Sweet 16!

A few weeks back, Ruby and I celebrated sixteen beautiful years of being together. I got a special gift for her for our anniversary. Unlike the previous years, this time I went a little beyond the usual and got her a limited-edition gift. I reached home and after a bit of drama, I presented the gift in style, at least that was what I thought. As soon as she had a glimpse of the box, realization set in. It took a while for her to settle down the emotions that took off for a roller coaster ride. As she opened the box, I could see her eyes getting wider with what she saw inside.

The sheer fact that it was possibly the most expensive gift I had got for her, the shrewd finance manager she was, obviously had a complex calculation running in her sharp brain. Now at this juncture, I need to make a statement which for some people may be politically incorrect. Nevertheless, it is a proven fact that the human brains are differently wired between male and female of the species.

For the men folks, a purchase decision may involve a simple combination of two factors, liking a product and the love for the person to whom the gift is purchased. Budget did matter but was not the highest priority. For women, these and many more factors (I wish I knew everything to list down here!) did matter when they decide to buy a gift as well as assess the return on investment against the purchase made. Please do not get me wrong, I am not referring to only high value items, even the tiniest of the gift will also go through a round of analysis as mentioned above.

Since it was indeed an item of elevated price tag, I had received the guarantee from the shop guys that my wife will return or exchange it if she wished to do so. Those were the kind of agreements that eventually turned out to be lifesaving decisions. The anniversary evening thus ended on a happy note.

A couple of days ago, I happened to visit a local store where I picked up a Tulsi plant, a medicinal herb. While the shop owner was packing the plant, I happened to notice a garland made of freshly bloomed jasmine flowers. It did not even take a fraction of a moment for me to ask him to get me a small portion of the garland since I knew Ruby liked it. To state a fact, the cost of the garland was even less than the price of a coffee from any standard barista in a decent shopping mall.

I reached home and after placing the plant pot down, I presented the jasmine garland to my sweetheart. This time again, I could see her eyes brighten up and was filled with an avalanche of emotions. Those were quite different from the ones I experienced a few days back when an expensive gift was presented. I stood there and tried to absorb the depth of unexplainable chemical reactions happening in her neurons.

The happiness that tiny bunch of flowers generated was far beyond the dazzling piece of gift presented a few days ago. Life is indeed unreal! It up as an absolutely beautiful evening for both of us. The next day she told me how she could still feel the fragrance of jasmine lingering around and the many memories it brought back from her school and college days.

It was a wonderful reminder for me about how we kept finding happiness in simple things in life. Something that helped us walk hand in hand in the last sixteen years together. Happiness is not found only in things that dazzle. It is also the small things in life where the fragrance of love lingers forever.

Here is an honest wish from both of us to all the beautiful couples out there who live life in the simplest possible manner and present each other with eternal gift of love! 

A Spicy Mistake!

During my college days, I tried my hands on preparing a few dishes based on Kerala cuisine. While the success rate on those were not that great, over a period of time I mastered the art of making a good tea with milk.

Hence, after Ruby and I got married and settled down at our one-bedroom apartment in Bangalore, one day I told her I will make a special tea for her. While sceptical, she agreed to that idea and watched me making the special brew for her. 

Milk, water, tea powder and sugar, all found its way one after the other into the saucepan. Then came my secret ingredient, cardamom, also known as the Queen of Spices, for the distinct flavour and aroma it brought to any dish prepared with this unique spice. It gave an even more special effect when used to make tea. I must also add here that cardamom is one of the most expensive spices you get to buy, with some of the best quality ones costing as high as USD 100+ per kilogram.

As I was preparing the magical potion, I took a couple of pods of cardamom and started to peel the outer shell. All the while Ruby was watching me with eyes filled with curiosity. All of a sudden, I could see an unexplainable burst of emotion in her eyes followed by a loud cry! That was the exact moment when I finished peeling the cardamom and added the empty shell to the boiling tea and promptly trashed the seeds that were inside the shell.

In the same tone of the cry, she asked me why I threw the seeds. With all the innocence in the world, I told her, I always used the shell and threw the seeds away. That perhaps was the first time I saw my darling wife totally speechless. After the initial shock, she regained her composure and with an amazing sense of patience, explained to me what a historical blunder I was doing all the while. 

