(Ashok Leyland Programme - Group Photo)
22.08.2007
Yesterday (Tuesday 21 August, 2007) and today (Wednesday 22, August 2007) were spent conducting a programme for the executives of Ashok Leyland Limited on “Financial Techniques for Managerial Decisions” We had a general discussion on various aspects of finance and costing and Management Accounting. There were lengthy deliberations on Economic Value Added and how it can be attained. I took them through the Balance sheets of TATA Motors and their own company and we compared the ratios and attempted to make meaning out of them.

(Ashok Leyland Programme Participants - Group Photo)
Yesterday evening was spent at my Masonic Lodge. My Lodge, Lodge Asoka No 93 has taken up a project on supporting children suffering from a gruesome affliction called Muscular Dystopia. These children have a genetic disorder that results in a total paralysis of all their muscles by the time they are twenty five. The parents have formed a mutual support group. We are providing wheel chairs, hauls and orthopedic supports for these children through our lodge and the charity of our members.
(Father of boy from Kallakurichi receiving wheelchair)
W. Bro. Capt. Seshadri, one of our senior members has recently published a book about Sunita Williams, which has hit the national best sellers list. Sunita Williams, on hearing about our project on Muscular Dystopia has contributed towards it! The wheelchair donated by her was given to the father of the boy from Kallakurichi who was to use it. In the evening Capt. Sesh, made a commitment to contribute more towards the project out of the sale proceeds of the book! A generous gesture indeed! He also auctioned a copy of the book after the formal toast was over and the amount realized was also contributed to the Lodge!

Today I spent the afternoon with Audit Trainees at the Prime Academy Smart Trainee program. We explored various aspects of Communication and other lifetime skills. There was active participation and involvement.

Modearation in Everything

On Friday, 17 August 2007, I was at Bangalore conducting a Finance for Non-finance programme for Management Study Centre. During the course of the programme there was a question about levels of debt. One of the participants felt that a company should not take debt at all. I explained how gearing can improve Profit After Tax (PAT) and consequently Earnings Per Share (EPS). I had to immediately shift gear and warn them about excessive debt and consequent solvency issues! In the resulting discussion and debate a lot was said about balancing debt and equity. I tried to end the discussion on the note that in everything there is a middle path that does not veer towards the extremes. To drive home my point, I mentioned that the Bhagwan in Chapter VI of the Gita speaks about moderation (I used the word mitham) in everything, including debt and diet! One of the participants Mr. Raghavendra Rao quoted the first words of the appropriate slokha:

“Yukthaahara Vihaarasya Yukthacheshtasya karmasu
Yukathaswapnaavabhodhasya yogo bhavathi dukhaha.”

(Yoga killeth out the pain for him who is regulated in eating and amusement, regulated in performing actions, regulated in sleeping and waking.)

The translation is from “The Bhagavad Gita, The Lord’s Song, a translation of the verses of the Gita by Madame Annie Beasant and published by the Theosophical Publishing House in 1961.


In the evening as I sat down to eat a sumptuous dinner, I couldn’t help thinking that in eating at least I am not following this dictum. What do you think? Here’s what I had ordered for dinner!

Applied Transactional Analysis

Today (Sunday 19, August 2007) morning over brunch my wife reminded me about an incident that happened in 1995 when we were still newly married. She had learned how to drive and had taken the Maruti 800 that we owned at that time out for a practice drive. She had had a minor accident when she collided with one of the motorized three wheelers that were ubiquitous then. There was extensive damage to the bonnet and sides and I had lost my temper. I made her go with our driver and register the complaint with the police so that the insurance claim could be made. Apparently, this incident had traumatized her and she never picked up courage to drive again. But recently she wanted to do it. The post 1997 new improved version of me (shaped by the constant practice of the seven habits) is more tolerant and friendly and I’ve been telling her to start from where she left off by getting herself a Wagon R or an Alto. But she doesn’t want to do it. And she felt that if it weren’t for me she would be driving well by now.

