Power of Unknown

Last weekend, Ryan, my son, came up with a suggestion for a game we never played before. It quite a simple one in fact. All what we had to do, was to recollect names of movies we know. There were no rules other than limiting the movies to a specific industry, for example, South Indian movies only. Since it was a random recollection of movie names, I thought it was going to be quite simple. But as soon as the game started, realization dawned on me that it wasn’t that easy.

As the game progressed, even the names of some of the greatest movies I had watched somehow eluded me. It was quite a strain on my brain to dig deeper and recollect some of the well-known movie names from the past. Not that, the more recent ones were easy to remember. They were equally challenging. Nevertheless, we kept playing and had a good time.

Next day, Mia, my daughter came up with an improvement to this game. She suggested playing the same game, but instead of movie names, it will be characters from movies and TV shows. My first reaction was that it was going to be a boring game. What was the point in stating the character names randomly? I was certain that we will be playing only for a few minutes, and we would switch back to the original version of the game.

The game started. One by one, the character names started coming out. That was when magic struck! Each of the characters identified not just became a part of our game, but literally started doing a parade in our minds. We were living through the movie scenes with the character and many times were overwhelmed with the emotional outbursts.

We laughed our hearts out recollecting some of the comedy scenes played by the characters. Happiness gave way to fear when characters from horror movies took centre stage. Excitement, Amusement, Gratitude, Pride, Anticipation, what not?! It was an avalanche of emotions that took us through an awesome journey as the game progressed. Little did I anticipate a seemingly simple game providing us with truckloads of entertainment. Both the games were a huge hit in our family!

A quick thought flashed my mind. Isn’t this exactly what happens in our workspace? Sometimes we are offered a new piece of work. Without any hesitation, we assume that the work is not going to be interesting. More than once, I have personally experienced, how exciting the new work is after a few days of committing to it.

Being unprejudiced is not an easy human nature. While it is quite a challenge to overcome this trait, the least we could do is to try and give a chance to the unknown. Who knows, we may be pleasantly surprised by the power of emotions that get kicked in with the unknown. You may even end up thinking, why you didn’t do this much earlier.

So next time, we get presented with an opportunity, let us embrace the power of unknown and surrender ourselves to the mystery and tell inertia to take a hike!

PS: I strongly recommend exploring the above, both in your family and workspace. If you find it amusing and want to thank my kids, do let me know. Rest assured, I shall pass on the compliments to Ryan & Mia.

എൻറെ ഹിമവാൻ

ചക്രവാളങ്ങൾ ചുട്ടെരിക്കുമൊരു ചുവപ്പു ഗോളം

അവൻറെ പോലും കണ്ണ് കെട്ടും ഒരു പ്രഭാപൂരം നീ.

ഹിമാലയത്തോളം എത്തുമായിരുന്നൊരാ ജീവിത നൗക നീ

സഹ്യന്റെ പാദാന്തികത്തിൽ വച്ച് വരിഞ്ഞ് കെട്ടി.

സ്വം എന്ന വാക്കിനർത്ഥം അറിയുമ്പോഴും

അഹം ഏതുമേ ഇല്ലാത്ത ഭാവം എന്നും.

ഒന്നുമില്ലായ്മയിൽ ഉരുകി തീരുമായിരുന്ന നീ

ഉള്ളായ്മകൾ കൊണ്ട് കോട്ടകൾ പടുത്തുയർത്തി.

ഗിരിശൃംഗങ്ങൾ ഒന്നൊന്നായി നിൻറെ മുന്നിൽ തല കുമ്പിടുമ്പോഴും

ശരണം വിളികൾ ഒന്നുപോലും ഉത്തരം കിട്ടാതെ ഒടുങ്ങിയിരുന്നില്ല.

ഇന്നെൻറെ ഓർമ്മകളിൽ ഹിമവാനെക്കാൾ വലുതായി നിൽക്കുന്ന നിനക്ക്, പേരൊന്ന് മാത്രം.

അച്ഛൻ!

