Monday, July 30, 2007

Momentum

In physics the momentum of an object can be conceptually thought of as how difficult it is to stop the object. So, the moving object continues to move unless it is stopped by applying an external force. That’s why in all kinds of vehicles, the power required while starting is much more than the running power. Life is also like this. We know that doing certain things will benefit us; still we are not able to do it, rather not able to start it. Only if we apply extra efforts and start doing the work, it will be difficult to stop.
“Well begun is half done.”
What is the explanation of the juggernaut of Australian cricket team? How else can one explain of some player being in-form for certain time? It is the momentum which plays a vital role in win and loss.

Late Mr. Newton also told us that the objects will remain in no motion state unless they are applied on by “sufficient external force”. So there is also a momentum of no motion, laziness and defeat. This explains some players being out-of-form.

Momentum p = mv

So we need to have mass (knowledge/talent etc.) and we require external force (extra efforts/motivation etc.) to acquire substantial velocity. After that life is cool. Enjoy Madi.

Monday, July 16, 2007

Deserve, Then Desire

This has become the current trend. We often find people complaining about their salary, people changing companies for better pay package etc. Some of them may be really deserving better salaries than their current employer pays, but, I think, most of these crying souls desire more just because some of their pals are getting more. A recent NASSCOM survey says that the number of jobs outsourced to India has started reducing because of the explosive increase in salaries and attrition rates. Do these people really perform extraordinarily in their new companies to justify the hike? Well, Dinkarji answers logically in the following lines.
छुद्र पात्र हो मग्न कूप में जितना जल लेता है,
उससे अधिक वारि सागर भी उसे नहीं देता है॥
-------दिनकर (रश्मिरथी)
(The water taken by a small vessel from the sea is no more than the water it takes from the well.)

The steep increase of salaries is the root cause of many problems in the socity. An average employee in IT/BT sector gets 20% annual hike whereas an average government servant gets 2-4% annual hike. So year after year the difference in their assets widens. Is the Hi Tech cities like Bangalore, Gurgaon, Noida, Hyderabad are occupied only by these priveleged IT/BT sector employees? Certainly not. Then where from a govt. servant will get Rs 60 lakhs to buy a house or Rs 1 lakh for deposit + Rs 10,000 per month for house rent? How will he be able to pay Rs 40,000 donantion for admission of his kid in a good school in LKG?
What happens to the education and career of his children? No wonder, the crime rate in Bangalore (and other Hi Tech cities) is on ramp. The increacing financial imbalance makes it difficult for the lower middle class to survive. The easier option to their kids is to loot an IT employee on the street in mid-night or so. There has to be a way to reduce this financial imbalance. Otherwise the 21st centuary will have new set of naxals, mostly in Hi Tech cities.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Creator Vs Degree holder

When I see graduates rushing for an MBA degree in order to “boost their career”, I wonder if it is the only way to boost one’s career? I don’t know what they teach in B schools. But when I see most people who are top achievers in the corporate world, I find that most of them do not hold an MBA degree or equivalent. Dhirubhai Ambani was a non MBA. He made india’s biggest business empire from zero and many MBAs including his sons are busy running his business. Ghanshyam Das Birla created a similar business power house and his grandson Kumarmangalam Birla, an MBA is running it. Same holds for almost all the big enterprise creators e.g. Richard Branson, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Steve Balmer, L.N. Mittal, the founders of Infosys and a host of successful companies of today. The other day I was reading a story in “The Week” about a 10 class pass guy from Pune who started as an unskilled laborer and today owns a Rs100 Crore company manufacturing power equipments. Many MBAs are working in his company to take care of his business. Then I watched “The Pursuit Of Happiness” where the hero builds a business empire struggling all the way with no college degree.

All these thousands of examples force me to believe that an MBA degree, or any degree for that matter, is not a prerequisite to excel in business. It needs something that is not taught in the college. Possessors of “that thing” create businesses and possessors of degrees work under them to run their business.

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

Mrityu

मृत्यु तू ही संगिनी अन्तिम छणों की, फिर मुझे तू क्यों डराना चाहती है।
प्रेम में तो हार को हम जीत कहते, फिर मुझे तू क्यों हराना चाहती है।
छोड़ देंगे साथ सब अन्तिम छणों में, दीर्घ निद्रा में हृदय जब व्यस्त होगा,
तू ही है वह प्रेमिका जो साथ होगी, आ अगर तू पास आना चाहती है॥
---- माधव कृष्ण
The story goes in the epic “Mahabharatha” that Yaksha asked Yudhishthira, “What, in your opinion, is the biggest surprise in this world?” And the eldest Pandu replied,” Even after knowing that everybody will die one day, people are afraid of death. This is the biggest surprise.”

I asked myself, am I afraid of death? I think rather than death, I am afraid of the suffering before death. Death may be a natural one, or an accidental. In any case, I am least bothered about what happens to this world after I die. I am afraid of the suffering before I die. One of my friend’s father is a driver in Indian Railways. He tells that he has seen many people coming on the railway tracks determined to commit suicide, but as the trains come frightening close, they run away. A person who has decided to die is surely unbearably sad about what is happening (or not happening) with him in life. But the terror of watching death face to face closely proves to be bigger that anything. I am afraid of the sufferings of life more than the death. May God let me die painlessly and peacefully, whenever it happens. I am not afraid of it.