Love and Business

...Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or Bends with the remover to remove.
O, no! It is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests and is never shaken.
It is the star to every wandering bark,
whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.             
                                               -- William Shakespeare

En route to Bombay (Now Mumbai but having grown up calling her Bombay; some habits die hard)Christmas is here and with that also the Christmas spirit. So what is Christmas spirit about? Is it about fat men wearing red suits and falling down chimneys rewarding acceptable behaviour?

Yes, I did keep stockings at night which was dutifully filled with goodies by my mom. In due course I realised that Santa after all was not a fictitious built up. He actually exists. They may be different people in our lives but they are the ones who fill your heart with all the happiness and life with fun. For me, this year, I have my Santa with me for Christmas and as usual when he is here life is full. This year is extremely special as he has given me the most beautiful gift of knowledge.

Last night while chatting with him, he said something in passing ( or maybe not, knowing him, everything has a reason).We were talking of love and what meaning it has in ones life. People strive to get love, to be in love to fall in love whatever.. All relations have the underlying factor of love. But what is love? The moment we talk about love it is meant to be so divine, so pure and so fullfilling and all consuming. It is also supposed to be unconditional. The moment expectations arise that is the end of all love, and henceforth starts the business of love.

So all our relations are actually a business of love and not really love. Love means to give and give and give. The giving should bring contentment, the smile in the loved ones face should give all the happiness and the happiness that the loved gets should fill the life with an all consuming full filling experience. That should be the power of love- total unconditional love. Such love is divine and pristine and knows no boundaries and no time or space. It knows no religion or relation.  To love is the most highest, exalted and liberating experience. Love in the purest form will bring grace and gratitude.It will teach kindness and sharing. It is about acceptance, I think we should all start with ourselves. We give to our families, our workmates, our communities, but accepting makes us freeze in indecision. Before you can accept a gift of the heart from anyone, you must accept it from yourself. Not that I’m any more successful at it than most but this Christmas Eve I will look in mirror and tell myself thank-you, you matter and I love you.

Merry Christmas! Love you all!

Ho Ho Ho!

Of my brother

 "Are we not like two volumes of one book?"

Long back a tender hand reached out and touched me and the world changed around me. I sometimes wonder if that gentleman had not come into my life, what would I be doing now. He has been my pillar of strength, my critic, my punching bag, my sounding board, my teddy bear and much much more. Today on his birthday, can't help thinking about him and feeling so full with emotions that I feel like going back to the good old days of togetherness and laughter and all the stupid things that were so much fun. We are so vulnerable to gentleness, love and softness of being, that the smallest of gestures indulges us to an extent that envelopes us in an embrace, never ever wanting to leave. We are human and with immense human feel. We were made thus. Created by the nature of divine intervention. And in this creation, we were also so tightly bound to some that no passage of time or space could brittle the bond. Such is the joyful, and ever lasting love between a brother and sister.

Today, on his birthday, I feel immense pride and respect for my dear little brother who has grown up so much over the years. As kids, we used to travel with Dad and usually had each other for company. So we became friends and we grew up that way. I, being the elder one, was always instructed to watch over him and to care for him. Over the years, as we grew older, he took over the charge, and when the transition from the quiet younger brother became the strong, protective 'older' brother I would never know.  In school I would hear my friends who had younger siblings wish for older ones and if they had brothers they wished for sisters and vice versa. Later on, I realised that what they were actually wishing for is for a different relationship in a sibling as they didn't get along with the one they had. They were amazed to hear that I loved what I shared with my brother and we have never had a fight. And that holds true even today and one of the most cherished things about us. We have had disagreements, but always sorted out amicably. We respected the other ones decisions and have always given the space required at the same time being the moral support through thick and thin.

Now, though we are in 2 separate continents, I still feel the closeness I felt with him when I was 3 or 13. We have chosen different career paths, different cities, and yet the heart belongs to one place. When I got married and was leaving home, he hugged me and all he said was I will always be there for you no matter what! I know he meant it and I know it is true.

One of the best thing that ever happened to me was you.Here's wishing you a very happy birthday and lots of love and happiness and peace. Love you with all my heart!

