Thoughts, questions , ideas

Asst Manager - Supplier Quality - Bengaluru/Bangalore - Client of EHS - 5-to-7 years of experience - Jobs India

2011-07-14T06:34:00.000-07:00

Job - Asst Manager - Supplier Quality - Bengaluru/Bangalore - Client of EHS - 5-to-7 years of experience - Jobs India

A truly Sad Day Park Slope Plane Crash | The Readers Remember - NYTimes.com

2011-02-10T05:10:00.000-08:00

Park Slope Plane Crash | The Readers Remember - NYTimes.com

CFM Goa

2010-10-15T05:05:00.001-07:00

--
Prakash Francis
9742267630

Robber Dad

2010-08-13T21:19:00.000-07:00

It's saturday and here I am wearing a Brand new T-shirt, all ready, to leave for office-when my daughter comes up and say "Appa, you look like a robber". I didnt have to guess too long as to where that came from, but she nevertheless gave me an explanation - Mr Bean wears this suit in an episode where he breaks into a milk bottling plant.

You never know what thought processes get triggered by some of your routine actions.

PTM's and Camels

2010-08-06T23:24:00.000-07:00

Parent Teachers meeting at my sons' school today. Nothing major just a one on one meeting with the class teacher.

He seems to be decent at studies so the teacher had nothing untoward to say about him.

Just was wondering about this concept of having computer science for kids. I have'nt gone through what they cover in this subject . Possibly define the parts of a computer, and maybe give a tour of windows.Probably.

How does it help the child ? What does he learn? And spending more than a period every week on something which might not even exist when they pass out. Forget passing out - we might not have computers the way we know them even in the next 5 years.Atleast the pictures of computers seem to filled with CRT monitors and CPU and the odd laptops.

Would you like to have your children study about cars, bikes , the various parts or how about cycles. Why not music systems - or why not mobile phones? they have more computing power than the computers shown on the books of these kids.

Who comes up with such ridiculous curriculum? Beats me! One can easily see the work of a committee here. Leave a committee to come up with a design for a Horse - they will come up with a Camel. I believe theres a quote to that effect.

Talking of camels - few of them were seen outside the school - taking children on short rides.

Thou shall not covet thy enemy's wife

2010-07-30T20:44:00.000-07:00

Life ends, if you do so.

Well, atleast that is one moral you could take away - after watching Mani Ratnams latest offering - Raavan(Tamil).

Good to see Ratnam in action after a long wait. Wonderfully engrossing movie. Locales(wow), the camera, and acting. Vikram's facial expressions literally carried the movie.And Aishwariya was at her beautiful best and well within her acting capabilities. That alone speaks volumes for Mani Ratnam.

Wonder, what the location was - could be Coorg or Kodai. But, such original locations never before seen on screen - I haven't. Almost the entire movie has been taken in rain.

If you want a proper movie review you could read this, and don't miss the comments.

I would not like to comment on the hindi version, because I have not seen it, and well , I don't intend to.

I guess that can be taken as a comment.

Just for the records - I am a great fan of Abhishek.

Runs

2010-07-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

Another month inches to a close. Sometime its hard to believe that 2010 has already run past the half way mark.
Talking of Runs - my morning runs have been steady the past 2 months. I must be doing over a 120 kms per month. Every day I am running 5kms now - barring the days it rains or when I travel.

have wanted to raise it to 6-7 kms atleast once during the week - but the route is so set - that once I start its habitual for me to take the same turns.

Yesterday an interesting thing happened. I met an acquaintance and made a positive comment on his dress. He took it as a comment on his fitness and remarked that his daily morning walks of 5 kms are the reason for it.

I didnt want to tell him about my schedule - wonder what he would thought. Perhaps that I was pulling his leg.

I guess its about time I ran atleast one Full Marathon. Been running half's for quite sometime now. Raise the bar..

Trip tp Velankanni

2010-07-23T03:45:00.000-07:00

This Evening I am off on a Trip to Velankanni. this trip has been overdew by a few months. Actually I dont remember when it was the last time I went.

Generally I manage a trip every once in six months - this has been over a year I guess. Its going to be very short just planning on an 8 hour stay before I start back.

If the weather happens to be very good I will stay one more day probably.

Peas and Carrots

2010-07-22T20:17:00.000-07:00

Last week we attended a Rock show by Peas and Carrots a local rock Band from Bangalore. They were playing at reliance Time out at their annual Rock Fest. .

Tried placing a comment for the above article but coudl'nt do so. Captcha kept returning invalid. So am pasting my comment here

I was their at the show with the Kids. They enjoyed it to some extent but I enjoyed it more. Especially the older numbers from Beatles & Simon & Garfunkel.

Siddarth has a great voice and he came up with some excellent guitaring. One of the renditions by sheela was supperb. dont remember the song. Claude was great on the Keyboard - providing some cool accponiment.

Want to Thank Reliance Timeout for coming up with this format. Great to get to listen to some wondeful home grown talent.

Peas and carrots - Wish you all the best

Hope to catch you guys at your next show.

Nalini Nadkarni Trees Prisons

2010-07-22T19:18:00.001-07:00

Dadomatic

2010-07-22T01:50:00.000-07:00

Was going through the blog Dadomatic started by chrisBrogan .

wondering if we could start something like that. I personally know people who would love to contribute.so what if they were in different parts of the world.

We could share situations we face as Dads. About the episodes we have with our kids. The challenges we face with our respective "better halfs".

Would be fun no doubt.

Carter Emmart demos a 3D atlas of the universe | Video on TED.com

2010-07-07T20:04:00.000-07:00

Carter Emmart demos a 3D atlas of the universe | Video on TED.com

Solitude and Leadership: an article by William Deresiewicz | The American Scholar

2010-07-01T03:53:00.000-07:00

Solitude and Leadership: an article by William Deresiewicz | The American Scholar: "thing that made the study different from others is that the researchers didn’t"

Human Resource Executive Online - Story

2010-07-01T02:12:00.000-07:00

Human Resource Executive Online - Story

Secrets of Success of Saina Nehwal � Inspire Minds

2010-06-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

Secrets of Success of Saina Nehwal � Inspire Minds

Talent is Useless

2010-06-21T19:45:00.000-07:00

This post is from my wordpress blog. Harsha Bhogle on Excellence.

Yesterday I was watching a video of a talk given by Harsha Bhogle in IIMA a few years ago. Wonderful talk, longish, but worth the time. Here is the complete video Part1 , Part2 .

He mentioned that Indians are big on glorifying Talent. And he was primarily talking about the Indian cricketers. Talented stars in India are feted till they get turned into arrogant Divas who make big dollars but no runs. ( He didnt say all this – it was my addition, its my blog yaar – come on) .... readon

Driving in Rain

2010-05-30T19:27:00.001-07:00

an emergency trip to chennai turned out to be quite eventful.

while on the way the tire blew up - first such experience for me and I thought the car would disintegrate. I was going at around 90 kms/hr when this happened. But, could I believe my luck when the car stopped right next to a automobile garage.

I just couldnt beleive it-here I was somewhere near ranipet - and apart from this garage for atleast another km on either side there were no buildings. But, I just got it repaired right away and moved on.

The real challenge wqs while we were returning. It was a night drive with rains from Ambur onwards. the rain was not torrential , but bad enough - the visibility was bad. Infact a few times I felt the car slide sideways maybe a few inches not more - but that was enough to bring down the speed to around 60. There were quite a few cars whizzing by at 100 even in that rain.

I guess they had very good tyres.

Dhoni

2010-05-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I sat through the India / West Indies match - right upto the 18th over and even until Harbajhan Singh batted I was counting on an India win. 16 runs look big but I feel it was quite close. Now as India seems almost out of the tourney - there doesn't seem to be any point in picking hairs as to why we did'nt make it.

But, I hope before the next tournament starts - the Indian team is able to bounce back. The team desrves it - on a good day when even 2-3 of our batsmen are playing to their potential we can beat any team in the world.

I guess the one reason for this supreme confidence in the Team is - Dhoni.

The way he leads the team is like a running lesson in Leadership. The various learnings that can be had and more are listed here . Dhoni is truly and inspiring persona.

One of the things which stand out are

The ease with which he accepts the result. If its a win - he is gracious in his praise and if a loss he accepts the mistakes takes the learnings and moves on.

There is no blame game.The match is over buried - another match a different day start afresh.

How has a manged to distill such traits at such a young age. He is not 30 yet.

He doesnt mince words and takes his critics head on at times but mostly he sticks to being a cricketer - without getting distracted by the entrapments.

Here is what Albie Morkel his csk team mate mentioned recently about dhoni “He is calm and relaxed. If he is upset with something or any player, he doesn’t go out and rebuke them, but goes to the coach. He soaks pressure and brings the best in every player.”

He soaks the pressure. Not many cricket captains come to mind who deal with on field mistakes the way dhoni does. The max is a glare. Thats about it. Time just move on.

The ability to live in the present even in the pressure cooker situations. At any given time it almost feels like he has an aerial view of the cricket field while still being in the thick of the action.

The volume of praise coming his way is not going to end soon . A loss in one tournament is not going to make any difference. Infact, it was just a week before that Dhoni and his men finished a marathon 45 days plaing 59 games amongst themselves as part of the IPL. The players in the indian team were pitted against one another as part of different teams. It would take some time to get back the right dress room atmosphere. Coming into a 2 week event where loosing 2 games in a room can mark an end to your chances .

So lets say it was good the Team got out . Gives us a much needed break from cricket for sometime. Before we again get immersed in the next tourney the championship league - whenever it happens.

Running Update

2010-05-07T19:30:00.000-07:00

Been two full full weeks running 5kms daily and 10kms on sundays. There was only one day when I didnt run and that was yesterday. Feels real good.

For sometime now I have been thinking of forming a Running Group in this part of Bangalore - Banaswadi/ Kamanahalli. There are a few regulars - not sure how many of you are on RFL. If you are why not lets get in touch and work out something.

The idea came up as I was unable to go for the Sunday runs as it clashes with my other schedules for the day.

So I end doing the 10km circuit alone. Not that I am complaining. But, I guess it would be more fun with company.

