Lessons I wished would have learnt 10 years ago

As we progress through the myriads of everyday life, some reflections on the lessons I wished would have learnt 10 years ago

1. Brilliant execution of a simple idea is more valuable and profitable than a complex problem solved with agonizing perfection

2. The human brain can be trained and conditioned and we can release ourselves from the clutches of our past if we want.Difficult though this may be it is not impossible.

3. Bramha creates everything,Vishnu sustains & preserves and Maheshwara is the destroyer of all order so that renewal can take place... Leadership mindset required for each of the above is unique.
Lookout for your strength and never indulge in all the three at the same time.

4. If you are a high achiever in the organization or public life but have ordinary needs ,fears,anxieties and vulnerabilities,you are not alone.If you manage or report to high flyers ,you are certain to encounter this side to them.

5. In today's business world it is not enough to learn from your customer ,supplier and your competitors;sometimes the most impactful knowledge could come from someone who is not in business at all

6. Transparency is the key in any organization.It is important for a leader to regularly publish what is on his mind to entire set of next level employee.

7. As a leader ,we should be a critical questioner and reviewer and also must be the ultimate sense-maker

8. People who do not possess a personal vision or purpose will find it impossible to build an organizational vision

9. The brilliant minds of high achievers sometimes prove to be a liability for them. When they get something wrong, they get it very wrong

10. The US president is one of the most powerful people in the world not because he is the perfect leader,but because he surrounds himself with outstanding  men and women who make up for his shortcomings

Chao
Roohul Haq

Poet's brain demystified

Shall we go and try to purchase a real good brain ? A poet's brain


एक दिन निकले थे बाज़ार में खरीदने शायराना  दीमाक
मुफ्लिसे जा पहुंचे डोक्टर के घुसल्खाना
कहने लगा की मुद्दत से मेरी नज्मे बहुत ख़राब
सोचके बताईये क्या करें जनाब ?

चेक करके मेरी खोपड़ी कहने लगा हुज़ूर
भेजें में घुस गया है कोई आपके फतूर
बोला बदलना होगा यह भेजा हजूर का
बस येही इलाज़ है दीमाकी फतूर का

कहने लगे की दान मांगिये फिर देखिये कमाल
शायराना दीमाक मिलती है सौ गंतादार
पहले तो एक शायर अ अज़म्म से मिला
बर्बादी अ दीमाक का उनसे किया गिला

मैंने कहा की मुझ पर कर्म कीजियेगा जनाब
थोडी सी अपनी खोपड़ी मुझको इंनायत करे शताब
बोले हमारा बैट के भेझा ना खाईये
उठिए यहाँ से और कहीं सीटी बजाईये

शायराना अदब में जो भी हमारा मुकाम हैं
उस्ताद ये मुह्तेरिम के वो भेझ्हे का काम है
कुछ सरफिरा दीमाक हसींन लड़कियों के थे
बक बक जो कर रहे थे वो सब बीवियों के थे

मैंने कहा ब्रेन कोई आशिकाना दे
जल्दी से इक दीमाक मुझे शायिराना दे
दिखला के इक दीमाक वो कहने लगा जनाब
रग रग में है फंसे हुए अशार बेहिसाब

भेजा महक रहा है ज़माने की धाड़ से
लबरेज़ है दीमाक ग़ज़ल के मुवाड़ से
मैंने कहा ये मखियाँ क्यूँ बिन बिनाई हैं
बोला नयी ग़ज़ल पे नयी धुन बिटआयी है

मैंने कहा की दाम बताये मुझे शताब
बोला दीमाक ठीक है और दाम है खराब
भेझा मेरे दूकान पे सब आणा पाई है
शायर का बस दीमाक के पैसे भी हाई है

मैंने पूछा के खोल दे तू राज़ यह निहां
शायर के क्यूँ दीमाक के पैसे किये बेशुमार
बोला कभी कभार यह बिकता है,क्या करें
सौ फोडिये तो एक निकलता है , क्या करें !!

- रूहुल हक

Chapatti aur Phulka

An interesting analogy of the food we consume and the caste/creed dialogue that reverberate in our nation

When by chance they found a quiet time one day,
The chapatti to the Phulka thus began to say :

if you do not mind ,permit me to describe,
A bitter fact of life that bothers me of late

We belong to the same tribe ,both you and I,
Common is our caste and creed ,common is our fate
Of the same ingredients we are both composed,
The same basic principles governs our life and growth

The same vitamins form our being,and our strength define,
The protein that enrich our grains ,are also similar kind
We serve the same purpose ,the same task address,
Same are the features that you and I possess

When we are no different ,will you then explain,
The riddle that continues to agitate my brain
Why do you hate me ,my very face revile,                
Why in your attitude are you to me hostile ?

