Tag: simple facts

Making sense of the “climate change” nonsense.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Well, don’t even bother to write me off here, thinking this article is for or against the issue of climate change. Like all our other engaging write up’s this one too is about what the topic is and what is being made out of it! Join me here as we re-discover this space of the fabled “climate change” and trust me by the time you end up reading this piece you will also perhaps begin to think what is the real emergency here, is it the climate or is it the ability and need of dealing and managing human greed and dumbness! So here we go!

If you study the documented modern history of humanity, lets stay focussed to the period post 1700, what it has ended up doing is creating automation (increased production and loss of livelihoods then, altering the livelihood space), connectivity and accessibility. All of this made sense as long as there was a balanced calibration for the local manufacturing, produce and what came in from neighboring states or towns. But as the dynamic shift began and towns and cities began to get flooded with products and services (read people migration) from different states, towns and cities, soon enough the struggle became rampant and that level of mass market size capture called for ever expanding thirst for machinery, process, industries, fuel and as this initial burst somewhere in the mid 1800’s began unchecked with “give a damn” to polluted stream , land or farm, or that reckless clearing of forest and shrub land for growing crops- all of this began to set the foundation to what what going to follow! This is how ecological and environmental began- the nascent stage of human greed and dominance.

Come 19th century, rapid modernization and ever increasing connectivity have ended up creating a global foot print like never before, land has been reclaimed from seas, dry areas turned into oasis, marshes disappeared to provide grounds and mountains cleared to create eclectic properties, industries becoming innovatively destructive and reckless at the least!

Sure enough the last century saw all hell break loose when it came to the planet to make a point, natural calamities have increased and will go on to do so, not because only of what we have done to the planet, by what we do and what we continue to do and will do, but also because the planet is alive! It is not merely a piece of land or body of water that is there like you find in playground where you can create a mess, and leave it for someone else to correct it- the planet is as alive as you and I are and I am not too sure about whether it has a discerning mind, but when it comes to sustaining a dynamic equilibrium about the physical process and the chemistry of life- it does do what it must to safeguard what all it can!

No one is questioning whether human activities have impacted or not,the real problem is that, the whole global melodrama around “climate change” is riddled with self-serving agendas and political tug of war that suits to address the few at the cost of many- it has become a cliche term of choice for everyone and anyone to blame it on “climate change” whether it is about going for the latest electronic gadget or whether they want to donate to some charity simply to lessen the guilt of contribution that they may have! Whether humanity chooses to or not, doesn’t matter the earth is alive and it knows it’s shelf-life. This third rock form the Sun, ash been there for around 4.5 billion years and will remain for another equal amount of time, the million dollar question is how long will humanity be able to do what it can to outpace and survive as the planet begins to come alive more vividly over the next three to four hundred years from now!

Whether you discourage plastic, use cloth bags, reduce “carbon foot print” (another iconic jargon, this one is!) all your contribution pales in front of what the earth is capable of doing and undoing! Consider this, you ensure and actually bring down pollution and people also adhere, and you have no more grey skies at twilight, and now mother Earth decides to have fireworks and spews tons and tons of volcanic ash laces smoke high up into the stratosphere which lingers on and ushers in what it can and will- so what happens to all that years or perhaps decades of work gone into bringing in controls, standards and ways of life? Up in the smoke right? Sure enough this can’t be an argument for not acting or doing anything, and that’s what the whole point is- create and encourage common sense based meaningful efforts to add value to the planet, but the whole corporatized and politicized campaign of “climate changes” is the last thing you really need!

Well, to cut the long story short, this fallacy of human thinking that “we know all” and this is the only way” is perhaps the greatest unscientific approaches that scientists have ever taken! This is also perhaps a reflection of the depleting human competence, intelligence and wisdom among the societies that exists today! Unless the meaningless consumerism with a fabled global supply chain is not brought down and scaled back to serve and work for local integrated communities- nothing meaningful will ever come out! This circus called “climate change” with agenda driven actors and artists disguised as corporate CSR, political stalwarts and the much hyped activists will go on doing what their limited wisdom and intelligence allows them to – for at times many of them too, never understand what they part they are playing and what really is unfolding and who is getting benefited by what they are doing! A classic case of one person’s poison another’s cure! So you may now be tempted, to ask , then what is the real way- what is a simple way ahead?

Well, to tell you, it is all about going local, fresh produce for the local communities and calibrated consumerism, where you don’t need 40 pairs of footwear or 80 pieces of cloths through a year! There is nothing fundamentally wrong with the thought of being globally connected- it helps and empowers communities, but when you want to export cabbages and apples across half the world- especially when they are grown there too- well you have a problem and this is not about climate change- it is about human intelligence and the lack of it!

I leave you with these thoughts for now, urging you to make an attempt to know more then what meets the eye and yes, the earth is alive and knows more then what all the 7 billion of us would know- for the Earth has been here and will be here long after human race ceases to be!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, stay wise and stay sane! yes, Climate is changing but the story sold to you is incomplete, no matter who is selling it to you!

The Leadership Code.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Our lives are constantly touched by leaders- directly or indirectly; they are altered, manipulated and directed by the aggression and subtlety that leaders bring along with them and their style of leadership then goes on to manifest and determine the flavor and texture of the group that is being influenced! This group could be your family, your work place or the society at large- a nation perhaps- whatever it is, make no mistake, it is the choices of the leaders that go on to dictate how you and I see the next Sunrise! Join me here as we take a quick walk through and try to decipher the Leadership Code- the very essence of Leadership which separates Good Leaders from Great ones’! So here we go!

I have written in my previous articles about the need and genesis of leadership per say- why and what of it- how humanity always seeks and needs Leaders’ – this piece is all about taking it a step ahead and understand that critical Leadership Code- The code that creates impact, sets new directions and leads to new pathways and destinations for a society or the people in the context and how this very code can be absolutely destructive and sub-serving when deployed by accidental leaders or when even the best intents are executed in the worst possible manner!

Given the nature of a blog, I will be intentionally keeping it short and sweet and urging you to add further, based on what you have experienced as a Leader (who leads) and perhaps as a Leader (who follows a Leader), frankly I don’t but the idea of Leaders creating Followers’ that is the last thing you ever want Leadership to be or a Leader to be!Whenever you see something like that- just move out of that confining and narrowing space, for it will come back at you hard and fast- it is not about if- it is always about when!

If you ask me, what is the Leadership Code and the essence of it; well it is everything that you would have seen playing out among Great Leaders (not Good Leaders)! I share with you a few of those secrets/ observations here, which I have either been an observer of or have come across through my years of engagement and reading with leaders- who have been leading their lives and of people around them – either in the small pockets of society or on the big centre stage of world politics and business! So here they are!

Create a powerful sustained narrative: One fundamental corner stone of Great Leadership is a continuing and compelling narrative- which reinforces the beliefs and values of those die-hard followers and more importantly creates those important spaces for the undecided to come in and join your bandwagon! It is critical that this narrative and it’s content is supported by subsequent actions and the narrative should within carry and hint at the actionable areas- else- people will see the bluff and in no time- all the struggle and effort taken to reach the space of Great Leadership will begin to crumble and in no time- the regression from Great to Good to Nothing will be set off!

Great Leaders and Great Leadership is Infectious: One common feature across the board- when it is about Great Leaders- is the fact that they are all highly contagious- infectious; sure enough we are in the times of a pandemic- but trust me- if you ever walked around or with these rare breed of leaders- their persona, charisma, way of life and leadership is all compulsively infectious and that is an unmistakable streak of some Great Leadership at play! This is where all the learning happens and this is the space where Followers are converted into the next line of Leaders! How well the rub off is what goes on to decide whether the next line of Leaders is Good or Great!

Great Leaders Simplify: Unlike Good Leaders who operate on different levels of secrecy (with regards to guarding their knowledge and special art and skills- with regards to leadership), Great Leaders- almost always are open, transparent and have this one unique unmistakable ability to simplify and de-clutter- on an ongoing basis- whether it is the content of their talk, a column that they write or a message that they want to send across- they are simple, clear, crisp and powerful! This build trust and clarity of thought and action across levels and cadres and the by goes on reinforce their Leadership and keeps it nourished, well oiled and potent at all times- with or without power!

Great Leaders embrace failures and risks: Great Leaders embrace risk and failure- what is crucial though is that, they almost always embrace calculated and measured risks and failures! Very rarely they play blind- when that happens- it is a turning point in the history of the world! Good Leaders (typically the corporate world is replete with this variety) almost always stay away and steer clear from risks (even calculated ones’) and almost always want to dabble with only things and work that gives them success (even if that is 1%), never will you see them dabble with something that has never been done, something that has a low chance of success and so on and so forth! Well there could be valid reasons for that, but this is what separates the Good from the Great! History of the world is never written by operating from the comforts of the known spaces- new beginnings always are created from spaces where the known perimeters end!

All Great Leaders, Listen: Don’t mistaken, I don’t suggest that other Leaders are deaf! This listening is different and very potent- this is the space of directed listening and intentional listening. This is what provides Great Leaders with depth of frame and context, when people engage with them- this is what helps them set focus and be able to see far ahead into the future than anyone else! Potent Listening is much beyond paying attention to what is being said, it is also about listening to the why of what is being said and how and what can be done about what is being said! As the old wise adage goes, The more you listen, the lesser you need to speak! The problem with humanity is that majority of us are only listening to the point or to the extent of what we want to hear and this where everything goes horribly wrong! This is why we end up living and experiencing lives and leaders which are sub-serving and myopic!

Great Leaders choose to win Wars over Battles: As Great Leaders know the value of embracing failures and risks, so do also know the value of winning some and loosing some, what makes them so potent and effective is their ability to know which to loose and which to win! This trait goes a long way to make Good Leaders move up to become Great Leaders and when there is an error of judgement in this space, needless to say Leadership legacies are created and destroyed in proportion to the damage incurred!

Great Leaders practice proactive Empathy: Great Leaders know the value of investing in others, that way they ensure that their ideas and plans are not only accepted but also improvised by the people who embrace them and for this to happen, they need to practise and display proactive empathy- the art and science of knowing what the other person feels, thinks and does by being who they are and every Great Leader know, unless this vital step is not completed, nothing of greatness can ever be achieved or lived by anyone!

Great Leaders live their Values: All Great Leaders live the values that they believe in and in a sense are the living embodiment of the values that hold close to their heart! Great Leaders stand for something that they believe in and something that is intrinsic and non-negotiable to them for any reasons and their whole approach, attitude and action is aligned to this. This is what helps Leaders create more potent leaders over Followers, as the Values and the benefits of embracing them becoming evident and worthwhile, in no time you have a whole mass of humanity aligning themselves to the very same Values and what you then have is the pinnacle of Great Leadership- where the whole society seems to resonate with the singularity of a cause and belief which stand strong and firm on the foundation of the Values that are being cherished!

Great Leaders speak less and act more: Although it may seem contradictory, this is a fact, every Great Leader that you cherish, no matter how much news byte they offer or not, the fact is they are always in the action and in the thick of the things more, much more than how much they speak and communicate! Great Leaders know, that for them to be successful and relevant, every word that is spoken needs to be backed up by action and that’s why they choose to speak less, but frequently and keep displaying actions of their earlier words which goes on to reinforce their commitment to the audience that they hold sway upon and that further provides the much required fuel to sustain and further develop their Leadership by amplifying their Followership base!

Great Leaders take efforts to reach out!: All Great Leaders know the power to forgive and forget! They know when it is okay to forgive and when it is okay to forget and when it is vital to do both! This is what helps build empathy and at the same time display generous attitude to one and all and make a clear, visible statement about them as a Leader and about their Leadership style and Value systems! All Great Leaders know the power of connecting people and bringing them together, because it is only when many believe and embrace what is being communicated that societal change happens and manifests and unless there is a comprehensive okay from across the sections of the society, even the most noblest of intents will end up being defeated and that’s why reaching out is so vital and critical, whether you lead a nation or lead an organisation, unless the last person is won over to your side, it is never done!

Great Leaders know when it is time to exit!: All Great leaders know, that what they are pursuing is an endless pursuit and cause which is firmly planted on few core ideas, beliefs and values and importantly that journey must continue even after they no longer are at the helm of the affairs. Hence all Great leaders invest and share what they can and must among those who they must all that is vital to ensure the continuity of the ideas and values of what is being pursued even while they are firmly in the saddle and even as they call the shots! This ability to share and empower others without any hesitation is perhaps one of the most important hallmarks of Great Leadership! Great Leaders plan their exit even as they start to build and work upon their ideas right from the beginning! Great Leaders know the value and merit of the second line and they always have that around- so that no matter what happens the idea and the belief always lives on and that is the very essence of any Great Leadership model or the hallmark of being a Great Leader- the ability to influence long after you are no longer physically available!

I am sure there could be many more facets that go on to create the aura and magic of Great Leaders and their equally Great Leadership, but I leave you here with these thoughts, for you to reflect and perhaps add further on what you thought were other vital elements that went on to make a Leadership that you came across Great! I have intentionally not put names to the “Great Leaders and Great Leadership or even tried to suggest examples of Good Leadership, simply because all of those observations are always contextual and why I see through the lens of my intellect may not always be the same for someone else and every truth is equally justified from the lens of its beholder!

I leave you here now, urging you to connect with the passive Leader within you and the active ones’ around you to embark upon the journey to experience Great Leadership by being a Great Leader! Remember everything related to Leadership always starts by Leading yourself first! Be the Leader you always sought! Begin the journey to seek your Greatness and the first step to that is, to define the Leader in you and the Leadership that you want to bring with you!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one! Until then stay wise and keep inspiring!

Creative Fatigue.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

I did tell you sometime back I will write something around “creative myopia” well, here we are! No, don’t jump to think this is only meant for those eclectic designers, and creative folks, in fact there is much more to this whole space and whether you are able to use a color pencil or not, creative fatigue manifests in funny ways- whether you are an artist or a teller at a cash counter- the day you get hot by this space of creative fatigue- life begins to slip away as you have known it and the same exciting burger that you so cherished,starts to look pretty ordinary! Join me here as we take a tour down this route and understand what is creative fatigue, why does it happen, what is that we can do to manage it and why all of that is so vital irrespective who we are!

Humanity and it’s hallmark or stamp of authority is nothing more then the pockets of creative excellence here and there! Think about it, whether you live in the top 10 cities of the world or some quaint town in the countryside- what drives us is the quintessential space of being able to find solace and sense in the contextual surroundings that we live about and when those surroundings stay exciting and dynamic- is when our mind is stimulated and empowers us to keep thinking to keep that dynamism alive and when that surrounding fails, we stagnate- intellectually and creatively! Let me explain!

Remember the first time when you saw that train pull into the train station, or you saw that airplane take off high above your shoulders, what was that moment like for you (I am assuming you were a kid then), liberating and something magical right? And as you grew up and began to decipher the science and art behind those instances what happened- well chances are if you have already killed that kid in you- you would have all but lost that excitement of seeing that train coming in or that airplane taking off- simply because those instances now, no longer stimulate or “wow” your brain, well sure enough makes rational sense, but it is within these spaces when you are able to still retain that kid like excitement to seek joy and happiness even as you grow up- that you will be able to see some different context and who knows bring in that creative stroke of a genius and create something altogether new or add lasting value to what exists around you!

If you want to get a sense of examples of creative fatigue, you need to first understand the space of creative magnificence! Creative opulence through architecture, buildings, technological solutions, designing of processes, creating lasting value through access to resources and empowering the ability to think beyond the now and allowing people to dare to dream and fail forward, these and many such thoughts, attributes and attitudes to life go on to make what our world really is- a creative melting pot! Whether it’s that great skyscraper or that piece or music or that communication that melted your heart- each of these has the hallmark and stamp of creative excellence and this is what helps to build hope, give pathways and chart the course for the future of humanity. This is an ever ongoing dynamic space which flows with it’s own highs and lows and problems of creative fatigue begin to emerge as this flow starts to get dammed for reasons that are not natural to the process of that creative flow!

Creative Fatigue begins as societies start to get lazy! Yes lazy and lax, and contend with what is there and not wanting to go to the next place or the next best place,imply because the comforts of today outweigh the hardships of today for an unknown future! How does this play out? Well just look around you, if you are in middle of a residential block or a business district in your city, what do you see- buildings and buildings built to the same specification and exactly the same way- sure you can argue the plot size is same the approvals are the same, still what stops from making them with a strong identity for each one of them? Aren’t Architects supposed to breathe life into these structures? Move ahead and get into corporate world- what you see, similar broad based actions taken at certain levels accompanied by the senseless play of designation labels- which proclaim a lot but mean nothing! Look closely what do you see in the space of imparting of knowledge, education, training, year on year students learn the same things and move ahead (irrespective whether the contextual validity of what has been taught has remained or not!) Sure enough contextual background is much needed as we advance and move ahead as a society but that does not mean we end up having graveyards of creativity in our back yards even as we want to plane the design for the front lawn of our house!

