Quiz days :) Valare!

Now that it is time for another Inflore and National Quiz I am suddenly left behind thinking of those days. I would say one of the few terrifying days in my life... When I think about it I am glad it all went well after all the sleepless nights and tiresome days. The NSE sponsored National Quiz happened... A corporate team won a Lakh of prize money and a student team won half a lakh and it all ended in style. The file was closed! But a new chapter began with a new set of friends who made my life happier! I remember the day one of them asking if I could join the Quiz committee and help in the logistics part J Delighted I was!!! Bina, Megha, Jesse and Krishnan, it was supper scary working with you guys!!! Especially when you were all on top my head at 4am testing my excel competency!!! God!!! This bunch made sure that I get out of the committee tougher than I got in! Hanish was certainly a consolation. Nithya was terribly sweet by walking with me and making me practice my scariest public speech (ha ha it was only 5 lines but scary enough for me!). Thanks to Paul for vanishing in between so I could go replace him in escorting one of our guest and hence miss the public speech! My experience working with this truly talented bunch of seniors was exemplary. Saw a lot of management, talents, capabilities, frustrations, crisis handling and so on and so forth. During the quiz days we all shared a very professional relationship with only discussions about work and how we could do our best to make the event a success but now we have all crossed the boundaries and gotten into each other’s lives. Jess has become my mentor in taking rational decisions, Meg understands me to an extend where she doesn’t complain even if I don’t spend time with her especially when she is next door after a long period of time! Beeeen, hugs me and makes me feel great every time I meet her. Ha ha and Krishnan continues to eat my head! Whatever said and done I am their marriage counsellor!!! Waiting for the day we can all meet up once again and bitch about all the men around (Not you Krishnan!) but also talk about the positive side of getting married!

With all the memories from last year’s National Quiz (the 1^st of its kind in Rajagiri) I am looking forward to working with the new quiz committee. Hanish and I still remain as if we are taking forward a legacy.

Will B Schools have to take off Business Ethics from their course structure?

If Jan Lokpal bill comes into existence, certainly yes!!! I say this because unethical behaviour in business will be history and a new course on marketing will have to be included! 

After going through a course in Business ethics I realised how business is all about cheating... the only difference is that the level of cheating sounds insignificant. This reminds me of confessions that Christians make before taking the Holy Communion. I shouldn’t be generalising but I personally don’t include sins like lying, fighting with parents, going to bed without praying etc in my confessions. I have gotten so used to all this that I feel like I am questioning the sanctity of the significance of confessions if I include these sins.

Likewise if you look at the business World there are n numbers of examples on how marketers have masked facts to sell their products; has there been a living example of a person who has become fair using ‘fair and lovely’? Koutons advertises in all its stores across India saying that they provide “50%+40% discount on all products”. Are the customers really getting 90% discount as they are made to believe? Lifebuoy soap says "Wash away swine flu germs" when the scientist across the globe are sitting in their labs to come up with a medicine!  If reputed companies like Unilever can come up with such false promises what is the case with other companies who don’t even have to worry about protecting their reputation. Clearly these are examples of dishonesty...

The Oxford dictionary defines corruption as ‘dishonest or illegal behaviour’. Does the Lokpal bill have a different definition for corruption? Or will companies like Unilever be on the pin point of Lokpal bill?

We can’t even say that the level of corruption is in a different scale in these cases because if we consider the kind of money large FMCG companies are making by selling their products through tactics is significant enough and considerable. We overlook such marketing practices because a lot of us believe what H.G Wells, a well known English Author once said “Advertising is legalized lying”.

Gifted Hands

Recently I happened to see ‘Gifted Hands’ - A movie by Jaishon Fisher. Jaishon Fisher acts as Dr. Ben Carson, an American neurosurgeon and the Director of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1987, Carson made medical history by being the first surgeon in the world to successfully separate Siamese twins (the Binder twins) conjoined at the back of the head (craniopagus twins). The movie is all about the life of this legend in the book of medicine.

I was totally inspired by this movie for the fact that there were instances which depicted true faith in God.