ദാമ്പത്യ ജീവിതവും പോത്തിറച്ചിയും

ഒരു വിവാഹ ഒരുക്ക സെമിനാറിന്റെ ഇടയിൽ ഒരു പയ്യൻ ക്ലാസ് എടുത്തു കൊണ്ടിരുന്ന അച്ചനോട് ചോദിച്ചു. 'അച്ചാ, ദാമ്പത്യ ജീവിതത്തിൽ ക്ഷമയ്ക്കും സമാധാനത്തിനും ആണോ കൂടുതൽ പ്രാധാന്യം?' വളരെ സരസനായിരുന്ന അച്ചൻ ഒരിത്തിരി നേരം ആലോചിച്ചിട്ട് മറുപടി പറഞ്ഞു. 'ക്ഷമയ്ക്കും സമാധാനത്തിനും പ്രസക്തിയുണ്ട്. എങ്കിലും ദാമ്പത്യ ജീവിതത്തിൽ പോത്തിറച്ചി വലിയ പ്രാധാന്യം അർഹിക്കുന്നു എന്ന് പറയേണ്ടിവരും. എനിക്കറിയാവുന്ന ഒരു മറിയാമ്മ ചേട്ടത്തിയുടെയും ഔസേപ്പ് ചേട്ടന്റെയും കഥ പറയാം.

വിവാഹം കഴിഞ്ഞ ആദ്യ നാളുകളിൽ ചേട്ടൻ എന്തെങ്കിലും കന്നംതിരിവ് കാണിക്കുകയോ ചേട്ടത്തിയെ ചീത്ത പറയുകയോ ചെയ്താൽ വളരെ ശാന്തമായും സമാധാനമായും ചേട്ടത്തി അത് കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്തിരുന്നു. നാളുകൾ കുറച്ച് ആയപ്പോൾ ഔസേപ്പ് ചേട്ടൻ ചേട്ടത്തിയുടെ ഈ നല്ല മനസ്സ് ശരിക്കും മുതലെടുക്കാൻ തുടങ്ങി. തോന്നിയവാസങ്ങൾ കൂടുതലായപ്പോൾ ചേട്ടത്തി കുറച്ചൊന്ന് ഉറച്ച ശബ്ദത്തിൽ പറഞ്ഞു നോക്കി. കാര്യങ്ങൾ വഷളായത് അല്ലാതെ ഔസേപ്പ് ചേട്ടൻ നന്നാവുന്ന ലക്ഷണമൊന്നും കാണിച്ചില്ല.

അങ്ങനെയിരിക്കെ ഒരു ദിവസം, ഒന്നും രണ്ടും പറഞ്ഞു ചേട്ടനും ചേട്ടത്തിയും കൂടെ തെറ്റി. വഴക്കായി, വക്കാണമായി, എന്തിനേറെ പറയുന്നു, ചേട്ടൻ ചേട്ടത്തിയെ കൈവെച്ചു. തികച്ചും ശാന്തയായിരുന്ന മറിയാമ്മ ചേട്ടത്തിയുടെ മനസ്സ് കലുഷിതമായി. ചേട്ടത്തി, മൂത്തമകൻ അന്തോണിയെ ചന്തയിൽ പറഞ്ഞുവിട്ട്, രണ്ട് കിലോ പോത്തിറച്ചി മേടിപ്പിച്ചു. പോത്തിറച്ചി വന്നതും, ചേട്ടത്തി നല്ല പൂവരശിന്റെ പലകയെടുത്ത് രാകി വച്ചിരുന്ന വെട്ടുകത്തിയുമായി പണി തുടങ്ങി. ഔസേപ്പ് ചേട്ടൻ അടുക്കളയിലേക്ക് വന്നപ്പോൾ, പോത്തിറച്ചി വെട്ടുന്ന ശബ്ദവും വേഗവും കൂടി വന്നു. തികച്ചും നിഷ്കളങ്കമായി ഔസേപ്പ് ചേട്ടൻ ചോദിച്ചു, ഇത് എന്നതാടി ഇത്രയും ശക്തിക്ക് വെട്ടുന്നത്?

അന്നാമ്മ ചേട്ടത്തി ആ ചോദ്യത്തിന് ഒരൊറ്റ മറുപടി മാത്രം പറഞ്ഞു. ഇങ്ങനെ വെട്ടിയാൽ ഒരു പന്നിയുടെ കഴുത്ത് മുറിയുമോന്ന് നോക്കിയതാ!

