People Matters

The CWG and Indian Standards

By Rajeshwar Upadhyaya

Oct 1st 2010

The run-up to CWG is just one instance of the slothful functioning of the Indian Government. Unless the society’s stackholders punish those who misuse power, such vices will continue. Scarcely had one written a diatribe against the inherent self-sabotage of ‘By Indian Standards’ as an operating principle, than the Commonwealth Games provided what is destined to be the exemplar of the phenomenon. Responding to criticism by foreign Games organizations that the rooms and to... Read more »

The ‘By Indian Standards’ Conundrum

By Rajeshwar Upadhyaya, Director, Par Excellence

Aug 16th 2010

Amongst the curious phrases that have evolved in India’s continuing struggle with the English language, none is more meaningless than the robust favourite “By Indian Standards.” It makes no sense. Either you have standards or you don’t. The insertion of a third, Indian, option, is actually an advance justification for failure, an acknowledgment of mediocrity, and a contentment with the status quo. None of these are particularly laudable, but the tragedy is that they are... Read more »

Conflict and Resolution in the Myths of Oedipus and Brahma: A reflection of their respective world views

By Rajeshwar Upadhyaya

Jul 1st 2010

Man’s is a lonely predicament; and religion has sought to extol his ‘aloneness – sometimes providing a rationale for existence and evolution. All religions, without exception, seek to provide man with a deeper, saner reality – something more fundamental than that which ordinarily meets the eye. At the depths of truth, words conjure up meanings that belie their etymology and therefore words will have to be seen as reflective of states of mind. The deep recesses of the h... Read more »

The Self Destructive Imperative of Nepotism

By Rajeshwar Upadhyaya

Jun 1st 2010

In his usual thought-provoking style, Rajeshwar Upadhyaya, uses the exaggerated caricature of Dhritarashtra as a mirror to our society, which accepts nepotism as the normIn the Mahabharata, there is one person who had the power to prevent the inevitable catastrophe of the final battle at Kurukshetra. He never exercises this power. Contrary to popular belief, this person was not Krishna. The only person with a realistic chance of preventing war, at least almost until the bitter end, was the Kau... Read more »

The Faustian Dilemma : To Have or to Be?

By Rajeshwar Upadhyaya

May 1st 2010

By the time one realises the difference between tirelessly wanting power and then living with power alone for all your life, the damage has already been done..Marlowe, a famous Elizabethan playwright, may perhaps have surpassed Shakespeare but did not live long enough. He is credited with reintroducing the concept of High Tragedy to the European thought for the first time since the ancient Greeks.Doctor Faustus is his most famous and enduring play dealing with a learned man who sold his soul t... Read more »

The Concept of Time and the Acceptance of Shoddiness

By Rajeshwar Upadhyaya

Apr 1st 2010

“I wasted time; now Time doth waste me” – Richard II“...India is because of that wonderful aspect of Hindu cosmology which first of all gives a time-scale for the Earth and the universe – a time-scale which is consonant with that of modern scientific cosmology”. – Carl Segan, CosmosIn continuation with the theme of our previous article, the second point being driven here is an equally pertinent one. This has to do with Time. Let’s go back to Bra... Read more »

Successful Training Initiatives Require A Thinking CEO

Mar 2nd 2010

People Matters in conversation with Yogesh Sood, Managing Director, Blanchard International India about the challenges of L&D function in India and the ways to overcome them.What are the challenges faced by the train-ing and development teams in Indian companies? How are they different from other HR processes?The main challenge for the L&D function, faced in India, is the integration of learning interventions with the business objectives and putting that into strategic focus along with... Read more »

Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair

By Rajeshwar Upadhyaya

Sep 1st 2009

Leadership Insights from MacbethVery simply Macbeth overreached himself. His level of competence was as the second most powerful man. This is where he peaked and would have surely been a great success as King Duncan’s next in command, quite like George Patton who was, in the opinion of his senior, the world’s best subordinate. Compared with Claudius (from Hamlet, featured in the July-August issue) -- Macbeth has alienated everybody. Cladius, on the other hand, has alienated none. A... Read more »

The Management & Leadership Conundrum

By Vivek Albuquerque

Jul 22nd 2009

What is better for the organisation – for you to be a Manager or a Leader? Whenever this question has been posed in the multitude of workshops conducted by Louis Allen International, the response has been, overwhelmingly, in favour of “Leader”. We are obsessed with the idea of “being a leader and practicing leadership” being the best way to move ahead in an organisation.This idea – of the leader being someone requiring special qualities – is being ince... Read more »

Leadership Insights from Shakespeare - Hamlet

By Rajeshwar Upadhyaya

Jul 1st 2009

It is a curious fact that Hamlet is the most known character after Jesus Christ. There is something in the character of Hamlet and his actions that resonates with mankind. There is something in the dynamics of that play that resonates with the ebb and flow of life itself. Failure. Fear of failure. Fear of success. Fear itself. Fear of consequences and at the center of it all is a poetic apathy. Hamlet is too aware of the larger picture. And the larger picture paralyzes him. In corporate life t... Read more »