Was written in April 2020, during the initial phase of the lockdown that we went into.


It’s That Time..

Been a month, and seems more to come,
There’s been no warmth in my welcome.
Confined to my home and to my work
Staying put indoors to tackle the murk.
It’s that time..

No traffic, no commute, no hackles to raise,
No chit-chat, no gossip, no coffee to laze,
Work life balance thrown off gear,
But there’s more time for the family to care.
It’s that time..

Warriors battling to quarantine and treat,
To invent a vaccine and win in the harsh heat,
Stepping out knowing that the soup is thick
To deliver goods to ensure the clocks tick.
It’s that time

To sympathize and to empathize,
With the young and naive, and the old and wise,
With the homeless migrants deprived of their bread,
With a resolve to stay home and kill the virus we dread.
It’s that time

More time to think, to meditate,
To contemplate, and to ruminate,
To read, to talk and learn something new,
To rediscover and become someone new.
It’s that time..

Cyclical Effects!

To look cool, you need to look hot,

And to look hot, you need to look cool.

To lose weight you need to work out,

And to work out you need to lose weight.

To be generous you need to be wealthy,

And to be wealthy you need to be stingy.

To make ends meet, you need to borrow,

And to borrow, you need to show the money.

To change the system you need to be in power,

And to be in power, you need to change the system.

To take initiative is to risk being mistaken for interfering,

And not interfering is mistaken for lack of initiative.

To dig deep, you have to sacrifice some breadth,

And if you strive for breadth you tend to lose depth.

The world goes round in cycles it seems,

We see the chicken some times and sometimes the egg.

What comes first is not known yet,

The true knower, for me, hasn’t come as yet.

Sorry, I am not your type!

I wake up early, and sit to sip a cup of tea, 

I know not gaming, nor the late night party, 
No booze, no hangovers, no breaking loose, 
Quite dry and boring, no fun in me to ooze, 
No dancing, no talk, nothing kinda hype, 
Sorry I am not your type… 

No half girlfriend, no full girlfriend, 
I know not much of the present day trend, 
I know not break ups nor of bonds gone cold, 
My relationships are not bold but are pretty old, 
Nurtured by trust not by Facebook or Skype, 
Sorry I am not your type… 

No frequent outings, no weekend getaways, 
No dining out, no discounted takeaways, 
My Holi and Diwali are full of color and light, 
At home with family, not in privacy seeing some site, 
The same old customs, but never a stereotype, 
Sorry, I am not your type... 

A pajama and a kurta seem quite normal,

But a full blown suit says the world is more formal,

Tied up in a tie and parched in the heat,

Formalities of discomfort, should we not beat?

I am all for the homegrown prototype,

Sorry, I am not your type…

“The old order changeth”, said Tennyson, “yielding place to new”, 
But hey, if they said old is gold, then why not renew? 

Are we going global, or surrendering to some hegemony?

How does that matter, it's all about money honey!

I’ve my own mind, trying not to be of a particular type, 

Sorry, I am not your type…

A stitch in time saves nine

A busy day passes into a quiet night
As I sit back and as nostalgia strikes,
I fly back into the days of frolic and fun,
When birds chirped to welcome the rising Sun,
And Mother Nature smiled to wake me up
Riding on a bicycle, singing the song of the day
We went to school to become big someday
The warm morning ray, the cool dew drop
The mix and match made us a whole new crop
With weary limbs after the day long grind
We rode back singing, leaving the school behind
The pleasant evening, the amber of the setting sun,
When birds chirped again saying the day was done
We stepped out again for a gentle walk
To share our thoughts in idle talk
The talk seemed idle and time lost out,
But li'l did we realize we were sorting things out.
Our questions were tough and arguments queer
On the world, of society, relationships and oneself,
On actions, on choice and the very purpose of life.
I grew up in time, but seldom thought I that I grew big,
My degrees mediocre always inviting a dig.
Despite the digs, despite the derision,
The talks enabled an inward evolution
And now as I sit back and think of the unsaved nine
It was not a loss, but rather the proverbial stitch in time.

SUSTAINABILITY AND THE FUTURE OF BUSINESS

When businesses talk of giving back to society to environment, it is implicit that they take away something from society and environment and most businesses do give back something and call it Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). However, they do not seem to have done enough to compensate for the impact of their activities on the stake holders like local communities, environmental groups and other NGOs fighting for contemporary social issues like education, health and overall development of the area. Had businesses been proactive in dealing with these issues, we would not have noticed big ticket investments run into rough weather. Be it Posco or Arcelor Mittal investing for giant steel plants, be it Reliance vying for land for SEZ or be it mining activity in Karnataka, all have a common thread of problems – local communities opposing land acquisition, environmental activists protesting the unbridled exploitation of natural resources, and local groups opposing use of resources on which they are dependent for their livelihoods. But the fact that there have been high level cases in which the courts have passed verdicts against some businesses proves the point that they have more to do. This fact has also compelled the Government to come up with more stringent regulations. The new Companies Act 2011 mandates that companies earmark 2% of their profits for CSR activities. In addition, a new regulation mandates that companies having lease for coal mining spend 26% of their profits for assistance to the people affected by the project. These facts clearly show that the case of the businesses lacks sheen and consequently, the current form of CSR seems inadequate.

