Galley to Gallery - A Cabin Crew Magic!

Ever since I had an opportunity to work with Service Delivery department of Emirates, I had been a huge fan of Cabin Crew operations. The Cabin Crew community in EK belonged to this department. While aviation in general had always been my passion, crew operations in particular, found its way into my heart.

So much so that, every second example I quoted to my teammates since my Service Delivery days was about how this department excelled in everything they did. At times, people had even been a bit jealous about my loyalty that remained deeply rooted in Service Delivery, though I now worked on another equally exciting initiative in the ground handling world, the flight information system.

As I wrote this piece on a flight the other day from Dubai to Kochi, I was privy to the orchestration of efforts by our very own cabin crew. It was nothing short of a magical experience! I was seated at a location right in front of the forward galley. As soon as the flight took off and the aircraft reached a certain height, the captain signalled the cabin crew with a ping and the crew promptly sprang to action.

From that moment onwards everything happened with split second precision. The galley operator started to make the food warm, the serving crew prepared the tray with glasses and cutlery, the cabin supervisor oversaw every action was executed to perfection and the whole show unfolded right in front of my eyes as if I am watching a well-oiled machinery at work.

What we as passengers usually see is the well laid tray all set to make us enjoy a gourmet meal on board our favourite airline. What we don't realize probably is, how meticulously do these magicians perform in the air at 35000 feet, with a team that is quite new on every flight considering the sheer number of crew, this awesome feat of bringing in all these different pieces of puzzle together and lay them in front of you in a manner that make you feel like dining at a Michelin Star restaurant!

No wonder, my passion for this area of airline operations continued uninhibited. I will be at remiss if I do not mention that considerable credit to this picture-perfect experience delivered went to a well planned and executed rigorous training programme by the Crew Training department. Kudos to the whole team behind the scenes.

My love for Service Delivery remained unscathed. Perhaps this was my true love, the only one perhaps my sweetheart won't be jealous about 😉

Thank you, Emirates. Thank you, Service Delivery. Thank you, our dearest Crew community, for making me feel like a part of an excited audience in a gallery cheering for a team with unparallel joy!

You definitely made me feel “Fly Better”!

Circle of Life

It was the Millennium year. The calendar in my room displayed the magical number 2000. Way before the world knew about social media, there was a large hue and cry about a potential massive computer meltdown nick named Y2K. The acronym stood for, Year 2000. 

Technology evangelists across the world spoke about a possibility of all computers going crazy a.k.a stop working altogether. This was expected to happen when the clock struck twelve at the midnight welcoming year 2000. Banks, financial institutions and every other entities that relied on computers for their operations were breaking their heads on how to solve the predicted doom.

On New Year's eve everyone held their breath for a catastrophe and the whole digital world to crumble along with millions of people getting affected since the world was already quite dependent on this magical box called computer. Time ticked. Clock did strike twelve. Nothing happened. The Nostradamuses of the world went back to their cocoons, never to come out for another Millennium.

A year later I was to become a graduate in Commerce. Just like many of my classmates, I had started to wonder what next? While there was a frenzy around computers in the world, our small town had still not embraced much of computers. While we had a Personal Computer (PC) at home bought by my dad from his brother, my first ever laptop was a good four years away. Internet connection required a dial-up modem and the noise made by that tiny white box was music to our ears! Google was founded just two years back. We used Netscape Navigator as a browser. At the risk of sounding like a cave man, looking back, the world those days felt quite archaic!

We were in an age where information overload was still limited to multiple rows of library books. Nevertheless, we tried our best to figure out from our professors and elders in the family about post graduate courses which were potentially good for our career. Two options that stood out were Masters in Computer Application and Masters in Management. Most of my batchmates chose either of these. A few ended up doing both! We did not really have lot of options. Even with all that, getting well paid good jobs were still a challenge for many of us.

A decade and a half later, I was speaking to my niece who worked in Australia in a gold mine. I was quite interested to know the nature of her job. Along with her team, every day she took an elevator at her work site, deep down into earth. After they reached a level ground, she got into a car that followed a monstrous truck as it proceeded to chew out the earth in front of it. My niece then inspected the loose earth to validate the presence of gold and assess the quality and quantity of the precious metal. What a job! 

I was equally surprised to know that this was not a one-off case. There were many girls and boys in this generation who discovered exciting career options and followed it with as much heart as their brain. I was stunned to see career options in plenty parading in front of these Gen Zs for their consideration. Probably Google and other unlimited source of information on career possibilities available at their fingertips literally helped. Interesting times indeed.

Another half a decade went by. I was recently invited to a joint session on AI Governance in a school in Dubai where stakeholders included students as well as faculty along AI / IT professionals. Among other things discussed, one point that stood out was a response from Gen Alpha students that they were worried about AI taking their jobs away. They expected to face challenges to find a job for themselves in this digitally emancipated world! 

That was the exact moment when the world took a full circle and stopped right in front of me with a grin that laced the border of sarcasm. 

Proximity Leadership

It had been three years since Alex joined the multinational company which is primarily into manufacturing. They had two major divisions, one dealing with products for businesses and the other had a range of end consumer items. There was a president each, Bob and Jim, heading these divisions. It was a hierarchical organization. 

For someone at Alex's grade, he never interacted with either president, not even to their reportees up to two levels below. While both the presidents had charismatic personalities, the chances for Alex meeting them remained as remote as ever. Having said that, Bob was known to be more jovial and took occasional rounds across office floors greeting people. Jim on the other hand was least spoken and rarely seen in public around office but was revered by the powers to be of the industry. He was considered as one of the most influential presidents in the world of manufacturing giants! But to meet him was next to impossible. It was even said that the top management usually took a private elevator to the nineteenth floor of the corporate headquarters, which housed the offices of both the presidents.

