2016 - Skidding into Q2 from Q1 already

Note to self: 
2016 is the year of the monkey ( Chinese New Year jargon).
Lot of exciting things happening this year - as I truly believe my quest within for the past couple of years has helped connect with a deeper sense of purpose.That juxtaposition where passion meets purpose is a truly inexplicable high.I am in more ways than one , grateful for the numerous blessings and moreover the ride this far. I think the pic below epitomises my thought:

Like they say,

Text is losing its appeal as they say pictures speak a thousand words and now i think videos speak a million words. In the age of reducing attention spans, I probably just want to jot down some important professional aspects.
I realised making / updating your own profile is a task that has no match. The amount of introspection and validation that volley around a sheet that is supposed to impress someone else as much as it does you, is a sheer exercise in expectations.

Let's see what did we do this year across the realms - rebranding Catalyst, inching towards a more distinct identity. Education - achieving goals ( in part) that were almost considered impossible and Design Thinking - furthering the bridge between design and other realms.

I'm getting clearer on the space I want to be in....... and these 2 thoughts resonate the most I guess for now

                            


Personally - So much to be thankful for.......
Hopefully will retrun soon with a spunkier post. This initial bit helps un-rusting some of the skill that has been curtailed to 140-characters.

By G
From G,
To G,

The inescapable - a Georgi Jose point of view in 2005

Link to original piece in a newspaper in Bahrain from 2005

http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=111866

The Inescapable   Posted on » Friday, May 13, 2005

The clock strikes; It's time Wait! Can I get a couple of minutes more? I guess not, your time is up, You prayed, I heard. But come on, pack up Oh Lord, there is some unfinished business, I see, A couple of minutes, an hour at most, to cherish those people who mean the most to me. "I want to kiss, I want to hold, My kids, my wife, my niece, My dog, my nephew, The list is endless you see" "O mortal, I pity your strings, your attachments, your incessant yearning for 'love'. You have no schedule, nor any sure idea, You neither decide your time of birth and have no say in the time you die. You are bound to this realm by bonds that you bequeath to your own. You stop one breath short and flash my name To your rescue I should swoon. I have a job, both dirty and tough, But someone's gotta get it done, I have my team, when I come to recruit more, like you they ask me for time. Sorry to interrupt but this time I could have stolen a life, My memories you trample, mean so much to me. my kids, my wife. Oh! I dare ask you again: Can I borrow a couple of minutes from my time. I see the light, I know my time's here I awaited this moment for all day long. I couldn't fathom, it would be here, not now, It would bring my life to stop now. NO time wasted, I gave you a life for that, I would have stretched your longevity, But there are other deserving souls Who need to join me. So come child, come now Unto you the next life I bestow, Let me tell you about it, While you leave your skin on the earth below. Tomorrow, they'll find you pale and hearty, They'll grieve, they'll shriek, they'll cry, But when they realise your destination, They'll succumb to the answer to why. So come child, come now, You have a long journey ahead of you, You may make it, you may not, I guess the one thing you learnt with your last journey was, I reap as I sow" So I guess no extra time, no more innings, It's now, this time, this frame, You are going to be a part of the bigger picture and then be reduced to a name.  - Georgi Jose

India 2014: cities as places of Hope ( #outlook)

There Must Be A Better Way

Our cities are Places of Hope. More’s the reason leaders stand up for them.

Lying down for the city Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal takes the pavement route

Magazine | 17 February 2014 

Charles Correa

Increasingly, cities around the world are being run by political leaders who are directly elected by the people of that city. So they must champion the interests of the city—or they will not get re-elected. That, essentially, is the mechanism by which Democracy ensures the accountability of our political leaders. It’s as simple as that. The title for this political figure is usually ‘mayor’—but if the city is an autonomous entity, then it could be ‘chief minister’. It is a position of considerable power and responsibility, one which attracts very high-profile politicians. For instance, just before Jacques Chirac became president of France, he served as mayor of Paris.

This is the best model for good urban governance—one that our democracy must follow. And to do so, we need not convert our cities into independent city-states. For instance, though the city of New York is very much an integral part of New York state, decisions for the city are not taken by the governor in Albany, but by the mayor in Manhattan. For to be elected mayor of New York (like Rudy Giuliani or Michael Bloomberg) is to stand up—and if necessary confront—the governor in Albany. That is what Democracy is about: confrontation resolved through a process of negotiation. How well the mayor negotiates decides whether or not he will get re-elected.

