It’s going to be a season of reckoning. No longer can Liverpool fans cite reasons of lack of investment, disengaged owners/manager, selling the best players and lack of spirit for underachievement. We have been basking in the glory of Istanbul for 6 years, and it’s time to get real.

Kenny Dalglish has shown glimpses of what he can do, he has been given the money to buy the players he likes and all the right noises are coming out of all camps at L4. I have been a Liverpool fan for 10+ years now, but pardon my ignorance, I hardly knew about Dalglish and what he meant to the club and city (facts explained very eloquently to me by a lady at the Anfield Road end during the Merseyside derby in January after I innocently asked – what’s the big deal about him?). What it also means is, there are big expectations (wait, when weren’t they there?)

What it ultimately boils down to, though, is the players on the field. My analysis of a few:

 

Attacking options:

Stevie G: Wouldn’t be fair not to start with him, right? He had an indifferent 2010/11 due to injuries and playing out of position. With the recent recruits, he should be back to his preferred ‘hole behind the strikers’ position. Whether he has the fitness levels to sustain a whole season is the real question. He’s lost a bit of pace, but none of the brawn and that right foot can still produce shots which defenders will do well to get out of the way of. I think Dalglish will use him in a more advanced role for maximum impact. Maybe as the CF or RF in a 4-2-3-1 system.

 

Suarez: What more is there to be said about him? He’ll be a terror and a nuisance to opposing defenses, and is definitely going to produce more of ‘how the heck did he pull that off’ moments. Although, he needs to work a bit on the final finish and his irritability. His style of play invites tough tackles from defenders, and I only hope he doesn’t get a ‘Shawcross’ anytime soon.

 

Carroll: I’m not even going to comment on the value of the 35M we paid for him, because that was part the premium paid for a last minute purchase and part the seller knowing you have 50M just sitting around. He’s not close to world class, but has his moments of brilliance. I think what he will be the best at is opening up the weaker teams we had so much trouble dispatching last season (and the season before, and the season before….). He will also benefit from Downing and Adam’s pinpoint passing and crossing, besides leftovers of Suarez’s brilliance.

 

Notable mentions:

Kuyt: is going to remain integral as the work horse, and the ultimate team man. Expect him to play on the right wing/center forward/striker and all over the pitch to keep the engine running. And expect him to score a few absolutely precious goals.

Joe Cole: He’s lost his pace, and the few times I saw him on the field live last season he was holding his knees before the first half was over. Not a good sign for a player who played in less than half of the team’s games. Might improve if he has gotten any fitter. I doubt it.

Maxi: Eye for the goal, and is an excellent relief/impact striker. I hope he stays.

 

Mid-field options:

It’s the midfield this year which gives Dalglish so many formation options (or headaches)

Downing: Brilliant signing. In my opinion, a better player than Ashley Young simply because he can do with the left what Young can do with the right. A very rare commodity in world football today. He will provide a lot of ammo for Carroll, Suarez and co. Will be very effective in giving the team width and opening up some of the lesser sides.

Adam: A premier league specialist who I believe is great value for money at 9M. He will be able to release Downing, Suarez, Carroll and co from deep inside the own half which will put opposition defenses on the backfoot. I am relishing the prospect of reliving Xabi Alonso’s passes releasing Torres making a run within 2 second of clearing a corner. Adam will also be the free kick specialist in Gerrard’s absence. If he develops other aspects of his game, I think, he is in contention for the captain’s armband in a few seasons. How will he do in Europe? We will find out next season hopefully.

Henderson: An attacking midfielder, but I think he has tremendous potential to develop into a right sided winger. Burst of pace and a creative eye – maybe Dalglish has the same idea? Will act as backup in his first season.

Aquilani: In my opinion, the only other current genuine world class talent Liverpool has besides Suarez. A fantastic passer and he can open up defenses on a regular basis. He clearly prefers to leave, and I think it is Liverpool’s loss more than the player’s in this case. We’ll do well to keep him and we’ll certainly need him in Europe next season.

