I had to get a new passport for I lost my earlier one (which had expired several years ago), and I dreaded the experience about to come. I have heard horror stories of the endless queues, the police enquries, the interminable wait. However, just one experience with the Regional Passport Office in Mumbai changed my apprehensions for good.
Anticipating the pain of re-applying for a passport, I opted to go with a 'passport agent' - a person I hoped will make my life easier. After paying three thousand rupees as 'consultancy fee' to this agent, I had my form filled and submitted. I also learnt that the submission was done through a passport authority website and because I did not even visit the website once, I complimented myself on having taken the help of an agent.
A few weeks later I was told by the guard in our building that I was summoned to the local police station for my police verification. There was no choice and I had to make myself present before the authorities. Anticipating a payoff which I've always abhorred, I shakily went to the designated police chowky to meet the beat constable who was assigned my verification. I waited ten minutes and my beat constable came in, instantly ordering a 'chai' for me from the nearby hotel (I was sure that he was increasing his stakes with the 'chai' and I squirmed on the plastic stool I was offered, not being able to wriggle out of the offer).
In minutes he signed my verfication document and said that it was over. I waited uneasily for my tea, and when it did not come for another five minutes, I excused myself from there. I thanked the constable, stood and backed out of the small police post slowly, almost waiting for the constable to clear his throat and show me a sign for his payoff. I crossed the threshhold of the post and strained to hear, but nothing. The few hundred Rupees I had kept aside in my pocket remained there and I was left wondering if I should have proactively offered the 'bakshish'.
In a few days I was summoned to the police station to meet the inspector through a very professional sms, which asked me to come with my original documents for verfication. The experiences of my life taught me that this was a higher 'chai-pani' deal and that I had to lessen a couple of thousand for this endeavour. ( I also reasoned that the constable would probably get some cut of this 'package deal').
Visit to the police station was comfortable, for I have visted several chawls in my lifetime and I am used to small, congested rooms. From the open window of the Inspector's room, I saw a boy stand outside and take a 'tinkle' on the opposite wall, very much resembling a poster. The room inside was filled with bundled papers which I assumed to be related to cases.
I was asked to show my original documents, the FIR for the lost passport and after some querying I was asked to leave. Since my photograph in my old passport xerox was not visible at all, the inspector remarked something about it and let it be. Probably trying to increase the stakes I thought. With the formalities over here, I prepared to leave, giving a enquiring glance to the inspector, but to no avail. He was not ready to respond to my long stares. It must be the tie I am wearing I thought - I really should have come in my T-shirt. Inspectors hate ties.
I could not fathom why no-one was being forthright and straight about the payoff. The only reason I could think was that the Commissioner of Police was a Tamilian and perhaps these policemen were not taking any chances in case I jumped them with my proximity to the CP.
This cannot end well. I was through two police 'encounters' and unscathed. Or alternatively I was dead already and dint realize it! Dead or not, my passport was certainly history. There could'nt be a passport verifcation without the verfication of the bill number on a crisp five hunderd rupee note. I will probably be summoned again for a bigger take.
Few days again and I receive another sms. This time its from the Regional Passport Office. Very similar message, come get your documents verified. I thought that this must be some kind of a secret code, indicating the words I need to say in order for my work do get done. Though I hate making any unofficial payoffs of any kind, in my anxiety I had kept aside a couple of thousand rupees for the passport office. The nexus runs deep, I sighed.
I was at the passport office at 11:00am and outside the door where I was asked to meet the APO. I met this lady after a half hour wait, but she sent me to get an 'enquiry slip' from counter 22. I thought that this wouldbe money collection point and I was almost happy that I would now be able to rid my burden of the two thousand rupees and get on with the job of getting my passport. The serpentine queue moved swifter than a snake on the run and I got the enquiry slip within minutes. The person at counter 22 was really helpful and infact was so quick about this query that it left me surprised. If not here, where; if not now, when. The four five hundred rupee notes began to weigh like a ton in my pocket. I wanted to get rid of it badly.
