WATaking a steady relationship to the next level translates to either popping the question or subletting a flat together. We decided to test the pet-peeve waters by talking to five couples in various stages of marriage and live-ins. Here's what we saw:
Couple #1: Robin and ShaliniNot only have Robin and his girlfriend Shalini been living together for close to two years, but starting January this year, both engineers have been working in the tech department of a Delhi-based multinational. Going to bed and waking up together is one thing, but seeing each other at work too ensures that they hardly have any time apart.
"We don't need any space," is how Shalini presents it, before launching into a string of unprintable 'adorable' nicknames for Robin. The latter says space is the least of their issues, citing 'the pressure of the M-word' as something that keeps looming over them. "It all seems a makeshift arrangement," he says, "And we're living like happy hippies trying hard not to grow up."
While growing up, that is. Their little pad is a friendly place, and they say the issues aren't with each other but with what people expect of them. "Towels on the floor are a pain," Shalini laughs, "but then those are roommate issues, not relationship issues."
Couple #2: Megha and NikhilWhen asked to list relationship issues, the chirpy Megha starts with clothes. "They're either 'too short' or 'too revealing'," she complains, expressing husband Nik's reservations. A Mumbai couple, Nikhil and Megha have been married a few months now, and they sure agree they have issues.
Sleeping till late on weekends and needing the bathroom at the same time pop up instantly and Megha states friends are a big issue, both having their own circles. As a result, "when one is in the mood to go out or party, the other one always has a stomach ache."Megha, complaining at the TV being on till really late, admits she's kept things untidy, but finds it hard to deal with all the lecturing. "I hear 'you are not a kid anymore' all the time." Having said all that, the couple are admittedly having a blast, all-smiles even while complaining.
Couple #3: Preeti and Jatin Preeti and Jatin have been married for almost four years, and she describes themselves as 'a really boring couple'. Unlike the younger couples who rant on about personal space, theirs is more an issue of time. With both working in IT firms -- and Jatin's sales job often demanding late nights -- the problem is they don't have time for each other. "We only wake up together and end up not seeing each other the rest ofthe day," Preeti whines, stressing on the importance of dinner. "At least one meal together, a couple of hours to discuss our day."
At their Mumbai house, Preeti describes some of the less important issues. "The TV is a huge issue. I don't watch much of it, and he watches loads, and I try to emotionally blackmail him to let me watch 'just two hours of Lost,' you know?" And while Preeti wants things done right on schedule, Jatin won't do "something as simple as turning off the washing machine until there's an ad-break on TV".
The conscious efforts they make to get away from the city and spend quality time together are vital, they say.
Couple #4: Aditya and Sanjana [Images] Aditya and Sanjana moved in together three weeks ago, and currently the situation seems volatile. "Why does a man have to be a neat freak?" Sanjana consistently snarls, while Aditya's tired of having to turn down his loud music. She works in PR, he is in advertising, and it seems like a typical Mumbai media couple. "What isn't an issue, man?" asks Adi, complaining about how everything is blown out of proportion. "Two nights ago we had a huge fight because I called some friends over without telling her first. That's it. Chaos ensued."
The hours are late, the times are long and right now, as Sanjana says, "We just both seem to be in each other's faces all the time." Having felt the need to move their two-year relationship to the next level, they braved their apartment society ("We've said we're married," confides Adi) and Sanjana's strict parents to try this arrangement out. "It is mad," she laughs. "We seem to be fighting more than ever about things that don't matter one bit. But then we manage to stick together and have an occasional great moment, which makes all the fighting seem worth it."
Aditya is just having trouble trying to curb his smoking. "She seemed to be fine with it earlier but now I have to leave the flat to have a smoke? It's awful. It's kinda forcing me to cut back, which is good, but when we fight I just open a window and end up rebelling by smoking like mad." Sanjana cuts in to reassure us it's okay. "Things take time. You come and see us in six months time and we'll be fighting half this much. A year later, I'll hold the remote," she giggles. "And there'll be no ashtray."
Couple #5: Manas and SwatiIn a cosy marriage after an idyllic relationship, Manas and Swati are expecting their first child in January. So when asked their relationship issues, Manas is quick to talk about bills and finances. "And then there's the story of different priorities. I might want to buy a PlayStation while she wants to buy curtains." Smaller but consistent issues like what TV channel to watch also abound.About space, Manas is philosophical. "Free time is always a problem, but we prioritise our being together over the other things," he explains, adding that the couple likes to go get household work done together so they can spend more time.
"These days you go to the mall and do both household shopping for veggies as well as dinner out, all in the same outing," Manas says gratefully. The overworked media couple claims to be glad to have 'no social life' but admits to relative trouble.
"Relatives come over and stay at home, or there are functions you are virtually forced to attend, with relatives who bug the hell out of you," Manas says, careful to stress that marriage comes with a lot of compromise "from both parties". "But you both do it, because you care," he smiles.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
INDIAN YOUTH HAPPY,TO KYA KAREGA QAZI
Young middle-class Indians are the happiest people of all and much more satisfied with all aspects of their lives compared to other nationalities, according to a new global survey by Swedish research and consulting firm Kairos Future.
Further, work comes as top priority for Indian youth, followed by a good career and higher-status. In contrast, for those in Europe, a good living environment comes on top and above all work-related aspects, Kairos Future said.
The priorities of Indian youth -- work, good career and a position with high status -- are reflected in their values such as endurance and entrepreneurship. "Indian youth are also strikingly more optimistic about their own future and also about the future of society. The general picture in other countries is that young people tend to be personal optimists but societal pessimists," according to Kairos Future Group CEO and founder Mats Lindgren.
However, the study found that even though family is a strong focal point in an Indian society, youths here showed little interest in having a family and children of their own. When asked about what constitutes a good life, many responded that there are many other important aspects than having a family and children, the survey said.
"Indians are focused on their careers and are much more status-oriented than youth in Europe," says the survey. Over 50 per cent of the young Indians are with themselves in comparison with 'pessimists' such as Japanese or Germans, where only 17 per cent and 27 per cent are very satisfied with their lives.
"This satisfaction is also reflected in optimism about tomorrow," according to the survey.The study included over 22,000 replies from 16-29 year old and 30-50 year old people spread across 17 countries in Europe, North America and Asia. It was aimed at providing strategic information concerning future consumers and employees to authorities, companies and organisations.
Further, work comes as top priority for Indian youth, followed by a good career and higher-status. In contrast, for those in Europe, a good living environment comes on top and above all work-related aspects, Kairos Future said.
The priorities of Indian youth -- work, good career and a position with high status -- are reflected in their values such as endurance and entrepreneurship. "Indian youth are also strikingly more optimistic about their own future and also about the future of society. The general picture in other countries is that young people tend to be personal optimists but societal pessimists," according to Kairos Future Group CEO and founder Mats Lindgren.
However, the study found that even though family is a strong focal point in an Indian society, youths here showed little interest in having a family and children of their own. When asked about what constitutes a good life, many responded that there are many other important aspects than having a family and children, the survey said.
"Indians are focused on their careers and are much more status-oriented than youth in Europe," says the survey. Over 50 per cent of the young Indians are with themselves in comparison with 'pessimists' such as Japanese or Germans, where only 17 per cent and 27 per cent are very satisfied with their lives.
"This satisfaction is also reflected in optimism about tomorrow," according to the survey.The study included over 22,000 replies from 16-29 year old and 30-50 year old people spread across 17 countries in Europe, North America and Asia. It was aimed at providing strategic information concerning future consumers and employees to authorities, companies and organisations.
FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELTS,YOUR FLIGHT IS CANCELLED
Nothing expresses the economic progress of our nation more than our airports bustling with domestic air passengers looking forward to their flights, most of which are delayed due to "Unavoidable reasons outside the company's control. So don't blame us! Hey! You wanted to save money!"
There was a time when the common man on the street merely dreamt of booking a ticket, going to his nearest airport and then traveling across the country in a gleaming, modern jet airliner. It was a luxury only a few could afford.
But today that dream is a reality. Anybody armed with a credit card and an internet terminal can now book a ticket online at any of the two dozen Web sites out there that offer rock-bottom process and special offers ("Get one plus one ticket absolutely free!!! -- conditions apply).
(Condition: If and when we complete purchase of jet aircraft.)
All he needs to do is choose his flight, enter his credit card details and click "Pay Now!" at which point, due to the marvels of modern computing technology, he will download a virus by mistake and his computer will crash.
But fret not. It is keeping in mind just this occurrence that airlines and Web sites have established large call centers manned by expert customer service executives who are all, at this moment, busy on other calls and not ready to speak to you.
Half an hour later, by which time you have memorized the entire Best of Kenny G collection, you will miraculously get through to a polite lady who listens to your problems in detail, apologises for the inconvenience, puts you on hold for a brief moment, and then goes home for the weekend because her shift is up.
Finally, a day or two later, an email with the flight details and PNR number is sent to you and you are all set to enjoy the many conveniences of air travel.
First, you need to place your baggage in the X-ray machine. It is without doubt a blessing that our national security is in the hands of the uniformed gentleman who sits in front of the x-ray monitor and, with great concentration as befits the job, does a Sudoku puzzle in a local language newspaper. Thankfully he has colleagues to watch over him and ensure our safety. But they are all on tea break.
But, of course, I am joking. They do seriously look at your baggage and ensure that nothing remotely suspicious ever passes through.
If you ask me, there is absolutely no way you can get an iguana through our security people.
Surprised at my sudden mention of a large, arboreal lizard found in Central and South America?
Let me briefly update you on recent developments from the world of iguanas, a topic that, I have always observed, gets very little coverage in the Indian media.
Last week, at the British resort town of Blackpool, policemen at the local airport apprehended a woman carrying a live iguana in her bra. And to be very clear and unambiguous about this, I will add that the lady was wearing the above-mentioned bra at the time.
I will give you a moment to let this sink in.
An iguana. In your bra. (Assume, momentarily and for academic purposes only, that you are the bra-wearing type.)Apparently one of the officers on duty noticed a strange motion under her dress and immediately thought: "Wait! That looks like an iguana in her lingerie!"
They immediately made the women take her off clothes, took several videos and photos of the same, and that's when they found the reptile upon her. They then asked her if the iguana was her's. (A most amusing question if you ask me. "Hey! Where did this come from in this completely unsuspected fashion?") Thankfully, she said yes.
The UK police immediately informed higher authorities who in turn informed the US authorities who, in turn, immediately shut down all air traffic and placed the armed forces on high alert in case they had to invade a crude-oil exporting nation as a precautionary measure against iguanas who were threatening the American way of life.
I kid, of course. The lady donated the iguana to the local zoo and the police raised no charges against her in exchange for letting them keep the photos. The iguana, as may be expected from a diurnal, herbivorous, oviparous and most of all polygynandrous reptile, made no comment.
An event of this kind would never happen in our airports, of course. And even if it did, it would be against our culture to ask a woman to ask what was wriggling inside her lady clothing.
Back home we proceed towards check-in, obtain our tickets, pass through security check-in and then proceed to the waiting lounge or, as people who fly Air Deccan call it, home.
Here you finally get a bite to eat. Most lounges are equipped with excellent food and beverage facilities, at prices that are extremely economical if paid in yen. Being a newspaper columnist, I often eat full meals at airport lounges and then, thanks to my copious income, pay them off in easy monthly installments.
Hours later, when you are finally giving up hope, a petite member of the staff runs to a mike in a corner of the lounge, and to your extreme relief, announces that the flight will be here in a matter of hours. The joy in the lounge is palpable. Security is summoned to hold some of the more joyous people down with rifle butts.
When you land at your destination, you are more than a little relieved. You have actually managed to last through a most harrowing experience. Now all that remains is to pick up your luggage from the revolving conveyor belt and you are on your way home. (Ominous background music...)
At this point I would like to mention a real set of announcements I was recently subjected to by an employee of an airline I will only refer to as 'Opposite of Come'.