Typically societies, which don’t compel themselves to stay ahead on the creative curve to embrace the next big idea, moment to moment, often fall back on older ideas and though process and keep on endlessly tweaking and working over them, at times to such a point that it starts to get outright boring and an intellectual pain rather then a creative gift of any kind! The easiest way to come across this is the crazy world of communication- yes- that space where the marketeers rule and leave no stone un-turned to sell what they want- irrespective whether you need it or not and doing that by telling you stories which at times are magical and creative and more often outright dumb, boring, condescending and absolute pieces of intellectual hallucination, in plain speak outright dumb! When creative fatigue sets in this world- you end up forgetting the product or the service and just remember the music or the lyrics and never really know what it was actually for! A classic case of the bridesmaid being one step ahead of the bride! As creative fatigue sets in, societies suffer from an intellectual diarrhea of unimaginable proportions, everything starts to get painted in the same color, tonality, conformation biases are stronger then ever, rules are made, re-made and just keep adding up, with no one ever knowing whether the rules are for the people or whether the people in the society are for the rules that have been made!

As comical it may seem, when creative fatigue sets in, it can turn outright deadly and fatal for the society! Think about it, if as an Individual if you were to loose that creative spark and now multiply that by thousands who go on to make the society in which you live- what do you think is going to happen? Yes, more sulking, more downward spiral and reinforcement of a common belief that nothing can be done and no good will ever happen and it is when societies reach these spaces that all the negative thoughts and attributes begin to get a hold on the value and belief systems and that begins to gnaw the society from within with each passing moment and the damage that is unleashed with time is simply beyond repair and often fatal!

If you happen to be in a society where challenging the norm is becoming increasingly difficult and if you come across many people around you saying , “what difference will it make” for every idea that you share, you have your first clue that you are seriously with the right mind in a wrong market place! Creative Fatigue starts as societies and elements within the societies start giving their golden “ok” for anything and everything simply to have that task moved out of their way- not bothering for once to realise the impact that it will have! Sure enough, I am not suggesting that every building in the neighborhood has to be an architectural design marvel or every aspect of work has to be reactive and there needs to be some entertainment in allow that we do- well surely none of that- we don’t want our doctors or cops dressed up and showing up like clowns- but the fact remains we don’t want people to unnecessarily live a monotonous and more then serious life either! You see, there has to be that balance- a dynamic balance which keeps yup the buoyancy of a society so that it moves forwards and stays progressive no matter what the hardships and no matter what the challenges that it needs to overcome! This is the essence of dealing with and managing creative fatigue before it can run amok and do irreversible damage! So what’s the plan? You may ask!

The plan is really to be alive, being alive and being connected with the people around you and that is around you, for that is the very essence of what will empower you with the spark to break the norms and set standards and benchmarks in whatever you choose to do, whether big or small , once in a life time to every day of your life and this space of empowered application of creative thought alone is the way to stall and stop the setting in of creative fatigue! As along as you stay committed to find something new, better and more effective and more impactful to communicate what you do and follow in life as your way of creative expression, you will hold the flag of creative renaissance high and ensure that no stalling comes your way and you keep advancing and more importantly keep inspiring everyone around you on your journey! Sure enough, not every moment can be a moment of creative excellence, but every moment can be and must be the one of creative inspiration and that is what alone can set the course for individuals and societies to seek and manifest what is missing and make things more meaningful and purposeful thereby keeping the pursuit of creative thinking and creative expression alive and vivid as ever!

I leave you here with these thoughts, urging you to do your bit to stall and keep away the elements of creative fatigue that may come your way- knowing the creative person who you are and do what it takes and as it takes to keep that creative inspiration always high and always alive- so what even if you are going to build only one masterpiece in your lifetime or so what if your work is plain and monotonous- it is the ability of recognizing that speak- which can inspire creativity as you go about your life is what is needed and for that- you can be almost anyone doing any job you think is fine and yet be someone creative and more importantly someone who inspires others to be the same!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one! Until then stay creative and keep inspiring!

Allow Thinking to be Intrinsic.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ 1 Comment

Thinking- the space which defines who we are and will become with the passage of time. Thinking that empowers us to create history or become part of it, which has the power to liberate us or bind us into timeless shackles of our own imagination and the ghosts that emerge within our minds. Thinking is perhaps the only one singular virtue which sets us apart and helps each one of us get that unique intellectual signature which has the hallmark of our unique thinking design all over it! Join me here as we take a fleeting look into what makes thinking so intoxicating and empowering and how something like that has the power to liberate and bind us in the same context of time but in a different context of arrangements around us! So here we go!

If there has been ever one thing that had the potency and the power to differentiate each one of us decisively, it is that intrinsic ability to Think! As simple it may sound, trust me there is nothing more complicated then this bit over here! The reason for that exceeding level of complexity with a simple act of Thinking , resides not in the ability to Think or not, it resides in the ability to be able to Think Intrinsically from the very core of who one is, as an individual and as discerning human! This is what is the holy grail of meaningful thinking is all about and this is what makes this so complicated and for the majority of us almost always a case of slip between the lip and the cup!

In the rushed lives that all of us lead, we are ever faced with that challenge of requiring to take decisions like that, hiring people, firing them off, picking up stuff for the home, planing that vacation, going for that event, that award ceremony, those bills that need attention, the modern human brain is simply working at its peak capacity – if I may say so- when it comes to enforcing the mind to take decisions like- now and here! You see the human brain was never designed that way, it was always designed to observe and record , calibrate and then decide- how fast and how rapidly these events unfolded and at what frequency well that would largely depend on what situation an individual is- say you are out there on the primitive woods and been stalked by a predator- your brain is going to race up and make you take those fight or flight decisions based on its assessment of the threat and your abilities to deal wit it, likewise if you have to select two packets of bread from a super market shelf- well- it’s going to allow you to take all the time in world that you need simply because it knows there is no urgency unless you are about to collapse out of starvation! This intrinsic default mechanism has of late, been put to much lesser use- in context of the ability and the quality of decisions that one can make good vis a vis what we end up feeding the mind with and the kind of decisions we ask it to make! Let me explain!

If you were to sieve through the last 1000 years of humanity and tried to find when were the greatest observations and intriguing questions were ever asked- chances are you would land yourself in the times of great civilizations, prosperous kingdoms which alone allowed the human mind to explore the fullest potential to question and more importantly Think! Think as in really think- not the mundane thought process of “What I tell my boss?” or “when do I get the next pay check”. Sure enough people back then would have been there who would have had similar challenges and questions bothering them as well, the only change for our times now is that more of us are engaged into Thinking about things that don’t really serve us and very few , very few of us are really asking the most pressing questions and Thinking as we should! This skewed off take between the overpowering density of useless thinking and very limited valid thinking is what keeps on drowning away any relevant voices that a society may have and thereby ends up pushing societies into that singular direction of less servicing and myopic scenarios.

Sure enough, I am suggesting we move to societies where we all have only philosophers asking finite and potent questions and finding the answers to these questions and we go about our utopian world just discussing! No, not a bit, what I am trying to share with you here is the compelling urgency that each one us must pay attention to make a choice to ask at least once in a while (if not often) some pertinent and valid questions which bring some justice to the fabulous thinking machines that each one of us has been gifted with! It is only when you allow that space to ask and get surrounded by intriguing questions once in a while that your brain will be stimulated enough and forced to come up with answers to perplexing observations that are beyond the routine and thereby provide your brain with that very much needed dose of stimulation to keep it abreast and tuning it to be always leaning and looking forward rather then only relying on past experiences and accumulated knowledge repository that is available at disposal on the click of a button!

The whole idea of allowing Thinking to be Intrinsic, is to allow it to be free of any pride or prejudice coming in either from the individual or from the surroundings that one may be in- for once that happens, then you are no longer thinking but rather aligning your observations and thought process to certify and validates what is around and what you desire for and this is where the fundamental disconnect happens and you are then entrapped for ever in a never ending circle of self- gratifying thinking either for yourself or for the people and things around you! Another level of conformation and compulsion just to get a sense of belonging among a groups- which again happens to be a hallmark of what humanity is!

Sure enough, you don’t need to think- the intrinsic way to buy that ice cream or those movie tickets or have that vacation, Intrinsic Thinking is for the more compelling questions about your individuality- about what you are – who you want to be as you transform through the stages of life and what is that you aspire and what to leave after you as a legacy that you have created- even if that has to be limited only for your family tree- if the stakes are higher and you have ever thought about influencing a society or a nation- then needless to say you need to have and embrace this space of Intrinsic Thinking more often then the others around you and need to also ask the right questions to have the right answers coming back to you in the time that they must! Thinking loses it’s potency as the quality of questions fall! Poor questions lead to poorer answers and thereby miserable solutions which lead to a myopic understanding of the life around us and then we are always left in that short served context until that next person arrives on the scene who asks the right questions, making it possible for the right answers to come in and thereby bring in the much needed change that the society would have been waiting for! So what is it that really makes Thinking Intrinsic? Well read on!

As I said earlier, It has to come from within and has to be pertaining to something that is compelling and which seems urgent in the context of the answers that the questions may provide- this is the space where great research, philosophical enquiry, scientific validations and myth busting takes place! Intrinsic Thinking is perhaps the purest form of thinking by staying focused on a perplexing question of high quality and then compelling your mind to provide equally high caliber answers/ solutions which are able to provide solutions or pathways which seem to deem fit to the quality of question asked in the first place! Once this is achieved (which in itself is a huge ask), what follows through the implementation of the solutions, needless to say is almost always in line to serve the greater good for humanity on a big scale! Use this Intrinsic Thinking with the wrong questions and what you get is the power to unleash hell on earth and cause misery to the millions around you! Intrinsic Thinking is all about carving a pathway to empowered thinking to allow individuals and societies to lead empowered lives by answering compelling questions in a way that high quality solutions and answers are found!

What happens when we do away with and shun this effort to allow and make way for Thinking in an Intrinsic manner? Well, you get what you are facing now! Screwed up ideologies, competing value systems and an omnipresent overbearing haze of ambiguity and myopic thinking across all levels within the society- right from individuals to the highest offices that a nation may have! When this happens, needless to say, everyone suffers, then it all falls back down to the scale of the majority- if the majority are wise – who practise Thinking the Intrinsic way- you still have a chance to think in an authentic manner and keep your head above the water line- but like it happens- if you are in a crowded society replete with idiots and dumbness, well you will have no other option to save your intrinsic thinking to just ensure you don’t get killed and walked upon over by the dumb-wits all around you!

I leave you here with these thoughts and urge you to mark that moment when you would want to deep dive into thinking by the intrinsic way and come up with some great answers for the great questions that you would have challenged and then race ahead to apply those finding to live an empowered life and perhaps also lead others through the empowered way!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one! Until then stay wise and keep Thinking the Intrinsic Way!

Get “A Philosopher’s mind”.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Human progress and development, believe it or not owes a great deal to the powerful and enigmatic minds of the many great philosophers who have walked through this planet and have made their mark at different points in time across civilizations and nations, ushering in new hope, thinking and empowering them to create a wonderful collective future for the society in particular and the nation in general! Join me here as we try to get a broader sense into what goes into the minds of these magical beings and what is that we can emulate and carry with us so that we too get a few anchors that help us through the choppy lives that we have!

Choose any point in history, and each time you arrive at a society that was flourishing and leading in that context of time, chances are that alongside art, culture and trade that would have been flourishing, there would have been instances of philosophers too (many of which) who till date, continue to inspire, motivate and keep us engaged on some relevant facets of life! Why does this happen? Well, simply put, as our needs are satiated and as we begin to climb higher up on the ladder of enquiry and begin asking more and more compelling questions that is where the realm of the philosopher commences! You see, majority of humanity takes birth, lives and dies and more or less has a templated pattern- either a job or business or a profession with varying levels of success and failures and depending on what is played out and more often then not, the general outlook and perception about everyone and everything around gets developed in this way! Importantly, this is the very space where, acquiring a philosopher’s mind helps! Let me explain!

Most of us when confronted with failure and rejection will almost always start with the first question, ” Why me?”, but when you face the same scenario and have a philosopher’s mind, the questions change based on the depth of the philosophical enquiry! Consider you got fewer marks or that pay rise which was much less than what you thought it would be – the normal way would be to crib, bitch and sulk on the outcome and come up with excuses which are disguised as reasons- the impact- well nothing really changes in your life or the other person’s life in the NOW or anytime in the future! Instead of this, if you were to hold on to the philosopher’s mindset the range of questions and the depth of questions (sure enough depending upon your own intrinsic intelligence) could range from, “What next” to “Why did I think I would get more”, “Why did my judgement on this fail?” “Was my judgement only wrong on this one instance or is there a problem with the way I come to judgements and outcome analysis?” You see, using a philosopher’s mind, you can dive deep into the abyss of human intelligence and seek answers from within and depending on where you stop your questioning, from thereon you get to develop and build a foundation for your future instances!

The mind of the philosopher, is all about being able to hold on to compelling questions and undertake long and challenging journeys to get the answers to them! Sure enough it is not the space of wishful thinking, day-dreaming or intellectual hallucination, rather it is the quite opposite of all of this! The mind of the philosopher and the process of questioning is all based on sound science, unforgiving rationality, clarity and a huge generous dose of common-sense which is so important to de-clutter the ambiguity that almost always tends to creep up on to our mind and cloud our ability to think, and discern in the way that we really should!

What we often miss in plain sight is the fact that the quality of our lives is not a factor of the answers that we are able to provide to others or ourselves but rather the questions that we are able to ask ourselves and others! The relevance of these questions, their depth, their impact and what their unlocking potential is, determines how high we will be able to fly individually or collectively how far and how fast we will be able to lead the society!

Acquiring “The philosopher’s mind” is perhaps one of the most simplest ways to bring about a compelling and visible transformation in our lives; a transformation that will stick and not fade away! Once you are able to embrace the mind of a philosopher, you will begin to see come amazing things happen! Importantly you get to understand what can be controlled and what can’t be, you realize there is a reason for everything and everyone around you, no matter how trivial, helping or harming that is and that everything else fades in front of a commodity that we all call “time”! Sure enough there can be more in-depth and more intriguing questions that one can arrive from this space and one must; for that’s where magic happens and new breakthroughs are achieved, sometimes to empower the material plane of life and yet other times to uplift the spiritual and intangible pockets of peoples’ life! What also unfolds unmistakably is the ability to stay collected and firm- not to be mistaken with ego! This ability to be- steadfast is what makes a vital difference- for this provides amazing clarity and as anxiety is stripped away- all that is left within the mind is only relevant and a scientific process of progressive questioning to a problem or an incident- this method then allows people to see through and frame instances with a proper context thereby de-cluttering and avoiding unwanted layers of ambiguity, chaos and artificial hues which tend to distort what the reality is and what perception perhaps gets built over or around it!

The concept though seems to be simple, it is that much more challenging and unless one is able to stay firm, resolute and unwavering, the path of walking through the mind of the philosopher remains uncertain!

I will leave you with these thoughts here and urge you to take some time off and wade away into the depths of the “philosopher’s mind” that exists within you and see what new questions you are able to deal with and what are the answers that you see coming back to you! Engage within and liberate yourself that’s the way to move ahead with an empowered mind and a frame that is fluid, wide, in-depth and built on compelling questions and thoughts which make a difference to you and to the world around you!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one! Until then keep walking and keep asking! The only way to be sure of success is to keep failing towards it and keep moving towards it always asking vital questions through the frame of a “Philosopher’s mind”!

Through the eye of the needle.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Whether it has been for recreation or for some serious purpose, if you have ever held a needle and used it for the right purpose, then this short piece is for you! Join me here as we unravel what all unfold as we try to navigate through the eye of the needle and why this matters- or should I say how this sums up all that you and I are often engaging with as we go through our blessed lives- whatever way they are being blessed! So here we go!

