Disaster Management - An ignored aspect!!

Recent rescuing of 33 trapped Chile miners is an excellent example of disaster management. The credit not only goes to the Chile government for avoiding what could have been an unforgettable tragedy in the recent times but also to the intrepidal miners who were trapped for more than a month 1650 feet under the earth's surface. The rescue operation was being broadcasted live throughout the world round the clock. The government headed operation put an end to the ordeal of the miners. It's an amazing story of how a disaster management exercise should be carried out and there is nothing like sheer patience in such a situation. This is what management and leadership is all about. "A never give up" hope and striving for the ultimate goal tirelessly is what was required to handle the situation with lot of human lives at stake. Chileans have shown us the way. Perhaps tragedies like BP Oil spill, Terror attacks could have been better handled and there are a lot of takeaways from the rescue operation carried out by Chile government. A "pigeon transport system" was used to carry food & drugs to the heart of the earth. Urzua, a 54 year old veteran was the "group captain" credited with managing miners underground for more than a month. Lot of disaster management tools and techniques were used in the rescue operation. In such a technologically advanced world, the rescue operation went on for close to two months. Disaster management is a crucial field which needs immediate attention. Perhaps there should be disaster management courses to equip professionals which is the need of the hour. The incident is truly a source of inspiration for us all!!

Move on...

Yes. I decide to move on finally in pursuit of success as I pen down my thoughts. Have had sleepless nights of late but I came to realize that change is inevitable and there is nothing permanent in the world except change. Hopefully this would be my last Sunday before I begin my journey of pursuing MBA unless I am denied a visa. More importantly I decide to move out of Shipra SunCity, the place I have had an association with for seven not so long years. I have already started feeling nostalgic. My alma mater just across the road, it was never easy abandoning this place even after I got into a job and the decision to move out not cursory enough. The place has silently witnessed so many farewells and holds within it loads of memories especially of my college days and a number of unforgettable tearful moments of separations. People came, people stayed and people left, with me at the receiving end almost every time, I kept complaining about the departing of friends and would always curse my ill-fate. Somebody told me that the ones who are left behind have to face the real agony since the person leaving is always excited about what is in store for him/her at the new place but trust me it's never easy to leave behind a place which has an agglomeration of numerous memories. The betrayal hasn't been that very easy but it seems the change was unavoidable. The mission might turn out to be an ostensible one but that doesn't stop a Columbus kind quest in me from exploring. Boarding a flight from New Delhi for Dubai with my dear ones seeing me off was poignant enough which really shook the hell out of me. Ever feared Nostalgic feeling was harbinger of the testing times ahead. It has been over a month since I landed here in Dubai and I am still finding that the going is getting tougher and tougher day by day. I am not my usual self and the lousy soul within me is yet to settle down in the fast paced "pandora", this may be because I'm not jovial enough to initiate or strike up conversation with people. Someone happened to call me "Hey Thakur" which seemed quite familiar as I smiled back at the person. Nobody addresses me by that name apart from my close knit of friends. Every moment spent here seems to be a challenging moment and as things stand today I'm quite determined to see this phase through despite roadblocks. I hope to find light at the end of the tunnel but it is only a hope and not yet a reality. I happened to watch a video of J.K. Rowling delivering a commencement speech at Havard Business School where she narrates the kind of failures and uncomfortable experiences she met with at a very young age. She wasn't there to motivate the freshly cut out diamonds as one would have expected but to make people aware about the benefits and fears of failure and importance of very losely used word called imagination. I know the agony is evanescent but It has to be dealt with determination. Perhaps but perhaps I hope to be cognitive enough given my will-power to do so.

