Seat Mate Expectations

I sat in the middle "sandwich" seat of the aircraft, and engaged in my favourite activity : watch the passengers board the aircraft, and as they walk down the aisle try to guess which of them would be occupying the seats on either side of mine.

The seat on the aisle side got occupied by a person looking like a retired mafia don - he overflowed from the seat, so I hoped that the window side seat will be occupied by someone slimmer.

A petite, stylish young lady was now approaching the seats - would she be the one occupying the window seat next to me?  I very much hoped she would be my seat mate.

Alas, she sat in the window seat in the row just before mine.

A couple approached and requested the lady whether she could shift to the seat behind her (i.e. to the window seat next to me) as the couple were given seats in different rows, and they would like to sit together.

The lady hesitated.  Then she said "let me check".

She got up, and looked directly at me.  It was almost as if she was taking a decision on whether or not to shift depending on whether she liked me or not.

I seemed to please her, as she turned around to the couple and told them that she will shift to the seat behind.

I was ecstatic.  Did she shift because she sensed that I would be excellent company for her - probably she was aware that I wrote a blog and wanted to sit next to a well known blogger.  Or probably she was looking for romance (or adventure?) and was attracted to my famous George Clooney look.

She moved into the seat next to me, and I waited for her to drop a suitable hint about her expectations. I was keen to live up to her expectations.

I need not have bothered.  2 minutes after she sat in the seat she started snoring loudly, and woke up only after the aircraft landed in Dubai.

"Like" Discord

Nowadays it is crucial to do image management, and portray this image of being a far-sighted visionary Leader. Accordingly, I took a selfie of me looking into the far distance, and posted it as my profile photo on fb.

Unfortunately, my wife too decided to update her profile photo the same day.  Here are the 2 photos - and you can see whose photo is clearly superior (mine of course) ...........

In about an hour she mentioned triumphantly "25 likes so far".  I checked mine - no "like" so far.

Another hour later she said "50 likes".  I checked mine - nothing so far.  I was getting highly irritated now.  I mean to say, where are my friends?  Where are the guys who like Intellect?  What are they doing?  Can't they just use one of their fingers and bail me out of this terrible situation?

My wife seemed to be wallowing in her superiority over me - constantly monitoring fb and giving a running commentary on the accumulating "Likes".  Why, she even took her mobile phone into the bathroom, and came out 5 minutes later and triumphantly announced :" I just went in for 5 minutes, and have got another 50 likes".

I mean this is the height!  But there may be a secret there.  I too took my phone into the bathroom.  My son was waiting for me outside the bathroom when I came out. "Let me guess - no likes yet, right?" he said.  That fellow likes to rub it in.

Likes : 192 Comments : 15

By the end of the day, the scores read:

Likes : 1 Comments : 2

Even the 2 comments for my photo were politely enquiring whether I was alright.

That is it.  I am off fb from now on.  

Success - Cherish It

Here are my key learnings from the very interesting talk given by Swami Swaroopanand of Chinmaya Mission.

1.  Even the most apparently "Successful" person (e.g. CEOs of very successful organisations) when they introspect feel that they are not successful. The feeling of Success is very elusive and very very temporal.

2. Success is inevitably linked to material wealth.  Yes, material wealth is one of the measures of success (and in fact Hinduism is the only religion that actually worships wealth as a Goddess) - and which is why people like to flaunt their material wealth.  But there are many more - and more important - parameters for defining Success.

3. Some others define Success as "Happiness by Achieving one's goals".  Yes, this is a better definition of Success, but still not good enough.  We may set goals (e.g. buying a house, getting a promotion etc) - but goals keep stretching as we achieve each milestone - and every time we achieve a goal it does not give us any real feeling of being Successful.

4. The real definition of Success is in the feeling of one's own potential being maximised.  Nothing makes a person feel more Unsuccessful than being grossly under-utilised relative to his potential.

5. If a person is stretched to the maximum (in a way that is relevant to his potential/talent), then that itself gives him a Bigger Purpose in Life.  This discovery of the Bigger Purpose itself gives a feeling of Success and hence satisfaction.  As long as a person is really doing his utmost, then the fruits of the efforts (i.e. the goals) become less important, and the fear of failure vanishes. The ability to take Risks (in line with one's potential) increases.

6. In order to achieve this, one has to get out of the mentality of "Small" thinking and Negativity  - hence it is critical that we operate in an environment that fosters confidence, provides encouragement, and is filled with Positivity.

7. The role of Leadership in creating this right environment for fostering Success is therefore crucial. Most people believe that a Leader has to rule by dominance - and dominance does sometimes lead to short term success for a leader.  However, in the long term the only leadership style that sustains the feeling of Success is the loving environment where the leader helps identify each of his subordinates' potential, and encourages each person to maximise his potential.