The first interaction with the needle and it’s eye would have been in most cases on account of that crazy soft toy which either you would have seen your parents create for your or perhaps a little older you would have wanted to create one for your class assignment on middle school or for your little sibling or a friend, whatever that reason would have been, that interaction would have provided you with few valuable simple lessons of life- Attention to detail, Choosing the right thread and having a steady pair of hands to work with and an eyesight which is able to focus and stay! All of this or any of this for that matter is simply a good enough reason for one to be grateful and have a heart filled with gratitude, because there are a few who simply can’t even accomplish this, owing to some challenges that life would have placed in their way! Alongside this feeling of gratitude, is the valuable lesson, “the prick of the needle” well whether that happens owing to a prank or while you are working- it reinforces the point of “attention to detail”, focus and also tells one fundamental truth of life- All that is useful has a context, spin that out of context and the most useful facet can come down bearing upon you as a dreaded adversary! In this case, it is the needle- a tool which promises to help you personify and craft your creative expression, but at the same time, a moment’s slip and it has the power to pain you- so what if it’s momentary- the pain is intense and then you always continue to remember the value of your creation by virtue of the pain that came by! The needle is but one facet of this story and the other important one is the thread!

You see, you may be able to garner impeccable control over the needle and perhaps also develop tolerance to pain as well, through the trials and tribulations of life, however if the thread that goes through the needle is not calibrated, the whole effort is sure to be a waste of time and it becomes a perplexing dilemma especially when the thread goes through initially and then begins to play truant and behave in it’s own whimsical ways by literally getting “thread bare”. The whole effort of ensuring that the thread goes through the needle also depends a lot on the thread that is either chosen or the one that is given to you (when you don’t have a choice to select one!) Think about the times when you lived through this, when the thread was easy to work with and when it played the spoil sport, making you go back and re-start everything all over again, simply because it began to come into its real elements!

If you thought, that these are the only elements that impact the whole journey of travelling through the eye of the needle, there is one more omnipresent factor, the light around us- the presence or absence of it and how we engage with it! As trivial it may seem, ask a young grandmother or a old youngster, what the the struggle is to drive a thread through a needle when the contrasting or adequate background is missing especially when the eye of the needle is fine and the thread is even finer! This is where the real test of skill unfolds! The skill to hold the needle, have the right thread, have that safe pair of hands and fingers alongside the environment which empowers that act to be completed as desired by you- timely, smoothly and efficiently! This is where the real fun begins for we all know that like real life, even when it comes to the humble act of pushing a thread through the eye of the needle- perfect situations are far from true and more often than not it is the ability of an individual to know which element is working for and which is working against, is what makes that attempt successful or a struggle! So you may now want to know, fine, understood all this, so what’s the big deal?

Well, the big deal comes from these small facets! Like the needle, the thread, our fingers, our ambiance, so in life, We, our resources, abilities, skills and qualities and the surroundings that we move about in go a long way to determine whether we are ever able to hit our trim levels or whether we end up flattening out even before we realize our fullest potential in whatever we choose to do so! As long as you ensure that you will be rock steady and get to a task that you have set out for yourself, know well what will enable you to reach and get there, and also develop ample skills and qualities to execute that effort, with an environment which supports and further accelerates your seeking, you will be well on your way to achieve your trim levels- because you have a fine needle, a great eye to see the thread through it, an enabling environment and a rehearsed skill which ensures you keep moving ahead more and more as you keep practicing and pursuing what you have set out for- what your needle is! The thread and the supporting environs are the valuable resources which one must choose carefully, and if thats not possible, then must on the way learn to make the most of what is been provided, for the only thing that is within your control is the needle (the construct of you) and the safe fingers that you have with a discerning mind which knows how to harvest the environs to empower the slide of the thread through the eye of the needle! This indeed is the simplified story of our lives, we are the needles that we are and empowered or held back by what we hold within and what we bring out to play and offer to the world around us! As long as we uphold the value to serve the greater good of the many around, we are enabled by all that is around, and the moment we try to sabotage that and bow down to the arena of self serving thoughts and efforts, sooner or later, that very simple effort of going through the eye of the needle begins to seem herculean and impossible! So how do we ensure that we don’t go astray? Read on!

The trick is to know who you are to begin with i.e. what type of a needle are you, what thread are you going to allow to get through and what is that can be created by doing that! You see, many stories of human struggle are simply wasted potential in the wrong areas of life; at times owing to lack of guidance, few times un-supportive contexts and yet other times, plain stupid bravado! Knowing who you are (the needle) is the most fundamental tasks and often humans tend to rush through this very vital aspect! Unless you don’t really know what you are, you will simply be unable to make any use of the available resources around you and may end up thinking worthless things as important and vice versa and the story then is of endless trials and errors and for the lucky few, they live to see the light of success during their life time and for many others’ it is a story of going to the grave not knowing what they did with their lives and why!

Once you know who you are, you are able to know what exactly you need in terms of resources (the thread) and once that is done, you know very well, the craft that you want to come up with and the creation that you want to go ahead with to be known as your legacy! What’s more, once you know who you are and what resources you have around, you can then harness the powers within you to even turn a unfavorable context work for you by adjusting yourself accordingly and if the contextual settings are favorable, needless to say, the coming together of all the elements will propel you on the path to success and empower you to create a lasting legacy in proportion to who you are and what resources you have deployed (the needle and the thread going through it’s eye!)

I leave you here with these thoughts! Grab that coffee and try to think what is that you are, what type of a needle you are, what’s your thread and what is that you are creating or will create going ahead! Whatever that is, make sure, it ends up being a signature statement of who you are and have been and will be!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one! Until than Stay safe and stay wise!

Time your failure.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

For anyone who has ever done anything worthwhile in their life, they would know the value of success and more than that they will importantly know the value of timing their failure! Yes, believe it or not more than timing of success (which is certainly important) it is of paramount importance how one times their failure, time it too soon and you may loose on some benefit and time it too loose, you end up missing the opportunity completely! Join me here we explore this space and try to unravel what makes timing failure so important and whats the real way to go about it!

Success stories, almost always start with the statement “I or We saw an opportunity” rarely do we see a success story openly stated as “I or We failed at “X” so we planned and that’s how the success story of “Y” came to life!” You may say, well why does it matter what “X” was and if the whole world is celebrating the “Y” shouldn’t we all do the same, well sure enough we can celebrate “Y” but if we ignore “Y” and fail to understand what happened in that space, be rest assured the transformation of Y to X is just a matter of time- When and not If! It is within these hidden away, intentionally or unintentionally forgotten spaces of “X” that lie the real secret of understanding and embracing failure well so that whatever next steps one chooses to take from thereon, they end up being essentially rewarding success stories that “Y” is! So what is it about timing of “X” or rather timing of one’s failure? How does that become a factor to determine the scope and success of “Y”? Read on!

To answer the question about the timing of failure, one must understand , what is failure and how is that different to success? Can at times Failure be really Success disguised in the moment? Let me explain! Consider this, you are a business tycoon with a few millions of change to spare and of the many real estate projects that your firm is working one odd project which represents .0005% of your revenue and perhaps .00025% of your business profit has gone bust- so what does that mean to you- may be nothing right- you may not even notice it unless it comes up in the mentions of the annual review meeting or something like that, but now, if that’s the only project you had and the only one thing to showcase as your business endeavor to the world- now what is unfolding? Almost staring into the darkness which threatens to wipe off your very existence of the business horizon ins’t it! So the first thing to take note is that the frame of failure is very important- if you use the right frame, you can really see if what is unfolding is indeed failure or perhaps just a small bump on the road that you tread upon and this first observation is vital to arrive at the next critical one- the one that helps you decipher timing- knowing when enough is just enough and when you need to stand down, step back or just stand still or perhaps take that crucial detour- simply because the way ahead is simply self-consuming and detrimental!

If you carefully observe stories that spelt success owing to a failure- it almost always is the case of the crucial timing of that failure! We have all heard about how larger businesses have acquired some business that was been offered at dirt cheap rate simply because the founders could not sustain it and how over time that business ended up saving the larger one and ended up being the identity of the business itself! This is the space where failing at the right time becomes crucial- you see, even for the original founders of a business for being able to walk away and actually earn something of a failing business (at that moment in time) is much of an achievement and that ability to have that kind of a risk appetite to dive into the unknown at that time is what creates a contextual difference about how the big business is changing its approach and attitude in the business landscape and thereby creates enough buzz and ripples to not only revive the failing business but if the conditions are right, empower it and turn that failing story into a shining success beacon! This all but can happen only if the failing business and the one that can identify and pick it up arrive in the frame of context at the right time! If the timing is wronged by even a few quarters, more often than not, it ends up scripts of fallen businesses and missed opportunities!

There is one more essence to this game of timing and that is of being the right size, you see when failures happen at the right time and the right size, they stand a chance of being picked up, course corrected and give another lease of life, either by the same people or by a different group of people! We have these examples all around us, know that airline which has been struggling and seeking buyers or investors, well why isn’t it being rescues, for the simple reason that the size of failure, you see when it comes to business like it comes to even helping on a personal level- you would never go beyond your set boundaries and the moment you think that even offering the help that wish to is going to tie you down or hamper your peace and safety- intellectually and financially- needless to stay you are going to step back and stand down unless you are helped by few more friends who can collaborate and together then perhaps you can tame the odd colossal failure- again provided the benefits of the turnaround are in line with what every partner is expecting! If that doesn’t fit the bill, then you have people backing off in the middle of the things and trust me that’s one things you never want to happen- that is like pushing a car downhill with no one at the wheels to control the jump start!

Whether we like it or not, whether it be business or the personal equations that we have amongst us, unless we have stories of failures around us subsequent stories of stellar success would be all but lost and even the few original success stories would loose their appeal, because failures of all kinds- whether or not dealt with provide a stark contrast to human society and this alone perhaps is what keep humanity anchored to certain set of values and principles! It is when the cost and benefit of failures are played out in societies in the open that people tend to become more understanding responsible and attentive to whats unfolding around them, for whether you are aware or not and believe it or not, someone else’s failure can mean your success pivot and even the converse s true!

So as you journey along, as you plan for milestones of success and celebrations, do also try to calibrate your failures that may come your way on the way- for if you get it right and know the right failure to arrive at, you may end up scripting perhaps the greatest come back stories or perhaps be the reason for something new altogether to begin! Who knows! There is no real reason to fear failure, rather it is only when you embrace failure that you are able to liberate yourself off the ignorance and arrogance associated with it and that in itself becomes a key to your future foundation whether you want to just perhaps want to get a job or sell popcorn or build the next business empire!

So I leave you with thoughts here, urging you to perhaps plan your failure, so that your success is even more brilliant and dazzling! Whatever you do, time it well and size it apt! Every Success Story has been built on the Souls of some failure- at times these souls are known and more often than not they remain unknown! As someone said, Failure is not Final and Success is not eternal!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one soon! Until then stay safe and stay wise!

Be the person you seek!

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

One fundamental challenge with books that are written all over the world, classified as “Self-Help” which by itself is a little ambiguous section is the fact that, these books more often than not pick up stories of success- either failure overcome to script a success or a the story of toil that eventually ends up manifesting as success, there is noting beyond this! Then you have the few titles which go on to bring in the elements of the network, social parameters and the essence of timing things and actions, well so far so good! What all of these end up doing importantly (which is real of great essence) is that they simply tend to overlook the most critical aspect and the crucial person in all this haste to narrate stories that appeal to them- they simply forget about the reader- “You” who is reading that book, who really is seeking an answer from within and couldn’t really care enough how “x” became a billionaire after doing “abc”! Join me here as we take a quick look into this core space and understand why seeking the person you want to be from within is so vital and life changing and why this is the only thing that will even appeal to you or make sense to you! So here we go!

Right from the beginning, even as we are toddlers, we begin to undergo social conditioning which is really all flawed and dangerous as it tries to dampen our core identity (of who we really are and what we can thereby achieve). Let me explain!Have you ever experienced that family get together over the holiday’s when you were in school or in college and how every relative that walked into the room had an opinion about what you should do with your life -academics, profession, settling down and all that? It was painful right? To the point you felt like asking the person to just f**k off and get a life! Well and if that was not enough you see these behavioral intrusions continuing all the time , your work place, your friends, your colleagues, even that odd stranger who met you on the last flight or that train ride! So what’s really happening here? Why do “educated” people behave in such a condescending and intrusive way when it comes to others, even as the reality and chances are they themselves would have achieved much less that what they would have set out for, when they started to walk on the road to their aspirations? Read on!

We humans are really one of a kind! You see, within us we have that fundamental sense of being belonging to a community or a group or an identity and that’s never going to move away! This is an evolutionary mechanism that is meant to protect us if ever as a species we feel threatened- this is the emergency button – when activated ensures that humans are able to keep their individual and community based differences at bay and rally behind defending the larger community- haven’t we seen this unfold the world over as we deal with the pandemic! How effective this is or not and what is the effective way to harness this space is a different matter! So this habit of continually looking out for the other person subconsciously with time has changed into looking into the lives’ of the other person- warranted or not! This slight change has ended up us collectively wasting valuable human talent and resources the world over- doesn’t matter what society, what ethnicity or how much access one has to resources or not- this behavioral intrusion has led to the failing of many dreams and aspirations even before they saw the light of the day!

In the wild too, very often you find animal parents guiding their offspring to varying levels of intelligence as necessary for the species to survive, likewise in humans too this intrinsic value persist and is all meant to ensure that kids survive and emerge as “successful”, things begin to get complicated as the perception and reality between the definition of “success” as seen by the kid or the person in question and the others start to deviate ans this is the point from where all human hustle of life and for the aspirational life commences! So is this good or bad? Well, depends, on whether it empowers you or robs you off the very essence of who you are!

Human Intelligence is the only parameter that continues to bring about the changes that we see around, that constant urge to have something new, better and more efficient to be created to empower humanity is perhaps the singular frame from where all innovation, invention and development is pursued! The flip side of this has been that, expectations of humans among themselves have gone to take a hit!Parents expect intelligent children, when their own intelligence could be hardly average! You have bosses who want great juniors, when they themselves have been great corporate disasters! You have that company who want’s to be number 1 and knows that they are not even in the consideration set of the competition! It is this kind of distorted and hallucinatory approach that ends up shattering whatever remaining intelligence an individual may have and more often than not what you come across is human zombies- all around you- people who are doing things, because they have been told to, asked to, instructed to without batting an eyelid- for they know (sometimes) it is futile to wrestle with dumbness and at times peace is more valuable than an unintelligent and unending conflict! But why does all this play out like this?

It all starts with what is being done with an individual- Are the people entrusted with the development and progress of this individual (and in that way of humanity) empowering this person or taking away the empowerment and creating dependent zombies for the future? What is that frame that is being applied to usher in progress and growth? If you take a quick look into the the recent human history and try and find streaks of geniuses of human intelligence, chances are that many of them and most of them have been in the period between 1700 and 1950. These 250 years have witnessed advancements in human societies the world over unlike ever before and laid down the foundation of what the societies have ended up becoming today! The flaws and challenges of “followership modelling” which gained wide momentum in the last 40-50 years has systematically wiped off any and all of original thinking that a human being can be capable of and the onslaught of requiring to be complaint to social biases continues to haunt advancements of our lives across spheres to this day! So how does one escape this trap and seek originality of thought and practise?

The simple trick to stay authentic is by being the person who you always want to be, by trying to become the future self that you seek for yourself- it’s be modelling your life on the future version of yourself that you want to be rather than anyone else! This is critical because, your frame of context is unique to you and the ability to apply intelligence in that frame is what makes you who you are! This is where the magic happens and this also the reason why “self-help” books don’t help- the only people that they help are the publishers! Unfortunately the social biases and the belief systems more often than not shun the propagation of original thought and space- at times because the social context is too risky and yet at other times the challenges- financial and personal are simply too much- at times this is valid, but many a times, this fleeting judgement erodes away a possible magical future for the person in question and in a way not only robs the individual of a great future but also does great dis-service to humanity as a whole! Even as we celebrate the new gadgets, innovations, inventions and discoveries and breakthroughs, rarely we know about the people and the experiments which were crucial and meaningful, but simply were not taken ahead- because they don’t make profitable sense! Who knows what great dis-service we have already done to humanity until now, by this one simple narrowed approach to thinking!

Staying original and contextually relevant is perhaps the most important thing that humanity requires today! It is this paucity of original thinking that ends up killing innovation, invention and creative thinking which can go a long way to empower individuals and people around by simplifying the complexities of the life that they have either created for themselves or have inherited! As Individuals start to shun leadership worship and pay attention to the latent leader within them and align themselves to the purpose that they can sense within- magic will manifest and as long as that purpose holds the promise for serving the greater good for people- in no time- the results of that original approach will be rewarded! Want proof? Think about the best book you ever read, think about the medicine that helped you overcome common cold faster, think about that car which gave you better mileage or more ease of driving through automation! This is how original thinking manifests- it simplifies lives for others and for the owner of that thought as well! For all and any of this to start, the first step is to decide to pursue a future/purpose by seeking your won future self! There is nothing wrong to be inspired, by others and appreciate what they have done, what is wrong is allowing inertia to build within and begin to think that someone else will solve something that you are thinking about! It simply doesn’t happen that way- even if thoughts are the same, approaches are unique and it is within these unique approaches that the stories of success and failures get written and it all starts by getting aligned to the leader within you- who can lead you to be the person that you seek within other around and ensure that you are able to be the future self of what you want to become by pursuing what you must! Think around this! There must be a reason why you are, who you are in the frame that you are in, seek that by connecting with the leader within and empower yourself by becoming the person that you always sought to be!

