My Amsterdam experience

After writing about my Paris experience it becomes imparative to write about Amsterdam experience. Myself and Rashi, we both feel that we should have spent some more days in Amsterdam than in Paris. After 4 days, stay in Paris was becoming  monotonous. If we knew, how beautiful is Amsterdam outskirts (mind you, I didnt say Amsterdam city) we would have saved more days to stay there. Anyways, here are my thoughts about the city.

Things I liked most about Amsterdam

1. Serenity and excitement live together here. Some areas like red light district and the place around Dam Square are full of activity, action and night life. Rest of the city is quiet and calm, all during the day and night
2. City has tilted buildings. Some tilt side ways and some forward. They say, buildings turn side ways because of fault in the foundation, as the area was a swamp earlier. Buildings are constructed to tilt forward because the staircase of houses in Amsterdam are very narrow. To lift big articles each building has a pully in front and due to the forward tilt articles do not hit the wall or window while being pulled. 
3. Walking  around the city just like that for no reason along with the canals is relaxing
4. Free walking tour is good, not because it is free. It covers good part of Amsterdam. You can give any amount as tip as per your wish. These guys are really good and try to make the tour as interesting as possible. But I guess it depends upon the people in the group as well
5. When in Amsterdam, a visit to Heineken Brewery is must. Visiting the brewery was one of the best experiences I had in this whole trip and ofcourse 5 pints of beer added to the pleasure
6. Windmills, wooden shoe factory and eating fresh fish in the fishing village is something not to be missed.
7. The outskirts of Amsterdam is beautiful. Given an opportunity if I visit Amsterdam again, I will choose not to go to the city but tour the places around Amsterdam.
8.  The RGV bus service is excellent and dot on time. The bus drivers are very courteous and try to help passengers with information even if it requires extra effort. Kudos to you guys
9. No doubt the red light district is HOT and grabs a lot of attention
10. Coffee Houses again entice lot of people. But it didnt attract us more than the beauty of Amtserdam city
11. The New Hampshire Hotel is beautifully located. I wish I can stay there for 5 to 10 days and relax. However, not all the things are good with the hotel. My neck and shoulder pained for 1 week after coming back to Dubai due to poor quality mattress of the hotel. Please read further down about Hampshire experience.

Things I didn't like about Amsterdam

1. Food is a big problem. There is no authentic Dutch food. Therefore, in Netherland you eat Chinese, Turkish, Thai, Mexican or Indian food. I am surprised and cannot still believe it. Only good  food I ate in Amsterdam, was the hot omlette and toast at Information Centre opposite Central Station upon arrival for a reasonable price
2. People in Amsterdam are rude. I didn't feel it in Paris but in Amtserdam it is visible and can be felt. It happened in Central Station where the officer on the information desk didn't even look at me while he was gossiping with his colleague. The receptionist in New Hampshire Hotel was also  rude.  She chose not to  look at us for more than 5 minutes as if we didnt exist . Further to that, she gave us a room in the other end of the hotel building. After walking 10 minutes even before we could reach back, I come back and asked her to change the room. She made some fuss but then she gave the room. Come on lady! you could have done it in the first time itself. Then we told her to wake us up in the morning. Again!!! no prize to guess, she didnt do that either. 
3. Firstly you should never take a full day guided tour. It becomes very tiring and after some time you stop enjoying it. We took full day Viator tour. First half was excellent. We went to see wind mills, fishing village (had very tasty fish there) and then to wooden shoe factory passing through beautiful houses. But in second half we were driven for 1 and half hour to Hague and there we were shown various embassy buildings from outside. Come on!!! Get a life. We havent travelled to Amsterdam from Dubai to see embassy buildings?
4.  You cannot distinguish between residents and tourists. There is no Paris like distinction. Here tourists are better dressed than residents

Well as I said earlier, I would like to visit Amsterdam again. It is amazingly beautiful.

