Monday, April 27, 2020

But for my Team.!

Mondays are usually busy days at corporate."Pull up your socks", "Go all guns blazing", "Such is life you have to face it", "Smart work will makes us stand apart", "We need to turn the tide", "The pipeline looks bleak"....and many more motivational words pump our fuel tanks to fullest for a impact full week ahead. This Monday could have been nothing but similar.

Reviews, Sales forecast, Pipeline discussion, Client management, Client Queries, Prospective Clients, Industry mapping; and the list goes on and on.

But for my team. 


Today was definitely an experience that I would remember for long long time to come.The routine Monday review call has took off some 5 minutes ago. I in front of my team, reporting manager, Department head, business head and others. I just lost myself. Generally we prepare what we speak. But today I was little more than carried away by how the call started. It was not until my business head called out my name and said "Satya looks confused, he thinks what is happening in the sales review call". I quickly gathered my thoughts back on my pretty bleak performance. But those impact-full conversation stayed with me a littler longer.  And these are thoughts that would occupy my mind between the time I going to bed and the time I fall asleep. 


As I logged into the call, there were jargons definitely playing out loud, but they were on a different turf all together. People were discussing philosophy with tinge of spirituality. My department head started to speak of how he was questioning few inner quests of his. How reading few books enlightened him. How it has changed his life and finally e spoke about the famous phase"Me in me, talking to me in you....". Then the business head swiftly took over the conversation and spoke about 7 years he spent in an educational institute curving towards spirituality. It has to do with what inner engineering is. Both the heads spoke about "How a certain knowledge changed them and what they have learnt out of it". My mind, then quickly recollected what my reporting manager, who once told me about Yoga and it's benefits.

I already said, I was blown away with the thoughts, flown away in their words and gained my senses only after the business head called out my name.

One amazing thing my fiance taught me is to introspect the day. Specially those incidents with touch your heart and stay there for some time. And her philosophical mind and talks are something that I fall for. So are few close friends of mine.

So since the call got over, I started introspecting. Searching deep within. Where does my opinion lay on similar grounds. The late stroll after dinner helped me discover the same. Ramayana, the amazing epic is a great story. Nothing to do with religion, saffron, belief and godism. Ramayana is a great lesson of ethics. The whole story told me, at least that "There is always one and one way of doing certain things. The Ethical Way. Nothing else." Truth may vary from person to person, circumstances to circumstances and time to time. But Ethical way is the only one way which always maintains it's sanctity. 

To put things into perspective, if I had to tell (on that Call) what I have learnt from stories I heard, Epics I read and thought process I have; I would follow ethics. Always. Different times call for different laws, Different religions call for different cultures, Different circumstances call for different versions of truth. But Ethical way performing your duty is the ultimate.

I would say; "when in doubt don't follow your heart, mind or soul; ask if you are a Ethical Human. This place turns out to be one of the best places to live in.

PS: When you are of a certain mindset, I generally have people and teams of similar mindset around you.

Sakethursforever : )

Saturday, February 2, 2019

That one Phone Call

A forest with thick plantation, which filtered almost all the sunlight before it hit me. As the light started to dip at a quick pace, a cover of moist wind swept the field, giving me enough chills down my spine. Unknown to me was the way forward. Each stride I take could either bring me closer to my objective or would push me into the abyss. I was wondering, if I really chose to play this game? Even before I could answer if I was, yet another question popped up, am I equipped with required ammunition to fire all my cylinders. It was a situation where I'm expected to fight unknown and unseen foe. Mostly those which were not under my control. Rule of any game is to let the ball (thrown at you) cross a particular line in given time on the ground. Here I only had the ground where I was fighting . Neither did I have the ball nor could I see the line. It is one of those times where everything around you is mystical and perplexing. I had to figure out who's throwing the ball and from where. And then to decide for myself where the line is. 

