Karthik's talk

Shirdi visit.... High/ Lowlights

2012-01-02T16:01:00.001+05:30

The family undertook the Shirdi trip last week. We missed the trip in 2010 as the train from Agra to Kopargaon was delayed by more than 24 hrs. In the scorching May Summer/ Holiday season we had no option but to return home from Delhi. So this visit was after 2 years and a lot has changed (For worse in my view!!).

Facts:-
1) Be prepared for 31/2 to 4 Hrs to stand in queue. I am told it takes as much as 6 Hrs on festive season. Ours took 3 1/2 hrs with a 45 min stoppage time for evening Aarti when nothing moved!!.... (4 to 730pm)
2) Keep edible items, snacks, biscuits, juice etc to survive this agonizing wait(Baba himself says god can't be thought in empty stomach). Nothing is available once you stand in line except for water bottles. I am told in the morning time for some duration some food items are available with a crowd of 75,000 this would vanish in a blink of an eye.
3) If you are with child /infant ( I am shocked that Parents even attempt this !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)please keep enough milk, baby food items to last 4 hrs, It was pathetic to see kids screaming in hunger, parents and relatives were in such a situation that they couldn't do much.
4) Once you decide to stand in queue, it is practically impossible to retreat should you change your mind,there are no contact person etc to rescue in an emergency situation etc. Pathetic. The queue length accommodating 25,000 people can be imagined (Single file). At no time you can contact any organisation interface to help you.
5) Mobile etc are confiscated if you take it in. So please leave it at Hotel room or lockers. It was pathetic sight to see folks taking picture and getting rapped on the knuckles.
6) Women can carry small handbags.
7) Passes/ VIP darshan too have become meaningless, even those lines are in 100s. I remember in my 2009 visit, the Rixa driver chiding me for VIP attempt, his logic is," the more you stand in Queue the more you think of god". Sound logic. This trip we seriously didn't attempt any!?.
8) Dwarkamai also there is restricted access to the sanctum Sanctorum, with every trip, I find the chance to have physical access to places where Baba lived and breathed is restricted to devotees. Be prepared for 1 Hr queue at Dwarkamai. Last time the pleasure of touching Baba's samadhi was taken away. So every year the man- divine contact is restricted.!!!
9) Security guards can be arrogant, nonsensical, and lack common sense (Of course the last trait is expected of them, else they will be our boss!!!) I saw case where a 100% Blind man was denied entry in to main temple. So much for empathy, what can you expect from a govt controlled setup?? SHAME??
10) On the food side, try eating OLD SHARE PUNJAB restaurant located in the lane (100feet) opposite GATE 2.
11) Travel to PUNE Airport by Road, takes 5 hrs on a normal traffic condition, anything less is impossible.The Pune Shirdi traffic is a SHAME story for how not to plan Highway layout. Authorities there, should visit, TamilNadu to see how every small town is by passed on highway!!..

12) If you are in Pune on transit for say 3 /4 hrs with no business, try Hotel Ibis near airport to meet/ spend time to relax. Good place. Food decent budget pricing!.

So In short, as I keep telling my FOREIGN friends, we do well in India, IN SPITE of our Government. It was pathetic to see the same extended to even worship god. We go there in spite all hardship!!... YES, the IDIOTIC brain will still want to visit SHIRDI in next 6 months and we will be going despite all the hardships, arrogant attitude of administration!! Such is life of an Indian, the common sense will never PREVAIL. !!! I have told my wife in future to focus more to visit our temple in family ancestral town where even 1000 people wont visit in a year and there is a beautiful village surrounding/ river Thamirabharani to enjoy watching in full flow.

Let's see!! Will keep you updated if the next visit is done!!....

PS: Despite all this wife and children longed for one more darshan at Main temple (Samadhi Mandir) and I refused to join them saying it is madness!! They went ahead without me at next day morning 830am. Imagine my shock!! (I was at Prayer hall reading SAI CHATCHARITHA) that they finished darshan in 35 Min flat!!!! Hmmm Strange again are god's ways!!......

32 Years.....

2012-01-02T10:53:00.002+05:30

On 30/12/11,Friday,Lalitha and I,traveled to my home town Karaikudi.This was for the school reunion (I passed out +2 in 1980). It was an exciting time, 6 hrs just flew. 30 classmates turned up. The introduction was exciting, some uncomfortable questions on (Mis)Deeds. I did the "Eulogy" of Departed Classmates and Teachers.

Memento given on the occasion.

SUMMARY from Hindu Newspaper on our meet:-

The first batch of students (1978-80) of Alagappa Model Higher Secondary School, Karaikudi, met at the Alagappa University in Karaikudi on Friday after a gap of 32 years.

As many as 30 students out of 53 studied during that period were present with their parents, teachers and wards. Most of the teachers, who took classes during 1978-80, had come from different parts of the country.

The old students, along with their family members, received the teachers and presented mementoes to them.

The students donated furniture worth Rs.1.40 lakh and laboratory equipment worth Rs. 30,000 to their alma mater.

They were handed over to Headmaster S. Jeyaprakashan by Vice Chancellor S. Sudalaimuthu, the chief guest of the function.

K. Manimekalai, Registrar; Muthu Palaniappan, president, Chamber of Commerce; S. Kannappan of Lions Club; Muthu Kumar, secretary of Rotary Heritage Club, William Durairaj, former Headmaster; S. Kathirvel, former teacher; Arunachalam, Assistant Headmaster; V. Sundararaman, Kumar Muthiah and Krishnakumar spoke.

School teachers (Sitting) and Us.

KARTHIKAI Celebrations today (Also my Birth star today)

2011-12-08T18:37:00.001+05:30

Home entrance decorated with Lamps.

The Mud pot Oiled lamp that decorate house like DIWALI in North India.

Sweets and Food for Lord KARTHIKEYA; ADAI & Puffed rice sweet at Right is made delicacy today

PICTURE WORTH 1000 WORDS

2011-11-09T18:30:00.001+05:30

LONG LIVE INDIA... SAD STATE Wonder anywhere else in the world is this TRUE????

IPAID COOL

2011-10-10T14:31:00.001+05:30

NO WORDS THAT IS JOBS MAGIC Same for my family

Condolences

2011-10-06T13:55:00.001+05:30

Steve Jobs was a visionary who changed the World through Technology. Will be missed for ever. Rest in Peace.

I can sense how the world felt when JFK passed away, the feeling is same after 48 Years.