My Paris experience

We had a short 5 day trip to Paris before heading to Amsterdam. We stayed in Paris from 22/10/2010 to 26/10/2010. We chose to stay in a rented apartment in Monmarte district, rather than in a hotel because of price factor. It was a wise choice. Here are the few things that I really felt about Paris.

Things I liked most about Paris 

1. Most of the people of Paris are very nice and helpful, very much opposite to the wide spread notion and what was told to me about them. Many a times, they came help us, without even asking. I was really impressed.
2. The girls in Paris are very always nicely dressed. The best part was that everyone, male or females, were wearing black or grey jacket/coat. Tourists can be distinctly identified with their colourful jackets unlike most Parisans. Myself and Rashi were wearing blood red jackets
3. There are no flies in Paris. May be that is the reason all the restaurants have open seating area, where people enjoy their food, coffee or wine all the time
4. Transport in Paris is excellent and no one can be lost if learns the trick
5. You can drink beer at any time of the day and any where without restriction
6. In boulangeries you can get very fresh breakfast. We used to have breakfast in Cloquet boulangerie close to our appartment. This place was fully managed by nice cheerful girls. What I liked most about having breakfast here the coffee/hot chocolate served in big soup bowl. I really loved it
7. For budget travellers, rented appartments are always better choice than hotel
8. There is a kind of youthful positive energy in the atmosphere. So many young people hang out in restaurants and pubs every evening.
9. Moulin Rouge show is exceptionally beautiful and must see for all Paris visitors. Despite it being topless dance it is not at all obscene.
10. In Versailles, I really enjoyed the musical fountains, roasted potatoes of Mister Potatoes in front of Marie Antoinette's apartments. Biking around the Versailles is a very lovely and memorable experience.
11. The view of Paris from Sacre Coeur basilica in Montmartre is lovely. Infact, I liked the walk on the road in Montmartre where lot of artists sit. We heard/read that tourists can be cheated there, so we chose to avoid the shops there.
12. Eiffle Tower is a majestic metal artifact.I was amazed thinking of the kind of mental and physical effort put by the people behind to erect it in those days.
13. You must buy the tickets in advance before travelling. This saves from long queues everywhere. 
14. A lot of information is available on net for anyone to research and plan the trip to Paris   
15. The paintings in Louvre museum are amazingly beautiul. Hall # 6 has Monalisa. But there are many paintings, many of them nearly 500 year old that are restored and kept here.
16. Feeding the bird in fron of Notre Dame is another once in life time experience.

Things that I didn't like about Paris

1. I was always worried about the stale food except in boulangeries. It is always very likely that they will simply warm the stale food lying in their freezers and serve you.
2. You get bored in Paris after 4 days when you have seen most of the monuments and places. This happens when you have less time and want to cover only major places. On the contrary, if you have plenty of time in hand, you can choose to see each place at your leisure and you will not even come to know where you spent your 15 days in Paris.

Dominating colleague

Many a times it happens when you work too hard, do all the dirty work and when it comes to reaping the benefits, someone else, junior or at par to you, will come and start throwing his clout.

This is what happening with me at the moment. I am working on a project and there is an account manager for this project. Ofcourse, he is an important person as he brought this account and he knows the key decision makers for a longer time than I do. There are commercial decisions he can take, which I cannot take. But, that doesn't mean I have to be sidelined. I go to customer site every day driving 200 kms one way, sit with customer project team and ensure the vendor team is working. In between this gentleman will jump in, at his own will and start showing as if he is running the show. I cannot take it for too long. But at the same time, I want to handle it in a professional way.

I have two objectives. 

1. Finish the project successfully and on time
2. Don't let anyone overshadow my work

To meet the first objective, I would do following - 

1. Keep adequate pressure on the vendor and make sure he finishes the work on time and with quality
2. Make sure all the issues are discussed regularly

Well, I have been doing it so far and I will continue to do it in future.

For the second objective, I would do following - 

1. I will reveal bare minimum information with this gentleman. As he is using my information and showing it as his own information. Or at times, he finds what is missing in my information builds his case to take all the credit
2. All my communication will be in written so that everyone knows the source of it.

Is there any better way to do it? Advise.

