Talk to me

Regardless of how you feel and believe, the amount of communication, verbal and written has come down drastically, thanks to the modern tech facilitators. Look what I found online.

The time spent on sharing a few things with the people you love to care about is more worth than the time spent in messaging, texting and drafting emails. No communication, nothing can replace the joy in listening to someone's voice and take off the pain, burden, double the excitement in happiness than when you do it personally.

Here is a chance to test it yourself. Today, call someone you know and have been communicating via the electronic mode and speak to them and see how it feels. Especially the family.

The same applies to your customer.

Monday Blues: Make wonderful choices

Sometimes we see so much positive messages in as that you are really touched. The brand in such a situation is really remembered. Choices are wonderful and it is a choice that determines you most of the time. Once in a while when faced with a seemingly tough question, make choices that make you better. Even if they might hurt you for a little while. Make choices that improve you, that help you excel. This Monday, make wonderful choices :)

Good job Titan.

Monday Blues: Fate, chance or choice

Don't blame your fate or chance but change your life by choice. One conscious decision and the will power to implement that decision no matter what, can change your destiny and fate. Make a small choice today to move forward, forget all the naysayers and move forward. One inch at a time and life will smile at you.

Sheena explains how important it is to move on and to make wise positive choices!

Monday Blues: Has the Water entered my Ship?

Got this mail from a colleague today and how true can it be? 

Has the Water entered my Ship? 

 

In 1923, nine of the wealthiest people in the world met at Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel. 

Their estimated  combined wealth, exceeded the wealth of the Government of the US at that time. 

These men certainly knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth.
Attending the meeting were the following men: 

1. The President of the largest steel company, 

2. The President of the largest utility company,

3. The President of the largest gas company, 

4. The President of the New York Stock Exchange, 

5. The President of the Bank of International Settlements, 

6. The greatest wheat speculator, 

7. The greatest bear on Wall Street, 

8. A member of President Harding's cabinet. 

9. The head of the World's greatest monopoly 

That's a pretty impressive line-up of people by anyone's yardstick.

Yet, let’s examine what happened to them 25 years later: 

1. The President of the then largest steel company  (Bethlehem Steel Corp), Charles M Schwab lived on borrowed capital for 5 years before he died bankrupt.                                    

2. The President of the largest utility company,  Samuel Insull, died penniless! 

3. The President of the then largest gas company,  Howard Hubson, went insane. 

4. The then President of the New York Stock Exchange,  Richard Whitney, was sent to jail. 

5. The President of the Bank of International Settlement,  Leon Fraser, committed suicide. 

6. One of the greatest commodity traders (Wheat Speculator) ,  Arthur Cutten, died insolvent. 

7. The greatest “bear” on Wall Street, Jesse Livermore  committed suicide. 

8. The member of the US President’s Cabinet (President Harding's cabinet), Albert Fall,  was pardoned from jail just to be able to go home 

and die in peace. 

9. The President of the then world’s greatest monopoly, Ivar Krueger, committed suicide. 

What they forgot was how to "make" life  while they got busy making money ! 

 

Money in itself is not evil. It is only a medium of exchange. 

 We need two kinds of education. 

 

One that teaches us how to make a living and the second how to live. 

Many of us get so engrossed in professional life that we neglect our family, health, social responsibilities. 

And when asked why we do it, we would reply "For our family" 

However, our kids are sleeping when we leave home. They are sleeping when we come home!  25years later, we’ll turn back and they’ll be gone to pursue their own dreams and lives. 

Lessons from a Ship: 

Without water, a ship cannot move. It needs water but if the water gets into the ship, it will face existential problem. 

 What was a “means of living” becomes a “means of destruction”. 

Similarly we live in time where earning is a necessity but let not the earning enter our hearts, for what was once a means of living will surely become a means of destruction for us as well ! 

 

 

So take a moment to ask yourself: 

“Has the water entered my ship?” 

