June, 2006

This is a description of the Great Prophet Mohammed that I wish to follow. I seem to lack most of it but am working on them.

-His Qualities

“A great theorist is seldom a great leader. An Agitator is more likely to posses these qualities. He will always be a great leader. For leadership means ability to move masses of men. The talents to produce ideas has nothing in common with capacity for leadership. But, The Union of theorists,organizer and leader in one man, is the rarest phenomenon on this earth; Therein consists greatness.”

-A Excellent Description

“Head of the state as well as the Church, he was Caesar and Pope in one; but, he was pope without the pope’s claims, and Caesar without the legions of Caesar, without an standing army, without a bodyguard, without a palace, without a fixed revenue. If ever any man had the right to say that he ruled by a right divine It was Mohammad, for he had all the power without instruments and without its support. He cared not for dressing of power. The simplicity of his private life was in keeping with his public life.”

I hope I am not being rude by describing the Prophet. If I violated any Islamic code, please comment and I will remove this post.

So as my career progresses, I question myself about the longevity of my role in the BPO industry. By no way am I technically “smarter” compared to some of the others in my field. If you compare me to an individual in the company that I work for, I would definetly be lagging behind by miles. That does not mean I am not technically “smart” {yes, I did use the word “smarter” in the last sentence for a purpose}, for these individuals have had a head start - their experience in terms of years in the technical world is greater than mine. If the world was an ideal place to live in and we all started at the same line - I have no doubts in my ability and fierce competitive nature to leave the others lagging behind. Well then again, I do not live in such an ideal world so I will have to look at other ways to cover up for my lack of technical experience.

Been thinking about jumping to the business analysis side of things. Seems like its an area where ideas blossom, whereas the technical side seems like the area oriented more towards producing solutions. It also an area where there is a lot more interaction between individuals through brainstorming sessions and presentation meetings,etc. Business Analysts - and if you look at them very carefully, are and should be excellent communicators and some of them are quite witty infact.

The technical folks are the problem solvers. The backbone of any BPO company. You do not see the young java developer in any company being the limelight, but he/she did do their part in creating the product that the company depends on so much. Most of them seem to lack the marketing skills that the business analysts seem to have, and of course the BAs lack the technical and mathematical brains. This is of course my general sterotypical perception and I can be wrong but I think the majority fit into my descriptions. And yes I am entitled to my opinion.

So question is what am I? I know my vision so basically i know the end but just getting a bit confused on the means. I can be technical for I have the largest ego on this planet when it comes to my brains and my ability to grasp things quickly. I can be a great business analyst for I want to think outside of the norm, make my brain go confused thinking of a 101 possibilities and I have the confidence to create a vision and gather/pull people to follow it with their hearts, i.e. peoples’ person. All this might sound every egotistical but I have my weaknesses, just not stupid enough to put it on my blog.

So Conclusion - Going to stick to what is on my plate now. Sure something is going to come my way, and if it doesnt then you are not going to see me sit around and wait for things to happen. Going to make it happen!!! But till then I am a - hold on what is my designation???

So I seem to be a bit confused these days about the concept of winning hearts or the minds of individuals. I guess if one were to win the heart of an individual, then you are possibly looking at factors like loyalty, great support and constant advice from them. When you win the mind of an individual, I guess you expect the individual to follow your vision without any contemplation.

Is it possible to win the mind and the heart of an individual at the same time? Well i suppose you can but I think i rather win the heart than the mind. Why? Simple Answer: Rather think with many minds and beat with one heart, than many hearts and one mind.

I want people to believe in me and have loyalty towards me but I also want them to be able to think on their own and develop thoughts,ideas and concepts on their own. If i were to brainwash them and well winning minds is essentially something along those lines, then I would be a contemporay politican in a way. I guess my thinking is oriented towards my goal of estbalishing a company on my own or running one in the future from the post of a CEO, Chairman or President. I want to set an environment where I feel that people believe in me and have respect and loyalty towards me and the organization but in turn also be able to speak their minds and give criticsms to improve the organization. One key point that is always taken into a project by a project sponsor is the involvement of the individual who opposed the project in the first place. I believe that I can win the heart of that individual but not manipulate his/her mind and thinking in a negative way, so that the organization and myself benefit from his/her unique, fresh and critical thinking.

Loyalty and this comes mainly from the heart and not mind is a very powerful tool if used in the positive and correct way. It will make individuals follow your vision but with their own “tributaries” connecting to the main stream - thus making a larger and more powerful river.

