Social Networking in today’s Corporate World..!!

Social networking is the hot topic that needs to be handled with at corporates nowadyas. And why not? The ability to share thoughts, pictures and video with friends seems like a good option for everyone including the employees. What's not as clear, however, is the how businesses may utilize that same technology.

Nearly one in four businesses block employee access to social networking Web sites such as Facebook and Twitter,according to a survey of about 200 human resources professionals because they see social networking as a "productivity killer".

While many companies do not view social networking as a threat to productivity, one in three survey respondents said their companies consider the sites a major drain on worker output. "Twenty-three percent of companies block access to these sites entirely."

But I still believe that to get a real recruiting edge, business should integrate social networking and other Web 2.0 tools "into every facet of the organization, from marketing to internal employee communication".

Most companies aren’t formally addressing social networking sites. Fifty-nine percent do not have a formal policy on using the sites during work hours. Nearly half said social networking isn't a problem as long as employees get their work done. Formal corporate policies on social networking are scarce because it is such a new phenomenon, and the policy makers belong to the age when Internet itself was a taboo.

Employees nowadays are spending 30 minutes or more per work day on social networking sites. Viruses and leaking of confidential data are among the dangers raised by heavy usage.Lost productivity is not the only reason some organizations ban or limit the use of social networking at the office. These sites produce an extra demand on bandwidth. They also pose a security risk for corporate networks, making company systems vulnerable to hackers and viruses. There is also the potential for employees to leak corporate secrets or damage the company’s image due to the content of their personal profiles.

More than two-thirds of IT pros surveyed by Network World last December said they use social networking sites. IT pros spent more time on the sites for business reasons rather than for play, and numerous organizations have seen business value in these tools.Vendors such as IBM, Microsoft and a number of start-ups have responded with social networking tools for the workplace. Vendor InsideView lets customers integrate social networking tools with business intelligence software.

Many managres are heavy LinkedIn and Facebook user, but they try to keep their respective uses separate -- LinkedIn for professional relationships, Facebook for personal. It's a quandary many corporations are facing today, trying to balance how they might benefit from participating in social networking against security or legal issues that could arise.

Although I can sees potential opportunities through social connectivity, there's a lot of noise to filter out too. Many businesses have already started to put out an official Facebook site, and I anticipate that as a positive changing work culture.

CIOs today should at least make themselves familiar with social networking, if only because they will be employing the Millennial Generation, for whom the technology is becoming a way of life.

Back when the Web was coming of age in the mid '90s, people started talking about why staff needs Web access. Won't it just give them a chance to waste time? My opinion then and now is that if someone is looking to waste time, they can do it while sipping coffy, reading the daily news or using the Web. Web 2.0 tools are just another source of content and the key is managing people properly."

One of the pioneer in using social media in the corporate world is Telstra, the Australian telecom giant. The 40,000+ person company makes social media training mandatory for its employees and formalized a policy of “3Rs” – Responsibility, Respect and Representation. Taking things a step further, today the company is trying something about as transparent as it gets – publishing their entire social media training guide online, so that anyone can check it out, learn and critique.

While this communications environment has risks for corporate entities and individuals alike, I believe that with the right training and policy support the potential benefits far outweigh the risks. This decision to open up this is a bold move by Telstra that will leave them open to plenty of criticism, but ultimately it looks like a smart one that should foster a lot of conversation in the space.

25 Years, Bhopal still weeps..!!

I get shivers down my spine whenever I think about December 3, 1984. On this day a cloud of methyl isocyanate gas got leaked at Bhopal and Within hours, more than 3,000 people were dead. This gas came from leak at Union Carbide plant.

Hundreds of people died from the effects of toxic gases which leaked from a chemical factory near the central Indian city of Bhopal. The accident happened in the early hours of that morning at the American-owned Union Carbide Pesticide Plant three miles (4.8 km) from Bhopal. Mothers didn't know their children had died, children didn't know their mothers had died and men didn't know their whole families had died. This caused a deadly cloud of lethal gas to float from the factory over Bhopal, which was home to more than 900,000 people - many of whom lived in slums. Chaos and panic broke out in the city and surrounding areas as tens of thousands of people attempted to escape. More than 20,000 people have required hospital treatment for symptoms including swollen eyes, frothing at the mouth and breathing difficulties. Thousands of dead cats, dogs, cows and birds litter the streets and the city's mortuaries are filling up fast.

Bhopal residents said that they were choking and their eyes were burning. They could barely see the road through the fog, and sirens were blaring. They didn't know which way to run. Everybody was very confused. The Union Carbide factory was closed immediately after the accident and three senior members of staff arrested. Medical and scientific experts dispatched to the scene and the Indian government ordered a judicial inquiry. This was one of the world's worst industrial accidents.Nearly 3,000 people died from the effects of the poisonous gas in the days following the disaster. Estimates say that some 50,000 people were treated in the first few days suffering terrible side-effects, including blindness, kidney and liver failure. Campaigners say nearly 20,000 others have since died from the effects of the leak.Investigations into the disaster revealed that something had gone fundamentally wrong with a tank storing lethal methyl isocyanate (MIC).

In 1989 Union Carbide, which is now a subsidiary of Dow Chemical, paid the Indian Government £470m in a settlement which many described as woefully inadequate.But in 1999 a voluntary group in Bhopal which believed not enough had been done to help victims, filed a lawsuit in the United States claiming Union Carbide violated international law and human rights.In November 2002 India said it was seeking the extradition of former Union Carbide boss Warren Anderson from the US. Mr Anderson faces charges of "culpable homicide" for cost-cutting at the plant which is alleged to have compromised safety standards.

In October 2004, the Indian Supreme Court approved a compensation plan drawn up by the state welfare commission to pay nearly $350m to more than 570,000 victims of the disaster.

People still continue to die. Experts say- This month, this week, someone would have died an untimely death because of the exposure back in 1984. And there are still 100,000 or more people suffering from chronic illnesses.

All the compensation story was drama, the real victims never got anything. Those who got were powerful and rich. Poor street dwellers still suffer.

If we don't learn from it,tomorrow, another Bhopal will happen.

The "Berlin Wall" we are building..!!

Today when whole world is celebrating 20th anniversary of fall of Berlin wall, there are people in our country trying to build it again here. Today morning was a great day for Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) members as they attacked state Samajwadi Party chief Abu Azmi inside the legislature after he insisted on taking his oath as a legislator in Hindi. Interestingly the Maharashtra legislature at Nariman Point is a high-security area. When Azmi got up to take the oath in Hindi and as he uttered the first few words, MNS members, all of them first-timers in the House, sprang up from their seats, shouted slogans and rushed towards Azmi. As Azmi continued to take the the oath in Hindi, MNS's Ramesh Banjle uprooted the microphone and threw it away. Other MNS members came and surrounded Azmi, pushed and punched him and an MNS member, Ram Kadam, was seen on live television slapping and hitting him on the chest and shoulders.



Even after Mr. Speaker Ganpatrao Deshmukh immediately adjourned the House for over half an hour, the MNS members continued their aggressive stance, indulging in sloganeering, displaying banners and damaging the fittings inside the assembly. Defending the actions of the party legislators, MNS spokesperson Shirish Parker even argued that Hindi was not the national language of the country. Some MLAs were allowed to take their oath in English. If that was ok, then why not Hindi? What made them (MNS) believe that they can impose anything on anyone?

Indian constitution allows any elected member to take oath in any of the Indian language and anyone stopping him needs to be prosecuted as per the law.

Leaders from all parties condemn the action of MNS party MLAs. Speaker has suspended 4 MLAs for four years. Now are they in a position to serve their constituencies? How can they be henceforth referred as MLAs.

Congress party members say that anything happening inside assembly, Speaker will take an action. Govt will take action if this had happened outside assembly. What a joke ..!!

Incidentally Raj Thakrey's son studies at Bombay Scottish High. As per his dad's policies he should study in some Marathi medium school and speak and learn only in Marathi. If he further wants to be an engineer, his dad will get all the theorems and theories re written in Marathi by Einstein and Edison.

What I expect next that Bollywood will cease to exist as it is in Hindi, Stock exchange guys has to trade only in Marathi, no Sanskrit chanting at temples, everything has to be converted to Marathi, there has to be a Marathi version of "Jan Gan Man" and "Vande Mataram", no Hindi version of Mahabharat and Bhagvad Geeta allowed.

