YOUTH

Youth is not a time of life; it is a state of mind; it is not a matter of rosy cheeks, red lips and supple knees; it is a matter of the will, a quality of the imagination, a vigor of the emotions; it is the freshness of the deep springs of life.
Youth means a temperamental predominance of courage over timidity of the appetite, for adventure over the love of ease.  This often exists in a man of sixty more than a body of twenty.  Nobody grows old merely by a number of years.  We grow old by deserting our ideals.
Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.  Worry, fear, self-distrust bows the heart and turns the spirit back to dust.
Whether sixty or sixteen, there is in every human being's heart the lure of wonder, the unfailing child-like appetite of what's next, and the joy of the game of living.  In the center of your heart and my heart there is a wireless station; so long as it receives messages of beauty, hope, cheer, courage and power from men and from the Infinite, so long are you young.
When the aerials are down, and your spirit is covered with snows of cynicism and the ice of pessimism, then you are grown old, even at twenty, but as long as your aerials are up, to catch the waves of optimism, there is hope you may live young even at eighty.

Samuel Ullman

These days, remaining youth is a great challenge even for youths. But, by keep reading the essay of Samuel Ullman on 'Youth' one can get charged. Unlikely as it may sound, this essay written more than 100 years ago is the underpinning of Japanese productivity and the basis of many businessman's life philosophies. Many Japanese carry creased copies in their wallents. I also carry one copy for over 20+ years now.

Biscuit and tea strategy- a tool of management

I was busy with my B2O [back-to-office] note in the PC. I was in a hurry preparing it as a number of items of work had piled up on my table during my absence in the office. Just then, my boss entered my cabin and watching me working on the note, called, “Hey! Stop your work. Immediately, we will have to rush to the corporate office. Chairman is convening a meeting to discuss future strategy of the organisation. You are also asked to join..” He halted my thought process.

“Saab, just dho minute, I will finish this note, lest I might forget to put what I wanted to convey”, I tried to buy some time to finish my work on hand.

“I know what you are doing. You are only trying to be true to Achesion's rule of bureaucracy which says that a note is written not to inform the reader but to protect the writer. So you can always give this note. But, we have no time now. Let us go”. He virtually forced me to get up and go with him for the meeting. Though he is my boss, he is a man of ready wit and good humour.

As we were going to the corporate office, we were exchanging ideas and strategies based on the trends in which our organisation was functioning, the environment in similar industries and related issues so that our participation would be more effective. I was offering various suggestions based on field experience, reforms in the country and impact on the organisation, need for professionalism in running the organisation etc. My boss was more in a listening mood. I could surmise that he was trying to get my ideas and see if these were worth placing before the management.

Meeting was delayed as usual, by half an hour. Some of my colleagues from other departments who were summoned, had also assembled. Nobody wanted to give out his ideas fearing that he would lose his importance. So the topic turned to politics and other peripheral items which are common to all of us. We were discussing about the chances of next pay hike, whether any additional benefits would come or not and above all the climate in the city.

With the arrival of the Chairman, the meeting was called to order. He briefly indicated the need for repositioning the organisation to become more competitive. Then, he asked each department head to come out with their suggestions and strategies. Half way through, the caterer served biscuits and tea and coffee to those present in the meeting. I was playing my hand with the biscuits keenly watching the discussions. Chairman was in a firing mood. None of the strategies and suggestions made by the officials seemed to interest him. I was very sure that it would not be different when my boss would be asked to present his strategies. My eyes suddenly went blind as I feared that if my boss was to get similar treatment at the hands of the Chairman, he would turn the heat on me later. No way to get out now. Yes, the turn of my boss came. He, in his style, put forth the strategy and plans as broadly suggested by me. From time to time he was glancing at me for my reaction to his presentation. But, I was trying to stay away from the firing line, fearing for a knock out from the Chairman. I found a way out by eating the biscuits in pairs so that I would not open my mouth to make more irrelevant suggestions affecting further, the mood of the Chairman and my boss. Fortunately, my boss was spared and was advised to fine tune the strategies and come back later. Finishing the presentation, my boss glanced at me through his bifocal. He saw me sipping my tea.

