In one of the famous factory in Detroit, there was an issue in the assembly line and the factory stopped because of it. The local experts tried their best and could not fix the issue. Finally they took the help of an expert from Chicago.
The expert flew from Chicago to Detroit and went through the whole assembly line. At last he stopped at one place and took a spanner from his pocket and tapped it twice on the assembly line. The whole assembly line got back into action. After a week the expert sent his bill of $ 20.000 to the company.
After paying the expert’s bill, the owner of the company rang up to thank him and asked the expert jovially, does each of your tap costs $10,000? The expert said that each tap costs $2 only. And the remaining $19.996 is for knowing where to tap.
Moral :
1. Try all possible solution to solve an existing problem
2. Do not judge a person by what they do but judge by what value they create
3. Do not charge your customer based on what you had done, but by what they gained by it
4. When you produce results, you get whatever you ask for.
5. Great People do not do different things but they do things differently
6. Tapping at the right spot at the right time by the right way matters
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Monday, October 30, 2006
Squidoo Vs Google CSE
Last year around this time, Seth Godin through his free eBook - Everyone is an Expert explained a concept which takes the help of everyone's expertise in providing more meaning to the end user in what they are searching or looking for. To provide more meaning to what people are searching or looking for, he introduced a concept called ‘Lens’. He applied this Lens concept through his project called Squidoo. People who get involved in providing meaning, do even have chance to get royalties for the work.
About 5 month ago, Google had released its new service called Google Co-op. Through this program, one can create her own Custom Search Engine based on her knowledge and interest. You can even make money (through AdSense) from the traffic generated out of the custom search engine. As always, Google has kept its high standards in it’s simplicity combined with amazing speed.
Now, there comes 2 questions:
1) Is the Google's Custom Search Engine a competition to Squidoo ? If the answer is yes, then what would happen to the Squidoo Lenses, which was originally started to provide meaning to the end users?
2) If the Google's Custom Search Engine were not competing with Squidoo, How would they compliment each other?
About 5 month ago, Google had released its new service called Google Co-op. Through this program, one can create her own Custom Search Engine based on her knowledge and interest. You can even make money (through AdSense) from the traffic generated out of the custom search engine. As always, Google has kept its high standards in it’s simplicity combined with amazing speed.
Now, there comes 2 questions:
1) Is the Google's Custom Search Engine a competition to Squidoo ? If the answer is yes, then what would happen to the Squidoo Lenses, which was originally started to provide meaning to the end users?
2) If the Google's Custom Search Engine were not competing with Squidoo, How would they compliment each other?
Sunday, October 29, 2006
A Warm Welcome!
My friend John lives 5 miles away from my house. We are close since our childhood. We used to spend more time together, until our school days. As we got settled in our careers, we had less time to spend together. However, we meet each other on every weekend (Sunday evenings), and keep ourselves updated on the current happenings. The meetings would normally last for a couple of hours, at the end, we used to feel that we had spent about a week together.
John is casual and friendly in nature. Just like me, John was also staying with a few of his associates. Every time I visit my friend's place, I receive a warm welcome from his associate(s). His associate(s) used to be bright and smiling, but never to talk to me. They rarely are inside the house. Mostly I've seen them outside the house, leaving us alone. The only exception is that during the rainy seasons, they would be found inside the house, but they left us undisturbed. I know that these associates give better comforts for John, even then he keeps them at check and changes them often.
For every 3 to 6 months, he keeps changing his associates. The associates whom I've seen 6 months ago were no longer seen. John says that it is quite normal and it is required for his better comfort. What comfort? I do not agree with him. I do not have many associates as John, and I never discard them as frequently as John does. Whenever I find that we (self & associate) are not going well, I would reduce the frequencies of our association. And that takes care of it.
Why does John fires his associates quite often? John and myself are almost similar in nature. It is only in the way we treat our associates we differ. I value my friend's opinion, so I do not debate on that. Once I started logically analysing, I found out, only one dissimilarity between us. I live in an apartment which is west facing, where as John's apartment is east facing. Having identified this reason, I thought what John does is right.
PS: Did'nt I say that associates refer to the inner garments?
John is casual and friendly in nature. Just like me, John was also staying with a few of his associates. Every time I visit my friend's place, I receive a warm welcome from his associate(s). His associate(s) used to be bright and smiling, but never to talk to me. They rarely are inside the house. Mostly I've seen them outside the house, leaving us alone. The only exception is that during the rainy seasons, they would be found inside the house, but they left us undisturbed. I know that these associates give better comforts for John, even then he keeps them at check and changes them often.
For every 3 to 6 months, he keeps changing his associates. The associates whom I've seen 6 months ago were no longer seen. John says that it is quite normal and it is required for his better comfort. What comfort? I do not agree with him. I do not have many associates as John, and I never discard them as frequently as John does. Whenever I find that we (self & associate) are not going well, I would reduce the frequencies of our association. And that takes care of it.
Why does John fires his associates quite often? John and myself are almost similar in nature. It is only in the way we treat our associates we differ. I value my friend's opinion, so I do not debate on that. Once I started logically analysing, I found out, only one dissimilarity between us. I live in an apartment which is west facing, where as John's apartment is east facing. Having identified this reason, I thought what John does is right.
PS: Did'nt I say that associates refer to the inner garments?
The Old Lady and the Fire
Long long ago, so long ago, nobody knew how long ago, there lived an Old Lady in a small village. The old lady was staying alone and was managing her work by herself. She used to get up early every morning, before anyone in the village could get up.
In those days there were no match boxes or lighters to create fire. Rubbing two firestones to create fire was the known way. Since the old lady gets up earlier, she used to be first person to create fire in the whole village. For the sake of convenience, the neighbours used to light their piece of wood from the old lady. But nobody would thank the old lady.
This was a cause of concern for the old lady. She thought about it for a long time. One day she thought that she would quietly vacate the village and move into a new village. She thought that since she is not there to create fire, the whole village would get affected and would understand her value. Also thought that nobody would cook their food. So, on one fine morning, the old lady moved out of the village.
After several months, the old lady came back to the village and was shocked. Much to her disappointment, the village was functioning normal. Everone in the village was as happy as they used to be. Every house prepared their food. The old lady felt bad about herself and returned back to the village and continued to stay there happily. And from the next day onwards her neighbours started lighting their fire from the old lady's house.
Moral:
In those days there were no match boxes or lighters to create fire. Rubbing two firestones to create fire was the known way. Since the old lady gets up earlier, she used to be first person to create fire in the whole village. For the sake of convenience, the neighbours used to light their piece of wood from the old lady. But nobody would thank the old lady.
This was a cause of concern for the old lady. She thought about it for a long time. One day she thought that she would quietly vacate the village and move into a new village. She thought that since she is not there to create fire, the whole village would get affected and would understand her value. Also thought that nobody would cook their food. So, on one fine morning, the old lady moved out of the village.
After several months, the old lady came back to the village and was shocked. Much to her disappointment, the village was functioning normal. Everone in the village was as happy as they used to be. Every house prepared their food. The old lady felt bad about herself and returned back to the village and continued to stay there happily. And from the next day onwards her neighbours started lighting their fire from the old lady's house.
