Vacation and travel companion

The words included in today's entry topic come from my dear friends who came to help after I requested for food for thought for another article for my blog. Well... here it goes... an article inspired by Silvana.

First come vacations... well, I guess many people would indeed enjoy vacations coming before everything else. After all this is the time when we can finally do anything that we dream about... travel, meet people, experience what we have not tried before... It is a 'want-to-do' time that comes between 'must-do' periods of life - at least that is how so many people see it.

What if...
... there was only 'want-to-do' time and things in life? Would people really want it? Would you want it? Would you want permanent vacations?

I'm sure quite a significant number of people will answer "yes" here - some because they mean it, some because they would feel ridiculous to state otherwise, some would do it clearly against themselves. I'm noticing so many people who do not really want to be in charge of their lives and in charge of everything that happens to them. They are ready to give up (or already have done so) to "reality" - to choices of others', to decisions of their bosses, partners, anyone. They intently (or unconsciously) resign from their dreams and keep on convincing themselves that they are living an all-right-life - a one that could be better, but could be so much worse... Keeping that life requires them doing certain things - must-do's and allows a bit of if-you-really-have-to-do-it-but-make-it-quick experience. That experience is usually called "vacations".

Choosing vacations
Taking the above into consideration "choosing vacations" can have double meaning:

1. deciding how to use this tiny moments of life that we allow ourselves to really live and enjoy
2. deciding to make our lives permanent journey towards truly authentic and fulfilling life.

The choice in both cases is not an easy one.

In the first case we "recharge our batteries" after long period of work - usually a year or so and get ready for another period of energy-consuming activities of real life (some call it work). Ideal option here is doing something we are not able to do otherwise - traveling to distant land, doing something crazy - for some it would be bungee-jumping, for some wearing something different that a suit and a tie. Experiencing beyond what we have available in our must-do environment is absolutely something that adds significance to our vacations. So, if this is the vacations you may be planning - think of something that would take you (literally or metaphorically) to a new place but make sure it does require conscious effort. Having enjoyed it and having achieved it will drive you in days of your hardship (some call it work) and will enable you coming up with a new challenge for another vacation... a year later.

Choice number 2 - making your whole life vacations is way different. Seems more difficult at first, but only because we tend to measure difficulty and easiness by opinions of others. If you chose lifetime vacations you choose joy, you choose failures, you choose discover and self-discovery. You choose fulfillment. If you are wondering "how making this choice is at all possible" remember that "vacations" is a metaphor for living that gives you full power and control over what happens in your life. You find "want to" in everything that seems to be an obligation to everyone else and you are aware that everything in your life - what you do and what you do not do is nobody else's but your choice. Is that easy? Of course it is not, because most people in this planet have been thought otherwise since they took first breath of earthly air. We have been told there are duties we must undertake, there are roles we must act, there are limits we must obey and must, and must, and then... more musts. Let me share here one of my favorite exercises...

Finding want to behind every must
It's very simple.

1. Think of something you must do. The harder and annoying chore it is the better.
2. Now asking yourself why do you must do it? You may come up with another must something - that is great! Ask yourself why you must do the other thing.
   
3. Go on until you come up with what you want to. And believe me - there is always some "want" behind all "musts".

Let me share a real-life example of how this went.
I was conducting a training and shared the "want to vs. must" theory. It usually works the way that invites someone to protest against it. This case was no different. I invited this person to give me what she has to do in her life.

• I must wake up everyday at 7 a.m!
• Why do you must wake up at 7 a.m. everyday?
  
• I must go to work!
  
• Why do you must go to work?
  
• I must work!
• Why do you must work?
• I must make money!
• Why do you must make money?
• I must bring up my children!
• Why do you must bring up your children?
• I want them to be happy...

How much easier this life could have been for that person if she took each step - waking up, working, making money with "want to" in her head?

How would your life be easier if you found "want to" behind each "must"?
And there is nothing else that is needed then asking yourself and answering truthfully. You may ask a friend to ask you this question if that's what will make answering it easier.

Oh, and what to do once you reach your "want to's"?
Find ways of making it happen - but that may be a topic for some other post.

