Monday, June 27, 2011

Get up, Dress up, Show up !!

Real life stories of grit and determination that you see unfold in close quarters teach you more than the annals of history. We often seek inspiration from the heroes, but there are stories of inspiration in the ordinary lives. Remember these stories of grit, salute the folks and learn from them.

It was the winter of 2008 when the world economy was in difficult times. Many jobs were lost and folks had to move out of  their homes. In this bleak environment, a young gentleman with a very young family was told that his job had been made redundant. No, he was doing a terrific job, but due to the economic pressures, the division was shutting down. The person had a few days to find another job. The next day, this gentleman showed up to work as if nothing had happened, with the same enthusiasm. It was unbelievable. He went through the days with so much professionalism. Folks who knew him were speaking about it. Many said it was important to help him find another job in the company. No, not just because they felt any sympathy for him, more so because folks realized that they should not lose such a professional. And yes, the first opportunity that came up, the person was re-hired by the company. This is a true story of dedication, of grit, of professionalism. It is how you react when possibly the worst has happened to you, that determines your character. It shows what you are made of. Don't let the environment dictate your response to the situation. Don't back off, try harder, take charge. Get up, Dress up, Show Up!!

Yes, get up, dress up and show up not just those difficult days at work, but at other times in life too. Get up, dress up and show up when life tries to pull you down. Our very own family friends went through such a difficult phase. She was diagnosed with cancer, but she stood up to it. Not just her, but they stood up to it as a couple. They were enthusiastic and showed belief. They found joy in everyday situations and lived it to the fullest. They fought back and came out stronger. It is such people who inspire with their grit and determination, with their response to what life throws at them. Don't back off, show belief, take charge. With a silent prayer in your heart......Get up, Dress up, Show up!!

Thursday, June 23, 2011

Tripping

The longest day of the year just went by and you could fill that extra time with a bit of music. I just discovered that June 21 is World Music Day. Folks are associated with music in many ways. For some, it is their life. For some others, it is their profession. For many others, it is a hobby. But for me and a whole lot of my friends, it is a trip. It is a wild trip and we have some wonderful memories, shared together on that trip sometime or the other. Tripping !!

My earliest memories of music was with the family listening to BoneyM and ABBA. Mary's Boy Child and Dancing Queen would waft through the house some evenings and transport you magically to a different place. My first bunch of cassettes that I can call my own was gifted to me by my Dad. Eagles, Smokie and Nazarath walked into my life. I was tripping on Hotel California much before it turned into this big craze with its acoustic version in the nineties. I was tripping on Living Next Door to Alice much before they introduced the "Who the beep is Alice" version. It was fun and I almost believed that I could become a musician. So, I made that slight deviation in my path from tripping on music to learning some music. The guitar was a disaster. Victor was my guitar instructor and I had classes most evenings. I learnt the chords, but it took me longer to realize that playing the guitar was more than C Major and F Seven. I made it to the school choir for the inter-school music festival. That felt like progress until I was dropped one day before the actual competition. It brought me back to doing what I did best. Playing the air guitar!! Tripping !!

My friends from my growing up years introduced me to a whole bunch of artistes and music. Our conversations were around Bob Dylan and Joan Baez, Blowing in the wind or Diamonds and Rust. Have you ever seen the rain asked CCR, while Floyd made you comfortably numb and the Dead were truckin'. Our trivia quizzes were about Eric Clapton, George Harrison and Patti Boyd. Our life philosophy was influenced by the poetry of Morrison and the attitude of Lennon. With or without a little outside help, we were tripping. Not a dull moment, the world never looked brighter!! Tripping !!

And then, as you grow up stuck in the seventies, the music takes you back in time. It is not just music anymore, it's more than that, it's a memory. It is a memory of friends and the bright old days. Until, someone shakes you up again. In my case, an old friend asked me to move on and experience the new sounds. Creed and Coldplay made their entry, and I was open again to new music. The Indian sounds made an oceanic impression with Ma Rewa and Kandisa. Kandisa is an Armenian prayer, and one explores spiritual connections in music. Having always heard Shakti and Maha Vishnu Band in the early days, one begins to realize now that there is something more to it. Shujaat Khan singing Kabir, Niladri Kumar with his Zitar, Rahul Sharma with his musical version on Buddha and you begin to discover more. Music takes you to a higher plane. Music awakens you. The world never looked brighter!! Tripping !!


