quite a lot of long-distance traveling. Only this Diwali, when I came to Bangalore did I realize how fast paced my life has been for the past 4 years. It’s been more than 4 years since I spent more than a week's time with my parents at a stretch. Thanks to my Internship at F&S, this gave me the flexibility of working from home. Not that it was easy call choosing between an offer from one of the world's biggest consulting firms (Mumbai based) and F&S offer. However, my determination to spend time with my parents and darling sis made my decision making easier. I am glad I made this decision. Period.

Diwali has always been a festival close to my heart. I just love the sight of Diyas arranged in all possible geometrical shapes, the umpteen number of colorful flowers my grandma does not stop buying throughout the 3 long days of festival, and most importantly the long list of sweets that are prepared at home and received from friends on Diwali. I love the children jumping with joy and screaming around, just adding to the noise of the bustling crackers. Every year my parents say' this year Diwali is not the same. not too many crackers, the spirit is not the same...etc...etc.

However, for me, the very sight of arrays of Diyas around me enough to sparkle the festive mood in me. Although, I too agree that not many relatives visit on Diwali as earlier. With the onset of nuclear families, Diwali for many has become a reason to splurge money and buy something new - a TV, DVD, Fridge , a car, jewellery or just new clothes. It’s more of a self-centered reason to be extravagant in spending on self than considering it as a reason for friends and relatives to get tog tether and a good time.

Mythology says Deepavali - the actual Sanskrit word, marked the celebrations in Ayodhya when Ram & sita returned back home after Lord Ram's victory over Ravan. It is also said that this is the day Lord Shiva accepted Goddess Shakti as his better half and became - Ardhanarishwar.

Esoteric Significance

Flowers are an integral part of Diwali as are many decorations. While Deepavali is popularly known as the "festival of lights", the most significant esoteric meaning is "the awareness of the inner light".

Central to Hindu philosophy, is the assertion that there is something beyond the physical body and mind which is pure, infinite, and eternal, called the Atman. Just as we celebrate the birth of our physical being, Deepavali is the celebration of this Inner Light, in particular the knowing of which outshines all darkness (removes all obstacles and dispels all ignorance), awakening the individual to ones true nature, not as the body, but as the unchanging, infinite, immanent and transcendent reality. With the realization of the Atman, comes universal compassion, love, and the awareness of the oneness of all things (higher knowledge). This brings Ananda (Inner Joy or Peace).

Diwali to me...

I guess, for me the esoteric significance is what matters the most. My belief in family values, the togetherness and the idea of just being with my family has been reinforced in me. I love having them around, though we might not spend too much time together, per se. I am glad I decided to do my internship at Bangalore. It’s been just 6 days since I came here, and I already love it soooooo much. These 20 days that I'm gonna be here is definitely gonna be the best days of my life! Life is rocking! Hope it does in the future also.

Half glass full or half glass empty…

2006-10-14T03:31:00.000-05:00

I’m half done with my MBA at Great Lakes. Can’t believe it! Time has just flown by and so much has changed since then. We have finished 20 subjects and 20 more to go in the electives phase. Its time for our one month internship and most of my friends has left to their home towns, to pursue the same. It seems like life has come to a stand still. Except for me, and Manan, everyone else is gone. The cyber stream where we hang around all the time, if not in the classes attending lectures, seems so empty. The silence is killing and the void is unimaginable. It’s so strange, although all of us hang around in the same room for hours together; we are busy with our laptops doing our own things. But still, we feel the void even if one person is missing.

I hate to go to Cyber stream without my friends around. I miss Nitin sitting in the corner blogging endlessly on cool avenues or pagalguy.com, I miss Parag speaking on Dhirubhai Ambani’s phone and saying –“Roopaps, chai peene chal rahin hain kya?, I miss Sitashwa trying to bring down the height of my chair, I miss Ashwin asking me to suggest a song to play, I miss Manik fighting with me, calling me aunt Polly J…I miss them all for more than this, for just being there in my life…

Well, I’ll be gone to Blore in a couple of days…but these few days that I spent here without my friends around have really made me realize, how much I cherish these guys company at college!

Fish!

2006-07-05T10:43:00.000-05:00

Fish!

I happened to read this book – Fish! By Stephen C. Lundin, Harry Paul, and John Christensen. The title read – A remarkable way to boost Moral and Improve Results. Although, initially it seemed like one of those zillions of self-help books written, this book impressed me a lot in some ways. Firstly, it’s a small book with some 100 plus pages, and the language used is very simple. The most striking thing about it is the example the authors’ use –the world famous Pike Place Fish market, to teach us lessons to improve our performance at work.

The story is about a middle-aged lady manager – Mary Jane, who is made in charge of a non-performing unit in her company. While the company has great hopes for her, she is unwilling to take this risk. Having lost her husband recently, Mary Jane is put in a spot and her position seems challenged due to this assignment. She has only two choices, to stay, work her way around this problem or just give up and look for another job. That’s when she happens to visit this fish market, where she learns the most important lessons of her life. The book speaks of four important things to learn from this fish market to be replicated at Mary Jane’s business unit:

Choose Your Attitude,
Play,
Be Present
Make Their Day!

