SBenegaL

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  • GOD and the notion of Uncertainty…

    The nothing of GOD is extremely intriguing. All of us have different notions of the Generator, Observer and Destroyers (GOD) based on our own experiences. Yes I said Experiences – read on to see why I make this claim. 
    One of the comments on my last blog on the trinity of Hindu Mythology and the possible purpose behind the design mentioned – 
    “Wonderful Article 🙂
    Reading this, I could not help myself but think
    these gods are man-made; they represent what our ancestors thought a
    wise idea worth sharing. However, the mystery is not solved yet. I just
    wanted to point out, I personally feel there is nothing divine and
    supernatural about gods as they have been portrayed for millenia!”     
    – Anonymous
    The comment got me thinking about why the notion of divinity and supernatural ability might have been attributed to GODs. I think I possibly got the answer! or may be not! However this is definitely an interesting thought – worth sharing. 

    Scientific Thinking which found its feet has been built on the concept of reasoning. The ability to question and associate a cause and affect relationship has definitely served the human society well. The near exponential growth in the number of invention, and its commercialization that has quickened the pace of economic growth and gotten more CERTAINTY into our lives. 
    Extending this, the possible origin of the notion of God, then has to be on the other extreme – when one feels or experiences UNCERTAINTY. These two observations sort of reinforce my interpretation.
    1. The first one is definitely from my own personal experience of facing uncertainty which is so much a part of the entreprenuerial journey.
    2. The existence of a high belief rate in God in the lower economic strata of society!
     Let me try explain this observation a bit elaborately:
    As an entrepreneur and you will realize the complexity of the issues that (s)he faces from various directions and the limited cognitive ability wouldn’t be completely enough to handle this. Even effectuation strategy, which through its principles provides a very very effective way to handle this entrepreneurial uncertainty, acknowledges the role of surprises (Lemonade Principle). In handling such a high uncertain situation where the distrution is unknown and hence a risk cannot be associated requires one to be positive and optimistic all through – and also believe in the strength of miracles. Miracles that just emerge when you least expect it – while some could attribute it to luck, it could also be attributed to the ability of God to influence things in one’s favor. An extension of the above claim where this relation of uncertainly in business and a religious bent of mind can be seen in most businessmen being devout to a specific deity.
    I also extend this uncertainty to the economically weaker sections of the society, where people have no idea where their next day’s meal would come from! The physical strength, minimum skill and the effort of these people is all that they would need to rely on in being able to sustain themselves on a day to day basis. This is possibly one of the reasons why this section of the society is highly susceptible to religious conversions – when there is a slightly better quality of life could be expected!
    PS: The above is just a thought that I put across and would appreciate your  feedback on the same.

  • “Remote Culture” – Get up and change it…



    A short while after I woke up today morning I checked my facebook page for some inspirational quote, and lo! I found this.
    I have been thinking of the declining willingness in today’s generation to bend their back! and feel this quote kind of helps me put these thoughts together. 

    All through my childhood, growing up as the only child to my parents it seems to me that my parents should have logically pampered me. I thanks them today for the emphasis they put on hardwork and patience. I increasingly find this emphasis on hard-work becoming a rarity thesedays. 
    Most of the students I interact with have grown up in with a lot more attention from their parents (unlike the old Indian kids where the parental attention was divided between almost half a dozen kids!). The higher attention typically translates to parental attempts in ensuring the kid almost everything (s)he wants! Beginning to rely completely on the “remote culture” as I call it. An extremely easy way to get things done – almost at the click of a button!

    While this parental attention is great, the repercussions begin impacting nearly a decade and half later, when they are either doing their graduation or are in their work environments. The certainty that was so much a part of the growth years, all of a sudden seems to disappear and the harder realities of life which require one to stretch and get the better of oneself takes over. 

    The reactions of the individual in these situations is to either accept the new norm and retain the current pace of activity, or to try and push and may be eventually give up. The major issue is when one stops experimenting and exploring and eventually morphing to be ready for the challenges of everyday life.

    If there is someone who can change what we want to change it is us alone.

  • Lord Ganesha – Deepawali’13 sketch

    The long Deepawali holidays gave me some time to sketch a Ganesha. Feeling happy having done it after more than 5 years! Here is a low resolution scanned image of the same:

  • Know-how: Realize its a team game, not an individual show anyways!

    It is never a one man show! Just that the team effort is evident in some, while in others it gets hidden or camouflaged.

    Most tasks that we do, is repetitive! We rarely find exploratory problems – i.e. problems which requires one to test various scenarios out, not as a survey or an assumption analysis, but actually exploring to see if something works.  The first time one starts of on any activity, the learning curve is exponential, almost everything is uncertain, one never knows what to expect next!

