Students! Faculty!! Country Men !!!
Don’t lend me your contributions.
I come here to bury Efflux,
Not to praise it.
The evil that women do,
Lives in the memory.
The good is often interred
Along with their past issue(s).
So let it be with Efflux.
The noble committee hath told you
That the issue was too ambitious
As it was so, it was a grievous showoff.
And graciously have I answered it,
By calling the whole thing off.
Here I come to speak at Efflux’s funeral
Not for its praise
Monika is my faculty
Faithful and just to IBS
But the committee says the issue was too ambitious
And the committee is so obedient and gracious.
I come here not to reverse what Monika screwed up.
Here I am to speak on what I do know,
That you all loved Efflux,
Now all packed up.
What cause, I ask you, makes you mourn for Efflux?
Is it art? Culture? Vibrancy?
Forget it, these are bourgeois ideas
Long forgotten,
Since my term’s infancy.
Bear with me;
my head is in debris here
Together with Efflux
And I must pause
till it comes back to me.
Just yesterday,
the Efflux might have come out of Press
It now lies abandoned,
for it might have transgressed
all normal limits and done great harm
to all, including me.
It would have disadvantaged impressionable minds
And done the great committee wrong,
Which is, as you know,
Honourable and strong.
If you had any hopes,
Prepare to shed them now.
Remember how my face flushed with red
When the first issue came on show?
With it, Monika had so unkindly knock’d
At the doors of HO.
Ingratitude,
more strong than a traitor’s arms
Quite angered me
and burst all my plans.
And this 5 year special issue
Was the unkindest stab
of all. She was trying to grab
a piece of sunlight while
my position was drab?
How can that be,
Don’t you get it?
The leader’s position is always marked by greatness
Whether true or false
And let IBS be swept over by bloody
Backwardness.
(with apologies to Mark Antony and Julius Caesar)
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
“Cremation Speech” by Antony after Brutus has finished
Students, Faculty, countrymen,
lend me your ears:
I come to bury Efflux, not to praise him.
The evil that women
do lives after them;
The good is oft interred
Along with callous speeches;
So let it be with Efflux.
The noble Brutus
Hath told you Efflux was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Efflux answered it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the faculty and rest of IBS –
For Brutus is an honorable man;
Come I to speak in Efflux’s funeral.
He was my Baby, Innocent and delicate
just like a new formed bud:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honorable man.
He hath brought many captive stories to home,
Stories of hope, of faith, of failures, of despair
Stories which, tored your heart apart
Stories which made you laugh so hard
Stories which made you feel proud
Stories which told you how to conduct
Did this in Efflux seem ambitious?
When that the students had cried, Efflux hath wept.
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honorable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
King presented Monika Examination Coordinator’s crown,
At other stance a Seminar’s honorary gown
Least did he present a chamber close to him
Which she did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honorable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love Efflux once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?
Harmless Efflux has been strangulated to death
Inspired by a baseless conspiracy theory
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason! Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Efflux,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
(With a very heavy heart and disgust for the king)
lend me your ears:
I come to bury Efflux, not to praise him.
The evil that women
do lives after them;
The good is oft interred
Along with callous speeches;
So let it be with Efflux.
The noble Brutus
Hath told you Efflux was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Efflux answered it.
Here, under leave of Brutus and the faculty and rest of IBS –
For Brutus is an honorable man;
Come I to speak in Efflux’s funeral.
He was my Baby, Innocent and delicate
just like a new formed bud:
But Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honorable man.
He hath brought many captive stories to home,
Stories of hope, of faith, of failures, of despair
Stories which, tored your heart apart
Stories which made you laugh so hard
Stories which made you feel proud
Stories which told you how to conduct
Did this in Efflux seem ambitious?
When that the students had cried, Efflux hath wept.
Ambition should be made of sterner stuff:
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And Brutus is an honorable man.
You all did see that on the Lupercal
King presented Monika Examination Coordinator’s crown,
At other stance a Seminar’s honorary gown
Least did he present a chamber close to him
Which she did thrice refuse: was this ambition?
Yet Brutus says he was ambitious;
And, sure, he is an honorable man.
I speak not to disprove what Brutus spoke,
But here I am to speak what I do know.
You all did love Efflux once, not without cause:
What cause withholds you then to mourn for him?
Harmless Efflux has been strangulated to death
Inspired by a baseless conspiracy theory
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason! Bear with me;
My heart is in the coffin there with Efflux,
And I must pause till it come back to me.
(With a very heavy heart and disgust for the king)
Thursday, June 5, 2008
A New Session begins.......
The new semester begins on 3rd of June and I make my own preparations to begin my classes on Financial Management and Security Analysis.... same routine of starting with Time Value of Money, an important concept to let them understand the intricacies of Valuation later...... preparing III Semester students to work hard .. thinking how to load them with work right from the first class, Would CML, SML calculation not be the right project to be given in the first class?..... After entering into the class, I take a careful note of the enthusiam of the students about a new subject, their willingness to accept pressure, their ability to retrieve past information and based on that I will plan my future sessions.... The class is in a cheerful mood, I hope this mood prevails throughout the semester. One odd student is naughty, he/she is to be loaded with more work and responsibility, I find someone just on the verge of dozing off, heavy eyelids, a great effort to keep them open, I think of throwing a question at him but this is the first class so I decide to ignore.....
This comes as a part of a routine every year, when the semester starts and I have to make sure that students and I settle down in class and everything falls in place.
I try to step into the shoes of an individual student. For him its a new world opening for him. I will help him to expand his horizons, give him an understanding of basic concepts about capital markets, economy, open a new world for him to explore so that he is empowered to take a critical decision. Should he acquire this space as his future profession, his karmashetra? As I speak in class a forty pairs of curious eyes look at me trying to interpret what I expain. They put a faith in me and in what I teach them. I realize that I have a power to lift the level of general curiosity to a level of a persistant and indulgent effort to acquire knowledge, a knowledge which may in future help them in generating material returns out of it or probably generating a pleasure of having acquired knowledge itself, a knowledge for knowledge's sake.. I don't know how many details of this process of classeroom learning they will remember ten years later, or how much of it I will remember in future, but a forty pairs of curious eyes looking at me definitely motivate me to begin this process with conviction, a conviction of a Teacher starting a yet another session as part of a teaching routine, but still a very special and unique work in itself. I hope I am able to deliver up to what I am expected of.
This comes as a part of a routine every year, when the semester starts and I have to make sure that students and I settle down in class and everything falls in place.
I try to step into the shoes of an individual student. For him its a new world opening for him. I will help him to expand his horizons, give him an understanding of basic concepts about capital markets, economy, open a new world for him to explore so that he is empowered to take a critical decision. Should he acquire this space as his future profession, his karmashetra? As I speak in class a forty pairs of curious eyes look at me trying to interpret what I expain. They put a faith in me and in what I teach them. I realize that I have a power to lift the level of general curiosity to a level of a persistant and indulgent effort to acquire knowledge, a knowledge which may in future help them in generating material returns out of it or probably generating a pleasure of having acquired knowledge itself, a knowledge for knowledge's sake.. I don't know how many details of this process of classeroom learning they will remember ten years later, or how much of it I will remember in future, but a forty pairs of curious eyes looking at me definitely motivate me to begin this process with conviction, a conviction of a Teacher starting a yet another session as part of a teaching routine, but still a very special and unique work in itself. I hope I am able to deliver up to what I am expected of.
Friday, April 25, 2008
April Issue EFFLUX
After handling a lot of problems and hassles regarding printing designing etc I am able to bring out the April issue of Efflux. This time again we had to change the publisher. It was difficult this time because the students and my Team Efflux were not in campus. However, I am pretty satisfied with the end result.
Bringing out a Student newsletter is quite an experience as it gives me a chance to get a glimpse of minds of my students. For Example Some portions of CAMPUS PULSE this time are quite interesting and Eyeopening. For this specific purpose I have published it uncensored.
Sometimes I also get an odd feeling, What am I doing in the editorial team of a student newsletter. I shoudn't be here. Perhaps in future some student will have to come forward and take up a full responsibility of the Editor - planning, editing compiling, publishing everything. Mind you its quite a responsible job.
Bringing out a Student newsletter is quite an experience as it gives me a chance to get a glimpse of minds of my students. For Example Some portions of CAMPUS PULSE this time are quite interesting and Eyeopening. For this specific purpose I have published it uncensored.
Sometimes I also get an odd feeling, What am I doing in the editorial team of a student newsletter. I shoudn't be here. Perhaps in future some student will have to come forward and take up a full responsibility of the Editor - planning, editing compiling, publishing everything. Mind you its quite a responsible job.