One fine day, Alex was waiting at the general lift lobby to go up to his floor which was on the fifteenth. The elevator arrived and along with three other waiting colleagues, he got into it. The door was about to close when he saw a quick movement outside. Soon enough, the door opened again. A man stood outside. Alex looked at him and felt like his eyes were deceiving him. 

The man entered the lift and greeted Alex along with the other three in the elevator. He had such a towering personality that Alex felt dwarfed in front of him. That was none other than Bob, the president of the division Alex worked for. This was the man Alex never thought he would meet in person ever! Bob looked at the ID tag on Alex, called out his name and had a quick chat about his department and how he liked his job. The few moments Bob spent with them in the elevator, turned out to be a defining moment for Alex. He did not even know what got him. But he knew one thing for sure, he was motivated beyond anything else ever in his three years in the organization. Alex returned home as a highly charged up employee and remained that way forever. The aura had its effect on him!

I am sure we all had been in the shoes of Alex, one way or other in our organizations at some point in our lives. Proximity, when it comes to leadership, plays a significant role, especially in an era when we see offices becoming more distant than ever. 

Now, the big question here could be, who do we think is right? Bob or Jim? Is this even a topic of discussion? For both, there is something right in their own ways of working. Eventually, it boils down to the personality of the leaders. Each one of us needs to have a clear understanding of our personalities and build ways of working that suits us. Else we may end up as someone who tried to get into the shoes of others which did not even fit us, not to even mention how awkward it looked.

We may work for organizations where we see Bobs and Jims of the world. Learn to appreciate them for what they are. All what is required from us is, when it is our turn, ensure that we adapt a leadership style that fits the best for us.

Happiness Lost & Found!

Reading has always been an interest ever since I was a child. Though not a voracious reader, I always had a book in progress in our library. Many of my friends knew this. A dear friend, once on his trip to Sydney, the year before Covid, got me a beautiful blade-thin gold coloured metal bookmark featuring a landmark in Sydney. I loved it, obviously! 

In addition to being an especially useful gift, the fact that the bookmark was very thin, proved quite easy to carry around in a book made me like that even more. Thick bookmarks were inconvenient and left a mark on the pages which most book lovers did not like. I have been using the bookmark ever since 2019.

Few weeks back, on a visit to Zulekha Hospital in Dubai, I was carrying a book with this lovely bookmark in it. As we were heading to the pharmacy after meeting the doctor, to my utter dismay, I realized that the bookmark was missing. I traced my route back to the doctor’s office from the pharmacy and searched all around the area for the bookmark that must have fallen off the book.                                                                                                             

After a while, it dawned on me that finding the proverbial needle in haystack could be easier. Nevertheless, I told the nurse in charge to look out for a golden bookmark and keep it safe for me if she finds it. I departed the hospital leaving a small piece of my heart there which was crying over a prized possession that was lost forever, or so I thought!

After reaching home, I tried to use another bookmark, a thicker one this time. Though it was a beautiful piece which we picked up during a recent vacation, something did not feel right. The way the bookmark stood out and made the pages feel uncomfortable with its thickness, made me suffer in unexplainable pain. I was mourning over my lost bookmark from Sydney.

Days passed by. I started to get used to the new bookmark, though not without feeling inconvenient every time I picked up the book to continue reading. As they say, time is the best healer, and I learned to move on.

I had another visit to the same hospital today. We reported for the appointment and as soon as the screening at reception was over, we headed to the nurse’s station. The same nurse was waiting there and took the claim forms from me. I must have been pre-occupied that I completely forgot about the lost bookmark and the request I had made to her about keeping it for me if she found it. I was in for a lovely surprise when she reached out to her desk and handed me something shining.

It was the bookmark I lost earlier!

My heart created a new record in its leap with happiness! I could not thank the nurse enough. A new chapter was born there speaking volumes about efficacious customer service.

I returned home as a delighted customer. Little things do matter.

Know thy Route

I hope you remember me mentioning in my last topic on this series about how we as a family get excited about road trips. Having said that, planning to drive during a vacation comes with its own share of huge responsibilities. If you have booked a tour operator, you will have nothing to worry about the planning. But the moment you decide to take the wheel yourself, there are a whole lot of aspects involved that need to be considered.

It all starts with a simple decision of what is the origin and destination of your road trip. Where would you like to start the drive where do you want to end it. Everything else in between are just pit stops, some short ones and others longer. We call this route planning. We usually avoid driving through cities, if feasible, and plan the trip through more scenic routes to enjoy the best what nature has to offer us.

Let us not forget the fact that while on a vacation, especially to a location you had never been before, everything is new for you. Every single bit is an experience. The question that begs to be answered is what is important for you or your family to include in the route you planned.

Obviously, there will be numerous choices, and it is easy to get lost. Here is where you apply the delicate balancing act of considering the wishes of each one of the family members so that you don’t end up disappointing someone. One of the recent road trips we did from London to Scotland, we combined a mix of beautiful villages which Ruby and I adored along with castles and other attractions, many of which were shooting locations for Harry Potter movies. Kids went wild with that!

You can start with making a list of well-known attractions on your route. It is so easy these days with tonnes of information available on internet. Travel blogs, websites such as Trip Advisor and various other sources give you lot of details and make it easy for you to come up with an initial list. The challenge will be to short list the attractions and align it as closely as possible to the route you planned. Else you will end up in too much of deviations costing you time and money.

