The Moon

Jun30
We are getting serious in life. Our book value we hope that it will improve with this seriousness. All our life we have been meeting deadlines - initially for the fear of  being ticked off, then to prove our worth to our seniors ,thereafter to get home fast to spend time with a newly wedded wife sitting in a single room tenement staring at the four walls , working out the designs in the damp wall plaster.( no saying what the idle mind would be working on with nothing to do..-You didn't want a wife who was mad as a wet hen when you reached home after a particularly frustrating day at the office.

Later to get away from home and a whole gaggle of screaming kids ,Use the office as a reason to get away from home for some peace and quite- and since you were at office complete the task at hand as  there was nothing else to do. As we complete more than 30 yrs in service to the nation we work to prove our efficiency.We have run the gauntlet throughout our lives.

 Now at ASCI we were fodder for the cannon. Missing the swim time to complete a test with regard to our understanding the finances and  reading the balance sheets. One person who is under least pressure even after a time in the services is Himanshu or the moon. Like the moon he is cool and works well under pressure , does not lose patience ,handles classmates with aplomb AND more importantly his wife is far from home on foreign shores .What more can a man ask for?. and so when I asked him to contribute to the blog today he cheerfully acceded to do so even though the hour was late. I , along with all of you am very curious about what he will write..

Birth is our opening Balance

Death is our closing Balance

Prejudiced views our liabilities

Creative ideas are our assets

Heart is our current asset

Soul is our other asset

Brain is our fixed asset

Thinking is our current account

Achievements are our capital

Character & Morals, our stock in trade

Friends are our General reserves

Values, Behaviour are our Goodwill

Patience is our interest earned

Love is our Dividend

Children are our Capital work in progress

Education is brands/patents

Knowledge is our investment

Experience is our premium account

Aim is to tally the Balance sheet accurately

Goal is to pursue it actively.

The above poem (not my composition) sums up our understanding of the fundamentals of balance sheet ‘figuratively’. Professor M. Rafat’s brilliant insights into the world of finance and her tact of avoiding technical complexities wherever possible and giving detailed explanations and examples in simple terms precluded the possibility of us getting lost into the wilderness of numbers and jargons. Some aspects of finance can be daunting or pretty dry but the live examples used certainly adds to the ease of learning. Yesterday’s boxing bout turned into a friendly give and take, where the jabs instead knocked the concept straight into our nuts, resounding inside with a sense of achievement of treading the unknown terrain in in the dark. Finance can be a source of anguish  annoyance,fear headache and vexation - a somewhat tiresome subject for those who have no previous experience and for especially for people who belong to the armed cadre, as it is more complex than decrypting a cipher. But the fiery pugilist that she is, the onerous task of cementing the building blocks was successful with an assignment to ‘cure the newly laid bricks’. Post lunch, as always, Hypnos the god of sleep beckons us into his loving embrace while seducing us in the carefully woven web of dreams. But his might was yet again challenged by Prof. Subhashini (since past week, a frequent tussle between the psychologists and the god of sleep is being witnessed where the former usually prevails). We the ‘midnight's children’ (transitioning like the protagonist from one world to another) were pulled into the world of decision making down to the last detail. I wonder, the day I start theorizing my subconscious thoughts and verbosely describe the process of my rationale, I may come up with an alternative theory which many peers and seniors of fauji community may approve of. To think of,on a tangent though, these theories are only proven, tested & applied at work place but none of these social scientists tried these on their spouses….how could they; for instance Carl Jung fell in love with his patient, Sabina Spielrein, which Mr Freud disapproved of & this gave birth to ‘psychoanalysis’ (revalidation by experts required). Maslow married his first cousin Bertha when he was 20 and she was 19, and no pun intended, he stated that marriage was the true beginning of his life. Obviously, he had to get the theory of hierarchy of needs right!  (Food for thought)