I leave you with these thoughts, here, take a pause and try connecting to the leader within you and sense where that leader wants to lead you to and what is that definitive purpose that you can get aligned to, so that you end up being in the times ahead the person you always sought to be! Your greatest powers come from within- contemplate and execute!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then think and think and sure enough, apply that thinking!

Why News Channels go rogue.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ 1 Comment

News evolved as the wise person’s genie to ensure that people who matter and what mattered reached to people who could do something about it, so that in time the greater good to serve the society could be done! In our present times, this seems to be a fairy tale, and this is why we are here for- to know and try to possibly see why and what makes news channels turn rogue, especially when they too have risen from the cradle of the same society where they keep barking, shouting and yelling every few hours, never realizing that they are in a way- doing it to a mirror for every time a finger is raised, three go back to them! Join me here as we try to unravel this space and figure out what really is possibly happening!

Right now, in 2020, even as the pandemic ended up killing thousands across the world,if you take a moment to analyze what the news has been all about- more often than not it has been about a political rhetoric around the pandemic, rather than covering and real picture and helping policy makers and government by being that extra ear or eye to the ground to possibly cover what has slipped! The political rhetoric is importantly more damaging, especially when it goes on and on and starts to follow the same formula at international, national and even at local or community levels- what than unfolds is chaos and division- people who lived like extended families for generations or more overnight in the span of few months end up believing there are groups in the society and as the socio psychological aspects start to play out- social confirmation bias takes precedence and the urge to belong to one group or identity over the other and being vocal and loud about it starts to take precedence over anything and everything else! What’s more worrisome is this rogue approach by news channels has not now remained limited to only the ideological battles of the political theater, now it’s coming after every thread tat goes on to weave the intricate social fabric and the last mistake that anyone can do is to think that it’s not happening around you or you have not knowingly or unknowingly erred and moved beyond the side of caution at some or the other time!

If political theatrics by news channels was not bad enough, which in yesteryear’s had the potential to cause greater rift and confusion among nations (who are adversaries or possibly wanting to amicably settle something and then step back because some channel sends out a “breaking news” which basically ends up breaking the only hope and ends up creating more damage than anything else!); in today’s times, these very rogue channels can pick and choose establishments that run a nation, bureaucracy, law enforcement, judiciary, social sectors, private organisations, celebrities, public representatives, you and me, if they perceive any of these sets as a threat which can scuttle their agenda of peddling what they have! So now the million dollar question? How did we reach this place? How did we allow this to go so far beyond repair? Well read on!

If you see the genesis of human growth and progress the world over- irrespective whether the social set up was aligned to democracy or autocracy or whatever political style you want to call it, the singular fact has been that every and any social set across the planet has always been the case of a few leading the many and it always has been the quality of these few which has either accelerated the growth and development of the societies in question or has regressed and finished them off, sending them back by years and decades! As I said earlier, as long as the news channels stuck to their oath and delivered what they were supposed to all was fine, the decay and regression began as the news channels decided to cross that line of vintage journalism and get into selective game hunting under the garb of investigative journalism- which by the very own genesis of the word “journalism” has no place! Once news channels realized the vulnerabilities and the voids in the systems as they worked or began to get dysfunctional, soon their stance changed from being journalism and society driven to proactive exploitative approaches aimed to facilitate agendas of the “other” bosses especially as they are aligned to their own! But why would this happen?

You see, societies have been always governed by the “few”. These “few” could be anyone or all of these- kings, President’s, Prime Minister’s Rulers, Few Private business houses (the real original blue eyed tycoons!), visit any of the 196 nations on this planet and the chances are you will see only one or multiple of these core pillars playing the pivotal role in shaping or sizing the today and the tomorrow of the millions that rely on them! As long as these elements of the “few” agree to disagree on a few things and pledge to work collaboratively with mutual respect and defined boundaries, the news channels have no role, except for covering the occasional announcements, reading out the press releases and those odd accidents that happen in any society, but as confrontation and greed sets up in these governing elements either as a cause and effect of each other or independent of each other, the news channels get the small break in the fabric of governance and once they latch onto it, instead of the good old vintage days of journalism instead of stitching the wound up, they take devilish pride and pleasure in accelerating the depth and degree of the break and simply allow the society to bleed even as the founding elements end up coming up with narratives in an vain attempt to course correct- for by now- the drama is already playing out and the audience who anyways are suffering (as the society begins to hemorrhage) have nothing else to do but get sold into one narrative over the other and it is this space where the war of the narratives are born which threaten to rip off all remaining values, functioning elements and systems of governance. So what’s the plan you may want to ask? Well read on!

News Channels and their rogue behaviour can be only allowed and go on as long as the governing elements of a society allow that to happen and why they would or any of them would allow it to happen is a direct relation to the amount of greed, power play and ego warfare among the elite- these egos are not the usual ones’ these egos ride high, real high of millions of dollars of business awarded/rejected and plum positions offered to taken away! This is what is the real root why news channels go rogue! Fix this one aspect and you will see the good old value based vintage journalism making a come back even before Christmas rings in!

At the end of it, the news channels, the “few” who (mis)govern the “many” all are a product of the same social bucket and once in a century, there comes a time when that bucket does get punctured and then the onus lies on the “few” then to create a new bucket- hopefully learning from the lessons why the old one failed! Human greed and the aspiration and desire for power has been the core to our evolution, the only problem is that now, in a few pockets this aspiration and greed is crossing the lines of morality like never before, sure enough one person’s moral grandstand could be not of the other’s liking, but when it comes to the very existence of the other person, there will be competing and conflicting narratives coming up and with that you will also see the coming to rise of the rogue news channels- who know only one thing- profit- profit from chaos, profit from division, profit from hate and profit from turbulent times, knowing well that the very society that they are operating within is being exposed and becomes even more vulnerable with each histrionic show that is allowed to be played out by the rogue channels and the society then not only gets expose to vulnerabilities internally but as a nation too external agents then proactively begin to seek weakened organs to penetrate and damage- these organs then could be the people, sections of the society or the very establishments themselves! So the solution?

Well to begin with as individuals just log off the rogue news network! Stop unverified circulation of things that you may not be sure off, have opinions on logic and science and propagate a rationalist mindset! Political alignment has nothing to do with common-sense and being scientific, you may be extreme right or extreme left- for both the cases the Sun still rises in the East and rivers still flow into the oceans, the only difference is what these two ideologies do, when they get eggs, one goes on to make poached eggs, the other may go ahead an make an egg sandwich- that’s the simple singular truth of life! Give common-sense and science a chance! Once at the individual level this unwarranted and unwanted intellectual garbage consumption is halted, the “few” who (mis)govern will be left with no choice at all then to begin to govern and redraw the lines of agreement to disagree and once that is done, it will be he final nail in the coffin of the rogue news network and in no time, they will vapourise as if they never existed in the first place!

It is the collective effort of the gifted and talented “few” of each society alone that can put an end to the rogue news network, locally, nationally and internationally and for that to take effect, individually we need to switch off from what doesn’t seem right! The easiest way to do that is, use your rationality, go by facts and figures and always remember Great Leaders and Great Nations are not the ones’ who never fail, but rather are the ones’ who fail, accept it and make amends to move ahead and overcome their setbacks over and over again! Rogue News Channels are like insects; the first ray of Sunlight and they are dusted!

I leave you here, take your time, reflect upon the society that you are in, wherever you are, see who are the “few” that make decisions for your life, identify the real news channels who still are standing there and weathering the storms for you-align to them and as soon as you the see the “rogues” among the news network, well by now you possibly know quite well what you need to do!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay wise, stay informed and stay safe!

Stand by your ideas.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Whether it is the recent case of that Indian Jewelry brand, who had to take down a commercial (for whatever reasons) or whether it is the whole social context of misaligned priorities, many of the challenges that we see around us, are in one way or the other, a manifestation of quick fixes and the the inability of people to stand by their own original thoughts and ideas! Join me here, we we explore this space and figure out what this is all about and if there’s any way to fix around these aspects and if there is one, what is that!

The times of today, are like none other before, even as we had ventured into 2020, quite a few economies were under strain and the pandemic was the last thing that any nation or society ever needed! What eventually has played out is the partial or complete wrecking of economies and stalling and failing of life as it is meant to be. You may want to ask what has an “idea” even got to do with all of this social chaos; well it has everything t do with it! For starters, even the very approach taken by societies to deal with their failing economies somewhere in the 2019 was perhaps someones’ idea and zoom into 2020,how societies chose to deal with the pandemic was another set of idea- needless to say some of these worked- worked rather well and some of these ideas failed and failed real bad! So how does one really know what idea to stand by and which one must be stowed away?

Based on the social context of the society that one is and based on who you are within that immediate contextual settings, you are the only one who can take a call on whether you want your idea to see the light of the day or not! This is an area of some fine judgement and unless the person entrusted to take the call is not sure enough what they are actually unfolding, the whole thing can be detrimental and create a big mess, then one can think of! Societies the world over are more polarized and divided then ever before in the last 40-50 years- there could be multiple reasons- some right and some wrong- but let’s leave that too the other wise people to comment and debate! The point of relevance and importance here is that unless ideas aren’t evaluated from the stand point of what they serve and whether they serve the larger good, playing around with them will almost always be detrimental and there will be consequences, in the same breath; as long as there is enough clarity (which can be communicated aggressively, boldly and empathically) about an idea and through the idea, then it is the very duty of the originator of the ideator to protect, fight and stand by that original idea- as and how one can do so- depending on what is the position occupied in the society, the power equation and the ability to engage and do away with all the challenges that come in ones’ way!

If the originators’ of an idea, lack conviction and belief in their own ideas, then it really doesn’t matter whether they are good or bad, or anything at all, simply because, at the slightest nudge, the ideas will fail and fall like a pack of cards and ideas like these end up becoming a tool for something else and end up loosing their very purpose of being there on the first place! So the learning point- Well any idea can be good or bad only as long as the contextual environment is studied and understood in depth! A misjudgment about the pulse of the immediate society, can make even the noblest of the ideas fail and can also make even the stupidest of ideas come to rule! Let me explain!

All of us know about that one nation or society, where people are not happy with their government and paradoxically enough, it is they who have chosen it to begin with! so what does this speak about the ideas and thoughts that would have been playing around the minds of the people when they elect from the very same social bucket people who seem similar and aligned and end up getting treated in a radically different manner! Well, this is the space where ideas are camouflaged and mis-represented, you see very often the standard reply the governments of the day, when and if they are questioned about anything and everything that they don’t do – is that “they have inherited a legacy and there has been so much little time to get so much of the things done!” Well then why was all of this, not part of the election vote seeking promise? Well, this is how the war of ideas, ideologies is played out when it comes to the running of nations and societies en mass! Contexts, change and meanings are given and taken away with equal ease and the idea- with which the journey would have started is all but lost and new entity keeps taking form every now and then, depending upon who is beholding the thought in that moment of time!

If you thought, the fragility of ideas is limited only to the space and theater of politics, well think again, when was the last time your original idea got to see the light of the day, at the place where you work or even at your home? Is anyone even listening to the ideas that you have, if yes why? and if no, still why? This is the space of intermittent silence and pauses and this space is the literal graveyard of many ideas- good bad, ugly all sorts of them and the only reason why ideas prematurely end up reaching their graves before they see the light of the day, is the singular fact that the beholder of that idea- was simply unable to communicate and execute what the idea was- perhaps there was a competency challenge either with the idea itself intrinsically or with the beholder- who would have picked up that great idea off the wind and just failed to get things to work along to make it alive and breath! What makes Ideas fragile and so much prone to destruction? Do people ever end up living by their idea- through the storm of life? Does that help? Read on!

Weak ideas or ideas that can be weakened are never great and its better that they get an earlier burial than seeing the light of the day, playing havoc and causing chaos! The real crux of the matter lies in the space where we have great ideas, wielded by average people- average by terms of the ability to mange tat idea and drive it in a way to ensure that it achieves the greatness that it is qualified for! There could be multiple reasons why people fail at great ideas, not necessarily all of these people would have intrinsic flaws, at times it could be the overbearing construct of the society around them and at yet other times it could be the simple case of being the right person with the right mind, the right idea in a terribly wrong place! Well, so in these instances, forget about executing the idea, guarding that idea from probing dis-serving people and eyes becomes a life-long pursuit and very often, it is only after a long hibernation of years or decades that that idea gets to come alive- provided it has the ability to retain its relevance across the time lapse which may have occurred! If you are wondering about examples around this- well the modern day aerospace machines, those tall skyscrapers in the world top 10 list- well each and every one of them has had to wait for the right time for science and engineering to catch up even if the idea of that machine of structure would have been there, many years preceding to the time when they actually got top see the light of the day!

Ideas that are resolute, vital and which serve the greater good of the society will always see the light of the day, perhaps delayed but they will for sure! It is ideas like these that one must stand by for, not let them go or allow them to fade away- because if the idea holds the promise to serve the greater good and promise for the many- no matter how long the road is, that walk will be worth it- simply because at the destination, you will be welcomed with more people than that you have walked along with and as your idea is embraced, it will bring about a fundamental positive change for the many around you and that idea then goes on to alter itself and tweak itself to suit the exiting conditions of the society and play its part to benefit as it should! For all and any of this to happen, it’s fundamentally important that the conviction of that idea has to be steadfast and should be anchored deep within to face the storms that may come ones’ way or the challenges that may keep visiting! Many great Ideas get killed before they arrive, not because their beholders were weak or the social contexts were not ready, but rather because the beholders lacked the necessary conviction to drive and push for them when it mattered the most! So what’s the point?

Well, as long as the beholder of the idea, one has the conviction and faith that “it” is what it is, and it serves the greater good, rest assured the Idea will live and see the light of the day, sooner or later, but it will do for sure! In the same breath it is also important to note that if conviction is lacking, then even the best ideas will fail and they will rapidly and predictably!

I leave you here with these thoughts, urging you to take some time off and run through all the ideas that you ever had and evaluate- what made them click and what made them fail- was it something to do with you or was it something about the idea or have you been spending much of your valuable life in a place where you should never be!

Ciao for now, will be back soon, with another one, until then allow those thoughts to flow around and get hooked to an awesome idea!

The cost of leadership.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Everyone wants to lead and everyone has an opinion (valid or not) about the leader that they see, everyone concurs that they, are better, smarter and more able than their leaders (especially when it comes to the political or community space), whereas the fact remains that, none of this is really true, authentic or accurate- for the Leaders alone knows what holding on to that leadership position has cost them- the untold saga of sacrifices, decisions going wrong and being coerced to choose between the evil and the lesser evil! Join me here as we try to decipher what plays on the mind of the leader as they sieve through multiple decisions that they must take, to continue leading what they lead and ensuring that all the stakeholders are safe, secure and the greater good is served over everything else at all times!

To begin with, one needs to understand that Leadership and Leaders are quite different from Mangers and the Bosses that you come across every now and then, Good Leader by default make great managers or bosses- that is what leading is all about, however the converse is not true! To that effect we must know what leadership and leading is all about! Sure enough there are volumes and volumes written by experts who have worked in the area of leadership and leading teams, but if you were to condense all of that and try to decipher what is the essence of leadership- it will eventually come down to a few things, like Leaders are courageous, vulnerable, rooted yet able to soar high and apart from many other things they are, they connect heart to heart and lead from the heart, creating more leaders then followers! Certainly Leadership experts, will add more aspects to what goes on to define what leading is and what leadership is, but since this is a blog, having the limitations, I will not dive further into this space, but now move ahead into what we are here to discuss- the cost of leadership!

Ask any Leader, that you come across and you will at an instant notice, leadership or leading people, is nothing like the way it is marketed or the way fables are written around it to motivate and inspire people! Leaders & their Leadership comes often with an intense and intimate cost; which rarely leaders will admit in the open- whether the costs of their leadership is the price paid by their family, their health or simply the acrimonious contextual settings that they operate in (based on the society that are in); every and all leadership comes at a cost! These costs at times outweigh the brief of the what is been lead and at times, the greatness of that position, makes any cost look too trivial and leaders keep pushing ahead to serve and lead upon what they have embarked! Let me explain!