I was terrifically moved when Dr. Ben told his patient’s parents that he prays EVERY SINGLE DAY OF HIS LIFE (When he was asked if he prays). Dr. Ben is the World’s most successful neurosurgeon, He has a wife who understands the challenges he is facing being a Doctor of such stature, and he has Children who are smart and intelligent. He has a mother who has been ever supportive and a very successful brother. The only possible flaw in his life since he was born was that he did not have a father. This was a significant issue when he was a child but with all the other blessings and his father’s absence over the years made it an insignificant issue in his life. But still he prays EVERY SINGLE DAY OF HIS LIFE!!!

If the same question is posed towards me my answer would be the same but I won’t be able to say it with such confidence as Dr Ben did. It is true that I also pray every single day but at times just to finish the job. It is like the difference between listening and hearing. I feel very lazy and tiered when it is finally time to pray in days when there are no troubles in life. I end up lying down and praying and eventually dozing off. On the other hand when there is a slight problem I am all in prayers! I am so satisfied in life when I am able to pray and for this reason I never pray that my troubles pass but just reduce them to a level I can bear them. It is a blessing to be in a situation to pray on a daily basis even without any issues in life.

Yet another instance where the power of prayers was seen in the movie is when Dr. Ben as a teen age boy was susceptible to teenage issues. He got into wrong company of friends and got involved in drug pedaling. He got influenced by his friends (Just like anyone of his age) and believed that his clothes were not cool enough and his life was not happening enough. This was when Ben Stole money from his mother’s hard earned savings and bought a Swiss knife which he thought would definitely make him look cool. However at one instance he lost his temper against a friend and took his knife out and swabbed it across. Ben and everyone around were terrified and he felt that the World was crashing beneath his feet. But the guardian angel guided the boy and to his amusement realized that the knife had hit the buckle of his friend’s belt and broken into pieces and the friend was all fine. Ben ran for his life and shut himself in his room. A treat to my eyes – The first thing he did was take the bible that was lying in his room and hold it close to his heart and cry! He cried saying “Lord! Lord! You have to take this temper away from me” and sang the song “Jesus all the world to me, my life my troy and my all. He is my strength from day to day... without him I would fall”. This is unusual for a teenager who always tries to justify himself. Only very few are gifted with such wisdom to know that the only way out of troubles is through God and can be achieved only through prayers.

A final point: “Thy will be done Lord, Amen” is what Dr. Ben prayed just before getting into the operation theater to do his very first surgery on his own. Dr. Ben was very specific about his prayers. He did not ask for success in his venture but asked the lord’s wish whatsoever it was. Due to several instances in my life I had taken a decision to follow the Lord’s will a few years ago and now I can proudly say that I am a lot happier in life doing what the Lord wants me to do. He certainly knows all my dreams and wishes but gives me the best. Being a human being I miss out on the best as it could be beyond my comprehension but the Lord always gives the best. In one of my tough days a friend very close to my heart said “Leave it to the Lord, He will give you the 1st best thing and not even the 2nd best thing”. Her words were really powerful I hold her advice very close to my heart.

Superficially the movie depicts that Dr. Ben is who he is because of his gifted hands, with special emphasis on his talents and capabilities. But a closer view with an open mind clearly shows that the gifted hand is his wisdom! His closeness to God and life through prayers has got him to where he is.

Watching this movie, I so badly wish everyday was the same for me when it comes to praying! No matter how well I do in life or how famous I become my only wish is that I be able to pray with strong feelings every night before bed!

