Emotionally incorrect

Accidents, terror attacks, natural calamities, man-made calamities - more often than not these tragedies result in loss of human lives. There are people who live to see another day and then there are some who are not so lucky. Those who survive thank God for his kindness and then there are some who point towards their special tryst with God which resulted in their providential escape. It is understandable that these are the most natural of reactions, but somehow, one's heart reaches out to those who loose out in these battles, and their near and dear ones. While carrying guilt for being survivors in tragedies would be extreme, a certain amount of restrain in feeling alive would make it emotionally correct especially with so much of media footage streaming into every drawing room.

KM

"You can manage only what you own."

Organizations need to wake up to this fact even before they contemplate about KM. How an organization manages to increase its stake in the unstructured or yet undiscovered knowledge base can be left to their own judgement, but an actual effort towards this should be visible for individuals and communities to start un-buttoning their camouflage.

Conflicts

At the very fundamental level there are three types of conflicts

Right vs. Wrong: The classical conflict depicted in epics, mythology and folklore

Wrong vs. Wrong: Immortalized by Mario Puzo in ‘The Godfather’ and the kind which is seen on the political canvas on an everyday basis.

Right vs. Right: The type of conflict which brings in- what should I say- shades of white instead of gray. In this conflict ‘the truth’ keeps shifting with changes in the dimensions of time, events, and actors.
Cause- Differences in culture, upbringing, values, and what one wants out of life.
Effect- The most painful of all conflicts and the emotional scars sometimes remain etched in for an entire lifetime.

Ideas for a non-existent Ideal

Google Inc. will award $10 million to solicit ideas it believes could benefit the world.

I mentioned this award casually over dinner and to my surprise I found that my 10 year old daughter was very curious. I gave her a rough estimate of the amount at stake in our currency and she was all the more excited. I explained to her that we need to come up with an idea which is good for the majority of the human race.

She gave a pregnant pause and then asked – “But papa, can you tell me what is good for the humanity?”

Now, when you are asked to ideate, it’s normally towards something. In this case we have been asked to ideate towards the welfare of humanity. But, do we really know what’s good for us. All indicators from the social, economic, faith indexes point towards a negative downslide. Growth is synonym to plunder, religion to fanaticism, and social relations have been stymied to – What’s in it for me?

I didn’t have an answer to my daughter’s queries; perhaps a project which helps the administrators of the world in understanding the actual needs of the deprived millions for whom words like growth, prosperity, and freedom have a different connotation altogether is not a bad idea.

Teach India

The induction program is scheduled on the 14th of October, and I’ve been tagged with an NGO called Project 511. After the induction program we will get the details of our training program. For years together, I've always thought of giving back something, but somehow was never able to get out of the ‘me, my family, and my job’ routine.

Thanks, Teach India Movement.

Children benefiting from this movement are only one part of the story. A critical mass had developed in the society which was waiting for the right launch. It had the right intentions and the desire to make some difference but somehow was just not able to give shape to its ideas. A platform is all that was required to break the inertia. Close to a hundred thousand will get exposure to social responsibility in this movement, and I can see immense possibilities. What if just a hundred out of these volunteers get the impetus to execute the next big movement? I sincerely hope that this movement is a resounding success, because in its success lies the hope of building a nation in which the youth don’t just ideate and ask questions, they also act and provide solutions.

IT, CA, and the JV

Sep. 30 has taken a toll on life and blogging. The dreaded IT return date will not be extended this time, as there haven’t been any changes in the framework, though a one month extension has been given to Bihar & JK due to socio-political issues. IT returns- this is another area where the laws of Murphy are very active. My CA, poor soul, he starts reminding me from the month of June about this impending date, but year after year, i always manage to reach this point wherein everything has to be done on a yesterday basis.

I've been spending the last few weeks at the CA's office. The journey of the raw data to the audited balance sheet is quite fascinating. But, the problem is that i don't enjoy it even though i'm reasonably well versed with it. CA's are an amazing breed, their calm and composure even when you take a problem to them which you thought would make you poorer by a few lacs or crores (depending upon your engagement) beats me, and the best part is they always have a solution. So most of the time you will find happy faces emerging out from a CA's cabin unless some one has been caught in a scrutiny.

I'll take this opportunity to praise someone who has stayed with me all along through the rough and the smooth and has delivered unflinchingly every year. Tally. I think it's the best product that has emerged from any of the small-medium software development houses. It's blazing fast, amazingly simple and user-friendly. I still remember that it took just 4 hours to make my dad proficient in Tally when he decided to computerize his office accounts. I'm looking forward to explore the latest versions.

While we are at this thing about CAs and accounts, i'll not overlook another master tool. The JV. What's a CA without the JV? It's the master key for every problem. In the final run towards the BS it's the handiest tool. For most of my questions born out of ignorance there is one standard answer- 'JV pass karna padega'. So, pass that JV before you fail.

On Freedom and Bondage..

You believe that

The ability to satiate our desires and senses is freedom.

The compulsion to act as per the demands of the situation is bondage.

or,

The compulsion to satiate our desires and senses is bondage.

The ability to act as per the demands of the situation is freedom.

Finally it's all about our beliefs.