So mentioned this to a friend today, and she laughed. She thought it was funny but hoped that I can prove her wrong. Well i guess I will have to wait for sometime to prove her wrong but will definetly strive to. But one thing i know for sure - I know i have won the loyalty of that friend but have not changed her style of thinking or won her mind. I also definetly know that when needed I am going to be getting critical feedback from her be it negative or positive - I guess I have already started the process!!!

Well this is a continuation from my previous post “ControllingEmotions”. Reason for continuation is to try and express why it is hard for individuals like myself to express or say things such as sorry and also to display that we do express positive feelings. A comment was made on my previous post, “But its also very important to make the balancer feel how important she/he is in your life and appreciate and express your love and affection and even apolgize”, which made me ask myself a few questions. Yes it is important to express love and affection but one shouldn’t take this in the Western form or context. In the West, people say “Sorry”, or “I Love you” to express their apologies or love. In the East and definetly in countries like Sri Lanka or India, culturally things do not work this way. If I were to walk upto my mother today and say “Amma I love you”, either she will give me a weird look or ask “Have you had lunch?”. I hope you understand what i am trying to express here. Things do not work in these countries in the “Sleepless in Seattle” Western movie kinda way, where the son apologizes to the dad and they both hug, kiss and live happily ever after with their new found mom. Apologizing in these countries is talking about cricket to your dad once again or talking to your mother about the new girl who moved in next door and in my mother’s context - just plain gossip LOL.

Yes, so i do understand that one should filter out positive feelings as well as the negative ones especially towards the one who you get annoyed with on a regular basis. I try to show positive feelings towards my mother everyday and somedays I fail. But i do definetly try, just dont do it in the “Western” way but in my own way so that my mother understands that i still care about her and she cares about me

Cheers.

It seems like the two sleeping giants - India and China are wakening upto the dreams of the modern world. Each has had her share of the spoils and taken different avenues to get to the pedestal they seem to be on right now. The Mao Revoltuion, the 100 Flower Campaign, the Tianmen Square Incident and the Little Red Book of the Communists are some of the highlights of the China’s Modern History. Gandhi, Nehru, Sachin Tendulkar, BPO and Pakistan seem to be the highlights of the Indian one. When you look at these two countries, you will see alot of differences from the characterisitics of an Indian/Chinese to the makeup of the infrastructure the two countries possess and the list goes on. The greatest similarity you will find is that the two countries have been the greatest beneficiaries of ideas born abroad.

I am a firm believer in the philosophy that if an idea or a thought if unique and powerful and attains an audience of an apprecitable amount, it will succeed in the country of its birth or the regions where the idea was blossomed in. Obviously this applies to alot of modern day concepts but there are some ancient ones that I will highlight as well. Capitalism, Energy, Computers and Transport- some the more talked about concepts and entities were all born in the “Western World” in countries like America, UK, etc. This is why these concepts and technological revolutions continue to succeed and are accepted by indivudals in those nations. The East possess its own ideas as well. There is a lot of pride about a country’s history, their old ancient traditions and family values and of course religion. Currently what seems to be taking place from a global point of view is an export and import of ideas, theologies, concepts, fundamentals, arts, etc. Americans are learning yoga and the average Indian knows about the gangster rapper 50 cents. There is an influx of ideas flowing both ways across the map. Yet, these ideas are not ones that will cause a major revolution or the birth of newer more powerful ones. The main driver behind China’s manufacturing industry is the Western powers’ investment and the same applies to India’s BPO Industry. The product life cycle theory was not created in the blink of an eye and one can see its implementation in the world today.

At a certain point of time, more countries especially in the developed world are going to buy into the “globalization” theory and would want a chunk of the economic growth that countries like China and India have tasted. This would lead to more competition, jobs going away from Indians/Chinese and a whole lot more playing grounds for the Western powers. Some might argue that India and China will be prepared for this but to be prepared does not mean that the CEO of Wipro or the President of China knows the precautions to take. It has to be each individual’s role to be prepared, to take strides to counter attack the possibilities of jobs going to other countries, economic freedom in other nations. Each individual has to be taught to think on his/her own, to generate ideas on their own, to think for themselves. One of the reasons why a programmer in India is very good at what they do is because they do not question the reasoning behind their work. They just do it. ” Sir java or jsp ?”seems to be the only question.