Why do Mr Thakre forgets that he is existing because Hindustan exists. Who gave him and his party rights to say that Hindi is not the national language and I wonder for how long we have to witness all this useless and baseless stuff from him. Pl. Mr. Prime Minister, do something, enough is enough..!!

Calling all mobile content developers..!!

Nokia..a leader in Mobile world needs no introduction.

If you are interested in developing applications for mobile and you have a believe in you that you can change the world of mobile users. This is the place for you to be there.

Forum Nokia Developer Conference 2009 on Dec 7,  @ Bangalore, Hotel Taj Residency.


It’s time to free yourself. It’s time to unlock the star within you. At Forum Nokia Developer Conference ’09, get inspired to create your very own application that will run on hundreds and millions of mobile devices all over the world. This year’s event promises to be very special with live demos, real-life mobile application stars who ‘wowed’ the world with their mobile applications to win fame and fortune, and much more. Also, explore how Nokia’s new Ovi Store ensures developers have easy access to publish applications and content to millions of Nokia devices through a unified publishing channel. Get to know the dynamic technology platforms for creating truly compelling user experiences. Get to learn new skills, new connections, and new ideas to create tomorrow’s technologies.


Get ready to step out of the shadows and be in the limelight.

You can find more details Here

Besides there is a Nokia N97 up for grabs too. So check it out!

I will be there to enrich my experience....come.. join..learn..enjoy..!!

Being Single..!!

Being single..not too bad really...now a days its more because of choice, because you are waiting to reach somewhere,  because you are trying to attain something, because you are still waiting for someone of your type and so on.....Now in these time when there are 10-15 % kids in schools are bought up by single parents, being single is not so bad, isn't it?

People choose to be single and are not forced to be so..!!

Being single is not such a bad thing actually. Especially if all your friends and siblings are happily hitched to the sides of spouses/lovers and all you have to boast of is yourself.


The truth is, if you do have a girlfriend, well, good for you. Try holding on to her for as long as you can. But if you don't, you might consider yourself not really too unlucky after all. For, being single is not the worst thing in the world. In fact, its benefits rather outweigh its downsides.

Apart from the limitless freedom that it entails, there are also other such things as an open market and the life of adventure, if you know what I mean (and don't let your imagination run too far for its own good).

But if you want to get into more specifics, here are the few :)

Freedom of movement:  There is nothing a single man enjoys more than this. For, what can beat the pleasure of hopping onto your bike at 11 p.m. and going for a long ride into the dark unknown, to dwell on the joys and sorrows of singleness? (okay, it actually gets better than this).

Nobody questions your late hours or your disappearances for long intervals of time. Your disappearances might be either due to some inane programme that you wanted to attend (without the danger of expanding your mind) or again to ride off into the night to mull over the cruelties of life. Or you may choose to party late into the night with a few well-chosen friends and get up late the next day only to be forced to take off from work due to the hangover. This is not necessarily a good thing.

Your earnings don't have to be split two-ways. So apart from the tax you give the government, you still get to blow up your pay-check on other trivial pursuits, and no questions asked – except, of course, from the magistrate the next morning if you get yourself locked up. But that will be your own fault.

You can spend your private moments at home blasting music and singing at the top of your lungs into a hairbrush, with the shutters down.

You don't have to be in bed by midnight every day, only to wake up again when you've just dropped off, at 1 a.m. when the baby brings the roof down. Conversely, if you're unmarried and not living-in, you don't have to stay awake till 2 a.m. on the phone just because your girlfriend at the other end can't get sleep and needs to talk about the exciting happenings of the previous day (for some strange reason, they're always most exciting at 2 a.m.).

You don't have to spend endless hours shopping for stuff that'll never make a difference to your life (conversely, if you do indulge her, she might indulge you too later on).

You don't have to be constantly reminded about things you forgot to do. When you do remember them, however, it might be too late. But that's another matter.

You can stay back late at work and not be blamed for it, even if you were actually working.

You can pick your nose or eat stuff off the table, and no one will rap your knuckles .

You can be yourself... for as long as you want.

All these things notwithstanding, you still might consider wanting to hitch up some day. Because, of all of God's creations, there's no one quite like the woman.

Are you happy....??

Are you happy with who, what, or where you are today? Are you having fun? Are you enjoying your career? Are you excited about your future? Are you living your life to the fullest? If the answer is no, then I ask "Why not?"

Most of us are searching for something, or sometime in the future when we will finally be happy. We tell ourselves that if we can only get to "that place," then our lives will be perfect. What we miss when we go through life with this perspective is the joy of today, and all the wonderful things that it brings.

So what will it take for you to be happy? Will it be the bigger house, the new car, getting married, getting divorced, becoming pregnant, getting a new job, moving to a new home, etc.? When will you stop running and enjoy what you have today? The search for happiness is internal and impossible to obtain from outside things. Sure, they may make you smile initially, but the emptiness will not go away.

So, how can you be happy today? Follow these easy steps:

1. Accept That You Deserve To Be Happy.

If you don't think that you deserve to be happy, then no wonder you're not. The messages you give yourself determine what direction your life will take. If you are telling yourself that you are unworthy or don't deserve happiness, then how can you expect to be happy?

2. Accept Who You Are.

Being happy today is accepting who you are; the good, the bad and the ugly. It's knowing that you are doing the best you can do, and being content with that. I'm not saying to ignore what you'd like to improve in your life, but if you only see what's missing, you lose out on "loving" what's great about you.

3. Be Comfortable Where You Are.

Being happy today means being comfortable where you are in the present, not where you would like to be in the future. It's about being in awe for the opportunity to learn something new each day. You don't know what your life will bring tomorrow, so you might as well enjoy where you are today.

4. Appreciate Your Life.

Being happy today means being grateful for your life. Whether it's being grateful for having your health, a job, a place to live, food everyday, or a family that loves you. If you knew that you were going to die in 90 days, would you do things differently? Guess what? You are going to die one day, and you don't know if you even have 90 days. Gratitude, not blame will give you happiness and freedom.

5. Ask For Help.

Being happy means not keeping your problems to yourself. It also means that you ask for support when you need it, and let others contribute to your life. Most of us don't ask for help because we don't want to burden the people around us. But, if someone asked you for assistance, wouldn't you lend a helping hand? Then why wouldn't you let others do the same for you?

6. Do Something Nice For Someone Else.

Being happy today is doing something nice for someone else. This could be as simple as holding the door for the person behind you, or as big as volunteering your time to your favorite charity. Your problems become smaller when you are not always thinking about them. When you take the focus off yourself, it is easier to see how great your life really is.

7. Do Something That Will Move You Forward.

Being happy is taking steps that will move you forward. Movement keeps you from feeling like a victim. When you're unhappy, formulating a plan puts you in a different place and helps change your perspective. It also put the power back in your hands!

8. Forget the past

“One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory“

You won’t be happy if you carry the burden of the past. Did you make mistakes? Did you have terrible experiences? Whatever they are, you should let them go. There’s nothing you can do about the past, so you’d better let them go and focus your energy on the present.


So, what is it going to take to have you be happy today? How much more of your life do you want to live waiting for "someday" to bring you the happiness you crave? It's up to you to create your own happiness. It's up to you to create a life filled with joy rather than sorrow. Why not choose a life filled with happiness today?

Why this...do we really need him now..??

Today there was an article by Chetan Bhagat (He doesn't needs any introduction) in "Sunday Times". He wanted Mr M.K. Gandhi back to India. He says we cannot forget him, as if any one has got an option for doing so. Today he is everywhere, on the currency, in every city crossings, on the walls of every Govt. buildings and in speech of every politician.

Politicians talk about Mr Gandhi, wear his choice of clothes and swear by him. It is not because they really love him, its just because they have to do all this if they want themselves in the political scenario of India. I can't see them following what he preached. If they ever even tried to follow, the problem of bad roads, lack of electricity, lack of education, unemployment would cease to exist in our country by now. We really need more and more like Taroor who are very clear and speeak out their mind. At least not those who all of sudden get out of their SUVs for a night out as some dalit's house, not because they really want to be there but because it was as per party diktat.

Even today's young political leaders are calling youth to join them, but are they serious about this? Those who are joining are Jindals and Mittlas. If they really want someone who can make a difference why don't they go ahead and recruit people by advertising, recruit people who are speacialist in their fields. People who know how it feels to travel everyday in pathetic public transport to office in even NCR region.

