Your Car Is Actually An Elephant?

You buy a new car.

And in the first few days, weeks and months you feel quite happy while driving your new car!

You can literally feel the freshness through the distinct smell emanating from the interiors of the car.

You make it a point to drive the car as much as you can.

What's the point in spending 12 Lacs INR in buying a car if you don't drive it as much as you can.

It's simply related to the principle of return on investment!

So you drive the first 1000 Kms in no time and get your 1st free service done.

You then plan to go for a long distance.

You enjoy the thrill of pushing the pedal to let your new car reach high speeds.

You feel elated by the acceleration in speed, especially when overtaking other vehicles on the road.

And then you reach the place you had planned to reach.

You drive locally and enjoy that experience also.

Then one fine morning, as you are driving on one of the roads near the place you are put up, you hear a sharp, quick and loud thud from the left back side of the car while taking a left turn.

After driving the same patch second time, you finally stop the car in front of the place you are put up.

Out of curiosity, you come out of the car.

You get down and out of the car and walk around to the left back side.

And you get a very big and unpleasant shock!

You see that the left back Tyre is totally deflated and the alloy wheel rim is also damaged.

You get a sick sensation passing through your entire being.

Oh my God, why this has happened to my new car?

The thought that something bad has happened crosses your mind.

And then somewhere in your head, a very subtle thought also passes through - welcome to the reality.

A new car will become old in some time.

A new car will be hit surely at some point in time.

Even if you drive very carefully, you will meet one or other accident.

You can only pray and hope that those accidents are minor in nature.

Though what kind of an accident you get involved with is not exactly totally under your control.

And then suddenly you think of an elephant.

An elephant will work for you but it needs to be fed regularly.

So is the case with a car.

Today the Tyre is gone, and with that you have lost 5000 INR in a jiffy,

Tomorrow it will be another bad thing that may happen.

Finally, you think about car and about elephant.

Do you have a car?

Is is really a car?

Or an elephant?

Actually, a car is just like an elephant.

You have to be prepared for your car to get dirty, to get damaged and to get "dented" and "dinged".

Just like your existence, the car also has a finite time period on earth.

In any case, the car registration period comes with a "valid till" date.

If you still don't believe that, do visit a nearby old car junk yard.

When you realize the deeper message from the above thoughts, you feel light.

This feeling of lightness is much better than the feeling of freshness you get while driving a new car.

In this materialistic age and world, we are enamored by the style over substance.

You then go back to the basics.

Why did you spend 12 Lacs INR in buying a new car in the first place?

What is the real return on investment you were seeking?

You note couple of things at this point of discovering the true return on investment:

• You bought a new and better car to get a better experience while driving, essentially in terms of features that deliver better vehicle stability & control, safety and comfort.
• You got only those essential accessories that really help
• seat cover (protect your OEM-fitted seats)
• door sill plate (protect door sills)
• car foot mat (protect the OEM-fitted carpet on the car floor). 
• steering wheel cover (enhance grip and protect the OEM steering wheel from sweat, oil and dirt)
• rear view camera (provide better visibility and hence higher safety while reversing your car)
• You realize the car door visor you had got fitted has turned out to be a wastage of money.
• its not really required for de-frosting the windshield and rear glass especially since your car already provides features to take care of both front and rear de-frosting.
• it is also not required for taking outside air into the car cabin in normal circumstances.
• it looks good and that's all there is to it, and spending for this thing is is never a good idea.
• The key thing is to focus on the experience you would get rather than the material that provides the experience.
• And finally, you should not be bogged down and bothered by small things that happen to the "material" part of the car as long as the overall experience is exhilarating.

What the above means is that there is no point in worrying about the Tyre damage or dents or dings.

Damages, dents and dings will keep on happening.

Your car will get dirty and damaged inside too, especially if you have kids, old parents or a wife who is not just totally complacent but uncaring too.

You should do your best to keep your car away from getting dirty, damaged, dented or dinged,

However, do not fret over "material loss to the car body and its various parts" and always remain relaxed to enjoy the "experience of driving a car".

Actually, in that sense, a car is just like an elephant.

You should focus on the experience when riding an elephant while also taking care of the elephant.

Similarly, you should focus on the experience when driving a car while also taking care of the car.

However, in case of a car, too much of focus on car as a "material" is not good.

Otherwise, you should not be driving a car in the first place.

And then what's the point in buying a new car?

Don't forget about the "car material" part but don't get bogged down by it as well.

Do remember about the "car experience" part and enjoy that to the maximum.

Do also be prepared to spend more when you car gets dirty, damaged, dented or dinged.

The above is the "elephant" part of getting the privilege to enjoy the "car experience".

So is your car really a car?

Or is it an elephant?

Company Managed Oops... Mismanaged By A Pack of Jokers

You would generally find a pack of Jokers in the game of cards.