This unfortunately is not what happens in our Indian cities. Instead of this system of tough negotiations (with each side trying to protect the interests of their respective electorates), our Indian cities are run by a state chief minister who is not elected by the citizens of that city—and who can therefore be completely oblivious to their wishes. All he has to do is give orders directly to the urban secretary who instructs the municipal commissioner to do the needful (increase floor area ratio, switch land-uses, etc). The chief minister has no accountability whatsoever to the citizens of the city because we do not vote for his re-election. In that sense, there is no democracy in our cities. What we have instead is a carryover from the British presidency system where, for instance, the governor of Bombay Presidency had complete power over all the cities right up to Ahmedabad, Karachi and Quetta.

The one conspicuous exception to this pattern has been of course the city of Delhi. But even here the example is seriously flawed because the chief minister does not have jurisdiction over several large areas and civic bodies that make up the city. For instance, the whole of NDMC (ie, Lutyens’s New Delhi) comes under the Central government; the police comes under the home ministry; and the New Delhi Municipal Corporation is controlled by the BJP. Over the last few years, when things went wrong, Sheila Dikshit unfortunately never brought this matter up because the same Congress party controlled both entities—and she may not have wanted to embarrass the powers-that-be. So, instead, she took the blame, rather gallantly, for decisions that perhaps were not of her making.

Which brings us to the present moment. What we are witnessing right now is the chief minister of Delhi standing up for the city of Delhi, against the larger political context (ie, the Central government). There is nothing wrong in doing that—in fact, that is an essential part of his job. For as we have just seen, the confrontations between Giuliani and the governor of New York state; or in the case of London, between Ken Livingstone and prime minister Margaret Thatcher—have resulted in the current renaissance and economic miracle that has re-energised the cities of New York and London.

Which brings us to the drama of the dharna we witnessed on the streets of the imperial capital last week. Our media keeps braying about the illegality of the action—but in a society where the legal system finds the 2G, 3G, Coalgate and other mind-boggling scams par for the course, isn’t that bizarre? The situation was highly charged. The interviews Kejriwal gave were interrupted every few sentences by a hacking cough—so when night fell and he lay down on the pavement to sleep, the gesture looked suicidal. In the bitter cold of a Delhi winter, how would he survive the night? It was perhaps a foolhardy risk he took. But in that gesture of sleeping on a pavement in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi, he created an image that will endure for a long time to come. Remember that over 60 per cent of Mumbai’s inhabitants, by government count, are squatters. Sleeping on a pavement may not seem as foreign to them as it might to you or me. What Kejriwal did with that one gesture was create a game-changer that may well prove as potent as the image of Gandhiji travelling in a third-class railway compartment. It’s an image to which the silent majority of our urban citizens might relate—instantly and without much effort.

For the epic struggle going on in our national capital is crucial not only to Delhi’s future but to that of our other urban centres as well. Our cities are defining the future of our nation. First of all, because they are engines of economic growth. Delhi is the only city in India that has a surplus budget—possibly because it is the only city that political parties and individual politicians have not been exploiting like a milch cow. The cities of India have been systematically drained of humongous funds that should have been used for the development of that city—and for the surrounding hinterland as well. This is what happened in South China where the surplus generated by cities like Hong Kong and Shanghai not only brought in the high quality infrastructure they needed, but also helped launch the economic miracle that is China today.

Secondly, the many diverse cities and towns we have here in India exist in a wonderfully balanced system—one that creates and nurtures the skills we need to develop our nation. Doctors, nurses, lawyers, engineers, managers—these are all people with urban skills, generated in our urban centres. India is one of the few Third World countries that does not need to import these skills through the UN or the World Bank. In fact, we export them.

Lastly, our cities are Places of Hope. For millions and millions of the wretched have-nots of our society, they are perhaps their only road to a better future. This is why the proper governance of our cities is of such decisive importance to us, and to our future. Like the wheat fields of Punjab and the coalfields of Bihar, they are an essential part of our national wealth. If we let them fail, then we indeed place our nation in serious jeopardy.