Anyone who had read “Men Who Killed Gandhi” by Manohar Malgaonkar would surely agree that we don't need him back. The book tries not to take a side at all – which is a good thing provided the fact that neither of them (Mr. Gandhi or Mr. Godse) was justified. If Mr. Gandhi was not justified to go on hunger strike for releasing 55 crores to Pakistan while India was at war with them, Mr. Godse was equally not justified to kill somebody (and that somebody in this case was Mahatma Gandhi). The book states that both Mr. Godse and Mr. Apte were pledged to the cause of an independent and undivided India. And they held Mr. Gandhi liable for India’s division. It also points out that how Mr. Gandhi was all together alienated from the realities of divided India and public sentiments during last days of his life – and paid with his life for that.

I can never deny the fact, that today I am write this freely is just because of what efforts Mr. Gandhi and many others had put in for our freedom but I do insist that we don't need him back. He had done his bit and now its time for us to do ours. We need to think before doing anything, voting, spitting on roads, taking/giving bribes etc. For how long we will be waiting for someone to come and do good for us, we have to do it ourselves.

I had been following Chetan's tweets for past few days and I am really surprised, why all of sudden all praises for Mr. Gandhi? I don't think his views were same when he used to be five point someone during his grad days. Why all of sudden this major change, is this also a publicity stunt for your book? You really don't need to do this man..be yourself...!!

Wake up Raj....!!

Here comes Mr. Raj Thakre again...!!


Who disappeared during Mumbai Terrorist attacks, he is back protesting KJO when his actors call Raj's "Mumbai" "Bombay" in movie "Wake up Sid". KJO promptly went ahead and apologised to Raj. CM says he should had lodged a complain against Raj, as if they will really protect everyone from Raj. What a Joke of Democracy. A single man becoming powerful than world's largest democracy. Raj and his party are concerned about Mumbai's name being defamed, but they don't care for how Indian democracy is getting defamed.

He calls people from UP and Bihar "Bhaiya" but is furious if anyone calls localites as "Ghaati", why these double standards? He is concerned that Big B is doing branding for UP but living in Mumbai. He fails to see that Big B never tell residents from other states to leave UP. Why does he fails to understand that if every north Indian leaves Maharashtra, what will happen to the revenue generated by the state when they purchase clothes, movie tickets, cars and houses? They are also contributing to the growth of Maharashtra.

He is blaming media for ignoring of what happened with UP and Bihar guys in Assam, but forgets that those who attacked them were named extremist and terrorists but he is still happily roaming around spitting venom against everyone as a free citizen of India, he should be thankful to Indian democracy for all this freedom.

What happened to "Freedom of expression" and "Freedom to go and work anywhere in India" rights provided to each and every India by our constitution. Are we standing at a junction where anyone can surpass the Government and constitution and do whatever he wants to fellow citizens?

Wake up Raj, its not only your state and country..its our country and we are spread across all states.

हम पंछी उनमुक्त गगन के...!!

One of my favorites..truly inspirational...!!


हम पंछी उन्मुक्त गगन के

पिंजरबद्ध न गा पाऍंगे

कनक-तीलियों से टकराकर

पुलकित पंख टूट जाऍंगे ।



हम बहता जल पीनेवाले

मर जाऍंगे भूखे-प्यासे

कहीं भली है कटुक निबोरी

कनक-कटोरी की मैदा से ।



स्वर्ण-श्रृंखला के बंधन में

अपनी गति, उड़ान सब भूले

बस सपनों में देख रहे हैं

तरू की फुनगी पर के झूले ।



ऐसे थे अरमान कि उड़ते

नील गगन की सीमा पाने

लाल किरण-सी चोंच खोल

चुगते तारक-अनार के दाने ।



होती सीमाहीन क्षितिज से

इन पंखों की होड़ा-होड़ी

या तो क्षितिज मिलन बन जाता

या तनती सॉंसों की डोरी ।



नीड़ न दो, चाहे टहनी का

आश्रय छिन्न-भिन्न कर डालो

लेकिन पंख दिए हैं तो

आकुल उड़ान में विघ्न न डालो ।





-शिवमंगल सिंह सुमन

People leaving the company..!!

Every company faces the problem of people leaving the company for better pay or profile.

Early this year, Mohan, a senior software designer, got an offer from a prestigious international firm to work in its India operations developing specialized software. He was thrilled by the offer.

He had heard a lot about the CEO. The salary was great. The company had all the right systems in place employee-friendly human resources (HR) policies, a spanking new office, and the very best technology, even a canteen that served superb food.

Twice Mohan was sent abroad for training. "My learning curve is the sharpest it's ever been," he said soon after he joined.

Last week, less than eight months after he joined, Mohan walked out of the job.


Why did this talented employee leave?

Mohan quit for the same reason that drives many good people away.

If you're losing good people, look to their immediate boss. Immediate boss is the reason people stay and thrive in an organization. And he's the reason why people leave. When people leave they take knowledge, experience and contacts with them, straight to the competition.

"People leave managers not companies" 

Mostly manager drives people away?


HR experts say that of all the abuses, employees find humiliation the most intolerable. The first time, an employee may not leave, but a thought has been planted. The second time, that thought, gets strengthened. The third time, he looks for another job.

When people cannot retort openly in anger, they do so by passive aggression. By digging their heels in and slowing down. By doing only what they are told to do and no more. By omitting to give the boss crucial information."If you work for a jerk, you basically want to get him into trouble. You don't have your heart and soul in the job."

Different managers can stress out employees in different ways - by being too controlling, too suspicious, too pushy, too critical, but they forget that workers are not fixed assets, they are free agents. When this goes on too long, an employee will quit - often over a trivial issue.

If you're not getting rejected, you're not really trying..!!

Some people like to gloat about their successes. Me, I like to brag about how often I've been rejected. And with the number of times people have shut me down, I have a lot to talk about.


Unfortunately many people don't share my brazen approach to utter failure. They look at their own failure and rejection as a Scarlet Letter to be worn shamefully which is a bunch of bull!


As far as I'm concerned, if you’re not getting turned down, you're not really trying. And the only thing you should ever be ashamed of is not trying.


Rejection Represents Potential


Let me start by explaining what's so great about rejection and why you should take advantage of every opportunity to seek it out. Rejection delineates the limits of your potential. Said differently, until you get rejected, you don't really know how much potential you have.


I learned this lesson not in the office, but in places like gym. For the longest time I thought the limit of my bench press topped out around few pounds. To me that seemed like a lot of weight to keep off my chest, and so I assumed that my potential stopped there.


One day, a friend of mine challenged me to push more weight. We slapped more pounds on the bar he told me to give that a shot. In this case, lifting the bar wasn’t my only concern, I was afraid of crushing my whole body in the process!


Two things happened when I took that leap. First, I pulled and strained just about every muscle north of my waist (I was sore for weeks). And second, I benched those extra pounds.


So I did what any ambitious person would do– I put on more weight. I was ashamed that I hadn't tried it sooner. Until I pushed myself to utter failure and rejection, I never really knew just how much was possible.


My Goal – Utter Rejection




Since that moment in the weight room, my goal has been to get rejected as often as possible. I've come to embrace rejection as the only goal that is worth fighting for. Anything less than utter rejection means I've left something behind or gave less of myself to my goals. Nowadays I want to get rejected in everything that I do.


I want to get rejected when I get any new assignment, any new goal to be achieved. I want to present targets that are far higher than anyone can expect. My fear is not the word “no” when it comes to the targets, it’s the word “yes” while wondering if I tried enough to stretch at the targets.


I want to get rejected when I present to my bosses. I want them to think that my plan is overly optimistic, and that my financial projections are far too aggressive. I fear only two words from my boss – “reasonable” and “conservative”. If I’m ever called either of these things I'm going to storm out of the room ashamed.


I don't fear the failures that others would fear. I fear the implications of what acceptance leaves on the table.


Rejection Builds Great Companies


If you want to trade war stories with me, don't sell me your success stories. Success whispers little about who you are. Utter rejection and the ability to bounce back is what really make a leader.


What makes the leader mindset so much different than that of your average worker is that a leader not only embraces risk, they embrace rejection. For every documentary that you read about the birth of a great company, there are endless stories about the failure and rejection the entrepreneurs faced to reach that destination of greatness.