Although America seems to have lost in the export of manufacturing goods and services to China and India, it has done extremely and powerfully well in the export of culture, concepts and especially ideas. Yes like I mentioned before there are followers of yoga, green tea and Krishna in the Western countries, but this is very minute when you compare it ideas like HipHop, democracy, abolishment of communism/socialism, free speech, computers, technology, modern day healthcare and CAPITALISM.

These are all ideas being bought by an Indian and Chinese everyday. Unless they come up with their own idea, their own innovation or their own big revolutionary concept that will attract a global audience, they will always remain the countries that followed America’s ideas and built their success on it.

“Great Ideas and Innovations Distinguish a Great Leader and a Simple Follower”
- { I took Steve Jobs’ quote and manipulated it}

She looked absolutely stunning in that salwar. I just wanted to run my fingers through her black long hair which i knew would be smoother than silk right now. She must have just come out of the shower. Head & Shoulders apparently do the trick with the smell and silkness but you still wanted to be attracted to the person. I was, and I have been for 10 years now. She didnt notice me, but I was paying detail to every single part of her.

The long red ear rings suited her hand chains she was wearing. She was the perfect artist when it came to being elegant yet sophisticated while she dresses up her clients for their functions, parties, etc. She always wanted to do that. Her interest in creativity was unmatchable. I wanted to slide across and hug her from behind, knowing that it might startle her but when there is a picture pefect image, sometimes you like to sit and stare at it. She was my image, my inspiration to wake up every morning and my soul. 10 years, I havent felt anything less.

She turned around. I nearly cried. It is as if I had just seen her for the first time. I wish i never fall out of love with her. She was smiling and she knew that I was radiating inside. She had always known that. We fought, hated each other on certain days and absolutely killed each other in moments, but she knew she could melt me with just one smile. She had been making tea. Lipton Ceylon Tea to be exact. She knew I was the tea person in the evenings. Like an apple a day keeps a doctor away, a Sri Lankan brother needed his tea.

She sat beside me, confused as to why I was looking at her today in a more special way than the other days. She didnt know how much I had missed her, how much I miss her and how much I will continue to miss her. I heard a voice say “Baby, do you love so much you can stare at me all day ?”.

I woke up with a chill in my spine and feeling frightened and excited. Those were her last few words. I was luckily to survive that crash. We didnt speak in the car after I had the tea that evening at home. I wanted to be with her in silence and enjoy her presence in the drive. She always checked whether i kept a photo of her in my wallet, but I guess she forgot and locked it up in my heart before she passed away …..

He stared. He waited. The eagerness to pop the question made him sweat more feverishly than the days on the rugby field. You knew he was tensed if you had seen him. I knew I was, just by looking into him.

What was he staring at? What was the question? Even he didnt know. I didnt have a clue either. The two cute girls in the next table were giggling to themselves. Maybe the dark, tall and handsome features he possessed could have helped in their laughter. Were they blushing? Well atleast it was a sign that he was attractive. That was a good ego boost and guess he needed it.

The gold lighting of the interior had already set the mood when he stepped into the restaurent. He knew it was going to be the perfect place. But to do what? He had anxiously bought that rose not sure in what context he was buying it in. Was it for a friend or was there more? He was confused again.

He knew he was going to miss her. He was departing soon. The luxurious life in Manhattan was awaiting his arrival. That’s the life he always wanted and longed for, but did he want it now, at that moment of time. He knew that even a billion dollar cheque would not be enough to turn tables and give away the feeling he possessed right now and there. The pro-Manhattan soul within him popped out right now and was bashing his head, “Dude whats wrong with you, screw this gal, you can get many more in NY”. He didnt want to listen. After all, he had listened to this “pro-enjoy life ” person within him before and had made a grave mistake.

He knew he was going to stutter if he opened his mouth. Her chapstick just sat there on the table. A slight glimpse at it and the jealousy eroded through his veins. He was jealous of a stupid chapstick. Was he getting plain pathetic or was this the first time he was sitting with a girl? The latter was a big lie if he said it out aloud.

All he wanted to do was run his strong big hands against her soft neck and hold her - gently of course. He knew that if she held his hand, she would feel the pulse and in return feel his soul. Did he want to take that risk?

With the squeakiest of voices, he ordererd his meal when the waiter arrived. She, the assertive one, had already requested a portion of tender tandoori chicken. They both ordered a glass of red wine each. He thought that might smoothen the mood but she loved red wine and had no other intentions. He couldn’t believe his suddent change in personality. The usually funny, outspoken lad had become quiet, soft-spoken and unbelievably shy. Maybe the feminine side in him had appeared at the wrong time.

[Dinner to be Continued....]