Interim CEO – To save your sinking ship
Interim CEO – A Necessity to save your sinking ship
India Incorporated is in the middle of mega investments, global expansion, heavy recruitments, massive fundraising, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions. During this critical phase a new job profile has been created in the Indian industry - an ‘Interim CEO’. An interim executive is a person who gets appointed for an interim term period, when a present executive leaves the company and a search is on to find out a new executive. Generally, an Interim Executive has a specific task to handle with-in a short time period and a hefty fee is charged by him to accomplish the task. Finding out appropriate people for top positions in a company is a critical decision and can take a lot of time. Sometimes it takes more than six months to find an appropriate person for the position of a CEO. But in a highly competitive, dynamically changing environment and ultra fast-paced high tech start-ups, companies cannot afford to waste months looking for a CEO. In between top-level shake-ups Global Incorporated appoints Interim CEOs. They hire an extremely experienced executive to handle the immediate tasks at hand. The term of an interim CEO is generally between two months to two years. In some cases the Interim CEO gets appointed permanently also. Internationally there have been various examples of an Interim CEO being appointed in the hour of crisis. At the time of sudden departure of Carly Fiorina, the head of Hewlett Packard the chief financial officer Robert Wayman was appointed as an Interim CEO with a cash bonus of $ 3 million for 57 days of service.
A famous story is that of Enron when Steven Cooper was brought in as an Interim CEO at the troubled energy giant. Enron employed 20000 people and had 2500 active legal entities. The task at hand was a complete restructuring of Enron. There were a mountain of problems to deal with and Steven Cooper with his no-nonsense style found exactly the right formula to lead the work out at Enron. In India also, there have been some examples of appointing Interim CEOs. One of the first few cases was that of Pramod Saxena’s appointment at eFunds in late 90s. Rajiv Tandon was hired from Syntel as Interim CEO at Technosoft. Ajey Singh was appointed as an Interim CEO at Credit Suisse First Boston to get the Indian operations off the ground and get all the regulatory clearances. Although these instances are few right now however, there is a good probability that these instances will increase in future.
In the Indian corporate environment there are good reasons why instances of employing an Interim CEO would increase. The challenges before the Indian companies today is to improve sales, expand into new markets, launch new products or become more competitive. Many Indian companies are in the transitional phase in connection with business mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, divestures or corporate restructuring. Introducing new technologies, processes, reengineering, or other corporate-wide initiatives are also common. Small Indian companies have to compete with multinationals and thus technological up-gradations are imperative. In the midst of these challenges the attrition rate at the top level is also high as competent top executives move from one job to another in- search of greener pastures. The new breed of corporate samurai does not always want to make a long-term commitment to one corporate master. Moreover, they often take one or two other top executives also along with them when they leave. In most of the Indian companies internal succession planning is not done and thus the owner or the founder finds it very difficult to find out an alternative in case of a sudden resignation coming from a CEO.
In the Indian industry, in case of venturing into a new business, there is neither a lack of capital nor ideas. What Indian companies look for is qualified management teams, international expertise and an able leader. An experienced and qualified Interim Chief Executive Officer who has had an experience of already launching a similar business can help these companies avoid common startup pitfalls. Leveraging experience can help in lowering risk and avoiding potentially lethal mistakes. An interim CEO requirement for startups may arise in industries and types of businesses, like: Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Software, eCommerce, Retail, Stock Brokerage, Credit Cards, Telecoms, Call Centers and Governmental-Private Sector Joint Ventures. There is a buzz that Ravi Deol of Barista fame has been brought in as an interim CEO at Bharti’s agri-business Field Fresh. More Indian companies are likely to follow the Bharti’s example.
Another reason for the Indian companies to appoint an Interim CEO is to revive and rejuvenate an existing business. A dynamically changing environment poses various challenges to an existing business. Turnarounds are the ultimate test of crisis management. In such cases, the stakes are very high since the mere existence of the firm can be threatened. Negative cash flow, declining profits, declining sales, eroding customer base, high attrition rate are all readily identifiable symptoms indicating that there is a serious problem within a business. However, even though the symptoms may be obvious, many companies realize that do not have a proper prescription to attack these problems unless they have a very clear idea of the root cause. A prescription can be provided by an independent consultant who can quickly evaluate and diagnose even the most complex business performance issues because of his experience in handling similar situation and his proven capacity to find out a cure for the disorder. A veteran is hired on a project flat fee basis or on an hourly basis. He is engaged to evaluate specific portions of the business, identify opportunities for improvement and then be tasked with executing specific changes aimed at achieving measurable performance benefits.
Interim Executive Leadership can be appointed for a definite period of time to achieve specific business objectives, including the training and mentoring of executives recruited to permanently fill those roles. The "Science" applied to turnarounds is all about making an in-depth financial and operational analysis to understand the firm's cash flows, where the money comes from (revenues) and where it goes (costs) and operational procedures. An experienced turnaround promoter often yields "quick-hit" immediate solutions aimed at reducing unnecessary expenses and maximizing revenues. The "Art" of turnarounds involves people as well as their emotions and motivations. Everyone reacts to crisis situation in a different way. An experienced executive leadership supplies a willpower and capability to make the difficult decisions required to be made. At the same time he also remains focused on the impact that changes and restructuring may have on the team, since business improvement cannot occur without the full support of people.
Globally, providing interim management is a big business. Global Executive search firms like Heidrick and Struggles or Christian and Timbers announce openings in this area and help companies recruit interim executives. They charge hefty fees for providing these kinds of services. In India no HR consulting firm provides these kinds of services as yet. At present there have been very few instances when the interim executives have been appointed. Most of the positions are filled up on the basis of personal contacts. However, there is a latent demand in the market for interim positions.
In order to venture into this area, the HR consulting firms or Executive search firms will have to make a pool of veteran executives who are willing to work as Interim Executives. There is no dearth of talent in India. Star CEOs of yester years generally lead a peaceful retired life in India. Many of them become honorary members of Advisory Boards or does some consultancy work. Some of them might be interested in taking Interim CEO Positions for a short duration if the demand comes up. Indian Recruitment Firms will have to develop teams which can understand and estimate the requirement of a client and suggest an appropriate solution. These teams can study clients' management structures, business cultures, and immediate business objectives. Understanding these variables, then, these firms can set out to identify the type of person and experiences needed to fulfill a client's requirement. The job positions can vary, from CEO, to COO or CFO or Managing Director or Business Unit Manager. These companies can also advertise these job positions all over the world and can find the best possible person.
The demand for Interim CEOs is more likely to come from multinational companies operating in India. One reason is that they are already aware of the concept and have made appointments on an interim basis in other parts of the world. Another reason is that in order to understand the Indian market, the economy and the regulatory framework, they need an experienced person who will not only help them for their start-up businesses but also train their executives. The training and experience thus attained under a seasoned executive will also be helpful for their executives when they enter into other Asian Markets. These companies may hire services of Indian veteran executives for their offshore positions. MNCs today know that a Business Model Innovation done in India will have wide applications in the rest of the world since India, with its contradictions and challenges is one of the foremost emerging markets. Indian executives have to often provide innovative solutions to complex business problems. An ability to provide leadership in the dynamic emerging market scenario makes a successful Indian Executive an extremely valuable person for a MNC. Leading Indian companies Wipro, Infosys, the Tata Group, Dr. Reddys, ICICI Bank etc. have already been termed as Corporate Classrooms for executives from the rest of the world. Thus Indian Executives may look for Interim job assignments elsewhere in the world in the years to come. Interim CEO jobs will be in plenty in the years to come.
India Incorporated is in the middle of mega investments, global expansion, heavy recruitments, massive fundraising, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions. During this critical phase a new job profile has been created in the Indian industry - an ‘Interim CEO’. An interim executive is a person who gets appointed for an interim term period, when a present executive leaves the company and a search is on to find out a new executive. Generally, an Interim Executive has a specific task to handle with-in a short time period and a hefty fee is charged by him to accomplish the task. Finding out appropriate people for top positions in a company is a critical decision and can take a lot of time. Sometimes it takes more than six months to find an appropriate person for the position of a CEO. But in a highly competitive, dynamically changing environment and ultra fast-paced high tech start-ups, companies cannot afford to waste months looking for a CEO. In between top-level shake-ups Global Incorporated appoints Interim CEOs. They hire an extremely experienced executive to handle the immediate tasks at hand. The term of an interim CEO is generally between two months to two years. In some cases the Interim CEO gets appointed permanently also. Internationally there have been various examples of an Interim CEO being appointed in the hour of crisis. At the time of sudden departure of Carly Fiorina, the head of Hewlett Packard the chief financial officer Robert Wayman was appointed as an Interim CEO with a cash bonus of $ 3 million for 57 days of service.