Great companies are built on rejection. They are built on the resilience of the founders who took and endless barrage of punches to the chin and kept on fighting. Seeking rejection as a goal to find greatness is the only way to maximize the potential of what you really are and what you seek to achieve.

A good reading material....taken/inspired from someone's speech....

MPs flying Business Class..!!

I was watching a debate on why MPs should fly business class. To my shock Manish Tiwari, Rajib Dasgupta and Rajiv Pratap Rudi said that the directive for domestic and business travel for Govt. employees does not apply to MPs. He says MPs are not bound by thumb rules of Govt. The question is simply, why I should pay my hard earned money for the leisure of MP's business class travel, when I have to fight everyday for using public transport while commuting to and from office. Providing good roads and public transport is the responsibility of these elected MPs. Instead they are arguing why they should not travel business class. What a shame, we are electing guys who are more concerned about their pleasure, rather than trying to ease out the lives of people who elected them (do not forget the perks they enjoy as MP). Take the example of cyber city Gurgaon. The roads are pathetic, and public transport sucks.

These elected representatives should realise, why are they elected and should act accordingly instead of fighting baselessly. Or else people like me should refuse to pay taxes. We need a account of how our money is being used or misused.

Visiting the memory lane...!!

I am back to Bangalore after a gap of around two years on a very short trip. The moment I landed here, I could feel happiness inside me. I was really happy to be here. Met few old buddies, enjoyed the time spent with them and felt like I was away from my home for so long.

I am feeling nostalgic ever since I landed, although its just two years but still..what a feeling. Met one new member of our gang, she is too young to be more expressive n terms of spoken and written language but she was lovely. I played with that little angel for around an hour and couldn't realise that how time flew away. Tomorrow is a wedding of one more friend and I am looking forward to meet many more friends over there.

Wish I could visit this place and meet them all more frequently...!!

What is Independence…??

The nation is celebrating its 61st Independence Day today. India’s struggle for it is a story of hundreds and thousands of men, women and even children who laid down their lives for attaining this. Many of them never got a chance to see this Independent country. Many of them went unsung and no one knows or remembers them. But as years passed, the sentiments attached with this day are gone. Its now just a holiday which combined with weekend gives a chance to visit home and take rest. Even in schools  children are not interested in being there for flag hoisting ceremony.

What is independence for this generation, is it freedom to work anywhere in country (which again is becoming a problem), freedom to express one’s view (that again is getting restricted to news anchors only), freedom to wear whatever one likes, eat whatever one wants, study whatever he or she wants or anything like that. We get emotional when India plays a match with Pakistan, a temporary emotional when a Kargil war happens and a little feeling of pride when Kalpana Chawla goes for a space mission(who rarely visited India).

Every one grabs the first chance they get to migrate to US, UK or Australia. I will not blame them also, not everyone is ready to give away the quality of life which is being offered by these countries. See what we who opted to stay here are getting. Poor infrastructure in terms of pathetic roads, poor electric supply , non existing or very poor public transport. After so may years of Independence a bill for free primary education is accepted in parliament whereas people who migrate abroad are enjoying all these for so many years. I wonder why these politicians need so big bunglows and so may free telephone calls when they are elected to server the nation. Why can’t the government have an apartment with all the ministers staying in separate flats in it. It will save lots of efforts and money in terms of providing infrastructure and security. A common vehicle can ferry them from their residence to parliament (if they want or opt to attend the parliament sessions). Providing security will be also less stressful for security personal. Any one who has visited Delhi must have crossed the area captured for these politicians.

APJ Abdul Kalam has mentioned in his book ’Wings of Fire’ that “never think of the scope, work hard to create that scope.” Kalam rejected several offers from abroad and stayed in this country and contributed to making India a super power. He stayed in just one room of Rastrapati Bhavan when he was serving the nation as President. Do we really think alike ??

I remember a statement given by one of our visiting lecturer “Indian is not a poor country, its just a poorly managed country” . So its we all who are responsible for making this a perfectly managed country. We as an individual should contribute to the betterment of our country by helping in keeping it clean, by paying taxes in time and in full, keep a watch on how is our money being spent by authorities and cross question them if required (we have RTI act, isn’t it), utilising resources responsibly, pooling cars while commuting to office everyday, treating everyone same irrespective of their caste and creed, through improved work ethics and environmental behaviour.

Let us love our country for what it is and let us work together to make it the best so that the coming generations will thank us for preserving our India as “Incredible India”

This will be a real tribute to the all the unsung heroes of freedom and for all of those we know who laid their lives so that we can live free in this free India.

Is PVR worth visiting and that too after spending this much money…..??

I went yesterday with my friends to watch a newly released movie at PVR, ambience mall, Gurgaon. This was supposed to be a fun time out for us. But turned out to be a stressful experience. The video quality was pathetic, sound also too bad to bear. One of our friend had a headache on watching this poor performance. I am not sure it was because of bad movie or bad projection of movie or both. But we couldn’t bear it. We complained to the service manager of PVR who came and after much requested tried to accept that there is some problem with the show.

But he said he can do nothing, instead offered all of us tickets for any other movie we wanted. We were already pissed off with the experience we had and were in no mood to watch any movie again. Even one of our friend walked out of the theatre.

Although the manager offered us the tickets, this is not what we expect from something like PVR. Everyone going there spends hell lot of money to watch movie in these multiplexes. And see what we get in return. The quality of movies which we get by road side illegal vendors  is lot better than what we saw yesterday at PVR.

These guys should really think that money which people are spending on purchasing the tickets is not earned so easily and should value the time and money of everyone. We went for a fun filled evening that was really screwed by those guys.

This experience forces me to think if these multiplexes are worth visiting…??

Why don’t people understand???

It was while I was travelling on Howrah-Delhi Rajdhaani yesterday, I again had an experience. I was sharing my cabin with five other people, two moms and two daughters and one of their friend. My god they never stopped their chit chatting for the whole journey, they were like talking machine. Both Aunti ji were really irritating. Their grown up daughters were also funny, playing Ludo along with Snakes and ladder, both makeup boxes. One of them created a scene while trying to reach to the upper berth, everyone were laughing watching the drama by her. I couldn’t stop laughing.She was happily sitting on my berth and never ever asked me if I wanted to sit at my place. When after dinner I wanted to sleep at around 9.00 PM they said they want to sit for some time after dinner and I have to wait. Finally I got my place at around 10.30 PM and I started my laptop for watching movie, to which also the Aunty ji had an objection, gave me good gyan and I have to shut it down. Somehow managed to sleep which was again interrupted by her at 6.45 AM saying that its too late and she won’t allow me to sleep just because she wanted to sit now. I was too sleepy to argue and I shifted to upper berth. She also told me that while travelling I should adjust to other’s requirements also. I wonder what else I should have done to please them. How shameless are these who never care for anyone while travelling and will give full time gyan to others about adjusting while travelling in public transport. If they need so much care why the hell she was travelling in AC 3 tier, she could have opted for AC 1st class and other’s would had travelled in peace.

I hate these types and believe that they should be thrown out of the train for all this dramatic behaviour. 

The Day that was....

On contrary to this week, the day was pretty excellent. Time really flied. The week-end still is expected to be a fun filled one, the day was awesome. The celebrations started bang at 00:00 Hrs bang with scraps, calls, SMSs, few bumps, kicks, cake and ended with cake all over me in next one hour. Then came few games of darts with flatmate that continued upto 4.30 Hrs and I lost all of them :)

After I got up from sleep it again started with wonderful breakfast and again lots n lots of calls, scraps and SMSs.I was flooded with wishes. The whole day at office was also full of wishes. The evening was something which I never expected. We started partying at 20.30 Hrs at a friend's office. This session was full of fun, jamming, guitar, singing and some really awesome performances. We started from there and after trying at HHI landed at Someplace Else @ Park. It was already 23:45 Hrs by then.

Then again it was a surprise waiting. It was again cake cutting ceremony followed by the cake painting competition where I was the canvas. Everyone showed their painting skills. We were joined by few people partying over there. The people who took me there were all awesome. They partied till 2.30 Hrs again and we left only when Sampy was declared closed for the night. Then we all went for dinner at one of our usual late night food joint, the famous Sharma Dhaba. We all had lovely food over there and discussions were on till 04:00 Hrs. That session also consisted of few friendly bumps, rewinding of few old memories, photo sessions, food and discussions on anything and everything. We finally left the place at 04:30 Hrs and again on reaching back there was a game of dart waiting for us.

