A spark among the dark clouds

A spark among the dark clouds

Generally, I don't write about the photographs I clicked, because I am a believer in the popular quote 'Picture speaks a thousand words'. By writing something about any magnum opus is an act demeaning that art. Not all art is technically magnum opus but they had been bought into existence with the spirit of creating something so unique and unforgettable. Later, connoisseurs determine the exact and proportionate values according to their values and belief systems.

I was ending my weekends on a pre-monsoon evening on the terrace and the terrace is one of the inventions for jogging during this pandemic. Initially, clouds covered the eastern horizon and started marching towards the western horizon. Within a span of a short moment, darkness fell upon earth leaving slight energy of some light for the northern and the southern horizons. The subject and object below clouds and in between the eastern and western horizon lost the effulgence of day. A cool breeze started flowing indicating the end of the scorching heat spell of summer.

On the western sky, there was not a usual exit of the sun, darkness has bridged a whole of the massive sky. I was agog with curiosity and copiousness while witnessing the celestial orchestra.

Suddenly, for a fraction of a second cloud cleared the sky, and radiating red rays emitted from a small hole. That was just a moment when the sun ready to set from this horizon and arising on some other horizon.

Even among the darkest of clouds, there are rays of hope. What our sky required is just a little bit of zeal to conquer the darkest of clouds. Whatever the toughest of time we are facing, what all we required is only a bit of belief to come out of wood.  

 

Faith

Amol 

Security in times of insecurity

Security in times of insecurity

The weekends, time to relax and equip yourself with something engaging and fruitful. Most of us plan something ordinary that may turn into something mundane, we may gain or get rid of something. Our outlook of weekends will define the gravity of Monday morning syndrome. I decided to connect with a couple of close friends and check out their whereabouts. The thought of connecting with close people and finding out the generic outlook gives us an overall idea of the mass scale sentiments. How are you feeling in that particular moment determines the condition of the happiness apparatus of the future. That's a general-case scenario. While considering the general sentiments of current affairs, we all are distressful. With the logic of this general-case scenario, we will be facing some or more challenges in the future.

A human being is designed in such a way that despite all these odds, we are optimistic of the time which is yet to come. This could be termed as the best-case scenario.

These mass-scale sentiments will define the best time to come. Back to the point of my 'Charcha with buddies' over the weekends,  I could gather the hopes they are seeing in the future drawing effervesces from present and past.

Those affected by covid 19 infections in this pandemic are seeing hope in the best healthcare system in the future. They are hopeful that as a nation will have to succeed in acquiring and providing the best healthcare infrastructure to citizens. They are being empathetic to the agonized situations they suffered. Recovery and getting back to normal in 'new normal' was really a stiff task. Each and every countable breath gave them the strength to survive. For them, the dark clouds of the nightmare are over now. It's a massive shot and a massive victory.

Those lucky ones, who successfully abled to saved themself from infection are fortunate enough to witness agony from other's points of view. They are happy to cherish the fact that they and their dear and near one has been spared. Quite a few of them are hoping to toast and go to the office very soon. They miss Delhi's street food as they have never been eaten anything and ready to paunch everything like a famished man. For many, its an opportunity to going back to their roots, all those forgotten 'Dadi Ma ke Nuske' enlighten the tentacle in order to make immunity stronger like anything never seen before. Few of them Kadha's that keeps us warm and stay away from any sort of infection.

These hopes give us the aspiration to stay forward for a bright future. This maximum optimism threshold limit we have to retain. Omen of a good time is about to strike at our door. These myriad thoughts are the only security, which we will be carried forward to the future. Be secure in the time of insecurities.

Best

Amol

The real and relevant lessons of logotherapy

 

The real and relevant lessons of logotherapy

Hope and despair is the two different sides of the coin. Hope leads to prosperity and despair may take you to a bridge that leads nowhere. We all are going through a very rough patch of life. Covid 19 has stricken every sphere of life. Life seems to involve and revolve around this misery of mystery. The cynosure of a Covid 19 nightmare not ready to subside. The situation has started impacting all of us in masses now. Before it gets worst, we have to find some lights. I happened to read a book by Viktor Frankl, 'Man's Search for Meaning' where he elaborated Logotherapy. Dr. Viktor Frankle was psychiatric and spend his 3 years in 4 Nazi concentration camps during World War II. Throughout these hard times in camp, he had witnessed despairing moments arising out of inhuman conditions and unimaginable horrors at camp.

