THE HUNT

Ray, Rob, John and Mike were born continents apart. They had nothing in common except for an indefatigable spirit of adventure. This spirit, berthed deep inside their hearts and minds. Ray, Rob and John were surfers who had chanced upon Bali in early 1960s and hit upon each other as they tried to catch the virgin big, white waves. Mike was a strapping Marine during Iraq War and had got his maiden chance to be the Mission Team Leader.

Both surfing and commando military mission have one thing in common- Timing. The hunt must begin in the right earnest and at the right time. The execution is important. One has to be at the right place and at the right time. Both need minimum interference from external disturbances and arrival at the action site has to be perfectly orchestrated. Ray, Rob and John were mesmerized by the long Kuta Beach of Bali, There were very few surfers around Bali and the three pioneered their art to take Bali by surfer’s storm. Any new wave did not break in Bali where Ray, Rob and John did not have their trademark presence. They were always on the hunt for a new location where they could step onto the sea and begin riding the waves. As they stepped onto a new wave front in Uluwatu, an exceptionally high wave smashed Ray as he tried to mount on it. The impact was lethal and left Ray with broken bones and ruptured ears.

 Mike was leading his mission along with friendly forces and they were raiding a compound filled with enemy terrorists. The teams were in accurate position as per the plan when a radio communication just snapped. The glitch, though momentary, led to the confusion in the plan of action. The fog of uncertainty stepped in and the hell broke loose. At the end of the mission there were unwanted casualties in Mike’s team and the mission was branded as a failure. Someone had to take the call for the failure.

Both Ray and Mike knew that it was their hunt and they were responsible for the outcome of their respective missions. Ray was rescued by Rob and John and as he lay recuperating in the hospital, he knew it was his hunt and he would go back and ride the sky high wave again. Mike was brought in for debrief by an investigating team along with his team mates. Each one was being grilled, when Mike got up and took the responsibility onto himself. He knew that it was his hunt and he had to take the pole position to give the answers on behalf of his team. Mike took the onus of the mission’s failure and watching his conviction, he was sent back to lead another mission. The failure was not construed to Mike or Ray. Ray had nothing to prove to anyone as he was an independent individual and his decisions were his own. Mike was working in a hierarchical system and had answers to give to his superiors and to the men he commanded. Each one had a hunt at hand and the methodology was same-risk which needed precision. Both were passionate about their jobs and took the onus of the damage upon themselves. The others around them, in various positions, understood the clarity displayed by Ray and Mike and supported their decisions.

Ray and Mike went back to their respective hunts and attained great professional heights. Ray surfed and Mike combed out terrorists. Both knew their tasks and planned well to meet the unknowns. The trait that stood them ground was the capability to hunt and hunt for more. Each living thing has the ability to survive, but, those who can hunt better survive more than the others. After all, it is the survival of the fittest. As the World around humans changes at a rapid pace, the capability to hunt will continue to be an important survival tool.

Hunt is omnipresent. It is a part of almost every facet of life. Sensory organs get active for smallest of the human activity. They get involved in the hunt the moment brain sends out the control signal. Humans are capturing phenomenal amount of data and some are devouring it to generate new prospects. The data scientists have taken the hunt to a new level. Trails are being left by humans in various forms and somebody is capturing the trail to generate a new hunt each day. Humans will continue to be caught in smaller spirals as questions become deeper and deeper. The arena of hunt has become larger and there will be no escape for erring humans in times to come. The ever widening hunt will also impact the laws of various games of human existence. Winners will be decided on the ability to hunt in a positive and decisive fashion. Options to escape will become limited and time consuming. So, would it not be better to join the hunt and join it positively!! Keep chin a little up, keep the eyes focused on the ball, move the shoulders and let the club face meet the ball head on- that has been the lesson each budding Golfer gets when the game is being learnt. A mere follow up of these guidelines ensures that the ball travels the right distance and in the right direction. The game finishes on a high note in spite of a few erratic ball hits here or there. In the end, what matters is a good result and a game played with a positive spirit keeps the fun quotient to its maximum.

