Personal Excellence through Bhagavad Gita

Summary of talk given by Swami Sukhabodhananda on "Personal Excellence Through Bhagavad Gita" on 27th/28th Feb, 2016

Bhagavad Gita is the "book of life" - unfortunately rarely do people open it.  It has to be read not for its literal meaning but also need to understand the feelings, context, and the space (Chidambara) of what is said.

Like Punctuation in language, the Gita tells us where to place emphasis in life.  Where you place the emphasis is the most important aspect of life - and determines whether you are in a constant Worry mode (-ve) or in a constant Wisdom mode (+ve).  This is determined by whether we are in a constant Begging mode (-ve) or Giving mode (+ve).

Difficulty will be there is every life.  But it is up to us whether or not we chose to think that Difficulty = Suffering.  Don't PREPARE to live life; instead learn to live life.  Preparation does not have an end.

Be open to any experience - including failure - as every experience makes us, and the truth of who we actually are is revealed.

The wisdom of the Gita can be summarised through the Navagunas:  These are the individual's needs for .....

1. Security : will we achieve this in a correct manner (Dharmic) or incorrect manner?  On this depends whether we will indeed get the peace of security (fat fiance & diamond ring tale)
2. Insecurity : need for adventure and thrill (watch movie Mount Everest - was climbing it worth it?)

3. Connect to People - understanding life through relationships
4. Freedom, space for oneself

5. Contribute to people
6. Contentment

7. Vertical growth
8. Horizontal growth

Only when there is a balance between the polarities described above, will there be the 9th guna - Grace.

We should search for non-dependency.  Often we seek outside objects (either material objects, or other people) to complete ourselves, and fill in the void within us.

What we need to do?  4 aspects:

a. Prerana (first self motivate, and then try to motivate/inspire others)
b. Siksha (learning through observing - which helps develop acumen and alacrity)
c.  Lakshya (goal setting)
d. Dakshaha (living in the moment/ enjoying every moment - rather than worrying about past or future)

Mind only promises - does not deliver.  Hence we need to focus on the moment. (story of Geeth Sethi's Thai competitor who lost it in the finals)

Success alone does not bring about happiness - there needs to be a feeling of fulfillment.

Seeing the macro in the micro - that is the genuine Bhaktha quality (seeing the tree when he sees paper)

Thought is the greatest killer of man.  And all the negative thoughts come from our ego.

2 bits on Bitcoin

Summary of talk on "Disruptive Payment Technologies" given by Mr. Ninad Purohit, KPMG, at workshop organised by ISACA Mumbai on 27th Feb, 2016.

Bitcoin is a virtual currency - without a central issuing authority.  It is the most popular of the 669 virtual crypto currencies currently existing.  It was first conceptualised by a person called Satoshi in 2008.  The current value of a bitcoin is USD 147.

It offers absolute anonymity, and uses a peer to peer network (Nodes) to create this currency.

What is a Bitcoin?  It is a chain of transactions - each of which is verified by digital signatures. So if A pays B, then other peer individuals need to ratify that this payment has indeed taken place by "voting".

Unlike a traditional currency like the Rupee which is issued by a central issuring authority, the Bitcoin only exists in cyber space (no physical form exists).  Many people need to vote on a transaction and vote on it, before a bitcoin is created.  This transaction time (to vote) takes about 10 minutes per transaction.

People participating in validating the transaction (i.e. voting) have to solve a series of puzzles to authenticate it.  In return for their efforts, they get "brownie" points in terms of bitcoin.  So the process of creating bitcoins results in more bitcoins being created.

Each block of transaction get attached to a previous block of transations - hence resulting in a block chain.  Hence there is a complete history of the creation of every bitcoin - like a giant open ledger accessible to all - but yet protecting privacy as it only keeps track of transactions, and not who owns the bitcoins.

The owners of the bitcoins access their "wallet" containing bitcoins by using a Private key (like a digital password).  The peer group validates that the person owns it by using a Public key.  If a owner loses his Private key (e.g. when formatting his computer drive), he will lose all his bitcoins. Interestingly, if a certain number of bitcoins get lost or deleted, the value of the remaining bitcoins goes up.

The transaction fee earned for generating bitcoins halves every 4 years.  The year 2041 is a significant year as the maximum amount of bitcoins (21 million) will be reached in that year.