Crazy things

I was thinking, what crazy things I did in past, which when I recall bring smile on my face? If I have to name few of them, then what will be those?

1. Driving my saloon car off road and then sending message to Mohammed Al Falasi, my deputy CEO to pull it out of sand (happened some 2 weaks back). Thank god he was around in town and saw my call and sms.
2. Walking with Rashi (my wife) in red light district of Amsterdam and ogling at those scantily clad females who were standing behind the glass panes.
3. Smoking weed in a coffee shop in Amsterdam. However, it didnt excite me much. Being a non smoker and I couldnt inhale the smoke properly and ended up coughing.
4.  Running from Karama to Dubai Marina (approx 35 km) early in the morning on a Friday. Waking up Bhaskar (my friend) who was sleeping after a late night booze party, to cook large breakfast for me and take me back to Karama.
5. When  I was nearly 8 year old, I sneaked from the toilet into our house, to get my cricket equipment as my father was in his office and my mom had gone to temple. My father was very angry on me later on.
6.  Around the sametime, I along with my elder sister Meeta were going to school (Children's corner), when we saw a helicopter flying overhead. I don't know why I felt that it was a toy and I can grab it. I stood on the boundry wall of Upper Club (people who lived in Mukteshwar might know this place) for more than 20 minutes to catch it. Eventually we were late to school and Singh Aunty (head mistress) gave me sound beating.

Sometime, it is good to do crazy things without any fear of what people will think and for no logical reason.

The Hindu : Today's Paper / BUSINESS : Smart sourcing is the new game

The Hindu : Today's Paper / BUSINESS : Smart sourcing is the new game

Indian Rupee Symbol

It was a very pleasant feeling for me as this was the first time I saw Rupee Symbol being used while business discussion and with great ease as if it had always existed.

This happened when I was in Dhaka, Bangladesh, two weeks back. I was sitting in the office of our business contact Mr Matin, who has several business interests the country. While I was waiting for him to drive me to a meeting with the government officials, there was another person in his office visiting him from India for another line of business. Though, due to basic mannerism, I do not like to overhear a business conversation, which doesnt involve me, the discussion was very conspicuous for me to over look. The Indian visitor was quoting some prices by writing them down in a piece of paper to a manager from Mr Matin's office. While doing so, this visitor was writing the Rupee Symbol against the price quoted, which really impressed me, what impressed me more, the way his Bangladeshi counter part accepted the usage of the symbol without a question.

This was my first encounter of seeing Indian Rupee Symbol going global. 

Lets Dream

After a long gap, more than a year, I decided to give my speech in the toastmasters. It is not that I didn't attempt giving the speech and writing good script. However, every time I sat to write the speech  thoughts were not flowing and I used to leave the draft in the midway, till I committed to deliver the speech on 6th Sep to give the speech on 8th Sep. I sat down on 6th and 7th to write the speech.

The objective of Project 6 is to use vocal variety to make a point. Besides this my personal objective was to make the speech sound natural, conversational and deliver it without memorizing it. Therefore, instead of writing the complete draft I chose to write the speech in power point and with bullet points.

I won the best speaker award. Please find the speech below.

Why the heads are rolling from all sides?

Organizations face tough time in lifespan of their business. These days it doesn't even surprise anyone hearing story of such an organization. Every second organization, irrespective of its nature of business, is facing tight business scenario at the moment. Our organization is no different. 

Irrespective differences in nature of business, the approach to deal with tough time is usually common across all the businesses. The first thing that happens is downsizing of resources.  In our organization as well at the moment, heads are rolling, most of them involuntarily and some voluntarily foreseeing the uncertain future that lies ahead.

In my perspective, downsizing portrays the weakness of the organizational leadership, in more than one ways. It is an impulsive decision making rather than thoughtful cognitive decision making.

Nearsighted management - When the organization starts retrenching its staff abruptly, without any prior warning or giving out signs of its inclination to do so, that means management was sitting like a lame duck, unaware of what is happening around, waiting for disaster to happen and then take firefighting measures which in this case means ruthlessly sacking of resources. 

