Management lessons from a havan kund

Some thoughts stuck me while "Shivratri Pooja"was being performed at home.
Here they are

• Throw the the wet wood away. It creates only smoke ( Attitude is more important than potential,bad attitude not only drains the resources but also creates a bad environment )
• Make sure only dry wood is used ( Take people who have the ability and the attitude to accomplish )
• Have different sizes of firewood . ( Have both experience and youth in your team )
• Dont clutter the kund with too much wood . Gradually add as the flame picks up (Start with the most crucial and relevant people and add to the team as and when required )
  
• Keep the pieces of wood slightly apart ( Give individuals their own space within a team)
  
• The thinnest piece of wood catches the fire faster and should be used to propagate the flame. (The most inexperienced members of a team are the most excitable . Use them to create passion and energy ,both of which are infectious )
  
• Add ghee periodically and strategically to wood closest to the flame and not the farthest away (Give Incentives for extra efforts and not as bribe to underperformers)
• Throw thick chunks of wood in the heart of the flame.(Give responsible opportunities to high potential people )
  
• Move the wood occassionaly It ensures that wood burns completely . (Appraise regularly )
• Ensure sufficient ventilation.( Allow the team members to voice their opinions and concerns )
• Don't put your hand in the fire unless required.(Avoid micromanagement.This only erodes the confidence of the team)
• Fan the flame when it seems to die.(Motivate and challange people when they seem to slacken .)

The are original thoughts and not copied from anywhere. I would welcome additional observations from my readers.

Maniacal Monday -1

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Hospital diary

Hospitals by no means are pleasant place.I don't think anyone apart from those who work there would be keen on visiting it (barring the expectant mother).There is this gloom in the air ,which even the five star ambience of an Apollo or even a Fortis cannot override.

For starters I would like to categorise the patients.There are those who are chronically ill seasoned campaigners for whom hospital is home away from home . And there are those who just discovered some ailment and are there for the treatment.The former would have a bored looking attendant watching the TV or giving the nth version of the patient's progress to the odd visitor,
The newbie patient would invariably be having a whole posse siting in the lobby ,with distant relatives pouring in to mark their attendance.
It is a safe assumtion that Indians need a lesson in hospital etiquette. The great Indian visit to the hospital is done with the same attitude as a trip to the airport to receive a Kukku chacha .That is loud ,boisterous and in overwhelming numbers.
We invaribaly expect that the hospital accomdate our entire battalion of a dozen odd people in the restricted hour .And why not ?? After all ,you have paid the outrageous bill the hospital charges.You have every right to treat it as your property and abuse the poor security guard for doing his duty.And when its all said and done ,curse the hospital and tell the stranger sitting next to you 'ek number ke chor hain yahan '!

It does'nt matter whether you are causing inconvenience to other patients,never mind inflicting those battered bodies with your fresh street germs.
This saddens me a great deal because even my family is guilty of the same at times.
But when I look at it and think about it,this has been a part of our socio - cultural conditioning.The hospital case is just a small example of a deeper malaise,a simple truth ,that we utterly lack any civility and sensitivity ...and it shows

A year in the making..

Let us see....Feb 28 2006 .....One year in my present company...one whole year of a measly salary ...indifferent bosses...god forsaken locations...rude food...of hopes and disappointments..illusions and delusions...well one year..one whole year ...

The year came and went by... like Sourav Ganguly at the crease...Actually Ankur's blog got me thinking bout how time has flown ...Last time I saw him was in DAKC ..he was there on work and I was there for my training..Since then hez almost done with his PG and bout 2 embark on a wonderful professional journey ( with a fat pay cheque and the works :)..all the best dude)..
and I am still not able settle into my job...All in a matter of a year ...

This reminds me of Einstein's thoery of relativity ...("how a minute feels like an hour in a hot stove...and a vice versa in the presence of a lovely lady" ...'In Einstein's own words')..
Well my year wasn't most certainly in the presence of any lovely lady...but it did pass fast...

I am wondering how much can change in a year ...hmmm..well a lot ..let me see..well I do actually have something to show on my resume ...companies are trippin over each other to hire me ...ahem ..well not really ...unlike last year...I can demand my price..n what else..travelled big time...places I never thought I would see..actually wasnt even aware such places exist...sample this 'Sansiyon ka Tilla' near Barmer in Rajasthan... Bhikhi ,Bhadaur ,Ratia ,Rania....list is endless...well overall the journey has been nice..till now ...towards the end the trip is souring ...and something like whts in the picture...
till next time

Happy new year

Happy New Year !!!