Just make sure that you take the advice from various sources with a pinch of salt, since people usually write based on their personal experiences which may or may not apply to you. Some of the best examples are hotel reviews where what could be a perfect experience for you may be totally unacceptable for another traveller. Hence your decisions based on another person’s experience may not always be correct. The value attributed to attractions are another classic case. What could be an out-of-the-world experience for you could just be another tick in the box for someone. Choose wisely.

Remember to have a Plan B ready to respond to any changes while you are on the trip. Anything can go wrong in an unplanned trip. Weather changes, road closures, incorrect understanding of the information you obtained, accidental route deviations and what not? During our last trip in Scotland, we planned to reach the beautiful Isle of Skye by crossing a bridge from the mainland but were stupefied as we drove into a small port town of Mallaig which was the dead-end. The only option was to take a ferry to the island from the port which unfortunately we could not, since the ferry was full by the time our turn reached. We got the amount refunded, but Plan A did not work out that day. Instead, we explored the lovely town of Mallaig where we could even experience ‘The Jacobite Steam Train’ better known as Hogwarts Express!

 

Vacations should be all about fun. There will always be unknowns. All what we need to remind ourselves is not to fret if something goes wrong, instead be prepared and adapt accordingly.

 

The elf has many more stories to tell you. Until next time, drive safe and have fun!

 

Why do I write?

I have been asked this question a few times. Occasionally the question changes to how do I get time to write? Usually, I just smile and attribute that as the blessing from Above. Today I decided to give it a thought. Without much burning of my grey matter, I reached an answer. Here you go, the much-awaited revelation!

Picture this.

My mobile starts to sound at 4 AM on the assigned day of the week. A specific alarm goes off which I had kept as a reminder. I reach for my phone and the text on the alarm reads, 'Time for the next story'. I head to my favourite corner in the house taking the laptop and specs with me.

I pull the chair and get settled. The coffee cup, my constant companion for all my writings is promptly present on the desk. I then take out a lengthy list of topics and select a random one to write for the day.

The writing process begins and exactly after thirty minutes and thirty seconds, a story is ready with its title. One round of proof reading, followed by selecting an appropriate picture from my collection and as magical as it could get, the article is ready for posting in the relevant social media!

Hope you enjoyed the above fiction? Now let us talk reality.

Most often, a thought comes to me at the least of the probable locations. In the middle of washing dishes or waiting at a red signal or picking up the usual list of groceries, what not? There is nothing fancy to the inception of the idea though I would not say the same to the evolution of the thread. It is literally like formation of a new life. Sometimes the idea grows and flourishes within my brain. Then there are other times when it dies down.

The thought that was lucky enough to bloom inside me, will soon reach a stage when it needs to be given birth. That is when, somehow, I find the time to quickly put that down on my laptop. The only thing common from the fiction above and reality, is the selection of the picture from my clicks that suits the write-up.

Writing, is a passion. I do not find time for it. It finds me. I will continue to pursue this as long as Providence smiles at me.

Hope each one you experience something passionate that drives you beyond the usual grind of life and enjoy while it lasts...

 

Mother Hen Managers

If you were lucky enough to grow up in an environment where you saw how a hen raised her chicks, I shall say you had been privy to one of the greatest lessons you could ever learn from mother nature. Do not be surprised, if I say, the learning from this experience applies to all managers across the corporate world and, closer home, to all parents as well, irrespective of your gender.

Soon after the eggs hatch, the mother hen takes the chicks along with her and searches for food and feeds them with what she finds. The process continues for a while until a day arrives when you will see a significant behavioural change in mother hen. Instead of keeping the chicks closer to her, finding and feeding them with food she searched for, she now appears to mercilessly drive them away. The action is not to be considered as a lack of love, instead one that is intended to make the chicks self sufficient so that they can find food and feed themselves. That is the only way they will survive the big bad world out there.

Now let me take you to the corporate world we are in. We see two kinds of managers exhibiting behaviours you read in the above statements. There are those who constantly feed aka nurture the people who report to them. These are the managers who feel it is easier if they get things done for their team so that it is helpful for the team to finish the pieces of work. This is a behaviour, that is expressed, at times, due to fear of incompletion and other times from an obsessively compulsive nature which do not let these managers delegate their work. Then there are others who constantly challenge their direct reports to go above and beyond their capabilities so that one day they become equal or even better than the managers themselves.

I have been fortunate in my career to have worked with both kinds of managers. While the first ones may appear quite regressive, in the initial years of your career, getting a manager like that helps you as a shield from the wrath of some of the senior executives, when you make mistakes. But as you grow into senior positions, you may want this shield to be broken and learn to fend for yourself, in which case, a manager of the latter kind is better.

Interesting enough, closer to our families, these behaviours resonate well with each of us as parents or children. Parents who help their children with everything always, may think they are helping them survive. But the fact remains that the parents who are like the mother hen who wanted the children to be self-sufficient will be doing a great deal more of a service to their children in the long run.

We all don the roles of either the children or parents. Like it or not, these roles are inadvertently laced with our corporate personas. On this Mother’s Day, when we celebrate mothers, what else can be a good reminder than the mother hen and her strategy to empower those who work with us.

Happy Mother’s Day to all managers out there, irrespective of your gender, who learned from this simple yet powerful lesson from mother hen!

ULD on Rails – An Underground Airport Magic!

One of the most exciting news from the aviation world last week related to the expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport (DWC) in Dubai was the announcement of a plan to have an underground railway network for transporting passengers across Terminals. This will enable high speed movement of passengers at the airport thereby saving precious travel time and facilitate on-time departure better.

Many times, changes such as these get limited to what a passenger see at the forefront. Operations behind the scenes get omitted or parked for future which may or may not become a reality.