I stood back in front of the APO's door and the line had a few dozen people. It was already 12:00 noon and I only had till 12:30 before the doors would close. With over 20 people in queue, I knew I would have to come back the next day to meet the APO.
This queue was gobbled up by the APO's door really rapidly and I was next. I ruffled up and felt the 4 crisp notes to ensure that the transaction was swift and went in. Within minutes of seeing the enquiry slip, the lady APO asked me to wait outside again. I was happy now because the anticipation was driving me up the wall. I wait, the peon will appear, I pay, and the passport documents would be passed. Simple. Very simple, actually.
I waited till the peon called my name and I entered the room. I was ready as a hunting heron. One nod and I would sweep the notes out on the table. The gentle looking lady asked me for the original FIR which was already attached. She found it after I helped her look, asked me to sign a document and put my papers on a pile in the side. I stood waiting. Huh, uh! She did not look up at me and I stood patiently on. Seconds later she turned up and said, its done. You'll get your passport soon.
Not to be tricked this time, I asked her if she needed anything else. No she answered, all documents were in order. I thanked her and walked out, as the 124th person swished past me into her room.
I outside the APO's office and saw several other such rooms which had similar queues, now reduced, with several happy faces walk out of these doors.
Later that week I checked my passport status on the web and I got the message that it was to be dispatched on the 12th.
I felt like an antique. India had changed but I still lived in memories of yore. Technology systems were with the best in the world, the government departments wanted to help and 'chai-pani' now really meant a cuppa.
I am thrilled with this small experience, and it is only becoming better and better and better. We need to see it, we need to realize it and we need to talk about this positive change taking over the India of the past!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Monday, July 20, 2009
Why should'nt authority be questioned?
This 34 minute clip is an insightful peice on the nature of state authority of a democratic country. Is this any different from a autocratic or despotically governed country. Is the citizen of both these contrasting types of countries living life any differently, or is this just a perception that democratic citizens live in.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Hot showers in chilly seasons
Have you ever experienced this? Its very early on a cold winter morning and you are in a hurry to get to some place important. You have planned things Just-In-Time so that you dont get late. Among other things, you also turn on the geyser at the right time so you get nice, warm shower before you move out too.
You enter the shower and you turn it on; adjust the knobs half each to so you can take a lukewarm shower. The water hits your back and its ice-cold, probably the remanants of water inside the pipe. You pull back, shocked and simultaneously, almost instinctively turn up the 'Hot' water knob real hard. This time, you feel the water wait for it to get a comfortable warm and come under the shower again. The water gets warmer and more comforting. Your body adjusts to the growing warmth. You almost dont want to get out from under the warm flow.
Just then, the water suddenly turns hot. Hot but bearable. You can still stay under it. Then, in just a moment, its scalding.
You jump out of the shower. Get the 'Cold' knob on the go; re-adjust the 'Hot' knob to make it lower simultaneously. A couple of seconds pass and you test with finger under the shower. Feels right and you take your position under the shower again.
It gets comfortable. Then a little colder, till its absolutely ice-cold (reflecting a northern winter). You jump out again.
Cold. Jump in. Comfortable. Scald. Jump out. Turn up cold. Test. Jump in. Comfortable. Ice-cold. Jump out and so on...
The cycle could continue forever. In the case of the shower, luckily we get out fast enough. Though we are bound to repeat this cycle the next day.
Why does this happen? Cant we get to the comfort quicker?
Actually this is the typical logic that any feedback loop uses. The lag in the system inherently makes it difficult to reach the desired level quickly and effectively.
Imagine the above system when a turn of the knob instantaneously changes the temperature of the water hitting your back. Here, since the cause and effect are without lag, stability is reached immediately too. In this situation, you would come to a preferred shower temperature within moments without having to go through the agony of hide-and-seek under the shower.