Another part of the topic was finding the right companion for the vacations.
If you go for vacations from work - find someone who is also doing the same and make sure you both share same idea of what is the challenge you both do and both get energized by it.

If you chose your life to be "vacations" search for a person who shares the same attitude and is willing to be n charge of his life.

Watch out not to mix the two type of "vacationers" as it may result with disappointment of both of you :-)

Enjoy your vacations everyone!

Manhattan

Jest takie miejsce w Warszawie skąd widać Manhattan... Nie wierzycie? Posłuchajcie...

Jeśli mieszkasz na lewym brzegu Stolicy, zacznij wędrówkę w Centrum - sam najlepiej wiesz jak tu dotrzeć. Potem udaj się w kierunku ulicy Grochowskiej, na Plac Szembeka. Stamtąd ścieżkę znajdą już tylko Wtajemniczeni - a i to nie wszyscy (przynajmniej nie od razu) - znam takich, co się pogubili. Ja jestem jednym z nich...

Klucząc między starymi blokami i nowymi budynkami szukasz ścieżki. Te atrakcyjne zwiodą Cię na manowce, te zaskakujące - być może - doprowadza Cię do celu... Ostatecznie stajesz u podnóża wzniosłego kasztelu wznoszącego się ku niebu. Nie przerażaj się - jeśli tu jesteś, to znaczy, że takie jest Twoje przeznaczenie.

Znajdź w sercu odwagę, żeby przekroczyć pierwszy portal. Za nim uczyń krok ku górze pokonując pierwszy stopień i kolejne. Stań przed drugim portalem. Znajdź magiczną kombinację cyfr, by iść dalej lub zdaj się na tych, którzy już dotarli - jeśli wiedzą o Twojej wędrówce, pozwolą Ci kroczyć ku celowi.

Teraz masz trzy drogi - dwie są szybkie, choć niekiedy skryte w mroku i jedną krętą i długą. Wybór tej właściwej to ostateczny test... na szczęście każda jest właściwa, więc pozostaje już tylko dowolną z nich udać się ku Przeznaczeniu.

Do Ostatecznego Labiryntu wpuszcza Cię Pani Manhattanu. Zanim oczom Twym ukaże się upragniony Manhattan wysłuchasz opowieści o magicznej przemianie komnat i przeznaczeniu każdej z nich. Teraz jesteś gotowy, by Twoja wędrówka znalazła kres... wyjdź na loggię i spójrz w kierunku, gdzie zachodzi słońce... oto jest... widok na Manhattan.

Gdy już nacieszysz się tą niezwykłą panoramą miasta stołecznego krainy Lechitów i wrócą Ci zmysły... wyjdź z mieszkania, zjedź windą 10 pięter w dół, na partner bloku, wychodząc chwyć kopię bezpłatnej lokalnej gazetki lub ulotkę pobliskiego marketu (zazwyczaj dostępne za darmo w stojaku przy drzwiach wejściowych). Skręć w lewo, by dojść do ulicy Komorskiej lub w prawo, aby dotrzeć do Ostrobramskiej i wsiądź do autobusu. Mijając kolejne przystanki wiedz, że Twoja magiczna podróż była dostępna tylko dla wybranych. Kto wie - może na kolejną imprezę też dostaniesz zaproszenie :-)

Post dedykowany Pani Manhattanu :-)

Gieniusz przerywa milczenie! / Gieniusz breaks the silence!

English version below.

"Gieniusz przerywa milczenie!" - tak pojawienie się niniejszego posta mogłyby skomentować na pierwszej stronie polskie brukowce, gdyby interesowały się moim blogiem. Na szczęście - o ile mi wiadomo - zajmują się... właściwie to nie wiem czym się zajmują, ale na pewno nie moim pisaniem w globalnej sieci :-)

"Przerwanie milczenia" wiąże się zazwyczaj z jakimś ważnym wydarzeniem, nadejściem wiekopomnej chwili lub zaoferowaniem znacznych funduszy. Tym razem żadne z powyższych nie miało miejsca. Skąd więc mój "powrót"? Hmm... Z różnych powodem przeczytałem ostatnio swoje niektóre wpisy - a to ten o Kandy Esala Perehera na Sri Lance, a to jakieś inne. I... strasznie mi się to moje pisanie spodobało :-). Co więcej, wiem, że nie jestem jedyny - ale coś więcej na ten temat za parę miesięcy... A skoro "stare" posty były fajne, to może uda mi się przygotować parę nowych, które zyskają uznanie w oczach czyteników :-)

