A speech must read for everyone

There are few articles / speeches which are must read for everyone especially youngsters. The one which will be shared below is the one which i will ask my child to read it without fail.

Some Thoughts On The Real World By One Who Glimpsed it and Fled by Bill Watterson ( Calvins and Hobbes) delivered on May 20, 1990 as part of Kenyon College Commencement.

Key takeaways from the speech:

• Experience is food for the brain.
• It's surprising how hard we'll work when the work is done just for ourselves.
• Letting your mind play is the best way to solve problems.
• A REAL job is a job you hate.
• It was a rude shock to see just how empty and robotic life can be when you don't care about what you're doing, and the only reason you're there is to pay the bills.
• The truth is, most of us discover where we are headed when we arrive.
• Drawing comic strips for five years without pay drove home the point that the fun of cartooning wasn't in the money; it was in the work.
• Like many people, I found that what I was chasing wasn't what I caught.
• My pride in craft would be sacrificed to the efficiency of mass production and the work of assistants. Authorship would become committee decision. Creativity would become work for pay. Art would turn into commerce. In short, money was supposed to supply all the meaning I'd need.
• Such is American business, I guess, where the desire for obscene profit mutes any discussion of conscience.
• We define ourselves by our actions. With each decision, we tell ourselves and the world who we are.
• But having an enviable career is one thing, and being a happy person is another.
• Creating a life that reflects your values and satisfies your soul is a rare achievement.
• To invent your own life's meaning is not easy, but it's still allowed, and I think you'll be happier for the trouble.
• Reading those turgid philosophers here in these remote stone buildings may not get you a job, but if those books have forced you to ask yourself questions about what makes life truthful, purposeful, meaningful, and redeeming, you have the Swiss Army Knife of mental tools, and it's going to come in handy all the time.

Speech by Bill Watterson is worth reading many times. For the full speech please visit the below link,

Link: Some Thoughts on the Real Wolrd

Source for the article : Anshul Khare (Thanks a ton)

Mahakavi on Clarity of Mind

Today accidentally read two lines of Mahakavi Bharati on illusion and it blew me. 

I will reproduce it below:

எத்தனை கோடி படைகொண்டு வந்தாலும்

மாயையே-நீ

சித்தத் தெளிவெனுந் தீயின்முன்

நிற்பாயோ?-மாயையே!

Dear Illusion,

Bring your vastest army you can.

But, can you stand before a fire of clear mind? 

Source: Sukumar Sey

Thanks to : Anuradha

Yes - We failed in discharging our Duty

 An interesting article appeared in Business Today (December 08, 2020) magazine stating the following:

Dhoot told agency officials that he did not have any choice but to accept the quid pro quo offer by Kochhars as well as transfer Rs 64 crore to Deepak Kochhar-owned NRPL, otherwise, the loan proposals would have been in limbo. The ICICI Bank sanctioned loans worth around Rs 1,875 crore to the Videocon group and its sister concerns between 2009 and 2011, which were in complete violation of banking regulations and ICICI Bank policies.

For a Bank following three committees formed by the board is very important:

• Credit
• Risk
• Fraud monitoring

Lets see which board members of ICICI Bank were part of these committees in the crucial years of 2009 to 2011:

Committee	Credit			Fraud Monitoring			Risk			T
Members	08-09	09-10	10-11	08-09	09-10	10-11	08-09	09-10	10-11
K V Kamath	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	9
Chanda Kochhar	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	9
V Sridhar					✓	✓		✓	✓	4
M K Sharma	✓	✓		✓	✓					4
V Prem Vatsa							✓	✓	✓	3
Sridhar Iyengar							✓	✓	✓	3
Narendra Murkumbi	✓	✓		✓						3
Anup K Pujari						✓		✓	✓	3
Homi Khusrokhan			✓			✓				2
M S Ramachandran		✓	✓							2
Sandeep Bakshi				✓	✓					2
PM Sinha	✓									1
Rajiv Sabharval						✓				1
Marti G Subramanyam							✓			1

Source: Annual Report of 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11 and T - Total

The question is incase of three crucial years two names appeared on all the three committees:

• K V Kamath
• Chanda Kochhar

The best part is nowhere K V Kamath name is appearing in the ICICI Bank case.

If he was there in all the three committees which are related to the core functions of a bank, then he failed in delivering the work he is supposed to do.

It is extremely disappointing to see Kamath appointed by Reserve Bank of India in Report of the Expert Committee on Resolution Framework for Covid-19 related Stress as Chairman.

Remember KV Kamath graduated from IIM Ahmedabad.

As Sherlock Homes stated food for thought we have to ask:

Where is K V Kamath in ICICI Bank Dhoot case?

Why media is silent on KV Kamath in ICICI Bank Dhoot case?

Or

If KV Kamath was clean and he was taken for a ride by Chanda Kochhar, then his Top Banker credentials are questionable?

All the other distinguished members of the three committees should acknowledge openly that they failed in discharging their duty.

Awards to KV Kamath (source : Wikipedia)

Most e-savvy CEO amongst Asian Banks – The Asian Banker Journal of Singapore

Finance Man of the Year Award – The Mumbai Management Association

Best CEO for Innovative HR Practices – World HRD Congress

Asian Business Leader of the Year – Asian Business Leader Award 2001 (CNBC Asia)

Outstanding Business Leader of the Year – CNBC-TV18, 2006

Businessman of the Year – Business India, 2005

Business Leader Award of the Year – The Economic Times, 2007

Businessman of the Year – Forbes Asia

Padma Bhushan Award from the Indian government – 2008