Consider this, let’s say you are a leader (not a manager) and are given the task to lead a faltering organisation and get it back on it’s feet, given the fact, you are a leader, you will get it done, you may take a few months, a few years, perhaps a decade- based on what the organisation is, how complex the challenge is, but you will persevere, stay put and deliver- that’s what leadership is all about, isn’t it! Now, add a little twist to this, say while getting this assignment, if you were told that, you know what, by the time you finish getting this done and dusted, you will have probably increased blood sugars, an enhanced blood pressure and added waist line and you can meet your family only once a year- now- – what do you think will happen? What would have you done? This is the point where every leader evaluates- and rightly so- this is that moment which every leader undergoes before saying “Yes” to any assignment that comes their way- this evaluation of what is at stake- what is the cost to be paid and who will it involve is what plays on the Leader’s mind and sure enough, once this is settled the Leader’s are quick to start with the business and hit the ground. Now if you want to raise the stakes higher, how about if you are given the chance and choice to lead you nation? Feel the shivers? Based on where you are on the planet and whether you are dealing with millions in a multicultural society with sharp ideologies or in a bipolar society which just thinks the society and the world is either black or white!, You have a touch assignment and then start adding up layers of diplomacy, political prudence, media glare, intragroup rivalry, opposition pressures, international alignments and yes that ever looming threat being the person on the chair! You still want to lead? You see, it is very easy to give opinions and say things about people in power or in general about leaders- but if you only knew the cost that have paid to be where they- you will have a rethink before you race to say anything to them either appreciating or criticizing them! You may want to say, but that’s what they have signed up for!

Sure enough, Leaders do sign up for challenges around the work and for leading people and holding them together as they achieve goals that they have been entrusted with; but Leaders never sign up for the price that they at times end up paying which can far outweigh anything & everything that they would have signed up for! Like the earlier example, if you were to take up an assignment knowing your health will be irreversibly damaged- well then your move actually puts a whole big question mark on your leadership competence- Simply because Leadership is not Suicidal! If you were to say yes and go ahead with that corporate offer to lead compromising and damaging your own health, rest assured you will end up rubbing the same down through the team and the consequence would be higher medical bills for the organization to settle, increased health related absenteeism and in that rare event death on the job!

Leadership is raw, painful, thankless, invisible yet omnipresent, rewarding and fulfilling- the real leader knows the way to find the right essence between being an eccentric genius and a soft spoken suave presence. Often than not the real cost of leadership is never seen in the open and except for that small inner circle of the leader, hardly ever will everyone know the multiple battles and jugglery that the leader undertakes just to ensure that the team still has their job in the month ahead and your salary cheque will reach you as it should! Often the biggest misconception is that the “Corner Office” people have nothing to do, just go on for endless lunch meetings and evening catch up’s on the way back home!

What people miss out is that, it’s these very lunch meetings that usher in the promise of a sustained lunch for all the people that the Leader leads and the meetings on the way back, suddenly extend robbing them away of their family time, more than anyone else! Given the construct of the culture that we have and the working associations and equations, Leaders will rarely open up to tell you how they felt nervous before the client said or whispered that “yes” over lunch, neither will they tell you what kind of ruckus that they had to face, simply because they could not attend their kids school function…the list is endless and this selfless sacrifices, measured and done on a daily basis, is what Leaders face!

Whether you lead as a doctor, a cop, a defence warrior, a corporate head honcho, or you are that next big start up success story- you could be any of these or you could be as simply as leading yourself and you will see even the effort to lead yourself too comes at a cost and the cost that you pay to lead yourself is the time you waste/invest in creating greater value for yourself to become a better version what will be relevant in the approaching tomorrow! Every Leader starts by Leading themselves first! It really doesn’t matter what you have signed up for, unless you are game on and you are able to spread that contagious warmth and exuberance among your team mates, the whole journey will end even before it starts!

The simple and singular fat is leadership and leaders pay the price or rather should I say the cost for the leadership that take responsibility for, at times the decision is far more important than their personal comfort and there is a greater social cause and hence must be held on to and at other times, leaders begin to soak in more and more into their work, not because they are workaholic maniacs, but simply because they can’t allow the team to fail, for the team’s failure is their own failure! Every leader weighs and evaluates the cost, even before they start and for some reason if they miss out on this bit, we get to see what is a full blown leadership crisis in the workplace and you can see leaders come and go- simply because there is not contextual setting and clarity on what is to be achieved and at what cost! If you ask me, another term for Leadership is Clarity of Purpose- when you have that, you are able to lead, yourself first and as that conviction led warmth spreads, other join you sooner than you think and you are well on your way to create new milestones in the task that you have chosen ahead!

To wrap it up, the next time, you come across a leader (not a manager) just know this, that the person has sacrificed something, you may know that or may never know that, but that is a given! Leadership is never about Lights, Camera, Action, It’s all about sweat, grit, determination, failures and bounce backs from one moment unto the next until the objective is achieved!

I leave you here, with these thoughts for no, do reflect, think about all the leaders you ever came across and what do you think their leadership cost them, and if you happen to be a leader (not a manager), what is the cost that you have paid and is it worth it?

Ciao for now, will be back soon! By the way, do get in touch with us for appointments pertaining to Leadership Coaching that we have now commenced! For more details drop in a mail or visit us at http://www.simplifylives.com

The Knowledge overload.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

In the crazy times that we exist, surely it feels like the Heavens above must have been in an overdrive while planning to lead humanity to the place we are, no I am not going to talk about the pandemic, already have shared a lot! I am referring to possibly a greater pandemic, which is perhaps more dangerous than the one that we are facing now! This is about dealing with the knowledge overload- a knowledge pandemic; if you want to look at it that way! Join me here as we take a quick look at what this is and what does it mean to us and what is that we can do to survive this challenge, collectively or individually as the case may be! So here we go!

This is not only about cribbing about the invasion of the digital screens into our lives (although they do) this is not about the grueling efforts that go into pursuing higher & specialized education, in terms of money and opportunities around, this isn’t only about how many books, research materials, manuscripts are available or not, this is simply about the maddening pace at which knowledge gets consumed, gets outdated and leaves us ever famished and wanting more and more of it, even as we are aware that there is only so much that we can achieve in the life time that we have and there is only so much that one can really apply and bring into action, irrespective of how much knowledge one holds within!

This mad race to soak in as much as knowledge on can, irrespective of how much of that is validated or relevant has led to chaos and ambiguity more than what natural confusion would have provided! Ever heard about, “All the experts who came together to agree that nothing can be done” well that’s a classic case of knowledge overload! What knowledge overload does is, that it begins to make you pace up against yourself and that by the very definition of it is a very self-defeating approach! But why does this happen in the first place, why do people fall into this senseless trap of wanting to behold all and know all kind of stuff (knowing very well that, it doesn’t work that way!) The reason for this, is the contextual framing that we have allowed to seep in, across societies wherein knowledge has become a tool to achieve something further and not a destination in itself! Let me explain!

If you observe around, what do you see, parents, teachers and almost everyone who has this ability to give free advise to a teen, is going to just say one thing, “study this, go to that university, get that degree” so on and so forth- not because that will enrich the individual or make that person wiser, but because that assures well off life and a sustained source of income- nothing wrong with it – sure enough, well that’s what is needed, what do we do with knowledge if money doesn’t come in- plain, simple, effective, but the big point missed out here is that- no one asked you not to get wiser even as you make your money! This is where the knowledge overload problem begins and how does this manifest? Well, read on!

Have you ever dealt with that boss of your’s who always said just do it this way- and don’t ask me why? or that boss who came to you rushing ten minutes before the presentation and asking you to change 15 slides immediately? Did you ever come across a person who knew everything and was sought after by everyone for some listening but not for any action? I am sure you would have come across multiple such instances wherein people have been glued to the pivot of the knowledge that they hold and are in process of applying- few of them seem to be in control of it (like the judges, the doctors, the law enforcement people- most of the times!) and at times, you will come across people who seem to be just struggling to cope up with the dynamism of the knowledge that they hold, every next day that challenge to update just seems to get insurmountable for them. So why do people react to knowledge in completely two different ways- one while being in supreme control and at other times being completely run over by it?

They do so because in one case they are able to tame knowledge and shape it to the way they want to action through it and in the second case, knowledge is nothing but a fast moving rapid and it will knock you over your feet, if you don’t know where you are putting your feet next! So what’s the right way to engage with knowledge?

The real essence of engaging with knowledge is about soaking it only until it enables and empower you to apply it to create some meaningful value for you or for others! Anything done half way through that in a rush or anything done long after you have soaked yourself beyond repair- is all counterproductive- because knowledge too, like everything else is sensitive to time and context! Let me explain!

Consider you are a new doctor, and heading to the first surgery in the ER, what’s your frame of mind? are you trying to yet mug up, Grey’s Anatomy- page 456 or are you planing to go ahead with what is presented in front of you and pursue your line of treatment based on what you see in front of you? You don’t open up a person and say, “hey, I read it in the book, this pieces, is not supposed to be here, can we move it by a few inches?” This is what the context and time element of knowledge is all about! In that contextual setting of the ER, it would have really not mattered how much of medical know how you have or not, as long as you were able to understand what is in front of you and as long as you are able to provide the recourse as science would require you too! This is real essence of working with knowledge, no matter what field you pursue, unless you develop this approach of being pragmatic, in the now and being able to what it is that you are dealing with, you may have all the gold medals in the world, but you will get drowned by the same overload of knowledge that keeps moving around within your mind like a lost ghost! So what’s the takeaway?

Simple and to the point, Knowledge works only as long as you work upon it and you don’t get worked up because of it! Understanding, updating and staying relevant is one thing and being able to think on your feet in the now and deliver to a perplexing problem in front of you applying the principle of the knowledge that you hold is the real essence of being able to manage and overcome knowledge overload! Once you are able to this, rest assured scaling up your learnings and applying them as fluidly as you want to are all but a part of simple design. Too much of anything and everything is not helpful, simply because it creates an imbalance and when it comes to knowledge, an imbalance leads to unwanted eccentricity- individually it looks funny- but when that gets extrapolated to a society as whole- you end up heaving polarized and radicalized views which don’t go to help anyone on anything, no matter how knowledgeable people are or how wise the society is! Balance- dynamic balance is the key to tame knowledge- soaking in it, just enough to create and share value and not getting drowned into it to create more chaos or ambiguity!

I leave you here, hoping that you are always as soaked up in knowledge only as much is relevant to what you do and you are always able to work upon the knowledge that you behold and never get run over by it!

Ciao for now, will be back with another one! Until then, stay wise, and keep learning and keep sharing!

Lose battles to win wars!

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

As strange it may seem, but ask any military commander and you will have plethora of stories that go on to prove the point, why at times loosing a few battles, irrespective how hard or easy they are is in the larger interest to win the final war! No, I am not a military strategist, but this principle perhaps fits aptly to the lives and times that we are going by and more than ever before, it has now become more important to identify which aspect of your life is you war and which one is a battle! Which is the one that you can let go and which is the one that you must engage with day in and day out until you accomplish that ever elusive objective! Join me here as we explore this space and understand why loosing at time is the final step to a magnificent victory!

If you have read any of the authentic memoirs on World War I or World War II, you will perhaps get a quick understanding about what, “The fog of war” means! When you have military action unleashed across many theaters, and with military strategy at work between both sides, as the war ensues each side will try to deviate, distract, dodge, trap, escape and beat down the other side, even for that to occur these multiple theaters of war though acting independently at first glance necessarily need to deliver results at the right time and place to tilt the balance of the war in their favour and this is the essence of loosing a few battles to win the war (the main battle- to put it in another choice of words!)

As in war, so in life, irrespective whether you are a young student trying to make your mark in the world of academics, or a young professional racing ahead that corporate ladder or a seasoned professional trying to create the next set of industry wide benchmarks- across each of them lies a common thread- that commonality pertains to the fact that irrespective of whoever you are and whatever you choose to do- unless you have identified what is equivalent of war in your life and what is the equivalent to the many battles that you must wage (albeit winning some and loosing a few), you will always seem to be challenged in an ever increasing complex pattern both externally and as well as within yourself!

Each day, we are compelled to make choices and as I had written in my earlier article, choices are what eventually make us but, largely dependent on other aspects associated with it! It is from here that as we begin to decide and check out what aspect of our life is the war that we must win and what aspects are the battles- which we are fine wining some and loosing some as long as the War is won.- So what are these battles and what is this war all about? Read on!

The battles that we need to pick and choose as we go about our daily lives can crop up from any area of our life and are related to our value system and beliefs that we end up anchoring upon as we grow. If the value and belief systems remain congruent to the ones given to us and the ones that we experience around- the number of battles to be fought reduces considerably! The moment there is disconnect between what we have been given to believe, follow and aspire to be and what we experience as individuals, conflict commences and like any conflict there is only one side that can win- either what you have been given to believe or the ones’ that you have experienced first hand! Depending on which side wins- that etched moment will further add a layer of foundational belief and character to who you are. If that new acquired character serves you to win the big war that awaits you- this battle was worthy enough of a victory- else a defeat here- by giving up your new acquired beliefs over the older ones’ would have been more valuable! Think about this! Let me explain this!

Consider, you are aspiring to be a cop, now as you grow you are going to be exposed to all the right and wrong that exists with any law enforcement society- this is your battle front and the aspiration that you want to be a cop is the war that you must win! Now if you start to despise all the negative aspects of being a cop- corruption, political pressure, seemingly in-efficient judicial recourse- and start thinking that none of this can be changed and you begin to ignore and start to act recklessly by trying to course correct people and situations assuming you are the law- by beating up people- you will perhaps win the battle of being right in that moment- but all and any chances of you being a cop will be dashed beyond repair- in a few societies permanently! This is a classic case of winning a battle emphatically, myopically and loosing the all important war altogether!

In another scenario, you see all this negative- understand why it is what it is, and wait for your time when you have the power to change that from the legal stand point! So here even if you seem to be submissive in the shorter time line over a period of time as you harness the power of the uniform that you wear, you are able to make more lasting impact with changes that you always wanted to do and more importantly winning the war by becoming a cop that you always wanted to be even if you would have lost a few battles on the way before becoming ready to have the power to change their outcome in your favour!

I can give you similar examples from virtually all arenas of the lives that we live, corporate, theater, art, politics, you name it and there will be stories having uncanny similarities but the singular point will be the fact that, people who are able to win the war of their lives are the ones’ who have learnt to lose their battles and more importantly know which to loose and which to win so that the balance of war is always tilted in their favour! So what’s the key here!

It all boils down to this simple truth of life, sounds a bit philosophical, but then truths are truths, once you have identified that golden purpose, objective of your life- that accomplishment of that desire/aspiration becomes the only and all important war that you must pursue and win- win because that moment of victory is what will go on to define who you are and what your life has been and what is the legacy that you will leave behind! With so much at stake, it’s but obvious one needs to apply time, patience and intelligence to decide what that war will be and time it right! Once you have identified the War that you must win, needless to say, like ghosts from nowhere you will find scenarios and challenges coming towards you, multiple of them a few times, feeble sometimes and strong at other times, these are all those battles which you need to weigh carefully every passing day/ hour to understand which to fight, which to delay, which to ignore and when you do fight, when and whether you fight to win or fight to loose- all these decisions need to be aligned in a manner that ensures that you are always congruent to your final objective of winning the war!

Battles that sap your energy, drive you crazy, take you away in opposite journeys and directions from the direction where your final war zone is serve no purpose and these are better ignored, delayed or if necessary lost! Battles that mark your presence like a milestone and which keep you aligned to the trajectory of your war zone are the ones that you need to win, because each victory on the way is a statement- a statement of your arrival on the war theater and ask any military commander, they will tell you, apart from the loud noises that the guns and machines make, if there’s anything else that melts the resolve and minds of the enemies it is the courage and achievements of the people in command.

Once you reach the war zone of your life empowered by your won battles and humbled by the ones’ you have lost- you have a finer judgement to time your move and ensure that no matter what the odds you will be able to achieve your objective- whether that is a job as a cop, that corporate CEO chair, that leadership position in an office, starting your own enterprise, serving the people- whatever is your war cry- all of that can be realized once you arrive at the war zone as a battle hardened soldier whose vision is focused and glued to the victory of the final war!

