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The Thirst to work
Saturday, January 17, 2009   [My views]

Recently, we had to expand operations in our company over a variety of businesses.
Not only that, our own corporate office expansion also began, so we started facing growing pains all over.

So for the first time in our company, we undertook an aggresive recruitment drive - from advertising, word of mouth, online etc.

Something that I experienced for the first time I guess was the thirst for work.

Having grown up in the family business and having a secure future with the same family business, I was never put in a role where I needed to work outside. Even though I was preparing to work in the US after my graduation and had a good resume for it, my parents wanted me to come back and join the business immediately.
Therefore, there was never that Thirst!

After a few years of working in the business, the thirst came - not for a need, but to prove.

But thats not my point of writing this. While interviewing people, I noticed their resumes. The first thing that came to mind was their address. I was looking for people who stay close to the office that they were going to be employed in. This means that they could work well and still not face a long work-home journey, which would reduce their family time.

What was amazing was from how far people would come. It wasn't just the distance. It was the various modes. For instance, someone from Dombivili or Borivili, would take a bus to the train station, then wait for a train and then jump on for dear life in an overcrowded compartment full of similar people all trying to get to work that morning, then getting off, and waiting for the bus or taking a cab or auto to the office. And then at the end of the day, doing this process again - every single day. By the end of the day, when I'm done with work, I'm ready to pass out. While the people that work with me have a 2 hour tiring journey back home, then spend time with their family before going to sleep and waking up 5 hours later to start the process again.

I see family and friends who don't need to work - and therefore don't. Many of them live in cities and towns outside Bombay..in the smaller towns, they sit around and discuss news and politics all day and then eat and sleep and pretty much do nothing. And like this, life passes them by.

I wish they could see that they have been given life and the ability to work, use their minds, their bodies to work. But they take it for granted, and just eat, drink and sleep. If they could only see how much needs to be done - as work, or even helping people... the world could use more hands.

I work because I enjoy it. Not to say my family did not or does not have its share of hardships. Every family does. And I don't mean "Oh we had to take one holiday less a year". I mean where we had to stand up to a corrupt government, or to an unscrupulous client or partner, getting cheated.. while still maintaining our principles and ethics, seeing that the people that work for us are not put to hardships as their family's depend on us to put food on their table. During the interviews, I would learn about each person - how they came into this profession, out of compulsion, need, supporting a brother or sister, sometimes taking a lower job as they couldn't complete their studies, sometimes as they were retired and hence needed a job.. It was this thirst for work which amazed me.

This thirst was something amazing and I felt humbled. Its something we dont really see directly, even though so many people around us are living that life. Its only when it comes in close quarters do we realise how important work is and how we should not take that ability to work and have a job, for granted.

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Ganpati Bappa Morya!
Tuesday, September 25, 2007   [My views]

The Ganesh festival in Mumbai is one of the biggest festivals in the country, and in Mumbai is almost as big as Diwali. It is the festival to celebrate Ganesha or Vinayaka, the GOd protecting us from evil, the Elephant God, son of Lord Shiva and Parvati.

Ganesh Chaturthi is the first day of the auspicious period, and the day that Ganesha comes to your home. Families have pooja (religious ceremonies) at their homes, with a Ganesha made out of POP and Clay, intricaly made, with beautiful craftsmanship.

It is also a big day for my family as it was this day, 30 years ago that I was born, on Ganesh Chaturthi. And to this day, my family and close friends celebrate my birthday on Ganesh Chaturthi as it goes on the Hindu calendar, the date changing every year.

On the day of Ganesh Chaturthi, families pray to the idol and over the course of the 10-11 days that he is at home. In any of those 10 days, the families then take their Ganesha for immersion. This can vary from day 1 to day 11. With an elaborate display of colour, music and energy, families from all over Bombay take their Ganesha to the sea, bidding him farewell till he visits them again next year.

We have been keeping Ganesha at our home for years. This year was a little different. Usually, when Lord Ganesha is a guest in your home, one is supposed to abstain from things such as alcohol, non-veg food, smoking etc. In our house, alcohol and smoking is not an issue as no one drinks or smokes, but never really adhered strictly to the non-veg issue. I guess we wanted Ganesha to see us as we are.

This year, for the first time, I decided I would give up non-veg food for the period that he is with us. And it really did feel different!

This evening, we took our sweet Ganesha for immersion as he bid farewell to us. This year was beautiful as we took him to a new place, as opposed to the regular place. The crowds of devotees - families, entire localities, were all coming to immerse their Ganesha - ranging from 1 foot high to 30 feet high. Today was the last day, so people have been going everyday. However the last day is the biggest, and its called Ganesha Visarjan, which literally means Ganesha's Immersion.

This was beautiful because as we tried to navigate through the crowd and I held our Ganesha close to my chest and heart, people would just clear the way. There were hundreds others like me, but for every Ganesha that passed by, the respect given to each and every idol by every person was astounding. The bigger Ganeshas idols were made to wait, and the smaller Ganeshas could get through faster. So we made our way through the crowd. But every person who passed by our Ganesha would touch it and say a little prayer. I was so touched by the show of love and respect from complete strangers for the Lord God they hold dear. And its this that makes India what India is.. What we call.. Dilwale.. Emotional people.. we think with our hearts.

