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".

Sun-The Generator, Observer and Destroyer!

As we march towards the end of April, and await May, my thoughts wandered around one of the smaller stars in the universe, but the epi center of our solar system, "The Sun".

The energy sapping summer in Rajasthan, is a time when not only people but also the flora and fauna of the region look forward to some respite from the scorching sun. Some even wish the summers weren't there, but they should ask the people of the 'old blighty', who always yearn for a sunny day with blue skies. However scorching the Sun maybe, it embodies GOD; Generator, Observer and Destroyer.

The Sun in its Generator form is a catalyst of live. It brings radiance and vitality and ushers in the joy of life. For people residing at the geographic poles (where days and nights are for 6 months alternately), the Sun and its rays bring in new hope and happiness after 6 months of continuous darkness.

The Sun in its Observer form sustains life. It brings in prosperity and is symbolic with fun and frolic as best exemplified by terms like "enjoying Sun and Sand". It also signifies well being and beauty. In the west, a well tanned body is something to die for.

The Sun in its Destroyer form is the most destructive. It brings in large scale destruction. Excessive periods of summer and scanty rainfalls lead to droughts which bring in enormous human sorrow. Forest fires are also more often than not caused by the Sun. These infernos cause wide spread damage, if not controlled quickly.

Thus, it can be seen that the Sun has powers which are constructive as well as destructive and humans have been trying from time immemorial to harness these powers for constructive use, viz-a-viz electricity generation through solar panels. Similarly, every individual has both constructive as well as destructive powers within one's self. What one should endeavor is to see to it that the constructive powers are harnessed and the destructive powers suppressed, so that the world becomes a better place to live in.

At Blue Caramel, we envisage that each one of us, Generates new ideas and innovates, Observes that the ideas that are practical and have value are implemented and Destroys all ill wills and negative feelings that might crop up, so that we as a group achieve the goal that has made us start this Journey, the Journey of Blue Caramelers.....

Fools in a rush- Bollywood, IPL and workplace

My grandfather was a very widely traveled, worldly wise man, who encountered many amazing incidents in his journey of life. Born in Kolkata (previously Calcutta), he traversed the length and breadth of India, studied in McGill University, Montreal, Canada and then finally settled in Udaipur, Rajasthan. 

From his experiences, he had a favorite quote, a quote first coined by 18th century English poet Alexander Pope in his poem "An Essay on Criticism". The quote "Fools rush in where angels fear to tread" has renewed relevance in today's times, when patience is in short supply and short cuts are available in plenty. Today, people in their mad rush to forge ahead, forget the age old idiom, "There is no short cut to success" and try jumping up the stairs of success, resulting in more often than none, their falling flat on their backs after a few successful jumps, at the most.

Examples are galore of fools in a rush, today. A few days back, a wannabe actress of Bollywood, Minakshi Thapa was murdered by her colleagues, who tried to extort money from her family to finance their lavish lifestyle, a short cut which cut short a precious life. Similarly, in the IPL-5 T-20 cricketing extravaganza, Manish Pandey, a promising opening batsman from RoyalChallengers Bangalore, in his bid to get more auction money took a very controversial transfer to the Pune Warriors India. Now he finds himself rarely in the playing eleven of PWI, a case of an urge to earn quick money resulting in him not getting an opportunity to showcase his special talents and him warming the benches of his team, instead of playing for them.

 But it is fools in the corporate workplace, who take the icing on the cake. Knowing of the tough situations in these recession times, many keep comparing themselves with their peers in other sectors, having a myopic view of only the goodies the others have, ignoring the darker aspects. This mindset results in many talented corporate workers behaving like fools, who in their rush for the sky, more often than none, hit the ground and die or kiss their quest for a better life, bye bye!

 Let all Blue Caramelers be beware of such fools, because one should always remember that all that glitters in not gold!!

Live the moment!

With the approach of the second week of April, the offices of Blue Caramel at all the locations are now all geared up to face the challenges that have been given to them for this financial year. The yearly targets have all been set and sent and huge possibilities of enhanced earnings and growth have been rolled out. Its now for each Blue Carameler to decide how much to earn and how much to grow in this Fin Year.

During the course of the development of the Blue Caramel group, there have been many situations, some good, some bad and some ugly, but each situation has been taken by the company in its stride. Similar is the case with all the members of the Blue Caramel family. There have been off days and there have been days to cherish. But the crux of the matter has been that the company and its members have surged ahead despite many hurdles. So, whenever you are angry, upset, feel cheated, lonely or sad, you have to realize the fact that "This Moment is Not Permanent in Life"  and that by brooding over things or by creating negative feelings about certain things in life, we are but destroying some precious moments of this wonderful life that we envisage to live fully.

So, lets live the moment and cherish all that we have and try to build a better tomorrow for ourselves but not at the cost of today. Lets learn from the past, enjoy a great "Present" ie today and strive to have a peaceful, happy and prosperous future. Let us all, the members of Blue Caramel, learn from what we have done or not done in the past, live our dreams today and enjoy a super successful tomorrow! And the time starts now-----

IPL5, Fear and the joy of life!

After a hectic closure of the last financial year, Blue Caramel offices in Rajasthan and Mumbai have had a pretty sedate start to the new financial year. But there was nothing sedate in the opening ceremony of the Indian Premier League (IPL5) which was held yesterday ie on the third of April, at the Chepauk stadium in Chennai. The T20 extravaganza spread over 54 days and involving 9 franchisee teams promises to enthrall the cricket enthusiasts from the world over.

Since its inception, the IPL has seen actions galore, both on field as well as off the field. Be it the amazing journey of the Rajasthan Royals from being a minnow to becoming the champion in the first edition, under the inspirational mentorship of Aussie Shane Warne, the unexpected surge to the title of the Deccan Chargers in the second edition to the incredible "Midas" touch of "Captain Cool" Mahendra Singh Dhoni for the Chennai Super Kings, seeing them to 2 successive titles, IPL has seen all. Off the field, controversies have been many, especially  the high profile Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) owned by the flamboyant Bollywood superstar, Shahrukh Khan, has had more than its share of controversies. Starting with the Sourav Ganguly- John Buchanan spate, rotational captain policy to the eventual discarding of not only the coach but also players of the caliber of Ganguly, Maccullum and Chris Gayle. Though the dropping of Ganguly, to a certain extent could have had its justifications (exemplified by the fine run of KKR under the captainship of Gautam Gambhir during IPL4), Chris Gayle came back to haunt KKR after having been picked by the Bangalore Royal Challengers, reserving some of his best knocks against his old team. A fearless display of batsmanship.

The word fearless brings me to today's keyword of the blog which is Fear. Fear has two meanings in life, the first which is easier to practice is Forfeit Everything and Run and the second, which only a select few practice and become successful in life, is Face Everything and Rejoice. Life gives everyone ample opportunities to grab success. But like roses cannot be without thorns, success too cannot be without failures.

Most only see the failures while they are struggling and forfeit all they have garnered during the process of struggle and loose the opportunities that life has to offer and hence keep on struggling for life. The select few who have the caliber, desire and willpower to succeed in life, face everything that life throws at them, Manfully and persevere till they become the King of their own Destiny. At Blue Caramel, we require Winners because Winners never quit and Quitters never Win and it is the winner who enjoys the joy of life!