As a Apple IPAD/IPHONE/ IPOD user over the past 5 years I have personally changed as a PERSON. The IPOD helps & motivates me to walk 150 Minutes a day (Rain or shine) listening to audio books/ podcasts. When Son Scored a perfect GPA of 10.0 in his school exam and when i gifted him the IPHONE the glee/ satisfaction in his face is still fresh though happened 16 Months back. This week will be the First Anniversary of my IPAD which has given me access to read 100s of ebooks / Apps which is unimaginable. (My book collection exceeds around 200, Yes wife shouts for all the easy $ gone on credit card Itunes...).

When I saw Steve's Stanford video, it helped me to let go anger, revenge, condescending attitude for people whom I dislike as well as being less judgemental of people (For worse!!). Also it dawned on me to thank god for helping me to wake up every day.

My Condolence email below sent to Apple.

rememberingsteve@apple.com"
cc
date		Thu, Oct 6, 2011 at 7:35 AM
subject		Condolences
mailed-by		gmail.com

hide details 7:35 AM (5 hours ago)

Steve will be remembered for his vision to make people life better thro technological innovation.

Also, his thoughts on living every day as last day of life gives perspective to put vengeance,hatred, procrastination away.. That is big take for me.

Apple will always be guided by his spirit.

His physical presence will be missed by all more so by his family. May god give courage to them to bear this loss.

Regards
Karthik

Ireland Visit

2011-09-25T18:12:00.001+05:30

It was one of the rare trips where I have returned home feeling humbled, 17 years of travel such trips are far and few.....
Ireland was a magic touch.. People warm and friendly... Land blessed Green... Milk flows for free.... and I understand the self condescending nature JF Kennedy had came from. Jokes like why Mafia cant make it to Ireland because they would be out of their depth is common,or when a grumpy German would laugh, When some body says the Irish work harder then Germans..... Such conversations are rare!!!.....

Yes I had tweeted, there is lot of anger on economic aspects blaming Corporates (more so to the west) as those who sold their Soul to the DEVIL. (Some take away for me!!!!).

Yes, the economic depression has left it's mark.... Credit card acceptance big challenge... AMEX Impossible....

Great trip.. Some of snaps attached.

Yes, the USA leg helped me to catch up with a good friend, If god does miracles on people.. his case is one..... Glad I could meet him...
Take it easy and take care.... Live Consciously.
Karthik.

30000 Euro Grizzly Bear

Dunmore Port Promised the Irish Lady at Heathrow Hotel who did my beard trim for free I would visit.

Gaelic Name for Waterford.

Magher who fought British in 3 continents from Waterford, Gandhi did in 2.

Reginald Tower and Magher statue in front of Tower Hotel

People couldnt beleive that somebody wont drink beer in Waterford.... Got to explain !!!!

Will we ever get such Signs for parking in INDIA??????

Streets of Malleswaram, Govt. Interactions......

2011-07-24T14:18:00.000+05:30

Hot Hot vegetable slices dipped in chickpea batter and fried. (Pakora, Bajji)

3 person team working on the process.

Street book shop on footpath at Mallleswaram (Second hand books).

GANGAMMA TEMPLE.

Saturday evening for me and my wife is the time to go around temple and do a bit of shopping in Malleswaram (5 to 730) Usually Saturday dinner is buy out/ take away from Hotels. So this week was no exception. We visit the Saibaba temple on Sampigae road and Mallikarjuna swamy temple and Gangamma Temple and then do the shopping before packing dinner.

While I avoid road side stall food/ eatables at any cost (Not a good experience 25 years back in College hostel days at Coimbatore), the Pakora shop near Saibaba temple ( next to shantisagar hotel) is rarest odd exception I have made myself. They make hot, crisp stuff and hygiene is pretty decent.

The streets of Malleswaram are madly crowded for a Saturday evening, the bookshops(Photo above), the vegetable/ fruit vendor, etc... you name it, u will have a vendor for it........

Switching topic, I had done my Passport renewal as well as the UID (The 35Bn$ ambitious project by the GOVT of India, I am one of the skeptics for this project). The passport process took 7 Hrs due to various screening and finding every reason to push me out. The impression I got from my experience, the whole system is designed to work against common man; you need to be street smart to work a way out and calls for lot of argument. I just pity the common man who undergo this torture..... The UID process for the family was arranged by the bank where we have our account, the process took 25 min for the four of us. The waiting time was 2 hrs, the process is slow, there is time lag in web cam etc, the process involves finger printing, IRIS scan etc. It is a challenging task considering the size of people to be covered (1100 Million people)...

I came across DAN PINK's office hour Podcast (once a month dial in) caught up with 3 past podcast. Value for time spent. Also stumbled up on the ENDING THE GRIND Podcast on getting out of daily life routine to think a bit different.

Until next week, take it easy and take care and Live Consciously.
Karthik.

UK Visit July, Lists.....

2011-07-17T16:22:00.000+05:30

VIEW OF T5 from Galleries Lounge.

Inside South Galleries LOUNGE T5 nice place to re energise after 11 hr flight.

TAXI Manchester Inside

THAI Restaurant Wilmslow Manchester , Good place to eat.

LEGEND Memorabillia Shop (Another Legend!!!).

Being Manchester City and United competetion in everything.

Peice of History Trafford center.

TRAFFORD CENTER at dusk it was 2210 Hrs even natural light.... A mystery for people from Equator...

1 Lit HOT CHOCLATE.... Costa at Manchester Airport...!!!.....

Superb Architechture.

Self Instructive, A lot of confusion for pedestrian coming from different world areas!!!....

Link to CHILLI BANANA Wilmslow.

Unknown people in the pictures are captured unintentionally. No intention to intrude on their privacy.......

Movie Review( 11 hr flights force to you to watch some movies to kill time, cant go on reading and work Laptop.... can you!!!)

1) Limitless---- Ultimate Science Fiction.

2) The next 3 days----> Worth the watch.

3) The Adjustment Bureau -------> I liked the movie, for the first time I had paid attention to a female star, Emily Blunt, Outperforms Matt Damon.

4) Unknown-----> Interesting mystery, Liam Neeson at his best.

5) Just go with it-----> Some Comedy.

6)Company Men.... Reflects ground level reality of corporate downsizing during recession and how people cope and find solution.
7) Lincoln Lawyer--- A movie I had seen without reading the book, got to get hold of a copy.

Fiction:-

1) One shot---->Reacher at his best. Cant believe that it is fiction. Yes, for that matter after 9/11 nothing is fiction, there is some real element/ intent gets coated with some imagination.

2) Avenger ----> Forsyth in elements, Yes, shades of Cobra can't help it.

3) The Deceiver----> Entire English MI 5 heroics.....McCready could be living somewhere in Devon green lands........

4)POWER PLAY----> Finder exposes the greed, fraud, dark alley of corporate greed/ governance........ A must read to know the evil/ dark side of Corporate leaders. Can see Enron, Worldcom happened.......