                                    The Tom Cruise of the family

                    

A good read

My brain seems to have been stuck in a freezer for past few weeks. All thoughts seem to have gone numb and nothing worthwhile to be put across. But maybe all in good time. So in the meanwhile I thought of sharing something interesting I read recently. First and foremost, I would like to thank SP for suggesting this book among a whole list of others and recommending that I read this one first. A glimpse of the cover page here:

Its called 'The Drama of the Gifted Child' and is about a child who is always so aware of the needs and desires of parents and has such a strong urge to fulfill their wishes that he loses track of his own identity. Its about a child who never discovers his own true self as he is so concerned about pleasing others around him, and the repercussions he faces later in life as an adult.  Among other issues discussed, 2 things that the author talks about distinctly stands out in the book.First, how the unconcious desires of the parents are bestowed upon the child, and how the child absorbs these wishes, morphing him into a different personality.
Second,is about contempt being used as a defense mechanism to breakthrough one's own feelings of helplessness. Contempt is the weapon of the weak and a defense against one's own despised and unwanted feelings. And the fountainhead of all contempt, all discrimination, is the more or less conscious, uncontrolled, and secret exercise of power over the child by the adult, which is tolerated by society (except in the case of murder or serious bodily harm).
This book deals with the issue of childhood psychology and explains the problems faced by children growing up this way and suggestions to remove himself from the person  he is not and helping him finding his true self.

To summarize, this book is a good read and useful in providing a new way to view our lives, however this book is not an excuse to victimize ourselves or for seeking an explaination for our own misery.

In my opinion,every parent or wannabe parent should definitely read this book. Some situations described in the book is really thought provoking and its surprising how simple things said or done to a child can have a life long impact on an individuals memory,turning him into an altogether different personality.Parents, whether biological or otherwise, tend to think of children as their extension rather than as individuals.What adults do to their child's spirit is entirely their own affair. For the child is regarded as the parents' property.Until we become sensitized to the small child's suffering, this wielding of power by adults will continue to be a normal aspect of the human condition, for no one pays attention to or takes seriously what is regarded as trivial, since the victims are only children. But in twenty years' time these children will be adults who will have to pay it all back to their own children.This tendency needs correction as each person at the end is a separate entity and has a right to live on their own terms and demand the respect he is entitled to. They are not to be cared for keeping in view the lost dreams and hopes of the parents. As I said in an earlier blog, they are your children, if that doesn't make you proud nothing else will.

31 is Just!

Yet another year passes by as I grow older and maybe bit wiser! As a kid I used to wait for my birthday, but as I grew older the birthday celebrations changed to a more sober and quiet dinners. Now as I cross over 30, I look by all the days that I have really celebrated without really knowing what I was celebrating for and moreover why other people got so excited about my birthdays. But this year of all the things has really been a year to celebrate. I have grown as an individual and as a professional. I have few friends who are here to stay. I am on a path to understand what my life means to me and what I must do in order to achieve my destiny. Life has never been more clear and whoever says they freak out after 30, life has really not started for them.

I have a great family, great job, great friends and a great life! Thats my reason to celebrate. Whats yours?
So apart from growing older and others growing older alongwith me( no calls for wishes yet :) ), I am happy that I got till here the way I did.

The journey called Life

When you are seriously looking for answers you will get it in some sign or other. When I was younger I used to pick up a book usually the Gita or the Bible and randomly flip open a page and mostly what I read in that page gave me an answer to my question. As I grew older I started finding answers in different places. Saw 2 movies recently which were a juxtaposition of emotions running through me lately, being shown on screen.

'Letters to Juliet' and 'Eat, Pray ,Love'. While the first movie was about a belief that true love never dies and love knows no time, the second was about the journey one goes through to find who you are and what life means to you. So in a way, both the movies are about a quest for different things. (or maybe the same depending on the protagonists life).

Now, being the protagonist in the movie of my life, what do I want? And what do I do if I am attracted to forces which are opposite in nature? Both these movies acted like a mirror and reflected exactly whats been on my mind. It made me see myself more clearly than I have been able to in sometime. Love deserves one more chance. There has been many days and nights when I have thought had I not faced the music 6 years back would I still be the person I am today. That is something I never would know. What I do know is that I am glad that I was bold enough to stand for the person  I loved as I definitely would not want to be a 70 year old woman driving across the country with my grandson in search of someone I had once left behind waiting..

Having said this, does that mean that my journey is over? Or had it just begun? Did I know at that time that I would one day actually want to take a journey which may include someone waiting. That is something I have to answer.

The second movie had a dialogue which said when you are in a quest to find the truth and if you believe that every person you meet on your journey and everything that you do in that journey will lead you to it, then one day you will find the answers. I would like to believe that my journey had already begun and each event,person,place that has occured till date since then has led me closer to what I am seeking for.

