How My Mother Beat Google!

It was an early winter morning in Ahmedabad and with the elections in the state of Gujarat, my mother being a government officer, was entrusted the task of a polling officer. She had to make it to the booth by 6:30 am and I being the mummy's boy (😊😊😊) asked her to allow me to drop her to the booth and in a way do my bit since my dad too had been entrusted the duty of a presiding officer and had to stay overnight at a different center. The destination was some school in a certain lane in a certain locality which I had never earlier heard of or been to. My mother had been to the place a day before to prepare and make arrangements for the polling. We started at 6:15 am and I being the technology savvy individual started the journey by plugging in the destination into the Google Maps app. We drove and it was all fine till we

reached a place where Google instructed to drive straight. But my mother( she doesn't use a smart phone nor is tech savvy) asked me to take a left. I told her, "But Mr. Google is instructing to go straight." She insisted on taking left. I asked, "Are you sure?" She said, "Yesterday I had made a note of this particular hotel on this road. Pls take right." On taking right, Google almost showed no way to reach the destination. Then my mother counted the society boards along the road and asked to take right after the third society board. Taking right she then asked to take right onto the second lane and surprisingly we were at the government school where election polling was supposed to be done. I was simply amazed. Not because it was something out of the world but the beauty of sheer conventional wisdom that my mother had demonstrated. It just brought a smile on my face. She had made a note of the landmark, counted the number of blocks and the lanes and rightly so to reach the destination. I was left wondering where Mr. Google would have sent us had I blindly followed and if so would it have been that quick. That also makes me think if we the younger generation with all the gadgets and satellite run apps do and will ever use the conventional wisdom that our elders demonstrate so effortlessly and beautifully. That is also a worry because in this entire process we are also forgetting imparting it to our children. It's the same when simple calculations which we use calculators for are done mentally by our elders. I also hope Mr. Google incorporates this age old beauty of conventional wisdom into its apps. So the next time you are on a joy ride with your parents, do not underestimate their advise.

P.S. Technology is a great savior and an enabler. Google is one of the greatest inventions of modern world.

 

Taking the Driver's Seat:

This post is for all belonging to the "Keen Observer" or  "Spectator" breed like me who sometimes land up in soup when suddenly asked to take the hot seat of action. "Facilitation" and "Enabling" are key aspects of my role as a Human Resource professional. On a certain occasion, I was facilitating a conference call with an analyst of a partner firm. The call was strategic in nature and so was to be lead by our CEO. Technology being a maverick that it turns out to be in critical times, the channel started developing issues and our CEO couldn't log into the call. The analyst calls have a fixed time slot and predetermined agenda and while we decided to wait for our CEO to log in, he pinged me - "Take the Lead". While the agenda was clearly cut out and I was cognizant of the same, I was definitely put in a fey. I somehow garnered my wits and the call went through well though with a few hiccups. I internalized two very important lessons:

1. Contingency Plan for each task

2. Its not always about taking the back seat


While taking a back seat and relaxing may be the easiest and preferred option for many of us due to our conditioning, life situations demand us to take the driver's seat on several important and critical occasions. The point is how much ready we are to take up the challenge and perform. Some of us may collapse under the sheer pressure of an unplanned event or an adversity because we have never faced such a situation earlier nor are we well equipped to do so.

So while we may be conditioned this way, handling crisis in a better way remains still a concern. The prime and most important aspect of is to venture into the unknown and try the untried - Initiative. One has to allay the fears by fighting the fears and not fearing them. Initiative needs to be encouraged and rewarded. This induces a behaviour of going for the unknown, uncertain and the unexplored. This equips one to better handle crisis situations which demand one to take the driver's seat. While eye-opener's are a good part of experiential and accidental learning, initiated self induced situation handling distinguishes the best of breeds.

Stay back, relax or take the Driver's seat. Choice is Ours!!

The Universal Language - LOVE

P.N : People who 'term' themselves to be highly 'pragmatic' and above any emotion can safely ignore this post.

If you had to color this part of the year, without contention it would be 'Red' - the color of 'Love'. I will dedicate this post to all the beautiful people and the relations I have and will share with them and the most special one - Mizza/Mols.

With the onset of spring (vasanta rutu), there is an enchanting fragrance which fills the air and makes this month extremely special. So its also nature's way of celebrating and expressing its love towards us. A few days back, FB and other social networking sites were inundated with hearts, chocolates, greetings, flowers, quotes and what not. Suddenly there is a lull. This makes me think if the emotion or expression of 'love' is bound to just one day or the 'V-day' or confined to lovers. Love doesn't require a special day or an occasion to be celebrated or expressed. Nor is it limited by any boundary of region, religion, caste, creed, society or category of an organism. It is beyond and above any expectation or obligation. It is the universal language that is commonly spoken and understood by all existing consciously or unconsciously. However, it is also the most misunderstood and loosely used term. As P.B. Shelley puts its:

                               "One word is too often profaned to thee to profane it;

                                              One word is too falsely disdained for thee to disdain it."

 The first expression that ever existed was 'Love'. God's several creations are the outcome of 'Love'. Nature's existence and its elements aiding human survival are expressions of 'Love' towards mankind. We may not have seen God but each one of us would have felt 'Love' of our parents, siblings, relatives, friends and loved one. Love is trans-nation, trans-being and trans-belief. It is the single delicate thread that binds us, that makes our heart beat, that gives us the reason to exist and that makes our living worthwhile. It is the single universal expression seen in nature and its creatures. The world without love would be like the body without blood - anaemic and dead. Can we even imagine a world devoid of love? Not for a moment. Because its all encompassing, its subsisting. We may not be close to our loved ones but our hearts still beat for them bringing a smile on our face because the invisible thread binds us. Love is what makes a 'relation' a 'relation' in true sense. Its the core ingredient of life and the true meaning of life. 

Love loses its shine whenever 'greed' takes over the human race and thereby begins the fight between love and greed. What we and the world needs today is love and more love. This is what will make our life more meaningful.The Bible also says:

                                           "Love thy neighbour as thyself"

Lets Love and spread love after all its the only universal language and means to Peace and Happiness. :)