The New Year Rings in and the first thing I do is to take my resignation process forward .
I had submitted a beauty of a letter ,that was to see my graceful exit from the lousy project I am a part of ...It so happened that two days later..I submit another mail ,asking to nullify my previous request ....
Sad ..but true..How long can I stay pure at heart ,Mammon has his ways of persuasion .I started this job ,for the love of it .I accepted the embarassing salary in my stride,TOUGH LOVE ...as the say !! Alas ,it is getting tougher for me ...Details are too painful...Sad and tormentful...I guess I have to move on ...
How long can man live on love and fresh air ??....oki ....thrz nothin like fresh air in Delhi !!
Love...more like an attachment ..And i m freed from the umbilical cord on March 2nd ....The countdown has begun ..Itz gonna get wild from here now !!

purpose

Another day rolls by ...and like a stone it gathers no moss..
The purpose of this existence baffles me and the inconsequentiality bothers me..A step at a time it was meant 2 b...but alas ..a step forward and backward
Irreverence is plunging to greater depths ...I am suffering from a death wish maybe...
I ask myself ,whether evrything happens with a purpose....or we attach to much consequence to the freak incident our existence is....What is the purpose of life ??....is it to just exist for the allocated time,to act in accordance with a predetermined agenda..Life scares me when it is too simple...like now...feelz sumthing is abt to happen ..Chaos is a beautiful word...
What is the natural state of existence of man ..is it working ??
Why does man work ??
For survival..for existence ...for purpose...
There is a compelling motivation behind mans choice to work ...hunger ,punishment ,fear ....but what if all these 'compelling factors' are removed ...what will motivate him to work...
Work for once doesnt mean toiling in the fields all day long ....he has resources to take of himself...then why does he work ??

Perpetuosity of looneydom

Perpetuosity of looneydom......
well i jst wanted to use this word ...mite as well relate it 2 my life ...it has become too silly ,even by itsown pygmy standard..I see my self doing the same motions day in and day out ...without any semblence of vitality..the only thing tht changes is the weather and the date..

Know Thyself....i learnt bout mahslf 2 ...frm sum1 who spilled the beanz on my rep in proffessional circles..

Kapil has 2 mch attitude...bahut udta hai...comes frm sum jrk i barely knw ...n have been courteous to 3/ 3 times i have met him ...man i evn offrd him a lift once...n the client whoz a ll pally pally wid me on the phn...thinks m obnoxious ..coz i call him by name ...n not adress his highness as sirrrrr....OMG...

All this comes courtsey sum 1 who waz snt 2 keep a tab on me...n whn got satisfied am not tht big a jrk...brk the secret ...tht ppl hate my gutz...

Well ...lemme c why ...Coz i emailed to da CEO bout the trash deal v gettin..whn ppl jst murmured amngst emselves n lookin at each othrz faces ....ahem aft tht mail ...it got trasshier...hehe...now i mailed 2 my RDH ..wh he percieves 2 b an attmpt at unionbazi...
hmmm ...i guess i shd keep mah tail bween my legz n kissass..wrks 4 mst of the country...

NO WAY ...am not a cattle which dsnt dare raise itz head...i wil spk out for myself ...if i see sumthin wrng ...n i dnt care if sum1 takes offnc 2 it ...I am outspoken...yes ..if it has 2 be tht way ...

well i guess i strt hittin naukri.com now

Everything that has a begining has an end .... 

Look whoz back !!

well !!! Satan may fear to tread here ,but am too lazy to evn come here ..if that allayz hiz fearz ..itz been a long month since i posted something .The month came n went by and I managed to finish 10 site throughout Punjab.The toughest part was doing w/o being online...I saw the slaughter on the sensex and couldnt scratch a ratz ass bout it....well ..didnt lose 2 much xcpt some sleep ..Imagine not a single webworld had the data cable in stock ..and this would include evn Chandigarh ...so much 4 being at a happenin place..... grrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

