Speaking

It is said, "When you can speak, you can make people think and when you can make people think you can change lives". Spoken words are indeed much more powerful than written words and they create waves of influence that lasts longer. Earlier you could speak only to a section of society or to a small group of individuals but now with digitization the world is changing. You can upload your video in social media sites or create video blogs and reach out to the wider audience. Today even the written tutorial sites are less popular as people prefer to watch videos for learning. Videos leave a greater and more lasting impact. So, shouldn't we focus on our speaking abilities? After all it is important to make that perfect client presentation, raise the perfect toast, make that perfect proposal, give the most convincing answer, and above all master the speech.

Ever wondered what is so different between us and the animals? We speak and that is what makes us 'social'. Speaking is the best way of expressing ourselves, it makes us give a vent to our pent up feelings. Nothing is more important than speaking your mind. The right words can heal and the wrong words can kill. Mastering the art of speaking makes us human. And of course we need to feed ourselves with the right thoughts for the right words to come out. I think what makes one the best speaker is the amount of valuable information one has, or the kind of positive effect that gets created, or it can just be speaking something that makes sense. That makes the difference between speaking air and speaking substance. This comes from loads of reading and listening, as well as improving skills. Sometimes you don't even need to do that. We already have stories that we can talk about or give a speech in an event or social gathering. It's in the daily stuff, the mundane work, and the simple pleasures of life. One doesn't have to read a business newspaper to be a great speaker after all it is rightly said, "There are more things happening in Heaven and Earth, Horacio than the newspapers report!" We can all be storytellers as we all have stories about our failures, our achievements and the lessons learnt. So, the next time we have to speak let’s give a push to that story in our heart, let’s be ourselves and let us all speak our heart out.

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Corporate Philanthropy

People sometimes ask me, “You are working in a private sector what are you possibly doing for the Nation?”And here is what I tell them.

Actually the private sectors or corporate organisations are doing their bit of giving back to the society in the best possible way. Corporate Philanthropy and Employee engagements are increasing widely. It is no longer considered an optional thing anymore. Employees are motivated to invest time and money in such activities. This is being taken more seriously than ever before and employees are also being judged by how they manage these activities.  This increases collaboration among employees because people from different departments or accounts come together to work for a single cause and help each other to fulfil their goals and duties towards the society.  They are not only making financial contributions towards the less privileged but also investing their time for environmental causes, literacy, helping differently able and many more that brings some goodness to the communities we live in.  This is boosting the morale of employees, increasing their sense of belongingness towards the organization and in a way making them more loyal.

We have now realized that we needn’t be Bill Gates, Warren Buffett or Mark Zuckerberg to be involved in philanthropies. Various employee engagement programs and corporate initiatives are giving employees to do their part as well. This improves team spirit, boosts leadership qualities, develops event management skills and above all improves our business ethics and culture. All this and we also pay our taxes regularly

So, what are you waiting for? Everyone can be a part of it and enjoy the journey towards making this world a much beautiful place together. 

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Stop There

In the name of God stop once,

Stop there, right there and take a glance.

At the world around you, the trees, the planes, the rivers and the hills,

The men, the women, the children, the birds, the cats and the dogs.

They are not different, they are all the same.

They live, they die, they laugh and cry.

Or stand there tall, facing the wind, the sun, the rain and all.

Stop once to notice that you are not alone.

Stop once to notice that it's not the end.

They were, they are and will remain

Happy, healthy, sad or in pain.

Look once to see that broken tree,

Look once to see that child with tears.

Run not away from what is real.

Stop once to feel that wind,

Stop once to realise their sorrow,

Stop there to enjoy the rain.

Stop there before resuming the journey,

Stop there to learn before moving again,

Stop there because it's required to have a pivot,

to mark another phase and to the start from there again. 

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The Three Kinds of People

No matter where we go we will always meet three kinds of people.  The first kinds are the ones who find faults with us and give us endless free advices when we are not successful but are all praise once we are. The second kinds are those who always sympathise us and try to motivate us but turn out to be jealous once we get better than them. Then there are the third kinds who are always by our side, no matter what!

The first categories are foolish they do not have a mind of their own, they like things which everyone else feels is great. They follow the crowd and try to fit in everywhere. They make an attempt to be charming and try to be liked by everyone. These are the people who can never handle rejection and care too much about what others will think instead of focusing on themselves. It is always good to maintain a safe distance from them because they are what we actually call, “The fair weather friends”.  The second categories are those who always like to be with the weak and downtrodden not because they want to  help them but because it makes them feel better when compared to. So, they basically use you to entertain themselves with your “inferiority”.  They are the ones who will first come and tell you that you have changed in a bad way when you succeed in any field of life. They will confront you and try to remind you that you were once nothing. It is very difficult to identify such people at first because they are always so sweet and kind to you. But the moment you realise that they cannot tolerate your success stay away from them as it is advisable to stay away from people who bring in so much negativity.