Meireles: A complete all rounder. He can defend on the goal line, run with the ball a long way, pick a killer pass and has a bullet of a right foot (and a clinical left). He will be the core of the midfield. He’s not going anywhere soon, hopefully.

 

Notable mentions:

Lucas: Had his best season last year and will be the automatic choice as the defensive midfielder in the side. With the wealth of options Liverpool have this year though; expect him to get subbed a lot when we need to come from a goal behind. Unless he develops more of an attacking side to his game, he might find his opportunities limited if Adam and Meireles establish a partnership in central midfield.

Spearing: Will be used as backup. Will need him to protect the starters during tough FA Cup games against lower division teams.

 

Defensive options:

Not a lot of cover, but I think Liverpool will survive this season without adding another player here. Next season in Europe, we will need a world class CB and LB to come in for sure.

GK: Reina is going to have to be the hero (again) of a shaky and patched up defense at times. Maybe he wants to leave, but he will give it another season to see if we make it to Europe.

Center backs: Carragher will keep chugging along and Skrtel, Agger, Soto and Wilson will provide good support. Enough for a season of premier league and FA Cup football.

Full-backs: Johnson and Kelly as first choice. Robinson and Flanagan as backup. If needed, Wilson and Agger can play LB and Carragher can play RB. Again, sufficient if not optimum for this season.

 

Youngsters coming through:

Expecting Dalglish to give some of the reserve/youth squad members a real go in the FA cup games. I’m sure 2-3 of them will be stepping up this season and the next.

 

How will Liverpool line up:

 

 

4-2-3-1

Kelly – Carragher – Agger – Johnson

Meireles/Lucas/Adam/Aquilani (Pick 2)

Suarez/Kuyt    – Gerrard – Downing

Carroll / Kuyt

——————————————————–

4-4-2

Kelly – Carragher – Agger – Johnson

Henderson/Lucas/Meireles/Adam/Aquilani/Gerrard (Pick 3) – Downing

Carroll/Kuyt – Suarez

——————————————————–

3-5-2

Agger – Carragher – Soto/Skrtel

Johnson/Kelly – Gerrard /Lucas/Meireles/Adam/Aquilani/Henderson (Pick 3) – Downing/Robinson

Carroll/Kuyt – Suarez

——————————————————–

4-1-2-1-2

Kelly – Carragher – Agger – Johnson

Lucas / Adam / Meireles

Henderson/Kuyt – Downing

Gerrard/Aquilani

Carroll – Suarez

 

YNWA!

 

India has always been a nation which has idolized it’s cricketers more than any political leaders, movie stars or business leaders. So much so, that if a certain cricketer were to run for Prime Minister tomorrow, few would bet against him. However, this means the man who captains the Indian cricket team is exposed to heavy media scrutiny in cricketing and personal matters and literally becomes the instant love or hate child of the 1.2 billion Indians who inhabit the planet today.

Focusing on some of the great captains we’ve had, here are my personal views on some of these leaders I rate highly (chronological order):

Kapil Dev: The first Indian captain to announce India as a nation of cricketing significance with the 1983 world cup and the world series following that. A captain who lead by example, and the one who embodied the ‘never-say-die’ spirit while he was surrounded by a team comprised of old timers struggling to let go of the test cricket era. A man of great passion, personal integrity and who literally took the game to his heart. He was not afraid to show his emotions on world television (http://newsrss.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sport/cricket/743321.stm) when stones were thrown at things he gave the most value to in his life. Besides that, he is arguably the finest all-rounder India has ever produced. Nevertheless, his success as a captain was mostly limited to One day cricket and his relentless pursuit of a world record in his latter years when he was probably not an automatic choice in the playing XI dampened the respect he commanded with the fans. He also did not have the best of relationships with the superstars who were a regular part of his team, often failing to get the best out of them.

