World is because human are

World is because human are… rest all is derivative of being that.

World what we KNOW as what it is, because there is consciousness and intelligence in human to know that. 

Without those, had we been insects or birds, we would not even be aware that world exists. For that we are the world. And this remains true till we are aware of its existence. ‬

Why not respect and salute others

Most of us do good enough sacrifices for our profession and in turn for the nation, equal, if not more than any other who commands additional respect for what they have done.

Given, that for some professions constant respect and cheering may be needed to keep their moral high. And they do get it in loads. Fair.

I, first hand know of colleagues who encountered death or near death experiences performing their duties during their profession which they would not have undertaken for any other cause.

I know of people falling into turbulent sea and dying, I have seen myself someone almost getting crushed between hulls while jumping from one vessel to another in rough ocean, I have known people directly jumping 300 feet into waters because the platform or the rig they were on had caught fire which would even melt metal.

I have seen colleague firemen braving and risking life, plugging that bloody leaky valve which otherwise could have resulted in another undesired tragic mega-disaster like Deepwater Horizon or Piper Alpha. Their act stopped it from becoming a global negative news story for the profession and for the nation. That is.

And I have also seen my friends in situ experiencing some of the worst helicopter accidents when their commute to offshore work place turned into nightmare with the chopper ferrying them falling and ditching into sea. Many died, morned only within local private professional and family circles.

All this while performing their duties in their respective professional Front Lines. They all are patriots too if that’s what's needed to be one. Let’s not unduly raise one profession in rank above other. 

A postmen in tribal hinterland risking life daily, a municipal worker almost diving into a poisonous sewer or a bureaucrat spending fortnight away from family holed up in office preparing country’s budget, a lowly traffic cop standing in sun for hours crushing even urge for nature’s call, a teacher, I personally know, walking 5 kilometres up and down on hills of Shimla to reach her school and many so who are also doing their arduous duty, of course for the nation. We can call it patriotic too to give that chest blowing feel. 

They all need respect.

Padma awards

Those who got earlier were also deserving only. MS Subalakshmi, Bilmillah Khan, APJ A Kalam, Moraraji Desai, Kamraj, Lata Mangeshkar, Vinoba Bhave. These Padma awards, or any award like Nobel, don’t carry any brand value until bestowed on and accepted by such great deserving people. Award gets that status only because great deserving names got associated with it. In a way it’s exalted status of such recipients  which makes awards like noble and Padma look important and coveted. When Ravindra Nath or Curie received Noble, it enhanced award’s  status not other-way. Otherwise there are awards given everyday,  everywhere by someone to someone. Not all are Padma or noble.

Another corollary of this statement could be also deduced that even though these awards are big enviable brands but perhaps are still not worthy to be bestowed on some who are of much bigger social status than these awards like someone suggested giving Noble to Gandhi. Likewise greats like Ambedkar, Subhash , Patel being themselves much beyond these small recognitions,  didn’t need posthumously Padma awards. It is  politics.

Leadership in Indian PSUs: domino effect of underperformance

Indian PSUs have exceptional pool of talent with very large percentage of employees having fairly decent depth of work integrity. 

It's the deep rooted, well established culture within, which enables less talented but smartly cunning and dishonest employees to surface up on hierarchy easily and get more empowered with that to sully the system even further. 

These managers who thus acquire positions of authority, further enable similarly untalented and equally apt at appeasement, to use them to come up on ladder next. 

This keeps the cycle of inefficiency going in a diminishing spiral till the PSU stops performing.  

And it does.

This is domino effect of underperformance.

Teachers Day - online cuts on passion

Teachers always had challenging societal responsibility which has turned onerous during current pandemic period. The class rooms shifted to homes online, however teachers are made to go through gruelling 15-20 hours of 7x365 job routine with no breaks. 

Most private schools have almost totally cut down on vacations and holidays. If Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four nightmare is visible somewhere it is in private school where management monitors every move of the teachers and tracks and trolls them asking for even geolocations to verify where they are online from. I know of a school in Noida where rules have been drafted for kind of causes teachers can take leave and for how many days for particular occasion. Teachers are mostly women these days and many are needy. Their exploitation due to cruel business greed  of management must be addressed through legislative actions with punitive punishments made mandatory. Govt must frame rules for working hours for online jobs and make monitoring by regulators essential. 

Neeraj Chopra - an Indian not Armyman

We are obsessive to lap up opportunities to address our patriotism whenever narrative of armed forces gets associated with, even cursorily, to whatever provokes us. There are crores of people and 100s of other organisations who are also contributing to our glory.‬

Armed forces always do admirable job to promote various sports. It feels good also because we look to them to keep provoking our patriotic urge. But they are not alone. Many Organisations  are also providing exemplary support to sports. Many internationals including olympians are on rolls of several PSUs like Railways and ONGC. That has been admirable  tradition. Even private organisations are promoting sports and we should appreciate everyones efforts. 

In  case of Neeraj Chopda, besides himself, it is his German coach Uwe Hohn and JSW Sports, a private organisation, primarily, who polished this gem into a shining jewel. There had been little  from other quarters including SFI, govt agencies and others adding to his performance.