Bored...

The suppressed yawn
Made my eyes water,
Too tired and exhausted
I was for comprehension to dawn,
And thus had begun a fable of boredom that lasted an eon.

The words bounced of my leaden skull,
As if even the brightest shade of red had gone dull,
Frustrated with the demeanor I jerked myself awake,
Though not for my Professor's, but my own sake.

Perhaps a mistake or a stroke of misfortune,
The Professor's voice struck another soporific tune,
In the falsetto of his melody,
My pen lost all grip that was steady.

Soon a pair of eyes, pierced my glazed perception,
And with guilt came a unlikely admission,
I shake my head in dejection,
And bring back my strained concentration.

It was still a mystery to me,
A lucky escape that seemed to be,
And then again my eyelids drop slowly,
Fighting the endless terrorists in Counter Strike!

Run for green

Over 8 million Bengaloruians will run with 30,000 International Green activists on 23rd November in a campaign called 'Run For Green'.

If interested in participating or volunteering please contact: Nikhil at nikhil.bardia@wizcraftworld.com or call +91-9008308214 of 'Wizcraft Sportzactive'.

Too much dieting

Dieting is not due to the recession in economy but because you need to maintain a good figure. Some canteens like this one at my friend's office add some dressing and presentation techniques to make it look easier. Good idea.

Girly mobiles?

It seems like the Iphone 3G or the HTC Dream were made only for boys - here comes a slightly girly mobile phone device straight out of the French Riviera.

France's SFR is a delicious looking phone with some vibrant color schemes and innovative keypad.

The phone will be powered with the Intel MID chip and will feature the latest craze among youngsters - 3G. The SFR is padded with an 800 x 480 touchscreen display, and is loaded with 800MHz Atom CPU and 4GB of RAM.

The goodies include Bluetooth, WiFi, a VGA webcam, 3 megapixel camera, and a full slide-out AZERTY keyboard along with a strange, circular navigation wheel. The SFR will operate on Linux. Price should be anywhere between $310 to $350.

Source: FFO

My first Toon

How do you plan to make money blogging?
May be I will bore them so much that they would pay me for not writing!!

Courage

Answering a question to describe Courage, a student wrote the following.

This is courage. Period.

Goin' Home

Wish you all a Happy Diwali. Am going home for a week, taking a much needed break.

Bet on Gold

In this time of crisis all over the stock market what is the best option of investment? Obviously the traditional way of saving: Gold. The price of gold never drops below a certain level and even if it does it is better off than the stock market. Now with the stock market expected to drop as low as 6000 points many people will be moving to gold which would cause its price to raise. So better buy now.

Wat r u doin this Deewali?

It was a really hot summer's day many years ago. I was on my way to pick up two items at the grocery store. In those days, I was a frequent visitor to the supermarket because there never seemed to be enough money for a whole week's food-shopping at once.

You see, my young wife, after a tragic battle with cancer, had died just a few months earlier. There was no insurance -- just many expenses and a mountain of bills. I held a part-time job, which barely generated enough money to feed my two young children.

Things were bad -- real bad.

And so it was that day, with a heavy heart and four dollars in my pocket, I was on my way to the supermarket to purchase a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread. The children were hungry and I had to get them something to eat. As I came to a red traffic light, I noticed on my right a young man, a young woman and a child on the grass next to the road. The blistering noonday sun beat down on them without mercy.

The man held up a cardboard sign which read, "Will Work for Food." The woman stood next to him. She just stared at the cars stopped at the red light. The child, probably about two years old, sat on the grass holding a one-armed doll. I noticed all this in the thirty seconds it took for the traffic light to change to green.

I wanted so desperately to give them a few dollars, but if I did that, there wouldn't be enough left to buy the milk and bread. Four dollars will only go so far. As the light changed, I took one last glance at the three of them and sped off feeling both guilty (for not helping them) and sad (because I didn't have enough money to share with them).

As I kept driving, I couldn't get the picture of the three of them out of my mind. The sad, haunting eyes of the young man and his family stayed with me for about a mile. I could take it no longer. I felt their pain and had to do something about it. I turned around and drove back to where I had last seen them.

I pulled up close to them and handed the man two of my four dollars. There were tears in his eyes as he thanked me. I smiled and drove on to the supermarket. Perhaps both milk and bread would be on sale, I thought. And what if I only got milk alone, or just the bread? Well, it would have to do.