Being in Airport Operations in the current assignment, news of underground train for passengers, got my colleagues and I thinking on a parallel business case for ground handling. If an extremely complex operations such as passenger movement can be facilitated underground, what is stopping an airport planned at the scale of DWC from thinking of ULD transportation in a similar manner to take bags, cargo and other products across the length and breadth of the airport?

DWC is already speaking of passenger volumes of 260 million making it 2.5 times more than the busiest airport in the entire world at present, the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. When you operate at such high volumes, you need to have an automated and extremely agile design for both passengers and rest of the products that need transportation at an airport.  

Unit Load Device (ULD) refers to the container in which a ground handler carries bags, cargo and other products such as courier, aircraft spares etc. for an airline and delivered to the aircraft awaiting departure and vice versa. Most of the airports as we know today have this operation handled as an activity above the ground. There are certain exceptions such as Dubai International Airport (DXB) where bags are transported underground through a high-speed baggage handling system which is a smart and intelligent automated installation which takes the bags to its right destination.

Like the automated baggage movement, the idea is to have ULDs filled with these bags or cargo or other products travel below the ground, programmed to reach the destination intended. If it is for a departing flight, the ULDs reach the bay just in time where an aircraft is parked and injected up to the ground level so that these units can be loaded safely.

What could be even better is if the automation can be extended to have these ULDs loaded without the help of manual intervention. The concept of Robotics as we speak has developed enough to make this a reality. The reverse feed applies to an arrival aircraft where the ULDs are automatically unloaded and injected down to an unmanned programmed transport mechanism whereby it heads to the intended baggage carrousels or cargo warehouse depending on the product loaded in the units.

The whole idea may sound colossal but is something we could think only at the time an initial design of an airport is getting sketched. Nothing suits the bill better than DWC which aspires to be the most automated airport in the world. The benefits are numerous. The busiest airports in the world today itself require hundreds of equipment operators driving tractors across the airport to transport bags and cargo to and from the aircrafts. Imagine taking this entire traffic below the ground sans the drivers and tractors. It is a benefit straight away to decongest the otherwise busy operations on ground in a highly optimized manner with zero dependency on people thereby eliminating manual intervention.

An airport being a finite area with clearly defined boundaries and locations for bays and other operational areas, designing this should really be feasible. Combine this with automated underground passenger transport, we are looking at efficiencies reaching heights never before seen, making large scale airport operations seemingly simple.

Here is an earnest wish from a passionate aviation enthusiast, bestowing full power to the airports of the future where people will happily hang out doing what they love and spending to their heart’s content instead of wondering when they will move forward while waiting in the queue!

Tale of Two Knights

The war was on. King summoned both his Knights. They had pledged their allegiance to the kingdom in their blood. Off they went, two powerful Knights heading East and West since the attack was from both sides. 

K1, the first Knight waged an epic battle against a mighty enemy. He applied all techniques of war learned over time and came out victorious with not even a single scratch on any of his men. It was a flawless display of brilliant strategy and skill. History named it, the Battle of Usual.

K2, the second Knight had to face the fiercest attack in his whole life. He lost hundreds of men and suffered severe damage to the troops. It was a total bloodbath. Nevertheless, fight he did, a battle that went down in the history of the kingdom as the one that was fought by the bravest Knight ever. Victory finally was with him, while the chroniclers turned a blind eye towards the lives lost. History named it the Battle of Extraordinary.

Centuries went by. History students still learn and speak high of the Battle of Extraordinary while the chapter on Battle of Usual was forgotten and eventually removed from the annals of History. The reason: Usual brilliance was underrated than extraordinary mediocrity. 

The Wooden Throne

Imagine you are a VP in an organization managing operations at one of the Latin American countries. One day, you get a call from the headquarters in Europe to join an urgent meeting with the rest of the VPs. 

Before even you knew it, you are appointed as the CEO of the parent company. The position comes with a unique authority which is absolutely unquestionable. That was not all. You are to lead an enterprise that has its nerve centre in a country for which you are even the Head of the State! 

Now let us talk about the geographical spread of the firm. There are probably only a handful of countries in the world where you do not have your offices and operations established. Needless to say, the revenue generated and assets owned by all these entities are quite formidable. It is worth mentioning the numerous priceless historical artefacts the firm owns by virtue of being a vital part of world history for more than two thousand years. 

You can stop imagining now. Let us talk reality. What I pictured above is just a glimpse of what Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio went through on 13 March 2013 when he was proclaimed Pope, the Head of Catholic Church, as 266th successor of St Peter.

One word to define him: Reformer!

Enough had already been spoken about him. I would love to share just one personal experience that deeply influenced me. Soon after he was elected, in one of the initial public addressing, Pope Francis made a small change which created a significant and lasting impact on people across the world. He discarded the traditional grand papal throne and replaced it with a simple white wooden chair. A message that was loud and clear. Far better than a million words put together to convey the need for simplicity and change. 

Leaders such as these come rarely. Probably once a century. But the legacy they leave lasts forever!

Papa, may your soul rest in eternal peace 🙏🏼

Gas Trouble!

If you ask us as a family, the road trips we had in our vacations till date, are one of the best experiences we cherish other than the holiday itself. I am pretty sure this will remain for all our future trips as well, since nothing can beat the spontaneity and the thrill of driving down and appreciating what the road ahead has in store for us, literally.

Having said that, I have no intention to belittle those who enjoy the comfort of an arranged bus tour and follow an itinerary charted by someone else for you. At the end of the day, it is all about personal choices and what really matter is that you should create memories that last a lifetime.

The most important aspect of having a peaceful road trip is to ensure that you have a good vehicle that provides you the required comfort and takes good care of you during the planned road trip in the vacation. I will probably give more tips later about planning for the vehicle and some of the tricks we apply in our journey. Today I want to touch upon another baffling experience while we were on our road trip in Scotland.

