It's amazing how kids develop their sense of personal taste at a very young age. My younger one rides with me to his day care everyday. I have a bunch of cd's I play over and over. My little one is very specific about what songs he wants in each and every CD. If I happen to put a song he doesn't like, he just screams. In fact looking back, My first one also used to be the same way. Amazing how they develop their own likings at such an young age.
There are some people that work very less but make a big deal out the small work they have done. On the other hand there are people who work extremely hard but remain quiet and not show off.
Extremely hard working people somehow shine through and get rewarded most of the time. But what really bugs me is when these insincere people who don’t do much, but make a mountain out of a mole hill, also get recognized.
One lesson that such things teach us is the fact that there should be a good balance between working hard and at the same time making higher authorities aware that you are doing it. So there is nothing wrong in being a little bit of a boaster as long as you have the work to back it up.
Of course working hard will reap its own benefits. But doing both will reap such benefits a little quicker than the other way.
There may be times when the ‘other’ kind will go up faster than you. When that happens, I think it’s a sign that you are not under a good management. That'll be the time to seek the alternative, when possible, instead of being bogged down and depressed. It’s a big wide world out there. We should just move on.
What do you think?
I am a big fan of drinking Hot Milk with a pinch of turmeric in it. More than the medicinal value, I like it for it's taste. FYI, Turmeric is said to have high anti inflammatory properties.
Do you know who else likes to mix turmeric with milk? Our little Master. I was pleasantly surprised to read this in NDTV.com.
Now I guess there is no reason for me to feel weird when I drink this.
One thing I have observed about me over a long period of time is the fact that I work in phases. I seem to be too enthused about something during a certain period of time and then totally ignore it after that period of time. This has been true in almost everything in my life. I guess that's true with this blog too. I have ignored it for too long now and I think I should jump into the mix of things. I can give the usual excuses that most offer, that I have been very busy in my personal and work life. Even though there is some truth to it, I guess I could spend a few minutes every week on this blog. So I guess I am back again. Look for more of my ramblings in future.
There is this cost saving initiative to conserve power at work. So the employees are very diligent in switching off the restroom lights before they leave when there is no one else in the restrooms. But every now and then some careless team members just switch off the light and leave, not minding to see whether there is someone else in the restrooms. This really puts you off if you are the one sitting in a dark rest room. This happened to me once today and I realized how irritating it is.I think they should install those automatic sensors. That is the best way to deal with these careless people.
It’s always better to take decisions thinking about its long term implications rather than making it based on your current situation. I am sure most people must have encountered stressful situations at work or other places which may have made them think that they should just quit and move on.
The most important thing to do in such a situation is to control your anger and then think about the long term implications of it rather than making a decision in a fit of anger/stress. If you think about it, there is no guarantee that such situations will not arise in the other place we move out to. So we should always have this in mind before we make decisions.
I am not saying that you should ignore what’s happening around you. But make sensible moves to avert the current crisis especially if the long term perspective of what you have is good.
What do you think?It is true that sometimes your personality overrides everything you do. You are almost always judged based on your personality if you are too bombastic in your actions. For some reason there is a perception in our minds that big doers are generally not pompous in their actions. Even though this is not essentially true, this I think is a great example of how prejudiced we are in some common situations.
One thing I have noticed is that if someone gives an advice that is contradictory to a popular belief, they are usually booed out. There is this guy Robert Kiyosaki, who writes in the financial section at Yahoo. He almost always writes a column suggesting how it is dumb to invest long term in Stock Markets and rather beneficial to invest in Real Estate and Precious metals. If you look at the comments to his article, most people just make fun of his assessments. Another glaring historical example I can think of is Galileo. We all know what happened to him when he opposed the popular belief at that time that Earth is the center of the universe and not sun.
I think it’s tough to think beyond years and years of beliefs/ideas implanted in our minds. If somebody comes up with a contradictory idea, we are almost always, not very welcoming of that idea. Even if our common sense tells us that the other person might be correct, we still prefer to go with our ingrained belief and ideologies. If not for this inexplicable odd behavior in us, people would have been able to look beyond religions, faith and bad principles and live a happy and harmonious life.
Most people must have read about Arun Nayar – Liz Hurley wedding and how grand they are. Also most of you must have heard about Lakshmi Mittal’s daughters wedding and many other Indian big shot weddings. One thing I don’t understand is why are Indians so obsessed with extravagant weddings?
Some people always speak out in the meeting even if they don't have anything meaningful to convey. I don’t mind people expressing their opinions as long as they have something genuinely good to say. But some people do it just for the sake of showing their presence in a meeting. They back up their ideas with very little facts. These people eventually end up looking like clowns.
I have come across lots of such people and it always amazes me how they can be like that and how they don’t change even after many insults.
Have you come across people like that?
Once you begin to strongly believe in something, you just can’t look outside the box. There is this person I know who is a staunch believer in her/his beliefs. The person is so staunch that he/she began questioning my beliefs. So I told the person that no matter how hard I try to prove to you that there is always other perspective to everything, you’ll just not accept it or take it because you strongly believe that you are right.
This I think is the main reason for all the chaos in the world. Every religion/political parties/individual etc. thinks that their way of life is right. Those who strongly believe in their faith just cannot accept that there could be a better alternative. There are some who just shun others who don’t believe in their faith, and others who are rebellious to insist on others that their way of life is right. If people become rebellious and insist that their way of life is right, then it becomes a problem for the society.
What do you think?
I saw this AD on TV yesterday which ended with a caption ‘Don’t almost give, GIVE’.