Here is the scanned version with the route highlighted and key stations mentioned below.

RFL has also called out to people interested in starting a local chapter in the respective areas. Around 20 are needed to make it.

Auroville Marathon -2

2010-02-19T01:05:00.000-08:00

The race day

Reached certiude at 5:40Am. A small crowd had gathered maybe a 100 or 200.
I hogged half a dozen bananas and finished of the electrol.

The countdown started 5 minutes before and sharp at 6:00 AM we were off. There was a bit of a melee during the early part , it cooled off after the first km or so. then on, it was mostly each man to himself. Everyman running to the beat of his own drum. This time my strategy was to preserve as much of my energy as possible for the last 2-3 kms as that is where we waste a lot of time walking, when running deserts us.

I kept a slow pace but maintained it till almost 14-15 kms. Also I took brief rests whenever I saw a water booth. From 50 feet or so before to another 50-100feet after i just walked as I drank the glass of electrol and banana. This provided brief rest periods and i guess all that paid off in the end.

This time since I was running with a time target in mind I missed out on the scenic beauty of this marathon. Running through mostly unpaved muddy paths filled with clay and somtimes a half buried rock - makes this a alltogether different experience. I remember passing the "Grace" , The "Tibetan - something " . While passing grace I was thinking about "Amazing Grace" i dont know why? The birds sang their usual numbers, the drummers beat their drum like last time - i had actually intended to take a lot more snaps along the way but my mobile just hung - so I turned it off - thinking it muast have been due to some sweat seepage. But luckily no such thing happened.

Self Portrait @ 10km mark

Between the 18th and the finish line there was a stretch of open ground which was, I felt the toughest part of the race - as by then the sun was beating down - Managed to walk run that strech and the last km or so was a dash. Entered the certitude at almost max speed with lot of clappings and cheer and as I crossed the finish line received a fantastic hug from a grey haired pony tailed gentleman and got garlanded by a pretty lady with the medal ribbon. ( would'nt mind if it had been the other way round too).A few others congratulated and WOW! the race was over - was I happy!!!. Not the least for the Hug at the end .

Then I was surrounded by family . The kids were witheir story of how they participated in the 2km race and finished it. I collected the T shirt and had my leg massaged by a Sikh co marathoner. Well , hats off to his spirit. I did'nt get his name. It felt great after the massage - though the toes got a trifle crushed in the process.

We had a short wait in the que for pongal and Vada followed by a much longer wait for Dosa / Sambar. Both waits were well worth it.

Sat around and Chatted for another hour or so before we left for the room as I wanted to catch some much needed sleep prior to the drive back to bangalore.

Today the times came in , I did the half in 2:14:45 and placed at 94. Not bad at all. Target is to finish the next half marathon inside of 2:00 hrs.Achievable.

I am running the 10km "strides for life" run on Sunday. Hope to find some familiar faces.

Auroville returns !!

2010-02-15T05:18:00.000-08:00

The auroville marathon lived up to its expectation. After missing out on the Mumbai marathon - I was intent on going for it and all the planning paid off. A wonderful run and my best in a longtime. Our Original plan was to go by train but the return options from Podi to bangalore had dried up. No trains on Sunday and no buses available.

Packed our selves up in our beatup Santro and off we went leaving home at 2:15 pm. The drive was our first on this route and I had not planned on the night driving on a 2 lane road with no dividers . It was a tough experience driving at 9:oo pm on such a stretch. Luckily in the Thiruvannamalai - Tindivanam stretch I latched on to a Maruti who drove at a manageable speed and just followed him . From Tindivanam it was just another 40 kms and its was done in as many minutes. By the time we checked in it was 10:45pm . 8:30 hours we were at it except for a brief stopover for dinner at Tiruvannamalai. Now that was another experience - food was great absolute home made food except that the restaurent turned out to be a single bedroom house. Sudarshan A/c had one small room 10ft by 10 , with two tables and an aircon.
But we were not complaining as the food was great and had it not been for the fact that we were entirely out of change we might have tipped the waiter luxuriously ( by thiruvannamalai standards).

We straightaway crashed and were still asleep at 8:00AM when my sis called to say that were on the way from chennai and would be reaching by 9:30. After a quick break at Nallas and brief stopover at our room were we placed sis and families' luggage we were off to brief visit to Pondicherry town and then to Auroville to collect the bib.

A Bullish start to the New Year

2010-01-03T19:20:00.000-08:00

A Lusty Bull , a not so lusty cow, WOW! My foot!! & me on all fours.( The above picture is quite misleading)

Thats what happened as missus and I came out of a More outlet. As I stood by the bike putting on my helmet there was a mild commotion behind - the sound of empty wooden boxes falling - I turned around to see a bull mounted on a cow - the typical mating pose and the cow heading for us - 3 feet away. My wife as usual froze and I had to push her and myself out of the way. In the process landed on the road with the helmet taking its own route to the other side. Managed to escape with only a trampled foot-Thanks to the hooves of the cow.

As I picked up myself and the helmet missus was very concerned about my kerchief which was right under the cows nose and tried picking it up.

The episode got over as quickly as it started and I only had one bloody toe to show for it. One passerby indicated to me that it was my red T shirt that attracted the cow to me and I very patiently tried to explain why that was not the case.

Eventful start nevertheless - what do you think?

2010-01-01T19:38:00.000-08:00

Questions- Or How to Stay on Target

2009-12-19T17:54:00.000-08:00

Questions- Or How to Stay on Target: "

In How to Make Goals Happen Pt. 1 – Goalbox, we discussed a very simple visual trick for keeping the execution of your goals foremost in your mind. Now, in part two, let’s talk about the value of a few well-used questions to act as compasses to guide you towards your success.

As with part 1, this isn’t especially hard, and yet, if we don’t work at it, we won’t execute on our goals in 2010 without this. You can use this method for business as well as your personal goals.

How to Stay On Target with Questions

Come up with three to five very brief statements that summarize your goals. Try to make them SMART goals. For instance, your goal might be “Get 3000 blog subscribers by June 2010.” That’s specific, measurable, attainable (one hopes), realistic, and timebound.
Write very simple questions that reference these goals. “Will doing this get me 3000 subscribers by June 2010?”
Ask yourself these questions before committing to any request. Be relentless. If you’re asked to help organize a new meetup in your community for other bloggers, will this get you those 3000 new subscribers? Maybe, but that’s up to you to decide.
Take action accordingly.
Repeat.

Learning how to say no will keep you much more focused and will keep you tied into those goals that matter most to your development in 2010. As I said before, you can do this for business goals: “make $140,000 in revenue per month by March, by closing 5 sales a month” is your SMART goal and “Is this helping me get more sales prospects?” might be the question. The more times that answer is no, the more times you’ll realize that you’re not working on what matters to your goals.

Speaking of Questions

It’s simple, but does it make sense? Have you tried something like this? What do you think it’ll do for your goal-setting in 2010?

Photo credit burning karma

"

Have tried this - well have started the process and given up in one or two weeks. Guess the key is repetition and being relentless.
One tends get carried away by the flow responding to the pulls of the day.

A True Hero

2009-10-30T05:33:00.000-07:00

The sensational triple murder last week , which sent shivers down many a spine, got solved in style within 3-4 days. That speaks volumes about the innate ability of our Police Force. Something which can be proud of.

At the same time one cannot praise enough the man who single handedly tilted the scales against the criminals. Here was a constable who was touched by the utterly repulsive nature of the killings and, immediately acted on it.

In his own words he never expected to nab the criminals so soon but the moment he got the lead from his informants he followed up on it. He could have just as easily expressed his inabilty to meet them at such a late hour.
We have to be thankful for these few good men who are willing to sacrifice their comforts for the common good.

This incident captured the attention of most people whom I interact with on a daily basis since we stay very close to the area where it happened.

I am doubly grateful to this Hero of the Day!

Identifying discomfort

2009-10-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

When you identify the discomfort, you’ve found the place where a leader is needed. - Thus spake Seth Godin - the web2 Zaratustra.

Where there is discomfort you might find a leader working away quietly sifting through grime to find the solution to the discomfort. But more often than not it might be a few 10 years before his leadership in the said field gets recognized and he gets acclaimed if ever.

Where all are the modern day discomfort zones ?

2009-10-16T06:15:00.001-07:00

Heading for a Hothouse

2009-09-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

During the ecocene era which was 10-50 million years ago - the temperatures at the poles was 10-20 degrees centigrade. the tropics were at an average 40 degrees.
Imagine sitting on the sandy beaches of the arctic. sunbathing under the perenial evening sun. Balmy winds thru the year.

The tropics might be just deserts. Perhaps the Sahara might stretch right upto the china sea. Wait a minute or would it be somewhat like the amazon - rains lashing contnuously due to the heavy evaporation - Floods and typhoons might be the order of the day.

Global warming scenarios that are being peddled around look like jujubee - compared to this scenario.

Earth time is up. Paaaaack uuuuppppp!!!!!!

A case for Children Staying in Apartments

2009-08-26T20:32:00.000-07:00

I was dismayed to read a notice today on the apartment wall - from the President of the Committee. Telling parents not to allow children to run, skate play ball or do anything on the corridors.

Now one would assume that if the children are not to play in the corridors - then they would have been provided ample space to play. In the form of a childrens play area.

But that is not the case. The childrens play area has been potted - thanks to the brilliant initiative displayed by the apartment owners living in the immediate vicinity of the (childrens play area) CPA.

Now there are parents who dont want their children to play.And that is fine. There might be n different reasons for that.

But, I am only concerned about the children who want to play and who are being progressively denied avenues to do that.

There seems to be a delibrate attempt to muffle children. Which isn't good.

Conversations 2

2009-08-20T23:33:00.000-07:00

Nowadays at home topics invariably revolve around Swine Flu , H1N1 .. you get the drift.

Yesterday at dinner out of a whim I put this question ..

Me: Why do Pigs Fly?

Y1(5yr old): (without batting an eyelid) - because they have swine-flu.