Sunday, June 12, 2011

My Little Big Prayerbook

I have often heard of folks reading the signs, the signs strewn down your path as you go on with your daily lives. I have heard of folks being blessed as they go about their lives. I have heard of chants and talisman to protect you. I have heard of the power of these chants and prayers. I have heard of the magical and have always wondered if they are with me too. To some people, there is magic in the everyday, there are signs in the everyday, there is the sensation of a guardian angel travelling beside you. To many of us though, I guess it will take a lifetime to unravel the truth.

So, we go about life looking for the magic and counting our blessings. And sometimes, it dawns on you that you might have missed a moment that was actually quite extraordinary, because you did not look for it. You are just not fully sure of it anymore. I want to recount one such moment of blessing that I vaguely recollect. I have been rummaging through music for meditation over the last few days. I chanced upon a chanting of the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra, an invocation for Lord Shiva. I was curious and I went through the mantra only to realize that here was a chant that I was actually quite familiar with. I knew the words and I had been chanting this often enough, the last twenty five odd years!! I had been chanting this without knowing what it was called or what the background to the mantra was. I remember I learnt this from a little prayerbook that I happened to have with me sometime in the past. 

I then remembered the story of this little prayerbook. It was around the time that some folks still could not call Chennai by its name, they still called it Madras. So, one hot morning in Madras, a young school going boy boarded a bus to go for an elocution competition. I don't recollect the venue, I don't recollect the topic. Maybe the topic was something spiritual, I am not sure. The audience did have some erudite scholarly old men and I am not entirely sure if I made any sense to them that day. I do recollect having got a certificate and some gift before boarding a bus back home. The person seated next to me was a scholarly old man, maybe one of those in the audience that day. We struck a conversation and I vaguely recollect it being about life and the magic in life. And as we came to the end of the old man's journey, I still had a long way to go, he gave me a little book. He said, and I can't be sure of the words, he probably said "Keep this with you. There is a mantra in here, recite it often enough and it will take care of you.". I remember this little prayerbook. I remember the wise old man who passed it on to me. I remember and wonder if that was an extraordinary moment. I wonder if that was a blessing, if that was magic, if that was a sign. I followed his instructions alright without thinking too much about it and I am sure I have been taken care off. Maybe, just maybe, my little prayerbook was actually a blessing. Maybe it was more than a little prayerbook, maybe it was a little BIG prayerbook !!

Thursday, June 9, 2011

My small friendly neighborhood store

Wow, we have made much progress. As a nation, we are transforming. Private enterprise is at the forefront of this transformation. Technology has been the enabler. It is a story full of glory, its a shining story. Well, is it? Scratch and beneath the surface, the regular suspects emerge. The enterprise is here to make money, not necessarily serve the customer. The customer is treated as secondary, so much so, sometimes the customer begins to feel that he is the problem. The reasons for apathy might be different, but the problem remains. While private enterprise and technology have changed the way we transact, it has not necessarily done enough to build a culture of empathy for the customer. The large 24/7 call centers and big corporate promises are no substitute for real heartfelt and empathetic service, especially when the customer has a problem. Some recent experiences made me reflect on this.

I have a one month old air-conditioner that has a mind of its own. It is so paranormal that it suddenly decides to switch itself on, during the middle of the night. Worse still, in the sweltering afternoon heat, it refuses to work. Almost, looks mockingly at us, saying "It's too hot out there, man.....Can't work today". So, I do what all sensible folks who own sensible cooling air-conditioners do. I call the service center, which turns out to be a large call center full of folks who are bothered about their incentives which are based on Average handle time (AHT), call wait times, abandon rates , etc. So, they attend to my call and do what they are trained to do. Complete the call quickly, get your AHT down, pick up your incentive. And that is exactly what they do in a scripted "Thank you for calling" kind of tone. All that is fine, the issue will be resolved in 24 hours. I am happy and I wait. 24 hours go by, I call back, I restate the problem, I provide my earlier complaint number, state that the no one has looked into the issue and that I was promised resolution in 24 hours. The smart agent on the phone does what he is trained to do. Avoid an escalation, and so he spins a response. He says " Sir, it is 24 working hours, not 24 hours...that means 3 days". Damn it, you could have said that yesterday in the first place!! Now, that is hilarious, but not if you are the customer at the butt's end of this problem.