I pulled into the parking lot, still thinking about the whole incident, yet feeling good about what I had done. As I stepped out of the car, my foot slid on something on the pavement. There by my feet was a twenty-dollar bill. I just couldn't believe it. I looked all around, picked it up with awe, went into the store and purchased not only bread and milk, but several other items I desperately needed.

I never forgot that incident. It reminded me that the universe was strange and mysterious. It confirmed my belief that you could never out give the universe. I gave away two dollars and got twenty in return. On my way back from the supermarket, I drove by the hungry family and shared five additional dollars with them.

This incident is only one of many that have occurred in my life. It seems that the more we give, the more we get. It is, perhaps, one of those universal laws that say, "If you want to receive, you must first give."

There is a little rhyme that goes like this:

"A man there was, and they called him mad,
The more he gave, the more he had."

If you do something like this for Deewali, please tell me that. Perhaps if you have some change left after your jewellery, dresses, sweets, cards, diyas, etc.

Source: FFO

Creative?

Many people are good at preaching. Some can beat anyone in the way they mesmerize you. But when it comes to application they don't follow a word. It is just like a child getting zero marks in the 'creativity exam' just because she painted her mango purple. You are expected to go and change the world, write business models, create miracles in the world but in the exams you are tested for some old principle that you are supposed to learn byheart and reproduce in the exam like a dumb parrot. When you don't let me think out of the box, forget out of the box, you don't let me THINK and still expect me to go and create the businesses of the future?

My question to all parents and teachers is: Don't you think I should be let out of the cage and then I would understand the concepts better?

Just think. I mean out of the box. Can you?
Pic

Innovate

Out of the box?
Innovate or move out.

No 'Best Man' please

Many people are scared of challenges. Even small ones. It usually is displayed when you are asked to answer a question or take up a project or volunteer for a new assignment. May be the fear of failure scares them. I feel this genuine and understand why some don't want to get into the turmoil. Of course not everyone succeeds. But is there a 'Best Man' for the job? I don't think so. It depends on how fast the person can adjust to the new environment and mould himself and his team to achieve the goal.

We had an assignment today and the person who volunteered was the one who was least expected to do it but surprisingly did it beautifully! You don't need to depend on your 'Best man' to do all the work. Give others a chance too and let them shine! Who knows they might be better than your 'Best Man'.

Subprime Crisis

One of our professors was recalling this scene in US. He was driving through a countryside and found boards like these infront of many houses. Sure sums up the situation there.

Indian Moon Mission

Here we come!


One small step for ISRO, a change of age for Indians.

Election + Blasts

All over the world, a killer is a killer and a rapist is a rapist. Only in India do criminals have religious and caste identities: they are either Hindus, Muslims or tribals, each with their own political protectors and detractors. Terrorism all over the world is a law and order and police issue: only in India is terrorism about competitive identity politics. Now, as we enter election season, bombs are being wrapped in party manifestos.

Political stances on bomb blasts do not focus on ensuring fair and just law and order, rigorous investigation and tough impartial policing. Instead "terrorism" is all about how well we understand the Koran and how many times we visit the masjid. At a time when many thinking Muslims are trying to distance themselves from terrorism, politicians, by contrast, are forcing the dialogue backwards and are determined to make religious identity the sole definition of those knocking up lethal mixtures of ammonium nitrate and ball bearings. Is it not a supreme condescension to the Muslim community to assume that they will vote for politicians who do not believe that bombers need to be brought to book?

Both "secular" and "communal" parties are repeatedly confusing criminality with religion. It is only a tough fair-minded cop who will catch the criminal. A political-ideological netaji, both saffron and secular, will only succeed in making the "terrorist" more powerful than he is. Bomb blasts must be left to the police and to the investigative agencies. Politicians must stay firmly out of conjuring up identity politics from the smoke of ammonium nitrate.

Rajdeep Sardesai

Learn 2 Trust

People don't expect you to be honest. Trust me on this. Everyone expects you to cheat in the exam, games, tell lies and make up things. They just can't believe that there can be some one who is honest. This is in their psyche. Doubting didn't start with Thomas after all. It was always there. Its tough to convince people you are not lying, that you don't cheat. Every time I tell people I don't cheat in the exam or game I get those weird looks as if I am an alien! But stay the way you are if you one of this diminishing tribe. If you belong to the doubting then you need to change your mind. There are people who ARE HONEST. Just because you are not doesn't mean everyone are like you or just because you have had a bad experience don't stop trusting others. Its not the time to breed distrust, just not yet. Learn to trust.