Regards,

Himanshu Saxena

The Bout

Jun29
The stage was set . We were training for  this for past so many days. Advance publicity was already in place . The tickets sold out for the bout - a bout of monday blues. we worked hard over the weekend for this fight. In the red corner was Prof Mubeen Rafaat armed with the knowledge of finance . She had trained equally hard for this moment and possessed special weapons of the financial kind. Her ability to read the opponent and work on the weaknesses  of the opponent was legendary. She coud pick holes in the opponents defense and punch her way through three hours of finances. But she had to walk the tight rope and execute a "balancing act". Her mandate was to teach the opponent to balance so that he would not bite dust when confronted with the balance sheet. Her assets -non current and fixed and the investments , cash etc formed a formed part of a formidable inventory.
In the blue corner were a bunch of blank amateurs who were ready to be brought upto speed and be educated on the nuances of  balancing their accounts. Their only reserves being a surplus of patience and the ability to be written upon ,as a blank  slate.
 Round I
On the bell the class started with ploughing into the lessons previously taught ending with the last class on assets and liabilities smoothly being dovetailed into the present class. The punches came in a furious flurry with the blue being draped on the ropes by the end of the first hour. Blue was dazed by the onslaught with assets and liabilities floating in front of his eyes . The domination was complete. So much so that Blue started looking at the clock longingly for this round to end when he would be rewarded with a hot cup of tea and other refreshments. When the bell to end round one went off blue was heaving sighs of relief and a feeling that the worst was over.
Round II
Red changed her tactics totally in round II when the balance sheet was brought into picture. It was like being puched in the solar plexus . Reliance and Dhirubhai ambani made a spectacular entrance when second round was starting. The skills of  ambani were explained . consolidated balance sheets studied and finally some semblance of orderliness was brought in to the  hithertofore confusing moves being executed by the red opponent. Not that it gave any advantage at the end of the round...
Red was the clear winner.
Round III
Just when blue was rejoicing at having got away with his life after two rounds of unrelenting pummelling from finance then the new opponent in the form of Prof Dimple entered armed with an entirely different set of weapons on organisation behaviour. She did not come alone. She brought along Maslow - to tell us how impossible it was to achieve 'Nirvana' without first satisfying our physiological needs , safety needs , social needs and our need for self esteem. No amount of argument from us to the contrary would persuade Prof Dimple to think otherwise. in the end Prof Dimple prevailed...WE still think that Indian diasphora is replete with examples of people who achieved Nirvana without going through all other stages as prescribed by  maslow. In the end Edward and equity theories also made their appearance reinforced by the TED Talks.
Red Was the Winner
All in all an educative And learning class with Red being the clear winner

Past Present and Future

Jun28
There is a feeling of inevitability as the sun is on its downward path on a sunday afternoon. Sunday is coming to an end -as did saturday and the day before that. Often we hear people saying ' do not live in the past'. Is that really an option ? Can one forget the past and start everyday as if all of the past was wiped clean? Imagine what would happen if that were the case.
Waking Up- My wife would wake up screaming when she wakes up and regards me as a stranger. This would only come to rest after invoking the past and reminding her that I am indeed related to her. The downside would be that I had stood her up the previous evening to spend time with my buddies to have a drink. Complicated explanations and assurances of a bauble / clothes would alleviate the problem to a certain extent. AND if I had to do this every morning will I be rich or poor? better to let her remember the past and be resigned to the fact that I will not  change.
Day's Routine Since we are sharing a car pool , one would be hard put to remember whose turn it was to bring the car - and then- complications... We would be hard put to remember as to who is Prof Bagchi, prof Mahadik and all the others.. May involve learning all over again... Duration of the course would go much beyond six months. Time will come to nought. Past proves once again that it is important.
Interaction We in the class would forget our course mates. Re -mingle, learn about each other adjust with each other - only to repeat the process again as the next day would again be a new one. NOT worth it - people are remembered as they are filed in the vast data base of the brain and filed under different categories. Our data base would be wiped clean and there would be no reference point  in the labyrithine corridors of the brain. Past wins out again...
Food This I think is the only positive thing about forgetting the past as the same menu would be enough to satisfy our taste buds day in and day out. But then again - if you forget what was prepaed yesterday for your daily repast then how will one simplify the process with the same menu if one does not remember what was made yesterday. Remembering Past wins again.
Capabilities I for one would not know what I am capable of. Will be confused , will be unaware of my likes and dislikes, hobbies and habits, crazes and aberrations and- and I forget what else I will forget....
Businesses no statistics will be remembered , business worth is reset every day, no trends to follow on the stock market no knowledge whatsoever of happeneings yesterday... Business transactions of the past are null and void. World will come to a stand still. Retention zero ... interaction with jagpal banjo and I forget who else...
SO
next time you tell someone to "forget it" think of how this sort of encouragement would be counter productive and in fact go a step further and tell all concerned REMEMBER- it is the only way foward. As someone said "it is best to learn from ones experiences"

Banjo

Jun 26
Should I start with a joke? I believe that a joke is a good ice - breaker. Oh no ! I already lost the moment . In any case here goes...
Back in the time when I was commanding a body of men there was one person who came to me. (through Proper channel of course). The Time was tense and we were into preparing for an inspection by one of our superior officers. Letting a person off on leave -  for whatever reason " Mushkil hi nahi balki namunkin tha". During the interview the dialogue went something like this :-
Person- Sahab chutti jaana hai.
Me-       Kahe ke liye'?
Person-  Sahab bachha hone' waala hai.
Me-        ( it was a legitimate reason but the inspection was also important so I said)  Thik hai tumne               jo karna tha woh kar diya . Tumhaare na jaane se baccha to phir bhi paida ho jayega.
 of course I  did send him on leave later...