Sometimes, however, in many organizations you would find that the so called "top management" is nothing but a pack of Jokers.

They act and speak in childish ways.

There are six of them.

Out of the the six, two are the first among equals.

They are the Main Jokers.

They like to be addressed as "boss" or "sir" and bloat like a balloon in false pride when addressed so.

The funny part is they ask so very funnily how come the company has this culture of using the terms "boss" and "sir".

The two Main Jokers maintain their control and micro-management over the affairs of the company.

One Main Joker is deputed locally while the other Main Joker maintains a close vigil from faraway in a different continent altogether.

The Local Main Joker manages the Mini Jokers whereas the Remote Main Joker watches the circus from a distance but sweeps in when asked by the Local Main Joker.

They are like two body and one act as far as lack of ethics is concerned.

The other four are the Mini Jokers who are there only due to their loyalty to the Main Jokers.

These Mini Jokers are given the command of different departments with no consideration for the fact that they lack the necessary competency.

The Mini Joker handling money and facilities for the company thinks of himself as superior to the other three Mini Jokers.

This man knows nothing about facilities but is a trusted man of the Main Jokers and hence does things he should not have been doing in the first place.

The man under this particular Mini Joker is another kind of Joker who is a class apart in the sense that he is very shrewd, extremely rigid and a highly arrogant person.

This Mini Joker does not come to the management review meetings and no one dares to ask him.

The Main Jokers are also scared of him as he knows all their dirty secrets and unethical acts.

Also, this Mini Joker has direct linkage to the fathers of the Main Jokers.

Yes, there are Supreme Jokers also in such companies.

You rarely see and hear from the Supreme Jokers.

They are the ones who are the Masters.

And operate the Main Jokers like puppets.

The second Mini Joker handles the people affairs.

This man is a complete stooge and a domain expert in how to wag the tail like a dog when needed as also when asked to.

He is an expert in getting hare-brained ideas not only in his area but also everywhere else where he has the least knowledge.

This Mini Joker is like the Pied Piper who leads the Main Jokers and also the Supreme Jokers down the garden path of comical company policies.

The company culture in such a pusillanimous and conceited set-up is based on loyalty and longevity and deliberate creation of artificial reporting lines.

However, this Mini Joker is totally incapable of identifying and addressing the core issues and creates a lot of hullabaloo around stuff or things that are totally superficial.

Then you have another Mini Joker who handles the information systems.

And by the way the Local Main Joker lets this Mini Joker do top-guidance on processes also, whatever nonsense that may actually mean.

The Local Main Joker is comfortable with people who when woken up in the night would say "yes sir" or "okay boss" as the first thing.

This Mini Joker snugly fits the bill on the above criteria.

And then last but not the least you have the Mini Joker who handles delivery operations.

He is a silent assassin.

He speaks in a manner that sounds to be highly professional but scratch the surface and you see only dirt underneath:

• He is not able to take decisions
• He is not capable of understanding core issue at work when something comes up
• He keeps silent when he needs to act
• He doesn't do the communications he is supposed to be doing and the Local Main Joker does that for some funny reason
• He acts as if he is superior to those heads of departments who are the real functional heads but for some silly  reason not part of inter-department meetings
• He doesn't take ownership of things he should be doing
• He has a coterie of pet stooges and he believe and trusts them completely

In such companies the Main Jokers and the Mini Jokers do many funny things such as:

• The Local Main Joker does inter-department meetings with only the Mini Jokers and without involving the heads of departments who are the actual heads handling that departmental affairs.
• The Local Main Joker brings up an issue with a Mini Joker in anther meeting but it is hard to understand that when they have agreed upon something in an earlier so called inter-department meeting what is the point to bring it up again.
• The Local Main Joker is highly unprofessional and likes the Mini Jokers who have been specially hand-picked and then trained to utter like  caged parrot just two things - "yes sir" and "okay boss".
• The Remote Main Joker is a man who likes to have complete control over things to the  extent that he even wants to decide where the comma needs to be in a sentence.

A company managed or rather mismanaged by a pack of Jokers.is a strange and suffocating place to work.

Do you know you are not in such a company?

In case you are, you are simply unfortunate and got to stay alert.

And should move out fast!

I Am In The Line And You Are Also In The Line

All of us are in the line.

But which line are we talking about here?

It is the line of those who will eventually die.

Everyone joins the line the very moment he or she or it steps into this world.

Never forget that.

Always remember, I am in the line and you are also in the line.

Nothing in this world is yours and nothing is mine.

We meander through life thinking all along that we will live for ever.

Life these days means just one thing, more and material success.

Success in today's world means name, fame and money and anything that others can see.

It is also sad that achieving material success in any manner and mostly by pushing others behind is supposed to be absolutely normal and in fact, considered to be highly desirable.

The connection of success with inner bliss and contentment doesn't mean anything.