"Passengers are requested to pick up their baggage from belt no 3. I repeat passengers are requested to pick up their baggage from belt no 5. Thank you."
The looks on people's faces were like nothing I had ever seen before.
Finally the baggage arrived on belt no 4.
Truly, we have advanced as a nation. With this growth in airline traffic and domestic air travel, it is only a matter of time before one day someone in India too carries a reptile in their underwear. Till then we wait, trying to fight the temptation to do it ourselves.
There was a time when the common man on the street merely dreamt of booking a ticket, going to his nearest airport and then traveling across the country in a gleaming, modern jet airliner. It was a luxury only a few could afford.
But today that dream is a reality. Anybody armed with a credit card and an internet terminal can now book a ticket online at any of the two dozen Web sites out there that offer rock-bottom process and special offers ("Get one plus one ticket absolutely free!!! -- conditions apply).
(Condition: If and when we complete purchase of jet aircraft.)
All he needs to do is choose his flight, enter his credit card details and click "Pay Now!" at which point, due to the marvels of modern computing technology, he will download a virus by mistake and his computer will crash.
But fret not. It is keeping in mind just this occurrence that airlines and Web sites have established large call centers manned by expert customer service executives who are all, at this moment, busy on other calls and not ready to speak to you.
Half an hour later, by which time you have memorized the entire Best of Kenny G collection, you will miraculously get through to a polite lady who listens to your problems in detail, apologises for the inconvenience, puts you on hold for a brief moment, and then goes home for the weekend because her shift is up.
Finally, a day or two later, an email with the flight details and PNR number is sent to you and you are all set to enjoy the many conveniences of air travel.
First, you need to place your baggage in the X-ray machine. It is without doubt a blessing that our national security is in the hands of the uniformed gentleman who sits in front of the x-ray monitor and, with great concentration as befits the job, does a Sudoku puzzle in a local language newspaper. Thankfully he has colleagues to watch over him and ensure our safety. But they are all on tea break.
But, of course, I am joking. They do seriously look at your baggage and ensure that nothing remotely suspicious ever passes through.
If you ask me, there is absolutely no way you can get an iguana through our security people.
Surprised at my sudden mention of a large, arboreal lizard found in Central and South America?
Let me briefly update you on recent developments from the world of iguanas, a topic that, I have always observed, gets very little coverage in the Indian media.
Last week, at the British resort town of Blackpool, policemen at the local airport apprehended a woman carrying a live iguana in her bra. And to be very clear and unambiguous about this, I will add that the lady was wearing the above-mentioned bra at the time.
I will give you a moment to let this sink in.
An iguana. In your bra. (Assume, momentarily and for academic purposes only, that you are the bra-wearing type.)Apparently one of the officers on duty noticed a strange motion under her dress and immediately thought: "Wait! That looks like an iguana in her lingerie!"
They immediately made the women take her off clothes, took several videos and photos of the same, and that's when they found the reptile upon her. They then asked her if the iguana was her's. (A most amusing question if you ask me. "Hey! Where did this come from in this completely unsuspected fashion?") Thankfully, she said yes.
The UK police immediately informed higher authorities who in turn informed the US authorities who, in turn, immediately shut down all air traffic and placed the armed forces on high alert in case they had to invade a crude-oil exporting nation as a precautionary measure against iguanas who were threatening the American way of life.
I kid, of course. The lady donated the iguana to the local zoo and the police raised no charges against her in exchange for letting them keep the photos. The iguana, as may be expected from a diurnal, herbivorous, oviparous and most of all polygynandrous reptile, made no comment.
An event of this kind would never happen in our airports, of course. And even if it did, it would be against our culture to ask a woman to ask what was wriggling inside her lady clothing.
Back home we proceed towards check-in, obtain our tickets, pass through security check-in and then proceed to the waiting lounge or, as people who fly Air Deccan call it, home.
Here you finally get a bite to eat. Most lounges are equipped with excellent food and beverage facilities, at prices that are extremely economical if paid in yen. Being a newspaper columnist, I often eat full meals at airport lounges and then, thanks to my copious income, pay them off in easy monthly installments.
Hours later, when you are finally giving up hope, a petite member of the staff runs to a mike in a corner of the lounge, and to your extreme relief, announces that the flight will be here in a matter of hours. The joy in the lounge is palpable. Security is summoned to hold some of the more joyous people down with rifle butts.
When you land at your destination, you are more than a little relieved. You have actually managed to last through a most harrowing experience. Now all that remains is to pick up your luggage from the revolving conveyor belt and you are on your way home. (Ominous background music...)
At this point I would like to mention a real set of announcements I was recently subjected to by an employee of an airline I will only refer to as 'Opposite of Come'.
"Passengers are requested to pick up their baggage from belt no 3. I repeat passengers are requested to pick up their baggage from belt no 5. Thank you."
The looks on people's faces were like nothing I had ever seen before.
Finally the baggage arrived on belt no 4.
Truly, we have advanced as a nation. With this growth in airline traffic and domestic air travel, it is only a matter of time before one day someone in India too carries a reptile in their underwear. Till then we wait, trying to fight the temptation to do it ourselves.
Sunday, September 9, 2007
DO U HAVE A FRENEMY AT WORK??
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, goes the saying -- but what do you do with a 'frenemy'? We all have at least one of these, and as docile as they may sound, this species of office colleague (someone that you get along well with, but don't really trust), can be extremely dangerous.
A humdrum office entity, someone you share a laugh with but are wary of when it comes to more important issues, a frenemy needs to be handled with care. There are no sure-fire remedies, no anti-frenemy vaccines or Frenemy Finders, but here are some pointers on how to deal with yours.
~ Know your frenemies You don't need to go around the office sticking post-its on colleagues to identify them as friends, enemies or 'frenemies'. And it's difficult to identify them if the relationship is still cordial, but waiting for the situation to change is just foolish.
You don't have to be a mind reader to have a vague idea of what anyone's intentions are or look into a crystal ball to predict who plays Judas at the workplace. Use your instinct, and trust it. If you have been burned in the past, be more wary before letting your defenses down.
~ Watch what you say (and do)If you know what you have said or are saying, no one can claim you said something you have no recollection off. Be specific. Keep jokes non-personal, and make sure you don't go around talking about others. Although there will be no defamation suit, you don't want to be the fire starter.
~ Keep your distanceThis doesn't mean you run away and hide every time you see the frenemy. What you ideally should be doing is your work, not trying to avoid those you work with. Office dynamics are strange, but you should never get to close to someone or too far. In a team, there may be those who aren't the best of friends, but no one said that best friends make the best teams.
~ Learn from your mistakesHaven't we all heard that? Success from failure is true if you fail, the question doesn't arise if you succeed. So learn from your mistakes. If a colleague has caused you problems in the past, be wary. It's stupid to keep getting burned.
What you need to do is analyse where you go wrong. Remember, there will always be frenemies as long as office politics exists, what you have to do is step above this. Every time you falter remind yourself of the situation, so the next time around you have a flashback of the consequences.
~ Steer clear of controversiesStart new ventures, not new problems; keep away from the birds of the office gossip flock, usually found during office hours around the cafeteria, smoking room or some other colleague's cubicle.
~ Be honestClich�d, but true. In the real world honesty is long gone, and has been replaced by the convenient untruth. But as someone who is more old school, honesty works because then you have no reason to cover up, keep track of lies or change your stance. Once your frenemy knows that you are honest in your words and work, the pretences start to crumble. You can even convey your feelings to your frenemy (not advisable though if the other person doesn't feel the same, or appears not to).
~ Be competitive not connivingKeep your competitive edge. You may be part of a team but once you raise the benchmark, everyone else has a new standard to step up to. There is a small difference between strategy and scheming. Strategies make victories and schemes just have unhappy endings. So don't waste time on getting back at your frenemy. Instead be more competitive. Rise up after a fall and work twice as hard.
~ Stop living in the pastS*** happens, get over it! If you harbour grudges for being stabbed in the back or burned or whatever you choose to call it, you are just bait for the next frenemy to prey on. Move on, there is more to the office than that "friend" who let you down.
~ Face your frenemyFears aside, confront the issue. If you feel that your frenemy is hindering your office performance, speak to him or her. Avoidance is procrastination. One day you'll notice that the knife in your back has begun to hurt and you wonder how it got there. So don't let the situation escalate, work to keep it in check, always!
~ It's an office, not a battlefieldWhat ever your thoughts, feelings or emoticons on work, you have to keep in mind that it is not a place to exchange fire. It's a place to exchange ideas and thoughts on how to move forward. So stay focused on your goals and they others will fall in line -- eventually.
A humdrum office entity, someone you share a laugh with but are wary of when it comes to more important issues, a frenemy needs to be handled with care. There are no sure-fire remedies, no anti-frenemy vaccines or Frenemy Finders, but here are some pointers on how to deal with yours.
~ Know your frenemies You don't need to go around the office sticking post-its on colleagues to identify them as friends, enemies or 'frenemies'. And it's difficult to identify them if the relationship is still cordial, but waiting for the situation to change is just foolish.
You don't have to be a mind reader to have a vague idea of what anyone's intentions are or look into a crystal ball to predict who plays Judas at the workplace. Use your instinct, and trust it. If you have been burned in the past, be more wary before letting your defenses down.
~ Watch what you say (and do)If you know what you have said or are saying, no one can claim you said something you have no recollection off. Be specific. Keep jokes non-personal, and make sure you don't go around talking about others. Although there will be no defamation suit, you don't want to be the fire starter.
~ Keep your distanceThis doesn't mean you run away and hide every time you see the frenemy. What you ideally should be doing is your work, not trying to avoid those you work with. Office dynamics are strange, but you should never get to close to someone or too far. In a team, there may be those who aren't the best of friends, but no one said that best friends make the best teams.
~ Learn from your mistakesHaven't we all heard that? Success from failure is true if you fail, the question doesn't arise if you succeed. So learn from your mistakes. If a colleague has caused you problems in the past, be wary. It's stupid to keep getting burned.
What you need to do is analyse where you go wrong. Remember, there will always be frenemies as long as office politics exists, what you have to do is step above this. Every time you falter remind yourself of the situation, so the next time around you have a flashback of the consequences.
~ Steer clear of controversiesStart new ventures, not new problems; keep away from the birds of the office gossip flock, usually found during office hours around the cafeteria, smoking room or some other colleague's cubicle.
~ Be honestClich�d, but true. In the real world honesty is long gone, and has been replaced by the convenient untruth. But as someone who is more old school, honesty works because then you have no reason to cover up, keep track of lies or change your stance. Once your frenemy knows that you are honest in your words and work, the pretences start to crumble. You can even convey your feelings to your frenemy (not advisable though if the other person doesn't feel the same, or appears not to).
~ Be competitive not connivingKeep your competitive edge. You may be part of a team but once you raise the benchmark, everyone else has a new standard to step up to. There is a small difference between strategy and scheming. Strategies make victories and schemes just have unhappy endings. So don't waste time on getting back at your frenemy. Instead be more competitive. Rise up after a fall and work twice as hard.
~ Stop living in the pastS*** happens, get over it! If you harbour grudges for being stabbed in the back or burned or whatever you choose to call it, you are just bait for the next frenemy to prey on. Move on, there is more to the office than that "friend" who let you down.
~ Face your frenemyFears aside, confront the issue. If you feel that your frenemy is hindering your office performance, speak to him or her. Avoidance is procrastination. One day you'll notice that the knife in your back has begun to hurt and you wonder how it got there. So don't let the situation escalate, work to keep it in check, always!
~ It's an office, not a battlefieldWhat ever your thoughts, feelings or emoticons on work, you have to keep in mind that it is not a place to exchange fire. It's a place to exchange ideas and thoughts on how to move forward. So stay focused on your goals and they others will fall in line -- eventually.
FROM BAD TO GOOD
“Mud sticks” – so goes an English saying. People remember and believe the bad things they hear about other people even if they are later shown to be false. But is this approach of forming opinion about others based purely on hearsay, justified?