The good news is that finally I have settled for the incumbent laptop.I was feelin screwed since a pal quoted lower price for the model which I previously got from my vendor.But one look at the Lenovo website for prices n my demons are at rest.Talkin of laptops ,I managed to configure mine with the RO lan..firstly through the cable n then..thru WiFi ...ahem ...oki the SI on assignment helped...But man ....tz an awsum feelin ....I even installed the printer driver on the RO pc..wirelessly ...runnin the driver CD in my laptop (they dont have Drives on the outlet pcs )...All this ...sittin at the adjacent dhabha sippin a cuppa .Man...do I love technology :) n am I cool or what ...hmm Mr WiFi...i guess this is one of the few occassions whn I actually feel that my engineering degree has consequence than an excuse for killing 4 yrz ..
This leg of tour othervise was ok ...GK tld me tht hel b sendin me to Himachal....wow.n news also pilfered thru tht urz trulyis amongst those promoted to the rank of lead trainer ...which means.....nothin.........just tht now I will officially handle my own team ...As if my CV wasnt showin tht responsibility on the various job sites ..ever since I got this job:p...Thebosses have somehow been generous with the job titles...and thatz bout it ..we started off as .. application s/w trainer...then retalix trainer..then IT Trainer ahem...then commisioning team trainer...now a lead trainer ..I dont think even a Train would be havin so man bogeys than what we trainers have 4 job titles....n thtz itz...still wud b paid the same pittiance ..n now wud wud b made evn more grateful for the "Excellent learning Experience "..the only learning I seem to b gettin is to live on a shoestring budget ....
...I came back with a sense of achievementand a bad cold...runny nose n the works ..
Have my GMAT on the 21st n havent even purchased a book ..im shit lethargic..which brings me to my plans for ISB...which as of now have been put on freeze ...so now I wont b batch2 007 but 008.....yaaa right ... as if I have open ticket for ISB..
When I think bout it ...might turn out to be a smart move....placement wise..this is the only consequential job I have had till date b...a BPO n a PR firm isnt ne1z idea of career accomplishment....The company needz me for the prjct ...itz gonna b real hectic in the coming weeks ..wid Ambani saab shooting off targets to all TM's...
Also me n my ilk are more productive than the Master Trainers, not to mention ..hell cheaper to maintain...I jst hope whn March comes, I have somethin to smile bout......A Master Trainer job title wud b nice ....the only Master thing happnin othrvise is the bation one :p
btw happy gandhi jayanti !!!

All 4 tonite

Hittin the road..

Today I tried to do something different ...and decided to go to the site by a local bus...it was not a long trip ...yet it was a long journey ...now I have travelled by buses all my life but this time it was different ..here I was wearing my 3000 buckz killer loops ,laptop dangling from the shoulder of my classy shirt.. smelling goody goody ,as i steeped into a rickety n two tyres in the grave bus....n thought ... damn u INDYA...why cnt ply AC Volvos evrywhr...v need the greyhoundz here 2..my butt which has become more accustomed to having cushioned surfaces underneath protested at the very sensation on coir filled PVC....n since my cranium is emotionally attached to my butt via spinal cord,i thought bout hiring a cab...but my heart n the prospect of saving a few hundred rupees persisted ...n i mounted the bus.....5 minutes hogging my precious seat n I was dripping like Mumbai's skyline...n the bus wasnt gonna move till it was packed like Pam Anderson's bra...thankfully ..the torment lasted for a few more more minutes... n v were off....I was clueless bout where to get off ,so relied on the Reliance brand name and my weird Punjabi to eventually rch my destination...The dealer was nice Sardarji,who started abusing the company as soon as he shook my hand.It so happened that his pump was almost dry n despite repeated requests ,no despatch was being made ,apparently due to shortage of tankers.I personally saw him turn down dozens of his regular customers...n it hurt...

That apart he was oki n offrd me chai n biscuit...Eventually realization dawned upon him that he needed to offer me some grub..... at 5 pm....n I had to settle for junky patties n anothr cuppa chai..

Got late n he asked one of his vistors to drop me somewhere.....the guy took me in his antiquated Omni n set me on a path which would eventually end up as a road in the not so distant future...till then its a path..He stopped at a dhaba or sumthin.......n had a peg....n now I was scared....if the road wasnt bad enough ,n my luck fickle enough,this guy was gettin high....Thankfully he dropped me before I got killed ...

to be contd.........................

Bhatinda diary

Took the afternoon bus to Bhatinda ...cant still figure out the logic behind the scheduling off our trip...me could have very well stayed in Ludhiana and done the next site too....instead they schedule RH for that n I m supposed to move to Bhatinda ...n from what I gather ,I am not the only one !

Had questioned Boss bout the logic behind such logistics..all I could gather was that done according to client requirements and priorities ...n our trips were scheduled after massive brainstorming .....yaa right ..