Learning what to let go, learning what to hang on to and choosing to loose a few and never loose some, is an art and science which gets perfected not in any school, but in the lab of your life! As unique as we are, so will be our battles and wars- each one cut out to mold us, shape us and push us ahead- willingly or unwillingly so that we are able to reach the war zone to win and achieve what we have set out for and while doing so we are able to give up on things and people that don’t serve us in the context that they tend to drag us down rather then propel us ahead! It is certainly not a call for being selfish, rather it is the interest of selflessness of serving the greater good for the people around you that you must lead, by loosing some and winning what you must- it is only then that as individuals and societies we will continue to have real life everyday heroes who make the difference by doing ordinary tasks in an extraordinary way and thereby keep the human spirits high and hold that promise which says, as long as you know where you want to be- you will get there once you have made up your mind- and as long as you are wiling to pay the price that it may cost! Whether that cost is justified or not is another story because success is finally something that has to be shared with the community and in isolation nothing works, neither happiness, nor leadership nothing!

I leave you here with these thoughts, urging you to take some time this weekend that you have, think deep within and decide what is the war of your life which you want to get into- which is that war that will define you, to create a lasting legacy of values and beliefs that you stand for and what are the battles that you are ready to win and loose to tilt the balance of this grand war in your favour!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one! Until than stay wise, keep thinking and yes breathe!

Marketing through fear.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Through evolution, if there has been a singular thread that the human mind has been able to hold on to apart from being creative it has been the thread of respecting and taming fear! Join me here as we take a quick look on how this space of fear- has gone to shape us, what we do as individuals and societies and why the marketing of fear is not limited only to companies that sell products and services, but runs beyond that and is much deeper than you can think! So here we go!

Fear- the most basic of human emotions and something that has gone a long way to make who we are today. Fear certainly played it’s part to ensure that as a species we survived and thrived. Experts have written books upon books on how fear helps and how it harms, so I am not going to go ahead and more to that bit, but this is the base point that we will have our piece anchored upon- the singular fact that fear works and perhaps works too well to ensure that we survive and we thrive.This is why people who do market through the angle of fear- almost always get what they set out to achieve! Let me explain!

The pandemic sure enough has brought the entire humanity face to face with a situation that even by standards of pure science and scientific research is mind boggling and giving a tough time even to the renowned experts in the respective fields of study- but what do we observe as we look around? You have anti-viral clothing- formal wear, you suddenly have anti-viral “x”,”y”, “z” and almost everything from the ball pen that you hold in your hand to the mobile cover that you may have or the humble body wash/ hand soaps all of them have been suddenly transformed into oversight anti-viral heroes sure enough with that golden sly condition of 99.99%*** written and said all over as the choreographed visual sleight is played out! Not to forget the sudden wonder foods that have cropped up which are supposed to keep you safe by boosting your immunity even as you smoke and drink and load cholesterol in your system! I mean really? The marketing through fear angle when it comes to what we consume as humans is not limited to this pandemic alone! Let us jog down the memory lane!

If you have been observant, try and recollect how food was marketed to you- whether it was that milk- for protein and health or those humble oats, that white meat, that steak, that vegan movement, that fish with supposedly the most potent pack of Omega 3 fatty acids or those canned shrimps, to the whole narrative of micro plastics in sea food, antibiotics in meat, pesticides in plants and fruits , to chemicals in formulation…so if you actually walked through this who;e circle- by now- you would have checked out almost everything that you can think of eating or drinking simply because for every one narrative that says you should have it else you will get “abc” problems, there are competing narratives which suggest exactly the opposite which say, if you have this, you will certainly get “pqr”. So finally people do what they can, ignore as much as they can, apply science if they have the time and energy and if it is available with them try to apply age old granny’s wisdom and common sense and get moving ahead in life! The people who get sold into these narratives are the ones’ who are entrapped for ever and it is these masses that are than played over by people who want to sell to them whatever they please to, whenever they choose to and at a price that they command! If you thought this fear led communication is only limited to marketing of products and services or the world of communication, think about it- there is virtually not one sector which is untouched by this malaise! Even Governments play out the same strategy, the only difference being that their playbook gets camouflaged into visual-less,boring and printed pointers (change of rules you see) which are often ignored and missed until the IRS or the tax man in your nation comes home paying a visit to you! Let me explain this space too quickly!

Governments the world over have the big task of managing societies- societies which are at times diverse, cohesive, divisive, polarized, idealistic, plural, liberal, accommodating, welcoming, closed..so on and so forth. The matter here is not about what is right or what is not so right, you need to see in this space, how is your government (if you have one!) working on the entire social fabric that you exist in- what is the story that is has been selling to you- do you or rather did you ever or maybe – do you always get a sense that the government is always trying to reach out to you and tell you something that is not right! Think about it, when was the last time that a leader of a society/ nation took to the stage and said, you had given me “x” time and I had 10 things to provide and this is what I have accomplished! Well, hardly any right? So humans, being humans- it doesn’t matter whether you are just who you are or you lead a nation- when you have nothing to say, they spin a story and since being in politics, crime won’t help, neither will any of the other vices, fear is the only instrument of choice to distract, divert and draw people to a non-issue that either doesn’t exist and if it does, blow it so much out of proportion that, by the time everyone is consumed by it- people are left wondering and saying to themselves, ” What was all that about, anyway”!

Whether they tell you stories of the enemy within or around, whether they paint the picture of climate change (even as they themselves clear forests- unknown to you!) or whether they talk about eradicating poverty- while they sustain and increase their personal wealth- all that approach is to instill fear and sell fear- aggressively or subtly to ensure they are able to manipulate and control and get what they want the society to do and allowing only permissible flexibility to resist/divert or stay non-committal- anytime that percentage threatens to wreck the balance of the social balance- an incident will come to the limelight and very often that just goes on to reinforce the stories earlier sold by marketing fear!

Final words, well, whether it is the promise of that tooth paste in your hands about being anti- whatever or that apparel which assures you 99.99%** of whatever that makes sense or it;s that news about that bad country, or bad people or those Vs Us kind of a narrative- all and each of these nudges are to make you feel vulnerable, unsafe and anxious- because it is only when you are vulnerable, opened up and exposed with a mind filled with self-doubt and confusion- that a marketeer or a government will be able to plant the seed of fear and if you make the mistake of allowing that to happen and you go on to nourish it- well you just end up writing a blank cheque to your life- some call it loyalty, I call that ignorant slavery! So what’s the way around, is there any? If everyone seems to be hell bent on manipulating and conspiring all the time! Read on!

Individual awareness, access to multiple verified sources of information and education are the essential ingredients for empowering people to compare, contrast and discern of what is actually unfolding! Debate, discussion in a directed manner to address an issue or a challenge or a developing problem are all but the next steps followed by proactive implementation of legislative steps to safeguard and govern the society with transparency and clarity! Sure enough seems to be a fairy tale, because the moment this happens, what we have is distributed ownership of society where no one member of the society is more important than the other and everyone is as equal and as important as the other person and this is what a few will never want the many to have access to and hence the story of marketing and selling through fear will go on and on unless you are able to discern at your own level and share that insight around your sphere of influence so that at least a section of the society is able to see clearly what lies ahead and is able to save the day for the many- should the time ever arise! This is the space where new leaders are born and new orders are created!

Remember, fear must be respected to be overcome, but not surrendered to! No one overcame fear by surrendering, people have always conquered fear by embracing it!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another article, until then stay safe and stay wise!

Listening > Speaking.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

I actually wanted to write the title urging people to “Listen to shut up” then I felt, perhaps everyone may not like it that way! But hang on, this article is certainly not that cliche,on why you must listen and speak less and all that crap around that Victorian model. I say, scream when you must speak and yell when you must whisper, but the whole point is that, you will not have to do any of this, if and only if you are able to develop your listening and this is absolutely not about only listening to the words! Join me here to explore what is that, we can go on to listen each moment, beyond words and why not paying attention necessitates us to spend so much of energy, time and words to just have the simplest of the things done or how we end up screwing up things because of this! So here we go!

Often, when people are talk about listening- they refer to the spoken word- what they hear- sure enough that is what it is and what it should imply- but what if I told you that you also need to see to listen, yes see- observe and gauge what is not been said through the spoken word but also through the cues of non verbal communication- the tense posture, the relaxed demeanor- whatever the context could be- the point here is that- when we focus only on what is spoken and don’t factor in the totality around the spoken word- we miss the point in a big way! I mean, if you happen to be by any chance a person who has been trained in the areas of security, intelligence etc. you know what I am saying- and yes- it does not have to be that high end as well- even your kindergarten teachers or the psychologists that you perhaps visit- are well equipped to figure out what is actually being communicated by listening into what is not been said alongside what is been said!

Now you may ask, fair deal- so what’s so difficult around this- well, the problem is that we are natural bad listeners, all of us- you and I included- you see the human brain the way we have evolved- is attuned to pick up distress, emergency and crazy moments over stable, steady, happy moments as a default- that’s our survival ticket- so don’t even bother complaining about it! Hence, we have so many experts always offering guidance and teachings around what is now fashionably called- directed/focused listening- well they are basically asking you to pay attention- nothing more and nothing less. The fact remains that, you pay attention during that training, because either you or your office has paid for that session and post that it’s again back to default settings in no time!

So why do we always slip back to default settings of only listening to emergency/urgency and just wander around our imaginary world as people keep on speaking, blabbering- well there are two parts to this- one- believe it or not- over 90% of what is spoken is pure garbage- you see what the neighbor’s cat did, how that dog bit the delivery guy, who eloped with whom, which President is dumber than who else, who wore which dress, who tripped, who fell, who won the lottery- now all of this rhetoric, the moment it begins- your brains is smarter than you think- it just asks one simple question- is any of this shit- a cause of concern for me- am I under threat- do I need to take any action- if the answers are no- than your brain allows that to play on like some gibberish background noise and hence when you are often asked in the middle- what did I say- you are actually trying to save your self!

The second important part is the fact that your brain is so smart than you can think that it uses sight/ your eyes to make out what the body language of the person is- is there a state of urgency, is that all to what is been said- is there anything that needs to be sought further- only when that space raises a concern of a veiled threat because something is been hidden, that you will get a signal, be prompted to ask more questions and that engagement of focused listening and an engaged conversation will continue until the brain looses its interest either it has got all what it needs or has concluded that this all too was a waste of time! So what about the listening part and why does Listening end up being greater than speaking?

When we practise what I call as directed/ focused listening , we end up helping our brain in multiple ways- see you are not going to cut the other person off, as the person is speaking- so you save time off your brain to rearrange those words, that logical flow and everything that will help you to throw your point of view even before the other one has completed theirs! So as a deliberate effort, once you stop cutting people- you get to hear their complete point of view, more than half of the times (unless you are the odd one- being the right person in the wrong place or the wrong person in the right place) if you listen, to the other person completely, you will be left with only few limited options- one could be asking that person to get lost as what was said has nothing to do with you, or now that you have heard the person and now you will act or take some action or you will seek more information/ more clarity and propose next steps. So in effect, you have hardly had to talk! You just saved yourself from wasting so much of energy that could have gone in- had you not listened with intent and focus- no more long meetings, no more reviews, no more, long emails, no more conference calls, all done with a few sessions of directed listening and being in the now when it matters the most! See when you really listen, you also learn and when you learn you can act, when you act- the task is done! Remember your school days, why do you think you have all that stuff packed in your brain- well back then you listened because you knew that only if you listened, you will understand and only if you have that crucial understanding , will you be able to apply and only when you apply what you have learnt, will you be able to sustain your success and live a life that you cherish and plan for! So this is why listening is always more potent and greater than speaking! Now, you may want to ask, me, whatever happened to that listening to what has not been spoken? Sure, read on…

Even as your would have factored that directed and applied listening is so effective, the fact remains, that is easier said than done! See our brain is constantly scanning our environments, with only one agenda to keep us safe- safe as in not that anyone is coming to take you out- just to ensure that the setting that you have chosen- is not being breached. Let me explain- say you are having an exit interview of a colleague- known or unknown to you- the brains of the person with whom you are speaking and your brain will be by default scanning for visible presence of either your manager or the manager of the person who is leaving- because both of them would be curious to know what is been said! The more toxic and dramatic the place- the higher will be the alertness of your brain and just as for this instance- every second you spend in your office, speaking with friends, family in a group setting, your brain is constantly working around the possible threats that may come your way- when you cracked a joke- who laughed and who shrugged- you see not everyone is going to be vocal enough- like I normally am- to walk into your face and say- boss- you’ve had enough of your shit, now move on or stay quiet! As people develop body language cues to express their emotions when words get drowned, your brain switches its scanner on and picks up these and that’s how communication is floating and is nudged around in a group setting! It is in settings like these, training classes, meetings – whether you are discussing critical details about something important with an individual or you are discussing something with many- your brain’s ability to scan the unspoken word- will help you know exactly what you need to speak next, with whim and possibly also when!

If you ever want to make a difference to your life or the lives of others, by your work, art, influence, the first step that you must embrace is to develop an unlimited amount to patience to listen- it’s only when you allow people to connect, express and feel safe that you will be able to understand them completely and only when that happens will they pay heed to what your spoken word is- for the simple reason that- they now know that you know them well enough to guide, counsel or advise them as the case may be! Only once you have arrived at a level of desirable competence of being able to practise directed and active listening, will you be able to deploy your abilities to train your mind to pick up the non-verbal cues with increasing finesse and accuracy! What all of this eventually will do is – the person speaking to you will have to use even fewer words than earlier and you too will possibly have nothing to say- just perhaps act based on what was told to you, because you would have also learnt to listen to, what was not said and your action is the spoken word that the other person actually waits to listen into!

I will leave you here, with these thoughts for now and yes, listen,listen and listen so that you you to speak less and when you do- you will be sure it matters!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one! Stay safe and stay wise! Nothing more to say for now, hope you listened to yourself as you read this!

Buried by memories.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Hello there! Does your present life look like a burial ground of your memories every time you speak or do something? Well whether it is or it isn’t this article is just for you! As we age, no matter how fine tuned your brains is, it will start to play these magic tricks which take you along a guided tour of your memories- whether you want it or not and whether these memories are sweet or not! Join me here to understand how this impacts us and what is there that we can do about this, if there’s really anything that we can do and how can we use our memories to create an empowering present rather than be knocked down by them!

Each one of us has our own unique superpower and in the case of a few, that superpower happens to be the astonishing feats that their brain can achieve by replaying incidents and images from the past- with vivid details bordering on being outright spooky in a few cases! Any psychologist or a psychiatrist will be more qualified than me to share with you how memory helps and harms and what role it plays in constructing the person who we become- both in reality and in perception, but this piece is slightly of a different take on the same subject, it is about how even in day to day conversations and approach that we take- we relentlessly keep on going back to this memory bank (many times for no real reason) and that in fact ends up going more damage to us- especially when it doesn’t serve any purpose on our today or the fact approaching tomorrow! Let me explain!

What does your normal day look like? how many times during your day do you end up conversations referring to, “it was good then”, “this is what was done then”. “this is how it should, because that’s how I had seen it or done it”, “that vacation was great”, “that person is an idiot”, “those people are awesome”, “that family, that colleague, that friend, that cousin and so on and so forth”! You see, through the day at least once you will end up touching one of these chords- well there’s nothing wrong and right about it as long as it starts to interfere into what you are doing today! Sure enough if you are relying on your experience or learning to accomplish something, that still makes sense because here you are tapping into your memory cells to empower your today, the problems start to manifest, when you pluck the chords that don’t serve your present and neither seem to serve your future any time soon!

Sure enough, you would have had a great vacation, sure enough you would have had great colleagues and friends in life- but the only valid and golden questions is – how is any of that empowering your today? or how does any of it hold a promise to empower your future? If you have an answer- that they do- than hold on to those memories like your life depended on them- because these are not only your memories but, the tools that have the power and influence to shape your today and tomorrow. Everything else that you have stored in your brain and what you are able to recall- is pure waste of energy! Trust me, given the size that your brain is and the amount of tasks that it needs to get done- to just ensure you stay safe in a dumb world that we are living about it, it will only help the brain if you make a choice to weed out all that unwanted clutter from your memory bank and allow your brain to be that bit free to ensure it doesn’t get exhausted thinking about matters that really don’t matter!

Like with all else, the quality of memories that are recalled and that are stuck with you, go on to define the quality of your today and the arriving tomorrow! As long as you have un-serving, self-centric memories from your past (which perhaps stir up cautious to self-doubting tendencies) you will find those memories which border on being nightmares impact and dictate your ability to embrace the world as it really is- simply because your ability to perceive the world accurately gets fogged out by the overbearing presence of these nightmarish memories of the past! How many times have you said, “People from”xyz” are “abc” because you had a bad experience some time back?”, How many times you have made generalized, sweeping statements about people, religion, culture, vocation, orientation and what not- without really being bothered to know what the reality really is- just because your one experience made you feel that way!

