Better is possible

Better is possible

‘Work’ is a function of time spent, mental effort and judgement, technical skill and physical effort and stress.

I read this formula for ‘work’ in a book by Dr. Atul Gawande titled Better. It appeals to me greatly as it helps to evaluate work done by various professionals.

Dr. Gawande is a great storyteller. This is a book about failure: how it happens, how we learn from it, how we can do better. Although its focus is medicine, its message is for everybody.

He says, "Better is possible. It does not take genius. It takes diligence. It takes moral clarity. It takes ingenuity and above all, it takes a willingness to try."

I am happy my brother Sarathy recommended and gave this book for me to read. I am impressed that he always knows what kind of books I would like.

A Daily Prayer

A Daily Prayer
Prayer இல் பல விதங்கள் உண்டு. பெரும்பான்மையானவை பரம்பொருளை துதிப்பவனவாகவே இருக்கின்றன. கீதையில் இரண்டாவது அத்தியாயத்தில் அர்ஜுனன் கண்ணனிடம் பிரார்த்திக்கும் இந்த ஸ்லோகம் எனக்கு மிகவும் பிடித்தது. அட்சர பிழைக்கு மன்னிக்கவும்.

कार्पण्य दोषों उपहत स्वभावः पृच्छामि त्वां धर्मं सम्मूट चेताः ।
यत श्रेयः स्यात निश्चितं ब्रूहि तत मे शिष्यः
ते अहम् शाधि माम त्वाम प्रपन्नम ॥

சுய பச்சாதாபம் என்ற கெட்டுப்போன ச்வபாவத்தினால், தர்மத்தை பற்றி குழப்பம் அடைந்த மனதுடையவனாய் உம்மை கேட்கிறேன், எனக்கு எது சிறந்தது இருக்கிறதோ அதை நிச்சியமாக சொல்லும். நான் உம்முடைய சிஷ்யன் உம்மை சரணடைகிறேன் எனக்கு உபதேசித்தருளும்.

My heart is oppressed with pity and my mind confused as to what my duty is. Therefore my Lord tell me what is best for my spiritual welfare, for I am Thy disciple. Please direct me I pray.

What is my IQ?

What is my IQ?
Yesterday my friend Balaji sent me a math problem, with a clever way of proving that I figured it out.

He also added a note that ‘the people who forwarded it to me claim that only people with an IQ 120 and over are able to figure this out. Not sure, but it is a little tricky’.
Here is the problem - If:

2+3=10
7+2=63
6+5=66
8+4=96
Then:9+7=???

I tried for about 5 minutes; couldn’t figure out. But couldn’t let go and delete it either. Does it mean I do not have an IQ of over 120? Whatever that means, I can’t accept that and give up.

Just then I remembered the Social Science teacher Jeff Jennings of Scottsdale High (Scottsdale, Tasmania, Australia) with whom I worked for sometime. He would say, ‘it is not necessary for the children to memorise the capitals of all the countries around the world. It is enough if they know where to look it up when they need to know’. This was in the (19)70s.

I solved the puzzle and felt you can’t use the same old Mensa test (designed in 1946) to measure people’s IQ now. Things have changed so much.

Incidentally, the Social Science curriculum for the high school included two major topics that Mr. Jennings felt are relevant for the children of that remote ‘down under down under’ rural town.
1. How to get rescued if you get lost in the wilderness
2. What options you and your boy friend have if you got pregnant while you are both still in high school

The awareness factor

The awareness factor

A person’s take on any situation depends upon his age, gender, profession / occupation, family background, experience in life etc.

I am happy Pradeep’s comment for The type of movies l like gives me the right opening to write about Consumer Awareness. He says he likes clean, wholesome movies like 'Quick Gun Murugan'. Incidentally Pradeep and I saw this one movie together. I was sitting next to him and I know he enjoyed it very much from the way he was laughing.

But I didn’t feel that way. I endured it for the great company I had. The movie is a spoof (which ridicules its subject).