THE FIRST TIME I went to a movie-theatre was when I was 12 and the experience is still within my memory. It was the most immense hall I had ever been in, crammed with row after row of maroon velvet-covered plush armchairs; so plush that when you sat on it, you literally sank into it all the way up to your hip. A maroon velvet curtain covered the stage, its hemline adorned with thick gold-tasselled ropes. From the centre of the ceiling hung a huge white-and-gold lotus-shaped frame from which hung an equally huge chandelier that cast mysterious shadows on us, almost giving the impression that we were in some kind of an enchanted cave. All along the cornice, little lights flickered like flames until a flute started playing. Then they went out, leaving us in hushed darkness.
I went back to see the place once – I had grown up by then and was in college. I found an air-conditioned market where the movie-theatre used to be. Although it made me sad, I felt relieved in a way, for, I can reminisce about it endlessly, without allowing my critical adult eye to ruin the spell.
And how did the characters, when they appeared on the screen, look? How do I describe it to you! To me, a girl from Class-5, who had never been taken to a movie theatre before, they looked like Gods! Their gestures were grand and true and touched something that I did not even know existed in me. The priest was dressed in an immaculate white dhoti and his ears were adorned with rings. His bald head shone with divine light and his wooden clogs clacked on the stage with an authority that made me absolutely still. The soldiers raised their deadly swords all at once as they marched, their shields decorated with glittery bronze studs; their commander wore a golden breastplate and shouted orders in a terrifying voice as he directed them to catch the thief. Even the thief, dressed in tattered clothes, with black circles under his tired eyes, and manacles around his ankles, was a creature right out of mythology.
For months afterwards, I’d act out the story at home, sometimes for my mother and sister but mostly for myself. I’d take turns acting out each of the characters: the saintly priest who provides shelter to the thief during a stormy night; the priest’s sister who warns him not to trust strangers; the soldiers who spy on the thief and raise an outcry. I improved on the dialogues as I went along by adding long, emotional harangues. I had found my life’s vocation. I told my mother that I wanted to become an actor and she smiled patronisingly.
Most of all, I enjoyed playing the part of the thief. In the middle of the night, visualising that the priest and his sister were asleep, I would rise from the bed, and tiptoe my way to the golden lamp in the alcove. My face would betray frenzy, transformed as it was into the face of a man calloused by the world’s indifference towards him. What did I care that the lamp was the priest’s only valuable possession? Sneering at myself, I swept it into my sack and climbed out of the window. When the commander caught me and brought me back to the priest for identification, I felt ashamed. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back against the wall. “Do what you want”, I dared them all. It was only when the priest declared that he had given me the lamp himself that my hands began to tremble. My knees grew weak; I lowered my head to the floor and implored: “Forgive me; I am your servant for life”. The room resonated with applause from my sister and mother.
I thought about the play a lot over the next few years, even after I had exchanged my dream of being an actor for that of a judge. There was something about the play that kept nagging me. It was only later, after coming across another play of a very different kind that I realised what it was. I really liked the guy who stole the lamp; I really wanted to believe that he had changed into a good man in the end-but I could not. It did not help that our teacher told us that the story was from a novel written by a famous French author. People did not change from bad to good, just like that.
I bet you’re wondering what the other play was all about; well, it was Macbeth. Since it was part of our English syllabus for the 11th standard, I had to prepare well in the subject. A particular scene depicts Lady Macbeth trying to persuade Macbeth, who is very loyal to the king, into killing the King, when he visits the castle. Finally, Macbeth budges and that’s it.
Sometimes in the night, I found myself thinking about it. Why did not Macbeth see what he was getting into, I’d ask myself angrily. He was a smart man and pretty brave too. Why could not he restrain himself then or at least years later, when he started killing all and sundry - friends, women, and babies?
Let me tell you, this was not like me- I was the kind of girl who always relished running around with friends and fell asleep upon hitting the bed. If I ever entertained any thought, it was only about what would mum pack by way of lunch for school or how I would wangle a new Barbie. But the thought of what happened to Macbeth, scared the living daylights out of me. On a few occasions during that year, I dreamed about a lady (I did not know who she was) who inadvertently slipped into quicksand. To her it looked like a gorgeous tropical garden, vines copiously scattered with fruits, birds chirping, monkeys swinging from tree branches in gay abandon and then, just as she reaches out to grab a ripe mango, she slips, and before she knows it, she is into quicksand right up to her waist. She sinks further - up to her chest but still hoping against hope, she keeps shouting for help all the time. Eventually, in a last-minute effort, she stretches out her neck, not minding the mud that has penetrated her mouth and her eyes; she disappears after making one final effort when her fingers claw at nothing but the air, as they show in adventure movies. I would wake up from the dream in a sweat, my mouth smeared with clay. But the dream taught me an important lesson.
Good people turn bad, I believed it then and do so even now. I guess there are things we can do, to prevent ourselves from falling into quicksand; but most of us do not realise it until it is too late. What I want to know, before I sink further and disappear is ‘whether there is something out there I can grab to extricate myself from quicksand”; or whether is it true, as with Macbeth, that “once you start going bad, you may as well give up, because there’s no way back?”
THE FIRST TIME I went to a movie-theatre was when I was 12 and the experience is still within my memory. It was the most immense hall I had ever been in, crammed with row after row of maroon velvet-covered plush armchairs; so plush that when you sat on it, you literally sank into it all the way up to your hip. A maroon velvet curtain covered the stage, its hemline adorned with thick gold-tasselled ropes. From the centre of the ceiling hung a huge white-and-gold lotus-shaped frame from which hung an equally huge chandelier that cast mysterious shadows on us, almost giving the impression that we were in some kind of an enchanted cave. All along the cornice, little lights flickered like flames until a flute started playing. Then they went out, leaving us in hushed darkness.
I went back to see the place once – I had grown up by then and was in college. I found an air-conditioned market where the movie-theatre used to be. Although it made me sad, I felt relieved in a way, for, I can reminisce about it endlessly, without allowing my critical adult eye to ruin the spell.
And how did the characters, when they appeared on the screen, look? How do I describe it to you! To me, a girl from Class-5, who had never been taken to a movie theatre before, they looked like Gods! Their gestures were grand and true and touched something that I did not even know existed in me. The priest was dressed in an immaculate white dhoti and his ears were adorned with rings. His bald head shone with divine light and his wooden clogs clacked on the stage with an authority that made me absolutely still. The soldiers raised their deadly swords all at once as they marched, their shields decorated with glittery bronze studs; their commander wore a golden breastplate and shouted orders in a terrifying voice as he directed them to catch the thief. Even the thief, dressed in tattered clothes, with black circles under his tired eyes, and manacles around his ankles, was a creature right out of mythology.
For months afterwards, I’d act out the story at home, sometimes for my mother and sister but mostly for myself. I’d take turns acting out each of the characters: the saintly priest who provides shelter to the thief during a stormy night; the priest’s sister who warns him not to trust strangers; the soldiers who spy on the thief and raise an outcry. I improved on the dialogues as I went along by adding long, emotional harangues. I had found my life’s vocation. I told my mother that I wanted to become an actor and she smiled patronisingly.
Most of all, I enjoyed playing the part of the thief. In the middle of the night, visualising that the priest and his sister were asleep, I would rise from the bed, and tiptoe my way to the golden lamp in the alcove. My face would betray frenzy, transformed as it was into the face of a man calloused by the world’s indifference towards him. What did I care that the lamp was the priest’s only valuable possession? Sneering at myself, I swept it into my sack and climbed out of the window. When the commander caught me and brought me back to the priest for identification, I felt ashamed. I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned back against the wall. “Do what you want”, I dared them all. It was only when the priest declared that he had given me the lamp himself that my hands began to tremble. My knees grew weak; I lowered my head to the floor and implored: “Forgive me; I am your servant for life”. The room resonated with applause from my sister and mother.
I thought about the play a lot over the next few years, even after I had exchanged my dream of being an actor for that of a judge. There was something about the play that kept nagging me. It was only later, after coming across another play of a very different kind that I realised what it was. I really liked the guy who stole the lamp; I really wanted to believe that he had changed into a good man in the end-but I could not. It did not help that our teacher told us that the story was from a novel written by a famous French author. People did not change from bad to good, just like that.
I bet you’re wondering what the other play was all about; well, it was Macbeth. Since it was part of our English syllabus for the 11th standard, I had to prepare well in the subject. A particular scene depicts Lady Macbeth trying to persuade Macbeth, who is very loyal to the king, into killing the King, when he visits the castle. Finally, Macbeth budges and that’s it.
Sometimes in the night, I found myself thinking about it. Why did not Macbeth see what he was getting into, I’d ask myself angrily. He was a smart man and pretty brave too. Why could not he restrain himself then or at least years later, when he started killing all and sundry - friends, women, and babies?
Let me tell you, this was not like me- I was the kind of girl who always relished running around with friends and fell asleep upon hitting the bed. If I ever entertained any thought, it was only about what would mum pack by way of lunch for school or how I would wangle a new Barbie. But the thought of what happened to Macbeth, scared the living daylights out of me. On a few occasions during that year, I dreamed about a lady (I did not know who she was) who inadvertently slipped into quicksand. To her it looked like a gorgeous tropical garden, vines copiously scattered with fruits, birds chirping, monkeys swinging from tree branches in gay abandon and then, just as she reaches out to grab a ripe mango, she slips, and before she knows it, she is into quicksand right up to her waist. She sinks further - up to her chest but still hoping against hope, she keeps shouting for help all the time. Eventually, in a last-minute effort, she stretches out her neck, not minding the mud that has penetrated her mouth and her eyes; she disappears after making one final effort when her fingers claw at nothing but the air, as they show in adventure movies. I would wake up from the dream in a sweat, my mouth smeared with clay. But the dream taught me an important lesson.
Good people turn bad, I believed it then and do so even now. I guess there are things we can do, to prevent ourselves from falling into quicksand; but most of us do not realise it until it is too late. What I want to know, before I sink further and disappear is ‘whether there is something out there I can grab to extricate myself from quicksand”; or whether is it true, as with Macbeth, that “once you start going bad, you may as well give up, because there’s no way back?”
PEOPLE IN INDIA JUST SAY...THEY DONT MEAN IT
What can you say about people who are determined to live in their own trash? A country so filled with trash, you fear you might drown in it. With every breath you take, you can taste it and smell it. Today, I took a long walk along the Juhu beach, a prime location in Mumbai, and during this long walk, I learned that in India trash is inescapable. Even the ocean spits its trash on Mumbai’s shores!
During a conversation I had with friends a few nights back, one raised the question, "What would Mumbai be without the sea?”. The other replied, "What would the sea be without Mumbai?" If he had asked the same question now, I would undoubtedly answer, "CLEAN!”
But thinking back to that night and that contemplative moment between two Indian friends, I realize just how much Mumbaikars really love their city. They love Bombay the way I have never loved Los Angeles. So, one has to ask the obvious question, "If they love this city, then why do they insist on treating it like a large garbage bin?" Here, no one thinks twice before throwing trash out of a moving car or off an apartment balcony. In fact, such behaviour is encouraged. On more than one occasion people have looked at me, puzzled, while I searched for a trash bin at an open mall, or at a bus-stop. I can see their confused faces, "You’re looking for what? Just throw it there," as they point to some street corner or stoop.
So I ask, "What would India be without trash?" I guess it would not be India. Even as I write this, I notice a dark middle-aged man staring at me. Standing about two feet away from me, he is making no attempt to hide the fact that he is staring at me. In fact, he has this rather annoying grin on his face. I bet no one ever taught him about privacy or personal space - luxuries we enjoy in the western world. I just look up at him and ask him if he needed something.
