Karthik Blogs

Over the weekend I was invited to participate in a group game called Mafia, and when the game involved my favorite cricket star-Ashwin, I had no two thoughts about it.  Initially I was quite apprehensive to participate in the game given that it was a group environment and I did not quite like the idea of making a fool out of myself, which I quite naturally did. Understandable that you are new to gamification, for me however these are the failed experiments that leave lasting impressions on the mind and most importantly the lessons learnt from them. About the Game Called Mafia:  In a gamified scenario, there are the Villagers, The Wolves, The Policeman and The Doctor, and of course the moderator Aim of the Game: The Villagers, The Doctors and The Policeman are the good set of people, the upholders of Dharma, the torchbearers of the world. The Wolves on the other side are all evil, on the lookout for the good people to do away with them. The Objectives are pretty much...

There is always a Monday morning feeling when you have to get back to work, back to regular grind and the regular weekday scenario. However there is always the memories from a fun filled weekend from which I derive my motivation and inspiration. I always view it this way that, each second in ones life is a whole new experience and I draw my strength from these mini lessons that I pick along the way. As a child I loved to collect colorful little pebbles. More so I was always fascinated by the round, transparent ones which had colour rainbows within them. As I grew older, this little fascination gave way to the Pebbles of learning that I keep picking up each day. As colourful as the ones when I was a child, Most Transparent as there is no ulterior motive other than pure undiluted learning. These are the Pebbles that I picked up from Ashwin over this weekend, and I wish to share them with you my readers. I call these colourful Pebbles Leadership Pebbles. Leadership Pebble Blue...

I usually get up in the morning with some very positive thoughts and ideas, some catchy phrases that linger in my mind till I put it down to paper. As I was glancing through the news headlines I came across this phrase StartUp that is so often repeated in todays business parlance. Let me hit the context stright away. I was in conversation with one one my institute Alumni yesterday on whatsapp. I know that he follows what tallboyK strikes as a blog. His name is Ramdas and he was talking about how his team was flourishing and how the team was expanding. Its always happy news when you get to get to hear success stories from your colleagues, and institute alumni. That in a sense becomes an inspiration for you to follow. I prodded Ramdas that maybe I should feature him in a blog of mine. He promptly sends me a link that I could perhaps feature in my own blog. Tired as I was, decided that I would do a critical reading in the morning. As I was driving to office today, a the mysteriou...

It happened in 2015, Vardah hit us in 2016 and in 2017 its back to very heavy rainfall. When I first landed in Chennai I was told that there there were only three vagaries in the climatic conditions that prevail in this part of the country, hot, hotter and hottest. Lets awaken to the realities of 2017, Its hot, hotter and hottest in summer and Heavy Rains,Heavier Rains and Heaviest Rains in November and December. Come to think of it, we have now perhaps attuned ourselves to the most extreme kind of weather conditions. Its now almost ten days since the North East Monsoon hit us, we have indeed weathered quite a few storms. The new thing about #ChennaiRains2017 is that there is no letting up. Its been one wave followed by another sharp spell. There has been a set pattern in the last ten days. Its rain-rain-rain-rain-break-sunshine-rain-rain-rain-rain-sunshine-rain. Last Ten Days there has been no school with kids at home having a gala time. I would suggest that the government and...

On the eve of what will be his 29th birthday, it has become very clear that Virat Kohli has taken over the leadership mantle from Mahendra Singh Dhoni. One of the traits of a successful leader is the ability to emerge victorious even from the dark tunnels of defeat. Virat is clearly seen enjoying his stint at captaincy while not allowing his own individual performance to take a dip. In this article I want to focus on the reasons that make Virat tick as a leader. 1# Delegation of Responsibility From what we have seen so far is that Virat loves to delegate responsibilities. He gives the ball to the bowler while allowing them to flower with their own skills and wherewithal. Never one to interfere in things like right areas to bowl to, so on and so forth. In fact if you would have observed match situations, he positions himself in the deep fielding positions in the latter half of the game. He quite literally delegates the captaincy part to be taken over Dhoni. If you were to check ...

Sports as a profession is not meant for the Faint hearted. It never was and never will be. I have been wanting to do this piece for quite a long time after a fair bit of understanding of how Sportsmen work at it or get made for the stern tests ahead of them. 1.Modern Sports is Gruelling Physically : It is definitely getting more physical out there. Its no longer just about talent but also as much about the physical fitness part. Sportsmen follow a stringent physical fitness regimen that require them to be physically fit right through their professional career. So you will find players and sportsmen hitting the Gym with a vengeance. Believe me I have seen players quite literally abuse their bodies till the point when the body says no. Its almost to the point where breathing becomes difficult. Sports and the desire to excel in the chosen field has become that demanding. 2.Each Day is Tough: Ask a Sportsman and he will tell you, how each day is challenging. When a sportsman g...