Non Fiction completed:-

1) Truth about Leadership ----> Kouzes... A must read for any body who is a Middle manager and wants to step up and stay there.

2) A whole new mind---DAN Pink shows why it is going to be all right brain wiring that is key. Abundance, Asia and Automation are pushers. Pink lists out 6 traits as enablers to get it. (Design, Story,Symphony, Empathy, Meaning,Play,

Amazed and appalled at people's ignorance on asking to do One on one,to be done once a month. It has to be weekly no question. (Once in 15 days; worst case) One on one is the key foundation of people management and a pillar. Get that right, with Feedback and Delegation (Coaching) you have the four part Triad of successful unsexy management to resolve issues. ( Thank you Manager tools!!).

Requesting all of you to have a look at "CRANKY MIDDLE MANAGER" Podcast. Wayne Turmel does a great job. Nearing 300 episodes, (1 a week!). Please spread the word around. I am doing my small bit to help Wayne reach target of 30,000 downloads a month for his podcast.... He also runs online web presentations training thro Great web meeting.

Ok, Until next time, take it easy and take care; Live consciously and stay Healthy.

Karthik.

Son's Birthday, 200 posts.....

2011-06-30T18:58:00.000+05:30

POST #200
Yesterday, 29th June was my Son's birthday. He enters 18 and next his birthday may be away from home. It was simple occasion due to his tight time pressure of school, exams, coaching classes. Incidentally 3 in our family share birthday on the same date. A nephew and niece too. Also a good friend of mine makes 4 persons to greet on this day.

Mischeivious Nephew causing the commotion.

The occasion was electrified by the presence of 2 year nephew, who is running amok like Bull in the Chinaware shop. 2 ink bottles, Sauce bottle, papers all just disappeared in to dust bin. Yes Quite a few injury to himself on falls. (minor) His presence ofcourse, is magical; Kids enliven the home.

Daughter ordered CAKE Son call her Shody so the name on cake.

I had another surprise when my good friend of 20 years and Ex- Colleague (SANDOZ) met Marshall Goldsmith at the leadership program in Dartmouth USA last week. During the 2 min conversation post program, he mentioned, me being his fan and that I propogate my little bit about Marshall's work to my friends. Marshall Gifted a personally signed copy of his book" What Got you Here, Won't get you there" for me. The beauty was just 3 weeks back, I had passed on my personal copy to a good friend.

Greatest GIFT from MARSHALL GOLDSMITH......

Till next time take it easy and take care; Live consciously.

Travel Photos

2011-06-26T17:44:00.000+05:30

I am back from a week's trip to Europe. I thought of capturing some of the photo moment of this and last trip up there.

Lake GENEVA, Rolle, CH. Background Hill is EVIAN Village (Water brand)

Lake Geneva view from Casino resturant Rolle.

Another view

TRAFFORD CENTER ENTRANCE MANCHESTER( Last trip I Qtr).

Manchester view from People History Mueseum

River TAME Passing thro the city

Snake and Ladder in Science People Mueseum.

Tallest Building in Manchester

Picture drawn on wall in RAIL Museum

No ELECTRICITY IN WORLD BUT FOR JJ THOMPSON; INVENTOR OF "ELECTRON" At Manchester university

Hotel WALL reminds us the must for them.

TRAFFORD CENTER

NEW ORLEANS SECTION of food Joint, Trafford Center

Inside Trafford Center

POSTING

2011-06-17T16:46:00.002+05:30

Just to let you know, due to strech for time to post blogs, I have moved mainly to Twittter. PL follow my tweets at @KARAIKUDY.

I post my thoughts there. Hope to blog once in a month atleast. Should find time.

Take care
Karthik.

My IPAD APPS.

2011-03-14T10:17:00.000+05:30

It had bee a while since I had posted Blogpost. Ofcourse, I have been active on Twitter and Linkedin/ facebook. Microblogging is the order of the day. I would do a serious attempt to post 2 to 3 posts a month.

I thought of sharing the Ipad APPS which I found exciting.

I assume you all have OS 4.2 on Ipad to create/ use folders and capture and sort apps like News, Finance, Business, Management etc. So the interface looks clean.
http://www.apple.com/ios/
The apps I have in Ipad is listed below, for inf. Each is under folder at present.

Hope this is of help.

Time
BBC
NPR
Fox News
USA Today
Washington Post.
Huffington post
Telegraph
Newsweek
IHT
NY Times
News Pro
Flipboard
CNN
NEWS 360

CNN Money
WSJ
Business Week
Fortune
Bloomberg

Linkedin
Twitter
BirthdayPro
StumbleUopn

Drucker News
Motivation Quotes.
HBR tips
Organisation Behaviour
Manager Tools
Leadership
MIT SMR

The Economist
Intelligent life

Time zone
Compass
Speed test
Calculator
My Converter
Files XT
Whiteboard
Evernote ( A MUST HAVE).
Night Stand.
Pendrive Pro
Find Iphone/ Ipad

Stanza (Master app to read books).
IBooks
Book Search
Holmes
Kindle.

Google
G Talk
Pandora Box
Sticky Notes
Browser
Currency Converter.

Dictionary (english).
Nightowl ( Browser for night reading).
HBR reads
Box.Net
ESPN CRICINFO.

Al Jazeera ( I phone app works in IPad)

NewsHunt (Indian News).

FStream ( Radios)
StreamAll (Radio)

Service, Feedback, Drive, Reading, Shared value.

2011-01-23T16:05:00.001+05:30

POST 191

Today, I had officials from a nationalised bank visiting our Apatment complex for a campaign to offer their banking services. How much things have moved over the past 15 years.!!! When you visited these banks, the delay, lethargicity were very notorious in those times. I think competetion drives people to improve and sustain excellence. The officers were professional, courteous. I am thinking of working out some transactions which could be mutually beneficial to us.

I also realised the importance of feedback and how it is like breathing. I was in one of the non work related meetings. There were issues when raised the issue took a personal turn. I was quick to point out to people that if they have issues with any one (Me Included), they need to give feedback on those issues immediately, rather than bottling it and bursting out. It needs to involve, 1)the behaviour, 2)the effect and consequence and 3)what can be done differently. All it is needs is to work that way and it doesnt get personal. It is such a simple thing like breathing and feedback should become a natural process.

Yesterday, the Bangalore Bandh due to the political tug of war between Governor and the Government took it's toll on the normal activities. School exam postponed, traffic came to standstill. Our maid was literally chased away by baton charging police and some how she managed to escape the beating. Gandhi's way of civil disobidience was ok in a ag based, rural India where impact on issues were less and ofcourse, British were very sensitive to issues and treat the opponent with dignity. Moreover, the courts have termed bandh illegal. Wonder what is being done to put that in to action thro legislation etc. I would assume nothing. All issues are forgotten here in medium/ long term as new urgent issues crop up.

