Silence

The noise in Mumbai killed me. Everywhere. On the roads, in the malls, in the shops, sometimes at office, sometimes simply the buzz in my mind. As happening a place as Mumbai is, most stimuli were noise to me.

Here, in Bhilwara, it's silence in general. Sometimes eerie. The surroundings are sparse enough. There are echoes but not so much noise. Most often comforting.

It seems though, the noise hasn't reduced; for the buzz in the mind has increased. Sometimes, mind-numbing. The chaotic fashion in which people function. They are so much at home in all the chaos. They are so comfortable with distractions. Their comfort rattles me. After all it's a hospital. A place which needs utmost sincerity and earnestness.

Amidst all the chaos, it would be fine if they handled all well. But they aren't focused on handling. They are focussed on following. Instructions, commands and orders. Follow. "You pay me. You can order. I'll follow. When you aren't around, I might not to know what exactly to do. But that's okay. When you come back, give orders. I'll follow."

It's Sunday evening. I'm assessing the 19 days I've been here. The mind's buzzing a little less. I can feel the real silence. Work's happening, albeit gradually. Chaos will shape into fluidity. I'm creating tunnels for the water to flow through.

Tanning in 55 minutes

Here's the formula. Natural.

Just after I wrote my last snippet, I went for a run. I left at around 7:20. Did about 9.5 kms in 55 mins. Here's the result. And I'm not kidding. :)

You see the drastic change in skin color right above the ankle? Now, this isn't exaggeration. I hadn't gone running in the morning for quite a few days and therefore, this didn't exist beforehand.

Anyway, it was joy.

Whatever happened to my search for 'fitter' and 'flexible' life

If there are places in the world where educated people require education, then Bhilwara is definitely one of them. Not to say that Mumbai doesn't have such people :), but talking in relative terms.

The thing is I'm going through far longer workdays than I imagined. Longer than those in Mumbai surely. Mumbai sapped energy in quite a few ways. Effective workday was limited to 4-5 hours.

Having said that, longer workdays have resulted in a lot of anxiety. There's so much to be done. So much to be set in processes. So much to be standardized. And I go so deep into it, that my mind spins. There's chaos (everyone's on a trip, doing some work but whether important or unimportant is not a question). There are bottlenecks (people wait for one person to give them his 'computer' time to make some document). There is distance, literally, amongst team members (yes, all of them sit in silos, far away from each other so that no one can think of coordination). And so on...

It has been a test of my 'calm'. My back aches coz of stress and anxiety. Fueling my restlessness. Just 15 odd days!

And yeah, while my worktimes are extremely flexible, I am nowhere close to my dreamt-of fitness regimen. Getting ready for a long early morning run :).

Way to go.

Managing a hospital isn't easy

That's what I've realized. Doesn't mean I can't do it ;).

Just trying to introduce a certain way of working here.

One of the things that I find in first generation entrepreneur-driven businesses is that a lot of execution on the ground level happens without any paper work. A lot of strategic thinking also happens without putting pen to paper. So the first task I've taken is to make people do things through writing. No essays. Very simple tasks.

I'm allotting tasks as if I am preparing bills for accounts. Yes! For the first time in my life I recognize the importance of carbon paper :). There are so many tasks at the same time; I need to make sure that each one of them is taken care of. So what I do is this. I write down a task for a certain person and give that sheet of paper to that person; but I also keep a copy of it for myself so that I can follow up as and when needed.

It's working so far.

This isn't all. This also requires some management :). And there's way a to do this.

Stay tuned. More in the coming posts. Task management using trays... Coming soon :).

Energy Economics & Petrol Prices

Oh! I just read this piece Petrol Prices Set To Hike Again. Just a few days back I shared an important bit in the post Alarm Bell on my blog polka thoughts.

I urge motorcycling enthusiasts who also like following motorcycling tit-bits online to read Jeff Rubin's thoughts on the economics of energy and how it is changing and how it is gonna change our world in a lot many ways. These price hikes are just the beginning but very important symptoms of an imminent future. Go, read.

You might do well to read Why Your World Is About To Get A Whole Lot Smaller as well. Important stuff.

Red Slingshot

Well, I am not impressed with this Suzuki offering. The color's somewhat different I can say. 

 

Doesn't this resemble Bajaj Caliber in some respects? Remember?

This is where MANAGEMENT is needed

Yes, may be there is a perception that there isn't a lot of money for management grads in small cities.

Or perhaps, 'management education' serves as an escape (to the 'good' life) from the very places which direly need management acumen/skills.

Sometime back, I read that the Chinese government deployed a significant number of management grads to work with the farmers in the hinterland.

Jeff Rubin hints farms are where the future of the world lies. I am near the farms. I can choose to work there. :)