RIVER RAFTING DOWN THE GANGES

I had never done this before even though I always wanted to. I have spent 37 years in the Navy; but, that’s like a person joining the air force on the strength of his having travelled on the upper deck of a double-decker bus.

My wife and I were visiting Haridwar and Rishikesh after our Course Get-together at Dehradun. The day before attempting to make true our fantasy we visited the place called Shivpuri (23 Kms from Rishikesh towards Badrinath), the launching ground of most river rafting done in that area except for the really intrepid ones who go much further up the river.

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Next day, we decided that we had to undertake a rapid quickly enough so as to get over the fear rather than launch ourselves from this location. So we went a kilometre further up and came to this spot:img_20161120_100243 img_20161120_100250 img_20161120_102806 img_20161120_105204

We were staying with the army at Raiwala and with their help, it wasn’t difficult to book the rafts at reasonable prices. There are of course a number of rafting operators readily available charging you as little as Rupees 500 per head and about Rupees 3000 for the entire raft. We had a little difficulty because on the morning of our adventure, the operator told me that we (my wife and I) were both on the other side of sixty and regulations permitted him to permit people up to 38 years of age to undertake the rafting. He somberly added that a few years back a qualified rafting guide had lost his life when the raft toppled (capsized) in a rapid. Even the Wikipedia talks about whitewater rafting as extreme sports that may result in fatality.

Lyn (short for Marilyn) and I however convinced the operator that we would be very very careful. With me being from the Navy, our guide soon gained confidence and I negotiated one of the rapids standing up in the raft. I also enjoyed jumping in the river and swimming.

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Lyn and I with a person from the army (Parmeswaran) to help us and our guide (Aryan) and his assistant soon formed a reliable team (the primary spirit of the rafting) and trusted one another with our lives. I learnt that the international rafting association, the governing body of rafting anywhere classifies the rapids into six classes with Class 1 being those rapids that require slight manoeuvering, with small rough areas, and not requiring  anything more than basic skills to the most dangerous rapids being of Class 6 with risk of serious injury and death being very high. But then, if there is no risk, there is no fun (Please read my: ‘The Lure Of Going On A Limb’ after my rappelling experience). They say only the most tortuous paths lead to the most beautiful destinations and in case of whitewater rafting, it is very true.

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There are of course a number of rapids by the time you get to the destination (Ram Jhoola at Rishikesh) and one of the fearful ones is called Roller Coaster. Here is a video made by me of other rafts going through this rapid (whilst you are in the raft and negotiating it, clicking videos is the last thing that you’d want to do. Hence, I don’t have videos of our negotiating these rapids):

Here is the first of the rapids called ‘Camel Top’ that we negotiated (the video is shot by me of another boat doing the same thing):

It is not just the rapids that give you thrill. Every once in a while you come across calmer waters (of course with strong under currents) and then you get to look out and admire the scenery and your other mates in the raft:

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In the above pics, you would have noticed a man on the bank, in maroon robes playing on the flute. He was playing the popular arti Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram. My video couldn’t capture the notes but I could capture the atmosphere:

Whilst paddling through the rapids, the technique that we used more often than not was to continue with the momentum as much as possible by rapid paddling called punching. High siding (leaning out as much as possible on the higher side in order to right the raft going through the rapid) was used only once or twice and we didn’t use low siding at all. For a navy-man, who has done these enough at sea in a sailing boat, there was nothing new, however. I must, at this stage, have a word of praise for my partner, my wife, for not just the daring but enjoying the adventure thoroughly:

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I was reminded of the time, seven years ago, when we went to Andaman and Nicobar islands and I offered her to do snorkelling with me in Chidhiya Tapu. She was apprehensive of lowering herself into the sea because she doesn’t know swimming. However, after she learnt the technique and saw the beautiful choral underwater, she didn’t want to get out:

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Rafting can actually be that kind of fun and more. One doesn’t ever want it to get over. It is like going through the river of life with all its ups and downs, dangerous and risky times, calm and happy occasions and of course the joy of having been there and done that.

Soon we had crossed the last of the rapids called Doble Trouble, the name having derived from the rocks in the middle of the river, dividing the river into two. At this point we started seeing first the Laxman Jhoola and then our destination the Ram Jhoola:

We had had an experience of a lifetime and as we saw the Ram Jhoola and the places around, wanted it to go on and on and never finish:

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The notes of the final part of the aarti of the evening before for Gange Maa echoed in our hearts and ears and we felt fortunate that Ganga Mata (Mother Ganga) gave us the opportunity to be with her and witness her kindness, loveliness and enchantment even if for just two and half hours:

Be part of this enchantment and do this adventure at least once in your life. As far as my wife and I are concerned, it has prepared us for bigger and greater adventures.

Zindagi na milegi dobara (You can’t get your life again).

JAL VAYU DEFENCE ENCLAVE KHARGHAR – HOW CAN IT BECOME THE BEST COLONY?

Jal Vayu (Navy, Air Force) colonies, through AFNHB (Air Force Navy Housing Board with head-office in New Delhi) are meant to provide affordable housing to officers and other ranks of IAF and Navy). Here is from the Home page of AFNHB site:

“AFNHB generally constructs two categories of dwelling units, one for the officers category and the other for airmen / sailors category of Air Force and Navy. The funding for the dwelling units is through Self Financed Schemes with an approximate of 10% of the expected price of the flat being deposited at the time of registration and balance in easy installments.

The Air Force Naval Housing Board (AFNHB) as a Service Welfare Body is committed to serve the housing needs of the Naval and Air Force community purely on ‘No Profit No Loss’ basis. This Board was registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860, with an objective to promote housing schemes in cities all over the country as per the demand of the Naval and Air Force personnel.

AFNHB can proudly claim to have a clientele of over 18,000 allottees and by the turn of the millennium, it had completed handing over of almost 14,000 dwelling units and farm units.”

JVDE Phase I, Kharghar was advertised by AFNHB as an Officers’ Colony though over a period of time it has mixed clientele of officers, other ranks and even civilians.

Whilst the colony (due to the focus on Societies Act, these days it is convenient to call a colony as a ‘society’) residents enjoy the facilities and privileges as planned by AFNHB, being a defence housing society, it has a responsibility of becoming an ideal society or a role model that people all around should look up to.

Regrettably, due to raging environment of animosity between the members for over five years now (ranging from strong under-currents to open fist-fighting hostilities), the ordinary members like me have suffered. I joined the scheme in 1994-5 itself and my serial number in the scheme was KHA0004 (the fourth member to have joined the scheme!) On retirement from the Indian Navy on 28th Feb 2010, I looked forward to a peaceful, officer-like atmosphere. Sadly, within no time it was made home to me that the atmosphere was more like a melee. In the Annual General-body Meets of the Society (that used to last for days and even nights), all the proceedings used to be video recorded so that in case of serious injuries due to free-for-all there would be some legal record for the police and other authorities. Everyone used to hurl something called bye-laws at one another. Everyone used to look at everyone suspiciously. People had formed various camps and the only agenda that members followed was to somehow sort out the other party/camp.

Spy Vs Spy

During one such melee, I got up to speak and requested everyone to behave like officers (the word, that to me, is always synonymous with gentlemen). The mike that I held was rudely snatched from my hands and the person snatching the mike spoke with ferocity, “That’s exactly what is wrong with this Society; officers think that they are the only ones staying here. We ain’t officers; we are sailors and we have every right to be here.”

That put an end to my active participation in any discussion or debate in the AGMs. I find it rather lowly to win an argument with lung power and noise. But, then we have quite a few experts in the Society who revel in noise (Please also read: ‘Noise Is The Newest Form Of Devotion’) and blasting the day-lights out of other members for them is routine).

I silently (I have always done it in this manner) pray to God to let good sense return to the JVDE, Kharghar Society.

However, for the time being, there is a major camp that is forever drilling into all of us, a la political parties style debates in the media: Yes, we did some mistakes and we were bad. But, we weren’t as bad as the new management committee that you have elected.

Then there is a camp of the new MC that is seeking to set right every wrong that was earlier done and lead the Society into better days.

And then there is a small camp (you can call it a camp but we ain’t formally organised as the other two) of people like me who wish that we would actually live in harmony and work towards making JVDE, Kharghar the best colony ever.

Lets look at some of the issues that have divided us and made us choose, sometimes unwittingly, one or the other camp. Most often people start taking sides without understanding the issues. I may not be right in the kind of legalese that has come to prevail in our colony now. However, I do know that I am factually right and have, as always, no axe to grind.

  • Encroachments. These were made into such a huge issue. At one time it was made to look like that the very existence of JVDE was dependent upon removing the so called encroachments. Anyone listening to the term and the ensuing heated discussions and fist-fights would have thought that somehow members of JVDE had become so unlawful that they thought of nothing but encroaching upon what was called as common areas. Basically, if my memory serves me right, the issue first came up in an SGM of 2012 when an agency called MM Consultants were asked by the then MC to carry out a survey to establish the extent and nature of encroachments. Two internal committees were constituted too; one of them to see if any structural concerns were there. Meanwhile, it appeared to most people that people were targeted (this approach of putting the other party in its place became a way of life). Whilst it was said that CIDCO had pointedly objected to such encroachments, it later came out that we ourselves went to CIDCO repeatedly with the list of encroachments until they’d take notice. This aa-bail-mujhe-maar (Come-bull-hit-me) approach finally divided the entire community. Curiously, it came out that two opposite flats being combined together was done by AFNHB themselves in their show-case flats and AFNHB itself sought from CIDCO regularisation of the same. However, some 18 members who emulated AFNHB were made to feel like worms and repeatedly and publicly humiliated. With this issue, with each of the two major camps relentlessly approaching CIDCO and AFNHB, it was amply demonstrated that we had no vision towards a harmonious, ideal, and happy society, but that, we considered ego and prestige issues above the welfare of everyone. This non-issue also kept us away from discussing issues that we should have been discussing to make ours as the best colony.
  • Fire-Safety. Having divided the community squarely on the above issue of Encroachments, the next thing was to scare the hell out of all of us by combining the issue of encroachments with that of Fire-Safety. I have been a keen listener during the heated discussions (having been shut-up by absolutely rude conduct by some of the other members). It was repeatedly told, in the anti-people approach that was perfected,  that the Maharashtra Fire Safety Rules were flouted by members indiscriminately by encroachments and that our Fire Insurance of Rupees 17 Lakhs was wasted because of the self-serving approach of these members. Flower-pots, shoe racks, foot-mats were all targeted. It finally came out that what stood in the way of Fire Insurance wasn’t so much as these items but the deficiencies that were to be made up in the Fire-equipment. Somehow, in the prevailing spy versus spy atmosphere that prevailed, the significant issues were put under the carpet. Take for example the fact that MSEB had taken a complete transformer sub-station and we were not bothered to get it back, which would have ensured that every two buildings had a transformer instead of at that time four buildings per transformer. However, we were fighting amongst ourselves in our holier-than-thou attitude.
  • Water Shortages. In relentless attempt to divide the society and hence prove that the earlier camp of the MC was a better proposition, this issue came in handy. The timing of this was perfect; most acute water shortages were noticed when the transition took place last year. Passions were so strong that no one wanted to go into the reasons for it but spew his/her venom with impunity. In the midst of constant din and vitriol, the problem was sorted out by resorting to firstly, overall cleaning and upkeep of the pump-house; secondly, upgrading the water treatment plant; and lastly, replacement of about 75 metres of pipeline from CIDCO pipe to our pump-house.
  • Conveyance Deed. Everyone is concerned about the fact that the Conveyance Deed of the Land and the Buildings hasn’t yet taken place between the AFNHB and the JVDE Society. This is a little complex issue than meets the eye. During the period 1996-99, there is an unregistered agreement between AFNHB and CIDCO (for a 60 years lease deed) and it should always have been AFNHB’s intention to pass it on to us when the society would be registered. However, it seems that between Dec 2010 and Jul 2011, some change of thought-process has taken place. Also, the CIDCO project accounts were finalised only in 2012. AFNHB has been, in the meantime, earning money on resale of flats and it is estimated that it has made some Rupees 14 Lakhs so far (for each resale of flat, the JVDE and AFNHB get Rupees 20000 each and CIDCO gets Rupees 10000). Meanwhile, two other issues have made the matter a little more complicated: One, that AFNHB has written to CIDCO to regularise the alterations to flats (some of which was being touted heatedly as Encroachment issue) that it did at that time. And two, residents of Gulab building took HCC, AFNHB, and Architect Kukreja to Consumer Court and won an award of Rupees 8.59 Lakhs to compensate them for poor construction. This money cannot be paid out of Society funds as it is discriminatory against those who haven’t gone to the court (all the other buildings) though they too face issues of similar poor construction. Now that AFNHB has been caught on the wrong foot on a number of these issues, there is quite a bit of softening of their earlier stand. We must, therefore, get the best deal in favour of the society from both AFNHB and CIDCO.