Hoarding extra mass - Is there a need for management to retrench resources in first place? If there is, it means organization was always in trouble. It had always been carrying financial burden of these extra resources all this long, making them part of disaster the organization is struck with.

When we club above two points, we draw following conclusion - 

1. Knowledgeable and foresighted management always knows the importance of lean organization. It maintains right resource balance in the organization.

2. It doesn't allow unwanted and extra resources in the organization, which it would end up sacking. 

Cost cutting versus Cost reduction

To me cost cutting is the last resort for an organization to consider. 

In many organizations, specially from service industry, resource costs, which means the salaries, are the highest organization spending. When a services organization faces adversities, in most cases, it targets to reduce its expense in salaries given out. 

Where as the facts may be contrary to it. For an example, it is possible that the salaries they are paying may not be burdening the organization. It may be the cost of stationary that organization is consuming is very much high. If organization switches to paperless office it might reduce the cost drastically. 

I advocate that the cost reduction should always be a high priority of the organization. Management should periodically be asking  - where the organization is spending. Is there an alternative to it? 

If an organization is operating in low cost environment, it will always be in a healthy state when other businesses are beleaguered with adverse environmental factors. Besides that it will make the organization more agile to adapt itself to market situation.

Toastmaster

It started nearly 2 decades back, I was studying in class 7th of Beersheba Senior Secondary School, Haldwani, India, when I decided to come out of shadow of my very gifted and admired sister Meeta. She was melody queen of the school, loved by all the teachers and students for her academic, drama and singing skills. 

On the contrary, I was an unknown or occasionally known as timid and sulking Meeta's brother with no identity of my own. 

But, then in my little mind I had decided I will sing a song in front of school assembly during the celebration of Independence Day, 15th August. I was discouraged and laughed at about the though of the idea itself. Only my mother encouraged me. She heard my repeated rehearsals while my sister was coached by school's music teacher.

I sang in front of 1500 students, with my leg shivering and my voice quivering, the complete song. Heads were moving around and no one focusing on me and my song. Musicians couldn't cope up with my rhythm so stopped playing along. At the end I got the customary applause. 

While boarding the bus back home, my class teacher Ms Vandana Pandey said - "Hemanshu, you sang very well". That made my day. Today I am glad I did something that which only few out of 1500 students could do. I decided to be different.

Thereafter nothing significant happened till, 31/07/2004. It was the farewell of Ms Samar D. Hatoum, our project manager. An outstanding person and manager, I had a chance to work with. Our CEO asked me to speak few words about her before all. I fumbled few words and that is it. It was embarrassing. I didn't like my performance.

Around that time, I met Mano Ramanathan. A wonderful person, full of knowledge and guidance. We used travel together on the bus to work, discussing history, world news and international politics.  In one of these journeys he told me about Toastmasters Club. Infact, later during the day he got me the URL of the Toastmasters Website. With in couple of weeks I joined Emirates Toastmasters Club and I am still associated with it.

As my toastmaster journey started, I was giving motivational speech to the Employees of GIT Sudan. Giving presentation to team of government officials at Dubai Land Department were never that complicated. I gave presentations for the group work in my college while doing MBA. Trained the treasurers of Division B. It was so simple.

I am still enthralled about are the two presentations I recently gave in Bangladesh. One was to the Secretary of Communication and other very senior government officials from various ministries, who applauded me for the delivery and content of my presentation.

Second presentation I gave to a Brigadier General of an Military run organization and his team of army officials who were highly impressed with the presentation.

We speak all the time but making presentations or speaking with confidence in front of large audience, that too in a manner in which your audience can relate themselves to what you are speaking is an art. You do not get it in one day but over a period of time when you speak and experiment with your speech. Toastmasters is a platform for people like me.

This is the incentive of being a Toastmaster, you learn and polish what you have with in you naturally. 

Time - untamed

I am always intrigued with the immense power of time. Since childhood we have been indoctrinated - time is the biggest healer, time never stops for anyone and like wise. 