M. Azharuddin: A man who divided opinion in Indian cricket like no one before. A smart chap, a great reader of the game, but lacked the inspirational qualities to energize his team in pressure situations, did not have the media presence to win the fans over, and was unable to protect himself when the nation demanded he be replaced by the superstar who was his best performer . He was strong at home, if not indomitable, but his teams crumbled far too often away from home. Tainted by match fixing allegations, and the one tactical blunder in Kolkata in 1996 will forever put a black mark on this man, who was probably the most tactically astute captain India had.

Sourav Ganguly: A crowd favorite, an outspoken captain and one who backed himself all the way. His earlier setbacks as a cricketer made him focused on success, highly competitive as a captain and a cricketer, and one who was never afraid to speak out against the hypocrisy that plagued world and Indian cricket. He backed his selection of youngsters, which supplemented by his enormous talent as a batsmen on one side of the wicket and his ability to manage the superstars on his team made him a man I admired, respected and loved to watch carry the hopes of a nation on his thin frame. He took India to a world cup final, he famously bared his chest on that Lord’s balcony like a true gentleman would and changed Indian cricket in a fundamental way – we were not the sissies anymore, we could give back as good as we got. His legacy will probably be a one which will be least remembered, but one which will impact Indian cricket for the next 10 years.

M.S. Dhoni: In my opinion the finest captain we’ve had since I was born (regardless of what happens in Mumbai on April 2, 2011). A cricketer who was blooded by Ganguly, and one who has not only learnt from his predecessor, but has a personality which oozes charisma in a very confident, nonchalant and inspirational manner. He is not the one who will take off his shirt, not the one who will give an earful to a rival, but a captain who will read the game and the players with a vision that almost makes you believe there is a supercomputer inside his head. He has won a T-20 world cup with an Indian team without any superstars, and will probably be idolized forever if the team wins on April 2. But, for me, his crowning achievement has been making India the #1 side in Test cricket – something which none of his predecessors could come close to. He has learnt from his mentor (Ganguly), and has taken captaincy to a level which will not only please the fans, but his maturity makes him safe against the administrators that run Indian cricket like a village panchayat.

Looking forward to thoughts and comments as we continue to countdown to Mumbai.

Cheers

Torres moves on. I guess it was inevitable. He gave Liverpool probably the best years of his playing career, but what he got in return was only genuine fan affection. For a top player, that is not enough.

As a die-hard Liverpool fan, obviously I’m devastated, but I don’t grudge him the move. I worry because I don’t think going to Chelsea is a step-up. Chelsea have been a big club only for the past 5-6 years. And they started a downhill slide as soon as they didn’t spend money in 1 transfer window. For me, that’s not the hallmark of a top club. They have no understudy to Lampard or Drogba, they let Sturridge leave on loan (fantastic talent by the way) and their best players are on the wrong side of 30 or close to it – meaning they will spend heavily again to build a side capable of mounting a challenge. If FIFA’s financial fair play regulations have any teeth in them, Chelsea will decline.

What were his options? He’s a loyal man, and hence he couldn’t goto Real Madrid or Manchester United. He could have gone to Barcelona last summer, but he chose to stay with us and now Barca have no space. Arsenal can’t spend that kind of money (actually they can, but Wenger is a miser). For all it’s worth, I think a move to Manchester City would have been better for the future, but they too have no space now with Dzeko’s arrival. Similar story for AC Milan (they got Ibra in the summer), and the new Inter coach doesn’t fancy Torres.

What is my point? I think loyalty to Liverpool cost Nando a better move for his career. For that, Liverpool owe him an apology. He did not desert a sinking ship – rather he made sure it didn’t sink all the way (with all our problems at the beginning of the season), and left us with enough money to repair after his departure. Torres doesn’t deserve comparisons to a certain Michael Owen because that’s outright insulting to a player and man of his integrity.

