വേരുകൾ

ഇടവപ്പാതി പല തവണ തകർത്തു പെയ്തു,

പഞ്ഞ കർക്കിടകം പലവട്ടം തല കാണിച്ചു.

മീനമാസ സൂര്യൻ പല ആണ്ടുകളെ വെന്തുരുക്കി,

എങ്കിലും ആ വൻമരം അവിടെ നിന്നു, വേരുകൾ ഉറപ്പിച്ചു തന്നെ.

തായ് തടിയും ശാഖകളും ഉപ ശാഖകളും,

പച്ചിലകളും പഴങ്ങളും, പ്രകൃതി കനിഞ്ഞു നൽകപ്പെട്ട മഹാമേരു.

ആ വൻ മരത്തോട്, ഒരിക്കൽ ഞാൻ ചോദിച്ചു, 'അല്ലയോ മഹാത്മാവേ എങ്ങനെ ഇങ്ങനെ ജീവിക്കുന്നു, എന്തിനീ നിസ്വാർത്ഥത?'

ഉത്തരം വളരെ ലളിതം.

'ജീവിക്കുക, നിനക്കും നിൻറെ കുടുംബത്തിനും വേണ്ടി.

കുടുംബം എന്നത് സമൂഹവും,

സമൂഹം എന്നത് രാജ്യവും ആണെന്ന ബോധ്യം ഉണ്ടാവുക.

നന്മകൾ മാത്രം ചെയ്യുക, തിന്മകൾ നിരൂപിക്കാതിരിക്കുക.

പരോപകാരം പുണ്യമായി കരുതുക, അത് നാലു പേർ അറിയാതെ ചെയ്യുക.

സ്നേഹം ഒരു സത്യമാണെന്ന് അറിയുക,

ആ സത്യത്തിന് അളവുകോൽ നൽകാതിരിക്കുക.

ജീവിതം മുഴുവനായിത്തന്നെ ജീവിക്കുക, 

മരണം വന്നു വിളിക്കുമ്പോൾ പുഞ്ചിരിയോടെ കടന്നുപോവുക.'

ആ വൻ മരം ഇന്നില്ല, 

പക്ഷേ പഠിപ്പിച്ച പാഠങ്ങളൊക്കെയും മനസ്സിൽ നിലനിൽക്കുന്നു, 

ആഴത്തിൽ വേരൂന്നി തന്നെ! 

The Boiling Point

Have you ever boiled fresh milk on a stove? If so, have you always taken the pan out right on time, so that the milk does not spill over? If you have not experienced this, I suggest you stop reading this now and get into your kitchen, try boiling some milk and experience these things for yourself first. This is important for you to understand what I am going to say next. Else you better have a solid sense of imagination.

You would have noticed that when you boil a pan of milk, unless you take the pan out at the right time, a considerable amount of milk will spill over on to the stove. Getting the stove cleaned is a herculean task. The spilled milk stains the pan as well which poses a big challenge to clean the pan properly. You could only wish that you had taken the pan out on time so that you avoid all the hassle.

What I am going to say next is not something I have invented. But this will definitely be a good reminder for all of us, including me, so that if we ever go through such a state, we will remember these words and hopefully will act accordingly.

Now imagine this. The pan we use is nothing but our life itself. The milk we try to boil is the bunch of emotions we go through daily. The stove is the society where we live and the environment around us.

Just like how the milk will reach a boiling point, our emotions too have an upper limit. The more we refuse to address the fact that we are reaching a tipping point of an emotional churn, the bigger will be the impact. The earlier we acknowledge that we need to take out the pan of emotions, the better will be our mental situation. Else just like how the spilled over boiled milk leaves us with a nasty job, we will be gifting ourselves and people around us with quite a difficult challenge to solve, a twisted life of ours.

Now the bigger question is, how do we avoid this situation? This is where we all need to consciously build a support system for ourselves. This could be someone we are closer to at home or a friend, with whom we could speak about the emotional turmoil that we are going through or someone at our professional environment with whom we could disclose some of these experiences.