Hi ! I am Dilip.Better known as Banjo. I am the guest for today.I believe that all of us will have to contribute to the blog sooner or later. I took the option of sooner.I keep thinking of many things for which I am yet to get an answer Perhaps DR Vishwanatham Dr Dimple and Prof Subhashini will be able to clarify for me. We are small time players.psychological profiling of all of us has been done and we have been through the wringer prior to our selection. The services model of management is what is now being taught all over the world MBA. in fact if my memory serves me right it was adopted from the forces. WHY then the reassessment again at corporate level to test our ability to adjust to the company's profile? Strikes me as flawed logic.

 If any one has to be psychologically be evaluated it is the politicians. Why?? The stakes are much bigger at the country level and any person who is into politics is deciding the policies of the country which will see it into at least the next decade (if not more).  you can rule the country with out any psychological profiling but all others are repeatedly being put through the paces... And many other doubts which will I am sure will plague me in times to come.
Earlier
I had opted for this course because of the prestige linked to Admimistrative Staff College. I knew this because my better half is from hyderabad. After coming here I had misgivings of sorts . Moreover I could not join the course on the first day due to the predictable lateness of  indian railways. But when I did join I was more than reassured - the place was teeming with kolkattans . I immediately  felt at home and at that moment I knew that I would enjoy and in the process learn on the course. Jaggu was also there and there was this guy from agra who was six months my junior . our paths must have crossed in the academy. two years together in a pressure cooker situation undergoing the same training - one does not forget but one does "repress" unpleasant feelings. All others are pleasant enough and co-operative. All in all a fantastic course.
On friday we were determined to make a break for open spaces in an earlier time frame. This seemed well nigh impossible with inflation and other important aspects being on the menu.But everything fell in place- Happy Week end.                             

Verbosity

JUN25Hello there! Sandhya! Back again. We created a record of sorts today .I have been re -invited to post on the blog for a second successive day. I realise that my blog was short and to the point yesterday. So today I decided that I shall be a free bird and let myself go all the way. And give freedom to my expression to pen down my thoughts without the fear of the editing pen putting paid to my efforts. And thank God! I have a day during which a lot happened . Today was a day devoted to the inner workings of the mind. No MIS, no economics, no Finance and no punctured tyres . We reached well in time for the class with time to spare on the clock. It was one of those glorious mornings with the cloudy skies and a gentle breeze blowing . The age old trees at ASCI were rustling in the winds and it was a day for out doors. BUT there was learning to be done. and a LOT of it. And so it was that we found ourselves back in the class room...

In case you are wondering about the clock then let me demystify you. We were in the class well after the prescribed (1730H) and the class was still on . Emotionally we were drained learning about intelligence and Emotional Intelligence as part of interpersonal relationships. Amygydla, the right and left cortex made their appearance again during the class. Our self awareness increased and we learnt about self efficacy and the marshmallows experiment where cildren of the age group of 4-5 years were used as guinea pigs. I believe that longitudnal experiments proved that children who resisted the marshmallows were better adjusted in life. I wonder that if the experiment were to be carried out in India would they use Laddoos? My daughter does not like them much and This I am sure will show that she would be bettter adjusted in life in the future - if the same analogy of marshmallows -were to be applied here in India. Went through a battery of psychological tests today . Almost felt as if I was back in the services selection board(SSB) Subashini Madam is a hard task master and we ended up with a load of home assignments. The most interesting being watching 'Chak De India' and presenting our take on it.The faces of my fellow students was worth seeing. There was dismay and resignation written on their facial maps . As one them aptly summed up the whole situation (of home assignments ) saying "Bas Karo Madam Bachhe' ko Jaan Se Maroge Kya/". It was funny beyond compare.

During lunch we were given insights into the preparation of CVs by Mr Menon who had come on the invitation of Col Ravindra and kindly consented to enlighten us , since he was into helping companies to recruit. It was informative and helpful -to say the least..

