KKR, IPL2012 Champions and things to learn!

Yesterday saw the thrilling end of the IPL 2012 season in which Gautam Gambhir led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) ended the dream run of the 2 time defending champion, Mahendra Singh Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

The match went upto the last over and was sealed in favor of KKR when Manoj Tiwari dispatched Bravo, the wily West Indian playing for the CSK, for 2 consecutive fours. KKR was the deserving winner having played one of the most consistent games during the entire course of IPL2012.

But things were not that great when the franchisee co-owned by the Bollywood megastar Shahrukh Khan, started its journey in the inaugural IPL of 2008. The team was beset with problems since then during the course of the next 3 IPLs. Though having some of the most fearsome professional cricketers like Sourav Ganguly, Chris Gayle, Brendon Mccullum, Brad Hodge and Ajanta Mendis to name a few, the team consistently under performed. There was constant bickering within the team and KKR became synonymous with Controversy. Things went from bad to worse for KKR when there was a change of guards in the form of a rotational captainship policy under the high flying coach Johan Buchannan and even the most die hard of KKR supporters started fearing for the worst.

Then the KKR management did the most obvious thing. They booted out players who had high egos and were constantly at the forefront of all arguments. These cricketers who were constantly worried about "I" at the cost of "WE" were the root cause for the under performance of the talented team. This decision, though highly unpopular amongst many, was the precursor to the rise of KKR from the ashes like the phoenix.
The team today seems to be a very cohesive unit and the culture of "I" seems to have been takeover by a culture of "WE". Each team member seems to be relishing each others company and success. KKR seems to have learnt the lesson, though the hard way, that "ILLNESS" can be changed to "WELLNESS", if we drop I and bring in WE.

We at Blue Caramel always envisage that the culture of WE is always at the helm of any decision that is taken because as the saying goes, Together we rise, divided we fall and to divide only the rise of an "I " culture is required, of which we should be always beware.

Growth and Money, Honey!

Last week was a time to rejoice as I had some of my old friends visiting me and then I was also out of town for a couple of days and that was again a great opportunity to catch up with some old friends. These friends of mine, most of them Udaipurites, have made a name for themselves in their corporate lives, in the bustling metros of Mumbai, New Delhi, Bangalore, London and beyond, all in the echelons of top management and all super successful in life with super growth and super money.

But during our get together, more often than none, the discussions that took place all revolved around our “Good Ol Days” and that too in our very own Udaipur. I gradually found out that these memories have formed such an ineradicable mark in the minds of my super successful friends that they easily outweigh the “Growth and Money” that they have amassed in these years. A friend from Mumbai, who is now a top honcho with a leading Investment Bank put it aptly by saying that though he might have ample money and power now but what “he misses in life is life itself”; Money galore but hardly any time to spend it with his family. What is precious is not wealth but quality time with family and friends, which is such a scarce commodity! He even admitted that he envies me for being in Udaipur, away from the maddening run against time of a large mass of Humanity, probably in the same way I envy his growth.

The problem with us humans is that we hardly appreciate the things that we have with us and look and compare with others and think of ourselves as being “have-nots”. Though to keep a track of others is not bad per say, as it drives you to be better in life, but to continuously ape somebody else may lead you to bugger up your present, in search of an elusive future.

The proverbial “Rat Race” which starts as soon as a child starts his educational journey and intensifies over the years and culminates only when it becomes too late for the person to realize that he has been running all his life for a better future and in the process has compromised on his family’s and his own life and neglected on the small things in life that actually make it precious, like a simple walk in the rain or seeing kids grow, their first steps and their innocent naughtiness.  But, as the wise men have said, “You cannot have the Cake and eat it too”, you too have to have tradeoffs in life and that might involve you taking decisions that might lead you to breaking down bridges to the way of being “Super successful” and amassing unthinkable money. But at the end of the day, the wise men have also said, “Its All “bout Money, Honey!”, so that makes a tradeoff very tricky and very personal (oh, these wise men!)

At Blue Caramel, we strive to give each member a quality of life along with growth, so that the member does not have to make any major tradeoff, at least professionally. If the Blue Caramel family takes care of its members then they sure can have a great time with their families! 

Happy Mother's Day??

Today Mother's Day is being celebrated all over the world and that has set me off to write a post dedicated to this "special??" day.

Mother, for most of us, happens to be our first "friend, philosopher, guide and more", our first support system, the  angel, whose face we usually see and register first as we open our eyes to start our journey of life. She is the person who bears the maximum pain, be it child birth or or compromises that she makes, so that we gain the utmost as we try to live and realize our dreams and her's as well.

Which mother would want her young ones to go away from her, which mother wants an empty nest, a nest which she so patiently and with doting dedication creates. Do we ever think of it?? No because she keeps on aligning her dreams as per our changing wishes. She never ever makes us realize the whole range of emotions that she has to encounter, day in and day out as her children grow.

Then celebrating a single day as a "Mother's Day", does it actually do justice to mothers, the world over, especially Indian mothers. For people in the west, there might be a case to have a particular day to celebrate "Mother's Day", "Father's Day" and maybe even "Family Day" because the concept of a family bond is not that strong as what it is in India. The concept of these "Special Days" though propagated mainly by various big Card and Gift MNCs, also play along nicely on the guilt feeling that many people might have because of the way they neglect their parents and their family. They see celebrating a particular day dedicated to "Mother", "Father" etc etc as a way that absolves them from their sheer negligence that they show towards their parents and brings down their guilt feeling considerably.

By aping these "Days" blindly from the west are we not making it very obvious that we too take our parents for granted for 364 days and try to make them feel special (that too a very superfluous and window dressed special) only for one day?? Why cant we make them special everyday??? Believe me, giving cards, cakes and gifts do not actually make parents special. Even flaunting how much you love them on the social media do not make them happy. It is the simple deeds that you do each day, which culminates into you becoming a better child, a better citizen and a better human, that make parents special.

Have you ever wondered if we have a "Shravan Kumar" who made his parents feel special day in and day out, who does the west have as an equivalent, in spite of celebrating these Special days every year? None that I can recollect!!  

All Blue Caramelers too should not wait for some special day but should work each day as thought it is special, only then can the company attain growth that is envisaged. If you work only superfluously and window dress each day, then remember, it is only you who you are fooling yourself. Your every step and action or inaction is being watched and scrutinized.

  

May- the month of discoveries

The onset of the month of May has set me on a deep reverie. Personally, May has always been a month in which I have had new experiences and have made new discoveries.

Since childhood, I had always associated May as the month to rejoice and relax. May was the month when the summer vacations were on and many a family trips were planned, if not, then to scamper around our locality, New Fatehpura, Udaipur, with the "Band of Boys" and some girls as well, planning excursions and adventure trips or lazing around the lakes, were delights that make me yearn for them even today.. Ah those amazing wonder years!

May is also the month when we have birthdays and wedding anniversaries in plenty in my family, making it a month filled with parties and goodies. This actually acted as the icing on the cake as parties, frolics and holidays acted as a deadly combination and made us look forward to this month, from June onwards itself.

May- the month to rejoice and relax, is also the month when my grandma expired. Life is a great leveller, you cannot have everything of your choice, every time. You win some, you loose some and this discovery was  made by me in the month of May. With this loss, the fun value of the month eroded in my mind forever.

What all Blue Caramelers need to understand is that everyone's life has its fair share of ups and downs and thus when you are in a good phase of life, make it count the most and enjoy it to the fullest and make provisions (if possible) for the proverbial "rainy day" because all days are not alike and during the bad phase, the experiences and discoveries of the good phase go a long way in reminding you that "it is the darkest just before the sunrise".