All the best Nando – we will only have good things to say about you. You will have a brief but well-lit chapter in Liverpool’s history – and you will never walk alone.

-A true Liverpool fan

Much has been made and said of Liverpool’s ‘decline’ over the past 12 months as a powerhouse in English and European football. While some of that is justified and factual, most of it is coming from (especially back home in India) fans whom one of my good friends and probably one of the most knowledgeable football critics I know describes as ‘The post 2000 Star TV premier league generation’.

Theory: Liverpool are in a decline

Facts: 2^nd in premier league in 2008-09, Champions League Winners in 2005, FA Cup winners 2006, Champions League Runners-up in 2007

Why is this relevant: For a squad which has not seen the obscene influx of money as Man United, Chelsea, Man City, Real Madrid, Barcelona etc. this is pretty respectable. If you look at the squad comparisons , you will see who spent the money. I do believe that Arsene Wenger is the only true gem finder who has turned sub $500,000 purchases into $20M profits!



Yes, we had a manager in charge last season who wanted to be out, fought with everyone in the boardroom and absolutely destroyed the confidence of the team. He wasn’t helped by anyone, except the fans. Despite that, he got hired to be manager of the most successful team in Europe last season (Inter Milan) and he doesn’t speak Italian at all! I think that lends some credibility to his stature, and I personally feel he did a good job at Liverpool. In football though, 4-5 years is usually when you need change unless the team is doing phenomenally well. I have no grudges against Rafa, but I do feel it was time for him to leave. We have huge problems in the boardroom. The LBO model hasn’t worked well at all for us, and Hicks and Gillett should have left a long time ago. Greed is not good, definitely not for the fans. Enough said about this.

So are we concerned as Liverpool fans? Yes, absolutely. The club is close to our hearts and lives.

What are we doing? Spirit of Shankly and ShareLiverpool are putting together a group of fans ready to be long term stakeholders. This is the Barcelona model, but if we are able to achieve ownership, we’ll obviously do better!

Are we less passionate about the club now? No. Never. We don’t support a club which became famous for purchasing stars in the last 10 years, we’re part of a club which has produced stars the last 60. We’ll be back, and we won’t grudge the players and the manager time as long as they are proud to say YNWA.

Go ‘Pool. You’ll never walk alone

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been blogging – call it a bad case of writer’s block, or so much going on in life, that its overwhelming to sit down and write about it.

So what has been going on?

Transition to Facebook

I wouldn’t say I’m hooked to FB, but it’s the way to network now. I like Orkut more still for its simplicity, but I guess it is time to move on.

MBA Dreams

It was tough to finally realize it has happened, after 2 years of long waitlists and rejections. I’m super excited and happy to be going my top choice school and to be in a city as super as Chicago. It was one my favorite cities of all the intra-US traveling I did last winter. And I am totally in-sync with my school’s motto – “To be the best business school for the world, besides being the best business school in the world”

Sports

It’s been a real case of severe up and downs for Liverpool and Ferrari this year. More on that to follow in subsequent posts.

 

Here’s hoping I get into the flow of posting….

One of the most exciting Formula-1 finales of my time. The rookie, the pretender and the king, all locked in a fierce battle for the crown. The pretender triumphs – and the world championship is back in the Ferrari stables.

This was the season Kimi grew up – stopped acting like a spoiled brat, and gave his machine some respect. Maybe he realized the enormity of the shoes he was asked to fill, maybe it was being associated with the most legendary name in Motorsport or maybe it was the silent practice of Omerta – he fought his battles on the racetrack as his rivals washed dirty linen in public.

Never one to talk much, couple of incidents involving him stand out:

– In Brazilian GP qualifying, his final hot lap was disturbed by Hamilton. Not a word to the press.

– Accused of being unfriendly with reporters, he said “I’m not supposed to be good at this. You are the guys with polished speaking skills. I drive a car faster than anyone else around – thats my job. If you can do my job better, do it.”