അന്നുമുതൽ ഔസേപ്പ് ചേട്ടൻ എപ്പോ മൊട എടുത്താലും ചേട്ടത്തി അപ്പൊ തന്നെ മകനെ ചന്തയ്ക്കു വിടും. ശേഷം ശുഭം.'

Arrows & Ribbons

It was early 17th century. Christina, the Queen of Sweden was charting a plan of attack on the neighbouring states who seem to have gone berserk with their new-found weapon, a canon that can spit fire. Her kingdom was split into three regions for administrative purpose. She had appointed three of her most trustworthy people as the Generals of regions, Geith, Juan and Tresa.

All three were now standing in front of the Queen with a large map of the area laid in front of them on the grand old table made from English Oak. The war strategy was finalized together, and Christina gave them one final command. At any cost, do not surrender. The tactical plans were left to the Generals to deploy.

Off they went, to join their respective troops who were kept on high alert ever since the incursions from the enemy were announced. Tresa and Juan had a perfectly synchronized understanding of the attack, but history will not say the same about Geith. He was an unusual character.

As the Generals led their troops to the borders, they passed through multiple small villages, many of them within the confines of forests typical to the region. Tresa and Juan ensured that the villagers were well cared for and kept them informed about the plan. Both knew very well about the importance of having the villagers on their side. Geith just marched on, ignoring the wishes and occasional requests from the villagers he passed by.

Once they were way past the villages, a deep and dense forest stood between them and the border. Geith could not help but notice both Tresa and Juan shooting their arrows to the trees enroute. These arrows had coloured ribbons tied to their tail end. It never occurred to Geith to ask why they were doing so. Halfway into their journey the three had to split ways and agreed to meet up at a common point further ahead. Little did they know that the enemy troops were much more advanced than what they thought!

The three Generals went further ahead in their respective paths. But before they could merge the troops at the crossroads, the enemy struck. Tresa was the first one to face the brunt. The brave young lady she was, did her best to defend the attack along with her soldiers. After a while they had to retreat though. Similar story unfolded for Juan. Two hours later his troops along with their General met Tresa at a common point, the casualty was minimal.

Unfortunately, the story was different for Geith. His men faced an ambush attack at another crossroad deep in the jungle. While they tried their best, the army took a heavy toll. They could not withstand the attack for long and decided to retreat to safety. They looked at their General for the return path. That was when Geith realized that he was totally lost. Without the help of the arrows and ribbons he could not figure out the way they came.

He tried his luck asking a few of the villagers, but with an attitude of rejection they experienced earlier, it was no surprise that they chose not to help Geith and his men. That unfortunately was the last the world ever heard of Geith and his troops.

Juan and Tresa along with their army were guided by arrows and bows as well as the villagers and returned safely to the Queen where they planned subsequent course of action. The legacy of Sweden lived on.

PS: If this story has any resemblance to anything you see in your office, it is purely intentional. The biggest lesson Geith taught us is not to forget your past and the people who helped you become who you are.

Scared at 35000 feet!

November 2016, Mia our daughter had just turned one and was quite excited exploring her new found skill of walking! Around the same time happened to be our first ID90 (discounted staff ticket) flight to Mauritius. Getting to experience the mighty and beautiful A380 was another first. 

A couple of hours into our flight, after the meal service was done, I got up and through the corner of my eye I could see my little one also getting down from her seat. Before even I could call her name, she was gone, in a flash! Neither my wife or my son could find her. We searched everywhere, even the seat pockets! 

Panic set-in, though the only consoling thought was she won't get lost outside the aircraft since we were cruising at 35000 feet! I first thought of checking the upper deck since she loved climbing the stairs. But before that I thought of informing the Crew and was about to head to the front galley of the aircraft. 

That was when I saw a tiny little human being, completely oblivious to the scare she created, happily seated on the arms of the purser of the flight, playing with the toy gifted to her. He reached near me and my lovely little naughty daughter jumped onto my hands showing promptly the toy she received and giving me a full smile flashing the beautiful milk teeth she recently got!

A Product Launch - Pure Genius!

Picture this. A very famous lifestyle exhibition centre in Middle East vibrant with thousands of people every day. We strolled through the stalls of well-known brands pushing our shopping cart.

Mia, my nine-year-old darling little one, noticed a lot of people carrying similar large transparent bags containing probably a dozen or more of a certain brand of chips, unheard of in this part of the world. Curiosity climbed to its pinnacle as we kept meeting scores more carrying the same bag of chips. 