Bitcoins are increasingly used to make online payments and is being accepted by an increasing number of online retailers - and the chances of fraud is much lower than that for currency issued by central authorities.

Risk :  The following are the risks or fraud possibilities of bitcoins.

- Double spend : where a owner of bitcoins tries to use the same currency to make payments to 2 different people simultaneously.  When he does that, the person with the longer transaction chain gets the bitcoins, and the other person gets cheated.  Hence only believe in a transaction when the bitcoin actually gets credited into a wallet.

- Hot wallet attack : a malicious attack to steak the private keys of an individual - and hence steal his bitcoins.  To protect their wealth, many individuals stock the bulk of their bitcoin assets in "cold wallets" which are offline.  They take a paper print out of these cold wallets and keep it in an offline safe place such as a bank locker.  One needs to be careful of taking back-ups of hot wallets (online) as restoring the back-up could result in the more recent transactions getting deleted and the owner losing his bitcoins.

Bed Mates

At a corporate conference recently, delegates were put up two to a room.  The person with whom I shared the room was a young, serious looking chap.

We entered our alloted room and realised that it contained only 1 queen sized bed, and we will need to share the bed for the night.

"So we are bed mates for the night, eh?" I observed.

My room mate gave me a very confused wary look. .

"Which side of the bed will you like to sleep on?" I asked him.

"The right side" he replied hesitantly.

"Oh, that is the side that my wife normally sleeps on - but of course this time it is you" I remarked with a smile.

"You can go to sleep first.  I will sleep later" he replied.

At about 2 am I woke up with my heart pounding to the sound of a concrete mixer roaring in my ears. 

About an hour later, the concrete mixer transformed into a couple of fighter planes taking off and then repeatedly bombing the enemy with hundreds of nuclear bombs.

At about 5 am, the fighter planes stopped bombing and mysteriously transformed into a bus which was having a serious starting problem.

At about 6 am, my bed-mate finally stopped snoring, and I could snatch some much needed sleep.

I was woken up half an hour later by the sound of my bed-mate humming a merry tune.  He was already up and about - and was looking really fresh from his good nights sleep.

"Did you sleep well?" I asked my bed-mate trying to make my voice drip with sarcasm.

"Unfortunately I could not sleep a wink - you were snoring too loudly" he replied.

My fantastic School Whatsapp support group

I am part of a hyper-active school alumni Whatsapp group.

One of them mentioned on the group the best way to manage expectations about the wedding anniversary gift.  It goes like this:
*           *           *           *

You ask the wife : "What do you want for our wedding anniversary?"
The Wife replies: "Give me a Ring"

And then you give her a ring from the landline or from a Mobile.

*           *           *           *
I thought it was a good way to manage the upcoming wedding anniversary and tried it on my wife today morning.

The "ringing" sound of the knock I got on the head is still ringing in my ears.

I mentioned to the whatsapp group not to give any more such dangerous suggestions.

They have very helpfully sent me the link to the new help-line set up by the police for victims of domestic violence.

JNU, Valentines, and Siya's Ram

I dread the approaching Valentines day.

"You know my friend M... - her husband has gifted her a new Apple iPhone" said my wife thrusting a facebook photo of her friend triumphantly flaunting her new Valentine's day trophy.

I tried my best to look disinterested, and said "yeah, those things are so cheap in the US".

"Somebody is being cheap here" she countered, which I cleverly pretended not to hear.

"And look at this - my other friend from Dubai has got a jewellery necklace for Valentines" she continued.  "And it looks so much like the necklace that Ram wears in "Siya Ke Ram" serial" she said.

Now I break into a cold sweat whenever Siya Ke Ram is playing on TV - every hero in that serial seems to be weighed down with massive jewellery pieces that will need really strong neck muscles to support - the reason why it is necessary for any hero nowadays to be a weight lifter if he needs a role in a mythology serial.

Everytime a hero wears a new jewellery piece (they seem to have an inexhaustible source of heavy jewellery every night), my wife will go "ooh la la" and look at me accusingly from the corner of her eye.

I had enough of this stress so I decided to start a support group on facebook to fight this dangerous trend which has been started by "Siya Ke Ram".

