Death: be kind, not cruel.

I came to know about the sudden passing away of my friend’s teenage daughter yesterday. The grapevine has it that she had been undergoing treatment for her health condition for some time. How sad it is that she left her mom, dad and others at young age! Death, be kind, not cruel. Thou art merciless. May God rest her soul in peace and give strength to my friend and his family to bear the irreparable loss. My heart-felt condolence to him and his bereaved family. We deeply miss you, baby.

Heritage

From what I have read recently I conclude that the country like Nepal should make sure that its languages and traditions are cherished and safeguarded for the next generation. In the labyrinth of fast-paced economic growth worldwide, we are stranded and in pursuit to establish ourselves as educated, literate, cultured, socialized and rich. We try to copy the others, emulate their lifestyles, and adopt their culture and traditions. Learning from them their cultures, traditions, languages and lifestyles is not a wrong thing; rather, appreciating them and helping them to protect the vestiges is even more important. But, adopting them and following their foot-steps at the expense of our own cultures and traditions is not wise.

Our cultural heritage has what we can be proud of and take pride in being called the people of the country of Mt. Everest. However, it is not enough for us to make our generations feel proud. We should leave no stone unturned to protect what our fore-fathers have given us as heritage, and transfer it to the next generations. Well, there are people speaking different languages, following different cultures, religions and traditions in our country. Yet, they have lived together for ages in harmony and stood by each other at the time of need. 

What is pertinent now is that we should vow today itself that we shall not shun our responsibility mid-way, but somehow manage to transfer or pass on to the next generation what we have so far had nourished and protected for the generation after generation to see and feel ………………………………………… proud. 

Giving has the beauty.

What I think is beautiful in the world is what we give away with open heart and open fist. The real pleasure of life lies in giving away in whatever way we can, no matter whether it is small or big.  In fact, that is where beauty lies. The poor die of hunger for want of food. The sick die for want of proper medical care. The persons who die such deaths are none other than the down-trodden and poverty-stricken ones who are bound to live a hell-like life. No one will call to mind if anybody ever lived among such persons. Whoever is alive is left to his/her fate: hungry, thirsty and sick.

We are not even a bit ashamed to call ourselves human beings when someone among us is seen starving of food, water or dying for want of medical treatment. Prompt erupts a question in mind: where is our humanity? Why are we not sensible? Why are we not sensitive towards human sufferings? The only word in counter to question would be ‘why’. We can be sympathetic towards animals which are butchered to feed human beings. But, we are not even a bit concerned about how the poor, the sick and the thirsty manage to eke out a living, earn bread for the evening or arrange for two square meals for a day, buy their medicines.  Why should we be? We know that they are not our brothers or sisters. They are not born from the same mothers as we are.  We don’t lose even a second to point fingers at them and curse them and, if possible, beat them up and send them to jails for no mistake or offence of theirs.

We are educated and take pride in it and in what we think is our birthrights to torture and suppress the poor and gag them. Where do we usually be when they need us, ask us for our help and help them out in whatever way we can. We don’t happen to be there. Rather, we hang out, chill out and dine out late into the night. We rejoice more in ostentation than in coming to their rescue. Oh! It is the life. On one hand side, we spend time, money and energy for our own pleasures and on the other; the poor, the sick and the thirsty die for want of food, water and for want of medicines. It’s irony of life.  Giving has the beauty that has no nuance.  Giving has the pleasure that transcends all barriers. 

Lies

Telling a lie or lying to the Superiors that you took ill immediately upon reaching home, you are more likely to damage your career rather than winning their sympathy, more because you have breached their trust than because you were ill. It is to be noted that they have already started looking for an experienced, self-motivated, skilled and productive replacement, irrespective of consequences. 

Honesty and sincerity are two major things that stand you out among your colleagues. Whether in personal or professional life, a person is always regarded as being important and his/her importance is realized when the management feels that he/she is indispensable. 