Kimi has been my favorite for a long time, and it was disappointing to see him at McLaren. When he moved to Ferrari, my loyalties in Formula-1 were not conflicting with each other anymore – and I hoped he would eventually get his deserved championship one day. In his first season with his new team – thats a fine start.  One of the unsung heroes of this great victory will be Felippe Massa, donning the role of Barrichello in hopefully what is going to be the beginning of the Raikkonen era.

Interlagos on 21 Oct, 2007  reminded me of Istanbul on May 25, 2005.  Maybe its about underdogs beating the odds , or maybe its just about painting canvasses red.

This fictional piece of writing is a supplement to http://amitdas.wordpress.com/2007/07/19/lalaji-ki-kahani-chotu-chaiwale-ki-jubani/

For those who don’t understand what we are saying – you were never meant to!

—–

Once upon a time there was an engineer , who went to work with the biggest snore in the Indian BPO dream (the same firm chotu chaiwala worked for once upon a time). Nobody knew him and nobody paid attention to him (infact it seemed nobody paid him as well!).

As it happens, he interviewed – he pleaded – he didn’t want to write or test codes – he wanted to deliver business impact – he wanted to work hard, he was creative, committed and passionate. Then one day it happened. He went to a state of the art chai shop at the very far end of the Millennium City. He met Chotu Chaiwala, and liked the cup of tea he was served. ChiMAN Sallu and ChoteLAL were next (somewhere in between was a old red mare..she’s long gone now though…replaced by Catbert). An offer was made, and the offer was accepted with joy.

The fairytale began. Chota Chotu liked it. Sardar khush hota tha, shabashi deta tha….kabhi kabhi gaali bhi deta tha…raat bhar chai ki recipes change karta tha….Chota Chotu didn’t mind – he just mined – data, text – he did them all. He kicked off his BOOTs, lived in the office like a CAMPer and soon he was termed as a good catch (PAKaDD) by his bosses. He felt loyal, and though offers were soon to start pouring in, there was no chance of inFIDELITY. There was an AMERIcan PRISE waiting for him.

While Chota Chotu was working hard, a Rashan ka dragon swallowed up Lalaji’s Chai Shop. Soon, Chota Chotu’s fellow helpers were leaving, and when Chotu Chaiwala himself left (due to bulls making MERRy while Chotu Chaiwala was getting ILL), Chota Chotu thought hard. He wanted to move with Chotu Chaiwala to the new chai shop, but somehow the other chai shop’s tea flavor promised to set in a year later. Chota Chotu stuck to his old chai shop, and got back to work. He served OUTSTANDING tea, but alas, there were no tips. He was promoted to Senior Chota Chotu (SCC), but he got paid as much as any other Chota Chotu. Meanwhile, the chai shop was no longer only a chai shop. FARMERS were producing grain day and night, and TRAVELERS were busy trying to sell it during the day. The mediators were getting all the pay hikes, while those who toiled and traveled got pay cuts. Somewhere along the way, the big lalas continued to visit the chai shop, and talked about integrating the chai shop into the rashan ka dragon – well they thought, rationed sugar would sure make the cost of the tea cup go down due to synergies!

Thats how it stands…the chai shop is still being integrated into the rashan ka dragon, and Chota Chotu (now Senior Chota Chotu) is still working hard….the number of chai shops in the vicinity is now in hundreds, and while Chota Chotu (now Senior Chota Chotu – he reminds himself very often – too often it seems) thinks about switching chai shops, the sands of time are flowing as before…

If you were looking for a fairytale ending to this story..I’m sorry it doesn’t exist (not for now anyways)

To my fellow Chota Chotus and ex-Chota Chotus – this story is dedicated to all of you. I’ve grown fat and bald in my times with you, and I hope sometime in the future our paths will cross again at other Chai Shops and Rashan ke dragons – and sometime I hope we can start our own Coffee shop, where the beans are always fresh, the coffee is always hot, and we have self-service instead of table service!