Zapraszam w takim razie do czytania i komentowania :-)

"Gieniusz breaks the silence!" - this is what tabloids could put on their front pages referring to the fact of me having published this blog entry. Luckily - as far as I know - they'd rather write... no clue about what, but surely not about my posts on the global web. :-)

"Breaking the silence" is usually related to important events, memorable moments or being offered siginificant amount of cash. Not this time. Why am I writing again then? Hmm... Due to several reasons I was reading my old posts recently - like the one about some of the events of my stay in India back in 2006. I read it and... I really enjoyed it. And I know I am not the only one who feels the same about my writing - more about that in couple of months... Since the "old" posts were cool, I hope I will be able to prepare some new ones which will be appreciated by the readers.

Enjoy the new posts as they appear and feel free to leave your comments!

Buying a laptop in India...

I decided to buy a laptop. I withdrew as much cash as I could, Agnieszka withdrew some, and on Saturday we went to get the new "toy". We had some recommendations from our friend regarding where to buy.

Before leaving home we put part of the cash in my wallet, part of it - 20k rupees in an envelope.
When we reached the area where PCs shops were and started visiting them the story didn't seem so easy any more. The computers were either above budget or below expectations...

In one of the shops the sales-girl was convincing us that "RAM is too good", "disk is too good", "screen is too good". It's not the first time I've heard this, so it must be some kind of direct translation from Hindi or Bengali to express something is "very" good. To bad the price was too good as well. But since the girl at least seemed to be involved in the sales process I was willing to go back there in case nothing beter would come our way.

2 or 3 shops were pretty big and crowded, but customer service sucked. We also visited some smaller shops - at one of them we seemed to disturb the 4 sales people, but eventually we were asked what we wnated. "Laptops" - was the answer.

The guy who seemed to be the biggest boss urged some junior guy to show us what could be offered. We are taken in front of what seemed to be the only laptop in the shop. We are waiting, the guy is also waiting while we all stand. "Can you tell us something about the configuration?" I ask after a while. "Configuration?" replies the guy. The accent revealed his English was not too good... great... Luckily I noticed a label on the laptop itself which had the data we needed. When I was looking at the label, the sales-guy excitedly pointed me the label I was already reading and articulated "configuration!" again. The PC was too weak for my needs any way. So I asked if that was the only ne they had. "No!" proudly says the biggest boss, who matrialized in the meanwhile. And he points a carton box whix stood next to the PC we've just admired. So we all wait again. I thought we would have some data revealed, the big boss must have expected we would be so impressed that we would need nothing more to buy. It was getting irritating... "Will you tell us something or we should make the decision after looking at the box?". "Of course, come" - we were asked to approach a table where some brochures were displayed. We were given a piece of paper with configuration. Again - below expectations...

Another shop, another nothing.

When I was ready to get back to the "too good" shop we noticed one more place, not by the main road, but in a small street next to it... What do we have to lose? We entered. "Laptops". "Yes". They asked some guy to come. I said what I needed, he took out a piece of paper, started writing configuartion of matching 3 laptops. He was writing patiently and slowly. We were following slowly, but less patiently... Bingo! One of the laptops - the one with the mid price - was perfectly matching all criteria - including the price. It was at the level which was the top possible spending, but still within the limit. Great, we take it! You have it on stock or we need to wait till you order. Yes, we have it, please come to the counter while I bring it. I happily took the envelope from Agnieszka, took the 20k out and added the remaining required amount from my wallet. The cash was counted 3 times by the the guy at the counter. I even admired his ability to stay focused as 3 people from different ends were trying to handle another payment, take a printout, talk and do many other things. After transaction was over I sat down and we continued waiting for the new toy to be brought.

