Today I woke up to a beautiful spring morning, with clear blue sky, deep red rising Sun, sparkling blue sea water at a distance, birds either perched atop a tree, electric wire or parapet or just flying in the sky, smartly dressed school kids waiting for their school bus and usual light traffic on the road. Everything appeared so very peaceful, orderly and perfect. I felt at absolute peace with myself.

Then came the morning newspapers and my wife switched on the TV set to catch up on the latest news. Suddenly everything appeared disrupted, burning, chaotic and in shambles. Russian missile attack that narrowly missed Zelenskyy, attack by Houthi militants, casualties in Israel/Gaza, new Pakistan government against the popular mandate, political acrimony in our county…. the list went on and on!

I neither want to advocate ignorance being bliss, nor do I want to underplay the ground reality. However, the reality lies somewhere in between. We need not worry about things not in our control and appreciate all that perseverance of nature and human race – both going about doing their job irrespective of all the disturbances.

The last month of the last quarter of the FY 2023-24 has started and one can see frantic activity all around. There are targets to be achieved – individual as well as organisational, PMS to be completed, financial incentives to be distributed, promotions to be announced, annual closing related formalities to be completed – its as if the entire crux of the financial year is to be understood and realised in these last 20 or so working days of the year. Invariably, March also comes loaded with holidays, reducing the number of working days to below average, putting more pressure on the resources and organisations.

Obviously, the above pressure situation takes a toll on the psyche of the employee, more so if the outcomes are not on the desired lines. For organisations, it means disappointed investors and shareholders and toll on the share price.

While I cannot comment upon what organisations need to do, for they have experts, analysts, strategists, financial wizards in their ranks, who can give a technical reason for performance being off mark, I would definitely have some bit of advice for individual employees. A lower than expected outcome in any particular FY need not be treated as the end of the road. After all, who, even of the most successful lot, can claim to have got top rating , highest increment, maximum bonus and promotion on time, every time throughout his or her career span? Ups and downs represent the law of nature and instead of sulking, looking out for greener grass on the other side of the fence or taking any knee jerk action, it’s better to do a self analysis of the year gone by and restrategise by bridging the gaps, if any, that may get identified as part of the aforesaid analysis. Organisations, largely, work on the similar lines and its for individuals to adapt to the culture.
With no intention of self promoting my maiden book, “ Ordinary is extraordinary”, I personally feel that it can be a good guide as it views success in a slightly differently nuanced manner. The Amazon link is given below:

https://www.amazon.in/dp/8195880894

I first closely heard Pankaj Udhas when a friend of mine preferred to have his daily poison, with ghazals by Pankaj Udhas playing on his cassette player in the background on low volume. Ghazals like sharab cheez hi aisi hai and thodi thodi piya karo had a mesmerising effect on the music lover in me.

Came my marriage and my wedding video has a famous scene in which my bride enters the stage with Udhas’s timeless ditty, “ Chaandi jaisa Ram hai tera sone jaise baal” playing in the background. In that shot, clearly overwhelmed by the entry of my beautiful bride, I could be seen wiping sweat from my forehead, a frame that immortalised both – my beautiful bride and Pankaj Udhas’s melody!

Chitthi aayee hai caught the nation’s fancy that was to later emerge as a country with maximum number of emigrants and non residents. There’s not an occasion when the non residents or their Indian based nears and dears have not shed a tear whenever this timeless number has been played on any such gathering or occasion.

Such was the power of this sweet mellifluous voice that it held on to its position and fan base amidst the great popularity of other singers like Ghulam Ali, Jagjeet Singh, Anup Jalota etc. And an occasional Bollywood number that Pankaj lent his voice to acquired classic status.

His appearances and concerts had become rarer, but his untimely death certainly caught all his fans and music fraternity by surprise, plunging everyone in throes of deep sorrow. Coming from a family that also gave us talented Manhar and Nirmal, Pankaj attained the heights that only a handful of singers can claim to have reached and his wide repertoire of songs and ghazals will always keep his silken voice booming !

I myself maintain and am strongly convinced that a nation or an organisation is much bigger than any individual , who keeps on coming and going, having a little or no impact on the larger entity. However, once in a while comes a very special, larger than life individual, who leaves a strong impression and whose departure leaves the larger entity depleted.

