The Biggest Corporate Curse - Genuinely Fake Leaders and their Stooges

Several organizations, especially where the founders become the MDs or CEOs, but undeservedly so, are afflicted by the biggest corporate curse that is there.

The curse of genuinely fake leaders and their stooges.

There is leadership. This is rare.

Then there is genuine leadership. This is rarest of rare.

And then there is fake leadership. This is common.

Finally, there is genuinely fake leadership. This is commonly common.

Genuinely fake leaders promote the unhealthy breeding of yes sir men, the stooges and then cultivate them causing immense damage to the cultural fabric of the organization.

What are the tell-tale signs of genuinely fake leadership being practiced brazenly and in a bizarre manner by the top man?

Here are a few:

• Extols the value of inclusion but sets up a gang of yes sir men
• Talks about diversity but installs yes sir culture
• Humiliates those who refuse to become his yes sir men
• Thinks of himself as a visionary but has pin-hole vision
• Carries a fragile but jumbo-sized ego
• Acts like a king but, at the core, is a big clown
• Protects his and his yes sir men's turf

The stooges are a specimen of the most obnoxious type.

And this is what they do:

• Lift the top man up high on a pedestal made of thin air
• Keep pumping the fragile but jumbo-sized ego of the top man
• Treat the top man as a king knowing well that he is a clown
• Act as "smart alec" in meetings with the top man
• Show that they are more important in the system than others
• Humiliate those who are competent

If you happen to work in such an organization, then you are doomed.

You will see the top man and his stooges do non-sensical things quite often.

Like the following:

• The top man asks his pet stooges to stay back after a meeting to discuss something important - "stooge1, stooge 2, stooge 3, can you stay back?"
• The top man humiliates professionally competent people by asking them to report into one of his stooges - "can you keep my stooge in the loop"
• The top man frowns upon others bringing up genuine issues by asking his stooges, "you all should discuss and see what should be done"

What Happens When You Are Physically Attracted To Someone?

There are several occasions in your life when you get physically attracted to someone.

Someone of the opposite sex, obviously!

There are times when you meet this person only once.

She may be someone you happen to pass by or notice when you are in a market, mall, railway station, airport, bus stand, hospital, clinic, etc.

Or someone you happen to meet with or talk to while traveling, attending a training or conference, social function, etc.

Or someone you happen to catch a glimpse of quite fleetingly while driving through or traveling by a taxi or a cab.

You like her for certain reasons.

You like the twinkle in her eyes.

You like her smile and her teeth when she smiles.

You like her figure and enjoy that when she is passing across.

You like her dressing sense.

You like her body hugging clothes and imagine several things in your head.

You like her tight fitting clothes and imagine several things in your head.

You like her body revealing clothes and imagine several things in your head.

You imagine going to bed with her.

There are, however, times when you meet this person several times.

She could be your neighbour.

Or an office colleague.

Or a member of your team itself.

Or someone superior to you in the office.

Or someone who is your subordinate and who reports into you.

You get to know that she is not married so you also imagine that she could be open and ready for emotional and physical relation with you.

You get to know about her emotional and physical vulnerabilities and develop some feeling and compassion for her.

You go with her on work related trips so that you can be physically close to her.

You imagine making love to her while on such trips.

You like her voice and how she talks.

You wait every day to have a glimpse of her.

You stealthily view the contours of her body as much as you can and relish that a lot.

You try to have as many face to face interactions with her as you can.

You even think of her at times while making love with you wife.

You check her whatsapp profile frequently.

You check her and her friends facebook profile frequently.

You keep a track of her profiles on other social media channels.

You search for her pictures on google.

You download her pictures and keep looking at them.

You also edit and crop her picture.

You enhance and modify her picture to get some sort of vicarious physical pleasure.

You are tempted to do the above, again and again.

You are under some kind of intoxication!

You know it is more of physical and sexual attraction,

You know it is carnal.

You know it is a desire for physical contact that is driven by lust.

You know it is just some kind of infatuation.

You also know you got to be careful with this kind of thing.

And you also know clearly that you could get into trouble if you don't handle it properly.

So you exercise care and caution.

And make sure you keep things only in your mind!

Your Car Is Actually An Elephant?

You buy a new car.

And in the first few days, weeks and months you feel quite happy while driving your new car!

You can literally feel the freshness through the distinct smell emanating from the interiors of the car.

You make it a point to drive the car as much as you can.

What's the point in spending 12 Lacs INR in buying a car if you don't drive it as much as you can.

It's simply related to the principle of return on investment!

So you drive the first 1000 Kms in no time and get your 1st free service done.

You then plan to go for a long distance.

You enjoy the thrill of pushing the pedal to let your new car reach high speeds.

