Is Twenty Four Hours Enough?

I am no different from you . I keep repeating the golden verse "i have no time for it" .

No time!

I found out how foolish it is to say it . Ever since i joined my management course in IIM , its become so routine that i slogged my heart out. May it be a race to finish a project/assignment or it could be preparation for next class. All this on top of my routine day job and host of other activities.I also found time to go for my driving classes. Now i think that there is lot of time at hand and how valuable it is to put that time to good use .

What i realized is that the time at hand when put to good use benefits us immensely. That is extremely easy to realize but i wonder why i did not realize it nor do host of humble souls around me. It is a given that we should be looking at it as a matter of priority but some how eludes us .

Last four months i have been doing my management course, reading scores of books almost two a month , taking host of online quizzes ,making new friends,learning driving and feel still lots more could be done, definitely time is there . Before which it was only office and home ,life just stopped there.

How come all of a sudden availability of time has exploded? Nothing has changed it is still twenty four hours a day.

Phew! why did i realize this so late . Pondering the question , reality hits . All these years, i have been in the so called "comfortable zone" . When pushed i realized how much could have been done and how much time has been wasted.

However it is better late than never .

Is twenty four hours enough to do things which we want to? Well answer to that is "I guess yes" because people who have achieved notable things in life also had the same twenty four hours. So why should it be any different for us.

Work-LIfe Balance

Folks, don't beat me up if this doesn't go the way you want to.

Work-Life balance , this is the buzz word these days ,as the going becomes tough and the economic crisis not seem to be abating anytime in the near future, it is getting very stressful at work place as we get very emotionally drained with all negative news surrounding us.

I hear people say they are working "ridiculous" hours and its too tough for people to cope with the pressure and unable to balance work and life.

Let's ask ourselves a simple question "Who is to be blamed for the position we are in?" - Managers,Organization,Family,Colleagues,Current economic situation who should be blamed. should it not be ourselves to blame.

Why do i say so? The reasons are multi-folded. Lets analyze this in a very pragmatic way.

By definition work-life balance is prioritizing between work/career and personal life. So if that is what is defined as work-life then the one element that differentiates good work-life and probably not so good is "Priority" .

Who can do the prioritization , it can only be us and no one else. No one apart from the individual can decide what he or she wants to be the priority. So why don't we go ahead and do it.

Reasons lay in the root of our upbringing. Parents say that this world is ultra competitive and one needs to work hard to come up . We take that in literal sense , for us a sixteen hour work day is the hard work part. We think working long hours equals rewards or recognition . I know people in various organizations who being at the helm are able to balance work and their personal life .

The recent incident that comes to my mind is that of the new CEO at the ailing insurance giant AIG - Robert Benmosche. He basically took a vacation in Croatia for about two weeks,when his firm was in turmoil and so much of media coverage was been given . However he defended his position and rightly so .When a CEO of a giant corporation having offices in many countries and in such a problem can balance his work and life . Why cannot we do it?

Just take a moment to think about it ? It is a serious matter . We need to plan our work and also plan how we want to do things .

One of the strong things that iam encouraging new mom's and dad's is to teach their kids how to plan things . It is extremely important .

Although i do agree that there are other things that some times hinder proper planning but even if we get 80% planning in our work , we would be much better of in terms of work and life . Else its going to be a sad story of people being in office for those ridiculous hours and keep cribbing.

We can change the way we want to do with due respect to work . Let's also bear in mind the concept of work was certainly not defined in 20th Century . Let's appreciate the fact that people have been working for ages and in many of them in hostile/tough conditions but the work-life issue is a recent phenomena. Why would be so . Primarily due to the attitude of people. Our attitude towards work has to be slightly altered and we need to understand work is not end all . Work is just one part of life.

It's just a matter of applying ourselves and planning . Remember a time and health once lost is lost forever .

Hope with this blog iam able to change the mind set of at least few people.

Friendship!

Several people who have read my previous blog came up to me and let me know that they like some of my blogs and some they have different views. Which is always good.

I was thinking why do they come up to me and why do they need to share . There should be something that drives them . Truly unrelated people who come together and try to be together accepting each one as is. It can only be friendship.

A lot can be written on this topic but will try to add my two pence.

If iam what i am it is definitely due to m friends a true tribute to all of them .

Goldi as Gaurav is fondly called, Brat as Bharath is called, Dinks as Dina is called,Vags as Vagmi is known and the entire college gang which has so far shown what friendship can do .

I still vividly remember Goldi , the ever brilliant came into our first class , sat in the front row.Typical of these studious guys , i was in the middle . Then Brat et all . We formed our gang , coming from very different backgrounds and with different ambitions in life . Its very suprising how we gelled together and are still glued together even after eight years post college.