I am going thro Dan Pink book, "DRIVE". This book is one of the life turning book for me. It talks about Intrinsic motivation. Type I and how rewards alone wont bring the change we want. It describes in Detail the Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose that are essential to internal drive. The 4 enablers---> Time, task, Team and technique to be explored. I am glad I could get a chance. This will help me a lot.

Another article, that captured my imagination was the Corporate way forward on Creating shared value by Porter/ Kramer. This gives the practical approach to address social issues and from an outiside perview of CSR. But the pity is that in a compliance driven environment and to meet numbers, I wonder, how many would take this giant leap to see a big picture to act like Leaders?????.....

The article on reading is basic to democracy touched me a lot. The present generation seems to have lost this art for whatever, reasons. I recollect grabing books, magazines like food and go thro and parents encouraged me a lot. That helped as I grow so as to pick an IPAD only for reading at ease.

At the homefront, last week we completed our 20th Wedding anniversary on 18th Jan. It was mostly smooth success all the way. I would attribute the success we had so far to empowering my wife to do anything she feels is right and I stand by her decision. On her side, she was very very generous and magnanimous to see large picture, long term and let issues go. It is all down to give and take.

The other news is my daughter passed out the CA articleship entrance exam with a score of 125/ 200. What was intersting was the day she finished the exam and came home, she said she will get 125 and it was. What an amazing self confidence and judgement. Children of this generation are excellent in self analysis and do what they think very well.

Untill, next week, take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

School contact, roads,

2011-01-16T17:27:00.000+05:30

POST 190

Wishing the folks a Happy and prosperous 2011. Better late than never. I was tied up with Personal travel and beginning of year tasks etc. Sundays kind of went in chasing and getting things done like car repair etc. By the time I write this, we are in to the middle of the Harvest festival Pongal, the festival of thanks giving to the Sun god, the Farmer.

I was in for a pleasant surprise when some of my school mates from Karaikudi got in touch with me. It has been 31 years (1980) since I passed out of Algappa Model Higher secondary school. I had given up hope of getting in touch with them as people had moved and my visits to Karaikudi to meet parents was kind of once a year for a day or less with practically no time to make contacts in person. Yes, it helps to have your profile in the social media like google profile, Linkedin, Facebook etc as people who do a search can ferret you out and make contact. This should now help us to find most of our school mates if not all. Feeling very good about it.

We make our annual visit to our family temple at Karisulnthamangalam PIN 627453 (KS Mangalam or Karisuzhntha Mangalam) in Thirunelveli district of TN. It is 5 km from famouse Pathamadai town. Last year we made it on 31st December and achieved the target of a visit every calendar year. One thing that impress me is the small towns are developing and standard of living are improving. For the first time, the temple priest indicated that he would like to wear a T-SHIRT(!) and we picked a couple of them for him. Unheard, 20 years back and also all the bank fund electronic transfer at the most rural of locations. Yes, Tech is changing lives.

We had the road in front of our Apartment, Renaissance PARK 3, (First main road, Malleswaram West) which was in worst condition redone after a year with lot of followup. The road was formally inaugurated by the Local MLA, Dr Ashwathnarayan, this week. This has given a rood drivable road, but the traffic will go mad due to various diversion putting children etc at risk.

Take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Thommo, APPS, Books, Tapes.

2010-12-12T17:55:00.000+05:30

Post 189
A friend was telling about how only a particular section of function/ location/people were getting all the promotions/ growth in the organization. I had to tell him that there are some bias, halo effect that exist in organizations that can't be overcome easily. I recollect a comment from a famous Aussie cricketer who said, "you just try hard to play for New South Wales, playing for Australia is then very easy for they hand over Baggy Green to save envelope costs". ( I guess, It was Jeff Thomson).
This week also is the week in which the famous FIRST TIE Test at Brisbane happened. I was not born at that time, but I have heard so much from the previous generation. The result was confusion and some people missed the action including Commentator Alan McGilvary. I would think the 2005 Ashes England was the closest we have seen on such even contest.

For the Techies, the Top Ipad apps have been released, it is worth working these apps in your Ipad/ Iphone.

Also the best 2010 Business books have been selected by 800-CEOREAD. The list contains 25 Books. Vineet Nayar's "Employee First, Customer second" had made it. Chip and Dan Heath's SWITCH too makes it to the list.

Amazed at the OUTLOOK revelation today on the 800 more tapes on how corporate have manipulated politician / system.... More names are pulled out. People who were pretending saint have shown the ugly side. It was long suspected that there is a nexus, but never to this extent the manipulation. I always felt many of the issues in News TV here,were like character (Fiction!!) Edward Armstead's "ALMIGHTY"(Irwing Wallace) and I stayed away as much to Web for my news update. So I am proved right. News is created / manipulated.
I am daily voting for the PODCAST awards. The voting open until 14th Dec. This is our chance to pay back the gratitude for all the hard work the podcasters put in.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; Live Consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Black Friday, BMTC, Books, Test match sofa.

2010-11-28T17:29:00.000+05:30

Post 188

So the Thanksgiving week is over indicating that the Holiday season has begun. Also this is the time for conducting Annual Performance review/ setting up goals. I am an ardent Mike and Mark, Manager tool fan. Following their advise over the past 5 years, this has become a routine affair for me. Work the MT goal (Measurable, Timely Goals).Performance review supporting documents prepared by spending 15 minutes a month to collect summary of each month and seamlessly integrating in to the final document. Thank you Manager tools.

As my car was involved in a minor road accident and I had to use public transport for attending a family event. This gave me an opportunity to explore Bangalore public transport buses for inter city commute for the first time.(more than 2 km ride changing buses i.e) I must confess, the experience was much better than what I had anticipated, the volvo buses, professional conductors, Air conditioned environment, All sitting protocol was good enough. The fare was also decent. Yes, the only condition is you need to have time on hand as the bus travels in fixed route and you cant take shortcuts to save time. The 15Km Journey took 2 hrs. ( Including 25 minutes for change of bus at bus station). Infrastructural inadequacy correction has some way to go!!... Let's see.

it is surprising that despite more than a year in to Indian operations, the Wall street journal has not been able to deliver same day delivery of the print journal here in Bangalore. I feel that the news paper/ journals are to be read in print to get a feel of having read. I hope WSJ India works something on this. I am also working for renewing my HBR subscription. This time HBR is offering only 2 year renewal at 47% discount. Looks like cost pressure is building up. But it is worth the renewing.