I decided to call this group Jewellery Neendh Udaaye (Jewellery causes sleeplessness) or JNU for short.  So that my wife does not know about it, I go to a coffee shop, post it on facebook, and then tagged all my friends to support me on this JNU movement.  I wanted to unite all us practical husbands and correct the falsehood spread by all the paid media about the virtues of gold, and unleash a revolution against this hated metal.

I then eagerly awaited the "Likes" and comments to my post.

Comment No:1 was my friend Guru.  He wrote : "this JNU movement is a conspiracy of communists like you to descredit the noble values of Lord Rama, and people like you will go to hell".

Comment No:2 came immediately from Comrade Madan (who claims he is a neutral party) who retorted :"I am getting sick of desh bhakts like you who push up TRP ratings for useless TV serials like Siya Ke Ram through publishing such JNU posts.  You are a chaddi communalist and should be ashamed of yourself". Molotov Madan they call him.

Comment no. 50 was from my wife.  She "likes" and comments on my facebook post :"Do you want dinner today?".

I quickly delete my facebook post with all its comments and head for the nearest jewellery store. You see, while I may not be Sita's Ram, in school I was known as "Survivor Ram".

Kya Shy Hai Hum

The trailer was very good - and I succumbed to the temptation.  "We are going to see the movie "Kya Kool hai hum 3" today" I told my wife.  "And 1st day, 1st show so we can boast about it on Facebook".

My wife gave me THE look - THE look that she has been giving me ever since I quit my job and started operating out of home. "Don't talk nonsense - it is a 3rd grade porn-com movie - and only 3rd rate unemployed people will ever admit to watching it".  She emphasised the word "unemployed" - so I had to deftly steer the conversation in the right direction.

"But it is India's 1st ever porn-com movie.  And the good thing is that the heroine's name Mandana rhymes with yours" I said.  I am an expert at deftly changing the topic.

And then I threw in the Ace : "And don't worry about respectable people seeing us - I have booked tickets in a shady theatre called Chandan far away from our home so that no one will recognise us".

We left for the theatre before our teenage son came back from college. We wanted to avoid any unnecessary dialogue with our son on why he cannot come along with us.

We reached the theatre to find the foyer full of college students who looked younger than our son - in fact none of whom seemed to have completed even 16 years of age.  And they were all in couples - and my wife started a harangue about the corrupting influence of such movies on the kids.

"And what is more - it is so embarrassing that we are the only mature people here - the rest of the audience are basically teenagers" she said.

"No - I spotted someone who looked in the mid-twenties buying a ticket" I assured my wife.

"Yeah - but you will notice he was walking around wearing his helmet so that he will not be recognised" she countered, covering her face with her dupatta so that only her eyes showed.

We finally entered the theatre, and I eagerly braced myself for watching some sensational stuff.

And then I learnt something important.  Trailers do not represent a movie.  In fact trailers of so called "porncom" movies have nothing at all to do with the movie.

All the titillation I had seen in the movie trailer, ended in the trailer.

In short, there was no "interesting" scenes, and even the gags which centred around "focus" and "poppat" (parrot) were really flat.  It was a terrible bore - in fact the TV sitcom Siya Ke Ram provides more excitement.

We endured the movie for 2 hours and staggered out.

My wife looked at me and said : "Why are you covering your face now? It was a boring movie with no naughty scenes or dialogues at all - so now we don't need to be ashamed at all for watching this movie" she said rubbing it in.

"I am covering my face so that I will not be recognised for being an idiot" I said.

Ravi's Question

Last week I bumped into my school friend Ravi at a get-together.  He had an interesting incident to narrate, which apparently was a self-revelation for himself. 

Ravi was waiting in the queue at the boarding gate for the flight departing to Bangalore. 

To while away his time he was gazing at the queue at the next counter which was for the flight departing to Delhi.

A smartly dressed young man – probably in his mid-twenties – suddenly turned around in the other queue and gave a nod and a familiar smile to Ravi. 

Ravi was momentarily confused.  Who was this person who gave him a knowing smile?  Was it one of Ravi’s ex-students?  (Ravi used to teach at a management school a few years ago on a part time basis over weekends purely as a hobby).

