For TNJ
“…Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought…”
P.B. Shelley – To a Skylark
For hours I remember,
I’d keep watching the corridor,
Running by our classroom,
To catch a glimpse of you,
Knowing you’d gift me a smile
I fondly recount even after the passage
Of a decade and a half.
On many a morning,
I’d come, soaked in sweat after a two miles’ ride from home,
To see you sweeping the leaves,
Around the Nelli tree
Where I’d see you hanging out with your friends.
The Angel of angels!
My heart still yearns for seeing you smile
Into my eyes,
For seeing the mischievous gleam
in your brownish eyes,
For chattering with you for hours on end
On a multitude of frivolities.
In a world that’s full of uncertainty
and change,
For you, however,
I’m the definition of certainty.
I’m the definition of constancy.
Mr.Weerasuriya watched his wife picking wathusudda with their daughter, Sachini, a six year old. Upeksha, his wife picked the flowers and cast them into the plastic bowl the child held in her hands. When she saw him watching them, she smiled at him the same dear smile she had given him when they had first met at the school some 15 years ago. It was clear that her youthful features had begun to fade faster than his. But, he knew they had grown dearer still to each other. And Sachini`s arrival into their lives had increased their conjugal bliss almost thousand-fold.
Mr.Weerasuriaya, in his early thirties, was a lecturer in Accountancy at Sabaragamuwa University. He was of medium height with an intelligent brow, sharp eyes beneath dense eye-brows and a small mouth that occasionally broke into a tender smile. His complexion was more dark than fair, but he was certainly not coal-black. Upeksha, his wife, was fair and buxom with a fine mouth, large brown eyes and cheeks that dimpled when she smiled. It was with her smile that she had bewitched him, he remembered with a smile. The folded newspaper lying on his lap, be now began to reminisce dreamily.
He met her while they were both studying for their A/Levels in Commerce stream. She outdid him at the studies and at the exams. In fact, it was from her that he got further clarifications about some concepts in Economics and some sums in Accountancy. When the results had been released, it was obvious that they were both qualified for university entrance. And she had outranked him. But so poor were their parents that it seemed that neither of them could afford to enter university and continue their higher education.
Upeksha, the unselfish girl, then suggested that he enter the university and told him she would secure a job at a garment factory. It, she assured him, would help him continue his studies at the university. First, he never liked her suggestion, his masculine pride forbidding him to depend on her and wanted to find a job. But, as she pressed him continually, he gave way and entered the University of Kelaniya to read for a degree in Accountancy. Despite her parents` warnings and admonitions, she got a job as seamstress at a garment factory nearby and gave him over ¾ of her monthly pay to meet his expenses. As he studied at the university, he was constantly driven by the need to excel at his studies as he always felt for her over her generosity. His parents too helped him in the small way they could. His hard work eventually paid off and he graduated summa cum laude from the University of Kelaniya, which offered him the chance to join the academic staff as a probationary lecturer. Later on, he joined Sabaragamuwa University closer to his home town.
Overjoyed at his success, his parents brought him proposals from wealthy families, ready to offer whopping dowries. His mother was in earnest and constantly tried to persuade him to forget Upeksha and get married with a richer and more educated girl. But, he never heeded her reasoning and went on to marry Upeksha. Although his mother still chided him for his decision to marry her, he was more than certain he had done the right thing and he would never regret his decision.
And they were a happy family now. He knew it was love, pure love and not marriage that bound them to each other so strongly. It was Upeksha he knew who was the wind beneath his wings. He loved her for that so immensely, so completely. It was not the sort of love that evaporated with time; rather, it drew them closer and closer still to each other and strengthened their ties as time went by. Such love, he knew, worked wonders.
He felt a spray of cold water on his face, which awakened him from his reflection and saw Sachini grinning at him with a bowl of flowers with her smiling mother behind her.
When I entered the living room,
Through the rear door,
She was still alive,
And heard her almost mumble, ‘Kollo…’
Mistaken me for my father, her son.
I slipped in,
Without saying so much as a word,
For I was used,
To taking her grumbles for granted.
Perhaps I was insensitive,
To the plain fact that her voice,
Was more markedly feeble than ever.
When I walked past her bed again,
She lay facing the wall,
Next to the bed,
Her right hand, almost limp,
Stretched outwards to her right,
Rested on the bed.
I convinced myself
She was breathing yet;
It was when Aunt Rani, our benign neighbor,
Pronounced her dead,
That I began to doubt myself.
Perhaps, this was the way to die:
No final words, no last will,
No lachrymose leave-taking;
Now she was alive,
Now dead.
Just recently, I finished reading ‘Different Thinking: Creative strategies for developing the innovative business’ by Anja Foerster & Peter Kreuz, two European-based management thinkers. I would like to share with our readers a few insights from this illuminating book.
