On poetry at the workplace

Interesting interview on how poetry, imagination and creativity at the workplace are important and how they need to be nurtured carefully to achieve tangible competitive differences. A side-effect of our over-analytical upbringings (and I presume to represent the majority of the managerial and working population here.) is that the softer qualities like creativity, imagination, artistry etc. are ignored by and large. Maybe we need to fight for their rightful place in any workplace.

As a 'creative' person , I also feel, however, that creativity needs to be controlled as much as it it needs to be nurtured. Creativity is a 'childish' thing, knowing no bounds once the 'creative connect' is made. It makes one rush headlong into any activity. Some tempering of the emotion is essential, to bring a more 'detached and rational' framework within which creativity can thrive. "Ain't this paradoxical?", one might say. But from experience I can say that the 'framework' needs to be there, however broad it might be. The trick lies in making the framework broad enough that creativity is not stifled and yet defined enough that it meets the business requirements of the organization.

For the entire article, refer http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=1745

(those who are prompted for a subscription are recommended to sign up...some fantastic articles there!)

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Paradise revisited!

I went on a client visit recently to a place around 100 km from Mumbai. The site is nestled amidst gently rolling hills which erupt in violent greenery during the monsoons.
The client guest house overlooks a little lake on one side and a small hill (with a couple of waterfalls) on the other. The hill was typical of what you'd find around Mumbai - like a table, with intense greenery at the bottom, some sheer rock faces in the middle (of course! how else would the waterfalls form?) and again greenery(primarily grassy) on the top.

The entire scenic package was too tempting to pass up without a trek... and trek we did! We (me and a couple of client team members) started off one morning (6 a.m!) and left for the temple. It had drizzled/rained continuously the previous day and the route was wet. The clouds too were tantalizingly indecisive: "Should I unload my watery burden or do I carry it elsewhere?". But it was not raining when we started.

We went towards the temple, trudging towards the base of the hill. The forests at the base were wet and looked like they had been newly sent back from the cleaners. The moon peeped at us naughtily over the top of the hill (yes, it was that early in the morning!) just to be swallowed by some angry looking clouds shortly. We had to climb a set of haphazardly assembled stairs to reach the temple. They were quite slippery, with all the rain and moss. A word of advice here: Never wear running shoes on a slippery trek! Trekking shoes are different from running shoes for a reason, and I found it out the hard way!

Keeping a steady pace, we reached the temple in around 20 minutes, despite stopping here and there for clicking some pictures. The temple was built around a crack in the rock face and had a Kalimata-like deity inside the crack. We reached the porch of the temple and got a breathtaking view of the surrounding hills and plains. There is just one word to describe the feeling: "PEACE"

Soon after we reached the temple, the benevolent-till-now clouds changed their minds and decided to unburden themselves on us. The shower lasted around 20 minutes and we could see the volume of water in the adjacent waterfall growing visibly. Thank God we had some shelter! During the shower we had the song of a turned-on mynah (or some such bird) to keep us entertained. The range of tunes it could produce were stunning - quite the composer! I named it A-Mynah (pronouced the British way, it is the same as A-Minor :))...

Once the rain subsided, we left the temple and branched off towards the waterfall. One of the team members, Rajan Tendolkar, is a trekking enthusiast. His knack for finding the right paths and goat-tracks was amazing. We had the roar of the water to guide us as well... amazing how such a small waterfall could generate so much noise.

Slipping and stumbling, we soon reached a stream which seemed to emanate from the waterfall and then the task became easier. Sometimes along the stream, and sometimes through it, we went; higher and higher till we came to an impassably dense bit of shrubbery which would lead directly to a wedge in the rock face where the waterfall turned. At that point we took some more photos, before turning towards the base.

We took a different route to the base, heading north instead of south (where we came from). This took us through yet another stream and a few leg-grabbing creepers/bushes before we reached a beautiful clearing where the streams split into small rivulets gently meandering around the clearing. Soaking in the sight, we plugged on, only to get soaked again :), this time through marshy grasslands. I nearly lost my shoe there! But this was a short stretch and we were soon on the road leading to the guest house again.

2 hours, a bit of mud and a lot of water later, we were back in the guest house, feeling hungry, exhilarated and of course, slightly sad that it had to end. Of course, half an hour afterwards, the rest of the team and I were rushing off to deliver yet another presentation at the client site... there is consulting for you! Rushing headlong from one experience to the next ...

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