Hearing this plaintive lay , the phulka could not but pray,
Please stop this tale of woe ,lest my heart should break
Your complaint is justified in every word and phrase,
But hear me ,my chapatti ,O my darling mate !

I am not at all at fault in the present case,
Do not put blame on me ,suspect not my faith,
It is the politician wise who create this rift,
It is he who incites a worldwide conflict

The havoc that the tyrants on the world unleash,
Cannot be described in human words or speech,
To tell this tale of terror we must first possess,
A heart of stone and a toughened iron breast

These killers are always sowing seeds of spite,
And encourage everywhere deadly fratricide,
It is because of such men that the world is now a battlefield,
Where warring clans are engaged in self destroying deeds

In short ,the band of leaders that hold the world in fee,
Are engaged in doing such astounding deeds
That the human values begin to shiver and creep,
And civilization deep ashamed cannot help but weep

Whenever I see these folks indulge in such pranks,
My lips raise a cry ,expressive of my pangs,
Those who have betwixt us two ,caused the divide,
Those who do not want to see our mutual love thrive.

May the gift of freedom god to them deny,
May they ever restless roam even in the afterlife !
Saying so the "phulka" rose swelling up with pride,
While the chapatti ,sorrow-singed ,shriveled up surprised...

Sd/-
Roohul haq

Uttarakand devastation metaphor

An enigmatic take on the tragedy at Uttarakand

आज इस शहर में हर शख्स डरा हुआ क्यूँ है
चेहरे क्यों उतरे हुए हैं
गली कुचों में किसलिए चलती है
खामोश,चुप और घबराई हवा

परिचित आँखों पे भी
अजनबियत की ये बारीक सी झिल्ली क्यूँ है
शहर सनाते की ज़ंजीरो में
जकड़ा हुआ  मुलजिम सा नज़र आता है

इक्का दुक्का कोई राहगीर गुज़र जाता है
कॉफ़ की गर्द से
क्यूँ दुन्दला है सारा मंज़र
शिदत से बरसते

शाम  की रोटी कमाने केलिए
घर से निकले तो थे कुछ लोग
मगर मुढ के क्यों देखते हैं घर की तरफ
आज बाज़ार में भी जाना पहचाना सा वो शोर नहीं

सब यूँ चलते हैं की जैसे
ये ज़मीन कांच की है
हर नज़र नज़रो से कतराती है
बात खुलकर नहीं हो पाती है

सांस रोके हुए हर चीज़ नज़र आती है
आज ये शहर
इक सहमे हुए बच्चे की तरह
अपनी परछाई से भी डरता है

हे मानुष देखो
मुझे लगता है
कोई कहर बरसा है शायद !


  

Are Extroverts more Energetic ?

A great, thought provoking polemic last week suggests that the word "energetic" in job descriptions is a concealed means of discriminating applicants on the basis of age. After all, the young always have boundless energy, don't they?  (Well, not always, but never mind.)  No doubt it does often reflect that inaccurate stereotype of older workers - we Indians live in a youth obsessed culture, after all.

I have long suspected that such words as energetic and outgoing instead are often code for  "extroverted". When I ran an informal search on a major job posting site, it produced more than 1,000 job ads that contained the word "outgoing" and less than 300 ads with the word "quiet".  Of course I didn't read all those ads to see how they used the words and my quick search was entirely unscientific but the numbers still are suggestive. And yet, more reserved, introverted individuals - introverts - often are great professionals in every way - from their thoughtful focus to their results without lots of supervision to their listening skills to their quiet leadership.  
It's my hope that raising this issue will stimulate more HR staff and hiring managers to explicitly define what they do mean by "high energy", "energetic" and "outgoing" and then - most importantly - come to grips with how they may stereotype individuals (not to mention shortcut their own options) by making such outward characteristics a litmus test. 

Sd/-
Roohul Haq

 

 

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An INFJ personality among men is one of the rarest of all types ( less than 0.5 % of the population ).

Unique and Sophisticated (Counselor -Idealist)

sd/-
Roohul Haq


 

Kannada Rajyotsava

Am fascinated by the euphoria that is attached to the kannada rajyotsava that is celebrated throughout the world by kannadigas . This led to some research and its true essence was discovered. Here are the snippets

1. Kannada is also known as Kanarese -one of the oldest dravidian languages. Kannada is spoken in its various dialects by roughly 48 million people across the globe. It is one among the top 40 most spoken languages in the world.

2. Spoken kannada is in use since 2500 years and the written form has its own script since 1900 years.Spoken kannada varies according to the region of karnataka, while the written form remains constant.