Mary Jane’s team comes out as a winner by implementing these lessons from the fish market, and Mary Jane goes on to win the Chairwoman’s Award. That day, Mary Jane open’s her journal to read one of her favorite selections – a piece written by John Gardner on the meaning of life. This is how it reads:

“Meaning is not something you stumble across, like the answer to a riddle or the prize in a treasure hunt. Meaning is something you build into your life. You build it out of your own past, out of your affections and loyalties, out of the experience of humankind as it is passed on to your own talent and understanding, out of the things you believe in, out of the things and people you love, out of the values for which you are willing to sacrifice something. The ingredients are there. You are the only one who can put them together into that pattern that will be your life. Let it be a life that has dignity and meaning for you. If it does, then the particular balance of success or failure is of less account.”

These lines appealed a lot to me and I hope it does to all those who read it.

Attitude!

2006-07-05T10:41:00.000-05:00

After 2 months of demanding schedule at my MBA course, we finally got a long weekend and I decided to visit my parents at Bangalore. I had two other classmates of mine traveling with me and it was quite an interesting journey. We boarded the Lalbagh express that leaves at 3.45 pm from Chennai. I and my friend settled down in our seats and were joined by 2 couples for this journey, one old and one of them in their middle age. They were pretty much busy in their conversations, so were me and my friend all through the journey.

Train journeys are generally pretty interesting to me as they provide me an opportunity to pursue my favorite hobby (mind reading!). Yes, I do the same when I travel by bus too. The younger couple among the two sitting close to us, from their conversations, seemed to be either employed in Sri Lanka or Dubai and were probably visiting their folks back in India. Their conversations were pretty much limited to arrival and departure timings of various flights bound to these countries, or regarding the wireless services rates prevailing in India.

The older couple were quite most of the time. I and my friend were speaking about the various vendors who keep moving across the train throughout the journey and the various strategies they use to sell their products. A bookseller walked up to us and handed over a bunch of books to us and did not return for almost 10 min. My friend had no choice but keep them in his hands (as there is hardly any space left with 3 people sitting on each berth). Meanwhile, we glanced through the books, when it stuck us that this could be their strategy to sell as anybody doing so would get interested in at least one of the books.

Midway through our journey, a handicapped person (he had lost his both legs) came pushing himself on the floor, with a cleaning brush in his hands. The floor of the coach was as usual dirty with ground nut shells and mud scattered all over the place. Among all the people seated their, the old uncle spoke for the first time and asked this guy to cleanup the place, after which he paid him some money and sent him away. This gesture of the old man caught my attention and got me thinking on the civic sense left with the people of today. This old man simply blew me off with this gesture, and I learnt a lesson – to be thoughtful of helping the community in some way, whether big or small. What need did this man have to get the place cleaned when he was not even the one who had dirtied it, but I’m sure he had a sense of duty towards his surroundings which provoked him to initiate this gesture.

The Joy of Small Things

2006-07-05T10:38:00.000-05:00

The Joy of Small Things...

I love traveling by the public transport, especially by bus. I used to travel for a little more than an hour everyday, on my way to college and back, while I was doing my engineering at Bangalore Institute of Technology. Now, all the thinking I used to do while traveling in the bus daily is something that would probably provide me enough content to write as a regular for months together. So, let me cut it short and come back to one specific incident that I encountered recently while traveling by bus. However, this time around it was in Chennai while I was on my way to office in the morning.

The best thing I like about traveling by the bus is the little time I get for myself to catch up with some reading, most of the times; it is something that I read to keep myself abreast with the current affairs. If I am not in a mood to read any printed medium, then I just decide to do mind reading. Yes, mind reading! I love to look at people, think, and analyze what might be going on in their minds. It is quite an interesting hobby, which I have pursued for more than 10 years now. Now, I have to mention that, luckily, I always end up taking the bus from its starting point, be it when I was at Bangalore or now in Chennai.

The other day, as per my usual routine, I got into a 23C at Besant Nagar Depot and found myself a comfortable window seat in the first row. I always prefer the first seat, because it has a fixed glass window and hence avoids the dust from blowing over my face. I must admit, I have a fetish for cleanliness. As the bus started on its journey towards Mount Road, my mind was deeply occupied in thinking about the book I had just finished reading - Deception Point by Dan Brown. Everyday, as my bus nears IIT Chennai, I make it a point to look out of the window, and wonder with respect, the kind of brilliant engineers this institute produces every year. Immediately after IIT Chennai is the Gandhi Mandapam stop, and as the bus neared this stop, I saw an old man waiting in anticipation for the bus in the bus stop. He was clad in a neat pair of trousers and a white shirt with a bag in his hand (it had to be one from Nalli/Saravana Stores/Kumarans/Pothys). In his case it was Saravana stores, and not to forget the trade mark vermilion on his forehead.