The third kinds are my favourite they are friends for lifetime. It is hard to find such people but once you do, never get away from them. They are the ones who enjoy your company and love you for what you are or what you will become. I think if we want true and honest friends we will always find those among them. They are “The friend in need type” who will never turn their back on you.  They are the people who don’t require you to pretend in their company.  They make you feel alive and you love to be surrounded by them, so never ever let them go.

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Forty and Still Rocks!

Have you heard the TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert? She is the author of "Eat, Pray, Love" now a movie starring Julia Roberts and has also written a sequel to that book called, "Committed". Though the talk is about writers and their power to create those best selling scripts, I liked something else apart from the moral. There is one point where she mentions that she is "just" forty and perhaps has forty more years of work to do (till she is eighty). That is somewhere I stopped to think. She considers herself forty years young and feels she has still miles to go ahead. Now this is the kind of thinking we should have in India, not that a women should marry by 25, have kids by 30 and retire by 35 from work. We actually forget that as we grow older we evolve, we learn from life's lessons, then why quit when you are just ready to deal with things better and are well equipped to face the problems of life. No matter what is your gender or what job you do, it is never too late to keep working. There are people whose careers have actually started well after forty, Barack Obama being one of them, who became the US Senate only after crossing that age. Perhaps that's what he calls, "The Audacity of Hope". There is no age to start and no age to quit; it is rightly said that as long as you are alive there is still a purpose.  And that is what should keep us driving. 

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Aunts aren’t Gentlemen (Pun Intended)

“Aunts aren’t Gentlemen”, is the title of one of the P.G. Woodhouse books.  I always feel he was very correct about this.  After all Indian aunties are a tale to be told. They actually specialise in spontaneous commentary of anything that comes across them.  They can never be happy about any dress you wear and it’s always against the tradition. They ask you about your job and then they always find an example of someone with a better salary and better house.  They are the only ones who will first spot the strike of white hair on your head and are the spoilers of the big fat Indian weddings.  They dress up to compete with other middle class aunties and if you did not praise their precious jewelry set for the occasion, you just got screwed! Their ultimate goal in life is to keep feeding you and be the best cook in the world.

But aunts cannot be ignored, their vivacious openness is what they call, “a burst of honesty”.  They keep telling you that they are old enough to show you the reality. The best way to handle them is to keep saying yes to whatever they try to impose, whether you do it or not is an after thing. If they shower you with endless free advices or criticism tell them that you would definitely take care of it. Dare not to argue with them, believe me they are well prepared and all set for a long hassle so try avoiding it.  If it was an unplanned meeting always keep an excuse ready for why you haven’t been calling them and a satisfactory answer to “Look at you! Are you not eating anything?” But no matter how good you are your aunt would always claim to be much better than you as she was luckily born years before you and you will always remain a child for her.  The best way to deal with your aunt is to fit in her shoes and dare not to contradict her if you want some peace of mind!

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A story to tell

“Life is a series of stories – and everyone has one”

Cheewa James

When I was a kid I always spent most of my time with my maternal grandparents. They lived in a small town in Odisha, perhaps thirty minutes journey from my parents’ house. Both my parents were working and I did not want to spend time alone during vacations. So, I would bug them to take me to my grandparents’ house and they seldom hesitated.

My grandpa was an amazing story teller and my granny was an awesome cook, this made their place heaven. Now my grandpa would tell me and my cousin stories from his own life, simple ones, not too long and never too boring. He was from a humble background, born in a village with two elder brothers and a peasant father. His mother was one of the most traditional and decent woman of those days. I always felt he had inherited a lot from her when I used to look at her photo. They had never planned to send him to high school but his scores were simply too good to be ignored. Also he had this dream to be one of the “Babus”. This made him strive to achieve the very best and excel in whatever he learnt. After being a gold medallist in BSc and MSc Physics from the Ravenshaw University, Odisha he went ahead to do his Post Doctorate from British Columbia somewhere around the 1960s. He would then return to his roots and become a Professor in Odisha, writing books for the state board and starting a Science Magazine in Odia.

Life is indeed a series of stories and some stories touch your heart. They give you hope, make you dream and always end with a moral. My grandfather is no more but the stories he has told me will always show me path, will always drive my spirit high and encourage me to follow my heart. Though I am in the Software Industry now, I somewhat feel thankful that as a kid I did not have an iPad to spend my evenings playing games, otherwise I would have missed the stories which I feel is a treasure for lifetime.

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