It is these Festivals that make us who we are - Indians.. be it our Islamic Id festivals, our Parsi Patetis, our Catholic Christmas's, our Hindu Diwalis, and so many other festivals.. We celebrate not just with ourselves, but with the entire city, as processions filter into the streets, creating traffic jams, noise pollution, etc. Some of the elite say that these processions should be banned, but I say no. I say that while it is an inconvenience, banning these processions would take away an important component of Indian culture, making us sterile and clean like the west. It is this energy and enthusiasm for our culture, our various religions, with our religious tolerance for several religions that give us the opportunity to express and enjoy these festivals.


As I reached the tip of between the Arabian sea and land, at Worli, close to our home, making my way through the procession, I had to pass our Ganesha to the people that actually immerse him into the water. As he was taken out of my hands, I felt a sudden pain in letting him go. He had become a part of the home by just being there, and suddenly letting him go felt so strange.

I came home and gave the household help bakshish for the completion of the Ganesha festival. I walked by the Pooja room, and felt a huge emptiness, seeing my little friend no longer there. Diyas (oil lamps), flowers, kumkum(sacred red powder), agarbatti (incense) mark the place where he used to sit. I guess I could get back to eating my non-veg food again but I didn't miss it so much. I missed having Ganesha home. But I'm sure he's watching over now and look forward to seeing him again this time next year. Ganpati Bappa Moriya! Pursha Varshi Laokarya!

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To be..ard or not to be...ard..
Tuesday, August 14, 2007   [My views]

So all my life I've been the clean shaven kind, except for the occasional french beard/goatee or stubble just to change the monotony of looking the same.

One morning I looked at my stubble in the mirror and wondered, could I grow a beard? Then it started.. the process and lo and behold! I actually had grown a beard! So this is for those of you who've been asking what I look like - here you go!

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When East becomes West... and West becomes East
Monday, June 25, 2007   [My views]

When East becomes West... and West becomes East

In the best-seller, the World is Flat - there is much talk about how business is being moved all around the world and there isn't much of a difference anymore.

And like business, values are also being moved across the world. Today, the West has embraced the family values of the East and East has embraced the individuality of the West.

Its a strange phenomenon being an Indian in today's world in seeing 'Indianess' disappearing from Indians and finding it more in people completely foreign to Indian values.

The reason this got me thinking is because last year my cousin Pramod married Tiffany his girlfriend in a beautiful Indian ceremony in Chicago. They also had a church wedding in Jamaica. Tiffany comes from Alabama and is a beautiful blonde haired blue eyed southerner. But every time I've met her, she exudes such warmth and care, even in the way she calls my mother 'attama' which she really doesn't need to. She goes out of her way to make everyone accept her and be a part of the family - to a point where its effortless. And its extremely endearing.

This year my cousin Preethi got married to Matt, in a beautiful Indian ceremony in Liverpool. Matt, just like Tiffany is a warm loving and caring guy and its a lovely feeling seeing people who aren't from our culture, just being so comfortable in it.

And the reason this seems so shocking to me is that I don't see that same warmth and comfort and caring in Indians themselves. Marriages aren't about those values but something superficial. I'm sure that there are marriages which espouse those values. Its just that I don't see a lot of it anymore and I see it more in western cultures.

Have we switched places with the culture we used to make fun of? Has Western culture become more Indian, while Indian culture's become Western?

Thats what I'm saying.. and its something I leave you to think about.

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The Hindu newspaper, N. Ram and a need for Intellectual stimulation
Monday, April 23, 2007   [My views]

Yesterday I had the pleasure of meeting a very interesting person. Some of you might know him, some of you might not. The people who would know him are the one's that are very clued in about their surroundings, their country, its politics and its goings on. The gentleman in question is Mr. N. Ram.

For those of you who don't know who Mr. Ram is - he is the Editor-in-Chief of The Hindu. The Hindu is the newspaper of south India. As far as I can remember in my childhood, The Hindu was the paper of preference of my grandfather in Madras (Chennai).

Living in Bombay, one reads the Times of India and the others. However, only when one reads the Hindu does one realise which paper is a Thinking man's paper, and which one is Fluff.

The Hindu is like a mountain. It doesn't sway with the wind. Most other papers today. Most have hidden interests, wheels within wheels - of politicians, industrial houses etc. However it is papers like Eenadu (of Ramoji Rao) and the Hindu (of N. Ram) that still hold the flame of journalist freedom, writing with the pen to inform, rather than mislead.

I wish more papers followed the example of these papers.

Today, the need for intellectual stimulation is at its highest as there is such a lack of it - as people are focussed more on the bottomline. Instead of educating people about various things such as morals, values, ethics, intellectual capital; most print and television media pander to the banal and basic viewer. Instead of encouraging people to think, they are pandering to their banal needs, that too, under the influence of various interests, hidden and obvious.

Its in these times that meeting people like N. Ram has some value, and I hope the day comes when meeting someone of intellect and class is more commonplace than the cherished moment it has become.

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