Last week, our great nation lost two of its stalwarts on the same day – Fali Nariman and Ameen Sayani and their death certainly left the nation bereft of two of its great sons. While the eminent jurist Fali was known for his no nonsense approach and his deep knowledge of constitutional provisions made the centre and states look up to him for proper interpretation thereof, Ameen Sayani was the voice of the nation the kind of which was neither heard before nor will be heard anytime too soon in future! His signature bhaiyon aur bahnon, glued millions of radio lovers to their respective sets ! And for more than 4 decades, his Bollywood music countdown programme was the last word on the popularity of any song. It almost became a habit, an addiction for millions of his fans !

Though both lived their life to the full, yet there’s this feeling of déjà vu, a sort of big vacuum left by their departure! Both of them have inspired a generation of jurists and radio/tv jockeys respectively and shall continue to do so for long long time to come!

Every time I visit Goa, I repeat the same thing – the moment you land at Dabolim airport ( and now one has the choice of MOPA airport too), the holiday spirit seems to overwhelm you! You can feel fun and joy prevalent in the air.

The recent visit that coincided with our 36th wedding anniversary was more special than any previous Goa visit. For one, it was dirt cheap package given by my friend Sunil Babbar of Raahi Travel Solutions and second my friend Sunil Bahl and his wife chose to accompany us to be part of our anniversary celebrations.

From the resort to sightseeing by coaches to airport pick up and drop, everything was planned with precision. Apart from the usual fun at South and North Goa beaches and staple visit to iconic churches and temples, this trip became special highlighted by two new experiences. One was a day’s trip to Doodhsagar falls that was a revelation and final day’s extended lunch at Curlies at Anjuna beach! Especially recommended by our children, the beautifully located and laid out restaurant did not disappoint us either with food – both vegetarian and non vegetarian or drinks!

My special thanks to Mr Babbar and Raahi Travel for this unbelievably cheap but top class package as also to their key man Manoj, who was there for us at our beck and call. And I cannot end this blog without thanking Mrs and Mr Bahl, for this visit wouldn’t have been half as interesting or enjoyable without their gracious company.

In my career spanning almost 4 decades, I don’t recall a single instance when I reached office late. It was not that from day 1, I had the luxury of traveling by chauffeur driven personal vehicle. In fact, this luxury came quite late to me , after more than halfway traversing of the professional journey. I used all sorts of conveyances to travel between home and office – personal two wheeler, bus, cab, auto rickshaw, Mumbai local, shared taxis etc. Weather was not always conducive to smooth travel and there were days highlighted by heavy downpour, flooding. And why speak of only natural calamities- even problems created by humans also contributed to the occasional inconvenience- flash strike, break down, severe traffic jams! In spite of all the above, there were occasions when I reached home late, but I was never late to the office in the morning.

Towards the fag end of my career, I observed people giving scant regard to the sanctity of meeting start time and would amble into the meeting room 10-15 minutes after the commencement – sometimes even more! My penchant for punctuality embarrassed the congeners of the meeting no end, who later on started requesting me to come only after the meeting was about to start instead of sitting there and waiting for others to join! 

And why only office? I have never been late to airport, railway station, social get together, personal invites et al. I even hated reaching Cinema hall late: a cinema outing was not complete for me unless I watched all the ad films, trailers and documentary ( a compulsory in earlier days), including the national anthem. 

I think good handwriting, nail trimming, tucking the shirt inside, wearing polished shoes, standing in respect when a senior walks in, addressing seniors as sir or madam and above all punctuality are a few of the virtues that are ingrained in our psyche by our elders and Alma maters but may not be all that important in the changing milieu and context. But I would like to invite comments from my esteemed readers whether I am a lone crusader for the aforesaid causes and virtues or are these still relevant and important in the fast changing present times?

In today’s world of technology and connectivity, if one wants to experience real quaintness, I suggest Jaisalmer to be the destination.

First impression was impressive – a direct non stop flight from Mumbai, but one couldn’t remain untouched by quaintness immediately upon landing at Jaisalmer. You deboard the plane and a few steps take you to the arrival section of the airport- no bus or aero bridge required! Airport is as basic as it could be and when you come out, you realise there are no Olas or Ubers and there’s a prepaid taxi booth, probably run by a cooperative union. Enroute hotel, we hardly see either a structure or a soul.

From our hotel, the main city, which could be called city centre, was barely 4 kms away, but a tuktuk, the only mode of local conveyance, charged a royal sum of Rs600 for this less than 8 kilometres of return journey. At almost Rs75 a kilometer, I think one can hire a BMW or a Mercedes cab in Mumbai.

