Brutus, Why Do We Hike?

"I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived."

– Henry David Thoreau, Walden

There are things which you don’t do yourself. They just happen to you. Like birth or death. Or like the continuum called life.

I hike. I travel to places. And it was never a question before, until someone asked me, “Why do you hike?”

And then it dawned on me that the answer has never been simple. Or was it too simple to be expressed in words?

The mortals who dwell with fancy gears and pick farther destinations are said to ‘Escape to the Nature’. But what are they really trying to ‘escape’ from?

I could conjure a zillion answers to the question, “Why do we hike?”

• May be because we like to be out there doing something fun, not tasked in different rooms or swallowed whole by the routine of the daily grind.
• May be because neither of us were born with a silver spoon shoved up our... noses.  Hiking is cheap. It costs gas, sometimes food, an occasional permission fee or equipment upgrade. That's it. We could literally hike many times for the amount it would cost us to take you out to eat once.
• May be because it's good to feel like a kid again.  All the responsibilities of growing up ---- yeah, one day you'll understand.
• May be because it feels great to accomplish something using our feet for what God intended them to be used for.  That'd be walking, by the way, not holding down the coffee table.
• May be because we have the opportunity to relish in the glory of the creation - the grass, the fields, the trees, the flora, the fauna, and the complexity yet the simplicity of nature.
• And last, because we like to.  It is enjoyable to us. Because out there, in the wild, we are free.

I think we seek the isolation, peace, and grandeur of Nature because it reminds us that we are more than what we are.  As humans, we seem to be egocentric.  We have our cities, our societies, our systems.  But once we enter the wilderness, we are no more significant than that ant you just stepped over.  

The Transcendentalists sought Truth in Nature.  In Nature, we see ourselves.  To me, I hike to remain aware of how I am but a speck in the vast terrain of our beautiful planet.  No matter how well-prepared I am, no matter how much gear I have, no matter how strong I feel, I never forget that it is nothing compared to the grand scheme of our existence.  

I hike to remain humble.  I hike to remind myself that no matter what man accomplishes, it pales in comparison to what Nature has already accomplished. 

Some people climb for the personal challenge.  Some climb for the view.  Others climb to boast a newly summitted peak, to add a notch to their belt.  

I hike to remember my place in the world...a place no important than that eagle's nest high atop a cedar tree, or that marmot's burrow along the trail.

"Now shall I walk
or shall I ride?
"Ride," Pleasure said:
"Walk," Joy replied."
~W.H. Davies

The Square Root!

The Square Root
When he took the shelter
In a diabolical state of mind
There was an empty folder
Which he couldn't then find.

Why these numbers, they escape
Of their radical prepositions and utilities,
For they will be used, again and again.
The numbers, calculated, deciphered in vain.

The digit, he calls himself.
a number, nevertheless.
wants to transform, be transformed.
takes shelter, no more homeless.

He doesn't escape, doesn't complain.
For this world is analog.
so is the nature, digital.
His life, frugal.

The stairs he saw, were a number.
The life, concentric circles, descending.
Ascending at times.

Because the World counts.
in bits and pieces.
The individuality, the digit yearns for it.

The shelter stands perfect.
Transformation, rooted.
Transcending the imaginary to real.
The Square Root. The Digit. Transformed.

That Blue Canvas!

Blue is a surreal color.
Color of vision. Color of someone’s eyes.

Blue is the color of sync, an element of trust
The color that is, should be painted, a must.

Blue is a vision of a beautiful thing
of things I’d have never felt.
The canvas I picked, the color, it melt.

Of painting a canvas, the color was real
I painted a rainbow, such was the feel.

The sky looks Blue, aye we know all,
But does it bleed blue, when it makes a fall?

Then it occurred, a vision unfolds, in a flurry
I kept on blinking, for my vision was blurry
I looked for my colors, the only one I saw
There was nothing but blue, shining and raw.

In the canvas, a few inches away
Saw a little bird which jus flew away
I painted a tree, for she would stay
The leaves were but plenty, for us to play.

I moved my brush, so that I could greet
Knew forever, the chance was here to meet
The hands din’t move, for the painter was in a trance
For she chose my branch, and that was not just by chance.

Blue was the color, that bird which came
For he never even knew if she had a name.
The bird that was painted, she was just blue
And the painter stood there, for moments that were long due.

He painted another bird and the canvas came alive
The two sat together, on a branch to connive.
The beaks held together, the feathers, them peek
What suddenly happened, the answer could not seek.