    This first exploratory learning experience is very crucial to build on… its possible that many brave-hearts who attempted this exploration could resist or resign or repent as a response to multitude of challenges that the situation presented. Team members plays a crucial role in these situations; while the experience could  demotivate the individual, the team members have to play a supporting role – assist and/or appreciate the brave-heart’s effort. Reinforcing confidence is important, else the fear of loosing the brave-heart is very real!

    The second attempt could build on the learning of the first attempt and it would benefit if the brave-heart guides the next volunteer attempting the task. Failing the guidance, the lessons could repeat and is not beneficial overall. If the follower attempting it, is innovative enough, possesses presence of mind and is creative enough and comes in with a knowledge of various technologies, it is would definitely create a leapfrog improvement and not really be a snail-paced progress!

    It is essential to build the team and constantly communicate what is learnt to really be able to leapfrog.

    To help get the abstract into a concrete, let me illustrate using an experience of mine (interested guys read on further… others could skip this):
    We recently organized a cultural event after a gap of 5 years, I still recollect the very first attempt when there was chaos with participants coming in with their request of songs and getting them in CDs (to be played on a music player! – yes not a lap-top) and confusing the person in-charge of the tasks of playing the song to the right dance/drama! The program did go on well, but there were a lot of hic-ups and the person who had volunteered for the task still to this day feel bad about not handling this well.

    Truth be told, it takes great courage for someone to volunteer in an uncertain situation, and the results shouldn’t be taken extremely personal. This was the bed-rock on which I was allowed to try my hand out this year.

    A crucial learning was to prempt the possibility of confusion, but getting all the songs in place, however given the voluntary nature and the spontenity that could arise, it would be difficult to program through the entire event… I alternatively, my understading of technology to be able to reduce the effort and at the same time be able to manage the spontenity that the event gets along with it.

    At the event, I had to only wait for the right indication from the that was anchoring, and leverage surprises taking note of the time gaps/durations to prepare for uncertainties even beyond the plan. The saving grace was that, you can still visualize some amount of surprises and prepare for them.

  • God – Beyond the apparant…

    There are debates all over that try to talk about GOD – where there exists a single GOD, or is there a plurality…
    I don’t take any stance here, but thought this interesting thought on GOD is worth a note…
    Most of us would have heard the acronym for GOD – Generator, Observer, Destroyer, and in the Hindu Mythology, we call these roles performed as being performed by Tridev – Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva. Brahma takes the role of the Creator; Vishnu that of the Manager of happening of life, and Shiva the Destroyer who closes life as such!
    These gods are generally accompanied by their consorts – Saraswthy, Lakshmi and Parvathy respectively. Saraswathi is considered the Goddess of Knowledge, Lakshmi the Goddess of Wealth, and Parvathy the Goddess of Power. 
    Combining the Gods with their consorts, we have Brahma who is married to Sarawathy, Lakshmi who is the wife of Vishnu and Parvathy who is with Shiva. If we are to abstract this a bit – would could take the action performed and the corresponding representations we have- Brahma the creator is with Saraswathy who represents knowledge – the underlying implication being that – “to create something new, you got to possess the knowledge. Similarly,for one to sustain and manage an existing set up, finance place a primarily role and that seems to be logic highlighted in Vishnu-Lakshmi as a pair.Also, to get to close aspects or issue that have grown beyond the point of control, use of power become mandatory – possibly represented by the pairing of Shiva and Parvathy.
    Why have these three Gods: Why not have them all in one?
    It is but usual for one to ask, cant all these be handled by a single GOD? Why have three or them and what advantage would it actually get to the table? 
    Very often we find that people who create things fall in love with their creation, they would like tobe so closely associated with their creation that they would no more realize the direction in which the creation is proceeding…it is best done with by someone else who get in an expertise on taking care of things and has the decision of taking the creation in the right direction. In the process of creation, its is always possible that the manager could be so enticed into maintaining that he/she could possibly not realize that the creation has outlived the utility.
    Where one’s responsibility ends the other begins. This however is not to state that they don’t discuss or realize that at places there is a need to collaborate. 
    In fact, Shiva who generally comes in the phase of destruction is also considered an expert on knowledge and learning – from what gets closed or destroyed, it is important to realize that learning are crucial and an means to improve the next cycle…So in some form, even Shiva is seen as an epitome of knowledge accrued over ages and generations.
    Why do the pictures generally show them meditating?

    The tasks these GODs do is very sensitive, if not delicate; and it is important to create a balance between action and involvement at the mental and physical level.  Less said the better – these are extremely high pressure roles!.
    Meditation enable self-reflection, which allows these high pressure jobs be analyzed in a perspective that disassociate the problem from the individual and focus on solving the problem and lesser of blaming it on the individual.