Heart pounding with unknown rush of emotions and it was little over 15 minutes that I closed my eyes to witness the dense forest that I was thrown into.  I opened my eyes to  a shady evening when I sat alone on the solitary bench with birds chipping on the tree that umbrellaed the bench. I realized a young couple next me having fun time and boys playing some tireless soccer right in front of me. Some one jogging past me and few oldies walking along the path intense with some discussion. I felt if they too were experiencing a raging war inside them, just like the one I did. I was wondering if they too were lost inside a dense forest just like me not knowing which stride to take. Wondered if they too could experience the unknown power weighing them down on their shoulders. I felt weak from within. Not because I was treated with intense pain, but because I had no control on anything that was happening. All I could do is to wait and watch the game. I also started to realize the hopelessness of not having enough power to know my enemy. The basic definition of a fight is to tackle and win over something which is known to you. But, here I'm just pulling the string, clutching the bow and firing the arrow in all 360 degrees. 

Rather than finding a way out, I was probably looking for someone to bail me out. Probably for someone to hold my hand and hover me into comfort. May be for someone who would look into the future and tell me when I would face this faceless enemy. The most cruel one ever. 

Just then came that one ring on my mobile. A brief 5 minute talk which soothed every hot nerve inside me. By no means it was that sort of a help which I expected. No, the person has not guided me out of the space I'm stuck. Neither did she help me try harder. Nor did the person on the other side  of the phone call fight on my behalf. Only thing I was told is that this is a phase everyone passed through, a battle everyone face and a struggle which only makes everyone tougher. Only thing you have to do is to sit back, relax and enjoy the show. Yes that show where you are the protagonist. I realized, sometimes all you need is someone saying," I have gone through all this, I came out successfully and it is just a phase ".  It tells you that you are not the first one, neither would you be the last fighting such unorthodox battle within. "If someone could do it why not you..?" is the medicine for the day. Oldies walking past me already went through and those soccer played would definitely go through. 

When a power you cant see and circumstances you can't control weigh you down, just remember it happens. Patience is a virtue that you need to bring out of your armory, not anxiety.

The ball would be thrown at you and you would strike it past the line. Just be patient. 
So thank you. And I'm indebted to you.


Sakethursforever  



Wednesday, August 29, 2018

A Generation In Between or May be more

It was when I boarded the train back home (Mumbai to Hyderabad) after a decent gap. Generally, the graph of the crescendo at the railway station decreases as you board the train into an AC coach. On contrary this time, the crescendo kept increasing as I made my way into the coach, and a gentle push on the cabin door treated me with a blast of laughs, loud talks and a “Lunchtime Class Room” kind of atmosphere. Only moments later did I discover a bunch of students with a jersey representing their school and a tracksuit. Some with a headset on, few having a munch of something that is packed from the boxes, few trying to climb up on to the berth. I made my way to my seat allotted and as it turned out I was seated right next to a batch of young boys. 11 PM train it was and there was nothing other than planning to hibernate for the day. However, the bunch of kids was excited with their journey and the intensity of their voice is the best indicator of the same.

Then came the first shocker of my journey.

I settled into my berth and started to read something that I carried. It was about 15 minutes before departure. One of those kids, Avik his name was came to me. “You are reading Keepers of Kalachakra by Ashwin Sanghi, nice book it is. I read it a couple of months earlier”. He turned away from me and began to tell his mate “areee….I told you remember, Ashwin Sanghi who writes books like that of Dan Brown”. I was surprised to say the last and hailed the scale of knowledge about books that little one had. However, little did I know, this was just the start of what I call a “spree of staggering surprises” those school planned to treat me with. Shortly then one kid told the other, “I shall buy a cool drink when the train stops at the next station”. “Dude, this is Duronto, which wouldn’t stop anywhere until it reaches its destination. This is a superfast train and look at the coaches, they are not ICF coaches, they are LBH coaches. The germen technology highly suitable for high speed”. I’m not exaggerating, I was stunned with the information about the rail coach the kid had. “Oh, yes I did not recognise, all the high speed trains including Rajdhani and Shatabdi have LBH coaches” said the other kid this time. The one silently staring into his mobile sprang up and added his bit of knowledge to the conversation “You know what we get food on this train, for free” stressed on the latter half of his statement. “And clean bedding too. Both food and bedding are outsourced to the contractors who make a lot of money from those contracts”. I told myself, these kids have more information than what I had at their age. Just imagine 13-14 year kids talking about what they just did. With more topics of this sort I did not, I started to believe these kids challenged my expectations. If talking about Dan Brown, LBH Coaches and Food contract was not enough, Rithvik- a stout chubby kid with geek looks explained his mates about the Railwire WIFI and how google helped to power 500 odd railway stations in India with free wifi.