What is Customer Service?

Checklist for Customer Service:

• Do we trust our customers?
• Do we stand behind what we sell?
• Is keeping commitments to customers important to our company?
• Do we value customer time?
• Do we communicate with customers respectfully?
• Do we treat all customers with respect?
• Do we thank customers for their business?
• Do we respect employees?

From Barry Berman & Joel R. Evans book on Retail Management

Do u know wat you are selling?

I feared...

From Yashu's Orkut profile:

I feared being alone
until I learned to like myself...

I feared failure until I realized
that I only fail when I don't try...

I feared success until I realized that I had
to try in order to be happy with myself...

I feared people's opinions until I learned
that people would have
opinions about me anyway...

I feared rejection
until I learned to have faith in myself...

I feared pain until I learned
that it's necessary for growth...

I feared the truth until
I saw the ugliness in lies...

I feared life until
I experienced it's beauty...

I feared death until I realized
that it's not an end, but a beginning...

I feared my destiny, until I realized
that I had the power to change my life...

I feared hate until I saw
that it was nothing but ignorance...

I feared ridicule until
I learned how to laugh at myself...

I feared growing old until
I realized that I gained wisdom every day...

I feared the future until
I realized that life just kept getting better...

I feared that past until
I realized that it could no longer hurt me...
I feared the dark until
I saw the beauty of the starlight...

I feared the light until
I learned that the truth would give me strength
I feared change, until I saw
that even the most beautiful butterfly
had to undergo a metamorphosis
before it could fly...

Freshers 08, Already?

Not long ago on Aug 25th, 07 we had our freshers. I still remember the day when I was a runner up for Mr. Fresher 07 and today the same was replayed with different people. We had a nice party at Gold Coin near Electronic City. Few things I noted is the domination of the colors Red and Black (Why so?). Other prominent colors were white, blue, green, pink and orange! The music, groove, warmth and relief felt was amazing. You should see how 550 people fill in the lyrics when the DJ shuts out the music. Chaos in unison. Or you should feel the beat of the woofer spin your head, clog your ears while you keep singing at the top of your voice trying to keep up pace with your dancing team. For a moment nothing is on your mind. Exams, assignments, case-studies, faculty, hostel timings, results... nothing. Its pure fun and fun only. No one has food properly as they don't wanna miss the DJ.

The program showcased how talented the new batch is. After all they are following us! Dances, mimicry, karoake, fashion, attitude, skits, guts, beauty and what not. They had everything you need to be a part of 'masti ki paatshala'. Good luck guys and welcome to Alliance!

Go Tendya GO!

• On the journey:
  Success is a process and during that journey sometimes there are stones thrown at you and you convert them into milestones. It's a great feeling.
• On how long he thinks he can keep the record:
  I don't what is going to happen in future. I started as a 16-year-old, without any such targets. There might be another 16-year-old, who might not be having any targets and who knows where he is going to go.
• On the pressure:
  "To be honest, I was not under any pressure for this record. I knew that I have to go out and play my game. It will come at some stage. There was no burden as such. Today I decided just to watch the ball as closely as possibly."

Source: Cricinfo.com

Choice?

That blog you've built, the one with a lot of traffic... perhaps it can't be monetized.

The pitfalls:
1. In order to monetize your work, you'll probably corrupt it, taking out the magic in search of dollars
and
2. Attention doesn't always equal significant cash flow.

I think it makes sense to make your art your art, to give yourself over to it without regard for commerce.

Doing what you love is as important as ever, but if you're going to make a living at it, it helps to find a niche where money flows as a regular consequence of the success of your idea. Loving what you do is almost as important as doing what you love, especially if you need to make a living at it. Go find a job you can commit to, a career or a business you can fall in love with.

Read full story.

Ahead aho!

Neither brands nor businesses are immortal. Successful brands are relevant to their consumers and different from their competition. Some of the most iconic brands have taken a thorough beating with the recent meltdown in the global markets. Lehman Brothers is just an example. Why did you stop going to the store you used to visit? What made you ignore a company, a person, a street you take to office?

“Buildings age and become dilapidated. Machines wear out. Cars rust. People die. But what lives on are the brands.”

- Hector Liang, Chairman, United Biscuits

You might have the best brand in the world but the day you fail to meet with your customer's expectations, the day you fail to update, reinvent, be ahead you are no longer a good brand. You fail to exist in the customer's evoke set or consideration set. I think the same applies to people, students, professors, employees, players, coaches, HR, the paan wala, the neighborhood store, your doctor, tailor and everybody you know. The secret is in being ready to meet what is expected from you. So YOU know what to do for being a brand.