However, unfortunately for us, life is akin to the former situation. There are intrinsic delays between action and result; cause and effect. Also, in life, these delays are almost impossible to guage and judge, further eliminating chances of logically connecting the cause and effect directly. Then there is the multitude of factors which impact the same outcome and therefore it is tough to find the primary reason(s) for the result.
If the above is true, how does one ensure you are not facing the 'Hot-Shower-in-Chilly-Season' syndrome every day of your life? Is there a solution to this conundrum?
The solution lies in Acting with a vision of the end result of the action. We must also estimate all the major factors which impact the outcome and then enter the 'system' with complete knowledge. (In the case of the shower, a simple understanding that water is already very cold will be the third input needed). The last and important understanding is to be able to estimate the delay in one or two important components of the system which will affect the end result.
Cause and effect have a lag and often, in life, it is not easy for us to recognize all these lags. Also, the subtle impacts that many things have on the outcome are also not recognized and understood easily. Therefore perhaps the ancient wisdom that says, 'Do your karma without expectations of results'. A reflection that the doer is only one component in the system - he/she does not achieve the result alone.
Recognize this one key thing and you will see the outcomes of your life changing by just this mindset change.
Update on 16th May 2012: This article became a part of a chapter in my forthcoming book Decoding Communication.
You enter the shower and you turn it on; adjust the knobs half each to so you can take a lukewarm shower. The water hits your back and its ice-cold, probably the remanants of water inside the pipe. You pull back, shocked and simultaneously, almost instinctively turn up the 'Hot' water knob real hard. This time, you feel the water wait for it to get a comfortable warm and come under the shower again. The water gets warmer and more comforting. Your body adjusts to the growing warmth. You almost dont want to get out from under the warm flow.
Just then, the water suddenly turns hot. Hot but bearable. You can still stay under it. Then, in just a moment, its scalding.
You jump out of the shower. Get the 'Cold' knob on the go; re-adjust the 'Hot' knob to make it lower simultaneously. A couple of seconds pass and you test with finger under the shower. Feels right and you take your position under the shower again.
It gets comfortable. Then a little colder, till its absolutely ice-cold (reflecting a northern winter). You jump out again.
Cold. Jump in. Comfortable. Scald. Jump out. Turn up cold. Test. Jump in. Comfortable. Ice-cold. Jump out and so on...
The cycle could continue forever. In the case of the shower, luckily we get out fast enough. Though we are bound to repeat this cycle the next day.
Why does this happen? Cant we get to the comfort quicker?
Actually this is the typical logic that any feedback loop uses. The lag in the system inherently makes it difficult to reach the desired level quickly and effectively.
Imagine the above system when a turn of the knob instantaneously changes the temperature of the water hitting your back. Here, since the cause and effect are without lag, stability is reached immediately too. In this situation, you would come to a preferred shower temperature within moments without having to go through the agony of hide-and-seek under the shower.
However, unfortunately for us, life is akin to the former situation. There are intrinsic delays between action and result; cause and effect. Also, in life, these delays are almost impossible to guage and judge, further eliminating chances of logically connecting the cause and effect directly. Then there is the multitude of factors which impact the same outcome and therefore it is tough to find the primary reason(s) for the result.
If the above is true, how does one ensure you are not facing the 'Hot-Shower-in-Chilly-Season' syndrome every day of your life? Is there a solution to this conundrum?
The solution lies in Acting with a vision of the end result of the action. We must also estimate all the major factors which impact the outcome and then enter the 'system' with complete knowledge. (In the case of the shower, a simple understanding that water is already very cold will be the third input needed). The last and important understanding is to be able to estimate the delay in one or two important components of the system which will affect the end result.
Cause and effect have a lag and often, in life, it is not easy for us to recognize all these lags. Also, the subtle impacts that many things have on the outcome are also not recognized and understood easily. Therefore perhaps the ancient wisdom that says, 'Do your karma without expectations of results'. A reflection that the doer is only one component in the system - he/she does not achieve the result alone.
Recognize this one key thing and you will see the outcomes of your life changing by just this mindset change.