As many of you are aware, unlike in Middle East or India, the fuel / gas stations are primarily self-serviced in Europe and Western world in general. There are places where you can fill fuel and pay at the counter of a shop attached to the station. Then there are others where you first pay for the fuel at the counter and return to your car to fill up. The former was quite common in Scotland, and we went about with no surprises whatsoever.

One of the evenings, we were nearing a town we had planned to stay that night. The fuel in the car was getting closer to minimum level and we thought it would be better to get the car topped up before it is too late. The clock was inching closer to six in the evening. Though the sun was working extra time being summer, the rain gods started to do their bit. We spotted a fuel station with a sign board stating, ‘Next one after 75 kilometres.’ A sign to be respected indeed!

As I pulled the car into the station, I could not help but notice how deserted the station looked. There was a store next to it, but unfortunately it was locked. Luckily, we found out that the fuel pump had a card reader attached to it which we could use to make payment. Thus, we found out a third variant of fuel stations in Europe. The unmanned station. What a way to share the joy of discoverers across the world!

I tried making the payment for GBP 50. The machine asked me twice to tap the card which I found a bit strange. Nevertheless, since we were in dire need for fuel I made the payment, filled the fuel and got a receipt for GBP 50. Shortly we reached our destination, but just before we hit the sack, I was casually looking at our bank account and saw a charge for GBP 100 against the fuel we filled earlier in the evening. It was a shocker to say the least! Since it was quite late in the evening, we decided to call the bank the next day morning and figure out the details of the double charge.

Morning came and before we made the call to the bank, we stopped at another fuel station to buy something. While being there, I shared my experience from the previous day with the staff at the store. That was when the guy told me, certain unmanned fuel stations have this feature where they charge you double the amount of actual fuel consumed. This was to ensure the validity of the card and apparently, they will revert the additional amount in 24 hours. It all sounded a bit too strange for us. Nevertheless, we decided to wait for another day and check the bank account again.

Obviously the first thing we checked the next day morning was our bank account. To our relief and much joy, we saw the additional amount reverted by the bank. This was a brand-new experience altogether in our trips till date.

No wonder it is said that there is no better teacher than travel!

Resurrection in Kitchen!

It was nothing but a usual grocery shopping day. I was at Lulu Hypermarket, a place where people from the state of Kerala, perhaps spent a considerable percentage of their time in life to pick up groceries and other household items.

I was at an area in the store where emotions had no role to play. But that was not the case for me. Especially when I am at the vegetables section and every time I walk past the aisle where they placed cabbages, I could hear the entire world laughing at me. The incident that triggered this emotional roller coaster in my mind happened a few years ago.

It was a summer vacation time. I was alone in Dubai and my family had gone back home to India. The culinary scientist in me decided to prepare a typical Kerala dish made of cabbage and coconut. It was supposed to be one of the simplest recipes that could be achieved by even the least of the chefs. I did exactly that.

The dish was ready soon, and I was absolutely delighted with the master chef in me who could give life to such wonderful creations. Alas! There was no one to testify that. Nevertheless, destiny had other plans. Before I closed the pan in which the cabbage dish was made, I decided to apply the spirit of a true-to-heart experimental personality.

I did not even think twice before I took half a sliced lemon and squeezed the entire content of that pure sourness into the heavenly dish I just finished preparing. Needless to say, it didn’t occur to me to experiment with a smaller quantity. Instead, I applied the lemon all over the dish! It was time to taste the most unique cabbage preparation in the world. My taste buds tingled with flavours that are unknown to mankind. It indeed was unique in all respects. All what it took was less than a fraction of a second for the whole serving to swiftly find its way to the trash can. It was a disaster to say the least.

To be true to my most innocent self, I promptly narrated the whole story to my family. Instead of pats of empathy and hugs of consolation, I was a victim of the most ruthless form of cynicism that I became the epitome of someone who belonged to a space farthest from the kitchen.

All these and more from the deepest trenches of my painful memories from the past came marching back when I saw a cabbage looking at me from a rack of Lulu that day. The wounded, but not dead warrior I am, rose up from the predicted doom by the world around me. I grabbed a beautiful looking cabbage weighing about a kilogram and promptly headed home with a steely determination to prove to the universe what it really meant to be a master chef.

I reached home and in no time one of the best cabbage dishes was ready. The other great chef at home even certified it as perfect. I have lived my dream. My disturbed spirit now experiences an unparalleled bliss.

Moral of the story: Be it home or office, make mistakes, take on all the rubbish that come your way, but ensure that you live another day to prove to the world your true worth!

 

ചിരിയുടെ നോവ്

ഞാൻ വെട്ടി ഒരുക്കിയ കാനനം നിനക്ക് നടവരമ്പുകൾ ആയി, 

കല്ലും മുള്ളും നിറഞ്ഞ പാതകളിൽ നിനക്കായി ഞാൻ മെതിയടികളായി. 

എന്റെ കയ്യിൻ തഴമ്പുകൾ നിന്റെ കൈകളെ മൃദുലമാക്കി, 

ആ കൈകൾ കൊണ്ട് നിന്റെ കുഞ്ഞിന്റെ മൃദുമേനിയിൽ നീ തലോടി. 

നീ മഴ നനഞ്ഞു കുളിരാതിരിക്കാൻ കുടയായി നീ എന്നെ ചൂടി, 

കത്തിയെരിയുന്ന ജീവിതത്തിലെ മീനമാസങ്ങളിൽ തൊണ്ട വരണ്ടപ്പോഴും, 

ഞാൻ ബാക്കി വെച്ച വെള്ളം നിനക്ക് ദാഹശമനി ആയി. 