Despite rough situations, the comrades staying along with him survive hard times. The word 'logo' in logotherapy indicates meaning or reason. Life lies in the search for meaning.

We live because we want to know the meaning of our life. The learning from camps gives him the realization that we can withstand any storm given the reason. The reason to find 'why' to live for, can withstand 'any how'. We can discover meaning in life by creating a work or deed, by experiencing or encountering someone, by the attitude we take forward unavoidable sufferings.

Most of the time we are finding meaning in life from the tragedy of triad, the (i)tragedy of pain and suffering gives us an opportunity to learn and find meaning in it, the (ii)tragedy of guilt can be overcome by taking responsibility for our actions, the (iii) tragedy of death can be overcome by living our life as it is the second time, knowing how we got it wrong in the first time. The current episodes of covid-19's second wave have been covering a tragedy triad almost for all of us in one or another way. People are suffering inexplicable pain, the pain of deteriorating health, not finding hospitals, medicines and oxygen. These helpless and hopeless situations lead to guilt and finally, there was the demise of newer and dear ones.

 These are horripilation times where a large number of demographics are saddened in all its horizons. The economy started losing its animal spirit. This despair time can be overcome by Hopes. The hope of saying 'this shall pass too'. Tackling all the odd in terms of learning and living life as it is for the second time, and understanding how it went wrong in the first place.  

The situations of despair need to be defeated by 'how' and 'why' would act as hope. 

- Amol Nakve

 

Destroy creatively in order to reconstruct creatively

Destroy creatively in order to reconstruct creatively 

A decade ago, in the year 2010, I got to know the economic concept called 'creative destruction. I was really happy to learn the views of Vijay Mahajan, the founder of the Basix group, he is known to be a 'Father of Indian Microfinance'. Microfinance was initially started as a helping hand to the poor and needy people to lift them from poverty. It acted as one of the poverty alleviation tools. Later on, it got embroiled in a commercial activity. This results in many institutions started working into the segment and it became a huge industry. The industry was the only sole stakeholder of financial inclusion because no bank was ready to include unbanked into the mainstream.

There was Dr. C. Ranjarajan Committee on financial inclusion which had emphasized a lot on the importance of Micro Finance Institutions in India. But, the early year 2010 was hit by a black swan event, few farmers committed suicide because of arduous recovery practices of some microfinance

institutions. That was the beginning of declining of MFI's. MFI's as an industry had not reinvented the wheel to lend and operate, not linked the lending with the object of utilization, which resulted in excess borrowing. This excess borrowing formed a bubble. And finally, that bubble burst to cease many MFI's. 

The miasma created over this could never ever get settled. Banking products from banks came into the picture and replaced the MFI model, not completely but to a greater extend.

The above-cited example entails the story of MFI's, who over a period of time not innovated their innovations in order to be sustained in the future. Those old models became obsolete and obliterated completely. In the year 2020, another black swan event happened, COVID 19 pandemic which crippled most of the economies around the world. Still, this pandemic continues to play havoc around the world, this year is also getting affected badly on personal as well as professional fronts. 

The failure of MFI's occurred due to they didn't destruct their earlier way of working. Whatever we do, it always needs further innovation, or else it becomes obsolete. The MFI's saga draws attention to an economic concept called 'Creative Destruction'. The term coined by Joseph Schumpeter refers to the incessant product and process innovation mechanism by which new production units replace outdated ones. This has many macro as well as microeconomic implications. The year 2020 marked the beginning of the pandemic and it continues till this time. It has been proved that the earlier models of business delivery have had not being able to execute. I happened to host the AI mentoring for women technologists and it has been concluded during that session 'the earlier models of AI (Artificial Intelligence) prediction had failed as the current unprecedented situation was never taken into account.

We used to operate in direct connection mode, once we are adopting things so-called Social Distancing or remote working we kind of failed to scale. This pandemic may end or may not end, the resilience and animal spirit of the corporation has to be regained. And in order to regain the business confidence Schumpeterian creative destruction will help to restructure. I think at this juncture we all should try to innovate to a greater extent in order to survive in sustainable manners. 

