Tuesday, October 25, 2005

You Are..............

You Are...


You are strong... when you take your grief and teach it to smile.

You are brave... when you overcome your fear and help others to do the same.

You are happy... when you see a flower and are thankful for the blessing.

You are loving... when your own pain does not blind you to the pain of others.

You are wise... when you know the limits of your wisdom.

You are true... when you admit there are times you fool yourself.

You are alive... when tomorrow's hope means more to you than yesterday's mistake.

You are growing... when you know what you are but not what you will become.

You are free... when you are in control of yourself and do not wish to control others.

You are honorable... when you find your honor is to honor others.

You are generous... when you can take as sweetly as you can give.

You are humble... when you do not know how humble you are.

You are thoughtful... when you see me just as I am and treat me just as you are.

You are merciful... when you forgive in others the faults you condemn in yourself.

You are beautiful... when you don't need a mirror to tell you.

You are rich... when you never need more than what you have.

You are you... when you are at peace with who you are not

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Carry On!!

By Robert W. Service.


It's easy to fight when everything's right,
And you're mad with the thrill and the glory;
It's easy to cheer when victory's near,
And wallow in fields that are gory.
It's a different song when everything's wrong.
When you're feeling infernally mortal;
When it's ten against one, and hope there is none,
Buck up, little soldier, and chortle:

Carry on! Carry on!
There isn't much punch in your blow.
You're glaring and staring and hitting out blind;
You're muddy and bloody, but never mind.
Carry on! Carry on!
You haven't the ghost of a show.
It's looking like death, but while you've a breath,
Carry on, my son! Carry on!

And so in the strife of the battle of life
It's easy to fight when you're winning;
It's easy to slave, and starve and be brave,
When the dawn of success is beginning.
But the man who can meet despair and defeat
With a cheer, there's a man of God's choosing;
The man who can fight to Heaven's own height
Is the man who can fight when he's losing.

Carry on! Carry on!
Things never were looming so black.
But show that you haven't a cowardly streak,
And though you're unlucky you never are weak.
Carry on! Carry on!
Brace up for another attack.
It's looking like hell, but - you never can tell;
Carry on, old man! Carry on!

There are some who drift out in the deserts of doubt,
And some who in brutishness wallow;
There are others, I know, who in piety go
Because of a Heaven to follow.
But to labor with zest, and to give of your best,
For the sweetness and joy of the giving;
To help folks along with a hand and a song;
Why, there's the real sunshine of living.

Carry on! Carry on!
Fight the good fight and true;
Believe in you mission, greet life with a cheer;
There's big work to do, and that's why you are here.
Carry on! Carry on!
Let the world be the better for you;
And at last when you die, let this be your cry:
Carry on, my soul! Carry on!

Thursday, September 01, 2005

Tag Board

Hey Guys,
I have put a Tag Board on my blog( the one on the right side below my profile). Its kinda forum thing but very easy and fast to post.
So jus put ur views ,thoughts and ne thing u want to write on the tag board.

Monday, August 29, 2005

Do you Su Doku?


I am being slowly addicted to Su dokus, so much so that The Times group had organised a Su doku competition and I actually went there on a lazy Sunday morning. And to my surprise many fellow gujjus also landed up ;0)

But believe me, this craze has taken of like a wild forest fire. Hordes of people turned up for the competiton. It was fun. I managed to crack the puzzle but took more time than the three top times.

Times of India sensing it early on this rising trend and making a smart marketing move. Not surprisingly it’s the no.1 player in its domain.

Good Old Days

A very touching poem to remind us of the best days we ever had in life.

nostalgic
Neo.


Friday, August 19, 2005

Su Doku

My lastest craze is not a new book i have read or a new idea but a puzzle - Su Doku.

Sudoku is the number placing game taking the world by storm. It originated from japan or china many years ago but have caught the worlds attention in recent times. UK newspaper were the first to publish it and now u can find it in every newspaper.Its the next big thing after crosswords.

The rules of Sudoku are simple. Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces. Every row must contain one of each digit. So must every column, as must every 3x3 square.

Each Sudoku has a unique solution that can be reached logically without guessing.

I have found out on the net - There are 6670903752021072936960 possible su dokus which will have a unique solution and are solvable !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jus try one and u will never be the same again.No one can solve jus one ;)

Friday, August 12, 2005

On Fear

I must say a word about fear. It is life’s only true opponent. Only fear can defeat life. It is a clever, treacherous adversary, how well I know. It has no decency, respects no law or convention, shows no mercy. It goes for your weakest spot, which it finds with unerring ease. It begins in your mind, always. One moment you are feeling calm, self-possessed, happy. Then fear, disguised in the garb of mild-mannered doubt, slips into your mind like a spy. Doubt meets disbelief and disbelief tries to push it out. But disbelief is a poorly armed foot soldier. Doubt does away with it with little trouble. You become anxious. Reason comes to do battle for you. You are reassured. Reason is fully equipped with the latest weapons technology. But, to your amazement, despite superior tactics and a number of undeniable victories, reason is laid low. You feel yourself weakening, wavering. Your anxiety becomes dread.

Fear next turns fully to your body, which is already aware that something terribly wrong is going on. Already your lungs have flown away like a bird and your guts have slithered away like a snake. Now your tongue drops dead like an opossum, while your jaw begins to gallop on the spot. Your ears go deaf. Your muscles begin to shiver as if they had malaria and your knees to shake as though they were dancing. Your heart strains too hard, while your sphincter relaxes too much. And so with the rest of your body. Every part of you, in the manner most suited to it, falls apart. Only your eyes work well. They always pay proper attention to fear.

Quickly you make rash decisions. You dismiss your last allies: hope and trust. There, you’ve defeated yourself. Fear, which is but an impression, has triumphed over you.

The matter is difficult to put into words. For fear, real fear, such as shakes you to your foundation, such as you feel when you are brought face to face with your mortal end, nestles in your memory like a gangrene: it seeks to rot everything, even the words with which to speak of it. So you must fight hard to express it. You must fight hard to shine the light of words upon it. Because if you don’t, if your fear becomes a wordless darkness that you avoid, perhaps even manage to forget, you open yourself to further attacks of fear because you never truly fought the opponent who defeated you.



Extract from the book "Life of Pi " by Yan Martel

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

Mistakes viewed differently

Click on the link to read an intersting article
Lessons from My strategic Mistakes

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

If

- Rudyard kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master,
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Saturday, July 30, 2005

The Spirit of Mumbaikars


Tuesday, 26th July 2005 will now be remembered as “Terrible Tuesday”. It was the day when skies opened up. The day when it rained more than it rains in cherapunji in a single day. To be precise it rained 94 cms. Actually no metropolis in the whole world has received so much rain in a given single day. Mumbai witnessed the unthinkable and mumbaikars, history.

To add to the woes, Arabian Sea was on high. Immense rainwater and high tide assured that the city was flooded like never before. Water levels rising as high as 8feet!! The rail lines were the first to get flooded and the so-called lifeline of Mumbai came to a grinding halt. Then the roads started getting clogged due to excessive water. Traffic came to a standstill and the situation got worst. People got stranded at nowhere. And with so much water around the power supply was cut off due to the fear of short circuit. Darkness fell on the city and people got hold of any thing, which can bail them out. Many of us like me, wiser souls, stayed back in their offices and spent the night.