3. On Nov 1 ,2008 the union government declared kannada to be a classical language

4. Kannada is the 3rd oldest language of india ( after sanskrit & Tamil)

5. Nov 1 every year is celebrated as kannada rajyotsava day throughout karnataka state and is declared a state holiday. This was the day that the name karnataka was given to the Mysore state

6. The first kannada -english dictionary (shabda kosha) was compiled in 1894 by a german priest -Ferdinand kittel.He also wrote a book on kannada grammar entitled " A grammer of the kannada language" comprising the three dialects of the language.

7. Several noted centuries old literary work of kannada have been translated into sanskrit ,and other languages

8. This language is not just confined within the borders of karnataka, for you will find it spoken by people in parts of neighboring states of AP,TN and maharashtra.

9. Vachana Sahitya is a type of prose written in the kannada language in India. Madara Chennaiah was one of the first poets to pen this type of writing in the 1000's. Basaveshwara ,who was the prime minister of Indian in the southern kalachuri empire, helped this type of literature.

10.Pampa was one of the earliest poets of the kannada language.Adikavi Pampa, Ranna and Sri Ponna together are called the "3 gems of kannada literature". Their contributions to kannada literature is considered unparalleled.

Jai Karnataka

Sd/-
Roohul Haq

Fighting Food Poverty

An insightful take on the Food poverty that would hit the world population sooner or later. The current wisdom in agricultural innovation is to replicate and engineer crops that would withstand the effects of climate changes
The world population is set to reach 9 billion by 2050.The prospect of soaring food prices and global warming has brought food security and climate change concern to the euphoria.

There are 2 challenges

1. Climate change

2.  Increasing demand for food production

Climate change adaption is a must for the agricultural sector. This will require a substantial and financial investment in order to achieve food and nutrition security, especially in the food insecure developing countries

Rising temperatures, changing rainfall patterns, changes in sunshine levels and increasing concentrations of atmospheric CO2 all these will lead to affecting operations, productivity and range of products offered by the sector

The effects of climate change on agriculture do not respect national borders; they cover entire agro-ecological zones. Farmers are the key actors in the conservation and sustainable use of food crops and they struggle with all the changes that are happening. If we work with a solid scientific basis and the integration of farmers, we will see a substantial improvement in the future

The challenge for global agriculture is to grow more food on not much more land, using less water,fertilisers and pesticides than we have historically done. 

There should be a campaign to develop specific policies to conserve and make wider use of plant varieties for generations to come. The conservation and sustainable use of plant generic resources for food and agriculture are crucial to ensuring that the world will produce enough food to feed its growing population in the future 

Another major problem with the sector is that its heavy dependence on fossil fuels is undermining its ability to feed the world, perpetuating poverty . 

The worlds food production systems----From farms where food is grown to further along the processing and marketing chain ---consume 30% of all available energy. Some 70% of that energy consumption happens after food leaves farms,as it is transported,processed,packed,shiiped,stored, marketed and prepared.

A significant amount of all energy used in the food chain ---about 40-45% is lost due to food losses and waste (about 1.3 billion tones is thrown away or lost due to spoilage each year)

Meanwhile almost 3 billion people have limited access to modern energy services for heating and cooking,and 1.4 billion have zero or limited access to electricity.

To feed the planet , the world’s food production system requires energy. At the same time ,food production is not just using energy ,it is also wasting it.

There is a significant need and huge opportunity to improve energy efficiency in the food chain as well as to produce sustainable energy within the agricultural sector, that
Must be explored boldly

Some of the solutions that can be thought of but not limited to are…

1.      Crop research for sustainable climate change

2.      We need to put climate smart agriculture into practice ,working closely with farmers and their communities

3.      Renewable source of energy as a substitute for fossil fuels in the agri-food chain

4.      Zero tillage and other sustainable intensification farming techniques can reduce the amount of energy used in the farm

5.      Greater use of fuel efficient engines

6.      Relying less on non –organic fertilizers and pesticides

7.      Integrated pest and weed management techniques

8.      Shifting to crop varieties and animal breeds that require fewer inputs

9.      Better storage systems and healthy distribution practices

10.  Zero wastage –Start from Self at Home

While not all the list of solutions identified will be universally applicable , we can learn a lot about how countries could take similar steps and begin this approach to agriculture

Sd/-
Roohul Haq

Suniyega in Hindi

कोई शेर कहूँ या दुनिया के किसी विषय पर ,

मैं कोई नया लेख लिखूं ,

या कोई अनोखी बात सुनूँ ,

कोई बात जो हंसनेवाली हो ,

कोई वाक्य जो दिलचस्प लगे ,

या कोई क्कयाल अछूता सा ,

या कहीं मिले ,कोई मंज़र जो हैरान कर दे ,

कोई लम्हा  जो दिल को छु जाए ,

मैं अपने जेहन के कोनो में ,

इन् सबको संभाल के रखता हूँ ,

और सोचता हूँ ,

जब मिलोगे तुमको सुनाऊंगा ..

सुनोगे .....

रूहुल हक