Careers, Long work hours and family life

Can one have a high flying successful career alongwith a great family and personal life?

Before you jump at me, heres my definition - Join as management trainee, CEO by 38-40 (give or take a few years) types and upward thereafter. The jury is open to "Is this the only definition of a great career", and I would be one of the first to disagree, but assuming that this is the definition of a great career, what happens?

Can you have a career like that without spending long time in work or related to work (networking, golfing, travelling)? And if you did all of that, surely, you would spend lesser time at home? With the partner and kids? Even if you have an excellent support system with armies of servants and inlaws and outlaws - your personal time that you spend with each other and kids would be less?

Therefore, you can be either a good parent or a "great" career oriented person?

Thoughts that came up after an email discussion on Jack Welchs remarks on Career women. If you dissect his remarks, you will see that it is not so much about women, it is more generic and it is really about the choices we make...

On Mangoes

Our summers were incomplete without mangoes. Goes without saying. Each vacation we spent in Kerala, it was a vacation soaked in Cashew, Cashew-nuts, Jackfruit, Pineapple and Mangoes. Out of all the mangoes, one of them was our favourite.

Before you think Hapus, Banganapalli, Neelam or any of the other exotic varieties, let me introduce you to perhaps the lowliest of all mangoes. It does not find mention in this piece either, afaik.

Now, this mango is of smallish size, very sweet, but to top it - unlike other mangoes has a sourish almost orangy tang to it. The pulp is not completely smooth. It has a stringy feel to it when you bite (which makes it not a good thing for pickles or connoisseurs). The strings, like the fibre of a mosambi, can get get stuck in the gaps between your teeth and as you bite it, it feels like you are biting a closely woven mango nest. That's the best I can describe it. But, worthless as these mangoes were, they were all over our yards. Nobody plucked them - since they were never a choice for pickle. The birds had their fill and left many for us. The adults never bothered, so we found many mangoes and ate our fill.These mangoes are often green when ripe. But its peels are soft and quite edible (works very well for lazy chaps like kids) and if you want to peel it, a little tug with your front teeth makes the peel come off gloriously easily. And, if you do that, it is one gloriously drippy pulpy fruit you have in your hands. I doubt if anybody bothered to give them a name - other than the typical nadan (local) - if you happen to know, please let me know.

The bonus of it is that you can make a mean sambar (yes) and morukootan (yes) with them and that is the second absolutely most delightful thing that can be made IMO to be had with rice. (The first goes to shallot sambar, but that's for another day)

But like many childhood memories are never found in supermarkets, I forgot about these mangoes for a long time. Our ancestral property was sold off and off they went into the recycle bin of memory, until I discovered them again, quite by supreme chance.

We were driving by a farm and found a bunch of mangoes totally unripe. We asked someone and they said, "Oh, that one, that's a local one. It is stringy". We were disappointed hearing that since the only tree we came across with mangoes was this one. But, by then, we had plucked a few, so we decided to take it home anyway. At home, it ripened over time and I happened to taste one.

And that's when all the memories came back...

Whats your excuse?

Stupendous!



(via Zenhabits)

Careers

Heads, there is a recession. Tails, there is no recession. It is a toss up really. If you believe the stock markets they are swinging like a pendulum. According to them, theres is a recession one day and good news the other. What to do? Who to believe? And in the middle of it all, what should I do? Is this the right time to stay put in my job or try my luck at getting into b-school? On the one hand, enrolments in colleges increase each time there is a recession (in the US) and on the other hand, companies layoff some and many others continue with their jobs.

What if I come out of college and the economy has not recovered yet? Or, worse, what if, the recovery happens now (as per current trends in the stock markets of some countries) and the market stagnates by the time I come out? What if my college does not get all its students placed? Will there be competition from students returning with foreign degrees?

Like a lot of other questions, these are all extraneous factors that, should, of course, be a factor in your decision to pursue your MBA, but you should not drive yourself crazy thinking about these factors. If you are, then, clearly your entire decision process for an MBA needs a re-think.

There are good reasons to do an MBA and there are equally good reasons to not do an MBA. There are good careers that can be had with an MBA and there are some amazing careers that can be had without an MBA. Look around you. For every MBA, you will find a non MBA who is doing well. So, clearly, as a human being, you cannot climb into all the buses. Decide (and I cannot exactly tell you which crystal ball to look into) and then be at peace. All I can say is that for many of us a single bus will not take us to our destination (this coming from personal experience). Just as there is no silver bullet in life. And in any case the MBA (or this piece) is no silver bullet.