The rains stopped the next day, but the suffering didn’t. The trains didn’t start for more than half the day. Roads were littered with cars and buses abandoned by the commuters. Many owners left their costly cars and walked their way home. Truly, Life is a great leveler. I have met guys who have walked for more than 5-7 hours to reach their homes. As I was making my own treacherous way back home, I saw some ghastly scenes. Cattle carcass floating in water, garbage strewn over and destruction all over the place. But amidst death, I saw life struggling and helping each other out. On every nook and corner of the city, people where helping out each other. Residents of that area distributing free drinking water, hot tea, and biscuits to eat. They also guided the weary motorist, on which way to take so as to reach home.

What comes across is the spirit of mumbaikars, and the collective spirit of Mumbai. The spirit, which refuses to die. The spirit, which floats in the flooded murky waters of Mumbai. The spirit, which has survived the deadly bomb blasts and the riots. The spirit, which has survived various scams and scheming politicians.

The Spirit, which can never be broken.

Monday, July 25, 2005

Umeed se Dugna

Umeed se Dugna

Many of us have seen the latest KBC teaser, which has Abby Baby crooning in it. And most of us are impressed by the creativity and the execution of the Ad. KBC season 2 will soon go on air and will bring in more revenue for Star TV.

Coming to Star TV, we all know that it’s the number one channel in India and has an amazing fan following. But being a marketing student, my take on this point is different. Star TV is one of the finest marketing entities we currently have in our country. To prove my point, lets take an outsider view of the company.

Circa 1995: when the cable revolution has just started and Zee proving to be the unbeatable leader. Star had come up with many channels but none able to connect with the audience. Star World was too upmarket to be popular and at the same time star plus had immense identity crisis. Star plus started with English programmes but later on realized that Hindi is the national language.

Then comes the year of turn around. The year when star plus launched KBC and Kyunki (I guess its 1999 –00). These two programmes catapult star plus from a number3 to an undisputable number 1. KBC with its format and the charisma of Amitabh was an instant hit. While kyunki took its little time to establish, but then history takes time to be created. Also a new prime slot of 10:30 was invented by the soap. The idea of broadcasting the show at 10:30 would be suicidal, but it silenced all the critics with its success. The rest as they say is history. Kahani ghar ghar kii and soaps alike captured more and more viewer ship for the channel.

The focal point is the change in the marketing strategy. From being a directionless channel to a focused one. All the programmes directed towards a specific target group largely the typical Indian family household and the housewife’s for the afternoon shows (remember Star Doophar). Success begets success is an old maxim but still very true. With the newly acquired number one slot, the channel put in more efforts to capitalize. Shows like star parivaar awards and specials during holis and diwalis only meant, increased viewer ship and more revenues.

But if star is truly a marketing genius then why am I not hooked to star plus? This is the question, which was very well understood by the marketing team at star. They have segmented the market and offered channel for each and every segment. So they launched Star One. And it’s an instant hit among urban youth. Also the legendary soaps like friends and baywatch have positioned star world as an urban chic. But it does not stop here. They came up with star gold, which was to showcase old classics but then realized that the market is limited for such channels. So they turned it into a full-fledged movie channel. And ya, a very innovative channel by the name Star Utsav, where they were going to showcase those serial which have completed their run. I am not sure of how the channel is doing but the idea is commendable. Of course other channels such as Channel V, NatGeo, etc are doing their bit well.

But some credit of Star's success will go to number 2 and number 3 channel viz Sony and Zee. Sony plays the role of a challenger. A challenger constantly fighting it out to be the winner. And Zee being a lousy third is now trying to be innovative. It is because of these two that Star is always on its toes.

The fundamental point we can learn from the master marketer is the detailed attention given to the needs of the customers. Getting the pulse of the market and the underlying currents, which actually rule the market. And eventually delivering it flawlessly. Infact when it comes to Star, it always delivers more than expected (mark of a true marketer) by the consumers. Rightfully “Umeed Se Dugna”

Wednesday, July 06, 2005

Goregaon To Churchgate

A piece written by my colleague. Captures the ride wholesomely
Neo


It’s a beautiful day when you leave your cozy house in the morning for your day’s work. After you are done with your daily chores and your breakfast, you are all set to go to office.

But my dear friend let me remind you, you are located in a city known as Mumbai. It’s really easy to say that you are satisfied with the work you do. But alas, you can’t say the same about the way in which you reach the place, where you do your satisfying work. Ironically, it’s commuting that takes more out of you than your work itself. And work gets paid, commuting doesn’t.

So, you leave your house fresh as a spring flower, in firmly pressed clothes, hair intact, and with all the potency to face your day’s work. You normally take a cab or rickshaw to reach the nearby station from where the train starts for the ultimate destination, i.e. Churchgate.


On the Platform
You stand all alone in the world of many, gazing the people standing on the same platform as if you have never seen any (You are actually evaluating who are your competitors and how beatable are they). Slowly, the crowd starts multiplying with an ever-increasing rate. And you start sweating by the mere view of it (Not that the Sun is out). You now know, it’s not going to be easy to get a place in the train bogie for which you have shelled out your hard-earned dough.

And slowly, you start devising a strategy that will help you earn a seat in the train bogie. You set your priorities (Maybe, first a window seat, then a right hand seat, standing near the door, etc). After that, you plan your optimal movement in the train while boarding, the total duration of which is not going to be more than a fraction of a second. Amidst all these thoughts, suddenly you hear voices and witness some chaos. Hey, there it is, standing a kilometer away, the medium that will help you reach your destination Churchgate (You already forgot that by now), the TRAIN.

But there’s no time. Remember, it’s no less than an India-Pakistan war. Indeed, all the valiant soldiers are gearing up for the fight of their life, the battlefield is slowly approaching, get in or you are out of the race. And will have to see yours Senior’s angry face. And then lands the battlefield on the platform. But hey, even before you gave the slightest thought of getting in, people are actually jumping and hopping into the train. I can tell you, it’s an unbelievable sight. And you are actually thrown here and there, and you say to yourself, damn the strategy and the seat, will I even be able to get into the train.


In the Transit
Yes, you made it. You started the war on a good note. At least, you somehow managed to hang on to the train. Although, you didn’t secure yourself a seat (I am quite sure about that), you are at least being displaced towards the destination Churchgate. The sight of people hanging on the train can be compared with the sight of red ants dangling on a piece of bread (Although the red ants take some minutes to cover a bread, the train gets covered in a matter of some nano seconds).

Inside the train, you are having the most pleasant time of the day. Reciting all the prayers you can and wishing god that the train completes its journey as soon as possible. It’s only here that you get the chance to determine how your sweat tastes, because anyways you cannot wipe it off (Your hands are entwined in the crowd). Slowly, more and more people start to get into the train and that doesn’t make your life any easier (Now you know the disadvantages of a 1.2 billion population). The moving crowd literally brushes you and converts your well-pressed Branded shirt into a tattered piece of cloth. Some hands above your head brush your intact hair into a muddled bunch of grass (In all the crowd, You feel that you are a wise man that you left your umbrella back home). And your sweat has already decided to give you another bath.

In the midst of your journey you start wondering, why the hell I am in this train. When will I be rich enough to travel to-and-fro in a car? On one end exasperation is building up and someone starts arguing with you on your inappropriate posture. And although you wish to bash him up, you subtly settle the matter (i.e. After gauging the opponent’s size).

Just when you are on the end of journey, literally cursing someone who spoiled the state of your shirt, someone in the rush of getting down stamps his foot on your polished and shining shoe. Before you shout, he’s even left the platform leaving you in despair. Finally at Marine lines, you start gathering your luggage and become ready for alighting the train. You actually start thinking that; I have already lost half my day’s energy (And I require the remaining half while I am on my way back). The train has left you in misery, with a half drenched and messy shirt, muddled hair, dirty shoe, and an exasperated mood.