We all have to go through a journey at some point in some life. The question is if the time comes, then will be ready to put everything at stake to go for it? If we are ready for it then how difficult it is to break the shackles and do what you are meant to do. For those who have done so, maybe the calling was so strong that they are actually ready to give up on everything to follow that one dream. How I envy them! And How I wish that someday I am strong enough to do so and so are all others who want to do so. Well, cheers to that!

Head -Haunt

When you are hiring you better be tough or the tough gets you. Something of that sort happened to me recently only thing it left me melancholic. Sometimes we come across people who you really want to help, but are helpless. I interviewed 2 candidates and I will not forget their faces so easily.One was a girl who was academically brilliant. She got a double promotion and passed her SSC at the age of 11. She received the President's award for the same. She completed her intermediate at age 13 and her parents got her married soon after as they did not see the point of her studying further since she had already completed her basic education. Her husband died few years later leaving her with in-laws who didn't accept her and parents who didn't want her. She had a brother who encouraged her to study and she cleared her Engineering entrance and got admission in a good college and passed with distinction. She is now 24. Her only drawback- her communication skills. Unfortunately the hiring panel doesn't go by these stories and they just see the marketability of the resource and she doesn't fit into that.

Another youth who came to me looking for a job is the nephew of one of our important clients and I was only obliging him by meeting this candidate. It turned out that he scored 90% in his intermediate and wanted to join the defense and got enrolled in NDA. 6 months prior to his completion, his mother pressurized him to return home as she was really worried about his posting and did not want him away from family as he was the only son. He gave up trying to convince her and returned home. He had already spent 4 years in the entire process and finally joined a commerce course and pursued some computer courses alongside. Now job hunting and frustrated because he really can't figure out where he fits in all this demand and is ready to do any job just to support himself.

I am not sure if I can help these 2 people but definitely won't give up without a try. Question that I am being asked is how do you know if they are being honest. I can't, but I choose to believe them. I don't know if people are such good liars that they can lie with their eyes too. 

I hope parents learn to trust their children and to see the world as the child sees it rather than making the child see the world with their eyes. Here were 2 brilliant students who could have won the world that they aspired to be in, instead had it shattered because of one wrong decision the parents chose to make.

My sincere request to all the parents to allow their child to breathe. They are your children and if that doesn't make you proud, nothing else will.

Street Fight!

(written on August 08,2010)

The animal lovers may not like this…but today I fought like an animal or a street side thug as Ravi would call it. What started out as a normal lazy Sunday ended up rising my blood pressure which is still not down. Mom and I went shopping today and we bought some jewelry then went to buy some clothes and dress material and added the shopping experience with a nice Willy Wonka ice cream from cream stone. As with the female hormones, shopping always relaxes and we didn’t want the day to end. But time and pocket says otherwise. So I agree we were a little late in getting back home yet at a reasonable time for taking a public comute (auto rickshaws). We agreed to pay a sum of Rs. 45 after much haggling (which is again a part of this city's culture of autos). Anyway, the distance between home and this mall is not more that 4kms so technically we were still paying a high price. Now when we got home this gentleman who was driving demands Rs. 50 saying that, that was the amount agreed upon, which was an outright lie and both mom and I argued. Of course he thought otherwise and was so upset with his passengers that he decided to take out his frustration by throwing the money on her face viz.. moi! One can only imagine what happened after that! I was only short of punching his balls out and we both fought like hungry animals on a piece of meat. Towards the end he wanted to give me a ride till the police station to sort this matter out and I was ready to drag him by the collar to the cops. Luckily for him, my mom interfered and stopped it. We paid what we had decided to pay and walked off. He also after much grumbling left. Therefore, he survives.
To my Children,  if ever you read this, remember it is not the 5 rupees that I fought for. It is the question of ethics. It was dark and I was alone and all the while that I was standing just short of hitting him, I did not feel scared. On the contrary it was just sheer disgust of having come across such a person who has no values whatsoever to stand by his own words. One may argue that with that class of people how you can expect ethics or values. True, and I don't. Not with that class, but with any class. I expect it of myself and I don't sell myself short of that because some class of society doesn't fit into it. It would be easier to give up and throw a 5 rupee coin but tough to stand my ground for what I believe was correct. I did so today and will do so again and again and again till eternity and so must you if ever required because your self respect is what you will take to the grave.
 I Love You!

Girlfriend Syndrome!