Look at your strengths. Look at what you are good at. Ultimately, it is far better to focus on what you are good at and become the best than pick up something you are doing because everybody else is and try to make a living out of it. So, if you are good at technology, try to excel in it. There is a great demand for Technical positions and will continue to be. There are certifications and exams you can take for your entire career. And once you have picked up one platform, really, there is nobody but you who prevents you from learning a second one. If you are very good at communication, look for a specialized job opportunity that makes use of it. There are opportunities of that nature in media, corporate training, journalism - or even online.

But that does not mean you cannot use these inherent strengths to complement your MBA, but neither does it mean that you lose out if you don't do an MBA now. There are many who do an MBA and use it sharpen their skills in these areas like technology or communications. There are others who do an MBA with more than a few years of industry experience under their belt. There is no "single" way to run a career and you will see it all around you, in every career.

There is no easy way to figure out what your strengths are either, but looking at your own life and what you have done well in (honestly, without believing in conspiracy theories) is a good indicator. Write a honest note to yourself in terms of what you want to do and love doing (regardless of what the world is doing) in its most basic terms often gives you the answer. Or, write a note to yourself on what you definitely do not want to do. That may have the answer too...

Many look at the MBA as an option to change their careers. But is the MBA the only way to change careers? Nowadays, companies are open to let their employees try their hand at various types of jobs at a junior level. At a senior level, by and large, job rotations are quite common. And when you use that option once, can you use it again? So, use the MBA-to-change-career option wisely.

Are you trying to get out of a temporary trough at work? And think that the MBA will help? It will, for sure, but it will not insure you from any future troughs. And if that happens how do you plan to get out of that?

The MBA is not an escape route. It is an entry. The degree does not guarantee anything. On the contrary, it increases responsibility. It assumes that the person with the degree has certain positive attributes. (And unfortunately, your predecessors have also given the degree a certain degree of blemish which will be passed onto you and which you will have to do your bit to redeem.)

So, why would you do an MBA? Do an MBA if you are interested in the running of businesses. Do it if you like working on strategy. Do it if you want to start your own business and hence know the nuances of writing a business plan and successfully translating it into a profitable business. Do it to explore the various facets of business. Do it to increase your worldview. Do it, if you see the MBA as a year or two of hard work that will pay you dividends in future.

If you are seeing the MBA as a break from work, well, surely you will have friends in college, but, believe me, breaks are better spent in Goa or other areas for a lot lesser in monetary terms, than in college.

Finally, an MBA is not the only key to riches and El Dorado. That key, ultimately, is with you and will remain with you, regardless of the qualification you pursue.

So if you have decided to pursue the MBA, do it with all your heart...

(An edited version of this piece was published in Advancedge, July 09)

Federrer - greatest ever?

So, Roger Federrer won the Wimbledon. For the 6th time. And in the process won his 15th Grand Slam. For a lot of people, to read this is somewhat of an epiphany. Is he the greatest ever? Pause before you answer...

We mourned the passing of an era when Bjorn Borg retired. We wept when Jimmy Connors soldiered on. Ivan Lendl retired without winning Wimbledon. The old brigade was unable to withstand the onslaught of the new. And then of course we mourned the passing of an era once again when John McEnroe retired. We clapped for Boris Becker (the NKOTB during our days) and Stefan Edberg and then when they too passed, we said the era of power tennis is in with Andre Agassi. They too retired to greener pastures. In came Pete Sampras and when he retired (OMG, we ARE getting older), we said again that Tennis would never be the same again.

And whose record did Federrer Express break? The venerable Pete Sampras. He of the big serve.

Point being, shows always go on. There is always something or somebody somewhere who is redefining the future. Tommorrow, Federrer too will retire and then it will be someone else!

In another discussion, we spoke about how Google is the epitome of cool companies as is Apple. But we all know GM was once in that coveted position, then IBM and then Microsoft and Toyota in cars. And tomorrow it will be someone else. Its nice that the future cannot be predicted, haan?

Amar Chitra Katha

Yes, I am a great fan of Amar Chitra Katha (pretty good site, btw) comics. We practically grew up on them and learnt stories of history, mythology and adventure through these comics. If it were not for ACK, I am sure we would have never read our history. History books in school were drab and dreary with lines upon lines of text. These comics were a wonderful break - they brought history to life. Tatya Tope (and Yashwanti) was among my favourite history lessons when I was a kid and how these comics brought him and the story to life! I am sure Kathy Sierra would be proud to see how history/mythology seeps in through these comic books without the brain realizing that its "dull history" that we are reading.