"Sir, we have a small problem..." Oh no... I thought... "We don't have this model any more, they stopped shipping it last week". A ha! Things can't go to easily here it seems! What they had available was the similar model, which had slightly better configuration and a higher price... Damn it! "No problem" I say. "You can give me the better model for the same price - it is your mistake after all..." I'm mean I know ;-) "Sir, I can't do that. The price I gave you is already lower". "What discount can you give me?" I kept pushing. "Just a moment..." After negotiatin, the sales person comes to me and I was proudly offered 200 Rupees discount. I guess it was most they could give any way... I decided to take it. It seemed to be the best offer any way and we were tired. I paid the difference, got new receipt. Wow - a laptop bag extra for free. Cool! Wasn't planning to buy one, but when it comes for free - no reason to reject it (especially when - as turned out - it is a cool one). The funny thing is that till that moment we still haven't seen the laptop. Not even a picture of it!

We were back to our favourite task that day - waiting. In the meanwhile we were offered tea. "Yes, please". It never actually arrived, but let's not make fuss about it ;-)

Finally, the laptop arrives in a box, laptop bag in another. "Can we open it?". "Of course". Wow! It was a good choice. Nice design, nice screen, cool keyboard. Even a built-in webcam is there! I instantly know it was the right choice. We start the Windows. Since it is started for the first time it needs to be configured... I see Agnieszka wants to go, I'd also be rather moving home than setting up time zone and default currency. It's done. A hand-shake with the vendor and we are on the way home. We proudly take a taxi and go back! At certain point I even tell Agnieszka it's cool she only had to lend me 20k, not 25 as planned... She says she did give me 25k, but I do not pay too much attention. I have a new toy, I am in a taxi (not in a bus!) and I'm on my way home with Agnieszka - what else would you want from life ;-)

"No! You gave me 20k only! They were in the envelope and 5 more you were supposed to give me later! Remember" - I happily discover the trth about the finance while washing my hands. "No, there were 25k in the envelope - you put it there yourslef"....

Have you ever felt ridiculous in your life? Even if I ever did before, this time I felt like a real idiot... I was so convinced there were 20k only, that I didn't even count the cash... DAMN ME! Stupidity doesn't hurt they say... they are wrong...

Just to be sure we checked again... unfortunatelly 5 thousands was exactly the ammount missing from our wallets. And it's not even the money that I was mad about. It was about how dumb I was at the shop!

Next thing that came was the question how did it happen that the guy at the counter didn't see the difference. Well, either he was not as concentrated as it seemed, either he noticed and earned extra profit that day... Oh well... I can only get in touch with the shop and ask them. I have no proof, it is my fault - great chance to get my money back...

I call them on Monday. I'm on the phone with the guy who sold us the laptop. I explain what's happened. "Sir, this has never happened - if there is ever a surplus, we immediately give it back". "I know. My fault. Just wanted to ask" - what else could I be saying? But really soon the sales guy offers they would recalculate the money and if there is surplus, they'll notify me. I'm grateful at least for that. It is atually even more than I expected as it was all done over the phone only and it was them who offered it.

They call me on Tuesday. "Sir, you were perfectly right. Please come and colect your cash". WOW!!! This is a never-in-life kind of a story. I go, I do get the 5k back! Thank you guys! It feels great to know that there are still businesses who value honesty over quick gains!

For those of you who are considering buying laptop (or desktop) in Kolkata - this is the address of the place. I wholeheartedly recommend it! Besides of being honest, they also have good (the best) prices!

Lalani Info-Tech
Lalani complex (behind Broadway hotel)
25 Ganesh Chandra Avenue (next to Chndni Chowk metro station)
Kolkata 700-013
Tel: +91 33 2215285/6/8
e-mail: lalani [at] dishnetdsl.net

SMS marketing in Hutch

Hutch - "my" mobile operator in India - keeps on spamming their subscribers with SMSes filled in with various best-in-life offers. In the beginning I used to delete them without even reading. Bad idea! I'm sure I lost many reasons to lough. Just look why...

Before Independence Day (Aug 15), Hutch was playing on Indian patriotism by sending something more less like that: "Celebrate IDay by downloading patriotic ringtones, caller tunes, Nehru's speech clippings [...]" WOW! Isn't it just great?! For a couple of rupees per minute you become a real patriot and honor freedom fighters!
Polish (and ther) mobile companies - learn! Nov 11 is still way ahead and there is a plenty of time to prepare your campaign. It could be something like: "May Pilsudski's voice entertain people who call you while they wait for you to pick up!". And who knows, maybe "Pierwsza brygada" will top ringtone charts?

