Of the system and the ways of tackling it

Last few months at A_L has made us witness diverse transactions, situations and the mindset behind those actions. Being the “socially recluse” person that I am (and someone whose childhood dream was to become a psychologist), it’s delightful to observe people’s reactions to a situation and the thought process by which they function. The existence of the system and the ways of tackling it is an area which has affected almost everybody’s lives. Numerous books have been written on such experiences, numerous discussions have ensued, but the topic still remains a debator’s delight.

What propelled me to share my thoughts on the subject was a candid discussion with one of our clients on his style of running an organization. The way an organization functions becomes an unfettered rule of law known as “the System”. What follows is the league of men trying to emulate the existing system as the basis of their existence. From within this league of ordinary men, a few extraordinary beings emerge who decide to challenge the system either for their own good or for general society’s advantage. For doing so, they can either fight the system head on, take up the lone battle and emerge a contended victorious aka Jerry Maguire or manipulate the system in a manner that the system itself does not know that it is being taken for a ride aka Lalit Modi.

I am not writing here on the relative merits/demerits of the respective methods and am definitely not defending Lalit Modi’s manipulations, but on the question that has been crossing my mind since the eventful discussion, has fighting the system become passé? I’ll leave it on you to decide.

Battlefields and tweets!!

A couple of weeks back, I went club hopping with some of my buddies. More often than not I find myself a misfit in such situations and would rather prefer a rooftop bon-fire party on a chilly winter night (or a summer night at a high altitutde). But this was something i will remember for some time to come. Though nothing spectacular took place, I saw myself getting quite a few inquisitive stares from people around. One good lad actually raised a mug of beer in my direction as a toast. Now, all this was a little awry 'cause i am definitely not used to be treated as a celebrity. On introspection, i realised it was the shirt tht i was was wearing, which, in very visible figures had "Siachen: I was there" written. To supplement it, another nice logo of Indian Army and a caption of "World's highest battlefield". Now , I have managed to reach the Brigade Headquarters at Pattapur and as far as the Advanced Landing Ground, but definitely have not been to siachen. This T shirt was gifted by a close buddy who relishes the time he spends in the battlefields of Siachen. Having an expanse of an area covering a few mountains and a substantial part of the glacier under his command gives him a 'high' of its own kind and he seems to enjoy every bit of it. It is interesting to see him and my father exchanging their views on the status of the area whenever he is here. The last time i had a chat with him, he was fuming on the attention that I got on the shirt. Maybe, a fair bit of jealousy on my getting the attention drawn from his "sweat". Though, when I told him that I could not vouch for a single pretty girl (the 'admirers'/onlookers being a bunch of kids), he felt better and promised to get me another. On another weekend, I went and saw "Hurt Locker" with another friend who has just completed his probation with the Para regiment, and now is a proud member of the elite Special Forces of Indian Army. Got some pretty interesting updates on Counter Terrorism strategies for which they are trained in. Its good to see my friends finding themselves amidst their own versions of Battlefields, and to add to it, they seem to be having a rocking time. Though, admittedly, it is a different ball game altogether if bullets are being showered on to you.



In retrospect, for the breed of people that surround me, battlefields are not necessarily something thrown at them. Rather, they see it as a situation they have been longing for and get their respective "highs" from the uncertainity that surrounds them. When they have negative opinions on their jobs, which they occassionally share with me, I struggle to graple with the difference in variations of our midset. Considering, till a few years back, we went to the same school/college and had a similar routine and mindset, the difference in our perceptions amaze me and am sure that the gap will get better with age. But somewhere down the line, we all will realise the dimensions of the battlefields that we are a part of and will be amazed at the sheer magnitude of decisions that we take in our day to day lives that have an impact tomorrow.

We ourselves have been facing some mini-battles. Plannning to move into a plush new office (albeit after a year and a half), we have been busy closing the deal for the new place. Every aspect involves enrmous rounds of negotiations and clarifications and we find ourselves taking very very important decisions which would have an impact for a forseable future. And to add to it all, seeing your bank balance run dry (again) and a liquidity does not entail a feel good factor.

On another note, this week the media has actively taken up the issue of Modi v. Tharoor and the associated heads that are going to roll with it. Well, I was personally dissappointed with the treatment meted out to Mr. Tharoor . I personally have a lot of admiration for his eloquence and his mastery over his subject matter , though the poor chap is a bit of a misfit in politics. He should have read the writing on the wall when he failed to make it to the Secretary General's post. He is the quintissential 'Keeda' (a term of respect in our circle to describe a person who always is prone to land into trouble). While he is happy tweeting away to glory, another technocrat, who was appoined along with him is busy entrenching himself in the complex world of finding yet another unique ID for the indian citizen. In conferences and seminars, he is seen with his ex-colleagues and I refuse to believe that he is not being informed of major projects at Infy. To me (strictly my personal opinion), Lalit Modi, Shahi Tharoor and Nandan Nilekani represent the coloqial concoction of bringing technocrats to manage projects of national importance (yes, I would definitely give that importance to IPL). Mr. Modi was assigned the task of making IPL into a global brand, Mr. Nilekani was to use his expertise in IT to make UID a functioning reality and Mr. Tharoor was to use his networking to push india's case for permanent seat on UN Security Council. It is, but human, that each of the three, essentially never being public servants, would try to derive some personal benefit through their offices. Would you expect Mr. Nilekani to close his eyes when infosys, a company that he has founded and nurtured, presents its bid in the project? Or wouldnt it be natural for Mr. Nilekani to create regulations/systems that may favour infosys? But, as long as the deed is done well, I guess the Indian public would never mind. But, Nilekani gets away only because he is smart enough not to tweet ...

I wonder why do we find ourselves amidst these battles? Is is ambition, lust for success or mere means to survival? We do not have the answer to this question and hope we never will, caus' looking for the answer itself drives us forward to the next level.

chalte raho, ladte raho.....till next time