___________

How to turn the heat up on flu

2009-08-16T21:58:00.000-07:00

How to turn the heat up on flu: "The rapidly circulating swine flu infection in the country has sparked a rush to install thermal scanners at airports and malls."

Swine Flu

2009-08-16T20:55:00.000-07:00

If people are panicking there seems to be a reason.

A week ago 100 cases and 2 deaths. Now , 27 deaths and 1500+ cases. And , new locations - chattisgarh has opened the account with 2 deaths.

The News is that the private hospitals(Bangalore) that were roped in to lessen the pressure on govt hospitals - were refusing patients with flu like symptoms and referring cases to RGIMS - which already severely stretched.

There are instances where the test results are arriving after 3 days - so if a person is infected - even after admitting he might have to wait 3 days before the relevant medication starts.

In these circumstances the only option is prevention - don't get infected.

And dont let your children to schools because - whatever the authorities say - containing the spread in schools with 40+ children in a classroom - is just not feasible.

Well, it does'nt get bigger than this.

Life Explained

2009-08-14T02:51:00.000-07:00

Life Explained: "


TWO WOLVES

One evening, an old Cherokee Indian,  told his grandson about a battle
that goes on inside people.

He said, 'My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

'One is Evil -  It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed,
arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false
pride, superiority, and ego.

'The other is Good -  It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity,
Humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth,
compassion and faith.'

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his
grandfather: 'Which wolf wins?'

The old Cherokee simply replied, 'The one you feed.'

unkal

2009-08-09T21:04:00.000-07:00

Thats how my neighbourhood vegetable vendor refers to me and i have been a regular to his store for 4-5 years now.

Along the way I transformed into the supermarket type opting to buy "fresh" refrigerated vegetables from the neatly laid out displays. Except that these vegetables did not happen to be fresh most of the time.

Plus the religious que's in front of check out desks manned by semi skilled faces that happened to change with the frequency of the moons - drove me back to this gent. He was only too glad to see me back and fussed over me with grating squeals of "unkal" .

Yesterday, as I bought vegetables from his shop I wondered -
would I have received a better fare in an XYZ retail outlet. Probably, the vegetables may have been fresher, and even the prices cheaper (though that is contrary to experience), the store designs would have been appealing and perhaps there would have been a very youthful face at the counter.

But, can all these compensate for the for the familiar face across the thela.
And, why deny a honest man his livelihood - just to pander to our westernized preferences.

Ans who knows someday this man himself might save enough to set up a small store with refrigerated displays -

Conversations

2009-08-07T20:55:00.000-07:00

Morning over breakfast this took place with the elder1

L1: Appa.... I want to go to a boarding school.

Me: Well .. they might not take you as a boarder in your current school(her school has a few boarders) as we stay in the same city. Perhaps we can send you to a good boarding school in Yercaud or Ooty.

L1: Sheepishly ..... oh no ... I dont want to be too far from you ..

Swine flu

2009-08-04T19:58:00.000-07:00

The pune teen who died recently turned out to be the class mate of my nieces' neighbour. This bit of news was frightening.

Till now with no known instance of a death related to swine flu - the danger never really concerned us. 10 days ago when the elder1 was down with fever and body pain - it never even occurred to have her checked for swine flu, and neither did the doctor suggest anything of that sought - the most we feared was chikungunya.

But, this latest bit of news has set the alarm bells ringing.

As parents , What are we supposed to do. What precautions can we take. Easily, children are the most vulnerable section as they have lesser resistance, plus , they come in contact with a lot many other children.

Do we refrain from sending them to school ? Especially considering that the current weather is ideal for the spread of flu's and colds.

To start with I am trying to keep myself fully informed about what to look for in the symptoms and just plain being vigilant. The good part is that it is curable - provided if detected early. The bad part is that most of its symptoms are very similar to the symptoms of other common flus.

Here a few links on the pandemic :

1.http://www.swinefluindia.com/

2. Indian preperations

3. wikipedia - Asia

4.bbc news

Do it once

2009-07-31T00:12:00.000-07:00

I have a friend from college who in his entire 4 year stay never touched a cigarette.
While all other lesser mortals like, yours truly , fell into from one vice to the other - wallowed in a life of debauchery , so to say - our man stood out like an epitome of discipline and straight forward living.

Today, I got in touch with him after a long gap - and I was in for a surprise . We were on call and I casually enquired what he was doing - and he mentioned he was out for a smoke. Apparently our good friend has turned out to be a regular smoker.

That set of a train of thought. As to how this gent while all others were experimenting with life, while in their late teens and early twenties, - was an example to us on restrained living , after 20 years has got the habit. Call it time lag or phase difference or whatever - .

For close to a year now I have been coaxing him to come on Facebook and his standard response is - that he is prejudiced against the social networking sites.

But I am sure ( and he agrees ) that after we have finished our experimenting with all social sites and moved on .. our Friend might one fine day - discover Facebook.

A Cat Crossed My Path Today

2009-06-25T19:54:00.000-07:00

A Cat- Crossed My Path today
and - Nothing happened
I stopped a moment
and continued to walk
Thinking about
The innumerable days
That had gone bad
when the Cat had'nt crossed
And the many wonderful days
when it had....
But the very fact
I spent so much time
thinking about
A harmless feline
Running across a 50 feet wide
road, with cars zipping by
At stake its lives, all 9
Speaks volumes on the effect of
inane beliefs ....on our thinking ....

Inviting Danger

2009-06-22T19:57:00.000-07:00

Today morning while on my usual walk/jog I saw a watchman sitting on a ledge - not more than a foot deep around 6 feet above ground level. It was a dangerous pose - if he slept even a wink he would have lost his balance and fallen as there was no support - just a plain wall without any grip.

I wondered if it was his way of keeping himself entertained.Nothing compares to the monotony of a watchman's job. As I thought about it some more - I felt that by inviting a little danger upon himself he was actually doing his job better. Afterall who would want to fall half asleep from 6 feet up - but this way he was keeping himself awake. Not exactly a "Eureka" moment but - insight neveretheless.

So often we find ourselves to be more alert and awake to our surroundings when we perceive danger. In my own case it happens when I take up clients in entirely different businesses from my core areas.

But, In our pursuit of security we enclose ourselves in a cocoon - of known pathways - eschewing any event or path that may lead us into unknown territory. In the process we never get to test our instincts - there is no real need for us to develop the kind of alertness which kicks in when we are thrown into peril.

Staying away from danger is good. It helps us to stay alive.

But, zero danger ?

Would it not be better for things to go wrong when you are fully alert and aware - rather than when you are in your comfort zone - relaxed - and at peace and all of a sudden something goes wrong out of the blue.

It would be better to get into situations which involve risk - much like - jumping into the unknown with your senses on alert you would land on your feet or perhaps you might even latch on to something as yet unknown for support and make a safe landing.

Car towed

2009-06-13T00:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to a Client meeting. I parked the car in an area where already a few cars were parked and went off.

Came back after an hour to find the Santro missing. And so were all the other cars.

For a brief moment my mouth went dry. Just a week ago I had deactivated the center locking ( pulled out all the wires leading to the siren) and the thought of increased chances of theft was in the back of my mind.

Just then I looked up to see the No Parkig sign at a distance of 40-50 feet.That raised my hopes. :) . I checked with a couple of guys - they did'nt seem to be aware of any police towing. A third guy, sitting in a triwheeler for handicaps, correctly informed that a Santro got towed and would be available at so and so location.

So off I marched to this place. Got greeted by a Traffic sub-inspector gleefully sipping tea. In fact he offered a cuppa to me , which I politely refused. The bill 400 bucks.

As the transaction progressed he took my details and on knowing my Profession he revealed that his son-in-law who had finished Masters in SW in London was back in India in search of a Job.I gave my usual dope on doing whatever best I could to help his SIL.

As it turned out his son and Daughter In Law were both in well known Software firms.
I was quite surpised. My views of the Traffic Police moved several notches in the positive direction.

In future when I have an opportunity to interact with a member of this tribe I might give a genuine smile.

Attacks on Indian Students in Australia

2009-06-05T05:50:00.000-07:00

Is this a straight forward case of Racial Attacks or is it something deeper.

I am not condoning the attacks but have the Students brought it upon themselves.

While speaking to a relative who is currently settled in Australia - a different picture emerged. The students who go to Australia are a moneyed lot, who enjoy flaunting their Latest Laptops and Ipods.

Hardly surprising that they have been targeted for these attacks.

The Indian Media as usual in its hunger for sensationalism has queered the pitch , without going deeper into the story.

A straight forward question is why Only Students.If it was racial attacks it should have affected everyone right from the start.

This question deserves an answer.

On Bigness

2009-06-03T05:34:00.000-07:00

Does Larger size mean being more competetive. I was reading Bank Mergers an article that talks about the Formation of Super Banks and the resultant concentration of Risk - when the above thought occurred.

A line that stands out in the post is - " why it is in the country’s interest that 65% of the depository assets are held by only a handful of banks " . You can name these Banks - CITI , BOA , Wachovia ... handful and all have to be bailed out by the US govt.

These giant Banks did not all grow organically - their Giant size is the result of multiple M&A's along the way.

There seems to be a pattern here - You grow a bit too fast taking advantage of the overall favourable climate and then you are too huge to manage to be able to respond to the environment.

My question is does this apply to other industries. In so many cases we come across firms buying out the competition or merging in name of building efficiencies and economies of scale.How do these Mergers Pan out.

Are there instances where in companies have merged to form resulting firms that became even more competitive. Perhaps there are such instances - but a nagging thought remains - can large organizations retain their efficiencies by mixing diverse Corporate Cultures.Not just cultures it would be different ways of doing things, different procedures , different mindsets.

Buyouts are different - there one company just rides roughshod over the other.

But, in a coming together of equals - which till some while ago would have been at each others throats -can they become one and still retain the competence.

Running out of Ideas

2009-05-29T23:13:00.000-07:00

We might be having positions after 2/3 months, we will get in touch then.

This has been the constant refrain of all my prospective clients over the past six months. And still continues to be so. When will we see some real recruitment.