The canvas painted itself, for the painter was gone
The two birds together, their canvas all alone.
Blue was the color, always in their grasp,
Blue was the color that made them always gasp.

They sat there closely, looking into each other’s eyes
The canvas was short for them, and so were the skies.
The painter was now the bird, for he wanted to become,
The color was now the bird, for which the painter had come.

Their canvas, their sky, of what you'd just seen
Their own little world where they always have been
The birds as they whispered, so gentle and kind,
The painting came alive, as it was in their mind.

What is it that binds the two, now you may ask,
For the world may never get it, they were two birds without a mask.

And will they sail together over and above this canvas, did you ask?
Thy canvas will spread, for thee have taken to this task.

The color is now real, for the imagination has come true,
The color that was always real, the color that was Blue.
----------------------------------- -----------------------------------
-V!k$

TimeSpace...!!!

Time. A piece of moment. A placid effect. Sometimes an illusion. Sometimes stark reality.

Time flies. We can't. And that's a reality.

Sometimes I think. Yes right. Sometimes. That there’s no stopping an idea whose time has come. Maybe that’s the reason for my restless soul these days. A lot of my time, these days, is spent revising my thoughts and trying to what I would term as- Reclaiming My Life! There’s a burning desire to do something new, to grab that illusive Golden Fleece that sadly remains just out of reach.

Maybe a new place. Maybe a new opportunity. May be a new start.Or May be an Old wine in a New bottle. A better kick this time.

I’ve been walking non-stop for a time I can't even remember. Without a sense of direction and knowing where to go next. But it’s not without purpose.

I am probably feeling like the protagonist of the motion picture 'Forrest Gump' at this moment. Except that 'He Ran'! Eventually though, it seems both of us were looking for answers that had no questions.

I take to the skies, a little wiser, a little surer about what I want from life. The entire picture is still quite hazy but at least there’s a ray of light shining through that to mark a new beginning. And for that, I’ll always be grateful to this time, space and matter.

Till I find the perfect coordinates....It's still Time!

Suddenly...!!!

"Suddenly. Percursor to unannounced events. A Clout. A Myst. A Random Day. Perhaps it’s true that things can change in a day. That a split second can affect the outcome of whole lifetimes. And that when they do, those few seconds, like the salvaged remains of a burned house-the charred clock, the signed photograph, the scorched furniture– must be resurrected from the ruins and examined. Preserved. Accounted for. Little events, ordinary things, smashed and reconstituted. Imbued with new meaning. Suddenly they become the bleached bones of a story....Suddenly!!!"

Management(al)-The MBA-GSD Theory

"Management in all business areas and organizational activities are the acts of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives. Management comprises planning, organizing, staffing, leading or directing, and controlling an organization (a group of one or more people or entities) or effort for the purpose of accomplishing a goal. Resourcing encompasses the deployment and manipulation of human resources, financial resources, technological resources, and natural resources.”
- Definition by Wiki

Scene 1: Act 1:

Location: A desolated flat in Powai!

Actors: 4 Musketeers and a Ranter!

Play:

There are always Two Kinds in all aspects:

Here I am speaking of the most talked about category of Alcoholics & the often forgotten category of Workaholics…...

Well I belong to the Dividing Border!

And I was under influence……No…Not Alcohol….But Work….YES…gives you the same high…if you consider to take constant shots…just too much of it can spoil the brain…If it hasn’t been already!

So I was under the influence…when the so-called discussion started…..

‘Boss ye MBA kisi use ka nahi hai’

‘Haan yaar….pehle hi sahi tha apna…..

Btw....You know….I got to know some facts….

Like????

Ye sun…....And the sleepy musketeer started murmuring from a website he had opened…along with others which were remotely related to any management work!

* Two-thirds of world’s CEOs do not have MBA degrees

* Of the remaining one-third with MBA degrees, no more than half of them did anything great that they could not have done without the MBA!

* Of the several hundred MBAs that many of India’s best B-Schools churn out each year, no more than a third or half of them make it to the top slots (CEO and CXO jobs).

* A third of MBAs passing out of the premier B-Schools never crossed the middle management jobs

* A third of these MBAs found non-corporate jobs more exciting like teaching and research.

Ab Bol……Is it Worth??????? (Like I was the Flag bearer for the Indian MBA Education)

But then….This was My Moment!

To give a speech. To Influence. To Rant!!!!

I woke up. Stood behind the desk as a lecturer prepares for his last session after a tiring day of correcting numerous papers….

So I was standing….and I started…..

