Being Together

PAKISTAN - THE TERROR CAPITAL OF THE WORLD

2008-12-28T22:03:00.002+08:00

Indo-Pak relations have hit a new low after the Mumbai terror attacks. India, along with the US, has launched a diplomatic war to pressurize Pakistan dismantle its terror infrastructure. Two questions come to my mind when I think of this diplomatic tactic – first, will diplomatic tactics yield results? And second, today, is Pakistan in a position to dismantle its terror organizations?
Before answering both the questions, it is important to understand – how did Pakistan end up being the breeding ground to some of the most dangerous terror organizations of the world? After all it did not part ways with India in 1947 just to wage a proxy war!

I believe it all began in 1971 when Pakistan faced a humiliating defeat at the hands of India. Pakistan realized that it could not defeat India in a direct war. With the humiliation of losing Bangladesh, perhaps (and I am guessing here) it wanted to get back by doing something similar. Kashmir became the obvious choice – a state with Muslim majority, grieved local population and a disputed border with Pakistan. It supported organizations that trained terrorists to wage a proxy war in Kashmir. Also, during the same time, US was fighting a war against Russia (erstwhile USSR) in Afghanistan. US too by this time had learnt its lessons from Vietnam fiasco where it had suffered huge losses in a decade long direct war. It too wanted to train and arm local groups who would wage the war on its behalf. So Pakistan, a nation that shared border with Afghanistan and an old ally, became the natural choice where such terror groups mushroomed and trained people to wage war in Afghanistan and India.

All this went well till the cold war. After cold war, US lost interest in the proxy war and backed off support to these groups. During the same time, Al Qaeda under Osama Bin Laden that had worked with US in Afghanistan now turned against it. Al Qaeda became US’s enemy number one for its policies of supporting Israel and war against Iraq. Al Qaeda transformed itself into a global terrorist organization with the aid of Islamic nations like Saudi Arabia. It operated from the difficult mountainous terrain bordering Afghanistan and Pakistan. The terrain has always been under the control of local war lords where these Al Qaeda and other terrorist organization have taken safe refuge.

US is now fighting the monster it had created. Pakistan on the other hand is divided on the issue of supporting these terrorist outfits. The army and its intelligence agencies still see supporting terror outfits as a source of power, while the politicians see it as a dangerous path that is economically unviable. The intelligence agencies are so closely knit with these outfits; it is hard for them to just disengage with them. And with the army having an upper hand in Pakistan, the path to remove the terror infrastructure is fraught with peril to democracy. Also, the terrorist outfits are not under the control of Pakistan government. They are independent groups with stable source of income from other Islamic nations. To that extent, even if the army wants, it will not be able to remove the terror infrastructure so easily.

Pakistan has now become a big threat to the world. It is a nuclear nation, which is home to world’s most dangerous terrorist organizations. Further, Pakistan has economically not done as well as India. A military solution, especially from India, can frustrate a nation that will not be able to digest another defeat. It can lead to a nuclear war, or even worse, passing of nuclear technology to Al Qaeda. Either way, repercussion will be disastrous. Under such circumstances, I am not in favor of a nuclear war. I support the diplomatic path – whatever it offers.

2008-12-07T10:17:00.004+08:00

Whenever I was surrounded by fear, sickness or trouble my mother taught me a prayer "Tati woh na lagyee..." Even though I never knew its meaning, I recited it religiously whenever things were not fine. Today, incidently I read the meaning of these lines in an article on www.sikhnet.com. The meanings of these lines touched a deep chord within me as they give me the warmth of being with my Guru. I would like to share the lines with one and all...

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The hot wind does not even touch one who is under the Protection of God.

On all four sides I am surrounded by God's Circle of Protection; pain does not afflict me, O Siblings of Destiny.

I have met the Perfect True Guru, who has done this deed.

He has given me the medicine of God's Name, and I enshrine love for the One Lord.

God has saved me, and eradicated all my sickness.Says Nanak, God has showered me with His Mercy; He has become my help and support.

[Guru Arjan, SGGS, 819:16]

The Boss

2007-06-25T15:13:00.000+08:00

The boss is the single biggest reason why people switch organizations. He is often the biggest factor who contributes in creating a good work place. In the last few weeks I have been pondering over things that bosses can do to make office a great working place:
- The boss should inspire trust by being fair and apolitical amongst team members.
- He should take ownership of the team's output. Blaming is defintely not a trait great leaders show. They protect their team members when they make mistakes and have a big heart to take set backs in their stride.
- A good boss should clearly communicate his expectations to the team.
- He should be a good mentor who can help his subordinates learn through their mistakes. In this way he works towards building a commited team.

Through my own experiences I have hardly seen all the above traits present in a single person. People rarely have everything. My own recent experiences have not been very good and that is why I have been thinking a lot about it.