Please note that I mentioned both personal and professional contacts. There is a reason for it. There are topics or incidents involving our emotional wellbeing that are personal or professional in nature. The support system we develop needs to cater to both. We can't be addressing only one of them. Hence, we need to have a healthy mix of both personal and professional support system in place so that whenever we need to express our emotional concerns, the party on the other side understands and empathise with us.

So much is spoken these days about mental health and emotional wellbeing. These are not magical words, instead as humankind we are capable of ensuring these to our fellow humans. All that is needed is being a good human and live the spirit of what humanity stands for.

Let us all take out our pans of emotions on time and like how we enjoy a well-prepared cup of coffee, let us lead a life that is beautiful, how it is meant to be!

The Tea Team!

Year 2006. I joined my first corporate job with Mindtree in Bangalore. Soon after my induction days, I was taken to my seat and in a matter of time I got settled at my desk.

I started going through some of the documents provided to me to understand the process in place for the department I joined. A few minutes later, I heard a friendly voice from behind saying ‘Tea’. I turned around and saw a young man holding a large tray with a bunch of white porcelain cups rimmed with golden paint and filled with piping hot tea. With a smile, full of genuine care, he placed one cup carefully on my desk and went ahead with his job of serving tea for the rest of the staff.  

That was the day I learned the wonderful story behind the team who served tea on the various floors in our office.

Apparently, when the new campus came up where we were placed, there was a proposal to install vending machines at the pantry which could make coffee or tea for the staff. That was when one of the founders of Mindtree intervened and said that was not a people friendly decision. Instead, he wanted to employ a bunch of young people who will work as a team of tea makers whose job was to make fresh tea during morning and afternoon and deliver them at the desks, of course with a smile!

As a person who experienced this first hand, I must say it was possibly one of the best decisions taken by the management. It not only provided job opportunities for scores of people, but also brought in the much-needed people touch in an industry where tremendous amount of brain power was consumed daily. You really needed the human touch to bring the balance.

True leadership is not only about targets or profits. It is also when we learn to realize that businesses exist because of people. We need to do our part to give back to the community we benefit from.

Let me also reiterate that great experiences gained from organizations leave a lasting impression on employees. These will be fondly remembered and most importantly reflect on them in their interactions with colleagues in the same organization and in future as well.

I do remember with gratitude the truly amazing leadership team we were blessed with at Mindtree!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart, for not just giving me a job, but empowering me with an experience of a lifetime!

Back in Time - A breath-taking journey through UK!

I love reading and I distinctly remember my school days when a wonderful world of fantasy unveiling in my mind through all the animated series of story books. They painted a vivid picture of castles, palaces, fairy lands, life lived to the fullest by the prince, princesses and the royals. All these and more truly came to life when we decided to explore London and Scotland through our absolutely stunning 16 days of travel through UK.

Lovely winding roads, lush green landscapes, giant but gentle mountains, waterfalls, winds that carry you in its arms, strawberry picking, historical artefacts ranging from dinosaur fossils through the mother of all diamonds Koh-i-Noor, castles, palaces and what not! We thank God for a wonderful vacation literally through a fairy land and a lovely time together as family.

Quick specs of our trip:

Date: 03 Aug to 18 Aug 2024

Arrival: 03 Aug 2024 at Stanstead Airport (LHR was absolutely not feasible to avail staff travel benefits)

Departure: 18 Aug 2024 from Newcastle Airport (Initial departure plan was Glasgow but later changed to Newcastle where staff travel could be availed. Was only an additional 3 hours from Glasgow by road)

Mode of Transport: 5 days in London - Travelled only on public transport in London. You do not really need any other mode of transport in the city since the London Underground (metro) and the suburban trains (Dockland Light Railway - DLR) are well connected and easily accessible across the city. Most of the major attractions are at walking distance to the train station. The weather was also lovely though Londoners consider this as their summer, for us when we go from Dubai, it is a beautiful weather indeed! You could either buy Oyster card which is a multi-modal transport card or simply use any of your bank cards which has as Wi-Fi logo on it which you could tap on the gunnebo gates or equivalent at the stations.

