I, The Absolute

(I)
Finally, the Spanish classes took off. We covered the alphabet, the numbers between one and ten, some popular greetings. Amongst the class was a boy, perhaps, of 6-7 years age. The teacher questioned the parent if the boy would be able to keep pace with the teaching. Her remarks surprised me, because it is children who can learn languages fast. To confirm to my understanding, the boy was the first to answer some question she asked. Added to a child’s ability to grasp concepts and languages is his curiosity towards things new and external.

What actually happens between our childhood and our adulthood is the loss of this curiosity and ability. Slowly but in a systematic fashion, parents, school and society through their inescapable heavy-hand torture the child into not asking questions. In some cases, they do not want to answer; in many cases, they do not know the answers. The child is left clueless as to why he is being given a deaf ear, why he is being unanswered and why the same people he reveres are unable to answer his basis questions. Since he does not and cannot find answers to his many questions, he becomes inward looking and slowly becomes self-centered that he loses interests in the knowledge that is attainable from external events. Wherever curiosity is encouraged, we find different types of kids, growing into mature and outward-looking adults.

(II)
Today, a colleague student from consulting background and I made presentation on banking to some of the students. My presentation went on well. It is a good feeling when people like it. But this is not about self-praise, but about how the other person approached the subject. I was a banker and spoke as a practitioner would speak. Much of my analysis was bottom-up and how a practitioner would view the banking world. I covered nitty gritty and also made a few generic/motherhood statements. He approached the subject from an entirely different perspective, which is usual to a consultant. He did a broad picture analysis. How a bank should get into business; which businesses should a bank get into; having gotten in, what is the best way to do it. Which are critical factors for the functioning of a bank; what is sustainable in the long-run. Et cetera. Not all of the tips may work, but definitely, the way in which the consultants look the world is quite ‘interesting’ to me. A consultant’s entire thought process is oriented towards broad picture and how things can be looked in a systematic and structured fashion. Though I like consulting business and if given a right slot would like to go into consulting, I am quite proud to have been a practitioner and get kick out of building franchise, making money for the organization and fighting it out in the market place. To me, business development is my organizational raison d’etre.

Hasta la vista

PS:
-For a few more days, my excitement will manifest in my writing and please pardon the same. You many see a few Espanol words in my blog.
(H) olla todos means hello everyone (H is silent)
Hasta la vista means till I see you

-Not that consultants have an easy time out in the market. They also fight a lot to get business from a client. But there is a good difference between what a consultant does and a manager does.