But it is the next offer which opened my eyes for Hutch's marketing: "Get 25 FREE SMSes for 10 Rupees only by sending..." The offer was actually good, but does Hutch really believe their customers are such morons? 10 Rs = free offer? Let's try if it works the opposite direction: I volunteer to become a million-dollar /month consultant for Hutch for free. Marketing gurus - check my number with your customer care and call to tell me when I start.

I'll write about any new super-duper_free_patriotic_idiot-friendly offers from Hutch as soon as they reach my phone.

Good night.

Varanasi, Mumbai, article, propaganda clip, training and other recent developments

This blogging thingy is not so easy. On one hand there are so many ways one can do it (text can even be e-mailed directly to the site!), but then I feel like I'd like give the content some meaning, not just write for the sake of writing (e.g. I feel like today I can't write anything, so I'm writing these words in order to fill up some space blah blah blah...). And if I want to write something nice then it takes time which is never enough...

That's why I set up other blog "Longer Stories" where you can find some write ups that took me some time to do. So far it has compilation of my emails from Guatemala from 2001 and from Sri Lanka from 2003-04. Just now I added another post. It is an article "about my experience in India - good or bad" as the topic was given to me when I was requested to write it. It was for my company's branch newsletter and since it was issued on Aug 15 - India's Independence Day (or I-Day as acronyms-and-abbreviations-loving-nation calls it), the topic had to be as given above. After not being inspired enough to prepare it, after missing the deadline, I finally sat down in front of the PC and got it done. The title and the first line of the article "whatever you say about India, the opposite is also true" is a quote from "Holy Cow: An Indian Adventure" by Sarah Macdonald. Here is my article: http://www.gieniusz.com/2006/08/whatever-you-say-about-india-opposite.html#links.

Besides of the newsletter, there are many other ways coprorations try to integrate their employees. They sometimes make movies. Me and Agnieszka were invited to give a short speech, which would become part of such an internal movie displayed on plasma screens in many locations across India or even globally. We were sent a schedule, given information when and where we need to be, what to prepare and so on. The day before we were asked by the project coordinator to come down to her office to meet the movie-makers. We were told again what do do, what to wear (no striped clothes) and to be on time at 2 p.m. next day. We were also supposed to submit summary of our speeches. Yeah right. Of course we didn't prepare them. I was planning to do it on the day when the movie was to be shot - after all there is a plenty of time between 9.00 a.m. and 2 p.m., right? In the morning, when I was about to open Word to start making 3 bullet points for my speech, I got a call from the project coordinator: "Can you and Agnieszka come to the library now? We need to start shooting and we need to start with you". Sure. We got there. The person who was supposed to be the first on that day couldn't show up at the scheduled time, so they took us. We were not even asked about the speeches summaries. After short instruction, I was the first one to talk. Then was Agnieszka. When asked about her stay in India, she wanted to say something nice and that she enjoyed it so much that she's been here for long period of time now. So she said (more less): "I came here for couple of months, but now I am STUCK in India for 2 years" ;-)

As mentioned before, Aug 15 was IDay. In other words day off from work ;-). Since it was Tuesday we also took Monday off and went to Varanasi. Holy city of Hindus where devotees come to take a ritual bath in Ganga river, where old people come to die as it sets them free from karma, where dead bodies are cremated in public... It is also supposed to be one of the oldest human settlements - 8000 years of history or so. Seems magical and mystic? It sometimes does feel so, but first of all it is crowded with people and cows, full of touts and tourists. Nevertheless, still worth visiting and exploring!

We were back from Varanasi on Aug 15, and the next day I went to Bombay to get my visa extended.