ARE YOU A BRAND or just another person?

Pic

Leadership defined

Leadership is now mission-critical. And to repeat: you don't need a title to do it.

I just met a man who gets it. He's not a CEO. He's not a VP. He's not famous. He's an ordinary man. I met him in the lobby of our offices at Sharma Leadership International Inc. He's laying our new carpet. And he made me think. Deeply.

I complimented him for his excellent work. He smiled. Told me he's been laying carpet for 55 years. Told me he's from Northern Ireland. Told me there's few things as important as feeling pride on a job well done.

He worked quickly - for hours - pausing only to have a fast sip of tea from a scratched up old kettle. He sang while he worked. He innovated by adding a border to the carpet that I'd never seen anyone add before. And he worked with excellence-leaving no detail missed. Isn't that what leadership is all about?

From Robin's Blog

Thousand words?

Sums up the situation now?

'The White Tiger' roars

Balram Halwai, narrator of The White Tiger, is not going to let a lack of education keep him in the dark. He is heading for glory in India's bright future. He will be one of those who stuffs cash into brown envelopes for policemen and politicians, and not just another victim.

His disrespect for his elders and betters is shocking - even Mahatma Gandhi gets the lash of his scornful tongue.

He has the voice of what may, or may not, be a new India: quick-witted, half-baked, self-mocking, and quick to seize an advantage. He happily abuses religious foibles and hatreds of others where it suits, dispatching a rival driver to destitution via a little anti-Muslim prejudice.

Aravind Adiga has brought out what has been innate and waiting to come out. What a timing. Of course my name has its own contribution though. Anything that lashes out at the establishment will always be lapped up.

Paan

Meet the camera shy Hello panwalah! While I couldn't convince him to pose for me he was more than willing to strike conversation.

This is a pic taken from a paan shop at Empire, Koramangala. 150 paans at a time are prepared in a span of 20 mts flat. 10 such sets per day are sold during lunch. That is about 1500 paans * Rs. 10/- which make it to about Rs. 15,000 per day. This guy has a turnover of Rs. 36,00,000/- per year! Non-taxable, no office, no timing, no tension. Compare this to my earlier post about MBA salary and self-employment.

Who is responsible?

I knew her from day one of college and would always wonder how she managed to keep her cool, her poise in the most annoying of situations. The days we were taken to task for bunking classes or missing deadlines, Soumya would wear an expression that would make us all giggly on the inside.

Forever smiling through her eyes, she was the first among us to strike an instant rapport with college seniors and then - a year later - with juniors as well. She was also among the first to land an internship, and later a job, with The Pioneer - it was a big deal to be employed while pursuing graduation, five years ago. In a certain sense, I and many of my classmates would look up to her. After all she was earning her pocket money.

Forget what Gandhi said about women walking safely on the streets. Forget what police claim. Forget what you and I read in the papers everyday. Not a day passes without the papers reporting a crime. My question is who is responsible for all this? Police? Government? Criminals?

No. I think it is you and me. We walk away from everything that does not hurt us directly. I think its time to act. Every colony, area, company should ensure its area is safe. Have a proper reporting system that triggers when something happens. Have someone to call up and seek help. Have a quicker response system that punishes hard, fast and direct.

If not now when? If not you who? Don't just keep quiet, do something to keep your area safe.

Yes Divisha she is not going to be a statistic going down into the shameful pages of history.

Weather Forecasting Stone

When was the last time you waited and listened to a weather report after the news. This section has mostly lost prevalence as the data is old and is not relevant to the viewer. People have faster updated systems in their PDAs, mobiles and even watches or Internet to check out local information. Evolution indeed.

Pic: FFO

Viral Marketing, Practically

Today I was discussing what Viral Marketing and buzz marketing exactly are with a junior and how do we create one. Well lets see with an example.

You must be eating food from the cafeteria(at your office, school, college, etc.) daily either because you are forced to or you don't have a better option and these guys amaze me. Their consistency, never-say-die attitude, persistence and the zeal which drives them. There is indeed a management lesson for everyone. Day-in and day-out this cook(s) try to cook something. Yes, they TRY. Be it dal, roti, plain rice, curd or anything else. They try. But never reach perfection. But this doesn't tire them. They keep at it. They go on every day without losing hope that they would make it perfect some day. Every day we taste it and pray that they succeed.