You feel elated by the acceleration in speed, especially when overtaking other vehicles on the road.

And then you reach the place you had planned to reach.

You drive locally and enjoy that experience also.

Then one fine morning, as you are driving on one of the roads near the place you are put up, you hear a sharp, quick and loud thud from the left back side of the car while taking a left turn.

After driving the same patch second time, you finally stop the car in front of the place you are put up.

Out of curiosity, you come out of the car.

You get down and out of the car and walk around to the left back side.

And you get a very big and unpleasant shock!

You see that the left back Tyre is totally deflated and the alloy wheel rim is also damaged.

You get a sick sensation passing through your entire being.

Oh my God, why this has happened to my new car?

The thought that something bad has happened crosses your mind.

And then somewhere in your head, a very subtle thought also passes through - welcome to the reality.

A new car will become old in some time.

A new car will be hit surely at some point in time.

Even if you drive very carefully, you will meet one or other accident.

You can only pray and hope that those accidents are minor in nature.

Though what kind of an accident you get involved with is not exactly totally under your control.

And then suddenly you think of an elephant.

An elephant will work for you but it needs to be fed regularly.

So is the case with a car.

Today the Tyre is gone, and with that you have lost 5000 INR in a jiffy,

Tomorrow it will be another bad thing that may happen.

Finally, you think about car and about elephant.

Do you have a car?

Is is really a car?

Or an elephant?

Actually, a car is just like an elephant.

You have to be prepared for your car to get dirty, to get damaged and to get "dented" and "dinged".

Just like your existence, the car also has a finite time period on earth.

In any case, the car registration period comes with a "valid till" date.

If you still don't believe that, do visit a nearby old car junk yard.

When you realize the deeper message from the above thoughts, you feel light.

This feeling of lightness is much better than the feeling of freshness you get while driving a new car.

In this materialistic age and world, we are enamored by the style over substance.

You then go back to the basics.

Why did you spend 12 Lacs INR in buying a new car in the first place?

What is the real return on investment you were seeking?

You note couple of things at this point of discovering the true return on investment:

• You bought a new and better car to get a better experience while driving, essentially in terms of features that deliver better vehicle stability & control, safety and comfort.
• You got only those essential accessories that really help
• seat cover (protect your OEM-fitted seats)
• door sill plate (protect door sills)
• car foot mat (protect the OEM-fitted carpet on the car floor). 
• steering wheel cover (enhance grip and protect the OEM steering wheel from sweat, oil and dirt)
• rear view camera (provide better visibility and hence higher safety while reversing your car)
• You realize the car door visor you had got fitted has turned out to be a wastage of money.
• its not really required for de-frosting the windshield and rear glass especially since your car already provides features to take care of both front and rear de-frosting.
• it is also not required for taking outside air into the car cabin in normal circumstances.
• it looks good and that's all there is to it, and spending for this thing is is never a good idea.
• The key thing is to focus on the experience you would get rather than the material that provides the experience.
• And finally, you should not be bogged down and bothered by small things that happen to the "material" part of the car as long as the overall experience is exhilarating.

What the above means is that there is no point in worrying about the Tyre damage or dents or dings.

Damages, dents and dings will keep on happening.

Your car will get dirty and damaged inside too, especially if you have kids, old parents or a wife who is not just totally complacent but uncaring too.

You should do your best to keep your car away from getting dirty, damaged, dented or dinged,

However, do not fret over "material loss to the car body and its various parts" and always remain relaxed to enjoy the "experience of driving a car".

Actually, in that sense, a car is just like an elephant.

You should focus on the experience when riding an elephant while also taking care of the elephant.

Similarly, you should focus on the experience when driving a car while also taking care of the car.

However, in case of a car, too much of focus on car as a "material" is not good.

Otherwise, you should not be driving a car in the first place.

And then what's the point in buying a new car?

Don't forget about the "car material" part but don't get bogged down by it as well.

Do remember about the "car experience" part and enjoy that to the maximum.

Do also be prepared to spend more when you car gets dirty, damaged, dented or dinged.

The above is the "elephant" part of getting the privilege to enjoy the "car experience".

So is your car really a car?

Or is it an elephant?

How You Solve A Problem Tells What Kind Of A Person You Are

Problem solving is an essential life skill.

This skill is really one of key differentiators between what makes one person very successful and the other not that successful or even not at all successful.

So what kind of situations typically come up in the life for any person.

Broadly speaking, there are five types of situations.

And based on what level of problem solving ability a person demonstrates in these situations, people can be broadly classified into five categories.