 

 

Faith

Amol

पाऊस आला आणि फुले पाडून गेला।

पाऊस आला आणि फुले पाडून गेला।

Nostalgia for relief

Nostalgia for relief

Have you ever wonder, how frequently we been looking for mind soothing techniques in the last one and a half years. Probably we may have tried some techniques in order to get some relief from stress. The socio-economic parameters are around us have lost their natural tendency to provide mental relaxation. Although, Covid-19 had play havoc in destabilizing the minds of the masses. 

We are directed towards some meaning in life. And sometimes those meaning gets jolts in the midst of the journey. Freudian centered those meaning to will to pleasure, Adlerian centers those to will to power & Viktor Frankle centered it to will to meaning. We all are going through many jolts in this pandemic and need of an hour to get rid of those mental stress. I am sure we all are following some or another technique to get on the track of meaningful life. 

I intended to write this narration for the HR fraternity then I realize it's not only HR, that the first caregivers' to people. Almost every one of us is there for taking care of our team members. Hense onus not only lies with HR and along with others and HR also needs some relaxation technique. 

It's again not the same fit for all formulas. We all carry different DNA and single -fit all formula may not work. Some people may get destress by meditation, mindfulness, music, movies, books, exercise, and yoga. A few days ago, nothing seems working out for me as the jolts were so huge, arising out of loss of near and dear ones due to covid-19.

A day ago, one of my close friends had sent me a 15 years old pic from Kerala trip that happened in the year 2021. Those days were really fantastic. I have got myself embroiled in those glorious memories. I immediately opened my laptop and flipped through a photograph by photograph. Literally, we all have to traverse through that journey again. Traveling with limited pocket money, to unknown places, among unknown people, with limited understanding of resources and planning we had great leanings for our entire life. Those learnings and fun made most of us solo travelers with some concrete meaning sets in the future.

The activity of flipping through photographs gave me a sense of nostalgia and I forgot whatever is happening around us i.e. pandemic, the falling economy. It rejuvenates a zeal for a more meaningful life. Sometimes our sweet memories give ecstasy, a moment of nostalgia.

Trust your albums with joyful photographs will ease your hard times.

 

Faith

Amol Nakve

The cost of not learning from the Black Swan event

The cost of not learning from the Black Swan event.

Things were pretty okay……Yes too much pretty okay……And suddenly less than 24 hours i.e. around at 11 AM, as part of my regular connect with a covid-19 positive team member, I was shocked to hear the news of the untimely demise of our 38 years’ old colleague due to covid-19. All of us are traumatized by this loss. Although, the process of grief will settle things in time. But the memories of loss shall always remain there in institutional memories.

 At this time most of us must be going through bereavement due to the loss of near and dear ones. It’s been more than a year to be far-far away from normal life. Few were predicted that this would be the new normal until we get a vaccine for all, which may act as an antidote for this pandemic. Few were also of opinion, this could have been avoided by appropriate measures like wearing masks, social distancing, etc. But today nothing seems working in the fight against unprecedented times. It’s not the real fight against the deadlier Covid-19, it’s the fight against the missed learning opportunity to fight against the pandemic.

The year 2020 would be marked as an annus horribilis and substantially it gets extended in the year 2021 as well. The unprecedented journey of a disastrous state continues. There was ample window of opportunity to learn from the year 2020 not only in terms of improving healthcare but also matters pertaining to education, logistics, economy, etc. 

Some may argue that the comparison of the year 2020 with the year 2021 would not the fair, as the second wave just happening in India is on a massive scale now. Earlier we witnessed the softer aspect of the Black Swan event. Hence, the learnings of the 2020 pandemic could have been acted as a better solution for the second wave of the year 2021. The official figures stand at 2.3 crores infected and most than 2.5 lakhs lost their life in the fight against Covid-19. There is myriad analysis available for predictions. 

 The black swan event which by definition is sudden and unpredictable even causes massive damage. The pandemic that took place in 2020 was a black swan for the world and a nightmare for many countries' economics. Unplanned and unexpected lockdowns crippled the economy forcing a majority of people to migrate from urban pockets to rural pockets people.

