Yoga

Chandra has started his yoga classes.

It has been on his bucket-list for a long, long time. Finally, after a couple of bad-starts (cricket jargon!), he has settled down to a routine. Yet to become a "habit"!

As part of Yoga Nidra, the trainer took him to a beach. He could only visualize Marina beach, Chennai. And he was distracted by recent news items related to Marina! He struggled to concentrate. He allowed thoughts to come & go, with a resolve to work on it in future sessions.

'Chitta vritti nirodhah' is still few sessions away!

And this appears on his mail! ('nothing is a coincidence')

TripAdvisor Top 25 Beaches — World

#Marina is not one of them!

#8 Radhanagar Beach, Havelock Island, Andaman and Nicobar Islands

https://www.tripadvisor.in/TravelersChoice-Beaches-a_Mode.expanded

PIXAR - a metaphor for the Middle Way

Just finished the book: "To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History"  by Lawrence Levy

I heard about this book on Knowledge@Wharton Podcast with the author. Felt connected immediately. 

- It was about Pixar, one & only...

- Naturally, it was also about Steve Jobs & author's own 'unlikely journey with Steve'

- The author was a lawyer by education (Harvard). He was recruited to the role of the CFO at Pixar. He was now an author. 

- He has a beautiful (Pixar) story to tell. 

- A CFO's perspective of everything would be an interesting one. 

Some of these really touched me, Lawrence:

• For a CFO, the author is a master story-teller. Not that CFO's can not be story tellers. We all are story-tellers. Some just does it better!

• Author's relationship with Steve was so professional & deep, minus all drama that is generally associated with the Genius. I am a fan of Steve Jobs. The fact he was very sensitive, temperamental, actually makes him special. 

• It was great to hear how the author moved into Pixar (reminded me of how Steve reached out to John Scully...Pepsi to Apple)

• It touched how the author went about professionally handling diverse challenges within & outside. 

• Handling DIsney part was great stuff, as it was about the creative thrust.

• The decision as to how to handle the creative element at Pixar & how to retain the unique DNA of Pixar even at Disney, most inspiring.

• Author's effort to get credit for the supporting staff showed the emotional quotient of himself, and all others who found a way of doing it. 

• I always maintain a supporting spouse is critical to professional success. Hillary was a beautiful example (It is valentine's day today!) 

•  A lot of lessons for corporate leaders. Also a lot of inspiration about building a unique brand. 

While Steve is associated with brand-apple, Pixar is as much a part of his brilliant legacy. 

• The changing geography is brought out very well. We have moved away so much from Nature. 

• The experience of going through two accidents, second almost fatal. 

• It was a beautiful journey. And somewhere it made sense to let go. No better way than to move to spirituality? Isn't that is the ultimate goal, purpose of life?

Pixar is indeed a metaphor for the Buddhist concept..The  Middle Way

BIG Thanks, Lawrence for this beautiful book. 

Link to the Audible book:

http://www.audible.com/pd/Bios-Memoirs/To-Pixar-and-Beyond-Audiobook/B01M3VFVX0?ref_=pe_1542220_127106600 

Monday Morning Blues in Bangalore

- Late night flight, lack of sleep...
- Misplaced car key prompted me to look for Uber. The app showed ten minutes.
- Checked Ola, not available!
- Went back to Uber, waiting period was now 22 minutes. These are "official" indicators only. The actual may be much different.
So, decided to opt for "ola share".

With Bangalore likely to cancel the "share" option by Ubers & Olas of the world, I was more "aware" of the option to 'share'.

Ola has introduced two options within the share! Ola keeps bringing in new initiatives frequently. At times the add-ons become 'too many-too soon'! I finally opted for 'Fast Share' and decided to walk to the main road - "just 6 minutes", indicated the app. But not the heat & dust of the stretch, from apartment to the 'State Highway', not a 'stately' highway though.

I kept waiting... several cabs passed by, not the 'share' cab assigned to me.

A passing auto driver (smartly) sensed a business opportunity and stopped. In spite of all taxi options, auto drivers stick to their pricing strategy, continuing to demand exorbitant fares. I demanded a 25% reduction. He readily agreed. I knew I would be paying a cab fare for a bumpy, noisy, dusty/non-AC ride. But reaching the workplace quickly was more important. As the auto driver, a gentleman (except for his pricing) in his fifties took off, I canceled the Ola-share!

What should ideally take 15-20 minutes, took a full hour. As the cars patiently waited in a line, my auto-guy, a veteran on Bangalore roads, took short-cuts to move ahead. He mostly got away with all his histrionics, except a traffic cop. The latter let off with a big shout at the auto guy. I 'compensated' by paying him what he had originally asked for. He had to endure a 60 minute ride too. But for him, I would have taken longer.

It is a normal day at work for both of the cop & the auto guy, but not for me... Monday morning can't be so 'cruel'

An audio book kept me going. I saw so many professionals on the way to their office, badly stuck - in buses/cars/company transport vehicles, two-wheelers.

Many of them already had their ID cards around their neck or clipped on to somewhere on the body, shirt to belt. Most of them, almost all of them (yours truly included) had an expression of frustration & anger on their faces.

I wondered... 'are we living our life-purpose? Is all this worth it?"