 

·  Work for a cause, not for applause. 

·  Live life to express not to impress. 

·  Don’t strive to make your presence noticed, just make your absence felt

Work for free?

(Click on the image to enlarge)

From Seth's blog:

Some of the factors to consider:

• Do they pay other people who do this work? Do their competitors?
• Am I learning enough from this interaction to call this part of my education?
• Is this public work with my name on it, or am I just saving them cash to do a job they should pay for?
• If I get paid, is it more likely the organization will pay closer attention, promote it better and treat it more seriously?
• Do I care about their mission? Can they afford to do this professionally?
• Will I get noticed by the right people, people who will help me spread the word to the point where I can get hired to do this professionally?
• What's the risk to me, my internal monologue and my reputation if I do this work?

Was Dance my first love??

My very dear friend, Pooja Venugopal made this happen! A guest post from Ambili Babu. That's psychology + emotions + dancing + creativity & attitude for you!

Read on...

No it wasn't!! It was just another extra curricular activity. I recall as a 5 year old,when every Saturday and Wednesday I would wear my red salwar kameez accessorized with a long bindi, largely drawn eyes and a dangling earring would rush to my class to meet my friends and of course, my guru.

But my early memories of dance are strenuous dance postures with severe cramps and repeated ‘adavus’ (basic steps), I could never understand the purpose of trying so hard to emote something so simple. If communication was the purpose might as well ‘Say it’!!

I was moulded into it, fitted into theories of dance and Natya shastra, as years rolled on dance became an integral part of my Soul, I began to think, breathe and feel dance. But sometimes I pondered if I was restricting myself to the frames of the conventional theories, but what use was it if I couldn't use it for a divine purpose? Was I limiting myself to be just a an entertainer or performer?? These were just questions that juggled within, I needed an answer but I never did.

Years later when I finished my schooling and I headed to Bangalore to pursue my studies, I was a part of a reputed institution, where arts of all kinds and forms were nurtured and developed, I was happy to be there, but I was afraid if I would lose my identity as a dancer. When one fine evening as I walked through the streets of Koramangala, I found a flyer with a dance pose on the ground, I picked it up, it read ‘Indian Contemporary dance.’ I was wondering what this could be. But I had a spark within and thought what if I found an answer to the question I always asked myself!! That weekend I prepared and enrolled myself to a journey that turned my life!

Freedom ‘of the dancer in you, there was no limitations, no boundaries, it was an endless ocean of experience and learning! My guru told me in the first class ‘you are a bad dancer and I wonder if u know that!' It crushed me. I cried and thought was all my prior training in vain? What was I doing?

But as my training progressed the mysteries and the purpose of dance began to unveil. We were trained with the basics of 12 formal styles of dance and martial arts. My guru once said, ‘you have conceived dance, it is still an embryo, you need to nurture it, protect it, think effectively of its growth, you should be aware of what is within you, until you deliver a full grown healthy baby-your choreography’ that becomes your own production a combination of your creative and intellectual power. This changed my life and yes I found an answer to the questions I had. Training under him for 6 years brought tremendous meaning in my life, as a dancer and above all as a human being!

Whatever you feel becomes an emotion which in turn could be directed to a movement, your body reacts to that movement, your eyes, your limbs, even your breath is controlled in respect to your emotion, so why not use these movements as a powerful medium of communication? Dance should not be limited to just movements, and showcasing mythological and historic events, it has divine power to evoke a thought, to translate a social message or sometimes to just reflect the expression of your soul.

When I look back at my journey, I realize all my prior training as a child has strengthened me to use abhinaya (expressions), mudras (hand gestures) and adavus to create newer movements and to use it effectively!!  When we create, every movement has an intellectual and creative flavor and thus enables us to produce a well crafted piece, and may be it could be your masterpiece.

I moved on then to create pieces I called, Women empowerment, Suicide, Abortion - Oh My Child!, Choice- A temptation? and many more. Some were huge successes while some a failure, but I am still learning and believe I will keep translating  my thoughts as long as The Lord enables me.

