Murder on the High Seas. Or was it self-defense ?

On February 15, 2 fishermen on board the fishing vessel Saint Anthony was shot at, due to which 2 fishermen died. This shooting was done by Italian Marines, on board the vessel MT Enrica Lexie which was around 20 nautical miles from the Indian Coast.

 

You can read about the incident at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Italian_shooting_in_the_Arabian_Sea

The Italians have their version and the fishermen and the Indian authorities have theirs. Currently the 2 marines have been arrested and are facing trial for murder. The simple question is whether this qualifies as murder.

The known facts, actions of the vessel and the circumstantial evidence indicates that the Indian version is probably closer to the truth. It can also be reasonably assumed that the Italian Marines or the vessel neither intended to nor had not motive or reason to attack and kill Indian fishermen.

Having sailed in war zones, pirate infested areas, and dangerous waters, I have some idea of the atmosphere that prevails on board. With over 100 vessels having been taken over by pirates, with crew and vessel held hostage for years, it’s not a regular situation.

In all probability, the fishing vessel came too close, and I have seen this happen on umpteen occasions. The Italians panicked, thought that they were under attack, overreacted and shot. Unfortunately their error cost 2 innocent lives.

In my opinion, the incident should be treated for exactly what it is. An accident. I’m not suggesting that no action should be taken, either against the vessel or against the Marines who were guilty at least of an error of judgment. I’m suggesting that they be treated in the same manner as we would treat a driver who killed innocent pedestrians due to an error of judgment.

Whilst the two lives lost, cannot come back, it would only be fair that they be paid adequate and handsome compensation, which I’m sure the Italians would be more than happy to do. And the Italian Marines should be censured, sentenced if required and repatriated to their home country, with parole. The two Marines were soldiers who were engaged in a war. And they did what they have been trained to do. Unfortunately it was the wrong action at the wrong place. But its time we behaved in a reasonable and mature manner and show that in India, justice is not blind, but fair and reasonable.

We already have two victims of unfortunate circumstances. Let’s not add to the list.

Indian Humility – Fact or Myth ?

Namaste. One of the traits most admired amongst Indians is their humility. From the “Namaste” greeting with heads bowed to their “Haa Ji”, which means “Yes Sir”, it seems like we are an extremely humble and polite people.

I too was a believer of this idea. Until recently, I began to look at it a little closer. And realized that maybe there’s much more to it than meets the eye. And what I found was extremely interesting to put it mildly.

If you study the patterns, you will notice that the “Namaste” or greeting normally doesn't reach the eye. There is a Smile, and a folding of hands. More like a mechanical gesture. Like the salute in the Military. Whilst its meant to convey respect, more often than not, it doesn't. It’s a rule that the juniors need to salute the senior officers, and so they do. With no hint of respect. It’s a motion. Similarly, the Namaste has become a motion. And the classic example of its motion can be seen on Air India flights at the entrance to the aircraft. The folded hands, the mouthing of the word Namaste and a bored look, “Why are you here ?”.

And then there’s the famous “Haa Ji’. I’ve rarely heard a fellow Indian, say “No”, or “I don’t know”. Its always “Yes”, or “Haa Ji’. That would have been a great trait, provided it was meaningful. In most cases, they are words that have been mouthed without any meaning. If it was a task you wanted completed and got a “Haa Ji’, the chances are pretty high that a week later, you’ll get the exact same answer to the same question, “Haa Ji, it will be done”. We don’t seem to mean what we say.

Recently, I was on the phone with a client. It was a Saturday afternoon, and I was at home. At the end of the conversation, I told him that I would be e-mailing the relevant details in the next couple of hours. The client wanted to know if he would get it before Monday. I said “Yes, I just told you, I’ll be sending it to you in the next couple of hours”. He once again confirmed the same, and I got a little irritated. It seemed to show in my voice, because once I got off the phone, my daughter who was close counseled me. She said, “Why are you getting irritated ? It’s not their fault. In most cases when people say they’ll do something, they don’t.”.  Interesting observation, but a poor reflection on us.

