Where was I when Mumbai was attacked on 26/11

Some events in history are so profound that you'd remember exactly where you were, what you were doing when you first heard the news.

The truth of this statement cannot be disputed. I read it in "The Prodigal Daughter' by Jeffrey Archer. I was thinking of this statement in relation to the anniversary of the terrorist attacks on Mumbai.

We are at one year after the 26/11 attacks on Mumbai. This is one of the defining moments for India, definitely for Bombay. I say defining because it reiterated what we are, our spirit, which many events in the past have done. But this one was different in that we realised that this spirit is not one of defiance, but of reconciliation and acceptance of our limitations.

Coming back to the statement, I feel that it has a personal thrill attached to it. We seem to derive a great amount of pleasure narrating shock events. The more the shock, the more the pleasure. And the closer you are to the event, the more the intensity in the narration.

And what a contradiction this throws up! If I were to be confronted with a developing event such as 26/11, my natural reaction would be to run to safety. But once the event is over, I would want to claim proximity.

Every citizen will have his own story to tell of how he heard the news and how he reacted. And what better occasion than the first anniversary. All news channels had taken full advantage of the situation, just as they had done a year back, in whipping up emotions.

I can tell you where I was. We were writing and practicing our lines for our drama at a friend's place. That was when my wife got a call from her colleague that there had been a blast at Vile Parle. And then I got a call from my colleague about the same blast. And another friend got a call that CST had a terrorist attack.

I'm no different! Some events in history are so profound that you'd remember exactly where you were, what you were doing when you first heard the news.

Peter Drucker is 100

Peter Ferdinand Drucker is 100 today. If there is one person who has impacted the thought and direction in the field of management in the most profound manner, it is Drucker.

I admire his thoughts and his writings for the variety of subjects he covered, for the simple underlying principles for all that he said, and for the vision and foresight.

Some of the basic ideas that he propounded were indeed basic. But those basic ideas had been lost in the myriad and complicated world of management literature. In such a scenario, he chose to remain simple in his explanation.

The belief that thought before action is very important, decentralisation and rejection of command and control structure, focus on employees as assets, who needed to be cared for, 'planned abandonment' of existing and past successes, importance of processes for everything, the concept of the knowledge worker, and the need for community were the highlights.

I liked him because he was a skeptic of macroeconomic theory. Since the advent of banker economists, decisions are being driven by macroeconomic masala with absolutely no awareness or understanding of the real economy. Drucker warned against this. And look where we are today.

He also believed that CEO pay should not be more than 20 times worker pay. This has been flouted many times over, and we've ended up in this state of the mass up against the establishment.

Look at the wide spectrum that he has touched upon, and you will realise that most others who have claimed to have said something path-breaking are but reflections of this great man.

I remember him and his view in a class of cost accounting in which my professor explained why relevant costing was so good, spending great amounts of time to convince us why we should look at relevant costs, only to conclude by quoting Drucker who said that you should cover total costs if you have to be in business in the long term.

There is only one guru, and that is, without doubt, Peter Drucker. He hated being referred to as a 'guru', and said that the term was being used as it was shorter than 'charlatan'. I don't agree with this. I'm not sure if he was only being modest, but in the Indian sense of the word 'guru', a teacher, he absolutely fits the bill.

It would be an achievement if I could test the waters, touch the shores of the ocean that Drucker is. I'll read what I consider to be one of his best works 'Management Challenges for the 21st Century', today. It could very well be called 'Management Challenges for any Century'.

Mozhi, Language

Mozhi is a beautiful movie. And the music of the movie complements the concept well. The highlight is the song 'Katrin Mozhi', written with a lot of love, music and lyrics. This is a song that touches your heart, makes you smile, and feel good. And it reflects the mood very aptly. I rate this as one of the ten best Indian songs created.

The format of the song is very simple, very conventional, following the usual mukhda-interlude-antara pattern. But it scores with its simplicity and its adherance to the mood without exception or stray. Another important aspect of the song is that it ensures that the lyrics are clearly understood by any listener. The singer has an understanding of the feeling expressed in the song.

There are few songs which are able to stick to the regular format, yet establish such a rapport with the listener. And linger on in your thoughts. I reproduce the lyrics below. I thought I'd attempt a rough translation, but realised two things. One, that I was good only at prose, not poetry. And two, translation kills the mood. Most things are better in their original form.

Katrin mozhi oliya isaiya
Poovin mozhi nirama mananama
Kadalin mozhi alaiya nuraiya
Kadhal mozhi vizhiya idazha

Iyarkaiyin mozhigal purindhuvidu
Manidarin mozhigal thevaillai
Idhayathin mozhi purindhuvidu
Manidarin mozhigal thevaillai

Katru visum podhu disaigal kidaiyadhu
Kadhal pesum podu mozhigal kidaiyadhu
Pesum varthai pola mounam puriyadhu
Kangal pesum varthai kadavul ariyadhu

Ulava therya katrukku oruvam theta mudiyadhu
Kadhal pesum mozhiellam sabthakootil adangathu
Vanam pesum pechu thuliyai veliyagum
Vanavillin pechu niramai veliyagum

Unmai oomai anal kanner mozhiagum
Penmai ommaianal nanam mozhiagum
Osai thoongum jamathil uchimeengal mozhiagum
Asai thoongam idayathil asaivu kooda mozhiagum

Michael Crichton on humans

I had to post this compelling quote by Michael Crichton from 'The Lost World'

“Human beings never think for themselves, they find it too uncomfortable. For the most part, members of our species simply repeat what they are told — and become upset if they are exposed to any different view. The characteristic human trait is not awareness but conformity…Other animals fight for territory or food; but, uniquely in the animal kingdom, human beings fight for their ‘beliefs’…The reason is that beliefs guide behavior, which has evolutionary importance among human beings. But at a time when our behavior may well lead us to extinction, I see no reason to assume we have any awareness at all. We are stubborn, self-destructive conformists. Any other view of our species is just a self-congratulatory delusion.”