• Genius - can see things quite clearly and for any given situation can think in several dimensions as if she has multiple brains
• Intelligent -  needs to be told what the problem exactly is but can think of different ways to solve a problem
• Average - needs to be fed the approach right into the mind but can figure out the solution there after
• Idiot - needs to be told what the solution exactly is but can understand what the solution exactly is and why the solution is the solution
• Hopeless - not able to understand the solution even after being told what the solution is and also, at times, not able to understand what the problem exactly was

Genius - a person can be considered genius provided she, in a given situation, is able to:

• First of all, figure out and define what the exact problem is
• Then, think of the approach to solve that problem
• And then, solve the problem using that approach
• And finally, arrive at the correct and the exact solution

Intelligent - a person can be considered intelligent provided she, in a given situation, is able to:

• First of all, receive the problem statement in a clearly articulated manner but be in a position to correctly understand what the problem exactly is
• Then, be able to think of the approach to solve that clearly articulated problem
• And then, solve the problem using that approach
• And finally, arrive at the correct and the exact solution

Average - a person can be considered average provided she, in a given situation, is able to:

• First of all, receive the problem statement in a clearly articulated manner but be in a position to correctly understand what the problem exactly is
• Then, also receive the approach that needs to be used to solve that problem but be in a position to understand what the approach to be used exactly is
• And then, solve the problem using that approach
• And finally, arrive at the correct and the exact solution

Idiot - a person can be considered idiot provided she, in a given situation, is able to:

• First of all, receive the problem statement in a clearly articulated manner but be in a position to correctly understand what the problem exactly is
• Then, also receive the approach that needs to be used to solve that problem but be in a position to understand what the approach to be used exactly is
• And then, also receive the solution to the problem derived using that approach but be in a position to understand what the solution exactly is
• And finally, understand why that solution is the correct and the exact solution for the given problem

Hopeless - a person can be considered hopeless provided she, in a given situation, is able to:

• First of all, receive the problem statement in a clearly articulated manner
• Then, also receive the approach that needs to be used to solve that problem
• And then, also receive the solution to the problem derived using that approach
• But finally, still not understand why that solution is the correct and the exact solution for the given problem and at times, at the end of it, not even be sure of what the exact problem was!

The above five categories are, as stated earlier, very broad-based.

Most of the people would generally fall between the above categories.

The above categorization, however, provides a neat framework to understand how people solve problem in response to a given situation.

Knowing which one you are may provide you deep insight into your own capabilities.

That way this would be quite useful.

So which one are you?

The Sick and Silly Club of Stupid and Secretive Stooges

How do you know for sure that you are in the middle of a ridiculous situation?

A situation where you are surrounded by the sick and silly club of stupid and secretive stooges.

Who are these stooges?

These are those funny folks who think highly of themselves.

They write mail to each other.

They write silly emails copying each other.

They write emails where they are shown as the "premium club" whereas others are clearly shown as the lesser mortals belonging to the "cattle class".

And they are the "club" for all the reasons other than merit, competency, professionalism and ethics.

The stooges are stupid.

The stooges are secretive.

They have to be secretive because they are stupid but have to protect their self-glorified position.

The stupid and secretive stooges make the club.

The club is silly.

The club is sick.

The club is silly since it is sick.

The stupid and secretive stooges make the sick and the silly club.

Its basically a lala company.

And you are trapped badly.

Stooges call each other sir.

Some of the silly people say something but mean something else.

The top people are a specimen of the most ridiculous kind.

They are basically having an extended vacation at the cost of the company.

Some of the stooges are particularly idiotic.

One of them writes emails without copying the relevant folks and copies only those in the silly club.

Why?

Because this man is a man you cannot trust.

He will project himself being someone but is actually a true chameleon.

He doesn't mingle with you informally as he thinks he is superior to you.

And superior on account of what?

That's the funny part.

This treacherous man thinks he is superior for every reason other than those that are related to merit, competency, professionalism and ethics.

Since he doesn't have any of the above -  merit, competency, professionalism and ethics.

He is there since he is a stooge.

And so are the others in the club.

Another of them is particularly disgusting.

He thinks he is a shining star who has fallen from the sky.

He is definitely a fallen guy.

Not from sky though.

He has fallen from every possible good attribute.

He has fallen way below from even the regular expectations you would have from a just decent guy in terms of merit, competency, professionalism and ethics.

In such a company ethics is eaten everyday at lunch by the stooges and the top dog.

They talk big.

They think they have made a great company.

Nothing can be further and father from the truth.

They have created stooges.

They have created stupid and secretive stooges.

They have created a sick and silly club.

They have created a sick and silly club of stupid and secretive stooges.

That is what they have actually done.

You are in the middle of the sick and silly club of stupid and secretive stooges.

Nothing less.

Nothing more.

And that is all there is to it.

In simple word, you are basically doomed.

You are as good as dead.