I dragged myself out of the amazement I was stormed with and believe me it was a tedious task to pull out of the topics these kids were talking. As I began to immerse into the fiction and flipping pages, train started to attain high speeds that those LBH coaches are designed for. Their faculty came up to them shortly after. After giving the necessary instructions and asking the kids to behave themselves, the teacher said, ”Go through your respective ‘case sheets’ and history of the case as well…we shall have a demo round in the morning”. Now being an MBA graduate I know what a case is supposed to be. I couldn’t place my perception about the case into the present context taking into consideration the age of those kids. So, in an un-resistible quest to quench my thirst of confusion, I began to inquire the teachers about my stint with these highly innovatively talented people for last one hour. She said the kids were attending a conference in Hyderabad where each one is giving a speech about the present day's issues which the world is facing. The memories of my school days came crashing back into my system and topics like overpopulation, pollution, poverty, untouchability etc ran through my mind. I then spoke to those teachers for some time and quietly got back to my book, then slowly into the eternal world of dreams.

Barely 7 O’ Clock, read my wristwatch, the first glance I had was of those kids, one with a paper in hand trying hard to remember the content, one with his iPad frantically scrolling through, the other kid scribbling something in a notepad and others doing similar things. I got up, looked at the commitment those kids showed and gradually went about to complete my morning duty. As, I washed my face, looked into the mirror and I found myself very fresh. Maybe I was getting ready and fresh for something that shook me a little while later. As I came back to my seat, my blast of shock was ready. Hot and Spicy.

I admit to the fact that I was feeling nostalgic and wanted to hear what those kids spoke and how they did. Those teachers were facing the kids and the first kid began his speech looking deep into his iPad.  “Crypto Currency is a digital currency came into existence in………” after hearing to those few lines, I was flabbergasted (tell me if there is a better word). Even before I could come out of the shock wave that I graciously accepted, the kid started speaking about blockchain association and its negative impact on the economy. He completed his speech, then a lean stick like kid with a comparatively huge iPad raised his head while everyone around was staring at him. He gently said “4 minutes 28 seconds”. I was still in the la-la land, virtually feeling awkward when the teacher gave a broad smile and said, “Why don’t you cover up next 30 seconds with Indian Government and it’s plans of launching our own cryptocurrency”. I remember last night the teacher telling me, these kids are from 8th and 9th standards. And going by what was happening around me, it was little hard to believe their standard was just that. “Miss, there is not much interesting information about Lakshmi the Indian cryptocurrency, However, I found JIO COINS more interesting,” he said. It is exactly then that I realized, it isn’t just when a beautiful girl smiles at you or when you get placed that you pinch yourself to make sure it is not a dream. There are also these kinds of instances where you wish to believe, this isn’t a dream.

If the first kid gave me a shock wave, a high tide of the same was yet to follow. The chubby kid was next in line and started to speak about the USA and it’s stand on trade regulations with developing countries like India, Turkey etc. His was followed by a lecture on LGBT rights. I was wondering if kids of this age were even allowed to talk about issues like the one I’m listening to. The speeches or rather the lecturers those kids gave varied from Cross-Border Infiltration to UN intelligence agencies. I particularly loved one kid who spoke about digital laws and cybercrimes. I liked him may be because, out of all the topics that were spoken by them, this was one I had little information about.

After about 45 minutes of me being in awe, I found myself googling about the topics those kids were speaking about and silently listening to them in detail. These were speeches on issues no doubt, but those which are not expected to be delivered by school kids. I was always interested in debates and elocution competitions. However, I never spoke anything more than Poverty, Population, and Pollution. Believe me, it was a pleasing sight to see those bright kids and it was a verbal beauty to listen to them speak about the various things with clarity and impact. They really made my day.