Or did that person recognize Ravi from the various culinary articles that Ravi wrote in an on-line magazine? (Ravi prided himself on his exotic culinary skills)

Or perhaps he had attended one of the music programs where Ravi plays the drums? (Ravi has developed a fascination for drums and occasionally plays during weekends in an amateur rock band)

“The way he smiled at me it was apparent that he was impressed by me and of what I am as a person. So in what circumstances would this person have known about me?” wondered Ravi.

And then it hit him. 

Not once had Ravi even considered the possibility that this young man who smiled at him could have met Ravi at the bank that Ravi works in - and that he was probably impressed by Ravi's flawless professional reputation in banking circles.

The fact is that for the past few years, Ravi has been consciously forging an identity - and searching for meaning - beyond just his corporate career. All of Ravi’s world now is about following his genuine passions and activities - which are all outside the office.  His banking career is doing well - but on auto-pilot : he does everything in the bank very clinically and professionally – but without the passion he used to show some years ago.

Whenever he thinks of anything that touches his soul or his aspirations/ dreams, he thinks only from the context of his passions outside work - almost as if there is nothing more he can expect in terms of genuine fulfillment from his corporate career. Hence he is increasingly reluctant to play the corporate game for survival.

Ravi then suddenly stopped talking, looked at me and said : "I wonder how many of our class mates feel the same way. Do you feel that way too?”

On how I unwittingly helped build a school roof

Just saw this Kalyan Jewellery ad which has Amitabh Bacchan in the role of a rural school teacher seeking help from his ex-student to get the school roof fixed.

Reminded me of the incident last week when I unwittingly helped contribute to building a roof over a school in rural Konkan.

What happened was this.  I was searching for the Dadar-Matunga cultural centre where the famous Shruti Sadolikar was performing, and asked a passerby for directions.

"Just take a right at the junction, and the building is the 2nd on your right" he told me.

I took the right and there was the board proudly saying "Dadar-Matunga Cultural centre".  I promptly went into the building, where I was greeted by a small reception committee all of whom were flaunting very large and colourful badges that important committee members usually like to wear.

I did not know why they were so enthusiastic on seeing me so I quickly told them that I have come to listen to the music program, and not to perform.  At that their joy further increased, and I was escorted to the reception table where I bought a ticket.

While I was waiting for the auditorium doors to open, one of the badge wearing gentleman came up to me and started a conversation:

He : "Thank you very much for attending this music program"

I : "Not at all.  In fact I was looking forward to this program since quite some time".

He : "Yes, we need the encouragement of patrons like you to help re-build the school roof.  Were you a student in that school?"

I : "umm.....errrrr"

He : And we find nowadays very few patrons like you supporting new and upcoming music talent".

Shruti Sadolikar is by no means a new and upcoming talent.  I took a quick look at the ticket.  Then I noticed that the ticket mentioned the venue as the "Yashwantrao Chavan Cultural centre" and the performing artiste as some Vasant Deshpande.

I had got into the wrong building.

I made a smooth and low profile exit somehow managing to avoid the reception committee. Shruti Sadolikar was just about to begin her alaap when I entered the Dadar Matunga auditorium situated in a narrow lane next to the Chavan hall.

Reflections On Guru Purnima Day

One goes to a Guru to learn skills – it could be a hobby like music, or it could be about professional skills.  But a real Guru in the process of imparting these skills also transforms the Shishya’s (student’s) character and outlook on life.

Finding a real Guru is a serious challenge.  One may pursue a life-time seeking a Guru and yet not find one.  Sometimes the Guru that you seek may be sitting right next to you - but yet you may not recognise him as one.  This is because a real Guru does not market himself as a Guru and seek disciples.  Disciples have to seek him out and implore him to accept them as a disciple.

It takes time and devotion to develop a Guru-Shishya bond.  Real Guru’s rarely open up quickly and shower their bounty on a new disciple.  Rather they test them with tit-bits over a period of time, and only when they feel that the Shishya is ready for wisdom and transformation does he open up.  Lucky is the Shishya who is able to spend a sufficiently long enough time with his Guru to experience the transformational experience.

At some point of time, the Guru himself will inform the Shishya that it is time he sought a new Guru.  At that time, the Shishya should graciously and humbly accept the suggestion and seek a new Guru.  When he finally finds a new Guru, the old Guru continues to remain a Guru and a friend.