As you are true to your personal life, why not be true to your professional life as well? You may rise and climb a ladder to success in your professional as well as personal life. You may earn a name or fame by virtue of your honesty and sincerity. Just by lying that you couldn’t feel well and that you could not report to your duty on time, you are wrong. For this is not the first time that you were absent without notice to the management. The management might have already surmised that maybe you are looking for an equally important opportunity elsewhere.

Never try to camouflage lies as truths. This will not help you. You will feel guilty, instead. You wouldn’t feel comfortable. You will feel shy of facing the seniors once you have taken him for a ride. However, you may feel comfortable with them if you have the guts to face them and tell them what it was real. 

The following are a few tips that can help you to cope with the situation that you think is deteriorating: 

1] Face your superiors

Tell them what went wrong with you, instead of lying to them. 

2] Assure them of the same level of spirit, motivation and zeal

If you really want to continue in your organization, there’s no harm in confessing. Assurance to them of your commitment to work with the same level of spirit and zeal as your started your career with the organization earlier will somehow help you to win their confidence.

3] Show result 

Start working and show the desired result. This shows your increased level of commitment.

4] Report to your Superiors

Reporting is one of the major constituents in an organization. This helps keep everything streamlines.

5] Avoid repeating the mistake 

Don’t ask for leave unless there is an emergency. But, this time you will not repeat the mistake. You should submit documentary evidence to ward off doubts. If, however, you can’t furnish the document, you should come back to duty at least one day before the arrival day. 

What you should always do is not to resort to lies, whether in personal or professional life. Lies – whether small or big – are lies; they have the potential to undermine your personal and professional life.

What it is like to be a manager?

I started my professional career as Assistant in a private company. I felt ecstatic and happy as long as I had worked with my first employer. I was happy at doing what I did and what was assigned to me from time to time.

I never thought what it was like to be a manager. After I had worked for two-and- a-half years, I jumped the job to a new company where I had spent more than two decades of my life. Time and my exposure to new avenues and responsibilities helped me in my pursuit of learning more and more new things and doing them in right earnest and with efficiency. I gradually kept pace with time and the responsibilities that devolved upon me. I gradually realized the importance of work and job and the significance of how glamorous and responsible a manager’s position is. I began to think and realize that every employee aspires to become a manager in his/her professional life. Initially, I didn’t know about it; nor, did I ever give a second thought to what it was like to be a manager. I was happy at what I was doing. I was satisfied with all that I did in my office.

In the course of – well – discharging responsibilities, I began to realize the importance of a manager, his/her official and social status, his/her command over juniors, his/her authority, power, rights.

Questions like what it was like to be a manager and what it takes to be a manager began to haunt me only after I had spent – well – ten years in the labyrinth of professional life. That education – no matter whether it is linear or non-linear – training, job-specific knowledge, skill, job-specific experience, efficiency, commitment, eagerness to do new things, skill at handling manpower, et cetera are all that are required for a man to be a manager. Over the period of time, I developed within me these sorts of traits and many other things that could help me to be a manager – a manager who could run an organization independently, a manager who would have his say in the management decision, a manager who has take on the pro’s & con’s, do’s & don’ts, what is crucial and what’s not, how to manage the workplace, and a manager who could boast of having the confidence of managing and running an enterprise successfully and efficiently.

I’m not even a bit ashamed to confess that I’ve no linear academic qualification. Despite having a non-linear academic background, I have come a long way and in the process of my professional journey and in my pursuit to better my professional career and life, I’ve developed an unwanted habit of reading newspapers, newsmagazines, books on management, et cetera and this has helped me a lot to enrich my knowledge and help me to bring what is helpful, crucial and indispensable into practice. Well, reading is my passion and this intensifies my interest in literature and aids me in my latest thirst for writing.