Pursuing a Masters in Business Administration and aspiring to become a manager shortly, I wonder if I have that spark in me which I saw in those kids. At that particular point of time I felt those kids were not just a few generations away, they were light years ahead.

Sakethursforever : )



Monday, July 17, 2017

First of my Mumbai Diaries

I sat by the window, breeze that came after a drizzle, moon that came out of the filtering clouds, silence that came after a thought and finally the memories that came after all this.

One amazing thing, other than the height of those buildings in Mumbai are the lovely windows. Wide enough to let the torrent of breeze greet me, feel every nice thing that can ever be, bluge the loose pyjamas, undo my hair and bring all the freshness in. The wide window sill actually allows you to step into the window and enjoy the feel of feeling what it is.

July 14,2017, 2:52 AM on my clock. With the open laptop playing ADHM, my ear phones in place, on the sill of my hostel room's window on 10th floor was I. The railway lines and locomotives next to building never rested, so did those flights that were landing and taking off from the airport. Breeze hit me and taken away every pain of mine and so did it bring in few fresh ones too. Two dialogues from the movie that I love the most hit me hard today like every time.

Saba says to Ayan "Guftugu Bezer logon ki aadat hai. Jo anke kehdeti haai, unke aage lafzo ka darja kya."

I paused for a while, took a deep breath, looked up to find a smiling moon and lost half an hour to my self. Something happened and I found my self taking in glups of air and finding the rythm of air a bit more. Fingers twinching each other and eyes not able to process what it sees. Some time later I found my self back on the movie. Then came another one.

Tahir this time says to Ayan again, " Daree hue log, aksar alfazo ke peeche chup jaathe hai". 

Words certainly have that power to stall a rapid river. I felt my knees weak, stomach hallow, took in empty gulps of air which made my thoughts heavy. A frantic recollection of memoir that strike you. I closed the laptop screen in a jiff, plucked out the earphones, gazed at the city lights that were glittering and say to self; how many more out there feel the same. Hope there is at least One. 

Sakethursforever : )

Friday, October 28, 2016

Detour to Paradise Yet Again

Fed up with unresponsive AutoCAD window, I was stressed & thought to myself; definitely time for some coffee. As I  minimized the window on the system, I observed the black screen with grids and design making way to a bright yellow flower. The desktop looked vibrant. My little dark cubicle seemed to brighten up a bit. Yellow petals with early morning dew & sun light at dawn twinkling on the moist face of the petals. Whole of the flower seemed safe in asylum of long greeny leaves. She clicked it, on her holiday last month. A person crossed my mind. Her cheeks looked brighter than those yellow petals, shine she brought up into my life was exponentially more than the shine of dawning sun and the dew drops with a twinkle resembled her moist, innocent eyes. The erratic design of a fixture block on AutoCAD was on my mind till then, it made way to the beautiful design of fortune I had planned for life. It is sometimes not anything else, when you forget someone's name; it is just that you are far too awed.

Diya..!! 
It has been a while, may be a day since I heard from her. Away she was, attending a leadership training program organised by her work place. She took a flight few days back, when I gave her a tight hug and wished a safe flight at the domestic terminal.

It is pretty unusual, when you think of someone and the person start knocking you on phone. But sometimes, unusual is always usual. Specially when it is Diya. A charming image of her's appeared on my mobile screen. She, seated on my bike posing with a lop sided smile and a blue top black jeans. As in picked the call " Listen, the charging is low." That statement already cut off any chances of pleasantries. " I'm done with the training a day in advance, please find me a flight tonight or tomorrow morning back home." Before I could say yes or no, " also let me know if we can have a late dinner today or a early breakfast tomorrow." That also meant she wanted me to pick her, and drop her home. She hung up and the line went dead. A while since, AutoCAD was again gaining grip over my mind, a message popped up.