Mohan Kuruvilla – From the State of Bihar

I always thought I was a born marketer just because I was successful in persuasion and selling but now I am getting a feeling that whatever I sold till now was just by chance...by the grace a of God! Marketing is not what I thought... It is no easy job which anyone can do!
Going into my 4th trimester in Rajagiri Business School, I was blessed by intuition and took B2B as an elective course without knowing who Prof. Mohan Kuruvilla was. It was a mere coincidence as I dint even know what B2B is to say that I chose the paper because I liked the topic! Now all I have to say is... It’s not every day that you come across such powerful words!
Does all literature wonders happen on Sunday’s in Rajagiri? Vijay Menon Sir also made his entry on a Sunday!!!
I was home for three days and laziness had already crept in me while I was travelling in a transport bus from Kottayam to Kochi where I happened to chat with my senior who gave me a brief idea about what B2B classes are going to be like! I believe she dint want to overdo her excitement so I could feel it for myself. The weak self I am was overloaded with information on how hectic the next few days are going to be and how I should sleep and eat well to keep myself up and moving for the next few days. I was so not in a mood to start the B2B classes as I was fed up of the hectic schedules with an overload of academic work. With such a dejected lethargic mood I managed to drag myself to the B2B class that started at 11am on Sunday 26th June, 2011 with a single prayer to God, requesting for my survival as I knew that 15 hours were going to be completed in 3 days!
Post 11 am, Sunday, was a plethora of live situations! Case studies are dead and buried and it becomes interesting only when they are brought alive through role plays is what the legend said. Can you believe a Man who is loaded with wisdom, enriched with information and experience acting out every case study in a class of 30 young students? Well he did!!! We, all my friends in the B2B class lived the life of a marketer in those 15 hours spread across the 3 days. I can’t remember an instance where I was distracted or where I was trying to fight sleep like I mostly do.
Is it his base voice, with which he spoke? or was it the voice modulation? He dint not stammer once ... He spoke on behalf of the receptionist Sheela, the watchman Shyamsundar, Purchase manager Yadav, R&D manager, Marketing manager and the CEO like in real life. I could even picturize myself walking up the stairs to meet the chief chef to sell edible oil. Sales and marketing became a reality in life! The ‘corporate yoga’ and everything what ‘Kotler said’ became a reality.
Prof. Mohan Kuruvilla has a very different view point towards education and the education system. We were very happy to know that he doesn’t conduct midterm exams but little did we know about the quizzes. Everything in his class was application driven. There was no mugging up or writing that had to be done. He spend the first few hours touching up on or basics, giving us better clarity on a few topics that we thought we knew... he told us how health was most important and marks were least important. He gave us the freedom to go out of classes whenever we wanted a break and promised to give us 10 minutes break every 50 minutes. He also advised us to “sleep when it comes as we don’t know when it will come next”. The beauty of his teaching was that every concept in B2B marketing was backed by a real life example enacted through a role play. 18 years with the Tata group gave him enough experience to talk about every situation that could arise in B2B marketing. He encouraged us to speak our views in class. If we dint know what to answer to encouraged us to try!
Eagerly waiting for the next 15 hours of B2B marketing....

Why don't we remember what we did in School or in college?

I feel like I live in a world where education has lost its essence!

In my generation, I rarely see people who can talk about the subjects that they learned in school or in college. The typical answer they have is “Oh I did that 2 years back when I was in college! How can you expect me to remember that?”, “Yes it is true that I was the gold medalist in college but again that was 4 years back!” I too make such excuses all the time. It is like we have to delete a few folders from our memory to add new ones! For the same reason I thought it was normal to forget old things... and make space for new additions!

But, recently I realized how wrong I was. I met up with my grandfather’s cousin brother in Chennai and had a discussion with him. He is 70 years old and he wanted to learn how to SMS using the dictionary mode. I was more than happy to help him as this was one subject I dint have to make excuses about not knowing the subject. Anyway that’s beyond the point of my discussion. I was shocked at the way he was showering me with his knowledge...the subjects he did in law school around 45 years back (Not 2 years or 4 years!!!)

I obviously thought it was just him... but again I was wrong! Almost every educated person in their generation had a clear understanding of the subjects that they learned in School... especially English grammar and arithmetic.
So is it the current education system that should be blamed? Or is it that our generation is less intelligent from the previous?

Grades grades and only grades are in our minds now! But I don’t blame us for that mindset. Only good grades allow us to enter the next level of our career building game! Book stores are filled up with R-Kumars and S Chands...most frequently asked questions, past 10 years question papers, chapter wise questions and answers....and you name the kind of shortcut you need and you’ll get it! But only questions and answers! No theory is available... No understanding is required to clear exams! Just mug it up and spit it out in the exam hall... After all this, how can you expect someone to remember what they studied in college 2-3 years later?
I think we should be very careful in choosing our career path. I know that only a few are gifted with a clear mind to know what they want to do in college and further. However constant prayers and deep focus can help 

I feel ashamed to say that I am educated... and now God has given me yet another chance to study.. .a chance to grow up once again 

Are "we" the "we" on facebook?