What do I mean by 'try'? Lets observe the roti for an example. Is the roti rugged and not round as it should be? Is it not hot or is it burnt? No sir. The roti is perfectly round but that's the only thing right about it! Touch it and you feel its from 10,000BC, break it like a papad, grind it like some cardboard, dip it in water-dal or sour-almost-buttermilk-curd or paneerless-paneer-tadka or whatever is available. My point is how can this cook turn out dishes like this everyday 24 * 7 * 365 days? Now you understand why I like his consistency, patience, persistence and his dream of making a perfect one some day. May his wish be granted. Whenever there is a chance I ensure that the person is thanked and appreciated for his spirit. You should too.

• You can help him by telling him how good the food is and asking him to eat it for you or drink the watery-tea and help him find out what is missing (milk) in the tea. Make him drink and ask if he wants another refill. Imagine the day he gets to drink 100 cups of his own tea! If the quality changes OK or else how about 500 cups?
• All of you start singing a song and keep repeating it. How about 'Pappu can't cook saala?'
  

Now there I go explaining how Viral marketing can become. Wanna try? I did and it resulted in a perfect coffee with only milk and no water in 3 minutes flat! Some call this Gandhigiri.

See I did what a manager needs to do. Help your client achieve his full potential.

404 Imagination Error

What makes you creative is your talent to think out of the box. Is that right? Gimme a break. I see many people who can't think within the box being called creative! But still they are in high places, hold responsible positions, get tasks to handle that are supposed to change the firm.

What happens then? Simple. Pandemonium. A sheer wastage of talent, resources and time.

ON@CC is a boring novel by Chethan Bhagat which interested many film makers like Salman to take this up. Here is the review of the movie by Udita Jhunjhunwal.

Be warned the film makes you wish you had not answered this wrong number. The film is so slow that you feel like you have endured the entire night shift, in real time, with this technically challenged and emotionally stunted group of call centre employees. he director’s lack of grasp on the tone and intention of the film shows in the irregular graph of the performances.

No favoritism when it comes to work please. Spare me the nonsense and learn thinking within the box first. Thank you Udita for saving my 3 hours.

Pick my Guitar

Well Nokia seems to have understood what people want to do with their mobiles. After sticking to its legacy of having a keyboard Nokia 5800 has moved on to join the touch craze in mobile phone design. Most of the look and feel are similar to other phones but this has a complete touch panel. Now you might say, "we have seen that before, do you have anything new?" Oh yes Nokia 5800 has touch, stylus and more- a guitar pick like device that helps you swipe through photos and music.

What makes you stand out in the crowd when everyone around you are performers? Innovate and stay one step ahead. I think Nokia 5800 will rock for the following reasons:

• Costs around 300$, no frills attached
• Launching in India in December
• Has everything iPhone 3G has to offer and more
• Nokia brand name

Will I buy it? Yes, for Christmas.

Read more here.

R U Complaining?

You need to be happy for being what you are and what you have in life. Not all are so lucky. Stay happy and thankful.

Divorce

Mary sent me this...

An elderly man in Mumbai calls his son in New York and says,

'I hate to ruin your day son, but I have to tell you that your mother and I are getting a divorce; 35 years of marriage... and that much
misery is enough!'

'Dad, what are you talking about?' the son screams.

'We can't stand the sight of each other any longer,' the old man says.

'We're sick of each other, and I'm sick of talking about this, so you call your sister in Hong Kong and tell her!'

Frantic, the son calls his sister, who explodes on the phone.

'Like heck they're getting divorced,' she shouts, 'I'll take care of this.'

She calls Mumbai immediately, and screams at the old man, 'You are not getting divorced. Don't do a single thing until I get there. I'm calling my brother back, and we'll both be there tomorrow. Until then , don't do a thing, DO YOU HEAR??' and she hangs up. The old man hangs up his phone and turns to his wife. 'Okay', he says, 'It's all set. They're both coming for Diwali and paying their own airfare!!'