So, what do humans wait for? Keep the hunt on in its correct perspective because no one else is going to come and hunt for us. Each one of us has to live his or her own life. Survival is our own duty and responsibility. If we can then we must help others as they gain better strength to keep following their hunts. There is no escape from hard work, efforts and efficient planning. Without these, the hunt would not materialize. So, are you ready for the hunt, eh?

MEET THE PROFESSIONALS

Addressed 1 Year MBA Program Batch at MDI, Gurgaon on "MANAGING SELF IMAGE & CORPORATE REPUTATION" Many thanks to Dr. Vidhu Gaur for creating the opportunity to meet professionals engaged in enhancing their academic skills.

TAME THE TIGER

1.       The setup was different this time around - Jim Corbett was being hunted. The winds were gushing across the lush green forest. Jim knew the jungle and its inmates well. He had a hunch that the tigress which was credited with at least 64 human kills was stalking him. Jim had his own aura over the jungle. He knew every sound and paths inside the jungles around Kaladhoongi (Nainital). He could read the minds of tigers and folklore went that he walked alongside tigers, both wary of each other but never crossing their respective lines. That day, Jim hoped that he was her next target. 

2.       Jim leaned against the rocky slope of a hill and lit a cigarette. The Chowgrath Tigress had already sneaked up on him once in this grove. Jim was trying to give her the chance to do so again. The afternoon was slipping into the evening and Jim understood that the Tigress would not try the same trick twice. The hunter was being hunted.

3.       He opted to lay one last trap for his adversary before the sunlight failed. He led a buffalo into the grove, and tied it up securely as it grazed. If the tigress took the bait she would be able to kill the animal, but would be unable to drag it off. His intent was to circle behind the nearby hill, climb to the top, and give watch to the grove below. It would be a shot of over two hundred yards, but over the years he had felled many a beast from such distances. Even if his long-range shot only managed to wound the man-eating tigress, he would at least be left with a blood-trail to track, and therefore end his months-long hunt.

4.       Jim set off at a quick pace, anticipating that the tigress would observe his departure and take the opportunity to prey upon the buffalo. As he rounded the hill in a dry riverbed his pace wasn’t so hard as to shut out all distraction: in a shallow depression there rested a pair of Rock-jay eggs. As an amateur oölogist, or egg collector, Corbett could not pass up these unusual specimens. He used some moss to wrap them up, and carried the eggs delicately against his belly with his rifle crossed over his chest. He continued briskly along the sand, hoping to make it to the hilltop before the tigress finished her buffalo feast. 

5.       He was squeezing past a large boulder which blocked most of the riverbed when his peripheral vision gave him a pause. The colors orange and black, with predator’s eyes, stood behind the boulder and ready to pounce. In that instant, Jim knew he had been outmaneuvered. With his hands full of Rock-jay eggs, and his rifle hugged against his body, there wasn’t much he could do to deflect the imminent attack. He turned his step into an anti-clockwise spin, set the rifle butt against his hip, and managed to fire a single shot. 

6.       For a moment the tigress was unaffected, and stayed coiled on the verge of springing out. Her brain was focused onto her target but the blood vessel supplying adrenalin had been pierced. Her muscles slacked and head came down to rest on her forepaws. The bullet had entered the back of her neck, and plunged through to her heart. After ensuring that the Chowgrath Tigress was indeed dead, Jim returned the way he’d come. He believed that he could not have made that improbable shot without the eggs in hand and returned them to the nest. It was the least he could do. The Tigress had been tamed, finally.

7.       There is a tiger inside each human being. It is always lurking to do something new, something different and something off-beat. No one can see the tiger inside but for the individual himself. The tiger can become a man-eater due to reasons well known. It can be old age, injury or just the taste of the human flesh and blood! The tigers inside the hearts and the minds of humans collaborate to produce the results of life. Good or bad is the by-product of the actions that humans take based upon their internal sensitivities.