We have all become so addicted to Facebook that we fail to notice that it is controlling over lives...to an extend that we suffer from an identity crisis!

Recently, I noticed how we move around with a camera, looking for moments fit to take a picture that will make our lives look interesting and make us look beautiful! Then the first thing we do after reaching home is look through the pictures a hundred times to select the ones in which we look gorgeous and our life looks exciting! It is very rare that we get a balance of both and then we decide to put pictures in which we look nice even if it is not an interesting picture.... AND THEN UPLOAD IT ON FACEBOOK... Check every second after that to see if anyone has commented on it!

So now we have a profile in which we look beautiful ... all prim and proper! But in reality are we what our Facebook profile depicts us to be?
We are not only putting ourselves in to an identity crisis but also missing out on a lot in life...

Recently I went to a beach to spend an evening with two of my friends and we had a nice time.... POSING for pictures!!! At almost every moment at least one of us was clicking pictures!!! Then we spend a few minutes looking for a person who could click a picture with all three of us!!! It was really good fun but it would have been better if we dint have to worry about our looks...

In another instant, I was scanning through a folder of pictures from my friend’s trip to Rishikesh for white water rafting and I realized that each and every picture was suitable to be uploaded as a profile picture in Facebook! There wasn’t a single picture which had an underlying story or a picture with dirty clothes and ruffled hair! They claim they had a wonderful time during the trip but the pictures were not speaking for them!

It is really a sad state...

Take wildest of wild pictures and capture the actual essence of your life and send it to people close to you and maintain your identity! Capture natural moments so you’ll have a hundred things to tell your folks a couple of years later!
Be yourself and enjoy every moment... Let Facebook and photo clicks not control you life!

P.S: I am not sure if this is the case with men! And I love Facebook and I am a very active user 

Opposites Attract?

It’s is so strange how we judge people or in particular couples by their outward appearance!

There are so many couples that I come across in my daily life... a few in movies, some on the streets and some others in coffee shops... For many at times I have stopped to ask myself what is it that makes those two people in that movie, street or coffee shop a couple? In my eyes the girl looks annoying, boy looks desperate, girl looks ugly, boy is shy and still he or she claims to be in love!

Couples in movies confuse me... I always wonder if there are real couples like those depicted in movies. For instance the couple in ‘500 years of summer’; I thought summer was not worth her boy friend, Tom. She is so annoying and talks arbit stuff and sticks her views and day dreams. In spite of all this Tom is totally in love with her.

It is vague how Florentino Ariza continued to love Fermina Daza in ‘Love in the time of cholera’ in spite of her leaving him to get married to a guy of her father’s choice

I know a couple who has survived for six years now without meeting each other in spite of being in the same city!

All this reminds me of my vague habit of sitting in coffee shops and watching people... surely not to an extent to make them uncomfortable! I watch them; think about their homes, relations, qualifications, commitments...and once I noticed myself wondering how an obese lady was in love with a physically fit, handsome guy who was sitting adjacent to me in a CCD in Mumbai. I could not stop thinking about them and I asked my friend, who was happily sipping her electric blue drink! She thought of it for a second and suggested that it could be because the girl is really rich and the boy is after it!!! I dint argue though I dint agree... I still have that question in me!!!

From what I have come across over the past few years of my life I can say real couples are made in heaven! For no applauding reason for human eyes, a guy could love a girl and vice-versa. There is definitely a proven justification behind the saying “opposites attract”!

“How can I get along with that person? He is just not like me!” How wrong is this statement? If “Opposites attract” is true!!!

I really appreciate people who respect a man and a woman in a relationship for what they are and not make comments like...” Oh God! How can that guy fall in love with such an ugly girl? “Or “Goodness what the hell was going on in that girls mind when she fell in love with that horrible looking guy?” or “ the couple looks like a black and white film” or “ one and zero is the best way to describe them”

There is no rhyme or reason for 2 people to fall in love! For the same reason there are good looking couples, happy couples, couples with a good chemistry etc...

I have promised myself to never again comment on other people for their humble circumstances that make them less privileged than I am!