Today, when I train a bundle of kids, all I tell them is ‘Experience and feel every movement and it will transform your lives and thoughts. Nurture your body and mind and each of you have a great purpose as a dancer which they have to unveil themselves!!

And of course I strongly believe and know today ‘ Dance was my First Love’!!

Someone is listening to you. ALWAYS!

Today's headline and open ed pages in The Hindu, a leading newspaper in India caught everyone's attention. After reading the article its déjà vu!

Now that you know the government is listening to you for your security or at least to help you, what if the technology falls in to the wrong hands? Scary. Such technology should be kept very very safe and out of the hands of miscreants and marketers ;) But given that you are already giving out a lot of information yourself, I might not need to listen to you all the time after all.

Here is a post I wrote in April this year and here is the bit you might like.

Did u get text messages and mails asking you to buy a site, car, loan, camera, etc.? Try talking about buying something on phone and you get these messages. Try speaking about eating out and you will get messages about dining and restaurants. Try speaking about parties, birthdays and you will get offers about gold, etc. You get the drift? Technology intrusion can be appalling.


This information allows me to see when you would feel low and have ice cream or down yourself in booze or call that particular friend, watch that movie, shop! I can understand your profile, your behavior, your psyche and us it to my advantage. I, the marketer, would be glad to shell out greens to have access to that information.


Scary? I feel so. Careful what you type on your Facebook status!

Where's my privacy? It ends where the next person's starts!

Pic is from The Hindu.

Monday Blues: Choose well

Few days back Sarah sent me this for Monday Blues.

"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In those choices lie our growth and our happiness." – Stephen Covey, The 8th Habit

You must have read this already, spoke about it too. The best part is no one waits at choice. The choice is a chasm, a very deep one at that. People just skip the chasm & jump to response. It makes a lot of difference to lot of people. I won't tell you to meditate on your choice and wait before you make it, as I expect you to do it by default. I want you to be responsible and stay committed to your response and its outcome. Leaders make sure their choice is well thought of and ensure it ends well. These choices make your future, make you a better person, make you happy and earn your respect. This Monday, choose well!

Pic courtesy: Stumble upon.

Vanity Waist Sizing

Next time you go to buy a pair of jeans or skirt, don't feel happy that you have reduced your waist size if you fit into something less than your actual size. Disguised as a perfect fit, brands are trying to lure your buy based on your appeal to lose weight and slim down.

According to Esquire Magazine, many retailers are lying to consumers about waist sizes in order to make them feel thinner and more likely to buy their clothes. The worst offenders? A pair of Old Navy pants labeled as size 36 were in fact 41 inches, a pair of size 36 Dockers were actually 39.5 inches, and Haggar and Gap were both selling 39 inch pants as size 36. CBS Sunday Morning featured a story today about the trend towards "vanity waist sizing."


Courtesy: Carpe Diem.

The problem with choice

Ever found a kid staring at the many flavors of ice creams trying to pick up one? Ever wondered why he takes so long to make up his mind? I guess the problem is that you have a choice. Do kids alone do this? Or are we prone to this too? Let me explain.

Walking through Bangalore Central trying to pick up few dresses for a friend who is carrying, we found it really difficult to select one dress. Walking past long aisles of dresses neatly arranged in different colors, sizes and prices, we found none that matched our need and expectation. This purchase was a specially long one as it wasn't for my friend. The fact that there could be a better choice and the constant doubt that if you have already made one and later realize that it could've been better is what makes you think twice before you made that decision. you don't want to pick the wrong dress. You want to get the choice right. You don't want to regret the decision later as you know that you could have chosen better. The satisfaction you get out of making the right choice is always lesser when you have a lot of choice to choose from. The choice at central was too overwhelming and none matched our expectations. May be there was one but we could wheel it from our hook.