8.       Humans are trainable in majority of cases. Even the special ones have an ability to understand and follow directions. So, what deters humans from carrying out the correct steps and ensure that humanity finds solutions to problems which arise from varying conflicts of life? The animal instinct inside humans lurks in corners of positivity and negativity. It propels them to take actions which can bring them peace or wrath of the civil society.  Each dispute has a solution. Wise humans find the solution immediately and some linger on for understanding the mere problem itself. The tiger inside humans is either subdued or becomes volatile. The control is all that matters in most situations and is available with the humans themselves. Patience is the only key to achieve subtle control over the proceedings.

9.       Jim Corbett did not panic when he saw the tigress eye to eye. Neither did he throw the eggs nor did he try to run. The barrel of the gun had to be positioned in the right direction and the trigger had to be pressed. He did exactly the same activity and the bullet did the rest. Had the bullet missed its mark or had not achieved the fatal spot, then Jim would have been in trouble. A wounded Tiger can be lethal. Jim would have had to fight back to live another day. Fortunately that story remains untold.

10.     Human life is all about negotiations. Even when humans keep silence or retract away from the society, they are negotiating. The circumstances never leave humans and are constant companions wherever they go. The tiger inside humans keeps rising to take a look. It hides inside the cranium crevices and deep inside the heart in various forms. It waits for the opportune moment to come out with its trademark roar. Little does it realize that the gun is loaded and trigger has been pressed. The bullet pierces and the tiger lies still. The tiger has been tamed. Trained humans do their acts effortlessly and no sweats are broken.

11.     Train the mind and the heart to keep the tiger under control. A controlled dialogue is all that is required to achieve the aim. Time is a great healer, but, why give the time the opportunity to be a great healer? Why to spend precious time in healing? Tame the tiger in the first go to heal immediately and to move on with the life. Take the positive decision and extend the best help possible to ease out the issue.

12.     2016 Olympics was the 3^rd consecutive Olympics for Usain Bolt. As the gun went off, Usain bolted off from his starting block and made history again at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio when he won gold in the 100-meter and 200-meter race and 4x100-meter relay, completing a "triple-triple," earning three gold medals at three consecutive Olympics for a total of 9 gold medals over the course of his Olympic career. Usain had trained hard to create a unique history. His competitors had also trained hard, but Usain knew the value of his win and maybe had trained a shade harder than the rest.

13.     Jim, Usain and Tiger have many things in common. They reside inside all the humans. Jim personifies aim, Usain personifies speed and Tiger is the epitome of wild energy. The energy needs to be controlled and there is then a very less chance that the aim would not be met with speed.

14. Tame that tiger which resides inside all us. Let us do something better for the society around us whether professional or personal. In the end, the tiger would lose its life, so why be a man-eater at all? Do you have it in you, eh?

THE SHADOW

Hector was a prince of Troy in Greek mythology, son of King Priam and Queen Hecuba. His wife was Andromache and they had a son called Astyanax.

Hector was considered the greatest warrior of Troy, but he did not approve of the war that had started between the Greeks and the Trojans. During the Trojan War, he was the leader of the Trojan army. It was prophesied that the first Greek who would land on Trojan soil would die. Odysseus, cunning as he was, threw his shield on the soil and landed on it. Therefore, the next person who stepped off the ship was Protesilaus and was killed in a duel with Hector, fulfilling the prophecy.

Hector later proposed that a truce be called between the two sides, and a duel should decide the result of the war. Ajax was the Greek hero who stepped forward and dueled Hector. However, the duel ended in a stalemate after a whole day of fighting, and the two heroes exchanged gifts, admiring each other's strength and skills.

