Seasons in the rain

Monsoon season in Kerala.
Some year in the late 90s.

Evening time after school hours are over.

Each puddle on the road was an opportunity to try something exciting.
One day it is about soaking the shoes and socks, and another day it is about splashing the water. Sometimes it feels best to make paper boats and watch them flow endlessly across the gutter filled roads to the overflowing canals.

Sometimes it catches you unaware without an unfurled umbrella, and fetches you a nice thrashing at home or even worse, a cold. Actually cold was good. It meant not having to go to school, and mother would sit along preparing hot food, while you sit out and enjoy the rain to the maximum, which you can't do in school.

But over the years, the season formed a happy part of life and the fun kept on increasing. Started trying crazy things like getting drenched with the umbrella safely furled up, dancing during heavy thunderstorms, and having running races with brother and local kids across the puddled roads.

Having an extensive background of falling in water bodies makes a person sort of accustomed to water in a strange manner. :) You love it when it touches your face. The cold droplets transport you across time and geography to imaginary places that might exist only in an imaginative kid's mind. Even the now-familiar noise of heavy downpour, or the slow rhythm of raindrops falling from man-made constructions have their own inner meanings, which attract and hypnotize the mind.

Monsoon was fun season for everyone. But during the last decade there has been drastic changes in the weather patterns. And it has led to very disappointing performances by the monsoon many a times. Being well aware that the loss to the city dwellers was nothing compared to what the agriculturists faced, I still like to mark my disappointment. And now moved to another location which has a moderate climate, with an excess of nothing. Love the climate here, but deeply miss the monsoon.

A short walk in a drizzle is always lovely, while a short walk in a roaring Kerala monsoon is adrenaline pumping and exciting. :) Happy monsoon dreams.( Couldn't get any better title. Might be little cheesy )

Work Philosophy

When you have a choice between the easy and the difficult route, and you choose the difficult one, it is called foolishness or arrogance by the quick-guns, but the wise and perseverant call it courage or far-sightedness.

In the same way, when you know someone deserves to be punished and then you let them go, that is pure power. Nothing beats that kind of power. No king who followed the paths of Dharma alone was able to wield such power as those who used the same rules to instill respect in every heart.

Watching "Schindler's List" gave me the above idea, which has been sinking slowly into my mind for the past two days.

Also coming to my mind is an advice given by my father's elder brother when I visited him after I joined L&T. He said: "Those superiors who behave well with you even when you make mistakes are the best employees, and your best guides. Judge people by the way they treat subordinates". And I found that it is so far the best advice I received about corporate conduct. I have this rule carved in my mind: "Be strict about your work standards. But when others slip, don't curse them. Help them come to your level or go even higher. Also, never lose a chance to appreciate a good effort or to learn from someone more skilled than yourself."

And most importantly, never let the stress get to you. Do what you love and love what you do. The day you feel you are unable to do these, it is time to move on and try your luck elsewhere.

Happy working..

Ulterior Instincts

I am a very mean fellow.. sometimes. No, almost always. Yes, that is the truth.

However good I might be in X number of things, the fact remains that from within I am quite mean and ruthless. And the worst part is that I feel like I enjoy being so.

Often I find that my mood swings when I am unable to get to something I want to, or someone makes me feel bad about myself. Once that is done, I have often felt the anger and the negative intent corrupt all my positive side's efforts. And my conscience watches in silence. This might be due to the apparent difference in strength between my dark and shining sides.

This being a part of my nature from long back, and having been at the receiving end of lots of advisory sessions and bad experiences, I have been exercising severe caution in handling these instincts. But sometimes I feel my level of dedication is too low to make any difference.

But over the past three years, I had been strictly controlling such tendencies and almost felt like I had turned over a new leaf. But few 'leakages' here and there recently puts the things back in their original place. A deep cause analysis has shown increased stress levels as the culprit. So I had been actively defusing all unnecessary stress over various fields. I guess that sink needs to grow to suit my growing appetite for risks and associated stress.

Anyway I have decided to exorcise some of my own demons, and make myself a better person. As some great person once said. Know thyself first, then thou shall know everything.