Unfortunately, he sees this as an invitation to talk. What do I do now? I articulate very clearly that I am unable to understand Hindi. You’d think that would be enough, but this only encourages him. He crouches down beside me despite my "please, go away" and my big flailing arm gestures that indicate, “Shoo! Don’t bother me!”, that I could have sworn are universal. I am incredibly uncomfortable as he continues to ramble on in Hindi. He has a big smile on his face and I can see the black lining between his teeth. I wonder what you have to do to get your teeth to look like that. I try ignoring him and continue to write. He does not give in. He keeps talking. I keep ignoring him. I decide to change tactic and plead with him to leave. I even make gestures like I am about to get up and leave. He says ok, ok, as if he is about to go, but then he sits back down and rambles on. He is relentless.
What a determined and uncompromising man! And then it hit me - what a determined and uncompromising people! From the baker, to the carpenter, to the cleaning lady, each stands his / her ground trying to make a living, fighting against life. In a world like India no one can afford to care for other people’s needs. Each person must focus on achieving his own needs. So what if I need my space? So what if the price is too high? So what if you want your internet today? So what if the things I do or say inconvenience you? This mentality is seen in all aspects of Indian life. You see it in the street vendor bargaining to sell a 10 cent T-shirt for ten bucks. You see it in the electrician who says he’ll report at 9 and does not show up until 2. You see it in the beggar who tugs at your shirt although you have made it clear that you do not want to give him any money. You see it in the friends who say they will pick you up at 7 but who do not show up until 10 and you see it in the stewardess who tells you the flight is leaving, even though you see no indication of the fact that the flight is anywhere near being ready to depart.
In India, people just say - they do not mean. So what if I said this or that? It doesn’t mean anything! It forces you to pay attention to context, to circumstance and to constantly be aware of your surroundings. You simply cannot depend on the words that you hear. So, looking at this man who is rambling on, I realize that even though he says he is leaving, he does not seem to have anywhere to go and given the fact that I am alone and attractive, I can reasonably assume that he is not going anywhere anytime soon.
So, I finally get up and walk away, frustrated by this man’s unwillingness to let me write in peace - his unwillingness to change and adapt to modern codes of conduct. I have had enough of this dirty beach - a beach covered in trash - and I retreat to my apartment before I drown in it. It is a shame that we Indians, being culturally so rich, cannot keep our cities and surroundings clean.
During a conversation I had with friends a few nights back, one raised the question, "What would Mumbai be without the sea?”. The other replied, "What would the sea be without Mumbai?" If he had asked the same question now, I would undoubtedly answer, "CLEAN!”
But thinking back to that night and that contemplative moment between two Indian friends, I realize just how much Mumbaikars really love their city. They love Bombay the way I have never loved Los Angeles. So, one has to ask the obvious question, "If they love this city, then why do they insist on treating it like a large garbage bin?" Here, no one thinks twice before throwing trash out of a moving car or off an apartment balcony. In fact, such behaviour is encouraged. On more than one occasion people have looked at me, puzzled, while I searched for a trash bin at an open mall, or at a bus-stop. I can see their confused faces, "You’re looking for what? Just throw it there," as they point to some street corner or stoop.
So I ask, "What would India be without trash?" I guess it would not be India. Even as I write this, I notice a dark middle-aged man staring at me. Standing about two feet away from me, he is making no attempt to hide the fact that he is staring at me. In fact, he has this rather annoying grin on his face. I bet no one ever taught him about privacy or personal space - luxuries we enjoy in the western world. I just look up at him and ask him if he needed something.
Unfortunately, he sees this as an invitation to talk. What do I do now? I articulate very clearly that I am unable to understand Hindi. You’d think that would be enough, but this only encourages him. He crouches down beside me despite my "please, go away" and my big flailing arm gestures that indicate, “Shoo! Don’t bother me!”, that I could have sworn are universal. I am incredibly uncomfortable as he continues to ramble on in Hindi. He has a big smile on his face and I can see the black lining between his teeth. I wonder what you have to do to get your teeth to look like that. I try ignoring him and continue to write. He does not give in. He keeps talking. I keep ignoring him. I decide to change tactic and plead with him to leave. I even make gestures like I am about to get up and leave. He says ok, ok, as if he is about to go, but then he sits back down and rambles on. He is relentless.
What a determined and uncompromising man! And then it hit me - what a determined and uncompromising people! From the baker, to the carpenter, to the cleaning lady, each stands his / her ground trying to make a living, fighting against life. In a world like India no one can afford to care for other people’s needs. Each person must focus on achieving his own needs. So what if I need my space? So what if the price is too high? So what if you want your internet today? So what if the things I do or say inconvenience you? This mentality is seen in all aspects of Indian life. You see it in the street vendor bargaining to sell a 10 cent T-shirt for ten bucks. You see it in the electrician who says he’ll report at 9 and does not show up until 2. You see it in the beggar who tugs at your shirt although you have made it clear that you do not want to give him any money. You see it in the friends who say they will pick you up at 7 but who do not show up until 10 and you see it in the stewardess who tells you the flight is leaving, even though you see no indication of the fact that the flight is anywhere near being ready to depart.
In India, people just say - they do not mean. So what if I said this or that? It doesn’t mean anything! It forces you to pay attention to context, to circumstance and to constantly be aware of your surroundings. You simply cannot depend on the words that you hear. So, looking at this man who is rambling on, I realize that even though he says he is leaving, he does not seem to have anywhere to go and given the fact that I am alone and attractive, I can reasonably assume that he is not going anywhere anytime soon.
So, I finally get up and walk away, frustrated by this man’s unwillingness to let me write in peace - his unwillingness to change and adapt to modern codes of conduct. I have had enough of this dirty beach - a beach covered in trash - and I retreat to my apartment before I drown in it. It is a shame that we Indians, being culturally so rich, cannot keep our cities and surroundings clean.
Geetanjali Nagpal: An unforeseen saga and the media mayhem
WHILE WE are all accustomed with stories of many people who have made it from rags to riches, the saga of Geetanjali Nagpal, an upcoming and promising model of the nineties is one that is hard to believe.
The media is abuzz with narrative tales of the model who had once sashayed down the ramp with the likes of Sushmita Sen and was recently rescued from the pavements in the national capital by a team from Delhi Commission for Women.
Geetanjali, daughter of a naval officer, who completed her schooling from Mount Carmel and her higher studies from the prestigious Lady Sri Ram College, was found begging in the streets of Hauz Khas village in New Delhi.
But what is the reason behind such a state of apathy is something that perturbs every mind. Many speculations were raised including Geetanjali being a drug addict. But doctors at VIMHANS, where she is presently being treated have ruled that out.
“Diseases can happen to any human being. This person should not be seen as a model but as a human. It can affect any person at any point of time. Psychiatric disorder happens to a person because of chemical changes in the brain. Since her case has not been diagnosed as yet, it is very difficult to comment but she is definitely going through a psychiatric disorder,” said Dr Sameer Pareekh, a psychiatrist.
The model who was violent and rude with the media on the first day has been described to be a decent, calm and a ‘model’ patient to deal with.
There are many who also feel that it is when the models fail to keep up to the pressure of the fashion arena, they succumb and fall prey to the pressure associated.
Personalities from the fashion fraternity however think each and every individual has to cope with some kind of stress in each and every field. One has to deal with the problems in his or her own way.
“You are responsible for your own life. There is pressure in every profession and one should be careful enough. Of course I do believe that there is a bit of exposure to drugs and that kind of stuff in the fashion industry but in her case the doctors have also said that she is not an addict. So she must be having some personal problems,” said leading fashion designer Asheema Leena Singh.
Apart from the usual hulla gulla in the media, with most of the channels chasing her case 24*7, there are some who are planning a film or an album portraying the tragic story of Geetanjali Nagpal.
While entertainment industry leaves no stone unturned to cash in on the disastrous tale of this one time flourishing model, Geetanjali waits in one corner for the dawn, quite oblivious to the happenings around her.
The media is abuzz with narrative tales of the model who had once sashayed down the ramp with the likes of Sushmita Sen and was recently rescued from the pavements in the national capital by a team from Delhi Commission for Women.
Geetanjali, daughter of a naval officer, who completed her schooling from Mount Carmel and her higher studies from the prestigious Lady Sri Ram College, was found begging in the streets of Hauz Khas village in New Delhi.
But what is the reason behind such a state of apathy is something that perturbs every mind. Many speculations were raised including Geetanjali being a drug addict. But doctors at VIMHANS, where she is presently being treated have ruled that out.
“Diseases can happen to any human being. This person should not be seen as a model but as a human. It can affect any person at any point of time. Psychiatric disorder happens to a person because of chemical changes in the brain. Since her case has not been diagnosed as yet, it is very difficult to comment but she is definitely going through a psychiatric disorder,” said Dr Sameer Pareekh, a psychiatrist.
The model who was violent and rude with the media on the first day has been described to be a decent, calm and a ‘model’ patient to deal with.
There are many who also feel that it is when the models fail to keep up to the pressure of the fashion arena, they succumb and fall prey to the pressure associated.
Personalities from the fashion fraternity however think each and every individual has to cope with some kind of stress in each and every field. One has to deal with the problems in his or her own way.
“You are responsible for your own life. There is pressure in every profession and one should be careful enough. Of course I do believe that there is a bit of exposure to drugs and that kind of stuff in the fashion industry but in her case the doctors have also said that she is not an addict. So she must be having some personal problems,” said leading fashion designer Asheema Leena Singh.
Apart from the usual hulla gulla in the media, with most of the channels chasing her case 24*7, there are some who are planning a film or an album portraying the tragic story of Geetanjali Nagpal.
While entertainment industry leaves no stone unturned to cash in on the disastrous tale of this one time flourishing model, Geetanjali waits in one corner for the dawn, quite oblivious to the happenings around her.
Saturday, September 8, 2007
YE TOOTHPASTE KE TUBE PAR KYA LIKHA HAI?
A friend sent a note recently with a single liner
Avi,
Here’s a secret. For healthy teeth, squeeze the tube from the bottom.
Best,Mark (name changed)
It seemed like a puzzle. So I called him and asked him if this was some sort of a puzzle. He laughed and told me that he was inspired by Crest Toothpaste. Out of curiosity, I picked up a tube of Crest toothpaste and here is what I found:
Here is what the tube said
Whitening plus Scope
Fights cavitiesFights tartarFreshens breathWhitens teeth by gently removing stains
FOR BEST RESULTS, SQUEEZE THE TUBE FROM THE BOTTOM AND FLATTEN AS YOU GO UP
Now, we all know what they were trying to mean but it still made me laugh.
Avi,
Here’s a secret. For healthy teeth, squeeze the tube from the bottom.
Best,Mark (name changed)
It seemed like a puzzle. So I called him and asked him if this was some sort of a puzzle. He laughed and told me that he was inspired by Crest Toothpaste. Out of curiosity, I picked up a tube of Crest toothpaste and here is what I found:
Here is what the tube said
Whitening plus Scope
Fights cavitiesFights tartarFreshens breathWhitens teeth by gently removing stains
FOR BEST RESULTS, SQUEEZE THE TUBE FROM THE BOTTOM AND FLATTEN AS YOU GO UP
Now, we all know what they were trying to mean but it still made me laugh.
TELEMARKETING: A FUN WAY TO ENTERTAIN THE GUYS WHO WANT US TO BE ONE OF THEIR TARGETS
Sir hamara ek naya offer chal raha hai...wat the hell....who wants to know about it..presenting some interesting kickbacks to the telesales ppl.....
"Hello madam, we are pleased to inform you that you are eligible for a free gold credit card from our bank."
~"Good afternoon sir, are you looking to avail of a personal loan?"
~"Would you be interested in switching to our mobile network? We have a host of new benefits to offer customers, including..."
Which of us hasn't been plagued with annoying sales calls in recent years?
Everyone is fed up of them and while we are continually hearing about laws intended to curb such unwelcome advertising, we continue to remain at the receiving end, right?
So some Internet prankster came up with a number of humorous ways to get back at annoying telemarketing executives and has been circulating them through e-mail -- for those of you who haven't seen them yet, here they are!