---

(Charles Correa is credited with redefining modern architecture in post-Independence India.)

FRIDAY THE 13th - lucky / unlucky day for India?

I'm still confused if the Delhi rapists got the death penalty for rape, or for gruesome murder. If it was primarily for RAPE, I salute the Indian Judiciary, but if this was due to the nature of the heinous crime, then I really am perturbed.

You better not be telling me,that the next Rapist-in-the-making gets away with a lesser punishment , just because he was NOT GRUESOME enough. Are you telling me the next victim will be denied the same platform of justice, if she does not suffer such grotesque bestiality. I am unsure if  we are celebrating this verdict for the right reasons?

O and by the way Akshay Thakur, Pawan Gupta, Vinay Sharma and Mukesh Singh ( and the satanic unnamed juvenile) - call me emotional - But I hope while you await death, you meet some other animals in prison, who re- introduce you to your friend the ' the iron rod'.  Now telecasting that on "Big Boss" / any othe random show that needs a TRP Boost would help tame / kill any other 'animals' lurking the streets of India. 

Lastly, the victim whose name, is to be withheld as per family, kudos to your brave soul and we are sorry that India lost such a resilient person at such a young age.  It is people like you and Malala Yousafzai, ( 14yr old Afghan girl) who are icons in both life and death.

I am hopeful of a more resilient India.

Georgi Jose

Generation next

My little nephew, Ari Dayal Arangath,( Ari is Hebrew and Tamil for LION) .

I did something I had never done before - taken 2months off to say hello to life. And boy did it say hello to me.

Having upgraded from the rat race ( read as quit dayjob to be an entrepreneur) , I had this distinct urge to soar away from shackles to celebrate my independence.

My missing impetus came from Roshen and AJAY's - We are Pregnant -phone call in October. I knew I wanted to see my brother before he took on the new mantle of being daddy. Top 3 great decisions in my life.....other 2 are in my other posts...( ha....this is how we capitalize on misdirected readers)......

Seeing Ajay and Roshen's journey has been both an eye-opener and a blessing.

Ari has come and brought love, sounds, poop, pee, smiles, chaos, bonding, role play, sleep apnea, instinct, science, god, and Love (again) with him.

He doesn't smile easily, which makes his occasional grin all the more priceless. A rare gaze, a cute pout, a Mohawk style, an adorable butt , his free willy and amazing tenacity are imressions he has got us all accustomed to in just 20.5 days.

Not seeing him grow up everyday will be a heart wrenching saga as I take on that annual uncle title... But hey knowing he is subjected to roshen's warmth and Ajay's humor are good for now...

We shall explore pangs to bite new borns in our next segment. Also stay tuned for how important the new born mantra of EAT, SLEEP, DOMINATE are so true..

Thank you God for this bundle of joy....THIS LION OF THE TENDERLOIN....

Make way San Francisco- your Prince has arrived.....

Signed proud uncle,

UNCA G......30 jan 2013....

Unprouctivity is the key to creativity????

Boredom.

Being bored is a precious thing, a state of mind we should pursue. Once boredom sets in, our minds begin to wander, looking for something exciting, something interesting to land on. And that's where creativity arises.

My best ideas come to me when I am unproductive. When I am running but not listening to my iPod. When I am sitting, doing nothing, waiting for someone. When I am lying in bed as my mind wanders before falling to sleep. These "wasted" moments, moments not filled with anything in particular, are vital.

They are the moments in which we, often unconsciously, organize our minds, make sense of our lives, and connect the dots. They're the moments in which we talk to ourselves. And listen.

To lose those moments, to replace them with tasks and efficiency, is a mistake. What's worse is that we don't just lose them. We actively throw them away.

These interesting lines are from the Harvard biz review.

G

RETROSPECTIVE 2011

Hmmmm........in almost random order.......