The climax of the movie was very objectionable to me and I couldn’t understand how the Censor Board allowed it. Whether anybody else felt that way I haven’t heard. But surely I can’t be that unique!

I wrote about it to a Tamil Daily’s Sunday magazine, but they neither acknowledged nor published it. (That is also one of the reasons for starting a blog of my own, so that I can publish everything I write. I am working on collecting the readers.)

The story happens in Bombay. A restaurant owner develops a special kind of ‘masala dosa’. Wanting to make his business prosper he decides to destroy the Bombay ‘Dabbhawala’ (Real organization, not fictitious. Bombay Dabbhawalas are world famous for their Six Sigma quality standards.)

He carries out this unethical business practice by planting bombs in the tiffin carriers and placing it along with the Dabbhawala’s other genuine tiffin carriers.

The movie shows step-by-step procedure to perform a terrorist attack.

Shouldn’t we as consumers be aware of and object to such anti social themes / scenes in the movie?

Consumer awareness

Consumer awareness
I am happy to share with you all how as a consumer who cares I brought in the in-flight snack service in Kingfisher Red. Here are the exchange of mails. They are edited a great deal, just to convey the essence of it. In my mail I also appreciated them for all their good services. (originals available on request!!)

Subject: Kingfisher Airlines
Sent: Fri 10/10/2008 3:24 PM
To: King Club; Chairman (Chairman@flykingfisher.com)
Dear Sir,
Travelling by IT 3181 from Mumbai to Chennai I was terribly disappointed by the absence of normal in-flight service. I was told no in-flight service is provided in Kingfisher Red.
I have no idea there are two Classes of service in Kingfisher. It was not mentioned anywhere in my ticket or in my Boarding pass. Actually in my KIngfisher Red boarding pass it says Fly Five Star.
In the Chairman’s letter in Hi, Mr.Mallya says, "with Kingfisher Red service I am determined to prove that low fares do not mean low quality or poor service" and that "it will deliver on the same superior value promise that the Kingfisher Airlines band is known and loved for".
I am sorry to say Mr. Mallya that you promised more than you delivered and I felt it was unethical to withdraw a service without properly informing your customer.
Your valued Customer – Jaya

----- Original Message -----
From: Chairman@flykingfisher.com
To: Jaya
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 5:52 PM

Dear Mrs. Jaya,
Thank you for your email of 10 October, apprising me of your experience when you traveled IT 3181 to Chennai the same day.
I acknowledge your feedback that there were areas of the in-flight service that did not meet your expectations on your recent flight to Chennai. I value your inputs and assure you that I am committed to maintaining and enhancing the standards of service that guests have come to expect from us. We will be making certain changes to ensure guest delight.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Vijay Mallya
Chairman & CEO, Kingfisher Airlines

From: GuestCare@flykingfisher.com
To: jaya
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 1:09 PM

Dear Mrs. Jaya,
I refer to your previous messages to the Chairman’s office. I hope that you continue to fly with Kingfisher Airlines and also that you have found significant improvements in the quality of your experiences with Kingfisher Red.

Several enhancements have been implemented in this class of service over the past few weeks; in fact, since 15th November, we have introduced complimentary meals on Kingfisher Red, and this initiative has been greatly appreciated by guests on these flights. Further enhancements are on the way, and I hope you will continue to fly “Five Star” and enjoy your experiences with Kingfisher Airlines.

We look forward to the continued pleasure of welcoming you on board.

Yours sincerely,
Gaurav Rathore
General Manager
Quality & Guest Commitment, Kingfisher Airlines Ltd.

From: jaya
Sent: Monday, November 24, 2008 1:46 PM

Thank you so much Mr. Rathore, for updating me on the enhancement of services in Kingfisher Red. I feel proud that I voiced my disappointment at Kingfisher's lapse in service. I did it because I care. Yes I continue to fly kingfisher.
Regards - Jaya

A focused theme

A focused theme

The feedback I received for my blog from my friend Sendhil from Qatar made me think. He wants me to focus on a specific issue / theme and not just have another run of the mill blog.