To be a manager – an able, efficient and proficient in languages and trades – one requires the traits and the ability to manage a system where people from different social backgrounds, traditions, cultures, economic backgrounds work in unison with one another and to achieve organizational goals at the same time. I realized what it was like to be a manager when I ultimately took over as manager and thereafter, as Sr. Manager and could manage companies by virtue of what I had learnt during my association with several companies, by virtue of what I had learnt through my perusal from different books and by virtue of my exposure to new areas where challenges were abundant.

I have now felt a new kind of vigour. I have now felt a new kind of zeal to do what I can do to scale the height of professional ladder. 

Addiction

It has been a sort of addiction to get ready for office early at 5 a.m.  Journey early  in the morning from my room to office and vice versa has lately been too risky as there is no certainty where and when on road I am going to encounter people protesting against the government for reasons known to them. Sporadic road blocks and rampant protests on the road have of late increasingly aggravated the situation. No one knows for sure what will happen where and when. Yet, people are bound to walk miles and miles on foot in such a volatile situation. 

I salute my Mother

I salute my mother, because she is a great woman who had kept me inside her womb for nine months, because she is a kind woman who gave me birth, because she is a great nurse who took upon herself all the responsibilities to nurse, breast-feed and tidy me up, because she is a guide who always took me along the right path and because she is my mother who alternately chided, scolded and loved me as I grew up walking behind her clutching her by her sari. 

I salute my mother, because she always made sure if I was hungry, if I took ill, if I returned from school on empty stomach, if I had money to bye anything to eat. I salute my mother, because she still asks me if I’m fine even though she is physically weak. I often wonder how strong is the bond between my mother and my brothers, sisters and me. The love that I get, the affection that I receive, the care I get even today are what have kept me even closer to my mom and made me aware of how obligatory it is to pay attention to her as & when she most needs me. Words can’t explain how happy I feel when I devote five minutes of my time to her care. Words can’t explain the satisfaction that I feel when I can be of little help to her. She does not discriminate between her children. She loves all equally, irrespective of who earns more, who is more educated and who cares for her more. She is the kind of mother who epitomizes love, affection and care for all. She is a brilliant example of how she brought us all up. I salute my mother and will always keep in mind the 14th of May and remember this special day as Mother’s Day.

Time-keeping

I keep early hours these days. I’m sort of used to it and have been following the rules of waking up, getting up and preparing for office and dashing hurriedly to workplace ever since I joined this new organization.I arrive at my workplace much earlier. I do it because I want to send message across the organization where I work and with which I’ve been associated, regardless of when I joined it, that keeping time saves face. I know that reporting to duty so earlier gives me the feeling that I’m responsible, that I’ve to deliver. I do it more because of my passion that I want to fire into my work and wake the partially-slumbered employees up to the fact that doing so or reporting to duty five minutes earlier or on time is what might make them disciplined and make them understand the importance of their responsibilities. On the other hand, this has helped me a lot to develop a habit of getting up in the wee hours of morning, preparing for office and turning up early. I feel refreshed in the fresh air and sort of feel like breeding a number of new ideas. Over to workplace: the workplace where several people work should be regarded as a temple of worship. They hail from different societies. They represent different cultures, traditions and backgrounds. However, what they should do is: feel they stand united in diversity. Working in such clusters or groups is much like understanding one another, exchanging views, communicating with one another effectively, learning and teaching methods, stirring up curiosity to learn more ropes, et cetera. I wanted and want employees to be self-motivated, disciplined, efficient, effective, co-operative, collaborative, communicative, understand their juniors and their problems, handle them instantly, manage time and people, get work done on time, motivate their juniors, plan production, What matters most at workplace is discipline. It is the only basic thing that helps explore ways to create conducive environment where workers or employees learn and teach technical trivialities, confront latest technologies. This is what I have always wanted to drive home to employees or workers, that juniors learn from their seniors and that if the seniors / superiors are not mindful of their duties and responsibilities, discipline becomes a far-fetched thing. Just as we follow and want our siblings follow discipline at home, it is important that we follow it at workplace as well.Reporting to duty earlier or on time is not a punishment. Rather, it is a duty and it should be taken as a corrective measure. It doesn’t demand extra-time. It requires as much time as we usually spend in reaching our workplace. Time management is vital in terms of procurement, production, sales, recruitment, communication, supply and management of employees, et cetera. Early reporting heaps praises on you. Late arrival keeps you finger-crossed.