I think it’s true that whenever most of us hear or see something bad happening to people around the world, we have this initial reaction or thought that we should somehow help those affected. If we don’t react to our initial response and act then and there, somehow the enthusiasm diminishes off as days go on. Hence mostly we end up not helping those in need.
This has happened personally with me lots of times and this ad really made me think.
We went shopping today at Meijer retail store and went to a self check out lane.For those who don't know, self checkout lanes are lanes where people use a computer system to checkout without a humans help. As we were about to check out we overheard a couple talking. This couple had less than 5 items and the man wanted to use the self checkout lane to checkout. But the woman did not want to do it. She said that she would not use anything that replaces humans and that she would only checkout on a lane serviced by humans. The man said that she was nuts and went ahead and used the self checkout.
But it surely was very interesting the way that woman felt. I guess she must have some kind of bad experience in life with technology replacing human's job.
I heard that one of the big car spare parts companies is opening up a factory employing 700 people. The CEO was saying that 10 years back he would have needed 3000 employees to do the same thing and how tech improvement has cut down the company’s SG&A costs. We definitely have come a long way in the last 2 decades.
What do you feel about technology replacing Humans?I always wonder what drives people to do things that could potentially cost their life. I was watching a program on discovery yesterday where they were showing people attempting to climb Mount Everest. According to the report the climbers know that there is a very high risk for them to die. But they still go ahead and do it. Some die and some are successful.
Regular humans do not usually try to pursue something like that. I guess you got to have an extra special courage and a totally different mindset to attempt to do something like that. Whenever I see programs like that it always makes me wonder how some people can be so bold and daring.
I guess these are people who don’t want Normal ordinary life. At the end of their life they want to say that they tried to do something different and daring than others. I think it’s more of a personality thing than anything else.
What do you think?
Whenever I am in the check out aisle of any retail store, one thing that captures my eye is the headlines that appear in those B rated magazines that lie on the shelf. They almost always come up with eye popping headlines. I saw one yesterday where they said that Laura Bush has hired Divorce Lawyers to consider divorcing George Bush. Headlines like these are so catchy that you almost feel like buying it. But once you buy it and look inside, you’ll see that it is some kind of a fake headline designed to capture people’s attention.
People have this insatiable longing for gossips. When I used to live in India, I always see people gossiping about one thing or the other especially when they are in a group. In fact when my mom was here with me in US, she once remarked that life is very boring here without gossips. Celebrities I am sure go through hell because of such gossips.
Media like the one’s I mentioned above make use of human’s fallibility for gossip for their own monetary gains. This is the main reason why the so called B rated media have managed to stay in business so long and they will continue to do so.
What do you think?
I was watching an old TV sitcom yesterday (‘Roseanne’) where they were discussing about how the ‘Power to Believe’ could make wonders happen. In this episode a premature baby struggles for life and Doctors give up hope. So they talk about looking at alternate means to help the baby out like Reiki etc… They even quote that in India sick people take a dip in some holy rivers with the belief that it would cure their sickness and it miraculously does some times. One of the characters says to the mom that if you believe that the baby will survive, it surely will. Pretty serious stuff for a sitcom I guess. But the message behind it is very powerful.
I totally believe in the ‘Power of belief’. We some how have this power of controlling spiritually what happens to us physically. Most of us don’t realize it. This is applicable for things that are within humans reach. This doesn’t mean that you can walk on water if you believe you can. It's always important to think positive and believe that you can achieve whatever it is you want.It’s only those who really work hard and believe that they can be successful, turn out successful. Even during times of failure, they believe that they can achieve their goal. So believing in ourselves is very important.
What do you think?
There are different kinds of helpers.
1. Some people help others with the hope that others will reciprocate when situation arises.
2. There are some who help with no expectations.
3. There are some who don’t help others and don’t take help from others.
4. There are some who help others but very shy to take help from others.
I think the first kind is most common in our society. Number 2 is very rare.
What kind of a helper are you?
Have you noticed that some people work with so much passion? I went to the cafeteria today for my breakfast and one thing I noticed was that the lady working there was working hard to make sure that she pleases everybody’s palate. She had to serve lot of people and she did so with the same amount of passion, enthusiasm and detail. On the other hand I have seen some people who work in the same cafeteria doing their job as if it was imposed on them.
I think it’s very important for everybody to enjoy their work. I understand that some people, even if they don’t enjoy what they do, continue doing what they do because of different circumstances. But if possible they should move on.
What do you think?
One bad thing about being shy is that it could be mistaken for arrogance. This will especially be true if you are very successful and better than the person judging you. I remember the interview of one of the Indian cricket player who suddenly shot to fame in the last couple of years – Dhoni. In one of his interview he remarked that he is a very shy individual and now that he is very successful, if he still remains shy and stays away from people, he is being considered arrogant and strong headed.
This happens to me very often (Even though I am not even close to being popular as Dhoni!). I am a kind of person who doesn’t voluntarily go and talk to others. It requires a few meetings for me to get comfortable and talk to them. So people sometimes had mistaken my shyness for arrogance. Sometimes when I don’t call somebody and talk to some relatives of mine back in India, they think that I am very arrogant and strong headed.
I guess this is something where I should strive to strike a balance. What do you think?
This is a true incident that one of my family members wanted me to post. This woman went to a salon shop along with her daughter. The daughter was a minor and she was asked by the salon professional if she wanted some extra services other than what she was doing right now. Obviously those services were expensive and the salon professional was trying to get it done without the consent of the mother who was going to pay for it. When the mother interfered saying that she does not need it, the salon professional asked her to shut up and started to try to convince the daughter. In fact she even told the mother she can report to whomever she wants to and that she doesn’t care. The mother obviously got angry and I guess they walked out of the salon.
What would you have done in this situation?