On the Churchgate Platform - Eureka
Ah! What a relief. You are on the seventh heaven, when you have alighted the Train. It feels the same as when a war gets over. Peace is the word. But as soon as you start thanking your god, he replies you with the blessings of water, i.e. Rain. Enjoy your way to the office!!!

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

The Alchemist

I have read "The Alchemist" twice and want to read it again. The Book is a must read and unfolds beautifully. The book is loaded with some of the great quotes.Some of them are below

The Alchemist
It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting. (p11)

What's the world's greatest lie? It's this: that at a certain point in our lives, we lose control of what's happening to us, and our lives become controlled by fate. (p18)

The boy didn't know what a person's "destiny" was. It's what you have always wanted to accomplish. Everyone, when they are young, knows what their destiny is. At that point in their lives, everything is clear and everything is possible. They are not afraid to dream, and to yearn for everything they would like to see happen to them in their lives. But, as time passes, a mysterious force begins to convince them that it will be impossible for them to realize their destiny. (p22)

And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. (p23)

People learn early in their lives what is their reason for being. (p25)

When someone makes a decision, he is really diving into a strong current that will carry him to places he had never dreamed of when he first made the decision. (p71)

Intuition is really a sudden immersion of the soul into the universal current of life. (p77)

When you want something with all your heart, that's when you are closest to the Soul of the World. It's always a positive force. (p82)

The alchemists spent years in their laboratories, observing the fire that purified the metals. They spent so much time close to the fire that gradually they gave up the vanities of the world. They discovered that the purification of the metals had led to a purification of themselves (p85)

"I learned that the world has a soul, and that whoever understands that soul can also understand the language of things. I learned that many alchemists realized their destinies, and wound up discovering the Soul of the World, the Philosopher's Stone, and the Elixir of Life. But above all, I learned that these things are all so simple they could be written on the surface of an emerald." (p87)

I don't live in either my past or my future. I'm interested only in the present. If you can concentrate always on the present, you'll be a happy man. Life will be a party for you, a grand festival, because life is the moment we're living now. (p88/89)

Because people become fascinated with pictures and words, and wind up forgetting the Language of the World. (p91)

In his pursuit of the dream, he was being constantly subjected to tests of his persistence and courage. So he could not be hasty, nor impatient. If he pushed forward impulsively, he would fail to see the signs and omens left by God along his path. (p93)

When you are in love, things make even more sense, he thought. (p105)

Courage is the quality most essential to understanding the Language of the World. (p117)

Remember that wherever your heart is, there you will find your treasure. You've got to find the treasure, so that everything you have learned along the way can make sense. (p122)

"There is only one way to learn," the alchemist answered. "It's through action. Everything you need to know you have learned through your journey. (p132)

The wise men understood that this natural world is only an image and a copy of paradise. The existence of this world is simply a guarantee that there exists a world that is perfect. God created the world so that, through its visible objects, men could understand his spiritual teachings and the marvels of this wisdom. That's what I mean by action." (p133)

All you have to do is contemplate a simple grain of sand, and you will see in it all the marvels of creation. Listen to your heart. It knows all things, because it came from the Soul of the World, and it will one day return there. (p134)

People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them. (p136)

Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams, because every second of the search is a second's encounter with God and with eternity.

Everyone on earth has a treasure that awaits him. (p138)

Every search begins with beginners luck and ends with the victor's being severely tested. (p139)

The boy and his heart had become friends, and neither was capable now of betraying the other. (p141)

When you are loved, you can do anything in creation. When you are loved, there's no need at all to understand what's happening, because everything happens within you. (p155)

Sunday, June 26, 2005

The Rules for Being Human

This indeed is very True but the last rule is the most applicable

Neo.

The Rules for Being Human
=========================

1. You will receive a body. You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours
for the entire period.

2. You will learn lessons. You are enrolled in an informal school called
Life. Each day in this
school, you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the
lessons or think them irrelevant and stupid.

3. There are no mistakes, only lessons. Growth is a process of trial and
error. Experimentation. The "failed" experiments are as much a part of the
process as the experiment that ultimately "works".

4. A lesson is repeated until learned. A lesson will be presented to you in
various forms until you have learned it. You can then go on to the next
lesson.

5. Learning lessons does not end. There is no part of life that does not
contain its lessons. If you are alive, there are lessons to be learned.

6. "There" is no better than "here." When your "there" has become a "here,"
you will simply obtain another "there" that will again look better than
"here."

7. Others are merely mirrors of you. You cannot love or hate something about
another person unless it reflects something you either love or hate about
yourself.

8. What you make of your life is up to you. You have all the tools and
resources you need. What you do with them is up to you. The choice is yours.

9. Your answers lie inside you. The answers to Life's questions lie inside
you. All you need to do is look, listen and trust.

10. You will forget all this.

Quarter-Life Crisis

A very interesting article which all of us can relate to.
Read on

Neo

Being Twenty-Something............


They call it the "Quarter-life Crisis." It is when you stop going along with the crowd and start realizing that there are many things about yourself that you didn't know and may not like.

You start feeling insecure and wonder where you will be in a year or two,but then get scared because you barely know where you are now. You start realizing that people are selfish and that, maybe, those friends that you thought you were so close to aren't exactly the greatest people you have ever met, and the people you have lost touch with are some of the most important ones.

What you don't recognize is that they are realizing that too, and aren't really cold, catty, mean or insincere but that they are as confused as you.

You look at your job... and it is not even close to what you thought you would be doing, or maybe you are looking for a job and realizing that you are going to have to start at the bottom and that scares you.

Your opinions have gotten stronger. You see what others are doing and find yourself judging more than usual because suddenly you realize that you have certain boundaries in your life and are constantly adding things to your list of what is acceptable and what isn't.

One minute, you are insecure and then the next, secure. You laugh and cry with the greatest force of your life.You feel alone and scared and confused. Suddenly, change is the enemy and you try to cling on to the past with dear life, but soon realize that the past is drifting further and further away, and there is nothing to do but
stay where you are or move forward.

You get your heart broken and wonder how someone you loved could do such damage to you. Or you lay in bed and wonder why you can't meet anyone decent enough that you want to get to know better.

Or maybe you love someone but love someone else too and cannot figure out why you are doing this because you know that you aren't a bad person.One-night-stands and random hook-ups start to look cheap. Getting wasted and acting like an idiot starts to look pathetic.

You go through the same emotions and questions over and over, and talk with your friends about the same topics because you cannot seem to make a decision.

You worry about loans, money, the future and making a life for yourself... and while winning the race would be great, right now you'd just like to be a contender! What you may not realize is that everyone reading this relates to it.

We are in our best of times and our worst of times, trying as hard as we can
to figure this whole thing out.

We are making a lot of mistakes, but helping one another learn from them & reaching out to others.

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Five Point Some One

I have yet to figure out the best part of my job but commuting to my workplace is quite enriching. Though the trains are crowded to the last centimeter, I find a way to read a book. Recently I laid my hands on a novel titled “Five Point Someone” by Chetan Bhagat. He is an IIT, IIM alumnus. The story revolves around three friends and their life in an IIT hostel.

The style of writing is simple and very young full of common youth lingo. The book is not a great piece of literature but classics are not meant to be read, right. Three friends- Alok, Ryan and Hari are the central characters, and the whole story is narrated by Hari. I could identify with some part or other with each and every character but Hari is close to my heart.