In the end, however, material success, the whole of it, means nothing.

Whatever we achieve, immerses itself into nothingness.

Whatever we have, translates itself into meaningless.

The moment we realize that we are in the line and subsequently act with that realization, we will transcend ourselves from the happiness we get from material success to a state of real inner bliss and contentment.

It does not not mean that we don't need any "material" to live.

It just means that life is not meant to merely acquire "material" but rather life is meant to use "material" judiciously to achieve something far bigger and far better.

The above is like the role of Oxygen for human beings.

Human beings need oxygen to live, they don't live so that they get to inhale oxygen!

Knowing fully well, and at every instant, that we are in the line and also knowing fully well that one day our turn will be over provides a very powerful framework for living life.

You necessarily need to acquire some material to ensure you get a certain level of physical and mental comfort as you stand in that line.

However, as you stand in the line, you look above and beyond the notion that you need to live to acquire material success to the notion that you need to use material to live a better life.

Our days, as we stand in the line, are numbered.

We never count that though.

Let us assume a person were to live for 100 years and is 44 years old now.

That means she has spent approximately 16060 days and has another 20440 days to go.

The number 20440 is finite and will come to an end.

That is 100% certain.

Of course, at times, one can get priority treatment and may have to leave the line much earlier.

Given all of the above, it makes complete sense not to think that you are going to be around for ever.

It is totally sensible to live a life where you can achieve inner bliss and contentment.

How does that help?

It helps in just one, big way.

If you are blissful and content, you are always prepared to leave the line and merge yourself instantly into the nothingness, from which only you had actually come.

Bliss means there is nothing more you would like to do and acquire and achieve.

You are at peace and at ease with what you are at that moment and at every moment.

So if material success keeps on calling you and you don't realize at all that there is something beyond it then you must never forget the below.

Always remember, I am in the line and you are also in the line.

Nothing in this world is yours and nothing is mine.

Artificial Reporting Structure and Organizational Effectiveness

Right reporting structure is the sine-quo-non for organizational effectiveness.

And if that is not there in an organization it can severely impact the future existence of the organization.

Many organizations have instituted a reporting structure that can be called as "artificial reporting structure".

What is the meaning of artificial reporting structure?

As the word artificial suggests, something artificial is a thing that is created in an unnatural manner.

What is the problem if something is artificial?

There are, in fact, several problems such as:

• Something artificial will generally have serious inner contradictions.
• Something artificial is not sustainable in the long run.
• Something artificial lacks the elegance and pragmatism of the real thing.

An artificial reporting structure can manifest itself in following ways:

• Some of the people are in roles for which they have no competency other than loyalty and length of service.
• Some of the people have titles such as XYZ champion, ABC evangelist, etc. which are more like a garnish element in the organization chart.
• Some of the people occupy non-functional roles which have been created to satisfy their ego though they have reached a career plateau with no scope for any further growth, either lateral or vertical.
• Some of the people who are the actual functional heads have some other title while on the other hand those whose title shows they are the functional heads are merely figure-heads with no real value-addition.

The reporting structure in an organization needs to be right and appropriate so that it is functionally effective.

And that is a must so that it can eventually result in organizational effectiveness.

Visit to Narnaul - Dhosi Hill and Jal Mahal

Narnaul is a great place near Delhi to go and visit for a one day trip.

It is around 150 to 160 kms from Delhi and can be reached in 3 hours time by car.

The condition of the road is average to good.

For reaching Narnaul, you can take the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway NH48 (formerly called NH8) till Behror (which comes immediately after Neemrana) and then leave the NH to take the smaller road towards right at the Behror intersection point.

You have to be careful to stay left and come right under the flyover and then take the right just under the flyover to reach the road that goes to Narnaul.

Even after one leaves the NH, the road condition is quite good.

Though there are many places to see in Narnaul, on a recent family trip, I managed to just see two of them - Dhosi Hill and Jal Mahal.

Dhosi Hill

The first place I visited was the Dhosi Hill.

In many places on the Internet Dhosi Hill is incorrectly called as Dhonsi Hill.

It is actually Dhosi (or maybe Dhausi) and not Dhonsi.

There is no "n" in Dhosi or Dhausi Hill.

This hill has couple of temples and an extinct volcano site.

The trek to the the Hanuman template in the middle of the hill and then from there to the top of the hill is quite enjoyable as there is a proper track which is in an excellent condition.

Here are some of the photographs of the Dhosi Hill in Narnaul.

Jal Mahal

The second place I visited was the Jal Mahal in Narnaul.

This is the place Emperor Akbar used to frequent while passing through the Narnaul area.

When I visited, there was no water at all.

There was no "Jal" or water in the Jal Mahal.

Despite that, the whole place looked splendid even without the water.

Here are some of the photographs of the Jal Mahal in Narnaul.