When You are Trapped in a Failed Marriage

The Hindi movie "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" has these lines in the scene where the marriage between the two protagonists comes to an end, a very sad end.

Female protagonist:
Taaki usko wo saari khushiyaan de sakun, jo usko ek football coach nahin de sakta
Kaisa laga ye sunkar, Dev
Bahut dard hua naa, now you know how it feels
Kyunki tumne mujhe dard ke siwa, kuch nahin diya hai
Main hamesha sochti thi, dard pyar mein diya jaata hai, par yeh sach nahin
Tum to mujhse pyaar hi nahin karte, tum kisi se pyaar nahin karte
Nafrat hai tumhe, nafrat hai tumhe apne aap se, apni zindagi se, apni nakaamyaabi se
Aur main aaj tak nahin jaan paayi, tumhe kis baat pe zyada gussa aata hai, apni nakaamyabi se, ya meri kamyaabi par

Male protagonist:
Yes riya, mein nakaamyab hoon, ye sach hai
Par jaanti ho, is ghar mein, mujhse bhi nakaamyab kya hai?
Hamara rishta, aur ye shaadi
Thank you Riya
Thank  you for letting me stay in your house Riya

The above lines so very clearly show what it means to be trapped in a failed marriage.

You don't get to choose your parents.

They give you birth and you have absolutely no control over the kind of parents you are born to.

You don't get to choose your kids too.

You have some control over when to give them birth but once you give them birth you don't have any control over the kind of kids you gave birth to.

However, you get to choose whom you marry.

Your spouse is chosen by you.

Very often you choose to marry the wrong person

And your marriage slowly but eventually turns into a failed marriage.

You then end up getting trapped in a failed marriage.

You get this strong feeling that the color and juice from your life has simply disappeared.

The person who should have given you love and care is not there for you.

You come back to home from a business trip after a few days thinking your wife would have missed you.

What you see however is your wife's sullen and swollen face instead.

That makes you feel sad and irritated.

You may vent your anger on your kids.

You feel bad but that's what you do.

You have a female colleague join you on the business trip so that you get some company that takes care of fulfilling some of your emotional needs.

Emotional needs of being able to talk to a person of another sex without the fear of being turned away and made to feel unwanted.

You may develop a feeling of some sort of attraction towards and infatuation for her.

You may want to have physical intimacy and even sex with her.

The talk may be business talk but there is talk.

In your life there is no talk otherwise.

You and your wife don't talk.

You only fight.

You want to be physically intimate with your wife and have sex with her.

However, she not only refuses to have physical intimacy and sex with you but reacts in a way that makes you irritated, unwanted and disgusted.

You wife makes all kind of excuses to deny physical intimacy and sex to you.

And she does it purposefully and deliberately.

A wife who harms and hurts her husband looses the right to be called as wife.

Life is not sex.

But when you marry someone that someone is not your room-mate

There is difference between someone being your wife and someone being a room-mate.

You wife doesn't understand that simple thing.

You have failed in making her understand this thing.

Slowly sex goes away.

Then physical intimacy goes away.

Then emotional intimacy goes away.

Then you stop caring.

Then you stop talking.

And then you find yourself in a failed marriage.

You are now trapped in a failed marriage.

Did the marriage fail or did you fail?

That's a question you should ask yourself.

In the end, it is actually you who fail.

Fail  not just in marriage but in life too.

You may feel that your life has become purposeless.

You may feel that even if you were to die you would be okay with that.

You urge to live longer and live more may just disappear.

You may be perfectly fine if you were to die this very instant.

Failed marriage may end up making your life shorter.

However, in the end this doesn't make a difference to anyone and even to you.

And its okay if you have had a failed marriage.

The only thing is did you try to salvage it and did you try to reverse it.

If yes, no need to feel bad.

After all, in life you can only do so much.

What happens after you have done your bit is something that is beyond your control.

You should not feel bad.

Not at all.

Maybe its your bad luck.

Or your are a wretched, lowly creature who was supposed to go through such an experience in life.

If that be so, so be it.

Better to move on.

Better to wait it out.

The end of the journey is never very far.

And all of us will end this journey in the same way.

All of us.

When Your Best is Not Good Enough

At times your best is not good enough.

You simply fail.

And that's just it.

You might think that it's the end of the world.

It certainly is not.

You can't do everything in life.

You can't get everything in life.

You can't be everything in life.

You are all too human, too fragile, too weak.

Failure is not the end of the road.

However, failing to learn from failure is the biggest failure.

Maybe you are not good enough.

Maybe you are not made for certain things.

And that's alright.

You are not perfect.

That's perfectly alright.

If no one ever failed, the word failure itself would not have existed!

So no worries.

Celebrate your failures.

Celebrate your not being perfect.

Celebrate your weaknesses.

Celebrate your fragility.

