Spiritual Awakening

“I do not know what this is evidently supposed to be. All I care is I am right, whatever happens...”

- Atul Madiwale or someone ?? !! ??

It started with a situation, an experience. A past experience, I could not control the repercussions in an exposed environment – under the bright sunlight with due respect to all the electric tubes and bulbs in the late hours of the day. I do apologise for the synonyms used though they are most apposite.

It starts with the composed and closed connections that I shared with a person, in person. Everyone is equally fortunate enough to meet different personalities in a single day, and so am I. I used to start my day with 1 hour, day-time travelling and 1.5 hours night-time travelling. Though the distance was same, the time taken to cover the same distance never been the same. Sometimes the time used to get stretched up to 2 hours or may be more. The reason being my mental status at that hour of the day.

Like I said, few years ago, I was young, unlike professionals. The young blood, where one does not need any help, does not seek for any help, does not pray for any help and nor beg for any help. So was I, equally demonstrative. The dynamics of creativity, jovial nature and explicit ideology were my loyal colleagues. The nourishment of every plant requires periodical treatments where it needs professional gardener and the meticulous gardening process to be called as presentable!!!

Process in any organization is meant to be uni-directional. If the process is defined as ‘left – to – right’ then it should be operated ‘left – to – right ’. Reporting authority should ensure the processes are followed as directed.

Everybody aims high and professionalism comes with high risks, with guidance !!!

I decided to listen to elders, seniors and veterans. This move was not directional and also was not parallel to my route. I had my ways of giving back and so I was reluctant to follow the guidelines as these guidelines were not in-sync with the process charts which were shared with me on the first day of joining. Sad in’ne ??

Initially, it was 1 hour, heading journey to the work place and the returning journey as well. Later as the process charts and guidelines started conflicting, the returning journey started adding minutes to the morning heading journey. More heads started guiding the process, eventually adding to the conflicts and this, conveniently kept adding minutes further to my returning journey.

The behaviour at the workplace improved to such an obvious level that if the senior is taking time, it is careful and thorough approach to situation and me taking time was considered as slow. Any tasks not completed from my end, I was considered as lazy and seniors for the same situation were considered to be too busy. If me taking different route without informing anyone, I was considered to be acting too smart and the same, if done by the seniors, were appreciated as an initiative to complete the given task.

Nothing could be changed and all I was advised, as a solution, to get acclimatized with the situation. Believing this to be the only solution to the situation, the moulding process started getting defined yard-by-yard. I understood, not to make any changes and accept the changes with a smile on the face. This behaviour unknowingly developed a tendency to let the things happen. I developed an unmistakable ability of enjoying every moment. Everyone noticed that I had developed a loss of ability to worry. Overwhelming episodes of appreciation were getting consistently consistent. With acceptance to follow the said route, I started showing loss of interest in conflicts. This reached to such an extent that I lost the interest of judging others. I started getting frequent attacks of smiles and started feeling connected with others and nature as well.

After spending a sustainable tenure in the corporate, everyone started appreciating my capability to tackle situations and for me, I had actually started enjoying and experiencing “Spiritual Awakening” !!!

CL

“I am really getting bored of the current status around and wanna get out and breathe oxygen...“

“It’s been too long that we’ve been holding this shit load and really need this grounded ....”

“Could anyone tell me how to dodge this pig-headed out of my site ?..... I fink I should find better place to sprout....”

I just entered quietly listening to such confessions in here and decided not to reveal what am I gonna topic this night. Everyone summarised their routine very impatiently with good level of comprehension in their discussions. We were in groups and suddenly I reckoned of an abbreviation which is quiet famous in one part of the world.

Let’s break this ice and form foamy surface where we all can chill-out...

It’s gonna be harvesting ourselves with better soil and natural batter.

Few questions to you before I start.... and the rest of the questions would make you understand the importance of the earlier one.

“What does CL stands for ???"