Workplace Environment

Just like at home, members of a family live in unity, help one another, teach one another, learn from one another, create understanding among themselves, create a conducive atmosphere within the four walls of their home for them to feel comfortable and motivated, employees should follow the same rule at their workplaces.

Unity

The place where employees work is a workplace where they have their own responsibilities and duties that are to be discharged and performed according to their roles. They work in unity, irrespective of diversity. They hail from different social backgrounds, cultures, traditions and communities. However, the only factor that is crucial to bind them together is unity. This does not mean that they should unionize.

Help

Being social animals, we need help whenever we are in trouble and give help whenever we are asked for it. Help is sought whenever we are in trouble. Like we help family members and get help from them, employees should help one another at workplace. Help may be different. But, it should be given.

Sharing

Teaching and learning are two different aspects. Those who do not know what to do after they have done a particular piece of job or they are new to the job should be helped in understanding what they should do and helped in their first-time effort to learn more about what they are there for. Teaching and learning help employees and build up camaraderie among employees.

Environment

Just as we make every possible effort to make sure that there is good environment at homes, employees should ensure that there is no ruffle in the workplace atmosphere. Workplace is where all have to join forces to ensure and create peaceful, calm and conducive work environment. This is possible through the combined effort.

Where there is unity, the stronger feeling of helping and getting helped, teaching employees new to jobs and learning from the knowledgeable persons, understanding among employees and all-out effort to create conducive work environment, there will be nothing that could ever hamper production and productivity.

Air Crash

The news that 15 passengers died in an air crash in Nepal has stunned and shocked all. The aircraft – a 9N AIG Dornier operated by a private airlines company of Nepal – was bound for picturesque Jomsom. The accident took place at 9.30 a.m. local time on Monday, the 14^th of May, 2012.

The ill-fated small plane had 21 people on board and among the dead are 13 people from India on pilgrimage.

The pilot-in-command, Prabhu Sharan Pathak and the co-pilot, Suman Dangol Maharjan are the other two persons who died in the accident.

I pray for eternal peace for the departed souls and extend my heart-felt condolence to the bereaved families who have lost their dear & near ones. I also pray to Lord Pashupatinath for speedy recovery of the air-hostess and five other passengers who are said to be undergoing treatment.

Confession

I have read a line by Cicero: “I’m not ashamed to confess that I’m ignorant of what I don’t know”.  I don’t know who this man was, what this man was and where he was born. But, his quotation that I happened to read while leafing through a newspaper or a magazine long ago sort of caught hold of me. It influenced me to the extent that I more often daren’t tell a lie ever since I read the quotation.

I often tend to think why people resort to lies. It may be because we don’t want to face what is real and the truth that is always bitter. If we can eat bitter gourd as vegetable, why can’t we then face the truth right away? This is a question that always baffles me.

Being human beings and being the most intelligent among all living things, it does not mean that we don’t commit a mistake. We commit a mistake willy-nilly. But, it doesn’t mean that we haven’t done anything wrong. What is wrong if we admit that we did it or that? Bragging or trying in vain to camouflage lies as truths or speaking loudly that we know about everything, that we can do everything …blah ….. blah ….. blah …. will never give us the peace that we really die for. It is true that we can never be omniscient or omnipotent. Pretending to know about everything is nothing but it is like deceiving ourselves. Lies about being omniscient don’t help us to get what we cherish in our lives. They instead instill in us a fear of being caught somewhere and sometime.

We should never feel ashamed to tell the truth even at the expense of our material pleasure (Read: job, home, family). The real pleasure of being human beings lies in telling the truth and confessing that you are ignorant of what we do not know.