അങ്ങനെ അങ്ങനെ അങ്ങനെ ഞാൻ കരുതിവച്ച പലതും നിന്റെ ജീവിതത്തിന്റെ സ്ഥിരനിക്ഷേപങ്ങൾ ആയി. 

എങ്കിലും പഴുത്തിലകൾ വീഴുമ്പോൾ പച്ചിലകൾ ചിരിച്ചു കൊണ്ടേയിരിക്കും, 

ഒരു നാൾ മാഞ്ഞുപോകുമെന്ന് അറിയാതെയുള്ള ചിരി...

ഏട്ടത്തി പ്രാവ്

തൊണ്ണൂറുകളുടെ അവസാനം, കൃത്യമായി പറഞ്ഞാൽ 1997 ജനുവരി മാസം. ചങ്ങനാശ്ശേരി എന്ന പുരാതന നഗരത്തിലെ പ്രശസ്തമായ കലാലയങ്ങളിൽ ഒന്നായ SB കോളേജിൽ പ്രീഡിഗ്രിക്ക് പഠിക്കുന്ന കാലം. പത്തു വർഷക്കാലത്തെ സ്കൂൾ ജീവിതത്തിനു ശേഷം കലാലയ ജീവിതം എന്ന സവിശേഷമായ ആനന്ദം അനുഭവിച്ചു പോന്നിരുന്ന നാളുകൾ. 

ഈ സമയത്താണ് മലയാള സിനിമയിൽ ഒരു മഹാത്ഭുതം സംഭവിക്കുന്നത്. അനിയത്തിപ്രാവ് എന്ന പേരിൽ ഒരു സിനിമ പുറത്തിറങ്ങി. തരളിതമായ വികാരങ്ങൾ ഏറ്റവും ഭംഗിയായി പ്രേക്ഷക മനസ്സിൽ ഉണർത്തിയ സിനിമയായിരുന്നു അത്. അതോടൊപ്പം ഇന്ന് കേരളം ഭയന്നു വിറക്കുന്ന ലഹരിയുടെ മറ്റൊരു രൂപവും അന്ന് കാണാൻ സാധിച്ചു. ഭയം എന്ന വികാരത്തിന് പകരം പ്രേമം എന്ന വികാരത്തിന് കേരളം അടിമപ്പെട്ടു. അക്കാലത്ത് ജീവിച്ചിരുന്ന ഒട്ടുമിക്ക യുവ മനസ്സുകളെയും ആൺ പെൺ വ്യത്യാസമില്ലാതെ, മാസ്മരികമായ സൗന്ദര്യത്തിലൂടെയും ചടുലമായ നൃത്തച്ചുവടുകൾ കൊണ്ടും വെള്ളിത്തിരയുടെ മാന്ത്രിക ലഹരിക്ക് അടിമപ്പെടുത്തിയ ഒരു യുവ നടൻ ജനിച്ചു. പേര് കുഞ്ചാക്കോ ബോബൻ അഥവാ മലയാളികളുടെ പ്രിയപ്പെട്ട ചാക്കോച്ചൻ. ആ കാലഘട്ടത്തിൽ ചെറുപ്പക്കാരുടെ ഹൃദയങ്ങളിൽ ഇത്രയേറെ പ്രേമത്തിന്റെ വികാരങ്ങൾ മുളപ്പിച്ച ഒരു നടൻ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നോ എന്ന് ചോദിച്ചാൽ ഉത്തരം മറ്റൊന്നാവില്ല.

ചങ്ങനാശ്ശേരിയിൽ ഏഡൻസ് എന്ന പേരിൽ എൻറെ അപ്പൻ ഒരു ഐസ്ക്രീം പാർലർ തുടങ്ങിയിട്ട് ഏകദേശം 5 വർഷമായിരുന്നു. അനിയത്തിപ്രാവിന് മുമ്പ് പ്രീഡിഗ്രി കാലഘട്ടത്തിൽ ചാക്കോച്ചൻ പഠിച്ചിരുന്നത് SB കോളേജിൽ തന്നെയായിരുന്നു. അന്ന് കൂടെ പഠിച്ച സുഹൃത്തുക്കളെ കാണാനായി ഒരു ദിവസം ചാക്കോച്ചൻ ഏഡൻസിലെത്തി. അനിയത്തിപ്രാവിന്റെ റിലീസിന് ഏതാനും ദിവസങ്ങൾക്ക് ശേഷം ആയിരുന്നു അത്. കേരളം ചാക്കോച്ചനെ അറിഞ്ഞ് വരുന്നതേയുള്ളൂ. ചാക്കോച്ചൻ എത്തി, സുഹൃത്തുക്കളുമായി സംസാരിച്ചുതുടങ്ങി.

അപ്പോഴാണ് കുറച്ചപ്പുറത്ത് മാറി ഒരു ടേബിളിൽ നാലഞ്ച് യുവ സുന്ദരികൾ ഇരിക്കുന്നത് ചാക്കോച്ചൻ കാണുന്നത്. അനിയത്തിപ്രാവിന്റെ ഷൂട്ടിംഗ് സമയത്ത് എടുത്ത ഫോട്ടോസ് അടങ്ങിയ രണ്ടുമൂന്ന് ആൽബങ്ങളുമായി ആ പെൺകുട്ടികളുടെ അടുത്തേക്ക് നടന്നു. അവിടെ ചെന്ന് അവർക്ക് ആൽബം കൊടുത്തുകൊണ്ട് എല്ലാവരെയും മയക്കുന്ന ആ ചിരിയും ചിരിച്ചു അവിടെ നിന്നു. കൂട്ടത്തിലുണ്ടായിരുന്ന ഒരു കുട്ടി ആൽബം മറിച്ച് നോക്കി വിടർന്ന് മിഴികളോടുകൂടി ചാക്കോച്ചന്റെ മുഖത്ത് നോക്കി ഒരു ചോദ്യം ചോദിച്ചു:

'ഈ ഫോട്ടോയിലെ എല്ലാവരെയും ഞങ്ങൾക്ക് മനസ്സിലായി. പക്ഷേ താനാരാ?'

