Excerpt from 'Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?'

I found this Management Values summary by Louis V. Gerstner particularly impressive.  I highly recommend you build and share your values and principles when you take on a new role involving multiple levels of organization hierarchy.  It is practically impossible for you to meet each team member face-to-face.  Under these situations, such a memo creates standard guidelines to develop a singular and strong organization culture...

Quoted from "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?" by Louis V. Gerstner

• I manage by principle, not procedure.
• The marketplace dictates everything we should do
• I'm a big believer in quality, strong competitive strategies, and plans, teamwork, payoff for performance, and ethical responsibility
• I look for people who work to solve problems and help colleagues.  I sack politicians
• I am heavily involved in strategy; the rest is yours to implement.  Just keep me informed in an informal way.  Don't hide bad information - I hate surprises. Don't try to blow things by me. Solve problems laterally; don't keep bringing them up the line.
• Move fast.  If we make mistakes, let them be because we are too fast rather than too slow.
• Hierarchy means very little to me.  Let’s put together in meetings the people who can help solve a problem, regardless of position.  Reduce committees and meetings to a minimum.  No committee decision making.  Let’s have lots of candid, straightforward communications
• I don’t completely understand the technology.  I‘ll need to learn it, but don’t expect me to master it.  The unit leaders must be the translators into business terms for me.

On Fighting Corruption

As the number of "exposes" have increased, I am torn between two emotions - Happiness that this is coming to light and Sadness that so much still exists and will probably exist for eternity.  As everyone else, my first instinct was to google on methods to fight and possibly eradicate corruption.  As expected, there were numerous conferences globally on this topic, since time immemorial.  Of interest was the broad-based nature of action committees.  Religious and Spiritual interference was suggested as a way to attack this problem.  Solutions range from grass-roots to top-down approaches.  Clearly, CORRUPTION is a global epidemic in under-developed, developing and developed nations alike.  While ramifications of this practice are at multiple layers of the society, its manifestations are ubiquitous.

Needless to say, I am not an expert to recommend solutions.  Let me ask a few questions and see where it leads us....
Q1. Is there a need for consensus building on this topic?  Is corruption not bad enough that it be treated/addressed at all levels independently?
Q2. Can corruption be brought under jurisdiction of Lok Adalat? Would this work or would this lead to power build up at these centers?
Q3. What level and kind of evidence is required to punish culprits?
Q4. Who should be involved in the jurisdiction process?
Q5. What role should media, NGOs, Government, governmental agencies and public play in this process?
Q6.  What should the overall framework for trial and deliverance of sentences be?  What level of flexibility is allowed at the local sites?
Q7.  What level of oversight responsibilities are required to make this process work?
Q8.  Is ZERO Corruption the right objective?

If there is enough support on these, I plead to each one to start working at local levels to influence this grass-roots movement.  Pick on some "honest" and influential members of your society and get started....

Travelogue for the trip to Mahabaleshwar and Pune

We did a road trip from Hyderabad to Mahabaleshwar onward to Pune and back. We drove our faithful Tata Indica that had already done about 150,000 KMS. Fondly called the "truck" for its loud noise and clunky travel, it earned a new nickname through this journey - "Baby Jumbo" - for the laborious progress combined with a heavy appetite for engine oil, and ever so reliable for the long distance. I am starting to love the Tata's for their Indica and Nano :-)

Here is the journal and hopefully some useful tit-bits...

1. Start as early as possible - 4AM, anyone? - Not only do you avoid city traffic, you don't need to use the AC, thus gaining extra speed on a clunker like ours. Best of all, kids sleep for a few hours until breakfast stop and you hopefully have covered close to 1/3rd distance before their ranting starts.. On the flip-side, this is probably a dangerous time since most truckers are tired driving through the night and are yearning for a breakfast/chai (nashta-pani) stop. If this concern weighs heavy in your head, start a bit late (5 AM?). Needless to say, definitely go by your sleep cycle. If you are not a morning person, better safe than sorry !!!

2. The first 4 hours are probably the best. Cover as much ground as possible without a stop. Stop for breakfast @~8:30 AM. A road-side stall/dhaba will be a good idea to break all apprehensions. Carry your own bottle of water and stick to hot foods that are usually well cooked (Idli without the accompanying Chutney/Sambar is a safe bet). On the topic of letting loose, carry a portable-potty so that the kids can enjoy a free, clean and open "passing" :-)

3. NH9 from Hyderabad to Zaheerabad is perfect, but it becomes bad the moment you cross into Karnataka and then Maharashtra. It is painful to see a 2-lane "NATIONAL HIGHWAY" with trucks blocking traffic repeatedly. There are also tons of potholes throughout and it is a challenge to navigate them at high speed. You will learn to swerve around the big ones and "glide" over most. You will "dunk" through a few of them too.