Moral:
- Irespective of your presence, the world continues to function as is
- Thanks are not to be demanded but earned
- Lessons are not to be taught but to be learned
Acute Angle
When a disagreement between two people becomes a discussion, we call it an Argument. Over a period of time, we have accumulated lot of prejudices. It is these prejudices along with our logical thinking ability urges us to get involved into an argument. Argument is like a fire. If we keep feeding, it grows bigger and bigger. Rather, if you stop feeding, it would extinguish by itself. Why not argue? Why should I avoid it? I'm I not supposed to express my disagreement? How to avoid arguments?
You can never win an argument. Ideally there is nothing in this universe that is wrong or right. Everything is subject to the relativity of individual's perception. And perception is reality. A result of an argument is purely based on the net speaking ability of the individuals involved. When you lose in an argument, you lose. But when you win, still you lose. By winning an argument you lose the goodwill of the opponent. Each individual is unique, so also their ideas and thinking. So, it is not correct to prove something or someone wrong.
According to Buddha, 'Hatred is, indeed, never appeased by hatred in this world. It is appeased only by loving-kindness'. The only way to get the best out of an argument is to avoid it. To substantiate something right, it is not necessary to prove something or somebody is wrong. Everything has got its merits and demerits. Instead of working on the demerits of something, we can work on the merits. So, focus on the positives. Remember, arguments are short-lived than relationships. It is ok to lose an argument and retain the relationship for life time.
Each and everyone is free to express her disagreement. But when trying to arrive at conclusions, it leads to an argument. How to avoid arguments? Whenever there is a disagreement and even if you know for sure that you are right, save your opponent's face. Look out for the areas of agreement and highlight it. Honestly admit that you may also be wrong and tell the opponent 'let us examine'. If this method does not work, postpone the action, and this can do the trick.
If you want, you can avoid argument. Assume you are arguing with a person whom you consider to be more knowledgeable than you. Since the person know more than you, why not save her face. Proving you are right is not going to make you more knowledgeable. Assume you are arguing with a person whom you consider to be less knowledgeable than you. Since the person knows less than you, it is not logical to expect your opponent to appreciate and understand to your point. Proving you are right is not going to do good for you. What about the case, where you are arguing with someone who is as knowledgeable as you? Here again, you can avoid the argument. Since you agree that the person knows as much as you know, there exists 50% possibility of the other person being right. So why not save her face and stop arguing. It is only the time, which can concludes who is right and who is wrong. Still, for many cases, you might not know, whether it is right or wrong? These are called the indicibles. Hence it is prudent to leave a disagreement as a mere opinion without indulging in an argument.
You can never win an argument. Ideally there is nothing in this universe that is wrong or right. Everything is subject to the relativity of individual's perception. And perception is reality. A result of an argument is purely based on the net speaking ability of the individuals involved. When you lose in an argument, you lose. But when you win, still you lose. By winning an argument you lose the goodwill of the opponent. Each individual is unique, so also their ideas and thinking. So, it is not correct to prove something or someone wrong.
According to Buddha, 'Hatred is, indeed, never appeased by hatred in this world. It is appeased only by loving-kindness'. The only way to get the best out of an argument is to avoid it. To substantiate something right, it is not necessary to prove something or somebody is wrong. Everything has got its merits and demerits. Instead of working on the demerits of something, we can work on the merits. So, focus on the positives. Remember, arguments are short-lived than relationships. It is ok to lose an argument and retain the relationship for life time.
Each and everyone is free to express her disagreement. But when trying to arrive at conclusions, it leads to an argument. How to avoid arguments? Whenever there is a disagreement and even if you know for sure that you are right, save your opponent's face. Look out for the areas of agreement and highlight it. Honestly admit that you may also be wrong and tell the opponent 'let us examine'. If this method does not work, postpone the action, and this can do the trick.
If you want, you can avoid argument. Assume you are arguing with a person whom you consider to be more knowledgeable than you. Since the person know more than you, why not save her face. Proving you are right is not going to make you more knowledgeable. Assume you are arguing with a person whom you consider to be less knowledgeable than you. Since the person knows less than you, it is not logical to expect your opponent to appreciate and understand to your point. Proving you are right is not going to do good for you. What about the case, where you are arguing with someone who is as knowledgeable as you? Here again, you can avoid the argument. Since you agree that the person knows as much as you know, there exists 50% possibility of the other person being right. So why not save her face and stop arguing. It is only the time, which can concludes who is right and who is wrong. Still, for many cases, you might not know, whether it is right or wrong? These are called the indicibles. Hence it is prudent to leave a disagreement as a mere opinion without indulging in an argument.
Pureit - Marketing Ploys
HINDUSTAN Lever Ltd (HLL) has recently launched a water purifier named Pureit. It basically treats the water at different ways to get a pure water (free from germs, bacteria and chemicals) to drink. It costs about Rs. 1500.
Though the product is cool and cost effective, there is a hidden marketing ploy from HLL Marketing Team. All the parts used in the Pureit are mechanical parts.
Ploy 1 : Attached is the image of the front panel, where there are indications of some leds. Basically this gives a feel that there are electronical parts involved in the device. Which projects a better ROI for the money being invested
Ploy 2 : This is to support the above illusion created by the HLL marketing Team. All the brouchures and manual of the Pureit refers "Germ kill Battery Kit". From the name it sounds that there are some electronical parts involved. Actually in reality, all the parts involved in this Germ Kill Battery Kit are mechanical only.
Since Pureit is good and does what is intended, I'm happy with it's performance so far. Infact it cost effective too. But I did not like this Marketing ploy mentioned above. Even if this marketing ploy were not used, still the sales of Pureit would have been the same. But could not guess the reason for this?
Though the product is cool and cost effective, there is a hidden marketing ploy from HLL Marketing Team. All the parts used in the Pureit are mechanical parts.
Ploy 1 : Attached is the image of the front panel, where there are indications of some leds. Basically this gives a feel that there are electronical parts involved in the device. Which projects a better ROI for the money being invested
Ploy 2 : This is to support the above illusion created by the HLL marketing Team. All the brouchures and manual of the Pureit refers "Germ kill Battery Kit". From the name it sounds that there are some electronical parts involved. Actually in reality, all the parts involved in this Germ Kill Battery Kit are mechanical only.
Since Pureit is good and does what is intended, I'm happy with it's performance so far. Infact it cost effective too. But I did not like this Marketing ploy mentioned above. Even if this marketing ploy were not used, still the sales of Pureit would have been the same. But could not guess the reason for this?
The Sage and the small Boy
Once there lived a sage in a small village. Whatever the sage advices people followed. So, people from far of distance use to visit the sage with their naughty child, wife, husband, brother, sister to get advice from the sage.
Mary was living in the next village. She was worried about her son Mark's habbit of eating more sweets. She had warned Mark about this, but he does not seem to hear his mother's words. Through neighbours, Mary came to know about the sage and his power.
On one fine day, Mary took her son Mark to the sage. Mary complained about her son's habbit to the sage. The sage, after thinking about this for a couple of minutes asked Mary and Mark to visit him after 10 days.