Updated (March 2008) :: Lalaji is now gone, ChoteLAL has become the new Lala, Singh is King (promoting his pawns), Bonus cuts, Catbert ignorance, ‘Father’ deserting his sons, and god knows what’s next! Sit tight!

Investment Banking (IB) is a sure shortcut to huge money – that is one thing everyone agrees on. My life happens to be full of graduates from “Double I” schools of India – as my bosses, peers, friends, siblings of friends, distant relatives etc. – and one thing you can gauge from the voices of people who are not investment bankers is that they would like to do that more than anything else in the world.

Personally speaking, I have never seen the thrill in the IB game, partly because of my ignorance and partly because of my belief that I am never going to be good with money matters (not that I don’t open my eyes wide in mock amazement when I hear figures of year end IB bonuses – amounts of money that I won’t probably earn in 10 years).

Liar’s Poker is a wonderful attempt at recreating the IB life – from a beginner to a seasoned I-Banker – and the story of the most successful I-Bank on Wall Street. The book also dwells fairly deep into the technical level details of the game, though certainly it is not to be treated as a “Trading Mortgage Bonds for Dummies” title!

What I understood from the book? Certainly, the work environment is not for the faint hearted (or should I say don’t carry your heart to your trading desk). When people in the same firm are out to screw you, there’s really no use of saying something like “watch your back” – as a full frontal attack is allowed and part of the rules. You’ve just got to hope your screwdriver works better than others and the screws at the top of your head are in place.

Bosses who pay themselves too much, and are taking the firm towards annihilation – I guess they are everywhere. Since the game is all about making millions in a flash, and everyone is trying to do the same thing, it should not come as a surprise if the boss pays himself like there’s no tomorrow. Unfortunately, if the same boss talks about virtues like loyalty, he would not find many listeners.

While the book traces the history of Salomon Brothers, I cannot help but compare it to my current workplace / domain of work. As a quick and dirty sequence of events:

A small firm doing exceedingly well in its area of work –> A brilliant new diversification idea –> Firm makes lot of money –> Merger / Acquisition (read as “people at top get rich quick”) –>Profit sharing absent for people at the bottom –> One bad season –> Panic –> Firm becomes talent seeding ground for competitors –> Too many players in the market –> Firm goes into consolidation mode –> Becomes just another player in the market as compared to holding several pioneering advantages earlier –> Business profitability heads south

Coming to the broader topics of “Evolution of Organizations” and Organizational Behavior (which are areas of my interest), there are too many of these stories floating around – and there is a certain sense of acceptance and inevitability of this kind of behavior whenever you talk of a startup. While the stock owners make very good money (and rightly so), people at the bottom (who have seen their careers grow with the firm and feel a sense of loyalty) are severely disillusioned. What I fail to understand is, if for a million dollars less in my kitty (out of several million dollars) I can make everyone feel an inclusive part of the growth and hold on to my prized talent pool for a longer period – why will I choose not to do that? And why will I choose to do that only in times of desperation when the hollowness in my heart is very apparent?

This is a question to several of the “leaders” I have seen so far. And hopefully, when I ask this question to myself one day, I will make the right choice.

True, it was unrealistic to expect a set of very average footballers to beat legends twice, but they were clearly the better side throughout the game – and they demonstrated their grit and dedication again.

What they lacked was inspiration – what they lacked was Steven at the top of his form – and lady luck deserting Rafa. They did it in 2005, and it would be very unfair to hold them responsible for the defeat – as I’m sure many Liverpool fans might be doing right now.

Milan had a minimal impact game from their star performers, and Inzaghi – I like to call him the “wild” card, scored each time he was not offside – intentionally or not, that is another issue! Not to be hypocritical, I would not have minded the ball hitting Crouch’s head twice and going through Dida’s fingers if it meant Liverpool would have been champions of Europe again.