MORAL:

• No man / woman is busy in this world all 365 days
• The sky is not going to fall down if you take few days LEAVE and meet your dear ones
• Money is not everything in life. Happiness is better when shared
• To get what you've never had, you must do what you've never done

21 most annoying habits of successful people

1. Winning too much: This is the need to win at all costs and in all situation. Probably, we may think that today's ultra-competitive world make us behave like this, but, author opines that we can be even more successful if we control this behaviour
2. Adding too much value: This is nothing but overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion
3. Passing judgement: This is basically a need to rate others and impose our standards on them
4. Making destructive comments: It is nothing but needless sarcasm and cutting remarks that we think make us sound sharp and witty
5. Starting response with 'no', 'but' or 'however': These negative qualifiers, when used excessively, secretly say to others that "I'm right. You're wrong"
6. Telling the world how smart we are: This is another variation on our need to win, which backfires
7. Speaking when angry: This is like using emotional volatility as a management tool. It's hard to lead people when you've lost control. Once you get a reputation for emotional volatility, you are branded for life
8. "Let me explain why that won't work": Another way of sharing negative thoughts even when we are not asked for. This is unique because it is pure unadulterated negativity under the guise of being helpful
9. Withholding information: People indulge in such behaviour only to maintain an edge over others. You may think that you are gaining an edge and consolidating power, but you're actually breeding mistrust
10. Failing to give proper recognition: It is not only like sowing injustice and treating people unfairly, but also depriving people of emotional payoff that comes with success
11. Claiming credit that we do'nt deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success
12. Making excuses: This behaviour is an outcome of our need for repositioning our annoying behaviour as a permanent fixture in order to get excused for it
13. Clinging to the past: This is a need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past. Enjoy living in the past, especially if going back there lets them blame someone else for everything that's gone wrong in their lives
14. Playing favorites: You encourage behaviour that serves you but not necessarily the best interest of organization
15. Refusing to express regret: This is inability to take responsibility for our actions and admit that we're wrong. It happens when we start thinking that apolozising means loss of contest
16. Not listening: A common mistake, which is the most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for our colleagues. It's a kind of sending an armada of negative messages like ' I don't care about you. I don't understand you. You're wrong'
17. Failing to express gratitude: Like apologizing, thanking is a magical super-gesture, which is what we can say when we don't have anything nice to say
18. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us
19. Passing the buck: This is the behavioural flaw by which we judge our leaders. A leader who can't shoulder the blame is not someone who will be followed, and so loss of loyalty towards him/her
20. An excessive need to be "me": Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they're who we are. We think they are our inalterable essence. This is one of the toughest obstacles to making positive long-term change in our behaviour
21. Goal obsession: This is the most important aspect of annoying habits which needs to be addressed first as it is often the root-cause of other annoying behaviours. Goal obsession is one of the paradoxical traits which we accept as a driver of our success. It is the force at play when we get so wrapped up in achieving our goal that we do it at the expense of a larger mission

If we can reign in these annoying behaviour we can achieve still higher successes that what we may have been achieving till yet.

Reference: What Got You Here Won't Get You There by Marshall Goldsmith

Unnecessary Luxury!

You might have guessed what I am talking about: Sleep, when you are a B-school student. You want to know how life is here? Well read on and find out what we do( and what we don't!)

• Most of the time is spent in classes, extra-classes, special-classes, surprise classes and what not - Small, big, boring, interesting, forced, sleeping, dull, loud, silent, patient, effortless, cumbersome, straining but useful in some way (hope so)


• Group discussions, assignments, reports, projects, PPTs, write-ups, presentations, debates, print outs, files, signatures, submissions, rejections, spell checks, errors, results!, resubmissions…


• Exams: lots and lots of them! Internals, externals, term-end, surprise tests, group tests, domain tests, functional tests and what not

1. You should see how people study - some start days before, some don't, some sleep and read, some read and sleep, some sleep-read, some bath-read(Yes it is possible), some brush-read, some read while brushing, some rattufy, some skip topics, chapters, subjects
2. Some write with as many as 10 color inks, sketches, pencils and decorate the paper as if it were a wedding card, some use the same pen for everything, some don't bring a pen at all, some write essays, some write poems, some write epics, some punch lines, some draw arts, some try to write!
3. Some sleep in the exam, some smile, some eat chocolates, some dream, some pick their teeth and some think of tomorrows exam, some keep looking at others, some look at the paper and smile, some weep, some pray!
   