The seeds in fact were the essential part of that exotic spice. I listened intently and since I wasn't easy convinced, I did my own research and realised that my sweetheart was indeed right! From that day, the cardamom pods at our home had been thanking me for making real use of them.

The best part of this incident was not just knowing the correct use of a spice. On the contrary, ever since the incident, I had been telling my better half about writing a story about this. She was the one who didn't agree, as she was concerned about it would influence the perception of others. 

For me, this is true leadership. A good leader will give constructive feedback on mistakes by a team member, irrespective of the gap in hierarchy between them. At the same time the leader will ensure enough privacy so that perception management is achieved as well.

Just like how effective feedback helped us to have better tasting tea, professional environment demands meaningful exchange of constructive criticisms which all parties involved need to provide and receive in the most practical sense.

May we all be blessed to be a good leader who can empathize with a team member. As a team member, may we have the courage to accept the feedback and incorporate good learning which can take us to even greater professional heights. 

Know Thy Drive - Part II

Imagine this. You are at the car rental office at your holiday destination. You verified the model of the car, the accessories, and a few other features before heading out. You are most likely to forget one important aspect about the trip, the tolls you need to pay enroute. Depending on the geography you are travelling, you may come across tolls for roads, bridges and even tunnels.

Many countries have automated toll payment system in the form of a RFID tag stuck on to the vehicle. All what you are required to do is to top up the tag and it will automatically pay the toll for you. If you are lucky, the car you are renting may already have enough balance on the tag, so that you do not have to pay for it. We were lucky once!

In places where the tag system is not present, you could still pay using a credit card or even cash. Ensure that you understand how much money you need to have with you and be prepared for the number of tolls you need to pay on the way. A simple search in Google should give you an idea, if you know the route that you are planning to take.

Another important aspect to be considered is if you plan to drive inside city limits. In most of the super busy cities in the world, an additional fees called congestion charges apply. You need to be aware of this because you will end up paying a lot more than you planned as the budget for your car rental. The best alternative for this is to rely on public transport, provided, the city has an established infrastructure. Most of the advanced cities today boast a well-connected public transport system. Not just that, you will save loads of money on parking charges as well, if you opt for public transport. 

During a recent trip to UK from Dubai, one of the first experiences with my rented car was the difference in the driving side. While I drove on the right side in Dubai, it was the opposite in UK. I was used to driving on the left, back home in India. But since I had been driving in Dubai for a decade and a half, it took a few minutes for me to get used to the left side driving, especially in the structured driving environment of UK unlike in India. 

The trick is to take it slow, get a feel of the drive and then zip forward. I also distinctly remember one of my team leads telling a client of ours while we were in Atlanta to do whatever she wanted in India, except driving. If you are someone who are used to a structured way of driving, I can guarantee that you will have no idea what hits you in India, literally and figuratively! There could be comparable stories from across the countries in the world. Be aware of these.

It is obvious that you need to get familiarised with the controls of your rented car before you start, since it could make or break your journey if you commit mistakes. Also ensure that you are familiar with the road rules including speed signs and strictly follow them. 

During one of our trips to Switzerland we had a unique experience. While driving into one among the hundreds of tunnels in Swiss, a lady in the lane behind us started flashing the lights. While initially I was confused, when I saw her overtaking us and showing the signs to have the lights on, I remembered the rule in the tunnels to have lights turned on. Non-compliance of the rule would have invited hefty fines. God bless her!

Another interesting experience was when we stopped to refill petrol in Scotland. My son got out and wanted to help me with filling of the fuel. The man at the counter yelled from the window saying it was illegal to have young children near the fuel dispenser due to the hazard of gas inhalation! Learnings galore when you are on the road.

Last but never the least, always have the emergency contacts handy, including roadside assistance, police, and ambulance. It will also help to have contact details of car insurance as well as information about the embassy of your country in the event of an emergency.

Above all, the fundamental rule to be kept in mind while travelling is to apply common sense! Take care and enjoy your trip.

Bon Voyage!

Know thy Drive – Part I

What is one of the first things that come to your mind when you plan your vacation? If you belong to a ‘tribe’ where my family proudly associate us with, you will be looking for the options to drive. While we are yet to explore the likes of a caravan on a vacation trip, looking at a car to rent is one of the top priorities, especially if we are planning for a road trip.

Along with exploring the options for hotels to stay, service providers or aggregators such as Booking.com is what we frequently use for planning. We also look at direct rental options in websites for Avis, Budget etc. and do a comparison of the offers provided to take a decision.