4. We took a detour at Mohal (40 KMs after Sholapur) into State highway 74 to visit Pandharpur, the abode of Lord Vittal. Again, roads in Maharashtra are pathetic at best. I cursed the Maharashtra government constantly for its terrible attention to Infrastructure and Tourism. There are so many amazing forts, rivers, temples but the government has let it grow wild in a free-market style. Fortunately, the temple was relatively empty and we got a quick darshan and a nice lunch at the "sadguru sakahari" place in the temple road.

We also got some good pictures of the Chandrabagh river/ghat that flows through the town. This seems very much like the Ganga of the region.

5. We continued on State Highway 74 towards Satara and onbound to Mahabaleshwar. Again, TERRIBLE, TERRIBLE roads. Reached Hotel Valley View Resort at Mahabaleshwar around 8:00 PM

6. We had stayed at this place about 20 years ago and it was nostalgic being there again. Given the off-season, the place was still under renovation, but we managed to take good advantage of the Swimming pool, play area and most importantly the food (amazing personal service during breakfast, lunch, dinner)

7. We visited Panchgani the next day. Went to Table Top,took a horse-ride and climbed down a beautiful cave restaurant. Went to Rajpuri Caves, totally uninhabited but rich in culture. We also saw a few points along the way, the main one being Parasi point that has big play area for kids. Remember, you will be charged a small amount as a 7-day pass by the Municipal Corporation of Panchgani. Irksome as it is, you don't have a choice...

8. The next day, we visited Pratapgadh fort, Old Mahabaleshwar (Panch Ganga temple with its confluence of five rivers and temples for Mahabali and Athibali), Elphinston Point, Arthur Seat point. Elphinston point was awesome akin to the Grand Canyon. One can only imagine how tourism business in the West would have thrived on a natural wonder such as this. Again, the Municipal Corporation of Mahabaleshwar will charge you yet again for another 7-day pass. No amount of arguing helps !!!

9. The next morning we drove to Pune to stay with my cousin. We met a couple of friends and it was great catching up. Except for Harini's falling sick with viral fever, it was a great 2 days in Pune. One funny incident was that of a rat stealing my Dad's hearing aid and gnawing off the ear mold. We had a tense 1/2 hour while we searched for the missing device. It was indeed a humorous mystery.

10. We started the drive back on Tuesday morning and reached Hyderabad into its heavy evening traffic.

All in all, a wonderful trip - All kudos to the ever-faithful Jumbo and the kids for demonstrating patience to the best of their abilities.

Role of Leaders in building passionate teams

For the purposes of this post, I will focus on team-building in IT and Knowledge Engineering sector. Technologists exhibit a dominating trait that makes them different. They are driven by intellectual needs. They love to solve challenging problems. Subsequently, they only respect and admire colleagues, superiors, managers and leaders who they believe are intellectually competent in their areas of work. This is an important factor to recognize and it makes a huge difference while choosing right leaders for teams and organizations.

Passion is accepted as the best productivity tool. A team driven by passion exceeds defined goals and creates new standards. True Passion is the ability to maintain intense emotions to positively impact the goal. It is something that happens within the individual. External motivators (like wind and oxygen) definitely helps, but the spark and the fire needs to keep burning within.

How did Mahatma Gandhi move massive populations towards non-cooperation objectives. How did Martin Luther King create passion amoung thousands of people to fight racism? How did Nelson Mandela fight apartheid? They practised what they preached. They walked hand-in-hand with general populace as the compassionate co-human-being. Had they restricted their actions to public speeches from atop a podium, there would not have been the enmasse movement.

"Passionate teams" is an abundantly used buzz-word in management today. "Building Passionate teams" is a cliche. Frankly, leaders of most organizations are far away from the tactical workings of their teams. They barely know their team's daily activities. They are shielded and separated from the ground realities that affect a project delivery. They simply cannot empathize with fellow workers since they lack knowledge of the process. Some people also go to the extremity of building hierarchical walls to shield themselves from potential failures that may impact their jobs. However, the same individuals are eager to present successes as their strategic and tactical leadership. A person who cannot make time to interact with his/her employees on a frequent and regular basis is definitely missing the pulse of the organization.