I heard an interesting podcasts on book review.
1) Spendshift, how the USA recession is seen as an opportunity to change spending pattern and lesson learned. The book SPENDSHIFT.
2) Riding the TIGER, How the adverse situation at Saytam was not allowed to escalate in to an enron, thus collapse of the company. Good learning.

The Stanford Entrepreneurial Though leaders podcast threw some interesting topics.
Diego Piacentini, Senior VP of International Retail for Amazon, discusses the company's growth-centered business model, its global presence, and the strides it takes to sustain a successful customer experience. Piacentini also describes Amazon's innovative approaches to operations, mergers and acquisitions, and labor practices.
Jennifer Aaker shares the power behind creating ideas that can build momentum. Through her research on the perception of happiness and meaning, Aaker describes how these concepts relate to a successful and powerful social media campaign.

So the Ashes are of to a cracking start, boy! What a first 4 days of test match. Swing of pendulum could be the best comparison. We are in for a cracking winter. This is the best thing that could have happened to Test Match cricket. I am indeed a bit saddened / disappointed for the absence of Radio commentary coverage to Asia/ Outside UK on test match special. I sincerely hope BBC does something to restart the radio coverage. It can help you to focus on task on hand without watching TV. I have also emailed my request to BBC. Hope something is worked before second test. In the meantime, I came across TESTMATCH SOFA, a website that dishes out audio ball by ball coverage to track.Good job done.

The IPAD version of economist is super, helps you to scan articles quickly. This is free app too for others.

Wayne Turmel's new website, Great web meeting is cool. Links to future webinars, excellent links to practical articles.

Until next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

PS: Felt good to talk to my schoolmate after 31 years, he called from USA. Tech connects and helps you to find people.

HTTLeadership, Books, Thoughts.

2010-11-21T17:58:00.000+05:30

Post 187.

So another year gone by, today is my star birthday. Born Karthik month Full moon day, so the name Karthik. Felt good to get call wishing from friends, more so from Parents.In fact I should have called them to seek blessings. The calendar birthday is in 10 days time.

The Hindustan times leadership Summit 2010 was a better worked out event than previous year. The sessions by Jairam Ramesh, Arun Jaitley,Kapil Sibal were frank, honest reflections of the situation in Indian scenarios. Pranab did a decent job of defending the 2G scam.The answers looked convincing in terms of referring to the public accounts committee take the issue forward. The session of Brain was simply amazing. Hats off to Dr.Ravi Gopal Varma on the efforts on the patient who had no control over what she does!!.In 6 months, he turned around the impossible. Bangalore was the IT capital no questions, The way medical challenges are addressed, I wont be surprised if it takes the Medical innovation capital.
The session by Al Gore, Gordon Brown were also practical aspects. I missed the session of PM,(The only one I didn't bother!!) no worth under the present situation, he needs to come clean with an explanation( As like Bhishma in Mahabharat, turned bind eye to Draupadi being stripped off in the court of Kauravas) to be taken seriously. The concluding session on China as a challenge was the icing on the cake. Any discussion of Indian growth/ strategy, without China is meaningless. The Indian press missed this point of view during Obama's visit. No Indian Press/ TV bothered to check the Chinese perspective.

The moderator is an area where the HT leadership summit needs lot of improvement. The Indian TV /News personalities it appears, play a pre arranged script, artificial. (More so, I have overheard participants in Indian news tv show confessing, offline, that they have been scripted, thus the ingenuity/authenticity of discussion is questionable!!???????)They can learn a thing or two from Nik Gowing who did an excellent job on the session with Pranab Mukherjee. And yes thankfully NO damm Indian cricket lousy stuff. Yes, Wasim Akram came in on the diabetes session, that is pardonable.

I finished reading the book "SWITCH" by Chip and Dan Heath. It has left a deep impact on me. 3 simple principles, Motivate the elephant, Direct the rider and Show the path. The authors have used 10s of example in each section as well as working the practical tips to start change. It easily connects to Gandhi preaching, You must be the change that you wish to see in the world. I am glad, I picked up this book.

I have begun reading "The Essential Drucker", I was tempting to take notes, but I found it impossible as each paragraph is more important than the previous or the next one. What amazed me was that Drucker had the vision to see all this in the late 60,70,80s when Knowledge worker, Globalization must have been unheard off.
From my e-reader, I got a copy of Seth Godin's Linchpin. The practical way to move from routine,cog in to indispensable.

So the Ashes, the only cricket action that I bother following live on TV starts this week. This may bring disruption in to my daily routines over the next 6 weeks. It is worth it. Ashes in Australia is always special more so with Bill Lawry's it is all happening!!!.. , also the Nov-Dec, cold weather lot of coffee to gulp and watch over breakfast, lunch is pleasure. (More so on Saturday, Sunday!!!!). Yes, Will match the radio commentary (that use to wake me up at 5am) of Jim Maxwell, Alan McGilvary, legends, no one can replace them. I expect Aussies to regain the ashes comfortably. That is what my predictor tool "The Economist" says. I have always gone with that and never felt let down. Yes, England good team, but Aussies are picking steam........

I close with a great feeling of getting connected to my school mate from karaikudi after 30 years. Thanks to Linkedin. More so delighted to see that he is now a CEO, settled in east coast,USA. His upbringing by his parents,(More so by his father who was demanding) never left any doubt in me that this guy will go places. Glad it materialized....Parents know what they do.. It is like bitter medicine, good for health. Wonder if the present generation, realizes that.
Yes, till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Diwali,Books,

2010-11-07T18:06:00.001+05:30

POST 186

The Diwali the festival of lights was an quiet affair for all of us in the family. The children were very busy with coaching class schedule as well as there had been a bit of personal situations which have made to take the diwali on a low key one. We did participate in the community gathering at the PARK 3 celebrations for an hour. I was wondering on the money spent on bursting crackers by the community (easily in to US$3000 or so) that could have been well spent for a better cause (Children education or etc).

As indicated, I had taken a week off, and spent useful time to catch up on reading books as well as to spend time in the Kitchen.

1) A must read is Marshall Goldsmith's book MOJO. It was an eye opener for me, especially on issues that people tend to connect everything to the past happening and let that affect your present performance. Also the calculator of Overall Mojo was a good theme. Also connecting from the personal sense was the distinction and transgression people make to get a bit off guard between personal and professional lives. I have also began to let go off the people who had been not good to me, forgive and move on. An excellent book. This was also touched on the recent podcast by Anna Farmery on the Engaging brand podcast with Anna Mason.
2) Got a chance to read John Grisham's THE CONFESSION. A good begging, goes well up to 75% and then loses steam. A bit of let down for a die hard Grisham fan.
3) I got the book Beating Diabetics, which I went thro to know a bit more of the life sytle handicap. The book is a must read for all TYPE I & II (More so for type II). It covers all practical aspects the temptations, the overdo, the food charts etc. The good thing is the book offers a lot of solution to the day to day issues.
4) I am halfway in to TRUE BLUE, the Baldacci Thriller, going good. I may try to finish it before the year end, hopefully.