In case, if your organisation has tie-ups with these car rental companies, that can be a third option to look at the offers and decide. While looking at the established brands such as Avis and Budget is an easy option, always remember that there could be good local car rental companies in many countries who could offer better deals. So do not forget to check out all options before you take a final call. Trust me, it will have a considerable impact on your travel budget.

Another factor to consider while booking a car rental is the choice of accessories. Depending on your needs, accessories could range from the need to get a car seat or booster seat, GPS to help you with the routes if you have any challenge with getting maps on your mobile phone, winter specific options including snow tires if needed and the likes of these. Insurance is another crucial point that you need to consider which has various bifurcations that needs to be checked before taking the kind of package you need for the trip.

Depending on the number of people in your group and the kind of terrains you plan to cover, the type of vehicle is an important choice that you need to make. It can range from a hatch-back to a sedan to an SUV based on the plan. Depending on your choice, the price will also be varying, and you need to keep an eye on the budget accordingly.

One of the most important points to remember is the rules regarding driving license at the country or countries you plan to drive. In certain cases, the driving license you have in your current country may be valid at least for a brief period in the country of your travel. That will work out to be favourable for you. In other cases, you may have to take an International Driving Permit (IDP) to be driving legally in that country. Please always check for the latest rules before you decide which license be enough for you. I would like to give a friendly warning here that please do not depend entirely on AI or even news updates that come in the top search results in Google for this information. In most cases, the official government websites are dependable sources for this information.

These are many more aspects of your drive that contribute to a meaningful, hassle-free vacation. Since this is a vast area to talk about, I shall cover the remaining areas in part II of this topic.

Till then, do plan well and have a fantastic vacation.

Cheers!

When my ten-year-old lost to AI, almost!

More than a year ago, when I decided to start a series on Travel Tips, called Trip Elf: Your Travel Buddy, I remember having a quick chat with Mia, my little princess. She was about to turn nine then. For most of my articles, I used my clicks as the title picture. I wanted something different this time.

Mia came up with a lovely idea. She said, ‘Appa, you give me the storyline, I’ll draw a picture for you’. There was one condition though. I had to promise to her that all the pictures in this series will be hers. Our sweet partnership started with that. Since then, I had written seven stories in the series, and she drew the pictures for most of them. But something was destined to change.

It was time for the next story in the series. I got the points ready and even detailed the content in my mind. All what was required was to put the pen to the paper. But before publishing the story, I obviously needed a title picture from my daughter.

As usual I had given her the plot and discussed the requirements for the image with her. She was all set to create another beautiful image for the next one in my series. After a couple of days, I reminded her about the picture so that I could post the article. That was when an end-of-the-chapter-test came as an impediment for her. She seemed to have already mastered the art of prioritizing her tasks, something as adults, we still struggle.

Since she was unable to provide me with the image, I decided to negotiate with her. As the content was almost ready, I did not want to delay the publishing any further. Hence, I suggested a fallback option as a one-time exception. Copilot! The wonderful world of AI opened in front of us. Interestingly, she did not resist the idea.

Together we explored the prompt engineering experience of AI. After a couple of attempts, Copilot generated a beautiful image fully assimilating our requirement. We decided to use the image. But the instruction from my daughter was quite clear. This is a one-time exception due to time constraint, and it should remain that way.

The story will be published soon with the AI image created, instead of a beautiful art form by my darling daughter! I know it is a one-off as my daughter’s happiness will always be more important than the happiness of publishing another article bypassing her creativity.

Meanwhile, this is a powerful reminder of what is happening around the world today. People find easier alternatives with AI to perform tasks that needed human beings earlier. For me personally, it is also a reminder to keep emotional and social aspects in mind, while trying to take decisions to embrace AI.

If you are one such decision maker in an organisation who decides on the fate of an employee in favour of AI, it may be worthwhile asking these questions? 

 - Is AI worth letting go of someone who trusted you and gave their best?

 - Is there an alternate way of using the AI along with your valuable and loyal employees?

 - Have you really quantified and qualified the effectiveness of AI before letting go the people who helped you build the organization?

In the end, let us all remember this. All of us who knew what the term Y2K means, have survived a similar onslaught of internet. Let me not say, this too shall pass. Instead, we shall survive this as well.