Over the last quarter and half my role of recruiter has transmogrified to that of a Business Developer or mostly a Sales man. Without much success :(.

the political scene has seen a sea change. From the Sabre Rattlings of a Fourth Front to a thumping victory to the incumbent.What more could businesses have asked for.

The markets seem to have settled again on a Bull track. But, whats happening with Recruiting.

The poor souls in recruitment seem to be living on a Prayer. And Good God they'll sure settle for Merci-drops - showers seem to be so far away.

Public Speaking

2009-05-26T04:59:00.000-07:00

Spent 10 evenings- not all of them fun filled - in learning to speak in Public.

The course was being organized by a Redemptionist Preacher. He spoke with a booming voice when he came to the lectern after the Sunday mass , to talk about the course and well I was taken in by his confidence and decided to join.

To a large extent Fr Frankie( the Redemptorist) followed the learning by doing method. In which we were made to talk on different incidents that touched our lives.

The feedback was critical and immediate and it was upto us to imbibe what ever we could and to incorporate the improvements to our Public speaking.

Some who were more mature or just plain scared gave their best shot. while others just had some fun. Overall got to meet some entirely off beat crowd. Generally I would not have been able to interact with them in the course of my job. Hence a really worthwhile experience.

Made some good friends , and not the least of all a Good contact in Fr Frankie whom we can sound out for any clarifications / doubts on Public speaking.

Fr is extremely knowledgeable , great temperament and fantastic voice and diction.But, more than a trifle quirky.

First he was very particular about alloting everyone roll Numbers. On the very First day He kept asking us to remember these numbers.

Then during every class we used to undertake the exercise of getting new numbers for the sequence in which to speak. And this was not as simple as it sounds. First the numbers were alloted based on seating arrangement, then on any given day he would decide to go only with odd numbers or even numbers. Then either the odd or the even numbered students were asked to speak out their sequence -first odd , 2nd odd , 3rd odd and so on.... And it didnt stop here. Now he used counters - similar to the on es used in Housy to pick a random number - That number becomes the speaker. Then another random number becomes the next speaker. Then another random number - becomes the evaluator.

Confusing ? Well you bet it was. We used to get so confused - that sometimes this counting used to restart.

No wonder our last class went on right upto the dinner bell.

On top of the counting were the Prayers. On a couple of days we got all that was to know about praying Techniques.Later on we came to know that Father was taking aseries of Classes for the seminarians a week after ours got over - so apparently he got it mixed. I guess we could excuse him - he was touching 80..

So, overall a different and very useful experience

Watching TIME drip by....

2009-05-09T00:42:00.001-07:00

Came across this fantastic picture on Flickr.Yet to check any of the other snaps from the same photographer.

But this one was way too good.

IPL Frenzy

2009-05-07T06:34:00.000-07:00

THE IPL is on and is in Full swing. Like last year this year too all other schedules are in disarray. Sleeping at 12:00 AM is now the norm - I am an early sleeper otherwise - in bed by 10:00 ( latest).

We are half way thru and last years winners are again finding their. My team - CSK are back in the top 4 while Royals dont seem to be far behind. These are the teams to watch no doubt. While Delhi and Deccan might be the other favourites.

Why didnt Knight Riders click again? As a friend mentioned - Who is the Clot in KKR - is it SRK or Buchanan?

RCB had an upsurge - with Kumble providing good leadership. But, if your entire Batting lineup fails - one cant do much.Why Bring Wasim Jaffer? ( Just my thoughts)

The Less said about Mumbai Indians the Better. There are too high expectations riding on a few shoulders in MI. Lets see how they fare in the remaining matches.

Someone needs to pull up Warne for his negative tactics. He seems to have a discussion with his bowler after every ball. A fall back to the older Australian - mind games.

Whichever way it goes - You cant help getting sucked in

Easter

2009-04-17T07:12:00.000-07:00

Just scratching the surface of history throws up very interesting insights.
Take for instance Easter - the celebration of The Resurrection of Christ Jesus.
Have you ever wondered why we have this concept of Easter eggs and Easter bunnies.I have'nt. Possibly because while young I don't ever remember this being mentioned.

But, in the West you cant possibly have an Easter celebration without Easter Eggs and Bunnies.

That brings us to the question - What does Easter have to do with decorated eggs? Apparently, thats is an interesting story.

The term Easter is arrived from or should we say a distorted version of Isthar a fertility Goddess of the Ancient - of Assyrian origin.

Ishtar(Assyrian) - Ashtaroth( Hebrew) - Astarte(Pheonician) - Eostre( Teutoninc) - Easter( Anglo Saxon).One equate them to the different Avatars of the Indian Mythology.

These are all different names for the same Fertility Goddess of Assyrian/Canaanite origin.The celebration of Ishtar during pre-Biblical times included coloring the eggs an ancient symbol of fertility. As expected Ishtar finds mention in the Bible though as an abomination.

As regards the Easter bunny once again you don't have to look far. After all rabbits are renowned for the ability to multiply.And the phrase rabbits foot can be traced back to here.

Some more historical stuff..

Wonder how we got the terms "Hot Cross Buns"?

Travian

2009-04-15T21:14:00.000-07:00

Recently got hooked to the browser based strategy game Travian.
Since its early stages I am totally onto it. Infact yesterday night I woke up at 2:00 AM to give some commands.

Hopefully this level of involvement would wear off.

Quite a cool game where you use your resources to add various infrastructure,troops etc and carry out raids or peacefully trade with your neighbouring villages. ot avenues to occupy your mind.

If any one is interested all you have to do is go to Travian create an account and login.

And Voila!! you are ready with a Village and an advisor to take you thru your baby steps.

Do join in.

Blog Burst

2009-04-07T05:39:00.000-07:00

Today I received a mail from Blog Burst which read like this :

Hello Prakash,

We are pleased to extend you an invitation to the BlogBurst Network. As you know, BlogBurst is a news service bringing quality blogs onto
highly-trafficked, high-brand mainstream publisher sites like the
Washington Post, San Francisco Chronicle, USAToday.com, and Reuters.com.
We are very excited about including your blog in our service, and
look forward to working with you.

Thanks for helping us show off your blog!

Best Regards,

The BlogBurstTeam

Wow!!!

So after a gap of close to 30 days - the first post

Ragging

2009-03-10T20:29:00.000-07:00

Having been a part of Ragging both at the receiving and the giving end dont really know how to react.

A boy has died. The Parents are inconsolable. The principal has resigned taking Moral responsibility.

What about the Boys who were involved . Were they the villains in the piece.They too are 19-20 year olds. Did they cross all limits.

Something broke down somewhere. It doesn't look in any way premeditated , or planned to give such grave injury.

The authorities need to take the blame to a large extent, for not heeding the complaints. Perhaps if the boy had been away from the Hostel for sometime this could have been averted.

Other Articles 1. The Hindu - A Hard Look at Ragging

2. The Hindu - Antidote

3. A Look into the darker side of Ragging

Made in Italy

2009-03-04T20:05:00.000-08:00

It doesn't cease to Surprise me How much of Christianity as we know it today is "Made in Italy".

You would have thought the Festivals that we Celebrate would have some Biblical Reference. They do, But , not entirely. Take for instance the period of Lent( It Falls in March) that comes just before Easter Celebrations. Supposed to signify a period of 40 days when Jesus went through some extreme temptations and fastings.

Apparently, the Month of March(Martius) was devoted to and named after the Roman God of Mars. It used to be so filled with Festivities that a special day in the Month was allocated for Rest from these Festivities. There were both Happy Occasions and also fasts and blood letting. There was even a parade of pines and palms. Sounds Familiar?

Apparently, its a case of an Existing Period of Roman Celebrations being given a Coat of Biblical Paint.

Not a very Flattering way to put it.Agreed.

( Taken from Ancient History Blog )

Jaiho Bikes

2009-02-26T20:10:00.000-08:00

How about "Jaiho Bikes".Came up with this name as I passed a Freedom Parked by the Roadside. What caught my attention was the name "FREEDOM" cast into the handle bar assembly. I am not sure if thats the norm for all the Bikes. My Hero Honda CD-100 does'nt have any such inscriptions.

So, why not Jaiho - a catchy name especially if targetted at the 30k segment. I mean the lower end.

Cant imagine a 175 or 250 cc "Jaiho" Bike - doesn't seem to gel. What do you think?

If I were a college kid living on my Dad's money probably I would like to ride the latest craze. Besides,I might not mind being identified with the Slumdog Millionaires.

Plus , For All the aspiring Slumdog Millionaires this could work like a lucky charm.

What say Guys?

Service Tax back at 10%

2009-02-24T18:54:00.000-08:00

Image : taken from The Hindu

Good Sense prevailed or let be an Election Sweetner.

Service Tax has been reduced to 10%. Thats Good News.

You might wonder whats the Big deal about a puny cut of 1.8% ( effective ).

It isn't all that small. For instance on a 1 Lakh bill the service tax will work out to 1800/=(equal to one months mobile bill).

As an aftermath to this announcement S&P is considering to lower India's Credit rating to Junk.

Slumdog

2009-02-23T19:59:00.000-08:00

So the Slumdog walked away with 8 oscars. Some intellectuals felt that all 8 may not have been deserved. Perhaps they were right.

But hey man !! Its not about the numbers - India got featured right up there on the Global stage. Any actor of reckoning aspires someday to hold that statuette.

Happy!! Happy and proud of all those kids from slums who walked this exalted stage so coolly. What self assurance. I guess that must have been one of the reasons they got got them the role. But what confidence. They would have put the best Private School Kids to shame.

AR Rehman is in a different league all together. I guess if anybody was expected to make it to that list it was him. So no surprises there. This post says it best.
Ella Pughazhum Iraivanukke.

Pondicherry Saturday

2009-02-19T04:57:00.000-08:00

Recently I went to Pondichery thanks to a Marathon at Auroville. Had almost a complete day at hand roaming around alone, so did the best that came to me and that was snap away at the sights afforded by a sleepy town.

Pondicherry is known for its French connections and quite unique in that respect. It is quite low on traffic and meticulously planned. The roads intersect each other at right angles. This was only my second trip and that after over a 10 year period hence this sight intersecting roads took some time to sink in.