Celebrated New years on a High note ( at floor 122 of Burj Khalifa ( world's tallest)......
Got an Ipad........
Nestled at the shangri-la in ever gorgeous Muscat....
Saw the Social Media revolution ..aka bahrain, egypt, tunisia etc.
took my folks to see dubai for an all expense paid vacation....
Got 'her' sucked into the corporate vortex of design.....
Saw barcelona in a side car....
Had 10 days of tapas and Ham, hence craved desi ness...
Saw Flamenco at valencia....
smelled paella at sevilla....
Saw the geni-ii of Gaudi and calatrava up close and personal....
Visited world's best bar at Madrid......
Improved Sign-language skills while in Spain........
Maintained sedative levels for Sumam.....
Flew business with a free upgrade.......
Did that ever pending group trip.even if it was only to Dubai....
Witnessed A R Rahman unplugged.....
Acquired new motor skills on my PS-3
Saw the exchange rate and Gold flirt with my wallet.....
Some Strategic Decisions played out according to plan.......
Got a bed and pillows that matter....
Saw MI -4 yesterday - (only matters cuz seeing someone jump off a building you know is rare.........)
wondered how so many greats died in the same year - MF Hussain, Steve jobs, shammi Kapoor, Jagjit Singh
Added some more people on the interesting schmuks aka friends list....
Learnt more about money.........
& Remain married to a beautiful woman......


Overall a good year.....
Thank you God for 2011........Bring it on 2012......Let's wrestle it out.

Penned on a lenovo keyboard parked on an office desktop in Manama on This day - 19th Of December, 2011.
note to self:
1) review  location of desktop.......
2) see tamer @ lebanon.......

Note to Self : Twitter Revolution 2011

Note to Self: 
This is a  reminder in the sands of time about the  "Twitter Revolution of Twenty Eleven" . 
I am not going to elucidate details but I was in Bahrain when it all began on Feb 14, 2011.


Ideologies of democracy, monarchy, gandhianism , constitution, rights come to the forefront to be dissected by people, media for their own agenda - right or wrong.


Makes you look back at all the freedom fighters of India and how they led our Independance Struggle till 1947- in a pre-twitter era.  The revolution in technology (pun intended) is now authored as the Technology of Revolution.




G

Merry Christmas + Joyous 2011

Dear Reader (s)

Here’s wishing you a ‘Holy’ Christmas  and a very ‘sinful’ NEW YEAR

Ps: the picture might make your think it’s a scary Christmas instead of merry Christmas….well I did warn you. ….view at your own risk!!!!

Headlines.............maybe too emphatic...just lines from my head

These are lines i actually have written back in the day .

Compiling some of those lines, that slipped through my head via the keyboard.....

In case you haven't' notices the incessant  references to planet G, G, god.....are all hype for the narcissism that lurks freely around the world as we speak.

2005

1) It has come to the notice of the owners of Planet G, that you enjoy indulging in frivolous conversation with very charming,and insanity charged cyber stalkers. At Planet G we try to provide a wholesome under-development of pituitary gland.

2) High livving no thinking- straight opposite of Gandhi

2006  

3) We at planet G, hyped up the concept of God 1.1, and then we introduced regional flavours like allah, Ram, Jesus etc. 

4) Lose an eye, lose a hand,
Lose everythin u signatured on,
But if u lose hope my darling,
The battle hasn't commenced at all

2007

5) Planet G............a wholesome entertainment venture that supplies energy to most of the Gobar Gas/bio gas plants in Netherlands, tunisia and west liberia. I'm sure most you dumb asses dont even know where these places are, which Is why i safely  publicized operations there!!!! 

2008

6) Christmas is  a Blessed Season of Love and Birth(ok u teenage girls and overcommitted lovers should not get other ideas)

2009 

7) Dude Don't sell ur car - RENT IT out as  service apartment......- u know - leather seats, music system, views on all 4 sides, 24 hours petrol and washer fluid, great proximity to all amenities - Depending on where u are parked.

8) what else - o i bought a ferrari - sold off my ranch in nevada for 12 million more than what i bought it for and taught monica belluci how to kiss better - other than that Sumam gave john abraham tips on hair care .

2010

9) So i figured,before I stare Normalcy in the face , by getting back to work , everyday life...........i wanted to touch base with you and find out how you were getting along. We may not talk much , but because of social evils such as facebook I can stalk you, in the guise of a friend.............(Georgi lets out his evil sinister yawn!!!!!!!).

2011

10 ) Scary that there is more to come eh....................