Stress in work life

2007-04-15T00:49:00.000+08:00

Modern lifestyle is taking its toll. India is moving towards a hectic work life culture where life takes a definite backseat. Why is it, I wonder? I see so many people late in office for no reason. It has become a culture to stay late in office. There are eyebrows raised if some leaves early. People remark, doesn't he have work?

I am worried about this herd mentality where people stretch themselves because everybody else does so. Its time we have to re-think our priorities and wisely decide if our actions are worth it.

Work life balance

2007-03-30T22:41:00.000+08:00

Ever since my engagement, I have been pondering over issues like 'investments' and 'work life balance'. Whereas investments are for future happiness, work life balance is essentially for present happiness.

Few days back I met a senior who is into private banking. He specializes investing for high net worth individuals. We met over coffee and he imparted some cool knowledge on safe investments. He resolved my doubts over investing in real estate, equities and other investment options. He told some safe investment plans which are relatively risk free. That day, it seemed, he s0lved one of the issues that had been bothering me.

Work life balance seems to be elusive. I hear my colleagues crying over it. They crib over long hours and undue stress at work. Sometimes I feel, is it everyones' habbit to criticize working environment in a group? Other times I find their concerns genuine. Though at present I don't feel any pressure, I don't know how will things be after marriage.

Work life balance is an individual concept. It is pointless making generalizations. My work life balance will depend on my future partner, boss and many other things that are beyond my control. It is a concept that has to be evaluated at every stage in life and hence it is pointless thinking about it.

Ahhhh... and that solved my second problem too.

India of out of 2007 cricket world cup

2007-03-24T20:18:00.000+08:00

Nothing unusual. India lost to Sri Lanka in a decider for qualifying to the next round. It was a shameful defeat, where India team, as usual, timidly gave up. It is a sad moment because it leaves millions dejected. But if we look at the brighter side, it will leave the nation better off. Had India qualified, it would have meant millions of young people glued to TV sets for the remaining tournament. Considering that an average game of cricket lasts for eight to nine hours; millions of people watching would have resulted in wastage of productive time.

India is fast changing. Lifestyles are getting cramped with work and it is getting harder to maintain a work life balance. In such circumstances, cricket even otherwise would have died its natural death. The game is just not meant for a nation on the run. Perhaps that is why USA and Canada gave up cricket and metamorphised the game into baseball.

Now only God knows what would happen to cricket - I hope it results in hockey gaining popularity.

Life in transition

2007-02-25T19:48:00.000+08:00

Arranged marriage is a tricky affair. The day my parents started looking for a match, I had this strange feeling taking over me. How could someone choose a life partner after talking to someone for few minutes? On top of it many elders in my family scared me by saying that it was the biggest gamble I was to take in my life.

I met Sumit Kaur Kohli in Chandigarh's Sector 34 Gurudwara. I was impressed with her education and attitude towards life. She was simple and exhibited maturity that I was looking for in my life partner. It did not take much thought to decide in her favor.

Next day, both families had a simple roka ceremony in the same Sector 34 gurudwara where Sumit and I had first met. It symbolized an important transition in my life. From bachelorhood I am now moving towards a completely different phase, with someone new to accompany me.

New phase...

2006-11-20T11:24:00.000+08:00

MBA got over in a blink of an eye. Two years at AIM were like a roller coaster ride. I hardly realized when they got over. Nevertheless, they ended on a positive note with an offer from Pepsico. It inducted me in their one year mangement training program with final posting in a finance role. The program is tailored for fresh management graduates. It is intended to give trainess a feel of how business happens at the root level. The first half consists of a sales stint, which is common for all trainees irrespective of their final functional responsibiities and the second half consists of functional stints.

I have finished my sales stint and will be beginning with my finance stint from today. In the next one month I will be going through brief stints in plant accounting, sales accounting management and a unit finance manager stint.

Pepsi is giving me the cross functional experience, which I always yearned for. I don't want to be associated only with finance. I want to develop business insights, which can only happen through cross functional exposure. In that sense, this new phase in life has begun on a positive note.

Bagio Trip

2005-10-03T00:55:00.000+08:00

It was supposed to be the last time MBA 2006 went together as a batch. Though none of us realized it during the trip, it always lingered at the back of my mind. Next trisemester, each one of us would choose different electives. With just one core course, we would rarely get to see each other as a batch. Still, it seemed to be like any other trip. Everyone savoring the moment at hand. Everyone enjoying the weather, the surrounding and as usual having fun as a group.