I just shot away with my camera whenever I reached an intersection. It was not only the meeting but also the distances to which you could see down the road - must be easily half a kilometer. But this was only near the beach area.

As you moved away it wore the look of a typical town in TN.

Got down from the Garib Rath at around 11:00 , came out of the station studiously avoiding the clamour of Autodrivers though they werent as bad as in Chennai. Walked a few steps and took a few shots of the garishly painted Sacred Heart Church.

From PONDICHERRY

The Next hour or so was spent in search of a Room as all the rooms were taken up - it being valentines day.

From PONDICHERRY

One doesn'nt come across such signs in Chennai.

Finally checked in at Devi's Garden on the Beach Road. This seems to be a new joint and is very well maintained. Had a good stay. If you are planning a trip to Pondi check this place out.Rents are reasonable ( 1000-1500 ). What takes the cake( or Biriyani ) is the restaurant - Anjappar . Food is fantastic - try out the Country chicken Biriyani.As I type away my mouth has started to water. Infact that was my preparatory meal for the evening prior to the 1/2 Marathon.
Well, after a quick check in, and bath , changed and headed for the beach and pointed my camera at whatever quaint sights that came my way :

The Beach with rows of Benches

From PONDICHERRY

Doesnt get straighter than this

From PONDICHERRY

Auroville Marathon

2009-02-16T03:51:00.000-08:00

You can't have a better experience running a Marathon than you would at Auroville.I can vouch for that.
Had a mind blowing experience yesterday running in this mini forest at Auroville.

You could call it a one of a kind experience. Away from anything to do with the city life. Running almost entirely amongst trees of different kinds, on tracks which were totally dug out at certain stretches and at some they were just or maybe less than a foot wide.
The trees or shrubs almost brushed your head as you ran.
The whole event was well organized. I had made a visit the previous evening to collect the number and Bibs. Since there is no organized transport here one depends on the good will of the Auroville residents, which, generally overflows in abundance.
On the event day,though, I did not want to test the Good will too much , so played safe by taking an Auto.
Reached the venue at 5:45 AM sharp. Hung around for a while, answered to the roll call, stretched a bit - peed and was ready.
At around 6:05 we were off. The route was well marked so no problems with that,absolutely.
All one had to do was put the head down and jog. 10 kms per hour must qualify as a jog. A marathon Jog. By the 3 km mark each was on his own.
I followed someone who wore only socks.I did that for quite some distance assuming him to be good runner if can do a long distance run without shoes.
After a while, felt I could loosen a bit and overtook him. From then on I was on my own for long stretches. I went past some and some runners overtook me. My guess about the sox runner came right as he overtook me, about five kms before finish line, at a mighty good clip.
I was enjoying myself running, listening to the birds - I could make out at least 4 different varieties. Even heard a peacock(what sound does a peacock make?).
Around the 6 km mark there was a good bit of revelry in the form of Drum beating a la Pune-Marathon.
Till around the 12-13 kms mark there were no problems. At that point I was feeling fit for another 20. But the pain started building up just around that time.
Tried walking for sometime as my legs felt heavy and a couple of times I had banged against stones jutting out - losing my balance in the process.
On a 1km stretch which was particularly trackless I decided to walk it. As I walked quite a few runners went past.
Well, that kind of re-motivated me to start running again. Which I did- again putting my head down and just looking at my shoes.
It was quite satisfying to see the ground move under my feet. Otherwise, when you looked up you saw the next closest guy was a good 300 meters ahead of you , well that can be demoralizing.
Around 3 kms from finish a pretty lady in a cycle egged me on telling me it was very close adding that there were only beautiful paths ahead.
Soon enough the path became very narrow and enclosed with low hanging branches - at times I was running between the bambooed fences on the backyards of tiny huts.
Further down it opened out into a field and I was onto a metalled road and I knew it was close.
I just made a dash for it.

Next year I am sure to be there.

Planning on bringing the entire family along.

Recently added a video of the event

Image courtesy - Ram Viswanathan

A simple Life

2009-02-10T23:50:00.000-08:00

On the Eliots Beach Chennai.

Took this snap of sparks flying out from the coal stove used to roast butta.A saleswoman stood next to the stove turning over the corns on the flames.

The value of an ear of Corn or whatever its called is 5-10Rs. this lady might be selling a 100 such corns in a day. Her cost would the cost of fuel Mostly coal.
At the end of day she might take home a 50 or 100 Rs.

Without getting into the economics of it dont you think its a pretty uncomplicated and simple life.

Just a thought.

Abortion - Parental Say

2009-02-08T18:54:00.000-08:00

The priest yesterday during sermon touched on the topic of abortion. Mentioning quite vehemently that it was a devilish practice.

He went on to add, that people were killing children in the name of medical expedience, stating reasons like chances of physical or mental handicap.

Did'nt quite agree with him, since, I feel this is a decision that is best left to parents. After all it is their responsibility to bring up the child and expecting that their the child would grow upto be a healthy and normal human being would be every parents dream.

Going on those lines the knowledge that a baby is not properly developing should be a perfectly legitimate reason to discontinue a pregnancy if the medical situation warranted such a course.

One must remember that it is the advancement in medical technology which has enabled us to save many such infants who otherwise would not have been able to survive.But, their are instances wherein the deformity might be such as to leave the infant with either very little chances of survival or put the parents under tremendous financial burden attending to the cure. In such a situation should it not be the parents call what decision to take.

Last year the Nikheta Mehta case in brought this issue to the fore.

Wikipedia - Abortion Law

Cartoon credit:Cartoonstock.com

Valentines Day - the True Story

2009-02-06T21:12:00.001-08:00

In spite of what you have been told by everyone, the truth is that
Valentine's Day originated hundreds of years ago, in India , and to top
it all, in the state of Gujarat !!!

It is a well known fact that Gujarati men, specially the Patels,
continually mistreat and disrespect their wives (Patelianis). One fine
day, it happened to be the 14th day of February, one brave Patelani,
having had enough "torture" by her husband, finally chose to rebel by
beating him up with a Velan (rolling pin to make chapattis).
Yes....the same Velan which she used daily, to make chapattis for
him.... only this time, instead of the dough, it was the husband who
was flattened.

This was a momentous occasion for all Gujarati women and a revolt soon
spread, like wild fire, with thousands of housewives beating up their
husbands with the Velan. There was an outburst of moaning
"chapatti-ed" husbands all over Anand and Amdavad.

The Patel men-folk quickly learnt their lesson and started to behave
more respectfully with their Patelanis.

Thereafter, on 14th February every year, the womenfolk of Gujarat
would beat up their husbands, to commemorate that eventful day - the
wives having the satisfaction of beating up their husbands with the

Velan and the men having the supreme joy of submitting to the will of
the women they loved.

Soon The Gujju men realised that in order to avoid this ordeal they
need to present gifts to their wives..they brought flowers and
sweets. This is how the tradition - Velan time - began.

As Gujarat fell under the influence of Western culture, the ritual
soon spread to Britain and many other Western countries, specifically,
the catch words 'Velan time' !!! In course of time, their foreign
tongues, this got anglisized to 'Velantime' and then to 'Valentine'.

And thereafter, 14th of February, came to be known as Valentine's Day
and now you know the true story of Valentine's day.

Some more losing ....

2009-02-06T21:11:00.000-08:00

Continuing the take aways from Richard Bransons Losing My.. here is one from chapter 21.

"The sky was pitch-dark all around us.I scarcely looked out of the capsule but concentrated on the instruments. As I sat there with Per Lying comatose at the bottom of the Capsule, it seemed clear that we were going to die.With just three fuel tanks we would run out of fuel some thousand miles off the American Coast and have to ditch in the sea.We would have to fly this balloon for another 30 hours if we were going to live.I knew that the only chance of us living was for me to fly the balloon right to in the core of the jet stream.I put all thoughts of death out of my head and for the next 10 hours concentrated intently on the dials.

I do not believe in God, but as I sat there in the damaged capsule, hopelessly vulnerable to the slightest shift in weather or mechanical fault, I could not believe my eyes.It was as if a spirit had entered the capsule and was helping us along. as I watched the instruments and calculated our ground speed, it became clear that we were begining to fly very fast, close to the necessary miles an hour.Before we had dropped the fuel tanks we were flying at 80 miles an hour, which had been very good progress.Now we needed a miracle.
I slapped myself across the face to make sure that I wasn't hallucinating but each fifteen minutes the speeds grew faster: 160mph,180 mph, 200mph and even 240mph. The increase was astounding....

Are you Not Afraid ?

2009-02-03T19:43:00.000-08:00

Came across this Question on the QA section of Linkedin - "Are you not Afraid".

The question was posted on the Staffing and Recruiting section so meant to elicit responses from the Recruitment industry professionals.

Some very good responses came up and one of them I really liked - that was " - The only thing that we need to fear is fear itself. "

Most answers revolved around the point of being " Not Afraid ". It obviously sounded like a self conscious effort to sound brave.

If your mandates are down to 10% of what they were 6 months ago. If your clients who were hiring in Bulk are now letting go people - you have pared down your billing targets by 2/3rd - What do you do?

Well you will do more Business Development try to reach out to more clients , harden yourself to listen to greater number of "NO"s from prospective clients , reduce costs.

Yes, that is what needs to be done - but wont there be some fear too . I mean , isnt it fear that drives up survival instincts and forces us to reach out into the unknown. Fear has to be there so why why be in denial. It is fear which drives us and throwing us into a high gear.

Question is are we willing to Face our Fear or are we going to turn from this fear and run. This is where the earlier answer makes it so meaningful - " The only thing that we need to fear is Fear itself"

Somebody said - "Fear and Courage are Brothers". What is courage if there is nothing to fear. Infarct one can say that there is no courage without fear.

The general assumption is that a courageous person does not experience fear.

Offcourse he does. But he is willing to let go of the familiar and willing to plunge into the unknown - that is why he is courageous.

Uncertainty can instil a very deep fear that strikes us and leaves some people unable to respond in a rational manner. At that point we are lost.

But some of us have that something which picks us up and carries us.