Bling....!!
< How could you do that. You claim me to be best part in your life and you are now playing a thrifty. >
I smiled and replied, < Haha >
< Why so kanjussi, my office would have reimbursed the fare. What the point in booking a premium ticket on train. > she snapped back.

I replied.  < Flights were full >
< What do you expect me to do for 9 hours on the train. God only know >

I smiled to myself and said, < Get to the hotel and sleep tight, I'll wake you up in the morning. >
< Please wake me up, and also pick me up from the station. Please do not plan anything mean while picking me up. Reached my room. >
< Dont bother about picking you up from the railway station, you will love it. >

I hoped she felt " I love nothing more than you Saketh." 

I knew she hated early morning travel plans, but I had mine too. I booked her on an early morning train back home. I woke her up in the morning and made sure she reached station. Coach was B2, seat was 24.

< Good Morning, reached station boarded, thanks for waking me up. > I received her message. I immediately called her, I could listen to her ring tone. " I thought you might have slept after waking me up" she said. She knew I preferred to grab any little possibility of dreaming. "How could I, had to make sure you hopped on board baby." I tried to keep my tone low fearing she might listen me off air too.  She sounded irresistibly lovable when she said, "Aww that is why you are a darling." "I can make myself a bigger darling in a while" I too tried sounding sweet. "Obviously, you will. But how...??" I could feel her excitement. "That is when I take the seat opposite to you, the seat no. 23." "What the f..." she swallowed the last word. "I'm always besotted by you girl", I said as I made myself comfortable on front seat, gifting a chocolate and myself to her.

"You are the biggest darling" she said, I could feel the excitement. "You too are one" I said " by the way...hang on you called me a thrifty, Economy and a kanjuss..." I tried to scoff her.  Before she said anything I said, " I did three things after you called me last night. One, I booked myself a late night flight to this place. Two, I booked both of us separately on this premium train. Three, I mailed to my lead to intimate my absence today." "Sometimes you  confuse me saketh. I cant really choose between a sweet boy friend and crazy lover in you." That statement was nothing short of a tickle.  I looked at her and said in a lower voice " that is how much I planned, to spend some time with you Diya. It's always a bliss to give my girl a bit more than what she asked. You asked for a pick.  I just thought why not pick you up from your source rather than making it to your destination."

It took some time for her to believe that, it was not a dream. We were having a great conversation and breakfast together. I asked if I deserved a high-five. She said I deserved a couple of them. She raised both her hands, brought closer to mine and it was a perfect cheers. Something bothered me. Those were not her's. Hands that came in contact with mine were far more rough to be my girl.

The silence around made way to a crescendo. Railway announcements, people shouting in chaos, The sound of coffee, tea, samosa bread omlet in air. I fought with something and opened my eyes to find Manoj in front of me, vigorously trying to wake me up with both his hands. He sounded frustrated, "You wanted me to pick you, fine, you wanted me to wake you up too....it took me a while to find your coach and berth. Now leave my hands and get down dumbo....both of us need to get to work."

I quickly gained conscious, flexed my body, rubbed my eyes and cursed my fortune for taking a detour to Paradise yet again.

sakethursforever : )

Thursday, September 15, 2016

A Short Fable Of A Sweet He & She


Clear skies, Harvest moon and twinkling stars, far away from the routine life, just next to what he always thought was life; the broken resort in the valley was his final lap. The resort was his choice and only the first half of their holiday. He virtually ran something more than a marathon for all his life. Today, he found himself calmly letting the moment to settle with in his system and started to allow himself understand he is finally over the line. For the first time for 29 years, he did not have to think of next race. Personally he was won the biggest race. A Master's degree from a renowned institute, a decent pay at work and now this. He took a deep recline gazing into the infinity thinking if the next biggest challenge will be of taking someone else's responsibility.

It was more than three quarters before either of them spoke. It was their first hour spent together without a task on hand. Last couple of months were full of plans, parties & preparation. And here they were after the wedlock. Pushing a gulp of warm air and courage, he broke the the silence. He read out a few lines he penned down many years before, during his initial tryst with her. 