Mary was waiting for the completion of 10 days. Exactly on the 11th day, she took her son to the sage. She reminded the sage about the complaint. The sage looked at Mark, with a confident voice, he said - "Son! stop eating sweets". Mark nodded. Both the mother and her son left the place.
To her surprise, Mary found that from that day onwards, Mark had completely stopped eating sweets. She was happy and wanted to thank the sage. So, the next week, she went and visited the sage and thanked him. When she was about to leave the place, she asked the sage, why he wanted them to come after 10 days. She wondered why not the sage told Mark the same words 10 days earlier.
Smiling at Mary's question, the sage replied that till she complained about Mark, he was eating more sweets. So, he wanted to control his habbit before advising Mark. And that was the reason for 10 days gap.
Moral of the Story :
Mary was living in the next village. She was worried about her son Mark's habbit of eating more sweets. She had warned Mark about this, but he does not seem to hear his mother's words. Through neighbours, Mary came to know about the sage and his power.
On one fine day, Mary took her son Mark to the sage. Mary complained about her son's habbit to the sage. The sage, after thinking about this for a couple of minutes asked Mary and Mark to visit him after 10 days.
Mary was waiting for the completion of 10 days. Exactly on the 11th day, she took her son to the sage. She reminded the sage about the complaint. The sage looked at Mark, with a confident voice, he said - "Son! stop eating sweets". Mark nodded. Both the mother and her son left the place.
To her surprise, Mary found that from that day onwards, Mark had completely stopped eating sweets. She was happy and wanted to thank the sage. So, the next week, she went and visited the sage and thanked him. When she was about to leave the place, she asked the sage, why he wanted them to come after 10 days. She wondered why not the sage told Mark the same words 10 days earlier.
Smiling at Mary's question, the sage replied that till she complained about Mark, he was eating more sweets. So, he wanted to control his habbit before advising Mark. And that was the reason for 10 days gap.
Moral of the Story :
- Great men teach or preach what they practice
- Chances of people hearing your words, if you practice it 100% yourself
- People do what you do than what you say
- Self-control is the first step towards control over many lives
Frog in the boiling water
'Cigarette smoking is injurious to health'. Everyone knows this, infact, it is printed in every cigarette packet. However it is shocking to know that a big mass (more than 25%) of our community has surrendered themselves to the cigarette smoking habit. Did you know? Researchers claim that the cigarette smokers increase their chances of lung cancer by five times. According to statistics, in US, every one person out of four, is a cigarette smoker. If you are a cigarette smoker and who do not believe these data, please avoid reading this post and save your time for smoking another couple of cigarettes!! **
I lost two of my close friends due to cigarette smoking habit. These real life tragedies impacted me a lot. How many more friends I'm going to lose to these cigarettes for the rest of my life !! I do not know the statistics of how many die / suffer everyday due to cigarette smoking habit. So, I decided to persuade to each and every smoker to quit smoking. I'm happy and proud that four of my friends stopped smoking. Though I had very small role to play, but the satisfaction I got out of it was tremendous.
Let us keep in mind that we are not a single entity. We have a loving family, passionate organization, emerging nation and a happy planet. Let us stay healthier for longer period to take care of our family, the organization, our nation and the planet. It is ok, if we do not improve our environment, but atleast let us not spoil them. Let us do our best possible to hand over a cleaner globe to our next generation. Today is the best time to stop smoking as well start preaching about the bad effects of smoking to the people around. Remember that when a person quits smoking, he reduces the risk of cancer and heart attacks to a great extent. He enjoys a better blood pressure. Along with him the people associated also get to inhale a pure air.
Ceaser was a pet dog of a wealthy family in a small town. Ceaser was taken utmost care that he was given the best food, best care, best treatment and so on. Ceaser was not exposed to the external world, so he wanted to run away from the house to enjoy the external world. One fine morning, as planned, Ceaser ran away from the house. He ran to the farthest of the town. In the evening Ceaser started feeling hungry. He had nobody to feed him. He had to find the food for himself. So he started searching for food. Unfortunately, for the next two days, Ceaser could not find any food. So, he was tired and weak. On the third day afternoon, in the hot sun, Ceaser managed to identify a bone in one of the streets. He was happy and caught hold of it in his mouth. Ceaser started biting the bone. As it was a brittle bone, Ceaser's mouth got hurt and blood started coming from his mouth. Poor Ceaser thought the blood was coming from the bone and started sucking the bone for more enjoyment. So more and more blood was coming from his own body to feed him. Ceaser did not realized it and eventually died.
According to Swami Sukhabodhananda, the people who have smoking habit are no better than the Ceaser mentioned in the above story. Cigarette smokers derive pleasure at the cost of their health and they pretend as though they do not know the fact that the cigarette smoking leads them to a quicker DEATH.
Remember cigarette smoking leads to addiction, where in, it would be very difficult for a person to control the smoking habit. One who cannot control his habits cannot control his destiny. People who do not have control over their destiny do not succeed. More over good health is one of the key ingredients for greater success. Hence the people who smoke cigarette are considered to be a failure, because they are short lived.
You have the option to be a responsive human or to be a frog in the boiling water. Finally, the option is yours.
Want to Succeed in Life? Stop smoking NOW and start Succeeding.
PS : ** 90% of the smokers would have read the full article, the first time. The other 10% of them would have bookmarked it to read it later for many times.
I lost two of my close friends due to cigarette smoking habit. These real life tragedies impacted me a lot. How many more friends I'm going to lose to these cigarettes for the rest of my life !! I do not know the statistics of how many die / suffer everyday due to cigarette smoking habit. So, I decided to persuade to each and every smoker to quit smoking. I'm happy and proud that four of my friends stopped smoking. Though I had very small role to play, but the satisfaction I got out of it was tremendous.
Let us keep in mind that we are not a single entity. We have a loving family, passionate organization, emerging nation and a happy planet. Let us stay healthier for longer period to take care of our family, the organization, our nation and the planet. It is ok, if we do not improve our environment, but atleast let us not spoil them. Let us do our best possible to hand over a cleaner globe to our next generation. Today is the best time to stop smoking as well start preaching about the bad effects of smoking to the people around. Remember that when a person quits smoking, he reduces the risk of cancer and heart attacks to a great extent. He enjoys a better blood pressure. Along with him the people associated also get to inhale a pure air.
Ceaser was a pet dog of a wealthy family in a small town. Ceaser was taken utmost care that he was given the best food, best care, best treatment and so on. Ceaser was not exposed to the external world, so he wanted to run away from the house to enjoy the external world. One fine morning, as planned, Ceaser ran away from the house. He ran to the farthest of the town. In the evening Ceaser started feeling hungry. He had nobody to feed him. He had to find the food for himself. So he started searching for food. Unfortunately, for the next two days, Ceaser could not find any food. So, he was tired and weak. On the third day afternoon, in the hot sun, Ceaser managed to identify a bone in one of the streets. He was happy and caught hold of it in his mouth. Ceaser started biting the bone. As it was a brittle bone, Ceaser's mouth got hurt and blood started coming from his mouth. Poor Ceaser thought the blood was coming from the bone and started sucking the bone for more enjoyment. So more and more blood was coming from his own body to feed him. Ceaser did not realized it and eventually died.