It is Fear’s counterpart Courage. Where you find one, you will find the other.

Where did the Money Go?

2009-02-02T19:21:00.000-08:00

Great presentation on The Guardian

Click here

A strange contrast to the Satyam case.

Private Virtue - Public Vice

2009-02-02T19:00:00.000-08:00

This is attributed to Keynes - in the context that excessive thrift on the part of you and me will only help in prolonging the downturn.

Harish Damodran in the article " How Rational Behavior Begets recessions " on Business Line touches on this very Topic.

The question is when people around us are losing their jobs (returning Newly bought cars ) and livelihoods , would you be interested in going out and Buying a Flat even if the prices are rock bottom and even if there is a Mercedes thrown in with the flat. You get the drift - its not likely to happen.

So the current policy of the Government here and elsewhere to decrease interest rates might not see any immediate revival in spending. People are scared , they were exuberant 6 months ago now they are scared - fearing for their jobs - so the medicine will take sometime taking effect - if it really does.

The other option for the government to increase public spending - which is investing on infrastructure projects in a Big way - is a stronger medicine. But, for this medicine to work the our system should be efficient. Which it isn,t. Much of Government spending tends to land in private pools.

So what are the options?

BJP's Predicament

2009-01-29T20:12:00.001-08:00

Featured on The Hindu - 29/1/09

This cartoon sums up Beautifully the current predicament of BJP in Karnataka.

Barkha Revival

2009-01-29T03:32:00.000-08:00

This Barkha Dutt episode refuses to die down. Apparently some two days ago NDTV filed a suit on Chetan for ranting about Barkha post nov 26th and maligning her name.

Obviously this didnt go down too well with the Twitterville & the Blogosphere. There were literally 100's of tweets on Barkha/NDTV.

I did some Barkha bashing of my own , but not to pleased about it. Not that I regret just not pleased - I dont watch NDTV BTW.

About time I buried the issue. Guess its not my thing.

Article on Hindu questioning the media role

Losing My Virginity - 2

2009-01-28T19:09:00.000-08:00

Been some days since the last post on the Book. As I continue to read at my quota of an hour a day - spent the last few days reading chapters 10-14 which mention the 10 year period from 1974 to 1976 . Felt like I was reading a soft porn Novel. So really didnt have much to post - there is too much of that stuff on the Net already .

Perhaps there is this one funny incident which stands out :

Their boat Duende had filled with water and as they waded around salvaging whatever possible " one of the neighbours shifted a box and a large Vibrator fell out. When it hit the ground, it turned itself on and started to vibrate.Buzzed around and finally fell into the canal, where it zipped around for a while before vanishing from view". wonder how all this can happen only to Richard Branson.

1984-1986

While Thanking his Fuel sopnsors Esso - prior to the Blue Riband race - he thanked BP instead of Esso.Realising the mistake only after finishing the talk -

The Esso execuitves looked at me with horror as if I was a ghost.I fell down to the floor and crawled under the table.

"I am sorry " I croaked, and started to spit and polish their shoes.

What would you call it Clowning around, Humility , contrition.

Whatever, can't think of any other Multi Millionaire capable of such antics.

Parenting Anger

2009-01-25T21:54:00.000-08:00

An altercation with wife was about to make, an otherwise pleasant begining to the day, Frosty. It happened Like this :

Wife: (Referring to the republic day celebration from which we had just returned - the time - 9:15 Am. She was Speaking to the elder one who is 9yr old) .

All the other children were fresh , well dressed and bathed. And here you are not even brushed your teeth.

Me(interjecting): Well those children were woken up by their parents and prepared for the Function.We did not do any such thing.

Wife: Leave me alone.You dont tell me how to deal with children.
(Some 2 days ago I had responded with the same line when wife had interjected to somthing I had told the younger one )

Well obviously I didnt much appreciate the rebuke. And Frost was starting to spread.
I wanted to say something harsh - after all why blame children for our inefficiencies - but managed to keep quite and went on practising a new song on the Guitar.

Luckily I had an opportunity to go out to buy some provisions and as I drove This dialogue was running in my head and spinning out of control. Then a thought struck me why not make a post out of it - it would provide a good avenue to vent out steam and help to put things in perspective.

Infact the moment I decided on that - my mind cleared. The Frost left in a jiffy.
Bought what I went for and got some additional Sheek Kabab.WEll I guess wife appreciated the gesture and a semblance of normalcy returned to the household.

Birthday Party

2009-01-23T19:50:00.000-08:00

Yesterday evening Got invited to a Neighbors Birthday party.Went with family and got treated to a strong dose of preaching, charismatic healing and Bible reading + songs.

WTF ?

Losing My Virginity - Richard Branson

2009-01-20T20:03:00.000-08:00

Take aways from the Book - Loosing my Virginity":

I am currently reading this book and thoroughly enjoying it so I thought why not share the great quotes right away instead of waiting for the book to get over and then do a write up. Since I devote less than a hour each day reading the book this post is likely to be long in content and time frame.

"I just pick up my phone and Get on with it "

" My parents encouraged us to give our views on many things "

" I just wanted to have have enough cash in the bank to print the next issue and pay for the bills"

" At the prison I vowed to myself that I would never again do anything that would cause me to be imprisoned, or indeed do any kind of Business deal that wuld embarass me."

" My parents had drummed into me that all you have in life is your reputation: you may be rich, but if you lose your good name, then you will never be happy.The thought will always lurk in the back of your head that people dont trust you"

" the next 2 years were a crash course on how to manage cash. from being completely relaxed we became obsessively focussed. We used every penny of the cash generated in the shops, knowing every pound we earned was another pound toward opening up another store , which in tun was another pound toward paying off my customs and excise debt."

Mike Oldfield - Tubular Bells

Inspiration

2009-01-18T20:54:00.000-08:00

Touching Lives

2009-01-15T23:40:00.000-08:00

Today went to pay the Electricity bill. The guy there enquired about Anil.

Amazing how many lives Anil has touched. Apparently Anil had met him some 3-4 days before regarding the Electricity Bill name change.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he mentioned but he controlled himself.

May God Bless his soul.

Childhood is short, Maturity is forever

2009-01-15T19:20:00.001-08:00

Came across this quote from Calvin & Hobbes strip on Yesterdays TOI Strip. It is stunning in its simplicity. Actually when one thinks about it - Childhood is all of 10-15 years.That's just a fifth of our lifespan, maybe lesser.

A pity. Such a short period of life and so much of it is spent preparing for adulthood without enjoying the freedom of just being a kid.

As a child things are so simple. You like something you take it - you dont want something refuse.If you are young enough you can even afford to throw tantrums and get away with it.

We spend so much of our time trying to control the behaviors of our kids, do this do that, dont do that , pick , pick , pick.With all good intentions trying to confirm them to our perceived norms of the society.

A quote like this jolts one to the foolishness of our efforts.

Perhaps someday I will learn to accept the kids as they are without fretting over their current behaviors.

By then they might have turned into Adults.

In Lalu rests India's Redemption from Recession

2009-01-09T03:04:00.001-08:00

Is Lalu the answer to India's Recession woes ?

This thought hit me right between the eye as I read an article which talks about the importance of investment in high speed rail for the US & the pitfalls that Mr. Obama faces if he does'nt take certain steps.

- excerpts :
" One area that is ripe for such investment--and that is not, from what I have seen, a declared priority of the Obama administration--is high-speed rail. .... They would be the most energy-efficient and quickest means of getting between places like Boston and New York, or Los Angeles and San Francisco. But they would require a massive investment. .......... "

Cut to India , Thanks to Mr Lalu the Indian Railways has turned around to the extent that among other plaudits Deutsche Bank in its sectoral review of 2006, mentioned -- " IR's competitiveness will increase substantially vis-à-vis the road sector".

Can the current problems of the HCV segment traced to this ?

Imagine if we had a highspeed rail linkbetween Bangalore & Pune - the time taken might be 5-6 hrs assuming a 120 km/hr speed. Chennai - Bangalore might be just over a couple of hours.

Probably Mr Lalu can give it some thought. Especially when Government spending seems to be the Need of the hour , why not? We need some drastic measures to get the economy moving, the engineering/manufacturing sector - the stimulus packages might not contribute much to raise the current level of Business confidence and may be just - drops in the ocean

High Speed rail links in India was in News as far back as in 2007.There is this article in TOI mentiong plans for HS links between Delhi - Howrah & Delhi - Mumbai

There is another mention about high speed rail corridors in the South but, nothing else hence.

Perhaps this is just the right time for it.

What do you think?

(Lalu's image- credits to helloji)

Ramalinga Raju Quits

2009-01-07T04:37:00.000-08:00

In retrospect The Maytas buy would have been the best thing to have happened to Satyam. It could have saved Satyam from the present mess.

In his Letter Ramalinga Raju mentions the logic behind the deal. Today he forwarded his resignation claiming sole responsibility for the irregularities in the Account Books.

That the 4th Largest Software firm in the country having 53000 employees and 185 Fortune 500 firms in their clientele , should fold up in such a manner. Thats alarming. Leave aside the comparisons with Enron & Ken Lay. $1Billion was fictitious , how could it happen. There just might be some other skeletons in the closet.

Mr Mohandas Pai has come out with a strong statement on punishment of Fraudsters. Its likely that even the other leading Sw entities will come under a thorough scanner. In such a situation even minor incongruities may get blown up.

It would be interesting to know how the whole thing was managed.Getting into the bare facts and triggers may take some time. Might take some time.A fraud of such magnitude could not have happened without active connivance from the auditors. Already PwC is feeling the heat.

Heads are set to role.

Some die hard supporters of Ramalinga Raju have launched a website in his support.

From a Billionaire to Fraudster. It seems ironic. Obviously one cannot easily slight a man who has almost single handedly built a Billiondollar empire. But, this man from Bhimavaram has lost so much that he might never be able to rebuild something which he would most cherish - his reputation.

The passing away of a Thorough Gentleman

2009-01-05T19:08:00.000-08:00

Recently a Neighbour passed away due to a heart attack. A thorough Gentleman, his kindness touched many many lives. Our apartment block still hasnt come to terms with this loss.