Well my fare meter is running so why to complain ....Bhatinda is no Chandigarh ,but I would still give this city a chance...the bus ride was tiring..they put on an oldie sunny deol starrer ...yateem....ewww..n swtchd it off in btween ...the fun prt was watchin SD swim n pumpin up in butt huggin nude color chuddies ..for once i evn thot he jumped in the lake in the buff .All this happnz while the chic gather flowers in anticipation of the great indian filmi mating sequence...with buds crossin each other n parrots schmoozin ..jhankar beats n the workz ingrained seamlessly into one long n tired metaphor of carnal pleasure..bollywood ishtyle.. taalian..rchd my destination n took off for the hotel RH had recommended...minutes later I realised why...the hotel has a hottie at the reception ..but alas ....shez n ice maiden ....was starin at her longgggggg n preety fingers while she was showin me the tariff card...askd bout whtz all complementary wid the room ..was secretly hopin she would be ...but man ..no such luck..n i wud even have to pay for the breakfast....not my day..n evn worse couldnt even get a smile out of her even when she would b gettin paid to smile all the time..i know it wasnt me ..so i guess it must be that time of the month ...took my room..they sound like models of Maruti cars....LX DLX VX ...I wish thr was a XXX too !! wid the hottie at the reception complementary !!!! ummmmmmmmmmm...............................hehe ..ur wild sweetie...grrrr........ hmmmmm.... ohh ...

back from thinkin what it could have been ..n m in my nice ..but lonely bed bout to call it a day ...have to begin the training at Ramamandi RO tmrw...i hope the dealer is a decent chap....which more or less translates into whether he would be feedin me lunch or not....ummm thtz till tmrw

Here we go ! I finally decide to put my thoughts to the keyboard and type my reflctions on life as it happens for whomsoever who cares or dares !!!I just hope I do overcome the tempation of doing 'Other Stuff ' and put some time here !!! Here it goes ..

dps rkp

Before the storm over Anara Gupta porn mania could subside ,we were hit by another tornado in the form of a fellatio fiesta performed by one of the students of a prominent delhi educational instutuion.Ironically the girl's TALENTS were also of the academic kind and which also goes to prove tht all da toppers dont have 2 look (thankfully ) and behave like Jassi.
It must have come as a shock for all those who associated school days with puppy love . The apparent virtuoso PERFORMANCE would certainly defog the glasses of all those who thought that women have sex for love and men love 4 sex...
It certainly didnt come as any surprise ...atleast to me....for such things were commonplace in most schools ...sex(evn gangbangs ) dope n whteva u can think of ...evn in my schooldays during the mezolithic era...But certainly it used to be much discreet and most of us relied on word of mouth rather than graphic n explicit evidence as a proof of our CONQUEST ...geez i fell antiquated now....Well the thing to note here is tht both Anara Gupta and the gal in question here are 16-17 years old and both were willingly filmed rather than framed ...
Sometimes i wonder where is society going to....other times i wish i were 16 again :)......Well Delhiz denizens along with the rest of the nation are expectedly offended ......How can a schoolboy and a girl have sex ??????? n evn tape it......(Well i wud credit the gal 4 actuaaly knwin 2 enjoy it n being smart to do the easy thin rather thn doin all da way n gettin preggy ).....n the noises........We r Indians...not Amrikaans....v have a history and culture ...5000 thousand yearz old..v used 2 domesticate dinosaurs....yeh sab yahan nahi hota....ouch.......man such double standards have certainly helped .....v BS so mch bout morals and values and gandhi ji ke desh mein ....v dnt discuss sex in publik...n hell ...the rate at wh v make babies wud put rabbits outta business....
I cant yet understand why ppl r creatin such noise for...ban cellphones in skool ????(sure....teachers can keep them and if parents need to get in tch ..they can thru them )...spoilt kidz ???(well if daddy dearest dsnt give a damn..why shud u ???n if they r real mean ,,,thn put em in detention 4a week and put on Aastha channel ...make em listen 2 Aasa Ram bapu's DISCOurces..:)....
Well all this leads nowhere ....i guess the kids got a lil adventorous esp whn u have pam anderson's and paris hiltons video's makin waves....i guess coz v tend 2 imitate starz in behaviour,.....this was thr way of xpressin thr hepness n kool ness....teenage yrz r trblsome 4 all n evry1 does feel da need 2 push themselves ...i wish the press were lil more senstive..