Welcome Monsoon'2008

Trickle down the drops of rain
Across the hazy window pane
Thus refreshes the soul
Gives a new meaning to everyday goal
Gives new hope
And new refinements

As the birds chirp merrily
As the leaves ooze out greenery
Seems as if an artist has painted nature
With water color taking great care
Splashing beautifully all the seven colours of the rainbow

And have a look how the children play
Down there, in the small waterlogged alley
As you watch all these
As you observe
Don't you feel the urge to do something pure
Something for mankind
Something for God to bless with

There remains sorrows, miseries
Nature has its own vagaries
Did you look at that old wretched man on the other side of the road?
Did you see the shabby old linen cloth?
now soaked wet with dirty froth?
If you did not, observe...
If possible, serve...
Something soothing for him to thank you
....and to thank god !

Strike ceremony - latest ritual of Bengal

Hi friends
Guess what ! Today again we have a bandh in Kolkata. And yesterday too we had a bandh !
Out of 365 days in a year, West Bengal faces strikes almost for 100 days. People enjoy the days, play cricket, watch television, play computer games and make merry. There are a few workaholics like me (;)) who brave all these and reach office by 6 am in the morning to avoid all kinds of trouble. A few unfortunate ones get stranded on the roads midway through their journey. There are a few daily labourers who get deprived of their bread. The political leaders think, "People support us". This goes on and on and on....
It goes without saying that the image of West Bengal is tarnished because of these strikes. People who matter fail to understand that industries would soon pack their bags and leave. In the developed countries, they can't even think of calling a day off without substantial reason. As India heads in the right direction of globalization with a GDP hovering around 8%, each step taken in the right direction, gets a setback, all due to these strikes.
And last but not the least, the days often see open vandalism and hooliganism by antisocial elements who think they have every right to do whatever they wish ! And why not ! They have got support from people whom we had voted for, in the last election. Still today, people are ready to give their lives away in the name of parties, I don't know why ! As if these corrupt leaders have formed a blood relationship with them. The root cause to all of these, according to me, is illiteracy of the masses. As long as people are illiterate the trend would continue, no matter whether people like me cry out foul.
To sum it up, gone are days, when strikes would have helped resolve problems. Today situations demand for more open discussions and dialogues. Disrupting public life is no way of achieving objectives.
Alas ! All these go in deaf ears !

Controlling emotions

Friends, recently came across a wonderful book on Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman and found it extremely well written and very practical given the order of the day. This afternoon I was thinking about how this could be relevant in the Indian scenario. It was only last evening while I was returning from office that I found two rickshaw pullers fighting on the slightest pretext of who was overtaking whom. Ultimately one of them lay bleeding on the road. Horrible !
Think about it...
What was the reason for such primitive behavior? Yeah readers might argue that they are illiterate and do not possess the knowledge and education needed to handle such problems relating to ego clashes and controlling primitive male aggressiveness.
But my question is: Are we, the so called educated genre, adept at it?
The obvious answer is: No we are not.
So what can be done? Let me dissect the case discussed above. The notable negative factors working in the background are:
1) Ego clash
2) Jealousy
3) Superiority complex
4) Frustration
There might be others. But these are the main ones. [Readers might as well suggest more]

The fourth point relates to the job pursued by the guys. So we won't discuss that.

But the first three could have been handled if they could have kept their cool.
Here comes the question of emotional intelligence. A guy could be super smart and talented and might even possess a very high IQ. But to be able to succeed in life, he has to have a very good emotional intelligence or emotional quotient as some call it .

What is emotional intelligence? In short, it is how you handle your emotions, be it of any kind, without showing erratic behavior. Is it easy ? I would say, "NO"
But not impossible. Think about a few scenarios in addition to the one I spoke before.

1) You propose someone and get rejected. I am sure many of us have had that experience. Tell me how did you feel? This question also goes out to those few unfortunate souls who could not stay with us and decided "Enough is enough... Got to leave this world..." ha ha ha... poor souls...

2) Again, you have a great friend for whom you could give your life. And he betrays you. You are left shattered. You feel, "Hey lets teach the guy an unforgettable lesson". And many of you did just that... Didn't you? Ask yourself... "Am I happy after doing that?" For those of you who answer, "Yes", ask yourself again and again and again... Do you feel something wrong? I bet,by now you understand what I mean.

3) Another one, you lost a very near and dear one. You felt as if you are alone, none to care for you, none to love you. You are unhappy, you are lost. But the same YOU have changed after one year. You have almost forgotten about it. You have been able to come to terms with the loss.

There are hundreds of other situations which test your ability to control emotions. But if you are able to do it, nothing like it !!!
I have heard people counting from 100 backwards when they sense they are losing control. But if you ask me, I would say, in any situation we need to think about the worst case scenario. Ask yourself a few questions What is the worst thing that could happen to me if I do this? Who are the people who would feel the pinch if this is done? And most importantly, before jumping to the conclusion and taking the important decision, give yourself at least one day to think and ponder upon it. At least give yourself as much time as you can.

This is all the more relevant in today's corporate scenario, when a single decision based on whims could ruin your career whereas a well thought out plan could see you reaching for the stars.