I recognized this as one of the classic Games of Transactional Analysis. It is actually called If It Weren’t for You (IWFY)! Eric Berne, the founder of the Theory of Transactional Analysis describes this game in his book Games People Play as follows:

“Briefly, a woman marries a domineering man so that he will restrict her activities and thus keep her from getting into situations which frighten her…She takes advantage of the situation to complain about the restrictions, which makes her spouse feel uneasy and gives her all sorts of advantages. “

Once I read this out to my wife from the book, we both realized the futility of the game we were playing and decided not to look backwards. Acts done in the past, right or wrong, cannot be reversed. Nor should they be repeated. The best thing is to talk about the future without any coloring from the past.

In fact a corollary of IWFY is “If Only You Had” (IOYOH). IOYOH needs two players, say A and B who need not necessarily be a married couple. Both must share a series of incidents in the past when there have been “wrongs” committed by A against B as well as by B against A. Thus, every new issue or proposal for common action is looked at or takes color from the past “injuries” of the other. They argue circularly that the other “could have” done something or the other to prevent the current problem or situation. This game is endless and is the stuff out of which family, clan, religious and caste battles are regularly built.

The only solution is to accept that this game is being played, make a clean break from the past and decide to look at unconditional cooperation in future on a clear understanding of a common and mutually beneficial agenda.

The solution I have described is contained in Stephen Covey’s Habit 4 i.e. Think Win/Win! When we bring a high degree of consideration as well as courage to the table, we move towards WIN/WIN. The third alternative which is neither your way nor my way but a better way emerges out of a supportive dialogue and finally we reach the position that the Sixth Habit suggests, we synergize!

Taboo Topics!

19.08.2007
To day is World Photography Day because the first announcement of a photograph was made on 19, August 1839, in France at a scientific demonstration. I celebrated World Photography day by selecting some of the best shots taken by me.

Presided over the meeting of the Chennai Toastmasters Club. The meeting was moderately well attended, with a few enthusiastic guests. As the meeting drew to a conclusion with nearly fifteen minutes to spare, I decided to exercise my prerogative as presiding officer and take up an issue for constructive discussion. Three topics viz. Sex, Religion and Politics are known as taboo topics and are to be avoided by all speakers at Toastmaster meetings. I raised the issue as to what was it that was to be avoided. For example, TM H L Ratan in his speech today about the pain of parking in Chennai, mentioned the names of two well known politicians and commented on how they had misused the “perquisites” (His word not mine!) to use traffic rules for their benefit. The question is whether this amounts to speaking about politics. Similarly, TM Aditya had earlier delivered an awesome speech on the essential unity of the male and female by giving examples from Hinduism (Ardhanareeshwar), Christianity (The Blade and the Chalice) and Chinese Buddhism (Yin and Yang). Is this Religion? I also gave the example of Guruvayoor temple where in the lower tiers of the pagoda in the sanctum sanctorum, various human figures engaged in the sexual act are depicted. Is this sex or sexuality. (By mentioning this I suppose I broke two rules, mentioning sex and religion!)

But that was what I wanted the members to explore. We had comments from TM Abraham Zacharia CC, TM Pattabhiraman CC, TM Aditya Maheswaran, TM H L Ratan, TM Ravi Bhaskaran CC and finally TM Akhil Lila a visitor. The sum and substance of their collective view was:
You can use quotations from religious texts and stories etc. but should judiciously avoid making fun of another religion or putting another religion down.

Talking in general about sexuality is OK so long as this is not misused to deliver jokes and innuendos that are in bad taste or extremely gender biased or chauvinistic.