Oh!It does feel great to be back. Been out of touch lately, majorly due to the heavy work pressure of the corporate world which is also back in action ater a year of dormancy so all in all busy time but no excuses. My apologies! Somebody commented on one of my posts that he/she liked reading my posts so Thank you so much and sincere apologies for being out of touch!

Well, coming back to the topic of the day this is going to be interesting so hear me out before judging me. When one has time, one ponders; and when one ponders one also observes things/situations which allow them to ponder more. So in the past year while I haven't been doing anything much at work, I have been observing people and have come to the conclusion that each of us suffer from something called a 'girlfriend syndrome'. Most of us work on an average of about 8 to 9 hours a day so anyway the rest 15 to 16 hours is spent doing our own things and yet when at work; we expect the sun moon and stars for the 9 hours of services. Ok,thats not bad at all to expect and neither is it unjustified, but lately I have seen most employees have developed lots of whims and fancies. The usual signs include complaining about work :either excess or the lack of it, cribbing about administrative issues,always wanting to be molly coddled, expecting incentives (read gifts) for good work or bad work, expecting to be on top of things and the list goes on. Once expectations are fulfilled, they'll get a new set of expecations to work on or they'll crib about the existing ones.
These signs are very similar to having a girlfriend. (With all due respects to my female fraternity). They expect you to be on time, to give them gifts, to read their mind, to wear the colors that she likes,to eat properly, to behave properly. Girlfriends expect. Period. Girlfriends also crib a lot. They crib about the same things that they expect you to do but once done they'll find out a point to crib on it.
Get the comparison? So my theory is that employees are expecting to be treated like girlfriends. Hence Girlfriend Syndrome!

 A point to ponder, what does one do when the girlfriend becomes over bearing? ;)

Of religion

"The function of religion is to protect us from an experience of God".

Religion has been used as a pretext, time and again to stunt the evolution of human kind.
This, along with the preset rules that come along as a package with the religion that we follow, has reduced the capacity of our race to think and do things for itself. The doctrine of karma leads by its inexorable logic to fatalism and the theory of transmigration of soul, casts the whole of human history and development into pre-determined and pre-fabricated steel frame. Perhaps,this could be the reason that the most frequently alleged obstacles to modernisation in India are the ritualism of caste system and the doctrine of fate (Karma), rebirth (Samsara),duty (Dharma) and salvation (Moksha), which are supposed to contribute a theodicy for social systems moral and metaphysical justification.
One may feel I am contradicting myself from my previous post,the cruz of my belief remains same. I don't deny the power that we know as God. But I definitely have a problem with religion and  people mis-representing and mis-interpreting it. Today is what is important and now is what we should be living in. The past should just form a basis to what the present is for us but to use that as an excuse to stop progressiveness is a no no.

Whats in a name...?

Over the weekend I saw 'My name is Khan'. It was a good movie considering a Karan Johar standard, though little too dramatic in the second half. The female protagonist in the film Mandira (played by Kajol) is a divorcee with a son who marries Rizwan Khan (played by Shahrukh Khan) and hence adopts the title Khan by marriage, though a Hindu by birth. Her life changed for the name that she carried with her then and post 9/11 she loses son to a communal fight that happens in his school. Had she kept her maiden name would life be different for her was a question she had in her mind.

And thats the topic I have been wanting to write for a while now. Is it really that important for a girl to adopt her husbands name after marriage. Who decides the importance and why? A name given at birth becomes the identity of the person and changing that overnight is it not like changing one's true identity?Is it legally required or socially neccesary?

Recently an employee who has been married for 2 years came up to me with a request to change her name to that of her husbands, because her husband has been insistent about it. I mean, get a life Man! Are you really that insecure? How does it matter to the man whether his wife takes up his title or not. But It definitely matters to the girl . Would it be that simple for a guy to do the same if required?

My parents haven't quit even after 6 years of my marriage reminding me to change my name (Which of course i haven't done, incase you haven't figured that out yet). All the women who actually have their name changed, am sure would not have done it if there was no compulsion or social obligation. I just fail to understand how it matters to anyone how I want to write my name, but it definitely matters to me. My name is what I identify myself with and I want the world to identify me with. So while I get to hear Whats in a name all the time from my folks, I would like to tell everyone with the same school of thought that Everything is in the name!
My name is Paal, Tithee Paal!

Maktub!