Glimpses of London

State rooms of Buckingham Palace takes you to a world of luxury you may have never experienced in your lifetime! If you love to explore everything in the state rooms, you could spend the whole day if you like. Else you could reasonably finish in 3 hours. Ten minutes from the palace is Westminster Cathedral, a 121 year old beautiful church.

A tour of Tower of London is an absolute must have! This is a castle built by William the Conqueror in AD 1078, served as the royal residence, a mint, a jail as well as a fortress where precious jewels are stored including the most famous diamond the world has ever known, Koh-i-Noor! Don't get surprised if you get a feeling on and off that you are living in 11th century. Just a word of caution, for people who are claustrophobic, you may find it a bit of a challenge. Nevertheless, it is an experience worth every moment. The greatest feeling for me personally was to see Koh-i-Noor at my hand's length! The Tower Bridge which many people call as London Bridge is at a stone's throw away from Tower of London. Natural History Museum was our next step where my kids, 12 years and 8 years befriended dinosaurs from the past and learned a few elements of animal kingdom up close and personal!

St Paul's Cathedral is the seat of Bishop of London. This is another massive and beautiful church built in 17th century. We took the famous London double decker bus to the church for the experience of it. London as you may know is infamous for its weather, hence carry a small umbrella in your bag, it will come handy if it rains. We then checked if the clock is working well by saying hi to the Big Ben and the adjacent Parliament square. Explored some more of the city and of course did some shopping at the famous Oxford Street.

From London to Scotland

After 5 days in London, we hired a car from Avis / Budget nearby where we stayed and drove to Cheltenham. Gloucester Cathedral, a 12th century architectural marvel, made even more famous by Harry Potter series, awaited us. Be aware of the risk of getting lost in the magnificence of the cathedral that if you are not cautious you will end up spending a whole day there! We managed to get out after a few hours and headed to a location where natural beauty is at its peak as the name itself says. It was Peak District National Park. After a while we headed to York, but not before stopping at a friend's place at Sheffield.

The National Railway Museum in York is the place to be if you really want to feel immersed in the olden days where steam run locomotives and other types of trains operated. Even the tallest among us will feel dwarfed in front of these massive engineering marvels.

Further up North, after crossing the coastal region of Amble we stopped at Warkworth Castle, bringing life to some of the fantasy stories I mentioned in the beginning of the story. You get a glimpse of life lived by royals during the yester years. Alnwick Castle, one of the best-preserved castles was destined to be our next stop. The life and times of Percy family unfolds here, probably one of the most powerful families after the King of UK. A pleasant surprise to see a Buckingham-like state rooms here as well.

On the road again to reach Dunfermline, which once was the capital of Kingdom of Scotland and less than an hour from Edinburgh where J K Rowling wrote most of Harry Potter. Some more shopping around in the city before heading to Cairnie fruit farm at Cupar, a 40 minutes’ drive from Dunfermline. I cannot literally explain the happiness of those strawberries when they saw us that they literally jumped into our basket! Strawberry picking is such fun! Further up, after a quick stop at a wheat farm, enjoying the cool breeze near the Tay Bridge in Dundee and browsing through unique wines at Cairn o' Mohr a local winery and passing by Lochaber waterpower project commissioned in 1929 we finally arrived at Spean Bridge, our place of stay for the next four days.

From that day onwards, we got ourselves locked in a fairy tale. This is the only way to define our days in Scotland! Everywhere you go, nature will pamper you with the most beautiful of sights that you will literally be mesmerised! The cold clear water along with countless pebbles at Loch Lochy, third-deepest lake of Scotland next to Loch Ness famous for the monster story, a small yet lovely looking waterfall at Inverness, an absolutely out-of-the world location experience gifted by Eilean Donan Castle, the simple yet sweet port town of Mallaig, watching the Harry Potter fame Jacobite Steam train in action and exploring the incredible terrains at Isle of Skye, every one of these experiences left us with lasting memories for a lifetime!

We thank all our well-wishers who prayed, helped and supported through this journey of a lifetime!

