Monday, March 9, 2020

happy monday!


#GyaanByKhan 

Been an interesting morning! Monday mornings always bring a bit of thought a spark for me. I guess my brain has been programmed that way for last few decades. Three other points make this morning interesting (1) I have been staying at this hotel since 5th but just realised this morning that breakfast for two is included in the tariff....now that's a waste for a person like me who is an absolute foodie!!...I have no excuse...just no excuse to justify wasting breakfast (resource thinking!). (2) Last night was the second night of this year (2020) that I slept for more than 7 hours in any single slot of 24 hrs (rolling-considering timezones etc.) well that's an achievement for me! (3) While I go through various streams of experiences through my journey of 'rest of my life' I keep discovering things which are in cohesion with the universe....one such thing was a friend share this video with me.
Although videos, articles and other content of Sadhguru have been popping up in my life from time to time...A friend from past shared a link on Facebook Messenger, I watched this video a few times this morning and it resonated quite well.
A part of me was happy by going through this content. But then a part of me was dying to share it with people I care for. A part of me was also hesitant (fear). But then I navigated through all of those.... and decided to publish these notes. Notes which have a summary of around 250 words, which is my interpretation of this video. This may be #useful to people who are too busy or overwhelmed with the Monday feeling....a feeling that we created ourselves....to that matter even the concept of time was also created by ourselves...a concept which now drives us like slaves....but that concept also has a few advantages....but about that in some other future post...for now let's get back to Sadhguru. Summary of the video below: 
  1. Life is not you versus the universe. Bad competition! 
  2. Life is about your union with the universe. Yoga means union….not twisting bodies! 
  3. In internet terms, you are just a pop up! in this world..
  4. Future is not far and not in future. It's not something you have to wait for. This moment is yours. And This is the ONLY moment you have. *Tahir’s interpretation. 
  5. They key is that, there is no key! Life is mostly about, how you will handle yourself, your thinking, your thought, your effort, your results, your outcomes, your neurology, your biochemistry, your physiology etc. etc. (random sequence!)
  6. Interesting Snails story! By Sadhguru. 
  7. Suffering is a choice. And living is also a choice. Life or memory or imaginal suffering…upto you! *Tahir’s interpretation. 
  8. Spirituality (not religion!) should be practised early in life and should not be postponed to old age. 
  9. Life is an outcome of our two strongest gifts, gifts which have been bestowed on us as human species….Memory and Imagination..
  10. The issue is that we are creating sufferings for ourselves with the same gifts… (#DEEP) 
  11. In the end if you are breathing, you are transacting with this world and this universe. Every event / issue / achievement / result and every moment between your birth and death is life. *Tahir’s interpretation. 
  12. And remember whatever the issue in your life….whatever the problems in your life….they are all blessings because more problems means more interaction with this universe …more opportunities to make a difference.  
To end; "whatever the issue….you are not the issue". Happy Monday!! Link to the video which is 11 Minutes 48 Seconds..
This article is also published here: 
LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/happy-monday-dr-tahir-khan
Medium https://medium.com/@talk2tahirkhan2/happy-monday-77b703ff30b8

Sunday, March 8, 2020

Karamchand Jasoos! The Spy Who Changed India...

Photo location https://maps.app.goo.gl/WQQcxycMuEG6Sm479


क्या करूँ अब भी जब भी गाजर खाता हूँ तो करमचंद जासूस की याद आती हैं 😂

I think we are a special generation of people, a generation which was caught in between the transitions of this world. The transition after soviet union, the cold war, the fall of the Berlin wall...the transition from calculators to computers to machines that think. The Nokia, the Blackberry, the end of Kodak, the iPhone, the Google, the Facebook etc. etc....a generation of people who transitioned their lives around continual change. Ofcourse by no means I say that the generations before and after us have not or will not go through changes...but what's unique and what I am focusing on is the journey of our generation, and the variable speed of changes we have seen....I hope you will understand what I am trying to say and if not I will keep trying.
Anyways back to breakfast and my carrots 🥕

#Moments #Mornings #MyMornings #Breakfast #Coffee #Thoughts #Musafir #Travel #Dubai

Saturday, March 7, 2020

The Mask or Make Up #WhatIf


Picture location: Dubai Metro somewhere here 👇
https://maps.app.goo.gl/hJuq3oPcBUxsHw9X8 

And what if, the mask becomes a way of life. What if, the mask becomes the make up. What if, the current situation Corona changes everything we imagined as a future. What if, the world becomes like what we saw in one of those movies. There are so many what if's. On the other hand this gives us an opportunity to come back after all this is over. Think about food, think about medicine and more so, think about transparency and this planet. This could be our last warning. A part of me also believes [I don't have data for that] that we are well ahead in our medical, biological and nutrition research but its not transparent as it affects the commercial construct of many industries/models. But when all this is over, we have to think hard, very hard, about profits and this planet. 
#WhatIf #sustainability #corona #coronavirus #Moments #Musafir #Travel #Dubai #MustBeDXB #DubaiMetro #DubaiMetroTurns10 #Internet #City

Thursday, March 5, 2020

World Famous MAGIC Upma!








Post written on the BOM-DXB flight yesterday-posting almost 24 hours late..r!

