What Diwali means to you ?

                                    Diwali is a festival of lights. It is celebrated across India with much enthusiasm and excitement. As I celebrate diwali this year, I see a change in me. There is a lot of difference in the the way I used to celebrate diwali in my childhood and the excitement of diwali during those days. I have realized that Diwali means differently to each individual and at different stages of life.

So what does diwali actually means to people around us .. I tried to capture few of the observations around in the process and compiled below meaning of diwali ...

1. To small kids (~3 years), its a mix reaction. They start hearing loud noises of tikli and bombs. Most of them are generally scared to go out. However, some brave children starts liking the noise and lights around. They start lighting fuljhadi and enjoying chaklis and anaars. 
2. To children (3-16 years), diwali becomes the most favorite of the festivals. They get 5 days of vacations. Day time is spent playing and night time bursting crackers. Its the most joyful time of the year.
3. To working professionals living away from native place, it is the time of the year to apply for full week leave and go to home town. 
4. To businesses, it is the opportunity to monetize the maximum. They offer discounts and offers to attract people. Shops are decorated beautifully to lure goddess laxmi.
5. To lower middle class people, it is the time of year to get bonuses.
6. To housewives, it is time of year to clean the house and make delicious snacks. And not to mention it is the chance to get ready in beautiful traditional attires.
7. To some families, it is the time of year to travel and go on vacation.
8. To those who love shopping, this is the time of the year when shopping fever is at pick. They become berserk and spoilt for choice. The market hustle bustle makes them crazy and more than the actual stuff, they like the entire process of shopping. 

Every individual in india has a special place for diwali in their hearts and above list will be unending.. 

So what proampted me to write this blog ? It is a strange feeling which forced to me look around and observe. 

As years pass on, my excitement level is dipping. I see fervour around and think, why there are no emotions being stirred inside me. Why am I not looking forward to this festival of of lights? What has changed in me ? 

Some of it might be attributed to growing up, some might be the realization of futility of all the activities. I am yet to figure out the exact answer to it.

For now, To me Diwali means the time to relax and enjoy with family to spend time at home, prepare food and eat together.. Its the time to cleanse the inner and the outer world.

Last thought...
During childhood I always wanted to earn so that I will be able to buy and burst as many crackers as I want and now when I am earning, all the zeal has faded away. This is the irony of life.

Happy Diwali.

Hiring and Firing

                     During the last 3 months, I experienced certain events in office which I had never experienced in my last 8.5 years of corporate life.
Events ignited varied emotions and forced me to think more about whats right and whats wrong.

Our company fired around 220 employees in a span of 3 months in 2 batches.

We never faced such situation and were totally unsure how to react.
It led me to think about different aspects of this event and to question whether company is at fault or not.

At the onset, we all blamed the company for taking this decision. There were bad reviews posted on glassdoor after the event and everyone blaming the company for following hire and fire policy.

There were questions raised like:

• Company didn't meet target revenue for 1 quarter. Is this the right decision to react on 1 quarter failure?
• Company had an aggressive hiring in first half of the year. Was the planning not proper.
• Company invested in multiple innovations and which failed to deliver. Was market study not done before investment ? Or was it the sales department who failed to get this to market ?
•  Company invested in projects where focus was on quality, so was the repercussions of such a project not estimated in terms of volume/revenue ?
• Company never had restricted expenses in past and cost approvals for parties and travel was very easy to get.

However as they say, "time is the best healer". As time passed by , remaining 300 people started to forget the event and move on. Some were still recovering and some moved on already.

Higher management  had justifications for everything and one cannot question them really.

During this course of healing, many thoughts and questions came in my mind like :- 

• Should company be liable to provide job stability to employees, what exactly is job stability or job security ? 
• Company is formed with sole purpose of making money and the owners of the company have all rights to take decisions no matter how brazen they may seem.
• Employees are hired to do a day's work and they are paid for that day's work.
• There are certain expectations from employee and employee is paid at the end of month for his job of fulfilling those expectations.

I realized that employees feel bad because of emotional attachment to the company. He expects more than just the salary from company. In process of giving 100% to job expectations, he sometimes thinks that he is working for his own company.

Another aspect of this is that employee feels insulted on getting fired. This is very normal human behavior as no one likes the rejection. The feeling that one's contribution is no longer required is scary.

Also employee finds himself in too much comfort zone, that such an event feels like a bolt from the blue.
All of a sudden, he has to find a job . He has to face interviews.
And the most daunting task is to face society, family and peers.

So what is the solution?  Who is right and who is wrong ? 

In my opinion it is never easy to face such situation.  However there are some best practices which can just make one stronger to face such situations.

One should consider his job just as a job and should know that he is paid for the services is offering.
One should understand that this is not permanent and no one is liable to pay him for eternity.

If one is confident of his talent, he will be least affected. Today, a company is paying you for your services and if you are good enough some other company will need you and hire you at same cost or higher.

So the onus is on the employee to be professional and a continuous learner which will help him face such situation with more courage and confidence.

What makes me happy?

Amid chaotic life , I often wonder what is the key to happiness. I stop and think about the things which makes me really happy. I tend to remember these sources of happiness and make it a point to acknowledge it.

There is a subtle difference between "khushi" and "ananda" !
Its very important to understand the difference so that we can seek ananda as much as possible.