Life

World is full of sufferings. Sufferings are caused by human desires and human expectations. One of my voluble colleagues rightly points out the definition of satisfaction quotient as - desires fulfilled by desires harbored. More the number of desires harbored, more the person has to stretch that extra mile to fulfill the desires and to achieve the so called contentment. Striving for success has been a prerequisite and it has never been a cake walk especially for the younger lot these days. This is delineated by the fact that the number of children committing suicide has phenomenally increased of late in India. I wonder from where do school kids of tender age gather courage to make a loop of the string with the tiny hands they have barely been using to tie the tie knot, to kick the stool they have been using to kick the football. Life isn't a bed of roses but it seems there are way too many challenges at a very young age which some children are unable to cope up with. I believe emotional quotient of children has drastically declined these days. The cut-throat competition has crossed all limits, a popular newspaper had an article whose headline were like "Last Day for Nursery Admissions". Having mentioned the vulnerability of depression to kids, i would not shy away from bringing into light the rising depression levels among youngsters these days. Youngsters find it easy giving up than dealing with the situation. Talking about the reasons would be like opening up a Pandora box. I myself have been an intrepidal competitor all my life, rarely has anything been offered to me on a silver platter. But there are certain situations which are unavoidable and by experience i believe that there are certain things that are destined and there is very little we can do about it. At this point in time I say this not as a pessimist or as a struggler striving for success but as a person trying to have pragmatic approach at life. When in doldrums i tend to think of the people who are devoid of all luxuries that i easily have access to, this doesn't help improve the situation but one gathers strength to deal with the problem as situation demands. I believe there are a lot of things that could have happened to an individual but did not happen, only to realize that whatever happened, happened for good. An instance to support this is : Popular MNC "Infosys Technologies" came to my college for campus recruitment. I couldn't make it despite clearing the written exam. I was disgruntled, down and out but barely one week down the line i got recruited by an MNC which paid a hefty amount (close to thrice the amount Infosys was paying). It is later on that people come to know that whatever happened, happened for good. Having grabbed a job in a dream company right after graduation was quite satisfying after achieving the feat but in due course of time realized that success is a never ending journey. The thrill to reach at the top is the best part and not the actual outcome. This is what keeps me going once I am down. or I achieve something significant. For some Secret of success in life is keeping oneself busy till one reaches the top, for others it is maintaining good relations with our kins and friends, I believe it is a middle path, a blend of both. I have been dealing with all sorts of people. Sometimes learned people behave with utter stupidity, The office cafeteria has come to a standstill in the wake of Solar Eclipse today. I could hardly see 12-13 people having lunch in the cafeteria. Everybody wants to efface the ill effects of superstitions. Highly educated people around me behave with such sheepish docility that they are willing to see large quantity of food getting wasted just to fulfill their needless superstitions. Then there are Superstitions above superstitions, Otherwise bustling Maha kumbh in the City of Haridwar, today has hardly seen anybody taking a dip in the holy waters of Ganges. Saints and Gurus claim all sufferrings and evil deeds done are washed away by the holy waters. Instead I believe the holy Ganges would be vitiated trying to wash away all evils. Interestingly a recent study conducted by an NGO shows that Ganga water quality are below standards set by Central Pollution Control for bathing. Ganges water at Haridwar poses major health hazards for people bathing there. Such is the Irony, nobody would refrain from polluting it despite knowing what it is leading to and if at all anybody tries hell would break lose. Most of our politicians thrive under such situations claiming to be devours. The bitter truth is that we have become so inured to orthodox social customs that we refuse to learn from our mistakes and refrain from raising voice against all such issues. Life isn't as complicated as it seems to be. Life is full of surprises, you never know what is in store for you. The flavor of unpredictability is its beauty. We may find thousands of definitions of life from our spiritual gurus. For me key to living a prosperous life is to find out what makes one happy and to decide and act upon priorities of life. A simple truth though but that very difficult to digest it. Steve Jobs in a guest lecture at Harvard University explained that we should keep looking for what would make us happy. "Stay Hungry, Stay foolish!!" is what he believes in and rightly so. It might mean changing professions, switching jobs, helping the needy or whatever it takes to give you contentment. Having said all this I'm still trying to find out what can actually make me happy. Life is like stuffed capsicum! Tough outside but bluff inside. You don't know where exactly will you land up. Hope for the best. Keep looking for what you ought to be doing. Stay hungry, Stay foolish :)