The market is the most basics of markets, with a few sweet shops, kirana shops and clothes and handicrafts shops. My wife checked whether any mall or organised market was there to which the locals expressed surprised at her naiveness. Jaisalmer Fort stands tall over the old/walled city and continues to be the main attraction.

For all the city’s quaintness, simplicity and old world charm, the best part of our Jaisalmer stay was a trip to Tanot temple, situated at the Indo-Pak border. Managed by BSF personnel, the temple’s legacy is rich highlighted by miracles attributed to the presiding deity, Tanot Mata, especially during Indo-Pak wars of 1965 and 1971. How a Pakistani senior military official, leading his troops during 1971 war, came back years later to pay obeisance to Tanot Mata by offering her silver chhatra ( designed foil) gave goosebumps to everyone visiting the temple.

Our forces take great pride in our border vigilance and complete electrical fencing along hundreds of kilometres of the border that are amiss on Pakistani side.

It’s sometimes surprising that how all the modern ways of living life, including luxuries, seems to have somehow left places like Jaisalmer untouched!

Independence was still not complete

Till we became a republic;

26th January celebrates that full freedom

When new constitution empowered public.

Reflections of last 75 years clearly show

India’s grand progress is by all means steep;

But as Robert Frost philosophises

We have miles to go before we sleep! 

Happy 75th Republic Day to all!

Recently, we purchased a water purifier of a reputed brand. We were deeply impressed by the sales personnel, who was extremely aggressive and seemingly customer friendly. He promised us the moon.

The very next day when the machine was delivered for installation, all the promises were shattered. A few things that were to come as freebies were not delivered and there was a cost linked to installation that was not disclosed. Post installation demonstration was pathetic. During all this while, when we were going through this travail, our friendly salesperson was conspicuous by his absence, refusing to  accept our calls. Needless to say, it took us quite an effort, including the use of social media and escalation to the top echelons of the company to get our complaint redressed, albeit partially, because it’s very difficult for the service and delivery teams to make good something that has been mis-sold to begin with.

And doesn’t the above story sound similar to hundreds of complaints and grievances from banks customers, depositors as well borrowers, that we come across everyday. They are all victims of overselling and under delivery.

In reality, the organisations will really do well to advise their sales staff to under sell, withholding at least one feature, even if most banal, to give customer an enhanced experience on delivery . Anything additional that’s not mentioned as part of the initial sales pitch, but is delivered as a part of the product feature, is a pleasant surprise for the customer, even if this freebie or additional feature is as mundane as a pen! But for business hungry organisations and target driven sales force, this may be a pipe dream.

The latest edition of the much loved popular magazine Reader’s Digest has an interesting article on 75 ways to improve one’s life. Being part of the January edition, the article can be deemed to be suggestive of adoption of these 75 ways, in full or part, as new year’s resolution.

Of these 75, some are very common and are probably much talked about lately by experts and in social media. 5 ways that I will like to adopt this year to improve myself , I share with you as below:

(1) Call your parents; they want to hear from you. One day you won’t be able to – My octogenarian mother is in Delhi and sometimes there’s a gap of days for my communication with her. I plan to call her twice a week from now on, come what may.

(2) Smile at people you pass on the street – it’s true most of the passers by on the street would either be busy talking or surfing on their mobile phones, but even one stray ordinary walker like me doing plain walking that I come across while being on the street is going to be a recipient of my smile, irrespective of his or her response. In Johannesburg, where my daughter stays, there’s a healthy tradition of wishing any one who passes by you with hello and smile.

(3) Follow social media? Take a day off – This would perhaps the toughest, but a day off the social media that crowds one’s brain with information that’s not important, is really a great idea, worth trying.

(4) Call a friend you haven’t spoken with lately- Thanks to publishing of my book, I am receiving messages from unexpected quarters. Other day a school friend called me with whom I connected after 44 years and it brought so much joy to both of us.

(5) Celebrate and encourage other people’s talent, even if they are better at something than you are- This is also a tough call, given that we seldom accept the position of being inferior to others, especially in domains that we consider as our strength. A social platform to which I am a regular contributor attracts very few eyeballs, while the same platform used by more connected and popular contributors sees thousands of likes and comments. I used to feel belittled by this, but now I shall celebrate their success too, while incessantly continuing to making my contribution.

These are not new year resolutions, but no stage of life or part of the year is late for improving oneself or at least for making an attempt to doing so!