At Total today, we managed to pick up several things that we wanted including the kurtas. There were very few brands that we could choose from. The fabric was good, price was a bit high but we didn't have much choice. So we just picked up. Coming back we actually found it worth for my money and time. One of the reasons for picking up the kurta at Total is that the choice was lesser and the thinking process we had to spend was smaller too. The other reason, or the obvious reason is that the offering was better but I would rate my first reason higher.

Next time try this. When you go to an ice cream shop with a kid, ask him which flavor he could like. Look at the time he takes to decide and the number of times he changes his decision. Once he finalizes the order, you pick something he hasn't and see if he would trade it with yours. Most probably he would.

Try this too... Offer the kid just two choices, Vanilla or Chocolate. See how fast the choice is.

Rain in its season

Had an excellent vacation and am back to blogging. Let me begin with the promises I got for this year, which incidentally is the year of the Tiger :)

1. "I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field their fruit" --- Leviticus 26:4
2. "Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence" --- Psalms 91:3

At every turn in life God gives you a chance to choose between good and bad, love and hate and what you choose determines the outcomes and blessings you have in store. All my life, every time I had a choice, I chose love, faith, trust and compassion and I agree that I have never left alone. I suggest you try the same this year. Choose love, bear pain with a smile on your face, spread love, joy and happiness wherever you go. Try and change the lives of people, processes, things after you touch. Don't be a crossover, be a bridge to betterment. Be the change you expect others to be. Give someone a chance to realize their dreams, potential, help them grow. Choose the right choices.

The greatest treasures on Earth are invisible to our eyes but found by the heart. There is a time for everything and this is a time to build, a time to heal, a time to embrace, a time to keep and a time to mend. 30 years down the line, you will find, as you look back upon your life that the moments when you have really lived are the ones you have done things in a spirit of love. You never know which ones would turn out to be your Promising Moments!

+ & -

The close link between one's mood and choice of music stretches with the rise and fall of the notes. It is as simple as + and -. Last few days I was listening to Amy Grant and Hillsong and Michael non-stop and it has been peaceful. You must have felt this too. Happy and music that carries a zig is favored when you are in a party mood and when your thoughts pull the strings in your heart some saxophone or Rafi would fill in. Now if you can just reverse this order and try to kick start your mood with the music, yes it is possible, wouldn't it work wonders. Now I am not considering the canned music kind who wouldn't care what is playing as long as his glass is full and there is smoke in the room.

The same logic applies to the kind of people you want to be with. The +ve people are the ones you always want to stick around with as they make you feel comfortable and recharge you, take you along and make you be happy. The -ve kind of people are the ones you run away from as they drain you out. It is surprising how these birds flock together. Unfortunately here a - and - doesn't make a +. It gets worse. SO you know whom to stick around with.

This has a loophole though. What if the -ve guy/gal is what you think he is and is actually +. Then you need to look into yourself and search for an answer. Are you running away from him because (s)he points to your mistakes, is critical and pointy? Is there something you can change? Then why not change? Running away is not the final solution. May be you are running away from yourself?

+ & - is there in your dressing, the way you talk, approach yourself, friends, family, children, pets and what not. Let me tell you something. You can be a -ve person and get what you want or be a +ve person and still get what you want. The difference is in the effort, charm and warmth you put in what you do and who you are.

So what are you? + or -?

Damn recession! My price just went down

How can I not call it a selfish act on the part of the company when they want to get “much more for much-Much less!”.

And especially today when the term “RECESSION” is being thrown around like the spit on an Indian gully. The idea of desperate measures is being sold like hot cakes.