I am happy I have some followers who have high ambitions for me. Sendhil even thinks this could be a route through which I could be world famous.

The movie - Julie and Julia - I saw with my son Rajan in Canberra made a great impact on me.
(It is Chef Julia Child's story intertwined with blogger Julie Powell's challenge to cook all the recipes in Child's first cookbook. Julie’s project has so many followers and she receives the attention of journalists, literary agents, and publishers.)

After seeing the movie, that evening I talked to Rajan about wanting to start a blog like that on ‘consumer awareness’ about which I have been thinking for sometime. But then after coming back to India and getting into my own routine, I forgot all about it.

When my nephew Raghu send me the link for his knowledge sharing blog http://www.freewebs.com/raghushriabi/ - for pharmaceutical professionals, I thought it was a great idea, but still I didn’t relate it with something I could do.

This feedback from Sendhil is a real motivator for me to start something along that line to create ‘consumer awareness’. I am still not sure where to start and how to go about it.

But I know I do not want to focus on all the negative aspects of it, but also highlight some of the good things I discover too. (Like I discovered yesterday that the Dettol skin care soap doesn’t smell like the Dettol antiseptic solution - which is a put off for a bath soap - but has a good fragrance too that is not highlighted in their ads. and also the new Horlicks cornflakes crunchy biscuits that is so very satisfying.)

I do not want to create a ‘buyer beware’ image but a blog that would also give information on better value for money. I have to learn along the way. I would definitely like to have suggestions and inputs from people to help me.

I know, to start with, I have to creat a wider network of people to visit my blog

The type of movies I like

The type of movies l like
On Sunday we had power shut down from 9 am – 5.30 pm. I saw the later half of ‘Kannadi Pookall’ - கண்ணாடி பூக்கள் . I haven’t heard of this movie before. But when I turned on the TV, I found the movie very powerful that I watched it almost till the end.

It is an emotional drama dwelling on a sensitive theme. The movie is about the seven-year-old boy Vasu, who unable to tolerate the 'competition' for parental love kills his younger baby brother spraying a disinfectant.

Master Ashwin as Vasu is brilliant in his acting. The child brought tears into my eyes, when he cried so pathetically ‘I am sorry, I didn’t mean to do it’. The child displayed each emotion so perfectly. His childish innocent face was an added advantage for the role. For me the extraordinary performance by the young boy is the highlight of the movie.
Actress Kaveri plays the stepmother’s role so perfectly. The character is portrayed without any blemish, yet is believable. She brings out the anguish of losing one child and another accused of murder without any histrionics.

Everybody was honest, open and straightforward. There was no bad guy in the movie. I was worried the juvenile home warden would treat Vasu very cruelly. Luckily the movie took a turn just then and ends happily with the family together back again.

It is the chance of unexpectedly coming across such serious and sensitive movies that still tempt me to surf through the channels on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

A questioning mind

A questioning mind

What is the purpose of having my own Blog? Is it my diary? Am I going to write everything about me in this? Then would I still like to share it with others? What is the purpose of sharing it with others?

Is this to document what I like, what makes me happy and what affects me deeply? Would it help me to identify the real me?

Who am I? Is it what I think I am, what I project as me – some consciously some subconsciously? Does it really get conveyed to others? Do people see what I perceive as my strength as my weakness and vise-versa? Do people accept the image of me as I project? Do they judge me by what I say and project? Is it really necessary for me to know how people perceive me? Would it help me to love myself?

Is what I express in my writing an outward symptom of who I am? By being aware of it would I be able to understand the real me?

Why did I go to the Vipasana programme? Was it just out of curiosity to find out what it can do for me? Did I expect some kind of miracle? Was it to find out who I am? When I filled out in the form the ‘purpose of doing the course’ as “to find peace and harmony within”, was my response just routine?

At the end of the programme when asked about my experience and I said it as ‘I am OK, you are OK’, did it come out from nowhere? How did I get the awareness that ‘I am OK’ after the Vipasana even though I didn’t work towards it? Is it that all of a sudden I understood that I am not unique in my confusion and conflict and this is how others are too and we all have our own system of handling it?

