heides's blog

When and why do Thou stay and serve thee?

When it comes to the salaried class, I look at certain individuals in my Organization, happy with the way things are… satisfied… and content staying there putting in 5, 7 and even 9 years. It rings the typical question in my mind… what does it take to stay back this long in an Organization?

 

Is it satisfaction at work? Is it remuneration? Is it pride? Is it recognition or is it the work culture? The answers are as diverse as the questions themselves. One really can’t put a finger and point in a certain direction.

                       

Then comes the million-dollar question… or should I say million pound question, as it stands today, what if these people’s aspirations were not met? There would definitely have been times when your experience just grows without your aspiration being met or any significant value add.

 

Value add is again a controversial subject, hence I would veer away from it since my manager would have quoted that it all boils down to Self Learning in an Organization and I agree partially.

 

But the entire value add comes in only when you get to implement what you learn in theory, put it to good use practically. You either learn through the work you do or you learn something you can put to test. What if it remains just that, a theory never put to practice. So that’s that.

 

Back to aspirations, if an Organization promises an aspiration and truly doesn’t fulfill it especially after you have given your 3 years to the organization, how much should you back your own faith in the Organization? There are times when the management is constrained but truly, it shows in the face when the Management stops caring for the individual and it may hurt, severely at times.

 

All Management talk, either at the account level, engagement level or Organization level after this starts sounding like voodoo to you or lets say, it just gets trashed out in your head. When your CEO or Account head declares that we are gonna grow by 10000 this year or 300 this year, it really doesn’t make sense because they aren’t able to care for you, the people who really made the difference all these years, that individual who helped deliver projects earlier.

 

So??? What really makes someone stay back for 5, 7, 9 years in an Organization? Meanwhile, I’m still looking for an answer…

The great “INDIA IS SHINING” scheme – isn’t it time we made THE difference?

The word “Bribe” and “Corruption” have been synonymous with wealth creation, cheating, blood sucking and have been associated primarily to a gang of blurred individuals who according to the most of us Indians derive the highest pleasure in STEALING our money.

Another word that rings the jingle bells in our heads is “Politicians”. Scores of movies made on examples of corruption by them, tons of articles written in the print media to crack down on some of the biggest names in the racket, eons of scams this Country has witnessed within the small frame of 55+ years of independence.

Yet, today, the rich are only getting richer, the poor are getting poorer and the INDIA IS SHINING class of RESPECTED WHITE COLLAR JOB WALE INDIVIDUALS still have their blood gently sucked by these thick skinned parasites who seem to have inherited spaces in their stomachs for money like the space available on your GMAIL or YAHOO mailbox.

It doesn’t end here. Prime properties in urban cities are swiped in the name of declaring it a Forest zone. After the poor owner has had his/her throat dried in the process of mute protests and decides to move on from the present SETBACK in his/her life, the “FOREST” is auctioned off, as the authorities feel appropriate to do so.

We have a happy ending: So, we have THEIR OWN affiliated trust buying the land at STONE AGE rates in the name of public welfare. Slowly, there are plush flats and row houses there for the welfare of the people who would be paying through their noses to live there and again paying all kinds of taxes to keep things white. The builders are minting money and so are the authorities.

In the name of controlling inflation, the government hiked Interest rates on properties. Those who had already got their foot into buying a home are all part of the INDIA IS SHINING scheme. The Bank is richer, the Builders are richer and Government folks are worth claiming to be Bill Gates relatives soon.

Another INDIA IS SHINING example is all those corporate malls popping up. We have the corporate biggies who want to make big bucks out of making you buy even your underwear, groceries and pencil sharpener at SPECIAL RATES from their Mall today.

Balls to all those farmers who want to sell their produce and earn a decent living, bigger balls to all the Kirana walas who have been working hard and earning their living all these years, also to all those small scale industries which look good only in dusty pictures and mouldy registers today.

Cycle of Life for Malls: CORPORATE BIGGIES bribe Politicos à Politicos pass all bills/make amendments to build malls à malls made in the name of building infrastructure, creating jobs à Money collected from happy go lucky Shoppers like US to make up for all the expenditure.

So we have Tickets in a Multiplex ranging from just over Rs. 175 to Rs. 500/- depending on the place, we have 10 – 100 Rupees going for parking your wheels, we have 100 bucks for soda and popcorn for a person, we have a top or T shirt at the price or 2 or 3 and finally, PHEW, INDIA IS SHINING AFTER ALL! ;-)

As a bonus, after paying your tax and all charges, you have the best potholed roads in town, which ensure that you service your vehicle more than regularly. Results in more employment opportunities for all Service centers and garages.