Update on 16th May 2012: This article became a part of a chapter in my forthcoming book Decoding Communication.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Ten things for 2009 (picked up from a forwarded mail...)
1. Do not go into next year without a worst-case-scenario plan. I am not trying to scare you. Just the opposite. I just want to make sure that if you get a few bad phone calls from clients in the first quarter, then you simply execute the plan that you already thought through at the end of 2008.
2. Do not panic. Doing nothing only leads to failure. This is a moment that will test your leadership. Go out there, and face it head-on. Promote your agency more aggressively than ever. Stir up new business leads. Re-negotiate costs with vendors, utilities, IT providers and your landlord. Bring even more business-building ideas to your existing clients. Doing so will reinvigorate you and your agency. And it will make you a better leader down the road.
3. Do not forget about The Work. In your efforts to navigate your agency through 2009, be sure your agency's work is as smart as it can be. Ask yourself: Is the message (on behalf of your client's product or service) as relevant today as it was six months ago? If not, perhaps it should be re-visited. Is it as inspired as it used to be? Or does it look like fear has set in? Maintain the integrity of your agency's work throughout these times, and you will earn the respect of your client's customer.
4. Do not take your eyes off of your P&L. Slow-paying clients that promise to get current will only eat away at your agency's cash flow and profits. Keep your overhead as lean as possible, your staff as agile as it can be, your finger on the pulse of every client (especially ones that you suspect may be most vulnerable in this downturn), and your agency in the black every month.
5. Do not manage by hope. If you sit back and wait for the next new-business win to avoid making tough budget and staffing decisions, the hole you dig may be too deep to climb out of.
6. Do not take your clients for granted even for one day. When was the last time you visited every one of your clients in the same month? Now would be a good time to start. I can't think of another time that clients were searching for answers to kick-start sales, and if their agency's leadership is right alongside of them in battle, helping to invent new solutions, they will likely never forget you when good times roll again.
7. Do not become safe. Slow client spending is not an excuse to go conservative with your work. If you think you are going to hold on to your clients by being extra safe with your work, you've just given your clients an excuse to get an agency that will continue to take smart risks -- especially in an environment that needs to motivate consumers more than ever. Recessions are the best time to innovate. So consider, for example, breaking new ground with your agency's public relations' expertise -- perhaps experimenting more online with blogs, social media and viral video campaigns.
8. Do not stay holed up in your office. Get out there with your staff and let them know what's going on with the agency. Better internal communication can only make your team stronger.
9. Do not stop looking for the best talent. This economic downturn has put a lot of really good people on the street. Now may be a rare window to upgrade your bench and sign a star free agent or two.
10. Do not veer off course. Just because times are tough, this is no time for your agency to steer away from the strategic course you set when the economy was strong. Remaining consistent with what will make your agency grow—be it a plan to differentiate your agency brand, expand into new services, or buy another agency, stay true to it. Even if it takes a little longer to execute. When the economy turns around, you'll have the wind at your back.
2. Do not panic. Doing nothing only leads to failure. This is a moment that will test your leadership. Go out there, and face it head-on. Promote your agency more aggressively than ever. Stir up new business leads. Re-negotiate costs with vendors, utilities, IT providers and your landlord. Bring even more business-building ideas to your existing clients. Doing so will reinvigorate you and your agency. And it will make you a better leader down the road.
3. Do not forget about The Work. In your efforts to navigate your agency through 2009, be sure your agency's work is as smart as it can be. Ask yourself: Is the message (on behalf of your client's product or service) as relevant today as it was six months ago? If not, perhaps it should be re-visited. Is it as inspired as it used to be? Or does it look like fear has set in? Maintain the integrity of your agency's work throughout these times, and you will earn the respect of your client's customer.
4. Do not take your eyes off of your P&L. Slow-paying clients that promise to get current will only eat away at your agency's cash flow and profits. Keep your overhead as lean as possible, your staff as agile as it can be, your finger on the pulse of every client (especially ones that you suspect may be most vulnerable in this downturn), and your agency in the black every month.
