Thursday, December 7, 2017

Delhi Diaries & More

I got a severe firing from one of my dear followers & a fellow blogger for not updating or as she says posting my thoughts on my blog for a while.

And I told her, politely, that the entire fault lies with our stars & Anju Modi :)

Yeah, I have not been in Delhi for a while now for  variety of reasons but you can't say NO to Anju. And I, as you know, am a creative person & anyone with a similar passion gets my eye & time. Anju  hosted a beautiful winter wedding collection or red carpet as she calls from her 'Infinite Knot' series & it was splendid to say the least.

That's not all. I have lost count on the number of weddings that I have attended all through November-March and on-going.  

To top it all, a while back, friends and fraternity celebrated the launch of the Anita Dongre Grassroot store at The Chanakya. She presented a capsule collection for Fall-Winter, to mark the launch of the new store. 

The Chanakya has become the country’s leading luxury mall housing foremost Indian and international brands.



And my #traveldiaries continues. From Pondicherry to Ranthambore to the royal #AlsisarPalace .


Btw- All the beautiful folks getting married this time around. Do read this before you say I do. 


**

Liked reading the above. Thanks. Drop in a comment & share with someone whom you care!

You can share & follow my travel & food journeys at #Twitter #Instagram or my #FaceBook page via searching for @karansayz

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Happy Birthday - 2 times

Happy Birthday ! These two words always make you smile- when you say them or hear them. That's the power.

Some people are genuinely happy having you by their side in the journey of life.

What's even more interesting are the relationships that you develop with such people. Some unsaid and some unheard.

I have 2 people whom I have known for close a decade now. And the best part about it is, we haven't ever met in person neither we speak that often. In fact, the only time we speak or talk or connect when are wishing the other person 'Happy Birthday' . In a nut-shell we only speak twice in a year and yet we are in touch. We are usually the first to wish and share birthday greetings.



Strange! I honestly don't have an answer. This struck me over the weekend when on of these person was having a birthday and I wished. And we ended up chatting how we have managed to stay in touch and never miss a birthday.

What exactly will you call such a connect?! I don't know, may be some may not even call it as a connect. I also am not sure if there are such connects with other people or is it just me.

Ever changing world and every busy equations yet 2 people do take time to greet and wish each other even if its 2 times a year.

I assume, some connects are w/t names and you should let them just flow.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Rahul Yadav - The real Yoddha

Last week was a little too sad. 
At times you know and feel that we all are merely helpless souls.

Rahul Yadav - an ex student of SIMS, Pune , a fellow batch mate & a blogger, lost his third battle against cancer. While its loss to near and dear ones, in his hard battle against life and death he left everyone around him & more, stronger and braver.

While he was in this, he started a community based group called Yoddhas.

Rahul was suffering from multiple myloma - a cancer of plasma cells.  

In this battle he was an inspiration to everyone. Being diagnosed with such a rare disease he still managed to fight and hold on. Its times like these I have hardly anything to say or share. Be it best doctors, best treatments, best wishes, we all are simply too less in power in comparison to the almighty above us. While he has left a void which never can be filled, together on behalf of everyone, wish and pray that wherever he is, may he be showered with all the blessings and love.





Monday, June 5, 2017

Grab the 'E' in 'Ego 'and let it 'Go '

There is something 'special ' in 'rains' that makes everyone smile: for different reasons though . 

Long back, may be towards the high school we learnt and studied the meaning of the word: ego. Your ego is your conscious mind, the part of your identity that you consider your "self." If you say someone has "a big ego," then you are saying he is too full of himself.





Today, after moving on a long path with mixed road conditions, I do value and understand what is it being ' full of oneself '.

Yes, it is a big thing when one is successful, has achieved a lot in a short time frame and more so has all the tick marks in life which are considered to be mandatory, one tends' to be a little in the air  .  

Now, flip the sides and see people around you. 

Your parents. In the whole world you can never be, even remotely, try to be ahead of them, better than them or even to close to them. Yet, parents listen to all your big and small needs and stay modest all through this journey ~ Admire. Learn.

Your teachers. Across all the educational journeys that you may have undertaken, our teachers are way ahead of God let apart you. They have seen those little kids grow big and do big things yet you remain the same student for them. Humility is what they always had .

Friends and peers - They accept you for the way you are and are unbiased towards you. Being honest is a trait you can borrow from them . 

And in the working life look around you. Your supervisory chain, leaders all across are not only calm and patient people but have utmost dignity and respect for everyone who works with them. Patience. Leadership.

And yet, after being met, stayed and interacted with all of the above we all have a little bit of  'E' going on for us.   

Why do we have this 'E' when one day things will fall down, nothing is going to stay forever and life will eventually move out and write you out.

I am not a spiritual or a motivational speaker but ‘love’ is a great medicine. Love is the only emotion. Fear is an illusion.Be loving and spread the love.

Complaining keeps us locked in negativity, right? I mean, think about it. Who wants to hang out with someone who complains all the time? No one. So why complain even to yourself? 

This is the source from which self-disgust, self-hatred, and self-sabotage springs—and the ego loves it, this self-imposed separation.

And lastly,just be grateful. 


BTW- Its raining outside and its so very beautiful . Like me in case you also love listening to songs , this one is pretty cool - Listen to this song

Monday, April 24, 2017

Share and Care and the stories of Verona

Firstly, apologies for the delay in sharing ( might sound like a typical 'corporate parlance use case ' ). Hardly in Delhi these days.

