Indian National Anthem: Blog # 300

Indian National Anthem

Every single time I hear our national anthem, I get goose bumps. It reminds me ever so gently, the greatness of our fascinating country.  There was an ongoing debate if we should play the national anthem at the movie theaters or not. I saw some merit in those arguments. Where I did not see a merit was when some people were wondering if we should stand up for the national anthem at all. What is there to debate in respecting one’s national anthem? Do we debate if we should respect our elders? Anyway, the decision of playing the national anthem is already made. So there is no point going back to that debate again. The reason I am writing this blog is the way in which the National Anthem is played in the theaters these days.

I am a movie buff. I watch at least 3 movies a week. In all the theaters that I go to, all we get to hear is a usual rendition of the national anthem - nothing awe inspiring! It is a movie theater and the moments when the anthem is played can be made MAGICAL, to say the least. We have so many beautiful renditions of the anthem as below:

Have a look at another beautiful rendition of the anthem by a set of some incredibly gifted children.Watch this video from BIG Cinemas and I assure you that you will be moved. It is such a breathtakingly beautiful depiction that it will leave you a lasting memory. At a time when there is a lot of debate about the need for unity among people from different walks of our country and world at large, imagine what such a beautiful message on National integration can do!

  

Imagine watching your national anthem beautifully depicted on the vast expanse of the silver screen. What a beautiful moment that will be! This is a humble petition to the theater chains to include the depiction of our national anthem in a way that lives up to its greatness.

Mother's Love: Blog #299

Mother’s Love

From

The first breath to the last sigh… 

The first cry to the last laugh…

The first step to the last stumbling…

The first word to the last verse…

Sunrise to moonshine, all day and everyday…

A mother’s love fills our lives 

Like

A twilight ray,

A monsoon shower,

An unending tide.

Be Grateful, Be Humbled. Your Mother is by your side.

Not teary eyed yet? Read this one :) ~ Amma

Whatsapp Groups! : Blog #298

Whatsapp Groups! 

Apart from climate change, imminent nuclear war and changing leadership patterns across the world, one of the significant agonies of the modern world is Whatsapp groups! If you are part of some specific groups, you have already understood what is being talked about and is wiping a tear away.

To begin with, there are the Big fat Indian family groups. Yes, the ones where we wake up to 127 good morning messages (with flowers and quotes in place) followed by devotional messages and fun forwards that are presented as latest which were, in fact, doing the rounds on the internet a good 10 years back. God save you if there is anyone’s birthday. 127 birthday wishes will follow with divine pictures and messages intact. Please note that all the social rules apply in this group too. The 2^nd uncle who fights with the 4^th uncle will not ping/talk about him in the group. Same goes with the aunties from Delhi & Mumbai. Adding to the flavor are the in-law dynamics.

Now comes the school friends’ group. There will be some friends who aren’t working. But why should they care about those who have a 9-5 job. They begin their day with pictures of their babies, food that is prepared, parenting tips, TV serial reviews and calls it a day with their baby wishing Goodnight! And dare you forget to reply/respond, you are labeled as heartless/pretentious corporate sell out.

The most vibrant are the college groups. They play by the rules. No divine/good morning/birthday forwards. But, there will be unabashed self-promotion – requests for endorsements on FB/Twitter/Instagram of their spectacular persona. It can be in the form of pictures, blogs, short films, songs and so on. If it is a B-school group, then there are the incessant surveys that are pushed your way. The interesting thing here are the subgroups. If there are 50 people in a group, there will be 50! subgroups. People who talk to each other, people who don’t talk to each other, friends, enemies, frenemies, crushes, lovers, brothers, sisters, batch mates, project mates, lab mates, we love/hate Ms./Mr. Lecturer and on and on and on.  

To name a few other groups, there are society/flat groups, PTA (Parents groups – One can no longer lie about the results not being out), College alumni groups, bikers, theater enthusiasts, pretentious intellectuals, tech gurus that exist too.

One that is worthy of mention are the work groups. It is a microcosm of the office itself. There are bosses who send the most boring jokes and there are boss’ favorites who give 5 laughter–with-tears- smiley to those jokes. There are those who maintain dead silence. Even if their life depended on pinging on this group, they will choose martyrdom instead. There are those who send inappropriate forwards. There are those who delegate work and more importantly talk about work at 11:36 PM. There are false praises, there are smart reactions (smiley with shades on) and there are forced applauses too.