They said college is different work life can be different. Well not truly, it can be as enjoyable as college or even better if you get good friends. My first friend , Ra Venki , Kushti aka Jr Venki , Goks , Uduppa aka Anand, Suku aka Sukumar,Chitrappu aka Deepak, Major sir aka Sundar Sir , Vazhai aka Vinod , Kutta aka Shenith, Mapla aka Harish , Goindsamy aka Anand, well the list is endless .

So many people , varied back grounds, different mind sets but whatever it takes , they all help each other at times of need.

I still remember that first week of June 2001 , when i needed 7000 Rs urgently to payoff some one . Ra Venki saw me in the verge of tears that night speaking to my mom on a borrowed cell phone . He came up and asked what's the problem . As anyone would typically do , i did evade that question by saying nothing but he insisted then i broke down.

He ran upstairs brought me a cheque and it was written 7000 favouring me .I was just dumb struck and could barely comprehend what was happening and why would someone who knows me barely for couple of weeks do such a thing . It was that day that the friendship blossomed which i cherish to this day.

Another vivid incident that i remember is when Goldi and Brat played a trap to make me comfortable speaking with girls , i would not delve into what they did , they have done many of such stuffs and have ensured that i get comfortable . They had so much of interest on me getting out of the fear of speaking to ladies(girls) that they kept tabling that as an agenda whenever we met. Well thanks to those guys that iam able to keep up their names and also is good in a sense.To this day i quote that incident wherever possible.

The list of incidents are endless but its always positive ,even a bad situation is soothed by a close friends shoulders.

Iam always grateful to all of them and friendship is invaluable let us not have ego and arrogance play a part to spoil it . Because once a gem is cut improperly its never going to be a gem and lost is lost forever.

Bow my heads to great friends! I might think of writing part 11 of this as well because i have missed so much and lots more can be written now that there are new found friends as well!!!

Personal Life Vs Work Life

I feel miserable today, reason i could not make it to my cousins marriage,why?

I came from office late last night , i had to leave for the marriage early morning and today had truck loads of things to do in office!!

Woke up just in time but still was tired and had a long day ahead , so went back to sleep. Came to office and put in a grueling 14 hours but reality bites in. Why work so hard and compromise on personal things. I thought i could have done better today.

We are so enmeshed with work and spend on an average 50% of our available time in office that we think office is life .If we exclude traveling time and sleeping time , this percentage could well hit the 80 mark.

Even when we travel to and from office we only think about office and work barring few important occasions.

In reality,life is so beautiful that we miss many important things that do not come back to us . Those precious little moments,we miss them and then complain that life is dull and boring.

How many of us can honestly say that we really take good care of our near and dear ones . Many a times office work takes precedence that we even forego taking care of ourselves. I have seen my colleagues putting in 18 hour days , they haven't taken time off for themselves nor for their partners .

When subtly asked , standard answer is "We are young , if we do not work hard now , then when would we ?" Yes, that's true but at what cost . A sons first birthday or a marriage anniversary comes only once and a lost opportunity is lost for ever.

I have seen moms and dads in office who are furious on themselves because their son is ill and they are unable to take care of them or for that matter it is a marriage anniversary for them and they are barking at the stupid MIS which needs to be sent to someone.

We need to take conscious effort to try and enjoy our life because it is wonderful. How can we do that? Answer is planning things properly and ensuring that there is a divide between professional and personal life . If we can achieve this , then it would be a wonderful thing.

I need to try and do what i have said above and am still kicking myself for not making it to the marriage today!!!!

"Rubhino" The F1 Statesman

Its not my normal self to post two blogs in successive days ,quite unlike of me. However watching Rubens Barrichello win todays European Grand Prix in Valencia pushed me to salute formula 1's greatest servant and a true statesman.

Rubhino as he is fondly called has had more grand prix starts than any other driver in the world. Being in his late thirties, today he demonstrated to the younger generation how to keep your competitive spirit flying.

When Mclaren messed their routine pit stop for Lewis Hamilton ,boy o boy did Rubhino put the hammer down and set the track on a blitz .He showed supreme confidence and handled the Brawn Gp car to precision.He never looked back and neither did he slip . Drove the race absolutely inch perfect .

One can only get into Formula one if he is ultra competitive and being there for these many years and competing with drivers who are almost ten years junior to him tells us something about his fighting spirit.

Well people say age plays a big role in keeping ones fighting spirit going but Rubhino showed age has nothing to do with keeping onself fit,confident and moreover a will to win .

Someone like me who complains about hard work and all the stress,Rubhino has shown what's possible . Driving a car through grueling 57 laps under scorching sun, at an average of over 2oo mph and having to go through 5G lap after lap ,this was something extra special from him.Also teaches us lesson on what's possible.

What's more ,when he came up to the park his car ,there were all people rushing to congratulate him. The Ferrari's,Mclarens,Renaults. You name it everyone was there. Such is his charisma and being liked by so many people in a sport which is seen by many in the world as glamorous and politically driven says very highly about Rubhino.

Well done Rubhino , expecting more to come from him. When you hang-up your helmet,world will remember you as a great person and a true reflection of the competitive sport.