I still remember many experienced and professionals attended that convention. It was a perfect corporate ambience with all the requisites that an AGM or a summit would require. Every speaker and the attendees were in exquisite corporate attire. All were trying to soothe them and even I was.

When my name was randomly selected and announced, there was a bit of noise and everyone had their eye-brows raised to know who the hell I was. Corporate expressions are very subtle and aggressive. I haven’t seen such cold-blooded expressions until that day. That day being my first convention, I was bit nervous.

It was a long day and I was to speak about what I learned in that convention. It was an opportunity to speak in front of well reputed experts. I was trying to get acclimatised of the new culture of cold-blooded, predatorious professionals, chameleon skinned and money-minded junks.

I walked down the round tables to make it to the dice to address new group of forensic experts.

“Just to make it concrete...... ALL OF US WORK..... rt ??? Don’t you guys think we need to have CL ????” I saw many of them snubbing while remaining enjoyed that statement. This was needed very badly as those enjoyed attendees knew the meaning of CL. It indirectly suggests that the majority of them forgot the actual meaning of CL.

So I had to ask “What is the meaning of CL???” To share few of the answers were;

CHECK LIST. Management always want to uphold their word and decision with proper reasoning and a supporting CHECK LIST. If an employee carries this CL then he can be looked upon in the next appraisal list (AL). This CL will ensure the completion of the task within the deadline.

CONFIDENCE LEVEL is also abbreviated as CL. In professional life, projects are handed over to those who have better CL. Opportunity becomes a regularity with determination and CL. This CL can give birth to another CL; CREW LEADER.

When an employee leaves the organization, the employee gets a CHARACTER LETTER as a part of the send-off. This CL acts as a realization of achievement, if achieved anything. Now-a-days this CL is seen in pink colour. Once there is vacancy, the management asks for another CL; CANDIDATE LIST to make sure there is no harm in losing any employee. The strong the CANDIDATE LIST is, the less the fear of losing even an experienced one.

Out of these CL’s, my favourite CL is CASUAL LEAVE which unfortunately no one answered. May be talking about CASUAL LEAVE was tabooed. According to me, CASUAL LEAVE was the most suitable long form of CL as it was the only answer to all those moaning that I had mentioned at the start.

A CASUAL LEAVE is to be yourself, to live life your-way, to take time from the busy schedule and breathe oxygen, to change your route so that you don’t see that pig-head at least for a while.

But today I feel that we all are deluding ourselves by taking a CASUAL LEAVE to relax and so that we can resume to the next CL and that is never ending .........CRAZY LOOP !!!

Toy Factory.....

We all have grown up.......... up.......... and above all ........ UP !!!

This can be considered as a mere comparison between child / kid / lad / ... / ... and the GROWN Ups !!! How far are we all gonna fool ourselves with these lies of promoting or presenting ourselves as a GROWN UP !!!

Lemme go through my memory lane and jot down few aspects of being KID. Firstly the KIDs love to play with dolls, robots, animals, gadgets, cars and many more. In short, KIDs like to play with toys and then the most apt options would be visiting “Toys r us” and the related shopping arena. It is always the choice that matters; sometimes the KID’S choice or the parents’, depending upon the situation. Ultimately, KIDs love to play with all kinds of toys and parents love watching their KID growing up with a smile on their face.

CUT....... now the other part of playing.....

The GROWN UPS, as I just differentiated or parameterised the groups, have grown enough to materialize the same habit at their work place. Organizations believe in working together towards a common goal and very few employees are selected for a position where they would want to PLAY. Business is a game which is never taught in early childhood but every player (GROWN UP) likes to play this game in one’s very own mannerism. The same fights (competition), same crying on the floor (job floor), moaning (back-biting) and the stubborn attitude can become the strategy to achieve the goal. This attitude brings SPEAKING culture instead of LISTENING culture in profession. When these childhood habits become a part of your behaviour in your profession then all other subordinates become your TOYS. The GROWN-UPS start behaving like a KID and the TOYS never hold a chance to say what they want to. The only way for the TOY to speak or do what it wants, is to again become a KID and start playing with other TOYS. Sounds bit weird. But yes......be a KID!!!