A famous story is that of Enron when Steven Cooper was brought in as an Interim CEO at the troubled energy giant. Enron employed 20000 people and had 2500 active legal entities. The task at hand was a complete restructuring of Enron. There were a mountain of problems to deal with and Steven Cooper with his no-nonsense style found exactly the right formula to lead the work out at Enron. In India also, there have been some examples of appointing Interim CEOs. One of the first few cases was that of Pramod Saxena’s appointment at eFunds in late 90s. Rajiv Tandon was hired from Syntel as Interim CEO at Technosoft. Ajey Singh was appointed as an Interim CEO at Credit Suisse First Boston to get the Indian operations off the ground and get all the regulatory clearances. Although these instances are few right now however, there is a good probability that these instances will increase in future.
In the Indian corporate environment there are good reasons why instances of employing an Interim CEO would increase. The challenges before the Indian companies today is to improve sales, expand into new markets, launch new products or become more competitive. Many Indian companies are in the transitional phase in connection with business mergers, acquisitions, spin-offs, divestures or corporate restructuring. Introducing new technologies, processes, reengineering, or other corporate-wide initiatives are also common. Small Indian companies have to compete with multinationals and thus technological up-gradations are imperative. In the midst of these challenges the attrition rate at the top level is also high as competent top executives move from one job to another in- search of greener pastures. The new breed of corporate samurai does not always want to make a long-term commitment to one corporate master. Moreover, they often take one or two other top executives also along with them when they leave. In most of the Indian companies internal succession planning is not done and thus the owner or the founder finds it very difficult to find out an alternative in case of a sudden resignation coming from a CEO.
In the Indian industry, in case of venturing into a new business, there is neither a lack of capital nor ideas. What Indian companies look for is qualified management teams, international expertise and an able leader. An experienced and qualified Interim Chief Executive Officer who has had an experience of already launching a similar business can help these companies avoid common startup pitfalls. Leveraging experience can help in lowering risk and avoiding potentially lethal mistakes. An interim CEO requirement for startups may arise in industries and types of businesses, like: Banking, Financial Services, Insurance, Software, eCommerce, Retail, Stock Brokerage, Credit Cards, Telecoms, Call Centers and Governmental-Private Sector Joint Ventures. There is a buzz that Ravi Deol of Barista fame has been brought in as an interim CEO at Bharti’s agri-business Field Fresh. More Indian companies are likely to follow the Bharti’s example.
Another reason for the Indian companies to appoint an Interim CEO is to revive and rejuvenate an existing business. A dynamically changing environment poses various challenges to an existing business. Turnarounds are the ultimate test of crisis management. In such cases, the stakes are very high since the mere existence of the firm can be threatened. Negative cash flow, declining profits, declining sales, eroding customer base, high attrition rate are all readily identifiable symptoms indicating that there is a serious problem within a business. However, even though the symptoms may be obvious, many companies realize that do not have a proper prescription to attack these problems unless they have a very clear idea of the root cause. A prescription can be provided by an independent consultant who can quickly evaluate and diagnose even the most complex business performance issues because of his experience in handling similar situation and his proven capacity to find out a cure for the disorder. A veteran is hired on a project flat fee basis or on an hourly basis. He is engaged to evaluate specific portions of the business, identify opportunities for improvement and then be tasked with executing specific changes aimed at achieving measurable performance benefits.
Interim Executive Leadership can be appointed for a definite period of time to achieve specific business objectives, including the training and mentoring of executives recruited to permanently fill those roles. The "Science" applied to turnarounds is all about making an in-depth financial and operational analysis to understand the firm's cash flows, where the money comes from (revenues) and where it goes (costs) and operational procedures. An experienced turnaround promoter often yields "quick-hit" immediate solutions aimed at reducing unnecessary expenses and maximizing revenues. The "Art" of turnarounds involves people as well as their emotions and motivations. Everyone reacts to crisis situation in a different way. An experienced executive leadership supplies a willpower and capability to make the difficult decisions required to be made. At the same time he also remains focused on the impact that changes and restructuring may have on the team, since business improvement cannot occur without the full support of people.
Globally, providing interim management is a big business. Global Executive search firms like Heidrick and Struggles or Christian and Timbers announce openings in this area and help companies recruit interim executives. They charge hefty fees for providing these kinds of services. In India no HR consulting firm provides these kinds of services as yet. At present there have been very few instances when the interim executives have been appointed. Most of the positions are filled up on the basis of personal contacts. However, there is a latent demand in the market for interim positions.
In order to venture into this area, the HR consulting firms or Executive search firms will have to make a pool of veteran executives who are willing to work as Interim Executives. There is no dearth of talent in India. Star CEOs of yester years generally lead a peaceful retired life in India. Many of them become honorary members of Advisory Boards or does some consultancy work. Some of them might be interested in taking Interim CEO Positions for a short duration if the demand comes up. Indian Recruitment Firms will have to develop teams which can understand and estimate the requirement of a client and suggest an appropriate solution. These teams can study clients' management structures, business cultures, and immediate business objectives. Understanding these variables, then, these firms can set out to identify the type of person and experiences needed to fulfill a client's requirement. The job positions can vary, from CEO, to COO or CFO or Managing Director or Business Unit Manager. These companies can also advertise these job positions all over the world and can find the best possible person.
The demand for Interim CEOs is more likely to come from multinational companies operating in India. One reason is that they are already aware of the concept and have made appointments on an interim basis in other parts of the world. Another reason is that in order to understand the Indian market, the economy and the regulatory framework, they need an experienced person who will not only help them for their start-up businesses but also train their executives. The training and experience thus attained under a seasoned executive will also be helpful for their executives when they enter into other Asian Markets. These companies may hire services of Indian veteran executives for their offshore positions. MNCs today know that a Business Model Innovation done in India will have wide applications in the rest of the world since India, with its contradictions and challenges is one of the foremost emerging markets. Indian executives have to often provide innovative solutions to complex business problems. An ability to provide leadership in the dynamic emerging market scenario makes a successful Indian Executive an extremely valuable person for a MNC. Leading Indian companies Wipro, Infosys, the Tata Group, Dr. Reddys, ICICI Bank etc. have already been termed as Corporate Classrooms for executives from the rest of the world. Thus Indian Executives may look for Interim job assignments elsewhere in the world in the years to come. Interim CEO jobs will be in plenty in the years to come.
The Dohas of Kabir and their relevance in management
Kabir, a pioneer saint poet of India has explained the virtues of honesty, truth, conviction and simplicity, in his famous dohas or couplets. His couplets lack the erudite tone and have a refreshing rustic quality. He uses simple examples and metaphors to explain the basic truths of life. Kabir was a weaver by profession and he draws certain similes and inspiration from weaving profession in his poetry. However, one finds that the thought of Kabir is extremely relevant to any other profession.
Kabir speaks to us in a direct crisp language that has the quality of shaking us out of our slumber-like existence. His candid and frank style affects our psyche giving us simple yet deep instructions about the code of conduct. Like a true master, he always spoke the highest truth regardless of the circumstances. This is the reason that his simple teachings have a great relevance to a corporate manager. He provides a logical framework for his ethical teachings and makes us believe that being ethical is all about being logical and reasonable.
In one of his couplets he says –
Kal kare so aaj kar, aaj kare so ab,
Pal mein parlay hoyegi, pher karego kab.
Tomorrow’s work do today, today's work nowif the moment is lost, the work be done how
In this Doha, Kabir tries to explain the human tendency of laziness and procrastination. In today’s corporate world the most successful companies are those who have this simple work ethic imbibed in their employees. A tendency to postpone matters leads to indecisiveness, which leads to confusion resulting in low efficiency levels and in general a de-motivated work force.
On the other hand if people have a promptness to finish the work, it leads to satisfaction, enthusiasm, a willingness to take challenges, high efficiency levels and a highly motivated work force. It is in the now, in the spontaneous ness that one gets energized to do, to achieve and to realize. As they say, it is NOW or NEVER. This is a popular version of Time Management that we teach in business schools. A proper Time Management keeps a person always energized to do the work and also to enjoy his achievements. Time Management is all about not postponing things for tomorrow. A good time manager does not postpone things. A poor time manager is always postponing things disturbing his work schedules, resultantly having fewer achievements. Time Management is all about making your schedules in such a way that you do not have to reschedule anything. A bell of alarm should be raised when you are often rescheduling your meetings, appointments etc. Kabir simply says – avoid rescheduling and you are a successful manager.