Running & Walking

I know there is this big movement which is seriously promoting Running.  Every other friend or colleague of mine seems to be seriously into Running - and they exhort others to run too.

It is almost as if people who don't run don't know what is good for them.

I used to run ages ago.  Now I walk.  It is more "me" - and it has taken me ages to figure this out.

Regional Roles : Managing the Balancing Act

A Regional role – where a person oversees a practice area or a client relationship over a large geography – is an aspired role in today's corporate world. A regional role enables a person to work across different cultures across a large geography, and provides wide net-working opportunities.  Not surprisingly, a regional role - because of its high visibility - is often seen as a stepping stone to “higher” things – a global role, or a role in the corporate headquarters.

However, a regional role comes with its own set of unique challenges – a reason why not every person in a regional role is able to do full justice to his role.  Here are the lessons I learnt from hard experience as to why a “rookie” person often stumbles in a regional role : 

1.       Trying to force the direction without aligning with the local Line manager : A regional role typically is a staff role, and they need to work closely with the line managers who hold the P&L responsibility (and who therefore wield actual control) in the various countries comprising the region.  Regional people are therefore required to use their influencing powers - a mix of charm and active persuasion to accomplish their objectives.  The mistake an inexperienced regional person makes is in trying to aggressively push through his objectives without ensuring that the line manager is aligned.

2        Losing touch with the team in the various geographies : A regional person cannot be everywhere – so there are periods when he is not “visible” to the team he is expected to work with in the various countries.  The regional person therefore has to go out of the way to maintain touch over phone and video conferencing so that the personal connect does not get lost.  Being in touch with the challenges on the ground, and maintaining his relevance for the local teams scattered across the region is the critical factor - and this cannot be achieved just over email. 

3.       Getting his role mixed-up : The role of a regional person is to help his team in the various countries to achieve the P&L.  P&L is sacrosanct in today’s corporate world.  The trap that a rookie regional person gets into is assuming that his role is in driving top-line, and therefore becoming a number-chaser with the various local teams.  Local teams typically have their hands full fending off the revenue pressure from the local country head – and the last thing they want is someone from a distance asking why the numbers have not been achieved.  They need help from the regional person in terms of emotional support, sourcing relevant expertise, experience and client connections to help win business – and not merely additional pressure.  The local teams should see the regional person as an ally and friend – a person who eases their pain and opens doors – and not as a number chaser who merely mouths help without really rolling up his sleeves.

4.       Projecting a wrong perception of whose priorities is he pushing : The regional person needs to be extra careful in not being perceived as pushing the agenda – or working in the interests of - a particular sub-region or country - usually the country or sub-region that he is based in. Typically as the regional person is based in a country that is usually a “heavy weight” in terms of its contribution to the region, by default the regional person ends up getting closer to the teams and leaders of the host country and subscribing to their views.  A regional person has to clearly come across as a neutral person who acts in the larger interests of the organization and client–  in terms of either the time and attention he devotes to each sub-region or the way he influences allocation of resources – or else the regional role would degenerate into a largely ceremonial role for the "other" countries.

With adequate sensitivity and maturity, a regional role provides immense satisfaction and scope for the growth for the individual.  Regional roles when well handled can also provide a lot of satisfaction and career growth.  The individual can take pride and satisfaction in making a real difference in influencing a diverse region with differing priorities to align and work in the common interests of clients. 

Disclaimer : These are my own views - and not necessarily that of organisations that I have worked with.

Survey Interviewing - What We Don't Talk About

Standardising how interviewers administer a questionnaire face-to-face to a respondent is one of the key aspects that we Market Researchers like to emphasise. Hence we hold elaborate briefing and training sessions for our interviewers on how to administer a questionnaire, and then try to enforce standardisation and interviewer integrity through elaborate quality monitoring systems.

In the whole process what we forget - or do not like to talk about - is that the responses we get to a question in a face-to-face interview is also based on the personality of the interviewer.  An enthusiastic and charming interviewer gets a different response as compared to an interviewer who lacks self-confidence or is introverted. Based on my observations in the field, an enthusiastic or charming interviewer gets higher number of spontaneous brand recalls and greater depth of responses to open-ended questions. And, of course, self-confident interviewers also tend to get easier access into higher social class areas.