THANK GOD for the mute option on WhatsApp groups. Taking that away will be the most unkindest cut of all. That will be nothing less than an act of Terror against Humanity!

Was the Snapchat CEO wrong?: Blog # 297

Was the Snapchat CEO wrong?

India is the largest democracy there is. It is the seventh largest country in the world with 29 states and 7 Union territories, each with strong cultural identities. Some of our states are so big that they are larger than some of the European nations. India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world with a GDP of more than 2 Trillion US Dollars. Our population is more than 1.3 Billion, home to the world’s largest young population and an average age of just about 29. We produce more than a million engineers every year.

BUT

India is also home to largest number of people living below the World Bank’s international poverty line. One-third of our children under the age of 5 are underweight. More than 1/10^th of our population is undernourished. We also have the largest number of child laborers under the age of 14.

We have made considerable progress in the last 70 years and there is much to be proud of. But there is a lot more than needs to be done. A significant population of our country still needs support and help. People who read this blog have access to all the basic needs of life and most of the ‘wants’ too. But that does not mean all is well with our country.

Rather than getting offended by some CEO of an app that looks like a Notodoris minor, maybe we should do some soul searching.  All of us glued to our smartphones and laptops are turning a blind eye to the dual realities of India. We must take cognizance of the great divide that exists in this great nation of ours. Just because we don’t venture out of the comforts of our offices and gated community apartments, we don’t see poverty in its rawness.

Also, is poverty something to be ashamed of? Should it be brushed under the carpet? Why do we get so offended by the word ‘poor’? Had he described us as a ‘rich country’, will we all be very proud?

If we all took as much time to talk to our maid/security guard/driver/newspaper boy and found out how we could help them in as minuscule a way possible than mindlessly herding towards down rating the app, our country will be a much better place. 

Amul Cartoons: Blog #296

Amul Cartoons

Who doesn’t love Amul Cartoons and the polka dotted- blue haired girl? In 2017, this adorable girl is turning 50! All of us agree that the creativity behind these cartoons is beyond excellence. To keep a cartoon alive with the creativity and more importantly, the nation’s love for it intact is nothing short of  brilliance.

These cartoons; for most of us, is a brisk walk through childhood. For many from the yesteryears, these pictures will be a memoir of their youth.  For those who identify themselves as X and Y, it can be an enriching lesson in history.

The creators of this cartoon are much revered Sylvester da Cunha & Eustace Fernandez.  The enviably gifted, artistic minds who keep it alive and thriving are Rahul daCunha, Manish Jhaveri and Jayant Rane.

I was doing some research around these cartoons. Apart from the obvious creative abundance, what surprised me was the fact that how we haven’t changed much as a society and as a country. Most of the popular cartoons were about corruption, sexism and communal tensions. They were true 50 years before and they continue to be so.

The cartoons must be lauded for the candour and bravery about them. There have been, are and will be - brands much larger and popular than Amul. But none of them ever takes a side on public issues. One of the brand consultants once said “Brands are like olden days Hindi film heroes/heroines. They do not see, hear or speak any evil.” Brands are pristine and more diplomatic than the weakest diplomat in the world when it comes to reacting to social issues. But Amul is a pleasant change. They have and continue to express a strong opinion. At the same time, not even an ounce of dignity is lost. It is indeed an art to put across one’s point of view without being brash and that’s something these cartoons have perfected.

Almost mirroring the nation, the cartoons can be divided into 3 popular segments – Movies, Cricket & World Affairs. There are issues other than these 3 which the cartoons have indeed addressed. But these 3 are a recurring theme. Here are some selected cartoons from over the years - a walk down the memory lane. 

World Affairs:

        Cinema:

        Cricket:

Be!: Blog #295

Be... 

Be Lost than Stranded

Be Concerned than Worried

Be Rebellious than Stubborn

Be Mysterious than Secretive

Be Expressive than Animated

Be Curious than Inquisitive

Be Responsive than Reactive

Be Alone than Lonely

Be Eloquent than Verbose

Be Willful than Adamant

Be an Explorer than a Wanderer

Be a Human than a Being

Be,than Was!

                                                                                                               Arun Babu

Social Media & Split Personality!: Blog#294

Social Media & Split Personality!

