Leader vs Manager

I often think what make some managers so great and memorable  while others are usually lost in the pages of history. Is it striking personality of one; perhaps the way they express themselves or their soft spoken skills. But usually these features fade out with aging. The managers who would make a deep mark in your memory are usually the ones who would go a step extra to ensure your professional and personal goals are met. They would take pains to keep you motivated in professional space, they would make you believe in your capabilities. And if one doesn't have the required skills, they would ensure you learn the art to benefit the business in long run. This is what separates a Leader from a manager.

Leaders are those who'll support you to fulfill your personal dreams, and making sure the business enriches from your new-found inspiration. Many papers and journals are published to showcase the importance of a healthy and learning work space to successfully run a business. Business can never expand in a culture where employees are not groomed to fulfill their aspirations. This major shift in work cultures in big organizations is what sets them apart from other businesses.

Ride part-II

The ride discussed is part 1 is all about the painstaking mornings when i need to wake up early to reach office in time. Morning traffic is another battle which is fought week after week to avoid the delay. Contrary to above struggles, the ride back home is always pleasant. The most important reason for these pleasant rides is my wife who would call me every half an hour after 3pm to convince me to leave office early. I try to leave as early as possible, but then doing it so often won't justify the reason for which i come to office.

I usually leave office around 4:30 pm (assuming my attempt to reach office before 8:00 am is successful). Once i reach outskirts of city, i would call my wife to tell her that i've left from office. Next one hour drive is more or less same all the time. There's no traffic on the highway, so i can drive looking around the beautiful sights of settling sun and green fields. There is another city which lies midway from my office on the way to home. By the time i that city, it would get dark already. Once i safely get out of this city, the task already seems finished. The last one hour is always spent thinking about dinner. Like everyone, i too want to reach home as early as possible. I've to keep telling myself not to over-speed during this last one hour.

By the time i reach home, it's already very dark. Despite spending last ten hours in office, the drive back home is always smooth and joyful. I never get tired driving back home. Although it's only wednesday, it would feel like the weekend is here already. This tale of riding to office and coming back home repeats itself every week, and hopefully will continue for some more time as well.

Thanksgiving weekend

Finally the weekend has reached its dying final stage. Usual Sunday gloomy evenings which are spent staring at computer for hours; with a mind already lost in the worries of coming week. I (and my wife) had planned and waited for this weekend for so long. Thursday and Friday were off due to thanksgiving break.

We left from our home early Thursday morning so that we could reach Fort Lauderdale for lunch which is a suburb of Miami city. In US, the bigger cities are divided into smaller suburbs. This city, Ft Lauderdale, is famous for its beach houses and many lavish restaurants. Since it was the thanksgiving day, the restaurants were not packed with people as many of them prefer to cook food at home on Thanksgiving day.  We had our lunch at one of those stylish European-built restaurants and we left for Miami South Beach. This beach is considered to be among the best beaches to travel in US, if not the entire world. The luke warm water is pearl-green in color served over white glittering sand. I wish i had words to describe the beauty of this beach which can only be justified with the view of it. We spent roughly two hours on beach. The best part of it was soaking your body on the white warm sand under the bright sun. There are very fewer natural gifts left on this Earth which we, human beings, still admire.

The street surrounding this beach has an ambiance which one can't find at any other place. We had our dinner at a beach side place on Ocean drive and soon left for our hotel in Miami downtown. Downtown is another word which is used very commonly to denote to the main market area of town where most of the dining places and malls are located. I won't say much and would let the below picture say about the view from our hotel room.

When we checked into the hotel, i didn't know which room would be allotted. It was a sheer coincidence that this room was available and we were in the hotel at right time. Next morning we left the hotel and Miami for our next destination, Key west. Miami is the southernmost city of US on the east coast, and Key west is the southernmost key which is now a part of United States.

Contrary to Miami, all the shops and eating joints in Key west are so unique and full of art work. It has an authentic artistic ambiance which is very rarely found in a country predominantly populated with chain restaurants and fast food joints. We had our dinner at one such food joint and spent rest of the day exploring the city market. Basically the entire market resides on one street, which is also known as Duvaal street. Personally, i would have preferred spending the entire day in heated swimming pool at our hotel. That time spent in pool was perhaps the most memorable for me. Next morning we left out early for para-sailing as per our scheduled plan. I had never done para-sailing before; hence it was even more special for me. One doesn't get a lot of chances in life to experience a moment when you're flying above your fellow birds in an abundant sky beneath a vast pearl green ocean.

