Been a tough last 6-7 months. Been disappointed with myself...Unhappy...things have not worked out in pretty much every way possible....Lost some really genuine friends...Lost some great chances at being happy...picked up bad habits...lost them ...picked back again...no discipline...no focus..Gained weight...Totally unlike the person that i have always been proud of being...And then there is one fine day when one decides...this is it...Lets take control...Maybe needed a push and a tug...AND like it always does..came from inside...So that i felt like blogging today...meant that i am pretty much getting back!! :) Thats a good sign...SO here goes the samurai..starting again after a long hiatus....You will keep hearing from me more often then folks....

cheers,
Samurai

Creating a War Story - 2

So much happening in life suddenly.. work taking its toll... Personal front busy...in the middle of a crucial phase of career...So as the Samurai sat down today.. waiting to start the 2 (big if not biggest) days in his career... he wonders...what hut and speh would have said or what Dr. Kuruvilla would have said... Kuch kijiye na sir.. target poora karna hai na sir... Its a very funny feeling...Honestly, more scared than anything else..... so will it get sealed... will all end well? Will the internal and external stakeholders be satisfied? Obviously what keeps him running is the belief that there is immense hard work and thought that has gone into it.... The fact that he genuinely believes that "he belongs".... Rest without being fatalistic.... God will take care.... but butterflies are there.. If this works out.... the war story will be written down in part 3 & part 4. Its a range of emotions on all ends and he still has to focus... will he wont he... time will tell :)

Creating a War Story

Its exciting, gut-wrenching, scary, excruciating.... adjectives galore... but the Samurai still can't come up with the correct word.....Maybe its a heady mix of all of the above, but it is definitely a defining moment...The result will separate the boys from men....For all of those who do not know... i talk about events on the professional front....Will the Samurai end up a war hero or a damp squib.. time will tell...The only thing that keeps him going is that there is honesty in effort... there is no malice towards anyone and he is working hard because he genuinely believes he can make a difference... Kim Woo Chong... (not the best guy to quote..but nonetheless).. once said... "There is a time for everything... before that you can keep trying and you will not achieve success".  Without sounding fatalistic, let me assure you, the Samurai does believe in that... Whether his time has come :) Time will tell... However one thing he can promise, and that is effort!! He has applied every single word of what Dr. Mohan Kuruvilla taught him in his B2B sales class.... For those of you who can relate to it or who have read my old posts... the answer is simple... "Sir Kuch Kijiye na sir... Target poora karna hai na sir" :)

So long....

Cheers,

The Samurai

Barrack Hussein Obama

The Samurai has been observing Obama closely for the last 6 months. The rise of  the young, charismatic and intellectual Barrack Obama has been nothing short of inspiring. The way he has motivated crowds, gathered money for his campaign, he became a symbol of hope not only for the african-american community or Americans, but for the entire world. His popularity cuts across race, religion or nationality.  And as he took oath today as the most powerful man on earth, one could not help but wish the man good luck!! 

He appears to have a plan and a backup for just about everything. His south asia policy however still looks a little iffy. Whether his lack of foreign policy experience will be exposed  in handling rogue south asian nations  or for that matter the west bank, ghaza crisis - only time will tell. How he handles economy will again be a key parameter indicating the difference between promises and results. Will he? Will he not? There is hope all around...

One just wishes maybe our leaders also rose above partisan, divisive politics and take a leaf out of his book. The way this country respects its soldiers is an eye opener. Being an army officer's kid, it is just hurting when one sees the callousness by the way our army is treated. One just gets a feelign its not for no reason that america is one of the greatest nations in the world. We are no less, but we really need to learn.....Maybe its eloquent speeches with sharp messages that has led the Samurai to take barrack for his word, but all said and done, the man definitely has something special in him......Go Obama!

Cheers,
Samurai 

Greed is Good....Satyam

An unfortunate story again..... The reactions are pretty much as expected.... Everyone out with their own judgements... The anti-outsourcing lobby trying to make it an Indian Outsourcing fiasco rather than an isolated incident.... SEBI and others washing their hands off it.... The directors claiming innocence....Every Tom Dick and Harry out with a version of their own....Some coming out with "Raju Poems and limericks"....The samurai certainly is not a fan of all of this.