Ok, so the clock is put back by an hour in Europe/ USA, so Indian work days will get longer by an hour for all the conference calls. In this connection, the Podcast by Mike and Mark on managing distant team is a good practical guide. Wayne Turmel does monthly training sessions on how to manage remote teams. A good one to participate.
Another must listen is the WEEKLY Leader podcast by Peter Mellow. Lot of thought provoking interviews. Yes, you may require more than 45 mintues for most show, but worth it.

I guess, I haven't mentioned about Grammar Girl podcast. A must listen if you care to improve your English speech/ writing. I do as it is not my mother tongue.

Until next week, take it easy and take care; Live Consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Google, Friends, Food.

2010-10-24T18:18:00.001+05:30

IYou would assume that Google is well used all over the world, well,my experience in the USA last week,was that there are some people still who dont google to find out things that are beyond LA to NY( That they call World series!!!).

1) A friend asked me if Budhism is the biggest religion in Pakistan? (He has double master's degree). He had been to this part of the world!!...
2) 2 folks from Latin America had no clue where Bangalore, (I was too embarassed to ask if they know where India is!!) is and what is it's commercial signifiance? I too struggled to explain them, thinking it is obivious!!....
3) There was also confusion/ hesitancy in many people I met to know whether I am a MUSLIM? (My beard didnt help). Yes, I guess the Pakistan work association must have paid off for this Madarasi, Indian Brahman!!!!...

So the world has lot of catchup to do??? What intelligent software/ implant would do this!?

So this visit also helped me to do some important things.

1) Met my first working boss, Dr M V Patel ( 1986-1991, Unique group, Ankleshwar) at Chicago after 19 years, did lot of catching up over Gujarati dinner at his place in West Chicago. It was great to meet his family too.

2) Met Wayne Turmel, the Host of Cranky Middle Manager podcast show, over dinner at a Sea food restaurant. 2 hrs just flew by. I always felt that great people always squeeze out time from their busy schdeule to interact with people. Wayne is no exception. Thank you very much for your time Wayne. We appreciate what you do over CMM.

3) Sat behind a wheel of a car( Toy Car) at GO KARTING at Lanciano, Italy at a team event. This was my first experience behind wheel after 10 years, as Bangalore traffic is hazardous to self driving and leave it to professionals. Some initial nerves, things worked out.

Dr Patel

Go karting

Wayne
It was sheer delight to be back at the CASTELO DI SEPTE,hotel in Mozzagrogna. The hotel is in my best hotel list. It looks a castle and rooms are standard with basic amnities. Wireless internet (Free) is bonus add on since my last visit in 2008. The food in the resturant is amazing.
We had been to a restaurant (more like a Agri tourism farm house), the Italian food was amazing!!. (more than 3 course dinner and we finshed at 1am!!)....

One of the other learning on the trip was the airline food has shrunk in long distance flights, the food they serve is simply not enough. I learned the lesson quickly and started picking up food from counters as an addon to the served flight food to prevent going hungry for hours. Yes as usual, the baggage didnt make it during the short flight to Chicago. (4th time!!)So rushed to Walmart to get some clothes, (My relatives helped for the trip for 2 mile drive, if you cant drive you are in trouble over distances in USA!!)

I was also very very much disappointed at absence of paid lounges in TERMINAL 5 at Heathrow during the 6 hrs transit. (I lost my BA Silver status due to lack of inernational travel for some time!!)The absence of Shower facility is an insult to the clean traveler like me (Who shower minimum twice a day come rain or shine, (I even did at -15 deg cel at Salt Lake city). I hope some one listens and do something to install some showers (Paid one also would do!!).......

By the way finished reading Frederick Forsyth's COBRA. A must read to know the intricacies of COCAINE Trade. Master story.

Until next week,take it easy and take care; Live Consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

iPad posting

2010-10-24T15:32:00.000+05:30

I am posting this blogpost from the Ipad. The Ipad was an impulse purchase last week when I was in Chicago. I had been to the Apple store at woodfeld mall for an ipod for Lalitha. So impressed was I with the Ipad features that I picked up 16gb wifi version. My friend Clyde Roe ( ex-Monsanto) helped me for the shopping trip.

Yes, the good news for my son is that the ownership of the Iphone3GS is now 100% his. I used to pick it up once a while.

I will post the Europe/ US travel experiences soon.

Take it easy and take care, live consciously.

Karthik.,

Rolex vs Rolodex, podcasts, Mallory

2010-09-26T18:06:00.000+05:30

I came across this brilliant website on building your network by Harvey Mackay.Listened to the great podcast by Wayne Turmel; Cranky middle Manager show. There is also an intersting podcast on project management.

Manager tool at it's best with 2 podcast. My Manager Resigned and Manager & Government politics. As usual MT way, it is all about behaviours and you are there to fulfill what the organisation needs.

I completed the paths ofglory by Jeffrey Archer. A brilliant account of a true event. The climbing of Mt. Everest in 1924 by George Mallory. My Gut feeling says, Mallory did it.

The Indian connection in the weekly leader podcast.Lidsay Levin discusses the Indian common man who possess great leadership qualities thro her oranisation Leader's quest.

Untill next week, take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

taxi, tollway

2010-09-19T17:18:00.000+05:30

Last week I was on travel to Madras and Pune.

The Learning at Bombay(to reach Pune) was that the airport taxi system can test your patience. It took me 20 minute to get a token to board a taxi(Queue and system billing) and another 20 minutes to flag a cool cab. So 40 minutes lost. My learning is for next trips is to make sure that Car is prebooked and some one waits with a placard. Considering traffic chaos in Bombay, it imakes practical sense. Even at 9pm, it took me 90 minutes to reach Bhandup (30 Km away from Airport). Yes, the cool cab which I tried for the first time is good.

The next day, it was a different experience, I took the toll expressway from Bombay to Pune. The 130 Km was done in 3 Hrs flat. The 3 lane road is dream. Yes there are odd potholes and Jaywalkers on the elevated expressway. There is also a good resturant near Kapoli. The toll US$4 is worth it as it easily saves good 3 hours.