We took some photographs for rest of the noon at the beach and left for our home. I'm not sure of the importance of writing down such minute details of my trip; but hopefully it might become a reason of smile when i would read it some years later.

The Ride

To compensate for working remotely, i go to my office once in a week. I stay there with my friend for a night and start my next working day early in morning, so that i could leave for home early in evening. These two days in my weekly schedule are the most arduous ones, if not necessarily the most productive ones. I try to keep the schedule same every week, but sometimes i need to chalk out the alternate days depending upon holidays, vacations or my wife's work schedule.

I read somewhere that "Predictability is good", and this post has somehow reinstated my belief in it. On the usual weekdays, i try to keep Tuesday and Wednesday for my office visit and i try not to reschedule it for minor reasons. The hard part is always getting up early on Tuesday so that i could reach office before 9:15am. Once all set to leave, things get easier once i hit the road for next 150 minutes of journey. I would prefer skipping the first half because most of it goes into getting out of city and its traffic, which can engulf you on the bad days. While the other half resembles a roller-coaster ride where you enjoy the scenic beauty and are often lost into day-dreaming which gets disturbed by the rare moment of a passing car. At that moment, i forget about all the hurries and hassles in world. If i could, i would just keep driving on that straight endless road surrounded with the scenic green pasture fields. If i had time, i would keep staring at the cattle grazing in those green fields. But these moments are often perturbed by the ringing of my phone. Most of the times i would be in office before 9:30am if not stuck in a bad traffic.

While driving to work in morning

This concludes the initial phase of my work week, which i would say is a hard one, but sometimes can be succeeded by even more tougher phases work permitting. Let's keep the rest for the next post...

The priceless list

Somethings are priceless. Their importance in your life is as precious as it was a decade ago. Though they're not with you all the time, but you cherish the good old times in your leisure talks. Some like-

A long talk with an old friend after a gap of 2-3 years, and finding that nothing has changed between you two. The topics have changed, your priorities have changed; but you're still the same person at heart what you were ten years ago.

Reading through the pages of an old book which was your all-time favorite in college. Flipping through those old brown pages make you realize that not much in this world has changed. Somethings are still the same, only for the good reasons.

Enjoying a chilly evening at your home which makes you nostalgic and brings back the memories of your own home where you've spent a better part of your life. And suddenly you remember even the tinniest of details of your childhood. Running through those green pastures of grass with your lovely siblings, you never realized when childhood came and passed away; leaving you with those beautiful and priceless memories..

TWO TALES OF NOBEL PEACE PRIZE

One never came out in limelight and kept working steadily and silently towards curbing the child exploitation. He gave up his teaching career to stand against this menace in a totally dysfunctional system, and yet media never appreciated his efforts ever. (And if they ever did, it went unnoticed midst the cricket and movies headlines).

And one was the talk of the town after surviving the militant attack. She was the on the cover of Time's magazine, awarded honorary Canadian citizenship and among '100 most influential people in world'. She traveled the entire globe as UN's ambassador spreading their message while staying in Birmingham next to Queen's palace.

One chose himself to become the mascot to make the lives of thousands of children safer and better working directly at grassroots; while other inspiring thousands from Birmingham palace by becoming the spokesperson of UN.

The part of life called "Being married"

Yes, you read it correct. This part of my life is called "Being married". After been known to each other for more than half a decade, we tied the sacred knot on July 1st in India. Just like any other couple before getting married, we had our fair share of moments of mild fights and awkward silences. The long distance (around 12,000 kms), which could have played a nasty role in taking us apart, couldn't even erode a fraction of the trust we had on each other. 

It's been almost three months now since I've entered this new phase of life. The day she arrived in US for the first time, i understood what responsibility actually means. Studying hard to get good grades, complying with the norms of society or not being dependent on anyone usually go hand-in-hand with terms like responsibility. But this word got a new meaning when i first came to pick you up at Orlando airport. Coming to terms with the changes my life would undergo from that very moment, had made me feel nervous. I had made this conscious decision of marrying you not in haste. I was the happiest man to see you at airport while your eyes were still wandering across the huge hall, but deep down my conscience was questioning my belief whether i can take care of you or not. My conscience wanted me to say aloud that i'll keep my promise to stand by you, no matter how adverse the times would be. Yet my feeble heart was making attempts to soothe my perturbed mind with reassurances about which perhaps no one was confident of. 