10 fun ways to stop annoying telemarketing calls:
1. After the telemarketer finishes speaking, propose marriage to him/her. 2. Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment, and ask him/her, to give you his/her home phone number and cell number so you can call back maybe very late at night. 3. Keep asking the telemarketer to tell you his spiel all over again. Do this several times. 4. If you receive a call during a meal, tell the telemarketer that it's lunch time, but ask him/her to hold. Switch to loudspeaker mode and eat your food in a languid noisy fashion, chomping away and continuing with the conversation.
5. Tell the telemarketer that all business goes through your representative, and hand the phone to your five-year-old. 6. Say that you are hard of hearing and that he/she needs to speak up -- louder -- louder -- louder! 7. Tell the telemarketer to speak really really slowly because you want to write every word down. 8. If the telemarketer starts off with "How are you today?", say "I'm so glad you asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these problems..." 9. Cry out in astonishment, "Johnny, is that you? I've been hoping you'd call! How is the family?" When he/she insists it's not Johnny, refuse to believe it and say, "Stop kidding me!" This works especially well if the telemarketer is female. 10. Tell the telemarketer to call at your office number and give him/her the number of a rival telemarketing organisation instead!
"Hello madam, we are pleased to inform you that you are eligible for a free gold credit card from our bank."
~"Good afternoon sir, are you looking to avail of a personal loan?"
~"Would you be interested in switching to our mobile network? We have a host of new benefits to offer customers, including..."
Which of us hasn't been plagued with annoying sales calls in recent years?
Everyone is fed up of them and while we are continually hearing about laws intended to curb such unwelcome advertising, we continue to remain at the receiving end, right?
So some Internet prankster came up with a number of humorous ways to get back at annoying telemarketing executives and has been circulating them through e-mail -- for those of you who haven't seen them yet, here they are!
10 fun ways to stop annoying telemarketing calls:
1. After the telemarketer finishes speaking, propose marriage to him/her. 2. Tell the telemarketer you are busy at the moment, and ask him/her, to give you his/her home phone number and cell number so you can call back maybe very late at night. 3. Keep asking the telemarketer to tell you his spiel all over again. Do this several times. 4. If you receive a call during a meal, tell the telemarketer that it's lunch time, but ask him/her to hold. Switch to loudspeaker mode and eat your food in a languid noisy fashion, chomping away and continuing with the conversation.
5. Tell the telemarketer that all business goes through your representative, and hand the phone to your five-year-old. 6. Say that you are hard of hearing and that he/she needs to speak up -- louder -- louder -- louder! 7. Tell the telemarketer to speak really really slowly because you want to write every word down. 8. If the telemarketer starts off with "How are you today?", say "I'm so glad you asked, because no one these days seems to care, and I have all these problems..." 9. Cry out in astonishment, "Johnny, is that you? I've been hoping you'd call! How is the family?" When he/she insists it's not Johnny, refuse to believe it and say, "Stop kidding me!" This works especially well if the telemarketer is female. 10. Tell the telemarketer to call at your office number and give him/her the number of a rival telemarketing organisation instead!
LIFE LESSONS FROM DR.KALAM
It was an unexpected choice, but one that filled the nation with pride and joy.
In the five years since Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam took residence at Rashtrapati Bhavan [Images], he has been nothing short of inspirational. The man who is synonymous with India's space programme soon became synonymous with India's sense of pride, particularly for its youth.
I love the fact that he is one man you cannot conveniently categorise. After all, how do you slot someone whose favourite pastime includes reading the Bhagvad Gita even though he is a devout Muslim? A remarkable self-made scientist who pens poetry in Tamil and plays the veena in his leisure time? A president who retained his fashionably long locks?
This is what I have learnt from the person I think has been one of India's most interesting leaders in recent times:
1. Humility and modesty
These attributes come naturally to those concerned with causes far greater than personal gain.
India's first attempt at launching the Satellite Launch Vehicle met with failure. At that point, Dr Kalam took responsibility for his colleagues and juniors and became answerable for what went wrong. When the second attempt succeeded and took India into the space age, he stepped aside and let his colleagues take credit for this grand achievement.
Attempting something this selfless requires dedication to the achievement of a larger goal; it is the final goal that matters, not who takes the credit for the achievement.
Over time, I have tried putting a lot more emphasis on the task at hand, and on its flawless execution. Also, in my small way, I look out for people at work or in my personal space, while taking part responsibility for their actions.
Dr Kalam was embarrassed by public acclaim to the extent that that he did not like being called Bharat Ratna Dr Kalam. He even gently reminded the directors at the Defence Research and Development Organisation to not refer to him as Bharat Ratna; he did this by having a circular sent across through the DRDO headquarters that civilian awards cannot be used as titles! This, in today's world, where we mostly see people chasing titles and designations simply to flaunt them to their peers.
In my personal space too, the people I respect the most are the ones who are low-profile in these matters. It is almost immediately endearing when you come across people like these.
2. Respect
Dr Kalam has the utmost respect for everyone he interacts with. He even treats and talks to kids as his equals, and respects their opinions. I know of instances where he refers to professors as 'Professor X' and means it with respect. He attaches great importance to their knowledge and experience; even though he might have achieved a lot than they have, he believes there is a lot to learn from each of them.
Not being judgemental, respecting elders, teachers, professors and looking beyond caste, race, age and colour have taken on a whole new meaning in today's society. Over time, I have realised that the people who respect others the most are the ones who are the most respected.
3. Spirituality
It might surprise a few people that a space scientist can be so spiritual. Dr Kalam recites the Gita and the Quran better than some of the more renowned spiritual 'gurus' of today. He believes in the strength of virtues and values, and the role they play in shaping the youth and society in these times.
A complete vegetarian, a teetotaller and a bachelor, Dr Kalam's spirituality seems to be driven by practicality in a world where these attributes might be frowned upon.
It's clear that he respects other religions, and has done his best to understand them -- something that a lot of us need to imbibe ourselves.
4. Being yourself
The pressures and expectations of the presidential post never got to Dr Kalam. The usual full-sleeved blue shirt, the long grey hair, and various 'Kalam-isms' like 'Fantastic!', 'Funny guys, why did they do that?' and 'What's happening?' have made it to many parts of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In this case, the person changed the place, rather than the place changing the person.
Situations never changed the person Dr Kalam was. He is disarmingly approachable to students, civilians and politicians.
It is this genuineness that makes us all individuals in the first place. I try keeping that in mind when I get flustered by grand or formal situations. I no longer constantly bother about how I speak or dress, thanks to a lesson from Dr Kalam.
5. Respect for children
Dr Kalam believes that children and the youth of today are magical with their ideas and thoughts. This is the reason he spent so much time meeting school kids and addressing the country's youth. He understands the language of youth and their ambitions, without having the air of superiority that age and experience brings with it so often.
Dr Kalam even extended his scientific expertise to help disabled children by replacing their metal supporters, which weigh three kilos, with carbon-based braces weighing 300 grams.
I think it is this, more than anything else, that makes him seem larger than life to me. The fact that he touched so many lives, and did not stop at just addressing them... He gave so many disabled kids a reason to smile.Thank you, sir, it is an honour to be a fellow Indian. Those presidential shoes are going to be very hard to fill, to say the least.
In the five years since Dr Avul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam took residence at Rashtrapati Bhavan [Images], he has been nothing short of inspirational. The man who is synonymous with India's space programme soon became synonymous with India's sense of pride, particularly for its youth.
I love the fact that he is one man you cannot conveniently categorise. After all, how do you slot someone whose favourite pastime includes reading the Bhagvad Gita even though he is a devout Muslim? A remarkable self-made scientist who pens poetry in Tamil and plays the veena in his leisure time? A president who retained his fashionably long locks?
This is what I have learnt from the person I think has been one of India's most interesting leaders in recent times:
1. Humility and modesty
These attributes come naturally to those concerned with causes far greater than personal gain.
India's first attempt at launching the Satellite Launch Vehicle met with failure. At that point, Dr Kalam took responsibility for his colleagues and juniors and became answerable for what went wrong. When the second attempt succeeded and took India into the space age, he stepped aside and let his colleagues take credit for this grand achievement.
Attempting something this selfless requires dedication to the achievement of a larger goal; it is the final goal that matters, not who takes the credit for the achievement.
Over time, I have tried putting a lot more emphasis on the task at hand, and on its flawless execution. Also, in my small way, I look out for people at work or in my personal space, while taking part responsibility for their actions.
Dr Kalam was embarrassed by public acclaim to the extent that that he did not like being called Bharat Ratna Dr Kalam. He even gently reminded the directors at the Defence Research and Development Organisation to not refer to him as Bharat Ratna; he did this by having a circular sent across through the DRDO headquarters that civilian awards cannot be used as titles! This, in today's world, where we mostly see people chasing titles and designations simply to flaunt them to their peers.
In my personal space too, the people I respect the most are the ones who are low-profile in these matters. It is almost immediately endearing when you come across people like these.
2. Respect
Dr Kalam has the utmost respect for everyone he interacts with. He even treats and talks to kids as his equals, and respects their opinions. I know of instances where he refers to professors as 'Professor X' and means it with respect. He attaches great importance to their knowledge and experience; even though he might have achieved a lot than they have, he believes there is a lot to learn from each of them.
Not being judgemental, respecting elders, teachers, professors and looking beyond caste, race, age and colour have taken on a whole new meaning in today's society. Over time, I have realised that the people who respect others the most are the ones who are the most respected.
3. Spirituality
It might surprise a few people that a space scientist can be so spiritual. Dr Kalam recites the Gita and the Quran better than some of the more renowned spiritual 'gurus' of today. He believes in the strength of virtues and values, and the role they play in shaping the youth and society in these times.
A complete vegetarian, a teetotaller and a bachelor, Dr Kalam's spirituality seems to be driven by practicality in a world where these attributes might be frowned upon.
It's clear that he respects other religions, and has done his best to understand them -- something that a lot of us need to imbibe ourselves.
4. Being yourself
The pressures and expectations of the presidential post never got to Dr Kalam. The usual full-sleeved blue shirt, the long grey hair, and various 'Kalam-isms' like 'Fantastic!', 'Funny guys, why did they do that?' and 'What's happening?' have made it to many parts of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. In this case, the person changed the place, rather than the place changing the person.
Situations never changed the person Dr Kalam was. He is disarmingly approachable to students, civilians and politicians.
It is this genuineness that makes us all individuals in the first place. I try keeping that in mind when I get flustered by grand or formal situations. I no longer constantly bother about how I speak or dress, thanks to a lesson from Dr Kalam.
5. Respect for children
Dr Kalam believes that children and the youth of today are magical with their ideas and thoughts. This is the reason he spent so much time meeting school kids and addressing the country's youth. He understands the language of youth and their ambitions, without having the air of superiority that age and experience brings with it so often.
Dr Kalam even extended his scientific expertise to help disabled children by replacing their metal supporters, which weigh three kilos, with carbon-based braces weighing 300 grams.
I think it is this, more than anything else, that makes him seem larger than life to me. The fact that he touched so many lives, and did not stop at just addressing them... He gave so many disabled kids a reason to smile.Thank you, sir, it is an honour to be a fellow Indian. Those presidential shoes are going to be very hard to fill, to say the least.
TENSION NAA LE.....DEPRESSION SE DARR
tressful jobs double the risk of depression and anxiety in young adults, warn UK researchers.
In a study of 1,000 people, aged 32, researchers found that 45 per cent of the new cases of depression and anxiety could be attributed to high pressure jobs, which involve a lack of control, long hours, non-negotiable deadlines and a high volume of work.
The researchers looked at people who had taken part in a major, long-term study being carried out in Dunedin, New Zealand [Images], to follow their progress through life. These people included actors, brain surgeons, teachers, helicopter pilots, garbage collectors, journalists and policemen.
The subjects were asked if they had workload and time pressures, had to work longer hours than they would like, had too much work to do, whether they had a hectic job, if they were often unclear about what they had to do and if they have to work too hard.