There is not much to think about the story or any takeaways. But is that everyday kinda stuff which happens to normal guyz.

Help yourself to get a copy and read it

Friday, June 24, 2005

Memoirs of an MBA............

Memoirs of an MBA...
July 26
Dear Diary,

I can't hold myself down. My FIRST day on the job!! And I like it
already. "Assistant Junior Deputy to the Vice Chairman -
Manufacturing". My dad was thrilled when he heard my designation.
"What the f!@#!!!" was his exact words. Oh I love it when my parents
are happy...

Need to meet HR in half an hour. I cant wait to get my first Employee
ID Card and cubicle. I hope Parthasarathy Whatayblouse Crappers is the
beginning of great things.

P.S. I have brought my favorite textbooks back from the insti. OD, OM
and HR should help me grow rapidly in the organization. And I WILL
handle soft issues before facing hard issues here at PWC.


July 28th
Dear Diary,

Had a lot of fun with HR yesterday. The guy who had recruited me had
left a month ago. So they didnt know I was joining. We had a hearty
laugh over that one.

I'll get my cubicle in a few days time. For the time being I am
sharing a nice one with Claire. She's with Corporate Communication.
The phone doesnt work though...


August 2nd
Dear Diary,

Met my boss today. He spend a lot of time with my CV and then asked me
how I managed to get a job with them. (Even he knows how lucky they
are to get me..) He told me to review our material ordering system in
the err... umm... the... the "big yellow and blue noisy machine
section" of the plant.

Claire is working on an "Our Employees Love Us" campaign. The office
boy had just resigned. So she got me to pose with an apron and a tray
of cookies for a photo. They are going to call me Ramon and use it for
ads. I am going to be famous.

August 7th
Dear Diary,

My first breakthrough. I have decided to order nickel ball bearings
using the EQO.. QEO... whatever formula. It takes into account item
cost, holding cost and weight of ball bearing I think. The purchase
guy gave me a funny look when he saw my annual requisition contract
form. He is obviously not an MBA...

Claire resigned today. She told me carry on with the "Our Employees
Love Us" campaign.

P.S. Lesson for the week. You cannot order 0.7564 of a ball bearing.
It has to be in whole numbers.


August 11th
Dear Diary,

I just got a shipment of 4384 ball bearings. I checked up with
Engineering. They said that should be enough for around 14 years of
requirement. I gave them 3 and stashed away the rest in a cupboard in
my room. If prices of ball bearings go up, I see a lot of potential
savings.

I have decided to develop informal channels of communication. From
tomorrow I will spend a little time next to the coffee machine to
understand the unspoken messages within the underbelly of the firm.
(That OD book is good)


August 14th
Dear Diary,

I sent my first official letter today. It was to our Facilities
manager Merry Le Bian. She is a hottie. I told her that the Coffee
Machine takes too much time to reheat between refills. Wrote it in a
WAC format and all with a table of contents and everything. She is
sure going to impressed!! I spell checked it in MS word and emailed it
to her an hour ago. No reply yet.

They scrapped the "Our Employees Love Us" campaign. The photo shoot
was taking up too much time, and people were being forced to stay late
without extra pay. Someone finally went and vandalised the banner. It
now reads "Our Employers Shove Us". I offered to model for all the
snaps and videos. They called me a dickhead. I was delighted. Dickhead
is internal slang for "Big Stud". HR told me. Everyone calls me that...

P.S. One more shipment of ball bearings came. Again 4384. The contract
can't be changed now. I dont have too much space left in my cupboard.


August 25th
Dear Diary,

My letter came back. It had a pink post-it on it from Merry. "Please
proofread" it said. It was CC'd to my boss. How was I supposed to know
MS Word would spell check her name and change it to Merry
Lesbian????!!!! Where's natural justice?

Today five minutes before a meeting the cupboard door broke open. It
took me ten minutes to pick up all the ball bearings from the floor. I
had to run to the board room for the meeting and slipped on a bearing
which rolled under the door. I fell on the coffee machine and tipped
coffee powder into the polymer mixing maching tray. Noone saw anything.

P.S. Sorry for the long break. My computer crashed. There was a mail
from an old friend. She's now married into the Welchia family I think.
Crashed after that. Strange name that Welchia...


September 2nd
Dear Diary,

My boss told me I may not last the probation period. I was mighty
thrilled to hear that. Imagine!! Permanent in less than three months!!
That should be some sort of company record.

I made a presentation to all the staff yesterday. Some 300 people were
there. I think I sent good vibes. Everyone was smiling and nodding
their heads during the presentation. Someone later told me my fly was
open the whole time. But I don't think anyone noticed. The
presentation was on "An Open Culture: Let the feeling show!!"


p.s. 17156 ball bearings. I floated a scheme to give each employee a
ball bearing for every year of service. The HR manager immediately
convened a meeting with my boss. Every suggestion counts here at PWC.

September 4th
Dear Diary,

I have been transferred to the office in Sub-Saharan Africa. I will be
heading the Room Heater and Hot Water Geyser products division. They
have also told me to pay for all the ball bearings I bought. I think
it speaks much of the entrepreneurial spirit. I have been told to
leave immediately for Kujumbinana.

P.S. A foreign posting in under a year!!!


September 5th
Dear Diary,

I am in Kujumbinana. We don't have a branch here.......

Saturday, June 04, 2005

My First Three Days at the Corporate World!!!!!

1st June 2005

Its 3 o'clock in the night and I wake up sweating profusely. With eyes wide open I look at the clock trying to comprehend what the time is. A thought struck my mind and suddenly I realize that it is just an other nightmare. These kinds have become a regular in my life whenever there is an important impending event. Today is 1st June, the day when I will put forth a small step in the corporate (this word is magical) arena. And no prizes for guessing that the nightmare was about reaching late to the office on the first day and having a bad start.

I start off my day by catching the 8:14 train with the blessings of dad & mom. I land up at church gate completely drenched by the humid climate. I reach the office and wait for my colleague who also joins with me. Well as always there’s always some thing weird or amazing happening with me as I go on with my life. The colleague who has done his MBA from dalmiya is also named Viral!!!!!!!!! So the confusion starts from day one. We are taken to our seats and were given some mags and journals to go through. Times goes on and we are then ushered to the cabin of one of our heads. He talks to us very casually and asks us to join him for lunch in about half and hour. So now I am off to my first business lunch (if u may call it). The food is very “international” in flavour (no pun intended).

The lunch goes heavy on my stomach and so I have this lazy afternoon to fight with, as there is no work to be done. Just sit on a chair and read through papers and documents. After 5 pm I get impatient to leave, as I am bored to death.

5:15, 5:30, 5:45, 6:00, 6:15,6:20, 6:25, 6:26, 6:27…. It’s getting difficult to pass the time. At last one of our senior comes across and tells us that few days will be without work and you all can leave. To my much-awaited relief we left the office by 7.

Reached home by 8 and thus come to the end of my first office trip …..Or the start of a journey.

Patience is how u act while you are waiting……………………………


2nd June 2005

So I am back to the office to start the 2nd day of my pro life. The day is not started and I get the feel of “The Routine”. The feel is very discouraging but at the same time encouraging. Discouraging in the sense that it doesn’t motivate me to do the chore but at the same time motivates me to quit and start my own at a point in time.