Building Passion is not a one-way street or a one-time event. True and continued passion can only be generated and exhibited by being inside the field of play. No amount of watching and lecturing from the side-lines will sustain this. A leader who believes in the "Hire and Fire" model will never be able to demonstrate or build passion. Passion requires an individual to weather numerous storms. One that jumps ship or passes the buck at the drop of hat, simply is not passionate. True leaders are battle-field tested continually and demonstrate their leadership in the trenches. For those leaders who prefer to preach rather than practice, leadership is only a nominal title. It is critical for Talent Managers to identify and nip such individuals before they create permanent damage to the organization.

Criticality of the Venture Team - An experiential observation

An online dictionary defines "Venture Team" quite simply as:

ven·ture team (plural ven·ture teams)

noun

Definition:

team to start up business: a management team put together to establish a new business, secure financing, and execute a business plan Investors focus on the Team, the Idea, the Market and the Proposition (ofcourse ROI). While rest of the critical factors can be triangulated and planned upfront with data and minimal gut instincts, the TEAM factor is least predictable (even if the team has worked together in multiple successful ventures). In my experience, key cause of team divergence is the varying priorities among team members. It is tough to expect all members of the venture team to have the same financial backing and propensity to face lifestyle and societal challenges. It is almost impossible that the team receives equal support from friends and family. Motivational factors are also critical - With changing conditions, motivational needs of the individuals may start diverging. Extended team members are also critical to the success of a venture. Every venture depends on a variety of advisors, promoters, champions, enablers to keep the machine cranking at all times. If any of the critical path individuals drag their feet, the whole team gets slowed down if not derailed. A resilient team is one that plans backup for all critical path tasks and people (although that eats up into short-term efficiency). A successful venture team is like a flock of geese, each member playing its role to perfection and continuously rotating the formation to maintain efficiency and consistency. Easier said than done, this requires a team with an "us" EGO not "I".

The Career Cycle Pattern - An Optimization Problem

Have you observed patterns in your career? This question assumes you are paying attention to your CAREER and not just on the job, pay or position :-)

Are you striving continuously to carve a career for yourself? Well, if you do, are there times you are disappointed at the path it appears to lead you into.

Despair not !!! If you step back and look at a 10-12 year span of your career, you will observe some amazing patterns. As you analyze and recollect the circumstances, you will actually notice whether you were consistent in your ambitions or not.

Your career is an NP-hard problem (*) (If you want to understand that gobbledygook, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NP-hard). In order to analyze it, you need to decompose it into smaller temporal phases and make sense of each portion [That would be local optimization for your career planning]. Now, string together the themes from each of these smaller phases and voila... you have your global solution.

This pattern will tell you about yourself, your goals, perseverance, attitude and aptitude. It will also lead you to extrapolate what your future steps should be.

As an example, my career seems to follow a 3-4 year cycle. I see distinct themes in each cycle. The first four years went in building software applications, troubleshooting bugs, addressing customer issues. In short, the theme was "Down in the weeds". The second 4-year term saw myself taking on cross-geography initiatives and "building small, efficient and effective teams". The third was about setting up a new office location grounds-up and "developing the organization" in multiple dimensions. The 4th cycle saw me participate in the "Company-Wide Strategic direction-setting" discussions including mergers/acquisitions among other things.

As I analyze this data further, it demonstrates a certain course of progression. It gives a fair picture of my goals, attitude and aptitude. But, what does that tell me about the upcoming 5th 4-year career term? I have a choice - to continue through the trajectory or to make a disruptive shift onto a lateral career plate. I would start by listing the objectives for this phase as well as for the overall career progression. I would then look at some influencing life-style variables. Hopefully that will give me the necessary data to arrive at a logical answer...

In conclusion, the science of career planning and optimization is indeed fun and challenging. There are no proven answers for the problem. There are only approximations and educated guesstimations. Who would you trust to solve such a problem, if not yourself?

_________________________________________________

(*) At each point of time in your career you have multiple choices to make that will impact your next state.

1. Since there exists the possibility of multiple results for a specific action in a specific situation, this is classified as a non-deterministic problem

2. Evaluating each possible outcome for each situation and action has a "polynomial time" complexity

Does 360 degree feedback actually work ?

Personally, I am a fan of the 360 degree feedback process. It is a wonderful way to keep pulse on the team ecosystem and to ensure that individual behaviors that hamper objective progress are adjusted along the way. However, there are factors that make this amazing process meaningless. Here are a few...