According to Swami Sukhabodhananda, the people who have smoking habit are no better than the Ceaser mentioned in the above story. Cigarette smokers derive pleasure at the cost of their health and they pretend as though they do not know the fact that the cigarette smoking leads them to a quicker DEATH.
Remember cigarette smoking leads to addiction, where in, it would be very difficult for a person to control the smoking habit. One who cannot control his habits cannot control his destiny. People who do not have control over their destiny do not succeed. More over good health is one of the key ingredients for greater success. Hence the people who smoke cigarette are considered to be a failure, because they are short lived.
You have the option to be a responsive human or to be a frog in the boiling water. Finally, the option is yours.
Want to Succeed in Life? Stop smoking NOW and start Succeeding.
PS : ** 90% of the smokers would have read the full article, the first time. The other 10% of them would have bookmarked it to read it later for many times.
Six Thinking Hats - by Edward de Bono
This post is all about the book "Six Thinking Hats" by Edward de Bono.
About the Author : I feel that the author, Edward de Bono, is one of the few, who could make complex things easily understandable. He is also the author of the books called "Lateral Thinking" & "Parallel Thinking". His language is very simple to read.
About the Book / Concept : The books talks about the thinking mechanism and how get the most out of it. In fact, it was quoted in the book that using this principle / concept, in many big companies, discussion time were dramatically reduced to a great extent [say from 3 hours to 20 minutes!!]. Moreover, in many companies, they have this taught as part of their corporate training. Very interesting.
Why This Book ?
About the Author : I feel that the author, Edward de Bono, is one of the few, who could make complex things easily understandable. He is also the author of the books called "Lateral Thinking" & "Parallel Thinking". His language is very simple to read.
About the Book / Concept : The books talks about the thinking mechanism and how get the most out of it. In fact, it was quoted in the book that using this principle / concept, in many big companies, discussion time were dramatically reduced to a great extent [say from 3 hours to 20 minutes!!]. Moreover, in many companies, they have this taught as part of their corporate training. Very interesting.
Why This Book ?
- Many times, we would have noticed that we feel something really good and after sometime we would have felt otherwise. Why this swing?
- Invariably, though we understand the pros and cons, we stick ourselves with one side and discuss. Mostly towards the fag end it turns out to be an argument. How to avoid this?
- We feel that going back to and fro from +ves and -ves are bad. Is it good or bad?
- It would be frustrating, when we are +ve about something and somebody is exactly opposite about the same. There is nothing good or bad about this, but still there is a frustration. How to make it a win-win?
- How to reduce the discussion timings ?
About the concept : The author classifies our thinking into six types and refers them by six distinct colours. He symbolises thinking as Hat.
The following are the details of each Hat :
Blue Hat Blue colour is associated with sky. The upper limit, and hence signifies controlling factor. This is the thinking, which we use to make decisions, prepare agenda for a meeting, making a summary of a meeting etc.,
White Hat White colour refers to peace, neutrality. That means more to do with data. This thinking leads us to collect more information, stats / facts about a particular thing. It is only based on this white hat thinking, the blue hat thinking can make appropriate decisions.
Black Hat Black is associated with dark. Hence Black Hat thinking is to do with cautious thinking. This is like thinking about all the bad things that could happen, any danger. Over usage of this hat may lead to slowness.
Yellow Hat Yellow is associated with light, sun. Yellow hat thinking means positive thinking. More on the good things. Over usage of this hat may lead to over promising and hence overloading ourselves.
Red Hat Red is associated with blood. Red hat thing is more to do with emotions. It purely depends on the individual(s), culture, psychology etc.,
Green Hat Green is associated with vegetation. It symbolises mother nature. Green hat thinking is creative thinking.
White Hat White colour refers to peace, neutrality. That means more to do with data. This thinking leads us to collect more information, stats / facts about a particular thing. It is only based on this white hat thinking, the blue hat thinking can make appropriate decisions.
Black Hat Black is associated with dark. Hence Black Hat thinking is to do with cautious thinking. This is like thinking about all the bad things that could happen, any danger. Over usage of this hat may lead to slowness.
Yellow Hat Yellow is associated with light, sun. Yellow hat thinking means positive thinking. More on the good things. Over usage of this hat may lead to over promising and hence overloading ourselves.
Red Hat Red is associated with blood. Red hat thing is more to do with emotions. It purely depends on the individual(s), culture, psychology etc.,
Green Hat Green is associated with vegetation. It symbolises mother nature. Green hat thinking is creative thinking.
How to use these Hats - an use case : Assume you are going to conduct a group discussion about "Team Changes". This is just only an usecase. First as a coordinator, you may come up with the agenda for the meeting and plan the sequence of the hats usage - eg.
1. Red Hat, 2. Black Hat, 3. White Hat, 4. Yellow Hat, 5. Green Hat, 6. Red Hat, 7. Blue Hat again.
This is Blue Hat thinking. Under each Hat thinking, I've given the example statements under each hat thinking in quotes.
1. Red Hat "I don't like this" "Again one more round of learning / training" - This may be the feeling of all including the coordinator.
2. Black Hat "What will happen to the knowledge gained so far?" "Is it really required right now?" - This is anyway everyone feels the same
3. White Hat "About 90% of the members who got team changed were more than 2 to 3 years old in the existing team" "About 8% of the members who got team changed were more than 1 year old in the existing team" "Only about 2% of the people were shifted 2 time a year and that too because of urgent project requirements" - Now this opens up a new dimension to the whole thinking.
4. Yellow Hat "This gives us opportunity to learn new technologies" "This gives opportunity to mingle with new set of people" "Keeping ourselves challenged is a great way to keeping ourselves ahead and active" - This is also true and everyone agrees.
5. Green Hat "May be come mentoring and some stipulated training time provided would make the transition smooth" "Some award scheme for the people who had transformed quickly and got into the new job quickly" - This opens up the doors to possibilities.
6. Red Hat again "Logical and can't help it" "Once in a while it is OK' - See how the thinking has changed.
7. Blue Hat to summarize "To summarise - Finally, the members felt that the team change is a logical and said it is ok to change the team once in a while".
2. Black Hat "What will happen to the knowledge gained so far?" "Is it really required right now?" - This is anyway everyone feels the same
3. White Hat "About 90% of the members who got team changed were more than 2 to 3 years old in the existing team" "About 8% of the members who got team changed were more than 1 year old in the existing team" "Only about 2% of the people were shifted 2 time a year and that too because of urgent project requirements" - Now this opens up a new dimension to the whole thinking.
4. Yellow Hat "This gives us opportunity to learn new technologies" "This gives opportunity to mingle with new set of people" "Keeping ourselves challenged is a great way to keeping ourselves ahead and active" - This is also true and everyone agrees.
5. Green Hat "May be come mentoring and some stipulated training time provided would make the transition smooth" "Some award scheme for the people who had transformed quickly and got into the new job quickly" - This opens up the doors to possibilities.
