Monday, September 7, 2015

I found the solution!

We generally weigh things in terms of quality or quantity, brain or brawn but there is a third dimension to everything. That third dimension is character, the strength of your character.Let's take an example:

RCC- Reinforced Concrete Cement. 
When there was a need for extra strong buildings, more of the regular cement did not help nor did stronger varieties. The character of cement had to be changed. It had to be reinforced.

The same can be applied to us. When we are faced with the big things in life, our heart and our brain may fall short of a solution, but our character will stand strong by our side. And when you have a strong character, your brain and heart will work coherently to guide you through the misty paths and the cloudy skies.

The skies bend when the sailor wills,
He mounts the sails,
rigs the ship,
Stands on the hull of the massive ship.

The miner struck diamond in the deep
He didn't steer
He didn't shake
He went on marching into the deep.

Her husband left her in muck
No money, no home
But children to keep
She rose every dawn to feed their mouths but never to weep.

Monday, August 31, 2015

He said No!

My first day of College! There was not a single cute guy in the class!!
But as cliché as it sounds, then he entered the class. At first he looked weird, but I eventually developed a crush on him. We became friends. Very Good friends.
Then he told me about his 7 exes. Didn't matter. I was smitten. He kind of knew it all.
One day he came to college with his last gf's name on his arm etched with a blade. I saw it and felt bad but i didn't say anything.
Then it was the third year of college, I knew he would never love me, but I didn't want to repent.
I messaged him," I know you don't like me like that but I like you." He said,"You know I still love her." I said "Yes."
He messaged, “So, what do you want me to say now?". I said, “I want you to say you don't, so that I stop hoping. I confessed it because I don't want to regret later."
He said, “You are a great friend but I cannot think about you like that."
I was friend-zoned.(Girls get Friend -Zoned too)
I went to the terrace. Deep winters. Foggy sky at 4 am. I realized I hadn't slept whole night. My friend came and held me. I cried one last tear and forgot him.
Those first feelings of crush and blushing and the heartbreak still stir warm in my heart.​

Monday, August 24, 2015

When Weaknesses become Strengths

Post-It Notes were invented by accident. 3M were trying to create super strong adhesives for use in the aerospace industry in building planes.  Instead of a super strong adhesive, they accidentally managed to create an incredibly weak, pressure sensitive adhesive agent. The adhesive had two important features: It left no residue after being peeled off and it was reusable. The 3M management was, as expected, unhappy with the product as it was seen as too weak to be useful. The adhesive was constantly rejected for 5 years and confined to the laboratory for the next 7 years. Today, it is a huge hit and one of the most widely asked for and loved stationery item across the world. The story of Post-It notes is actually a story of many good managerial decisions and many bad managerial decisions.
Also, it is one of those cases where the shortcoming in one of your product came as a blessing in disguise. Another such example is the mobile phone battery bank. It is pretty doubtful if any of us would have ever heard of battery banks until the past few years and now, it looks like a basic necessity for any smart phone user. There were no battery banks in India some 10 years ago, neither were the smart phones. Smart phones brought with them a need to have a portable battery backup. Not only smart phones, laptops, tablets and digital cameras can be charged using power banks.
 The power bank is believed to have originated at Las Vegas International Consumer Electronics Show in 2001 when a student pieced a control circuit with a few AA batteries together. Also, believed to have been produced and marketed from 2004-2007, it became a hit with the coming in of iPhone in 2007.  It had a built in battery and the power supply from the electricity did not last more than 4-5 hours (varying with usage). With the coming up of more and more mobile phones having an in built battery, it does not look like going away for some years. 
The figure below shows the consumer behavior regarding the pattern of Smartphone usage. 85% of people use their phones ‘While on the go’, 64% in a store, 59% in a restaurant, 61% in cafĂ© or coffee shop and 52% at a social gathering. It might not be convenient for all to plug in their charger in a subway and go on with their work.Thus, arises a need for a hero who can save the people in the times of dire need for a portable energy source and power bank emerges as the hero.


Workplace Diversity-An All Inclusive Workforce


We are more than 7 billion people, yet, our fingerprints are all unique. All, almost all, of us have 10 fingers, but fingerprints are all unique. All, almost all, of us have 2 eyes but our retinal capillary prints are all unique. The one tongue that we all 7 billion have is unique too, for all of us. We are all so similar but yet so distinct. The world won’t have been so beautiful if all the weathers smelt the same, all the flowers looked the same, and all the sounds heard the same and all the touch felt the same. The difference brings the flavor in life. The feeling that the day today will be different than yesterday drives us every day and motivates us to spring out of the bed to start afresh. People would have had hard time finding topics for small talk, had the weather always remained the same. Our differences make us what we are and they make our life worth living.

“Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are different precisely in order to realize our need of one another”- Desmond Tutu

Laura Cox Kaplan, Regulatory Affairs and Public Policy Leader at PwC highlighted the importance of workforce diversity by quoting, “The strongest teams are those that are diverse even beyond race and gender — teams whose individual members bring varying perspectives that culminate from both professional and life experiences. These teams are even more effective when team members feel supported by each other and the organization.” In a study of 28 teams, heterogeneous teams solved complex tasks better than homogeneous teams. The diverse teams exhibited a higher level of creativity and a broader thought process. There has been a definite push in the direction of bolstering diversity at workplace worldwide. Before going ahead, it is very important to understand what actually diversity is. Merriam Webster defines diversity as: the condition of having or being composed of differing elements:  variety; especially:  the inclusion of different types of people in a group or organization or an instance of being composed of differing elements or qualities. Diversity is classified broadly as Surface level diversity and Deep level diversity. Surface level diversities are those differences which can be observed at the surface i.e. by simple observation. These are typically unchangeable and difficult to measure. Differences of age, sex, race, physical disability, etc can be classified as surface level diversity. Deep level diversities are those differences which cannot be observed at the surface. These can be measured to some extent and can be influenced by continuous effort. They are communicated through verbal and non verbal cues and often define the relation between individuals. Attitudes, Personality, Lifestyle, Beliefs and Physical & Intellectual Ability can be classified as deep level diversity. Diversity brings with it, its own benefits:

  •   Adaptability- For an instance, if an organization aims to go for expansion, it generally recruits people from that specific location. In order to coordinate well with them, it serves an organization better to have someone from that place, somebody who can help the organization to manage its new workforce better.
  • Broader Service Range- This seems to be a rather obvious benefit. The more diverse the teams are, the more customer needs they can understand and so on.
  • Team Dynamics- Working in more diverse teams increases the employee’s team dynamics- working with different people and understanding them.
  •  Learning- With the same type of people in the organization, the learning remain limited.
 The advantages are many and the list is not exhaustive.

Teams today are no longer confined to certain geographies, languages, cultures and not even time zones. Globalization has brought in people from everywhere to work together. In such circumstances, Diversity Management becomes the need of hour. Diversity Management can be defined as addressing and supporting values and perspectives of different individuals, promoting the same ideals and aligning the views of different individuals with the organization keeping the integrity of their systems and values unharmed and protected.

P&G in its Diversity and Inclusion Report, 2015 have set their mission to “Everyone Valued, Everyone Included, and Everyone Performing at Their Peak”. They have focused a lot on cultural, gender and disability diversity in their organization. The NASSCOM Corporate Awards for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion are the only awards given out to the companies who invest in inclusion in their organizations. It has made a continuous effort in this direction and the nominations have grown up from 23 in 2007 to 104 in 2011 across 6 different categories. Infosys became the first Indian company to establish an office for diversity and inclusion.

A lot of emphasis has been put by the regulatory bodies and government too on the inclusion of differences at workplace. The Person with Disabilities Act, 1995 and The Right of Person with Disabilities Bill, 2014 can be steps by government towards the inclusion of disabled into the workforce. The New Company Law is considered to be a big push in the direction of inclusion of women in the workforce at the top level.

These are some of the efforts taken in the direction. The following guidelines can help the managers to maintain diversity in organization:
  •  Recruitment, Selection and training process: The recruitment process should be extended to various educational campuses, not limited to certain campuses or certain educational background if the job description permits. The thought process should form the back bone of the selection criteria. Also, certain lapses can be met by training and constant scrutiny of the candidate.
  •   Recognizing diversity: The first step towards diversity management is the recognition of differences, acceptance of the differences and working towards the inclusion of diverse people. One step could be setting up an office for diversity management.
  •  Listening to different perspectives: We generally tend to ignore the ‘crazy ideas’ but it’s the crazy ideas that make history and make organizations big.
  •  Encouraging mentorship networks: The mentorship programs can help an individual to discuss his/ her feelings, any instances of discrimination and any suggestions they can bring in to the organization.
  •  Celebrating differences: Programs such as focusing on promoting women leaders can help inclusion of diversity of the workforce.
  •  Encouragement and Appreciation: The NASSCOM Corporate Awards for Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion are the only awards in India focusing on diversity inclusion. Such initiatives can help foster diversity inclusion.
  •  Regulations: Every company’s nominating committee should keep a check on the diversity of the Board of Directors at least. These regulations can be passed on to the lower levels subsequently.