And finally our obsession with believing we know everything. From directions to queries to solutions to problems. And on the occasions when we are told we are wrong, we don’t accept the feedback. We just assume that the person who has corrected us is an obnoxious Idiot who knows nothing. I find this trait the most dangerous. The problem is that when we do not accept that “We don’t know” or “We haven’t made a mistake”, then the possibility of us learning or correcting ourselves becomes “Zero”. A number we Love, since we invented it. And we seem to think that just because we have done something for a large number of years, we know it perfectly. That’s not quite true. When you have done something exactly the same way for a large number of years, your ability to do it “Consistently” will be high. And that means if you were doing it incorrectly, you will continue to do it incorrectly for a long, long, time.

In my mind, and in all “Indian Humility”, I think that if we are able to correct these three aspects of our behavior, we can go places and be a force to reckon with globally. As soon as our “Namaste” reaches our eyes, Our “Haa Ji”, is said when it means “Yes”, and finally, we accept the fact that there are several thing we don’t know, but are willing to learn. And until then the few who can adopt these aspects are likely to outperform their peers who don’t.

Namaste ! :-)

Secrets of Success

I started writing this article on the secrets of success. After extensive research (searching keywords in Google), I reached 2 conclusions. One was that the famous articles or stories are well known or can be easily found. And what does that have to do with my perspective. Hence I decided to put aside all the hard work I had done in gathering extensive material on secret, success, failure, quotes, … and come up with a list of my own.

 

Since this is my list it shall not have 10 secrets, like the commandments or 5 which lazy commandment writers do. Or 7, which is fashionable number for secrets. It shall have 13, since 13 is traditionally considered an unlucky number. And this is my attempt to succeed using an unlucky start.

Secret 1
Think.
Not many people do.

Secret 2
Success is like mercury.
Chase it and it gets away. Do what comes naturally and it flows in.

Secret 3
Do what you love.
And if that’s not possible, Love what you do.

Secret 4
Listen to the world.
But follow your heart.

Secret 5
Perception is greater than reality.
Doing is not enough. What’s done should be made known.

Secret 6
Life’s not always fair.
But it normally catches up and evens out.

Secret 7
Agree to Disagree
Especially when the other side has already made up their mind.

Secret 8
Don’t argue about factual issues.
Just check them out.

Secret 9
Smile.
It improves your face value.

Secret 10
Ideas are important.
The ability to execute them is even more important.

Secret 11
Knowing when to act is important.
Knowing when to walk away and knowing when to run is even more important.

Secret 12
Using God’s method of creation is a good idea.
Small incremental steps. A new born does very little and is yet complete. A toddler does slightly more and a teenager is not able to do everything an adult does, yet each stage is complete in its own unique way.

Secret 13
Success Secrets are unique.
Don’t follow these stupid secrets. Go create your own.

Are we the way we Drive ?

My wife Ivy has felt for very long that people drive the way they are. And has wanted me to write on the subject for quite some time now. Finally I’m writing this on her behalf. It goes without saying that all credit is hers and all errors and omissions and exceptions and … are mine and mine alone.

Driving reflects personality. Notice the next time you’re on the road and you’ll see several different driving styles
.

There are the people, who give right of way to pedestrians and cars crossing and wait for the old lady. These are probably nice, encouraging people in real life too. You may sometimes make the mistake of treating their niceness as weakness. Don’t. They know exactly what they are doing and choose to be nice. I‘d love to have them as my boss, my colleague my juniors, and even friends.

There is a type of driver that everybody hates, even when they themselves behave exactly the same way. They are the impatient ones, honking and swerving and changing lanes and generally behaving like they are the only ones who are in a hurry, and the rest of us should yield to them like they were an ambulance. These are the pushy ones in real life. Always looking for weaknesses to exploit, short cuts to take and generally try and get in front, without working for it. Normally you find that after a while, they are stuck behind a truck or at a signal and you are ahead of them. Just like in real life. They push ahead, but finally get left behind.

Then there’s the driver who’s constantly changing lanes. She’s unsure and always feels that the next lane is moving faster, until she’s there. Then suddenly that stops moving and it’s the other lane, sometimes the one she’s just left that begins moving faster. Until she’s in it. These are the indecisive people we see and meet. They just cannot make up their minds, and just when they do, they change it. They are the ones who always feel that the grass is greener on the other side and are likely to be perpetually unhappy.

And finally my favorite type. The patient driver. Tolerates all of the above. And yet calmly listens to his music system. Doesn’t seem to be in a hurry, or if he was, has figured out that it’s not going to help. So just drives as fast as he practically can and stays happy. And this is the typical Indian. Accepts circumstances calmly. After all, that our Karma.