“At dusk on Friday, 13 December 1907 the sailing ship Thomas W Lawson sank off the Scilly Isles in the English Channel…” goes the opening line of The Attacker`s Advantage by Richard N. Foster. What happened? The owners of the colossal seven-masted schooner wanted to make a splash in the commercial shipping in a bid to eclipse the steamers which were becoming popular fast. But, it never worked out. According to Foster, “The age of commercial sailing vessels ended with the Thomas Lawson, and from that moment on, the steamers ruled the seas.”
Obviously, the owners of Thomas W Lawson did not bother to question the status quo and were completely blind to all signs of technological progress. And the cost of failure was enormous. We can`t change history, but we can learn from it. What is sad is that even today there are managers who cling tenaciously to obsolete products, processes and attitudes. Seemingly, it`s no myth that the spirit of Thomas W Lawson still sails the waters of our business world.
The majority of managers tend to like the familiar, the known or the tried and tested. Similarly, they more or less resist change. This is why it is so difficult for them to deviate from the established practices. Change may be profitable, but there is inherent risk whenever you go for it. Change and risk, however, is an essential component of growth. So, questioning and where necessary, challenging the status quo is critical to business success.
Let`s take another example. In 1977, Zundapp, the Bavarian motorcycle manufacturer had a workforce of 1900 and produced 115000 mopeds. Sans the fascination of a BMW or a Harly Davidson though, the Zundapp mopeds were still popular because they were both robust and inexpensive. But, the Zundapp management failed to recognize the changes taking place in the environment around them. For example, insurance premiums shot up and legislation was passed making it mandatory for moped riders to take a driving test which saw the moped sales taking a nosedive. Consequently, in 1984, they were forced into liquidation.
Digital Equipment, the American computer manufacturer too fell prey to the Thomas Lawson Syndrome. So blind had they been to the developments taking place in the competitive landscape that they were caught completely off-guard by the development of the personal computer.
However, it is not that easy to change the conventional mindset of the believers and the defenders of the status quo. This`s why Guy Kawsaki, a marketing expert says: “The defenders of the status quo will doubtlessly tell you that it is not possible or necessary to implement your idea. After all, they are the people who established the status quo, and now they are under attack from you! And so if you want to bring about a revolution, you must steadfastly ignore these arguments.”
So, while giving due consideration to the risk, uncertainty, incomprehension and confusion inherently associated with change, in this fast-moving moving world, you always have to be ready to change your strategic direction without waiting for confirmed insights.
Courtesy:http://lmd.lk/?p=7301
Tomorrow, I thought,
I’d surely meet her,
The sweet trouble-maker,
Persistently taxing my time,
But enrapturing my lonely heart,
With her sunshiny presence,
And warm, loving, blithe words,
Irradiating my heart’s gloom…..
But now I feel,
I’d not meet her tomorrow,
And that our rendezvous,
Would have to be postponed,
For an indefinite time……
Thwarted expectation,
Stymied hope,
Distresses my childish heart,
Constantly yearning,
For her warm, wonderful friendship,
Her blithe smiles,
And warm affectionate words,
But anticipation is still alive in my heart,
For a longer, lovelier, better rendezvous!
For Mr. Shantha Herath (Faculty of Business Studies and Finance, Wayamba University)
“A bit of fragrance always clings to the hand that gives you roses.”
A Chinese Proverb
Rummaging through,
A file of old lecture-notes,
I came across it – a printout,
Of a front-page,
Of an assignment.
A flowery border,
Fencing a rainbow text.
A request, a rebuke, and resentment!
A smile, a signature and love!
The printout evoked memories,
As indelible as stone inscriptions,
As deep as life.
One day, I know, it’ll fade away
Into nothingness.
But not his kindness.
I saw the grotesque creature,
Lying placidly,
On the recently trimmed grass,
In our garden,
In embarrassing oblivion,
To the man-made reality,
That it didn’t belong,
In our garden,
Or in our civilized world…..
Its grey spotty skin,
Which thorns or pricks can’t puncture
Or jagged stones,
Cannot tear or graze….
And its sharp, serrated tail,
Possessing tremendous strength,
With which it whips away the approachers….
From a safe distance,
I stood watching it,
With a long pole in my hand,
With which I poked at it,
Every now and then….
For all its ferocity,
It lay passive, patient, and tranquil,
Like a real gentleman,
Never once resisting,
My cowardly mean assaults….
Soon I gave up,
My attempts to drive it away,
Realizing that,
I was but a spiritless coward,
Trying in vain,
To bring down a mountain,
With a fragile pole….
Before long,
It crawled away,
In magnanimous resignation,
Leaving behind for cruel cravens like me,
A silent lesson of patience!