It can thus be seen that the issues that engage our attention most of the times, at present, are really not the issues that we should dissipate extensive time and energy on unless it is a viable argument that an eye for an eye and one-upmanship are the correct approach for the Society.

Leadership #15

Here are some of the issues that should really be worthy of our consideration in order that JVDE should become an ideal society:

  1. Water re-cycling.
  2. Rainwater harvesting.
  3. Waste management leading to composting and zero waste.
  4. Long term structural issues of buildings.
  5. Roofs over terraces of all buildings in the manner of Tulip and Daffodil.

Flogging dead horses is a hobby fit for those who want to win popularity contests and let ego rule over everything. On the other hand, time has come for all of us to abandon camps and one-upmanship and truly become participants in the management of our society and lead it to become the best colony anywhere.

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Our colony is really very beautiful with its central lawn and landscaping, thanks to all those earlier and now who have managed the affairs of our colony. Lets all pull together and focus on positives rather than being constantly surrounded by negatives all the while and pull in different directions.

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Jai Hind.

EXPERTS, ULTRACREPIDARIANS AND CHARLATANS

The intent of this essay is to start a healthy debate on the subject of expert versus common knowledge, the pros and cons, that is, of each.

First of all, those of you who don’t know the meaning of the second word, here it is from Wikipedia:

“Ultracrepidarianism is the habit of giving opinions and advice on matters outside of one’s knowledge.

The term ultracrepidarian was first publicly recorded in 1819 by the essayist William Hazlitt in an open Letter to William Gifford, the editor of the Quarterly Review: “You have been well called an Ultra-Crepidarian critic.” It was used again four years later in 1823, in the satire by Hazlitt’s friend Leigh Hunt, Ultra-Crepidarius: a Satire on William Gifford.

The term draws from a famous comment purportedly made by Apelles, a famous Greek artist, to a shoemaker who presumed to criticise his painting. The Latin phrase “Sutor, ne ultra crepidam“, as set down by Pliny and later altered by other Latin writers to “Ne ultra crepidam judicaret“, can be taken to mean that a shoemaker ought not to judge beyond his own soles. That is to say, critics should only comment on things they know something about. The saying remains popular in several languages, as in the English, “A cobbler should stick to his last”.

(Slide courtesy: slideplayer.com)
(Slide courtesy: slideplayer.com)

A charlatan, we all know, is a person falsely claiming to have special knowledge or skill.

In ancient India, we had the Hindu Varna system or a classification of all society into four varnas or classes:

  • the Brahmins: priests, scholars and teachers.
  • the Kshatriyas: rulers, warriors and administrators.
  • the Vaishyas: cattle herders, agriculturists, artisans and merchants.
  • the Shudras: labourers and service providers.

A Shudra, for example, was not supposed to fight battles like a Kshatriya and was not expected to even enter the temples like a Brahmin. The Varna system ensured that the son of a Vaishya would become a Vaishya and so on. This wasn’t the caste system or the Jati system. It was simply vocation based classification.

Gradually, as knowledge became more widely and evenly spread, people started learning skills beyond the Varna system. Basically, all professions became open to everyone on merit and reservation was only for the backward classes. Hence, we did away with the elitist Varna system and in order to ensure that a Shudra family could also produce an engineer or a doctor, we provided anti-elitist reservation (affirmation) to the Shudras to catch up with the rest. However, since records of professions (Varnas) were not so easily available as those of Jati (Caste), the political classes thought of combining Scheduled Castes with Scheduled Tribes rather than with Varnas.

The present day reversal of pyramid notwithstanding, it is a fact that those that belonged to higher Jati and Varna resisted the encroachments into their Jati and Varna by the lower classes and castes. How could, they reasoned, anyone mar their exclusivity? We are all aware of the havoc caused in our society by, for example, the practice of untouchability.

There were experts all along and then there were those who guarded their exclusive turf. Those who learnt or tried to learn skills by themselves were looked down upon, jeered, made to feel miserable and in the case of Eklavya of Mahabharata, had his arching thumb cut as a guru-dakshina (Offering to the Teacher) for Dronacharya since he learnt archery keeping a clay model of Drona when the latter declined to take him up as his disciple.

Eklavya made to cut off his arching thumb by Drona as 'Guru Dakshina' (Pic courtesy: mug.shainsingh.com)
Eklavya made to cut off his arching thumb by Drona as ‘Guru Dakshina’ (Pic courtesy: mug.shainsingh.com)

And now cut to the modern age of free-knowledge and free-skills availability everywhere especially on the Internet. The Varna system has collapsed in many ways though vested interests want to keep the Jati or Caste system alive to perpetuate . You could be selling tea and yet you could lead the country as a Prime Minister. You could, as Indra Nooyi, be born in a Tamil speaking family in Madras and yet make it to be the CEO of PepsiCo, the second largest food and beverage business in the world.

And yet, the turf-guarders are always on their guard. They would tell you that you need more and more experts to solve problems, to repair, to rectify, to manage, to control, to heal, to do anything and everything. The lawyers, for example, make sure that they make legalese and court procedures so complicated and complex that the average citizen would have no choice but to call them to save his or her soul; in a repeat of the popular 1975 movie Sholay’s dialogue by the evil dacoit: Gabbar se tumhen ek hi aadmi bacha sakta hai, woh hai Gabbar khud (Only one man can protect you from Gabbar and that is Gabbar himself). The doctors circulate any number of videos on social-media mocking all those who learn about their ailments from the net. Most of the videos cleverly mix human skills with expert knowledge of ailments and cures making the so called ultracrepidarians look like buffoons, doing immense damage to themselves through their half-baked knowledge. They do forget the fact that the most difficult and responsible medical skill in the world – of being a parent – is learnt by most of us on the job and that for every failed unskilled parent there is a failed expert parent.

The Internet indeed is a great equalizer in a world wherein institutionalised training has been brought to its knees by the self-learners. One of the most spectacular examples of this is something that we grudgingly acknowledge: that is, how the most powerful armed forces have found their equal in self-trained terrorists; in many cases the latter having an edge over the former. We can have a debate about the means and the intent of the latter as opposed to the armies. But, the fact is that the Eklavyas of today, such as they are, don’t lose their thumbs in Guru-Dakshina but demand the heads of the elite trainers.

Last year I wrote a piece titled ‘All Photographers And Writers, No Viewers And Readers’. Just a few decades earlier, photographers and writers were an elite lot. Now everyone is one or the other. Everyone has an opinion and the Apelles of the world ridiculing shoemakers for expressing opinions about works of art have been simply outnumbered.

Lets look at the case of doctors predicting dire consequences for those who self-diagnose and self-medicate their ailments. There are counter views of course; the least of them is that doctors are known to fleece you and make your ailment really big and complex (requiring MRIs and other expensive tests) if you have no knowledge of your ailment.

Also, why only doctors? If we have to let only the experts do their job, then how come, these days:

  • Everybody is a national security expert.
  • Everybody knows how to run the country.
  • Other than the 13 cricketers in the field, everybody knows how to play.
  • Everyone knows how to get rid of terrorists.
  • Everybody knows how to act on screen or stage.
  • Everybody is a scientist.
  • Many people know how to make a bomb from the net.

We used to have a funny anecdote of an Engineer and the Captain of the ship exchanging their jobs, if only to win a bet. After an hour of this exchange, the Captain-turned-Engineer called the Bridge on the Intercom and said, “I am afraid the engines have stopped turning.” At this the Engineer-turned-Captain responded, “Oh, that’s alright since we just ran aground.”

Getting into non-expert fields is fraught with great risk. And yet, the most powerful navy in the world – the US Navy, that is – follows Line Officer Concept or Officer of the Line Concept.

What then is the answer? Do we require experts or not? What about the charlatans pretending to possess skills that they do not actually possess? In my last job in India’s largest corporate, we had a great and practical industrial security expert leading a proud  team of officers, men and women in the best industrial security organisation in the country. However, his communication and image-building skills were just average. The  management, therefore, brought in a person who had these skills in abundance but little knowledge of practical industrial security. Within a year the complete edifice that was painstakingly built in last twenty years crumbled. However, great sounding talks, write-ups and power-point presentations proliferated.

To build up the answer to the questions whether we require experts or not, and how to deal with ultracrepidarians and charlatans, I think  intent is the key. If by acquiring common and free knowledge, one is thinking of doing away with the expert when his services become indispensable, then there is something wrong. Also, if the intent is to expose the expert to ridicule just as the expert holds the half-baked-knowledge ignoramuses in ridicule, then too it is wrong. However, if the intent is to assist in making a more detailed examination which would have perhaps escaped the attention of the expert; or to fore-arm yourself whilst being fore-warned, then perhaps it makes sense.

I dealt with ultracrepidarians and charlatans in my ‘One Good Advice Deserves Another’ soon after I started this blog on 02 Mar 10. Admittedly, I didn’t even know that such a word as ultracrepidarian existed (I learnt about the word on WhatsApp only recently) and admittedly the piece is merely on the humorous side; however, I hasten to add that sometimes the advice of the non-experts throws open a perspective that was hitherto missed. I invite you to read an interesting bit I brought out in my ‘Being Non-Sensical May Be Far Sighted’.

There are no easy answers. Little knowledge is a dangerous thing is to be carefully balanced against Ignorance is bliss. As I mentioned in the beginning of this essay, the intent here is to start a debate about the pros and cons of expertise versus common knowledge. Please do give your views in the comments below. I am not an expert and I don’t want to have the final say on this.

LOVE – THE GREATEST FEELING ON EARTH

Love and Life are two four-lettered words about whom volumes have been written by poets and writers alike. And yet, like writing about Nature, God and Beauty, there is always something more to write.

There is a great deal of confusion whether Love is a selfless emotion or the most selfish of the emotions. It is selfless because when you love, in near absolute terms, you come to a point when you are oblivious about yourself, your needs and desires. Amongst the popular lovers of yore, Majnu was so much in love with his Laila that when asked to write God’s name in school, he wrote Laila. He was caned so hard by his teacher (maulvi) that it was feared that his hands would start bleeding. Lo and behold, the hands that started bleeding were those of Laila. Love is so selfless that you can lose your identity in love and assume the identity of your beloved.

Duniya pukarti hai mujhe tere naam se…”

It is also a selfish feeling since you love a person to the exclusion of others and that person is called ‘my love’, ‘my life’ etc. As the holy book of the Sikhs, Sri Guru Granth Sahib brings out, my is roughly tranlated to ‘haume’ and loving someone to the exclusion of others is like claiming something for yourself and hence has an element of selfishness about it.

A mother’s love for her child has both elements in it: the selfishness and selflessness. A few decades back, in an earthquake in USSR a woman was buried with her child under the rubble for three full days and nights. She kept her child alive by feeding it her blood! It is a feeling of supreme selflessness. However, the feeling with her, “The life that I am saving is my child, my creation, my life, my love. If I die it would die. So I have to keep myself too alive”, is indeed a selfish feeling.

Lets put it this way: would you expect Laila to bleed for the entire humanity? No, she bled for her own love. Would you expect the mother in USSR to do such a sacrifice for other children? No, she would do it for her own children.

Selfless or selfish or a mixture of both, Love brings out the best in human beings. Yes, one has to get rid of ‘haume‘, as per the scriptures. However, the highest attainments of Leadership through Love are only possible if there is ‘haume’ (my-ness or ego) involved. Soldiers lay down their lives for the love of their country. Cricketers win matches, snatching victory from the jaws of defeat by having the feeling of my-ness for their team, province, state or country. Getting rid of ‘haume‘ is to be rid of belonging and  attachment. However, if you are rid of it Love dies for everyone except for paramatma (Supreme soul) or God.

Love and Ego

So, don’t think too much whether it is Selfish or Selfless to love. If you are thinking of it, you are aware of ‘Self’! It can’t be the purpose of Life to reach back to God. To love one another may also be the will of God.

I have always challenged the oft-held views. In my ‘An Alternate Philosophy of Life‘, for example, I have challenged our obsession with seeking God for ourselves. I have, on the other hand, suggested that we get out of this obsession and think of the society, the way the Westerns do. In India, most people love God but are not so prone to love one another, cleanliness (despite the renewed stress on Swachchh Bharat (clean India), and values. We would if there was some self-interest or ‘haume’ involved in these.