Today is no different from day 1. We were briefed for about an hour or so and then were given some documents to read. Sitting on my chair I just think infact laugh on myself on having grandiose plans for my job. The job in which I will be launching brands right and left, doing heavy marketing and formulating strategies to checkmate the competition. But I don’t blame my self for the thought, as this is what comes across to any B school rookie.

Afternoon is what seems very difficult to pass. The fleeting mind disrespects the 4 walls of the office and wanders in the world full of imagination and dreams. And why not, we only dream when the reality is not better than the dreams. I get hold of my mind and put it back where it must be. Try to create work for myself but soon the eyes roll to the right bottom corner of my desktop to see the time and do it repeatedly. Doing it so often makes you think that the pc clock is not working and the being so dumb, I really checked it twice.

I have got a corporate (oh man I love this word so much) email id now and was trying to check the way it works and suddenly I get a mail. It’s by someone called chetan. He is resigning and hence wants to bid goodbye to all. In his mail he thanks a lot for understanding and supporting him. I feel good as for the first time I am being thanked for all this without even seeing/talking/meeting/knowing the guy. And I doubt how many from my team know him. So is the corporate (again...I simply love this) world, like a forest in which you can get lost and dead.


3rd June 2005

It’s again a lazy afternoon and I my mind goes on a philosophical drive. I was just wondering the kind of life I want. The kind of life, which will make me happy, or at least satisfy me. I dip in to my mind and the heart for an answer and as always I return empty handed. Just joining the organization, I was thinking if I had made a right decision. Just wondering what my career would be down 3/4/5 yrs.Infact to be honest I was actually worrying.

But then I have realized that what is that I need to worry about at this stage. I have not yet started my job and am actually thinking of switching it!!!!. Thinking about my next break infact the next BIG break. This is what happens to us when we live in the future and not in the present. And I think worrying is the function of how much you stay in your future. The more you stay the more you worry. As I move along this philosophical drive I tend to remember Saunak (mafat). He and I are different as poles but we do meet at ends. I think that we both have this very bad habit of cribbing (although I do it very subconsciously) . We always feel that the grass is greener on the other side and always wish to be “there” and in the process; crib for our present i.e. “here”. I need to get ‘there’. ‘THERE’ is an important place. There is there and here. But then there are so many instances when I have got to “there” just to realize that the “there“, which is my “here“ now, is not so worth it and I readily search for another “there”. The pursuit goes on and suddenly I realise that the voyage between “here” and “there” is nothing but a round circle and on completing the circle what I get in the end is a BIG DAMN ZERO. I have realized with failing over time and again that “There” is here. There is no ‘here and there’, there is only ‘here’. We should enjoy our “here” and the “there” will be automatically taken care off. And that is what I am going to do with my job, enjoy the “here”.

Time passes by and its time to go, with the news that tomorrow is an off being a Saturday. I catch a 8:55 train and with Gods grace I get a seat. I take out a book titled “Jonathan Livingston Seagull” by Richard Bach. Just as I begin reading it, a gentlemen well in his early sixties sitting besides me and asks me what I am reading. He asks me what is the book about and I tell me the same. It’s about overcoming your limitations and excelling in life. He seemed to be a wise fellow and picked up the discussion from the point. He went on talking explaining me the various kinds of limitations we have and the process of overcoming them. He talked non stop for 30 minutes. He explained me the power of being positive and not cynical in life. He goes on touching each and every topic of life in those insightful 30 minutes. He told me how to tackle pressures at your workplace and how to keep your professional life different from your personal life. It seemed to me that God had indeed sent him to have a chat with me and steer me the right direction. He got down at bandra and that was the end of our discussion but he sparked off a new thought in my mind

Never Give Up!!!!!!!!!

Posted By Neo

Tuesday, May 31, 2005

What is Effective Communication????

Read the below stories for knowing what is Effective Communication????
Story 1
Jack and Max are walking from religious service. Jack wonders whether it would be all right to smoke while praying. Max replies, "Why don't you ask the Priest?" So Jack goes up to the Priest and asks, "Priest, may I smoke while I pray?" But the Priest says, "No, my son, you may not. That's utter disrespect to our religion."
Jack goes back to his friend and tells him what the good Priest told him. Max says, "I'm not surprised. You asked the wrong question. Let me try." And so Max goes up to the Priest and asks, "Priest, may I pray while I smoke?" To which the Priest eagerly replies, "By all means, my son. By all means."
Moral: The reply you get depends on the question you ask.
Story 2
Once a young astrologer visited the house of a rich man. He was received well and asked to predict the future of the rich man. After a few calculations the astrologer told,"All your relatives will die before you". On hearing this ,the rich man got angry ,and sent him out without any rewards.

Later , when the young astrologer met his guru and told him about the incident.Then the guru asked him to accompany him in disguise. They went to the same rich man. The guruji was asked to predict the future .After some calculations he said, " What a lucky man! You will live long longer than all your relatives. The rich man was happy and rewarded the guru.

Moral : Not only the message but how you tell it is equally
important.

HOLD ON TO A DREAM...

HOLD ON TO A DREAM…..

 

A voice that calls to some of us

From somewhere deep inside,

A voice that will not give us peace,

Until at least we’ve tried

To catch that bright elusive star,

Though foolish it may seem

To those not driven as we are

To hold on to a dream.

 

It’s not just thoughts of fame or wealth

That keeps us hanging on

When others would have given up,

When all but hope is gone.

When sometimes even hope grows dim

And casts its faintest beam,

We wonder if it’s worth it all

To hold on to a dream.

 

And then that voice inside of us

That others cannot know

Tells us that our chance will come,

That we must not let go.

If we can only persevere someday our star will gleam!

And they’ll know why we had to try

To hold on to our dream.

Monday, May 30, 2005

Those Wonderful Days!

"Class of 2001 - Reunion - 2021", read the banner,
oh! the last 20 years has gone so sooner,
The great college days, I started remembering,
Seems like only yesterday I finished engineering.
Seeing my class mates, after 20 years,
My eyes were filled with tears,
Everyone has changed a lot,
No one escaped nature's plot.
Guys who were smart and handsome,
have become bald and buxom,
Girls who used to fill our dreams,
Almost brought out screams.
Saw the girl, whom once I thought as my life,
oops!, today she is somebody else's wife,
after years, talked to her for a little while,
learned she is happy, that made me smile.
Entered our class' Mr. Romeo,
Who has played many a cameo
We started teasing him together,
About what all he did to-get-her,
Project reviews to campus interviews,
Nicknames to last bench games,
Cultural rehearsals to love proposals,
Short term crushes to class room blushes.
Everything was fresh in our mind,
Wished life could rewind,
Laughed, played and rejoiced,
Once again we became girls and boys.
Chatting and laughing, we all were in elation,
Till the painfull moment of seperation,
It was time to part,
returned with a heavy heart.
Today life is full of commitments,
And too many worries,
But those cherished moments,
Will live forever in our memories..
Sweetly Ever...

An SMS Chat......... that Changed My Life

God: Hello. You called me.

I, Me, Myself: Called you? No, who is this?

God: This is God. I heard your prayers. So I thought I will chat with you.

IMM: Sure, I pray. Just makes me feel good. Actually, am busy now. In the midst of something, you know.

God: What are you busy with? Ants are busy, too.

IMM: Don't know. But I can't find free time. Life has become hectic. It's rush hour all the time.

God: Sure. Activity gets you busy. But productivity gets you results. Activity consumes time. Productivity frees it.

IMM: But I still can't figure it out. By the way, I was not expecting YOU to buzz me on instant messaging chat.