Celebrate your mortality.

Celebrate the finite nature of your life.

Celebrate the uncertainty of life ending at any moment.

Celebrate certainty of death at the end of life.

Do your best, always.

Your best many not be good enough, however.

And its fine if your best is not good enough.

Haridwar, Rishikesh, Chamba, New Tehri Town and Tehri Dam - Some Photographs

Here are some photographs from a recent family trip to Haridwar, Rishikesh, Chamba, New Tehri Town and Tehri Dam.

These capture some of the tourist spots and landscape that is so very unique to this part of India.

You may ask why the New Tehri Town and why not just Tehri Town?

Well, the Old Tehri Town was submerged under water when the Tehri Dam became operational.

So a new Tehri Town was created as its replacement for those who used to live in the Old Tehri Town!

Enjoy the photographs.

Rishikesh at night from the mountains above while coming down from Tehri Dam

Tehri Dam

Lizard on a wall on the side of a road in New Tehri Town (Can you see it?)

Landscape while on the way to Chamba from Rishikesh

Gaushala (Cow-house!) near Rishikesh. Last one is Google Photos effect!

Some philosophical thoughts on the grills on the sides of the path to the Shanti Kunj Ghat on river Ganges at Haridwar

When You Don't Have Much to Say, You Can Only Smile

Very recently I met someone who was going through some crisis at work.

When I asked him about how things are going on, he just smiled.

He spoke about couple of things. But not much.

This is so very true. When you don't have much to say, you can only smile!

Or is it actually a smirk.

Maybe it is more of a smirk than a simple smile.

This shows the person has virtually no control, or has lost most of it, on what's going on.

And not only that. He is also partly, if not primarily, responsible for that crisis.

The question is: can smile help?

Giving an honest answer may be much more helpful.

The answer should obviously talk about why things may have gone the way they did.

And an honest inquiry into the ways and means for not getting into get into such a situation ever again.

The smile may tell another story.

That person is a nincompoop and thoroughly incompetent for the position he holds.

He will smile again, next time, and that too very soon.

Handling a Sudden Medical Emergency at Home

When bad time strikes, you or someone in you family may face a sudden medical emergency.

A few minutes before the emergency all would seem to be going very well.

And then suddenly!

Getting panicky is very natural and perhaps the first reaction one would normally have.

Unless you are a trained doctor or medical expert, there is not much that you can do that in such a situation.

Here are some thoughts on what one could do to handle a sudden medical emergency at home:

• Quickly assess the extent of impact or damage, if that is possible. This may be possible in case of external injuries only.
• See whether the family member can be taken to a hospital immediately. If not, call for the ambulance immediately.
• Take the patient to the nearest hospital. Any reasonably equipped hospital in your vicinity would be fine so that first-aid or emergency treatment can be given without loosing precious time.
• In case of any case history to the medical emergency the hospital you generally go should be contacted and informed and you should do whatever advised.
• Have at least 3 people, if possible accompany you. One should stay alongside the patient, the second one should stay along with the doctors and the nursing staff. The third one should do the errands like arranging for money, getting things from outside if not available at the hospital, etc.
• Always remember, for you the emergency may be a first-time or a rare situation that you may not have ever faced but for the medical staff it is just routine.
• Based on the immediate above point, let the medical staff take the decisions based on their professional judgment. You should certainly expect them to brief you as appropriate and at the appropriate times.
• Certain necessary paperwork may also be required to be completed as the treatment begins. That is another reason having 3 people helps. The third person can easily take care of such administrative tasks.

Some other miscellaneous thoughts to take care of some other things that though not directly related to the medical requirements are important for you to manage:

• Maintain a positive and encouraging attitude as you interact with your family member who is going through the physical pain and discomfort. He or she would need both physical and mental support to handle the tough time with higher level of fortitude.
• As soon soon as you get time, but surely at the earliest, you should inform the relevant people at workplace about the fact that you may not be available for certain days. Do mention medical emergency so that they are more considerate to your needs in such a tough time in your personal life.
• Ensure you brief the people so that critical tasks at your workplace don't get missed in your absence.
• Make sure you have medical insurance policy to take care of such situations. Inform the insurance provider at the earliest possible.
• Keep an emergency fund equal to 2 times of the medical insurance amount. This would help in case the hospital you go to is not a network hospital. Also it gives you a nice cushion which is 3 times the medical insurance amount and that should normally be sufficient in most cases.
• Make sure some of your investments are liquid so that in case you run out of the emergency fund, you should be able to access some more funds by quickly liquidating your investments so as to generate the required funds.
• In case even the above also fails to provide you the needed funds, you may have to explore taking personal loans to take care of medical expenses. This should hopefully be a "God forbid" scenario!