6. Red Hat again "Logical and can't help it" "Once in a while it is OK' - See how the thinking has changed.
7. Blue Hat to summarize "To summarise - Finally, the members felt that the team change is a logical and said it is ok to change the team once in a while".
From the above usecase, it is evident that the Six Hat Thinking help use to converge on things which would otherwise take longer duration.
Advantages of Using different Hats :
1. At the end of the discussion you would have felt that everyone felt the same.
2. It was easy to change the thinking using this hat concept
3. Since everyone in the discussion are made to wear the same colour hat, it is easy to converge and no distraction in between the discussion
4. Using different hats make users to give their comments freely without sticking to their original comments. Does not affect the ego of the person when changing the thinking
5. If we use the right mix of the hat, we can easily converge for a quick decision.
2. It was easy to change the thinking using this hat concept
3. Since everyone in the discussion are made to wear the same colour hat, it is easy to converge and no distraction in between the discussion
4. Using different hats make users to give their comments freely without sticking to their original comments. Does not affect the ego of the person when changing the thinking
5. If we use the right mix of the hat, we can easily converge for a quick decision.
Auto-Rickshaw - Part 2
In spite of all the issues, which I've mentioned in my previous blog, still autoickshaws are the best medium of transportation in and around the city. It looked strange to me. When thought deeply, could find and appreciate the reasons. For the sake of ease, let me mention 'Auto-Rickshaw' as 'auto' henceforth.
People associated with the autos are a big community. This is one of the key reasons for its existence. There are many people who were involved in auto financing. Since the money involved in buying an auto is comparatively lesser, there are many auto owners. Among them some drive themselves for living and others let it out for rent. There is a huge auto driver community, some places they even get involved in some philanthropic activities. If you visit any place, could see these guys in khakhi uniform as groups. Along with this there are many auto mechanics who take care of the service and maintenance of these auto. So the auto community is very big a network and one of the reason for its sustenance in the market.
Mostly auto drivers are from the local surroundings. That being the case, they know the nook and corner of each and every street. Because of this they can take you through the shortest route to destination in shortest time span. At times when we do not know the exact address, auto drivers are the best persons who could rescue us. During the time of emergency, if the situation is well explained and the auto driver understands the need, he would ensure that we reach the place in time.
Autos are small, sleek and hence nimble. They are three-wheeled vehicle. The single wheel in the front and the hand bear type control for the turn control makes it more nimble and responsive. Because of these arrangements, they have the smallest radius curvature. The clear visibility the auto driver gets from the dashboard, enables them to make the exact cuts / turns. Hence the autos can penetrate into the traffic and reach the destination on time.
Autos are much safer than the two wheel drives and much economical than the four wheel drives. Since they are covered, we can escape from becoming wet during rains. Also to some extent prevents from the dust and pollution. The actual auto fare which we ought to pay the drivers are reasonably good for the time they save for us from these heavy traffic and for the reasonable safety we have while travelling.
We all know that the autos are the fastest vehicles to reach any place in the city during the busy traffic hours. But the reality, this is not always true. Because of the greediness of the auto drivers, the passengers were, taken for a ride by auto drivers. The quality of the service is a function of the quality of the infrastructure and the quality of the people who handle it. Instance where either one of the two (infrastructure or the people) is not up to the mark, then the whole thing sucks. Let's wait for the revolution, which would bring the people involved (auto drivers) to the dawn. Let's keep our fingers crossed!!
People associated with the autos are a big community. This is one of the key reasons for its existence. There are many people who were involved in auto financing. Since the money involved in buying an auto is comparatively lesser, there are many auto owners. Among them some drive themselves for living and others let it out for rent. There is a huge auto driver community, some places they even get involved in some philanthropic activities. If you visit any place, could see these guys in khakhi uniform as groups. Along with this there are many auto mechanics who take care of the service and maintenance of these auto. So the auto community is very big a network and one of the reason for its sustenance in the market.
Mostly auto drivers are from the local surroundings. That being the case, they know the nook and corner of each and every street. Because of this they can take you through the shortest route to destination in shortest time span. At times when we do not know the exact address, auto drivers are the best persons who could rescue us. During the time of emergency, if the situation is well explained and the auto driver understands the need, he would ensure that we reach the place in time.
Autos are small, sleek and hence nimble. They are three-wheeled vehicle. The single wheel in the front and the hand bear type control for the turn control makes it more nimble and responsive. Because of these arrangements, they have the smallest radius curvature. The clear visibility the auto driver gets from the dashboard, enables them to make the exact cuts / turns. Hence the autos can penetrate into the traffic and reach the destination on time.
Autos are much safer than the two wheel drives and much economical than the four wheel drives. Since they are covered, we can escape from becoming wet during rains. Also to some extent prevents from the dust and pollution. The actual auto fare which we ought to pay the drivers are reasonably good for the time they save for us from these heavy traffic and for the reasonable safety we have while travelling.
We all know that the autos are the fastest vehicles to reach any place in the city during the busy traffic hours. But the reality, this is not always true. Because of the greediness of the auto drivers, the passengers were, taken for a ride by auto drivers. The quality of the service is a function of the quality of the infrastructure and the quality of the people who handle it. Instance where either one of the two (infrastructure or the people) is not up to the mark, then the whole thing sucks. Let's wait for the revolution, which would bring the people involved (auto drivers) to the dawn. Let's keep our fingers crossed!!
Auto-Rickshaw
Lessons are not to be taught, but to be learned. Through the following paragraphs, we would discuss about the lessons, which I had learned from the Auto-Rickshaws. Rickshaw is a small two-wheeled cart, for one or two passengers; pulled by a person. The upgraded versions of the Rickshaw are three-wheeled, named as Auto-Rickshaw, where the manual pulling is automated using mechanical devices. For the sake of ease, let me mention 'Auto-Rickshaw' as 'auto' henceforth.
Travelling by an auto is not all the pleasant, as it has to be. I was told that Chennai auto drivers dissatisfy their customers more than in any other cities of India. This is really pathetic and I feel sorry for that. While travelling by an auto, you would have faced either some of, or all of the situations mentioned below:
- By the end of the trip you are astonished by the reading value it shows, as costlier (or even more) as your train ticket fare from your native place!!
- No matter how much more you give, still the auto drivers would ask for more and more
- For the unknown destinations, you get to travel the longest route
Following are the things, which I normally practice to avoid the above issues.
- Know about the tariff fixed by the government.
- Find out the approximate distance to your destination.
- Based on the above inputs, calculate the approximate fare value.
- Then talk to the auto driver about the acceptable value and the exact location. If the auto driver agrees then step into the auto. Otherwise, look out for another.
These practices, help in avoiding these issues. Because we agree on a rate with the auto driver, his expectations are set. So there is no question of more money latter. Also to ensure that he get the maximum profit, would then, take you through the shortest distance.
These tips can help you most of the time, but not all the time. It also depends on your need, the time of the need, the number of alternatives available, the time availability factor and at some crisis times. During any of these times, it is unrealistic to go by the above guidelines. For, it is not what we save on the auto trip but on the other important things which are to be accomplished / taken care of.