G: Well, I wanted to help you resolve your fight for time by giving you some clarity. I wanted to reach you through the medium you are comfortable with.

IMM: Tell me, why has life become so complicated?

G: Stop analysing life. Just live it. Analysis is what makes it complicated.

IMM: Why are we then constantly unhappy?

G: Your today is the tomorrow that you worried about yesterday. You are worrying because the act of worrying has become a habit. That's why you are not happy.

IMM: But how can we not worry when there is so much uncertainty?

G: Uncertainty is inevitable, but worrying is optional.

IMM: But then, there is so much pain due to uncertainty.

God: Pain is inevitable, but suffering is optional.

IMM: If suffering is optional, why do good people always suffer?

God: Diamonds cannot be polished without friction. Gold cannot be purified without fire. Good people go through trials. With that experience their life becomes better, not bitter.

IMM: You mean to say such experience is useful?

God: Yes. Experience is a hard teacher, though. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards.

IMM: But still, why should we go through such tests? Why can't we be free from problems?

God: Problems are Purposeful Roadblocks Offering Beneficial Lessons to Enhance Mental Strength. Inner strength comes from struggle and endurance, not when you are free from problems.

IMM: Frankly in the midst of so many problems, we don't know where we are heading.

God: If you look outside you will not know where you are heading. Look inside. Looking outside, you dream. Looking inside, you awaken. Eyes provide sight. Heart provides insight.

I Me Myself: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here? I don't know the answers.

God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be.

IMM: Sometimes not succeeding fast seems to hurt more than moving in the right direction.

God: Success is relative, quantified by others. Satisfaction is absolute, quantified by you. Knowing the road ahead is more satisfying than knowing you rode ahead.

IMM: Sometimes I ask, who am I, why am I here? I don't know the answers.

God: Seek not to find who you are, but to determine who you want to be. Stop looking for a purpose as to why you are here. Create it. Life is not a process of discovery but a process of creation.

IMM: How can I get the best out of life?

God: Face your past without regret. Handle your present with confidence. Prepare for the future without fear.

IMM: Sometimes my prayers are not answered.

God: There are no unanswered prayers. At times the answer is NO.

IMM: Thank you for this wonderful chat. I'll try to be less fearful.

God: Keep the faith and drop the fear. Life is a mystery to solve, not a problem to resolve. Life is wonderful if you know how to live.

World Ideologies As Explained By Reference To Cows

World Ideologies As Explained By Reference To Cows

FEUDALISM
You have two cows. Your lord takes some of the milk.

PURE SOCIALISM
You have two cows. The government takes them and puts them in a barn with everyone else's cows. You have to take care of all the cows. The government gives you a glass of milk.

SOCIALISM: You have two cows. You keep one and give the other to your neighbour.

BUREAUCRATIC SOCIALISM
Your cows are cared for by ex-chicken farmers. You have to take care of the chickens the government took from the chicken farmers. The government gives you as much milk and eggs as the regulations say you should need.

FASCISM
You have two cows. The government takes both, hires you to take care of them, and sells you the milk.

PURE COMMUNISM
You share two cows with your neighbors. You and your neighbors bicker about who has the most "ability" and who has the most "need". Meanwhile, no one works, no one gets any milk, and the cows drop dead of starvation.

COMMUNISM: You have two cows. The Government takes both and shares the milk with you and your neighbour.

RUSSIAN COMMUNISM
You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the government takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the black market.


PERESTROIKA
You have two cows. You have to take care of them, but the Mafia takes all the milk. You steal back as much milk as you can and sell it on the "free" market.

NAZI-ISM
You have two cows. The government takes both and shoots you.

DICTATORSHIP
You have two cows. The government takes both and drafts you.

PURE DEMOCRACY
You have two cows. Your neighbors decide who gets the milk.

REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY
You have two cows. Your neighbors pick someone to tell you who gets the milk.

BUREAUCRACY: You have two cows. You fill in 17 forms in triplicate and you don't have time to milk them.

BUREAUCRACY
You have two cows. At first the government regulates what you can feed them and when you can milk them. Then it pays you not to milk them. Then it takes both, shoots one, milks the other and pours the milk down the drain. Then it requires you to fill out forms accounting for the missing cows.

CAPITALISM: You have two cows. You milk them and pour the lot down the drain to keep the price up.

CAPITALISM
You don't have any cows. The bank will not lend you money to buy cows, because you don't have any cows to put up as collateral.

APARTHEID: You have two cows. You give the black cow's milk to the white cow to drink and don't milk the white cow.

WELFARE STATE: You have two cows. You milk them and give them the milk to drink.

UNITED NATIONS: You have two cows. Russia vetoes the farmer from milking them. Britain and France veto the cows from milking the farmers. USA abstains.

PURE ANARCHY
You have two cows. Either you sell the milk at a fair price or your neighbors try to take the cows and kill you.

ANARCHISM: You have two cows. The cows shoot you and milk each other.

SURREALISM
You have two giraffes. The government requires you to take harmonica lessons.

OLYMPICS-ISM
You have two cows, one American, one Chinese. With the help of trilling violins and state-of-the-art montage photography, John Tesh narrates the moving tale of how the American cow overcame the agony of growing up in a suburb with (gasp) divorced parents, then mentions in passing that the Chinese cow was beaten every day by a tyrannical farmer and watched its parents butchered before its eyes. The American cow wins the competition, severely spraining an udder in a gritty performance, and gets a multi-million dollar contract to endorse Wheaties. The Chinese cow is led out of the arena and shot by Chinese government officials, though no one ever hears about it. McDonald's buys the meat and serves it hot and fast at its Beijing restaurant.

IDEALISM: You have two cows. You marry and your wife milks them.

REALISM: You have two cows. You get married and you still milk them.

COMMONSENSE: You have two cows. You sell one and buy a bull.

Advaniism
You have two cows. You don't milk them. You worship them.

Chandrababuism
You have two cows in Vijayawada. You hook them to internet and milk them from Hyderabad.

Jayalalithaism
You have two cows. You teach them to cry, "Ammaaaaaaa..." and fall at your feet.

Karunanidhiism

You have two cows. You give one to your son and the other to your nephew.

Gandhism
You have two cows. But you drink goat's milk.

Indiraism
You have two bulls. You adamantly consider them as cows.

Lalooism
You have two cows. You buy Rs. 900 Crore worth of cattle-feed for them.

Rajnikantism
You have two cows. You throw them into air and catch their milk in your mouth.

Rajivism
You have two cows. You paint them both to get colorful milk.

Vajpayeeism
You have two cows. You distribute the milk among your partners and eat cattle-feed.

Clintonism
You have two cows. But you milk your neighbors' cows.

Osamaism
You have two cows. You convert them into biological weapons.

Talibanism
You have two cows. You put them in purdah.

UN-ism
You have two cows. You don't milk them; you only lecture to them.

Softwarism:
Client has two cows and you need to milk them:
1. First prepare a document when to milk them (Project kickoff)
2. Prepare a document how long you have to milk them(Project plan)
3. Then prepare how to milk them(Design)
4. Then prepare what other accessories are needed to milk them (Framework)
5. Then prepare two dummy cows (sort of toy cows) and show to client the way in which you will milk them (UI Mockups & POC)
6. If client is not satisfied then redo step 2
7. You actually start milking them and find that there are few problem with accessories.(Change framework). Redo step 4
8. At last milk them and send it to onsite. (Coding over)
9. Make sure that cow milks properly (Testing)
10. Onsite reports that it is not milking there
11. You break your head and find that onsite is trying to milk from bulls
12. At last onsite milk them and send to client (Testing)
13. Client says the quality of milk is not good. (User Acceptance Test)
14. Offsite then slogs and improves the quality of milk
15. Now the client says that the quality is good but its milking at slow rate (performance issue)
16. Again you slog and send it with good performance
17. Client is happy
18. But... By this time both the cows aged and can't milk


INFOSYSism
You have a thousand poor cows. You put them on a nice campus, and send them one at a time to the US for milking.