Following are some things/scenarios which give me happiness :

1. Meeting an old good friend and remembering the good times spent together.
2. When my mother shares her past stories.
3. When my mother says "You did this thing real good" , "Ye achha kaam kiya"
4. When my mother asks for something and I am able to fulfill the same.
5. Fulfilling a dream or fantasy and having life partner along with you to acknowledge and congratulate.
6. Relinquishing old stuff like clothes,toys etc and giving it to someone who needs it and is not capable of affording currently
7. Sharing an experience and learning that it helped somebody.
8. Watching some video/movie/art creation which makes u watch the same again and again.
9. Travel from outside India to back to India.
10. Friday
11. Beer burp
12. Smooth Car Drive on a good road with favorite music being played in background.
13. Good Decisions
14. Playing Cricket on a pleasant day.
15. Really good dessert
16. Alone time(not too long) once in a while !
17. Sound of sea/river waves
18. Feeling of having someone in life to speak to about anything under the universe.
19. Time spent in swimming pool
20. Learning new things which you always wanted to learn like swimming, skating , driving car etc
21. Remembering achievements of past, happy events of past etc
22. Being a good host by showing warmth and love (not by material pleasures)
23. Getting oil massage from my dear wife
24. To see my dear wife happy and make her small wishes true

To be updated as I experience more .... :)

Weekends

Fridays are always special.

At the end of this day the weekend starts.  And weekends are for filling up .

Entire weekend is spent in filling up. Just go through the list and everybody will relate and concur .

Its weekend and its time to fill up : 

1. Your bodies with alcohol
2. Your car with diesel
3. Your bike with petrol
4. Your utensils with groceries
5. Your refrigerator with fruits and vegetables
6. Parking spaces at malls with your vehicles
7. Your soul with motivation
8. Your heart with renewed faith in existence of life
9. Relationship gaps
10. Lost sleep during week
11. Scrap shop with old newspapers and bottles
12. Restaurants


So get refilled and prepare for the next week :)

EVERYTHING AT ONCE !!!!

As sly as a fox, as strong as an ox
As fast as a hare, as brave as a bear
As free as a bird, as neat as a word
As quiet as a mouse, as big as a house

As mean as a wolf, as sharp as a tooth
As deep as a bite, as dark as the night
As sweet as a song, as right as a wrong
As long as a road, as ugly as a toad

As pretty as a picture hanging from a fixture
Strong like a family, strong as I wanna be
Bright as day, as light as play
As hard as nails, as grand as a whale

As warm as the sun, as silly as fun
As cool as a tree, as scary as the sea
As hot as fire, as cold as ice
Sweet as sugar and everything nice

As old as time, as straight as a line
As royal as a queen, as buzzed as a bee
As stealth as a tiger, smooth as a glider
Pure as a melody, pure as I wanna be

All I wanna be oh, all I wanna be, oh
All I wanna be is everything

EVERYTHING AT ONCE !!!!

Power of Heart Felt Intention

Life responds to our intention. When we really want something to occur, life tends to move towards us, fulfilling our aspiration. If our intention is full – if our energies are intensely directed towards the pursuit of a specific goal over time – life not only responds, but does so rapidly, fulfilling that deepest aspiration.
For example, when Albert Einstein began to focus all parts of his being – mental, vital and physical – towards the pursuit of his goal of finding work to overcome his utterly destitute state as a young man, the possibility of working at the Patent Office moved towards him. When his intention became full; that is, he crossed over a certain threshold of intensity demanded of life, the job became his.
From that new post, he not only overcame his current predicament of acute poverty and misery, but it served as the platform through which he would develop papers that would change the course of science and the history of the world. From this, we see that there may be no greater means for success and accomplishment in life than our intention.
When we have clear knowledge of what we want to accomplish, and our emotions fully support it, then our intention takes shape. If we then make a determined, persevering effort to carry out our heart’s desire, we generate an irresistible power that quickly attracts it. If we look around, we will see that life is always responding to our intentions.
In Jane Austen’s novel Pride and Prejudice, Mrs Bennett intensely desired to marry off her daughters to avoid a pending eviction of her family; and within a year, that is precisely what occurred (for three of them).
When Erin Brockovich directed all of her energies to getting out of her own desperate state of poverty, she quickly secured a job at a law office that not only lifted her out of misery, but became the springboard through which she would win the largest victim rights settlement in history.
When we focus on accomplishing something, then our intention takes shape. When our intention is full, that is when we intensely want something to occur, and sustain that urge over time – life brings us what we want in spades. The Upanishads declare: “You are what your deepest desire is. As is your desire, so is your intention. As is your intention, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny.”
One interesting aspect of human aspiration or intention is that it can express itself at various levels, from a mild interest in a subject, to a desire to accomplish something, to the intense need to bring about our heart's desire. And yet, life can instantly respond to our intention at any of these levels: even to a passing fancy!
As we see, even a passing fancy will attract corresponding response, as long as there is a modicum of interest involved. You have just thought about a subject you hadn't thought of for decades, and then two minutes later, there is discussion on that very topic on television! That is dramatic enough, but when you have never seen that subject referred to in a lifetime of TV-watching, then you know something profound is at work!
The writer is a scholar researching Sri Aurobindo. royposner@growthonline.org

10 siimilarities between google and mom

10 siimilarities between google and mom

1.Google always has an answer to our questions -silly as well as higly complicated.
2.Google always try to develop new products just like mom cooks different varities in kitchen.
3.It loves all its users the same way no disparity ..same as mom loves all her children alike
4.Google helps in finding your soulmate by providing the chat room as mom helps in all ways to find ur lady.
5.Both wants you be social , very social .
6.Both helps you to become more organized .(Google docs)
7.Both try to make u multi lingual.(Google Translate)
8.Mom doesnt get rid of old things very easily ..the same way picassa helps in archiving u the golden memories.
9.Mom understands ur feelings even if not put in enough words....google search also understands what u have in mind.(google search hint)
10.She shows the path to happy life , google also helps in finding the paths via google maps.