It was 21st of September, 2005. Two busses left AIM at around 5 am. For most of us it was still sleeping time, and hence a natural silence prevailed during the inital part of the journey. I was travelling in Bus no. 2, with some of the noisiest gang of MBA 2006. As our bus got out of Makati, some of us starting waking up from the early morning slumber. Then what followed is difficult to describe. Everyone was singing his own symphony, together creating a cacophony, amidst which even the staunchest sleepers were finding it difficult to sleep. The early part of the journey will be remembered for Gautam's melodious voice and his selection of songs. He indeed made it difficult for people to sleep. Back seaters of bus no. 2 will graciously acknowledge Gautam's contribution to make that phase of journey eventful.

Bus no. 2 reached Bagio at around 4 in the evening. Prof. Marato's lecture, which was supposed to begin at 3.30pm had to be delayed to accomodate us (by the way, Bus no. 1 had already reached by that time). Prof Morato gave us a lecture on creativity and intuition. Everyone loved the lecture and many of us discussed it even after the class ended. Originally, Prof Morato's lecture was not part of the trip. But our batch insisted on having his lecture on creativity & intuition and dream interpretation. There are very few teachers with his level of commitment for his students. His willingness to share his vast reservoirs of knowledge is acknowledged by everyone at AIM. Personally, he will be one of the professors I will always remember.

We stayed in a beautiful hotel, where we hardly spent any time. Most of our time went into classes. It was usually late at night when we used to return to the hotel. Most of us were exhausted by that time and therefore straight went to sleep. If it had not been Prof. Lim who suggested Prof. Kanapi to have a field exercise, we would have returned without seeing the city. The field exercise gave us the opportunity to roam around the main market. Without saying, during the whole process, the original exercise took a back seat. But then, who cares!!

Our three days in Bagio were over like a flash. Soon our last get together as a batch was over and we started for Makati on 23rd September 2005. Prof. Kanapi travelled with us in the bus. This time I was in Bus no. 1 without my usual gang of friends, whom I missed during the return journey. My journey back was quieter this time, and hence nothing much to tell. Most of us came back sleeping. Bing, Liza and me played some lateral thinking puzzles on our way back. That was the only fun part for me in the whole journey back to school.

2005-09-29T20:28:00.000+08:00

This is me - plus 10 kgs of what I was one year back. I am sure my friends and relatives who have not seen me since last one year will be surprised to see me. AIM has generously added to my physique - though, in a negative sense. And junk food is the primary culprit for it, which I regularly ate during my CAN group sessions. It is now that I realize the value of food cooked by my dear Mom. I wish I can fly home and eat those 'Aloo ka paranthas'.

One year is over...

2005-09-29T19:00:00.000+08:00

Like in IIT, even before I realized, one year at AIM is over like a blink of an eye. It has been a roller coaster ride - eventful, nevertheless. I learnt new things with each passing day.

AIM is inherently so different from IIT; yet has many things in common. I cannot help but compare the two. IIT is the undisputed heaven for the left brain. Think of anything analytical and IIT has a lot to offer to show your prowess. In IIT, one could develope the right brain only through pesonal initiative. I remember students pursuing music, dramatics and other fine arts at the cost of their academics. System as such did not give any space for pursuing creative things.

AIM on the other hand respects that there is something called the right brain. It acknowledges the fact that leaders have to exhibit prowess of both sides of the brain. It encourages and gives space to evolve on the lines of subjects like self-mastery, which basically require the development of right brain. This is one of the things I have appreciated after coming to a B School. I feel as if I made myself more complete as a person in improving myself on such parameters.

Another difference I see between IIT and AIM is the attitude required to succeed in each of the places. IIT required one to be more focused on developing personal skills like hard work, persistence and adeptness at learning technical knowledge. IIT exapnded me on the intelligence side. AIM on the other hand taught me skills required in communicating within teams. It taught me the importance of listening to others and willingness to accpet every kind of thought. In other words, it made me broad minded on the emotional side.

In spite of the differences, they have many things in common. Both are world class institutions. They have excellent quality of education and constantly keep changing their curriculum to keep abreast with the changing world. Both have world class faculty who are passionate to create world class techies and leaders. And finally, both have contributed a lot to their societies through their field of competence.

Both places will hold a special place in my evolution as a better person. Both have taught me skills essential for me to achieve my goals. I thank God that he has taken me to both the places.

Development of Entrepreneurship

2004-09-18T14:13:00.000+08:00

Development of Entrepreneurship is one of the core courses at the 'Asian Institute of Management'. At the end of the course each group in the batch has to make a business plan. The course is taught by two professors who themselves have first hand experience in entrepreneurship.

I used to wonder, if entrepreneurship could be taught. I have always been of the opinion that entrepreneurship is more about destiny. You are either an entrepreneur or you are not, there is no course that can make you one. Many times I thought of questioning the purpose of this course to the Professor.

Two months in to the course and my views about it are changing. I am realizing the advantages of such a course. even though most of us would end up being managers. The course has started to give me the feel as to what it takes to develop an idea in to a final product. What is the level of commitment and the kind of risks that are encountered in a successful business venture - something which an entrepreneur cannot escape.

