Category: General

  • Survivorship Bias

    During World War II, planes used to come back from battle with bullet holes. Researchers recommended reinforcing the parts like wings that suffered the most damage. They said this would increase a plane’s chance of survival. No brainer? But didn’t the planes that went down get shot in the other…

  • Getting that job promotion

    Are you expecting a job promotion or pitching for one? Here is how you can make a strong case for it. 1) Find out what (competencies/abilities) is expected from a person at the next level.2) Understand both functional/technical as well as behavioral competencies. Do not miss out on the behavioral…

  • Living your purpose

    When I got good clarity over my life purpose, the risk of losing my well paying job in a senior management role and fear of failure in any thing new I try prevented me from going all out to pursue it. Till I read this quote by Wayne Gretzky: “You…

  • Sundays

    I love Sundays. When I was in a full time corporate job, the weekdays used to be like a flooded river. Not that they are any different now 🙂 But, Sunday was when the river would calm down a bit. It was when I was able to access stillness and…

  • Working on disturbing memories

    Do you have a memory of a past event that disturbs you? One of the memories that used to disturb me a lot is when my dad passed away and I rushed him to the hospital in an ambulance. I would freeze every time I heard or saw an ambulance…

  • The Witness poise

    A year back I was coaching a CEO who was under a lot of stress. He used to entangle himself in too many situations at home and work. Here is a practice that helped him. It’s called having the “Witness Poise”. I first learnt it from the writings of the…

  • Handling challenging conversations

    Why are some conversations very difficult? Because they are often set up with EITHER/OR thinking i.e., choose one of the two options available – mine or yours. For example, one of participants of a workshop I did for a global bank told me: “I can either have a candid talk…

  • The key to growth and freedom

    I am coaching the COO of a company. The following quote is helping him a lot. And me as well. Do you want to consciously try this today? “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies…

  • Building Trust

    How do your customers choose who to work with? Turns out trust plays a major role. How do you build trust? Here is a simple equation by David Maister to the rescue. T = (C + R + I) / S T: TrustC: Credibility – Words – Do you (appear…

  • The Qs – Gundecha Brothers

    The Qs – Gundecha Brothers

    Interviewed Dhrupad artists, the Gundecha Brothers, for Aalaap’s The Qs. Gundecha Brothers, Dhrupad Artistes Dhrupad is like the mighty Himalayas. We are literally tiny men in front of it   What is the purpose or intent of Dhrupad? Umakant Gundecha: Dhrupad is the search of the ultimate, the search for a true…

  • The Qs – Ramana Balachandhran

    The Qs – Ramana Balachandhran

    Interviewed prodigious veena artist Ramana Balachandhran for Aalaap’s The Qs. Ramana Balachandhran, Veena artiste “The veena is my second voice” Did you choose the veena or did the veena choose you? I would say the veena chose me. What are your early memories with the veena? What about the instrument fascinated…

  • The Qs – Abhishek Raghuram

    The Qs – Abhishek Raghuram

    Interviewed Carnatic musician Abhishek Raghuram for Aalaap’s The Qs.   Carnatic music seems like an exhaustive encyclopaedia. Is there more to be created? Carnatic music is a vast ocean. The body of work created by the great practitioners of this art form is like an ocean within this ocean. It…

  • The Qs – Sai Shravanam

    Interviewed ace sound designer and musician Sai Shravanam for Aalaap’s The Qs.   Over the years of dabbling in music, both as a musician and an engineer, how would you qualify your relationship with sound? I’m afraid I find it difficult to split my personality into these halves – musician…

  • The Qs – Vyasarpadi Kothandaraman

    Interviewed nadaswaram maestro Vyasarpadi Kothandaraman for Aalaap’s The Qs. Over the years of the Nadaswaram becoming integral to the concept of weddings and all occasions auspicious, what has been its relationship with this space? Nadaswaram performances have increased over the years because of the instrument and its sound being an…

  • SRI mridangam – a path breaking work by Dr. K.Varadarangan

    If it looks like a mridangam and sounds like a mridangam, it must be a mridangam. Yes, indeed it is one. Meet the SRI (Synthetic Rhythm Indian) mridangam – an “ethical vegan” mridangam that is the product of many years of painstaking research done by Dr. K. Varadarangan, a Carnatic…