Why did I feel ‘I am not OK and you are OK’ before? Is it because I felt I didn’t have all of what was pointed out as good qualities in so many others? Do I give the same kind of feeling to others?

The discipline I follow and the control I exercise on myself is it to prove to myself what I can do, capable of? Or do I practise it to build up my strengths, because I believe those are the great norms that are held in high esteem?

Have I always been deeply aware of what is going on in my mind? Has it been intensified now by meditation? Why do I feel I have to write it down? Does it bring clarity to the feeling of who I am? Then why do I have to share it with others? What purpose does it serve? Is it just to display my writing style and skill? Is it to get approval of others for my way of thinking and feeling? Do I want or expect any feedback? Am I worried that an argument to the contrary would shake the foundation of my belief?

Do I want to preserve what I have written? Am I worried that not being a hard copy it would just get lost in the cyber space and just get mixed up with all the other untold truths? Does it matter?

Are these questions or am I answering myself? By sharing this am I doing a service to people who may go through the same thinking process, as I was to realize ‘I am OK’?

From today’s Daily Guru

Don't think away your feelings "When emotions are managed by the heart, they heighten your awareness of the world around you and add sparkle to life. The result is new intelligence and a new view of life." -- Doc Childre and Howard Martin

"Learning to be aware of feelings, how they arise and how to use them creatively so they guide us to happiness, is an essential lifetime skill." -- Joan Borysenkohe

சிரிப்பு வரவேண்டும்

சிரிப்பு வரவேண்டும்

ஜோக்குகளில் கூட எதிர்மறையானது பிடிப்பதில்லை.

ஜட்ஜ் ஒரு பெண்ணிடம் - நீ ஏன் உன் கணவரை நாற்காலியால் அடித்து கொன்றாய்?
(இந்த முதல் வரியே ஜோக் ஆக இல்லை)
பெண் - டேபிளை தூக்க முடியவில்லை
(என்ன ஒரு அஹங்காரம், ஆத்திரம் என்று தான் தோன்றுகிறதே தவிர எனக்கு சிரிப்பு வரவில்லை)
ஜோக் படித்தால் வாய்விட்டு சிரிக்க முடியவேண்டும். மனதில் ஒரு பூ பூக்கவேண்டும். நினைத்து நினைத்து சந்தோஷப்பட முடியவேண்டும். இவர்களுக்கு எப்படி ஒரு சாதாரண விஷயத்தை இப்படி நகைச்சுவை உணர்வுடன் பார்க்கமுடிகிறது என்று வியப்படைய செய்யும் ஜோக்ஸ் தான் எனக்கு பிடிக்கிறது

காலையில் முதல் செய்தி

காலையில் முதல் செய்தி
தினசரி காலெண்டரில் நாள் மாற்றும் பொது அன்றைய தேதிக்கு ஒரு அறிவுரை சொல்லியிருப்பதை படிப்பேன். அன்றைய விசேஷம், கோயில் பூஜை, திதி போன்றவற்றுடன் கட்டாயமாக அதையும் படிப்பேன்.
பல பின்பற்றதூண்டும். பல அன்றைய மனநிலைக்கு போருத்தமகக்கூட இருக்கும் . நம்பிக்கையுடன் செயல் படு வெற்றி அடைவாய் என்று படித்தாலே வெற்றி அடைந்த திருப்தி இருக்கும். இப்படி செய்தால் நன்மை பெறுவாய், சுகம் தரும், நல்ல உறவை வளர்த்துக்கொள்ள முடியும், ஆரோக்யத்துக்கு உகந்தது என்று பாசிடிவாக சொல்வது பிடிக்கும். ஆசீர்வாதம் போல இருக்கும். அப்படி இல்லாமல் இப்படி செய்யாவிட்டால் எதிர்மறையான விளைவுகளே ஏற்படும் என்று காலையில் வந்து முதலில் படிப்பது ஏதோ சாபம் இடுவது போல இருக்கிறது.
மற்றவர்கள் இதற்கு இவ்வளவு முக்கியத்துவம் கொடுப்பார்களா தெரியவில்லை. நல்ல வார்த்தை சொல்லி புரிய வைக்கவேண்டுமே தவிர பயமுறுத்தி யாரையும் நல்வழிப்படுத்த முடியாது என்று தான் எனக்கு தோன்றுகிறது. இதற்கென்றே ஒருவர் அக்கறை எடுத்துக்கொண்டு செய்யும் பொது இதிலும் கொஞ்சம் கவனம் செலுத்தலாமே.