So what are managers supposed to do with such a course?

Many industries are witnessing saturation. For such industries, constant innovation or re-creating the whole business model remains the only way to achieve constant growth rates. To do this, an organization requires leaders who have entrepreneural skills. Creation and innovation are words historically associated with entrepreneurs, but in future this would be expected of managers too. Only managers who would show the ability to take risks and show creativity will be able to rise in their organizations - something central to the course of Development of Entrepreneurship.

Language of Business

2004-09-03T07:29:00.000+08:00

Everyone talked about Prof Bolante as a very competent person in his field. Seniors said, "If you want to get a sound understanding of the language of business, there is none better than Prof. Bolante." With just five weeks in to the course, I have realized that Prof. Bolante is more than just competence. He is humorous, fearful and dangerous all at the same time. Nevertheless, I owe to this man the gift of appreciation to one of the finest languages mankind has ever developed - the language of Business.

The existence of huge organizations, is a credit to evolution of finance. It is finance that has given the means to hold organizations together. It has given the tools to formulate better decisions to run the organizaitons in a more efficient manner. The most beatiful aspect is that everything rests on the simple concept of debit and credit. The very concept of duality in finance has put me in a state of awe. Duality is an excellent example of how some of the most important and critical things are conceptually very simple. It is because of this simple concept that man has been able to create huge organizations. Had there been no language to synchronise organizations, then we would still have been living like tribals - small and divided.

Now back to reality. Till now, Prof Bolante has taken two quizzes in his course and I have flunked both. I think its time that I stop appreciating the subject and get down to do some serious studying.

Life in AIM

2004-08-21T07:27:00.000+08:00

Its been two weeks of classes already. I had never dreamt that life in a B School could be so tough. My earlier perception was that there could be no institution that could match the intellectual rigors of IITs. But AIM has changed that. In IIT I could still manage to sleep for a good 6-7 hours. But here it is different. Eveyday I end up waking till 3 am and still find my reading assignments incomplete, and the toughest part comes in the morning, when I have to wake for the 8 am class - uffff, I never knew how painful it is to cut your sleep. I have never longed for weekends as I do these days.

The best part of Asian Institute of Management is the quality of faculty and their teaching methodologies. AIM was basically set up in collaboration with Havard. So the case study methodology is at the heart of the teaching method. This method is backed up by some very scientific and excellent approach of dividing the whole group in to learning teams. During the orientation program each one of us was supposed to take a psychological test. Basically this test classified the whole class as per their psychological preferences. Then based upon the results of these tests, academic background, nationality and gender, the whole batch was divided into groups of six. So now I find myself in a group which has one person each from military (8 years work ex), entrepreneurship( 2.5 years work ex), insurance (4 years work ex), education industry (3 years work ex), IT consultancy (3.5 years of work ex) and me being the only engineer (2 years of work ex). My learning experience in this group has been fantastic.

When it comes to a city, then there is nothing like Makati City - at least when comparing with India. Makati city is the Nariman Point of Philippines, or I should say that Nariman Point is the Makati City of India. I have never seen anything as posh as Makati City in India. It is an amazing place, with the best brand outlets within 500 meters of the institute. Pubs, discotheques, malls - you name it and you have it. This is in stark contrast to what we have at the institute - a tough curriculum which does not give us much time to enjoy the material beauties of life, at least during the weekdays.

So in short, life at Asian Institute of Management is a roller coaster ride - full of stress and fun at the same time.

Uncertainity

2004-06-17T00:10:00.000+08:00

Last one week I experienced how uncertainities can make your life mentally tough. It all started once I started working on a new module. Initially I had a vague idea on how I would solve the problem. I made a rough game plan how I would implement my algorithm. In between my project I discovered new situations which my algorithm did not handle. So, now I am literally starting from scratch and I have little idea how I would incorporate all the possibilities in my new algorithm.

This situation has apparently forced me to think and appreciate on the level of uncertainities managers face when dealing with projects which not only involve technical hurdles but also have humans invloved in it. The uncertainity in accurately predicting results is not easy in such circumstances. I have lately developed a genuine appreciation for people whose everyday work involves such managerial activity.
I have also realised that the job market offers better remuneration to people based on three criterias:
1) Skill required
2) Criticality of the job
3) Uncertainity involved

A surgeon usually earns more than a general physican because of the skill involved in doing surgery. Also, doctors are one of the highest paid individual labors because the criticality of their job is very high - it deals with humans lives. CEOs have their packages in millions because of the last two factors in the list.

Where skill as a quality requires hardwork, the other factors in the list require a strong and stable mind with high will power. Also the person should be a very good judge of human character, if he or she is in a leadership role.

Anyhow, its time to stop thinking about all this stuff and get back to working on my module.