These have been like Rule of Thumb. No matter what happens - time will heal everything. No matter what happens - time will never stop for anyone. No one can dispute these facts, rather experience them over and over again, throughout our lives.

Imagine of a person bearing similar characteristics. How powerful he can be. A person who acts as healer to all the people who believe in him. A person who keeps moving in the direction he has chosen for his life. 

Such people are leaders of our society. 

Leaders know their direction. They know the direction in which they have to go. They have a clear vision of their goals and knowledge of what must be done to achieve it. They might face pitfalls or failures. They adjust and move again.

Leaders move forward. They don't wait for right occasion, support or condition. They know their direction and that is all what they need. If someone wants to accompany them, they welcome such people. If no one believes in them, they move on their own. They ignore the negative criticism while accept positive criticism. But, they do not wait to garner support. People follow them automatically. If they don't, leaders do not mind to leave such people behind and move ahead.

Leaders have the healing touch. They help people forget their misery by helping them realize their passion. It is up to these people to join (preferably not follow) such leaders, find their own goals and achieve them. Leaders help them realize their own capabilities, exploit their own skills and become leaders on their own.

I see such characteristics in all the successful people around me. Be it president of a country or a company. Be a grocery shop owner or CEO of an oil company. All have these traits which differentiate them. Only difference is the proportion of these characteristics, one possess.

 

टिप्पड़ी - बदलते पैमाने - 1995

१९९६ की लिखी टिप्पड़ी 

वही रोज़ की आपाधापी, बसों की भीड़ के बीच अपनी जगह बनाने की कोशिश, दूध, पोस्ट ऑफिस, बैंक की लम्बी कतारें, ज़िन्दगी तो बस मदर डेरी की दूध की मशीन के सामान हो चुकी है. बस सिक्का डालो और दूध स्वतः ही गिरने लगता है. सोचता हूँ अब थोडा विश्राम करूँ. दिल्ली नगर निगम की परिधि से बहार निकलूं. जहाँ कुछ शांति हो, कुछ नया पढने को मिले, कुछ नए अनुभव हूँ.

कश्मीर जाने की बात तो नामुमकिन है. एक तो वहाँ के हालत और फिर वहां की ठण्ड सहेना मेरे बूते के बहार है. यही हाल किसी और हिल स्टेशन के होंगे.

तभी मेरे एक शुभचिंतक ने टांग अड़ाई और अपना मूल्यवान सुझाव दे डाला. वे बोलते हैं - "आज कल तिहाड़ आश्रम के बड़े चर्चे हैं. वहीँ का एक चक्कर मार आओ ". वो वहां की तारीफ के पुल बंधते चले गए - "आज कल अखबारों मैं काफी तारीफ चल रही है.सुना है बड़ा ही अच्छा माहौल है."

वो बोलते हैं - "सभी अपने अपने कामों मैं व्यस्त रहेते हैं. कुछ काम नहीं है तो लाइब्रेरी मैं ही बैठ जाओ. दो चार किताबें चाट डालो. योग और ध्यान वगेइरेह की क्लास मैं बैठो, कुछ नया सिखने का मौका मिलेगा भाई. अभी कुछ ही दिन पहेले तो केन्द्रीय खेल राज्य मंत्री मुकुल वासनिक ने वहां जार्यल स्टेडियम का उदघाटन किया है, दो चार हाथ क्रिकेट के भी हो सकते हैं. सुबह शाम भक्ति संगीत का आनंद उठाओ. बस फिर रात मैं चक्की के पिसे आटे की रोटी खाओ और चैन से सो जाओ. बस ठाट ही ठाट हैं."

आगे कहेते हैं - "अनुभव की बात तो करो ही मत. किरण बेदी जैसी अफसर के रहेते अनुभवों की कोई कमी नहीं होगी. इतने शानदार माहौल मैं कई महारथियों से मुलाकात होगी. हो सकता है तुम भी अपनी बैओग्राफी वगैरह के चक्कर मैं पद जाओ और शामिल हो जाओ कोन्त्रोवेर्सिअल लेखकों की लिस्ट मैं. बस लिख डालो एक लेख या जीवनी नमक मिर्च लगा कर के, बस फिर देखो रोज़ अखबारों मैं सचित्र लेख अपने ऊपर ".