And if you really want to understand your BOSS then you should know how the BOSS was.....as a KID, what he loved playing with and how did he play with the TOYS.

In an organization, many a times the business develops into a TOY FACTORY where 20 percent of the employees are KIDS and rest are nothing but .................TOYS !!!

Brands: A backdrop in brief…

Brands are as ancient as civilization. The concept of brands has its origins before 1870’s with its presence in Romans and Greek times. Road signs were descriptive of shops available on the route and every shop had product logos or signs which could indicate the availability of that product. The basic intention was to promote goods being sold at a particular spot. (Pringle, 2001) Stone-carved sign-boards and product pictures were used in those days to promote the products to potential buyer. These brands grew with the time and traders spread this concept to different parts of the world. A new acronym “Made in …” got its place in the brand structure and names of the places accompanied the brand. Places then became famous for their special products and gained popularity during middle ages. Just to name, Swiss watches are famous for their handmade watches which show durability and elegance. Since then, evolution of brands was seen and many famous brands started taking commanding positions in the market like, Schweppes (1798), Levi’s (1850), Heinz (1869), Hovis (1886), Kodak (1887), Philips (1891), Harley Davidson (1903), Rolex (1910), Adidas (1920), Marlboro (1924), Durex (1929), KitKat (1935), Nescafe (1938), Tupperware (1945), Playboy (1953), Nike (1972), Swatch (1982), etc. (Riezebos, 2003)

The twentieth century was crowned with industrial revolution and hence manufactures were more aggressive with competitive edge as promoting matter. The basic need of the hour was to establish as a unique manufacturer and to become famous. Marketing strategies and advertising became topmost priority to penetrate with greater visibility. Exclusive emphasis was on branding and the “Brand” was getting better defined and structured. Brand was not just a requirement for the manufacturers but was a necessity for every entrepreneur. Brand Equity and Brand Portfolio gained equal attention and Brand extension became a strategy for conglomerates. (Riezebos, 2003)

Being the “one and only” and touched by every person on this earth is the dream of every product produced by every organization. Going global is the contemporary fashion among every industry with discovering virgin markets to hold greater market share. Every product makes noise in its own way to gather attention with uniqueness. Branding is at thriving and communicating with its customers is quintessential. Every brand has its own products and hence is targeted to specific segments. Global brands have to be retuned to meet the local customers’ requirements and immediate culture. (Macrae and Uncles, 1997) Attaining such an impressive balance between international world business culture and local customers is a niche area which needs special attention. Communication with such a meticulous attention can be easily attained using suitable and effective marketing channel. Every culture and segment has its own medium where they communicate extensively. More the communication – more is the opportunity to understand the customer and hence more chances of getting a better and desired product to rule the market. (Kim, 1998)

Satisfying the customer’s needs are the prime objectives of every organization. Added features always attract customers and consumers enjoy the benefits with the product. As per De Chernatony and McDonald (1992), “Products that match the consumer’s needs most closely” are termed as brands. Although it is a combination of tangible and intangible assets, satisfaction of the consumer is of utmost importance. Some renowned practitioners like Jessie Paul, Chief Marketing officer, Wipro Ltd., states her experience as “Two for the price of three” where the extra mileage is because of the reliability, pride and trust. Hence, intangible attributes can be considered as a basic ingredient for customer loyalty and brand survival of luxury branding. (http://www.jessiepaul.com)

Branding is more of a psyche attribute than the physical evidence of quality, assurance, durability, confidence, trust, etc. Brands do rule the customers mind ever since their childhood. Owing to this, brands that wish to exist for ages should grow with the child as they are future customers. A trust that is built should never get even a scratch at any point of the existence of any brand. (Lindstrom, 2003)