That haunting old role....

This thought of haunting old role is haunting me for last few months .. But some how I was not able to blog it down onto net so far.Before being hunted down completely I would like to omit all my thoughts here.

I feel amazed about the wonderful capabilities of human being at the same I love to explore the endless boundaries of human psyche, its creative nature and limitations.

Life looks like a play for me.. It is a series of different roles and different responsibilities that we play in our lives. Long long back I was a kid .. Then a school going boy.. Then a high-schooler and college guy and a professional graduate. An unemployed youth...an engineer. And so on.

If you see the pattern, every one has changed their roles over the time. But funny part of this role change is we don’t get know or realize when do we change our roles. May be we know , but are not very conscious about it. We just get into our new role even before we could realize it..

Scene-1
A daughter is brought up in a family for 25 years, she knows she is going to a new family as some one's wife. But she does not realize after marriage that she is playing a new role of wife. Very often she keeps comparing both the families and their culture. Very often there will be arguments. At the same even husband forgets that he is now some one's husband and thinks he is still the little cutie pie of his mother!
Adding to that mummy also forgets thinks her son is now some one else's husband also and we need to share the space equally. Both mummy and wife or husband and wife forget this fact and keep arguing/fighting unnecessarily.

Scene-2
Many of us have seen our dads work for some govt dept or bank for years together.. They become depressed when they retire and they don’t know what to do after that. They try cultivating new hobbies.. Struggle a lot to spend time.. Keep running for arranging alliances between relatives.. They suddenly start keeping in touch with relatives by attending all the functions. This phase continues for a while before the dads realize that they have to live with this new role.

Scene-3
Let us turn to our offices now. I have made mistakes many times by forgetting my current role. I forget delegating certain responsibilities and start doing them on my own. That way I may not be doing justice to my role. It has dual negative impact in that I am doing some one else's work and also I am not clear about my role and responsibilities in current role. Some where deep in my heart that old role will be haunting me and I will be pulled into that. Many of us in corporate life suffer with such syndrome.

I am just quoting 2-3 examples here, but in life, we see almost each and every one struggling with haunting old role and conflict with new role almost every day every minute.

The primary reason for this conflict is we are not willing to accept the changes so easily. When our mind is empty we try and look and crave for that much needed change. But when we get used to that change , we don’t want to change. So strange!

Luckily in any organizations there will be many trainings , orientations programs and sessions to understand these changes and we some how if get along with the new changes a little later, if not immediately.. Life continues..

But irony of life is , no such training or sessions are given and you wont even a get a copy of org chart ppt presentation saying that your role has been changed. You just don’t know when and how that change occurs. Here there is no appraisal cycle. Increments. May be or may not be .. But there will be definitely role changes. Sudden role changes.. Good or bad.. High or low.. But there will be some!

Everything was going smooth in your family.. Suddenly dad passes away.. the family becomes more responsible and silent. You don’t know how to complete sisters marriage..You may be taking additional responsibilities.

Just one day of lose motion. Your husband is no more ! Your son is just two years old! Life gives a very cruel blow!

You are happily married and have a simple job in a govt organization. You both are expecting a child. But the kind GOD blesses you suddenly with triplets! You don’t know how to manage the new role with 'additional' responsibilities.

GOD many times even pulls out your sources of love, money and moral support in the form of losing one’s job, loved one’s and meeting with challenges. But it is all HIS way of cost cutting in life ! You still have to manage your role in that role in a most possible economic way.

It goes on and on...

Many of us, almost always get confused or shocked or lost or when such changes occur. We are still playing the old role and cannot accept the new role/change so easily for various reasons.

We just forget that a particular that incident happens to my friend can happen to me also.. A shock that occurred to my wife's friend can also occur in my life.

But if we think consciously and live the life for fullest and on just open terms, rather than complicating it with too many constraints and conditions, I believe we have the answers within ourselves. We should believe in the fact that' any thing can happen any time' and 'I should enjoy this very moment for myself and make it more meaningful and be ready for any role change any time'.

I guess only then there will be no surprises and that old role stops haunting us and life will be beautiful with conflicts.

Thanks for your time !

I am still there!

Hi all,
You all must be wondering where this guy disappeared? I am still very much there! Just got little lost with my work and personal life.
Ofcourse only 1 post in last 4 months is too bad a record for a person like me ! :)
I will come back shortly with my new thoughts!
See you soon,
-Arun

Hi Saudi Arabia!

I returned to Bangalore last month after successfully completing one of the exciting assignments in my career. It is really nice to conclude some thing with a great note.