You also end up screwing your back and squinting your eyes from all the dust not to mention all the happy smoke the well maintained government buses so amply supply instead of oxygen, which ensures regular visits to your doctor who is more than happy to share a significant part of your hard earning money. The Government is a Genius when it comes to creating opportunities.

Most importantly, we read about tax collection spiraling to dizzying heights (232% growth within a year(Pune) in the last article I read a few months ago).

Where does the crores and crores of Tax Money go?

Do you see better roads?

Do you see better facilities?

Do you see administration made easy for you?

Do you see the Railway station and Bus depots getting better?

Do you see public transport getting state of the art?

Did you shock yourself by not paying a bribe and having your work done at the closest Government office?

Why are farmers still commiting suicides?

Why are we importing Wheat and sugar these days even though we are supposed to be leading in their production?

 

Who is going to ask these questions, which is our right? We paid our taxes right?

 

The answer my friend lies in beginning somewhere, in 1 vote from YOU and ME maybe. 

Yes, most of the educated class DO NOT VOTE. That is the truth, the people who themselves crib about services not being provided, the people who want better times, the folks who want their taxes serving them truthfully DO NOT VOTE.

Isn’t it time you and I voted and MADE that difference? Don’t you want things to be better?

Don’t stand for corruption in any form and know your rights better by educating yourself about them.

The next time, do make the right choice, your vote would make that beginning towards the major overhaul required in OUR Country.

Hoping that we have a better tomorrow, both for us and for our Children. 

- Heides

 

Whoa! 2008 is here… Are we punching in 110% this year?

Well, I had said that I WOULD begin writing real soon and here I am. :-)

As soon as we look at the New Year approaching, most of us say the same thing to ourselves… "Hey…. An entire year has gone by… lots of things that should have been done… lots of emotions were overcome… lots of hurdles
crossed and left unaddressed… some things achieved and celebrations… some disappointments and resentments… "

Each year has got its own share of tender, bitter - sweet and memorable tit bits to carry us by into the next year. A lot of those neglected and non-addressed tit bits of memory just remain that, a memory, a bad one that with some effort could have been a good one.

It brings me to this statement, which my ART OF LIVING teacher emphasized on during our 3 days of training at the APEX ART OF LIVING Program. It makes a very interesting thought if you really look at it that way really.

(For all those who are new to the ART OF LIVING program, it's a technique devised by Sri Sri. Ravishankar, a globally popular Spiritual Indian Leader. The program emphasizes on de stressing the individual, cleansing the mind and making it stress free. Its an effective technique for one and all and centers around oxygenating each cell within us everyday. For more, please visit http://www.artofliving.org

She asked us whether we all enjoyed a challenge. Of course, who doesn't enjoy a challenge when it's on our growth path? So murmurs of "Yes" echoed throughout the class.

Then she said, "How many of you can say that you have succeeded at most of them?" There were some hesitant hands raised in the group. She just smiled and confidently asked us… "Had we given our 100% in each challenge?"

The group predictably looked at each other for the answer, which should have come rushing from within. :-)

Of course, each one though successful had felt that the task/work/achievement could have had been much better provided they had given that 1 – 10% more. The ones amongst us who had failed felt that they had to do much better and hadn't given their 100% at all.

The gist of the entire introspection was that none of us had really given 100%. The answer was plain and staring at us in the face.

The story though most of us may have realized it still painfully remains the same. We all get into our own work, be it personal or professional and attempt finishing it.

Towards the middle of end of it, most of us feel that it can be addressed later. The later may never come or by the time it comes, we are applying all 360 degrees of our TIME MANAGEMENT program to it.

Lets look at some things we seriously regret in our lives, had we given it that extra time, effort, that 10 – 20% more, today, we had a sweet victory or a better memory to cherish. Its like saying, I had it in me BUT… I didn't
do it.

The Moral of the story remains… Give each and every thing you do 110%. Folks must now be going "Whoa, we were talking about 10/20%, this guy says 110%".

Well, unless we give it that PUNCH, that extra 5 – 10%, we aren't going to look back at a particular year and say… "This went the way I wanted it to… Yo Man/Gal, I'm a winner".

So lets gear up with the most important Resolution of 2008, to give IT 110%… every bit of 2008 in our lives… ;-)

- Heides

Greetings, Vanakkum and Welcome to all my Friends here...

Well, Well, Greetings to One and All out here reading this post. Its been a funny experience making this blog out for myself cuz I never thought I would ever personally get into something like blogging. It took several creative articles from my very own prodogical Brother to make me realise that I could actually get into this habit of blogging myself.

Anyways, here I am all ready to get going. You'll all hear from me soon enough... ;-)

God Bless Every1...