Similarly, when you have empowering memories that added value to your in the past and show the promise to do the same in your today- those memory tires than constitute to add that vital touch of magic to further your shine in the world that you live in your today! Consider this, if you remember how you made a great mock-tail when you were in college and when you are able to spin the same magic at your daughter’s wedding reception- how does it feel for you and everyone- WOW right! That’s what meaningful memories are all about! This is how the magic of memories should be put to use, by not allowing them to bury you into your past but by rather allowing you to stay liberated in your present and by keeping you hopeful about your future!

As long as your memories are harnessed with the thought that they serve some purpose in your present or in the future, it’s best to have them buried away lest they come back to bury you in the present that you exist! Many problems manifest from this space of harnessing misplaced memories and these haunting memories in no time turn into nightmares and eventually begin to consume all the islands of calm that you may have within you and around you, because frankly no one really cares what happened in you past- you see even your boss doesn’t care of you were the beast employer last year or five years ago, if you are screwing up now and making it embarrassing for your boss “in the now”- that’s a good enough reason to fire you and get some peaceful sleep!

Perhaps the biggest mistake that people end up doing with their memories is that- they think others will be as excited as they themselves are and nothing could ever be farther from the truth! You see human memories are completely intimate and virtually second skin! They are only and only meant for consumption by the beholder of those memories. Thankfully, the way our brains are physiologically structured- it is often very difficult to narrate a memory without help of an external visual cue- consider this, say you want to describe that splendid Florida beach to your friend who has never been there- you can go on and on and even sing a song or write a poem- the other person is just going to end up thinking what an idiot you have been- it is only when you are able to share a snap or a video form that locale – will that person be able to relate, like, dislike, share a thought or an opinion and that if the person has a liking for the beach!- If the other person is a mountain or a plains lover- well you are toast and you can say bye bye to whatever fragile bond that you hold! This is what the magic of memories really is! They belong to the beholder and are for the beholder of the memories and do not call for participation of anyone else- unless they have been co-created by people with a singular thought for a purpose!

As one taps into their memories, sieves through them in the context of what empowers them and what harms them, it empowers an individual’s present once they are able to tap into the meaningful memories. This also helps to develop a sustainable charisma that goes a long way to help them navigate their world and better equips them to face their tomorrow!

I leave you here, for now, urging you to do a deep cleaning of your memory bank, weed out all that doesn’t serve you anymore, arrange what does and apply what helps so that you can empower your today on the foundation of your memories and not ever get worried about getting buried under their overbearing past from the past!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one, until then stay wise and stay safe!

Conflict of Values.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

The title is what we were, are and will ever and always be! Three words but humanity is encapsulated into this frame, try it the way you want to! Join me for a short piece as we try to explore and understand what is this conflict of values all about and why does it play a vital role that it does!

Ever since we are able to make sense and through our formative years, we are always told about values, beliefs and way of life which is supposed to be “the way” and perhaps in a few extreme cases , “the only way” to live and go about our lives! Well so far so good, as long as you see this concept in isolation, one person’s truth remains to be with that person in the confines that the person is going about their lives! The fun really starts as people begin to cross your path and if you are blessed even with an average working brain- you are all set for the proverbial, “conflict of values” and this is where people are formed and destroyed, rise up or are buried into the oblivion, because when it comes to the conflict of values, it is never about whose value is better over the other, rather it is about how well is an individual’s value able to stand the test of time and competing values to keep your persona steady and on the chosen path that you have set out to tread upon! Let me explain this space for you!

You see, as individuals, we are indoctrinated with the values that are handed over to us from our family or the immediate impacting surroundings that may be surrounding us, as we make progress and begin to meet others, we become more and more familiar with what the other person’s values are, we do, what I call is a “value trade off”- remember the school days- something like those play dates, sharing of cup cakes kind of thing- ya, real cute bits like that- we basically start to gravitate to values which make our life easy- easy to manage, progress and maneuver and that’s how it is with each one of us- trust me there is nothing wrong and right about this bit. By now, you may want to ask, if we are all a mixture of traded values in terms of personality- why do we then end up being so different from each other- so much of individuality? Well, the answer is that depends on how you apply the values to what you do as you go about your life! You see values are like the proverbial double edged sword- it can cut the veggies for you and it can cut you as food for someone else! So our individualistic discerning mind, applied to the values that we hold in a context that we god about living our lives, is what we are- as a sum total of all of these variables! Each time either the value, the mind or the contextual settings are altered – you will no longer tend to remain who you are and you will experience a personality shift and that is how we come to the next bit of Value types!

If you ask me, knowing that I really like to keep things simple, I see Values only of two types- Negotiable and Non-Negotiable. Primarily negotiable values are those where you are ready to cross that line of social behaviour or approach to ensure something gets done- without inviting collateral damage or harm and whatever that is is manageable. Non-Negotiable Values are basically your personification- you in Action- and these are something that you are not ready under any amount of pressure to give up – even if that were to cause danger to your very existence! Consider this, say you imbibe the value of liberty and security of your nation- would you be ready to die, if asked to? Well, if that’s your non-negotiable value- you would certainly go all the way to be remembered as a fallen hero than rather live like a hopeless and coward member of an enslaved society. Consider another example, you believe that you will not pay bribes if found violating traffic signals and just as you had it, you are racing for that all important meeting and now, you have a choice, either follow the rule, leave your vehicle, miss that million dollar deal meeting, perhaps loose your job and walk your way home, or slide in that dollar, apologize a hundred times (be honest about that!) and get to that meeting and as you end your day, thank the Lord for being kind, you cracked the deal, made your money, still have your job and have your vehicle! You perhaps still feel guilty about paying that bribe- but than you see the entire context around it and settle down promising yourself never to anything like that ever again! So what do you think you would have done- something similar right? Well, sure enough- see as humans we are hardwired to ensure that we survive and in the modern day context our survival is no longer the wild animals and mad race to tame the world- it is about ensuring that we are able to sustain and progress the lifestyle that we have chosen or aspire to have and for doing that we utilize our value system as an internal gyroscope. Every time our values are challenged or end up in a conflict with another person’s (as it will normally be that way- unless you are that crazy scientist or that gifted surgeon- working away individually) we have life changing events and manifestations coming to the fore and these either form us or break us either-ways redefining who we are!

A lot of politics, conflicts and corporate bitching that goes on in this world , is nothing but the cloaked presence of these conflicting values! You see you have a manager that you report into who believes to that Tea is better than Coffee and hence all Tea drinkers are better than Coffee and you just mentioned to him the other day – how much you love your Coffee and how you are ready to even kill someone for that! (well this is just an example!). So, what you have now done is opened up a Pandora’s box to compete and pit values against each other and this is where the funnier part begins to get dangerous! Offices are replete with examples how, conflicts ensues from reasons ranging from email drafting, to picking up the phone in three rings , to wearing the ID in a particular manner and so on and so forth- these are all nothing more but manifestation of Value Conflicts- where the one who can impose their values on to other s always seems to be getting the upper hand! Well there is nothing wrong and right about this, as I said earlier, many organisations have this whole space around storming, norming an forming to being in congruence and alignment among people of a team. That works well only and only if there is enough space allowed for individual non-negotiable values to co-exist alongside non-negotiable values of the team or the organisation as the case may be! Let me explain!

Consider you run a design studio and have a bunch of design geeks with you, as crazy as they would be- not to forget each strong and rooted in their own individual design philosophy- so now if this organisation has to make any progress even for an inch ahead- it has always to remember to value the intrinsic value systems that these strong individuals hold and always work to ensure that these individual values align , co-exist and are applied to meet the organisational value systems that it may have etched itself with as far as design sensibilities and approach to design goes! As long as this is done and every individual gets that freedom around , there will be magic coming through their work, on the contrary if that individual value st system is stiffed and people are made to work to corporate templates and design manuals- in not time- whether you work for a burger company or an automobile company everything will begin to look the same! So should conflict of values be avoided? Certainly not!

In fact conflict of values is something that should be embraced and encouraged (but not intentionally planted or created for the heck of it). As we grow, not all values that we hold remain dear to us with the same intensity! You may have negotiable ones’ becoming non-negotiable, few may fade away, new ones’ would come in, that is what is reflected the way we mature and grow and how much of maturity, sanity and wisdom we bring to life is nothing but the aggregation of the values that we hold within us in that movement of time! We are constantly forming, day in, day out at times consciously and yet at other times unconsciously, we are receiving and giving away our feelers to the universe and everyone around us that’s how we begin to like whom we hate, dislike whom we adored and so on and so forth, that dynamism is the essence of human progress and growth! As long as you are able to create competition among values that individuals bring with them in a manner that helps these values compete and align to a greater cause and eventually either become something else which benefits all, everything is fine and helpful! However when these very values embark upon dangerous ego rides and get hitched on the wrong shoulders, disasters happen and that is when you have organisations folding up, nations going to war and society getting ripped apart! So what’s the final word? Here you go!

All of us, You, and I included are nothing but an act of our values within- how we present ourselves to the world personifies what we have within and who we are, sure enough not everyone will be able to see as we want them to look at us and that is a different challenge of perception (will talk about that some other time!). More importantly we are constantly changing as far as peripheral values are concerned- core perhaps will not change (unless you have really survived something nasty!) and that dynamism of values is vital to keep your presence as vibrant as it should be so that relevance and acceptance go hand in hand wherever you choose to project yourself! When your values get into conflict, You will always be the winner irrespective if your values stay, get altered or you acquire news ones’ for the older ones’ you had , as long as your mind is aligned to utilize those values for the causes that serve the greater good! You see copper sulfate is a great insecticide but if you forget to wash your fruits coated with it, you will end up having home runs to the washroom for a day at least!

Values are absolute, no two values are ever equal, because no two people holding them are ever the same! Once you have known this secret, you have aligned your life for the greater good, with a soul that yearns to embrace the conflict of values to form and forge you ever more, one moment unto the next so that you continue to be who you are, adding up what serves you and doing away with all that threatens to harm you or weigh you down!

I will leave you here with these thoughts, urging you to get in touch with the values that you hold within- which are negotiable, which aren’t, how do they make you- who you are in the now that you exist and how you plan to embrace the conflict of values as your venture out to meet new people, friends sand colleagues to make the world a shade better than what it was yesterday!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another one! Until than stay safe, Stay wise and stay authentic!

Mindset of a Coach.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

The word “coach” has touched us at some or the point in our lives. Whether it was a sport that you wanted to take up or learn to play some music or wanted to prepare for some tough competitive exam- very often we have been advised to get in touch with “abc” to be coached by them because they are the best! Join me here, as we try to unravel what is that makes coaches unique and so awesome and what is it about their approach to situations that sets them apart which enables them to empower their clients in no time and turn around a situation to their advantage!

Before we move ahead, let me clarify that coaching is not mentoring, you see mentoring is almost always a work setting and aligned to specific tasks or goals to be achieved pertaining to a goal that the work team or the individual needs to reach to either ensure their survival or their team’s existence or for their progress as the case may be! Coaching is about empowering the individuals, not because the coach knows everything and knows all, but because the coach knows that only you have the power to bring about a real change within you and the only thing that the coach does is, tells you how to unlock that untapped potential that resides within you and each one of us! This is the essence of real and meaningful coaching- bringing about extraordinary results from ordinary people by empowering them to take courageous actions and thinking so that they know where to look next and what to see as they surge ahead in life! So how do coaches arrive at this space and can anyone of us practice this too?

Coaches too are forged by time, knowledge, experiences, observations and the social construct around them, something very similar to what you and I are, the only thing differently that coaches (someone like me) do is, scan the ecosystem around frequently, rapidly and connect unconnected data points, observations and indicators to weave a meaningful imagery of what is really unfolding for the client! Unlike the mentor- mentee association, coaching or the approach of the coach doesn’t get designed to solve a problem with a full stop, it certainly starts with a pressing issue but as that issue is been resolves what really unfolds is a subtle empowering change within the client- which enables the client themselves to rectify what needs to be, so that they are back on track to what they aspire for! The coach is not the expert to solve the client’s problem, the expert is always the client and the solution too comes from the client, the coach only helps the client to find the solution for the pressing problem by altering the approach to the problem and if required bring about certain fundamental attitudinal changes in behaviour and approach to life in general so that, not only is this problem solved, but also there is enough firmness and resolve intrinsically developed to address and prevail over any such incident should it arise again!

If you want to build that formidable mindset of a coach, you too can, you will possibly first need to throw away your ego- literally vaporize it, if you can! Next you will have to come to terms to the eternal reality that no matter how much you know, you will almost always perhaps know nothing each time a new problem crops up or an old problem comes up in a new setting! Furthermore you will have to realise that you are not a sounding board, but rather a sink- which takes away all that does not serve the client and help unclutter your client’s mind so that once the cup of his mind is half empty- that can be filled with thoughts and ideas that can empower them and help them see clearly and move ahead! As deceptively as all this seems, its a tall order, to throw away the very fundamental of human attributes that all of us have, stay aligned to the centre-line and with every word that is shared with the client to know that what has been said , will serve the purpose of the client and is been done without any prejudice or any personal intent of the coach mixed up with it!

Do you remember, your school or college days and possibly you were coached for some sport? Let’s say you were coached for football, what were you then told- how to move every metre on the ground or just where the goal is and what position you are playing at? Chances are you would have been coached the second way- that is what empowerment is- you are made accountable and so that you can relish your success and embrace your failures in equal measure and this is what true coaches do- they help their client reflect inwards to once again shake hands with selves and their abilities and competencies and that’s about it- once they have re-connected within and are more clear about their goal post- the job of the coach is done! Sure enough if there are some tricky patches and some strategic challenges to overcome the coach is always there, but coaching is never about asking people to do something the way the coach would have done it or getting it done in a particular manner! It is always about how the client wants it to be done and the way that is empowering for the client and serves the greater good for all of those who are involved in it! Because the heart of the matter is that the Coach is not the expert of the Client’s Life- The Client is! The coach just has the expertise to help them de-clutter and use the search light effectively and help them focus where they must and help them stay aligned at all times!

The mind of a coach is ever fluid and is receptive to new situations, challenges and every coach knows that every challenge is unique even as the problem may be similar because the people who are dealing with it are unique and it is their uniqueness which directs them to take steps differently which either ends up simplifying things for them or ends up complicating the problem even further more for them! This is where the coach steps in and save the day for the client! The coaching mindset is also about having phenomenal levels of compassion, empathy and endless energy to have focused and directed listening to really connect and not only listen to what is been said but also to capture the unspoken words through non-verbal cues and statements which are presented with cryptic yes & no both intertwined within each other!

More importantly the coach always presents solutions which are specific, unique and tailor made to fit specific challenges by helping the client to breakdown, prioritize (kind of make a hit list) in accordance of urgency and importance so that they remain on the chosen path of progress! This step and process is repeated for every separate factor that a client may want help with and want it sorted!

The mindset of a coach is all about service orientation, enabling empowerment and creating value by aligning the client to their aspirations as long as they make genuine sense and serve the greater good for everyone involved! Sure enough, there are a lot of technical skills, tools and models that coaches use as they go about working with their clients, but the fundamental thing that every coach has, is the mindset of a coach- which is empowering, liberating and serving the client at all times and never even for a second suggesting anything, but waiting patiently to hear the softest whispers of the client and read the unspoken words to really understand what the trues aspirations are and then helping them achieve it!

I wrap it up here, given the limitation of a blog, guess these fundamental thought starters should be much helpful for now! Think hard, think deep and think long about whether you need a coach or you can be a good coach with the mindset that you have and if you seek that liberation and empowerment for yourself or wish to provide it to someone!

Ciao for now, stay safe and stay wise!

Simplifying Success.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Well before you jump to any conclusion about what this article is about- let me right away help you with that bit- read on if you agree, believe and want to understand why “success” is a mirage, the way it is largely talked about- and in reality has more to do about “you” and “what you end up doing with that “you” part of you! Well don’t get confused; success is nothing more or less, but the story about you- me and each one us- success is about how we calibrate our existence and aspirations in the contexts that we are provided with- at times by choice and few times by compulsion! So, join me here and lets understand what really “success” implies and how you can do what you can and must do; importantly also what you mustn’t do!

As individuals we would have defined success over a million times by now! Whether we started that with our first essay at high school, debates during college elections or that typical Monday morning corporate rant about the progress and work of the organization or the team that you lead or are part of – virtually every day of our life- we are introduced to some story of success and the barometer of that success interestingly keeps changing! Well yes- What you measure as success matters, but importantly what also matters is how are you measuring what you measure and are you really measuring what matters? This I believe is perhaps the most important questions that we must pose to ourselves to first understand what is our definition of success and it’s only when that self-definition of success is congruent and aligned to the one that defines success for the form you work at or the business or cause that you live for- that magic will happen and eventually you will end up touching and experience success the easy it is meant to be!