All of us have that one friend who leads multiple lives on different social media platforms. On Facebook, s(h)e might be a constantly happy-sunny – on cloud nine – persona. On Twitter, s(h)e might be an astute observer giving his/her two cents on such varied fields as politics, business, entertainment, culture and world affairs at large. On Instagram, there is a photographer dying to be discovered by the world whereas on Linkedin, s(h)e is the best employee of the day, month and year – driven, passionate and AMBITIOUS!!! Here is a fun take on how we express ourselves on different platforms...

To begin with, the display picture on multiple platforms:

Now comes, how we describe ourselves - the 'About Me' on various platforms:

Consider a typical Monday morning. How do we express ourselves?

Now let us look at the all-important #Hashtags :)

How can we end without having a look at the extremely edited, yet #nofilter pictures shared on the channels? :)

p.s. Don't forget to share this with your friends on FB, Twitter & Insta - Wouldn't suggest on LinkedIn though ;)

Why kattappa killed baahubali?: Blog # 293

Why Kattappa killed Baahubali?

This is one question that keeps haunting almost all the billion bright minds of India. Here is an attempt to understand what made Kattappa kill Baahubali? Some probable conspiracy theories ~

Sivagami, the mother: Although Sivagami anointed Amarendra Baahubali to be the king, she was overcome by the love she has for her son, Bhallala deva. To make way for her son to be the King, she orders Kattappa to kill Baahubali. But once the murder takes place, she is overcome by grief, flees the kingdom to save the little kid, Mahendra Baahubali.

Bijjaladeva, the envious elder brother: Bijjaladeva realizes that history will continue to repeat if he lets Amarendra Bahubali live. Bijjaladeva’s children will have no claim to the history of Mahishmati. He tricks Kattappa in to believing that Bahubali's horoscope says that the King will bring ruin to Mahishmati. He reasons that it was Baahubali’s birth that caused the death of the queen of Mahishmati, mother of Bahubali. If one's birth could cause harm to one’s own mother, what ruin will he bring to the Kingdom!Kattappa’s unwavering duty towards kingdom of Mahishmati makes him take the extreme step.

Kattappa, the lover: Kattappa and Sivagami were deeply in love. They realized how their vision and love for the kingdom of Mahishmati were so deep and similar. They understood that it was in the best interest of the Kingdom that both of them take over the reins. They convinced themselves that it was the universe that conspired to make them fall for each other. If Bahubali was alive, they will never have a future and thus, the Kingdom will never reach the glory it deserves. Once the king was dead, they could imprison Bijjaladev (Sivagami’s husband) and live happily ever after. 

Bhallaladeva, the son: Bhallalladeva is in reality, Kattappa and Sivagami’s love child. Bhallaladeva and Kattappa hid their relationship inside the 4 walls of the palace. One day, he told Kattappa " Oh father! I have never asked anything of you. You even deny me the right to address you as my beloved father when a third pair of eyes are around us. I have just one wish, to be the king of Mahishmati. Wouldn't you make your son's desire come true?". In a Dhritarashtra - esque moment, Kattappa kill sBahubali for his son. 

 

Bahubali, the noble King: Bahubali understood that Bijjaladeva had infilterated the ranks and files of his army with traitors. They were planning a coup to overthrow the king. If that happened, there will be unrest in the kingdom and a large number of his much loved people will lose their lives. There was no point trying to fight Bijjaladeva. He thought of approaching his elder brother for peace only to realize he will be imprisoned for life. Too proud to live at another person’s mercy, Bahubali order his trusted aid Kattappa to take his life. 

p.s. These are the reasons I could think of as to why Kattappa did what he did. If your imaginations run wilder, do let me know in comments :) 

                                                                                                                             Arun Babu

Blog on Dulquer Salman’s Filmography #5 : Blog # 292

Blog on Dulquer Salman’s Filmography #5

It had been a while since I had seen a Malayalam movie. I was surfing book my show and happened to stumble up on ‘Jomonte Suvisheshangal’. It was such an endearing movie to say the least. I so loved veteran actor Mukesh’s performance. He has always been a natural. To talk about Dulquer’s performance, I felt he has reached that stage in his career where he is really comfortable in his skin. There is this scene when he is in a bus among a crowd of girls. It is so far from his usual self yet he looks so convincing in those scenes. This is an indication that he is very comfortable doing characters that aren’t urban-english speaking-well travelled- mould. When it comes to real life, this sense of comfort is something we all feel when we reach a certain age. We are no more striving to match up to someone else’s ideals. We know what our capabilities and weaknesses are. The hunger to do well is still there, but it is done by pushing the right aspects of one’s persona to make oneself better. Same goes with actors too, isn’t it? 