Working around the problem does not solve an issue by any degree. Whatever we are right now discussing is - Working around the problem. The main issue is related to the ethics and culture of the auto drivers. The system has to refine itself to better standards. For a simple trip, the customers need not do so much of preparations. Though the above may mostly work with people who know the regional language, but for the foreigners (for both outside the state and even worse for the people outside the country), the problem still continues. And it is this change in our society, which I'm awaiting for a longer period. There has to be a way out, I'm still unaware of it. If you know, please do let me know.
exact - mentioning the exact location is important in setting the right expectation. At times, this also becomes the source of an issue.
These tips can help you most of the time, but not all the time. It also depends on your need, the time of the need, the number of alternatives available, the time availability factor and at some crisis times. During any of these times, it is unrealistic to go by the above guidelines. For, it is not what we save on the auto trip but on the other important things which are to be accomplished / taken care of.
Working around the problem does not solve an issue by any degree. Whatever we are right now discussing is - Working around the problem. The main issue is related to the ethics and culture of the auto drivers. The system has to refine itself to better standards. For a simple trip, the customers need not do so much of preparations. Though the above may mostly work with people who know the regional language, but for the foreigners (for both outside the state and even worse for the people outside the country), the problem still continues. And it is this change in our society, which I'm awaiting for a longer period. There has to be a way out, I'm still unaware of it. If you know, please do let me know.
exact - mentioning the exact location is important in setting the right expectation. At times, this also becomes the source of an issue.
EVERYONE'S AN EXPERT by Seth Godin
EVERYONE'S AN EXPERT is the latest free ebook released by Seth Godin. It is about 32 pages document which talks about the search for Meaning. Through this book, Seth explains about the current web surfing trend and what is ahead of us. Then he talks about the ways and means by which we can increase traffic of our site.
The current generation of the search engines, provide clues than the actual meaning. One has to invest her time to find the meaning. The user on a quest to make sense, looks at various links and pages to understand enough before taking an action. So the current generation of the search engines can be called as Clue machines. Before making a decision, the user pokes in Google, Yahoo even some ads. And what the user does can be called as poking online. So the current generation of the web, web 1.0, delivers matches, but it does not deliver the meaning.
So we need to move on to the second version of the web, web 2.0, where the web enables its users to share meaning. There are two things which are to be taken care. First, people like to listen and the next one is people like to talk. Blogs addresses both the needs. As part of the web 2.0 initiative, we need to have a place where an user (stranger) can go to get some insight and meaning and then leave that site and go somewhere else. Seth calls this place as nowblog. The nowblogs are the best place to start and he even calls them 'Lens'.
A Lens filters light and shows only what is needed. Likewise, lens is a web page, which highlights one person's view of the web. Lens is like a signpost, which quickly answers - What do I need to know? and delivers meaning to the context. It does not hold content, instead it is an organized pointer living in a site filled with other, similarly formatted pointer. However it does not pretend to deliver the complete truth, but provides meaning and links necessary for the user to take action. Unlike a blog, a lens updates itself with RSS feeds and webservices, ie., would do fine without a lot of tweaking and maintenance.
Benefits of Lenses
The current generation of the search engines, provide clues than the actual meaning. One has to invest her time to find the meaning. The user on a quest to make sense, looks at various links and pages to understand enough before taking an action. So the current generation of the search engines can be called as Clue machines. Before making a decision, the user pokes in Google, Yahoo even some ads. And what the user does can be called as poking online. So the current generation of the web, web 1.0, delivers matches, but it does not deliver the meaning.
So we need to move on to the second version of the web, web 2.0, where the web enables its users to share meaning. There are two things which are to be taken care. First, people like to listen and the next one is people like to talk. Blogs addresses both the needs. As part of the web 2.0 initiative, we need to have a place where an user (stranger) can go to get some insight and meaning and then leave that site and go somewhere else. Seth calls this place as nowblog. The nowblogs are the best place to start and he even calls them 'Lens'.
A Lens filters light and shows only what is needed. Likewise, lens is a web page, which highlights one person's view of the web. Lens is like a signpost, which quickly answers - What do I need to know? and delivers meaning to the context. It does not hold content, instead it is an organized pointer living in a site filled with other, similarly formatted pointer. However it does not pretend to deliver the complete truth, but provides meaning and links necessary for the user to take action. Unlike a blog, a lens updates itself with RSS feeds and webservices, ie., would do fine without a lot of tweaking and maintenance.
Benefits of Lenses
| Quote: |
1. Lenses are free |
The person who makes lens is called a Lensmaster, the Expert whom Seth mentions through the title of the book -- Everyone's an Expert.
| Quote: |
The lensmasters are individuals with strong personal agendas, expertise, causes, products and even opinions.
Who needs to build a lens?
| Quote: |
1. If you have a website and you're not happy with your PageRank, a lens will increase it. That's because a lens provides exactly what search engines are looking for: authoritative insight so people can find what they're looking for. (That's why wikipedia ranks so highly on search engines - they provide a good experience and satisfied searchers are what search engines are seeking.) |
In a nutshell, following are the top two points which Seth wants to sell through this book,
| Quote: |
The structured nature of Web 2.0, combined with the folksonomy of tags, makes a lens the perfect middleman between the content and expertise you've already got, and the surfers you've never met. |
The Cheetah and the Deer
Sam was a 9 years old boy. He loves animals. He always wished that he had extraordinary power to understand what animals speak. His uncle once said that sincere prayers are always answered by God. So, Sam started to pray everyday sincerly.
All of a sudden, on one fine day, God appeared before him. Sam was really excited. When God asked his wish, Sam said that he wanted to understand what animals speak. Sam was lucky enough to get what he wanted.
The next day, early in the morning, Sam went to the nearest forest. He saw a deer which was about to start its day. The deer prayed to God asking Him to provide enough strength and energy to run faster than it's predator, so that it can save it's life.
Then Sam moved on and found a Cheetah, which was getting ready for its day. He also saw the deer praying to God. In it's prayer, it asked God to provide enough strength and energy to run faster than it's prey, so that it can get it's food.
From the above, Sam understood the following messages and lived happily.
All of a sudden, on one fine day, God appeared before him. Sam was really excited. When God asked his wish, Sam said that he wanted to understand what animals speak. Sam was lucky enough to get what he wanted.
The next day, early in the morning, Sam went to the nearest forest. He saw a deer which was about to start its day. The deer prayed to God asking Him to provide enough strength and energy to run faster than it's predator, so that it can save it's life.
Then Sam moved on and found a Cheetah, which was getting ready for its day. He also saw the deer praying to God. In it's prayer, it asked God to provide enough strength and energy to run faster than it's prey, so that it can get it's food.
From the above, Sam understood the following messages and lived happily.
- Whether you are a prey or predator you need to run.
- And it is not enough to run, but one need to run faster
- When you are idle, either you are killed by your predator or starve to death (if you are the predator)
All about Failures
Generally we put our heart and soul to any work that we do. But it is always disheartening to know that it failed. The most frustrating part comes when we were not able to figure out the reasons for the failure. There are four reasons for any new product to fail. They are as follows :
1. Not many audience saw your product
2. The audience never bothered to become an user
3. The users never became a customer
4. The customers never shared it with others
Why not many audience saw your product? It is because of two reasons. The main reason is cluttering. There are too many options out there in the space, which makes users to get confused or carried away. The second reason is that your product is not remarkable, that it made an impact. In fact being remarkable is the solution for the first reason – cluttering.