I have received some great feedback and I am told to write more...so will I listen to the feedback, I think that's the least I could do in return of someone's time. I will aim to bring more discipline to myself and attempt to write regularly-say atleast 2-5 posts a month, but before that let me quote the disclaimer!! My blog is not about anything specific but it's about everything specific. And that specific is my journey. And that journey, indeed, is my life. I hope you find my story worthy of your time. And if not, then I request you to help me, on how it can be! - Let's engage, chat, coffee or just wave...I don't promise I will change anything but I promise that I will listen. Thank You!

 Finally the actual post!!

If you had asked me, even a month ago, that, will I ever have rava upma and black coffee on an international flight, versus chicken/some other protein + gin & tonic...my answer would have been, an resounding NO with a couple of exclamation marks [with sound!!]
 But then if you had asked me a few months ago, whether I would go to an immigration desk wearing a breathing (N95) mask, then I would have said a No too. Perhaps not with the intensity in the earlier paragraph.
 S**t happens! a virus named after a beer shakes the world and suddenly you decide to go vegan because you start thinking more and more about this planet and it's cohabitants....and RE-realise the horrific reality, that we have ONLY one planet. So with every choice, with every action and even, with every thought (my mind and matter learnings!) we are impacting or getting impacted. And if I think about those two words impacted and impacting, my choice will always be the later and that will be irrespective of the situation. I think I have grown that way or rather "I am been programmed that way!!"
 Life will never go as planned. But we all can always plan for a few probabilities and keep altering the plans in tune with changing realities. I guess that's true for life and also true for business. Infact I had a very weird business idea when I was in 9th Grade...it was 'one' of weirdest mythical ideas I have had during my childhood...but that story some other day...

Time for breakfast and to enjoy black coffee and the 'world famous' magic rava upma!! 

#LatePost


This article has been additionally published to :
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/world-famous-maupma-dr-tahir-khan
https://medium.com/@talk2tahirkhan2/world-famous-magic-upma-fba1edda41a1



Wednesday, March 4, 2020

REST in PEACE - Jack Welch




I read about the legend, Jack Welch, passing away on Sunday, last week. Felt quite sad in that moment but continued through my week. For some reason the news stuck with me and kept me thinking. Like for many of my colleagues, Jack came into my life through his books on management. We were all young, fresh and curious about his success in the 80's and 90's. His bold short sentences and his style of quoting interesting facts, for application, in management, both for business and for people really impressed all of us. And then we were introduced to six sigma! which was an original concept from Motorola but was adopted fiercely at General Electric (GE) under Jack's leadership. 
By the end of 90's and early 2000's Jack's stardom in management industry was at its peak and I remember reading, him being crowned as 'manager of the century' and with many other titles. 
Jack was a strong man, and was known for taking quite unpopular decisions and some went to the extent of calling him, cruel. I personally never met him or worked with him but as a student of management in my early career I derived a lot of inspiration from Jack on performance management.  
I remember reading this or similar somewhere where Jack quoted "What would happen if for years and years you don’t tell someone that they are underperforming, not giving them the chance to try to improve, check whether they can do something else in the company, or alternatively look for somewhere else? And then a recession comes, and you need to fire the person, older and unprepared, in a much tougher market? Which is crueller?”  
 The quote in the above paragraph stuck with me for many years, I even remember firing a couple of my team members in Sitel while servicing our client DELL computers back in 2004. The above philosophy guided me through some hard decisions. In this particular example; looking back today, I can definitely say, that both people whom I had to let go, are doing extremely well and that decision was the right decision to take- as their core strengths were very different to what was needed on the job. 
The other thing that I clinch upon, are his early years as a kid; Jack would always talk about his mother and how he derived learnings and inspiration from her. In an interview Jack shared that his mother said to him often "If you don’t know how to lose, you’ll never know how to win!” which is one of the most powerful things I had heard during those early days of my customer service career. 
 During the 2008/09 financial crisis I again discovered another quote of Jack, which made me laugh, instantaneously...it was “There are more mediocre people making more money on Wall Street than on any other place on earth,” 
 Dear Jack this post is a tribute to you for the contributions you made to me as a person, through your actions, thoughts and more so through your books and your story. For a man who came from a background that you came from and for a young man who stuttered in his early life, your story was about; overcoming situations, working hard, making tough decisions and succeeding at any cost. Today's world is different and not all your strategies would work in this hyper connected age. The world back then needed you and you did the best you could with your passion.  
 The last one for this article; and my current favourite quote, especially when I work with young entrepreneurs around the world. “If we wait for the perfect answer, the world will pass us by.” so I interpret that the key is to start fast, fail fast, learn fast and build again and again until you succeed. 
Jack you had an interesting life and you made a lot of impact on this world. Now rest in peace great man.  Thank You.
Also published on LinkedIN here: www.Linkedin.com/in/talk2tahirkhan

Friday, February 28, 2020

KNOCK KNOCK.....Hello Again!!

Just checking if this blog is still alive? I think it's time to start blogging again? Maybe I should be add blogging to my bundle of social media tools? So many Saturday morning thoughts.. This was just hi! So..be right back....so watch this space but this time I wouldn't take almost a decade for my next post!! :D Meanwhile you can follow me on following social platforms: Instagram talk2tahirkhan Twitter @talk2tahirkhan Facebook www.fb.me/followtahir and www.fb.me/talk2tahirkhan LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/in/talk2tahirkhan Also this is how I look like now