Secondly, a big thanks for all your genuine shares/comments/emails/social media interactions for showering so much love, support and care for all my previous blog posts. I have received so many connects and hence taking this time and space to say a big ' thank you '. 

Thirdly, ( if that is a word ), as I usually say in my seminars / leadership lessons and industry forums, if you are not genuinely ' pursuing '  anything outside of your work, you are actually not growing. And this is true. 

I happened to meet an ex - colleague at a wedding function last week ( and weddings I tell you these days ...but that's for another day story telling ) and she told me she is an art connoisseur now. She quit her corporate life /space 4 years back, being a single mother;took her daughter and both of them are now based in Verona, Italy. 

Took sometime for me to actually believe that a person who once was slated to be a top corporate honcho actually shifted gears and took what I call  the ' best calls' and moved ahead. Wow !!

Not many can even think on these terms let apart doing something. Our stories are so much formatted and streamlined that we hardly have any breathing space. And yet, lucky are those, who find such people who at least for a moment inspire them. 

The colleague told me about Verona ( I never heard about it before ), the life , people and places and her little one. She is pursuing something which she loves , balances her life very well and her aspirations and dreams are limited and above all she is in a state of being content with all she has. That's the key. 



Verona , Italy

Being content is although a huge ask but if you can calm yourself and be happy and thankful for what you have, life is so much beautiful .

Coming to beautiful, kids these days have amazing names - Zira , Vahaana , Nirvaya and the likes. Creativity at its best I tell you. 

Speaking of creativity, I was having a quick ' hot chocolate'  ( my 2017 big fav. post cold coffee ) along with our creative copy head. Its amazing how people working on the same brand think so differently. Being a business and a brand person my thinking and focus is way apart from what the creative thinks. During the discussion, she was full of so many interesting ideas and thoughts that I for one moment thought we are talking chalk and cheese. 

Talking about cheese, please try to smile more often. No use being serious or as I call ' saddu '. Life happens and will continue to happen even when you are not around. So, no sweat ! 

#shareandcare #stayblessed #karansayz

You can connect with me via searching for @karansayz across the social media circuit. 

Saturday, April 8, 2017

An 'Ex' makes a comeback !

During one of my recent corporate flights, I happened to connect with an e-commerce industry veteran and out of the many things that we spoke about, Shopclues was one of them.

While I try myself to be away from the stories or the controversies that surround Shopclues today, I couldn't help but think can two people, married or at one point seeing each other, be in a professional work space or a similar ecosystem. In the case of Shopclues, Radhika and Sandeep or Sanjay!

The flight was a new feeling and while the honorary leader went for an early sleep, I thought of writing and sharing my thoughts. The flight attendant was sweet enough to get me my hot chocolate.





Before jumping onto an answer, if I can put myself to the test, how would I react. This is fictional ;) , Karan I tell you!

Hypothetically, if me and my ex are in a similar work ecosystem or by the nature of our work again start interacting it will be a not so pleasant scenario. Deep down, a part of us has died and the other has moved on. For both. 

No matter what and where is our current relationship headed, its tough to be again in the same space. We are humans after all and not that easy to move on. 

But this is a personal side. 

If you are a professional, understand and appreciate that its the work that made you two come together and both of you should play to your strengths and get things moving and running at ease.

Whatever has happened is past and the present needs you two to work together for a larger good. At one point in time you may have had strong feelings for each other but its perfectly fine to be mature enough to move ahead and be happy for the other person.

Strong people rarely have an easy past.Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be.

I have learnt, out of the many things, that never let your emotions overpower your intelligence. The same rule holds ground here as well.

The view outside of the night sky with shimmering lights is always a beautiful sight. The world is a nice place and your outlook can make your space and the world around you much better....


Saturday, March 25, 2017

Simple yet complex

Saturdays are usually a part of the weekend. But for several months weekends for me were a distant dream. I wouldn't want to brag as to why and what was keeping me busy. It was a mixture of all things techie to some extent and people to add-on.

Launching a new value proposition or a brand or a service are no simple thing. It requires more than just commitment and perseverance. Gone are the days when a single man army could handle everything from start to stop. These days navigating within silos of the complex corporate world is a skill-set which not many have but is often needed to be plugged into.



These are also tiring times when you learn a lot many things about people which often you don't see in the normal course. Patience is a lost virtue & people have very thin level of composure. You need to drive everyone home keeping the fire at bay. Its a tough place and a process to be in but then  when you come out of it, you are a more stronger and a at times more calmer you.

A year changes you a lot. And its true. In fact, more than time its the people who change you or force you to change yourself. And if I can say, no one likes changing that often.

I ask myself almost everyday was it worth it. May be yes, and partly no. We have become so analytical in life that the child in us actually has become like a corporate honcho. Picking a frappe over a lemonade is actually a process these days. Sad !!

Conversations are more Q and As and you fear being judged every time. And this is the very reason why people find it hard to share let apart to trust. And then there are people who are at ease no matter whats happening around them. Its not that they aren't a part of the world we all live in, its more to do with the fact that they have stopped thinking and paying attention to 'stuff' on which they have no control over. They may be happy having a simple smartphone, driving a 'car' and not a fancy' 4 wheeler' and more importantly being content with whatever life has given to them. I myself, have started to appreciate these folks and I love meeting them whenever I get a chance.

Btw- What was keeping me a little tied up - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WztSz6wTQg




Aloha on the Ganges

2021 has been occupying to start with. It felt as if January had 365 days and not just 31 days. Have met some lost souls, some damaged soul...