3.30 - wake up.
4.10 - catching a taxi in an empty street.
4.40 - airport and queuing for check-in and security check.
6.05 scheduled departure - got delayed a couple of minutes but not too badly.
9.15 Mumbai - rainy and cold, catching a meter-priced rickshaw not really possible - that together made a good excuse to avoid local train and use taxi.
11.30 I get to company's office to collect papers needed for visa extention.
13.00 F.R.R.O.
15.15 procedure completed. My visa is extended... for 2 months. I have to come again and bring one more paper along with all the same documents I provided that day.
15.30 Office again - I summarize my experience and tell about the document needed. "See you in October" I say, "See you in October" is the reply and I leave.
It is 16.00 and my flight is at 19.05 - taking into account that I am hungry, that crossing Mumbai is time consuming, that due to increased security passengers are expected to report 1,5h beofre flight, it seems I need to rush. I have an expensive pizza, buy some sweet buns to take to Kolkata and arrive at the Churchgate train station - this time no excuses to take taxi. No sense neither. I line for a ticket. When Indians buy it, the cashier throws change and tickets carelessly, with no respect. When he sees my face, he asks "which station", confirms "2nd class?". I give him exact change - 8 rupees. He puts the ticket carefully and seems-like-genuinely says "thank you, it's kind of you". Trains are at the platforms. The fast ones do not stop at "Vila Parle" station, so I have to catch a slow one. Side-to-side headshake confirms (?) the train goes where I want to get. I wipe water from a seat next to the window (raining again and seems even colder than in the morning).
16.45 we leave the station. 40 minutes later I get down. Now a rickshaw to the airport. The first driver takes me and agrees for a payment according to the meter. Journey is short, I am happy. Price for the ride is 12 rupees. I was in good mood, driver was a nice guy, so I pay 20 and shake my head side-to-side communicating transaction is over and I expect no change. Driver smiles. I head to the entrance, he is back on the streets of Mumbai. Smooth check-in. Then loooooooong queue for security check. Finally I'm in, waiting for boarding. Still a lot of time, why was I rushing? My throat starts aching, I don't feel well - cold and rainy Mumbai did the job, seems I fall sick again. I buy "hot lemon tea" from Lipton stall. It turns out to be an instant tea with hot water. Whatever... tastes o.k. Typical tiny Indian cup costs 4,5 rupees. Since the lady has no 50 paise coins she gives change with... mentos - single "unit". Of course packed in foil by the producer. Someone here read (or at least shares point of view presented in): "Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" by C. K. Prahalad. Hot liquid does good to me. I buy one more and get one more mentos. Domestic airport in Mumbai is quite o.k. Small, but modern. For each screen displaying flight schedule there are 2 screens showing Bollywood movies. I walk around to kill time. I notice Vending machine with books and magazines. I approach to check what is inside. A man whom I didn't notice gets up and asks if I want anything from the machine. He has a badge and he seems to be the operator of the vending machine. Brilliant! You can put a self-service machine but still employ a dude to operate it. Dear vendor machine owner - I admire your social sense, but don't ever expect me to invest in your stocks. I roam around again. Flight gets delayed "10 minutes" as I am assured by a nice airline worker. She is almost right, we take off at 19.30.
Two and half hour later I am back on the ground, in Kolkata. I feel dead tired and badly sick... Agnieszka is waiting for me at the airport. I'm so happy to see her - as if we haven't seen each other for a month. I go to sleep almost immediately after reaching home. In the morning I wake up feeling sick and decide to stay home. I have a training session on Friday and I don't want to get worse and at home I can prepare myself better for it. It is my first session I am conducting in TCS and I want it to be good...

Friday morning. It's the day - my first session I am conducting for TCS. "Cultural Diversity". I feel prepared, but this is a new environment for me. I hope for the best...
The session takes place in a fancy conference room. You start a projector and lights dim automaticly, windows get blinded, XXI century at your fingertips... ;-)
Most of people come on time. They are responsive and interested. I guess session was good. I was happy about it, so seemed participants.
My favourite comment from evaluation forms was that I "managed to keep attention intact in spite of only 1 tea break during 4 hours".
So far this was surly my best day at work here. Looking forward for more to come soon.

Take care guys. Till next post from me or mail from you...

P.S. Kubica was 7th in his first race. But due to his team's missmanagement he was eventually disqualified. Too bad :-(

Pole position

Something worth noticing: first Pole ever - Robert Kubica is going to race in Formula 1 race tomorrow. Good luck!

More about Robert: http://www.formula1.com/race/news/4766/763.html