Meeting was over. As we were returning to our department, my boss questioned my peculiar behaviour of stuffing my mouth with biscuits and sipping tea instead of listening to the presentation. He did not know that I was going through a traumatic time during the meeting. But, I can’t let my mind revealed to him- my real feeling and my fear. “Sir, you know that when Japanese take tea, they feel that they were offering their prayers to tea god. In fact, they also have a festival called “Tea dedication ceremony”. I was just trying to follow the Japanese way of drinking tea, nothing else”, I mumbled. “Of course, that partially answers my question. Why did you show great hurry in finishing all the biscuits in one go?”, he asked further. “Sometimes, such behaviour becomes a management tool for conflict resolution. This time the conflict was within my self”, I blurted whatever came to my mind immediately. By then, we reached the department and I excused myself and rushed to the PC to continue my B2O note. My boss looked at me clueless and moved towards his cabin.

An Ode to Anna Hazares

Friends, Indians, Countrymen, lend me your ears;
I come to bury those Anna Hazares and all evils called corruption and not to praise such people.
But, Manmohan Singh is an honourable man.
The evil that men do lives after them;
The good is oft interred with their bones;
So let it be with Anna Hazares. The noble Manmohan Singh
Hath told you Anna Hazares were ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Anna Hazares answer'd it.
Here, under leave of Manmohan Singh and the rest -
For Manmohan Singh is an honourable man;
So are they all, all honourable men -
Come I to speak in Anna Hazares' fast unto death.
They were my friends, faithful and just to all of us:
But Manmohan Singh says they were ambitious;
And Manmohan Singh is an honourable man.
Anna Hazares hath brought many captives (Hasan alis and Rajas) home to India
Whose ransoms the general coffers can fill (but not till now):
But, Manmohan Singh / Pranabda does not want to disclose details;
Did this in Anna Hazares seem ambitious?
When that the poor have cried, Anna Hazares hath wept:
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Manmohan Singh says he was ambitious;
And Manmohan Singh is an honourable man.
You all did see that on the floor of the Supreme Court
Anna Hazares thrice presented evidences against evil men,
Which Manmohan Singh did thrice refuse: was this not ambition?
Yet Manmohan Singh says Anna Hazares were ambitious;
And, sure, Manmohan Singh is an honourable man.
I speak not to disprove what Manmohan Singh spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.

The speech continues after a while something like this:

But yesterday the word of Anna Hazares might
Have stood against the world; now lie them here taking fast unto death.
And none so poor to do them reverence.
O masters, if I were disposed to stir
Your hearts and minds to mutiny and rage,
I should do Manmohan Singh wrong, and Chidambaram wrong,
Who, you all know, are honourable men:
I will not do them wrong; I rather choose
To wrong the dead, to wrong myself and you,
Than I will wrong such honourable men.
But here's a parchment with the seal of Anna Hazare;
I found it in his closet, 'tis his statement of assets owned:
Let but the commons hear this testament--
Which, pardon me, I do not mean to read--
And, dying, mention it within their wills,
Bequeathing it as a rich legacy
Unto their issue.
Anna Hazares says he has a few rupees value reduced by inflation and
just 2.53 hectares of land
Of which 2 acres gifted by Army for services rendered.
And he fights for those who have so little.

I am no orator, as Manmohan Singh is;
But, as you know me all, a plain blunt man,
That love my friend; and that they know full well
That gave me public leave to speak of him:
For I have neither wit, nor words, nor worth,
Action, nor utterance, nor the power of speech,
To stir men's blood: I only speak right on;
I tell you that which you yourselves do know;
I can only retell what Chetan Bhagat asked in a TV show,
Manmohan Singh, ‘Are you a good human being or a good congress man’?
No answer came till date.

If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.
You all do know this poor Anna Hazares,
Good friends, sweet friends, let me not stir you up
To such a sudden flood of mutiny.

You all love Anna Hazares once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then, to stand for them?
O judgment! thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason. Bear with me;
My heart is in the venue there with Anna Hazares,
And I must pause till it come back to me.