This was my first ever visit to Middle East as well as Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia is one of the prominent countries in Middle East and is also known as Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The population is around 3+ crores. The form of government is Monarchy and not democracy like in India. A monarchy is a form of government in which an individual rules as head of state, often for life or until abdication. The person who heads a monarchy is called a monarch. Currently 44 nations in the world have monarchs as heads of state, 16 of which are Commonwealth realms that recognize Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as head of state.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is being ruled by the members of a Royal family. The brothers will take oath as King in the respective order. Later the sons of eldest brother will become King and then sons of next brother and so on. There is no restrictions on how long will a particular king rules. It is as long as he lives. So every one has to wait till their turn comes. Currently King Abdullah is ruling the country. Before that King Fahad, elder brother of current king Abdullah ruled the country for about 23 years till 2005.

I was staying in a city by name Al-Khobar on the east coast of KSA. Riyadh is the capital city of SA. Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, Yembu, Al-khobar, Mecca, Madina are some of the main cities in Saudi. My Place was about 450 Kms from Riyadh (Capital City) and about 1300 Kms from Mecca and Madina. Mecca and Madina are two greatest religion places for Muslim Community in the world. It is presumed or understood that the King is the savior of these two religious places and he needs to implement/follow all the rules of Muslim community in the kingdom and maintain of sanity of the religious places.

When it comes to life style here, it is little restricted compared to neighboring countries like Dubai and Bahrain. The restriction is in the form of policies and a very hot weather.

Couple of observations I made -
1. All the shops and businesses close during prayer time for about 15-20 minutes for five times a day.
There are facilities to do your prayer in all public places for ex: in places like Airport, hotel, offices etc.,
2. Alcohol/Drug are strictly banned here. If you are found to possess drugs, the punishment is death and judgment will be made within a week.
3. All the women irrespective of their community, country or religion must wear burkhas when they step out of the house and women must be accompanied by either their husband or any relative. They should also possess the proof of identity. They cannot go out alone.
4. Women cannot drive any type of vehicles in SA. They cannot work in any public sectors except in jobs like teachers, nurses.
5. Cinema is banned in public, but satellite channels are available and you get some Indian Channels like NDTV Arabia, Zee TV Arabia, Sony Max etc that are aired from Dubai. These channels are approved/censored versions of their Indian counterparts, so the contents sometimes will be little late and obsolete.
6. Life is also restricted by the weather and it makes people sit inside the house or go out only in air-conditioned car. The temperatures are very high here usually above 40 degrees. The peak temperatures at 12noon will be around will go up to 46 to 50 degrees centigrade during noon. And believe me, these construction workers from different countries work in open air at such hot temperatures! All for the love of their loved ones back home in India. It rains once or twice in a year.
7. Life is very restricted, but NOT dangerous. I had heard many stories about this country. But it is that not bad. Life here is just like in India. Only weather is very hot. If you live within your limits without trying any adventures and extra curricular activities, this country is very peaceful.
8. The neighboring countries Dubai and Bahrain are quite different than KSA and encourage a very free life style. Bahrain is just 2 Hrs drive from Saudi Arabia. You have a world-class highway connecting Bahrain and KSA. People quite often drive to this country for entertainment. Tourism is the major industry in Bahrain.
9. There are an estimated 55-lakh immigrants here in KSA, majority of them from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Philippines. Many of the Indians are living here for more than 10-15 years. I met couple of Kannadigas also who have settled here for long time.
10. But the majority of Indian population is from KERALA. It looks like a mini Kerala. Every other guy here is a Keralite!
11. For sight seeing, you can see Sand Racing in the evenings. People drive their car up the hill at high speed over a sand mountain and return at same speed. There will be so many of them trying their skills! In between you will find young kids driving their little bikes run on petrol engines and racing ahead.
12. About beaches, there are two types of beaches family beaches and hidden beaches. Family beaches are strictly for families and hidden beaches are for people from foreign countries like USA, UK..etc.,
13. The local currency is SAUDI RIYALS(SR) and fraction of it is called HALLAL. 100 Hallals are equal to 1 Saudi Riyal.
1 SR = 11.5 INR and 1 USD = 3.75 SR.
14. General food is non-veg. I can say 90% of the hotels provide only non-veg food. But there are many good Indian hotels, which provide both veg and non-veg food.
15. Dates is one of the major products grown here in this country. There are an estimated 500 different types of dates grown here. Just like the bakery shops in Bangalore, you will get too see so many sweet shops which sell variety of sweets, chocolates made of dates.
16. Saudi Arabia’s Economy is very robust for next so many years and they have excess reserve funds in their kitty to plan and implement their vision for the future. Currently the government is building a huge city called King Abdulla city near Jeddah to reduce the population density in Jeddah and provide more and more job opportunities for all. I heard there is requirement for an estimated 12 lakh people over next five years.
17. Usually tourists from outside mainly purchase Gold and Diamond here. This is not for the cheaper price, but for the quality of Gold. You will find authentic gold ornaments made of 24, 22, 20 and 18 carrots. They will even provide you with certificate on authenticity.
18. KSA has got world-class infrastructure as far as Malls and Highways. They are just replica of American highways and malls. You would really love to drive fast cars on these highways. Allowed speed limit is 120Kms per hour, but people drive at speeds of around 180Kms ! The drivers even overtake through shoulders, talk on mobiles, drink water and even take hands off the steering at these speeds! I was just thinking to what amount my company has insured on my life when we were being driven at such speeds!
19. And of course petrol is much much cheaper than water here! 1 Ltr petrol costs you 40 Hallals i.e about Rs.4.50! People have costly cars here, which consume 1 Ltr just if you start the engine! (Our kannada cine star Darshan’s Hummer consumes 1 liter of petrol for every kilometer!)
1 Ltr of water costs you any where between 2 to 5 Saudi Riyals. (Rs.22 to 55)
20. We heard there is a religious police, which strictly maintains all the religious rules. But we never faced any such situation or saw this olice force.
21. Cost of living depends on what kind of accommodation you choose. A typical double bed room would cost you around 1000 to 2000 to 3000 Saudi Riyals based on the locality. There is no advance concept here. You will have to deposit six months rent in advance. Food in Kerala hotels is quite reasonably priced. But Indian hotels in down towns charge heavily on food.
22. All the major Indian Magazines and newspapers are available in Kerala Hotels. I even bought some Kannada Magazines there.
23. There will be dust storms every now and then. The dust storm is not just hard sand, but fine particles of sand. Dust storm looks like a cloud and covers the city for about a day when it comes. It is dangerous to breath such contaminated air.