Why audiences who saw our product never bothered to be an user? This is because there was no story behind the product, which appeals the audience. It is these stories that help people get more done, enjoy life more and even live longer. And Successful marketers are just the providers of stories that consumers choose to believe.
Why users never became a customer? There can be two reasons attributed to this. The first reason could be related to your own product. Be it the ease of usage, the performance, the cost etc., which makes the user to go away from your product. The second reason is that some other product offers better service, better usability or best cost etc., And the users may be pulled towards the other product.
Why customers never shared it with others? This could be because, the customers would not have felt fully comfortable. Also this could happen when the customers feels that the product is not worth talking about.
Reference : Seth Godin’s “All Marketers are Liars”
1. Not many audience saw your product
2. The audience never bothered to become an user
3. The users never became a customer
4. The customers never shared it with others
Why not many audience saw your product? It is because of two reasons. The main reason is cluttering. There are too many options out there in the space, which makes users to get confused or carried away. The second reason is that your product is not remarkable, that it made an impact. In fact being remarkable is the solution for the first reason – cluttering.
Why audiences who saw our product never bothered to be an user? This is because there was no story behind the product, which appeals the audience. It is these stories that help people get more done, enjoy life more and even live longer. And Successful marketers are just the providers of stories that consumers choose to believe.
Why users never became a customer? There can be two reasons attributed to this. The first reason could be related to your own product. Be it the ease of usage, the performance, the cost etc., which makes the user to go away from your product. The second reason is that some other product offers better service, better usability or best cost etc., And the users may be pulled towards the other product.
Why customers never shared it with others? This could be because, the customers would not have felt fully comfortable. Also this could happen when the customers feels that the product is not worth talking about.
Reference : Seth Godin’s “All Marketers are Liars”
Saturday, October 28, 2006
A Seven Letter Word
It is all about a seven-letter word, which we are going to ponder. I've experienced it many times in my childhood, before even knowing the word. It was in my primary school, when I heard of this word. The way it was explained, threatening and bothered me a lot. At times I felt that the life had come to an end. It was my mother who helped me in overcoming the fear of this word. Embracing the fear of the word, had changed my life, attitude, my perspective to a great extent.
It is Failure. Handling failure is the most important thing required to be successful. According to dictionary, Failure is an event that does not accomplish its intended purpose. So from the definition, failure is an event and it is not life, all together. As it is an event, we do not have any control over it. But we have the choice, to get trapped and fall prey to it or to embrace it and rise again. Iron rod is made to the required shape when it is hot. Likewise, we can shape ourselves to be successful when we have failed. The choice is ours, and it is we who decide which way to take. The altitude, to which the success people reach, is based on the attitude with which they embrace the failures in their lifetime.
We can define failure as success and success as failure, it is all the perception with which we take it. Law of Thermodynamics would help us to understand it better. The law says "Energy can neither be created nor destroyed but can be transformed from one form to another". We would put in the maximum of our energy for any given task, since we would not know the outcome of the task and also because we want every task to succeed. According to Newton's law the energy we had spent has been transformed from one form to another. There is nothing we have lost. This is parallel to the teachings from Bhagawat Gita. Even if the failure does not lead directly to a success, it can be seen as a step along the way. Some people consider a failure as a lesson; some consider it to be a setback. So the key is to identify the form to which our energy has transformed and move on.
Here are what great personalities to say about Failure:
"Would you like me to give you a formula for success? It’s quite simple, really. Double your rate of failure. You are thinking of failure as the enemy of success. But it isn’t at all. You can be discouraged by failure or you can learn from it, so go ahead and make mistakes. Make all you can. Because remember that’s where you will find success."
– Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM
"Many people dream of success. Success can only be achieved through repeated failure and introspection. Success represents the 1% of your work that results from the 99% that is called failure"
– Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda
From the above quotes it is obvious that only failure is the major component of all Success. So failure is required to be successful. If you meet with failure then you are sure to succeed. If you still do not believe, read on the following passage about a great personality:
At the age of seven, a young boy and his family were forced out of their home, and the boy was forced to go to work. When the boy was nine, his mother passed away. He had a job as a store clerk, but lost it when he was twenty. The young man wanted to go to law school, but had no education. He went into debt when he was twenty-three, to become a partner in a small store. It was only three years later that his business partner died, and left him with a debt that took years for him to repay. He dated a girl for four years and, at the age of twenty-eight, decided to ask her to marry him. She turned him down. Thirty-seven years into his life, he was elected to Congress... on his THIRD try. He then failed to be re-elected. This man's son died when he was only four years old. At age forty-five, he ran for the Senate...and failed to be elected. He persisted at politics and ran for the vice-presidency at age forty-seven, and again lost. Finally, at the age of fifty-one, this man was elected President of the United States. His name was Abraham Lincoln
From the above it is evident that it is the determination, which takes us to our goal. No matter what comes in between, we can for sure reach our goal. Successful people sit on a throne, which is rock solid, placed the strong foundation, which is formed with their failure. In fact may great successes started out as a failure. 3M is a good example to explain it. When it invented glue it was a failure because it did not stick. It then used the glue as the basis for the Post-it-note, which turned out to be a huge success.
The most interesting statistics is that more than 95% of people give up when they are 5% short of their Success. Edison's attitude of 'failure' is motivating. When asked why so many of his experiments failed he explained that they were not failures. Each time he had discovered a method that did not work. What an attitude? That's why he is Edison. So failures are stepping stones for success. In Penn State University, there is a course for engineering students called Failure 101. The students are motivated to take bigger risks and experiment. The quicker they get more number of failures, the sooner they get their A grade. Failures means better grades.
Quite interesting isn't it? Do you want to embrace more failures? Then try out more and more options...
The Dog and the Rabbit
This story outlines the basic difference between the efforts which make it to the results and the ones which turns to be a failure.
Sam is a 2 year old pet dog of the premises. He is very sincere in guarding the place where he is living. Sam always felt that he has all the ingredients of a successful dog.
It was a sunday morning. Sam, was about to finish his morning walk. He noticed a Rabbit (Jam), which was playing happily. Though Jam noticed Sam's presence, he continued his play. Sam got worried and wanted to threten Jam and went to catch him.
So Sam prepared himself and went running towards Jam. But Jam was smart enough to escape from him. However hard Sam tries to catch Jam, it was all in vain. Sam was trying hard enough, but nothing happened till the lunch time.
Sam went for his lunch and came back again in action to catch Jam. He tried all his tactics, energy and smart Jam could manage to escape from all. Finally, it was getting darker, and Jam gets into his hole.
Sam was upset with this. And he went near Jam's hole and asked him, Hey Jam, I'm stronger than you, taller than you, experienced than you, but still could not succeed in my efforts to catch you. I don't know the reason. Jam politely replied, but I know the answer. And he said, Sam you were running for your food and I was running for my life. That's the secret behind my success.
