Sreeram Srinivasan

The title of this post may trigger thoughts of Aretha Franklin's classic number that arguably became the theme song of the American Feminist movement in the 60s. But we aren't far away from what I have in mind. But this is more about what happens to people in organisations. Read on.... Many of us, even though we refuse to accept, depend on our colleagues and subordinates to become successful. This is even more true when we come into a new organisation and are struggling to establish ourselves in the first few weeks. We will need specific help from our compatriots to get us started on the job or to show us the way in those incipient days. Many would expect our bosses to help but this seldom happens. So we are left to fend for ourselves and quickly find allies. This is where a vast majority of us fail to make it and feel frustrated in the first few weeks. We feel we have no authority or have not been empowered enough to do the job. What we fail to realise is that we have to b...

Have always liked this scene in Chak De! India (2007 vintage) when an Indian Hockey Federation official exhorts a prospective coach, Kabir Khan, of the Indian Women's Hockey team, "Ye lota belan chalaane waali bharatiya naariyaan hain, kahan ye nikkar ukkar pehen ke daudti firengi”. The doughty gals and their passionate coach, on a personal mission, prove the official wrong in the movie and win it all. And we thought it was just a stupid movie, right? This week we saw something amazing. Couple of Indian girls took both the Gold and Silver medals at the Asiad 2010 in nothing less than the 10000 m athletics event beating out the Chinese, Japanese and even an Ethiopian athlete. Indian women are now in hitherto unthinkable competitions and winning medals at the Asian level – hurdles, discuss throw, archery, rowing not to mention wrestling and boxing. This is just a follow-through of what we saw on our home turf just a few weeks back at the CWG in New Delhi. 34 of the 100 medals I...

India is a land of amazing paradoxes. In a sense, these propagate from the main religion practised in these parts as well, viz., Hinduism. In Hindu beliefs, one does see the paradoxical roles and responsibilities assigned to various Gods and Demigods. For example, Yama, the God of Death is also the God of prosperity ; Bhairav, son of Shiva, believed to live in graveyards, depicted naked but is the patron God of happy family life ; Surya (or Sun) is the harbinger of life but death is a possibility during Sun's planetary cycle in one's life (Surya dasha) while his son Shani, feared for many a trouble during his cycle, protects your life. It is believed that one would seldom die during the Shani dasha period. Shiva himself lives a life of extreme austerity among ghosts, phantoms and dead bodies, his own body covered in ash but is the patron of performing and fine arts!!! Mangal (Mars), the warrior, representing aggression and short-temper, is also believed to bless people with a k...

In times of yore, skills passed down to the next generation, this the only way of livelihood, deliverance comes as education For the privileged class, 'twas the teacher setting direction, preparing the minds n bodies, reverence comes as education In middle times, books came in to feed and fill our imagination, widening the ways to erudition, brilliance comes as education. The millennium last, educating masses builds so many a nation, tomes, pedagogy and academia, eminence comes as education. Today, wisdom pours thro' the Web, in fibre-optic illumination, wide world itself the classroom, transience comes as education. e-knowledge n e-learning now buzz, not esoteric n exclusion, open access becomes the way, multivalence comes as education. All knowledge only a click away, skills still remain the big illusion, How bridge this chasm, so true deliverance comes as education?

This year's Diwali celebrations in our country have been garnished by the arrival of two honoured guests, viz., Ms. Michelle and Mr. Barack Obama, First Lady and President of the US of A, respectively. Thanks to the plethora of channels available today, we have had the privilege of following them by the minute sitting in the cosy comfort of our homes and am sure much of India, like me, was glued to their TVs over the weekend watching them. But I do wonder if anyone truly saw beyond the images of the dancing with tentative steps, a contemplative, slow delivery of answers to questions or shaking hands with primary school kids and squatting to speak to them and give away little gifts. What is playing out in front of us is truly history that will shape this Nation and its people in a couple of decades. If you don't believe me, hang around and you will see. And if you ask why, then read on……….. As I have discussed before on this Forum, India has over 500 Million people below the...

The choicest one in a boutique, valueless like a rarest antique, in a crowd the stand out pique, my longing for thee so oblique. You are a person so so unique. Thine presence so aromatique so enchanting thy physique, Oh! so powerful thy mystique, For long, you my only li'l clique, Lines are my love's symbolique

Strong sustainable dynasties, be it regal, corporate, or political, are created not just by keeping the bloodlines unbroken but by producing progeny that are energetic, enterprising, aspiring and deserving. While ambition and treachery may have won some the high office, a good number of the scions would have achieved their goals not by being just the first born but by deserving what they desired.... How does an aging patriarch (or matriarch) find the most deserving among the many choices he or she may have ? How to be the best disinterested judge of potential among the many that share equally all the love that this person have to give? People in power have relied on their own powers of judgement, the wisdom of peers and advisers, and importantly the will of the masses, i.e., the ruled! The last aspect is oftentimes the tipping factor in a complex process of decision-making. And people's will or hearts are won not by genes but by deeds..... not necessarily great ones but the righ...