All in all, I enjoyed my stay in KSA and got a different perspective on the life here than what I had earlier. It was memorable. More later!

Back on my blog!

I am back on my blog ! :)
Sorry for not blooging for over a month. I was away from India on an assignment in Saudi Arabia. (Yes.. you can very well expect some good informative blogs from me on KSA!)
Lot of things have happened during this phase and I have met lot of different types of people. Many things to share!Watch for my blogs!
In the meanwhile I have received couple of feedback from new readers.
Thank you all for visiting my blog and providing your valuable comments.
-Arun Yadwad
arun.yadwad@gmail.com

For what all I need to save?

You know what , of late I am thinking a bit more about where is all the money going actually?( Don't say I don’t have any other work to do..! :) ) For what all I need to save? Or how many things, I mean different headers I really need to consider and care about vis a vis financial stuff.
I keep discovering and my list goes endless. I believe in any urban city whether both husband and wife are working or it is only husband is working, it does not really matter . These headers will remain common and in fact may even grow bigger. The only thing that changes is the size of the canvas that you are playing on.

I am now a days hit by this analysis bug, courtesy the advice given by my close pal Suresh Purisai other day! So I hit upon idea of analyzing and listing down these headers, which might become a full-fledged financial plan later. In this blog, I am just listing down the headers. Going further we will talk about them in detail. The audience I am considering here is the salaried class living in urban cities like Bangalore.

Whatever may be your salary, job profile or age, you need to concentrate on and consider these headers and work towards saving for them or plan for them.

Following is a comprehensive list of such headers, which may even grow further, based on the kind of lifestyle you are leading.

1. Day to Day Expenses (Like Grocery, Electricity, Water, Gas, Milk ..etc)
2. Home loan EMI or Monthly House Rent
3. Dependants Care ( Your family,Parents, In-laws or any other relatives..)
4. Insurance for your life and dependants
5. Home Loan Protection Coverage (Very IMP)
6. Children Education Fund
7. Children Marriage Fund (These two headers depend on no. of Children!)
8. Retirement Fund
9. Emergency Fund
10. Any other EMIs

I will further detail out each of this header in next few blogs.

Vasanthi Hariprakash - Goooood morning Bangalore girl....!

Do you remember sometimes back the Radio City 91 FMs mornings were filled with this loud, lively and bubbly voice called Vasanthi Hariprakash who could effortlessly speak more than four languages and light up every one's morning with her lovely voice.

