A dream come true!

Having been an ardent admirer of Dr.Abdul Kalam, his books and his vision 2020, I always had the dream to hear his speech in person. This dream turned a reality at IIMB last evening. I got to experience how a good opening of a speech can make a powerful impact, a lesson I learnt from Toastmasters. He started off with the following verses:-
Don't walk in front of me, I may not follow.
Don't walk behind me, I may not lead.
Just walk beside me, and be my friend.

Dr.Kalam painted a picture of his vision 2020 and highlighted different areas such as infrastructure, energy and agriculture where management graduates can play a vital role. He also urged on the importance of employablity and put forth key leadership traits such as vision, exploring the unexplored, courage and integrity. Creative leadership means being a coach rather than a commander and a mentor rather than a manager.

More than his talk, I admired the way he tackled the questions. When a guy listed down a series of problems that India is facing, he encouraged him to think about what he could do to solve some of these problems. Youth should enter developmental politics and not political politics.

As a fitting end to the evening, he made the audience take an oath that we would work with integrity and succeed with integrity. An experience I would cherish for a long time!

Not so long ago!

Seeds of leadership were sown when I fought for the fundamental rights of kids - to play and have fun.

As I sit in my balcony trying to make sense of the extremes "business of a business is business" and corporate social responsibility, the kids in my apartment complex are enjoying the company of each other, playing some games and shouting on top of their voices. I could feel myself being transported back to 14 years when I was one among them. Every evening, after school it was a fun evening with my neighborhood friends. Being the eldest, I came up with new games and activities.

"My son is preparing for CA. Do you know how tough the exams are? Go home and stop playing every evening" - my neighbor uncle blasted us one day. I boldly replied "Ask him to close all the windows and study". I didn't care much about his son's studies then.

When I look at the kids today, I regret the fact that I have grown up. I sit here, admiring these little kids and their tantrums. Although kids have become more sophisticated these days, the basic premise remains the same. Amidst their games, they stare at me wondering why this aunty (???) is looking at us and not her books. Do I tell them that they are more interesting than the Milton Friedman's article? :-)

fine to falter and flounder

My contribution to 3WW

a horrendous job to
wade through the dark forest
dried leaves, brown sticks
strewn around everywhere

holding hands together
frequenting this wonderland
quite often, hoping for
a treasure to get exposed

someday rain played spoilsport
drenching the brown mud and rocks
making the grounds slippery
bringing alive the sucking leeches

undeterred by the lashing wind
unscathed by the oozing blood
determined to discover the trove
working diligently, we dug deep

an old wooden box
locked tight by its side
with intricate carvings
revealed itself with pride

fine to falter and flounder
the only objective to open,
there she lies, our sweet pie
the cute kitten, feeling shy

A quest

My contribution to Cafe Writing - May & June project

Aroused by the pure rays of the sun
wakes up to the mellow voice of the cuckoo
with no need to scurry, admires the beauty
of the shades and colors of morning sky

devours the tunes of enchanting temple bells
the fragrance of burgeoning jasmine bushes
every reason to feel zealous about the dawn
unscathed by the hustle and bustle of metros

nerves her to hit the road yet again
in her embellished bullock cart
waving hands to the men and women
of the distant green fields

a nomad by choice, wandering through life
befriending toddlers and children on her way
humming to the tunes of the rustling leaves
in quest for her destination, nowhere

Sign off, Saturdays!

A perfect weekend it was! With the last free Saturday for the next one year (My 2nd year of PGSEM begins this Friday), it has to be something special. I woke up late at 8:30 AM and prepared myself a hot cup of tea. I love to sip my tea slowly and glance through the newspaper headlines. A day began that way makes me feel so good. I don't like to rush around this morning routine. But I don't get to have such a luxurious time every morning.

It's been a month since I shifted to my new home. But the cleaning hadn't got over yet. After 2 days of efforts, my home now looks so neat. The feel-good factor cannot be explained in words - with my bookshelf neatly stacked, my study table arranged with all those colorful, not-so-frequently used MBA textbooks, my music system plugged in and ready to be played anytime I want. Sifting through the horrendous pile of items and characterizing them into useful and junk is not an easy task with a person like me who loves to cling onto each and every piece of item. "I might use my 5 year old java notes sometime later", "I can play this old flute in my free time", "This is my college ID card, I can't get rid of it" - with lots of such thoughts and arguments, the weekend passed with repeats of a couple of hours of sorting and arranging, aptly rewarded with an episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S for the efforts that we had to put. I ended up watching around 8-10 episodes and all I could hear in my dreams were Ross's "We were on a break!!".

Experimenting with cooking new dishes used to be my favorite past time on Saturdays a year ago. I happened to catch up on that as well. The only thing that was missing was a lazy siesta after a heavy home made lunch. All these tasks were made possible, thanks to one main reason - I didn't switch on my laptop for the whole weekend.