At the Pune Airport, after years, I picked up 2 fiction books. Theodore Boone by John Grisham and Paths of Glory by Jeffrey Archer. Boone is a dream kid lawyer in making( Ideal Child). Archer's book is about George Mallory the unconfirmed first guy to climb Mt. Everest.

The economist has released list of best MBA colleges. University of Chicago is the number 1 college, Harvard at 4th. No Indian school in top 50, as expected!!!???.

Ok, untill next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Ganesh, 9/11, Milk, typo

2010-09-12T16:24:00.000+05:30

This week the festive season are in full swing. Coincedentally all religions had some festival to work about. Virgin Mary feast for Christians, Eid culminating the fasting period for muslims and Ganesh Chathurthi the elephant god for Hindus. At Park 3, this was the first festival celebrations as a community with about 65% occupancy. We did our little bit.

This week also was the 9th anniversary of 9/11. This year for various reasons, the sombre occsaion had its own conterversy. I can only hope all the issues are sorted out to every one's satisfaction. It calls for give and take and look for a win-win solution.

I was very much touched by this story in Gaurdian, story of a Afgan child went without milk in the midst of flies and stench. Fortunately, the story had a happy ending as some good hearted folks from Pakistan worked out to collect aid and served. The child could get his milk and food.

I came across this intersting article about how the work will change in the next 10 years. This will be more about colloboration, Remote working etc.

I leave with the intersting post on typical typo error found in public display.

Untill next week, take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Back to Blogging, festivities, WTC, Birthday, 3cups of tea.

2010-09-05T17:16:00.000+05:30

It has been quite a while (2 months) that I have not blogged. Yes, I was active on Twitter(@Karaikudy) and posting comments and thoughts in that medium. I begin to feel that the personal touch comes from blogging.
We had some celebrations of Independence day, Janmastami over time and I thought of posting the photos here.

The Independence day celebrations were the first one to be celebrated at PARK 3, and we called Dr Ashwath Narayan MLA Karantaka State, Representing our area, Malleswaram. He has been instrumental in getting railway gate open 24 Hrs (from 8 hrs which saves 3 km of circutous route) as well as doing all the lighting and hygiene aspects. The local corporator was also present. His speech was more on participating in civic leadership and not to look at politicians with cynicism. We also arranged some programs for the kids and adults with lot of of patriotic songs.

Some of the Programs.

This week also marked the celebrations of Janmastami, the birth celebrations of Lord Krishna. The celebrations were special as my parents are here. The foot print of lord krishna as child.....

Our Apartment, Renaissance PARK 3 is now officialy adjacent to the first WORLD TRADE Centre, Bangalore. The Brigade gateway project Building NORTH STAR has been declared WTC Bangalore.

3rd Sep is also a red letter day. MY daugther turned 18 and so now a Major and free to choose her path and way forward. We did some small celebrations.

Ok, on to the general happenings.
I am listening regularly to the weekly leader podcast. Great interview, discussions, social media min as well as podsafe artist. Peter Mello and Pam Fox Rollin do a great job.
This week interview with Bob Sutton on Good boss- bad boss gives a divergent perspective. Yes, I have been blessed to work for great bosses for over 25 years now, except for a 24 week period in 1999, yes that triggered the desire to look for change.!!...
Finished 2 great books...........1) 3 cups of tea; The story of Greg Mortenson on building schools in Af-Pak. I am sure one day the nobel peace prize will redeem itself by going to Mortenson. What a way to fight terrorism!..
2) In to thin Air. The Disaster at Mount Everest 1996,12 deaths. More so as a safety professional, I correlated the various discrete incidents to the multiple causation theory.
3) I am more than half way done with WAR- Sebastian Junger. Mind blowing account. Never knew Bullets travel at 2000miles/hr and you get .25 sec reaction time and some shells at 18" away from you too can cause skin burns...!! A must read.

4) Came across email alert on 10 must read HBR articles. All are great lessons. Very fortunate to have read all of them. Print subscription to HBR helps.
5) I am very disappointed to see that Wall Street Journal print doesnt do same day delivery @Bangalore. The day it happens I am in. Hope this happens sooner... Many Indian cities are covered.....
Ok, till next week; take it easy and take care; Live Consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

School, Ethics,Anonymous,

2010-06-27T18:23:00.000+05:30

I was saddened to read in newspaper that a school kid was crushed to death by her school bus here in Bangalore. It was a just an irresponsible act. I recollect the school bus in western countries take so much care. Wonder when the responsibility will take over.

I keep telling my overseas friends when I travel there that in India we progress in-spite of our government. The corruption, irresponsibility are so much. The resignation here in Bangalore of Mr Santosh Hegde is a classic case. In this connection the open letter written by Mr Rajah Iyer to the PM is worth going. I follow Mr Iyer's blog very closely and lot of lessons to learn.
Some of the articles I came across this week.
1) Taking criticism personally wont help you; It will retard growth.
2) Why I returned my Ipad HBR Blog. Peter Bregman
3) Inside the mind of an anonymous online poster. How emotions flare up as response to events.
4) Japanese folktales. Very interesting.

I am back to regular podcast listening and catching up. Would post links from next week. The Worldcup football is reaching fever pitch.

Till next week, Take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

K'naan, Schools, Twitter,

2010-06-13T17:56:00.000+05:30

It is the time that comes once in 4 years when everything is set aside to focus on the action on the field and watch through television. It is truly the world cup with 180 teams reduced to 32 exciting stuff not to miss. I am spending as much time as possible to watch action. I also blocked as much time in my outlook calendar to coincide the match timings as out of office.Luckily most matches are after office hours, yes some calls needs to be multi tasked. My four teams to quarter finals are France, Brasil, Uruguay/ Argentina and Germany/ Italy. Let me see. Already some exciting stuff with South Korea and England goal keeper making action.
The world cup Theme song has caught my imagination and I have been singing it umpty times as well as in the head. The singer K'Naan from Somalia just catches your imagination.

Came across this interesting post on testing your 1)focus and 2)Multitasking on the Newyork times tech page.

I was appaled by this news on attack on school in Bombay by some political activists. Where are we heading? It is sheer act of terrorising young children. There could be issues, but this is not the way. A far cry from the west where even presidential motorcade stops for school bus. When we will learn to be more civic! I wonder. On being Indian, I felt the resonance with PriyaRamani on the Indian way of thinking and interaction, her thoughts are very valid.

Here is an intersting cartoon on Remote conrol a woman might want! Hmm. I have not shown to my wife so far.(Now showing her!!).

