Back From The Sabbatical

Dear Reader,

Please ignore the title. The title is only to take care of my guilt conscience, but otherwise there is not even an iota of truth to it!

Eight months have passed since I wrote my big blog with huge promises of How I am avoiding Resolutions - http://fugleman.blogspot.in/2015/01/2015-let-us-continue-with-e-model.html, but till date, this site hasn’t seen a single other blog coming up since then. It is a promise that I haven’t kept with my readers and with myself and I feel terrible about it. 

So what is the issue? Why have I not been able to share my thoughts as frequently as they occur in this mind of mine? What has been stopping me? Is it inertia? Is it lack of topics to talk about? Is it laziness or Is it a blogger’s block? Now if there can be a writer’s block, surely there can be a blogger’s block too. After all, time is changing!

Well let me tell you, the reason is none of the above… or when I think deeper, maybe it is all of the above and more! Have you ever faced a situation where you have gone for a buffet meal and you have been tempted with too many options, such that you have filled your plate to the brim, hoping that you will be able to relish each and every portion that sits in your plate but you ended up struggling to finish the entire contents of that plate? Let me tell you that the eyes eat more than the stomach. Yes, that’s true! I am going through the same situation right now. On my ‘Digital’ plate, I have put too many tempting things and I am clearly struggling. I don’t want to put away any of those things that are there on my plate but my stomach is not able to take in all of it. A lot of my time is getting eaten (pun intended) by different social media platforms, leaving very limited time for a blog. I am busier in reading and enjoying the thoughts of others than taking time out to share my thoughts with the world. This is a problem that I acknowledge, accept and realize and now I need to make the effort to also fix it. 

What better way to start working on the problem than to talk about it. So this blog is my return from the sabbatical and now I will make all efforts to bring content on this site more regularly for all of you and for me. 

So what kind of blogs would you like to read from me? Put in your comments and let me know. 

38 missed calls in 10 mins!

Rajeev woke up ten minutes before the alarm on his phone could go off. The phone showed a time of 4.50 a.m. He stretched his arms and legs a bit and then got up from his bed. He hadn’t been able to sleep too well and kept tossing and turning every now and then. The excitement, nervousness, stress and anticipation of the coming day were too much for Rajeev to get a sound sleep.

It all began three months back when an email message popped up on Rajeev’s screen which read like ‘You could be the next Executive Assistant (EA) to the Global CEO of Barney and Company’. This was an event that took place every two years across all the countries where Barney and Company had operations and it was an event that was most looked forward to by employees working in Barney and Company. Barney and Company had operations in 135 countries and being the Executive Assistant to Mr. Stephen Carpenter, the Global CEO was not a small thing. The EA was expected to be the shadow of Mr. Carpenter, which involved him/her to know the challenges and strategies of every market, sharing regular updates of financial market movements, interaction with CEOs of big companies, preparation of speeches for Mr. Carpenter for the shareholder meetings and many more such tasks. 

The role came with its share of perks which included travelling the world in Mr. Carpenter’s private jet, staying in the world’s best hotels and rooms, exposure to various markets, meetings and global heads and a great career ahead after finishing the role of an EA. The current roles and designations of the past EAs was a valid proof of the fact that getting on the role of an EA was nothing short of leapfrog in one’s career by at least 10 years and three grades. 

Rajeev had spent 15 years with Barney and Company, having joined them from campus from the country’s leading B School and had done very well for him and was now the General Manager for one of the verticals for South East Asia. He was seen as a star performer and was way ahead of his peers in his career. With a strong and ambitious mind, Rajeev wanted to go further ahead and he thought that trying for the role of an EA would be the best possible way to achieve that. He sent his application to the Head Quarters in USA a day after getting the mail and started preparing for it rigorously. 