5. Do not manage by hope. If you sit back and wait for the next new-business win to avoid making tough budget and staffing decisions, the hole you dig may be too deep to climb out of.
6. Do not take your clients for granted even for one day. When was the last time you visited every one of your clients in the same month? Now would be a good time to start. I can't think of another time that clients were searching for answers to kick-start sales, and if their agency's leadership is right alongside of them in battle, helping to invent new solutions, they will likely never forget you when good times roll again.
7. Do not become safe. Slow client spending is not an excuse to go conservative with your work. If you think you are going to hold on to your clients by being extra safe with your work, you've just given your clients an excuse to get an agency that will continue to take smart risks -- especially in an environment that needs to motivate consumers more than ever. Recessions are the best time to innovate. So consider, for example, breaking new ground with your agency's public relations' expertise -- perhaps experimenting more online with blogs, social media and viral video campaigns.
8. Do not stay holed up in your office. Get out there with your staff and let them know what's going on with the agency. Better internal communication can only make your team stronger.
9. Do not stop looking for the best talent. This economic downturn has put a lot of really good people on the street. Now may be a rare window to upgrade your bench and sign a star free agent or two.
10. Do not veer off course. Just because times are tough, this is no time for your agency to steer away from the strategic course you set when the economy was strong. Remaining consistent with what will make your agency grow—be it a plan to differentiate your agency brand, expand into new services, or buy another agency, stay true to it. Even if it takes a little longer to execute. When the economy turns around, you'll have the wind at your back.
Friday, January 9, 2009
Conscience
A few days ago I wrote the following post on PositiveBloc.
The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.- Voltaire
And the first step would be to listen to what our conscience has to say...
And right below it, there is another article titled 'Tightroping life with 'Conscious Balance' which has a part that talks about life’s situations and our reactions to them based on
* our knowledge and our interpretation of it and
* life’s experiences and how they mould our thinking and our reactions
..and that got me thinking..
Is conscience universally the same? When I quoted Voltaire and said that the first step would be to listen to what our conscience says.. did I know what I was talking about? Does everyone’s conscience tell them the same thing? Is there a universal right? A terrorist has no fear of death. Does that mean that he has been following his conscience?
I have no answers to these questions but they are extensions, in some way, of a question that I have always wondered about… do we all see the same things? As a child, I used to wonder that we all have eyes but when we look, do we see the same object, the same colour, the same distance.. and even if it is the same, do we perceive it as being the same.. as in does blue look the same to everyone..
It’s the same question I have with regard to conscience. I say very casually that we must follow our conscience but what is the conscience telling us? Is this inner voice for different people not conditioned differently by life’s experiences? The incidents in our life must mould us all in a unique manner.
I think that conscience is the absolute, pure, unadulterated emotion we feel in response to anything just before the intellect takes over. It’s that split second reaction which cannot be controlled. Does this split-second reaction vary for everyone or is it the same?
Does everyone feel the same anguish when a terror attack happens?
- Or when a tree is cut?
- Or when a dog is kicked?
- Or when we hear about the NSG soldiers who died fighting for the country?
- Or about global warming and the destruction of the rain forests?
- Or about the inhuman living conditions in Africa?
- Or shopkeepers being threatened?
- Or when innocent people were attacked during the railway examinations?
- Or when the Taj mahal is threatened by factory emissions?
- Or when we see the glory of the rising sun?
- Or the splendour of nature?
Will the reactions of every person reading the above questions be the same? I don’t know the answer but I’m quite sure it’s in the negative. If these things affected everyone the same way, we would have no terrorists; we would have no hunger in the world, nor any injustice.
So what’s the solution? What is it that we can change to make it such?
I think that since these are all reactions based on perceptions of the world, the one thing we can do is to ensure that everyone’s perception of the world is good.
It’s a vicious circle that we are all stuck in. Perceptions are based on experiences and experiences are further created by our reactions which are based on our perceptions.