WIPROism
GE has a cow. You take 49% of the milk.

DELLism
Intel has a Goat. Samsung has a Camel. Buy milk from both and sell it as Cow's milk.

IBMism
You have old stubborn cows. You sell them as pet dogs to unsuspecting small businessmen.

MICROSOFTism
You have a cow. Force the world to buy milk from you. Spend a million dollars to feed poorer cows.

INTELism
Microsoft makes horse shoes. You nail them to your cows and wonder why they don't run fast.

SUNism
You have a bull. It doesn't give milk. You hate Microsoft.

ORACLEism
You have a cow. You don't know which side to milk, so you sell tools to help milk cows.

SAPism
You don't have a cow. You sell milking solutions for cows implimented by milking consultants.

APPLEism
You have a cow. You sell iMilk.

SONYism
You have a cow. You spend 50 million dollars to develop the world's thinnest milk.

3Mism
You have a cow that gives 10 gallons of milk per day. You sell the manure as a "High-performance Agricultural Additive".

HPism
You don't know if what you have is a cow. You sell complete milking solutions through Authorized Resellers only.

GEism
You have a donkey. People think you have a 100-year old cow. If someone finds out, that's his imagination at work.

RELIANCEism
You don't yet have a cow. You sell empty cans to people for Rs. 501, because Dhirubhai wanted everyone to have milk.

TATAism
You have a very old cow. You re-brand it as TATA Indicow.

CITIBANKism
Welcome to citibank. If you have a cow, press one. If you have a bull, press two....stay on the line if you would like our customer care officer to milk it for you...

TRADITIONAL ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You sell one and buy a bull.
Your herd multiplies and the economy grows.
You retire on the income.

INFOSYS ECONOMICS
You have 2 cows
You put both of them on the bench
And hire another to do the job.

TCS ìONOMICS
You have 2 cows
You tell them that only one will go to onsite.
You ask both of them to fight for the only H1B Visa.
Both of them die after fighting.

HCL ECONOMICS
You have 2 cows
You milk them only for 24 hours on just 7 days a week.
They run away.

WIPRO Economics
You have 2 cows
You train them for two months on how to milk
themselves.
Then u ask them to pull bullock carts.

INDIAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You worship them.

PAKISTAN ECONOMICS
You dont have any cows.
You claim that the Indian cows belong to you.
You ask the US for financial aid, China for military aid, British for Warplanes, Italy for machines, Germany for technology, French for
submarines, Switzerland for loans,Russia for drugs and Japan for equipment.You buy the cows with all this and claim of exploitation by the world.

AMERICAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.
You sell one and force the other to produce the milk of four cows.You profess surprise when the cow drops dead.

FRENCH ECONOMICS
You have two cows.You go on strike because you want three cows.

GERMAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.You reengineer them so that they live for 100 years,eat once a month and milk themselves.

BRITISH ECONOMICS
You have two cows.They are both mad cows.

ITALIAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows.You don't know where they are.You break for lunch.

SWISS ECONOMICS
You have 5000 cows, none of which belong to you.You charge others for storing them.

JAPANESE ECONOMICS
You have two cows.You redesign them so that they are one-tenth the sizeof an ordinary cow and produce twenty times the milk.
You then create cute cartoon cow images called Cowkimon and market them worldwide.

RUSSIAN ECONOMICS
You have two cows. You count them and learn you have five cows. You count them again and learn you have 42 cows.
You count them again and learn you have 17 cows. You give up counting and open another bottle of vodka.

CHINESE ECONOMICS
You have two cows. You have 300 people milking them.You claim full employment, high bovine productivity and arrest anyone reporting the actual numbers.

Why Me??

Arthur Ashe, the legendary Wimbledon player was dying of CANCER. From world over, he received letters from his fans, one of which conveyed :

"Why does GOD have to select you for such a bad disease"?

To this Arthur Ashe replied:
The world over --
5 crore children start playing tennis,
50 lakh learn to play tennis,
5 lakh learn professional tennis,
50,000 come to the circuit,
5000 reach the grand slam,
50 reach Wimbeldon,
4 to semi final,
2 to the finals,
When I was holding a cup I never asked GOD "Why me?".

And today in pain I should not be asking GOD "Why me?"

Happiness keeps u Sweet,
Trials keep u Strong,
Sorrow keeps u Human ,
Failure Keeps u Humble,
Success keeps u Glowing,
But only God Keeps u Going.

Of Cats and Underdogs

Of cats and underdogs


Business Today is a magazine fond of making lists. Every issue features at least one 'top 10' something or the other. This time it's India's best mutual fund managers.

The intro states: "Many are Indian Institute of Management (IIM) grads,others are Chartered Accountants (CAs) and a couple sport more esoteric degrees". I skimmed through the survey, more as an exercise in ego-surfing ("let's see how many IIM A grads are on the list") and here are the startling results.

The scorecard
FMS - 1
JBIMS - 2
NMIMS - 1
CAs - 2
unknown - 1
IIM Lucknow - 1

Unless the author of the intro meant "MBAs from premier institutes" -which includes FMS and JBIMS - the IIM reference is actually misleading!

The 'esoteric' degrees the magazine is referring to are basically MBAs from lesser known - actually unknown - institutes. There are 3 on the list, which is a statistically significant 30%. These include:

MBA Allahabad University
(Ashish Kumar, 35 - GM, LIC Mutual Fund)

MBA Bhopal University
( Rahul Goswami, 32 - Sr Fund Manager, Prudential ICICI AMC)

Hindu Institute of Management, Sonepat
( Sujoy Kumar Das, 32 - VP - DSP Merrill Lynch MF)

I called up a senior at DSPML and asked him, a dozen years after graduating from IIM A - how much does your institute label matter? Well, he says, at entry level - a hell of a lot. A company like DSPML does not take MBAs outside the top few institutes through campus placements, so definitely you get a headstart.

But they do take in lateral recruits based on performance - and hence success stories like Sujoy, the Sonepat MBA who started his career with Bank of Pubjab. And of course we all know this at some level - that in the end it's we as individuals who are responsible for our career graphs - regardless of which institute we graduate from.

But I'd just like to highlight this point, because I often meet young people who tried for IIMs, didn't make it and are now studying elsewhere. And feeling terrible about it. I want to say to all of you that 10 years from now it's really not going to matter. Although you may use it as an excuse to explain why you aren't doing as well as X, Y or Z.

Bottomline: It's what I call the cats and dogs theory at work in every field of life - not just MBA. The cats are the ones born with the silver spoons or who manage to enter institutes of a certain reputation. But the underdog can have his day - and often does.


P.S: Remember the story of the Helium Balloon seller. A kid comes and asks "Which color balloon will go up?"
The Balloon seller replies "It's not the color of the balloon but what's inside that makes it go up."

If You

Your words, your dreams, and your thoughts have power to create conditions
in your life. What you speak about, you can bring about.

If you keep saying you can't stand your job, you might lose your job.