Call it karma, call it whatever, but my week has been full of such incidents. The reason I have been off broadband internet lately is that I have had a problem with that service provider too. I know many of you are happy that this has kept me off this crazy  blog for a while, but I am not. I have been with the call center boys every other day registering a complaint. One response blew me off. " Sir, we fixed the problem and got a confirmation that your broadband is working from Mahesh". I ask "Who is Mahesh?". The agent responds, "He is your cousin, sir". Well, I don't remember having any cousin called Mahesh, unless, my family forgot to tell me something that important in the last forty years!! The agent says "I called him on number 6597 blah blah blah. Isn't that your number?". "Yes, it is" and the agent begins to gloat on his victory. I puncture his eagerly claimed victory, "Yes it is my number, but that number does not work.  The instrument is faulty, and by the way, the instrument was provided by a sister company of yours. And for the record, their service is as good as yours". You don't want to hear about that telephone company. This telephone company refuses to replace the faulty phone instrument at my premises. I need to drive miles away to their regional office to get that done. We can repair a phone at your residence, we can provide you a new phone connection at your residence, everything can be done at your residence, everything but get a new phone instrument for an existing connection. There must be something technical about it. My electronics engineering fails me on this one, or maybe things have changed in the last 20 years. Most things have changed other than the plight of the customer at the butt's end of a problem.

Before this turns into a more graphic irate customer rant, I must tell you that I see a silver lining. This happened yesterday when I went to the mega mall to buy a tube-light. I was hyper ventilating from all my extreme service experiences that this didn't so much as scar me. At the big store, I went looking for a tube-light and all I saw was combo offers of the tube-light with a frame. I didn't want the frame and asked the store salesman if they had a "only tube-light" selection . He got me one and as I waited at the checkout counter, the bill desk says " There is no bar-code on this one, sir". I said, "But your salesman gave this to me, what do I know about your bar-codes?". They ask me for two minutes to get the bar-code fixed, and those two minutes turn to twenty, by the end of which, he says " Sorry sir, we only have combo offers on sale, no tube-light". I have had enough, I smile, I breathe, I walk away. As I drive back home, I drive past my small neighborhood market. I see this small 4 feet by 4 feet store that I have never noticed before. This small neighborhood electrical store. I stop, I get the tube-light I wanted. I get friendly electrical advice from the shopkeeper, things I have never heard since I passed out of engineering college, I am also offered the services of an electrician to check things out. All the things which your big store never gives you. All the things you wanted but never knew where to get. It is right there in your small friendly neighborhood store. Small is beautiful. Small is friendly. Because they care for the customer. In return, do care for your local community businesses. They keep your community alive and empathetic. It works for me, and I am sure it will for you.

Thursday, June 2, 2011

A Prayer for Peace

At the airport last week, I chanced upon the television screen. The news channel was on and the headlines were playing out. In two quick minutes, the news anchor reeled out headline news of five disasters across the globe. Depressing news of war, killings, corruption and airplane crashes. These days, the news is full of this. Good is either not news anymore or there is so very little good going around, I remember thinking. I remember praying for positive energy. I remember praying for peace. I remember, suddenly waking up to the good and being reminded of the beautiful things that happen everyday. The morning rays of the sun, the watercolors in the sky, the chirping crickets of the twilight hour....the magic is there to see and be thankful for. These pictures say it more than a thousand words.  


I pray again...join me in this beautiful prayer of St. Francis of Assisi.
Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me sow love.
Where there is injury, pardon.
Where there is doubt, faith.
Where there is despair, hope.
Where there is darkness, light.
Where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master,
grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand;
to be loved, as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive.
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life.
Amen.