ഇന്ന്, അനിയത്തിപ്രാവ് ഇറങ്ങി 28 വർഷങ്ങൾക്ക് ശേഷം ചാക്കോച്ചൻ ഒരിക്കൽ കൂടി ആ പെൺകുട്ടിയെ കണ്ടുമുട്ടുകയാണെങ്കിൽ എന്തായിരിക്കും ആ കുട്ടിക്ക് പറയാനുണ്ടാവുക!

Professor Drumstick – Mentorship Lessons

It was the second anniversary of my dad’s passing last month. I was speaking to mom, and she recollected an incident related to him and a drumstick plant he nurtured while he was around but never bore any fruits till last month.

Dad used to take care of the plant as if it was his child and watered it daily. He even gave timely manure which promptly let the plant grow tall and branch out beautifully. But for some reason the plant never flowered nor gave any fruits. My mom knew what the issue was and told him not to water daily since drumstick is a drought friendly plant. Dad never stopped and continued with his ritual till his last days.

After his passing, the drumstick plant was finally left to fend for itself. On the second anniversary of my dad, as though the plant wanted to celebrate the freedom, it flowered big time and subsequently all the flowers turned into fruits as well.

As soon as mom finished narrating the story, I couldn’t help but think about many of us who go through a similar situation in life. No, I am not talking about the experience with plants, instead our experience with being a mentee or a mentor.

Many of us who had a mentor in our life most likely would have experienced mentorship in one of the two ways. In the first case, we may be blessed with a mentor who usually has a larger-than-life image in our mind helps us to understand the aspects of what we are being mentored and scale up so that we can handle things ourselves. The latter is when a similar larger-than-life mentor remains that forever though while helping you to understand the nuances of mentorship, rarely allows you to scale up beyond your current capabilities.

The first kind of mentor is the ideal one who believes in you and trusts you to deliver independently after a while even when they are not around. Just the way the drumstick plant would have felt after my dad was gone. While the second kind of mentor accidentally or otherwise, limits the true potential of their mentee, and the mentee ends up with a growth that seems quite commendable, but after a point reaches a stagnation and does not yield any results whatsoever. Just the way the drumstick plant was when it was being watered daily. This is nothing but patronizing and not mentoring.

Now I have a question each for all the mentees and mentors out there. If you are a mentor, ask yourself what kind of mentorship school do you belong to? Do you truly nurture your mentees and allow them to come out in flying colours or are you the kind that stops their growth thinking that they are not ready yet for the world? Believe me, if you are a good mentor, your mentee will be ready to fly out provided you cut the rope that holds them back. Try it out once and you will be surprised to see the results for yourself.

The question to the mentees is trickier. Do you feel yourself being stifled by your mentor and not being allowed enough freedom to do what you would experiment based on your learning? If so, you now have a responsibility to clearly articulate that to your mentor. Most of the mentors will understand. Else find the courage to break-free from the shackles of such patronizing mentorship and push your boundaries with a never-before tried courage so that you will realize sky is not the limit.

While I know it is a thin line that differentiates the two types of mentorships, my earnest wish to all mentors and mentees out there is to listen to your hearts and do what is right!  

സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിലെ മുരിങ്ങ

ബാങ്ക് ഉദ്യോഗത്തിൽ നിന്ന് വിരമിച്ച് ഏകദേശം ഒരു ദശാബ്ദ കാലം മറ്റുപല തിരക്കുകളുമായി അപ്പൻ നല്ല ഓട്ടത്തിലായിരുന്നു. അങ്ങനെയിരിക്കയാണ് സ്വതവേ താല്പര്യമുള്ള കൃഷിയുടെ ലോകത്തേക്ക് കൂടുതൽ കടന്നാലോ എന്നൊരു ചിന്ത ഉണ്ടായത്. അതിന് ബലം കിട്ടാനായി ഒരു ചെറിയ വസ്തു വീടിനടുത്ത് തന്നെ മേടിച്ചു. അവിടെ നിലമൊരുക്കി പലതരത്തിലുള്ള പച്ചക്കറികളും പഴവർഗങ്ങളും നട്ടുപിടിപ്പിച്ചു. ആ കൂട്ടത്തിൽ ആ വസ്തുവിന്റെ ഒത്ത നടുക്കായി ഒരു മുരിങ്ങ ചെടിയും നട്ടിരുന്നു.

ദിവസവും എല്ലാ ചെടികളെയും സ്വന്തം മക്കളെ എന്നപോലെ അപ്പൻ നോക്കി. വളമിടലും വെള്ളം ഒഴിക്കലും എല്ലാം തകൃതിയായി നടന്നു. ഒന്നിന് പുറകെ ഒന്നായി ചെടികളൊക്കെ തന്നെ പൂക്കളും കായ്കളും നൽകി അപ്പൻറെ ഉദ്യമത്തെ അനുഗ്രഹിച്ചു.