Always carry the feeling of gratitude that the whole thing could have been even worse that what it is.

Never carry the grudge "why me"?

Be positive and cheerful. Generate inner mental strength to take care of whatever situation is there before you since that is your reality at this point of time.

Do whatever you can do to the best of your availability. Leave the rest to the medical experts.

And finally, and most importantly, pray and thank God. He wanted you to go through such an experience in life. It is simply destiny at play.

Buddha, Ganesha and the Jungle - Some Interesting Pictures

Found these pictures painted by someone on a wall.

It was actually a single wall painting but the pictures have been clicked and captured as five different pictures.

The painting on the wall was really artistic and fantastic!

The pictures obviously tell a story of sorts, Story of the Buddha, Ganesha and the Jungle.

These make for some very interesting pictures.

Why Steve Jobs Should Be Remembered As A Great Philosopher Rather Than Just A Great Innovator?

Steve Jobs is regarded as one of the great innovators of all times, and rightly so.

He has given many wonderful and game-changing gadgets to the world.

One can instantly think of names such as iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and many more to justify him being called a great innovator.

 

It is useful to think of his contributions in the right perspective.

What Steve Jobs did in technological arena is surely important.

However, many things he said and epitomized when it comes to living life are much more important.

It's hard to imagine what kind of gadgets will be there in the world 100 years from now.

For all you know, the iPhones and iPads  a century later may be unlike the iPhones and iPads of today.

And they may be created not by Apple but by companies which are yet to get incorporated.

However, the way Steve Jobs conducted his life and the thoughts he shared on various occasions in respect of life as well as death have strong philosophical underpinnings.

One good example is his commencement address at Stanford in 2005 (http://news.stanford.edu/news/2005/june15/jobs-061505.html). 

These thoughts were as relevant 10 years back as they will be 100 years later and in fact beyond that and forever.

The following paragraph from that speech so beautifully captures why trust on yourself and on destiny is so much needed and so important.

It clearly highlights  that you cannot plan the course of your life very precisely.

The idea is to do your best and to God leave the rest.

"Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life."

Another paragraph as quoted below is about finding your true calling in life.

If you do what you would anyway love to, then you would be happy whether you are professionally successful or not.

It follows from the above paragraph also that success depends on you and several factors many of which you have no or minimal control upon.

So you should focus on finding work you would enjoy till you die and do it with passion and perseverance.

And if you turn out to be successful that's like the icing on the cake.

In this context one example you can think of is of Guy Spier who found that value investing like Warren Buffet is his calling in life and got into that.

He may never become Warren Buffet but he will perhaps be always happy about what he does for living since he got into doing what he would have wanted to.

"You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle."

Another paragraph given below is so profoundly true.

It is crystal clear in terms of the meaning of life and death.

It is always important to think about 100 years later (when you would, in fact, be dead) to put things in their right perspective as captured in http://random-reflections-thoughts-blog.blogspot.in/2010/12/feeling-down-think-100-years-later.html.

"Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure — these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

The following paragraph talks about the ephemeral nature of our existence.

This is a philosophical master-piece.

It shows the circle of life, and its ultimate culmination in death.

"No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true."

And finally, here's the paragraph that shows the way to live your life.

You should choose how to live it based on what you love to do, what you want to be and what you think is right.

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

The above are but a few philosophical nuggets from Steve Jobs that are so apt, so profound and so very useful for anyone who wants to live their life on their very own terms.

One thing they indicate towards though is quite clear - Steve Jobs should be remembered as a great philosopher rather than just a great innovator.

2016 Holidays - NSE, BSE, NEFT / RTGS

NSE - Holidays for the calendar year 2016

http://www.nseindia.com/products/content/derivatives/irf/mrkt_timing_holidays.htm

BSE - Trading Holidays for 2016 - Equity Segment, Equity Derivative Segment and SLB Segment

http://www.bseindia.com/markets/marketinfo/listholi.aspx

• Muhurat Trading shall be held on Sunday, October 30, 2016 (Diwali – Laxmi Pujan). Timings of Muhurat Trading shall be notified subsequently.
• The Exchange may alter / change any of the above holidays, for which a separate circular shall be issued in advance.

NEFT / RTGS Holiday - 2016 

https://rbidocs.rbi.org.in/rdocs/RTGS/PDFs/RTGS11122016BC3767FB4C9E4EC485FB0EFF9B11C938.PDF

Which Way Will the Indian Economy Go in 2016?

Predicting anything about the future is never easy and always full of uncertainties.

At the start of 2015, it was predicted by many experts that 2015 will be a great year for the Indian economy. The predictions talked about stock market touching new highs by the end of 2015. One of the reasons often cited was that there was a new, pro-reforms Government at the Centre with inspiring leadership at the helm. Despite that, not much did actually happen due to several reasons.