In another doha Kabir says –
Aisee Vani Boliye, Mun Ka Aapa Khoye
Apna Tan Sheetal Kare, Auran Ko Sukh Hoye
Speak such words, sans ego's ploy
Body remains composed, giving the listener joy
In this doha, Kabir crystallizes the power of the spoken word. He teaches us to speak in such a manner that keeps us harmonious and composed thereby making the listener feel a sense of joy in the communication. Vibrations created by sound affect both the speaker and the listener. Moreover, if speech expresses positive outlook then it not only pleases the listener but also brings joy to the speaker. Soothing, compassionate and loving words breed togetherness, while harsh speech breeds hatred. This doha brings out a basic psychological fact. Relationships Management should be based on this fact. The idea is to create such relationships, which are mutually fulfilling. Companies should work on the linguistic code of conduct to be followed by the employees in order to develop better interpersonal relationships among the employees and also to develop congenial work environs. This is true for modern jobs, which keep a person busy for the large part of the day, leaving little room for other social interactions. If companies go for linguistic workshops, which train people to speak pleasant words, perhaps it would be easy to avoid many organizational conflicts.
Kabir’s thought on leadership is expressed in this doha -
Bada Hua To Kya Hua, Jaise Ped Khajoor
Panthi Ko Chaya Nahin, Phal Laage Atidoor
In vain is the eminence, just like a date tree
No shade for travelers, fruit is hard to reach
Kabir uses the simile of a date tree to give a very important lesson. A date tree grows very tall, projecting eminence and a distinction of its own. Yet, it does not provide shade to weary travelers. Besides, its fruit grows so far that one cannot easily pluck it. Kabir points out that a position of eminence is useless if it is neither compassionate nor helpful to others. A leader should be compassionate. He should understand the problems and concerns of his subordinates. He should be sensitive to their needs. A leader who is compassionate can utilize the full potential of his subordinates. He creates an atmosphere in which people feel free to voice their opinions, use their skills and be creative. If subordinates know that their problems will be heard with sympathy by the leader and they will get his moral support during hard times; they dare to innovate and take initiatives. Companies, which have such leaders, often have a phenomenal growth. Leaders like Dhirubhai Ambani and Aditya Birla possessed these qualities and were able to create large business empires.
A Manager should empower people. Vanity grooms narrow-minded attitude and false ego. If an eminent person does not use his power and resources to help others and becomes selfish, then he also becomes insecure for the fear of losing his position. On the other hand if an eminent person uses his power to empower others then he wins respect of his subordinates. He in return gains a confidence to maintain his position of eminence and is secure.
In another doha Kabir states –
Kabir Man Nirmal Bhaya, Jaise Ganga Neer
Pache Pache Har Phire, Kahat Kabir Kabir
Kabir's mind got cleansed like the holy Ganges water
Now everyone follows, saying Kabir Kabir
This doha has a great managerial significance. Everyone desires to be known, to belong. Yet due to the chaotic states of our minds, we find ourselves secluded and limited.
If a person has a clear vision, if his thoughts are expressed in such a way that people are able to grasp his ideas clearly, if he is able to visualize the future scenarios and forthcoming problems and also able to generate proposed solutions for them, everyone looks up to him and wants to associate with him with confidence. A person generating creative solutions to problems will find followers very easily. The need is to break the mental shackles, broaden our vision and expand the mental horizons. Once the mind is free, we find ourselves relaxed, loving and compassionate. Only those with relaxed and loving mind find themselves in harmony with everyone.
A Corporate Leader has to have a clear vision and foresightedness. If he has an ability to visualize future scenarios and generate creative solutions for them, he can easily get a committed workforce to work for him. This is a time-tested success paradigm for a corporate leader. He has to be a visionary, looking out for new ideas and creative solutions to the problems. His prime job is to acquire knowledge of the current systems, understand them and visualize future requirements. If he successfully accomplishes this job he is a successful corporate leader.
In two of his dohas, Kabir finds a cause of stress and therefore suggests a stress management technique -
Chinta Aisee Dakini, Kat Kaleja Khaye
Vaid Bichara Kya Kare, Kahan Tak Dawa Lagaye
Worry is the bandit that eats into one's heart
What the doctor can do, what remedy to impart?
In this doha, Kabir says discontentment causes worry and worry itself becomes the cause that creates chaos in the mind. The more a person entertains worry the more armored 'she' becomes to destroy the very vitality of a man. Once a person suffers from the disease of worrying too much then there is no prescription that a doctor can suggest him.
Kabir gives a philosophical solution to this problem in another of his doha -
Kabira Kiya Kutch Na Hote Hai, Ankiya Sab Hoye
Jo Kiya Kutch Hote Hai, Karta Aur Koye
By my doing nothing happens
What I don't does come to pass
If anything happens as if my doing
Then truly it is done by someone else
Here, Kabir shows the supremacy of the divine will. He implies that everything happens according to God's will. Man is limited, both in his abilities and his resources. One cannot do anything without being interdependent upon others. Similarly, one should not hold oneself responsible for all the causes and the consequences of events. This is a sound philosophy and a very powerful stress management technique. Often in the corporate world a manager calls for a lot of stress when he claims his success to be his singular achievement and fails to recognize the contribution of others at various levels that makes any noteworthy action to be accomplished. Then in case of failures also his ego tells him that he is entirely responsible for it, which causes a lot of stress for him. In order to overcome that stress he tries to blame others for his failures or find excuses to get away from them, causing further stress for himself.
On the other hand, if a manager learns to give a credit of his success to the people who work for him then he gets relieved of the personal stress that is caused in case of failures. Shared achievements and shared failures often keep a person in good mental health.
Thus we find that Kabir’s deep thought on the problems of mankind and his simple teachings are also relevant in management. In order to teach management ethics, ‘gems of Kabir’ can be utilized to a great extent. Kabir’s profound thinking expressed through simple, rustic language provides answers to behavioral as well as ethical questions faced by a corporate manager.
An inclusion of Kabir’s thought in management education will be highly rewarding. Kabir gave a philosophy of life, which has been a part of popular psyche for centuries. It is easier for Indians to relate to Kabir’s teachings. When we teach leadership styles in an Organizational Behavior class, for many students it is limited to understanding the concept and learning the terminology. It does not go deep down into the psyche. Many students end up referring to something else when they have to take decisions in similar situations in life. If we teach the same concept through the Popular Verses of Kabir, the students relate to it much easily and also revert back to them quickly when in need. Ethical education should be like snow, the softer it falls the deeper it goes. Popular verses of Kabir have this quality and are therefore, extremely relevant to management education.
Note : The translations of Kabir’s dohas in the article have been taken from the translation done by Rajendra Krishen.
Reference : www.boloji.com/kabir
Kabir speaks to us in a direct crisp language that has the quality of shaking us out of our slumber-like existence. His candid and frank style affects our psyche giving us simple yet deep instructions about the code of conduct. Like a true master, he always spoke the highest truth regardless of the circumstances. This is the reason that his simple teachings have a great relevance to a corporate manager. He provides a logical framework for his ethical teachings and makes us believe that being ethical is all about being logical and reasonable.
In one of his couplets he says –
Kal kare so aaj kar, aaj kare so ab,
Pal mein parlay hoyegi, pher karego kab.
Tomorrow’s work do today, today's work nowif the moment is lost, the work be done how
In this Doha, Kabir tries to explain the human tendency of laziness and procrastination. In today’s corporate world the most successful companies are those who have this simple work ethic imbibed in their employees. A tendency to postpone matters leads to indecisiveness, which leads to confusion resulting in low efficiency levels and in general a de-motivated work force.
On the other hand if people have a promptness to finish the work, it leads to satisfaction, enthusiasm, a willingness to take challenges, high efficiency levels and a highly motivated work force. It is in the now, in the spontaneous ness that one gets energized to do, to achieve and to realize. As they say, it is NOW or NEVER. This is a popular version of Time Management that we teach in business schools. A proper Time Management keeps a person always energized to do the work and also to enjoy his achievements. Time Management is all about not postponing things for tomorrow. A good time manager does not postpone things. A poor time manager is always postponing things disturbing his work schedules, resultantly having fewer achievements. Time Management is all about making your schedules in such a way that you do not have to reschedule anything. A bell of alarm should be raised when you are often rescheduling your meetings, appointments etc. Kabir simply says – avoid rescheduling and you are a successful manager.
In another doha Kabir says –
Aisee Vani Boliye, Mun Ka Aapa Khoye
Apna Tan Sheetal Kare, Auran Ko Sukh Hoye
Speak such words, sans ego's ploy
Body remains composed, giving the listener joy
In this doha, Kabir crystallizes the power of the spoken word. He teaches us to speak in such a manner that keeps us harmonious and composed thereby making the listener feel a sense of joy in the communication. Vibrations created by sound affect both the speaker and the listener. Moreover, if speech expresses positive outlook then it not only pleases the listener but also brings joy to the speaker. Soothing, compassionate and loving words breed togetherness, while harsh speech breeds hatred. This doha brings out a basic psychological fact. Relationships Management should be based on this fact. The idea is to create such relationships, which are mutually fulfilling. Companies should work on the linguistic code of conduct to be followed by the employees in order to develop better interpersonal relationships among the employees and also to develop congenial work environs. This is true for modern jobs, which keep a person busy for the large part of the day, leaving little room for other social interactions. If companies go for linguistic workshops, which train people to speak pleasant words, perhaps it would be easy to avoid many organizational conflicts.