Dr Dimple came on in the afternoon . She was well and recovered from her brief illness.  She took pity on us and used the afternoon to  explaining Perception to us in an innovative manner . She used a feature film (Full Length ) to drive home the lessons on perception.Very sweet of her... I/We Are learning...By the time I reached home the Nautica Watch I ordered for my spouse for his birthday,on Jun 20 had finally reached . So there was milk of human kindness flowing all round - in fact Amazon saved the day from any recriminations for my late arrival....

Now let us see who will have the temerity to accuse me of being brief, short, concise, terse, laconic, succinct, abrupt, clipped, to the point, pithy.....

Predictable Irrationality

Jun 24
Wednesday 24 Jun 15 was designed for MIS studies by Prof Bagchi. This class was of utmost importance keeping in mind the corporate world..but cudnt reach faculty on time due to FLAT TYR!!! BT HE MAN SHU...#NT TO GIV UP ATTITUDE# managed to fix d stepney.. Thank god...IN mis we focused upon# Decision support system # transaction processing system #system based function #3 tier architecture #___in between prof Mahadik emphasised upon COMPLETING the CV by d end of the week...

 Today's guest contribution is from Sandhya. As you would have noticed she believes in conveying the import of her thoughts very briefly and to the point. She succeeded in covering what I would take half a page to a few well chosen words and symbols. Thank You Sandhya for your input to this humble blog . Sandhya will be  a rising star in the corporate sector -  if she so desires -  with her multi hued and organised training in the armed forces for over ten years ...

Our condolences to Prof Bagchi - who- in spite of a personal loss, soldiered on through the day to complete the task at hand - which was that of educating us in a adroit fashion. WE compliment you for not letting your emotions interfere with your duty. It touched a chord in our hearts . The class itself - in spite of a complete day programme surprisingly went of very well. As is the case with adoption of tactics in war even the solutions we prepared for our presentation did not have a wrong solution, As per Prof Bagchi all answers are right - only it is a matter of interpretation and the ability of seeing the glass half full. 

There was a group of trainees on the lawns of the colllege who were colourfully turned out in multi coloured caps and were - as per our interpretation from the first floor windows - playing croquet. Though what lessons one could learn from this game was beyond us. Probaly team work and and strategy and tactics which could then be superimposed on the corporate world, to pay rich dividends....

Another group was grappling with environmental studies . We may have to request a class with them to learn as to how the governmental agencies were working to keep the environment of India intact.

A word about the CV. Many of us have limped through the process of preparing a CV full of predictable irrationalities. What we consider as choice career accomplishments may seem trivial in the eyes of the employer. What will - I expect - will stand us in good stead is a complete trained individual who will be adaptable and flexible to changes...

Fare Thee Well

JUN23

Ms Anjali Manda conducted one of her - in our opinion - most brilliant classes. A class which in a way was a mixture of what we should have done and what we should do to improve our lot on retirement from the services. The prognosis was so- so in our favour.Practical hints with regard to investments were given in a very clear and concise manner and this was one class which was of practical use for our future existence. By the time the class was over we were able to formulate a hazy picture as to how we would go about planning the 'life after'... At the end of the class we also got another shock when Sandhya stopped us from going for lunch and announced that Ms anjali had shot her last arrow and this was her last class. In the short time that she was with us she endeared herself to one and all. We decided that not having enough warning time we could only give her a send off by clicking photographs which would remind her of the last class in ASCI. We take this oppurtunityto wish her all the best in her life and hope that she will be a beacon of knowledge wherever she goes...

DR Grover fell ill and Ms Subhashini, her replacement , started off the class on organizational behaviour. And like all her collegues , she is also a highly qualified person who is working on her doctorate in psychology. The class was a a different kettle of fish from the previous one . One among us asked her in a lighter vein if this was not her last class too. on being assured that this was not the case we settled down to unravelling mind games which people play to prove their worthiness to the companies for establishing themselves in the heirarchy. It came to light that loyalty played little or no role in this process as long as the person concerned raked in the moolah.While the Family neighbourhood ,school and peer group played an important role in the determination of the suitability of an individual for a job it was also left unsaid that it is not difficult to beat the system to get accepted. Pedigree also played a role in judging a person . the second half of the class was spent in working out the desired qualities in a person to see his ability in performing a job. It proved to be a difficult task till we superimposed our services  method to ascertain task orientation . Surprisingly this made the exercise easier to perform. The services method is to look for qualities in a person in an alphabetical order eg: A- Ability, B- Bravery C- Competence, Courage of conviction , D- Determination to see the job through.....etc E- Efficiency....