I believe in a power which guides the world. Born an Indian, and raised a Hindu in a house full of theist, I know the power, as God. For couple of years and a few good books later, I am trying to come to terms with another power. Maybe they are opposing forces,maybe collaborative or maybe parallel.
Our religion strongly talks about karma which basically means that what you sow, so shall you reap. The scientific world is strongly based on the cause-and-effect relationship. How different are these two concepts from each other?
Synchronicity,which does not share the cause-and-effect relationship, explains the guiding force in the universe.Psychics play the role of understanding the meaning of these guiding energies and predict the paths and patterns based on this principle of synchronicity.Quantum Mechanics explains the relationship of particles and their random interconnectivity with behaviors being probabilities rather than certainties.Therefore the phenomenon of synchronicity could be explained through Quantum Mechanics.

Things we might see as coincidence are actually signs that can help us make decisions and guide our lives -- if we recognize them. The decisions that we take become our destiny. So are we creating destiny or is it written  and so shall happen? I believe whatever path we choose the forces affect the reality of the physical objects. The wake up call from the beginning of time comes from the same source of energy and the God of all religions throughout time- Ra! The way I see it seems like simply common sense, that both these forces are just merged into one, waiting to be realised. Or maybe I am so highly enlightened that I am merged with God thyself and see all as one and one in all?

Well,I'd like to believe I am getting there!

Jump ship

"If you want to have better employees, start by appreciating the ones you already have, or they won't be around for long"
I read this quote somewhere, I don't take credit for this. In a tough economy, voluntary downturn is not a problem. Infact, companies struggling to reduce costs may embrace the fact that employees are leaving voluntarily if they are not laid off. At the same time,most employees are also hunkering down not bothering to look for opportunities. But with the turn around in the economy it could be a different story all together. Last year saw the worse economic downfall where the salaries went down south and jobs became a rarity with most companies freezing on the hiring. The most common HR dialogue" Due to the recession we will not be able to pay you a certain amount which we used to pay earlier ". For senior management this reduction is justified as the balance is covered in variable pay but for the executive level it really doesn't matter.Also while hiring, the negotiation that happens on the table is unbelievable. But due to the need base the candidate has no choice but to agree. Companies, who now see the previous salaries while deciding on the current pay have to change their view of seeing the candidacy of a potential employee. If the companies want to hire the best talent then they cannot falter on the green notes as once the upturn starts surely the hopping and jumping would become a common scenario. Personally I feel that a candidate should be offered what the profile demands and what his/her candidacy deserves, as the candidate will not fall in the recession trap again. Internal compensation correction should also be one of the retention strategies to retain the best employees. After all, end of the day its a symbiotic relation and no CEO at the end of a good day can say its all because of my effort and after a bad day turn around and say its all your fault.

Work-Life Balance

This word was not really on my mind to write about but someone just used it today and every second day it keeps popping up here and there. According to me, the word is just a myth and a 'feel good' factor and 'sounds good' factor for all who talk about it. In today's tough market, where the mantra is work hard, harder and hardest and where most of the executives toil for more than 50 hrs a week and some for even 80 hrs a week I have no idea how they can talk about work-life balance. Many of the women come home from work only to sign onto a 'second shift' ;most of them still managing household chores like meal preparation, child care, laundry etc.. I definitely don't think that these women think of their routine as work-life balance. Then what is it that drives everyone forward and helps maintaining a balance?
Work doesn't have to be exhausting if one can actively manage their energy levels. Infact the only hope that women have today is to balance their energy flows. If one can priortize their work based on the activities that energize you ,both at home and at work,then fatigue or burnout can be avoided. It can be observed that people who are engaged in activites such that they don't recognize the passage of time are more productive and seem to derive greater satisfaction from their work than those who do not. It energizes them rather than draining them.
So a useful tactic is to identify the conditions and situations that replenish the energies rather than sap them out. Self-awareness is a technique which can allow to deliberately incorporate restorative elements during the course of the day. Space your non productive and energy sapping tasks throughout the day rather than bundling it up together. This is a time management technique given by all management gurus.Definitely helps.
So to come back to my point, people who really talk about work-life are the ones who have actually learnt the art of managing their energies well and deriving the positive energy out of the work that they do. It neccesarily does not have to mean that you get out of work on time just to do what you are happy doing but rather do the work that makes you happy.
That way one does not need to strive for striking a balance. Many things get life when we get a life. So I say, get a life first figure the balancing act later!

Healthy Hearts!