  • Start-up Nation – Dan Senor and Saul Singer

    Israel – the name resonates with a country that is today synonymous with Innovation, Technology,  a Start-up culture that could be the awe of any country!
    Definitely, Israel is unique… is there something that one could learn from this small country that is located in the midst of a hostile neighbors. For a community of people who were displaced from their origins over 2000 years ago, to come back and create an innovation powerhouse, it is nothing less than a miracle! 
    The authors – Dan Senor and Saul Singer have just written a fitting biography of this nation that has rebuilt in the last 6 decades a story of a culture that had to start from scratch and script its prowess as a leading start-up ecosystem. 
    As one who has an interest in entrepreneurship, this book has an interesting combination of history, societal aspects, the economic conditions etc very well written. Right from the genesis of the country to how they seeded each of the industries – the need for innovation, the role played by military, a comparison with startup clusters, and last but not the least the challenges ahead… all so well put across that the reader is just glued to the story.
    I just love this book and would urge every guy interested in entrepreneurship read this book.

  • Lazy!!! – well relaxing is for rejevination I thought… Doing something new does…

    “All work and no play make…” 
    So goes the adage…but is it only relevant to young kids? It is that only kids get dull? The large populace of IT professionals (well this doesn’t really stop at those working only for IT) working around me too have a similar problem…they dont seem to give me an inspired feeling! I don’t see “life” filled with energy in them.
    I really don’t see many of them getting to new things – they call the time that they do not do anything other than watch movies or sit in front of the television – relaxing! We is this relaxing! The mind of this duration is entrapped into the television or the movie and gives the sense of a temporary relief, but over a longer duration one would have really lost out on hours that could have been employed elsewhere and into something more engaging and enriching.
    Everyone has a unique way of spending time in a manner that rejuvenates themselves – but what I feel people really do not do is get out of their comfort zone!… try something new!… Our mind loves to do what is likes.. it pulls us into the direction… it loves wandering… You could make better  use of it if you define or confine the mind a bit too… It could help if you add in a little bit extra in every thing you… and before you know … you have really beaten what you thought you would ever reach!
    Yes, the point I am trying to make is the lack of effort we put in exploring and then improving and if possible excelling at what we attempt to do. Its is time that we as people begin realizing that exploring an alternate side is very useful… I have heard many people say – I never knew I could really do this!
    It is time, we move away from being lazy and engage ourselves in going beyond what we immediately know. A constant attempt to improve, is something that we never consciously engage with… and even if we engage with we behave as if its a competitive advantage and attempt to safeguard it to an extent that it doesn’t transmit beyond the brain that has created it. 
    I never thought I could actually do some digital media marketing… to took up a community event marketing and realized it is no great science and over the weekend I was able to get a lot more knowledge and experience from what I did. I was extremely thrilled at what I was able to learn… I think this has to become a sustained practice by everyone.
    It is also in sharing that knowledge gets fertile… The experience of everybody and the interpretation of the scenario at hand help our knowledge grow and mature. 
    It is time all of us attempt to move away from the usual, try something new, improve steadily, share what we learn… you never know what legacy we leave until we have left.

  • Choosing your first employee – Attitude over Aptitude

    The first employee of any start up plays a crucial role. It is in fact a process by which the culture of the organization begins. Navigating this challenge is not easy for start-ups!
    Co-Founders typically are seen to be friends or colleagues and it is very often the employee whom they hire that turns out to be the first external person joining the team. While it is possible that the employee might not really be a complete outsider, but someone in what I could call as the latent network (one which we do not access frequently in the course of our work) and pull him into the active network (that which we access very often).
    As someone who has helped a few start ups in their hiring, and seen many others make their choices, I find there are two broad requirements that emerge out as the most required in my opinion:
    1. Willing to push and attempt to think beyond what he/she already knows
    2. Hungry to work hard if need be
    In addition to this, possessing the knowledge and the skill would only add up to the person as positive points.  But the real deal breaker would be hiring a person who is not willing to think knowing his/her limits and having no enthusiasm to learn if it takes. Simply put, I am looking at the right attitude fit before I look at the aptitude fit.
    Knowledge and expertise of an individual could come with a well defined self-image; the start-up founders would need to know, to what extent these would be beneficial for the company and at what level it would be detrimental to the company’s prospects!
    If the employee is one who would take up additional responsibility beyond what is expected of him and executes this it would be an added positives, the founders however should be willing to give this freedom to the employee to explore and work with them.

  • Why dont students challenge the exisiting norms?

