Xenia

You can’t always choose the people that hang around you or do business with. And sometimes we choose to hang out with people who don’t necessarily fit our click but we do it anyway for various reasons. Like in every social aspect in our lives in business as well your reputation of your company and you is paramount. Part of that reputation is developed by perception on the crowd we hang out with and how we treat the people around us. Being part of the “IT” crowd is what everyone wants to do. Because that’s where the connections are and correspondingly that’s where the money is at and everyone wants money. Within the “IT” crowd there are various kinds of people – The-I-Think-I-Am-So-Popular, The-Look-How-Much-Money-I-Have etc. and then you obviously have the ever so rare down to earth people who you can genuinely connect with. Question is who are you? Coming from a reasonably affluent family I feel sometimes I am caught between two worlds. My entire life I have been ble...

There is a schedule or a time line if you will that society has mapped out for us. We are suppose to go to school, college, university, MBA (now a days is mandatory apparently), get a good paying job, get married, have kids, raise them, grow old and well die. Nothing about this is easy. Some find school tough, others their career. It’s all about your journey. But there is one thing for sure should you decide to step out of the social norm be prepared to forsake some elements of this timeline set in front of you. One would think that today things like marriage isn’t as important as it used to be. I would say STOP and think again. I can already see most of you nodding at the screen or smirking. But it is true. This is for the few of you who haven’t found your betroth, it’s ok. I say this because we all want to find someone. We are social animals and even the most introverted person needs some sort of companionship. Most of us find someone, settle down and get marrie...

My grandma always used to say, “I complained that I had no shoes, till I met a man with no feet.” This holds true especially today. We all have these moments in life, which makes you stop and take account of all your blessings. Today I had multiple such moments. Life is tough sometimes. It deals you a bad hand or couple in row. Everyone around you will say stand up, dust it off. I’d say easier said than done. But one thing is for sure if you stop and take notice of all the good in your life getting by definitely becomes easier. Why some of us have more money, a better car, better lifestyle etc.? That I do not have the answer to, but what I do know is this if you have been given more than some it is your duty to make the most of every situation. It is your duty to shine for others. For most have done far more with far less. Today the world is a smaller place. I saw a snapchat of an astronaut in outer space today. Who would have thought that could have been possible? We h...

I remember I started my first job; my boss was a nice man. He for a very large part you could say was my mentor. But he would let his mouth run away with him. Needless to say that didn’t sit well with a lot of people within the organisation. Ultimately this caught up with him. Now this is a bit of an extreme situation but we all have seen sparks of this. How one talks to a waiter, a liftman, cabbie speaks volumes about a person. When you walk out of an elevator do you thank the liftman? At the end of the cab ride do you thank the cabbie? Do say could you please to the server who is waiting on your table? And most importantly if you are an entrepreneur do you diplomatically stand up for your staff when a clients’ anger has gotten the better of him/her? Having been a waiter, a housekeeper and a dishwasher let me tell you; it will surprise you how people talk to you or behave with you. I have known school friends who have walked passed me when they saw me in uniform at the hotel...

An Englishman read a letter from an Indian mathematician in England and decided to take a chance. That Indian wasn’t qualified had no degree but evoked something in that gentleman that he sailed him across the seven seas to see with his two eyes the truth of what that one simple dhoti wearing Brahman was capable off. They achieved such great things together they became legends and live on through their work till date; a century no less later. Similarly 30 years ago a young man from India flew to Europe for a day to pitch his services to giant. Anyone on the onset would have told him either to wait whiles establishing himself or rather that he was completely out of his mind. He went anyway and came back with his hands full. He built an empire and created rather large shoes for his children to fill. Yes this man is my father. He has said this so many times I think I have lost count. But nevertheless “Zeenia all you need is your first break.” Today I realise what he was trying t...