I mean seriously, if anything it is sad.... maybe we all need to look into ourselves and ask oneself if there is a little Satyam within each one of us.....Almost all of us do.. this ladies and gentlemen is not about an individual or a company or an industry also, it is about moral degradation of society as a whole.... Its almost like the Michael Douglas in Wall Street....( "Greed is Good" ) streak in all of us that is coming to the fore. The Bernie Madoffs' and Rajus' of the world are merely carrying it out at a larger scale.... May sound idealistic but maybe its time we all thought about improving ourselves and at things around us... the world would definitely be a better place to be in....

So much about idealism... Infosys has strongly come out with a statement saying that we should not go after Satyam clients and staff. While i am sure there may be other reasons, but to let go of an opportunity like this is indeed something which speaks volume of Infosys top management....Maybe we all need to take a leaf out of their book .... My respect for some of our leaders just continues to grow.....

I guess the samurai will have to end the ramblings here......For now! :)

cheers,
The Samurai...

Who has won against time?

A thought that just came to my mind today... Events in the past 24 hours have been exciting, painful,scary and amusing at the same time....The usually unruffled guy suddenly took a step back and thought... :) Is this going to happen? Am i going to loose something professionally? Will the cliche .. Sh@$ happens!...happen to me?? Who will be to blame?

But then, adversity has always brought the best in the Samurai.... Is this one going to bring out something new in my character?? DG always said... "No need to take tension. Think what is the worst that could happen. Trust me, once you think about it, it will not appear so bad"  So today when scary economic conditions threaten the Samurai's job, he wonders.... What next?  Is this going to be the beginning of what the Samurai always wanted to do?

Last time i went through this, i realised how strong i was.. it was mental strength which came out to the fore.... This one for personal and proffessional reasons presents a new challenge,While nothing is cast in stone, the worst may or may not happen, but first time in 2 years it made me sit back and realise... you never know... and for the umpteenth time in life, a voice came back.. "I BELONG"...  

Let's see how things pan out, but a tough last 6 months have taught me a lot!! Hope rules......

cheers,
The Samurai

A Spineless Nation!

The Samurai just wonders... is this what India is all about? Petty politicking to feather one's nest and no patriotism ... just bickering and lip service. The ruling party has been acting like a wuss for a long time now, their incapability to control terrorism, removal of POTA, appeasing statements to terrorists... all of this has led the nation to a state of hopelessness.. A state where you have blasts and firings everyother day and the value of life is at its lowest.... I see some status messages on gtalk which say "Just Another day... firings, blasts and more deaths".... That ladies and gentlemen says it all....

Sad isn't it??? Some clowns attacked US and they made sure they taught the perpetrators of crime a lesson... Israel has been doing it for years.... why cant India do it? Till what time will they continue with this soft , weak response? How much is enough? First up the government should be taken to task!! What have they done to keep the country secure?? If anything.. they have failed miserably.. once twice... again and again... India has a hostile neighbourhood.... Even termite sized countries are now showing us teeth on our eastern borders... When is India going to stand up and show some authority and as Dubya says... "Smoke them out of their caves!!"

When will India target the section of population which is the miscreant without targetting any particular religion? When will India' s self-acclaimed leaders in the ruling party stop the appeasment policies for vote purposes? When will the world stop taking us for granted?? As a sad Indian listening to some incredibly stupid analysis in a foreign country on a channel which often calls itself as the best TV channel in the world!! They still do not accept the perpetrators were trained and funded by our neighbours! 

Shivraj Patil quitting as HM or PC taking over the role...will not help. Where are the concrete measures... Our PM looked more like a mouse when addrsssing the nation. All Bush jokes aside... his response to 9/11 was very heartening... All follies aside, he has ensured that 9/11 like things never happend again in US... That is action... 

Hope is what guides the Samurai!! Will the true Indian stand up? Will we finally show some spine and do a crackdown on terror? Hope Floats......