If you keep saying you can't stand your body, your body can become sick.

If you keep saying you can't stand your car, your car could be stolen or
just stop operating.

If you keep saying you're broke, guess what? You'll always be broke.

If you keep saying you can't trust a man or trust a woman, you will always
find someone in your life to hurt and betray you.

If you keep saying you can't find a job, you will remain unemployed.

If you keep saying you can't find someone to love you or believe in you,
your very thought will attract more experiences to confirm your beliefs.

If you keep talking about a divorce or break up in a relationship, the you
might end up with it.

Turn your thoughts and conversations around to be more positive and power
packed with faith, hope, love and action.

Don't be afraid to believe that you can have what you want and deserve.

Watch your Thoughts, they become words.
Watch your words, they become actions
Watch your actions, they become habits.
Watch your Habits, they become character.
Watch your Character, for it becomes your Destiny.

The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than
you settle for.

"In the search for me, I discovered truth. In the search for truth, I
discovered love. In the search for love, I discovered God. And in God, I
have found everything."

Be A Lake

The old Master instructed the unhappy young man to put a handful of salt in
a glass of water and then to drink it. "How does it taste?" the Master
asked. "Awful," spat the apprentice.

The Master chuckled and then asked the young man to take another handful of
salt and put it in the lake. The two walked in silence to the nearby lake
and when the apprentice swirled his handful of salt into the lake, the old
man said, "Now drink from the lake."

As the water dripped down the young man's chin, the Master asked, "How does
it taste?" "Good!" remarked the apprentice. "Do you taste the salt?" asked
the Master. "No," said the young man.

The Master sat beside this troubled young man, took his hands, and said,

"The pain of life is pure salt; no more, no less. The amount of pain in life
remains the same, exactly the same. But the amount we taste the 'pain'
depends on the container we put it into. So when you are in pain, the only
thing you can do is to enlarge your sense of things ..... Stop being a
glass. Become a lake!"

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Being wrong is not my Fault

Posted By Neo

Forgiveness

Posted By Neo

Saturday, May 28, 2005

Love or Like????????

Posted By Neo

My Fav. Matrix Poster

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A Rare White Peacock

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Live Life to the Fullest

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Thursday, May 26, 2005

Procrastination

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That is Why?

Posted By Neo

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Back to the Past

HI guys,

I am back from my trip to gujarat. And what a great trip it was. Let me first begin with the daily doings on the trip

Sun : I started off in afternoon on sayaji express. I didnt had a reservation so traveled general coach. Man, it was so crowded and full of noise and top of it sweltering heat. but I really enjoyed the travel. The train was late and I reached Baroda at around 11 pm. Greeted every one and had dinner.

Mon: Actually we had plans to go to mt. abu . so talks were on for that. After noon was chit chatting wid paragi and chintan as he came home late afternoon. Evening time was food time, I and chintan went to the famous "Lala Kakas" bhajia outlet . He dishes out some really good bhajiyas . and of course the ubiquitous "Dabeli".

Tues : Talks were on for Mt. abu.I and chintan decided that we would go on our own. But then we decided that the nest day we will head off to pavaghad. On tues night we went for " Kathiawadi " food on the highway. It was really good the taste and the menu was amazingly delicious and simple. We ate rotla,orra, potato sbji with garlic ,kichdi and more. It was jus amazing.

Wed: We went to pavaghad on scooter. Its a one to one and half hour drive from our place. We started early moring and so enjoyed the trip. on reaching there we climbed the hill for the temple and went then sat on a ridge with cool breeze flowing through our hair. Evening was chilling out with mantra Kumar and paragi.

Thur : The surprise element of the trip for ull. We cancelled the mount abe trip and decided we would go to petlad and nadiad to have alook at the houses which our parents spent their childhood days. I wanted to visit these places long time and then I tought that mt abu for 2 days is not sounding good. So I asked chintan if we can go to these places and he readily agreed. So we started at 11 in the morin ..travellin true ST style. Believe me if u want to have the essence of India,u should travel second class,unreserved and by ST buses. I could feel the pulse of India. There's so much to do and ya much have been done. we reached petlad and there we saw our dadas shop and then moved to our ancestral home. Its in ruins but still reminds you of the days we spent there. We clicked lotsa snaps and spent around 1.5 hrs there. From there we moved on to nadiad. We visited the santram mandir and then went to see moms house. Her house is now completely new and actually I dont recall visiting that place so didnt relate much. We then went to gadbaddas shop to buy chavana and headed off to Baroda. We reached home at 9 pm. It was a good nostalsic trip.

Fri : I and paragi with mantra boarded a bus to a'bad. We reached a'bad at 7 . Greeted every one...met our new bhabhi: hetal. She is a fine and loving bhabhi. At nite we went to sudha fois place.

Sat : At around 4 we went to pinkis place.( I always wanted to visist her ) and in the eve we went to jus roam around .

Sun : We went to maudi where there is a jain temple and then went to akshardham. but we started late and thus had less time for akshardham and so didnt saw it completely . we boarded a 7 o clock bus to Baroda as I had a ticket from Baroda to bombay on monday 9.

Mon: Reached home sweet home.

smiles
Neo

The Doer

It is not the critic who counts, nor the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better.The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of great achievement; and if he fails, at least fails while daring so greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.

My Web Site

Plz visit my website @ www.viralshah.freeservers.com to know more about me and have loads of fun.

Friday, May 20, 2005

Attitude

Posted By Neo

Change and Success

Posted By Neo

Attitude

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Mum's Love

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Quotes

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Quotes

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Quotes

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Quotes

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Quotes

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Quotes

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Courage is.....

Posted By Neo

Monday, May 02, 2005

Trip to Indore

Hi There,

we have returned from our trip to indore.It was good and we enjoyed every moment of it. Riting u the details of the trip.

On sat ie 23rd we left bbay for indore at 7 in the eve. we didnt had reservation and so had no place to sleep but to travel sittin. we reached indore on sunday 9 a.m Yogesh bahi had come to pic us up. We went to his place and got fresh and ready for the vastu puja at haresh bhais new flat ,whcih near to yogesh bhais flat. Eve we went to masi place wid our bags and were very tired so got of to sleep.

Monday moring was the start of my food trip. Masa bought powa and hot khasta kachori. TYhe breakfast was jus too good. In the eve, we went to the main city ,sarafa bazaar and temlpe.I saw the kaach jain mandir which reminded me of my childhood trip to indore.There we had a ball in eating all kind of chaats and tikkis.At least for food u should go to indore.

On tues, haresh bhai came in the morn to take us for a ride to some places. and in the eve,i rode masa,s scooty, it was great fun.

On wed,we went to omkareswar.we hired an ambassador and 5 of us were there. at omkareskwar ,we had a good bath in the river. and dad enjoyed the most. Har Har narmada!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. eve there was a dinner at haresh bahi place.

on thru , i roamed the whole indore wid punit and went for a movie:Waqt.i also did the shopping as in sev and stuff. we brought 7.5 kgs of sev . eve dinner was at yogesh bhais place. and at nite all the family of masa& masi and we three met at a local but vey popular icecream palour . we really njoyed the event.

fri 4 pm we left for bbay and reached sat morn 6:30

trip over..routine begins.

Neo

Sunday, May 01, 2005

A New Begining

Hi,
I am on the verge of starting my blog. Though I created the blog long back but never started. What am i going to post on this blog? Basically my thoughts,xps and above all pearls of wisdom which I will gather walking along the beach named LIFE.................