Here is a toast to a world that looks forward to AI along with U & I.

 

Lokah – Redefining Myth!

Years ago, I remember growing up reading story books that dealt with various types of supernatural beings. Among the different types, the one that found its way into the deepest and darkest of emotional chambers in my mind would have undoubtedly been the one about Yakshis, the closest western equivalent perhaps to Vampires!

The stories spoke about Yakshis owning the nights, especially in the routes through deserted places. They will then lure people with their beauty and sensuality, eventually taking in the prey and suck the blood out of them, leaving them dead. The entire plot was good enough to manipulate the scary emotions in young readers’ mind. So, it was, for most of my generation who grew up reading similar stories and fearing all sorts of supernatural beings.

All that was destined to change in August 2025. 

A movie got released in multiple Indian languages. The name was Lokah – Chapter 1, Chandra. It was obvious that the movie was meant to become a franchise if the first one became a hit. The movie started with the lead actor donning a superhero character, a woman who had supernatural powers and was portrayed in a fantastic action sequence.

A few minutes into the movie, the character’s origin was revealed. That was the biggest announcement in the history of myths in Malayalam literature. The character was none other than (warning: spoiler alert!) Kalliyankattu Neeli, the legendary Yakshi ever created in Malayalam. The movie then traversed through paths that were absolutely new for everyone who ever had an exposure to Yakshis through books in the past.

The latest Neeli, while she possessed similar traits of a blood thirsty Yakshi from the past, surprises the audience with softer emotions such as love and care. The movie even portrayed a small girl who was listening to her grandfather about Neeli, asking the question, if Neeli was a superhero? The whole plot was turned.

As the movie ended, from a scary supernatural being, Neeli now donned a positive persona. The one to be loved, instead of to be afraid of. The one that only took the revenge against the terrible human beings than good ones since Neeli had a soft corner towards good humans.

It is amazing how Dominic Arun and Santhy Balachandran, co-writers of this script were able to give a total makeover to a once super scary persona of Neeli as a Yakshi, to someone to be absolutely adored and loved.

I can’t help but imagine this. If a movie was able to bring such a mindset change to a myth that is centuries old, can the corporate world use this same technique for changing some of the deep-rooted beliefs and facilitate a mindset change if we truly need an organization culture change?

Ordinary People, Extraordinary Results!

It all started with a seemingly innocent question from the Principal to us, the parent representatives of The Millennium School (TMS). 'Why don't you plan a Parent Day event so that we bring our families closer?' We shook our heads and agreed. Little did we know that we were signing up for the biggest ever initiative undertaken by the Parent Care Group (PCG), the grade-wise representatives, in the 25 year old history of the school!

Discussions started and plans were drafted. Date of the event was fixed as 01 Nov 2025. As we were about to shift things to top gear, there was a proposal from the GEMS group to have an event for the families across all schools as part of the Family First initiative by Mr Sunny Varkey, the chairman of GEMS group. The date proposed was a week before our planned event. The most logical thing followed. We merged these two events and decided to have the first edition of Family First event on 25 October 2025. It just so happened to coincide with the culmination of Silver Jubilee celebration of TMS.

Preparations were soon in full swing. PCG engaged Parent Focus Group (PFG), the class-wise representatives and connected with the entire parent community. Messages were passed about the event. All the while the school team was preparing at their end as well. Everything was set for the day.

After days and endless hours of collaboration, the event finally arrived and what a day it turned out to be! From amazing indoor and outdoor games, to story reading, puppet shows, mehndi art, zumba, yoga, mural painting and what not? The grand finale was a fashion show where families, teachers and to top it all, the senior leadership team themselves entertaining the whole school with a ramp walk that set the stage on fire!

The highlight of the day was a time capsule that was filled with artefacts from the silver jubilee year including heartfelt messages for future generations, placed in a lead box and sealed, to be opened only by the year 2050!

We walked out of the gate of the school with hearts filled with happiness and minds filled with a resolve to do even greater things together for the school.

Am sure, when a child in the year 2050 opens the time capsule and learns about us they will possibly be reminded of what Einstein said about Gandhiji, 'generations to come will scarce believe that such a man as this one, ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth'. They will then add, such were our predecessors in TMS, who not just walked the earth in flesh and blood but also had a heart filled with care and love for the school and the wellbeing of their children.

Here is a toast to the next 25 years...