Diversity Management is just like forming a team for a football or basketball game. We know certain players are good at offensive play and some are good at defensive play. We don’t ignore any; rather we use these differences to form a stronger team.

“We become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.” – Jimmy Carter
















Saturday, April 18, 2015

The story of the ugly girl

She was a girl.She was an ugly girl.
Was it a fault?Was it her fault?

She lied in her cradle always.She sat in her bus alone.
She ate her lunch under the tree.She had no friends.
She was an ugly girl.

The only treasures she had:her enemies- 
her mother who was ashamed of her,
her father who worked hard for her dowry,
her aunt who had a beautiful daughter,
her classmates who teased her,
called her a monster.

Youth brought no hope.
She found a friend:a beautiful girl who pitied her,
carried her around,snatching her the luxury of being alone.

Her heart longed for love.Her beautiful friend got all the love.
She got all the longing.

She tried fairness creams. She tried beauty products,
She tried rouge and mascara.She tried trim and curl.
But She was an ugly girl.

She was a poet.She was an artist.
She was a fine orator.She went unnoticed.
She was an ugly girl.

She landed a singing offer,
She was afraid she might lose it,
The offer giver was a wise man,
He knew nobody would listen to her sing,
He asked her to stay in veil forever.
She agreed.She sang.
She got great success,
 She could never come out in open.
She was an ugly girl.

Once during a show, her veil flew away.
The crowd was astonished and disgusted.
She was an ugly girl.

She spoke out:
"The sun, the sky, the winds treated beautiful and ugly equal,
The Gods bless the beautiful and ugly equal,
Measuring a person's worth from looks is like measuring temperature with metre scale.
I am not beautiful but I am worth a lot and I deserve a lot more.
Today I set my foot down,
I will not take it any more.
Yes, I am an ugly girl but I am also much more."






Saturday, April 11, 2015

Thoughts that keep me moving!!


  • Why be unhappy about something,If it can be remedied? And what is the use of being unhappy about something,If it cannot be remedied?- Dalai Lama
  • What goes around, comes back around.
  • Revenge is for fools, Karma takes care of all.( an interpretation of #2)
  • Whatever happens, happens for some hidden good.
  • Destiny is an if else statement triggered by our actions. So both destiny and action matter. the only thing you can control is the input. Focus on your actions. (Coder jargons)
  • When in a situation, feel it and let it pass. You don't laugh twice on the same joke, why cry over the same thing again.(Inspired by an awesome book-Tuesdays with Morrie-Mitch Albom)
  • life is not about how hard you hit, it is about how hard you can get hit and keep moving.- Rocky Balboa.
  • The whole universe is in your head. What you believe, will come true, so think good.( No, you cannot get Megan Fox)
  • You become strong, when you have no other option.
  • All of us, without exceptions, are born winners because we took birth. PERIOD .
  • You become a fool the moment you are scared of being a fool. Errors are a proof your code has started executing. You just need to focus on the error lines now. (ANother coder jargon)
  • Winners are simply willing to do what losers won't and that's trying(read on a guy's t-shirt in gym)
  • Patience with others is love, patience with self is hope and patience with God is faith- Adel Bestavros.
  • Under every grief and pine- runs a joy with silken twine.
  • Never stop questioning.
  • Friday, October 17, 2014

    LONGING

    Just long to see the raindrops on your brow,
    skidding down to the place where my love grows,
    those caressing hands, those prying eyes,
    those loving hugs, those adorable lies.

    that feeling of having you around
    heals every pain, every wound.
    those moving acts of  compassion and care,
    those miles of eyes to stare.

    the loving things you'd say to me
    that would add all the sparkle and glee.
    those flowing hair in the breeze,
    and on my arm, that gentle mild squeeze.

    Just long to feel those eyes on me,
    Looking out of corners to catch a glimpse of me.
    those caressing hands, those prying eyes,
    those loving hugs, those adorable lies.