A new me

A new me

I went to our school yesterday in the morning, to discuss about updating of our school website. The driver dropped me off at the school and went to our farm to pick up some tender coconuts and mangoes.

I finished with the discussions within an hour. It was only 10.30 a.m. I decided to wait in the school office room overlooking the front gate. Newspapers were available. I sat comfortably in a revolving chair in the direction of the air circulating from a wall-mounted fan. It was blowing hot air. I read the days ‘Hindu’ and the day before’s and the day before the day before’s. Read all the news other people were talking about at home for the past two days. I read a Tamil newspaper too.I wasn’t in any way impatient that the car hasn’t come to pick me up. Did a 3 star Sudoko. Happy I could complete it without much difficulty.

The fan was not making any noise; neither was the girl working with the computer. The school is closed. So there was no noticeable sound. Being engrossed in what I was doing I noticed very little. Thinking back I recognize that I was more ‘here and now’. I recognized I was thirsty, but I wasn’t inclined to go and get a glass of water. Just then one of the ayah’s came and gave me a glass of fresh lemon drink. It was very refreshing. I appreciated the gesture very much and I thanked her again when she came to collect the glass.

After that there was nothing else to do. Only then I looked around the room. There was a daily calendar on the wall that showed the date as 24th April. I got up, went near it and leafed through the sheets up till the current date. I was about to tear the bunch of sheets.

Do you know what happened then?

A scene flashed through my mind; or is it across my mind’s eye?

The headmaster asks the office assistant, “Who tore these sheets? I wanted them specifically left on for a purpose”.The girl tells him, “Not me Sir, Jaya madam did it. I saw it only after she had done it and hence couldn’t say anything”.

I felt it is not for me to do that. If they had wanted to, they would have done it. I left it as it is.

After about 5 minutes the driver came to pick me up. It was about noon. I was not my usual anxious self, in a hurry to get back to whatever I had to do. I was a different me. I understood why the driver was delayed. I went back to my office very contented with myself.

Desire for others

Desire for others
I went to Mumbai on 7th April to attend the Vipasana programme. I had arranged with Santhan to pick me up at the airport, to have lunch with him and to drop me off at the Gorai Vipasana Centre that is about an hour and a half drive from the airport.
It was the 9.15 a.m. flight from Chennai to reach Mumbai at 11 a.m. I felt I would have a good bonding time with Santhan for about 3 – 4 hours.
When I heard the flight was delayed by one hour, I immediately sent sms to Santhan about the delay, informing him the expected arrival time as 12 noon.
I was happy the plane landed about 10 minutes early. But as I was waiting for the luggage to arrive, I was impatient. As is my practice, I would always go for an appointment 10 minutes early and wait patiently for the person even if he arrives half an hour late and will not even think of complaining. But I am never comfortable with the thought of somebody waiting for me. The thought of Santhan waiting for me outside in the middle of the summer day made me very impatient.
I just thought why can’t my luggage come first. It has never happened to me before. Somebody’s luggage has to come first, why can’t it be mine for ones?
I couldn’t believe my eyes. My luggage did come first. Since I had borrowed the suitcase from Bhooma for this trip and I couldn’t believe that my thought has made my wish materialize I checked the tag in the bag three times to make sure it was mine. I was so happy. I have never felt that happy ever before.
I wouldn’t say I actually ‘wished’ for it. I only thought – so that I don’t make my brother wait for me outside in the heat. Left to myself it wouldn’t have mattered to me so much.
It is true - You will always have what you desire for others.