Here are some of the things that I suggest that we love:

1. Love Life. The greatest gift that God has given us is that of Life. We should love ours and those of others. As Indians, when we drive, pardon my saying so, but, it isn’t apparent whether we love ours’ and those of others. Perhaps we should demonstrate it in more ways than the present one of furiously honking and abusing another person off the road. Each one of has the feeling of self-preservation in some degree or the other. Yes, it is selfish to love one’s own life. However, if you don’t love your own and value it, you cannot be expected to value others’. Last year’s Alejandro Inarritu movie The Revenant (a movie that I didn’t like because of its raw and relentless violence) won him the Best Director’s Award as well as Best Actor award for Leonardo DiCaprio. The movie is all about the quest for survival under extreme harsh conditions for Hugh Glass whilst seeking revenge against John Fitzgerald, a fellow trapper who left him (Hugh Glass played by DiCaprio) as dead after stabbing him. Take the opposite extreme, that of a Jehadi or a Mujahid.  He doesn’t value his own life and those of others in the mistaken belief that by killing himself and others he would, perhaps, serve some purpose of God. Loving Life is the first signs of gratefulness towards God for having created beings, mountains, plains, rivers, seas, etc.

Life Live Love

2. Love Nature. God made the Universe very beautiful indeed. We are part of it and we are beautiful too. However, Nature is more beautiful than all of us individually and collectively. It is our beloved. It is not ashamed to have a bath right in the open and emerge even more beautiful. It doesn’t bore us with the same shape, colour, fragrance and hue all the times. One of the most enchanting things about Nature is that it is forever changing. Just when we feel that we have seen the most alluring part of it, it unashamedly reveals another even more fascinating. Nature reflects the endless attribute of God Himself in case we are used to personifying God.

I thank you O God 2

3. Love Music. It doesn’t matter what kind of music you like or love; be it classical, instrumental, Western, Raaga based, or even punk. However, I would be very suspicious of a person who doesn’t like music and considers all music as jarring noise. Music is the expression of the soul. There must be some expression of your own inner self that finds resonance with some music. My family and I consider life without music to be no life at all.

I thank you O God 8

4. Love Children. God gave us innocence at birth and even before it. We had it when we were children. But then, we plunged into worldly knowledge and lost it gradually. That’s the reason that we, with all our knowledge, are farthest from God and little children with their innate innocence are God-like (Please read: ‘How Unbiased Or Innocent Can We Become?’). Therefore, it makes sense to love the child in you as also to love children.

I thank you God 12

5. Love Animals. Many of you must have seen the most successful South African movie ever: the 1980 movie ‘Gods Must Be Crazy’. The movie is about the simple bushmen of Kalahari Desert in Botswana who are happy and content with what God has given them until they are exposed to a Coca Cola bottle (symbolic of the modern world) having been thrown close to them from a plane. And now, the single coca-cola bottle is the source of envy, jealousy, anger, frustration and violence that they had never experienced before. The animal world is like the world of the bushmen as seen in the movie. There is no fear, danger, jealousy, greed and guile. If you can’t be in the wilderness, the next best thing to do is to have a pet and then you suddenly start realising that God made all His beings in His own liking. You can’t help loving them. Indeed, nowadays, scientific and psychological studies have shown that loving a pet relaxes you and enriches your life.

Roger and Us

6. Love Silence and Privacy. We like Sound. Indeed, we like all sensory experiences of hearing, smelling, seeing, touching and tasting. However, there are experiences beyond the senses and these can be found only in silence both outward and inward. You have to make your surroundings and environment around you silent. In modern-day India, for example, we collectively detest silence and are at home with unfettered noise. Considerable part of it is – hold your breath – devotional (Please read: ‘A Quieter Mumbai – Is It A Pipe Dream?’, ‘Noise Is The Newest Form Of Devotion’, ‘Sounds Of Silence’, ‘State Sponsored Noise’, ‘This Patakhawali, This Bombawali Has Nothing In Common With Deepawali’, and ‘Who Are The “People” Whose “Sentiments Need To Be Respected”?’ ) What kind of devotion it must be that uses noise as a medium and doesn’t respect other people’s privacy?

Flute and Orchestra

7. Love the Jawan (Soldier). As long as there is ‘haume’, there is violence. As long as there is violence, someone needs to protect us from being subjugated by violence. That chosen one of God is the Jawan or the Soldier. Whilst others have a profession or vocation, his is a devotion, a sacrifice and way of life. To love a Jawan is to thank him for risking his own life whilst protecting ours. No money, awards, gratitude on earth can ever repay him for what he does 24/7, 365 days in a year.

I thank you God 21

8. Love India. We Indians are the most vociferous jingoists in the world. We carry our patriotism on our shirt-sleeves for everyone to see. But, do we really love our country? The answer is a big NO. The person who loves his or her country as his or her own home won’t do any of the following, for example:

  • Dirty it relentlessly and expect someone else to clean up the mess.
  • Indulge in everyday petty corruption and short-cuts knowing that it makes the country weaker.
  • Whiling away time at work knowing that the country’s well-being is dependent upon each one of us working at full efficiency and dedication.
  • Sell the country’s interests both overtly and covertly to the enemies of the country within and without.
  • Have no respect for the law of the land.

There, I have given you my short list of things that we ought to love as our own and cherish that we were given these to love.

I thank you God 27

One of my poems ended like this:

Some live to love,
I love so as to live.

Perhaps you can do it too.

BEST OF ‘MAKE YOUR OWN QUOTES’ – LEADERSHIP LESSONS

Upon starting my blog in 2010, I did a comprehensive piece on Leadership (my three favourite words all start with L: Lyn (my wife), Love and Leadership): ‘Leadership In The Navy – Past, Present And Future’ and then later, having joined India’s largest corporate, I did another piece: ‘Ten Things To Avoid As A Leader’, which reflected my observations of the environment around me.

My fascination with Leadership continues. Many of you are already aware of my Facebook page (one of the sixteen groups and pages that I administer) called ‘Make Your Own Quotes’. I started it three years back in Feb 13 and on Facebook I see many people around the world sharing these quotes. I have maintained that even though great men and women inspire us, we can be our own teacher and be guided by our own quotes. The analogy of Law comes to mind. Despite all the complexities introduced by the lawyers and the judges and the other court officials to have exclusive right (and hence add to their income) over the wranglings in the courts, the fact is that all Law is Commonsense (Please read: ‘The Great Indian Judicial Circus’ and ‘Why Do Indian Lawyers Behave Like Gods?’) It is the same with lessons of life. As I have given in the description of the page: ‘There is nothing simpler than giving sane advice; you don’t have to follow great teachers. Make your own quotes and let others follow you!’

Leadership too is as easy as that. If you love what you are doing, you would be a great Leader and great Subordinate too; the fact is that good subordinates make good leaders too.

It has been over a year since I started with the Leadership Lessons series. Let me take you on the  tour of the simple, common-sense quotes that I have made on the subject.

The first one is about the natural linkage of Leadership with Love. A mother, for example, loves her child. She would shower all her love on the child and yet correct his/her mistakes and make sure that he/she is able to stand on his/her feet on its own.

Lord Nelson, as an example, was like that. When he died there were tears in the eyes of his sailors. Indian Navy’s own former Chief of the Naval Staff, Admiral RL Pereira was like that too. After his demise, many who hadn’t even served under his command came to pay homage.

Your intention is read by people you command better when you love. There ia no confusion in their minds. They know that you mean well even when you are harsh with them sometimes. Here is, therefore, my first lesson in leadership. As a corollary permit me to bring out that a put-up act of love so as to enhance your leadership value can be disastrous.

Leadership #1

The next quote is based on the same advice that came my way: Good Leaders have Good Men. When I listened to this advice for the first time, I started thinking that there appears to be something amiss and it cannot be a complete advice by itself. For example, what happens if a leader is stuck with bad men that he has to lead? And then gradually it dawned on me that good leaders always bring out the best in people and they emerge as good men even if they started being bad men.

Hence, if you ever come across a leader who constantly cribs about the caliber of people he is asked to lead, you can be certain that he isn’t quite the leader he pretends to be

Leadership #2

In the corporate in which I worked (the largest corporate in India), I have come across the so-called leaders who would be fussy about such petty matters as Font Size and Font Colours of presentations. Indeed, I used to notice that discussions on other matters used to be stymied in comparison to such petty matters; the forte’ of some of the super-leaders. The desire to be somehow in control of everything through detailed instructions about such insignificant matters was the stuff they loved.

Leadership #3

I noticed, to my dismay, that the style of Leadership with some of the people that I associated with was Leadership-for-Effect. It was as if there was a dire need to establish such relationship as would obtain the maximum influence. However, I was amazed how quickly people saw through all this. Indeed, my own assessment is that an average leader with good intent is much better than an outstanding leader with bad intent. In the latter variety was our former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi with excellent communication skills and outstanding efficiency. She, however, did enormous damage to the long-established institutions in the country by declaring Emergency when her own election was set aside by the Allahabad High Court.

Leadership #4

Yes indeed great leaders are blessed with great communication skills. However, I came across some with great communication skills and almost zero listening skills. These persons would give you a chance to speak about one or two percent of the time in a meeting. These people would then hog all the time in giving solutions to problems that they had perceived without listening to anyone fully. Every new situations were quickly compared by them with one of the previous ones in their previous appointments and solution provided. Most people didn’t quarrel with the solution lest they should embark on another of his self-congratulatory harangues.

Leadership #5

Now, here one has to be very judicious. One has to stay focused on the  objective with single-minded resolve. However, one doesn’t have to be rigid and continue with the selected plan even if one knows that it is leading to disaster. In case of contingencies, even if one’s plan is an excellent one, one has to have an alternate plan ready. Many people get emotionally involved with their plans and think that ditching the plan would be akin to a lover ditching his beloved.

When I was in school, in our Hindi class, we used to have an anecdote about a mathematician who, in his journey with his family, came across a river. He fathomed the depth next to the bank and then the slope; he did some quick calculations and asked his family to cross the river. Within no time, in front of his eyes, the complete family perished. Undeterred, he again fathomed the depth and the slope and did his calculations again and said: “Abhi to jyun kaa tyun, kunba dooba kyun?” (My calculations still hold true; why did the family perish?”

Leadership #6

A good leader is always a good subordinate. He isn’t a megalomaniac who considers himself above the rest of his team. He is one of them. Hence, he never gives advice that he won’t follow himself.

When I was small, my dad told me this tale and I find it very relevant to the point that I am making:

In the hills of Kangra (in Himachal Pradesh) there once was a wise saint. He appeared to have miraculous powers. The ill and needy walked for several miles to seek his advice. Once, there was a middle-aged lady who walked all of eight miles in the hills and brought her seven years old boy with her. She stood in the queue whole day to see the saint. Finally, when her turn came, she told the saint that her son’s teeth were getting bad as he had a sweet-tooth and voraciously ate all kinds of sweets. She had told him several times to break the habit but it was of no avail. The saint told her to come the next week.

The next week she again went through the ordeal and when she narrated her son’s problem, the saint asked her to come the next week. This continued for four weeks and the woman was getting more and more annoyed with the saint for having made a simple problem complex. Finally, at the fifth visit, the saint kept a hand at the back of the lad and told him, “Son, tomorrow onward please give up eating sweets.”

The woman was quite cheesed off. She went home incensed. However, the next day onward she found that her son had given up eating sweets. She was elated but knew that she must get back to the saint and give him her piece of mind.

This time, she broke the queue, charged in with rage and let the saint have it: “Five times I walked eight miles each to seek your advice. At the end of it all that you did was to tell him not to eat sweets. If it was as simple an advice as that, why couldn’t you tell the first time?”

This is what the saint said calmly, “When you came the first time, and narrated your son’s problem, I realised I had the same problem. I thought, before giving him advice, I would be able to break the habit within a week and hence I called you. I then realised that though I had cut down a little on sweets, I still couldn’t give up. This continued and once I had finally abandoned sweets, I knew I could then give advice to your son with moral authority”.

Have a look at the following and recall all your seniors who gave you sane advice but never seemed to follow it themselves and see if that advice ever helped you:

Leadership #7

I have come across many a leader who was quick to take the credit if things went right or met with success. However, he was quick to make a volt-face the moment things appeared to go askew.

It isn’t true that god leaders don’t make mistakes. However, they don’t make the same mistake twice and also shoulder responsibility for it.

Leadership #8

Leaders are not super human beings. They are human beings. However, they never show they are overwhelmed by situations. One of the signs of being overwhelmed by a situation is to lose temper. The fact is that there is no situation so bad in which you can’t lose your temper and make it worse. A good leader does his home-work before handling a situation. He thinks of the situations and contingencies that may arise during the execution of his plan and is prepared when and if the situation develops. This becomes a second nature with him. As a result, even when a situation develops suddenly, he knows what to do.