लगातार बोले ही जा रहे थे वोह. आगे कहेते हैं - "भाई अब मुफ्त मैं खिलाने के लिए तो किरण बेदी जी तुम्हें अपने आश्रम मैं रंखेंगी नहीं. कुछ महत्वपूर्ण डिग्री भी तो लेनी पड़ेगी वहां घुसने के लिए. अगर लाइफ टाइम एंजोयमेंट चाहिए तो कोई बड़ा चक्कर चलाना पड़ेगा जैसे - क़त्ल, डकैती या फिर आजकल तो एक चाक़ू या एक पिस्तौल ही काफी है, अन्दर जाने के लिए. देखा नहीं संजय दत्त को कैसा लपेटा है. हाँ अगर शोर्ट टाइम का प्लान है तो किसी राजनितिक दल के उग्र प्रदर्शन मैं पकडे जाओ और काम हो गया. हफ्ते दस दिन के बाद बाहर आना ही है, तिहार रिटर्न की पदवी के साथ."

"भाई मेदिओक्रेस के लिए न तो हमारे समाज मैं कोई जगह हैं न ही तिहाड़ मैं. बस लाइफ टाइम या शोर्ट टाइम चलता है. पार्ट टाइम का कोइ चांस नहीं है " - और अपने प्रवचन देने के बाद वह जनाब मुझे पहेले से ज्यादा ही परेशान छोड़ कर चलते बने .    

आदमी हम भी बुरे नहीं हैं - 1995 की रचना

यह कविता लिखने की कोशिश मैंने १/१/१९९५ मैं की थी

अगर आपने मेरे दिल के कुएं मैं झांक कर एक बार देखा होता, इसमें कितनी गेहेराई है,
तब आपको मालूम पद जाता हम में कितनी अच्छाई कितनी बुराई है.
क्यों टोकते हो जब मेरी धड़कन की धुन का तुम्हें पता ही नहीं,
मुझे भी मालुम है यारो - क्या गलत है और क्या है सही.
अगर शौक है किसी ज़िन्दगी मैं झाँकने का इतना,
तो झांक कर देखो अपने दिल मैं, कुछ ज़मीर भी बाकी है की नहीं.
यह कविता है उनके लिए जिन्हें आदत है टांगअटकाने की,
बात हो छोटी सी, उसे तिल से ताड़ बनाने की.

The Secret!

In the morning, once I reached my office I called my colleague, who was still on his way to office, to follow up regarding a task, which we both are suppose to close today.  Deviating from the core issue, he excitedly shared a secret information with me. It was important and related to the latest development taking place in the organization.

Word of caution followed after every sentence - the secret shouldn't go out, no matter what.

"Alright! why not" - I said. It was important and really serious news. I took few sips of water to digest the information. Few minutes later I was pondering upon the news.

Not more than thirty minutes later another colleague passed by my seat. He had the same important yet secret news to share. Apparently whole of office had this top secret news. The best part is - no one still knows how true the news is. 

However, one thing that is confirmed again today that there cannot be a secret, if someone is sharing it with you. It shouldn't be you sharing it with anyone.

Giant company with dwarf customer service

As of November 2009, Etisalat is the 13th largest mobile network operator in the world, with a total customer base of 100 million. On January 31, 2010, Etisalat reported net revenue of USD $8.4 billion (AED 30.831 billion) and net profits of USD $2.407 billion (AED 8.836 billion).

If you are impressed with the numbers above, I would say - "Good! you haven't experienced their service yet".

It has been one month and four visits, since I have been unsuccessfully trying to disconnect my old telephone number. Everytime I visit Etisalat office, I am assured that it will cancelled and I will not have to visit their office again for this issue. Still, nothing has been done and Etisalat is billing me for this period. No wonder the net profit figure is enormous for them.