Kabir’s thought on leadership is expressed in this doha -
Bada Hua To Kya Hua, Jaise Ped Khajoor
Panthi Ko Chaya Nahin, Phal Laage Atidoor
In vain is the eminence, just like a date tree
No shade for travelers, fruit is hard to reach
Kabir uses the simile of a date tree to give a very important lesson. A date tree grows very tall, projecting eminence and a distinction of its own. Yet, it does not provide shade to weary travelers. Besides, its fruit grows so far that one cannot easily pluck it. Kabir points out that a position of eminence is useless if it is neither compassionate nor helpful to others. A leader should be compassionate. He should understand the problems and concerns of his subordinates. He should be sensitive to their needs. A leader who is compassionate can utilize the full potential of his subordinates. He creates an atmosphere in which people feel free to voice their opinions, use their skills and be creative. If subordinates know that their problems will be heard with sympathy by the leader and they will get his moral support during hard times; they dare to innovate and take initiatives. Companies, which have such leaders, often have a phenomenal growth. Leaders like Dhirubhai Ambani and Aditya Birla possessed these qualities and were able to create large business empires.
A Manager should empower people. Vanity grooms narrow-minded attitude and false ego. If an eminent person does not use his power and resources to help others and becomes selfish, then he also becomes insecure for the fear of losing his position. On the other hand if an eminent person uses his power to empower others then he wins respect of his subordinates. He in return gains a confidence to maintain his position of eminence and is secure.
In another doha Kabir states –
Kabir Man Nirmal Bhaya, Jaise Ganga Neer
Pache Pache Har Phire, Kahat Kabir Kabir
Kabir's mind got cleansed like the holy Ganges water
Now everyone follows, saying Kabir Kabir
This doha has a great managerial significance. Everyone desires to be known, to belong. Yet due to the chaotic states of our minds, we find ourselves secluded and limited.
If a person has a clear vision, if his thoughts are expressed in such a way that people are able to grasp his ideas clearly, if he is able to visualize the future scenarios and forthcoming problems and also able to generate proposed solutions for them, everyone looks up to him and wants to associate with him with confidence. A person generating creative solutions to problems will find followers very easily. The need is to break the mental shackles, broaden our vision and expand the mental horizons. Once the mind is free, we find ourselves relaxed, loving and compassionate. Only those with relaxed and loving mind find themselves in harmony with everyone.
A Corporate Leader has to have a clear vision and foresightedness. If he has an ability to visualize future scenarios and generate creative solutions for them, he can easily get a committed workforce to work for him. This is a time-tested success paradigm for a corporate leader. He has to be a visionary, looking out for new ideas and creative solutions to the problems. His prime job is to acquire knowledge of the current systems, understand them and visualize future requirements. If he successfully accomplishes this job he is a successful corporate leader.
In two of his dohas, Kabir finds a cause of stress and therefore suggests a stress management technique -
Chinta Aisee Dakini, Kat Kaleja Khaye
Vaid Bichara Kya Kare, Kahan Tak Dawa Lagaye
Worry is the bandit that eats into one's heart
What the doctor can do, what remedy to impart?
In this doha, Kabir says discontentment causes worry and worry itself becomes the cause that creates chaos in the mind. The more a person entertains worry the more armored 'she' becomes to destroy the very vitality of a man. Once a person suffers from the disease of worrying too much then there is no prescription that a doctor can suggest him.
Kabir gives a philosophical solution to this problem in another of his doha -
Kabira Kiya Kutch Na Hote Hai, Ankiya Sab Hoye
Jo Kiya Kutch Hote Hai, Karta Aur Koye
By my doing nothing happens
What I don't does come to pass
If anything happens as if my doing
Then truly it is done by someone else
Here, Kabir shows the supremacy of the divine will. He implies that everything happens according to God's will. Man is limited, both in his abilities and his resources. One cannot do anything without being interdependent upon others. Similarly, one should not hold oneself responsible for all the causes and the consequences of events. This is a sound philosophy and a very powerful stress management technique. Often in the corporate world a manager calls for a lot of stress when he claims his success to be his singular achievement and fails to recognize the contribution of others at various levels that makes any noteworthy action to be accomplished. Then in case of failures also his ego tells him that he is entirely responsible for it, which causes a lot of stress for him. In order to overcome that stress he tries to blame others for his failures or find excuses to get away from them, causing further stress for himself.
On the other hand, if a manager learns to give a credit of his success to the people who work for him then he gets relieved of the personal stress that is caused in case of failures. Shared achievements and shared failures often keep a person in good mental health.
Thus we find that Kabir’s deep thought on the problems of mankind and his simple teachings are also relevant in management. In order to teach management ethics, ‘gems of Kabir’ can be utilized to a great extent. Kabir’s profound thinking expressed through simple, rustic language provides answers to behavioral as well as ethical questions faced by a corporate manager.
An inclusion of Kabir’s thought in management education will be highly rewarding. Kabir gave a philosophy of life, which has been a part of popular psyche for centuries. It is easier for Indians to relate to Kabir’s teachings. When we teach leadership styles in an Organizational Behavior class, for many students it is limited to understanding the concept and learning the terminology. It does not go deep down into the psyche. Many students end up referring to something else when they have to take decisions in similar situations in life. If we teach the same concept through the Popular Verses of Kabir, the students relate to it much easily and also revert back to them quickly when in need. Ethical education should be like snow, the softer it falls the deeper it goes. Popular verses of Kabir have this quality and are therefore, extremely relevant to management education.
Note : The translations of Kabir’s dohas in the article have been taken from the translation done by Rajendra Krishen.
Reference : www.boloji.com/kabir
Book Review - Confessions of an economic hit man
Book Review - Confessions of an economic hit man
Written by – John Perkins
No. of Pages – 250
Price – 7.99$ , 391.40 Rs.
Published by
Paperback edition 2006
Ebury Press
Random House
20, Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SWIV2SA
First published in United States in 2004 by Berrett Koehler.
Reviewed by Prof. Monika Chaudhary
Faculty ICFAI Business School, Jaipur
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is written by Mr.John Perkins who worked for a US based energy consulting firm called Chas T. MAIN. The book is about confessions of a professional who worked for an energy consulting company, but his main job was to further the cause of a ‘Global Empire’. ‘The Global Empire’ is a term which is used to explain a world dominated and ruled by United States. The author worked as an ‘Economic Hit Man’, who is a highly qualified professional and who persuades less developed countries to take huge loans from World Bank or IMF or large banks in United States for infrastructural development- energy generating plants, highways, ports, airports or industrial parks. Subsequently, it helps in providing huge contracts of Infrastructural Projects to US engineering and construction companies. The author argues that once such loans are accepted by these countries the projects are given to US companies and the money coming out of ‘banking offices in Washington’ goes to ‘engineering offices in New York, Houston and San-Francisco’. However, the poor countries pay back these loans out of their own limited resources for years. The author negotiated these kind of projects with the governments of Ecuador, Panama and Indonesia.
In the seventies and the eighties ‘Economic Hit Men’ were paid high salaries to accomplish the tasks they were given and they drew their salary from private sector but actually did the work of promoting the government policy. When the author worked for MAIN as a chief economist, his main job was to convince the Head of States in less developed countries to agree to take huge loans for infrastructural projects, by making highly optimistic economic forecasts about the economic growth that the country was likely to achieve as a result of implementation of huge projects. Most of these projects were likely to have serious environmental hazards and destroyed the ecology of the country. The author negotiated such projects for his company MAIN in Equador, Panama and Indonesia. If the ‘EHMs’ failed to convince the governments, the ‘jackals’ emerged and the ‘heads of state were overthrown or died in violent accidents’. When the jackals also failed, ‘like they failed in Afghanistan and Iraq, young Americans were sent in to kill and to die’. The objective of all these people was clear and same - world domination and the extension of the Global Empire.
Mr. John Perkins was given a clandestine training in 1971, shortly after he joined MAIN, by a women named Claudine Martine to prepare him for his job as an EHM. He writes that Claudine related the history of the profession to him. “Throughout most of the history, empires were built largely through military force or the threat of it. But with the end of World War II, the emergence of Soviet Union and the spectre of nuclear holocaust the military solution became just too risky”. With the end of Vietnam war the US government realized that it was difficult to extend the empire by resorting to military operations. However it was more easily done by resorting to economic imperialism. The first economic hit man was Kermit Roosevelt who prepared a coup to abdicate Mohhamed Mossadegh, the democratically elected Prime-Minister of Iran in 1951.