Although this was the first time I was not with my family but my friends made this day an unforgettable one for me. This day went away to fast but I will relish this for many days and years to come.

I am already having invites for next few days to continue this celebration. Wishes in form of Calls/scraps/SMSs are still pouring in till the time I am writing this :)

The Week that was……

Why has it been such a slow week? Time usually seems to fly, more or less, for me, but something about this week has made it torturously slow. And while this promises to be a very good weekend, it's not like it's jam-packed with super extra awesome activities that I've just been dying for. So I can't even say that it's felt slow due to heightened anticipation. It's just been a long long week.
There has been, too, the fact that I was sick with strep throat, and was feeling like very out-of-sorts and exhausted. There's no resting, no real sleep.

This week also had few celebrations, with friends, away from family (so a bit happy a bit sad). Some major up and downs, some dejection, some high points…It had all…anyways it was a week that was a weak week…..!!

A police station in reality…

Everyone must have seen filmy police stations in many of the movies but I wish no one is ever required to visit any real one. I have came across these places only a few times till now at different geographical locations for different reasons and requirements.

It’s altogether a different world. No one cares for what is your problem, who you are and why you are there. You can see them working with their own sweet pace. At one instance the constable took around half an hour to write a verification report summary of just 5 lines. No one has got any right to ask them any question, they feel they are above all types of law and they are the ultimate authority. For them anything and everything that you want from them, you need to pay them in cash only. They don’t understand anything like etiquettes, politeness or manners. For them everyone else is either a criminal or a Bakra. Although many states boast of being fully computerised in their operations but I was not lucky enough to see anything close to a computer at of these places I visited. They still believe in doing everything by their own hands. They may ask you to write down your problem on a plain piece of paper as per their guidelines. I once tried giving them a printed request and got good lecture on how now a days youngster show off their computer literacy by doing all these unnecessary frills. As per them, they are helping you by taking money and listening to you and your problems. And since you are earning good amount of money they have a right to demand for their share accordingly for anything they do for you.

No doubt there are few good people also in this profession, but they are now negligible as compared to this new breed of greedy people. None of them were closer to or even trying to match their mission statement “ जन सेवा, देश भक्ति ”.

I wish no one is ever required to visit any police station.

Shift in Work Values..

Success at the next level is not always a given thing, even if you've been a star in your last role. It needs more than a change of gears

Within 18 months of starting his career with a respected MNC in the consumer goods industry as a sales representative, Ravi became an area sales manager. Handing over the promotion letter, the divisional vice president said, "Ravi, you have earned this based upon your outstanding sales track record, commitment and drive. You are the youngest ASM in the country! Congratulations!"

Six months into his new role, Ravi was summoned by the divisional vice president, who said: "Sales for your territories have been steadily dropping. Three reps under your charge have quit, citing you as the prime reason. The reps also say you lose your temper, quite often these days. Is there something I can do to help, Ravi? "  Ravi broke down and  requested "I don't enjoy this work at all and am deeply stressed. Please let me go back to being a sales rep."
What causes someone like Ravi, so successful at one level, to falter at the next level? An obvious, yet often overlooked reason is that promotion decisions are invariably based on past "track record halo", disregarding requirements at the next level.

Is there something one can do to improve chances of success at the next level or, are we doomed to learn the about "level of incompetence" hard way?
An expected answer is "added relevant skills", either by oneself or with organisational input. This is, by no
means, adequate.

A promotion, where a change in role is involved, places you at a critical career crossroad to the next level. Key to success here is to change direction at this crossroad with a change in work values.

Let me elaborate: change in work values is not about changing core values like integrity or dignity. Simply
put, work values determine what you value at work.
Ravi had spent so much time mastering the art of selling and experienced success as a crack salesman. He valued selling more than managing a team of sales reps, with its attendant operational tasks. Whenever a sales rep experienced a difficult sale, Ravi would jump in to close the sale. Soon the sales reps started resenting this "interference" and Ravi was not able to devote time to the non-sales aspects of his position.

Change in work values is necessary as we take higher level responsibilities across levels. A marketing
professional, who becomes a head of the business, may value marketing as the most important part of the job. Having achieved success in marketing, it becomes very difficult to value something else as more important. So he does not apply himself with skill and energy to the non-marketing parts of the new role like business strategy and appreciating the contribution of other functions. Inevitably, as business head, he continues to think and act like a marketing head.

As this Critical Career Crossroads approach, the shift in work values is key to success at the next level.
Management skills and capabilities are developed by activity at the workplace. If you internalise enough of those activities, you actually get good at them, and they give you a sustainable advantage for a certain period of time.

"To start doing something new, you have to stop doing something old."

The D Day…

The time is now of something known as “Appraisal Time” for employees in private sector. This is the time everyone awaits every year to see the outcome of his commitment, efforts he had put throughout the year and to see where his career path is going. I agree that this had been a tough year for most of the companies and many had taken actions like retrenchment and pay cuts but its also important for management to understand that how delicate is this whole process of appraisal is. As this can make or break an employee’s mind frame towards his/ her work.

The people responsible for appraisal should understand that appraisal should be a two way open process rather than being a one way directives that an employee is expected to accept. They should also understand that not always what is reported by the employee’s manager about the employee is perfect. They should also come down and have a chit chat with the employee. This may not get any fruitful result to them, but this is going to boost the moral and productivity of the employee for sure.

Gone are the days when employee accepts and agrees to whatever that was told to him or her. With increasing level of uncertainty and anxiety, the need for effective communication along with true and impartial feedback becomes vital which every manager should understand clearly. An employee expects appraisal process to provide a clear understanding of their manager’s and company’s expectation from them and a clear path for growth in their current assignment and beyond.

I agree that there is lot of pressure on organisations to conduct effective appraisal keeping employees motivated in even tough times like today, but they should also understand that people join organisations and leave managers.

Indian crawling in slow motion…

I was once again back on track with railways for my visit to my parent’s place. Usually I had enjoyed travelling with Indian Railways till date and this travel was also nothing new. But again as always I came across few things that I am jotting down. I booked this ticket in a hurry but was confirmed with the help of one relative sitting at Railway headquarters. Long live Babus in our democracy. It was a pleasant surprise to see people responsible for keeping train clean visiting and cleaning the coach three four times in just less than 24 hours but it was unpleasant to find food pathetic this time. It was pleasant to see that ticket checker was asking for the identity proof but it was unpleasant to see that air-condition needs conditioning.

I also came across flying squad guys who were having free snacks at pantry coach in train, after one successful capture of an elderly uncle who was travelling without ticket. The uncle was also smart, after so many attempts these squad guys were unable to extract a single rupee from him as bribe. He insisted on receipt and they insisted on off the record settlement. After one hour of trial and discussions they finally gave up and uncle ji left the place smiling. It looked as if having free food was their legal right and they had negotiated this as a part of their CTC. There was not even a single GRP personal in the train for past twenty hours, which again surprises me. Is there in any change in rule regarding serving terms and conditions for railways staff?

This corruption, negligence and arrogance among the elite babus is one of the major reasons holding back India from growing. Although India has been ranked as one of the fastest growing economies but its also considered as one of the poorly managed economy. Its like India Inc. would like to fire its all cylinders but can’t as the road ahead is bumpy. India really is crawling in slow motion towards growth and thriving to become a economic superpower. Lets hope to see that dream and vision realising soon.

Life line of the city…local trains

Yesterday I had an experience of my life. Because of some prior commitments I travelled from my residence to one of the extremes of Kolkata (I am still confused, although Kolkata is not so huge but it never ends also). My god, that entire travel was awesome. I somehow managed to reach Sealdah station to catch a local train, I said somehow because it started to rain while I was on the way and traffic came to a standstill. I purchased a ticket for my travel after so many consultations over phone with multiple navigators who were supposed to keep track on my movement. Amazingly the fares are still very cheap. For a travel of 45 minutes all I paid was just seven Rupees.