Events such as these jolt, one out of the usual thought processes. I had known him for just over 3 years and that , not very closely. And though on certain apartment based issues I found myself opposed to him, I held him in high regard.

In these 3 years I had never seen him raise his voice at anybody though he held a Key post in our flats. Ever obliging to people who went to him for help especially the poor. Infact after reading the obituaries I realised that he has touched many thousand hearts with his smile and kindness.

A few lines in his memory :

45 years

Ever cheerful,

Sensitive, to everyone’s concerns,

Loved kids, got adored in return

wonderful organizer,

enthusiastic participant in every event.

abundant source of relief to the poor

Model human being

Anil Dias

No More.

2008 - Learnings

2009-01-02T02:17:00.000-08:00

As I take the first steps towards immersing myself in the routine, post the vacations - I felt like reminiscing a bit about the year gone by - 2008.

Personally & professionally this turned out to be a very satisfying year.

What was most satisfying was that I set out some learning goals fro myself & managed to achieve 2 of them. I learnt to swim & to play the guitar

Swimming I picked up during the summer in a 5 feet deep pool at our apartment.Its been 6months since I last took a dip but I guess I can still manage on my own.

Guitaring was more recent. As of now my repertoire consists of 10 chords and a an equal number of songs. Not bad for a 38 year old.

Both are work in progress and I dont expect to Master either anytime soon. But the very fact that I even reached this level is a source of tremendous satisfaction.

Happy New Year

2009-01-01T19:47:00.000-08:00

I am a trifle late in Posting this , but Happy New Year Everyone. I wish the Very Best for you and your Family in 2008.

Just back from a 15 day vacation. Longest in more than a decade. Can't call it hectic we just stayed with our relatives had lunches dinners , slept a lot, got drunk and watched some movies. The childeren seem to have really enjoyed this. My four year old asked me after we had returned why we had to leave Chennai and come back to Bangalore. A good period for bonding amongst cousins.

Of Recession, & Layoffs

2008-12-19T20:45:00.000-08:00

Even, just 3 months ago attrition was the key topic of all informal/formal gatherings , general conversations etc. Now, that has been replaced by words like recession - and layoffs. Almost everyone just has to touch on these words because if he does'nt, then he is likely to perceived as out of synch.

Perceptions aside the jury is out whether India stands to gain in the Global Slowdown and there are voices which say that any economic slowdown is an opportunity for Growth - oxymoron? Some of the Greatest Companies like Microsoft( late 70s) & Google(late 90's) started during periods of recession

The idea for this post came to me while reading a WSJ article on showing a brave face if you do get laid off. Simple & nice article.

Sir Richard Branson

2008-12-17T20:21:00.000-08:00

For Long I have wanted to write a post on Richard Branson. Honestly I feel he doesn'nt need a title.

Came across an intersting quote and a great snap with him on center stage as usual - & I thought why not Now?

He made a very straight forward analysis of the UK economy , which holds quite well for India Also. What is really endearing about him that he doesnt mince words. You can read the full article here.

Coming to the snap above that is Branson Polishing the shoes of Guy Kawasaki - a kind of expert on Social Media. I dont have the details of why he did so. But, hats off to his attitude. A multi Billionaire Businessman who doesnt mind fooling around in Public. He is Different.

A couple of other links

1) A Promo of Virgin Galactic

2) Branson talks about Small Businesses Entrepreneur

Mumbai related

2008-12-15T19:39:00.001-08:00

Pakistan is out with its usual bag of trciks. These guys have started releasing the terror suspects .

That was expected as they did the same last time too after the parliament attack. Now a refusal to allow the terror suspects - interrogation by British agencies .

Another twist to Kasabs' story. Apparently he was captured by India over a year ago From Nepal. They Nepali Government has given out a flat denial.

There seems to be no end to the levels of deception the Pak Government can touch.They are desperate and trying out everything to save their skin.

Meanwhile UK seems to have woken upto the fact that what India has been saying for years has truth . Now they realise that 75% of the terror in UK germinates in Pakistan.

But lest we forget India and Pakistan are Nuclear and the heads that rule Pakistan are not all that sane. The clouds of war that hang , though still at some distance, cannot be wished away, as Nicholas Kristoff writes - & if such a thing happens we might have an August 1914

The Fragile Global Economy

2008-12-13T22:44:00.000-08:00

Reading an article by Krugman titled the Great Illusion. This article was written during the Georgia crisis when Russian Tanks rolled into Georgia. The article talks about How Globalisation can get stalled by nationalistic forces.

He mentions - " our grandfathers lived in a world of largely self-sufficient, inward-looking national economies — but our great-great grandfathers lived, as we do, in a world of large-scale international trade and investment, a world destroyed by nationalism".

This article especially assumes significance in the current time due to tensions between India & Pakistan.The path of Globalisation and Growth followed by India will receive a setback once a war starts off. The fundamentalistic elements stand to gain in mutliple ways from such a war. For India we stand to loose much more even if we win. Unless we manage to extirpate the entire Jihadi & Let machinery on the process.

Even as the seige a happened at Mumbai there was polling happening in Kashmir despite a call for Boycott. That is a clear indicator of an undercurrent of peace. All the steps towards reactivation of trade , business and normalisation of life in this region would have to be suspended once there is war- which will lead to greater unemployment. And unemployed youth an easily fall prey to jihadi elements. Such a situation is avoidable.

Perhaps the Government needs to be appreciated for its restrained approach to tackle the cross border terrorism.

The complete article is available here: The Great Illusion

The Black Hole

2008-12-12T22:39:00.000-08:00

Weekend suspense , thriller

U R Awesome

2008-12-10T21:30:00.001-08:00

Take some time off to watch this movie.Sure to bring a smile.

R U Web 2 ready ?

2008-12-08T00:42:00.000-08:00

As an experienced candidate in search of the right assignment - you cannot overlook the Social Networking sites that are mushrooming everywhere. Though it may sound silly to be a part of group responding to invites from unkowns - one never knows which link might work.

The truth is that one need not be present in every social Networking site. But , some prescence is a must just to spread the word around.

If you find your job to be prefect and really dont feel the need for looking out then you can give this whole Networking thing a pass. But, if you are seriously looking at furthering your career or for whatever reason then You cannot miss out on this.

I have collected some links here that speak about the impact that social networking is having on recruitment.

Frank Langfitt talks about how professional recruiters are taking to Soc Net sites to reach candidates.

Guest Blogger blogs about Web 2.izing your job search.

Networking Recruiter

2008-12-07T19:56:00.000-08:00

Social Networking and Staffing

View SlideShare presentation or Upload your own. (tags: linkedin facebook)

Last week I tried getting in touch with candidate resumes lying passive in our database( some were over 3-4 years ) . The idea was to get in touch with them and invite them to Linkedin that way I felt there is a better chance of my being able to locate a suitable candidate.

Some of the responses were really positive , some filled with angst while some candidates just sent in their resumes.Well, If I had wanted resumes I would have asked for them.

Personally I feel the days of scanning the resume and shortlisting are past - It is the onset of real time Networking thanks to Web2.0 and social Networking sites like Linkedin or Facebook, Hi5 etc. I find the Linkedin Network updates facility really useful. That way with a few trusting relationships you can reach out to almost any candidate profile.

But with so many invites floating around the people are quite justified in viewing my invite with suspicion.

Any suggestions on how I could go about this in a better way?

Some Blogs on SocNet Recruitment

1. Skip Fruit Baskets
2.HR-Marketer Blog
3. Ceridian

Incoherent Thoughts

2008-12-04T16:41:00.000-08:00

After an intense week where the only topic was the siege of Mumbai – we are moving back to business as usual. Mr Zardari's volte face is typical of Pakistani Presidents . On the dec 2nd Larry King show says "the killers were not from Pakistan". This Just 3 days after agreeing to help bring the criminals to book.

He might sing a different tune post the Rice visit.

Perhaps it is time to move on. It is Christmas a time to give . Not necassarily forgive.But, perhaps we have to give the leaders time to deliver. Not many would agree with me on this.But a fitting response to what has happened, will take time. We can make the government accountable to some time frame. Just plain ranting wont help.

Many thoughts come to mind regarding the Mumbai seige. The extent of Lashkar's activities

and its reach cannot be underestimated. Wonder, if the Indian government can neutralise their leaders effectively.How long will it take. The way these ( lashkar taiba & al qaeda) guys are achieving success aftersuccess in carrying out their attacks - time isnt far when they will try out a chemical or Nuclear assault. They are like the hydra headed monster and it would require more than one Hercules to finish them off.

Lets hope our forces are given enough leeway to carry out their operations towards this result.

Tejinder singh has a great post on the the general scene post Mumbai .

Barkha Dutt

2008-11-30T01:08:00.000-08:00

This post is a dedication to "Barkha Dutt" or more precisely to the digust she generates from her TV reporting.I can't exactly put a finger on why I tend to shift channels, the moment she appears - but, perhaps the reasons could be - 1. her tone - its always shades higher than what the situation warrants 2. The volume - again refer (1) 3.Her abrasive questioning - it makes me cringe.

During the Coverage of Mumbai Terror she seemed to have completely lost it. Not only she, but her competition to - the likes of Rajdeep & Arnab. I will reserve my angst against them for a seperate post. But, then again she was leagues ahead of them.

So, This post is a "Barkha Special".

While tweeting during the period from Nov 26th to Nov 29th - tweeple( twitter lingo for people on twitter) where subjected to a continuous , live stream of info from the said personas - that was part news - part speculation. Needless to say, some of the Tweeple had had enough, & unable to stand the torture they came out with some stinging tweets about these leading anchors.

That was the background.