When I last listened to Radio City 91 FM, this voice was missing and I was wondering where did this girl disappear? You may not be aware that she is also a qualified journalist and is a sort of multi faceted personality in her own way. When I last read about her, she was going to abroad regarding presenting some paper. She had a very successful career as an RJ at RC for more than two years and was a house hold name in all Bangalore Radio listeners circle. But for some time now, there was no news of Vasanthi.

Suddenly last week I could trace her on TV! Now she is with NDTV new channel as a full time journalist from Bangalore, a profession probably she is most passionate about. Really a good move on the part of her career.

The most popular woman radio jockey of the city, Vasanthi Hariprakash, has a very eventful career from Electronics Student to Journalist to RJ to again to Journalist.
You can read more about Vasanthi at :http://www.discoverbangalore.com/Profile15.htm

Hope she will be equally successful there in her new role. Good luck Vasanthi!

Fight one more round

Whenever I feel down.. whenever I feel 'enough is enough' I just try remembering the following creation by James Corbett. It is very inspiring and keeps me up and running again. I thought of sharing with you all.

Fight one more round...

When your feet are so tired that
You have to shuffle back to the center of the ring,
Fight one more round....

When your arms are so tired that
You can hardly lift your hands to come on guard,
Fight one more round….

When your nose is bleeding and
Your eyes are black and you are so tired that
You wish your opponent would crack you one on the jaw and
Put you to sleep,
Fight one more round…

Remembering that the man who always fights
One more round is never whipped.

- James J. Corbett

Cricket in India going the movies way...!

So much of cricket is being played in India now. ICL.. IPL..20-20, 50-50..players getting auctioned.. bollywood stars fighting for best of the teams. I wonder if cricket continues like this in India, there may be a day when cricket may overtake Indian movie industry for the sheer volume of cricket it will produce.

Today I watched an old 20-20 match again on ESPN. You know which one.. The thriller between India and Pakistan from 20-20 World Cup where India won through tiebreaker by 3-0. I did not get opportunity last year to watch this match as I was in US that time.

What a match it was! The match thoroughly entertained the crowd till the last ball and even beyond that. I should say it was full paisa vasool for every one!

As I knew the result already, this time I was watching the captaincy by both the team captains very closely. The match very effectively proved that Dhoni was a very intelligent cricketer of the two. This was evident in the selection of 5 bowlers for the tie breaker.Dhoni kept more of slow and spin bowlers and 2 seamers, where as Shoeb Malik erred and took more seamers and fewer spinners. Dhoni intelligently started off with Sehwag, Harbhajan and Robin and kept his seamers at the end. The slow bowlers bowled with their natural run up and pace and hit the wickets always.

Where as Shoeb started off with seamers and that too with a short run up! These guys erred again because they were not at all comfortable with short run up at all and could never hit the wickets! At the end Dhoni found 100% success and Shoeb 0%. It was 3-0! I guess team India was certainly better prepared to face this kind of emergency and Pakistan looked totally clueless.

Whoever wins or loses, it is ultimately the quality of Cricket I always enjoy. I feel some of the matches have some great lessons to learn from, in the way they have played. There is strategy.. there is plan, emotion, passion, grit and determination and lots of masala and suspense. Because of all these ingredients the cricket rules in India and players have become demi-GODs.

If you see the second edition of ICL tournament has produced some very good thriller and breath taking actions and whole tournament was really worth watching for the time and money you invested.ICL has come a long way since its first edition. I still remember how Stuart Binny changed the course of the match in just 3 overs and how Lance Klusener single handedly fought for his team till the last delivery. Some of the matches were simply out of this world!

People are looking eagerly for ICL tri-series Word cup edition happening next week between ICL India, ICL Pakistan and ICL-Rest of the World. Kapil is all smiles now after the second league. Unfortunately Media in India is very biased now and is not giving enough coverage for this . The best of youth talent coming from many Indian towns and proving their worth in ICL are not getting due recognition by the media. That is very sad! But I am very happy that at least these youngsters found that much needed break in ICL and proving themselves. They are doing financially well too.

Ok.. now coming back to the main topic, Cricket in India is definitely going the Indian movies way. My imagination is going wayward. If it continues how could be the future of cricket in India? I am just listing few of the possibilities here.

