Words of Wisdom

Now that you have been broken down, got your head out of the clouds

You’re back out on the ground.

You don’t talk so loud, you don’t walk so proud anymore.

How many times have I hummed these words to myself? How many times have I posted these around on the internet? In email? How many times have these brought my feet crashing down onto the ground?

Too many to count.

Of Sun Tzu and moles

Yesterday I was taking a shower when I noticed a mole inside the bathroom (it had been pestering us for over two months, beating all traps we had set up). This was a golden opportunity, so I asked my wife to hand me a trap and a broomstick.

For about 10 minutes, I chased the mole around the bathroom; it tried to hide behind exposed pipes, buckets and the like. For a while it also tried climbing up at the corners, succeeding in reaching about 3 feet high each time.

Finally, it must have realized that there was no way out. It turned around, faced me and started attacking. Thankfully, it latched onto the broomstick, which I dipped inside the trap. The trap (with the mole still inside) was quickly taken outside the house and the mole was released.

Wasn’t it Sun Tzu who said “always leave one route of escape open for your enemy, for if there’s nothing to lose, they will fight to the death?”

Relativity

1. Bangalore
2. Hyderabad
3. Mumbai Navi Mumbai
4. Pune

Where do I fit in Chicago?

The Dream is dead; Long live the dream

You set your sights on a goal that’s close to your heart. You toil for years, building up the foundations needed just to make an attempt. One fine year, you are ready. With your loved one’s support you take the final plunge and fight it out. Only to fail.

The love of your life comforts you, and you collect yourself again. You decide to make another attempt and start preparing likewise.

And then, one day you realize that the love of your life has been sacrificing her cherished goal so that you can try to acheive your own… The worst taste in your mouth, isn’t it?

So you do the obvious – let go of your dream and start looking for another one.

- – -

At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if I don’t acheive the success I wanted to. The happy life I will have lived will make up for it.

On Camping

Indian makes small fire, sits close.
White man makes big fire, sits far away.

– Stalking Wolf

Courage

Courage is “when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what.”

- Atticus Finch

The Big Bing

When you don’t know what to do, do nothing.
(It works in personal life too)

No, the title doesn’t refer to Stanley Bing; it’s the name of one of his books. Read it if you haven’t already – it’s worth much more than the time you would spend on it.

Awake

It’s past midnight, and I’m still awake. I know that keeping the laptop in my lap will give me leg pain tomorrow, but I’m too lazy to do anything about it right now.

Tomorrow we go to my hometown, to meet my parents. I am not sure if anyone else knows what kind of stress I am under. This stress is one of the reasons for my recent outbursts of anger.

Well, I better go sleep now, else there’ll be more to pay in the morning.

Conversational Interrogation

Imagine…

An acquaintance of yours has cheated your friend of everything. Now, you have to find out all the details from your acquaintance – without letting him know that you are doing so. How will you go about it?

I think the Pride-and-Ego approach would work best, would it not? I think so too. Let’s see how it works out.

Of course, this is a hypothetical scenario, but I still want to write the scene.

Compassion

Am I compassionate today?

A year ago, I would consider the best interest of my team ahead of that of the organization. But at that time, I was only responsible for my project’s performance.

Today, I have to worry about the impact of the actions of 120+ people. In this scenario, it is very easy to forget the people and be obsessed by numbers. All too often, I have ridiculed such leaders (although only in my mind). But yesterday, I genuinely felt that I am going in the same direction.

What should I do to help me always remembers my roots, the beliefs that got me so far in my career? I’m not so sure.