When dad came from office (his newspaper vendor got him the latest copies) with an ACK or a Tinkle, he would quietly take it out of the bag and put it on the table. And then we would fight - the two of us. Finally, both of us got to read (though I suspected for a long time that my brother only saw the pictures). Post that it went into a plastic bag and then into a trunk (yes, the old metal one). The first day of vacation, actually the last day of exams, the trunk would be brought down with much fanfare. In it were our comics, games and what not. Each time we took the trunk down, we pretended to have forgotten what was inside. We even knew every single panel from every single comic - that was the number of times we had read it. But, no, we would read it over and over again. And then some exchanges of books with neighbours and friends meant that pretty much we had read through every single issue ever. As we grew older, we bound many issues into a big book so that managing them was easier. And as we went to graduate studies, we gave them away to libraries, cousins and pretty much anybody who asked. Big mistake. They were heirlooms! And out went ACK of our lives.

Only to return. When junior was ready for books, we invested a fair amount into books of various types. But something was missing. And then we "discovered" ACK once again. And since then, we have building our collection slowly but surely. Of all the books we have seen on Indian mythology, history, kings, saints we have ACK to be the best as far as ease of reading, authentic storylines and value for money. One thing, it is far easier to get back issues today from their online site or from various bookstores. And it was heartening to read this...

Free, paid, pirated

A day in the life of the internet.

Chris Anderson launched a book 'Free' recently - which has to be bought, of course.

Malcolm Gladwell pounced on him...

Seth Godin disagrees with Malcolm Gladwell...

Chris Anderson replies...

(all of them worth a read)

As I read through these, a question came to my mind on a conversation I recently had with a Mac user in India. If it were not for piracy (well, almost free) would (see comment here) Microsoft still dominate the market as it does today? Assembled computers, pirated software have all played an (unacknowledged?) part in Indias (half) tech revolution. And many of those early pirate users have invested in the original. And India remains a largely untapped market for Mac.

Question: If it were not for rampant piracy of Microsoft in the 90s, would Microsoft still rule India? The difference in architecture is significant, but would India have been Linux country if there were "no" piracy? (Questions about Google cloud notwithstanding. Yes, Linux exists, but it is still far from significant.)

Pickles, pickles

An email conversation started by Vikram Doctor (latest piece) created this post by Gaurav leading to this post on pickles.

As first generation migrants from Kerala to Bombay, we carried our culture alongwith us. And that meant pickles, karuvadams and quite a few other things.

Around March end and April, to serve these first generation immigrants, a horde of Kutchis (or Marwaris perhaps) would descend to certain suburbs of Mumbai (read, Chembur, Matunga, Mulund etc.) selling tender, unripe mangoes to be used for Vadumaanga pickle. And then, unlike now, even though we lived in apartments, doors and gates were only symbolic. Hawkers like them would walk in, offer a good discount and all the maamis from ground floor to third floor would buy off all the mangoes. These kutchis knew how to sell. For them, once they convinced one customer in the building, they knew that selling the basket (and their family members baskets) was not too far. They used referrals from one building to another (and in those days without telephones, sometimes they asked for a small chit to use). But I digress.

A little later, these same folk would arrive with the larger, unripe mangoes that would form the basis for avakkai. I am not very familiar with the pickling process, but since I was an "important" hand during this process, I can somewhat recall it.

It involved taking the stalk off them, cleaning them and then soaking the tender unripe mangoes in brine for some time in porcelain jars (bharani, originally purported to be of Chinese origin), then add chilli powder and keep shaking it every now and then and checking if the mango is tender. At a high level this is how the pickle gets done - dont trust me on that though - these are the processes where we were involved.

Then, it was the turn of the avakkai. Avakkai involved cutting the mango into big byte sized chunks typically with an aruvamanai (sometimes, the sellers did that as a value add) and then marinating it in a salt, chilli powder, asafoetida (and one other particularly aromatic powder - don't recall what). Then somebody came up with a process improvement - drying it in the sun a bit gave it better texture and then was the accepted practice atleast in our part of the world. Then again, it was about shaking and checking over a few weeks after which like the other pickles, it went into big glass bottles to be stored and used till the summer came up once again.

(There were other variations like the cooked thokku, the almost instant "kari". And then the Gujjus taught us to make Chundo and we added that to our repertoire of pickles. And the Punjus taught us their variant, so all in all, it was a nice happy pickled world minus the mustard oil, which, true to tradition, we hated.)

But then while the world goes for de-nuclearisation, we were nuked and today we have no time to make pickles. In any case, my favourite remains the Avakkai, followed by the kari and then the thokku. (The Vadumanga was never my favourite). So, my current favs are a Rajasthani Sweet lime pickle and a stuffed chilli pickle from Mothers, the Sweet ginger and shallot pickle from Priya.

But yes, give me Avakkai, any time...