It is raining Ads for him, a sign of his soaring popularity. Be it electronics, real estate, textiles or automobiles, he has made his presence felt. He is the brand ambassador for Club FM too. But I still hold the grudge against him for not doing enough interviewsJ.

Comrade in America looks like a very endearing love story set in an interesting backdrop. I loved the way words are used in the songs! Such dearth of lyrics these days in songs and those were a refreshing change.

Oh did I mention that he featured on Discovery channel? Yea! Discovery and no less. How more international can one get? Maybe this has something to do with his increasing fan base across states in India and in the Middle East too, thanks to the Malayalee diaspora there.

         His measured responses to the social situations that the state and the country go through is a testimony to the refinement that his mind has undergone over time. He is prudent enough to not make it overt. At the same time, he ensures that his words convey where he stands on this issue. Very few seasoned public figures manage to get this right. Kudos to that. 

 ‘Vikramadityan’ is one of his most under rated movies, don’t you think? It is like Mohanlal’s movie, ‘Pingami’. No one ever talks about that movie when they talk about Mohanlal’s movies. It is a wonderful film with soulful songs (Remember the song, Vennilavo chandanamo?). There are times when one inadvertently tests the limits of a friendship. A seemingly innocuous joke might drift two people apart. But there is always a hope that a friendship reverts to what it was once and will continue to be. I feel this to be true in life and in the film, ‘Vikramadityan’ too. As much as it was a love story, it was about the portrayal of a beautiful friendship too.

Look at this beautifully minimalist of a trailer. How many micro expressions do you see in a span of about 5 seconds? Here is the magical revelation of an actor's brilliance!

Earlier blogs on Dulquer’s Filmography:

Blog 1 : The rise of a new star

Blog 2: Bangalore days and more

Blog 3 : The grand entrance to Tamil film industry

Blog 4 : Charlie all the way

Blog 6: Spoilt for choice

Why do corporate teams turn evil?: Blog # 291

Why do corporate teams turn evil?

Remember school days? Remember competitions in school? Remember winning and losing? Remember being happy when you won and upset when you lost? Some of us would have turned a bit negative in failure. Some of us would have become negative towards self and rarely towards others too. If you were lucky enough to have had good teachers, the moment you turn negative towards others, they would have given you a whack and told you to get over it and try harder the next time. In corporations, this doesn’t happen.

When someone fails in a corporate, the penalty is high. This is fair enough. It makes competition thrive. Having said that, this culture of intense competition kills the smallest sapling of collaboration. How often have you heard a colleague praise another one? They do praise when the two are in entirely different strata (for example, an entry level employee and a leader). The appreciation for a peer is so hard to hear. Why? If one does that, it might enhance the chances of other person’s growth. Why are they against this growth? The reason is that as you move up, there is such less room for co-existence. The pyramid cannot be more pointed!

Now the absence of collaboration leads to the mindset of “That is not my job!” How often have you heard a manager telling a fresher who suggests an idea for the larger team, “You do your job! Don’t get involved in too many tasks. There are other teams to take care of those things! ”We can all talk about organizational goals. But as long as the high premium on success stays, people will try to achieve only their goals and advance their agendas. They wouldn’t care about the larger picture at all.

Most organizations save their costs in employing lesser staff than required. This shortfall keeps the employees so occupied that they are unable to do anything beyond their daily routine. When they don’t have time to finish off their daily tasks, how will they help others? If they don’t help each other, how will personal relationships flourish? In the absence of personal relationships, what collaboration do we expect to happen? Collaboration is essentially lending a helping hand to each other, isn’t it? If people don’t like each other, they will not help one another.

This is where large corporations can learn a lot from startups. Startups are small, nimble and are in a position to maneuver easily. Every large company is made up of small teams. If there is a will, they too are capable of behaving like startups. Now, do all startups embrace the above-mentioned characteristics? Absolutely not! There are startups with founders whose egos are more inflated than their firms’ valuation. This trickles down the organization and people are at each other’s throats. But there are some smaller organizations who spend their time and energy on making their teams better, in terms of inter/intra- team relationships and dynamics as much as they focus on business. It is this aspect that larger organizations should emulate. 

Is profanity lazy comedy?: Blog # 290

Is profanity lazy comedy?