Change, therefore, is hidden within us. We have to rethink our world-view and our aspirations. We have to modify our reactions to make sure that we are creating positive experiences for ourselves and people around us. That is the only way to break the cycle and begin afresh.
My mum says that the split-second reaction of the conscience is the same in everyone and the first time the conscience does insist that we do what is right.. but then, we stop the voice of the conscience and do what we want and that’s what kills it.
If that is true, let us not do that any more. Let us listen to the first voice within us and follow it. Let us allow the positive influence of the conscience to guide our reactions. Once the new cycle of positive thought and action is started, it will influence experiences and reactions within and around us, for the better, and hopefully we will be able to build up a new, positive, universal conscience.
So finally, after much thought, I return to the words of Voltaire:
The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.
.. and these words make so much more sense to me now.
The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.- Voltaire
And the first step would be to listen to what our conscience has to say...
And right below it, there is another article titled 'Tightroping life with 'Conscious Balance' which has a part that talks about life’s situations and our reactions to them based on
* our knowledge and our interpretation of it and
* life’s experiences and how they mould our thinking and our reactions
..and that got me thinking..
Is conscience universally the same? When I quoted Voltaire and said that the first step would be to listen to what our conscience says.. did I know what I was talking about? Does everyone’s conscience tell them the same thing? Is there a universal right? A terrorist has no fear of death. Does that mean that he has been following his conscience?
I have no answers to these questions but they are extensions, in some way, of a question that I have always wondered about… do we all see the same things? As a child, I used to wonder that we all have eyes but when we look, do we see the same object, the same colour, the same distance.. and even if it is the same, do we perceive it as being the same.. as in does blue look the same to everyone..
It’s the same question I have with regard to conscience. I say very casually that we must follow our conscience but what is the conscience telling us? Is this inner voice for different people not conditioned differently by life’s experiences? The incidents in our life must mould us all in a unique manner.
I think that conscience is the absolute, pure, unadulterated emotion we feel in response to anything just before the intellect takes over. It’s that split second reaction which cannot be controlled. Does this split-second reaction vary for everyone or is it the same?
Does everyone feel the same anguish when a terror attack happens?
- Or when a tree is cut?
- Or when a dog is kicked?
- Or when we hear about the NSG soldiers who died fighting for the country?
- Or about global warming and the destruction of the rain forests?
- Or about the inhuman living conditions in Africa?
- Or shopkeepers being threatened?
- Or when innocent people were attacked during the railway examinations?
- Or when the Taj mahal is threatened by factory emissions?
- Or when we see the glory of the rising sun?
- Or the splendour of nature?
Will the reactions of every person reading the above questions be the same? I don’t know the answer but I’m quite sure it’s in the negative. If these things affected everyone the same way, we would have no terrorists; we would have no hunger in the world, nor any injustice.
So what’s the solution? What is it that we can change to make it such?
I think that since these are all reactions based on perceptions of the world, the one thing we can do is to ensure that everyone’s perception of the world is good.
It’s a vicious circle that we are all stuck in. Perceptions are based on experiences and experiences are further created by our reactions which are based on our perceptions.
Change, therefore, is hidden within us. We have to rethink our world-view and our aspirations. We have to modify our reactions to make sure that we are creating positive experiences for ourselves and people around us. That is the only way to break the cycle and begin afresh.
My mum says that the split-second reaction of the conscience is the same in everyone and the first time the conscience does insist that we do what is right.. but then, we stop the voice of the conscience and do what we want and that’s what kills it.
If that is true, let us not do that any more. Let us listen to the first voice within us and follow it. Let us allow the positive influence of the conscience to guide our reactions. Once the new cycle of positive thought and action is started, it will influence experiences and reactions within and around us, for the better, and hopefully we will be able to build up a new, positive, universal conscience.
So finally, after much thought, I return to the words of Voltaire:
The safest course is to do nothing against one's conscience. With this secret, we can enjoy life and have no fear from death.
.. and these words make so much more sense to me now.
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