    We really don’t find students challenge their teachers today? This is so much an Indian phenomenon…
    This is how one of the conversation started today with Rishi… yes, Rishi and I keep discussing quite a few topics relating to the education in India. 
    In this case it was interesting – I for one have not seen many of my students challenge me on the concept, I have seen some students who did try to put me out of the comfort zone due to attitude issues, but not on the subject matter. This too synched with what Rishi had observed, however I differed on his overall assessment that this was an Indian Phenomenon. 
    We have heard about Gargi or Maitreyi who had been in a detailed discussion with the renowned saints of Janaka’s period on various topics which required tremendous expertise. So it is not possible that discussion or even dissenting with the opinion of one’s teacher is completely unheard of. In fact most of the early scriptures from here are in the from of a discussion and highlighting the nuances of the knowledge/philosophy. The drawback however was that not many were exposed to the knowledge as it was transmitted orally as the primary means and the written scripts were accessible only to a select few. 
    I would rather blame the reason for suppression of the questioning mindset to the period when the system of knowledge transfer was broken thanks to the fear! Yes, the history of India has had enormous challenge to the survival of the religion of the masses at least a couple of times during the Mughal Period and later on during the British Rule. People being closely attached towards religion, feared the influence of the new beliefs and tried to avoid their religion being taken away! They possibly tried to prevent questioning of the fundamentals of their own religion under the influence of the new thoughts and began suppressing the thought of a creative discussion. 
    Coupled with this, the system of generating mass scale clerks through the education system that was introduced during the British Era only worsened the problem. You needed people who could follow instructions while not really applying their minds!
    The effect we see of this – is today in the form of people who dont think independently or question the foundation and belief!
    The way forward I see is to encourage discussion as part of the knowledge discovery and dissemination. It is only through effective dialogue and discussion that one develops Independently thinking individuals who could fearlessly voice their opinions.

  • An exciting journey of starting a society – extremely satisfying

    My life has been a summation of various experiments that I have been venturing on – many of the decision I have taken and followed have really no rationale description that even I could give – forget a prescription. Experimenting with uncertainty is now a part of me… and when some of these experiments make way to something that is extremely tangible there is no bound for the satisfaction and happiness I experience.
    A recent such venture that sprouted into an organization has been setting up our own – Amba Bhavani Vividoddesha Souharda Sahakari. A cooperative which today almost every one from my community says there has been a felt need – their argument goes saying – “every other community in the region has one and we are late – none the less – better late than never”. 
    I possibly wouldn’t have ventured onto this one if it was not for a dear friend of mine – Murali who was helping me explore the possibility of owning a house in my home town – Udupi. It was he who really was the guy who sowed the seed into my head… 
    Frankly, I didn’t know much about Cooperative Society to begin with – it was entirely a new field. I just waited on for Murali to repeat his idea so that I am really sure he was interested in it – and yes he was… I kept hearing the enthusiastic idea again and again. 
    Being in Bangalore, I knew it would be relatively difficult for me to really venture out to Udupi and attempt setting up the society – I instead thought it would be best if I could focus on getting people involved into this venture. I realized that banking would be a crucial part of this venture and so, the first person whom I got on board was Manjunath Uncle…
    I discussed the idea with him and then connected Murali and uncle to chalk out the list of people we could get on board… the first of this was my father and then we went on to add in a lot more experienced people onto the list of directors and slowly we could see the action begining.
    There was still some doubt and skepticism, but these were put to rest as the team began to speak with each other. There was then the phase were people would keep meeting to chalk out the plan of action, but it wouldnt take a kick start and begin moving… I had my doubts of this begining to take off really, but thanks to the energy of uncle the engine slowly began moving….
    We got a provisional approval for the process of making shareholder… this was possibly the toughest task of the whole process thus far. We were given 15 days and were asked to make 500 members and raise a certain capital to show that the people on whose behalf we were really attempting this were also seeing the need for it. 
    Several several full-days and evening hours of pursuing finally bore results – reached the target well within the time and submitted our application… but then… the assembly elections were announced. 
    We were this close to finishing the process of registration and now we had to wait for two reasons – there was a change in the act that would define how we were to proceed next, and the second when the new act would really come into effect…. even bigger wait was… when would the time come for us to start after the elections…
    All we could do was just wait… after nearly 4 months of waiting finally we got the go ahead from the department and it was time we came out….
    The society was inaugurated after a long delay but yes.. it gives me great pleasure to see it live on the ground. I know our task is just beginning – there is a tougher challenge ahead – that of really executing the plan ahead…. lets hope by God’s grace we build on this start…
    Wishing all the best to the team and seeking the continued support of all involved…