I do not know if this is of any cardinal value to you, my dear readers, but i must inform you that i’m an avid coffee guzzler and that my tryst with the ubiquitous tea, at least in my part of world, continues only when i hit the road and move beyond the realm of corporate, business, management and meetings, usually on Sundays. As always, let’s have the disclaimer first:
Disclaimer: The S(f)unday blog has nothing to do with the business or management aspect of a business. It’s just an attempt to go beyond the weekdays of knowledge blogging and share something different, yet informative and knowledgeable, with our readers and subscribers. So, just get yourself couched and enjoy this with a cup of Coff-Tea 😉 Sip by Sip.
Move throughout the length and breadth of the country, India, only to find the one common thread that unites us all, the ubiquitous and omnipresent Tea. It isn’t just a cup, may be glass or the go green Kulhar(Read-Here), of tea. It is an experience, beyond what you get inside those air conditioned rooms, and the tea stall as an institution that teaches you much more than any institute. I always look out for a place where they make tea in a tea kettle, you need to personally experience this to understand how a kettle doubles the enjoyment of a tea compotation.
“The Tea Kettle- It is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it still sings!!“~ Unknown. And don’t confuse the singing with some siren from some other part of the body 😉 It sings and that too from mouth. No amount of education, discourse or instruction can teach you Perseverance, endurance, patience and the benefits that follow. The kettle perseveres and produces an elixir called tea that gets you rejuvenated, sip by sip. The kettle is like an organization comprising of various people, culture and departments, aka milk, sugar, tea leaves, independent yet connected towards a common goal. It takes an entire organization to put itself on a fire, and persevere, in an attempt to achieve over all goals and objective, just like a kettle.
As you can’t expect a good cup of tea without putting the kettle on fire, likewise it takes an organization to go through the acid test before getting the taste of success. It also requires various independent, yet connected, peoples to realise that goal. If you don’t agree to this then just skip putting the tea leaves the next time you prepare the tea and let me know the taste 🙂
A complimentary item that could be found at any teal stalls is the Toast. Yes, something like Rusk. Some one said
“Bread and water can so easily be toast and tea”. That sounds so true, but the process definitely not that easy. If you don’t agree then just sit on a fire for few minutes and try to get yourself transformed. Do let me know how cool that is 🙂 Again, this transformation in itself brings a great deal of learning, especially for those new age self-proclaimed CXOs who do not realise that their start up business or even an established one is nothing different than those Bread and water. As long as you won’t mix it with right ingredients and follow a right approach it would either perish or end up with a burnt flavor. Like wise, if not more, a business too, especially startups, needs to have a right people and right approach to realize its vision.
In the mean time, while i am writing this, a friend of mine joined me for a cup of tea and see what he suggested, again the author unknown, about the teapot:
“Strange how a teapot can represent at the same time the comforts of solitude and the pleasures of company”. Great!!! Isn’t it? This is so true for any business as well. An organization finds that comfort when it succeeds in transferring that pleasure to its customers, and to create that pleasant experience it needs to have every brick at a right place at right time. A wonderful learning that follows our immortal tea.
I don’t know how many of you know about the “Cutting-Chai (Hindi, for tea)” (Read-Here), but then it hold its own pleasantries. It provides you with a warm feeling of sharing and learning about the satisfaction. It also teaches you, especially a product based organization, that “If i build it they will come” syndrome doesn’t applies in market. Sometimes, it will require customizing the same, Cutting-Product :), and sometime making a change for some different customer. A diabetic person asks for a tea sans sugar or sugar free sweetener. The same is applicable in your business too. Don’t get emotional with what you developed and be adaptable to change.
There could be plethora of learning that one could experience standing at a tea stall. You just need to quaff that and not stand at a stall just for standing. It’s time you move out, pick your cup of tea and let us know what you made out of it? If not, then we’re always here to bring the fun to you, in our own way, and share our experiences.
I guess it’s time i should stop this post here and go out to find my cutting-chai. Enjoy!!!!
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