This was not enough now another battle front is opened by Etisalat against me. For the new telephone connection, for which the fee is only AED 159, I have received a bill of AED 753. How is that possible? Well, I am asking the same.

What concerns me, is the way Etisalat flaunts its wealth while having so many dissatisfied customers. Unfortunately, UAE has only two service providers. While one is still starting its operations, Etisalat is the only choice we have. We have no option but bear the poor service and keep whining about it despite paying one of the highest call charges in the world.

Numorous reasons can be sighted for such an inefficiency. However, I see following as the main -

1. Competition - In the name of competition all Etisalat has is a weak competition from Du, which is all the time struggling to even provide the network coverage to its customers. Therefore, Etisalat has nothing to worry. It still has a monopoly in the market.
2. Philosophy - is there anything bad in being profit centric organization? No, till it is after customer centric philosophy there is nothing bad being profit centric. In case of Etisalat making profit, acquiring and expanding businesses globally is the main philosophy rather than taking care of the customer. For how long Etisalat can sustain with this attitude, that has to be seen.
3. Corporate Culture - As is the philosophy, the culture prevailing in Etisalat also remains to be indifferent to the customer. I was sitting in the Etisalat for 45 minutes, while waiting for the screen the executive attending me, leaves the desk and doesnt come back for another 15 minutes. When I stand up and starting looking around for him, he come back only to tell me that he forgot that I was sitting there.

I wonder for how long Etisalat will maintain this momentum of growth without tidying its act, while I try to find some way to resolve my problems with them.

Why couples start looking like each other

I always wondered why Yadav uncle and aunty look like brother and sister. Today I got the answer -

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Life/Relationships/Man-Woman/Why-couples-start-looking-like-each-other/articleshow/6105656.cms

Stanley Allen McChrystal's Departure

General Stanley Allen McChrystal has been sacked from his position of commander of the US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. How does it matter to me? Nothing!!! It doesn't matter to me at all unless I start thinking about it from Project Management perspective.

If I was Barak Obama, the stakeholder, bearing direct impact by the outcome of Afghanistan project, would I have done same? Yes, I would have.

General  McChrystal  is a career soldier with impaccable record to have reached the position of commander of US and NATO forces. Therefore, no one can challenge his capabilities as project manager of Afghanistan project. However, there were three things that led to his removal.

One, the non alignment of vision with the primary stakeholders. If the stakeholder and project manager do not share the common vision the project is likely to fail. It happens quite often happens the project manager doesn't agree with the stakeholder's vision or the methodology. It is important to synchronize between the two.

Two, public display of disagreement with the vision and the stakeholders, negatively affects motivation and direction of the team members, in this case officers and soldiers under the command of the General.

Three, availability of a substitute. Obama has an easy option of replacing General McChrystal with General David Howell Petraeus who has a proven track record from Iraq Project. It is obvious to assume that when he delivered results in Iraq, he shares common vision with the stakeholders and he is a good project manager.

All the above reasons can have an impact on a project of any magnitude, something as small as holding a house party or running a war expedition of this magnitude.

Waiting!!!

It is really tough to wait and wait for extended period to receive the response from not so punctual collaborators.

At the moment, all four projects are awaiting response from other side. Hope they respond soon and things move.

मेरी कंप्यूटर मैं पहेली हिंदी लिखाई

मेरे को तो यह मालूम ही नहीं था की इधर हिंदी लिखना इतना आसान था. अब तो मजा आ गया. शायद अब मैं काफी कुछ और लिख पाउँगा. मैं सच मैं बड़ा ही अचंभित हूँ की ऐसा भी संभव है. एक IT प्रोफ़ेस्सिओनल होने के बावजूद मैं इस से बहुत ही प्रभावित हूँ.

Want to post something!!!

Today I am determined to write something in this blog. After a lot of conflicts I thought of copy pasting a quote by Zig Ziglar which I liked



"If you can dream it, then you can achieve it. You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want."

Aiyerisation

A very interesting piece written by Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyer (Veteran journalist) about himself. Published in The Times of India April 3, 2005.

