Nuwan Online - Nuwan Weerasinghe’s Web Log

I wanted to reflect a bit on the whole mental state of happiness after listening to several Dhamma talks and also after some recent reading on Dhamma and practice. Our sense of happiness is entirely or rather predominantly based on external factors and i think this is why we would think of that perfect job, that perfect  relationship, that perfect position, that perfect House, that……….. to be happy. But the problem is that many of these things are time consuming to achieve and even when one has achieved all this then something is still missing. If one is already born with all of that then would (S)he be happy?

Well that’s not the case either. Then it has to be clear that by working hard on the externalities of one’s life, happiness remains elusive. If Happiness is ‘not out there’ then the only place it should be is ‘right in here’.

What is out there is not under your control, but what is in here is definitely controllable. Also our happiness is tightly bound with expectations. When external things are impermanent and uncontrollable would our expectations based on them be met? Would those be realistic expectations? What happens when our expectations are not met?

Clearly, whatever we do with the expectation of being happy ultimately brings everything but happiness. Why? Simply because you keep looking for it outside of yourself and you delay the opportunity to be happy ‘now’.

Actually, to be happy is to find it inside you free from everyone and everything. This happiness is enduring, calm and peaceful and has no strings attached to it. You can feel it anytime and every time you want. It’s the true home where you find ultimate happiness. It’s the happiness of being free from all expectations.

More than anything, the beauty of this happiness is that it is not in the past, neither somewhere there in the future

But right here and right now….

The CEO of Colombo Dockyard PLC was present yesterday at PIM to do a presentation to our MBA batch. It was good to listen to a gentleman who himself having graduated from PIM with an MBA and currently pursuing further doctoral studies at PIM.

It was indeed an interesting presentation he made about how Colombo Dockyard has risen from humble beginnings to one of the most successful corporate stories of our time. He stressed how leaders take the important ‘first step’ without any fear. Its a good feeling to listen to such Corporate Executives who have excelled in their fields and having brought immense success to their companies and to our country.

It was thought provoking to listen to him when he explained his strategies, customer segmentation, market analysis, negotiation with foreign customers and his ‘mental models’ which has helped him to take his company to great heights. The good things about listening to such corporate success stories is that you learn in one hour what would have taken many hours/days or possibly years for you to learn on your own.

As usual i was glad that i had to make the vote of thanks after his very informative presentation! 

Over the last two days (9th and 10th October) we had our MBA Residential Workshop/Playshop at Pegasus Reef Hotel . This was an event which everyone was eagerly looking forward to for some time. It was both educational as well as entertaining with a very good mix of work and fun. 

It was good to move around with the fellow MBA Colleagues and also to get an opportunity to chat with the academic staff. 

The ‘PIM Neon Night 2010′ was quite glamorous and was well organized by our organizing committee.  I was happy to sing in front of the gathering (Etha Ran Wiman Thulin) and also dance a bit to the Music (I’m a pretty lousy dancer ). The overall atmosphere was nothing short of electric.

Now we are back in Colombo and about to start this semester with full swing. 

I remember watching the Beijing Olympics and also the South African foot ball world cup. But all what stays in my mind was how well those large scale events were organized. It is clear that it takes years of planning and preparation to organize mega scale events such as these. In this backdrop it is indeed sad to see all the negative publicity which India, our neighbor has attracted in organizing the Commonwealth games. Normally countries are informed of their hosting status at least 8 years before the actual event in order to allow sufficient time for preparation. From what i read on the internet, India won this event in 2003 and with about couple of days left, they are still working on many things.

This also explains why India with all its resources (mainly the Human Resource) is still largely a poor country (with about 300 million below the poverty line). The recent economic growth in India is largely attributed to its large population and cheap labor. India’s meteoric rise in the global services industry is mainly based on this. But a country it truly put to test when many organizations, individuals have to come together and work on a one big project. We saw how ill prepared the Indian armed forces were during the Mumbai attack. There is a certain distance which India can go by neglecting these weaknesses what the whole world is seeing today. (while i agree that western media also purposely highlight the darker side of India to undermine her growing status)

If India wants to at least emerge as a serious regional power, she should get her act together. Her claims for permanent UN representation etc needs to be realistic ones. While the whole world would want to laugh at India, as Sri Lankan i am sad about this self inflicted humiliation of India. This is a great country and its up to her citizens to safeguard her name. When i look at some of the Chinese funded projects in Sri Lanka such as Hambantota port project which are even being completed ahead of time, India has some serious work to do if she is to even consider being a rival to China. India should know that it missed a great opportunity to showcase herself as an emerging global force to reckon by this mega scale mismanagement.  If Sri Lanka succeeds in the bid for 2018 CWG these are very important lessons for us too.