The BSE index did go up to a new high of 30000 during the year but then as it looks like, a few days before the year will come to an end, stock market at the end of 2015 will close lower than where it was at the start of the year.

The expectations of US Fed rate hike in 2015 did finally come about. There was a lot of see-saw the market went through but in the end the US Fed did bite the bullet.

Expectations of interest rates in India lowering also came about. The decline in interest rate in 2015 has been quite dramatic. In overall terms, the decline has been close to 1.5% to 2% (9%-9.5%  rates changing to 7%-7.5%) which is quite steep. That made investments into PPF, SSC, SSY, and various tax-free bonds that were announced this year a lucrative option.

It is believed that over the long run (typically 10 years or more) equities deliver higher returns though in certain years the returns can be negative. 2015 was one such year.

In the Indian context, real estate continues to stagnate and those who invested in real estate not only made net negative returns but remained saddled with properties that are still difficult to dispose of. In the current market, there are only sellers. Buyers are still waiting as they expect further market correction.

Gold and commodities had a very bad year in 2015. The mining and metals sector lost market capitalization across all global markets. The decline in oil prices has been too steep that it looks almost inconceivable that such a thing could even happen. When oil had reached 100 dollars per gallon few years back, it looked as if 150-200 dollars is not far away. No one including the experts predicted its fall in this manner.

So sitting at the fag end of 2015, what can be said about which way will the Indian economy go in 2016? Here are some thoughts to chew upon:

• No one can predict the future, not even the experts. The difference between a layman and an expert is simply that the expert can employ a good amount of jugglery and jargon to sound convincing.
• The world had become a much more volatile place. The markets can swing a lot rapidly in either direction in a short span of time.
• The world markets are tightly integrated now. Most of the local events are analyzed (or rather over-analyzed) by various global players in no time and the impact cascaded across the global markets.
• With machine-based, algorithmic trading becoming the way with all institutional and HNI investors, volatility is here to stay.

So which way will the BSE index head towards in 2016? Upwards or downwards? Will the bloodbath in commodities and oil continue? Will gold prices go up or down? Which sectors of the economy will rise and which will fall? Which new sunrise sectors and companies emerge? These are questions for which no one can offer any definitive answer.

In all this confusion and a situation where excessive information is getting generated, the fundamentals will still continue to matter (as the value investors would comment). Unfortunately, the fundamentals also change now with high uncertainty.

Oil is probably the best example. Knowing that it is a non-renewable, finite natural resource which will continue to have high demand and with the cost of production going up every year, one would expect oil prices to go in only direction - up. This hasn't happened though. It's clear that speculation and self-serving interests of the big players and global political considerations are driving oil prices and not just economics.

In summary, it is not important to even predict which way the economy and market will go in 2016. It is much better to maintain a diversified portfolio (debt out-performed equities hands-down in 2015), keep a close eye on global political and economic developments, switch investing style based on need of the situation (from a day trader to a seasonal speculator to a long-term investor), and last but not the least use fundamental analysis to pick the right investments to start with. This would help to protect the down-side risk and allow one to get good returns coming out of volatility that would continue to prevail upon the markets in 2016 and very likely beyond that as well.

Waiting for the Light (A Poem)

When you are stuck
With something, out of bad luck

Life seems like a bed of thorns
With lots of frowns

And then you see the ray of light
All so clear and bright

Light that guides you on the right way
And is there for you everyday

The belief you will outlast
Comes to you at last!

Handling Electronics Waste

Proper disposal of old, obsolete and broken electronics items and their parts such as laptops, tablets, mobile handsets and cell phone batteries is essential to minimize adverse impact on the environment.

So what can one do with old mobile handsets and cell phone batteries which are not working? Here are two environment-friendly options one can use:

• Leave them at the service and repair center of the company which manufactured it
• Send them to an e-waste management company

There has to be back-end system with the manufacturing company or the e-waste management company to dispose off the old electronics items and their parts in a manner such that the adverse impact on the environment is zero, not even minimal impact should be acceptable.

Future generations may not be alive today but if they were, all of them would have collectively voiced their opinion that anything other than zero cannot be tolerated when it comes to the very existence of human race.

All the electronics waste being created by humans today has the potential to make planet Earth unfit for human beings and there is no option whatsoever. For managing a risk a common approach is to have a track B in case track A, the primary track, fails for any reason.

Though all attempts are made to ensure track A succeeds but failure probability is never zero. With planet Earth unfortunately there is no track B. There is no planet B to fall back upon in case planet A ceases to be fit for life. And in case this so happens it will be the end of human race.

Black Money - Where to Look for Black Money in India?