The last fight that Hector gave was against Achilles. However, when he saw Achilles and while he was ready to fight him, he suddenly was overcome with fear and started running. Achilles chased him, and Hector finally decided to battle his fear and stopped running, after seeing the goddess Athena in the form of his brother Deiphobus. Achilles threw a spear against Hector, who managed to evade it. However, when he turned to get a spear from his brother, he saw no one there, and realized that he was about to die. With the last amount of courage, Hector drew his sword and died after a fierce duel. Achilles, then dragged Hector's body with his chariot, outside the Trojan gates for twelve days, before he finally accepted to give it to the Trojans, so they could bury him properly.

The story of Troy is one of marauding humans as they lived to fight. The duel between Achilles and Hector drew various shadows on various canvases of life. The physical shadows of the warriors crisscrossed each other as their weapons clashed to prove their supremacy. The shadows of pain, anger, hurt and anguish reflected on many faces as they saw the bloody duel in front of the their eyes. The pall of gloom shadowed entire Troy as Hector fell to Achilles sword.

Shadows- what a role they play in human lives! Shadow starts tracking a human from the moment he gets active. Shadows continue to change their length and sizes as humans move about in various directions and the light falls from various angles. Shadow leaves the moment darkness falls and there is no light around the human. Shadow makes a human think about various forms and figures. Humans have the unique ability to create various shapes with their own shadows and bring smiles across faces. Shadows can even create rumors and ignite emotions. Shadows emerge sometimes from nowhere and help to caution the humans before they fall!

Shadows do everything that they do, but silently and without getting entangled with other shadows. Do shadows respect each other as they go about stretching themselves or thinning out? They merge with other shadows and seamlessly. Shadows get used even in virtual format. Shadows of natural calamities loom large over humanity as outbreak happens. Man-made conflicts have cast their shadows all over the globe and pinned down humanity. Predicting shadows of various angles of humanity is an interesting science in itself. Analytics moves in as shadows get predicted and the impact can be controlled.

Shadows are everywhere around humans. There is no escape from them. Shadows integrate various aspects of human endeavor. Shadows impart important lessons to humans. The most important message is that of survival. Shadows stretch and compress without any pain to the humans. They go about their business quietly and merge or de-merge without any hurt to any other shadow around them. Shadows have no demands and no suggestions for anyone. Shadow does not interfere and does not disturb. Shadow willingly takes the shape that the humans want them to take. Shadow provides succor from heat and provide instant comfort to humans seeking shelter from the sweltering Sun. Shadow exposes the humans to chill factor when they leave the Sun’s comforts. There is a message in everything that the humans do with the shadows.

Achilles threw his shield and formed into an attack shape. He had less load to carry and more agility. Both Hector and Achilles were without headgear as the duel ensued. With the speed of lightening, Achilles moved and in one swift attack pierced the heart of Hector. Hector’s shadow merged with the ground as he fell on the ground-dead. Achilles had cast his lean shadow around Hector and mowed him down to establish the Greek supremacy over Trojans. Shadows grew longer as Trojans accepted defeat though Achilles also lost his life in the final attack. Shadow left both Hector and Achilles as they both fell to the vagaries of the battle. Hector lost his life to a Sword and four arrows took away the life from Achilles.  Shadows only leave when the human falls.

Humans can do better than what they have achieved, but, the spiral is too deep and entangled. Many shadows are circling around humans in various arenas and confusions erupt volcanically. Each learned human has a role to play to ensure a better tomorrow. They have to de-tangle the various shadows stuck inside their arenas. Think positive, think big and think for better humanity all around the globe and many shadows will de-merge to disappear. Each human can carry his own shadow well and ensure that the shadow keeps following him till he falls. The human who falls for smaller gains does not get up as the same human that he was before he took the wrong plunge. The shadow though does not change but the head of the shadow does show the strain!

Keep the chin up and poise straight- the shadow looks great and would follow as it is supposed to do. Do you love your shadow now, eh?