While the seminar at COD had nothing to do with HR related topics, it did talk about a more serious problem of todays generation. Today a large part of the population is dying because of heart attacks and other Cardio Vascular diseases or CVD.Recently the industry lost Mr. Ranjan Das- CEO of SAP labs a very fit and health conscious person but with an imbalanced lifestyle. So CVD has nothing to do with age or how athletic you are. Its more of a lifestyle disease. The myths surrounding it that it is genetic or due to the age factor, is just that-a myth.
So here we had 2 highly eminent doctors speaking of the disease and preventive measures. The stats that they gave were scary. Apart from the death toll between the ages of 35-55 being the highest it also spoke of the billions of dollars worth of loss that the IT industry suffers every year. So its just basically the proper diet, 7 hrs of sleep and maintaining a balanced life can help keeping CVD at bay. I hear lot people saying that death has to come one day so why not enjoy what we have of life. That is one myth which needs to be busted. To all those people I have a question, Its true that death is inevitable and the only truth of life, but does it have to be slow, torturous and painful? I believe in after life and I feel death is just the beginning, But the day I die I would like to look best because I'll be meeting Mr. God himself, wouldn't want to be in a tattered condition appearing in hospital clothing in front of Him. But thats just my thought. You think about it!
Coming back to the topic of discussion, I have distilled some key points below in the hope it will save some of our lives.
Some Excerpts:

• Short sleep duration ( less than 5 or 5-6 hrs) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept for more than 6 hrs per night. Paper published in 2009. As you know High BP kills.
• Young people ( 25-49 years of age ) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.
• Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999.
• Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!
• Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease. Paper published in 2004
• Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.
• In brief, sleep is composed of two stages: REM ( Rapid Eye Movement ) and non-REM. The former helps in mental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding. During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times. The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type. For one to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of sleep, you are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM sleep). And if you have slept for less than 5 hours, your body is in a complete physical mess ( lack of non-REM sleep ), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down ( I’ve been there, done that ). Finally, as long-distance runners, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage.

This should be a good news to all the people who complain that they would want to spend less time sleeping (of course doesn't imply that you spend more time in bed)

So people, Eat right, sleep right stay healthy!

BTW, I did get a chance to talk to the director and it was a delight. She recognised me and more than welcomed me into the institute. So mabe sometime in the future would definitely go through one of the trainings.

Center for Organization Development

Organization Development is an area which interests me a lot. Everytime I would cross Madhapur and see the institute would look forward to a chance to enter the campus and learn about the different programs and techniques. But getting there is not easy as for one the course is expensive and second it is usually catering to a group of people sponsored by the corporates. So a mail that I received yesterday came as a pleasant surprise asking me to participate in a workshop at the COD. Obviously, I jumped and confirmed my participation. I dont think the talk is anything related to OD as its an external faculty, a cardiologist giving a talk on Healthy Hearts. But nevertheless, am excited as I finally get to enter the campus which i have been looking forward to for quite sometime. With little luck i may even be able to chat up with the Director whom I happened to meet in another program but could not speak to her at length at that time. I know its asking for a bit too much so Good Luck to me! COD here I come!!

Work Ethics

A wierd thing happened today morning which got me to thinking. I got an employment verification mail with a relieving letter attached and the company wanted me to endorse that the candidate in question was working for us. While she did work for us, we had never issued her a relieving letter as she stopped coming to work one fine day on medical grounds and never came back asking for any letter. Now it was a surprise to see a letter with our company logo and signature. only difference- We never typed it or signed it!
Just got me thinking about the word ethics. is it just that..a word? I happened to know this person when she worked with me and she hailed from a good family and from a good educationcal background. Just goes to show that rotten apples can be anywhere. I mean what would have happened if she had called me and requested to issue her a letter for a new job. Apart from issuing a letter in all probability i may have given her a recommendation letter too. Here she not only lost her credibility with that company but also probably with few others.
I somehow don't understand the psyche of such people. Sometimes all you have to do is Ask! is that so difficult? But again to each his own.

Happy Blogging!

Since quite sometime I have been fighting the urge to create a blog for myself. I always had this argument with my husband that how in the world does anyone have the time to read other peoples blogs and their daily activities and when does one work if most of the time is spent blogging! But lately I realised, its not whether you have time or not;time gets created if you actually have the interest and the desire to put your point across. People may read if they are interested in what you have to say...
As for me, I had to start as there are so many thoughts which have been running through my mind lately and I just felt the need to collect them somewhere. Someone once told me, a human mind is capable of a new thought every moment. So its about my thoughts,my life, my work.
Anyone interested is free to comment, but please keep obscenities out.
So here goes my very own first blog! Happy Blogging to me!