Fun Fact: This is the approximate distance from Thiruvananthapuram in South India to Taj Mahal in North India by road!

The ice cream run – Management lessons from Dad

18 years ago, I successfully completed my post-graduation in Business Management from one of the prestigious institutions in Bangalore, Christ College. Though my specialization was in Marketing, during the course of two years, I learned various aspects of business including supply chain, time management, advertising and many more.

Little did I realize that there was a time, way back in early 90s while in grade six, I was privy to a bunch of fantastic management lessons in real life. This was when my dad started an ice cream parlour named Adens in our small town of Changanacherry in Kerala. The ice cream was of a brand named Lazza and the company that made it was in Ernakulam, a city roughly hundred kilometres from our hometown. My first lesson in entrepreneurship.

Since dad took distribution of Lazza ice cream in and around Changanacherry, he obviously had to arrange for transportation of ice cream from Lazza factory in Ernakulam to our shop. Considering the distance between the locations, he had to plan the purchase that needed to last him for the next few weeks after which there will be a repeat of this. We called it the ice cream run. The entire process had to be meticulously planned since dad was a banker during his day job and he had to plan the trips on weekends. My first lesson in planning and supply chain management.

The number of items that were required for every ice cream run was sizable enough to be carried in ten large containers. Dad knew a person who owned a van which was big enough to carry those boxes. Arrangements were made to use this van so that multiple runs could be avoided, and the trip was optimized. My first lesson in logistics.

We will start early morning and will reach the factory in Ernakulam. Dad will have a list with the categories and numbers required of ice creams needed that day. He will then sit with the factory manager and while I enjoy an ice cream there, I could hear them talk about sales and strategies towards customer satisfaction, none of which made sense to me then. On hindsight, those were the pearls of wisdom from the lovely ocean of business world. Many times, dad was also able to strike some good deals before he confirmed the order. My first lesson in negotiation.

Once the order was finalized, the boxes were offloaded from the van for the factory staff to fill them with packets of ice creams. As this activity took a while, dad always made use of the time for a quick trip to the city and buy some other items required for Adens including ice cream cones, glasses, tissues etc. which were not something you could buy from the factory. I always looked forward for this quick trip since after the shopping it will be invariably time for lunch, and it was a great opportunity for me to explore the restaurants around Ernakulam. My first lesson in time management.

By the time we returned to the factory, the boxes of ice creams were safely packed and kept ready for the trip back home. Those were the days before temperature-controlled vehicles. Hence special type of insulated boxes was used to keep the ice cream from melting and for further protection large frozen containers of ice were used which ensured that everything was ok during the transport. My first lesson in quality.

The party then headed back to the hometown and just in time to beat the evening traffic so that we reach Adens right on time to store the ice cream safe and sound in the freezers awaiting customers. Sometimes dad also got some posters with colourful pictures of ice creams which promptly went on the walls of Adens which added to the whole appeal of the shop. It was such a heartening sight to see the kids screaming and crying with joy when they saw these images and specifically asked for them and most parents obliged. My first lesson in marketing and sales.

Though dad is not around physically, these moments remain deeply embedded in my mind which continues to be my guiding light in my professional life where I need to apply the principles of management. Something which no management books in the world ever taught me…

A Chilling Farewell

It was past midnight and Dubai was at the fag end of the scorching summer on the 27th day of October 2014. My son had not turned three and was a bit restless that night which kept both Ruby, my wife and me awake. It was a period in between our little one’s disturbed sleep due to some uneasiness that was troubling him. Since I could not sleep, I tried to make effective use of the time by putting my thoughts into a story and started with that on my laptop.

I was halfway into the story and our clock tried telling me it is quite an unearthly hour with the small needle touching the number one. Nevertheless, I continued with my attempt to write. A few minutes later, Ruby came by asking if I am not sleeping since the light was on in the hall where I was seated.