One hears about a lot of black money flowing in India. If someone were to find out where it is hiding here are some places to look for black money:

Real Estate

Anytime one hears the phrase "you have to pay a premium" one can bet the premium is nothing but the black money asked by the seller. And who are these sellers? Mostly investors with loads of black money. Black money grows faster and fatter as compared to white money because these "investors" pay no tax on the black money - neither income tax nor capital gains tax. In fact it is really amazing that the term being used is "investor" rather than "tax violators".

Simply asking all builders to provide the names and contact details of those who have bought and sold a house before the physical possession is enough to nail these "tax violators". Most of such people would be ones with black money.

Wedding and Festivals

In many cases someone splurging loads and loads of cash on wedding, birthday parties, festivals is a good case to explore further. Chances are high that the money behind all of it would be black in color. When payments made for all such expenses are made in cash it is invariably a case of black money being used by the person making the payment. Not only that the payment accept in such cases stays in cash and gets spent further in cash, all of it remaining in black.

Simply asking all tentwallahs, banquet hall and lawn owners and restaurants organizing birthday parties the names and contact details of those who have used their services is enough to nail these "tax violators". Most of such people would be ones with black money.

Life is Too Precious to be Lost on a Road

If one drives on Indian roads for some time it is more than enough to make one emotionally drained initially and stiff over time. Here are the typical sights and sounds on Indian roads:

• Mangled remains of cars and other vehicles
• Trucks that are overturned or lying at strangle angle on or off the roads
• Dead bodies and injured people
• Ambulances arriving at the site of accident and rushing away to a hospital nearby
• Bodies of animals crushed under the tyres
• Dark red spots of human or animal blood on the road

The loss of life and material has its economic, social and emotional impact on those who experience it first hand. For the others it is the loss of life on the roads that has the maximum emotional impact.

The first time one watches a dead body of any man or woman involved in an accident the feeling can be gut-wrenching and emotionally draining. The question that lingers on for many days and weeks to come is "oh, it can happen to me also, I can also die in an accident!". After few such incidents one becomes philosophical and emotionally stiff, "well since it can very well happen to me I better buy an accident insurance policy!".

Life is too precious to lost on a road. We must keep this in our minds while we drive on Indian roads. Some of the following rules may be helpful:

• Know and follow all traffic rules yourself but assume that others will not (expect vehicles on wrong side, over-taking from wrong side, vehicles in the night driving with both front and rear lights not working, overloaded vehicles, etc.)
• Assume bad roads and feel happy if the roads are in good condition (expect potholes, craters, wrongly parked vehicles, extreme lanes being hijacked by shops on either side of the road, etc.)
• Drive with a relaxed mind. If one has to reach on time it's better to start early than drive fast (expect unannounced road diversions, traffic jams regardless of the time of the day, etc.)
• Though driving fast is not unsafe on Indian roads it is (stray animals can suddenly come on the way, other drivers can stop or turn unexpectedly without any warning, etc.)

As life is too precious to lost on a road, one must exercise due care and caution as one drives on the Indian roads. Loosing one's life on a road demeans and devalues life.

This Way… or Another (A Poem)

Which path shall one head for?
Should one head this way… or another?

On the journey towards the destination
Everyone encounters this question
Which path shall one head for?
Should one head this way or… another?

Thoughts of home as you reach the unknown earth
Bring the familiar feeling in the heart,
That the known clouds though left behind
Are just hiding somewhere for you to find

Memories lingering in your mind-scape
Search for old things in the new landscape
To make you feel at home
As you find many new things are actually known

You are on your way to a new territory
Leaving behind a life full of merry
Determined to find another home
In a land far away from your own

Waiting to start another journey
And ask yourself the same question again
Which path shall you head for?
Should you head this way… or the other?

The Beckoning Beacon (A Poem)

The beacon on the horizon faraway
Ignites feelings of runaway

Reaching there seems tough
With the weather seemingly so violent and rough

Holding tightly to hope
Mustering all inner strength to cope

The unbroken spirit is still alive
To see the days with eyes wide

It is going to be bright soon
If not sun let it be just the moon

Light though dull and dark
Will surely be enough to make the mark

Carrying the longing in the heart
Waiting for just one sight of earth

The days seem to be slow
Like rain turning into snow

The beacon from the distance is beckoning
Seems to say, “it’s you I am challenging!”

Will you arrive at the destination
Doesn’t appear to be anyway a question

Would you be able to arrive with your spirit unbroken
Is really the only million-dollar question

The beacon seems to challenge again
Prove that you are a real man!

Make a wish, offer a pray
Though the weather is all dark and gray

You will make it to the destination with unbroken spirit
Arriving with heart full of spirit

Holler at the beacon with all might
I will be there, yes that’s right!

So here I come
The beckoning beacon