Leadership #9

I have come across many people who, in order to impress their subordinates about the complexity of the problem, keep driving into them how such problems required extremely intricate solutions. A good leader, on the other hand, puts himself in the shoes of his subordinates and gives them not the product of his confusion but of the clarity of his mind. A good leader never complicates things but explains to his people in simple terms.

When the modern trend of making simple things complex started in 1970s, by management experts who laughed all the way to their banks selling complex management jargon, there was an anecdote of door-to-door salesman selling toys. He came across what he called his most modern toy that was also most expensive. He explained to the mother, “The aim of the toy is to put together these pieces. Any which way your child would do it, would be wrong.”

Leadership #10

The chips are down, all hell has broken loose, and the task is really very difficult. The team is getting increasingly frustrated and full of doubts whether they would be able to finally get it right. The leader himself has doubts but he doesn’t transmit these to his team. He transmits to them hope. He makes them see the silver lining.

Two examples come to my mind:

One is about Aamir Khan movie Lagaan (Tax). People of Aamir Khan’s village produce crops but do pay a substantial portion of their earnings as Lagaan to their British masters. Once, the British challenge them to play a game of cricket with them and if they (the villagers) would succeed, they would be excused Lagaan for three years. They had never played cricket before. They start learning. A few days before the match, they are full of doubts. That’s the time when Aamir Khan steps in and makes them see the silver lining. They eventually win.

The second is about Christopher Columbus:

“Behind him lay the grey Azores,
Behind the gates of Hercules.
Before him not the ghost of shores,
Before him only the shore-less seas.
The good mate said, “Now must we pray,
For, lo, the very stars are gone.
Brave adm’ral, say, what should we pray.”
“Why, pray, sail on, sail on and on”.

Leadership #11

Loyalty is something that can’t be demanded. It has to be earned. People may follow your instructions because of various compulsions such as you are their employer and responsible for their salary, promotions and retention. However, they are loyal to you only when they know you are deserving of it. It is the best gift they can give you. When they are loyal, they work in your best interest even when you haven’t given them specific instructions; and many a times they keep you from harming yourself by doing the right thing. Many a corporate follow hire-and-fire policies exploiting and manipulating their employees. The danger in those is that employees, when they find a better jobs, leave them.

Leadership #12

The next one is a very natural one. A leader, if he has to constantly be in control and lead, would be devoid of the modern realities. A good leader, on the other hand, empowers his people to become leaders in their own right so that they innovate and lessen his burden. This is somewhat difficult because if not done with the right intent, it would amount to dispensing with one’s responsibility and accountability. However, with adequate finesse it can be done and yields dividends.

Leadership #13

The next one came my way when I saw some of the leaders around me concentrating on the jargon of quick-wins. However, at the end of two years, I found that quick-wins, some of them with an eye to impress the organisation about their dynamic and charismatic leadership, were all that they achieved. There is only so much that you can get out of such tactics. Eventually, people find out that you are good at winning battles but lose sight of wars.

Leadership #14

For all those petty leaders who want to be seen to be in control, there is nothing like endless series of meetings, con-calls and VCs. These meetings don’t really achieve much. However, their purpose is only to tell the subordinates how tight and great is your control. I have seen action-points of these meetings being made; and, after one year, action points are made again and both the earlier and later day action points appear to be the same except for jargon.

A good leader, on the other hand, first makes his team worthy of its trust. He simultaneously empowers them to make micro-plans on his broad instructions. He also lays down bottom lines and timelines and then leaves it to the team to translate his instructions into action. He doesn’t dissipate time and energy on endless meetings that deceptively look like progress when no progress is being made at all.

I spent six long years in a corporate. We had endless meetings about getting an integrated marine solution for one of our facilities. At the end of more than hundred meetings, con-calls and VCs, we were as close to square-one as one can get.

Leadership #15

Commanding leaders is a much better option than commanding subordinates. A good leader, as I said earlier, is a good subordinate too. Everyone doesn’t have to look towards him all the while. He empowers his people to be leaders in their own right and they then have ownership mindset rather than doing it for someone.

The best example is that of the cricket team. A good captain doesn’t always have to score the maximum runs or take maximum wickets. He brings out the best in his team and his mere presence then ensures that there are eleven Captains in the team.

Leadership #16

This is an unfortunate trend that has started in the corporate sector. One is a good leader if one knows all the definitions, tales and anecdotes and has one for every occasion and situation. I would call this style of leadership as Leadership by Anecdotes. Regrettably, so impressive is the effect of this style that many are carried away by the impression or illusion of having encountered a great leader. In sharp contrast Leadership is probably only ten percent in theory. Ninety percent of it needs to be practised.

The example that comes to mind is that of a learner of the game of tennis who is trying to learn by reading books. For a perfect shot the book tells you, “As you see the ball coming towards you, don’t run towards the ball; run towards the future position of the ball and reach there a split second before the ball reaches. Raise and take back your racquet arm to an angle of 135 degrees and as the ball is about to reach the estimated future position, bring down and forward the arm with the racquet in a continuous swing and connect to the ball and lob it with force across the net.” Now, if only the signals in your brain accumulated through such instructions are translated into action, you would indeed be the world’s best. As the great Indian cricket commentator of yesteryear: DN Chakrapani said in a test match that India had against the MCC (the England XI was known as that at one time) at Lords in London: “The last Indian batsman, Bishen Singh Bedi, has taken a mighty swing with his bat. If only it had connected, the ball would have gone all the way to the Ganges.”

Leadership #17

 

Great leaders are always modest and humble. I have seen Dr. Abdul Kalam at close quarters; as Director of the College of Naval Warfare (now Naval War College) I had invited him to speak to my students. He never gave the impression of speaking to people from a height. He appeared to be one of us. His solutions were never the ones that he had read in some book or seen in some movie. These were everyday commonsense solutions. He didn’t have to remind us constantly through word and gesture what a great personality he was. I have given below the analogy of a bad or inexperienced driver who honks the most and curses the most. Have a look:

Leadership #18

If you are a sanctioned leader such as monitor in a class or GM or VP in a company, people have to perforce follow you. However, as you emerge a great leader, even when your sanctioned powers have been withdrawn people still turn to you for advice, for leadership. The reason? You demonstrated that you are a natural leader.

Leadership #19

I started off with Leadership and Love relationship and I have considered it important enough to reiterate in another manner. I really consider it the crux of leadership. Love automatically has ownership. You constantly remind yourself: These are my people. These are the best in the world. They will make me proud. I will never let them down and they will never let me down. I can write volumes about this relationship. The highest attainments of leadership are only possible through a feeling of love towards the people one commands. You can be harsh with them but you never make them the objects of derision and slant because they are your own. You give credit to them for the team’s achievements just as you shoulder responsibility for the team’s failure. As they say: Bouquets travel downwards; brickbats travel upwards and stop at you.

Leadership #20

This follows naturally from the ability to win wars and not merely battles. Your quick-wins are not by taking short-cuts or unfair means. Today you are a small leader – say, a supervisor. Tomorrow you will be a big leader such as Vice President or President. You won’t be able to look people in the eye in case you used the wrong and unfair means to reach there. Remember, you are always being watched when you think no one is watching.

Leadership #21

You cannot be expected to know every situation when you join. You cannot be constantly using previous knowledge of your earlier appointments when you take over as a leader whilst at the same time telling people to be rid of their previous knowledge which indeed is relevant in their job. You have the humility and modesty to learn about your new job. If from day one you start giving instructions, if from day one you show them down that their earlier knowledge is zilch, you will never learn and never emerge as a great leader. You would be like a hot air balloon; you would eventually come down when the gas runs out.

Leadership #22

The next one is a natural extension of the previous one. When you make your people feel small, they cannot make you feel tall. It is not a see-saw; it is indeed a win-win or a lose-lose situation.

Leadership #23

Aha, at the fag-end of the blog, I have given you this. You want people and the organisation to win and not your leadership style to be justified through Power-point Presentations. So, if people are going to win by no effort from your part, you want to make it difficult for them so that they’d remember that it is your dynamic leadership that made them win. This is indeed poor leadership and I have seen it often.

Leadership #24

Lastly, before I come up with Part II of this blog sometimes later let me tell you about the ability to listen correctly if at all you have conditioned yourself to listen more than you speak. People interact with you at different levels of knowledge, bias and attitude. All that you listen to isn’t fact. It is laced with the perception of the speaker narrating his tale. So, if you ain’t skillful at sifting facts from perception and get carried away with the tale, you can’t be a good leader. A good leader respects emotions and attitudes but more often than not takes decisions based on facts.

Leadership #25

That brings me to the end of Part I of the series on Leadership Lessons on my Facebook page ‘Make Your Own Quotes’. None of these can do wonders for you unless you practise them.

Here is wishing you a great and effective leadership wherever you are.

 

HINDI SONGS DEPICTING IDEALS IN PREAMBLE TO CONSTITUTION OF INDIA

HAPPY REPUBLIC DAY 2016

What exactly does the republic day signify? It is the day when the Indian constitution came into effect on 26 Jan 1950. The opinion expressed by an American Constitutional authority, Granville Austin, was significant. He said that the Indian constitution was “perhaps the greatest political venture since that originated in Philadelphia in 1787.” He described it as a “social document”. We should never forget that the Constitution, as envisaged by a committee under Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, was to foster a social revolution.

A few years after the declaration of the Indian republic, Sir Anthony Eden, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom said, ‘Of all the experiments in government, which have been attempted since the beginning of time, I believe that the Indian venture into parliamentary government is the most exciting. A vast subcontinent is attempting to apply to its tens and thousands of millions a system of free democracy. It is a brave thing to try to do so. The Indian venture is not a pale imitation of our practice at home, but a magnified and multiplied reproduction on a scale we have never dreamt of. If it succeeds, its influence on Asia is incalculable for good. Whatever the outcome we must honour those who attempt it”.
Republic Day is, thus, an affirmation of common aspirations, hopes, strengths, responsibilities, and will of our people.

Our aspirations in brief are given in the Preamble of the Constitution. We seek for all our citizens: Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. I have created a cover picture for all my groups with these aspirations.

RD 2016

SONG #1
Insaaf ki dagar pe bachcho dikhaayo chal ke

One song that depicted all these ideals was penned by my favourite poet and lyricist: Shakeel Badayuni for the 1961 movie Ganga Jamuna starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala. Here in this song, Abhi Bhattacharya as a village school teacher is addressing the young ignited minds and moulding them to be the future leaders of the country.

This song was composed by Naushad Ali and so as to increase my joy and pride manifold, it was also sung by my favourite singer Hemant Kumar.

Hemant Kumar

Please enjoy a song that tells us what we sought as a Republic in our leaders: Insaaf ki dagar pe bachcho dikhayo chal ke, ye desh hai tumhaara, neta tumhin ho kal ke….

insaaf kii Dagar pe, bachcho.n dikhaao chal ke
ye desh hai tumhaaraa, netaa tumhii.n ho kal ke

duniyaa ke ra.nj sahanaa aur kuchh na mu.Nh se kahanaa
sachchaaiyo.n ke bal pe aage ko ba.Dhate rahanaa
rakh doge ek din tum sa.nsaar ko badal ke
insaaf kii …

apane ho.n yaa paraae sabake liye ho nyaay
dekho kadam tumhaaraa haragiz na Dagamagaae
raste ba.De kaThin hai.n chalanaa sambhal-sambhal ke
insaaf kii …

insaaniyat ke sar par izzat kaa taaj rakhanaa
tan man bhii bhe.nT dekar bhaarat kii laaj rakhanaa
jiivan nayaa milegaa a.ntim chitaa me.n jal ke,
insaaf kii …

SONG #2 (JUSTICE)
Insaaf ka mandir hai ye bhagwan ka ghar hai

We are covering our aspirations as given in the Preamble of the Constitution. We seek for all our citizens: Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.

Our first song depicted all these aspirations: Insaaf Ki Dagar Pe bachcho dikhayo chal ke.

Now, we take a song each for each one of our four aspirations for our people and the first one is: Justice or Insaaf.

Most Indians, after having tried their hand at getting Justice or Insaaf through the Indian system, pray to God to give them divine justice!

Here is a song from the 1954 movie Amar starring Dilip Kumar and Madhubala. They go for Insaaf to a temple. Shakeel Badayuni penned the lyrics, Naushad Ali composed it in our most popular Raag: Bharavi and Mohammad Rafi sang it.