1. Open and Trusted participation of individuals undergoing 360 is absolutely critical. Most 360 processes fail because of passive conduct from participants. Feedback receivers start building defense shields (with managers, peers and reports) as soon as this process is initiated. Feedback providers see absolutely no value in providing useful feedback and hence resort to filling the blanks as a checklist

2. Absolute trust and understanding between feeback receiver and manager is paramount. There could be some comment(s) (from reports or peers) that criticize certain action or behavior without full knowledge of the circumstance/situation that the individual faced. In these cases, manager and employee are the only ones who can fully understand the background and evaluate the comment appropriately. This assumes there is a good relationship and understanding apriori, a precondition that fails most often.

3. Process (not content, ofcourse !!!) needs to be transparent to the participating group. Feedback receivers and their managers must have a choice of selecting providers. The questionnaire should be unambiguous and allow for free-form provision of supporting data. This process can be run semi-annually to gather feedback and measure corrections

4. Finally, there should be substantial period (2 to 3 cycles) of consistency in teams and reporting relationships to get correct and actionable data.

Vinodh Soundarajan - Recommendations and Endorsements

Vice President of Global Engineering and Member of Executive Staff Sumtotal Systems

“Vinodh is a great R&D leader. He focuses a lot of energy on ensuring his team is productive and engaged. He has a creative mind that has produced numerous ideas that have benefited our customers. He is great to work with under challenging conditions.” May 21, 2010
Brad Crain, VP Software Engineering, SumTotal Systems reported to Vinodh at Sumtotal Systems

“Vinodh was responsible for the company's R&D team and developing and executing upon the product roadmap. While in the position, he managed the P&L, spent significant time with our customers and field teams to best understand the requirements for our roadmap, and was focused on both customer and employee satisfaction. His style is calm and he works well under pressure, always carrying a positive attitude and approach to challenges. He was able to deliver results, and identified critical success factors that needed to be addressed to keep the company's blueprint ahead of the competition.” May 20, 2010
Barb Stinnett, President, SumTotal Systems managed Vinodh at Sumtotal Systems

“Vinodh is as realistic as he is optimistic. It was a true joy to work with him in a high energy, high productivity environment loaded with top engineering professionals whom he is responsible for. His dedication to product quality and deadlines is matched only by his devotion to his team.” March 7, 2009
Dale Bonamie, Development Manager, SumTotal Systems worked indirectly for Vinodh at Sumtotal Systems

“It is very exciting to be working with someone like Vinodh. He has lots of energy and ever-willing to solve every problem that is posed to him. He is very detail-oriented manager and likes to get hands-on at every opportuntity. Since I am not so, our discussions become tough sometimes, but they are always insightful to me. I worked with him as a peer as well as his report and I didn't feel the difference, he was always open, friendly and candid.” December 19, 2008
Mrityunjay Kumar, Various director level positions in R&D, SumTotal Systems worked directly with Vinodh at Sumtotal Systems


“During my tenure at SumTotal, I had the pleasure and privilege of working under Vinodh's leadership and it was a wonderful experience, indeed. Vinodh not only had a deep understanding of the industry, but from an overall business perspective as well and led the PM product group through many successes.

I had the opportunity to directly work with Vinodh on few projects - I was amazed at his deep & broad knowledge of the product suite and his eye for detail & perfection was simply inspiring. His calm demeanor under stressful situation is a highlight of his working style and handles pressure with utmost ease.

As the Vice President of the Engineering division, he was a source of inspiration across different groups and his enthusiasm for work is infectious. Vinodh has utmost care for customer's success and ensured that different working groups integrated seamlessly to ensure customer satisfaction. Vinodh is instrumental in many initiatives that are targeted to reduce the turnaround time for customer escalated issues and improve product quality.

Vinodh is a leader who has the vision to lead large, diversified groups to success and the ability to execute it with utmost sincerity. I would welcome the opportunity to work with him again.” September 4, 2010
Ram Arunachalam, Senior Lead, Software Quality Assurance , SumTotal Systems worked indirectly for Vinodh

Director - Product Development JDA Software(formerly called Manugistics)

“Vinodh is the best person in my professional life. The way he solves any problem is different and he is a dynamic, and we can consider him the best example as a lead. He is having very good knowledge in JDA (formerly called Manugistics) products. He is very strong in all areas (including technical, functional and managerial). His attitude and approach towards problem solving was awesome. All professionals are very happy/lucky working with him.” November 22, 2009
Murali Choudari, Project Manager, JDA Software worked directly with Vinodh at JDA Software(formerly called Manugistics)