Laying under the Starry Skies,
A radiant white apple floating over the sky,
I dim my eyes to frame the Sight,
My hand's in a seek of another one to hold,
One of those times - I think of You.

Moments later, his hand found a company, lips found a gratified smile and his mind found the reference to the phrase he was written miles ago in time.  Then followed a whisper with a warm hug "I did these lines for you, and waited all these years just to see those eyes lit up the evening." They remained undisturbed, enjoying their stay there forever, with the full moon silently witnessing the sweet pair.

The couple left the place few days later to their next destination. It was her choice this time. A long cantilever stretch extending fairly into the waters, their table was further extended to far left. While the remaining couples faced each other, they faced the infinity and it was blue waters forever. Both of them seemed in the endless desire of being in each other's company. Hand in hand, he had his glass of wine to his right and her's was to the left. Melody was all around; mellow of the soft wind gently passing by, birds cooing back to their nests and mellifluous sound of water striking the shore.  

They made their way back to their shack with sun setting to their left. It was few strides later she stopped and began pull him back. She covered his eyes with her hands and read out something she has penned down sometime ago.

A solely stroll on the golden Coast,
Blue to the left and Sand to the right,
Leaving my footprint with each of the stride,
All those prints needed a pair, 
One of those times - I think of you.

He turned back to see a couple's trails on the sand and she found her hands wet. Then followed a whisper with a warm hug, "It was you on my mind when was here last time and I thought there isn't any other place I can tell this to you."  The remained rejoicing their stay there forever, with the dusk sun witness the sweet pair.

The frame of their hands in each other's company along with the moon light made its way on her work desk and the the capture of their trails on the coast made its way on his work desk with orange sun calling it a day. None of the frame had a full capture of the couple, but they were filled with a feeling called Magic.

Sakethursforever : )

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Emotionally Practical We

Rahul always loved working late into early hours before an important day making sure he ticked off all the necessities. What accompanied him were his sharp instincts, watchful insights about challenges that he might have to face the next day, a ball which constantly hit the wall, sticky notes to the left of the monitor, a digital clock on the table, a couple of empty coffee mugs. It was indeed an important 20 hours to follow. He had an early morning flight to Mumbai where he would represent his company in signing a prestigious project. Every time he saw his tattoo on his right shoulder dressing up, next thing he did was to call up his hero, back at Hyderabad. He took out his mobile, rang his father expecting him not to pick up his first call as the clock still showed 4 Am. “Hello”, and came a cold response. “Mom, how come you got up so early, temple day today..?”enquired Rahul. “Not really, are you ready, what time is the flight”. “It is at 6.10, 20 minutes’ drive from here and one hour for the check in, I should be fine”. “Anyway Dad’s up.?Or still dreaming about his old Maruthi...?” There was a brief silence as if his mom was preparing for something extreme. “Dad met with an accident last night while returning from the market.” Even before Rahul assessed the situation, she continued “Nothing to worry about, a little bruise on forehead and a cut on his ankle.Doctor assured there’s nothing to worry about, 4 stiches, TT and a couple of tablets that is it”. “For God Sake please let me speak to him” he exclaimed. “Come on, I said there’s nothing to worry about, he mishandled his leg in sleep and the leg started to bleed. Arun uncle was here to take him for dressing”. Half an hour later Rahul reached airport. The LED departure board showed six flights open for boarding and two other flights which were yet to open. Having missed a call earlier, he received his mom’s call the second time in less than 5 minutes. “I know which flight you are looking for, and you exactly know what I called you for.” Rahul let himself wait a while, “Be Practical Rahul”it was more than an affirmative order. “Dad is fine and there is nothing you can do here.” She took a deep breath and pacified him “He needs rest and all of us are here to ensure that. Wound is no more than many scars that you brought home from the football field.” Rahul began to say, “But..” his mom did not let him speak another word “You are 28 now and it is high time you add a bit of practicality to every decision you take.”