Naushad Ali, Mohammad Rafi and Shakeel Badayuni
Naushad Ali, Mohammad Rafi and Shakeel Badayuni

This means that five Muslims got together to make one Hindi bhajan; that was the beauty of our culture!

Please enjoy in Raag Bhairavi: Insaaf ka mandir hai yeh bhagwan ka ghar hai….

Part 1

##‎during‬ casting##
ra: insaaf kaa mandir hai ye bhagavaan kaa ghar hai -2
ko: insaaf kaa mandir hai ye bhagavaan kaa ghar hai
ra: kahanaa hai jo kah de tujhe kis baat kaa Dar hai

hai khoT tere man me.n jo bhagavaan se hai duur -2
hai.n paa.Nv tere
##‎casting ends here##

Part 2

##‎Dilip and Madhubaalaa go to temple##
ra: insaaf kaa mandir hai ye bhagavaan kaa ghar hai
kahanaa hai jo kah de tujhe kis baat kaa Dar hai

hai khoT tere man me.n jo bhagavaan se hai duur -2
hai.n paa.Nv tere
hai.n paa.Nv tere phir bhii tuu aane se hai majabuur
aane se hai majabuur
himmat hai to aa jaa ye bhalaa_ii kii Dagar hai
insaaf kaa mandir hai ye bhagavaan kaa ghar hai

dukh de ke jo dukhiyo.n se na insaaf karegaa
bhagavaan bhii usako na kabhii maaf karegaa
ye soch le -2
ye soch le har baat kii daataa ko Kabar hai
daataa ko Kabar hai
himmat hai to aa jaa ye bhalaa_ii kii Dagar hai
ko: insaaf kaa mandir hai ye bhagavaan kaa ghar hai

Part 3:

#‪#‎at‬ the end##
ra: maayuus na ho haar ke taqadiir kii baazii
pyaaraa hai vo Gam jisame.n ho bhagavaan bhii raazii
dukh dard mile
dukh dard mile jisame.n wohii pyaar amar he
wohii pyaar amar he
ye soch le har baat kii daataa ko Kabar hai
ko: insaaf kaa mandir hai ye bhagavaan kaa ghar hai -2

SONG #3 (LIBERTY)
Apani azaadi ko ham hargiz mita sakate najhin

We are taking up songs depicting our aspirations as given in the Preamble of the Constitution. We seek for all our citizens: Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. I have created a cover picture for all my groups with these aspirations.

One song that depicted all these aspirations was given by me last night: Insaaf Ki Dagar Pe bachcho dikhayo chal ke. And then we took up a song depicting Justice or Insaaf: Insaaf ka mandir hai yeh bhagwan ka ghar hai.

Now, we take a song on Liberty.

Many people, I suspect, think of the words Liberty and Freedom as meaning the same thing. In speeches and written pieces they are used pretty much as synonyms. Indeed, many people don’t even find a difference between Independence Day and Republic Day!

Freedom is a state of being capable of making decisions without external control.

Liberty, on the other hand, is freedom which has been granted to a people by an external control.

What a useful learning for us Indians that unlike what we feel, our Constitution does not give us unfettered freedom but Liberty, which is Freedom with certain controls.

Once again, Shakeel Badayuni is the one who told us about the true value of our Freedom (Azadi) that led to our aspiration of Liberty.

At this stage, it is nice to reflect on the fact that first three out of five songs that I shall be putting up to remind us of Republic Day have been penned by Shakeel Badayuni with music by Naushad. This too has been sung by Mohammad Rafi for Dilip Kumar and it is from the 1964 movie Leader.

Poster of the 1964 movie Leader starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala
Poster of the 1964 movie Leader starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala

Please enjoy: Apani aazaadi ko ham hargiz mita sakate nahin….

apanii aazaadii ko ham haragiz miTaa sakate nahii.n
sar kaTaa sakate hai.n lekin sar jhukaa sakate nahii.n

hamane sadiyo.n me.n ye aazaadii kii nemat paaii hai
saika.Do.n qurabaaniyaa.N dekar ye daulat paaii hai
muskaraakar khaaii hai.n siino.n pe apane goliyaa.N
kitane viiraano.n se guzare hai.n to jannat paaii hai
Kaak me.n ham apanii izzat ko milaa sakate nahii.n

kyaa chalegii zulm kii ahale vafaa ke saamane
jaa nahii.n sakataa koii sholaa havaa ke saamane
laakh fauje.n le ke aaii aman kaa dushman koii
ruk nahii.n sakataa hamaarii ekataa ke saamane
ham vo patthar hai.n jise dushman hilaa sakate nahii.n

vaqt kii aazaadii ke ham saath chalate jaae.nge
har qadam par zi.ndagii kaa ruK badalate jaae.nge
gar vatan me.n bhii milegaa koI gaddaar-e-vatan
apanii taaqat se ham usakaa sar kuchalate jaae.nge
ek dhokhaa khaa chuke hai.n aur khaa sakate nahii.n

SONG #4 (EQUALITY)
Bane ho ek khaak se to door kyaa kareeb kyaa
Lahu ka rang ek hai ameer kyaa gareeb kyaa?

Republic Day is an affirmation of common aspirations, hopes, strengths, responsibilities, and will of our people.

Our aspirations in brief are given in the Preamble of the Constitution. We seek for all our citizens: Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. I have created a cover picture for all my groups with these aspirations.

Many people feel that there is no difference between Independence Day and Republic Day. I am bringing out these differences through songs.

Since the beginning of this post we took up three songs: One, Insaaf ki dagar se bachcho dikhaayo chal ke, telling us about all our ideals as republic; Insaaf ka mandir hai yeh bhagwan ka ghar hai reminding us of Justice (Insaaf) and Apani azaadi ko hum hargiz mita sakate nahin to tell us the value of Liberty given to us by our constitution.

Let us take up the fourth song about Equality now.

This one has been penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri in the 1962 movie Aarti with Meena Kumari in the title role.

It has Roshan‘s music and Lata Mangeshkar sang it.

aarti

Here is the Indian ideal of Equality in a most meaningful song: Bane ho ek khaak se to door kyaa kareeb kyaa,
Lahu ka rang ek hai ameer kyaa gareeb kyaa?

bane ho ek Kaak se, to duur kyaa qariib kyaa -(3)
lahu kaa ra.ng ek hai, amiir kyaa gariib kyaa
bane ho ek …

vo hii jaan vo hii tan, kahaa.N talaq chhupaaoge -(2)
pahan ke reshamii libaaz, tum badal na jaaoge
ke ek jaat hai.n sabhii -(2)
to baat hai ajiib sii
lahu kaa ra.ng ek hai …

gariib hai vo isa liye, tum amiir ho gaye -(2)
ke ek baadashaah huaa, to sau fakiir ho gaye
khataa yaha hai samaaja kii -(2)
bhalaa buraa nasiib kyaa
lahu kaa ra.ng ek hai …

jo ek ho to kyuu.N naa phir, dilo.n kaa dard baa.NT lo -(2)
lahu kii pyaas baa.NT lo, ruko ki dard baa.NT lo
lagaa lo saba ko tum gale (2)
habiib kyaa, raqiib kyaa
lahu kaa ra.ng ek hai …

SONG #5 (FRATERNITY)
Insaan ka insaan se ho bhaichaara
Yehi paigham hamara

Republic Day is an affirmation of common aspirations, hopes, strengths, responsibilities, and will of our people.

Our aspirations in brief are given in the Preamble of the Constitution. We seek for all our citizens: Justice, Liberty, Equality and Fraternity. I have created a cover picture for all my groups with these aspirations.

Many people feel that there is no difference between Independence Day and Republic Day. I am bringing out these differences through songs.

Since the beginning of this post we took up four songs: One, Insaaf ki dagar se bachcho dikhaayo chal ke, telling us about all our ideals as republic; Insaaf ka mandir hai yeh bhagwan ka ghar hai reminding us of Justice (Insaaf), Apani azaadi ko hum hargiz mita sakate nahin to tell us the value of Liberty given to us by our constitution; and Lahu ka rang ek hai ameer kyaa gareeb kyaa (Equality)

Let us take up the fifth song about Fraternity now.

This one was very easy to find since it is from the 1959 movie Paigham (literally, our Proclamation or Declaration of our Intent; indeed the Preamble of our Constitution that came into effect 66 years ago on 26 January 1950).

It has been penned by Kavi Pradeep and has C Ramchandra‘s music (as in Ai mere watan ke logo). It has been sung by Mohammad Rafi.

paigham1

Please enjoy: Insaan ka insaan se ho bhaichaara, yehi paigham hamara….

Please enjoy Manna De sing about our fourth ideal in the Preamble of our Constitution: Insaan ka insaan se ho bhaichaara, yehi paighaam hamaara….

insan ka ho insan se bhaichara
yahi paigam hamara
yahi paigam hamara
naye jagat me huya purana
unch nich ka kissa
sabko mile mehnat ke
mutabik apna apna hissa
sabke liye sukh ka barabar ho bantwara
yahi paigam hamara
yahi paigam hamara

harek mahal se kaho ke
jhopdiyo me diye jalaye
chhoto aur bado me ab
koi phrak na rah jaye
is dharti par ho pyar ka
ghar ghar ujiyara
yahi paigam hamara
yahi paigam hamara
insan ka ho insan se bhaichara
yahi paigam hamara
yahi paigam hamara

 

Ladies and gentlemen, today is the day to rejoice as we celebrate the 67th Republic Day of India. Let us remember the Preamble to the Constitution of India through these five songs.

Jai Hind!

REINVENTING THE WHEEL, ARMED FORCES STYLE

Generals, they say, become adept at fighting the last war. In a very short article titled ‘Out Of The Box Thinking’, nearly four years back, I had brought out that the need to have uniformed services, both in dress code and in demeanour and response, keeps the armed forces from truly encouraging (and not paying mere lip-service to) out of the box thinking. A few years back when the subject of out of the box thinking became the flavour-of-the-month in the armed forces, its fall-out was as curious as the Army, forever engaged with Pakistan, being told to act ‘strategic‘ and hence starting every operational presentation with focus on the Indian Ocean. It was as fascinating as comical when I took the Naval Higher Command Course with me as Director of the College of Naval Warfare to the Northern Command units from 2007 to 2009 and they would start their presentation, say, in the Leh Div, by focussing on the Indian Ocean. This is from my page ‘Make Your Own Quotes’ on the Facebook:

Out of Box

I can imagine the army big-wigs giving orders to the subordinate commands, corps, divisions, brigades, and battalions to ensure that out of the box thinking becomes standard, routine and uniformed way of thinking in the units. Also, every unit has to show records and returns of the out of the box thinking that it has indulged in at a fixed interval.

So, if you then reach the conclusion that armed forces people are not meant for out-of-the-box-thinking, you are in for a huge surprise. There is one sure innovation that a new incumbent anywhere in the armed forces cannot resist and that is to look down on what the previous incumbent used to do and bring about a change. Lets say a new Commanding Officer takes over. As soon as the handing-over/taking-over is completed, he/she issues out an order: “All orders of my predecessor shall remain in force unless or until amended by me.” However, soon after issuing this mandatory order, his/her mind starts working overtime to amend all previous orders.

This is called the Ninety-Days Leadership Impact Syndrome. One has to make a quick-impact within ninety days of taking over so that your superiors would notice how quickly you have brought about a “long-overdue change“. You start with what has now become standard lingo in the armed forces and industry alike: quick-wins. One of the sure-shot quick-wins is to standardise correspondence, mails, reports, returns, procedures and policies that your predecessor (somehow busy in other matters; poor chap) was never able to do. The fallacy with this quick-win is that you never bothered to find out if your predecessor already did so (being the product of the same system, after all). Indeed, whenever anyone of the previous regime (these unfortunate and uninformed guys are left-out by the headquarters for – hold your breath – providing continuity) essays to bring out the rationale behind how things used to be done earlier, your first reaction is to snub him/her with: “Don’t tell me anything of your previous knowledge” (Please also read ‘Ten Things To Avoid As A Leader’). You also earmark such people as resistant-to-change and discuss with your contemporaries how difficult your job is going to be to get people out of their mould.

(Pic courtesy: www.qvidian.com)
(Pic courtesy: www.qvidian.com)

Your so-called contemporaries are only too eager to be on your side by suggesting how to bring about the desirable change as quickly as possible.

Here is an imaginary discussion (the more discussions that you have the more you are seen as the right man for bringing about the desirable and long-overdue change) between a new incumbent (NI) and his trusted (to help him bring about change) new-order cronies (NOC) in the presence of OGs (Old-order Guys):

NI: I have been thinking about making the sun rise in the East. I can think of getting excellent dividends through this new concept.