These three months had taught me a great deal of things and experiences. The most important would be the mistake which i committed by thinking of this relationship as a responsibility. More often than not, life will give you an opportunity to correct the mistakes. Writing more about it will only expand this post, because there is no better way to experience it than to live it yourself. I hope you shall excuse my prolonged disappearance considering the changes my life has undergone in these past months. But relationships never hinder the path your life always wanted to sail into, rather brings a fresh meaning to your goals. Then be it your professional career or a silly post which you scribble once in a while..

Life's learning

Being here on this planet earth for more than two decades has taught me something about life. I looked back and realized i was running a rat race. It felt i had to prove to the entire world that i'm worthy of your attention and time. Individuality and being 'myself' were mere words used by me to flaunt the self esteem or confidence. The words like patience and steadiness were meant only for oldies. Success was a goal for which i was ready to sacrifice all i possessed.

Never knew when these changes started settling in my mind. The rat race becomes a race with my own expectations and short-term goals. The contentment of fulfilling these small goals is what brings happiness to my life. The entire world is not worthy of my attention and time, only a few of them deserve the bonding. Individuality makes more sense to me now. I try to be 'myself' because that is what i'm best at. Failure doesn't disturb me much, because i understand i can't be good at all things. But at the same time, it gives me the experience of one more thing which i tried. Patience teaches me never to stop doing what i feel i'm best at, and one day i'll achieve it for sure. Success won't come on that particular day when my dreams would be accomplished, it's the path of perseverance on which i steadied myself all day and night to achieve my goals.

All in all, i feel i'm a happier person and these learnings of life will take me ahead in life as well.

Saturday night musings

Through the same window posted in my previous post, i keep staring at the burning lamp pole at night. It's raining outside, making it look even more clear and beautiful than ever. The wet drops lying on road makes a swooshing sound whenever a car passes through the pole.  The beaming lights of car makes those rain drops on the road look ever more beautiful.

Such moments make me feel as if life is all about enjoying these moments unhurriedly. Lying on my bed and looking through the window makes me think over again and again, " Is that how i should spend my life?' I'm not in a hurry to sleep early. I don't have an office to attend tomorrow, I've the leisure to feel the serenity of this nature for a while. That's how life must be spent. While looking down at the road, i might feel sleepy. Once in a while a passing car wakes me up by splashing the water droplets from its running wheels. Till then i can have the liberty to witness this beauty with my tired eyes still looking for something among those scattered droplets.

Sigh of relief

It's been a hectic week so far. Planning of moving out to another apartment has led to many sleepless nights, and today i'm done with shifting all my stuff. While leaving my apartment, the feeling was never so pleasant. I wish someone would come and tell me that i can stay here for one more month or so.

Removing the clock from wall, or emptying out the kitchen shelves; every moment was making me weak from inside. You never want to see the empty shelves or cupboards which you've filled with your stuff, buying one at a time from mall and placing them at their appropriate place in your house. It makes you realize the value of those small hanging spoons which you thought were of no use, but removing them from the wall was never an easy task.

That's the essence of life. You possess nothing forever in life, your possessions keep changing with every tick of clock. It's been more than 24 hours now, since i've moved here. The only relief amidst all this chaos and emotional setback is the beautiful window in my new room. I keep staring through the window at the moving cars on the road. One goes by, and the next keep coming..

Mere 90 days

Another risk ahead, another challenge ready to be taken upon. It's time to move from the apartment where i've some spent some good 20 months in the company of my friends and parents. The feeling although is not a pleasant one, yet i don't want to see it as an effort in disdain for next couple of months.

Moving into an apartment with another guy is making me nervous already. I'm not used to staying with anyone for last couple of years, and certainly can't take it anymore. Perhaps would be a good experiment before trying it again with a person for the rest of my life. I keep convincing myself about this temporary fix for just three months, but again compromising for the routine stuff is not my cup of tea.

Three months to go. Yes, it's just 90 days. This too shall pass..

Life cycle

At many junctions in life, it seems unfair to me. It seems unfair to the hard-work i put in, seems to ignore the patience and perseverance with which i try to steer past the obstacles. Moments come when everything seem to be falling apart in life. Times ahead appear gloomy and failure seems inevitable.

This story appears to have surfaced in everyone's life atleast once. My story is no different from others. But then things gradually start getting better when you thought the worst has already come. You start picking those broken pieces once again with a shattered morale, which surprisingly has taken you out of the depression. Suddenly the whole world start making sense to you. People seem more beautiful than ever, the grass appears greener on your side. Slowly and steadily you keep making progress on your path, which once had become the size of Everest. You start enjoying the moments you spent each day. The sugar tastes sweeter, air smells fresh and life seems beautiful.

My story is again.. no different from others.