Incidentally this was my first ever attempt or first ever dare to travel in any local train. This was a mixed feeling of excitement and concern as I always prefer to avoid all this messy means of travelling. These are called as life lines of the cities they carry. Even my maid also uses this to reach at my place in morning. Although she has to start as early as 4.00 AM to reach in time. I always wondered how she was able to manage all this. So back to the journey. I entered the local and managed to get a place near the window. Each seat looked as it was meant for three people and four were occupying it.

The train started bang on time without any delay but by the time it started it was jam packed. It was a mixed bag of people, some returning from job, some returning from college, few were vendors offering various products like lassi, snacks and even ayurvedic medicine and very few like me travelling for the first time. But the situation was really pathetic as you can see in the picture below

  

On reaching the destination, I completed my pre-fixed commitment and then moved to a Govt Guest house for taking rest. It was a location situated on the banks of Hoogly river. The location was an excellent one but very poorly maintained. The view of river was awesome.

The overall feeling and experience was a good one. Although it was a pleasant one but I would always prefer to avoid travelling through locals in this city as it was not an experience I would like to have again.

I believe the guest house can earn a lot more attraction if it maintained properly and of course the situation in trains should be lot better. Also they should think of providing First class as in Mumbai locals, so that people can think of that as an viable option instead of wasting money and fuel on taxies and cars.

Yes Boss…

As per a business survey, India has got most corrupt bureaucracy. So we stood first again. Indeed a great news for my fellow countrymen. For those countrymen who get a chance to vote once in five years and who spend their full five years running around the same politicians they had voted for, the Babus who are there to ease their lives.

I myself had many encounters with these species known as “Babus”. While trying to renew my passport, they refused to accept my rented house’s lease agreement as my residence proof(which incidentally is a legal document accepted by Income Tax department) but are ready to accept address on my bank account passbook (if account is with nationalised bank). Interestingly bank also asks for a local residence proof. How am I supposed to get that if I am a employed guy working in a private organisation?. Or worse I can get my passport renewed if I can pay extra 2000 Rs. to the respected broker. I need to pay 250 Rs. to get a domicile certificate from my state, but that’s the price anyone can pay and get a domicile, even if he or she had never been to that state. I can’t get a new gas connection because the government’s own gas company is not giving new connections but I can get the same if I am ready to shell out extra 1000 Rs. I need to pay 1500 Rs to get a driving license even though I am ready to give all driving exams but that’s the price anyone can get a license even if he had never tried a bicycle, that too without any exam. I can’t get a entrance exam form which is being sold through one of the nationalised bank as they are out of stock but right outside the bank premises I can get that through a broker by paying just 100 Rs extra. Back in year 2000 one of my friend got his international driving license for 3000 Rs through one mediator gentleman when he was not even possessing a valid Indian driving license. The guy managed all the paper formalities. Even though I can’t get a confirmed train ticket by either booking online or by standing in a long queue for hours, the broker can get me a confirmed ticket by charging extra per berth.

This is what I had been watching for years and this is what you all must be witnessing too. This has became part of our life and we had already accepted this as normal process for getting any government document. Earlier at reputed ethical companies at private sector were untouched by this wave, but now they are also not untouched my this new concept. Unfortunately the same trend is creeping into private sector also. You are best performer of your team if you can say “Yes Boss” to whatever your boss says, who the hell cares for the work done. You can come to office at 11.00 am, sit around, give gyan to your teammates, hang around with your boss and can go home as and when you wish. If you don’t have a godfather you are worthless, year after year the so called appraisal process will be just a formality. If you are the boss’s blue eyed child, all the facilities will be provided to you. You don’t need to bother about your project assignment, your performance appraisal, your promotion and your growth. For everyone else they need to take initiative, they need to learn and they need to perform to prove themselves.

Any salaried person will die paying his taxes for nothing and will remain neglected living without proper road, water and electricity. But the bureaucrats will enjoy the luxury of free electricity, water, house and government paid telephones. I wonder how they manage to build their big villas in the salary and that too after paying all the taxes legally. All the salaried people I know till date never looked in a position to achieve all this in a span of 20-25 years of service which our Babu’s achieve within a short span of 5 years. How every Babu’s kid studies in top shot colleges while the meritorious struggle to pay for their fees. If you say that they are born talented, I am forced to laugh. I had seen one of such Babu kid and I understand how talented they really are. Why the policies enforcing reservation to meritorious poor students are not getting implemented and definition of creamy layer is getting redefined regularly.

I wonder why should anyone pay tax or for that reason why anyone should  believe in the system which makes him run from post to pillar to get what is his right.

Why can’t the money which is spent on providing luxury to these useless creatures be used to aid those colleges like IIMs and IITs so that the burden of fees can be reduced to a larger extent on the students who aspire to study and learn?. Why should a politician who can barely be considered educated gets more salary and perks than most of the much qualified youngsters who had spent their time and efforts for studying?. Why do we have categories like VIP and VVIP when they all are supposed to be public servant?.

Wasn’t this democracy supposed to be of the people, by the people and for the people??

I really wonder…….  

Australian for Racism

Australia was considered as a heaven for outsiders, people used to go there without any fear for holidaying and studying. Most of them were Indian. It was a heaven for Indian student, study and earn side by side that too while enjoying the scenic beauties and beaches like Bondi beach.

But ever since this incident of racist attacks on a group of students from Hyderabad every one is scared to visit that place. Even families are asking students studying over there to come back because they are scared, really scared. Today there was a rally peace rally outside Victorian Parliament by Indian immigrants to Australia. That showed the anger of Indians over there. Although Australian High Commissioner in India condemned this incident of racism and assured that Government of Australia will ensure that this will not happen again, but the faith of people is already shaken and its really difficult to restore that.

Big B had done a good thing by refusing to accept the honorary doctorate degree offered by an Australian University. As he writes on his blog ”I can’t accept an honour from people who are are targeting my fellow countrymen for no reason ”

We as good hosts, welcome each and every visitor to India and give them so respect (although there are people who try to overcharge and make money, Amir khan is appearing in an advertisement to discourage all this acts) and see what are we

In fact if the things go like this, as suggested my friend KG, there can be a scene where those 10 thousand people who came for peace march will come back soon and start demanding for a separate state to ensure security for them and their people.

Its like they are saying “I’d love India, If I don’t have to live in it”

Come on guys..show some respect…!!!

The day when Kolkata stood Still

It was a regular morning on 25-05-2009. I got ready for going to office and was about to leave when I noticed that it was drizzling outside. Since I was in a hurry and was also hungry, I took a yellow trademark “Taxi” and started for office. On reaching office, I realised that the weather is not so good and I have no chance for having a breakfast. Anyways thanks to a colleague I got homemade Rotis and curry to fill my hungry stomach.

We started our work once it was 09:15 AM. It was still raining outside and the wind was blowing at such a speed that it looked like they are practising for laps at F1 circuits. It all started to go out of control at around 11:00 AM. Trees were trying to fly away in the skies and it also started raining heavily. Then most of us realised that it was “Aila”. I later came to know that although MET department had given a warning in advance but no one cared as usual because of their past track record of success in predictions.

This was first time I was witnessing something like this in my life till now. No one was allowed to leave the building. We can see metal sheets flying around, trees getting uprooted and it seems as if the building will fell down.

There was shortage of food inside office as uprooted trees had blocked all the ways and caterers were not able to deliver food. We all somehow managed our lunch.

During the time “Aila” was here at Kolkata, it halted all forms of lives. Worst hit were all the small shopkeepers on footpath. All the road side eating joints were ransacked. Cars crushed, electricity supply interrupted, water supply gone for a toss and lots of property destroyed.

No one was sure of how long the situation will remain like  this. It all lasted for few hours, with worried people about what is going to happen next. Amid all this confusion, it was declared a holiday and people were asked to reach there respective homes before the next round of storm which was predicted by MET department which luckily misses Kolkata keeping department’s tradition alive. 

One of our seniors offer me a drop till my friend’s place and what I saw on my way back home was also bad. People were running like mad everywhere to reach their home safely.

No one in my office has been witness to anything like this at Kolkata. I saw Kolkata Police working hard to clear all this mess, but “Aila” caught the administration off guard and they have to struggle hard fighting all this.

Although its more than 36 hours since “Aila” passes Kolkata, administration is still fighting to bring back everything to normal. One can still see the uprooted trees still lying on road sides.