OG1 (trying to butt-in to bring out that the sun always rose in the East and that it was not a new idea at all): Sir, our previous CO used to……

NI (showing his extreme displeasure at the mention of ‘previous CO’): Now don’t again start with what was being done with the old regime; India wasn’t free on 14th August 1947 but it became free the very next day because people changed their thinking.

NOC (seeing in this an opportunity to brown-nose the NI): Sir, the other day I was reading a book by Yoshihito Kawasaki (“I hope it registers with NI that me and my generation are endowed with forward-looking thinking“) and he brings out that the very reason that Japan emerged as a leading economy in the world, despite having been defeated in the Second World War, was only because they have aligned their thinking to the Sun rising in the East. ‘Land of the Rising Yen’ was made possible only by slight change in the way they looked at the Sun.

OG2 (trying to make another determined effort to bring home the fact that there is nothing new in the Sun rising in the East): But Sir, from times immemorial….

(Pic courtesy: blog.close.io)
(Pic courtesy: blog.close.io)

NOC2 (seizing the opportunity to align himself with the thinking of the new Sun: NI): Indeed, Sir, what NOC1 has brought out has merit; not just Japan but even Korea and Singapore profited by thinking of Sun rising in the East.

NI: I know it is going to be difficult to make the Sun rise in the East. As OG2 was saying (!), from times immemorial it has been doing the opposite. To make it change to modern way of thinking would be difficult. But, gentlemen, when the going gets tough the tough gets going (says it as if he has suddenly invented a new phrase; indeed, all NOCs make ostensible note of it in their writing pads!). As Napoleon said “Impossible is a word in the dictionary of the fools”.

NOC3: I totally agree with you, Sir. Bringing about a change is always very difficult. However, if we can do the impossible, which we are very capable of doing, the dividends are far too huge.

OG1: But Sir…

NI: No ifs and buts. A lot of our time in India is dissipated in focussing on and discussing ifs and buts. I want a quick action plan within a month about how to make the Sun rise in the East. And, don’t forget to make the plan in the new format that has been already promulgated by my Staff Order. I am fed up of each person devising his own format. That’s not where we want out-of-the-box thinking.

OG2 (after the crucial meeting; to himself, the only person who listens to him): They will soon discover that the Sun always rose in the East! It is totally still. It is the Earth that rotates; and since the Earth rotates in Easterly direction, the Sun appears to rise in the East.

Of course, the NI and NOCs discover the fact of Sun always rising in the East, but, their out-of-the-box thinking would have earned them many awards and honours that the OGs could have only dreamt about since they were so resistant-to-change.

Life goes on until the NI and NOCs become OGs and a new NI comes with another bright idea.

TEN THINGS TO AVOID AS A LEADER

Nearly five years back I did a comprehensive piece on ‘Leadership In The Navy – Past, Present And Future’ and then within a month, having retired from the Indian Navy, I joined a corporate on the civvie street. This article takes into consideration a number of things that I have closely observed in the environment around me. I am convinced that avoiding these things would make a person a much more effective leader.

The Number One Leadership tenet, of course, is that Leadership must be a secondary trait to Love. A Leader cannot be an effective Leader unless he or she is driven by a feeling of love towards his or her resources; the most precious of these being human resource. If you are driven by Love and in the corporate sector not the love for money, you are already on the way to becoming an effective leader. Regrettably, corporates think of a Leader as someone who commands not more respect but more money and many of these leaders actually end up being paid heavily in the hope that they would bring about the necessary change or transformation; which in turn results into being more profitable and hence earning more money. This is from my page ‘Make Your Own Quotes’:

Leadership #1

Why is this important? I can give several reasons. However, two of these stand out. One is my favourite tenet: Good leaders have good men. Indeed, Good leaders have good all round resources. This doesn’t mean that their talent hunt is so good that they are able to get good men or women from the market or best resources. It means that what they have quickly become good men and women and resources by the feeling of Love that generates ownership and belongingness. Two, Love rules out an agenda other than to see the best development of your company and resources.

With this background, lets go straight into the Ten Things to Avoid as A Leader.

#1 Falsehood. A leader must have high Credibility with those he or she hopes to lead. False promises, both direct and implied, spell ruin. There can be falsehood in things other than promises too. For example, if the people read in your intent motives totally different from the ones proclaimed, your efforts at sincerity are likely to sound as hollow to them as the arguments of a lawyer who knows his client has done something wrong but still argues in his favour because of promise of fees or remuneration. You may cover up your intent by grandiose advertisement campaigns or HR blitzkrieg, but, you won’t have won people’s loyalty. Remember: loyalty is obtained by loyalty and not by spectacular campaigns. Another pertinent and prevalent example of Falsehood is when you promise to bring about a change and openly denigrate what your predecessor(s) were doing; but in the end, you do exactly the same thing, people below you think of it as a great falsehood perpetrated by you.

Leadership #4

#2 Focus on or Driven by only Short Term Goals. From national leadership to anywhere in the corporates leaders are nowadays busy with short-term goals. New language evolves and we have a new and respectable name for this; it is called ‘quick-wins’. Regrettably, many leaders do not go beyond these quick-wins to think about long term development. When you go to South India, you come across temples, for example Somnath temple, that took more than 100 years in construction. Nowadays, people seek instant gratification not just in their lifetime but also in their tenures as leaders which are shortened due to frequent job-hopping. Nevertheless, posterity remembers leaders that look after the long term goals of the company, employees and themselves.

Leadership #14

#3 Wasting Time on Unproductive Activities such as PPTs. Leaders should never forget that Meetings, Workshops, Brainstorming sessions and Conferences are means to achieve an end and not an end by themselves. Dissipating unduly time at getting PPTs right, for example, may sound impressive but would eventually result into micromanagement of such petty things as font-size, colour and slides layouts. I have seen many so-called leaders getting engrossed in the endless process of getting-it-right and devising new vocabulary to mask their penchant for petty corrections. Great leaders do not waste time in forever controlling everything in meetings, PPTs etc but demonstrate their ability to take in the real issues involved.

Leadership #3

#4 Parochialism. Diversity is the flavour of the month in corporates these days; especially amongst those that desire to emerge as global players. However, we are at the level of paying lip-service to it whilst ensuring that increasingly people from our own backgrounds, regions and religions join and progress in the company. The best thing that I read about Bias is that you have a bias to prove your bias right. All kinds of reasoning finds its way into thought-processes why people of our background only “will be able to do justice to the tough requirements of the job.” The problem with such parochial thinking is that you lose the right yo lead all but your favoured lot. It is like a government coming into power and looking after the interests of only those who voted for it.

(Pic courtesy: goldenbridgeinmate39.wordpress.com)
(Pic courtesy: goldenbridgeinmate39.wordpress.com)

#5 Different Rules for Different People. A good leader is consistent about the application of rules, regulations, procedures and practices. He doesn’t give orders that he cannot follow himself. Indeed, whenever he starts a new practice or wants to bring about a change, he leads the change. Everywhere in India we have already spoiled social fabric by inequitable application of rules and privileges. The moment you do so people assume their status to be different or privileged. The oft asked question if such people is: “Pata nahin main kaun hoon?” (Don’t you know who I am?)

Leadership #7

#6 Previous Credentials. You join a new company as a senior leader. You denigrate all their previous experiences. You assume that you have been brought there to bring about a change. So, without even understanding how their system works, you jump headlong into imposing your previous experience on them. You must remember that nothing is more frustrating to your new team. It took them years to build up to the system and you straightway commenced throwing the baby along with the bath-water. You don’t just have a vocabulary to support you in your pursuit of bringing about a change, you have an entire philosophy at your disposal. You can quote hundreds of anecdotes and management principles about how Change is painful but necessary; and, how to bring the recalcitrant around to your point. Indeed, in addition to imposing your previous credentials, you now revel in gradually doing away with resistance to change. but, the fact is that you should have first studied the system that you were going to inherit before embarking on the Change Journey.

(Pic courtesy: agbutler.deviantart.com)
(Pic courtesy: agbutler.deviantart.com)

#7 Constant Change. This is another favoured phrase which is somewhat similar to ‘quick-wins’. You convince people that Change is forever and in order to stay relevant you have to constantly reinvent. Often a major change that you indulge in is followed by another and so on. You want to be counted amongst the well-read. You brought about a transformation and everyone works the midnight oil going through it. No sooner have you completed it that you read another few books and want to bring in more changes. Vocabulary and anecdotes to suit your current pursuit are readily available. You compare life to a river than to a pond and so on. Unknowing to you, people, always being on a roller coaster ride are confused. You never allowed them to come to steady state.

Leadership #10

#8 Ruling By Mistrust Loyalty cannot be bought with money. It has to be won with the currency of loyalty. So, if you have built up an environment of mistrust and intrigue in your organisation wherein people speak in whispers and look furtively if the big-brother is watching; you yourself would be a victim of this mistrust. You are forever checking people’s private mails because you have the power to do so or because your IT policy evasively says so, sooner or later, the Spy versus Spy atmosphere that you set in comes to haunt you.

Spy Vs Spy

#9 Excellent Speaking But Poor Listening Skills. A great leader is not merely a good speaker well versed with great communications skills and story-telling; a great leader is first and foremost a great listener. A monologue by a leader is something that is not welcome. How many times I have come across so-called leaders who insist that the questions at the end of their talks should be short; but, they, at the shortest question launch themselves into longer and longer harangues. Hogging the limelight in meetings, conferences, seminars without listening to anyone especially dissenting views make for poor leadership qualities. Just as good oratory need to be practised, a good leader should have practised the art of good listening.

Leadership #5

#10 All’s well that ends well. Ends don’t justify means. As you climb up the rungs of the ladder of leadership, the short cuts that you took would come and haunt you. In today’s world of transparency put into place by social media and other means, before you know it., your aberrations are made as public as Clinton’s aberrations with Monica Lewinsky. Just because you are in a position to meet the goals, just because you appear to have charisma, doesn’t give you the right to do the wrong things. Of course, these days, we see the wrong-doers ostensibly doing well, having ostentatious life-styles and privileges; but, you would probably win battles with this approach and lose wars.

(Pic courtesy: petermag.wordpress.com)
(Pic courtesy: petermag.wordpress.com)

 

 

LEADERSHIP LESSON #2

Life’s little things are the ones that teach you more than bigger events. I spent thirty-seven years in the Indian Navy and I am convinced my life was moulded because of the small nuggets that came my way. I shall periodically try to recollect some of these in this blog. This is the second of these nuggets.

I was posted on INS Himgiri for obtaining my Bridge Watchkeeping certificate. Himgiri was the second of the indigenously built Leander class frigates (the first one being Nilgiri). It was a fully air-conditioned modern frigate with the latest in weapons and sensors. However, my next ship, INS Karwar, a Hunt class minesweeper appeared to be a big letdown. It was old, leaking (especially at the forepeak where the previous ship’s company had banged it whilst going alongside at Gateway of India whilst practising for President’s Review of the Fleet) and as far removed from the luxuryof a Leander as possible.In addition to the pathetic state of the ship, I suddenly found myself in a position wherein I was responsible for my job (unlike when I was an under-trainee on Himgiri) and could not turn to anyone for advice about how to go about doing the various tasks that I was expected to do.I had been on board for about a week. On one night when I was the Officer of the Day, at about the time when the last libertymen should return, there was commotion in the water near the ship’s berth on South Breakwater in Naval Dockyard, Mumbai. Kuldip Singh, Seaman First Class, Radar Plotter, Third Grade, had fallen from the brow into the water. It came out that he was in the habit of returning drunk on board and that the incident was bound to happen one day or the other.

Anyway, I got him fished out of the water. Kuldip had lost his turban and his Identity Card, two of the things that he should have guarded with great care; one protecting his izzat (honour) in civil life and the other in navy life. The next day he was marched before me and thereon to the Executive Officer (second in command) and to the Commanding Officer (the Navy Act and Regulations for the I.N. gives powers to those in authority to summarily try and award punishments). He was awarded Punishments numbers 14 (Reprimand, that was recorded in his Service Documents), 12 (Stoppage of Leave for 30 days), and 11 (Extra work and drill for 7 days).

On the same day, my CO called me and told me to get in touch with the concerned staff officer in the Bureau of Sailors and have him transferred out of the ship and ask for someone smart.

I was about to make the phone call to the said staff officer when I gave it one last thought: what would be achieved by transferring him out? Instead of being a headache to us he would become a headache to them. He should either be boarded out (which punishment we had not given him) or reformed. But, who was going to reform him?