For example: I get a call for an interview… 1000s of questions are asked, insights gained, skills, abilities and personalities assessed over a series of innumerable interview sessions. Then there is one specific meeting where I am highly praised and fawned upon. I am termed as the biggest asset that the company can ever possess. It is then that the long awaited yet, ironically, the most dreaded question is asked, “What is your salary expectation?”. The answer comes as 20-25K in hand per month (this thanks to the spit(e)ful Recession, otherwise it would have been much more and acceptable). Spat! The atmosphere changes! I should not have such high demands/hopes during these dire situations, these are times when I should grab any opportunity that comes my way since the market is in a bad condition. I should not show arrogance in my abilities. The maximum they can offer is 8 or 10 or 12 K. And it would be better for me to accept it.

These are the lines from my friend Swetha's blog. This is not just her feeling but what all the graduates, post graduates, parents are thinking about the firms. This is the best time to invest in HR potential of the companies and hence they are expanding. But what are looking for? Great brains? I frankly think no. Many firms are looking for what they can get for peanuts. You know what comes for peanuts. Don't you.

I can totally understand that the company is hit financially and is looking for a cut in costs but offering salaries that demean a person's stature, ridicule his/her capacity is not fair. At least come to me and speak to me with a decent offer in future which would rise as you pick up your stuff and start walking on the recovery path. HRs are supposed to hire the best talent in the lot for their respective firms but very few actually make an extra attempt to rein in a candidate with 'potential'.

This is no market where if you don't get a drumstick long enough for the price you want buy two small ones and still cook the soup. Ever heard of the term long term investment? You might succeed in bringing my price down... but my value? It is going North.

Is brand relevant? To brand or not to brand

I was talking to a friend about branding and why would customer prefer to go for a brand and this point came up. Let us assume you have two options of mineral water available at a store: Bisleri & some local brand. Which one will you pick up? Bisleri is costlier than its local counterpart. My answer was like this... Am I dying, for water? If yes I don't care what the brand was. But if I was just taking water then I do.

Branding is important when the consumer looks for a distinctive feature, reason while purchasing. And isn't that important when the purchase is for fulfilling a non-distinctive, non-important need. Doesn't depend on what you think as a brand. Depends on what I think as a consumer. If you want to sell a brand, go ahead and ensure that the customer believes on what distinctiveness you are going to sell to him. If you are not opting for a brand ensure that your consumer believes that there is no uniqueness required and your product fulfills the requirement and works just fine. The stress should be on service, guarantee and performance.

Eric Schmidt's Keynote Speech @ CMU

Schmidt underscored both the importance of technological innovation and understanding the value of the family, friends and people around you.

Lack of?

Is it true that most people don't make it a point to find things out? I know many lazy people who cannot walk up and find what a word means in the dictionary. It applies to several other things.

Do you know that only 8% of all the telegrams sent in Inda are in Hindi! Did you know that you can send a telegram in Hindi? Almost 80% are in English. Now do you know that its almost 50% cheaper for Hindi telegram than its English counterpart?

Most times we are content with the regular stuff, regular things. 80% of the times you order the same thing each time you dine out. Average expectations for an average life. Try to see what other options are, like the Hindi telegram. May be its better, cheaper and more comfortable. Is it the lack of choice or interest?

Please Pappu... Vote na?

Well are you voting this time? I was watching the news the other day and found out you no longer need to have a voter ID to vote. There are more than 200 different id proofs that can be used to vote. With India going young the vote of the youth gains more importance than ever. Its for us to choose what kind of government we want. Do it now rather than repenting later. The power to Vote defines democracy and is what makes you and me the rulers of this Nation. So will you be a Pappu and stay home or will you vote?

Is it really 'Green'

Food, Car, bedsheets, sustainable flooring, recycled glass, bottles, water... this list is endless. The words hint at something lovely and healthy, but what do they mean exactly? Do people try to cheat you when they say this is 'Green' stuff and you need to shell out more money when buying these products? How can you be sure about that? Well read on...

• Check about the brand before you buy at home
• Energy consumption when using a product should be less
• Look for an authentic story to tell, something of substantial
  
• Look for certificates/labels by UN, WTO, etc.
• Don't buy if the product tries to tell a confusing, hard to believe, vague story