Almost 10 per cent of men and 14 per cent of women suffered a first episode of depression or anxiety over the year-long study. However, the risk was double in people who faced the highest pressure to finish their jobs.
'Our study shows that work stress appears to bring on diagnosable forms of depression and anxiety in previously healthy young workers,' the BBC quoted study leader Dr Maria Melchior, epidemiologist at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London [Images], as saying.
She said the participants in the study were at an age where they were settling into their careers, and were less likely to have opted out of less stressful jobs.
'There are a number of possible mechanisms -- previous research suggests there could be an effect on stress hormones in the brain which could lead to depression, fatigue and lack of sleep,' she said.
Dr Melchior further said that high-pressure jobs leave people with less time to take part in social activities.
The study, published in Psychological Medicine, suggests that employers need to do more to protect their workers' mental health.
Professor Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at the University of Lancaster, UK, said jobs were becoming increasingly pressured.
'We have got to get people to work much more flexibly, using technology to our advantage rather than keeping people in an office environment for long hours,' he said.
'We also need to get managers to behave differently -- manage by praise and reward rather than by punishment. They must understand that people need to feel they have control over their work.'
In a study of 1,000 people, aged 32, researchers found that 45 per cent of the new cases of depression and anxiety could be attributed to high pressure jobs, which involve a lack of control, long hours, non-negotiable deadlines and a high volume of work.
The researchers looked at people who had taken part in a major, long-term study being carried out in Dunedin, New Zealand [Images], to follow their progress through life. These people included actors, brain surgeons, teachers, helicopter pilots, garbage collectors, journalists and policemen.
The subjects were asked if they had workload and time pressures, had to work longer hours than they would like, had too much work to do, whether they had a hectic job, if they were often unclear about what they had to do and if they have to work too hard.
Almost 10 per cent of men and 14 per cent of women suffered a first episode of depression or anxiety over the year-long study. However, the risk was double in people who faced the highest pressure to finish their jobs.
'Our study shows that work stress appears to bring on diagnosable forms of depression and anxiety in previously healthy young workers,' the BBC quoted study leader Dr Maria Melchior, epidemiologist at the Institute of Psychiatry, Kings College London [Images], as saying.
She said the participants in the study were at an age where they were settling into their careers, and were less likely to have opted out of less stressful jobs.
'There are a number of possible mechanisms -- previous research suggests there could be an effect on stress hormones in the brain which could lead to depression, fatigue and lack of sleep,' she said.
Dr Melchior further said that high-pressure jobs leave people with less time to take part in social activities.
The study, published in Psychological Medicine, suggests that employers need to do more to protect their workers' mental health.
Professor Cary Cooper, professor of organisational psychology and health at the University of Lancaster, UK, said jobs were becoming increasingly pressured.
'We have got to get people to work much more flexibly, using technology to our advantage rather than keeping people in an office environment for long hours,' he said.
'We also need to get managers to behave differently -- manage by praise and reward rather than by punishment. They must understand that people need to feel they have control over their work.'
LALOO PARSAAD---HAMAAR MANAGEMENT GURU
When Indians were falling short of management leaders the media and the IIM's( cant understand y an IIM) had to create a new management guru in the form of our very own mr.chaara ghotala...wow.....i labh u india.....
New Delhi: Railway minister Lalu Prasad may soon make it to IIM-Ahmedabad. The B-school is considering making the Indian Railways’ turnaround story a case study for its students. Impressed by the healthy balance sheet of the railways, G Raghuraman, professor, public systems group, at IIM-A, will lead a team that will hold discussions with Lalu and his officials later this week. Whether the turnaround can be sustained even after the RJD chief moves out of Rail Bhavan will also be built into the case study. “There have been good results in the last two years. One would like to highlight the underlying processes (of the turnaround) as only two years ago the railways had been written off. We want to understand how much of it is due to the initiatives of the railway minister and his team, and if it can be sustained after him,’’ Raghuraman told TOI. IIM-A is the latest addition to the growing list of admirers of the railways success story. In 2001, an expert committee under Rakesh Mohan, who is now deputy governor of the RBI, had written off the railways, saying the Centre’s largest departmental enterprise was on the verge of a financial collapse, and also faced bankruptcy. While the committee, of which Raghuraman was a member, had said that the Centre would be saddled with an additional financial burden of over Rs 61,000 crore, Indian Railways, defying the dark prognosis, is estimated to have already generated nearly Rs 13,000 crore internally and reportedly had fund balances of Rs 11,280 crore by the end of March 2006. The success story stands out also because it has happened under Lalu, a person who never had reformist pretensions. However, the IIM-A case study will focus on the economic aspects, including the parallels between the change in the fortunes of the Indian Railways and the turnaround scripted by the US’ Federal Railroad Administration in the 1980s. While Indian Railways focused on increasing capacity utilisation through a host of simple but sensible measures, the Staggers Act, Rail Act of 1980, which deregulated the industry in the US, left it to railroads to decide where they would run the trains and the tariffs they would charge. Courtesy:: Times of India.. Mumbai, dtd 3rd May'06
New Delhi: Railway minister Lalu Prasad may soon make it to IIM-Ahmedabad. The B-school is considering making the Indian Railways’ turnaround story a case study for its students. Impressed by the healthy balance sheet of the railways, G Raghuraman, professor, public systems group, at IIM-A, will lead a team that will hold discussions with Lalu and his officials later this week. Whether the turnaround can be sustained even after the RJD chief moves out of Rail Bhavan will also be built into the case study. “There have been good results in the last two years. One would like to highlight the underlying processes (of the turnaround) as only two years ago the railways had been written off. We want to understand how much of it is due to the initiatives of the railway minister and his team, and if it can be sustained after him,’’ Raghuraman told TOI. IIM-A is the latest addition to the growing list of admirers of the railways success story. In 2001, an expert committee under Rakesh Mohan, who is now deputy governor of the RBI, had written off the railways, saying the Centre’s largest departmental enterprise was on the verge of a financial collapse, and also faced bankruptcy. While the committee, of which Raghuraman was a member, had said that the Centre would be saddled with an additional financial burden of over Rs 61,000 crore, Indian Railways, defying the dark prognosis, is estimated to have already generated nearly Rs 13,000 crore internally and reportedly had fund balances of Rs 11,280 crore by the end of March 2006. The success story stands out also because it has happened under Lalu, a person who never had reformist pretensions. However, the IIM-A case study will focus on the economic aspects, including the parallels between the change in the fortunes of the Indian Railways and the turnaround scripted by the US’ Federal Railroad Administration in the 1980s. While Indian Railways focused on increasing capacity utilisation through a host of simple but sensible measures, the Staggers Act, Rail Act of 1980, which deregulated the industry in the US, left it to railroads to decide where they would run the trains and the tariffs they would charge. Courtesy:: Times of India.. Mumbai, dtd 3rd May'06
When Indians were falling short of management leaders the media and the IIM's( cant understand y an IIM) had to create a new management guru in the form of our very own mr.chaara ghotala...wow.....i labh u india.....
New Delhi: Railway minister Lalu Prasad may soon make it to IIM-Ahmedabad. The B-school is considering making the Indian Railways’ turnaround story a case study for its students. Impressed by the healthy balance sheet of the railways, G Raghuraman, professor, public systems group, at IIM-A, will lead a team that will hold discussions with Lalu and his officials later this week. Whether the turnaround can be sustained even after the RJD chief moves out of Rail Bhavan will also be built into the case study. “There have been good results in the last two years. One would like to highlight the underlying processes (of the turnaround) as only two years ago the railways had been written off. We want to understand how much of it is due to the initiatives of the railway minister and his team, and if it can be sustained after him,’’ Raghuraman told TOI. IIM-A is the latest addition to the growing list of admirers of the railways success story. In 2001, an expert committee under Rakesh Mohan, who is now deputy governor of the RBI, had written off the railways, saying the Centre’s largest departmental enterprise was on the verge of a financial collapse, and also faced bankruptcy. While the committee, of which Raghuraman was a member, had said that the Centre would be saddled with an additional financial burden of over Rs 61,000 crore, Indian Railways, defying the dark prognosis, is estimated to have already generated nearly Rs 13,000 crore internally and reportedly had fund balances of Rs 11,280 crore by the end of March 2006. The success story stands out also because it has happened under Lalu, a person who never had reformist pretensions. However, the IIM-A case study will focus on the economic aspects, including the parallels between the change in the fortunes of the Indian Railways and the turnaround scripted by the US’ Federal Railroad Administration in the 1980s. While Indian Railways focused on increasing capacity utilisation through a host of simple but sensible measures, the Staggers Act, Rail Act of 1980, which deregulated the industry in the US, left it to railroads to decide where they would run the trains and the tariffs they would charge. Courtesy:: Times of India.. Mumbai, dtd 3rd May'06
New Delhi: Railway minister Lalu Prasad may soon make it to IIM-Ahmedabad. The B-school is considering making the Indian Railways’ turnaround story a case study for its students. Impressed by the healthy balance sheet of the railways, G Raghuraman, professor, public systems group, at IIM-A, will lead a team that will hold discussions with Lalu and his officials later this week. Whether the turnaround can be sustained even after the RJD chief moves out of Rail Bhavan will also be built into the case study. “There have been good results in the last two years. One would like to highlight the underlying processes (of the turnaround) as only two years ago the railways had been written off. We want to understand how much of it is due to the initiatives of the railway minister and his team, and if it can be sustained after him,’’ Raghuraman told TOI. IIM-A is the latest addition to the growing list of admirers of the railways success story. In 2001, an expert committee under Rakesh Mohan, who is now deputy governor of the RBI, had written off the railways, saying the Centre’s largest departmental enterprise was on the verge of a financial collapse, and also faced bankruptcy. While the committee, of which Raghuraman was a member, had said that the Centre would be saddled with an additional financial burden of over Rs 61,000 crore, Indian Railways, defying the dark prognosis, is estimated to have already generated nearly Rs 13,000 crore internally and reportedly had fund balances of Rs 11,280 crore by the end of March 2006. The success story stands out also because it has happened under Lalu, a person who never had reformist pretensions. However, the IIM-A case study will focus on the economic aspects, including the parallels between the change in the fortunes of the Indian Railways and the turnaround scripted by the US’ Federal Railroad Administration in the 1980s. While Indian Railways focused on increasing capacity utilisation through a host of simple but sensible measures, the Staggers Act, Rail Act of 1980, which deregulated the industry in the US, left it to railroads to decide where they would run the trains and the tariffs they would charge. Courtesy:: Times of India.. Mumbai, dtd 3rd May'06
SO YOU WANT TO BE A LEADER.....CMON GET A LIFE
So you want to be a leader? There's certainly no shortage of advice to guide you. At the last count Amazon stocked no fewer than 7,000 books on leadership and a welter of consulting firms have sprung up to elucidate the mysteries of the perfect leader's mindset. It seems the main problem faced by wannabe chiefs lies in choosing which set of principles to follow.What is indisputable is that great leaders forge great organisations. 'Having a manager who can lead makes an extraordinary difference to the success of a company,' says Sir Gerry Robinson, the former Granada chief who now combines a career as a management fixer with the chairmanship of Allied Domecq. But how do you think yourself into becoming one? You can't, says Robinson. 'The leadership spark - and it is a spark - is very specific to particular individuals. If you haven't got it, you are likely to struggle if put into a leadership role.'True leaders, he says, emerge spontaneously. 'Most people who have the capacity to lead, want to lead.' They can certainly be helped to develop these innate skills, he argues, but only if 'the promise is there'.'Leadership is a strange skill and needs to be separated from whether or not a person makes good judgements,' he adds. At its most basic, leadership is about persuading other people 'to want to do what you want them to do'. But that, on its own, can be dangerous. 'There are leaders who have been brilliant at getting people to follow them, but who have made terrible judgements, from Hitler downwards.' The ideal corporate leader combines the charisma needed to inspire others with sound judgement. 'The worst thing you can have is somebody with tremendous leadership skills but very little business acumen, because they can take everyone into some terrible situations.'The gentle touchThat may go some way towards explaining the recent seismic shift in thinking about good leadership: the demise of the all-conquering Alphatype leader. Thinking like a leader, according to the prevailing view, is no longer about bludgeoning followers into submission through sheer force of will, so much as the ability to govern by consensus and lead by example. Buccaneering bravado is out, thoughtful collaboration is in. As Fortune magazine pointed out last year, the mantra for today's chief executive is not so much 'admire my might' as 'admire my soul'.If that kind of touchy-feely style makes you cringe, consider the back story. Until the end of the 20th Century, the unchallenged rule was that big equals best. But a combination of factors - such as the increased volatility of markets, technological advances and growing competition from the new economies of the East - has seen a pronounced change in the type of organisations enjoying the greatest commercial success. A greater premium is now placed on qualities such as speed, agility and inventiveness.The implications for leadership are profound, says Professor Lynda Gratton of the London Business School. The world has grown 'too complicated and joined-up' to accommodate the old command and control mindset. 'Companies need cooperative environments to work effectively.' And, since corporate cultures start and end with the behaviour of the CEO, 'the most crucial competency of senior leaders is being collaborative.'If you are aggressive and highly competitive, people think that's how they should behave and you destroy the opportunity to create a collaborative culture. You need to be good at working with people, good at sharing your knowledge.'Learn to lead The new view of companies as primarily a series of teams places a much greater emphasis on the role of the leader as mentor. As a result leaders need to think in an emotionally intelligent way if they are to bring out the best in their people. The good news, say psychologists, is that this skill owes as much to experience as it does to innate ability. In other words, great leaders aren't just born, they can be made.'My view of leadership is that it's 50% nature and 50% nurture,' says Graham Lee, director of the business psychology consultancy OCG. Dr Daniel Goleman, the man who put the concept on the map when he published Emotional Intelligence in 1995, agrees. 