Month: February 2011

The Desert

In my attempt to catch up on the many learnings from the last two weeks, I was trying to recollect the biggest highlight of them all – and that simply had to be the desert.

Seldom do we think of the desert when we think of holiday destinations. Places that come to mind are the beaches in Hawaii/Indonesia/Brazil/Australia, the Alps in Europe and the like. And I must say, the desert more than surprised me.
I couldn’t even capture the most memorable desert moment on camera – sitting under the night sky. The desert has the most beautiful night sky thanks to the absence of any lights around the area.
When I sat looking up at the millions of stars in the sky, I felt closer to Mother Nature than I had ever felt, while also feeling extremely small and humble at sight of the vast expanse above me. I found myself wondering what it would have been to have spent the night with close friends and family and of many things that could have been..
Ever since I read ‘The Alchemist’, the desert had captured my imagination and going into this trip, I had great expectations. And, to put it simply, those expectations were met, and duly exceeded as well.
Diversity is what makes the earth a wonderful place to be in. And having tasted the magic of the desert, I can hardly wait for my next night under the desert sky..

3 out of 4 laptops in the browsing area at Changi Airport

had this logo on their screen –

How has Facebook managed to become a ‘need’?
Is it our need to feel appreciated by our social circle, our need to know what’s going on within our social circle, our need to stay ‘connected’ or our need to look at photos?
I’m not sure myself. Whatever be the case, Facebook’s web browser domination (in terms of time use) is awe-inspiring.

Demonstrating Courage

Rudolph Guiliani, the acclaimed mayor of New York City who demonstrated great leadership to lead the city out of the crisis, knew (and despised) the various heads of the ‘five families’/organized crime groups in New York. That didn’t stop him from learning from them though.

One particular head (Let’s call him Joe) had just escaped an attempt at his life. Guiliani happened to be driving past the area where Joe was nearly shot the day after the attempted murder when he noticed Joe sitting in a coffee shop, out in the open, smoking a cigar. As Guiliani passed, Joe nodded and smiled.
Guiliani knew right then that Joe had taught him a major lesson in leadership. By standing out there in the open, he was sending a message to all his followers that he wasn’t afraid. The truth didn’t matter..

When the twin towers were attacked on Sept 11th, rumors were rife in New York city that there would be more attacks and the public and rescue workers at the twin towers site were panic stricken. Guiliani, having learnt his lesson from Joe, ensured he was an ever present in the site of the tragedy giving courage to all his followers.

The line from the picture says it all – ‘Courage is not the absence of fear but the judgment that something else is more important than fear – Ambrose Redmoon.

—

The Dolphins didn’t show up

After a very late night yesterday, I woke up early (with great difficulty) to show up for the ‘Dolphin watching’ trip I had signed up for. I sleepily got into the boat and 8AM and was told during the briefing that the dolphins are wild and that means there is no guarantee that we will see them. But, the probability was 9 times out of 10.

Anyway, turns out we were the exception. The dolphins didn’t show up but I had a nice time drifting off to sleep on our motor boat enjoying the breeze and the spray..
I realized a couple of things though –
– The ocean is just ‘awesome’. Truly does justice to the word. Should it decide to turn against us – boy, are we in trouble? It’s power reserves are unimaginable.
– As annoying as it was, I prefer not seeing dolphins in the wild than seeing dolphins in an enclosure in an animal park.
– I’ve been looking forward to this since the day I arrived. I saved it for the last.. I guess something are not meant to be.
– I watched some ducks bobbing up and down the waves near some rocks. The waves were rough and they were being tossed around a fair bit. But, they hung around paddling furiously.
Somehow, that image reminded me of life. We get tossed around a fair bit by forces beyond our control. It’s up to us to hang in there when the going is tough and still go about doing what we have to do.

Organize, re-organize and organize again

Thank god for simple mercies. The simple mercy I’m thanking the lord for now is the human ability to work off a simple to-do list.

Thanks to an action packed couple of days lined up with people to meet before I say goodbye to Oman, a desert trip and then an action packed couple of weeks with Singapore->India->Singapore on the agenda before moving on to another continent. (assuming the visa gods oblige)
It is one of those times when it is practically raining tasks.. and learnings (to be fair) but there just seems to be no time to do all those things together.
And I must admit, without a habit of constantly noting down all those tasks that pop up and scheduling them, I would go crazy. These days are action packed – and going by my formula of (Prepare^3 -> Action -> Follow Up^2), my preparation is organize, re-organize and organize..
And of course, that wouldn’t be possible without my beloved ‘to-do’ list.

What are we afraid of..

Are we afraid of being nice?
Are we afraid of being vulnerable?
Does being nice make us feel vulnerable?
Are we afraid of being liked for who we are?
Are we afraid to look at the bright side of things, and of people?
Would that make us seem less ‘practical’ in a world obsessed with material wealth?

Are we afraid that if we tried hard enough.. we would actually achieve those dreams that we consider impossible?
That we would have less to complain about?

Are we afraid that if we actually followed up on our commitments and tried hard to be dependable.. that we would actually become, or get boring?
That life wouldn’t be challenging or fun?

Are we afraid that if we actually kept focus, did our best and kept our intensity.. we would actually get to where we want to be?
That life would be empty but nothing to aspire for..

Are we afraid of discussing ideas and engaging our minds?
Is that what boring people do?

What are we afraid of?
Change?
That we might not like ourselves if we changed too much?
That our friends would not like us if we changed too much?
That we can actually change?
That being ‘better’ may actually be nice?

What are we afraid of? And what would we do if we weren’t afraid?

—
The question of questions. I have been pondering this thanks to experiences I’ve had over the past few days. And I believe everybody has their own answers to these questions.
I sure have mine..