A Bunch of Frogs:

A come back indeed... after real long time. Being busy with church anniversary, performance, music, business and indeed my job; seldom find time for blogging. Now Christmas coming up, though I don't celebrate it on a specific day, you know there are obligations.

Well.. today something has shaken me, something has disturbed me and made me re-think about my future, made me ask myself if I'm standing on right platform. There are many who read my articles and browse through my blogs and hence will be very careful to be using my words. Because I'm NOT Julian Assange !!

I'm a bit emotional today about something that I cant explain . Someone rightly said, "In a basket, a rotten mango among the bunch of good mangoes would spoil the entire basket"... Well, but the case which has shaken me today is exactly the other way round. Let me try and explain the scenario... There is a basket full of rotten mangoes...

"......an old well and inside it are a few dirty characterless frogs, nvr seen the outr world n who nvr prefer 2 c eithr...wantin 2 promote der own old stinking way of livin, afraid of changes, afraid of aliens attacks n dominion by sum1 els. 2gedr dey achiev da greatst feat by brutualy kiling 1 among dem wid high level of brightnes n smartnes. Result??? Massacre of innovation, ideas, opinion, thots n most of al.... clos of doors of acceptance, understandin n learnin.

"Me and my Bike"

Ever since rain has started pouring in, Ive got many stories to tell bout "Me and my bike".. Well in short let me put in the latest lines I'm sharing in my facebook. "

" ‎...feels like I wana shout, scream and tell the world "Im free" !!! I'd rather push my flat bike in the heavy rain with friends on a long drive wearing a torn jeans, than doing it late night back from office with neatly tucked in shirt and formal trousers, all drenched !!! "

The above story does not end here.. the next day, I had a tube-burst at a speed of say roughly 70km/hr, almost causing a deadly accident. Had to push my bike again almost a kilometer...!!!

Academics: Is that everything?

In the recent past days, I've been chatting with a new friend of mine, about academics and qualification; and how it shapes an individual's life. I dont know what you call the thing you put beside the eyes of the horses when they are set for the race. Whatsoever it may be, they are meant for them so they are not distracted by the green grass on the pathway. Our education system is that way !!

We are too lazy for the opportunities that come our way. We ignore and race ahead towards what we call as "CAREER" which is already set in our minds. We dont dare to think beyond that. Right from 8th grade onwards they know what they want out of thier Life. They want to become doctor, engineer, architect, lawyer, blah and blah. This is because our education system has trained us to be so. The other day I read a quote on t-shirt which read, "I was born intelligent, but education ruined me". So true !!

Ironically nobody wishes to become Bill gates, Warren Buffet or Ambani...If you really look into the fact files, you'll see that most of the millionaires and billionares had just one thing in common, "they are all school-dropouts and under-performers". Also if we closely see, we also realize that the Engineers, Doctors, Lawyers, or any professionals, they are all working directly or indirectly for these school-dropouts and under-performers. In other words, "its a bunch of school-dropouts who are movers and shakers of the world economy".

What does a Consultant DO?

My views are purely the outcome of my experience. Now this is something very interesting. I was at some point of time couple of years ago, into "web-development-consulting''. So to comment upon, I would begin commenting, that consulting is an art where the power of communication, ideas, intellect and know-how of the concerned market are together driven towards the achievement of the ultimate requirement of the client, adding value to our service. Here, understanding the client's requirement is very important. The skills demanded by the position of being a consultant is tremendous but these skills alone wont help. Its like "I have a phone but no one to talk to". Yes I mean it right... 'being client-centric' is essential at every instance being a consultant. The bottom line says, "Being a consultant, is being client-centric".