“I feel the time which I have spent working with Vinodh was one of the best time of my professional life. I had lot of close interactions with him for close to 2 years when manugistics India office was getting set up. He is a dymanic and result oriented leader, his sheer presence make the atmosphere energetic and charged. Looking at him we used to say that our product Transport was in his blood. His attitude and approach towards problem solving was awesome.” November 21, 2009
Vinay Sharma, Project Manager, JDA Software reported to Vinodh at JDA Software(formerly called Manugistics)

“Vinodh has been a great mentor and guide to me, he is a team person, always ready to help on both technical and functional level. A hands on person with great leadership skills, his legacy continues to be there on the floor.” July 21, 2008
Hemant Shergare, Development Manager, JDA reported to Vinodh at JDA Software(formerly called Manugistics)

“I worked with Vinodh directly for many years and have seen him taking on various roles and challenges during the period I have known him. From the very beginning , Vinodh has been extremely customer focussed. He has on many occasions dealt with critical customers and helped them by providing solutions to their difficult problems. He has excellent people skills - got along very well with various teams in Manugistics. He always maintained a positive outlook and approached any situation with a can do attitude. It was a pleasure working with Vinodh.” June 24, 2008
Sundar Arunapuram, Sr. Director, Logistics Solutions Product Development, Manugistics managed Vinodh at JDA Software(formerly called Manugistics)

“Vinodh is top-notch at all he does. It was a pleasure to work with Vinodh!” June 18, 2008
Srini Rajagopal, Technical Director, Logistics Solutions, Manugistics managed Vinodh at JDA Software(formerly called Manugistics)

“Vinodh is the ultimate doer - he is energetic, committed and results-driven. I worked very closely with Vinodh at Manugistics and was thoroughly impressed with his ability to understand and deliver complex functionality while working with a diverse group of people with varied interests and expertise. He is an excellent mentor and never hesitates to roll up his sleeves to get things done. His strong development background coupled with his management education and global experience makes Vinodh incredibly valuable for any organization that is part of the new economy.” June 8, 2008
Suresh Acharya, Director, Manugistics/JDA worked directly with Vinodh at JDA Software(formerly called Manugistics)

“Vinodh goes above and beyond the typical definition of a 'developer' as he understands and considers the business side of building applications. He provides great insight into design and can translate difficult concepts into simple terms. He is a pleasure to work with and was highly regarded at MANU. I would work with Vinodh again without hesitation.” November 29, 2006
Gregg Lanyard, Senior Product Manager, Manugistics worked with Vinodh at JDA (formerly called Manugistics)

“I've worked with Vinodh on-and-off throughout his years at Manugistics/JDA on various projects and releases. He is conscientious on how decisions effect the whole, a friendly co-worker and peer, eager to help where help is needed. He will take on most any challenge, and I found him to be a honest and goal-driven individual.” September 13, 2006
Chuck Heck, Principal Engineer, Manugistics, Inc worked directly with Vinodh at JDA (formerly called Manugistics)

The lucky generation

The generation of adults born in 70s and 80's are indeed lucky... Let me explain my reasoning....

This generation has a unique experience of watching the past from the sidelines. Their parents and close ones had to carry a lot of "baggage" to fulfil social and family obligations and to build a basic quality of life. Needless to say, the journey was arduous for the previous generation. Having gained passive experience, this new generation had the luxury of building and watching some of the latest developments in science, technology and basic living. This generation also has the diverse experience of working in, with and for diverse cultures and peoples in a positive manner. The act of managing time, people, resources has been getting fine-tuned through this experience. This ability to prioritize values has allowed the generation to gain a upper hand. All this leads to highly balanced decision making abilities, driven by reason and passion. Wouldn't we call that lucky !!!!

In this continuum, the next generation (individuals born in 1990s and 2000s), has started off watching these advancements. They have not seen the challenges life can pose, but, that may indeed be a boon. They dont have to feel the shackles and start soaring right at birth. Yes, they may face some tough situations in their life, but I am sure their confidence and abilities will guide them through.

Three Cheers to Darwin and Evolution !!!!

Power of Pause

A few weeks ago I thought how powerful it was to PAUSE, especially in tough or tight situations. Upon googling, as expected, there is a complete book on this specific topic. Nevertheless, let me jot my thoughts here...

Given any situation - customer meeting, discussion with your manager, complex conversations with your reports, a tricky situation in the team meeting, potential argument within family - the Pause button (henceforth refered to as '', also called 'Hmmmm') is an important tactic. The other option would be to let your intuition go beserk. The goal of is to give yourself the extra second(s) required to weigh your intuiton versus other choices that may exist.