(While on that, there are a certain variety of marital jokes that have no sexual innuendo but are extremely gender biased in as much as they paint married women (that’s wives!) as being always suspicious, nagging, overbearing or spendthrifts. TM Nina John ACB CL always reacts to these types of jokes and TM Abraham and I are always in her line of fire as we constantly indulge in such jokes at the expense of our respective wives. In fact TM Nina once remarked very perceptively that people like TM Abraham and I, who crack these misogynistic jokes have two wives, the imaginary woman that we describe in our speeches who nags and argues and commands us and our real wife, the poor innocent lady who takes care of us and our children at home! I think she is right. But, these jokes come out well in speeches and have almost become an idiom of life if not a cliché.)

Politics is best avoided as it will definitely lead to controversy.

The reasoning behind the taboo was clearly brought out by TM Ravi Bhaskaran CC, when he mentioned that these three topics are also banned at the officers’ mess in the Defense Services for exactly the same reason viz. they lead to avoidable controversy and ill feeling.

The Language of the Heart

Language

When Nature’s language we can discern,
The tongues of men are of no concern.
When heart to heart speaks swift and straight
Need we speak to communicate?

Transliterated from the lyric in the movie Mozhi (Language)

Be Religious not Religioncentric

A place of worship in order to serve its purpose should enable us to shed our arrogance born of a false sense of identification with the sense objects; to overcome our selfishness and extreme concerns about material objects; and lastly our hatred born out of ignorance.
Arrogance when gone leaves a vacuum which is filled with humility. Only the contemplation of the enormity of the Godhead and its omnipresence, omniscience and omnipotence can lead us to true humility. This is attained through Bakthi Yoga. Selfishness is replaced by feelings of goodwill and charity towards all creatures irrespective of species, religion, Creed and nationality. This is attained through Karma Yoga. The source of all hatred is fear; the root of all fears is in ignorance; and the only cure for ignorance is in knowledge. This is attained through Jnana Yoga. A place of worship be it Mosque, Temple or Church or other abode of the supreme should provide opportunities for practicing all the three.

When you kneel and pray in church and sing the praises of the Lord, let humility fill your heart and let us be lightened and enlightened by the knowledge that He is the source of all wealth and power, we are but his instruments. When you feed the poor or educate the deserving, let Charity adorn your hand and help you to realize that giving is the true secret of becoming prosperous. When we listen to the sermon and realize the transient nature of the human condition let us truly appreciate the futility of hatred and the need to understand the other person and build bridges of friendship and love.

Let us be Religious but not Religioncentric.

A Hectic Week

Sunset at Mettur Dam

Today we were shifting our office from T Nagar to Mahalingapuram. The entire activity is being planned and executed by the team. Empowerment at work!

Today (Saturday August 18, 2007) was spent monitoring the movement and also in addressing budding CAs who are doing articleship training. One of the participants was a vivacious young girl who is a fan of director Shankar. She did not agree with ny comments about Sivaji! Told her to read my Blog on this and react. Let us continue the debate on the Blog!


The afternoon was spent delivering a seminar on Information Systems Security for Management Study Centre to a mixed group of corporate executives. Had a nostalgic conversation with Ms. Sumathi from Turbo Energy about our experiences as Audit Managers with Price Waterhouse. (when it had no Coopers tagged on to it!)

The week was hectic. After a relaxing Sunday ( August 12, 2007) with my wife Kala and my children, I left for Mettur to conduct a programme on Personality Development through Transaction Analysis for the Madras Aluminium Company (MALCO) belonging to the Vedanta group.

I reached Mettur at 6:30 AM and after freshening up at a comfortable room in guesthouse no. 5, went to the training hall.
There were about 25 participants. As MALCO was acquired by the Vedanta group, the employee demography has a wide range from people who have bee with company from the age of sixteen, to freshers who have just joined.
The participants were quite interactive and we discovereed different approaches to work related issues using the Transactional Analysis Paradigm.

In the evening I accompanied Mr. R Kandasamy AGM (HR) of MALCO to the Mettur dam which was nearby. The Kaveri was in full flow and the water poured out in mad torrential rush from the dam.Mettur town could be seen in the distance. Westward, behind the dam, the setting sun made a glorious sight as it sank down behind the mountains.