1. There may be some 800-100 matches being played annually in India just like the movies.
The cricket might become very commercialized like some players might say "I am booked for next 2 years. No call sheets now please !"
2. Each player irrespective of his experience will have a Individual Financial consultant, Secretary, Physio, Trainer, Doctor, A mobile Gym , Clinic and possibly a mobiile family or girl friend ! :)

3.There will be DVDs, VHS Tapes, VCDs of all matches available and people might watch some good matches again and again just for thrill.
4.Just like movies, all our kids might start dreaming of playing for a cricket club and making it big.
5. Many of the district places might come up with sophisticated world-class stadiums and multiplexes.
6. You and your son might go for an evening 20-20 match while your wife and daughter might opt for a multiplex movie.
7. There will be many ICL and IPLs. Cricketers might change their clubs just like some one changes his companies in Industry.
8. Because of the job opportunities these matches will create, there will be better mobility of funds un the market and might help economy further.
9. As players contract is purely based on quality cricket he plays, no body can take their place for granted in the team. Thus there will be many new youngsters coming to the national stage and getting recognized.
10. When you are fed with too much of something, you will lose the taste and start looking for fresh taste and new avenues.

11.There will be all types of cricket being played.. 20-20, 50-50 and Test Cricket..etc., Different class of audiences will be evolving very similr to people watching only comedies, romatic movies, suspense thriller or message oriented movies.
The new avenues look infinite for me.

1. After some time, people might lose their interest in Men's cricket. Why not Women's cricket and making it this big? We have so much to do in Indian Women Cricket. Is Subhashchandra reading this blog?

2. We have many other sports we can think promoting like this. Recently concluded Bangalore Open was such big success. We can take it further.
3. Force One of Vijay Mallya is coming up in a big way. This looks very promising in the coming years.
4. Indian Hockey...! I dont need to mention here what all we can do in Indian Hockey. Should we think of one more league like ICL to revive Indian Hockey?

You can think of many such possibilities.Personally I am very much interested in sharing such ideas and help if some one is willing to work towards bringing them to reality.

The coming days in Indian Sport are looking bright. I guess ICL and IPL rivalry is good for
our talented youngsters and as my friend Aravind Hebbalalu said other day "the day is not far off when ICL and IPL teams will lock horns to win some coveted trophy." At the end of the day it is the victory of cricket and victory of sports community!

Long live the sports community in India.

Gouramma's strategy, vision..etc.,

I feel amazed some times about the disciplined life these normal people live and feel bad that sometimes this much needed discipline does not exist in us, the so called white collared corporate pros.

We have a maid at our home by name Gouramma, who works for us about 2 Hrs a day. I never speak to her, but my wife keeps updating me about her. Some of the facts about Gouramma's life are really interesting and made me take a curious look into her life.

Her husband works for a factory on whose salary her family runs. And she works for about 5-6 houses per day. All her income goes towards the education of her 15 year old son and his future. You know what? Her son studies in a private school in English medium! She has paid donation to get the seat there and still pays about Rs.10,000/- fees per year! This fee is much higher than what I paid for whole of schooling and 12th std.

I see some people cribbing about the cosmopolitan growth of Bangalore and other cities. They talk about digital divide and big gap between 'have's and 'have not's. Such differences take mammoth shape in the incidents like riots in Bangalore during Dr.Raj's death.

But can't we look at some of the good and positive developments such growth has brought in the lives of some of the ordinary people and the awareness that they got in life? I feel there is an intense change in the very outlook of these people. There are some good souls in these people who can keep their head straight despite all that is happening to their good city and still think positively. One among such people is our Gouramma.

Her thinking capabilities, strategy and execution skills are praise worthy. Can you imagine? She has two TV sets at her tiny house. One is color and other one B&W. They watch only B&W TV every day as she feels it will spoil her son's studies. Color TV is brought out only on festival and holiday occasions! What a noble thought! I feel bad we don’t take such minimum precautions for our children!

Coming to her financial management skills, she had a small site measuring 20x30 which her mother had earned through her hard work would achieve at the end of her 25 years of working at well known breweries company in Bangalore. She has built two houses in that site and leased out one of them. That’s how she has guarded her family and her future.

It is not that she has come smoothly all along the way. She has gone through all the ups and downs of life. Her husband was a drunkard and he used to harass her every day and spend all his money on his habits. This is where Gouramma made up her mind and decided to show him the door. She sent him out of the house for some months and warned him not to return unless he quits all his bad habits and lives a decent life. She did not have any problem as she was independent, courageous and living in her own house with her son.

Her husband after few months realized the reality and his mistakes and returned home. Now he is living the life of a goodie goodie husband!

People like Gouramma truly stand out as unique personalities with their vision, strategy, grit and determination to succeed despite of all the limitations and odds that they face along the way.