'It's not like IQ... it's not that you have it, or you don't. These are plastic skills and the brain is designed to improve upon them. Anyone, theoretically, can get better.' In his follow-up book, Social Intelligence, Goleman homes in on the kind of mindset needed for effective leadership. It boils down to a mix of empathetic skills. 'Some people might be fantastic at recognising what clients need, others might be very good at feeling the mood of a room.' Some excel at networking, others have an edge at understanding the political dynamics of a company. 'If you're at a high level in business, odds are you're pretty good at many of those.'The key to developing these skills is simple, he argues. Ultimately it's about listening. 'Listening poorly is the common cold of social intelligence. And it's being made worse by technology. To have ‘a human moment’ you need to be fully present. You have to be away from your laptop and put down your BlackBerry.'The heartening thing about this theory is that it corresponds so well to hardwon experience on the ground. BA's sometimes controversial former chairman, Lord King, was labelled a Luddite for his refusal to embrace computers in his own office, but few ever doubted his ability either to lead the company or to foster a unique esprit de corps among staff.Boss of the people Lord Kalms, the no-nonsense trader who created the Dixons retail juggernaut, agrees. Effective delegation is often seen as a sine qua non of great leadership but, as Kalms argues, 'the boss still has to know everything that goes on in the business. He or she has to have eyes at the back of his head, and be very sensitive.' A good grapevine system is essential, 'and to achieve that, a boss needs a lot of mates'.When you consider that only a few years ago the debate on leadership centred around the 'sociopathic' traits of CEOs, it is clear there has been quite a revolution. Yet few would deny that truly outstanding leaders have an intangible 'it' factor (psychologists call it 'resonance') that others fail to replicate no matter how much they might strive to think like a leader. Nevertheless, studies show that the old adage of horses for courses may still have its place. Ebullient leaders of the classic Alpha variety tend to make more wide-reaching changes and carry out more and bigger deals than their emotionally intelligent counterparts. And their results are more extreme: they either win or lose big time. The best course, therefore, might be to match the next leader's personality to a company's growthcycle - acknowledging that while consolidation requires more 'human' skills, expansion might well be an Alpha forte.What is certainly true is that most of the world's most influential leaders continue to defy the theorists. When INSEAD business school professor Manfred Kets de Vries analysed the personality traits most frequently found in blue-chip chiefs for his book The Leader on the Couch, by far the most common was narcissism. That trait, of course, is a natural constituent of the human psyche on a spectrum ranging from 'healthy self-esteem' to the controlling, anti-social and paranoid behaviours characteristic of 'pathological egotism'.Many of the world's most obviously successful leaders veer towards the more extreme end of the scale, says de Vries. Bear that in mind next time you catch yourself preening in front of the mirror.
BILL GATES TO HARVARD STUDENTS--A MEMORABLE SPEECH
this one is a real treat to read.....i found it quite fascinating to delve in the mind of a legend...
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates delivers the Commencement address at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo: Brian SnyderJune 8, 2007 - 12:36PMText of the speech given by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates at Harvard University on June 7, 2007. President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates: I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: "Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree." I want to thank Harvard for this timely honour. I'll be changing my job next year ... and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume. I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I'm just happy that the Crimson has called me "Harvard's most successful dropout." I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class ... I did the best of everyone who failed. But I also want to be recognised as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school. I'm a bad influence. That's why I was invited to speak at your graduation. If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today. Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me. Academic life was fascinating. I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn't even signed up for. And dorm life was terrific. I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House. There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn't worry about getting up in the morning. That's how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group. We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people. Radcliffe was a great place to live. There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types. That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean. This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn't guarantee success. One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world's first personal computers. I offered to sell them software. I worried that they would realise I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me. Instead they said: "We're not quite ready, come see us in a month," which was a good thing, because we hadn't written the software yet. From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft. What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging. It was an amazing privilege - and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on. But taking a serious look back ... I do have one big regret. I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world - the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair. I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences. But humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries - but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity - reducing inequity is the highest human achievement. I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries. It took me decades to find out. You graduates came to Harvard at a different time. You know more about the world's inequities than the classes that came before. In your years here, I hope you've had a chance to think about how - in this age of accelerating technology - we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them. Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause - and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives. Where would you spend it? For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have. During our discussions on this question, Melinda and I read an article about the millions of children who were dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we had long ago made harmless in this country. Measles, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis B, yellow fever. One disease I had never even heard of, rotavirus, was killing half a million kids each year - none of them in the United States. We were shocked. We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them. But it did not. For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren't being delivered. If you believe that every life has equal value, it's revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: "This can't be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving." So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it. We asked: "How could the world let these children die?" The answer is simple, and harsh. The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidise it. So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system. But you and I have both. We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism - if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities. We also can press governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes. If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is open-ended. It can never be finished. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world. I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope. They say: "Inequity has been with us since the beginning, and will be with us till the end - because people just ... don't ... care." I completely disagree. I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with. All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing - not because we didn't care, but because we didn't know what to do. If we had known how to help, we would have acted. The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity. To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact. But complexity blocks all three steps. Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problems. When an airplane crashes, officials immediately call a press conference. They promise to investigate, determine the cause, and prevent similar crashes in the future. But if the officials were brutally honest, they would say: "Of all the people in the world who died today from preventable causes, one half of one percent of them were on this plane. We're determined to do everything possible to solve the problem that took the lives of the one half of one percent." The bigger problem is not the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths. We don't read much about these deaths. The media covers what's new - and millions of people dying is nothing new. So it stays in the background, where it's easier to ignore. But even when we do see it or read about it, it's difficult to keep our eyes on the problem. It's hard to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that we don't know how to help. And so we look away. If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution. Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring. If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks "How can I help?," then we can get action - and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted. But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares - and that makes it hard for their caring to matter. Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have - whether it's something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bed net. The AIDS epidemic offers an example. The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease. The highest-leverage approach is prevention. The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single dose. So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research. But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand - and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behaviour. Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again. This is the pattern. The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working - and never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century - which is to surrender to complexity and quit. The final step - after seeing the problem and finding an approach - is to measure the impact of your work and share your successes and failures so that others learn from your efforts. You have to have the statistics, of course. You have to be able to show that a program is vaccinating millions more children. You have to be able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases. This is essential not just to improve the program, but also to help draw more investment from business and government. But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show more than numbers; you have to convey the human impact of the work - so people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected. I remember going to Davos some years back and sitting on a global health panel that was discussing ways to save millions of lives. Millions! Think of the thrill of saving just one person's life - then multiply that by millions. ... Yet this was the most boring panel I've ever been on - ever. So boring even I couldn't bear it. What made that experience especially striking was that I had just come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece of software, and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement. I love getting people excited about software - but why can't we generate even more excitement for saving lives? You can't get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact. And how you do that - is a complex question. Still, I'm optimistic. Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever. They are new - they can help us make the most of our caring - and that's why the future can be different from the past. The defining and ongoing innovations of this age - biotechnology, the computer, the Internet - give us a chance we've never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease. Sixty years ago, George Marshall came to this commencement and announced a plan to assist the nations of post-war Europe. He said: "I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation. It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the real significance of the situation." Thirty years after Marshall made his address, as my class graduated without me, technology was emerging that would make the world smaller, more open, more visible, less distant. The emergence of low-cost personal computers gave rise to a powerful network that has transformed opportunities for learning and communicating. The magical thing about this network is not just that it collapses distance and makes everyone your neighbor. It also dramatically increases the number of brilliant minds we can have working together on the same problem - and that scales up the rate of innovation to a staggering degree. At the same time, for every person in the world who has access to this technology, five people don't. That means many creative minds are left out of this discussion -- smart people with practical intelligence and relevant experience who don't have the technology to hone their talents or contribute their ideas to the world. We need as many people as possible to have access to this technology, because these advances are triggering a revolution in what human beings can do for one another. They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, corporations, smaller organisation, and even individuals to see problems, see approaches, and measure the impact of their efforts to address the hunger, poverty, and desperation George Marshall spoke of 60 years ago. Members of the Harvard Family: Here in the Yard is one of the great collections of intellectual talent in the world. What for? There is no question that the faculty, the alumni, the students, and the benefactors of Harvard have used their power to improve the lives of people here and around the world. But can we do more? Can Harvard dedicate its intellect to improving the lives of people who will never even hear its name? Let me make a request of the deans and the professors - the intellectual leaders here at Harvard: As you hire new faculty, award tenure, review curriculum, and determine degree requirements, please ask yourselves: Should our best minds be dedicated to solving our biggest problems? Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the world's worst inequities? Should Harvard students learn about the depth of global poverty ... the prevalence of world hunger ... the scarcity of clean water ...the girls kept out of school ... the children who die from diseases we can cure? Should the world's most privileged people learn about the lives of the world's least privileged? These are not rhetorical questions - you will answer with your policies. My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here - never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: "From those to whom much is given, much is expected." When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given - in talent, privilege, and opportunity - there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us. In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue - a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don't have to do that to make an impact. For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them. Don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives. You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry on longer. Knowing what you know, how could you not? And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world's deepest inequities ... on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity. Good luck.