 I have read a couple of articles written by Dr. Devi Shetty a globally renowned cardiologist, in those narrations he has been championing the issues to be addressed on the war front like the shortage of health care professionals and vaccinating parents to avoid future damage from the third wave.

The past learning would have helped us to make an adequate shield in the fight against the second wave. That adequate shield in terms of sufficient hospitals and beds, ICUs, massive vaccine production facilities, Oxygen supplies and well competent health care human resources, appropriate education infrastructure to strengthen education, strong transport, and logistics, and the list is endless.

The only point to make is learning from past black swan events would have controlled the damage. Now is the time to control the damage, recover and prepare for the best health care facilities for the future, not for any pandemic but also for the general health and wellbeing of citizens.

 

Faith

Amol Nakve       

The defining moment for the economy.

The defining moment for the economy. 

It's been more than 1 year & 3 months since the pandemic of covid19 began. And there is no visible sign of subsiding of the gravity of causes and effects of this calamity brought to all of us. The daily skyrocketing number of Covid 19 cases is alarming and has become the cause of concern for the nation. In fact, the second wave is proven to be a real nightmare for the entire nation with failing all healthcare mechanisms. With the collapsed hands of systems, we all are observing behavioral as well as economic changes around us. An opportunity missed will cause dear to us. 

Dickensian paradox will guide us for best of times in worst of times. It's a unique opportunity in front of us to get the maximum of this pandemic. The things which we thought necessary in life has started becoming accessory. With the limited availability of resources, we are becoming more conservative in terms of consumption. Limited resources that too in limited times, if you could ever decide to go outside and risks your own health.  

There are various ways in which we all observing behavioral economic changes. Take a dig at the small example, our vegetable seller (Sabjiwala bhaiya) has started delivering online orders and delivery is on every Monday and Thursday with online payments only. The limited supply of veggies, with limited time, on limited days, and in limited areas is helping him to serve other areas too i.e. Market and scale has increased for his business.

Occasionally, he had admitted that the pandemic has smoothed his business. Going outside for veggies and incurring the time and other resources may become a thing of the past now. Such a nice change for the producer, consumer as well as supplier or seller. 

A logistics-driven economy will be a thing of the future. The strength of any corporation will be depending on the logistical arrangements it possessed. The covid 19 pandemic forces monetary and fiscal policy to change in accordance with the need. Work from home proved that for most of the jobs, incurring expenses on offices may not be necessary. Taka look at changing patterns associated with day to day life i.e. our spending on garments, increased consumption of electricity and internet uses. 

Now, these minute or mammoth changes will start integrating with our future course of action. If this annus horribilis continues to play havoc we will have to ready for more such integration of changes.  Let's us observe and be an eyewitness of defining moment of the economy. 

-Amol Nakve

Happy Mother's Day

 

Detox....

Bottle Gaurd Juice.

 

Sound of Metal....

 

Sound of Metal

Opps...very close..very very close contender. Riz Ahmed was the strong contender to Anthony Hopkin for his stilling acting in The Father. Riz Ahmed acting in *The Sound of Metal* is Mangum Opus.

What a journey from canorous to deafness. The actor really plays the role true to the character. It reminded me theseus paradox
i.e. ones we replace something original with other whether the object fundamental remains same or not? Would recommend to watch this movies and witness the masterpiece acting by Riz.

Faith
Amol

Fig for Perfect Figure

A Fig for perfect Figure

 

Mank

 Mank

Let's begin with a catcher phrage 'cinematography in nomochrome'. I was fond of cinematic view of nature in and with colors. But monochromed cinematography is undisputed and outstanding arena.
Yes, recently a buzz word in cinematography is *Mank* the movie which already had won the hearts of millions.  Mank is an biopic on screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. 

True to this character Garry Oldman has also proven his assets by leading the role. Nonetheless, I really love the cinematography not just because it has won the best cinematography in Oscar 2021 but the having the fact that cinematography is in only in two colors is going to be tough task. Kudos to Erik Messerschmidt for his fabulous and impeccable skills on cinematography. One must observe 'what is real cinematography'. Just live and love it. Hugely recommended.

Faith
Amol