Another important value of is the opportunity it provides to refrain from reacting to the situation. The simple act of pausing, changes a "Reaction" to an "Action". Isn't it wonderful to act instead of react? Doesn't it feel more controlled?

The next time you are cornered in a spirited discussion, try using "hmmmmm.." and observe the reaction of the adversary. I would not be surprised if that person gets completely subdued or further enraged :-)

Day 7 - "Inner Engineering" course by Isha Foundation

February 16, 2010 - Day 7 (7:00 - 10:00 PM)

The course wound down with an end-to-end practice followed by review of techniques and Q&A. After offering gratitude to all spiritual masters, teacher, volunteers and participants, it was time for complete loosening up. Everyone danced to some mellifluous tunes and that was followed by potluck dinner..

As the curtain draws to a close, it is now upto each individual to decide their dedication and motivation to this newly laid path of life. What one does is the Freedom of Choice !!!

Day 6 - "Inner Engineering" course by Isha Foundation

February 15th, 2010 - Day 6 (7:00 - 10:00 PM)

Started with the routine exercises. We also did the Sambhavi today. Then we listened to the video discoure by Sadhguru. It included Q&A session of all things related to Sambhavi and a lot of generic clarifications on Kundalini, Chakras etc. Very entertaining and enlightening. He explained the symbolism of Kundalini (coiled serpent) as the dormant energy form. He succintly explained the importance of proper yoga techniques whereby body and mind are synchronized in order to awaken the energy. In the absence of good synchronization, the effects of extreme energy realization could be disastrous, akin to waking a sleeping serpent violently.

The best part was the explanation to "Karma". He explained Karma as the experiential library within ourselves that categorizes everything into likes and dislikes. He explained succintly how the 4 layers of mind (cognition, recognition, reaction, recording) works to etch and maintain the like/dislike karmic list in our brain. He used sense of sound as an example - The cognitive layer notices the source of sound and passes it on to the next step, the recognition layer. Recognition layer immediately looks up that sense from the karmic library and identifies it as a specific sound that was experienced earlier. The Reactionary layer instructs the brain to react to the specific sound based on whether it is stored in the likes vs dislikes list. In case of a new sound, the Reaction layer learns how the individual reacts to this new sound and passes it on to the next layer for storing it in karma library for future references (build up of Karma). The origin sensory perception could be anything including people, taste, object etc. Sadhguru pointed out that this is what everyone refers to as Karma.

Ofcourse, the next question arises around logic of reincarnation surrounding this karmic buildup. Sadhguru explained that until this list is brought down to zero there will be the act of reincarnation. While I personally am neither curious nor intelligent enough to get into this discussion at this time, I definitely like the analogy of an associated memory list. At the least, being aware of one's self can help prevent the buildup of this list, the obvious benefit being, one can be devoid of opinions (like/dislike), directly resulting in much lesser strife/suffering in the mind. Once there are no specific likes and dislikes in the list (requires prevention of new plaque buildup and wiping away old plaque), the individual lives life as-is without reacting to situations negatively (or positively).

I had not understood the emphasis on taking responsibility in one of the earlier classes. What this concept was trying to say in a different way was to avoid forming any opinion for any event/sensory perception. Taking responsibility on oneself is one way to avoid like/dislike build up.

This approach is definitely starting to make huge common sense for me. I am still pondering if achieving 100% equanimity is possible in a practical life. What kinds of leadership styles will survive such a situation? However, that problem is irrelevant at this stage, since we have a long way to go :-)

Onto the last day of class...

Day 5 - "Inner Engineering" course by Isha Foundation

February 14th, 2010 - Day 5 (8:00 - 5:00 PM)

The most significant day of the curriculum (The day of initiation to Isha Yoga) - Started off with fun ice-breaking and team building time at the Robinswood park. Getting wet and muddy in the Seattle drizzle was definitely a "letting go" moment. With a quick break for cleanup we resumed kriya practice followed by a wonderful breakfast. Tough choice, but "Groundnut Porridge" was simply superb. Here is the recipe that was provided by the foundation volunteers:

"Groundnut Porridge: Soak groundnuts for 5-6 hours. Then put groundnuts, bananas, sugar, cardamom and water in a mixie and grind for 2 minutes. Add milk to taste and serve".

We learnt some important aspects of the Sambhavi Maha Mudra before getting first-hand demonstration. It was an intense 21 minutes of kriya (included multiple steps). The complete experience was simply undescribable - as Sadhguru rightly said, the experience is unique to each individual. Its significance to internal well-being and relevance to external/material benefits were discussed.