As we look around the world that surrounds us, the person making a quick sale of burgers is as successful as the top-end fashion store down the lane, or the investors in the stock market or that off politician who lives to keep his promises! To begin with everyone’s success is everyone’s individual and contextual truth! So any comparison even between two or more people doing even the same things doesn’t really make sense for the simple reason that no two people are the same ever- even if you were to ask them to draw a simple circle on paper- both of them would do it the way they see a circle or more appropriately the way they are able to express the circle! What matters is how well the same person is able to get the circle more and more right with each time that he keeps at it and that is yet another real measure of success! It’s never about the other person- it all starts with the individual and ends with the individual for the simple fact that no two individuals are the same and each one us brings our personalities into whatever we choose to do- irrespective whether we serve a burger, sell a diamond or make the buck in the marketplace! It is always about how well we can keep doing what we do- over and over again and if that is scientifically reproducible and has finesse- is what success is really all about! You may want to ask me right about now, isn’t success about being above everyone else, lead the race, be that “number uno” and all that crazy stuff? Well, my question to you right back is – Who told you that?

The whole problem, like many other things with humanity is- these “acquired beliefs” were right from the time you show some abilities of cognition, each and every person around you starts to corrupt your amazing brain and the pure grey cells with the whole unwanted dose of “being better than”, “he did that/ she did that”, “you know what” all these kind of narratives and many more like these and what we end up doing is set our brains and ourselves in the trap of always seeking to know where we stand vis-a- vis “someone! Now, this someone could be your co-worker, boss, junior, that vegetable vendor, that beggar on the street, that business tycoon or that sly gambler- well what we end up programming ourselves into are these paranoid comparison seeking machines- who always seem to be anxious to wake up every morning to see how much gain or loss we have ended up doing to ourselves because of “others”! The moment we see we are better off (rather we assume and perceive- which is a different malaise altogether!) than a few or more of the “others” around we are relaxed and feel confident about ourselves for no real reason and yet at other times when we see more tycoons or that odd school friend who suddenly seems to have hit the jackpot of his life- we are left wondering and end up making ourselves feel more anxious and uncomfortable ever thinking what a low life we are (which again in many cases could be far away from what the reality is!). The important fact that perhaps no one told you or possibly you have forgotten to record and etch is that the “other” really don’t give a f**k to what you think, perceive and how you end up feeling about yourself by looking at them, for they continue to do what suits them and that’s the reality of life! Each of us, works to what we can, to the best we can and there’s nothing more and beyond that can be added to this fact and this is the foundation that we all stand upon, whether we like it or not; we build on the foundation that we stand upon- this depends on how we reflect within and how we cherish and aspire to build the structure that we desire! No one ever built a great monument by emulating an existing masterpiece! Know that for now and always! So how do we about knowing what success really is for us as individuals?

Start from the start! Whatever you choose to do- has to originate from within you- Self-Awareness is perhaps the greatest master-key that each of us have to our own lives! It is about not only knowing what all you can achieve given the contexts that you operate within, but rather it’s also about what you must leave out, when and how much is enough- that is basically knowing your trim level! Another important aspect to work towards your success is stop looking for role models- yes I heard it- you are probably thinking I am out of my mind – but this is a fact and the quickly you learn this the better for you and your aspirational part for your ever elusive success! There are a hundred reasons why people become successful and trust me when they do- not one of them want to tell you the whole truth and their real contextual settings around what made it possible- because that is where the secret lies- that bit is perhaps the most ordinary and non-glamorous stuff and it has a perhaps the biggest potential to rob away all that unwanted attention that people end up getting because”few” perceive and create the “noise” about them being “a success story”! People who cherish success from the confines of the social compulsions- and entrapped in the conformity bias- will always do whatever it takes to camouflage the ordinary as some extraordinary bullshit and weave fiction within the threads of reality to create a mirage which doesn’t make sense but people are made to believe because that billion dollar worth mansion makes everyone believe what they see and this is the space which you really don’t even want to get into unless you too want to end up complicating your success story for the times ahead! Let me explain this bit!

Consider this, you come across this person who has become a burger legend- suddenly you have his details all across the tabloids, the local TV channels, radio stations, the social media everyone is going ga-ga- about this sensation who seems to be in his mid twenties and then you have that amazing PR and talk show and that paid- talk show- going all across the nation- where this person speaks how he got inspired by the humble burger! (I mean really?) and then goes on to tell how he walked down the pavement saw a kid who couldn’t have a burger because it was expensive and that became his mission in life! (I mean..whatever!) Further then it cuts to the present- so I worked hard and here I am! Well, how does this shit sound? Inspiration right- now let me tell you what would really have happened! He would have used his rational brain to sense a business opportunity to sell burgers at a specific price point and went to meet a few investors, or a bank ot to his rich uncles (who are obviously hidden from the star gaze) borrowed or begged that money and started a store and which was going to be profitable (read success- for this person) and that’s about it! So now this narrative got a bit low key, boring and non- engaging right? Well, yes, it is and this is the fact of life! Success stories are always more than what meets the eye and unless you train your rational mind to dig and see what is beyond the obvious, all that you will end up doing is end up comparing yourself with fairy tale characters and end up living and being successful in a non-existent world! Don’t fall prey to the trap of believing what is said, shown and sold because “AB” or “XYZ” said or showed or awarded- use your grey matter and rationalize what you see and limit yourself to the stories and the contexts that matter and are relevant to you within what you want to achieve and as you want to define your “success” everything else is pure crap of nothing more than entertainment value! Remember, each one us goes to the heaven we construct- no one else’s heaven or angels are coming to your funeral!

Humanity has reached a pivotal point, wherein a globally connected society has started to turn onto itself to facilitate greed, narratives and ideologies that serve a few and end up harming many! The whole smokescreen that begins with the “very need to define success” is a big illusion! Think about it rationally, if as humans we are different, emotionally intellectually and even as we understand, perceive and communicate- irrespective of all other things around- why and how can “success” be calibrated to a few and pre-decided formats? The answer to this question lies in the annals of societal greed and mass manipulation through coerced narratives to drive societies in a direction that a few want and these “few” unfortunately are the very role models and those aspirational characters that many of us would eventually succumb too, unless we fail to see what really is beneath and around this big smokescreen!

The “few” are and will always remain anxious about everyone else around because of two primary tings; firstly the largely ordinary part of their “extraordinary” success story- the worry of that being exposed and secondly there being a complete lack of depth to do anything worthwhile in the real essence of it! You see, when innovators have faith in the solution that has been devised they collaborate and share and move ahead together with a team and partners so that the benefits reach far and wide and can be adapted to suit and serve the varying contexts around the world- case in point renewable energy sector! A brilliant example wherein harnessing the bounties of nature has crossed boundaries and that has enabled empowerment like nothing else! Sure enough not all regions have been able to benefit to the same extent- but that largely has had to do with the ability and competence to execute a brilliant solution more than anything else! Remember, “real success” never remains within the confines of the “few”, it seeks a pathway and reaches the multitudes, who are then able to empower themselves by adapting the richness of the solution in the contextual settings that suits the given society! So what’s the takeaway? Simple…

“You” are the foundation of your success and stop developing/relying on what you see, are told and what you perceive- everything may or can be a mirage! Your heaven is what you see at your funeral and no two people ever go to the same heaven even though their funerals may be alike! Your “truth” is your reality and this contextual setting is the essence to decide how high, how far and how fast will you be able to surge ahead and when you will stall with the idea that you have! Remember, the idea is never extraordinary, it is the method of application and execution of an idea that makes an ordinary one into an extraordinary success story! It really doesn’t matter what your definition of success really is, it could be that 5$ a day or that 5000$ an hour bit, what matters is how much of it comes from within you and how much of it do you really own and control; because even the greatest idea and thought will be undone once that control and intrinsic value which comes from within is lost! Stop the unwanted and unwarranted comparisons, be aligned to who you are, what you aspire to be and work to the best of what you can be given the contexts that you are set up within and against and once you have this core alignment synced in- you will touch your aspirations and taste the success as you should- irrespective of what others say or as they perceive what you do!

I will leave you here, grab your drink, reflect within and seek who you are to begin with to seek what your aspirations are and from there can begin the story of your success in an original way!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another article, until than stay safe and stay wise!

Guard your intelligence.

~ Parimal Aluri ~ Leave a comment

Waking up every day to some next level of crap seems like has become the new normal in the times that live in! Even in times of global pandemic societies the world over have been blessed to witness arson, rioting and looting for one reason or the other. If this political and social unrest is not enough, we have the never ending surprises springing up at the workplace that we are yet engaged with or we were engaged with! Whether it’s the uncertainty of the next paycheck, or the heavily laced work environments as each person tries to protect their turf and survive the job cuts and pay adjustments as much and as far as possible- Every sense and sensibility seems to have been thrown right out of the window and people are now, more than ever before in the recent history of humanity are reacting and reacting to situation as they evolve rather than proactively altering the narrative and responding to what emerges! Join me here as we try to understand what the real stories are behind the ones that get played out and is there anything that one can do in these contextual time warps to guard their intelligence and sustain their sanity! So here we go!

So, to begin with what does your mormal day seem to be like- well chances are you are waking up to that piece of aggregated advertorial- which some refer as newspaper- where the headlines are nothing more than a well curated orchestra of the collusion between the politicians of the day and the business that owns that piece of information thrown in front of your doorstep. Depending on who has how many such pamphlets are thrown public opinion is been swayed and directed to think in a particular manner about a certain topic and this is where the real game begins! If that was not enough- you have other avenues of intrusion that come into your life- that post on a social media handle, that craze for the likes you want to garner, or that comment which either puts you on cloud 9 or throws you into the abyss which either calls you to start with a smoke or start getting worked up for no real sense of reason! Add to this the real or created challenges at the workplace where you are possibly still hanging around by a thread or the business that your struggling to keep afloat! Politics, corporate bitching, undercutting, changing polarities, missing common sense and that rare arrival of intelligence among all this noise- sure seems to be too much to be handled by an individual for even one day! Well, the fact is that we actually ending up whiling away our whole lives doing this same thing or variations of these day in and day out and seldom realize what we have really achieved in the sense of the word called achievement and what we have really missed- missed as in something that web should have been anchored to and which we have lost never to get back! To all of this when you add that penultimate layer of your inner circle of your family and friends- well that is almost all about it and beyond this point you are already drowned enough, at times even forgetting to breathe for yourself to ensure that you stay alive! So what’s this chaos and noise all about, which simply doesn’t seem to go away and the more we try to fix it, it ends up fixing us and our approach to it and life in a way that we even forget what we had set out to do!

This, my friend is the modern day warfare of information which attacks, continuously and repeatedly your mind and more importantly your intelligence! You see, knowledge is about knowing what has already happened and all the entirety around it- What helps humans to keep progressing ahead and moving ahead is Intelligence- Intelligence which uses, Knowledge coupled with experience to create a pathway using ingenious ways to secure a pint in the future which moves away from the problems of yesterday and today as we see them emerge and dissipate and at tims compete around us all the time! Once Intelligence is attacked it is the proverbial death sentence to our very existences- because then we are no longer thinking and feeling humans- we are rather directed biomechanical units which perform what is expected of us by the people who have the power to have that done from us- this is that dangerous place where the top 1% control, strategise and direct humanity to perform and execute what works for them! Think about it a planet with over 7.5 billion souls all controlled and directed by a few thousand people- politicians, businesses, technocrats, innovators, authors,mercenaries, spiritual gurus- there is virtually almost one representative from every imaginable sector that you can think of who are part of this elitist of the elite club that wants to reduce humanity to cyborgs and biomechanical machines who think less and feel nothing and this is why the very critical need to guard your intelligence so that you don’t end up being the next victim in this scheme of things! Don’t trust or find it hard to believe- well live you life and tell me ten years later- if thats’ the way you think it works! Being a scientist, I can tell you one thing, you don’t have to burn your finger to know if the water is bling or not and this is what separates people who guard their Intelligence and those who outsource it! So why does this occur and is there a way around, through or over it? Well read on!

As societies evolved we have had different ages or definitions of power, there was a classical ancient time when knowledge was power and the ones’ who had it, manipulated and directed kingdoms and empires to their whims and fancies at times for the greater good and at times leading them to catastrophic disasters especially when a layer of human greed and the aspects of cardinal sins was applied around that! We then had a period of medieval history and recent modern history which saw the maturity of kingdoms and nations as governance matured and innovators and scientists arrived at the scene as new age heros and they were hailed and nations/kingdoms who had more of them invariably saw more progress and development and this has been the foundation of the last century and this is what has lead us to where we are now in this moment! If there has been any singular common thread running through the centuries, it has been the fact that each time humanity has worked cohesively for the greater good of society the society or nation has thrived and made great progress benefiting every person associated with that network! Each time the efforts have been subverted, sabotaged owing to greed of a few in those very societies we have seen downfall and misery arising again and again and all the negative aspects of humanity, whether that be wars, famines, capitalistic greed, political and social unrests all of these and many such challenging connotations of society have made their presence felt and very often robbed away those societies of all the progress that they would have done in the last few decades! Now the question you may want to ask is, why do supposedly intelligent sections of the society fall into this kind of unsettling trap? Well as statisticians say, numbers are very funny, once you learn how to play around with them, you can have 1 being greater than 2 depending on where the decimal lies and where the zeroes fall!

Once people let their guard down and start to consume everything that they see, read, hear or are spoken about as true and fail to apply common-sense and science to verify and test the veracity of the claims, individuals and societies set themselves up for their downfall by shutting down their ability to think! This is why you must guard your intelligence, because intelligence alone is what gives the potent power to analyse, debate and critically test everything and anything that is presented and this is why people who are locked into the prison of their knowledge seldom shake hands with intelligence- as they are trapped in the times bygone which hardly have any or have a rapidly losing contextual relevance to the present moment and for those yet to arrive!

Sections of societies, that elite group knows this fact quite well and hence the war of the narratives– eternal and evergoing- where they want to create issues where none exist,want to sweep away what needs to be addressed and all this done- with a single purpose- to direct your thinking to the way that suits their agenda and purpose and unwittingly people succumb to this and before you realise it, you have diminished your ability to think afresh, anew or be innovative and than are permanently resigned to the instructions and apparent guidance by these very 1% lords that hold the power to sway individuals and societies the way they wish to! So if this is that bad, is there a way around it, can individual make a difference? What’s the path ahead? Read on!

The most assuring part of intelligence is that it is there- it’s about whether you use it or not! So it’s like that electricity supply which is always on and you need to flip that switch to access the light you need to or that AC that you want, but the whole point here is that there has to be an effort made to flip that switch! Flipping the switch and the right one is the essence of using intelligence sparingly like salt is to food to create magic and outcomes that have the promise for the masses and serve the greater good rather than becoming a self-centric exercise! This intrinsic power of intelligence is what is feared by the 1% club and hence the ever aggressive race to create smokescreens and false narratives to try and blind out intelligence! So where and how do we begin?

The easiest and the the perhaps the right place is to begin with you- beginning with oneself- as the foundation – as an aspect of self-awareness and knowing well what serves you and what doesn’t- is the first step to ensure that your immediate circle remains free of unwanted garbage, clutter and nonsense that can creep in- under the guise of “critical or breaking news”. Once you have sanitised your immediate area- you have ample space to think, deliberate, maneuver and progress at a pace, time and path chosen by you- yes you alone and that is what makes the whole difference between being a leader/clutter breaking individual or a follower and part of the masses! Once you have secured his inner space, the next step and perhaps equally important one is about building gates that check and recheck what’s been allowed into your clean zone, ideas, people, opportunities, thoughts, everything and anything- because like a virus on the prowl, one bad entity is enough to unleash a cascade of unfortunate events which can bring down even the most intelligent of people, ideas and opportunities! I will stop short of getting into details of how we do it and what steps does it entail, because each one of us is unique – as unique we can be and our contextual truths of life are perhaps stranger than fiction and that’s where the opportunity too lies to defeat and win over the 1% elite club- by creating distractions and moves banking on our intrinsic intelligence to help us achieve what serves the greater good for us and the society around us! This, my friend is the essence of guarding deploying our intelligence, no matter what the pressure we face or what the odds that we face!

I will leave your here with these thoughts, urging you to take a moment to notice what’s driving you- rather what is that you are driving you life through or are you getting driven around! Wisdom lies in deciphering Knowledge from Intelligence and applying Intelligence to make knowledge work for your present and future and not allowing Knowledge to entrap your intelligence to the bygone eras!

Ciao for now, will be back soon with another article, Until then stay wise, knowledgeable and intelligent and yes, don’t consume all that comes your way- remember -even the virus got sent!