എല്ലാ ചെടികളും നന്നായി വന്നപ്പോഴും മുരിങ്ങ മാത്രം പൂവിട്ടില്ല, കായും തന്നില്ല. അപ്പൻ വളമിടലും വെള്ളം ഒഴിക്കലും തുടർന്ന് പോന്നു. സ്ഥിരമായി മുരിങ്ങയ്ക്ക് വെള്ളമൊഴിച്ചു കൊണ്ടിരുന്ന അപ്പനോട് അമ്മ പറഞ്ഞു 'ഡാഡി, മുരിങ്ങയ്ക്ക് ഇത്രയും വെള്ളം ആവശ്യമില്ല അതിനെ കുറച്ച് കാലം വെറുതെ വിട്. അപ്പൊ പൂക്കുകയും ചെയ്യും, കായും ഉണ്ടാവും'.

സ്വാഭാവികമായും അപ്പൻ അത് കേട്ടില്ല. മുരിങ്ങ തുടർന്നും വെള്ളം കുടിച്ചു കൊണ്ടേയിരുന്നു. അങ്ങനെ ഏകദേശം മൂന്ന് നാല് വർഷങ്ങൾ കടന്നുപോയി. മുരിങ്ങ ഒരു മാറ്റവും ഇല്ലാതെ നിന്നു.

ഇതിനിടയ്ക്ക് സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിൽ ഒരു അത്യാവശ്യ വേക്കൻസി വന്നപ്പോൾ ദൈവം തമ്പുരാൻ ആളയച്ച് അപ്പനെ അങ്ങ് വിളിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് പോയി. പിന്നെ രണ്ടു കൊല്ലക്കാലം മുരിങ്ങ ശരിക്കും പട്ടിണിയിലായിരുന്നു.

അപ്പൻ സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിൽ ചെന്നതിന്റെ രണ്ടാം വാർഷികം ആഘോഷിക്കാൻ എന്നവണ്ണം ഈ വർഷം കഴിഞ്ഞ മാസം മുരിങ്ങ തകർത്തു പൂത്തു. ഒന്നാന്തരമായി പൂക്കളെല്ലാം കായ് ആവുകയും ചെയ്തു.

അങ്ങനെയിരിക്കെ ഈ മാസം എൻറെ മറ്റൊരു പിറന്നാൾ വന്നു ചേർന്നു. എല്ലാ കൊല്ലവും പിറന്നാളിന്റെ അന്ന് വെളുപ്പിനെ കോഴി കൂവുന്നതിനു മുമ്പ് തന്നെ അപ്പൻറെ ഒരു ഫോൺകോൾ വരുമായിരുന്നു. കഴിഞ്ഞ രണ്ടു വർഷമായി പിറന്നാളിന്റെ അന്ന് ഏറ്റവും കൂടുതൽ ഞാൻ ആഗ്രഹിച്ചിരുന്നതും എന്നാൽ കിട്ടില്ല എന്ന് അറിയാമായിരുന്നതും മറ്റൊന്നായിരുന്നില്ല.

അപ്പോഴാണ് നാട്ടിൽ നിന്ന് ഒരു കസിൻ ചേച്ചി ദുബായിലുള്ള മകളുടെ അടുക്കൽ എത്തിയ കാര്യം അറിഞ്ഞത്. എൻറെ പിറന്നാളിന്റെ അന്ന് കാണാമെന്ന് അവർ പറയുകയും ചെയ്തു. അന്നത്തെ ഓഫീസ് തിരക്കുകൾ എല്ലാം കഴിഞ്ഞ് വൈകുന്നേരം ഞങ്ങളെല്ലാവരും ഒന്നിച്ചുകൂടി. അവർ കൊണ്ടുവന്ന ഒരു പിറന്നാൾ കേക്ക് മുറിച്ച് മധുരം പങ്കിട്ട് കുറേക്കാലം കൂടി എല്ലാവരെയും കണ്ടതിന്റെ സന്തോഷവും ഒക്കെ ആയി വളരെ ഭംഗിയുള്ള ഒരു പിറന്നാൾ ആഘോഷം നടന്നു. എല്ലാം കഴിഞ്ഞപ്പോൾ ചേച്ചി എൻറെ കയ്യിൽ ഒരു കവർ തന്നിട്ട് പറഞ്ഞു, 'ഇത് നിൻറെ മമ്മി തന്നു വിട്ടതാണ്. എന്താണെന്ന് തുറന്നു നോക്ക്.'

എന്റെ നാല്പത്തിനാലു വർഷത്തെ പിറന്നാൾ സമ്മാനങ്ങളുടെ കൂട്ടത്തിൽ ഏറ്റവും വിലമതിക്കാനാവാത്ത ഒരു സമ്മാനമായിരുന്നു ആ കവറിൽ. വർഷങ്ങൾക്ക് മുൻപ് അപ്പൻ വച്ചുപിടിപ്പിച്ച മുരിങ്ങ ചെടിയിൽ ഉണ്ടായ അഞ്ചാറു കായ്ക്കൾ. അപ്പൻ സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിൽ ചെന്ന് രണ്ട് വർഷത്തിനുശേഷം അവിടുന്ന് അയച്ചുതന്നത് പോലെ.

ഞാനാ കവർ അടച്ചുവച്ചതും അപ്പൻറെ ചിരിക്കുന്ന മുഖം മനസ്സിൽ തെളിഞ്ഞു.

പെട്ടെന്ന് അവിടെ ഒരു അശരീരി മുഴങ്ങിയത് പോലെ എനിക്ക് തോന്നി, 'ഇപ്പോഴെങ്കിലും മനസ്സിലായോ ഞാൻ വെള്ളമൊഴിച്ചതിന്റെ ഗുണം?'

അപ്പൻ സ്വർഗ്ഗത്തിലും അപ്പൻ തന്നെ. ഒരു മാറ്റവും ഇല്ല!