“Flight is re scheduled to 2AM Karthik, I guess if there is no further delay you can pick me up at 5 from the airport.”. Indu was returning to Delhi after paying a visit to her parents. Karthik set his alarm clock  and made himself comfortable on the couch thinking it would be the last night before he would get a good night kiss and bed coffee in the morning every day. “Jut boarded the flight and about to take off...” Indu sent a message at 2.15.  Karthik made some sandwich, put it into the oven, set the timer on the oven to keep it warm, readied the coffee for her and switched on the geyser. He set everything in place Indu and left to airport. Karthik met Indu right outside the arrivals. Neither of them showed the stress of having a sleepless night. They were only glad that they were together. The clock read 7.30 and Indu arrived at their home. She paid for the cab, took the lift to their flat. Sipping away the coffee that was waiting for her, she called up Karthik. “I just reached home. I hope I shared this coffee with you baby... is the problem fixed” she asked. It was dinner time and it was a week since both Indu and Karthik eat together. “Karthik I’m really lucky, because you care about your things this very much. I’m just glad that I’m your too.” Karthik always loved listening to Indu specially when it was about both of them. “ But sometimes you have to let things go karthik.” He looked up wondering what Indu was speaking about. “I know how much attached you are karthik, I know it was your dream to own a car. But you cannot carry things once the expiry date is done. Today it is just me, but it might be something big tomorrow.”  With a Shaky tone Indu said “Our car is done karthik. No point being emotional. It is high time we plan another one.”

Lakshmi always felt it was a difficult task managing a married life while letting her do what would give her extreme pleasure. She was accompanying her in-laws at a family event. But only thing that ran through her mind was the auditorium room back at the Dance Class where her students were performing, trying to convince the trust members, they would excel at the cultural event at Singapore. She knew it was unfair to choose a preferred student among those she taught, but she had special liking to Priya. Last evening Priya assured she would take care of the event in madam’s absence and also showed poise in winning the members yes. Later that evening Lakshmi received a phone call. “You are on board to Singapore this 25th madam, your team impressed everyone from the panel. The trust is ready to sponsor and please complete all the necessary formalities before Friday,” said chairman. It was more than a sign of relief to her. Chairman continued, “Especially Priya was Splendid I must say”, this was an added honey. After the practice session a week before their journey, chairman was speaking to Lakshmi in his cabin. The table had a pile of envelopes from the travel agent on one side and a single envelop on the other. Lakshmi could sense what was coming, but she waited for the chairman to continue. “I’ve been to Priya last evening” taking his eye contact off Lakshmi’s he started to stare into his mobile and continued “ Doctor said it will be a week more before she could completely re coup.” Priya stepped on the ear ring which accidently fell off her partner’s jewellery while practicing. Heal being a soft part, the cut was deep and that put her out of practice since. “This is not charity, we cannot carry people all the way to Singapore on a holiday. More so when someone is not fit.” Finally he saw into her face and said “You must let her know the news and to her family too.”  “But it is a question of ethics,” she retaliated. “The child might lose faith in art, she might lose her confidence.” “We are not here to restore faith or carry ethics. We are lot more practical in our approach” said the chairman and walked out of the room.

Rahul, Lakshmi and Karthik were in a similar situation. All three of them were urged to be practical, but being practical also wanted them to keep their emotions away. Rahul was emotional attached to his father. He completed his assignment and flew straight back to Hyderabad. Being emotional about her role as a teacher Lakshmi did take back the envelop and asked the chairman to return the envelop which belonged to her as well. She assured him Priya was her responsibility and the trust did not have to pay for both of them. Finally karthik there after never  missed a coffee with Indu.

Can a Emotional person be Practical. Is being practical also imply you are not emotional. Most of us are emotionally attached to someone or something and there comes a situation where being practical means you cannot value your emotions any further. Carrying emotions and being practical are two sides of a coin. The probability is always 1/2. It can never be 1/3 where the 3rd likely event is being both practical and emotional. Being practically emotional or emotionally practical is like searching for salt in a sugar cane. 

"Practicality is a virtue which has no place in the Playing Space of Human Emotions"

Sakethursforever : )