As we turned one of the corners among the exhibition stalls, we could see a name board carrying the same brand as of the mystery chips. There were two young men who stood on the pathway, in front of their allotted stall, each one assigned with a task. One of them, we felt was literally flying around with a sample packet of opened chips, politely offering to you to experience the taste first-hand. The offer had the charm of the prince from Cinderella and the persuasion of Don Corleone from The Godfather. It was an offer that you couldn't resist. 

As soon as you took the first bite, but before even you could form an opinion about the product, a big bag filled with more than a dozen packets of three different flavours of chips magically found its way to our trolley. This was placed tactically by the second young man who promptly mentioned it was only AED 10 or an equivalent of less than USD 4, a meagre sum compared to similar products in the market.

The conversion rate was an almost hundred percent for all the potential customers who walked through that alley. That's how solid the act of conviction was. Not just that, the complete act indeed was a performance worthy of a case study in B-schools! 

The product was probably mediocre, though opinions could be purely personal. Packaging was classy. Advertisement had novelty. Homework done well about target audience. Positioning was near perfect. Pricing was something short of a celestial phenomenon. 

Finally, with all this, a brand was born in a market, once penetrated, there was no look back at all. Peter Drucker, 'Father of Management', if alive, would have been more than happy to oblige a high-five! 

Well done boys!

PS: I’ve purposefully held back the brand name since I wanted this post to remain agnostic of any names.

Emirates & A350 – What’s the Big Deal?

It has been a roller coaster of emotions in Emirates’ (EK) offices from the beginning of this week. Something exciting was happening in the history of the airline. After quite a long wait, we were getting the delivery of our first A350 aircraft. It was in February 2019, the order for these aircrafts were placed.

It was not just that. The very fact that we are seeing a new aircraft type joining our fleet since 2008 gave us goose bumps. For the last sixteen years, we have been flying A380s and B777s for scheduled passenger operations. The elation is so much so that it feels like you are welcoming a cute little daughter to the family after a long time of being blessed with two sons!

The pertinent question now is, why is this a big deal for Emirates?

We’ve seen enough and more on the media that A350 is one of the most fuel-efficient aircrafts in the world of large sized aircrafts known as wide body. It is also one of the aircraft types which can be deployed on longer duration sectors better known as long haul flights in aviation industry. This simply means Emirates can deploy the new A350s where we currently operate the other aircrafts types and achieve better efficiency in operations. A win-win for both environment and organization.

Multiple advanced features come with a brand-new aircraft such as A350, some of which are tailor made for Emirates. These include, but are not limited to, a much faster Wi-Fi on board, even better Inflight Entertainment (IFE) system, quieter cabin and what not.

While all these and more are awesome additions to an already fantastic customer experience there are more to what meets the eye.

As soon as the contract was signed between Airbus and Emirates, preparations got underway in various departments of the airline to be ready for the D-day. On 03 January 2025, the first A350 scheduled flight of Emirates will take off from Dubai to Edinburgh which will be a new era in the history of one of the biggest success stories in aviation in the world. Here is a glimpse of a few things that happened behind the scenes as a run-up to this very special day:

ü  Training plans were charted for thousands of flight crew and cabin crew to ensure smooth operations of the A350.

ü  Current routes operated by Emirates reviewed with an intention to introduce this more efficient aircraft.

ü  Route planning for future also influenced with the new metal bird that is now part of the EK fleet.

ü  Having a brand-new aircraft type adds to the competitiveness of Emirates and combined with the award-winning in-flight products the competitors will be required to sit and take a good look at the latest entrant to the market.

ü  The entire ground handling operations were reviewed, staff trained and prepared to service and support the new A350. It was a massive initiative.

ü  With new aircrafts joining the fleet, Emirates will now be able to add new routes as well as expand the current routes much to the delight of the customers who would love to fly better on EK. This directly will have a positive impact on the revenue on the long run.

ü  Thousands of IT Products across the technology landscape of The Emirates Group will need to be updated to cater to the new member of the family, A350.

The list can go on. Nevertheless, let me summarize and say that we now have a shining new bird in our skies to look up to, with a promise to our customers, to offer them the joy of flying and they should feel nothing but sheer delight with their choice!