Saturday, February 28, 2009

Of Modern Traditions!!!

In India, there is sometimes a trade-off bewteen tradions and practicality. These trade-offs can cost a lot at times.There is Anger and frustration at the end of it. Is it worth it?

Indian traditions have always been a binding factor. We owe a lot to these traditions. In fact they are the core of our so called Value system. Yet, sometimes the same traditions demand too much of a person. There are two friends of mine. A Man and a woman. Well...yes they were in love with each other and were highly committed. The girl is getting older by "Indian standards" for her marriage. She goes after the guy big time and pressurises him. The guy has an older brother who is still unmarried and this guy cannot get married till his older brother does. What happens next is sadly a common story in India. The Girl gets no further extension from home and the guy cannot get married due to old traditions. Its worse than a Catch-22. They Break up.

Wish parents could understand. Wish the society could. In this case, wish the older brother was sensible and practical enough to make the guy's parents understand that it was okay for his younger brother to get married first. Wish the girl's parents could wait a little longer. But then its never an easy situation with parents always vouching for arranged marriage over love marriage in India. When its love marriage, even the most accomodating parent ceases to budge and give room for practicality.

So whats the solution? I wish I had known. When it comes to marriage,families reunite...families get bigger. You see uncles and aunts you had never seen and spoken to. Huge egos are at stake. The boy and the girl feel as if marriage is the biggest event and the sole purpose why the parents are on this earth. Rest all seems inconsequesntial.

I am a great believer in Indian traditions. I am fsacinated and am in awe of them. The reason being that every tradition has a meaning to it and every individual finds his own element in each. Yet some can change lives for worse. There has to be a point where one needs to thing from the head and not from the heart. I just hope that we the current generation think more pragmatically when required and imbibe the same into the next one.

Friday, February 20, 2009

फुटपाथ

This piece in hindi is written with a hope that one day there will be no poverty in our country anymore.

तपती धूप की बातें ना करो मुझसे,
मैंने बिताई है ज़िन्दगी सड़कों पर,
फुटपाथों पर मैंने फैलाई है झोली,
सिग्नलों पर थपथपाई मैंने हर कार की खिड्की.

भूक की बातें ना करो मुझसे,
खाली पेट सोयी हूँ दिनों तक,
नज़र रखती हूँ रोज़ उन फेके हुए निवालों पर,
बासी खाने को भी चाव से खाया है मैंने .

इज्ज़त की बातें ना करो मुझसे,
हर तरह की नज़र को देखा है मैंने,
और सबसे जान बचायी है,
हर सिक्के की अहमियत जानी है मैंने.

ज़िन्दगी की बातें ना करो मुझसे,
क्या जाना है तुमने इतना पा कर?
मरने की चाह को रोज़ दबाया है मैंने,
खुद को खुद से लड़ना सिखाया है मैंने.

दुःख की बातें ना करो मुझसे,
सब कुछ खोया है मैंने,
अब लगाव नहीं रहता किसी चीज़ से,
हर मोड़ पर सब गवाया है मैंने .


V.V.Vikram

Monday, February 16, 2009

Fly high.....and land

The most used word in the entire course of my MBA is 'External Environment'. My Prof says that unless a firm changes with the changes in the external environment, it will become obsolete. All throughout my MBA i have learnt this one thing, that adaptability is the key to success, especially for firms. I wonder though whether it applies to humans as well. Darwin says it does and is necessary. But change at what cost??

I have seen people change...entirely. New people altogether. Transformed. It frightens me at times. Its good that people change because they need to transform in order to live better and deliver better. But should the change get into your head?? Can it sweep you off your feet?? What if it changes you for life? What if you change so much that you lose your humility? What if the change starts playing with your head? What if you start looking down upon people? What if its starts making you feel that you are the best???

Then its a problem i guess. In an interview with one of the companies, the interviewer asked me as to which were those two qualities that are essential to succeed in an organisation. I replied "Humility and hardwork". He then asked me how something like humility fit in in a profession like sales. He asked me what if someone overtook me by being smart and arrogant. I said i would be happy being at the same place as i would do what i felt was right. Was it wrong to say something like it today. Are we so desperate to beat the other in our professional and personal lives? What do we want to prove by being superior over the other?

For me the most important thing is to be humble. It will always be. I cant stand people who fly off the ground never to come back. I believe that unless you stick to the soil, you will never understand what is happening around. At the same time i do understand and believe that self respect comes higher and one cannot forego of it at the cost of being humble but one cannot lose respect for others too. The greatness about a tree is just that. It is tall and yet its is deeply grounded due to its roots.