The concept of CSR has a long history. Supporters of the concept that stakeholders are as important as shareholders and the fundamental principles of business ethics all gave rise to the CSR concept and initiatives. However, most businesses use CSR as merely an effort for building their brand as socially responsible organizations and use it as a license to carry on with their operations, or rather, as a means to sustainability. It does not take a whole lot of analysis to realize that such intentions behind the CSR initiatives may help the business to sustain, but in the longer term, this might not be helpful. Let us for moment consider the long term impact on the affected people. They would have lost farm lands, undergone rehabilitation, lost the flora and fauna on which they were dependent for their livelihoods, and lost water resources because of contamination. In short they would have had to make changes to the way they sustained and the very way they went on with their lives. Though businesses promise a better future for the local communities through CSR, it appears to have been used to camouflage the often irreversible negative changes that are being brought about to the people, environment and to the delicate ecological balance that has been existing for centuries. In other words, businesses seem to be working with a perspective that the sustainability of the stakeholders is not as important as that of the business itself.

On the one hand the government shows its belief in industrial development being the engine for growth, and on the other hand, it is tightening the regulatory framework too. Awareness levels among stakeholders have gone up drastically due to the involvement of NGOs and other social welfare groups. With the increasing number of protests and legal cases, businesses would require more lawyers than engineers and managers to keep staying afloat. It is high time businesses brought about a change in their perception of CSR and sustainability. In my opinion, a business should think of its own sustainability to be inextricably connected to the sustainability of the stakeholders namely the affected people and the environment. It encompasses much more than the traditionally conceived CSR. Today, this view is seen to be opening the doors for an opportunity and a source of building competitive advantage; and the sooner businesses understand this paradigm, the better will be their future. While contributing to the welfare of stakeholders was considered a cost, today it is seen as an investment. Let us take a few examples. Investing in energy efficiency adds to profits and reduces degradation of environment. Green energy production adds to the corporate image as well as conserves forests. Efficient water management not only conserves water but also enhances afforestation. Afforestation not only increases green cover and contributes to mitigate global warming, but also helps local communities carry on with their livelihood activities. Encouraging employees to participate in local community initiatives like education and health not only shows the locals the benefits of development but also boosts the morale of employees and fosters employee engagement. A transparent supply chain will always attract customers and mean more business. And the story goes on…

A lot of such initiatives are being seen today. Long ago when Tata Steel said “We also make steel”, many of us intellectuals mocked at it saying that the Tatas are marketing themselves as an organization that puts its core competency on the back seat. But today, the company’s impeccable track record of engaging with the local communities for development shows that it is almost having the last laugh. It has shown that long term optimism wins over short term optimism. It would only be an understatement to say that the importance of sustainability of stakeholders cannot be questioned and an active engagement of stakeholders is an unambiguous imperative for the sustainability of the business. All in all, an approach by the businesses that is eclectic and inclusive brings an overarching feeling of goodness and shows the way forward to a positive sum game.

My journey at HSBC

In January of 2008, on a chilly winter morn,
As we stepped out hoping the Sunshone,
In our hostel over a sip of coffee we drank,
I thought and said, “Guys, I’ll never work in a bank”
“But HSBC’s visiting our campus by noon”, they said.
I said no, and no, irrespective of what they paid.
But as destiny plays games and always has its way,
HSBC chose me and I said yes without knowing the pay.
Here I am now, 4 years old in HSBC, looking back,
I recall an amazing journey with an amazing pack.
The powerhouse of Analytics, the CRS team,
Was built by choosing the cream from the cream.
The analytical depth and the coding pace,
I knew for sure I had only scratched the surface.
Millions were made and millions saved,
By the deeply analytical path the team paved.
The storm was weathered and we stayed afloat,
With Capital One, the one that took note.
And so we bid good bye today,
To a great place to work any day,
The fun at work and the work forfun,
Annual days and the treasure hunt run,
Quizzes, scrabbles, foosball and chess,
Events abound but never excess,
Auctions of portraits, education for children
Climate championship and the green concern,
Delays in transport, no camera phone,
No casual wear, no work from home,
Despite the rules, despite the bindings,
It was truly great place, a homeaway from home

Will miss HSBC for sure…..

Complexity and Simplicity

When we say that certain phenomena in nature are complex, we point at the difficulty in understanding the underlying drivers of the phenomena. Curiosity, research and perseverant efforts have led the human race to explore the unexplored and come up with extremely simple causes leading to enormous effects. The most popular of course is the butterfly effect, which says that a fluttering of the butterfly wings in one corner of the world could amplify into a devastating hurricane somewhere else. Though the hurricane seems a complex phenomenon to fathom, deep thinking, experiments and research do lead to one concluding that the butterfly effect could indeed be a reality. In this whole game of complexity the striking feeling is the basic simplicity that builds up into a complex exterior. Researchers have said that most of the systems in the world are complex systems implying that they are by the very definition, implicitly simple.

This makes me ask a question - are there phenomena that are apparently simple? Well, there seem to be simple systems too. An example that occurs to me is the concept of job rotation at work. When in school, I was taught in the course of management that too much work in a single role makes one bored and job rotation facilitates dealing with the problem of boredom due to monotony. I thought of this one as a fairly simple comcept. It is definitely not rocket science and it certainly doesn't require a behavior scientist to tell us this. But behind this simple term of job rotation lies an entire gamut of problems. An employee might like the job and might not want to take up some other job. Another employee might want to leave the organisation. There might be a newcomer who would want to learn his first job before moving on. All might not want to change jobs and above all, business continuity could be adversely affected. Job rotation therefore is a concept with a great deal of complexity involved.

We thus see that complexity brings with it underlying simplicity and so does simplicity bring complexity with it. The feeling of complexity or simplicity is therefore a result of our knowledge of the system. The limits of our knowledge about certain phenomena make certain aspects of systems apparent and certain aspects hidden. Just like the simple fluttering of the butterfly wings can cause a hurricane, it might also be possible that a hurricane somewhere might lead to a simple cool breeze elsewhere. It's difficult to say what is the cause and what is the effect. Systems therefore are not simple or complex. They are a fraught with both simplicity and complexity. It all depends on our perception and the limits of our understanding.