But then, is that so very easy as we think? I wont comment on that, as it depends on the experience and expertise level of various tycoons of consulting industry, no matter in what. In every aspect of consulting, client plays the most important role. For the purpose of knowing the needs and core requirements of the client, we need to undergo a vast thought-process, we need to have an in-depth insight about the business goals of the client, how does it function, the circle of all the vendors with whom they work with, the vendor policies, outsourcing details, etc. The more clear and precise we have the information with us, the more we have the ideas "ready-to-sell". This comes not with a great liberation but a lot of sacrifice. But its not necessary, all the time that we need to know these since it also depends on the policies of the companies, if they would disclose these critcal information. So we need to be wise enough to understand and act as per the circumstances based on facts. There are 'n' number of factors which influences 'consulting', which gives you 'n' number of options.

When in a meeting for instance, with the client, nothing but a scribbler will do a great help. This helps you to jolt down the critical points and minute details that you may miss out while making some of the most critical decisions. I do very precisely remember a phrase told to us by my high school principal. He'd said, "A faint ink is much better than a sharp memory". So travelling back from the sweet memory lane and re-learning some school days lesson, the punch line here says rather screams with a pinch of salt to convey the message. The points that we write down when in a meeting helps us not to miss out any minute details that is being conveyed to us by the client, helping us to get to the root level of the requirement and thus better decisions. Does the job of a consultant finishes here? I definitely need some further insight into the same.

Today..!

Today..I'm gonna wave my hands
and say "Goodbye" to you.
I may not have many fans
but I'm never gona feel blue.

Some say "Life is a pathway",
and should learn to tread on and on.
Well I aint just walking away,
Its just my strength I feel reborn.

And so.. today...

I'm gonna wave my hands and say...
Goodbye as I walk away..

Shine in the eyes !

Today was a bit different. As I started off to my office this morning, I stopped near a tea stall ("tapari", a local word) for a cup of tea. As I had my snack and tea standing there on the street, this man, the vendor smiled and asked in local language, "Sir, are you from IBM?? " I told him that I'm working for another company. He continued to tell me his son's qualification and plans for his higher studies. He asked for advise whether he should go for MCA or MCS. As I started speaking to him, I realized that this man has got a great dream for his son, though poor.

And there...!! I could see the shine in his eyes, that of a ten year old. Indeed I was so happy for him and his son to have such a wonderful dad.

In the end, I wished him good luck and continued toward my office to start off my hectic day. And I reallized...."Life is so BEAUtiful". Its not about life being cruel with hectic and stressful schedules but being beautiful in realizing that life is so beyond our silly worries and short-term stress...

The new pathway, new journey, new friend: My Violin

Music has influenced my life to many extend. Having an intense fascination to the theory of music, I've started learning Violin. I got myself a new Violin around a couple of weeks ago and have started going for classes. Its called the instrument of blind!!

As I play it, I realize that theres no much of use in looking on the fingerboard as the frets are absent as we have it in the guitar.

The most suitable songs that could be played in the violin are the old Christian devotional songs that were once sung with pride that now lies among few. These songs are worth a jam with those who really know and sensibly understand the sweetness and sensitivity of it. My guru, Mr.Benjamin who trains me is a Music director who have been associated with Spicer Memorial College, Pune as a music instructor and many such esteemed institutes. His respected late father was a violinist performing for Christian radio programs in Kerala, India.

Was thinking about this..last weekend I had to be in the office for the duties, but since I knew there wont be much of work, I took a prior approval from my reporting manager and got my violin to the office. Indeed as I guessed there wasn't much of time so I utilized my time for practicing. When musical instruments are concerned, there is no way one can learn it without right practice.

A great Journey of the duo: Me and my Guitar

It hasn't been long since I've kept myself away from my guitar. I was in Bangalore last year and didnt have a company so got a guitar there from a music shop "Sound Glitz" in MG Road and made myself comfortable. I'm back in Pune now and found myself to be journeyed quite a lot with my best companion ever...my guitar. This pic that I've posted has got a modelling processor, and Laney amp. No showing off but just sharing of some of the most BEAUtuful moments which gracious Lord makes each day. I have some more pics like these.