Mr. Perkins’ confessions are compelling and his story reads like a fictional novel. It is written in a style that makes a reader easily understand the functions of Multinational Banks, Big Corporate Houses, International Politics or complex economic theory. As he relates what he calls the ‘James Bondish’ part of his story, he also gives a meaningful insight to the deeper causes of the problems faced by the world today. He asserts that the root cause of many of our current problems like terrorism is, ‘the idea that all economic growth benefits humankind and the greater the growth, the more widespread its benefits’. In their drive to advance the global empire, corporations, banks and governments (collectively the corporatocracy), support this fallacious idea. “One of Corporatocracy’s most important functions is to perpetuate and continually expand the system. When men and women are rewarded for greed, greed becomes a motivating factor”, argues the author.
The book is also a ride through some major events of history like the Panama Canal negotiations, the Oil Embargo in the seventies, the formation of OPEC, the Vietnam War, the abdication of the Shah of Iran and the first and the second Gulf War. The author gives a first hand account of his involvement in the US negotiations in Saudi Arabia in 1974 which involved persuading Saudi Arabia to use its petrodollars to purchase US securities and promising in return that US would build infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, by spending the interest income earned on US securities; which he refers to as a ‘money laundering affair’. He delves into the reasons of the Gulf War and writes, “Saddam would still be in charge if he played the game as the Saudis did, he would have his missiles and chemical plants.”
The book brings about an argument that the US dependence on oil has been a major reason for the current problems in the middle-east and the rise of Osama bin Laden. A nexus between the Saudi royal family and the US government ensured a constant supply of money and arms to Osama and his people fighting in Afghanistan against the Soviet troops. The author also confesses that a major reason that forced him to write the book was the 9/11 attacks in New York, which were a result of US government policies in the middle east in the last three decades of the twentieth century .
Mr. John Perkins talks about a nexus of big corporations and the US government formed towards achieving one aim the ‘Global Empire’. He cites examples of big corporate leaders like George Schultz (President, Bechtel), Casper Weinberger (Vice President, Bechtel), Richard Cheney(President Halliburton), Robert McNamara (President Ford) who finally sought top jobs in the US Government and ran the country and important organizations like the World Bank. He writes, “Robert McNamara’s greatest and most sinister contribution to history was to jockey the World Bank into becoming an agent of Global Empire on a scale never before witnessed”. However, he points to a caveat, ‘a single factor that would cause history’s first truly global empire to self-destruct’.
The author argues that the strength of the US economy lies in the strength of Dollar which is backed not by gold but by the worldwide confidence in the American Economy to do well. If this confidence is lost then the US economy will crash down. The US economy itself is burdened today with a huge debt. Much of this debt is owed to Asian countries like China and Japan, who purchase US Treasury securities with funds accumulated through sale of consumer goods to US and worldwide markets. He writes, “The ability to print currency gives us immense power. However, if another currency should come along to replace the dollar, and if someone of the United States’ creditors should decide to call in their debts, the situation should change drastically”.
The reader craves for more detail throughout the book. The details have been hinted at and left for the reader’s imagination to access them. The author instead explains in detail the process of his disillusionment with the system he was working for, which does not sound very convincing at many places. The book could have been much more objective in its approach. However, a personal account of the author’s relationships with Omar Torrijos the president of Panama, James Roldos the president of Equador and his involvement in the high level diplomatic talks makes a reader comprehend the deeper issues involved therein. Mr. Perkin’s tenure as an EHM it seems ended as soon as he left MAIN in 1980. He makes his observations and comments on the major events in world history after 1980, but he is unable to deliver a first hand account of them. It was a challenge for him to make his book topical. As he writes, ‘I started writing once again, and as I did so, it seemed to me that my story was too old. Somehow, I needed to bring it up to date’. He accomplishes the task successfully by making his observations about the world events after 1980 and relating them to the past. He is successful in retaining the reader’s interest throughout the book.
The book has been written for an average American Reader who is generally ill-informed about what is happening in the rest of the world. The book is an attempt to let him understand the world events and the opportunities and threat before the nation; to change the way he reads the news and to help him to read between the lines. The book is a sort of a SWOT analysis of a philosophy, which the author defines as ‘Corporatocracy’. Nevertheless, the book would make an interesting reading for a reader who is interested in world politics, economics and the underlying issues in any other country. While the books makes no mention of India the recent events of our own history, the assassination of two Prime-Ministers, the economic crisis of 1990, lurk in the mind of the reader as he reads the book. Mr. John Perkins however, ends the book on an optimistic note as he writes, “We live in a time of terrible crisis - and tremendous opportunity”.
Explaining that United States can make the world a better place to live by changing its policies, Mr. Perkins writes “for the first time in history, one nation has the ability, the money, and the power to change all this.”
Written by – John Perkins
No. of Pages – 250
Price – 7.99$ , 391.40 Rs.
Published by
Paperback edition 2006
Ebury Press
Random House
20, Vauxhall Bridge Road,
London SWIV2SA
First published in United States in 2004 by Berrett Koehler.
Reviewed by Prof. Monika Chaudhary
Faculty ICFAI Business School, Jaipur
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man is written by Mr.John Perkins who worked for a US based energy consulting firm called Chas T. MAIN. The book is about confessions of a professional who worked for an energy consulting company, but his main job was to further the cause of a ‘Global Empire’. ‘The Global Empire’ is a term which is used to explain a world dominated and ruled by United States. The author worked as an ‘Economic Hit Man’, who is a highly qualified professional and who persuades less developed countries to take huge loans from World Bank or IMF or large banks in United States for infrastructural development- energy generating plants, highways, ports, airports or industrial parks. Subsequently, it helps in providing huge contracts of Infrastructural Projects to US engineering and construction companies. The author argues that once such loans are accepted by these countries the projects are given to US companies and the money coming out of ‘banking offices in Washington’ goes to ‘engineering offices in New York, Houston and San-Francisco’. However, the poor countries pay back these loans out of their own limited resources for years. The author negotiated these kind of projects with the governments of Ecuador, Panama and Indonesia.
In the seventies and the eighties ‘Economic Hit Men’ were paid high salaries to accomplish the tasks they were given and they drew their salary from private sector but actually did the work of promoting the government policy. When the author worked for MAIN as a chief economist, his main job was to convince the Head of States in less developed countries to agree to take huge loans for infrastructural projects, by making highly optimistic economic forecasts about the economic growth that the country was likely to achieve as a result of implementation of huge projects. Most of these projects were likely to have serious environmental hazards and destroyed the ecology of the country. The author negotiated such projects for his company MAIN in Equador, Panama and Indonesia. If the ‘EHMs’ failed to convince the governments, the ‘jackals’ emerged and the ‘heads of state were overthrown or died in violent accidents’. When the jackals also failed, ‘like they failed in Afghanistan and Iraq, young Americans were sent in to kill and to die’. The objective of all these people was clear and same - world domination and the extension of the Global Empire.
Mr. John Perkins was given a clandestine training in 1971, shortly after he joined MAIN, by a women named Claudine Martine to prepare him for his job as an EHM. He writes that Claudine related the history of the profession to him. “Throughout most of the history, empires were built largely through military force or the threat of it. But with the end of World War II, the emergence of Soviet Union and the spectre of nuclear holocaust the military solution became just too risky”. With the end of Vietnam war the US government realized that it was difficult to extend the empire by resorting to military operations. However it was more easily done by resorting to economic imperialism. The first economic hit man was Kermit Roosevelt who prepared a coup to abdicate Mohhamed Mossadegh, the democratically elected Prime-Minister of Iran in 1951.
Mr. Perkins’ confessions are compelling and his story reads like a fictional novel. It is written in a style that makes a reader easily understand the functions of Multinational Banks, Big Corporate Houses, International Politics or complex economic theory. As he relates what he calls the ‘James Bondish’ part of his story, he also gives a meaningful insight to the deeper causes of the problems faced by the world today. He asserts that the root cause of many of our current problems like terrorism is, ‘the idea that all economic growth benefits humankind and the greater the growth, the more widespread its benefits’. In their drive to advance the global empire, corporations, banks and governments (collectively the corporatocracy), support this fallacious idea. “One of Corporatocracy’s most important functions is to perpetuate and continually expand the system. When men and women are rewarded for greed, greed becomes a motivating factor”, argues the author.