The next day, Kuldip was standing before me for another default verging on insubordination; he had refused to wash the mess utensils as a mess man on duty. Instead of putting him on defaulters I consulted my XO. Despite the setback, he was very encouraging of my plan to reform Kuldip and never told me that the idea was doomed to failure. He, however, commented upon how bad Kuldip was in anything that was entrusted to him. As a Radar Plotter he was simply awful.

When I called Kuldip in the evening I wasn’t sure where to start. I asked him about his family. He told me he came from a small village near Jalandhar in Punjab. I enquired about his parents and siblings. I then told him that at my parents place my mother always did the cooking and even washed the dishes. Suddenly Kuldip warmed up to the commonality and said that at his village too his mother did the same.

We talked for well over an hour and I discovered that Kuldip was not bad at all. He was only rebellious as most young men at that age. Indeed, he joined the Navy as an act of rebellion against his father who wanted him to do something worthwhile at his village.

I also discovered that Kuldip had many things to tell me about his village, his family, his stern father and his goddess-like mother. At one point when he was describing the food and sweets his mother would make, I intervened to tell him how much I loved the Shakkerparas (Jaggery coated sweets made of flour) that they made in our villages.

I gently led to the topic of his drinking. It came out that initially he did it as a macho statement prevalent in Punjab villages. Later, he was drinking because he felt nobody would understand him.

In all this I only listened rather than offering any platitudes. Kuldip left and I switched on my Sony portable tape-recorder that I had acquired on my last ship Himgiri during a cruise to Aden. Elton John’s ‘Talking Old Soldiers’ was playing. Some of the words that I remember are:

You’re right there’s so much goin’ on
No one seems to want to know
So keep well, keep well old friend
And have another drink on me
Just ignore all the others
You got your memories…

The next evening as I was getting ready to go to the United Services Club to play Bridge, there was a knock at the cabin door. There stood Kuldip with a paper-bag. He was sweating due to the Extra Work and Drill and it appeared that he had gone straight to his locker to fetch the paper-bag after that.

“This is for you”, he told me, “My mother made them and you would like them”. I called him in and we again started chatting whilst having the Shakkerparas. It came out that Kuldip was very fond of reading, football, jokes, and serving langar (free community meal) at the gurudwara. I told him about my own interest in reading, writing, badminton, squash racquets, bridge and chess.

I did not go to USC for Bridge that evening; indeed, for several evenings after that.

A few days later, when our Navigator’s Yeoman was to go on leave, I suggested to XO that Kuldip could be entrusted with the job. All apprehension about his careless attitude were proved wrong when, to our pleasant surprise, we discovered the neatness and correctness of his records.

That year, Kuldip got the Proficiency Award for the best sailor on Karwar. Next year he was promoted to a Leading Seaman. That’s when I left the ship. Many years later I learnt that Kuldip rose to become a Master Chief Petty Officer, the highest that a sailor can reach.

At about the same time I was informally referred to see a psychiatrist by the edgy and pompous medical specialist at the Navy hospital in Mumbai. I was suffering from a skin affliction called Psoriasis and the doc did not like my wasting his time by discussing my situation with him. He felt that my being overly worried about my situation (seen from the fact that I needed his reassurance and wanted him to tell me the progress of my disease) was making my condition worse.

At his behest I saw the psychiatrist on three occasions in the next week and we had long sessions of discussions tailored to find my abnormalities. At the end of these, the psychiatrist pronounced me normal and balanced.

This is what he told me: “If only your medical specialist had spent fifteen minutes with you, you did not have to come to me”.

LEADERSHIP LESSON #1

Life’s little things are the ones that teach you more than bigger events. I spent thirty-seven years in the Indian Navy and I am convinced my life was moulded because of the small nuggets that came my way. I shall periodically try to recollect some of these in this blog. This is the first of these nuggets.

I was posted at Navy’s Leadership School at Coimbatore in South India when I was fairly young, as a Lieutenant. A Leadership Course at Indian Naval Ship Agrani (to be pronounced as Ug-runh-ee meaning Leading; however, all those who have little knowledge of Hindi, which includes ninety percent of the officers in the Navy, pronounce it as Ag-raan-ee, meaning Fire Queen) is for sailors with about 10 to 15 years of service, as Petty Officers (in Seaman branch) or their equivalents in other branches. In addition to classroom studies about leadership traits, these men are exposed to outdoor exercises to observe their individual and team attributes.

One of the outdoor exercises was a trek from Needle Factory near a hill station named Coonoor to the foothill of Ooty hills (Nilgiris). It was not meant to be a competition but since the entire lot of sailors was divided into ‘syndicates’, each with a ‘syndicate officer’ in charge, competition was bound to arise. So, as each one of the syndicates would run or walk along the difficult hilly trail, it was not just a test of endurance and hill – navigation skills but also of team spirit and various other qualities that make a leader at the level of those sailors. Sailors were dressed in what was called FSMO – Field Soldier Marching Order, complete with boots, a heavy rucksack, water bottle etc; whereas, we as officers accompanying them, were dressed in simple fatigues with sports shoes.

We, as young ‘syndicate officers’ would have secret bets of a few bottles of beer as to whose ‘syndicate’ would win the race.

I had never been a topper at sports but this trek in the hill was my favourite. Being from the hills in Himachal, this was one sport that I was good at and could actually beat others in. I had therefore been happy recipient of many bottles of beer that had come my way, despite the fact that I often had to compete with another officer who was also from the hills in Himachal.

On this particular occasion, I was sure of winning since we were leading the whole lot. Engine Room Artificer Third Grade (ERA3) Khan, who finally won the Best Leader award in that batch and I were trailing our syndicate of about 30 sailors since Khan was good at everything except a hilly trek. The nearest syndicate was about 200 metres behind and we were nearing the Kalar Gardens, the end point of the trek; a trek that our youth and spirit had converted into a competitive race.

Khan was at the verge of giving up many kilometers behind and had indicated to me a number of times that he could not go on any further. I was trying all motivational tricks at my disposal and had somehow brought him to within one kilometer of a sure victory. Suddenly, Khan tripped over a rock and fell. The heaviness of his rucksack made him tumble over. He had bruises on his hands and face and because a sharp rock went into his right calf, he started bleeding profusely from the gash.

I knew the race was over for us. It did not matter anymore since it was Khan that needed to be attended to more than the thought of winning the race and having those beers from my fellow ‘syndicate officers’. I asked the rest of the syndicate to go on whilst I made Khan sit on a flat rock. I took out his right anklet and lifted the trouser cuff to expose the wound on his calf. I had nothing to tend his wound with; so I took out my kerchief and tied it around the bleeding gash. We sat for a few minutes and then I asked him to walk with me to the medical help only a few hundred metres away. He had difficulty walking and so I asked him to lean on me. With his wounded leg even walking was tedious for him. We had forgotten about the syndicate that was following us but now we heard footsteps not so far behind.

I could make out that what weighed on Khan was the heavy rucksack. So in order to make it easier for him I unstrapped the rucksack from his back and strapped it around me. Suddenly, as if some lightening had touched Khan, he started limping and moving forward on his own. I could make out that he was wincing in pain but a few steps later he started jogging, though with extreme difficulty. The kerchief was tied lightly and with all this renewed activity it came off. The gash re-commenced bleeding profusely and I asked him to stop. He would have none of it. He shouted for me to catch up with a war-cry: “Come on, Sir; we can still win the race; you will still have those beers”.

We won the race with Khan nearly collapsing as we caught up with the rest of the syndicate.

It took me years to realize why Khan ran that day even with bleeding leg. It took me still more time to realize how he knew that his syndicate officer had set a wager to win the race, even when we had told no one about the bet and the beers.

LEADERSHIP IN THE NAVY – PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE

We Revere Our Heroes

1. ‘Band of Brothers’; is that what we expect our youth to become in tomorrow’s battlefield? Nelson used this phrase on a number of occasions to describe the remarkably close and friendly relationship that existed between him and the captains who served under his command at the Battle of the Nile on 1 August 1798. The phrase also connotes a personalised or ‘collegiate’ style of leadership that Nelson personified, whence doctrine was often substituted by dinner table conferences just prior to battle. Nelson established himself as one of Britain’s most successful fighting admirals. He established a personal rapport not only with his captains but with his men too, through particular attention to their welfare, training and trust. His ‘band of brothers’ knew instinctively what was required of them. On the day of his funeral, according to Collingwood, there were tears in the eyes of ordinary seamen. Nelson loved them and they loved him. He trained his people by example, persuasion and sometimes sterner measures.

2. Even though his personal life was never exemplary, his men followed his other sterling qualities and largely ignored his aberrations. As described by Admiral Arun Prakash in his essay ‘Nelson – The Quintessential Naval Hero’, “While history has, on the whole been kind to Nelson, many biographers have not glossed over his frailties. Pages have been written about his ambitious nature, his thirst for public acclaim, his greed for prize money and his vanity about his own accomplishments”.

3. In the modern era, I quote an incident from ‘The Golden Book of Delhi’ by Commander Hugh Gantzer, on the occasion of the decommissioning of this illustrious ship. The annual Pulling Regatta was in progress and ships vied for the coveted Cock – a symbol of not only rowing prowess but also of the spirit and indeed the general efficiency of the ships. In a particular race Delhi’s boat won by many boat lengths. The euphoria about the victory was short lived when it was found that the crew had taken part in the wrong category race. It came out that unless the same crew took part in the next race, of the correct category, Delhi may not win the Cock. Here was a crew totally fatigued, profusely sweating and frustrated that their best was wasted in the wrong race. No one could have expected of them to take part in the next race let alone win. It was a lost race even before it started. But then the Commanding Officer of Delhi, a legendary figure by the name of Captain RL Pereira, stepped into the boat and talked to his men. Suddenly despair changed into hope and resolve, exhausted faces gave way to grit, and tired muscles had new life in them. The men not only took part in the race but won.

4. Both these are fine examples of Personalised or Direct style of leadership. As one of the Commanding Officers of yore declared, more with a sense of pride and responsibility than with arrogance, “Hum God to nahin but God se kam bhi nahin” (I am not God, but, am not less than Him). When we joined the Navy, John Winton’s ‘Rules on Seeing the Captain’ were prevalent and never questioned: ‘Rule 1: The Captain is always right; Rule 2: If the Captain is wrong, Rule 1 applies’.

5. Are these examples then of timeless traits of leadership that should be unquestioningly inculcated during the initial training and formative years by emulation? How many Nelsons and Perieras have we cloned so far by this process? What about those who do not become these legendary figures, and that includes the vast majority, but are still required to lead? More significantly, are these styles of leadership relevant now and for tomorrow’s Navy? If yes, what are these time tested qualities and how do we ensure their inculcation? If no, or partially no, how else to groom the youth?

We Believe in Timeless Traits of Leadership

6. Let us start with timeless traits of leadership. Even though Kautilya’s Arthshastra, a 4th century BC treatise, is largely perceived as a set of principles for Economic Administration for a king to preserve the integrity of the state and sustain it for the future, there are fine lessons in leadership too. Kautilya stressed on the importance of such core values as knowledge, skills and attitude. Some of these would be relevant even today: Character (Shilavan), Thinking Ability (Pragna), Communication Skills (Vangmi), Vision (Prabhu Shakti), Mission (Mantra Shakti), Concentration (Drudhachitta) and Watchful Alertness (Daksha).

7. These were followed by Dharma and Karma and Maryada or Izzat during the days of Mahabharata as the essential qualities of a Kshatriya. These have been translated in our times as: The well being of your nation and service comes first; the well being of your men comes next; and your own well being and comfort always comes the last. And, Service with Honour.

8. The essential traits of a good leader have evolved over a period of time. There may be differences of opinion about some of them or their relative importance but by and large the following are accepted as desirable traits:

• Bearing
• Courage
• Decisiveness
• Dependability
• Endurance
• Enthusiasm
• Initiative
• Integrity
• Judgment
• Justice
• Knowledge
• Loyalty
• Tact
• Unselfishness

9. Some have considered the following additions, in modern times, but, in many ways these are present in the original list:

• Assertiveness
• Candour
• Commitment
• Competence
• Confidence
• Coolness
• Creativity
• Empathy/Compassion
• Flexibility
• Humility
• Improvement
• Maturity
• Self-discipline
• Sense of humour
• Will

10. I am not going to take all but only a few to illustrate a point:

(a) Bearing. This demands the highest standards in carriage, appearance, and personal conduct at all times. By and large we don’t have any problem with carriage and appearance. But we do have some reservation about the changing ethos of personal conduct. Emulating icons such as Nelson, sometimes means that all is forgiven as long as one is a great leader, eg, Bill Clinton in modern times.