Ever since 18th May 2009, Sri Lanka has made rapid strides in luring tourists from all corners of the planet. So far tourist arrivals this year in comparison to last year has increased by almost 50%, and still we have not yet reached the ‘peak season’ for tourist arrivals which is normally the winter season for Northern Countries. Traditional markets for Sri Lankan tourism such as UK and Germany has already started to generate more leisure travelers. My guess is that we would easily surpass 600,000 arrivals this year at the end of the winter season. Even though this is a very small number in comparison to some of the more ’seasoned’ destinations such as Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia we are on the right track for further growth.

Unlike any other industry, Sri Lanka has a distinct product to offer when it comes to tourism. We provide a unique experience in a relatively smaller geography, which surpasses what India and Maldives in combination could offer. With the Sri Lankan government emerging victorious at the end of a 30 year conflict, several western nations in particular were eager to ‘probe’ how we brought the conflict to an end. Needless to say that these countries are ‘hurt’ as a battered nation such as Sri Lanka finally put a resounding full stop to terrorism. For 30 long years, the LTTE provided a great opportunity for these western masters to dictate terms to us and with the annihilation of the LTTE, they are naturally upset.

How else would one describe the decision to withdraw the GSP plus concession granted to this country when it is doing everything to emerge from poverty and economic stagnation. The emergence of the Tourism industry is important in this context since

1. Unlike Garment industry we need not depend on anyone on concessions and preferential access since Tourism is a product which cannot be easily regulated and controlled by these countries. (without curtailing the civil liberties of their own citizens to travel to any country they want).

2. Given the quality and the uniqueness of the product which we can offer, we can be very competitive in a very short period of time.

3. Almost all major conglomerates in the country who are currently operating in the Hotel sector have planned massive investments. This is also not restricted to Western Province alone. Large scale infrastructure development will take place in eastern province as well.

4. Boom in the construction of hotels would create many job opportunities in the country. Large scale projects are already being finalized by foreign investors. These fresh FDI plus local investments in Building hotels and resorts my mind would reach USD 1 Billion in my thinking in the immediate future. Considering the fact that we only have 14,000 rooms and that this would be atleast increased to 35,000 in the next 3-5 years would require such investments.

5. Sri Lanka’s stature as a regional naval and aviation hub would naturally grow with the influx of tourists. Large scale port projects undertaken by the government will make Sri Lanka Asian Naval hub in the next 10 years. Whats most heartening is the fact that the government has clearly identified Tourism as an industry with vast potential for Sri Lanka and many of their other activities are clearly in alignment with this.   

With the dawn of peace in the country, lot of people are waiting to ride the wave of economic prosperity which is clearly visible. Our private sector is already quite positive about the prospects in front of us.   While the majority waits to ride the wave to prosperity, the smart one’s should ‘’create waves’ and think creatively in order to grab the opportunities which in my mind are limitless in the current context. 

There is no doubt in my mind that the next generation of Sri Lankan millionaires or billionaires are the one’s who will successfully ‘create the waves‘ in this current context rather waiting to ride a wave. Any new products or services which could be value adding especially to Travel/tourism/leisure sectors would be great if you are serious about creating your own wave.

Right now Sri Lanka is the most opportune place if you want to start fresh.

We had a very nice discussion during last week’s MBA session at PIM. Some really good thoughts were shared as to Why one would agree to use a Blackberry (in that case any smartphone with email capabilities).

Even though Blackberry prices have dropped and many can afford to have one, it is still being considered as a niche. Also the typical user segment is the busy professionals/businessmen who requires 24x7x365 accessibility to mails. What technology has basically done is completely dismantled the already fragile boundaries between work and home. Employers can provide a Blackberry to their employees and expect them to be ‘on call’ or ‘be available’ any time.

Work and home would be basically inter-wined. Even if one is on leave or off work, still one would be required to respond to any eventuality. The Classic question  is whether you can take a mental break even when you have a physical break from work?

Has technology made business less dependent on humans? We certainly have more systems, better processes than what we had 50 years ago, but still we cannot do without human intervention.

Does the idea of ‘Work life Balance’ still hold ground? When our great great ancestors were hunting for food or growing their food did they call it work, or did they perceive it as part of life, which means there was no such clear distinction between the two in those days. Which would also mean, that there were no such things called vacations.

Technology makes us ‘productive’.But with all whats going on, I guess we need a better definition of ‘productivity’ these days. As of now, Blackberry makes you productive even when you are on ‘vacation’ . 

