The Importance of Being a Redneck

If you say that someone is a redneck, you immediately think he is a gun toting, drunken, xenophobic nationalist with old world ideas and who hates everyone not from his neighborhood. I have to say you are right. 


To be precise (nowadays you have to be, you know like Wikipedia), I researched the term on Dictionary.com.
It is defined as follows:






red·neck   [red-nek]  Show IPA Informal: Often Disparaging .
noun
1.
an uneducated white farm laborer, especially from the South.
2.
a bigot or reactionary, especially from the rural working class.


As a 'redneck' you are only concerned with your life! Period! Nobody else's. I know most of these personality traits are not to be condoned. But there is one thing I admire in the rednecks of america (other countries too) and some of these characteristics are shared by a vast majority of the American public too - that is they don't give a damn about the rest of the world. Leave aside the world, they don't care about anyone outside their state and some not even outside their county or district. This is a characteristic that I admire.


In India, I know that we have been taught to have a global view. Most Indians know the heads of all the major countries. They know the parties , they know their political inclinations and they have the mental aptitude to make even political analysis of world evens. They can even come to conclusions and make inferences if needed.


But let me ask you how much of this is useful. What good does it do for you that you know who is running for the Republican party seat in US or why Greece is in debt and or the political and economic implications of a war in the Middle East. 


Does it affect you in any way? That is the question that needs to be asked and if the answer is yes, only then is that relevant information. 


If you ask most Indians who the local Municipal chairman is or who the Panchayat president is, most likely he doesn't know. I am not saying I am any different from the rest. I too don't know. I too live in the global scene. I don't know who is responsible for the shoddy roads, the open man holes. I don't know and really wouldn't care if a bridge construction has been ongoing for the past decade. I really don't care. I am more interested in whether the IMF is reducing the interest rates or who is going to be the next UN Secretary general. I am the global citizen. Not some petty individual who only thinks about his surrounding.


This is the difference between a redneck and people like us. While they maybe xenophobes and don't understand the cultural and socio-economic importance of immigrants. They are very concerned about their district and their town. They are interested that their neighborhoods are safe and they have the necessary infrastructure facilities for a good, comfortable life.

Waste at Vilapilasalla, Kerala

An incident occurred in Kerala in the Trivandrum district in a place called Vilapillshala. This was the location of the dumping ground for the waste generated in the state. What normally happens in these waste disposal sites, is waste disposal. But in Vilapillashala for years, waste was just being dumped. Heap upon heap of garbage just lying around. Politicians and the great leaders made promises every year and none were kept. 


Finally, the residents got so fed up they collectively agitated. Irrespective of political, religious affiliations, the entire populace came out in support for removal of the waste which had made the place inhuman to live.They didn't heed to any political party nor were they discouraged or disheartened in their fight for basic human rights. So no one could fool them and prolong the issue. It was beautiful. Inspired by the events at Villapilasala, a similar kind of protest has started in a place called Laloor in Thrissur district Kerala. Read


It is time that we realize that unless we resolutely and actively take interest in our surroundings and neighborhoods, we are going to be dealing with the same problems for generations. Just imagine if each and everyone in the country takes such measures and become actively involved in their society, their neigbourhoods, their towns and districts, India is definitely going to improve. Also, the people in power have no choice but to be accountable. The whole country will improve. 


So go ahead be a redneck for your own well being. Otherwise waste is going to be dumped on you forever.

Before you put pen to paper, the possibilities are limitless

Just Saying! 

We evaluate everything by comparing. If we achieve perfection, how do we reconize it? #lifesmysteries

“One Caste, One Religion, One God for Mankind”

I have always been fascinated by this saying and many people have quoted it. But the man who has coined it deserves respect. In this case more than respect because he is none other than the great guru Sree Narayana Guru.

A brief background on this quote:

Early in 1921 an All Kerala Fraternity Conference was held at Alwaye, and in this conference was delivered his eternal message “One Caste, One Religion, One God for Mankind”

'Done is better than perfect'

Like his contemporary Google, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg gave a letter to potential stockholders before his IPO filing. In it he laid out his holier than though mantra about how his company is not out to make money (yeah right!) . He said  " goal is to make it easier for people to exchange opinions and ideas, which will ultimately improve products, businesses and the economy."   Well we all believe you Mr.Z. But one can't blame him, afterall Google gave the 'Don't be evil' motto during their pre-IPO letter.


What caught my attention was the mantra that he advocates and apparently is put up in offices all around the world. Apparently, Facebook believes that 'Done is better than perfect' where you can come with wild wacky ideas that don't necessarily have to be practical at the moment. It can later be improved upon. They regularly hold 'hackathons' for this purpose. I don't have a background in hacking, but it goes something like this. 

The Facebook Way  

Hacking is an inherently hands-on and active discipline, Zuckerberg said. Instead of debating for days whether a new idea is possible or what the best way to build something is, hackers would rather just prototype something and see what works.

“There’s a hacker mantra that you’ll hear a lot around Facebook offices: ‘Code wins arguments,’” he wrote.

Moving fast enables us to build more things and learn faster,” Zuckerberg said. “However, as most companies grow, they slow down too much because they’re more afraid of making mistakes than they are of losing opportunities by moving too slowly. We have a saying: ‘Move fast and break things.’ The idea is that if you never break anything, you’re probably not moving fast enough.”

This is one of the reasons probably for the continuing success of Facebook where the average age of employees remains 26. This young crowd is bound to come up with some ideas and Zuckerberg believes in harnessing this pool of talent to the maximum. It is an important philosophy which most companies should advocate. Many of the old establishments believe in the rigid philosophy ' It worked for us and it will continue to work' . When faced with competition from outside that constantly tries to innovate, these companies will be found wanting. It happened to Kodak and now it seems to be catching up with Nokia in the mobile phone segment (via: Apple and Samsung).

Many companies influenced by the net and marketing gurus say that they advocate innovation and tries to foster it. But in the end spend thousands of dollars for consultants to solve problems which could have been easily resolved internally at a fraction of the cost.

How many companies have an open door policy or a framework for ideas to be implemented. Most companies hold sessions for idea generation where the top bosses pitch an idea and the followers just nod their head in agreement. There is very little argument because it is seen to be disrespectful to do so. Also, the boss is always right. Without a junction you will always be travelling on the same straight road. So unless arguments and differing view points arise, your policies and ideologies will continue to go along the same road you continue to travel. At the same time there will be competitors who have created that junction and taken a different route. You believe you will reach your goal first but only to be disappointed that by taking a different route, competitor is already reached the goal.


But in the end it is the company that suffers, because unless you innovate and adapt to changing market variables, you remain a constant, stuck at the same place believing in the old glory days of yore. 

Remembering the glory days is important but unless you look ahead, you will not know where you are going. That is something to keep in mind.Call it whatever you want but new ideas have to keep churning out if you want to be successful.

"MBA is a passport to get this interview with you"

During an interview, an interviewer asked a friend of mine a very pertinent question."Why (on earth) did you do an MBA after graduation? 


To which she replied quite fantastically, "An MBA is a passport to get this interview with you". A brilliant answer that hushed up all unnecessary follow up questions. More importantly, she was offered the job. 


Smart answers to tough questions, always a winner.


P.S - If the friend wishes to be named in the blog, I will do so.

"I wanted to escape my past and I ended up just forgetting it"

(courtesy: glossylifestyle@wordpress.com )

Just Saying

Well 'Just Saying' is a tag under which I am listing out all my favorite lines quoted by famous people or ordinary people who just happen to say something incredibly witty, profound or happens to catch my fancy.