Sunday, April 18, 2010

Change Management & Allied Stuff....

They say marriage changes lives- for better or for worse- well, that depends on which side of the fence you are on! That also depends, to an extent, on your definition of better or worse. However, as I near the completion of 3 months into my marriage adventure (yes, that’s what I call it, replete as it is with twists and turns that seem Hitchcockian at times!), and I look back on the last few months, all I can say is- another chapter is being written in the book of life that we keep reading all the time. And as far as the better or worse bit is concerned, the jury is still out on that one!


Management jargon that we read in our courses and keep throwing with distressing regularity at our workplace to appear uber-cool, have a funny way of finding its way back into our lives! One such all-encompassing jargon is change management. Of course, when you take off your suave management hat and think of it simply (as we all know, management fundae often complicate simple matters), we do it all the time! I mean, managing change, and how you do it, is often the primary indicator how our lives are being led. Marriage, my dear friends (this is for those who are yet to climb the poison ivy!), is all about the same- change management! How you deal with the unfamiliar notion of sharing your life, to often the minutest detail, with someone else, how you think of two parties while making a decision that used to seem a no-brainer earlier, how you adjust to a myriad range of emotions swirling about like a turbulent whirlpool with you at the centre, often will go to determine how your life shapes up. However, all said and done, to all the marriage naysayers (the number of whom is growing by the way!), based on a three month experience window- I would say, its always better to have someone to share your ups and downs with, rather than trying to deal with it all on your own!

While on the topic of adventure, I cant but not mention the great Indian circus going on- the tamasha that goes by the name of IPL! Each and every character involved in this drama appears straight out of a theater group- the megalomaniac owner (Modi), the suave-looking-but-naivete-personified minister (Twitteroor), the customary romantic angle (Pushkar)- all contributing to raising the TRPs of the sensation-loving Indian media, and capturing public consciousness as well. In fact in this age of any publicity is good publicity, one wonders whether the entire episode was stage –managed behind the scenes in order to whip up some eyeballs! Of course, all this is being helped by the comical commentary expert team comprising of the hyper-excitable Danny Morrison, the completely crazy Sidhu, the shouting-at-the-top-of-his-lungs Ravi Shastri, the screechy Sivaramakrishnan, and a lot more jokers. Of course, one does miss Mandira Bedi, but then, you can’t have everything you want in life!

And while ridiculous events like the IPL & Shoania (Shoaib-Sania) episode are busy making headlines, the reprehensible massacre of the CRPF personnel has got the expected treatment- one day of headlines, two days of analysis and off it goes into the sidelines, to make way for more “worthy” news items! Of course, it doesn’t mask the criticality of the current scenario- having a trigger-happy irresponsible neighbour is bad enough, now having to deal with a group of men who have been bred out of systemic apathy and ignorance of successive governments just adds to the woes of our already-stretched, underpaid and ignored security forces. The fact is, viewing the Naxal/Maoist issue through a single lens might not be a long-term solution, for as with any other militant group (I would call this outfit by no other name), the resentment of a large vulnerable populace is being exploited by a small group of men for their selfish interests. Something the government should have noted long back, but they didn’t, which is what has led to the current situation. Unfortunately, time has run out for a soft approach, and the only way out currently would be an intensive operation aimed at obliterating this menace. However given our traditional soft approach to security issues and the prevailing democratic set-up, whether the government will be able to carry this out is anybody’s guess.

Of course, even in depressing times, there is always Navjot Sidhu to fall back upon, and just to quote one of his gems to finish this off: “There is always light at the end of a tunnel, but the light may be that of a speeding train”! Ahem!