Malini had seen Rajeev’s ambitious streak from the days they were dating on campus and she found it as one of the reasons she got attracted to him. Three years after their wedding, Malini and Rajeev got blessed with a beautiful daughter, who was named as Gitanjali. To take care of Gitanjali and ensure that Rajeev is able to concentrate on his career, Malini decided to take a break from her career of a banker and decided to become a home-maker and a full-fledged mother. She excelled in her new role and ensured that not only did Gitanjali turn out to be a great student but all a well developed personality. Gitanjali was being trained in Swimming, Martial Arts and Classical Dance and she was proving to be a natural at all three. Rajeev was delighted at the way Malini was grooming and taking care of their daughter and knew very well that he has to take no stress for the way Gitanjali is being brought up.

The day Rajeev sent his application to USA, he had a chat with Malini in the evening, where he shared with her his decision of sending the application and applying for the role of an EA. As he was expecting, Malini was extremely encouraging and gave a huge fillip to his morale by showing her confidence in his ability to get this role. 

What followed was a number of rounds of discussions, interviews, lunch meetings, video teleconferences with a number of jury members which led to elimination of a number of candidates across the world. Every time this contest was announced, it led to a barrage of applications and even after eliminating lots of them on the basis of the strength of their application, there would still be a number of potential contenders as Barney and Company is known to have some of the best talent in the world. 

After two months of intense rounds, there were only 10 candidates left for the EA post and out of that, two candidates were from India. One of them was Rajeev and the other was Sohail. Sohail was one year senior to Rajeev in Barney and Company and the careers of Rajeev and Sohail were moving at almost the same pace with one of them getting a particular role earlier than the other and then the other person moving to the next role faster. While Rajeev and Sohail maintained good professional relations, both of them tried to watch each other’s backs very keenly as they had a very strong competitive spirit among them. They both knew that the role of an EA is a stepping stone which will take one of them way ahead of the other.

The short-listed 10 candidates were invited to the Head Quarters at New York City to present their final case to Mr. Carpenter and the Executive Board. This was the day Rajeev woke up at 4.50 am as this was the day he had been waiting for so long. 

The session began at 8.00 am and every candidate had an hour to present his case and then be a part of the Question and Answer session. The first candidate to go in was a person from Japan, followed by Sohail. Rajeev was the third candidate. 

At 11 am, Rajeev was called into the Board Room. He had dreamt of this moment for years and he knew it very well that he has to grab this opportunity with both hands. He entered the Room and saw 15 men and women sitting there with Mr. Carpenter sitting in the centre. He greeted everyone as most of them knew him from their India visits in the past. Rajeev kept his mobile on the table and started his presentation. After 20 minutes, Mr. Carpenter asked him to stop. Mr. Carpenter had a short 15 minute telecom with the ministers of one of the countries which could not be avoided so he asked everyone to take a break. 

Rajeev picked up his mobile and saw 38 Missed calls in 10 minutes from Malini. He wondered what was going on as this was not usual of her and she knew very well where he is and would never disturb him like that. He got worried and stepped out of the Board Room to call her. Malini was sobbing on the other line and she informed him that Gitanjali has met with an accident and they are taking her to the hospital. This struck him like a bolt of lightning. As soon as he hung up, he saw Mr. Carpenter heading back to the Board Room. Rajeev walked in and informed everyone that he would not be able to continue with the case anymore due to what has happened to his daughter in India. 

Mr. Carpenter offered Rajeev to take his private jet and not waste any time. Rajeev flew back to India and got the best doctors to take care of his daughter. Four weeks later, Gitanjali was back on her feet and back to her usual self. Both Malini and Rajeev heaved a sigh of relief. 

A day later, an email popped on Rajeev’s computer screen with the message ‘Sohail bags the role of EA to Mr. Stephen Carpenter’. Rajeev looked out of the window and saw all his years of work flashing past him, but then smiled at the thought of having his daughter completely cured. 

Two days later, Rajeev got a letter from USA. It was from Mr. Carpenter himself, inquiring about Gitanjali’s health. He also offered Rajeev the role of CEO for Asia Pacific and finally ended the letter with the line ‘Hope to see you at the next EA contest in 2015’.

This post is a part of Write Over the Weekend, an initiative for Indian Bloggers by BlogAdda.

