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India is celebrating… long weekends! Twice in this month! Long week-end, and a looooong post ☺ August 15th to 18th – Independence Day to Janmashtami (Sri Krishna’s birthday). Gods are smiling on us again. Yet another long weekend, though not ‘as long’. Aug 29th to 31st. Stating the obvious, most of these public holidays are ‘holy-days’, being related to festivals. I rate even Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanthi as holy-days. For our freedom fighters were not looking at liberation from the British alone, but also within. And Gandhiji was at the forefront with his emphasis on Truth & Righteousness. These holy-days give us an opportunity to look within, connect with our Higher Consciousness (Hi C) – we may call the HiC through various names – God, Krishna, Jesus, Allah, Ganesha, Sai, Durga, Master, Guru, et al. Master says, ‘ The easiest means to achieve love for God is to worship God as having a form ’. He also quickly reminds, Worship of God is of three important types: Satvic, Rajasic and Tamasic . Loosely translated, Divine, Humane and Devil level. I was surprised to see classification of worship as S/R/T, I must confess! I thought worship was always naturally at Satvic. But not so ☺ • Level 3/Devil/Tamasic Level: In the Tamasic form of worship, the individual prays to God but continues violence, anger and pomp, causing pain. Any worship that is done for the sake of name, fame, with pomp and ego is called the Tamasic worship. • Level 2/Human/Rajasic Level: Rajasic worship is done for the sake for fulfilling selfish interests and to attain great heights in one’s life. Devotion with the feeling that one alone should be safe, happy and should be blessed involves utter selfishness. Such a devotee does not even aspire or think about the well being of the family or the society. • Level 1/Divine/Godly/Satvic Level: A Satvic devotee performs all daily tasks to please God, with total surrender and offers all tasks performed during the day as loving service to God. I am not considering animals/birds or Nature here. I find them closer to Level-1! So, every time I do an act of worship or Sadhana, I have a choice to opt for the level – 1, or 2 or 3. If it is ritualistic, a level we often get used to, it is not at level-1. I am also aware, as human being, I am blessed with the discrimination to make the right choice. A post on worship is incomplete without the quote, ‘Work is Worship. Duty is God’. One of my favorite and a constant reminder to aim for excellence (level-1) in any work I do. When I able to tune in to that awareness, innovation, quality, customer enchantment are integral, continuous. For my goal is not level-2, which is very good. For example, I am currently reaching out to friends to inform them (promote) my upcoming training program. I am sending personalized messages, with minor modification to a template. But when I tune-in, I am able to keep fine-tuning and do the repetitive, boring activity with awareness… almost meditative! This is applicable to everyone, irrespective of the nature of wok, is it not? Whether we are a corporate executive, entrepreneur, self-employed, retired, student, homemaker or a worker. – A worker/manager/entrepreneur has a choice to make it to the best possible level (six sigma quality), innovative, to ensure customer (external & internal) enchantment. – A student has a choice to do his duty – to study, play, et al at level-1. Lot easier, I guess? – A retired senior-citizen has (less years and) more time to contemplate on HiC. So perhaps easier to tune-into level-1 always, to stay at that level of consciousness. But this also comes from practice and how we managed our childhood and youth, or the earlier three Purusharthas! – A homemaker can convert her/his cooking to cleaning to Satvic worship.  Of course, level-1 naturally takes care of sustainability, CSR and environment, is it not? For, Nature is manifestation of Divine. So, every act we do, we have a choice – to make it worship, at level 1/2/3! When we are more often at Satvic level, #Abundance is a natural outcome. So, even abundance is a choice we make… What are your thoughts? How are you spending your holy-days? At what level you do your ‘work’ – Tamasic, Rajasic or Satvic? A level-1 musical offering to Divine!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihic3AqopZk&list=PL4607F8ECA2080701#t=95

This topic has been trending in the media & social media.Nooyi’s candor is very inspiring, as she does not sugar coat the difficulty to ‘balance’ work/life or manage multiple roles. I was touched by her ability to display vulnerability. That ability perhaps makes her a leader with difference. As I read through the report, one thought stuck to me. What would have been different if she had hired a Coach? Wonder if she has a Coach!She has Coaching as one of her popular 5Cs, being her roadmap to success: Competency, Courage & Confidence, Consistency, Compass & Coaching. (MIT Sloan) A Coach would have been a good sounding board for her, at different stages in life. A good Coach would have helped her to handle her 3R’s (Regret, Resentment & Reject), in a holistic way. PS: Friends in corporate world, it is never too late to hire a coach – an experienced, certified/credentialed one, only. For more on Career coaching for women, check out:

@ Chennai! My new Karmabhoomi! New?! Or is it back, ‘home’? Where it all started, professionally, on 1/1/91. At #21, Patullos Road! ‘Took the road less travelled’! Drove down, enjoyed driving through torrential rains. Heavy traffic on the NH (courtesy, ‘CV’s!) do not allow to speed up. I empathise with CVs (commercial vehicles, that is) on highways, having worked with the industry for 15 yrsJ A little lane-discipline, from us all, will surely help. The tollbooths should add this to their KRA? Upkeep of the stretch and better driving experience for the commuters?! Why not, if customer experience is the ultimate goal, instead of just collecting toll for the infrastructure. Every tollbooth announces, ‘lane #1 for cars’. But filled with trucks & buses. Have you noticed, we are evolving to a new traffic rule– slow moving traffic on the last lane ?!! May be we should formalize! Height of lane-indiscipline! There were just too many butterflies on the road. Are the flowers on the road-dividers attracting them? If yes, do we need flowers? People pluck flowers too! Risk for butterflies, animals & people?! I observed hardly any bird, even on the horizon. Where have all birds gone? Coffee at Krishnagiri and Sambar Vada at ‘Dimple Group’s Anandabhavan’ were just super!

When a patient goes to a doctor/dentist/ortho, a hair-dresser, a spa, a guru or even a movie/play, he should have made preliminary checks before making a decision & plan. The target customer for executive coaching, middle/senior level managers, would consider themselves smarter than ‘aam aadmi’. Similarly HR/L & D also will make enquiries to check out on the credential of the coach/firm, accredited or not. Where is the scope for a coach ‘to play any game’ ?! And where is need when the whole premise is to make a genuine difference? I would personally credit the client (individual & corporate) with lot more credibility, capability and judgement, rather than being naive & irresponsible !!

Millennial as a group is still being looked at as mere talent, human resources, and workers! As such the way we look at their skills, aspirations, preferences. Another element that is being ignored is what many see as a different level of awareness, consciousness. Something people belonging to other groups are unable to fathom. It is not the good, old generation gap! When that perspective is also considered, the approach will be holistic and meaningful for the millennial. http://www.inc.com/john-b oitnott/dear-ceo-this-is-why-millennials-don-t-want-to-work-for-you.html?cid=em01020week34a#/