A sumptuous lunch followed. This meal was all made by the volunteers with 100% natural food (there was no cooking involved). THANKS to all the volunteers for making the day seem so easy.

Puja was performed to offer thanks to all the gurus and spiritual leaders. The day finally ended with a video on ISHA's history and progress and its social involvement across the globe.

2 more days to go....

Day 4 - "Inner Engineering" course by Isha Foundation

February 13, 2010 - Day 4 (12:00 - 3:00 PM)

Another great day.. Sadhguru's lectures are definitely worth it. His style of presentation and the way he conveys complex points using day-to-day practical engineering concepts and practices definitely makes it appealing to the logical audience.

Today's course taught us about Sound - Nada Yoga, ubiquity of the Aum sound, the pricipal sounds (A, U and M), and derivatives of Aum in different cultures and religions. Apparently, A,U and M are the only sounds that do not require usage of toungue-modulation. He brought together the impact of Sound within mind, body and life energy coordination. One of the exercises he taught deals with constricting and locking (called bandas) different sections of energy channles (at neck, diaphragm, Anal end) in order to activate and heighthen chakra-consciousness

It is amazing that one can control different anatomical functions with such ease and simplicity. I am curious to hear what medical doctors and research scientists have to say about this. Do they agree or disagree? Do they believe there are practical extension of these age-old techniques/practices to modern treatments and healthcare systems?

Finally we learnt about Rudraksha mala and its multiple uses. We saw a demonstration of the mala's clockwise, anti-clockwise and pendulum swings based on positivity, negativity and neutrality of pranic foods.

Tomorrow is the day for Sambhavi Maha Mudra initiation. We have been asked to bring certain materials like fruits, flowers, sweets, white cloth etc. It seems reasonable that such a key milestone is followed with rituals (afterall it is a sign of respect).

Day 3 - "Inner Engineering" Course by Isha Foundation

February 12, 2010 - Day 3 (7:00 - 10:00 PM)

Started off very well with a video lecture by Sadhguru. He explained simple actions that our body performed with such ease and made it practical for the audience. Great lecture. All of us should see this if possible. He provided simple tips to unblock congested nostrils, balance ida and pingala just by focussed and monitored breathing techniques (even I could do it !!!). The next 1/2 hour or so went in learning about positive, negative and neutral "pranic" foods. The main point being - We should not abuse our body by ingesting food that is not necessarily made for bodily functions. He likened usage of appropriate fuel to a vehicle (Gasoline-87/91, Diesel, Kerosene etc). All in all, a great presentation, simple to understand - It achieved what it was supposed to...

Then we got onto the face-to-face lecturing session. As we have become used to by now, there is high belaboring of certain points. The audience seems to get it first time, without a need for "indoctrination". Today's point was - "This moment is inevitable". The instantaneous moment that is current, is already underway and there is nothing we can do to change the state of this moment. We can, ofcourse, change the course of future moments by understanding the current situation and using our past experience as a guideline. Once we agree/understand this (which I am sure most logical folks will do) we can realize for ourselves that our reactions to these moments (Anger, sadness especially) are basically that - "reactions" - and cannot change what has transpired. That will condition us to adjust our temperament (over course of time) to avoid getting into extreme states of emotion.

There was another interesting chunk of time wasted in "play of words". Somehow "acceptance of what is available" (in other words, "compromise") got translated to "Wants". Clearly, there was an illogical play of words that most of us did not agree with.

We were given another homework this time and hopefully, we have a better idea of what is expected. [Did I tell you that my last night's homework was way off - Grade F]...

At the half way level, I grade this course at 70% (First Class) for content and simplicity. I give 30% for Instructional Presentations and clarity.

Next session is 12:00PM to 3:00PM... Happy reading !!!

Day 2 - "Inner Engineering" Course by Isha Foundation

February 11, 2010 - Day 2 (7:00 - 10:00 PM)
I need to emphasize that these opinions and language are purely my own and do not represent the views of any other individual or group.

Someone remarked "we only stand to gain from this course. We have nothing to lose". In this context, Day 2 was a wash.

It started with a video clipping of Sadhguru explaining that there are 72,000 nadis (virtual energy channels) in the body. He talked about the need for a good balance between the Ida and Pingala channels (also commonly referred to as the female and male counterparts of the energy channels). The third key player is the Sushumna channel which is mostly dormant and has to awaken by practice in order to gain value. [Clearly, I need to read up a lot more on these topics]. In addition we learnt the fourth asana (nadi vibhajan, a set of 10 steps). So far, so good - Pretty informative and very interesting..