People are protesting as in few places they are still deprived of water and electricity supply. One of the major blockage by protestors today at places near to second Hoogly bridge sent traffic for a toss and people reached office as late as 12.00 PM today. Anyways life is coming back to normal at Kolkata after few hours of disaster and shock.

Whatever happens, life always comes back on track sooner or later….That’s the beauty of journey called life.

Road – Pic - Trip

Few days back it was a lazy weekend approaching when I got an invite from Jamy for lunch at his place on Sunday afternoon which I happily accepted. Any invite from Jamy is meant to be accepted unconditionally as it is always bound to be a fun session. Every time I had been to his place, he is always ready with surprises and we had all enjoyed every time.

I was joined by Opium and KG for that lunch. We had a splendid round of Rajma-Rice-Curry along with Raita. All this was followed by a round of mango delicacy courtesy KG. We all were relaxing after that awesome treat, sting when we had an idea of going out for a road trip. Opium opted out owing sleeping disorders of his but rest of us three proceeded towards an unknown destination .

We crossed people enjoying an careless evening at Maidan and Victoria Memorial as we proceeded towards our unknown destination.

From there we headed towards second Hoogly bridge with an intention to have a drive at highway. I was especially excited as this was the first time I was going to those places in my stint at Kolkata.

Crossed toll bridge and continued to drive towards Delhi on NH06 although KG wanted to drive towards Mumbai but Jamy smilingly turned down his repeated request.

 

The view all around was very refreshingly green and lovely reminding me of one of my older trips to country sides.

By the time we reached Kona expressway it had already started raining and we were enjoying each and every moment of that.

 

By this time it was getting dark and we were also feeling hungry so we decided to give rest to our engines and cylinders to cool off.

And then it was time for Begun & Aloo Bhaja along with cups of tea served hot complimented with Parle-G.

After finishing all this we decided to take a U turn and started our journey back towards our dens. It was raining all the way back adding to the pleasure of the journey.

Enjoyed this Road-Pic-Trip to the most and looking forward to so many detoxifying and revitalising moments like this soon with you guys…!

Don't show Us The Finger, “The Bachchans”

After the day of voting at Mumbai, we saw may celebrities sporting the inked finger and flashing it to the press and media, but I was quite shocked at Amitabh, Abhishek and gracious Aishwarya Bachchan brandishing their middle fingers for the benefit of photographers after they voted during the Mumbai polls. The world knows exactly what it means, even 12-year-olds even in Asian countries like India and China. And I suspect the teen in Bangladesh and Pakistan too understand this.

It was neither needed nor expected, even for a noble cause like  voting and nor was it can be considered decent. Soon other actors followed suit and there was a sizeable stream of Bollywood's glitterati making the obscene gesture. With final round of voting due tomorrow, I won't be surprised if hordes of young Indian voters, impressed by the finger flaunting celebrities, come out of polling booths across the country showing their middle fingers.

Some actors, though, fully aware of the significance of holding up their middle fingers all their fingers, more gracefully and correctly.

While I have don’t have anything against the gesture as such, or any other thing that people do privately, but I believe people seem to have taken offence at someone like the Big B and Aishwarya getting so rude, that too publicly. Few things or acts, however trendy and rebellious or youthful and iconic, are just not cool, especially when you subject others to it. It’s like smoking or using the big F word. 

In Western cultures, says Wikipedia, In many Western countries extending only the middle finger and sometimes along with the thumb of the same hand, is an offensive and obscene gesture, colloquially known as "flipping a bird" or "Flipping someone off." In some cultures, the middle finger is used as an index, to point things out.Believed by leading experts to be originated in North America.

Can we please have a less vulgar and more modern way of showing the support to voting now? So that there's no ink on our fingers and there's no need for Big B and Abhi-Aish to flash The Finger at us first thing in the morning when the go to vote next time?

Its raining @ Kol

Thank God, Its raining here at Kolkata..after a week of draining heat its rain time…cool breezeee and Kolkata looks good for a change…just there will be traffic jams..but no issues..we will still enjoy it :)

 

Professional Heart Breaker

In this era of professionalism where for everything we do have a professional services available. If we want we can get flowers delivered at any address using professional services available, get our house painted using again professional services.

Like we have professional matchmakers, sites offering these services of matrimony. You can be a free user with limited services or you can have professional assistance as a paid member.

How about a professional heart breaker or in other words a profile called “Relationship Termination Specialist”. If you cannot break your relationship peacefully you can hire one. In this world of fast dating, this will be a most sought after service. He will go and deliver your message to the intended person.  And this will save you from emotional atyachaar. Imagine how smooth your life will be with all this!. No frills and no strings attached. You don’t have to go to your boyfriend or girlfriend and tell what are the problems they have, like

1. They know only 2-3 jokes and all are pathetic

2. They are racist

3. They do not fit anywhere in public

4. They don’t have any taste!! and so on…

In this present scenario of downtime this will surely be a rocking professional option.

My walk of Life….

Today I stand here and look back and I see lots and lots of memories and experiences. A mixed bag of good, bad and ugly ones.

There are times when I feel like thanking everyone who made this journey possible and made this journey a pleasant one. These are the one who stood by me when I myself was struggling, who gave me shoulder when I was crying, who joined me when I was enjoying, who encouraged me when I was down and out.

Although there are very few people whom I can’t even dare to think of saying a “Thank You”, because they are the reason I am here writing all this. They mean everything to me, more than even my existence. They went through all pain to make me what I am today, they taught me how to live and how to be a good human being.

There are others also who share my current position in life both personal and social. Few ugly memories, few bad memories and people behind all that. I do give them also a bit of credit as they gave me few unforgettable lessons in my journey till now. Life is an endless journey of learning and improving and everyone should go through it.

So Thank You people again for being part of my journey of life. What ever I am now today I dedicate to you all my family, relatives, friends (present alongside and lost during this journey) and all my critics and well wishers.

I miss you all………... 

Have you ever been HR’ed

The credit for this blog goes to my colleagues Jam, Amy and Opium. They are the one who inspired me or rather forced me to write about this HR'ed topic.

I need to explain first what is meant by HR'ed?

The next thing I would explain is about the symptoms of being HR'ed

Then comes effects of being HR'ed on that person’s surrounding, peers and his life.

According to Opium every one of his vendor company is HR i.e.,Human Resource, not to be mistaken by HR department. So being HR'ed is getting influenced by some HR so badly that you change the way you live. Or the change in your style of talking, walking and behaving is visible to everyone around you. This HR'ed can be because of love, enthusiasm or because of so many other influences of that HR. If any of these happens to you you are considered as HR'ed.

Symptoms of being HR'ed includes talking to yourself, smiling all alone, singing songs, talking on phone while walking, eating, watching TV, sleeping etc, not getting annoyed by anything, roaming all day without any reason visible to others and so on….

This has got severe effect on his peers and colleagues. Every one is made to believe that nothing is going on although every one can see and feel it very clearly. There are several attempts made by the person HR'ed to make you believe that the HR is not from someone they know, examples are given and stories made.

But in all its a pleasure for the everyone other to watch the person who has got HR’ed.

Impatience is the new way of life!

I saw an advertisement today from Airtel with this punch line "Impatience is the new way of life!". The advertisement was related to broadband speed but it really reflects how we are behaving now a days.

We are getting impatient day by day. We cannot wait for our turn at ticket counter in Metro queue. We cannot wait for the lift to come down and keep pressing the buttons. We cannot wait to get a promotion. We cannot wait for the traffic to move on a traffic signal and keep honking (which should now be included in constitution as our birth right now). We don not have patience to watch even a one day match (and hence the concept of twenty twenty). We cannot wait for the food to be served when at a restaurant of cafe joint. We cannot wait for the exams to be over so that we can party. We cannot wait for the commercial break to get over so that we can watch our favourite movie or TV series. We cannot wait for the month to get over so that we can get our salary. We cannot wait for our turn ay pool table. We cannot wait for someone to complete his call if we are trying his number and keep on calling him.

We are truly getting impatient and and I am unable to understand whether this is for good or bad?

Satyam now thinks Technically Mahindra's way!

Finally an owner for Satyam after so much of drama, hatred, broken hearts and shattered dreams of people who had believed in a dream called Satyam. When this story of Mr Raju broke out, it shattered the image of corporate India across world and the employees were left clueless of their fate. Their credit cards got cancelled, their loans were put on hold by banks and so on.