We are yet to experience the full impact of the south west monsoons. But the inter monsoons have already brought in in lot of damage with floods to many parts of the island. Most parts of Colombo were submerged creating so much of difficulty for all those who were affected. We are a nation blessed with water. We have enough inland water sources including both natural and man made sources. But we are paying very little to conservation of water. Even though we talk about floods, a much larger damage could be created with water shortages. We all have a very complacent approach when it comes to water conservation. 

In the attempt to become ‘Asian Miracle’ or  Asiyawe Ashcharya i have a few suggestions with regard to water conservation.

1. Government must make it mandatory for new constructs (including houses, factories, apartments, offices etc) to build rain water harvesting capabilities, or should impose a new annual tax on those construction which does not abide by this rule. 

2. Provide various incentives for those who build rain water harvesting systems at their houses, offices etc.

3. Educate farmers on water conservation. Improve our irrigation systems.

4. Our toilets needs to be designed for a more efficient water usage. Some authority (I’m not sure which one) should look into sub standard toilet fittings and ban all those cheap imports which consume excessive amounts of water. Municipalities should create inspection teams who should visit house holds and check on whether toilet fittings are acceptable for usage.

These are some of the things i just felt needs to be addressed even though there is much more to be done in water conservation. We might be talking now about floods and ‘bloody rain’. But mind you, its much more difficult when you go home after a long days work only to realize that there is not enough water for a shower. Water will soon be much more scarce than oil. In such a world, we Sri-Lankan’s are much more fortunate for the water we have in abundance. Yet, we need to plan out how to preserve our water resources for our next generations.  

Ours is a Civilization based on Water. Thats why we need to consider water conservation an important  item in the agenda to be ‘Asian Miracle’.

This is something which i truely believe in and thought of sharing what i feel. We do lot of things for lot of people, but how many of us appreciate what someone else did for us? How little appreciation do we get for what we did for others? I mean all the good things we did to others and vise versa. We all like to be appriciated in some way. Especially we humans love to be appreciated for our work. Many of us in the midst of our fast track lives forget to take a moment to show this bit of gratitude. Is’nt it wonderful to thank someone and recognize him/her for the great work he/she has done for you company, your company, your community!

How nice if you can tell each of your friends, team members how important they are to you and how much you value their companionship. When someone gives me a present or a gift what makes me happy is not the price tag (which is anyway removed), but the sheer fact, that person remembered me. It does’nt really matter if it is a bar of candy or an Apple ipod or something even bigger. Its the thought of someone remembering me enough to pick something for me.

Appreciation goes a very long way! It builds trust, brings everyone closer and most of all, shows a very beautiful side of your human nature. Try it…

I arrived in Atlanta after almost a 36 hour flight on the night of the 5th January. A flew ro Doha Qatar in the midle east where i spent the night in a transfer hotel and embarked on the Qatar Airways flight to New York. It was quite an experience flying into New York JFK airport. It was a 13.30 hr flight which i felt like never ending. From New York it was the third leg of trip to Atlanta on a Delta Air Lines flight which took around 2.30 hrs i guess. I did’nt notice anything during that flight since i was dozing all through the flight.

I walked into an uncharacteristically cold Atlanta. It was a full Winter here. Temperatures plunged into -8 or -9 in my first week. I had all the winter clothes with me, but the first ever experience of snow was amazing. I just loved the sight of small snow flakes comming down from the heavens.

Where i stay is about 40 minutes away from Atlanta city an area called Duluth. From here its about 10 kilometers to the Office of my Client. (Americans use miles for distance which i’m not very familiar with) I quickly got upto speed with driving in America. Its all about driving on the other side of the road. It takes a little bit of time to get used to it, specially on a junction, it really gets tricky. But apart from that you have to be careful about speed limits. Most of the roads around here allows speeds between 35 - 45mph. But a high way (400) Close by allows higher speeds.

There are many places to eat here. Had the opportunity to try Mexican and some Italian as well. The temperatures are getting better now. Probably by the time i leave (26th January) it should be quite normal here. But i’m ever glad that i walked into a winter and had the opportunity to experiece it.

Visited a large Wal Mart and a Barnes and Nonle book store last Saturday.

It would have been the perfect year in every sense. Then again what is perfection? 2009 promised a lot. There were victories as well as failures. 2009 is so far the most decisive year i have spent. Changed so many things forever.

Its just last friday that i was able to finish my first semester exams at PIM. I dont think it was a bad attempt. I’m just focussing on not repeating the mistakes and learning from them. Luckily my other group mates are like minded. So far i should say i really enjoyed every bit of my work at PIM. I know that it will test me and i like that.

Next semester starts from next Monday, but i will miss the early lessons due to my first ever visit to US. I will be going into a severe winter in the US and looking forward for that experience as well. All in all life just keeps rolling…