Sporting India...

I underestimated the importance of sports in development of one's personality. In fact I used to avoid sports for reasons unknown to me. But almost two years back, I decided to play tennis and enrolled myself at a tennis academy. It exposed me to a host of experiences which shocked, suprised and amused me. on the first day I realized how pathetic my fitness quotient was. Gradually i began working on my fitness, following a regimen of two hours of tennis and fat free diet. I had once read swami vivekanand's exhortation to the youth about sports,'You would be closer to god by playing soccer than reading the gita.'I cant say whether I have come closer to god by playing tennis, but it has made be very humble. Any sport reveals your personality to yourself.i.e. are you competitive, do you go beyond your comfort zone, do you pick up a challenge to outflank an opponent who is better than you, etc. I realized that I was competitive but not hyper competitive like shahrukh khan or adman suhel seth (which, I believe is the need of the hour).

The whole experience of learning tennis has also made me experience the pathetic state of Indian sports and our lack of support in improving standards of sports. If India has to become a superpower than the young India should be fit. Physical exercise and sports should be encouraged across educational levels.Today,in school classes, a student topping in mathematics is made the star of the class but a student good in athletics or sports is labeled dunderhead. This has to change. Of course we need future Narayan Murthys and Abdul Kalams but we also need future Tendulkars, Mirzas and Kartikeyans. I believe that can be done by recognising, appreciating and supporting talent. By support I dont mean mere scholarships but institutionalize support which props up the sportsperson durings her sporting career and beyond. I have a very limited experience of sports but there are experts sitting idle who can guide the nation towards sporting glory. Chak de India!!

The neo patrons

India is gradually becoming a capitalist economy. Markets have entered almost all spheres of life. This has unleashed a lot of energy into the economy and its growing at 9.4% annually. The unique characteristic of markets is that they are impersonal. A full flegded capitalist economy like the U.S.A has a social security net to protect its citizens from the drastic upheavals of markets. In India the government has not given a free hand to markets yet. As markets enter in creative fields like music, art, literature, these fields would cater to mass culture, which entails lowering the bar and a fall in standards. The tremendous influence of western culture is being gradually felt on the art and music fields as well. The new generation of musicians want instant success; nothing wrong with it. But it takes years to learn classical music or become an artist. There is no thing like instant success in art or classical music. Thus the new generation is steering away from such fields. Classical music is now confined to only few maestros and their families. The art and music fraternity is in a dire need of patrons. There are no Akbars,Shehjahans and Dara sikohs today to foster music and arts. The time has come for the new patrons to chip in. The mantle of the erstwhile emperors should be accepted by the corporates, who with their wealth can create a new generation of maestros and artists.

Though few corporates like Tata's and Mahindra's are patronising music and the arts but that is not enough. We need visionary industrialists and businessmen,like J.R.D. Tata, who look beyond bottomlines and balance sheets to serve the community at large. Or else classical music and art will be extinct.

Selling reforms

Intellectuals and business community have been very critical of the U.P.A. government's status-quo over reforms in all the spheres of the economy. At the grass root level there is an immediate need to provide jobs to the millions of graduates comming out of the outdated educational system lest the tribe of unemployeds will become cause of social unrest and easy potential naxalites. One is shocked to see that there is no reaction from the civil society and media over staggering of the reforms process. But one cannot even expect from the citizenry, that doesnt know what is reforms in the first place. Globalization has become the order of the day. Any developing country wanting to grow rapidly will have to embrace globalization or else no one can forestall doom. The process of integrating with world markets entails a lot of pain. And there is no such thing as painless transformation. But it is possible to lessen the pain by knowing the process and anticipating pain. This is where the government has failed. It has failed to sell globalization and reforms. When was the last time did you see Dr Manmohan singh on tv apprising the country on what the next 20 years hold in store for India. I dont remember any such public appearence of Dr Singh on tv. Thus, an ordinary citizen doesnt know where the country is heading and what is in store for her.

Instead of carrying full page ads in newspaper extolling Arjun singh's achievements, it would be better if the government gave an insight on globalization and reforms. This will not only educate the people but make them ready for the painful process of globalization and reforms. Dilly-dallying over reforms would make India a hotbed of terrorist activities and social unrest. I urge the civil society and the media to join in this endeavour to sell reforms and give history a helping hand.

Change the smell of the place....

Human resource professionals are perturbed by risisng attrition rates across management ranks. They have tried every trick in the book to dissuade people from quiting their company. Call it supply side gap or loss in loyalty values, I believe people work for intanglibles and not tangibles like salary or perks. Of course, monetary benefits are important but upto some extent, after that it is the intangibles which drive people to scale new heights.In India private companies were never known for treating their employees well and taking care of their career growth (except the Tata's). Even the pre-90's cinema potrayed the capitalist as an evil person who exploits poor people by making them work for long hours, paying meagre salary and indulging in skullduggery. But globalization has turned the tables, now the employees look upon the employers with disdain. Talent shortage has compounded the problem. HR professionals have to rack their brains to come up with innovative ideas to retent employees.
I believe the whole approach to this problem is wrong. These days people have fallen into a rut of living a life chasing material acqusitions comprosmising their inner callings. This leads to an emotional conflict, which often leads to stress and burn-out among executives. Ever wondered, did Gandhiji, Nehru, or Sardar Patel felt stressed or burnt out? They were, perhaps,leading a mission without knowing whether they would reach the destination. They plunged into the freedom struggle without caring whether India would win freedom in their whole lifetime. Mind you, they could have made a 'career' outside politics. But still they opted for the freedom struggle. The intangibles played the trick in their case, they participated not to avail of perks and monetary benefits but to achieve something which transcended their self and gave them a sense of contentment. In these times of rapid and multidimensional change, old age wisdom proves handy. Work place needs to be put at the alter of temple, where people come to seek solace and faith in themselves and fellow beings.