And then I Stopped….I couldn’t decide if I was in favor or against….

But What’da heck!!!

I started….

MBA…I paused….is an Optional degree….

GSD….is Mandatory…if you want to become what you want to be-come!

GSD….Abbey ye kya hai?? ( WTF is this GSD?)

Getting Stuff Done….Yes…Now that’s what I call Order-of-the-Day.

How do you do that then??? A rusky voice compelled me to look in the other direction…

My audience was listening! Good signs!

Well…as for starters You can ponder over these thoughts which some thinkers have been suggesting….

Firstly, Management as a practice has to blend a good deal of craft (experience) with a certain amount of art (insight) and some science (analysis).

Secondly, using a classroom to help develop people already practicing management is a fine idea, but pretending to create managers out of people who have never managed is a sham! (Executive MBAs, can take some solace!)

It comes through certain trends: MBAs without management experience have encouraged two dysfunctional styles in practice: calculating (overly analytical) and heroic (pretend art).

And a Great Man once quoted: Successful managing is not about one’s own success but about fostering success in others!

Ye tune bola tha kya??? And the musketeers burst into laughter!!!!!!!!

But I continued…there was More…And I was not finished…..
There is this context that MBA programs are great and helpful, but not sufficient to be successful. One has to demonstrate certain attributes and credentials to be able to make a difference.

Most of the aspirants sign up for these courses because they believe they can augment their career growth either with their current employers or possibly by changing their employer. It is some kind of hope to be CEO-ing sometime in the future with these degrees and diplomas! Nothing is wrong with the ambitions. In fact, without ambition, no progress will ever be made.
But the catch is….that ambitions will lead to success when accompanied by a right measure of two companions, viz., ability and engagement.

Pursuing an MBA is one of the wiser ways of spending time, if you did not have a job to stick on. So, registrations increase manifold. Also, many aspiring first line and middle managers going strong in their organizations also pursue executive MBAs as they perceive this as a career-expanding investment. In many progressive organizations, there are policies to encourage, nominate and reimburse for these programs as well. Long live the MBAs!

While MBA programs do serve as a “ladder to be a leader” – (Whoa that can surely be a Tagline)…my view is that it is not enough to find a ladder to be a leader, but it is important to find ladder to become a ‘result-oriented’ leader.

We can create models, cite SWOT analysis and projections, suggest strategies….and what Not!

But when it comes to the Results..MBA’s are found gasping for breath!!!

So, what exactly should We do??

Ohh No…that is not my Forte..I can Yak….But Can’t Preach….

There is no gainsaying the fact that MBAs have their role to play in accomplishing career success for their aspirants and corporate success for their employers and the multiple stakeholders. But in the absence of certain critical competencies and attributes that need to be built over time and demonstrated at work, these MBA will not help.

So Take your call….After All MBA’s are a Confused Lot! So Am I!

“Management is the Art of Getting Stuff Done”
- Definition by a Self-Professed Ranter!

An Ode to An Ol' Abode...!!!

A Town asleep...
Wakes up in the misty morning...
Residents are laidback..
The wheel starts turning...
The weather...ahhh..it unfolds.
With the roads brimming with energy.
The water flows around the rocks..
The sound of temple bells..


The business is busy.
The buildings are repainted.
The signals are redone.
A smell of culture transcends...
A city is coming to Life...!!!

I proud myself in being a Weird. My hometown...even more weird.

Ranchi is a weird city. Unlike most cities in India where usually a political figure of past days occupies pristine town estate, this one has a martyr soldier of the Indian Army who has his statue in the main town plaza. Lance Naik Albert Ekka died fighting in 1971 and was awarded the Param Vir Chakra. He stands tall in the heart of the town holding his rifle and in a ‘charge forward’ posture. You ought to see the statue to feel the awe.

But that is not all what makes Ranchi earn the title of ‘weird’ in an altogether different sense. The city is a highly multi-religious and multi-cultural. If the marwaris from Rajasthan run the wholesale business, the best restaurants in town are owned by Punjabis. The tribal culture is all around. Then there are folks from Bihar and Bengal who are living here for ages.

Arguably, the best Durga Puja celebrations outside Calcutta happen in Ranchi. The best part is, it is possible to get a flavour of each and every culture in this city. That, one can say is the Ranchi culture. The sense you get there is of an extremely proud and confident city.

Ranchi- where the small town laziness meets the uber culture dreams!

where the roads and the hearts get as Indian as it gets!

Proud and confident, Thats what Ranchi is...Thats what I AM!!!