Budget on "29th Feb 2016"

Today is a special day. Not just because it comes after 4 years but also because today our financial budget is released. So is it a budget that lives upto the expectations of this day?

Has the finance minister been able to account for political considerations and yet give us a good budget? The budget rightly focuses on building infrastructure, supporting farmers by continuing the schemes of last government, creating an ecosystem for start-ups, facilitating ease of doing business and increasing investment in higher education. Mr. Arun Jaitley has shown fiscal prudence by proposing to keep the deficit at 3.5 percent of GDP in 2016-17. He has tried to play a balancing act by sticking to the fiscal consolidation agenda and at the same time making a growth incentivizing budget. (The increased projection of revenue is expected from spectrum sale, disinvestment and increase in service tax rate.) Rightly, tax defaulters will be penalized more heavily now with increased focus on governance.

As is expected from a growth focused budget, this budget could increase inflation with the service tax rate increased to 15%. Restaurants, car, gold, travel and other services will now be more expensive. More taxes will be levied from people earning above 1 crore. Withdrawl from EPF after a certain limit has become taxable now. There are talks of doubling the rural income however no clear roadmap has been shown to achieve it. The budget also remains silent on boosting exports, increasing private investment and GST.

All in all, the budget tries to balance between growth and interests of poor. Within the political reality of today, the finance minister certainly had a difficult job in presenting a good budget and he seems to have done a good job at it.

However, if you ask me whether my expectations have been met then I would say that I am looking at a paradigm shift which our governments need to bring in the way they present budget with increased focus on outcomes and not just outlays. It is high time we move beyond good planning and focus on delivery too.

Happiness and Pride

Happiness is when someone clicks a beautiful photo of yours .....

Pride is when you click a beautiful picture of someone :-)

Taking shit

Is it true that if we have to get along with people in life we have to learn to take shit? It is true that we are dependent on each other and we should collaborate. But does that mean we should lead our lives the way others want us to?

Till we as humans do not realize what living in present really means, we will continue to throw shit at others and even if we do not receive the sprinkles of it, we would have certainly wasted our time in preparing the shit. Isn't living in present all about enjoying the moment rather than building expectations for future? Unfortunately, we build expectations not only from ourselves but also from others.We expect others to reciprocate. Fair enough! but does that mean that we define how others will reciprocate?

Gandhiji said that in nature we have enough to satisfy everyone's need but not to satisfy everyone's greed. Our expectations often blind us and we are not ready to see things from others point of view. With time this becomes our nature and we get offended if others do not meet our expectations.

We play all sorts of games with others to make them surrender to our expectations. Even when we are shown other's point of view, we turn a blind eye to it and force our expectations on others. We fail to realize that just knowing others point of view is not appreciating diversity but accepting it is all about appreciating diversity. Instead we try to reinforce our views on others. The other side often has no choice but to either succumb to our expectations or if they resolve to resist them then to keep tolerating our games. To confront them is like starting a war which will cause destruction and nobody seeks destruction. So for any person who believes in herself and does not want war the game of taking shit continues. For our relief, we can slowly get better at the art of taking shit but as long as expectations continue we will have to play this game.

Taking control

Being in charge of things is all about taking responsibility of how we feel.It means that no one else is responsible for how we feel. People can try to hurt us but it is some insecurity inside us which makes us feel hurt. We lose control when our expectations are not being met. Our mind tends to amplify the situation at hand or be afraid of adverse events in future if we do not push too hard or avoid the situation all together as response.

Constantly thinking about events and people who make us feel hurt, imagining bitter interactions and fearing undesirable consequences in the future if we give the other person leeway makes us feel miserable. We thus become puppets in the hands of other people and let them dominate our thoughts and actions.

No matter how controlled we appear, our mind is not at peace when we come across people / situations where our expectations are not met. In the fast and busy lives we lead today, imagine the number of people who make us feel out of control. All this builds up our stress levels and takes away our happiness.