Finally Tech Mahindra today offered a bid to purchase shares of Satyam @ 58 Rupees each. This would have given a sigh of relief to hundreds of employees who were worried about how to pay their debts like home and car loans apart from fulfilling the responsibilities of their dependents.

Its time now when we should forget the past and encourage everyone to fight together in bringing back the faith and confidence in our IT industry. Together we can fight back with much of ease and sail through this bad time. Ups and downs are part of life and this stands true for the IT industry also. In boom we and our fellows had enjoyed a hike of three folds or a two times salary while changing our jobs. Similarly in this time of distress we have to stay strong and be together so that this bad patch is also over and we can enjoy the fruits of our patience.

I agree that this is a time of recession but also believe that we should keep our faith in our abilities. This recession thing is fuelled by our minds also. Whenever we are together, the topics of our discussion related to recession. I wonder if companies across world were earning so much for past so many years, how come a recession of one year shattered their ability to grow?

I believe this takeover will help in regaining the honour of Satyam to its previous heights.

"Maruti" purchases Nano

The day booking for Nano started in India it was a dream come true for Ratan Tata.

First day of booking resulted in more than twenty thousand of bookings. There were people like a lady from Delhi booking two cars, one for herself and one for her college going daughter, like a middle class guy from Kolkata purchasing it for his family of four and so on. But what touched was case of a guy from amchi Mumbai "Maruti". This guy is a cobbler working for past thirty years in city. His family consists of his wife and a kid who will be passing SSC next year. When asked he told that he was saving for past six years for a bike and then came Nano. He thought why not go for a better option than purchasing a bike. This guy had paid one lakh forty thousand in cash for booking his dream car Nano himself without any loan. Although first one lakh owners of this dream car will be chosen by a computerised lottery but Maruti was very much confident of getting his car. The happiness of owning a car was very much visible on his face.

Mr Tata must be very happy to know the sentiments of people which are attached with the Nano. I personally adore him for his sheer simplicity, passion and truthfulness. The day Mr Tata launched this car his confidence and dedication showed in his statement "A promise is a promise". He made a promise to people of India and he kept his promise despite so much problems like Singur and political setbacks. His dream of offering each and every Indian a car is true now. I salute his dedication to this nation.

Hope other industrialists will take a lesson or I would like to say will be inspired from this initiative from Mr Tata and come forward for serving the people of nation instead of gifting Jets to their wives or building a mansion for their family of four or five.

Shoe Business

After the incident of throwing shoe on ex-US president Mr Bush in Iraq by a journalist, today there comes a repetition of similar type by a journalist Jarnail Singh (reporter from Daily Dainik Jagaran) hurling a shoe on home minister Mr. Chidambaram. If you had watched today's video footage closely, this was just a protest not a targeted attack on Mr home minister.

I believe most of the people who watched this episode will agree to the fact that this was really an act of protest not an attack.

When our minister was not ready to answer a question which was a non related query to that forum, the journalist said "I protest" and just threw that show, If he really wanted to attack him, he could had easily been on target. And our minister asked Poilce to go easy with him, I am not sure whether he really wanted to do so.  But has to do so because the whole issue of Mr Jagdeesh Tytlor being given a clean chit by CBI, that too just before the general elections is too sensitive to be taken lightly. Mr Jagdeesh being a Gandhi family loyalist can not be denied a ticket and people who suffered during that riot are not ready to forgive him and they should really not forgive him. No one should have an impression that just because he or she is in power or a politician, they can do anything and will be left uncharged.

Today we see in media Lead India campaign saying "No to criminals" but are the political parties listening? If yes, they why we are still having gundas and criminals as candidates. If no, why not? Do they think that they can do whatever they want and no one one will oppose.

So lets break their myth this time and continue this "Shoe Business" in all legal forms (including voting for right candidate only) for those who are not listening till they start believing that India is not owned by a bunch of people, instead we "The People" are the real owners of India.

I had read somewhere " In democracy, people vote first and then suffer but in Dynasty there is no option of voting" and we the people don't want to suffer.

अब आप अपनी भाषा में भी मेल लिख सकते हैं !

Thanks to Google transliteration tools I can write mail in my language to my freinds and family members..


Click Here for details

Excellent job done Team Google!!

Who owns "The Great Indian Culture"

There has been many rounds of discussion going on on Indian Culture. Who owns it, who will define which act comes within the limits of the culture and who is supposed to govern it?

Indian culture is a very subjective thing and it has been used by several groups and parties for their interest.

Our culture is there for more than few thousand years and its not so fragile that a few people can break or shake it. Also it doesn't need any expert politician to protect it. Although the government has got responsibly to protect the right of each and every citizen.

India is a free country, people have very right to do whatever they want. Going to a pub is absolutely not a crime and no one has got right to beat any man or woman who goes to a pub or a discotheque. After a long day at work if anyone wants to go to a pub or disc to unwind, I don't see any Culture violation in that. This whole issue is blown out of proportion by people, political parties and media. Ideally no one should be allowed to take the law in their hands in the name of God. And I seriously believe that people who are doing all this are a bit jealous that they can't go inside a pub and spend like other people are doing.

I stayed in Bangalore for two years and what I liked about that city most was the freedom and energy that city holds. People used to be free there to enjoy their lives as per their wish. Yes we do have responsibilities to keep private things within the limits and do not expose those acts in public. But that never means that to watch a movie in theatre, I have to take an approval from some group or to go to a pub I need an clearance from so called owners of Indian Culture. I think the people who were talking about Indian culture at Mangalore pub and attacking women who were present there forgot that Indian culture also talks about respecting women. 

On top of that Renuka Choudhary giving slogan "Pub Bharo".Why do the politicians are trying to take advantage of all this. I am not going to a Pub on directives of someone. I go there because I like the environment over there. And what I like and dislike has to be according to my wish. I being a proud citizen of this great country I would like to enjoy my freedom of expression, freedom of movement and all that freedom provided to me by my constitution. I pay my taxes to the government and would like to avail all the rights extended to me by my constitution.

If these things like being attacked because you belong to a group or sex, then what's the difference between living in a democracy like India and living under the rule of Taliban? Everyone including citizens and political parties are responsible for making sure that right people are elected and law and order is maintained at any cost. 

Why don't political parties recruit ?

All the political parties who wants to make our country shining and take our country to new heights, do not recruit by publishing as all companies do.

If they really are serious in what they say, why don't they publish about openings so that they can get really good candidates. Why only family members of politicians are into politics. Why not anyone line me and you?

If they really want this to happen they should recruit guys from various fields of specialisations. Ideally they should recruit guys from financial background for finance portfolio, from IT background for technological portfolio and so on..

Why the aspirant has to be from some of the political party man or some powerful background. We should get an option to choose from the best while voting so that we can have real leaders, not someone who has got criminal record holding a position related to people security or some one charged of forgery holding a ministerial position dealing with finance.

Ideally parties should publish the requirements and make their selection process open to public so that people can have a fair deal while electing their leaders.We can always have a mix of experience and enthusiasm by keeping a mix of young specialised guys and our elderly experienced politicians to guide them.

If I can vote for my next IT minister I will make sure that I will caste my vote and would love to see a really eligible candidates getting selected for the position.

What is a "Slumdog" and why are Indians getting irked by the movie's success

Danny Boyle’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire’ has been nominated for ten Oscars. But many Indians are unhappy with the way India is portrayed in the film, particularly the way the poverty is served to the audiences.

The movie tells the story of an Indian boy from Mumbai's notorious slums who end up becoming a millionaire. He knew all the answers from his walk of life.

There are Indians who are proud of the Golden Globe awards it has won, and keeping their fingers crossed for the big big Oscars, some still believe that the film publishes a western colonial view of India. The movie in no ways reflects the real India, what it is now.

First thing that has to be noted is, although there are Indian contributions to this story but its not an Indian piece of creativity. Its an British movie, set in the backdrops of Indian slums and since its not our creation we do not have the credits.

As in any Indian movie, any American is a beer drinking guy with lots of dollars, similarly for them its always slum.

I personally like the movie just because of the way Jamal grew up in the story and the way it was portrayed to the viewers.

Its always the wish of the director and the producer to choose their topic and target audience accordingly.

If you like it, go and watch the movie and if you don't like it, forget about it.
Simply like what we did for many American movies on Columbia and Russia.