The book is also a ride through some major events of history like the Panama Canal negotiations, the Oil Embargo in the seventies, the formation of OPEC, the Vietnam War, the abdication of the Shah of Iran and the first and the second Gulf War. The author gives a first hand account of his involvement in the US negotiations in Saudi Arabia in 1974 which involved persuading Saudi Arabia to use its petrodollars to purchase US securities and promising in return that US would build infrastructure in Saudi Arabia, by spending the interest income earned on US securities; which he refers to as a ‘money laundering affair’. He delves into the reasons of the Gulf War and writes, “Saddam would still be in charge if he played the game as the Saudis did, he would have his missiles and chemical plants.”
The book brings about an argument that the US dependence on oil has been a major reason for the current problems in the middle-east and the rise of Osama bin Laden. A nexus between the Saudi royal family and the US government ensured a constant supply of money and arms to Osama and his people fighting in Afghanistan against the Soviet troops. The author also confesses that a major reason that forced him to write the book was the 9/11 attacks in New York, which were a result of US government policies in the middle east in the last three decades of the twentieth century .
Mr. John Perkins talks about a nexus of big corporations and the US government formed towards achieving one aim the ‘Global Empire’. He cites examples of big corporate leaders like George Schultz (President, Bechtel), Casper Weinberger (Vice President, Bechtel), Richard Cheney(President Halliburton), Robert McNamara (President Ford) who finally sought top jobs in the US Government and ran the country and important organizations like the World Bank. He writes, “Robert McNamara’s greatest and most sinister contribution to history was to jockey the World Bank into becoming an agent of Global Empire on a scale never before witnessed”. However, he points to a caveat, ‘a single factor that would cause history’s first truly global empire to self-destruct’.
The author argues that the strength of the US economy lies in the strength of Dollar which is backed not by gold but by the worldwide confidence in the American Economy to do well. If this confidence is lost then the US economy will crash down. The US economy itself is burdened today with a huge debt. Much of this debt is owed to Asian countries like China and Japan, who purchase US Treasury securities with funds accumulated through sale of consumer goods to US and worldwide markets. He writes, “The ability to print currency gives us immense power. However, if another currency should come along to replace the dollar, and if someone of the United States’ creditors should decide to call in their debts, the situation should change drastically”.
The reader craves for more detail throughout the book. The details have been hinted at and left for the reader’s imagination to access them. The author instead explains in detail the process of his disillusionment with the system he was working for, which does not sound very convincing at many places. The book could have been much more objective in its approach. However, a personal account of the author’s relationships with Omar Torrijos the president of Panama, James Roldos the president of Equador and his involvement in the high level diplomatic talks makes a reader comprehend the deeper issues involved therein. Mr. Perkin’s tenure as an EHM it seems ended as soon as he left MAIN in 1980. He makes his observations and comments on the major events in world history after 1980, but he is unable to deliver a first hand account of them. It was a challenge for him to make his book topical. As he writes, ‘I started writing once again, and as I did so, it seemed to me that my story was too old. Somehow, I needed to bring it up to date’. He accomplishes the task successfully by making his observations about the world events after 1980 and relating them to the past. He is successful in retaining the reader’s interest throughout the book.
The book has been written for an average American Reader who is generally ill-informed about what is happening in the rest of the world. The book is an attempt to let him understand the world events and the opportunities and threat before the nation; to change the way he reads the news and to help him to read between the lines. The book is a sort of a SWOT analysis of a philosophy, which the author defines as ‘Corporatocracy’. Nevertheless, the book would make an interesting reading for a reader who is interested in world politics, economics and the underlying issues in any other country. While the books makes no mention of India the recent events of our own history, the assassination of two Prime-Ministers, the economic crisis of 1990, lurk in the mind of the reader as he reads the book. Mr. John Perkins however, ends the book on an optimistic note as he writes, “We live in a time of terrible crisis - and tremendous opportunity”.
Explaining that United States can make the world a better place to live by changing its policies, Mr. Perkins writes “for the first time in history, one nation has the ability, the money, and the power to change all this.”
A Tribute to a Great Teacher
It was a cold winter morning in late 1980s. I was a teenager studying in class seventh. We had a Gulmohar tree in school. Its little leaves carried small dew drops in winters and when we shook one of its branches the water fell on the ground. We shook its branch often and whoever was passing from under the tree got drenched with water. This was a regular mischief of students. I had joined this school just a few months back and this tree enamored me a lot. I was there everyday, to shake a branch and have fun. On one such day I shook a branch, when some of my friends were passing from there. They had some anticipation of what I was going to do so they managed to escape before water fell on them. Just about, at that moment our History teacher Sir Yashpal Sharma happened to pass from under the tree and the entire water fell on him. I turned back and ran as fast as I could. Three students, I think had followed me. When I stopped they told me that Sir was calling me. I was caught red handed, no chance for me to escape I thought. I stood before Sir, with my head down and eyes stuck to the ground.
“You shook the tree?”
“Yes Sir”.
“Why? Who told you that if you shake it, water will fall on me?”
“Nobody Sir. I am new to this school and I saw other students doing it.”
“In your previous school you did not do this?”
“No sir. We did not have this kind of a tree there, water doesn’t fall from other trees and they are also very tall”.
“Ok, now that you have done it you are in trouble. Run away before somebody catches you doing this mischief with me”.
I looked up in amazement. I saw a naughty smile on his face and as I looked up, he winked; as if telling me Run away! I ran as far as my legs could take me. Little tears came to my eyes. My heart melted in the warmth of Sir Yashpal Sharma’s smile and wink. During the prayer other teachers asked him why he was wet. He just smiled and winked. From that day onwards, I developed a very special bond with him.
Sir Yashpal Sharma was our class teacher in the seventh standard and taught us History, Civics and Hindi. Since that incident happened, he permanently got featured in all 'My Favourite Teacher' essays I wrote. Two days ago, I got news from a relative of mine that he passed away four years ago. I did not feel like mourning for him. I took out an old diary that I used to write during my school days. I had written a few pages on him. I started reading what I had written years ago –
……..There are many people we come across in life but some of them are very special. Yashpal Sharma Sir is one of them. He is a simple person. He does not have too much of money but he is a favourite person of almost all of us. We love and respect him a lot. Sometimes I wonder, will he be called successful? After all he is not like other successful people I watch on TV. But I know he is very powerful.
Sir Yashpal Sharma was an amazing teacher who made subjects like history and civics very interesting for us. He was tall, about six feet, dark complexioned and had a prominent nose and chin. He had grey hair, which were neatly made and were smeared in oil. His most striking features were his small shining black eyes. He had a very powerful, resounding voice and when he rendered a speech his words, brought up our spirit and filled us with enthusiasm. His speeches were a must at all school functions and he never needed a loud speaker. When he taught Hindi poetry, fervor and passion in his voice created magic in our class and left an indelible impression on our minds.
His style of teaching History was unique. He told us stories, which were so interesting that we listened to them in rapt attention. Kalinga War and the story of King Ashoka’s transformation of heart were brought alive for our class. Slave dynasty to mughal dynasty the history of 500 years was taught in our class so vividly that we had all the events right before our eyes. Lord Curzon was ‘Kirju’ who did Partition of Bengal and Lord Wavel was a ‘bawla’ who brought Wavel plan. The best definition of democracy was given by an odd looking man called Abraham Linclon – “By the people, for the people Of the people”, he would relate. Just then he would make a face by stretching his lips and rolling his cheek inside to tell us how Linclon looked like and we doubled up with laughter. Once when he entered our class we shouted, “SIMON GO BACK”. He smiled and winked and went up to the board, picked up the chalk and wrote –
“India is yours! I would rather teach in your school now” – Simon 1988
One of his many nick names was Simon, and there were many such anecdotes to relate.
When I prepared for my civil services examination and opened my history and civics books again, I could hear his voice in my ears. I did not need to prepare much. What he taught was permanently ingrained in my mind.
He had set high performance standards for us. He was an uncompromising teacher who was very strict in his marking. For our Hindi exam, he had made a rule that one mark had be cut for each ‘truti’ (spelling mistake), we committed. We got marks in two parts – one part out of ten was given for content and then marks were deducted for ‘vyakaran ki ashuddhiyan’ thereon. Some students thus ended up getting minus 30 marks in Hindi, attributed to 'trutiyon ke minus marks'. He was not willing to compromise on his standards and as a result his students were generally state toppers in Hindi in Tenth Board exams.
We had one hour in the evening for sports. One day I was jokingly telling my friend that I had got ‘anda’ (zero) in two consecutive tests in Maths. A friend of mine laughed and declared that she also had two ‘andas’. While we were having fun, Sir Sharma happened to hear this conversation. He shouted at us and said that he was going to collect andas from the entire class and open a Poultry Farm. I told him sheepishly that we were introduced to algebra in Maths and I couldn’t understand anything. He immediately sat with me to make me understand factors and simple algebraic calculations. I got the trick. It was more important to understand a concept first and then one should go to problem solving. The important lesson that I learnt was useful all through my student years. I some times feel that as a teacher, I am not able to create the same magic that he created in our History, Civics and Hindi classes. It was difficult to perform up to his standards then. It’s difficult to perform up to his standards even now.