Each time we amplify some situation or ruminate about something, we need to investigate that insecurity in us which is making us feel hurt and see how we can address it. The truth is that nobody can control us till we let them do so.

Being in charge also means that we respect the values of others and motivate them to rise above their weaknesses. If they do not respond favorably to us then we need to reflect on why they are doing so. If it is because their values are different but appropriate then we should respect them for who they are. If it is because they are afraid of changing themselves then we need to show them the right path. Sometimes people will see reason and at other times they will not. We need to understand that each soul has her own journey and there is a right time for everything. With this understanding, no body can hurt us and stop us from taking control!

Breakfast with the squirrel

It is indeed a privilege to sit in my balcony on a spring day and have a relaxed breakfast.

Today happened to be just that day. I was enjoying watching the canopy of trees from my second floor flat. The constant twittering of birds is the only noise I could hear till far except for few planes which keep passing erratically. As I was sipping my tea, I spotted a new migratory bird hopping on the Neem tree. I was seeing a red face bird for the first time. It appeared so beautiful as it was hopping from one tree to another. Now was its playing time. It would have got up much earlier than me and scouted for food.

The peas in my poha added to the taste of the dish. As I savored the preparation, I noticed a squirrel was climbing up a branch of the Gulmohar tree. As it reached the end, it started its return journey. Something in her game, captured my attention and I followed her for some time. Slowly I got lost in my thoughts and diverged from one thought to another. When I returned from my chain of thoughts, I saw the squirrel had reached the branch terminal once again and was getting ready for its downward journey. Suddenly I realized that that is all the squirrel does the whole day. Eating, playing and surviving. Such a simple life!

Even after twenty years if I will see the squirrel, I will pretty much see it doing similar activities. We humans on the other hand learn new things. We not only change ourselves but also alter the environment around us. We have moved away from the "simple" to make things comfortable for us. Yet we are not happy. We constantly keep running after things. Even when we are not literally running, we are running in our minds. It has become so difficult for us to stay relaxed...

Living life to the fullest

When I was in school I thought living life king size meant earning enough to eat whatever you want to, shop wherever you want to and travel around the world. Now I realize that it means much more than that. It means having different experiences which can be both good and bad. It also means being open to the variety of experiences life can give you. This could mean being open to travel in a bus when you can afford to go by plane. It means experiencing birth as well as death. It is also about how you respond to those different situations which life has put you in.

It could mean more exposure to certain events and lesser to few others. Any one who is living her life fully will still be able to relate to what she has not experienced by seeing inter-linkages in two different experiences.

And lastly living life to the fullest means living a life of discipline because that gives you the bandwidth and energy to be in charge of things.

Top 5 things to be done on your maternity leave

Motherhood is a special experience in the life of each women. For young working women it means a lot of things. It is not just an opportunity of rediscovering your childhood in your kid's play but also imparting your values to your little packet of joy. It also means taking a pause from the rat race and re-looking at your plans. For working women, it sometimes becomes frustrating as somewhere your career takes a backseat. The dedication it requires and the social expectations, indeed makes it a very tough job. However, as Facebook CEO, Sheryl Sandberg says that no women should quit if they don't want to.

Here are a few things which you can do on your maternity leave:

Spending time with your baby:

This one will come by default and you have to learn to take few things in your stride. Moms of the newborn experience a sudden shift in the way they have been leading their lives. Sleepless nights, continuous feeding support leaves you with very little energy and sets in boredom in your schedule. If you are living in a nuclear family, then this will hit your harder. However just when things are getting out of your control is the time to take charge of things. Indulging in active feeding, creating and sharing albums / videos of your baby’s pics with your dear ones, observing your kid grow each day, singing lullabies, playing new games with your little one and including others in raising her will certainly add memories to your life. However for career women, it is still a challenge to stay indoors most of the time. More than that, many women already start missing out on their work lives. This is why it is important to invest time in yourself and some of the activities shared here will really rejuvenate you. 