I told her, I shall join soon, but for some strange reason I was getting a bit too cold unusually. I requested my sweetheart to check the thermostat of AC, which was working all well. She said everything is fine and asked if I am feeling feverish which may explain the chills I was starting to experience. She even took out the thermometer which confirmed that my body temperature was normal, but I continued to feel cold.

It was just a matter of time that the chillness gave way to shivering and I had to get a jacket to make myself feel comfortable. I tried to switch off the air conditioning, but it was a futile attempt. It was beyond any logical explanation. I tired to continue writing, but with the quivering I had no option but to shut down the laptop. All what I wanted to do was get under the thick blanket and snuggle up to my darling wife so that I feel better.

As soon as I hit the bed and felt the shivering subside, the phone rang. It was dad. Getting a call from back home in Kerala at 1:30 AM is never a good thing. The news he had to share was indeed not a happy one. My dearest grandpa, one with whom I spent my entire childhood and one who I consider close to my heart is no more. He passed away a few moments ago peacefully in his sleep. Time stood still.

The world did not wait for me. Calendars were replaced a few more times.

It was closer to midnight again in Dubai, but this time in the middle of the winter on the 15th day of February 2023. A couple of hours earlier my dad was taken on an ambulance from a hospital in Changanacherry, my hometown, to a bigger hospital in Kochi where he had earlier undergone treatment. My mom, along with my sister-in-law and my cousin brother had accompanied him. They reached the hospital, and he was immediately taken to the emergency room for treatment.

My cousin kept me posted with updates. With every message that was coming through, the tension in the air at home in Dubai was rising. Dad was truly the one bond that kept the entire family together and the happiness we shared throughout our lives was something beyond my ability to put down in the form of words. As Ruby and I was figuring out the flight to Kochi, the next message arrived. It was quite an ominous one which said dad suffered a massive cardiac arrest, but the doctors did revive him. It was followed by two more attacks and my cousin messaged saying the doctors were planning to shift him to the ventilator.

The nights of February in Dubai are when the temperature is quite pleasant outside, and we do not really need air conditioning throughout. The AC was off, but I could sense the tingling sensation coming back. Something that was familiar to me about nine years ago. I asked my sweetheart for a sweater. The chills were back, and she had to hug me since I started shaking. She covered me with a shawl and later with a jacket as well. But this time I could feel the trembling staying a little longer than last time. The next day I managed to reach Kochi and bid a final farewell to dad standing next to his bedside. He was beyond any state of recognising me, but I knew exactly when he came to me and gave me a hug. Just the way my grandpa embraced me before he started his journey back to where we all came from.

Do-Nothing Time

In the past couple of weeks, I remember having conversations with a few of my friends and colleagues about kids of the current generation. The topic was around how kids are restless these days and we all shared a common concern that idle time is something our kids do not even have in their dictionary. The conversation went on and on as how learned adults speak with the pseudo righteousness which is attributed to most of the parents across the world with young kids.

Little did I realize then, the accusation is not really limited to children. The question I started asking myself was, how often do we have a time during the day when we remain idle? Isn’t there something or other we keep ourselves busy and not really have a do-nothing time for ourselves?  

The biggest irony will be, most often than not, the activities we engage ourselves could be less creative than what our kids involve themselves during their busy time. Among other things, our children may delve into art or craft, while we wile away our time among the never-ending trolls and memes across the various social media platforms.

I truly believe, the concept of a do-nothing time is in fact quite powerful. As you may be aware, when your entire body rests during the night, the brain continues to send signals to the internal organs which still need to function. A similar state will come in play when you give a break to your busy schedules and allow yourself a bit of do-nothing time. This gives a chance for your brain to take a deep breath and indulge into something that directly instigates the creative side as your logical thinking takes a back seat.

The truly magical moment will come and present itself to us if we could practice this more often. It is a busy world, and we all acknowledge that. But let us not forget the fact that the creative genius in all of us, in various forms and shapes, need to be given an opportunity to be awakened. Trust me, you’ll be surprised to see the amount of creativity buried deep down in you getting awakened and the doors indeed open for the true colours of your ingenious freedom.

Give it a chance. Have a bit of a do-nothing time. Celebrate your other self!