Microsoft chairman Bill Gates delivers the Commencement address at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Photo: Brian SnyderJune 8, 2007 - 12:36PMText of the speech given by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates at Harvard University on June 7, 2007. President Bok, former President Rudenstine, incoming President Faust, members of the Harvard Corporation and the Board of Overseers, members of the faculty, parents, and especially, the graduates: I've been waiting more than 30 years to say this: "Dad, I always told you I'd come back and get my degree." I want to thank Harvard for this timely honour. I'll be changing my job next year ... and it will be nice to finally have a college degree on my resume. I applaud the graduates today for taking a much more direct route to your degrees. For my part, I'm just happy that the Crimson has called me "Harvard's most successful dropout." I guess that makes me valedictorian of my own special class ... I did the best of everyone who failed. But I also want to be recognised as the guy who got Steve Ballmer to drop out of business school. I'm a bad influence. That's why I was invited to speak at your graduation. If I had spoken at your orientation, fewer of you might be here today. Harvard was just a phenomenal experience for me. Academic life was fascinating. I used to sit in on lots of classes I hadn't even signed up for. And dorm life was terrific. I lived up at Radcliffe, in Currier House. There were always lots of people in my dorm room late at night discussing things, because everyone knew I didn't worry about getting up in the morning. That's how I came to be the leader of the anti-social group. We clung to each other as a way of validating our rejection of all those social people. Radcliffe was a great place to live. There were more women up there, and most of the guys were science-math types. That combination offered me the best odds, if you know what I mean. This is where I learned the sad lesson that improving your odds doesn't guarantee success. One of my biggest memories of Harvard came in January 1975, when I made a call from Currier House to a company in Albuquerque that had begun making the world's first personal computers. I offered to sell them software. I worried that they would realise I was just a student in a dorm and hang up on me. Instead they said: "We're not quite ready, come see us in a month," which was a good thing, because we hadn't written the software yet. From that moment, I worked day and night on this little extra credit project that marked the end of my college education and the beginning of a remarkable journey with Microsoft. What I remember above all about Harvard was being in the midst of so much energy and intelligence. It could be exhilarating, intimidating, sometimes even discouraging, but always challenging. It was an amazing privilege - and though I left early, I was transformed by my years at Harvard, the friendships I made, and the ideas I worked on. But taking a serious look back ... I do have one big regret. I left Harvard with no real awareness of the awful inequities in the world - the appalling disparities of health, and wealth, and opportunity that condemn millions of people to lives of despair. I learned a lot here at Harvard about new ideas in economics and politics. I got great exposure to the advances being made in the sciences. But humanity's greatest advances are not in its discoveries - but in how those discoveries are applied to reduce inequity. Whether through democracy, strong public education, quality health care, or broad economic opportunity - reducing inequity is the highest human achievement. I left campus knowing little about the millions of young people cheated out of educational opportunities here in this country. And I knew nothing about the millions of people living in unspeakable poverty and disease in developing countries. It took me decades to find out. You graduates came to Harvard at a different time. You know more about the world's inequities than the classes that came before. In your years here, I hope you've had a chance to think about how - in this age of accelerating technology - we can finally take on these inequities, and we can solve them. Imagine, just for the sake of discussion, that you had a few hours a week and a few dollars a month to donate to a cause - and you wanted to spend that time and money where it would have the greatest impact in saving and improving lives. Where would you spend it? For Melinda and for me, the challenge is the same: how can we do the most good for the greatest number with the resources we have. During our discussions on this question, Melinda and I read an article about the millions of children who were dying every year in poor countries from diseases that we had long ago made harmless in this country. Measles, malaria, pneumonia, hepatitis B, yellow fever. One disease I had never even heard of, rotavirus, was killing half a million kids each year - none of them in the United States. We were shocked. We had just assumed that if millions of children were dying and they could be saved, the world would make it a priority to discover and deliver the medicines to save them. But it did not. For under a dollar, there were interventions that could save lives that just weren't being delivered. If you believe that every life has equal value, it's revolting to learn that some lives are seen as worth saving and others are not. We said to ourselves: "This can't be true. But if it is true, it deserves to be the priority of our giving." So we began our work in the same way anyone here would begin it. We asked: "How could the world let these children die?" The answer is simple, and harsh. The market did not reward saving the lives of these children, and governments did not subsidise it. So the children died because their mothers and their fathers had no power in the market and no voice in the system. But you and I have both. We can make market forces work better for the poor if we can develop a more creative capitalism - if we can stretch the reach of market forces so that more people can make a profit, or at least make a living, serving people who are suffering from the worst inequities. We also can press governments around the world to spend taxpayer money in ways that better reflect the values of the people who pay the taxes. If we can find approaches that meet the needs of the poor in ways that generate profits for business and votes for politicians, we will have found a sustainable way to reduce inequity in the world. This task is open-ended. It can never be finished. But a conscious effort to answer this challenge will change the world. I am optimistic that we can do this, but I talk to skeptics who claim there is no hope. They say: "Inequity has been with us since the beginning, and will be with us till the end - because people just ... don't ... care." I completely disagree. I believe we have more caring than we know what to do with. All of us here in this Yard, at one time or another, have seen human tragedies that broke our hearts, and yet we did nothing - not because we didn't care, but because we didn't know what to do. If we had known how to help, we would have acted. The barrier to change is not too little caring; it is too much complexity. To turn caring into action, we need to see a problem, see a solution, and see the impact. But complexity blocks all three steps. Even with the advent of the Internet and 24-hour news, it is still a complex enterprise to get people to truly see the problems. When an airplane crashes, officials immediately call a press conference. They promise to investigate, determine the cause, and prevent similar crashes in the future. But if the officials were brutally honest, they would say: "Of all the people in the world who died today from preventable causes, one half of one percent of them were on this plane. We're determined to do everything possible to solve the problem that took the lives of the one half of one percent." The bigger problem is not the plane crash, but the millions of preventable deaths. We don't read much about these deaths. The media covers what's new - and millions of people dying is nothing new. So it stays in the background, where it's easier to ignore. But even when we do see it or read about it, it's difficult to keep our eyes on the problem. It's hard to look at suffering if the situation is so complex that we don't know how to help. And so we look away. If we can really see a problem, which is the first step, we come to the second step: cutting through the complexity to find a solution. Finding solutions is essential if we want to make the most of our caring. If we have clear and proven answers anytime an organization or individual asks "How can I help?," then we can get action - and we can make sure that none of the caring in the world is wasted. But complexity makes it hard to mark a path of action for everyone who cares - and that makes it hard for their caring to matter. Cutting through complexity to find a solution runs through four predictable stages: determine a goal, find the highest-leverage approach, discover the ideal technology for that approach, and in the meantime, make the smartest application of the technology that you already have - whether it's something sophisticated, like a drug, or something simpler, like a bed net. The AIDS epidemic offers an example. The broad goal, of course, is to end the disease. The highest-leverage approach is prevention. The ideal technology would be a vaccine that gives lifetime immunity with a single dose. So governments, drug companies, and foundations fund vaccine research. But their work is likely to take more than a decade, so in the meantime, we have to work with what we have in hand - and the best prevention approach we have now is getting people to avoid risky behaviour. Pursuing that goal starts the four-step cycle again. This is the pattern. The crucial thing is to never stop thinking and working - and never do what we did with malaria and tuberculosis in the 20th century - which is to surrender to complexity and quit. The final step - after seeing the problem and finding an approach - is to measure the impact of your work and share your successes and failures so that others learn from your efforts. You have to have the statistics, of course. You have to be able to show that a program is vaccinating millions more children. You have to be able to show a decline in the number of children dying from these diseases. This is essential not just to improve the program, but also to help draw more investment from business and government. But if you want to inspire people to participate, you have to show more than numbers; you have to convey the human impact of the work - so people can feel what saving a life means to the families affected. I remember going to Davos some years back and sitting on a global health panel that was discussing ways to save millions of lives. Millions! Think of the thrill of saving just one person's life - then multiply that by millions. ... Yet this was the most boring panel I've ever been on - ever. So boring even I couldn't bear it. What made that experience especially striking was that I had just come from an event where we were introducing version 13 of some piece of software, and we had people jumping and shouting with excitement. I love getting people excited about software - but why can't we generate even more excitement for saving lives? You can't get people excited unless you can help them see and feel the impact. And how you do that - is a complex question. Still, I'm optimistic. Yes, inequity has been with us forever, but the new tools we have to cut through complexity have not been with us forever. They are new - they can help us make the most of our caring - and that's why the future can be different from the past. The defining and ongoing innovations of this age - biotechnology, the computer, the Internet - give us a chance we've never had before to end extreme poverty and end death from preventable disease. Sixty years ago, George Marshall came to this commencement and announced a plan to assist the nations of post-war Europe. He said: "I think one difficulty is that the problem is one of such enormous complexity that the very mass of facts presented to the public by press and radio make it exceedingly difficult for the man in the street to reach a clear appraisement of the situation. It is virtually impossible at this distance to grasp at all the real significance of the situation." Thirty years after Marshall made his address, as my class graduated without me, technology was emerging that would make the world smaller, more open, more visible, less distant. The emergence of low-cost personal computers gave rise to a powerful network that has transformed opportunities for learning and communicating. The magical thing about this network is not just that it collapses distance and makes everyone your neighbor. It also dramatically increases the number of brilliant minds we can have working together on the same problem - and that scales up the rate of innovation to a staggering degree. At the same time, for every person in the world who has access to this technology, five people don't. That means many creative minds are left out of this discussion -- smart people with practical intelligence and relevant experience who don't have the technology to hone their talents or contribute their ideas to the world. We need as many people as possible to have access to this technology, because these advances are triggering a revolution in what human beings can do for one another. They are making it possible not just for national governments, but for universities, corporations, smaller organisation, and even individuals to see problems, see approaches, and measure the impact of their efforts to address the hunger, poverty, and desperation George Marshall spoke of 60 years ago. Members of the Harvard Family: Here in the Yard is one of the great collections of intellectual talent in the world. What for? There is no question that the faculty, the alumni, the students, and the benefactors of Harvard have used their power to improve the lives of people here and around the world. But can we do more? Can Harvard dedicate its intellect to improving the lives of people who will never even hear its name? Let me make a request of the deans and the professors - the intellectual leaders here at Harvard: As you hire new faculty, award tenure, review curriculum, and determine degree requirements, please ask yourselves: Should our best minds be dedicated to solving our biggest problems? Should Harvard encourage its faculty to take on the world's worst inequities? Should Harvard students learn about the depth of global poverty ... the prevalence of world hunger ... the scarcity of clean water ...the girls kept out of school ... the children who die from diseases we can cure? Should the world's most privileged people learn about the lives of the world's least privileged? These are not rhetorical questions - you will answer with your policies. My mother, who was filled with pride the day I was admitted here - never stopped pressing me to do more for others. A few days before my wedding, she hosted a bridal event, at which she read aloud a letter about marriage that she had written to Melinda. My mother was very ill with cancer at the time, but she saw one more opportunity to deliver her message, and at the close of the letter she said: "From those to whom much is given, much is expected." When you consider what those of us here in this Yard have been given - in talent, privilege, and opportunity - there is almost no limit to what the world has a right to expect from us. In line with the promise of this age, I want to exhort each of the graduates here to take on an issue - a complex problem, a deep inequity, and become a specialist on it. If you make it the focus of your career, that would be phenomenal. But you don't have to do that to make an impact. For a few hours every week, you can use the growing power of the Internet to get informed, find others with the same interests, see the barriers, and find ways to cut through them. Don't let complexity stop you. Be activists. Take on the big inequities. It will be one of the great experiences of your lives. You graduates are coming of age in an amazing time. As you leave Harvard, you have technology that members of my class never had. You have awareness of global inequity, which we did not have. And with that awareness, you likely also have an informed conscience that will torment you if you abandon these people whose lives you could change with very little effort. You have more than we had; you must start sooner, and carry on longer. Knowing what you know, how could you not? And I hope you will come back here to Harvard 30 years from now and reflect on what you have done with your talent and your energy. I hope you will judge yourselves not on your professional accomplishments alone, but also on how well you have addressed the world's deepest inequities ... on how well you treated people a world away who have nothing in common with you but their humanity. Good luck.
Friday, September 7, 2007
WELCOME WELCOME
So finally i welcome myself to the big bad world of blogging.I will try my best to keep giving you interesting reads...It is because i really don wan that in a world where i have entered so late(read:blogosphere) i turn up a damp squib....So keep coming here...Mayb a post can just brighten your day.I will post any article,management discussion,any fun story which i think deserves to be read.One of my friends said blogging is an addiction.Lets try it once.....I think i m nver gonna regret this addiction of mine.....At least i wont be givin shit to the readers....
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