The Art of Interviewing has therefore similarities to the Art of Selling. No matter how uniformly salesmen have been trained, there are salesmen who - by the force of their personality - get a different response from their customers, and therefore get different results.

The "personality factor" of the interviewer becomes a major issue in Continuous Tracking studies where maintaining interviewer consistency over long durations of the track is critical.  Drop-out rate of interviewers is rising at alarming rates, thanks largely to poor remuneration, low status and mounting refusal rates.  In tracking studies when there is such a high churn rate it becomes a huge challenge, as every time an interviewer is replaced it results in data fluctuation because of the "personality" factor - no matter how well the new substitute interviewer has been trained.  These kind of data fluctuations are euphemistically called "sampling error" and is not linked to any real market place events ("real" fluctuations).

With higher interviewer churn, a greater and greater proportion of the Face-to-Face Tracking data fluctuations will be interviewer related, and not due to market events.  And despite longer and longer "rolling periods" to neutralise the variations, the data in Tracking studies will only continue to fluctuate even more due to interviewer churn. This will pose a formidable challenge to the Researcher - as not only would his research and interpretative skills be tested, but also his client handling skills to ensure that the client does not lose faith in the data and - more critically - in the philosophy of the Continuous Tracking system.

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The opinions expressed here are my own - and not necessarily that of the organisations I have worked for

Vada Pav & Strategic Thinking

Paresh Bhai looked at his investment with satisfaction. His investment in the Ganesh fast food outlet was a master-stroke. Its location next to the Sulabh Sauchalya (Public Toilets) was a major strategic advantage as he had shrewdly observed that people after a visit to the Sulabh Sauchalya wanted to fill up their stomach, and nothing better than an affordable Vada-Pav snacking joint right on its door steps.

Recently to cater to the health conscious he has also stationed a banana seller outside the Sulabh Sauchalya - and that too does brisk business from the many customers visiting the Sauchalya.  Why, there are some people who first have a snack, then go to the Sulabh Sauchalya, and then have a banana.  So it is good business.



He was only unhappy about one thing.  His partner Mishraji who runs the fast-food joint, has spelt the outlet name incorrectly in English (the Hindi is correct).  It is not "Ganesh Sneks" - but should have been "Ganesh Snakes" - he will tell Mishraji to correct that.

A Greenhorn On A Mumbai Local

1. He keeps waiting on the platform hoping that the next train will be less crowded and he will be able to at least get a foothold.  
2. Entering a compartment he finds a seat with only 3 people sitting on it, and is too embarrassed to ask them to squeeze and make space for a 4th person.
3. While traveling from Andheri to Goregaon at peak hour in the evening, he boards a Virar train, and then wonders why there is so much hostility towards him when he tries to get off at Goregaon
4. He is the guy who keeps asking everyone in the compartment "Andheri station Kaunsa side pe ayega?" (From which side of the compartment should I alight at Andheri station?)

Waiting For The Next Mahatma

My recent visit to Bangkok proved what I had suspected for long - that the lack of civic discipline and disrespect for civil order is peculiar to Indian culture.  I was amazed at the way commuters on the Bangkok metro queued up and got into the metro in an organised, unhurried, civil manner despite the stations being as crowded as a Mumbai station.  In Mumbai, that happens only if there are uniformed security people enforcing order.

It set me thinking.  It is not as if the Indian gene is prone to dis-order or loves to break rules.  In fact the Indian psyche too used to be obedient and subservient to laws.  We too liked civic order and self-discipline - that was the only reason why the British could rule India with so few people for centuries.

I think the Indian respect for civil order and discipline actually started crumbling during the 1920s and the 1930s during the Non-cooperation and Civil Disobedience movements in connection with our Freedom Struggle. It suddenly became fashionable and patriotric to break laws. And of course if it served purely selfish motives then so much the better. The individual thus lost his respect for laws.

India is the only country where a traffic cop (when he feels magnanimous) can wave you through a red traffic signal.

It took a great Mahatma to give Indians the courage to break laws, and defy the rulers.  Unfortunately we keep  breaking laws with impunity long after the British have left the country.

I wait for the day when another great Mahatma will emerge who will re-kindle the Indian's respect - and desire - to have order and self-discipline in our lives.