Moral :
Sam is a 2 year old pet dog of the premises. He is very sincere in guarding the place where he is living. Sam always felt that he has all the ingredients of a successful dog.
It was a sunday morning. Sam, was about to finish his morning walk. He noticed a Rabbit (Jam), which was playing happily. Though Jam noticed Sam's presence, he continued his play. Sam got worried and wanted to threten Jam and went to catch him.
So Sam prepared himself and went running towards Jam. But Jam was smart enough to escape from him. However hard Sam tries to catch Jam, it was all in vain. Sam was trying hard enough, but nothing happened till the lunch time.
Sam went for his lunch and came back again in action to catch Jam. He tried all his tactics, energy and smart Jam could manage to escape from all. Finally, it was getting darker, and Jam gets into his hole.
Sam was upset with this. And he went near Jam's hole and asked him, Hey Jam, I'm stronger than you, taller than you, experienced than you, but still could not succeed in my efforts to catch you. I don't know the reason. Jam politely replied, but I know the answer. And he said, Sam you were running for your food and I was running for my life. That's the secret behind my success.
Moral :
- Having enough energy, strength, resources to achieve something is not all that important
- Having a strong reason to achieve something is more important
- And pursue you efforts with the thinking that you are running for your life
My First Love
When I close my eyes and say Love, my ears could hear only one name. The name is Rosy. I first met her during my adolescent. She was staying next to our apartments. We used to spend more time together. I loved her so much. And I'm sure it was not infatuation.
Rosy and I use to spend more than two hours everyday, mostly during the evenings. I still have a Teddy which she presented it to me on a Christmas day. Yearly once, we used to spend a day together. I do have a photograph which we took on that day. During vacations, she would be visiting her grand parents, who were staying in their home town. I would be missing her a lot during those vacations.
Rosy was more knowledgeable than me. She used to be punctual about her timings. She was a person of integrity. Totally opposite to my characteristics. Probably those was the reason for me to admire her. She made me to feel my responsibilities. Whatever I'm today is because of Rosy's guidance and inspiration. Once, I even felt that she means more than my parents. Till now, I'm really proud of her relationship.
In fact, initially my mother did not liked our association. She used to advice me to focus on studies than to spend more time on other activities, which myself and Rosy were engaged. Once she understood Rosy's involvement in my well being, she kept quiet. I used to listen whatever Rosy says, because I believed that she would say it for my well being. My mother used to complain about me to her. In front of my mother, Rosy would always defend me. In private, she would advice me in a soft but a firm voice. Rosy was a bridge between my mother's cautious approaches and my young dashing aspirations.
When Rosy told that she would be getting married, I was upset and got worried about my life. Everything looked dark and blank. Eventually she got married and moved out of our town. My studies during that year got affected very badly. My parents knew the reason. Rosy could have waited for some more time, till I fared well. I knew that her family pressure was the reason behind her quick decision. After her marriage, I did not see her for many years.
It was last week, in one of the cinema halls that I saw Rosy with her husband. Before I moved in, she quickly came towards me. She enquired about myself and my family members. Out of joy and happiness, I was in total silence, listening her talking. She said that she is happy about my carrier achievements. She introduced myself to her husband. She told her husband that I helped her a lot when she was a teacher of 7th grade at St. Gabriel's School. I was then the class leader of 7th grade, nominated by Ms. Rosy, my class teacher.
Rosy and I use to spend more than two hours everyday, mostly during the evenings. I still have a Teddy which she presented it to me on a Christmas day. Yearly once, we used to spend a day together. I do have a photograph which we took on that day. During vacations, she would be visiting her grand parents, who were staying in their home town. I would be missing her a lot during those vacations.
Rosy was more knowledgeable than me. She used to be punctual about her timings. She was a person of integrity. Totally opposite to my characteristics. Probably those was the reason for me to admire her. She made me to feel my responsibilities. Whatever I'm today is because of Rosy's guidance and inspiration. Once, I even felt that she means more than my parents. Till now, I'm really proud of her relationship.
In fact, initially my mother did not liked our association. She used to advice me to focus on studies than to spend more time on other activities, which myself and Rosy were engaged. Once she understood Rosy's involvement in my well being, she kept quiet. I used to listen whatever Rosy says, because I believed that she would say it for my well being. My mother used to complain about me to her. In front of my mother, Rosy would always defend me. In private, she would advice me in a soft but a firm voice. Rosy was a bridge between my mother's cautious approaches and my young dashing aspirations.
When Rosy told that she would be getting married, I was upset and got worried about my life. Everything looked dark and blank. Eventually she got married and moved out of our town. My studies during that year got affected very badly. My parents knew the reason. Rosy could have waited for some more time, till I fared well. I knew that her family pressure was the reason behind her quick decision. After her marriage, I did not see her for many years.
It was last week, in one of the cinema halls that I saw Rosy with her husband. Before I moved in, she quickly came towards me. She enquired about myself and my family members. Out of joy and happiness, I was in total silence, listening her talking. She said that she is happy about my carrier achievements. She introduced myself to her husband. She told her husband that I helped her a lot when she was a teacher of 7th grade at St. Gabriel's School. I was then the class leader of 7th grade, nominated by Ms. Rosy, my class teacher.
My Dad
My father Mr. P. Durai Babu started his life from a humble beginning. At the age of 16 he started working in a Photo Studio. At work he was comitted and sincere in what ever he did. That gained him good appreciations from his colleagues and his boss.
At the age of 23 years, he married my mother Mrs. C Gajalakshmi, who was working in postal department. Both my dad and mom were comitted to their profession. Both of them worked hard to improve our life standards.
My father was more obsessed about getting a boy. But nature had been cruel. The first 3 child were girl babies. And on top of this, the fourth child, which was a boy baby, died after few weeks of his birth. Both my parents were upset by this. My mother gave up the hope of getting a boy baby. But my father was very stubborn on this.
I was the 5th child (boy) to our parents, when they were in their early thirties. According to one of our regional beliefs, the fifth boy to any parent would be bad for the family but he would excel in his individual life. But my parents did not mind about it.
But the irony was that my father passed away when I was 7 years old, leaving the whole family. Life became more challenging for our family. With a little support from our relatives, my mother worked day and night to take care of us.
Now it is close to 25 years after my fathers death. Five years before, mother has voluntairly retired from her services. We had lots of challenges all throughout. But for the past 10 years we are quiet comfortable and leading a happy life. I could offord a life style for my mother, which nobody else in our family or atleast our neighbours could affort. She is happy and enjoying her post retirement life.
The irony of the whole story is that, my dad, who was instrumental in my being born in this world is no more with us to enjoy the benefits. Oh Dad we miss you a lot... But for you I would'nt been to this great World. and I miss you a lot.. I Love you Appa ...
My first Blog
Hi Everyone,
It's my pleasure to invite and welcome you all to my Blog. Here you would be finding blog posts about my Thoughts on Management, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Stories and few more ..
Happy reading and feel free to post your comments.
D Sarathy.
It's my pleasure to invite and welcome you all to my Blog. Here you would be finding blog posts about my Thoughts on Management, Marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Search Engine Marketing, Stories and few more ..
Happy reading and feel free to post your comments.
D Sarathy.
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