IF THIS WAS THE LAST BLOG FROM ME

When I start tapping the keys on my keyboard to write a blog, there is always a topic I want to talk about and share my views about. But today, it is different as the idea was to blog again after a long time but there was no topic to talk about. 

I kept thinking and trying to recall all those topics that had popped up in my head while driving or working or travelling, hoping that since they popped up from the head, they would remain there. But realization happened today, when none of those topics that vie for my share of mind came out today while I was struggling to write something. Seemed like they were enjoying this game of Hide and Seek with me. 

So finally giving up on that, I suddenly remembered that sometime back, someone who reads my blogs had asked me to write a blog with the assumption that it would be the last blog from me. Now that is an extremely interesting, complex and difficult thought to write on. But then therein lies the fun of putting something together on such a topic. 

If this would have been the last blog from me, chances are that I would have said all that I wanted to ever tell to the world and nothing more would be left for me to say. Something like that could only happen when one’s mind stops processing as the human brain will always have ideas, thoughts, opinions till the time it is active and the person is alive. 

The other reason this may be the last blog could be that this phenomenon and magical world called the Internet would be coming to an end and hence rather than choosing to put forward my last blog, I may be forced to end my blogs with one last blog. In that case, my last blog would actually be an amalgamation of so many blogs or rather thoughts of what I still intend to say and put forward to all of you. 

My last blog would probably cover various genres – fiction, poetry, philosophy, humor, observations of life and the world. But then who knows that a mixture of so many things would appear so gibberish to people that they might say themselves “I am glad that he decided to end his blogs. He had stopped making any sense!” 

Now before that happens and I leave you guys confused, I would like to bring a conclusion to this blog. 

But then, there is another thought that strikes me as I come to an end of this blog. Chances are that when I would be putting my last blog, I may not even know that this is going to be my last blog and hence some of the things that I have said above may actually not even appear in that blog. 

In fact, one thing is for sure. If it were my last blog, the headline of the blog would not be the same. After all, there is no reason for an If when there is a sure and certain eventuality to something. 

Think about it!

If petrol was not found, this blog would not have existed!

Zapped by the title of my blog? Don’t be as it will get clear to you at the end of the blog. While the title of the blog is quite long, it is pertinent to what this blog wants to talk about. 

Discoveries and inventions are an on-going process, which started since the time mankind evolved and will continue till the time mankind stays, as finding something new to improve and make peoples’ lives better is the wont of human beings. 

There have been a number of discoveries and inventions that are counted amongst the most relevant ones to change the lifestyle of human beings. But if one takes a step back, lot of these would be of no relevance if another invention or discovery had not taken place to complement or support these. 

Let me explain this further with a few of these examples: 

1. The invention of automobiles would have no utility had petrol not been found. 

2. If electricity was not developed, we would not be enjoying the confines of an air conditioned rooms in our homes and offices. 

3. We would not have been enjoying the gramophone, tape recorders, Walkman or iPods over the years if there would have been no invention of musical instruments to create music. 

4. A thermometer would not show any temperature had mercury not been found. 

5. Pens and pencils would just have been show pieces had ink and graphite not been available to make them. 

6. There was no question of the existence of something called the Internet if someone did not invent the computer first. 

I could go on and on as this list can have numerous such examples of discoveries or inventions that don’t enjoy the same status as the discoveries and inventions they complement. 

So coming back to the title of the blog and what is the connect? 

Well, if petrol was not there, there would have been no automobiles. Because there were automobiles, people decided to spread out across the world. To survive anywhere in the world, they had to work hard day and night. To be able to see in the night, they needed light, leading to the invention of electricity and the light bulb. Now that people were staying far away from each other, they wanted to communicate which led to Alexandar Graham Bell’s invention of the telephone. As people started working more and more, they wanted to make life easier for themselves, which led to the invention of the computer. With computers being present, Internet came into existence for communication to take place. Once the Internet was there, this blog came into existence. 

So it is fair to conclude that discovery of petrol led to the existence of this blog!