Then we got into some lecturing on key "inner engineering" traits
1. Each individual is responsible for their feeling of Anger - Obvious, but good to be reminded. The crux of this subject being that each one of us are able to consciously decide whether we react to any situation with anger or not. Being a practitioner of this, I am in complete agreement. Ofcourse, there are going to be times when we are not able to control the emotion. In other words, anger spurts out before we get a chance to suppress. As long as in the long run, we are able to control this as much as possible, we can declare victory over one of the toughest feelings. Sometimes, I think it is a great idea to demonstrate anger especially if you want to get out of tough situations. Like it or not, that is the only way out :-)
2. Each individual must take responsibility for their thoughts and actions. Unless we take ownership we will carry around the excuse of "I said so" in our back pockets all the time. Obviously, the approach and actions that follow a half-ass attitude will be, well, half-ass [Pardon my language]. This topic turned upside down (or illogical should I say) when the instructor insisted that each one of us was responsible for everything in the globe (including the atom bomb, she said)... Wow!!!! While I can let my imagination go as far as thinking positive about everything astronimical, I definitely could not let my mind take credits for the atom bombs and such.

We ended the day with a homework on what we learnt and how we utilized it in our day-to-day practice

Definitely looking forward to day three - Will tomorrow make up for day two?

Day 1 - "Inner Engineering" course by Isha Foundation

February 10, 2010 - Day 1 (7:00 - 10:00 PM)
I finally took the plunge and decided to attend a formal self-help course. (Not that I need any of that :-))... Due to some strange confluence of stars, I had the time and ability to "just do it" without thinking too much about expectations..

Prior to the class, I read up on a technical paper describing the changes in brain contours before and after Sambhavi Mudhra. The 16 electrodes connected to the head definitely seemed to show significant pattern change. However, I am not knowledgeable enough to understand how that translates to behavioral changes and how one would maintain the "enriched" state of mind through the normal day of routines..

The class started with an eloquent lady talking about some profound topics in a pretty balanced and witty manner. The audience seemed to be generally analytical in nature. Most questions and thoughts were obvious - One does not need a course to talk about these...

Let me note one particular analogy that stuck in my head (since I did not agree with it) - The presenter insisted how children dont feel any depression and always stay at the excited/blissful state of mind. She was comparing it to adults who seem be stressed at all the things and forget to get excited at all the simple things in life...
While all that sounds good, I will have to vehemently state that kids get just as depressed and throw uncontrolled tantrums when what they desire is not met. Although their depressions may be short-lived, they definitely go through highly amplified peaks and throughs of emotion during every single living day. In contrast, most adults have learnt to subdue/dampen their peaks and throughs. After all, adults have to put up with emotions of other people in addition to their own..

Another topic that left a lot open was "desire" - The video with Sadhguru's presentation included over 20 minutes of trying to pry open the guts of "desire" and "how do we conquer desire". I came out as ambivalent as I entered the class. The way Sadhguru was disputing/rejecting different comments from the audience, I was waiting to see what his real "answers" were. Well, I was waiting till the very end (the next few days may come back to address this).. Honestly, I do not want to know any answer to this question, since I have my own philosophy that guides me through this - I believe we swallow what we chew. And we decide how much to put in our mouths and how much to spit out and when. If each one of us does not know how big our mouths are, or, what substances (topics) our mouth is allergic to, or, what the consequences are once we swallow the distilled portion, or, what happens if we do not spit out the residue in time etc, we get to face the consequences and learn about it - It is a simple process of learning... Each individual's risk/greed propensity is different and luck/attitude may play a role too... there are no wins and losses... it is just an experience..

I definitely found the last hour of the 3-hour session very informative. Here are the key things I took out:
1. There are 104 chakras (102 inside the body and 2 outside) - I need to research this more to understand what they are and how they translate to human anatomy. I am definitely curious to know about the two chakras "outside" the anatomy :-)
2. One can look at the entire human being at multiple levels - Body, Mind and Life energy (commonly classified as Physical layers) and "transcendental" and "ananda" levels (Dont know what these were called? Meta-physical, virtual, ??). Obviously, I will hear and learn a lot more in the coming days...
3. Three asanas (butterfly, Baby in Arms and one other that strengthens Moola-dhara Chakra). I think I can align with these concepts since they seem pretty logical to me.. Afterall, they are excercises of body+mind - who can disagree, eh!!!

On to Day 2....