What was clearly evident was, Football lost and the better side did not win the game. I am a huge fan of Maldini, and am glad he won his 5th Champions League title, but his contribution was nowhere as significant as it was in the previous 4 winning campaigns. Kaka and Gattusso are the real champions of this Milan side of 2007, and full marks to them. Milan know in their hearts that they hold the trophy, but it is Liverpool’s name which is written on it.

What do I get by supporting Liverpool is a question many of my football crazy pals have asked me, and they support clubs where the weekly wages of one of the players make up for yearly wages of most of the Liverpool players put together. What I get is inspiration – what I know is that you are most valued where you make your bones, not where the fans of the very club you play for jeer you if you do not perform in one game, or the club does not get any silverware for one season, or where you are viewed as a business acquisition than a human being.

But above all, what I get is that feeling of ecstacy, maybe for once in my entire lifetime, when I did not switch off the television at half-time during the early hours of May 26, 2005, and saw my team achieve the impossible. What I saw was how one man galvanised 11 foot soldiers into fierce knights, and when Istanbul was painted Red.

Go Pool – You’ll never walk alone.

Below is the text of a farewell mail one of my good buddies at work wrote when he quit. Makes you think….

—

Dearest Friends/Seniors,

Finally the time has come to bid adieu, it was a short and a very sweet stay at Inductis. I learnt a lot from all of you, I evolved as an individual and finally I received a lot of love, affection and joy while dealing with most of you.

Before I say goodbye (not the final one), I would just like to share something which recently occupied my mind for most of the time:

1. I can make attrition models to stop the attrition of customers from a client’s portfolio while I can’t stop the attrition of joy, satisfaction and health from my own life.
2. I can be too involved in predicting which guys can go delinquent while my own health is 90dpd.
3. I can spend nights after nights doing survival analysis but I can’t figure out which things are essential for my “Healthy Survival”,
4. I don’t want to be too much engrossed customizing a client’s IVR according to the needs of his customers while I can’t customize my life according to my friends/loved ones/kids/spouse/my parents.
5. Be yourself, live your OWN LIFE, don’t get too much influenced by other people’s life. Don’t be jealous(and If you succeed then let me know how J), sometimes you will be way ahead; sometimes you will be way behind. It’s a long race and in the end it’s going to be with yourself only.
6. don’t strive for a big bungalow or villa if you have decided to spent most of your time in the office
7. don’t run after luxurious cars if they are going to be parked in your office parking for most of the time, instead buy a small car and have time to go on a drive with your parents/someone you love/friends,
8. don’t join an expensive health club if you are never going to go there,
9. You are juggling your career, health, relations, status and money in a circus called life. Be very sure which balls you want to handle carefully; relations and health are made of glass once dropped they will be shattered while career and money are like tennis ball and they can bounce back again. — ex president of coca cola is of this particular view
10. few years from now you won’t regret about certain badly written codes/ badly made presentations/bad Ratings/missed Promotions but you will surely miss the time which you COULD HAVE spent with your parents/kids/spouse/lover, your youth , your health, the bachelor nights spent at some club with your friends
11. Don’t run In a vicious circle which says.. earn lots of money and world will call you successful and that success will give you the joy, try the other way round, do what you love to do, gain joy…success will surely follow and then money and fame will be all yours.

One should work for a living and not live for working. Rest we all have different priorities in life and you know your’s well.

That’s how I think, you re a free soul and very much intelligent to reject this theory or carve out a new one for yourself. I wish you all lots of love, tons of affection, loads of joy, numerous happy days, lots of health and a lot of people to care about you. I hope the bond which I made here with all of you will only strengthen with time and we all will have a lot of happy memories to share while we meet in future.

“a ship is safe in the harbor but that’s not what ships are meant for” …start the journey called life and explore all that you can in a single lifetime…

Lots of love

Kunal
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