Savour this moment and bow my head down for a great sportsperson. Very special.

Hope he writes a Bio of himself,can't wait for that to happen.

I think i like him because he shares my birthday or rather i share his !!!!!

Frank Talk

I was being pushed to blog by my colleagues for the last two weeks. I just got sometime today to blog. Hopefully this is as interesting or as boring as subject like the others that i have posted . Opinions differ :- ))

Well what is "Frank" all about. Dictionary meaning states that "unbounded by anything or free" but it seldom occurs.

This week , i learnt how powerful "frank talk" is i.e. talk unbounded by anything ,very free and away from all the usual bull shit.

I learnt it from two angles , in one occasion , i was doing all the frank talk and in the next someone else did all the talking i.e. i was at the receiving end.

In the first case, there is this good friend of mine who was undergoing a harrowing experience in her professional life , there was a thought in her that she has not been performing well for whatever reason and somehow seemed to be out of place. She was generally a star performer and hardworking , something seemed to have been nagging her . During the few weeks that i observed ,it was quite evident that there she was not enjoying and something was seriously wrong with her . No idea what it was tough !

Deciding to help , i spoke to her , to talk her through and see what was happening and try and see if i could do something to help.

Unbelievably , as the conversation started, i found out that it was a simple problem of over expectation and the problem boiled down to this " I was all along a Super Performer and i am unable to do that now?".

I spoke for about one hour almost non stop as if somebody had written the dialogues for me beforehand and i had memorized it to the pause. Speaking with genuine concern,explaining what i saw as the problem , telling the strengths as i saw in her ,the potential weakness and giving no bullshit . I was stunned by myself as i ticked all the boxes for a great frank talk. The answer was instantaneous ,this person now became extremely positive and more importantly cheerful. Ever since i did this talk,she seems to be doing well and keeps telling me that weight has been taken off her shoulders . I don't know if performance indeed has improved but certainly happiness has returned .

Next in line was me at the receiving end of the talk and that happened just today.On some issue i was arguing with my mom for a week or two and was extremely annoyed on the way it was being handled . My uncle was at home and had just a thirty minute chat with me .He spoke extremely frankly,explaining the situation as is with me .With an age difference of about 35 years, it was quite natural that i was listening and he speaking.

As always we tend to ignore advices from elders or even evade them when they speak to us on things which we feel are sensitive but today it was quite different , i could feel myself change and inspired as the talk went on.It was pure bliss.

What i realised today was that ,when things are spoken openly i.e. frankly , we tend to listen and it is such a relief that once spoken we know the answer to questions we had in our mind ,in one way or the other . It is not necessarily positive , can be negative answers as well but at least we do not need to be extremely tensed about the subject , as we already know what the answer is or where to start looking for. There is a clear sense of direction in the mind,which i think causes the relief.

It sounds so silly to write about these two incidents but the subject of discussion is the same , and there is an element of truth in saying that Frank Talk did help in both occasion.

We don't understand these until we go through the experience ,both of them were wonderful moments. Speaking is natural but Frank Talk is nature at its cracking best!

Spoiled for Choices

Recently many of my friends reminded me that i had not blogged during june , i was just thinking what do i need to blog about?

In the meantime my mind was running around to buy a mobile phone as my existing one had done its justice.

I eventually did buy a phone today but not without a fair share of drama and that i thought should be the topic for this blog.

I was just looking to buy a mobile to talk and be in contact . This statement or my want if you may call ,looks fairly simple to achieve.

You wouldn't believe ,it took me more than four weeks to buy . Why? The answer was quite simple, i was spoilt for choices that were thrown at me . Every time i made my mind to buy some thing , another one with a better feature was in the offing either at the same price or for a price slightly dearer.

Makes from big brans such as Apple, Sony, Samsung, Nokia to name a few. There are plethora of choices which blind the consumer. Within each brand there are many sub brands or models as these are called by the companies . Even these so called models have their own inner rival say a Apple Iphone 16G or a 32 G or a Nokia N 97 and another N series.

If you look carefully, the differences in these models , some of which are quite obvious to find but many just go unnoticed or some phone models could be so close that an average consumer would just not be able to understand why there is a price differential.

Then comes the new features which are pre tested by the companies before launch . Word of mouth gets the better of the conventional marketing. With so much in the offing and differences varying in degree from subtle to major differences . A consumer just buys what he likes or uses the time tested strategy of waiting for others to buy and let him know whether a product is good or not. This is not only in true in Mobile Phone market but also in durable or non durable goods .

It is just stunning to see the reversal of fortune, just a decade back when there were only few household names this could have been unthinkable but now product development and innovation not only have changed the lifestyle but also provides a wide range of choices for an average consumer, there is something in the offer for all kind of people.

The question is ,whether this is good or not ? In my opinion it is definitely good as there are choices to make.

At the end i did make my choice but only after lots of contemplation, after all isn't life all about choices!!