My family and other globalisers http://www.swaminomics.org/default.htm

Swaminathan S. Anklesaria Aiyar http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swaminathan_Aiyar

In 1992, I wrote a book titled "Towards Globalisation." I did not realize at the time that this was going to be the history of my family. Last week we celebrated the wedding of my daughter, Pallavi. A brilliant student, she had won scholarships to Oxford University and the London School of Economics. In London, she met Julio, a young man from Spain. They decided to take up jobs in Beijing, China. Last week, they came over from Beijing to Delhi to get married. Their wedding guests included 70 from North America, Europe and China.

That may sound as global as it gets, but arguably my elder son Shekhar has gone further. He too won a scholarship to Oxford University, and then taught for a year at a school in Colombo. Next he went to Toronto, Canada, for higher studies. There he met a German girl, Franziska. They both got jobs in the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, USA. They constantly traveled on IMF business to disparate countries. Shekhar went to Sierra Leone, Seychelles, Kyrgyzstan and Laos. Franziska went to Rwanda, Tajikistan, and Russia. They interrupted these perambulations to get married at the end of 2003. My younger son Rustam is only 15. Presumably he will study in Australia, marry a Nigerian girl, and settle in Peru.

Some readers may think that my family was born and bred in a jet plane. The facts are more prosaic. Our ancestral home is Kargudi, a humble, obscure village in Tanjore district, Tamil Nadu. My earliest memories of it are as a house with no toilets, running water, or pukka road. When we visited, we disembarked from the train at Tanjore, and then traveled 45 minutes by bullock cart to reach the ancestral home.

My father was one of six children, all of whom produced many children (I myself had three siblings). So, two generations later, the size of the Kargudi extended family (including spouses) is over 200. Of these, only three still live in the village. The rest have moved across India and across the whole world, from China to Arabia to Europe to America. This one Kargudi house has already produced 50 American citizens.

So, dismiss the mutterings of those who claim that globalisation means westernisation. It looks more like Aiyarisation, viewed from Kargudi. What does this imply for our sense of identity? I cannot speak for the whole Kargudi clan, which ranges from rigid Tamil Brahmins to beef-eating, pizza-guzzling, hip-hop dancers.

But for me, the Aiyarisation of the world does not mean Aiyar domination. Nor does it mean Aiyar submergence in a global sea. It means acquiring multiple identities, and moving closer to the ideal of a brotherhood of all humanity. I remain quite at home sitting on the floor of the Kargudi house on a mat of reeds, eating from a banana leaf with my hands. I feel just as much at home eating noodles in China, steak in Spain, and cous-cous in Morocco. I am a Kargudi villager, a Tamilian, a Delhi-wallah, an Indian, a Washington Redskins fan, and a citizen of the world, all at the same time and with no sense of tension or contradiction.

When I see the Brihadeeswara Temple in Tanjore, my heart swells and I say to myself “This is mine.” I feel exactly the same way when I see the Church of Bom Jesus in Goa, or the Jewish synagogue in Cochin, or the Siddi Sayed mosque in Ahmedabad: these too are mine. I have strolled so often through the Parks at Oxford University and along the canal in Washington, DC, that they feel part of me. As my family multiplies and intermarries, I hope one day to look at the Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona and Rhine river in Germany and think “these too are mine.”

We Aiyars have a taken a step toward the vision of John Lennon.

Imagine there’s no country, It isn’t hard to do.

Nothing to kill or die for, And no religion too.

My father’s generation was the first to leave the village, and loosen its regional shackles. My father became a chartered accountant in Lahore, an uncle became a hotel manager in Karachi, and we had an aunt in Rangoon.

My generation loosened the shackles of religion. My elder brother married a Sikh, my younger brother married a Christian, and I married a Parsi. The next generation of my children has gone a step further. It has married across the globe.

Globalisation for me is not just the movement of goods and capital, or even of Aiyars. It is a step towards Lennon’s vision of no country. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope one day you’ll join us. And the world will be one.