For our Annual Day Cultural Programme, a one hour dance ballet was performed by students based on classical ragas and dance. Our Music Teacher who was called Ladu ram ji was too keen to cast me as a heroine for the ballet. I dreaded it and did not want to participate in dance ballet for the simple reason that I found it very boring. I was too young to appreciate classical music. I came out with an excuse that participation in dance ballet required practice for three months, missing regular classes and thus my studies were likely to suffer. Sir Sharma came to know about this and he told our Music Teacher, “Pandit Ji, yeh shaitan ladki hai. You cast all her friends in your dance ballet and she will willingly do it. I am sure learning some music will be very good for these Tom Boys.” How well he understood a teenager’s psychology! Soon all my friends were given roles in the dance ballet. We practiced together and had tremendous fun in the music room. Some years later I developed an ear for classical music. My subconscious mind had definitely taken a few lessons during those three months.
He encouraged me to participate in debates and declamations and some times even wrote debates for me. He stressed that it was very essential to learn correct pronunciations of any language. He encouraged me to read and often got me books issued from the library in his account.
After our Half Yearly Exams were over, Sir Sharma often corrected our answer books sitting in the school lawn. If he found a silly mistake in one of the answer books, he shouted and yelled at the student calling his name from the lawn, for the whole school to see. All those who wrote 'Right to Exploitation' in civics answer book, had to take their firing sessions in the lawn. I realized that while lawn sessions for other students were held only in case of some specific silly mistake, I invited a lawn session for any mistake(small or big) that I committed. He would shout and yell at me and the entire school thought I had fared very badly in exam, while as a matter of fact I ended up getting highest marks. I cribbed a lot about this unfair behavior meted out to me. While others got firing for small mistakes generally in class I always got it in the lawn, publicly.
Years later I understood that by holding those shouting and yelling sessions in the lawn he ensured that he turned a naughty, careless teenager into a diligent student, who hated to commit mistakes in exams.
He also ensured that this teenager, years later, would give up a career in civil services to adopt a profession that he so passionately practiced and lived.He is my role model.
Sir, Happy Teacher’s Day! I know you can still smile and wink at me from wherever you are.
“You shook the tree?”
“Yes Sir”.
“Why? Who told you that if you shake it, water will fall on me?”
“Nobody Sir. I am new to this school and I saw other students doing it.”
“In your previous school you did not do this?”
“No sir. We did not have this kind of a tree there, water doesn’t fall from other trees and they are also very tall”.
“Ok, now that you have done it you are in trouble. Run away before somebody catches you doing this mischief with me”.
I looked up in amazement. I saw a naughty smile on his face and as I looked up, he winked; as if telling me Run away! I ran as far as my legs could take me. Little tears came to my eyes. My heart melted in the warmth of Sir Yashpal Sharma’s smile and wink. During the prayer other teachers asked him why he was wet. He just smiled and winked. From that day onwards, I developed a very special bond with him.
Sir Yashpal Sharma was our class teacher in the seventh standard and taught us History, Civics and Hindi. Since that incident happened, he permanently got featured in all 'My Favourite Teacher' essays I wrote. Two days ago, I got news from a relative of mine that he passed away four years ago. I did not feel like mourning for him. I took out an old diary that I used to write during my school days. I had written a few pages on him. I started reading what I had written years ago –
……..There are many people we come across in life but some of them are very special. Yashpal Sharma Sir is one of them. He is a simple person. He does not have too much of money but he is a favourite person of almost all of us. We love and respect him a lot. Sometimes I wonder, will he be called successful? After all he is not like other successful people I watch on TV. But I know he is very powerful.
Sir Yashpal Sharma was an amazing teacher who made subjects like history and civics very interesting for us. He was tall, about six feet, dark complexioned and had a prominent nose and chin. He had grey hair, which were neatly made and were smeared in oil. His most striking features were his small shining black eyes. He had a very powerful, resounding voice and when he rendered a speech his words, brought up our spirit and filled us with enthusiasm. His speeches were a must at all school functions and he never needed a loud speaker. When he taught Hindi poetry, fervor and passion in his voice created magic in our class and left an indelible impression on our minds.
His style of teaching History was unique. He told us stories, which were so interesting that we listened to them in rapt attention. Kalinga War and the story of King Ashoka’s transformation of heart were brought alive for our class. Slave dynasty to mughal dynasty the history of 500 years was taught in our class so vividly that we had all the events right before our eyes. Lord Curzon was ‘Kirju’ who did Partition of Bengal and Lord Wavel was a ‘bawla’ who brought Wavel plan. The best definition of democracy was given by an odd looking man called Abraham Linclon – “By the people, for the people Of the people”, he would relate. Just then he would make a face by stretching his lips and rolling his cheek inside to tell us how Linclon looked like and we doubled up with laughter. Once when he entered our class we shouted, “SIMON GO BACK”. He smiled and winked and went up to the board, picked up the chalk and wrote –
“India is yours! I would rather teach in your school now” – Simon 1988
One of his many nick names was Simon, and there were many such anecdotes to relate.
When I prepared for my civil services examination and opened my history and civics books again, I could hear his voice in my ears. I did not need to prepare much. What he taught was permanently ingrained in my mind.
He had set high performance standards for us. He was an uncompromising teacher who was very strict in his marking. For our Hindi exam, he had made a rule that one mark had be cut for each ‘truti’ (spelling mistake), we committed. We got marks in two parts – one part out of ten was given for content and then marks were deducted for ‘vyakaran ki ashuddhiyan’ thereon. Some students thus ended up getting minus 30 marks in Hindi, attributed to 'trutiyon ke minus marks'. He was not willing to compromise on his standards and as a result his students were generally state toppers in Hindi in Tenth Board exams.
We had one hour in the evening for sports. One day I was jokingly telling my friend that I had got ‘anda’ (zero) in two consecutive tests in Maths. A friend of mine laughed and declared that she also had two ‘andas’. While we were having fun, Sir Sharma happened to hear this conversation. He shouted at us and said that he was going to collect andas from the entire class and open a Poultry Farm. I told him sheepishly that we were introduced to algebra in Maths and I couldn’t understand anything. He immediately sat with me to make me understand factors and simple algebraic calculations. I got the trick. It was more important to understand a concept first and then one should go to problem solving. The important lesson that I learnt was useful all through my student years. I some times feel that as a teacher, I am not able to create the same magic that he created in our History, Civics and Hindi classes. It was difficult to perform up to his standards then. It’s difficult to perform up to his standards even now.
For our Annual Day Cultural Programme, a one hour dance ballet was performed by students based on classical ragas and dance. Our Music Teacher who was called Ladu ram ji was too keen to cast me as a heroine for the ballet. I dreaded it and did not want to participate in dance ballet for the simple reason that I found it very boring. I was too young to appreciate classical music. I came out with an excuse that participation in dance ballet required practice for three months, missing regular classes and thus my studies were likely to suffer. Sir Sharma came to know about this and he told our Music Teacher, “Pandit Ji, yeh shaitan ladki hai. You cast all her friends in your dance ballet and she will willingly do it. I am sure learning some music will be very good for these Tom Boys.” How well he understood a teenager’s psychology! Soon all my friends were given roles in the dance ballet. We practiced together and had tremendous fun in the music room. Some years later I developed an ear for classical music. My subconscious mind had definitely taken a few lessons during those three months.
He encouraged me to participate in debates and declamations and some times even wrote debates for me. He stressed that it was very essential to learn correct pronunciations of any language. He encouraged me to read and often got me books issued from the library in his account.
After our Half Yearly Exams were over, Sir Sharma often corrected our answer books sitting in the school lawn. If he found a silly mistake in one of the answer books, he shouted and yelled at the student calling his name from the lawn, for the whole school to see. All those who wrote 'Right to Exploitation' in civics answer book, had to take their firing sessions in the lawn. I realized that while lawn sessions for other students were held only in case of some specific silly mistake, I invited a lawn session for any mistake(small or big) that I committed. He would shout and yell at me and the entire school thought I had fared very badly in exam, while as a matter of fact I ended up getting highest marks. I cribbed a lot about this unfair behavior meted out to me. While others got firing for small mistakes generally in class I always got it in the lawn, publicly.
Years later I understood that by holding those shouting and yelling sessions in the lawn he ensured that he turned a naughty, careless teenager into a diligent student, who hated to commit mistakes in exams.
He also ensured that this teenager, years later, would give up a career in civil services to adopt a profession that he so passionately practiced and lived.He is my role model.
Sir, Happy Teacher’s Day! I know you can still smile and wink at me from wherever you are.
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