• Parties: Birthday parties(You should see how we dance in the night to loud music, hit bumps, how all the 200+ people in the canteen join in the song), festivals(Any religion, culture, occasion), decorations, ethnic wear, rangoli and sweets, songs, anniversaries, break-ups (Yes), patch-ups, exam results, cricket wins, movies, freshers, farewells, surprise parties (When you have surprise classes, surprise exams, why not parties?), assignments... the list goes on, food, the music, DJ, rain dance, pictures, games, jokes, groove.. You need to be there to feel it
  


• Movies: Don't be surprised if someone knocks your door at 3 AM in the night armed with a USB drive asking for a movie or give you one. We actually are very liberal in nature: We don't mind the language, quality of the movie as long has it has nice music, some stupid story, eye candy and some nice message. If it is boring why else do we have the fast-forward button for? Some even write reviews and pass it on to others and help us save 3 hours of sleep by watching the movie, some watch as many as 4 movies in a day!
  


• Books: Different kinds of books - related, not related to MBA, magazines, newspapers, big books so big that they are used as stools, some so small that fit in the back pocket. Do we read them? Guess...


• Results:

1. Wow! GPA, CGPA, TGPA, what’s the highest, lowest, average, median, mean, last term, this term over all, subject-wise, stream wise, compare, think, adjust, calculate, X is 0.1 more than Y (weep tissue weep)…
2. Some cry, weep, smile, jump, roll, hug, shake hands, high-five, dance, run, become numb, rejoice, curse, recheck, note down, take pictures, surprised, pray, call parents, SMS, mail, walk…

I can go on adding to this list till tomorrow. I have deliberately left gaming (Counter Strike till 5 AM, chess, indoor Cricket (till the warden catches us), Volley ball, WWF, Kick Boxing, TT, TV, common room antics, tickling sessions, sudden group GDs, water cooler, cleaning, packing, booking tickets at PVR, air, train, bus travel, sudden getaways to Pearl Valley, Goa, Taj, Pondicherry, Kerala, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Jog Falls, Hogenekkal, Wonderla, Waterworld, Bannergatta National Park, Temple visits in the night, bike rides, police lathis, good old Forum, Garuda, Central, Total, CCD, McDs, Dominoes, KFC, orphanages, blood donations, Independence Day, Republic Day, Teachers day, Holidays, Poch Bun, Disco Daba, RK Mess, Greenlands Bakery, F1 oops CC1, CC2, Central Campus, long walks in the campus, hot chai in the rain...


You hardly get time to sleep. So if you can sacrifice sleep and have fun, frolic and learning all the time, Welcome to Alliance Business School.

Yes sleep is indeed an unnecessary luxury. But do we care? Who is complaining?

Bread with Fungus please

Necessity is the mother of invention. Try this to keep your lunch from others.

Pic: FFO

What's your problem?

Some people have a problem with everything and keep yelling all the time. The slightest chance and they explode. Spoiling every one's day around them. We had one such experience today. One simple act of forgiveness should have sufficed the whole situation but the person wouldn't agree! Though he shared 50% of the error his attitude was like: Its your mistake!

What's your problem?

The solution to this is simple:

• Stay happy with yourself (If you don't like yourself, no one else will)
  
• Stay happy about your work (If you don't like what you do, walk out! No one is forcing you to do things you don't like. If you can't, better shut up and accept what you are doing is good)
• Exercise for 30 mts everyday (I need to try this one)
• Sing a song that makes you happy every morning before coming to work
• Try stress management techniques (Sing a song, count to ten, forgive, walk out, shut up! --- If you have something else that works tell me)
• Decide you will not get angry today no matter what
• People at the receiving end are REAL PEOPLE, so think before you speak and act
• Plan to make people around you happy
• Have a work-life balance
• Plan your day

Now what do we do if we are at the receiving end?

• Stay calm (Shouting at them will not solve the problem)
• It's a REAL person, so give them some time to cool down
• Apologize! (Yes, even if you are not in the wrong, it works)
• Walk away and come back
  
• Show respect and concern
• Use escalation matrix (It is there for a reason)

You might like my similar posts here: Kick the Dead and Kick the rule book.

Pic: FFO

Chick is U

Chick-lit seems to be the flavour of the season. 20-somethings-looking-for-love, finding the most desirable man who matches all the requirements in the modern world where women call the shots is the formula for a best-seller. Women in this case refer to the working women who need not depend on a husband for the basic amenities, protection and a surname, who earn and have the zeal to fight equally on all grounds. Women who need not stay tied to some bloke, women who can walk out and live on her own, accepted in the society as she is.

I think this is a good sign. Any literature reflects the society's changes. As of now this is a hot topic is about the women staying single. Will the Indian male grow up and accept this and mould and move on or would put up a fight? If this is the case I think he will lose.