There are some popular Indian standup comedians. Popularity doesn’t necessarily mean talent, though. It is like someone being a star or an actor. Many a time, these are two mutually exclusive sets. Is that why they resort to abuses in all of their videos?

I do not want to stereotype all the standup comedians. Neither do I want to make a sweeping generalization. There are some who speak the language that you and I use and still manage to evoke laughter out of the audience. The more talented ones even make people think and push them towards challenging the mainstream line of thought. 

The moment anyone is questioned on anything, the phrase ‘freedom of expression’ pops up. It is a phrase that we use very loosely. It doesn’t mean one can say whatever comes to one’s mouth. One needs to apply mind also to the words before one speaks. Of course, this doesn’t mean one should think or speak only on the lines of what the popular narrative is. Anyone with a valid reasoning should and must challenge status quo and conventional thoughts. That is how we evolve as a society. But this doesn’t mean one can be a motor mouth. Anupam Kher once said that if you find the tone/content of conversation you use to be acceptable at your home, you can use the same language in public too. Do you think these comedians will be using the same language when they sit with their family? I think not. If that is the case, what gives them the liberty to do so with others?

At times, blurting out profanity is equated with being ‘cool’. To my mind, it is the sheer lack of vocabulary. In this case, it is lazy creativity and lack of talent. Most of the popular comedians are aware of the power of abusive words. The moment a four letter word is mentioned, they get the audience’s attention. It is merely because of the shock factor. In day to day lives also, we tend to turn our attention towards someone who abuses for it indicates a situation of extremity. But no one wants to spend a whole day listening to someone whose words stink. It is a short-lived trick to get more and more people to watch their videos.

The artists that we have seen over the years did not have a sense of entitlement. Many were vain, some of them were pompous and a fewer still were arrogant. But a sense of entitlement was absent. Alas! All we can see in today’s comedians is just that.

One of the comedians was so full of himself and his little circle of friends that he proclaimed that they were the most progressive minds in the country during an interview. This is exactly what the so-called regressive minds also think! The tragedy is that in their haste to portray themselves as apostles of free speech, they are unaware of how foolishly they imitate the tricks of those whom they call rigid and close minded. 

Notice Period?Be Nice to them! : Blog #289

Notice Period?Be Nice to them!

              Notice period is a tricky time in all of our careers. It becomes even more difficult when managers try to be at their insensitive best. If anyone from your team is on notice period, be nice to them. I have seen some managers making the foolish decision of being nasty to their employees during those times.

 To begin with, it is nice to be nice. If that isn’t reason enough, they are going to be your company’s brand ambassadors to the world. They have a lot of credibility having worked in your firm and being fresh out in the market. An employee going out with a bad experience is the worst branding that your firm can have. If you are not concerned much about your firm and if you think that the larger organizational performance has nothing to do with your growth, my condolences. You may stop reading this blog right here.

Now, how much of a difference can one person make in an organization? By now, those who have a thinking mind would know that each person is important in a company’s organizational structure. Be it a company with 100 people or with a few lakhs. One person can bring about a huge change in an organization. That person need not even be at a leadership level to impact a change. Having said that, much greater is the impact a person can cause in a team. If one of your team members is leaving, you will need to find a good replacement. If you give a tough time to an employee of yours, they will not go out silently. Thanks to social media channels, it doesn’t require much of an effort for a job seeker to find out who one’s reporting manager is going to be. All it takes is one ping to the disgruntled team member to find out what managerial style a person has. The moment a candidate gets a negative feedback about a manager, he/she will pull back. Every good candidate these days will have multiples offers on hand. Right there, you lose out on a good candidate.

Is this a one-way street? Absolutely not. The outgoing employee is also expected to be graceful in the exit. One must not forget that the organization and the team would have contributed a great deal to one’s growth. One should ensure that transition is smooth and the team is well equipped with the knowledge needed to induct the next new recruit. More often than not, the managers ensure that this knowledge transfer happens effectively. It is the treating-the-employee-well part that is often taken lightly.

Organizations often take great care in welcoming new employees. However, minimal effort goes in to ensuring that an employee who has stayed with an organization and contributed to its growth for quite a number of years goes out with a smiling face. At best, the teams organize a call, cuts a cake and everyone speaks like the person is dead. It is more of a eulogy than an appreciation session. How about dropping the person home?  How about giving the person a collage of hand written notes and a plaque of appreciation? How about a chance for him/her to bring the family to office on the last day? These are tiny gestures which will go a long way.   

Arun Babu