(b) Courage. This is the mental quality that recognizes fear of danger or criticism, but enables a man to proceed in the face of it with calmness and firmness. Let us see what Clausewitz has to say: “If the mind is to emerge unscathed from this relentless struggle with the unforeseen, two qualities are indispensable. Firstly, an intellect, which even in the darkest hour, retains some glimmerings of a light which leads to the truth; and secondly, courage to follow this faint light wherever it leads.” How does one acquire this trait, if one does not have this all along? Like the Army ad says, “Have you got it in you?”

(c) Decisiveness and Initiative. The ability to make decisions promptly and to announce them in a clear, forceful manner should be backed with the ability to take action in the absence of orders. A sub trait of these traits is the Propensity to Take Risks. The good old tenet ‘nothing ventured, nothing won’ is as true today as it was yesterday. Battles and wars are not won by all those who are very adept at naval ops but since all situations cannot be foreseen, we require not only knowledge or net-centric warriors but also prudent risk takers. Is it the fear of failure that lets a leader take the relatively safe middle path?

(d) Combative Spirit. I shall place Combative Spirit very high in the traits that I would want to inculcate in the youth joining armed forces. It is the main trait that differentiates a military leader from a corporate manager. It is a combination of many of the traits given above. In the present atmosphere of vying to improve Inter Personal Relations, especially with seniors, Combative Spirit has become almost non-existent. Physical courage, as given above, is easy to inculcate but there are not adequate examples, in our times, of combative spirit – the ability to meet challenges squarely, with calmness, without fear of consequences.

But, We Do Have a Changed Scenario

11. We have this undeniable fascination with tradition and heritage. After the Kargil War, this strong fascination translated into a series of articles by senior retired officers about crisis of leadership or otherwise. An article by Admiral Nadkarni, however, brought out that the young officers had vindicated our system of imparting values and in battle had displayed traits better than (expected) by the senior hierarchy.

12. Nevertheless, many far reaching changes have taken place in the environment. The Indian Navy’s ‘Strategic Guidance for Transformation’ acknowledges that the Indian Navy faces a fast-changing environment due to variety of factors, which include geo-politics/geo-economics, emerging technologies, rapidly evolving capabilities in our maritime neighbourhood, and, the changing role of the Armed Forces.

13. It would be naïve to assume that the grooming of our youth would be the same as hitherto. As brought out in the ‘Transformation’ document, “The demands of the 21st Century require that we become and remain First Class in the way we lead and manage the affairs within the Navy.” This requires, as brought out in the document, “Clear-headed leadership at all levels, adequate empowerment at senior and lower levels, flattening of the Navy’s internal bureaucracy, and adoption of technology-related ‘best practices’ from industry and/or the navies of other countries.”

14. As far as Personnel policies are concerned, amongst others, we need to revisit HRM in totality, encourage out-of-the-box thinking and reward intellectual inclinations, and a focussed approach towards professionalism, whilst simultaneously enhancing the attractiveness of a career in the Navy, by reviewing compensation and welfare packages and even preparing personnel for a ‘second-career’ beyond the Navy.

15. To give credit where it is due, the Navy has already started experiencing and working on many of these changes. Let us look at some of these. RMA is the readily discernible change but there are others too, which impinge on leadership in tomorrow’s battlefield. Here is a representative sample, and not exhaustive:

(a) There is a blurred distinction between peace and war. From Enemy Beyond, we have now Enemy Within; from well defined states of readiness leading to declaration of hostilities, we now have perpetual tension and alertness. In such a state, it is not uncommon for personnel to get frustrated and either commit suicide or shoot/berate their superiors or both.

(b) There is an explosion of information. As a result, the earlier adage of ‘you can fool some of the people some of the times’ has lost much of its relevance. Nowadays, even young officers have to reckon with an ever inquisitive media, which leave no stones unturned to break news even when none exists. Whilst some have misused the media to carry out campaigns of calumny with vested interests, there are other occasions when the aberrations of the armed forces personnel have been aired openly even when we would have wanted to keep them in wraps.

(c) Let us look at the prevalence of fast changing knowledge and skills. During earlier days, one could get away with some lack of knowledge and skills, as long as one possessed essential attributes of a leader. This is no longer the case. In the last US Presidential elections, the Republican candidate John McCain only had to air his not being Internet savvy and the media went to town bemoaning his potential incompetence to deal with increasingly significant matters of cyber security and privacy.

(d) Perhaps the biggest change in environment that has taken place as a result of the above two is that there is often no time to subject matters to careful deliberation (pause) and then decide. Leaders of tomorrow will have to take decisions on their feet, in fast changing situations, with an ability to quickly sift real intelligence from a heap of information.

(e) Today, we have many other roles of Armed Forces than merely combat. Although readiness for combat would always remain the absolute sine qua non of naval operations, we have to increasingly reckon with naval diplomacy, HADR, multinational peacekeeping ops and a plethora of other roles, wherein the military leader has to deal with many agencies, both governmental and non governmental.

(f) Joint operations are here to stay. However, the senior leadership has displayed a tendency to be assiduously guarding home turf. Military leaders of tomorrow will have to display larger accommodation and should be trained accordingly.

(g) In future battlefield we also have to deal with the nuclear factor. This requires assimilation of escalation matrix at various levels. A decisive blow to the enemy is to be laced with deliberate restraint, much more than it is to be in LIMO.

(h) The entry of women in the armed forces has brought about many changes in our leadership styles. It is not just that the media went to town with the (misunderstood?) remarks of an Army Vice Chief about women not being suited for combat duty, but, there are other questions such as whether the armed forces environment is safe for women? Does a lenient regimen pamper the ladies? Does this trigger rancour among male peers?

(j) Another reckonable factor is that the attractiveness of armed forces has taken a severe beating. It ranges from the youth of the country not valuing the President’s commission to officers declining the higher command courses. Never before in the past did we have armed forces personnel, even though retired, participating in a procession demanding better pay, perks and status, and also returning their medals.

(k) Last but not the least, there is a distinct decline in morals and ethics, and corruption having reached endemic proportions. Of course, we can blame it on the general lowering of standards in public life but gone are the days when the armed forces were immune to it. We often talked about Armed Forces being not just a noble profession but a way of life. We extolled the virtues of ‘An Officer and a Gentleman’, but, now there are an equal number of Booze Colonels and Medal Hopefuls through fake encounters.

And We Need to Do Something about It

16. Once again the list is only illustrative. The idea is to progress the argument that whilst there are timeless leadership traits, time has come to inculcate better suited leadership styles. The Indian Navy’s ‘Transformation’ document has this quote from Bishop G Bromley in the beginning, “Change is inevitable. The great question of our time is whether the change will be by consent or coercion.” Since a considerable percentage of leadership traits are emulated from the prevalent environment, let us see what the current impediments to inculcating leadership traits are and go about systemically correcting them.

17. Confusing Leadership Styles with Traits. We love to glorify personalised or direct leadership. We have this impression that a good leader must be seen to be taking charge of all situations. In recent past there was this senior officer who personally laid down norms for all occasions, which included even dress code and conduct in clubs and messes. The best books on everyday leadership characteristics, that I have read, are Maj Gen Aubrey Redwood’s ‘Follow Me’ series. He described the incident of his going by car and noticing the shabby haircut of a soldier. He was tempted to stop and correct the soldier and then it occurred to him that by doing so he would not only undermine the complete system of grooming but may also indicate wrong priorities. After all, what a senior officer says carries more weight than a junior.

18. Aversion to Other Types of Leadership. As opposed to Direct Leadership (Nelsonian), armed forces officers around the world have traditionally been averse to thinking about changing styles of leadership. Naval professionals had kept doctrine at arm’s length for fear that a binding set of principles might restrict their initiative and independence and hence their leadership style. Mahan said this of British naval officers: “To meet difficulties as they arise, instead of by foresight, to learn by hard experience rather than by reflection of premeditation are national traits.” We have to keep in mind that Direct leadership empowers just one person who gets overstressed to take all decisions, whereas organisational or institutional leadership empowers all personnel at various hierarchical levels. Organisational leadership is unobtrusive and less visible but, even more effective. In the Fleet, for example, with spread out operations in the future battlefield, the days of direct leadership of yore, through flag hoist or within LOS communication are over. The stress is already shifting from ‘where are you going?’ and ‘what are you doing?’ or ‘get back into line’, to more meaningful operations. Many a time when we expect our top hierarchy to display Strategic leadership, we see them engaged in pedestrian issues.

19. Preparing to Fight the Last War. Analysts often accuse Generals of ‘preparing to fight the last war’. The metaphor that comes to mind is that of a frog who tried to behave like a man. He stood on his hind legs and lifted his body up. In this manner his eyes were facing backwards. The terrain that he thus viewed looked familiar. Hence, he confidently marched into unknown territory with its newer dangers with the smugness that he had seen it all earlier.

20. Different Perceptions. The best way to groom the youth is to first know them, rather than at all times being judgmental of their motives. As brought out by Harper Lee in her inimitable book ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’, “The best way to know people is to step into their shoes and walk around in them. Most people are really nice when you finally see them”. We have often dismissed the youngsters with our perception that they don’t have the same values as we used to have during our days. For this, let us examine the Monkeys on a Tree Syndrome, with monkeys perched at various levels of the tree. When you observe from top, you see happy smiling faces; but, when you look up from lower levels, you see assholes. Hence, if we have to groom the youth, we have to stop seeing things from our point of view at all times and have to actually step down to their levels, understand and share their fears, anxieties, aspirations, dreams, biases and perceptions.

21. Zero Error Syndrome. This is translated into being worried not about tackling the situation but the aftermath of the situation. They say that ‘if you are not big enough to lose you are not big enough to win’. To change this perception requires a complete systemic change. Whilst over-exposure in media is always demanding of us to find and punish the guilty, we must be able to differentiate between an honest mistake and intentional or deliberate offences. In his farewell speech RAdm Kirpal Singh brought out that when he faced a BOI he was certain that he would make it to Flag rank because most Flag officers of his era had faced a CM or BOI. Today, with greater promotional prospects, we tend to write off an officer for even imagined offences.

22. Nothing Succeeds Like Success. It is the aspiration of every person who joins armed forces to become as senior as possible. He or she looks around and finds that the adage ‘everything is fair in love and war’ has been made into a way of life. In 2008 I attended a seminar on Terrorism. On the question as to why was it that Army’s Op Sadbhavna had failed to steer the youth of Kashmir away from terrorism, one of the panellists responded that most COs and their staff had translated Op Sadbhavna into a photo op and opportunity to project good image of themselves. Once in a while a case of fake encounters to win medal comes to light. However, in the formative years, the youth looks around and sees his seniors leaving no stone unturned to advance their careers. Thus, at a very early stage he learns that the report of an operation is even more important than operation itself and that he needs to be highly skilled in PPT even before assimilating bridgemanship. He also assimilates the stress on trivial that keeps his ship ticking.

23. Aversion to Out-of-Box Thinking. Out-of-Box thinking has become a popular catchword; but, when exactly do we want our youth to start thinking out-of-box. We are perfectly happy at uniformed personnel imbibing uniform or standard practices and look down on anyone whose cloning is not complete. Once again we must demonstrate that out-of-box thinking would not interfere with our personalised style of leadership. Empowerment at all levels would be the answer.

24. “Positive” Attitude. They say ‘the optimist invented the plane and the pessimist invented the parachute’. In our penchant to improve Inter Personal Relations, especially with those who matter, to be seen as a positive guy is these days more important than doing anything worthwhile. In such an atmosphere the Staff Officer is generally more successful than the Combat Officer, for the former has learnt how to be in good books of his seniors all the while. A Positive Attitude is actually a desirable trait. I only refer to what it has been translated into.

Conclusion

25. Preparing youth for tomorrow’s Navy cannot be left only to the Academy or the training institutions. It should be the systemic approach of the complete Navy. After all, the officer who joins the Navy today would be responsible for our operations tomorrow both in peace and at war. We have a tendency to find technological solutions to all our problems. However, it is the quality of leadership of this young officer, which would make a difference between success and failure.

26. Nelsononian Direct style of leadership was most suited for the era when getting out of line at the wrong moment would spell disaster. These days, we require personnel to think out-of-box, think joint, think fast, think other than war, and be Knowledge Warriors. We should, therefore, lay more stress on Organisational or Institutional Leadership, which is less obtrusive and more effective.

28. Every era is modern in its own times. Timeless Traits of Leadership have withstood the test of time but we need to be more adaptive of changes in our environment. Being constantly judgmental of the values of our youth is not the answer. Making an environment conducive to assimilation of these traits is the only pragmatic solution.

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