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[babavikas]

My new blog talks about the importance of hard work for achieving success.

Per Aspera Ad Astra

[babavikas]

Not Vruddhashram, but Anandashram

My mother died in Oct 2012. This was after nearly 60 years of marriage with Baba. Theirs was a love marriage, in that era, a college romance!! So my father’s constant refrain daily was ” Why did Pramila leave me all alone?” “I cannot live without her”. Our words of solace went unheard. How does one explain the uncertainty & unfairness of life? After a couple of weeks, Baba created a different…

Not Vruddhashram, but Anandashram

[babavikas]

71 & going strong

No Seating Place No Cutlery Crockery More than 70 flavors Pay by Cash Only…no digital payment mode No parking available Most visitors to Mumbai would have understood: I am talking about the one & only K Rustom Ice-cream parlor. Is there any dessert more universally loved than the ice-cream? Rustom’s small take away counter is forever crowded. The servers are so busy that they give you a few…

71 & going strong

[babavikas]

Scavengers : a misunderstood lot

Afore Script: typically “scavengers” refer to animals who live off other dead animals. They too serve a purpose. But I want to talk about scavenging as burrowing through dirt or garbage, to retrieve something useful. One of my early, yet strong, memory of impact of literature on my mind was reading a description in a Tennessee Williams’ play. Tennessee always wrote about “marginal” characters,…

Scavengers : a misunderstood lot

[babavikas]

Scared? Anxious?? Depressed?? We understand...

Trying to explain a difficult concept which has deep impact on our mental well-being. Little heavy on the reader. But I believe something that could help us all if we understand this better.

Have you ever wondered why some are “scaredy cats” while others are open to any new experiences/situations? In fact, some will actively seek out haunted houses & streets : will be more than happy to go & stay to tempt the ghost to show itself. There is a certain populace which laps up horror movies & then there are others who would not be ready to watch a horror movie at all. A Dr friend of mine…

Scared? Anxious?? Depressed?? We understand...

[babavikas]

My Anal Bhau

15th October brought the sudden & shocking news that my elder cousin Anal Pandit passed away. While shaken to the core, I was actually confused whether I am in grief or not. Let me explain. For the past over 25 years Anal, who at one time was my closest relative & friend, had distanced himself from me & the rest of the extended family. He was upset with some developments, and which family does…

My Anal Bhau

[babavikas]

Sutras for Life

I recently underwent 2 online meditation courses conducted by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s Art of Living Foundation. While the meditation courses per se were OK, one of the Teachers talked about 3 “Meditation Sutras” which made a strong impact on me. I thought that these Sutras were actually Life Sutras, & can totally change one’s life if one understood & practiced them. So I thought of sharing them…

Sutras for Life

[babavikas]

Eleftheria (Freedom)

Freedom. An ubiquitous need for every living soul. It gets defined, understood, interpreted & lived in different ways And yet it is possibly THE MOST important need for all. Freedom is a nasha, an intoxication, a desire in every heart & drives most human thought & effort. Amongst all human values & aspirations Freedom is the zenith, the highest point. Like the limit in calculus, it is point which…

Eleftheria (Freedom)

[babavikas]

To DE(legate) or not to DE

Delegation is a skill that all people managers must develop to multiply their reach and effectiveness. Blog looks at the why and how of delegation.

Delegation is not about getting rid of tasks; it’s about empowering others to help you achieve your goals.” -Laura Stack To delegate OR not to delegate: That is the Question? Today’s organizations are all about team working & interdependence. And yet, some managers end up working alone when it’s time to collaborate with their teams? I believe the primary reason is insufficient delegation skills.…

To DE(legate) or not to DE

[babavikas]

Learn, to Change

My new blog is on Learning & Change. Do give your feedback

“History doesn’t repeat itself; human nature stays the same.” – Charlie Munger. There is a PJ that illustrates this mindset. A worker lost a finger while working on a circular saw. His manager went to the site to investigate the accident. “What happened?” he asked in anguish. The worker said, ” I was working on his critical job. I fed it slowly to the rotating saw machine like this, and…..Oh!…

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[babavikas]

The fascination of mountains

My experience in Himachal recently & unraveling the fascination of mountains

Mother Abess sings in Sound of Music: ” Climb every Mountain/ Ford every stream/ Follow every rainbow/Till you find your dream”. The Good Mother meant it as an inspiration to Maria to leave the Abbey and find purpose outside. But it is not by chance that the symbol of reaching out & doing something larger than yourself is a mountain!! The same song comes at the end of the movie when Von Trapp…

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[babavikas]

Whose got the Appraisal?

It is MOST PROPHETIC that the blog on Performance Appraisals is getting published on April 1st….All Fools Day!! Appraisals are about making a fool or getting fooled!! Am sure most of my readers have got appraised & received feedback in their careers. It is that time of the year!!! but tell me sincerely & truthfully How many of you were HAPPY with your appraisal? How many felt it was fair &…

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Humility & Hubris

Hubris has misled men from times immemorial. Only Humility can save the day. Be humble

Merriam-Webster defines Hubris a exaggerated pride or self confidence e.g. a boxer who shouts “I am the greatest” even though he is about to be pummeled by a stronger opponent. “Hubris” has its origins in Greek language. Greeks did not have a word for sin, but only a word for error; so hubris was used to describe a wrongful action against a divine order. The Persian king Xerxes is described by…

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[babavikas]

Heaven and/or Hell ?

Heaven and Hell : How are they different? Are we not making up heaven or hell life itself?

Being a misanthrope at heart, I always loved Sartre’s definition,” Hell is Other People”. Many a times I have lived in my imaginary Heaven where there is nobody except me on earth. A real Robinson Crusoe existence. But then the challenge starts. I want my daughter with me. I want my immediate family. I want this set of friends. These particular colleagues. These clients. This service provider.…

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[babavikas]

Ascetics, Exhausted, at Home

I have written about a marathi poem of Kavi Grace which appeals a lot to me. In fact it captures the story of all weary, fellow travellers

घर थकलेले सन्यासी Marathi poet and writer Manik Godghate, popularly known as Kavi Grace, died in 2012 after a prolonged battle with throat cancer. Known for his writings that portrayed sorrows in human life with a mystical element & an out-of-the-world imagery, Grace was conferred the Sahitya Akademi Award. Some poets go from light to darkness; some others from darkness to light. But Grace…

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[babavikas]

HRD Concave at NDDB, Anand

Was a part of an HRD Conclave with some great speakers and fabulous learnings. This blog summarizes what I heard

NDDB (www.nddb.coop) has been one of the initial clients for BasilHR (www.basilhr.com) when we started consultancy. My dear partner Ramchandra Rao knew Dr SS Gill the-then Head of Training & Development for National Dairy Development Board situated at Anand, Gujrat. Dr Gill gave us some training assignment and since then BasilHR has been regularly working with Gill and NDDB for various training…

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[babavikas]

Good & Evil

“Life is a festival only to the wise” said Emerson. So how would he have characterized the recently concluded Dashera? A festival that celebrates the victory of Good over Evil. Supposed to commemorate Lord Shri Ram’s win over Ravana. Ram was known as purushottam (the best amongst men). But Ravana also has his followers. In fact in some geographies Ravana is worshipped as the Hero & Ram as the…

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