Honing your skills: 

While you are away from your workplace and have taken a break from your job, you can still invest in your career. This is just the right time to pick those books which you always wanted to read to understand your function / domain better. Social networking sites have just made it easier to catch up on the latest trends and you can read an article or two even while feeding your baby. And if things work out for you then you can also use this time to do some part time job which you always wanted to. 

Blogging:

If you love writing and have a penchant for sharing your experience with others then this is just the right time to reflect on your experiences and pen them down. Believe me, it provides immense satisfaction to share all those critical learning which life is giving you. 


 
Investing in your hobbies:  

 Remember those childhood days when you had all the time to spend on your hobbies. You can relive some of those memories and spend time doing what you found interesting. This could be the right time to practice new songs, play music, create sketches or do something which you wanted to do since a long time. 

Catching up with your friends: 

All this while, when you were busy with your hectic work schedules and could not find the time to get in touch with your friends you were waiting for just these days to know what all is going on in their lives and share your own stories with them. Also, it is just the right time to catch up on all the gossip which you have missed till now :-)
 



Ofcourse! All this calls for a disciplined life and an ability to multi-task. You would have to abandon few of these activities mid-way if your kid is looking for you and then pick them up again later. But that is what makes this even more exciting. Above all, your kids learn far more by seeing you and you will set the right examples in front of them. Developing the habit of sleeping at night in your baby and then following her sleeping pattern will keep you in charge and make your maternity much more interesting for you.

Appreciating Diversity - Do we really care?

It was Mouli's tenth birthday and she had already started behaving like a grown up. She wanted to fund her party from the prize money she won in a dance reality show. As encouraging parents, Rudra and Shakti not just let her fund her party but also included her as an organizer. Mouli had to come up with a list of invitees, decide the menu and entertain her guests. It was a big responsibility for a young girl of her age but she was all excited to take it up. Shakti encouraged Mouli to take care of the interest of her guests while planning for the party and Rudra made arrangements as per Mouli's plan.

On the "The Day", Mouli got ready before time and checked with Niyoti, her cook if she had prepared all what she had requested for. Niyoti aunty held her hand and showed her all the preparations. She jokingly asked Mouli why she had asked her to prepare khichdi. To which the young girl replied that her grandma's digestion was poor and she liked the khichdi which the cook prepared. Niyoti was quite impressed with how thoughtful Mouli was.

Satisfied with the preparations, Mouli played the album of soft music which she had created keeping in mind that her elders would also join the party. Soon her friends and relatives started coming and she became busy with settling them and keeping all her gifts. She seated all her friends in a room and played Chinese whisper with them. All her friends enjoyed playing the game and the winner was enthralled to receive a gift. Her elder cousins joined her in the room and could not help but notice how wonderfully Mouli had organized the evening. Mouli was excited to see them and innocently requested them to play Tambola with them.

Everyone was enjoying the evening. It was a get together after a long time for the elders too. Shakti asked her little angel to cut her birthday cake and invite everyone for dinner. As the evening came to an end with the guests departing, Mouli began opening all her gifts. Shakti and Rudra saw their little packet of joy and smiled at each other reassuringly.

As Shakti went to bed, she pondered on how as an HR professional, she could inculcate the value of appreciating diversity in her organization too. She fully understood that appreciating diversity meant far more than including more women in the workforce. It was about understanding the point of view of others and taking care of others interests to achieve mutual goals.

My life..my choice

When God the supreme sculptor created us, he gave us interests, motivations and became the ultimate Governor of our lives. He, the omnipotent, presents different situations in front of us and observes our response to them. He decides when we are born, who we are born to and where we are born. Does that mean he controls us and there is freaking nothing we can do to change our lives?

I don't think so. From how I see life and thus God, I see that he has given us the power of Choice. This is why we see that the same situation brings different responses. If he has given us motivations, he has also given us skills and resources and each individual has the choice to use them the way she wants to. This is why each individual has her own life tale, her own challenges and her own share of fun.

My blog is nothing but my life tale, my response to different situations, my opinion on different events. It is a medium of sharing my learning, my resurrection and my response to life...