As the bus neared the bus stop, this old man's joy knew no bounds, and the eagerness on his face reflected the long time he had waited for this bus. However, being the typical Chennai Road Transport Corporation driver he was; the bus driver just drove at full-speed, right past the waiting passengers, only to stop a few yards beyond the bus stop. Lucky that he actually stopped, some drivers most of the time forget that there are stops in between the starting point and ending point of their bus routes).

All the while I was keenly watching this old man who was waiting for the bus, and the emotions that I managed to catch on his face in those few seconds is something I cannot explain in words. The excitement on his face seeing the bus nearing the stop changed to that of total disappointment as he thought the bus would not stop and finally, when the bus stopped, he ran towards the bus with all excitement, got into it and made himself comfortable in a seat near the driver. This transition of feelings from excitement to disappointment to absolute joy of finding a seat, all happened in a matter of couple of minutes, and the only thing that crossed my mind at that point of time was - The joy of small things!!

It is a different thing that the old man came back to normalcy after a few minutes, but this thought kept provoking me for long. How many times do we actually think about all the small incidents such as this, which actually gives us absolute happiness? Hardly any. Repeatedly, I am witness to incidents such as this, which only reinforces my belief in the school of thought that I have always believed in, which is- the most joyful things in life are the least expensive ones. How true!

Mandolin Srinivas Vs Ustad Sultan Khan - A Musical Extravaganza!

2005-11-24T05:19:00.000-06:00

On Nov 20th, 2005, the music lovers of Chennai got an opportunity to enjoy the musical extravaganza provided at the Music Academy, as a part of the Friday Review Festival, performed by Mandolin. U. Srinivas and Ustad Sultan Khan. What a performance it was!! Carnatic Vs Hindustani, musical creativity at its best on a western instrument such as the Mandolin by Srinivas Vs the emotional depth created by the Sultan of Sarangi.

One of the greatest Sarangi players India has ever produced, the Ustad counts among his fans names like Prince Charles( he performed on the occasion of 50th Birthday celebrations of Prince Charles), George Michael, Goldie Hawn and has recorded or performed with artists like Yehudi Menuhin, George Harrison, Pandit Ravi Shankar, Ustad Ali Akbar Khan, Zakir Hussain, Madonna, and Duran. The simple outlook of this man makes you wonder if he is the same man who along with George Harrison and Ravi Shankar was one of the three star attractions of the celebrated 1974 Dark Horse World Tour, and that he has composed and recorded music for films like Gandhi and In Custody. .

As far as Uppalapu Srinivas who got introduced to music when he received a Mandolin as his birthday gift at the age of 3 (or 5?, my memory fails me her), he went on to hold a concert at the age of 10. In his mid-thirties now, he has performed with people like John McLaughlin, Ustad Zakir Hussain, Allah Rakha Saheb, Sultan Khan Saheb, Pandit Jasraj,Michael Nyman and Michael Brook...to list a few, phew!! And, not to forget the International Jazz festival where he got invited to play along with the likes of Miles Davis, at a tender age of 13, which introduced him to the international music fraternity.

Amidst the truly mind-boggling performance by these two enigmatic musicians, something which really touched my heart was their unbelievable simplicity and the humility that was more than evident during the concert. The honesty, dedication and absolutely unassuming nature of their approach towards music by these immensely successful artists moved me to tears. The Shraddha (discipline) with which they came on stage( as if it was their first stage performance!), and their graceful way of accepting the admiration/appreciation showered on them by the audience was something to ponder about. Those gestures of his hand by the Ustad, to show his appreciation towards the performance by Mandolin King, who is a little over half the age of Ustad left me amazed by the humble nature of this man. The same applies to Mandolin Srinivas, who after every performance by the accompanying musicians on the Mridangam and Tabla, made sure to show his appreciation towards them. The genuineness of their appreciation was something I truly envied about these musicians at the receiving end. Somebody once said, "Modesty should be typical of the success of a champion." These instrumentalists, despite being the epitome of the musical instruments they are renowned for, have managed to remain modest, leaving a lot to be learned by most of us.

The concert, being a Jugalbandi required tremendous co-ordination among the musicians, and the ease with which the two teams (Carnatic - Mandolin accompanied by Mridangam Vs Hindustani - Sarangi accompanied by Tabla) handled this, created a truly mystical experience which was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. These two renowned musicians are so successful in the world of music, nationally and internationally, that their striking simplicity made me feel so humble. It was truly a heart-warming scene when the Ustad, totally enthralled by Mandolin's performance, jokingly put down his Sarangi and asked Srinivas to continue playing, in response to which Mandolin Srinivas showed his obeisance with an evident shyness in his eyes, something that you can't miss while looking at him.

In addition to the unforgettable musical delight that I experienced,there is something much more of a cherisable reason because of which this concert will always remain close to my heart, the one of having had the opportunity to know the kind of fine human beings these performers are - they re-inforced the belief in me to remain humble.

"Make no display of your talents or attainments; for every one will clearly see, admire, and acknowledge them, so long as you cover them with the beautiful veil of modesty"