Few best-sellers suggested by the recent edition of The Week: Marrying Anita, Almost Single and The Zoya Factor. Some of them are being made in to movies.

Y R U Doin, What U R Doin?

Seth's blog for today echoes my 2 earlier posts:

• Blogging on Compulsion
• Blog me too

Kinds of people

Some people want to do things because they are interesting.
Some people want to do things because they work.
Some people want to do things because everyone else is doing them.

And some people are satisfied/scared/shy/lazy and don't do anything. Think about blogging.

Have a purpose when you do what you do. But doing something is always better than doing nothing.

KISS it Prof!

We were reading for exams and opened the textbook concerned for the first time since the beginning of the classes. Let me tell you what is in the text book:

• How to make things complex
• Extra-ordinary linguistic abilities of the authors
• Unnecessary examples for simple concepts
• No examples where required
• Outdated data (as old as 2002-03)
  
• Long sentences, compound-complex-illogical-hyper-sounding words, punctuation
• Self-promoting summary which tells you why you are lucky to read this book and not others

And this is the Third edition! and it is published by a reputed house. Can you believe it?

If you are writing a book to be read by students (not because they are supposed to learn all the passages by-heart by the respective prof) for the love of it, I have a simple solution.

KISS it. Kiss stands for Keep-It-Short-&-Simple. Spare me your language and let me learn.

Pic

Its Movie time

Revenues for the Hindi film industry, which produces about 1,000 films a year, are tipped to increase to $3.9 billion (Rs18,291 crore) by 2012, from $1.9 billion last year, according to consultancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.


Read full story

Xmz:)

Wish me luck! Bring it on Man.

Pic

Riz Raizada vs Drona

Fifteen hundred special effect shots. Locations straddling three continents, and one man's imagination. A Rs 22-crore villain. A seven-foot gladiator from Thailand. Technicians from England, America, Namibia, Czech Republic, Australia, South Africa and Italy. Six VFX studios. One hundred and twelve shooting days. Four hundred and twenty-six days of post-production. One film. Drona.

The most expensive character in the film turned out to be the villain. Riz is a sorcerer who can teleport himself, halt things mid-air and conjure up water, fire and illusions. His character took up the most number of special effects. But a figure of Rs 22 crore can still shock. "Everything from his clothing to his weapons to his magical abilities required a lot of budgeting," says Arya. "His sets were the most expensive to create."

Drona is getting ready for release on October 2. So what are the expectations connected to this extravaganza of a film where potential losses amount to staggering figures? Simply put by Behl: "Huge."

Elephant becomes a tiger

For a change, its good news. The Indian economy is making waves. It seems to be growing fast and that too consistently for several years in a row. What the economists call, "a sustained high growth path". The latest official data says overall economic growth touched 9.4 per cent in 2006-7, giving the UPA government a nine per cent average during its three year tenure. There is, however, a dark lining to the silver cloud. Agriculture is lagging behind the rest of the country with a low 2.7 per cent growth rate, showing that the aim of inclusive growth has yet to be achieved.

Firstly, it shows that sustained high growth is possible for this country like the tiger economies or China. India no longer has to continue being compared to an elephant lumbering along slowly. Even if the high growth is uneven for the time being, this defect can surely be made up if concerted efforts are made by policy makers. Secondly, consistent high growth does have some amount of trickle down effect even though this may be a slow process. Which does not mean we have to wait for affluence to trickle down to the poorest of the poor. Anti-poverty programmes have an important role in this country. But it does mean that high growth will have a positive impact on large sections of the populace even in rural areas.

For instance, despite all the hoopla over the negative effects of large retailers on small traders in the country, they seem to be helping farmers in some regions.. Reports have come in about Jharkhand farmers finally getting a good price for their produce as large retailers are buying directly from them and bypassing the middlemen. Till recently, middlemen would buy at low rates from the farmers and sell at exorbitant prices in the retail markets. Farmers never got the benefit even when vegetable prices were ruling high. Now that cultivators are finally getting their due, politicians are taking up cudgels for the middlemen.

Read more here.

Blog me too

Very few things spread fast. Blogging is one of them. Some bloggers post once every fortnight, week or twice or thrice a week. Some addicts like me post almost once daily. Some of the blogs have direct content or articulated or opinions or observations.

Some of the lessons I have learnt are:

• You need to read a lot
  
• Its not easy
• It causes insomnia
• Is a stress buster
• It gives you a chance to vent out what you feel and publish your own articles
  

So what are you waiting for?