Here is a collection of "Barkha tweets".Some of these are absolute treats (ranked):

suhas08: #mumbai barkha dutt is showing off curtains with the ferocity of a saleswoman.
Friday, November 28, 2008 11:08:33 PM - 1

shekys: Attacks over. Relief. I request the NSG to gun down Barkha Dutt and Arnab Goswami.-2

spicesoup: #mumbailets subject the captured terrorist to 3rd degree torture = a chat with barkha dutt n rajdeep sardesai !!! -3

hemanshukumar: @prempanicker Agreed totally on Barkha and Rajdeep. Shrill shallow morons. #mumbai 4

gvaswani: NDTV should be sanitized of Barkha Dutt 5

hemanshukumar:@sachinkalbag how do shrieky airheads like barkha and rajdeep remain our "top anchor"s ?! 1:50 PM yesterday from web in reply to sachinkalbag 6

naveenks: @puneet #mumbai barkha dutt has always been a drama queen. she always want her interviewees to cry on tv ...lookin 4 that lump in throat.lol 7

jupiterorbit: @leafwarbler haven't turned on the TV all day. Barkha Dutt really put me off. I hope it's all over.... the siege and Dutt! ;-) 8

GDS1: Finally went out today. The sun was shining, the operations in Bombay are over. Barkha Dutt continues to scream down into our living rooms. 9

naveenks: @mksi420 #mumbai y r u spoiling barkha dutt's chances for next round of tv awards now that competition has shot up....
mksi420 - 10

codelust: For the love of god, please take Barkha and Arnab off screen. - 11

If there are some that I missed - please do forward them.
Click here for all Barkha Tweets

Here other blog posts from angst ridden citizens (credits to:http://nharipra.wordpress.com/)

http://ckunte.com/archives/shoddy-journalism

http://ankitvsharma.blogspot.com/2008/11/barkha-dutt.html

http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2008/11/india_backlash_over_media_coverage_after.php

Its over

2008-11-28T19:45:00.000-08:00

Finally it seems over. 3 terrorists killed at the Taj. There might be one or two more biding the time to go with a biG Bang.

Still, I feel grateful and said a silent prayer of Thanks.

It seems all so simple. If you have ammunition you can do anything. The other things just fall in place. here the ammo is of two types - the ammo that was used to kill people and the other ammo is in the minds of the terrorists - drilled into their minds to go for such anti social objectives.

Well, one thing it does look like its no more just terror this was plain war.Kill Kill Kill. No hostages. No, hiding bombs and escaping. This was a team that came to wage war. And first round is theirs.

We were unprepared - this scale of attacks has never happened in any other city in India. The battle fields have just shifted.

Mumbai

2008-11-28T05:05:00.000-08:00

A particularly damp and dull day in Bangalore - weatherwise. The effects of Nisha have amplified the winter.Even with a sweater on I can feel a cold coming on.

Everywhere one turns to one gets to read about Mumbai.It just keeps pouring in.How much longer will it go. The sequence of events have laid a siege on our senses. I cant seem to focus on the work without having to chk out on twitter about any new developments.It is close to 2 days now since the events started. This is very much like a war. The only difference being that this time it is right in our backyards.

We are in the midst of a movie going in slow motion. Its as if ever since this thing unfolded - I can recollect in crystal clarity what all the things I have done over the past 48 hours. Every moment has been captured. There are some moments in our life which get embedded in our collective consciousness and stay with us even after 20-30 years.The death of Indira Gandhi, Anti Sikh riots of '84, the WTC bombing & now perhaps the Taj Shootout.

Today the markets reopened and there doesnt seem to be any drop in the prices infact they seem to have risen.

November 27th

2008-11-27T03:00:00.000-08:00

Another day that will get etched in the history for all the wrong reasons.

Triumph of Terrorism.

In the past 10-15 years this must be the nth time when security has been breached in such large scale. This is almost a war situation. Bombing was different atleast the whole thing got over and people were left clearing the debris.

This here is something else this is unfolding like a motion picture with its share of thrill, voyeurism and tragedy.

Bob Dylan might have asked - How many more intelligence failures of such magnitude ? before we develop a security infrastructure capable of preventing repeats.

Mumbai will be back on track - the people who lost their dear ones will be left picking up the threads - that got - cut off - midstream.

There is so much at stake that it wont be long before we resume Business as usual.
Atleast 20 of these terrorists would have been involved to execute such an operations.One can only guess at the extent of planning that would have gone into it.Even if these who carried the guns were the foot soldiers - they would have been trained over a period of time.Where? How many more are waiting in the ranks to go for the next attack.

Are these guys so smart that every 1-2 years they are able to come up with a new plan and execute it and then walk away without leaving whiff. Or is it just that each time its a new outfit, a new leader a new gang. One needs to consider this as a wake up call. The audacity is amazing.

Movies

2008-11-23T19:27:00.001-08:00

Watching movies over the weekend.Totally unplanned but ended up watching 3 movies.
First off on saturday afternoon wife just zoomed in on guru being shown on zee ithink.
Well ended up watching almost the entire movie as usual because the lights went out at 6:00 and still an hours movie was left. Have watched Guru before but yet to see it completely.Abhishek and Aishwarya lit up the screens.Its on an old movie so I dont want to spend my time reviewing it but suffice to say that the film reflected great chemistry between the pair.

Next up was Koi Mil gaya - seeing it for the first time. Some great performance from Hrithik. The movie went right upto 11:00pm and was good.I need a less cliched adjective for describing "good" things.

Last up was "In pursuit of Happiness" a Will Smith real life version of - Chris Gardner - an Educated Black Man who ended up becoming a Millionaire after going through soe really tough times personally and professionally.Absolutely fantastic.I cried a lot during this one.I generally do but this one was just too good.Plan to read the book if there is one.
Googled and found that there is indeed an autobiography which was on the New York Best Sellers List for 20 weeks. Click here for details

Abusive CEO

2008-11-18T23:34:00.000-08:00

Received a call today from a candidate who desperately wanted to leave his job because his CEO was abusive. This gent had the habbit of throwing things at his staff.Whatever came into his hands got converted into missiles.

The candidate who has over 15 years experience in reputed firms mentioned his inability to face the CEO as he was just plain scared. Some of the junior staff has already left the company refusing to face this abuse.

Was just wondering is there any means by which this CEO can be controlled. Can he be sent to jail for such behavior. Is there any legal provision to handle such bosses.
Not many employees would be willing to come forward to register a complaint. It will backfire on their career.

I am not the right person to offer advice on this.Right now my job is to help him move into a different firm.while googling the topic came across this interesting article on tackling abusive bosses.A good read.

More on Cold Calling

2008-11-18T21:28:00.000-08:00

(pic taken from pcworld)

I have kept a schedule for myself to do 5 cold calls every day.so between 11:00 AM and 12:00 I spend in cold calling clients in the engineering sector and making a pitch.

Its kind of challenging to call up and hear the phrase that we aren't recruiting and then continue on to the next call. Very early days yet. Hope to continue this for the next month.

Some of my clients actually cant believe when I tell them that some of my other clients are recruiting. There is a definite slowdown but more than the slowdown the market perceptions have taken a big beating.

Cute Kitten

2008-11-18T20:07:00.001-08:00

Advertsing

2008-11-18T01:33:00.000-08:00

Came across this self explanatory graph

Blogging poor

2008-11-17T20:57:00.000-08:00

Read an interesting article from Copy blogger about the Blogging poor.
Blogging helps one to release ones creative juices which otherwise donot find a platform in the respective jobs. But, blogging as a source of income is not allways the case. There are bloggers out there making money. And there are a lot more who aren't.

Writing and writing quality stuff appealing to the audience - enough to hold their attention over other competing and compelling stuff - requires a knack.which some have in abundance , some are able to develop it and some just dont get it.

I might fall somewhere in between the last to categories. Even though my intention is to Blog everyday - I just am not able to write anything on certain days. It doesnt come naturally to me. Once I get in the mode I like to go on for half an hour or so. But, to get into that mode takes time.Call it the writers block or call it whatever.

Nowadays I have restarted the cold calling process to offset some of the effects of the slowdown. That is another process which I cringe from. Sometimes I cold call and ramble ( sputter through) just so that the guy at the other end doesn't interrupt and say that he is not interested. In cold calling I have found that the females are more likely to say a no than a guy. I guess they have perfected they art of rebutting advances. Not that my cold calls have anything to do with the said topic.

Back to Blogging - So there we are for today.

cant argue with this one

2008-11-14T19:58:00.000-08:00

Passionately cliched

2008-11-14T02:06:00.000-08:00

So what is this passion all about?

I some time wonder if this passion thingy is not being over bandied to totally loose its meaning after sometime.

Every jobsite worth its mandate advices the greenhorns to take up a job they are passionate about.

Questions are thrown to celebrities about their driving passions.CEO's talk about being absolutely passionate about their work,their companies ....

If you don't have passion you are not likely to achieve success in life - some say.

People are passionate about their roles , their jobs , their callings and what not.

Are we over doing things a bit here. What does passion mean? The dictionary.com gives the meaning as - any powerful or compelling emotion or feeling as love or hate.

Come to think about it - does a day today job require such a compelling or powerful emotion? Okay you enjoy your job , you like the steps involved the processes , your colleagues , maybe even your boss , you might feel fulfilled as you do your work but being passionate about your job - is'nt it a kind of overkill.

Or perhaps its a case of word usage having moved beyond its original meanings.

Here are Rod Stewarts views on Passion:

Mixed Positive

2008-11-10T04:45:00.000-08:00

Good start to the week. Busy day.Candidates to be lined up for various positions, interviews happening and new positions coming in. What more could one want.

Came across this article about Indian Economy which played its part in lifting the spirits a bit more.

More Cuts

2008-11-07T23:54:00.000-08:00

A friend of mine in HR recently moved into a new firm in a till recently booming industry. Now he has the unenviable task of cutting down 20 people. That is his first job target.Which,If he doesn't achieve - he might find his own job on the line.

To go ahead with it(his target) he is bringing out old accounting records to mark instances of Bills fudging. Regrettable. What was the accounting department doing when the Bills got fudged initially.These instances would add some more negative fuel to the doomsday talk.

These are all avoidable instances.Have the profits seen such a sudden drop that the salaries of 20 people would make a difference to the bottomline.Arguments can go back and forth on this.

You might have a different take on this but it is a fad now. Slowly the board room discussions will hover around haw many you cut.The guy who can show more numbers would have achieved a higher ego massage.