The most beautiful week in the whole year is undisputedly the one from 25th Dec to 1st Jan when all is well on earth and the gods are happy in their heavens. I obviously had my plans for the week, but there were other ideas in store - the seasonal flu that normally comes in with the onset of every winter hadn't happened in early Dec this year. It was lying low, to rear its head in this week.
I don’t know if it happens with you but my mental faculties take a complete break when I’m unwell. I remember trying to think “clearly” about my new year resolution and each resolution kept echoing and graying out into peripheral kinds of hues. All I had was four resolutions but attempting to think about it made it feel like there were a 100 of them. I finally had to reduce it to black and white on a piece of paper so it looked crisp - and DOABLE. Resolution #1 is humming along nicely, which was to continue the good work of going to the gym/hitting the track atleast thrice a week…I’ve managed 3 days out of 5 days so far in the new year which is a great start considering I was swathed in wool on the 1st.
But all told and done, I’m now back to the pink of health and I intend to make good on every lost moment with a vengeance by taking a forced leave before end April – I’m setting my eyes on a road trip from Delhi-Manali-Leh-Kargil. If the Zojila (which is my favorite place on all this whole wide earth) opens up by April, I can even do Kargil-Srinagar by road. [My happiest moments in life were those when I was perched at various vantage points along the Zojila in three different years (2006, 2007 and 2008)…I have whole albums just containing views from the Zojila – that’s how mad I am about the place. I guess the Zojila is more than photography…I can shoot there all my life but I’ll never succeed in capturing either the sheer magnitude or the feeling the place gives me].
The only thing I did during the run up to the new year was finish reading Tim Bouquet and Byron Ousey’s thriller-style account of L.N. Mittal’s take over of Arcelor – it’s a book titled “Cold Steel”. Neither Tim nor Byron sadly has the art of telling a story well. They introduce all the characters on each bid team in one go – which is about the surest way to make the reader get confused the very next time he comes across the character. And the names themselves don’t help – they’re strange names like Yoel Zaoui and Pierre-Yves Chabert to give you a sample. But one thing that did manage to penetrate through despite Messrs Bouquet and Byron’s obvious lack of experience in writing a novel and my own flu was the fact that it’s great to have some kind of purpose that drives you - even if that goal is as wordly as becoming the only producer of 10% of the world's steel output. ArcelorMittal seems to be the only company that manages this feat in a fragmented global steel industry. Without goals, actions aren't liklely to be cohesive or inclined towards any particularly great end. Now, this bit about the importance of goals is something of a known fact, but it hits hard in this book.
That seems to be the right note to end this post on. Wishing you all a very happy new year!
I don’t know if it happens with you but my mental faculties take a complete break when I’m unwell. I remember trying to think “clearly” about my new year resolution and each resolution kept echoing and graying out into peripheral kinds of hues. All I had was four resolutions but attempting to think about it made it feel like there were a 100 of them. I finally had to reduce it to black and white on a piece of paper so it looked crisp - and DOABLE. Resolution #1 is humming along nicely, which was to continue the good work of going to the gym/hitting the track atleast thrice a week…I’ve managed 3 days out of 5 days so far in the new year which is a great start considering I was swathed in wool on the 1st.
But all told and done, I’m now back to the pink of health and I intend to make good on every lost moment with a vengeance by taking a forced leave before end April – I’m setting my eyes on a road trip from Delhi-Manali-Leh-Kargil. If the Zojila (which is my favorite place on all this whole wide earth) opens up by April, I can even do Kargil-Srinagar by road. [My happiest moments in life were those when I was perched at various vantage points along the Zojila in three different years (2006, 2007 and 2008)…I have whole albums just containing views from the Zojila – that’s how mad I am about the place. I guess the Zojila is more than photography…I can shoot there all my life but I’ll never succeed in capturing either the sheer magnitude or the feeling the place gives me].
The only thing I did during the run up to the new year was finish reading Tim Bouquet and Byron Ousey’s thriller-style account of L.N. Mittal’s take over of Arcelor – it’s a book titled “Cold Steel”. Neither Tim nor Byron sadly has the art of telling a story well. They introduce all the characters on each bid team in one go – which is about the surest way to make the reader get confused the very next time he comes across the character. And the names themselves don’t help – they’re strange names like Yoel Zaoui and Pierre-Yves Chabert to give you a sample. But one thing that did manage to penetrate through despite Messrs Bouquet and Byron’s obvious lack of experience in writing a novel and my own flu was the fact that it’s great to have some kind of purpose that drives you - even if that goal is as wordly as becoming the only producer of 10% of the world's steel output. ArcelorMittal seems to be the only company that manages this feat in a fragmented global steel industry. Without goals, actions aren't liklely to be cohesive or inclined towards any particularly great end. Now, this bit about the importance of goals is something of a known fact, but it hits hard in this book.
That seems to be the right note to end this post on. Wishing you all a very happy new year!
7 comments:
Wow! Road-trip..! What fun. You know there are times I think you are probably my Ex's friend. You guys have so much in common including now the thing for road-trips. He also does his annual biking trips mostly to Leh though this year he went to the Valley of Flowers.
Anyways moving on.. Wishing you a super year ahead. And hope you stick to your New Year resolutions. I have already broken mine... 4th year in a row, Same resolution and it doesn't last more than a couple of hours.
Happy 2009 :)
...:-) no, I don't know your ex...but he seems a regular guy if he has such eminently acceptable plans like hitting the mountains every year. And if he manages these things on a bike..that kinds of takes him two notches up in my esteem because I'm scared stiff of bikes now after not having rode one in 5 years.
On the resolutions, today is only the 6th....you can ignore week 1 as an aberration and go hammer and tongs after the resolution(s)...seriously. 51 weeks still to go.
Wow, I gotta experience this some day. It definitely goes into my 'Things to do before I die' list. Good luck with your trip.
And even I have this book on my reading list next. I'm just started 'Rigged' - the one bout the Oil Industry, seems pretty interesting as of now.
Rakesh - I would recommend "Cold Steel"...its good for a one time read. It reads like a rags to riches starting from Sadulpur in Rajasthan to being the richest man in the UK. The audacity of dreams!!! I hadnt even heard of Sadulpur before.
Will check out this book "Rigged"...I'm keenly interested in oil. I devour every article the Economist has published on big oil especially around deposits in Russia and Canada.
On your recommendation, I already ordered Cold Steel...
Btw, check my funny post on the Satyam debacle
totally agree on 25th to 1st being the most beautiful time .. that time of the year is pure bliss.. except for the fact that this was by far the worst december ever
i havn't been to the gym in the longest time because i get home only by late night, and having the time to read would be a treat.. sigh!
hey hows work coming along for you?
anyhow, Zojila sounds too good, i have a couple of travel plans too fr this year, delhi tops the list ofcourse
hope u have a great roadtrip, and a wonderful 2009:)
Aries, London post up finally!!
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