With Twitter getting more and more part in our lives(Looks like 2 Billion tweets and counting), you need a client to handle. I came across Journotwit which helps to create column and manage contacts and behavior. My Handle is @karaikudy.
OK, It is short post, Will come back more next week. Till then take it easy and take care. Live Consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Success; Rewards; Social Media; Zakumi

2010-06-06T17:57:00.000+05:30

It is good to be back to blogging after 4 weeks. I must apologize for this sluggish frequency over the last 3 months. This was due to travel, Construction work at our apartment as well as serious discussions on children education/ admissions as well as catch up on periodicals. Yes, it is also laziness to some extent. Moreover I was also more in to Twitter.(@Karaikudy); I love blogging as Chris Brogan's post and would posts more frequently. Needless to say my podcast activity is also at all time low. Should work that out too; So my excercise... It's time for serious review!!!

Glad to let all know the children are done thro school admissions, Daughter got in to St. Joseph college, with 93% she had walk in interview and done with. Son also made it in to NPS in science group 11th, having secured 99.5% in 10th CBSE. So it was not much of an effort chasing admissions which can be a nightmare for parents. Thankfully the kids spared that. Credit to them and my wife for having made them realized that education is the key asset for middle class to come up in life.
So with all good performances, son's favorite team Chelsea winning the EPL and his God Drogba winning the golden boot, I had fulfill his demand for an IPHONE 3GS. So that was given to him as a gift. He enjoys it, I also get a chance to work around it once in a while and I find the APPS amazing and user friendly and reliable as well enlightening.
Ok; Enough of personal info;
1) As indicated Twitter micro blogging site has lot of useful add on applications. This helps you track followers, find people with common interest. Here are 27 apps; some links.
2)I am also in to GOOGLE BUZZ, which is 4 months old, cant believe, so much happening. It is also a good social trend and helps you to stumble up on new aspects in tech/ social/ every aspects. Buzz, I sense is more personal then twitter. Up on using them I came across so many acronyms that I was required to get a ref page for all symbols, short forms.
3) Here is an excellent article on Managing virtual teams posted by Economic intelligence unit. A very practical aspects in this cross knowledge/ functional/ frontier of managing work place. I am aghast at some of the goof ups / Faux-paus that happen when cross cultural interactions.
4)One of the tough task is to register every webpage for freebies or product info, download and it is a tiresome task. I came across this site which helps to capture data and auto post to a temp email account which wont cause spamming of your genuine email in box.
5) Here are some good productivity hacks and Myth; This is a good site that allures the myth associated with.

With the world cup foot ball starting this week; it is time to spend must time in front of the idiot box to capture the real world cup where 180 teams fight for a cup. I look forward to a fascinating, non eventful (safety, peace) football with ZAKUMI. The timings are also right. My 4 teams for semi final Brazil, France/Italy, Germany, Uruguay. Let's see.!!!..

Till next week, take it easy and take care. Live Consciously.

Regards
Karthik.

1000; IPL;Travel

2010-05-02T17:18:00.000+05:30

It is good to be back to blogging almost after 4 weeks gap; We were away on travel holidays. Also the catchup and some personal emergency situation in the family means no time to sit in front of laptop and put the thoughts in keys.

I am delighted to let all know that I have reached 1000th Linkedin connection this week. When I joined Linkedin in 2007 July, little that I had imagined that I would build a network of Safety, HR and other professionals over time. The acceptance of linedin has also changed over time; It is no longer a portal viewed as putting yourself for job hopping; It is much more than that. ( I havent changed one in the last 3 years!). Mike and Mark have emphasized the importance of linkedin in their MT/ Career tools podcast. A must listen.
So the IPL is all over; I am glad I didn't watch any match on TV and hardly followed. I always had doubts about it and was expressing it to my friends before the skeletons tumbled. I am glad a newspaper of Economist stature has also brought the issue out.

We had a good travel around Delhi, Agra, Hyderabad and I had been on Twitter on the progress. It was a good trip and We enjoyed every moment of it. Watch out when going to TAJ; you may be dehydrated as there are no water refills(Shame!). Also the traffic unpredictability in Uttarpradesh with the traffic jams.(It can double your travel time). I am attaching Photos below.

Redfort

Snow world at Hyderabad when outside temp was 43 Deg cel it was -5C inside. Good one hour.
Till next week; take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik
Honeywell
Bangalore.

TUK TUK;

2010-04-04T19:39:00.000+05:30

After ages it was back to business travel with the trip to Pune; Hectic week it was and it feels good; (Even Family felt that I needed to go out May be nuisance value increased!!).

As indicated in last post, My Manager Anthony Wareham was in India, I took the opportunity to see a bit of Bangalore with him.(Some places even first time for me after 10 years stay!!); We got to get a chance to go on a TUK TUK for 100metres on the Brigade Rd / MG ROAD to give him a sense of that.

The family got a chance to meet Anthony and he was kind enough to take time to visit our new home.(Well now 7 months!).

It was a disappointing experience with this JET CONNECT flight. No lounge use, no Food served it is a nightmare for a business traveler. The irony is that you don't know about the issue until you check in. NIGHTMARE...... Never expected travel industry to dive so low. Looks like they give USA Airlines a run for the money for lousy service in the name of no frills..... Tragedy.

Till next week; take it easy and take care; live consciously.

Regards

Karthik.

Auto Driver; Furlough; Tweetminer; PREM JOSHUA.

2010-03-28T17:06:00.000+05:30

Usually when you think of Madras; the capital city of Tamilnadu; (A city which I avoided at all costs even during transit to North India in the mid 80s, 90s) the first thing that comes to mind is the arrogant/ Untrustworthy attitude of Autorixa( 3 wheeled Scooter). So it was a refreshing change to see an Web site of Samson Autodriver; and all the accolades that are posted there. Great! Way to go!.Tech goes on and on. Yes, the Folks in Bangalore are different.

It was a week of Mandatory vacation for me; so I spent the time in Kitchen to explore some dishes; It was almost after 15 years full time in to Kitchen.(when Lalitha was away to home down during pregnancy) I did make following receipes.

VathaKuzambu.
Sambar
Kaadi Kichadi
Lemon Rasam
Cabbage Vegetable Dry.
Tomato Carrot Salad
Snake Gourd Curry. (Trichosanthes)
Potato onion curry DRY.

Yes some did come out well; others not to my liking. The family said it was Ok.

I came across site TWEETMINER a good tool to discover friends on Twitter. I had installed yesterday and the results in 24 Hrs are satisfactory.
I stumbled up on the MUSIC of PREM JOSHUA. It has been a revelation. Esply the Ganges album Water down the GANGES. A must listen for all. Worth spending.

I will be catching up with my Manager; Anthony Wareham almost after 19 Months face to face in Bangalore this week. The virtual world has shrunk the need to meet in flesh and blood (Still deliver performance and results!); Looking forward to the meeting and travel with him.

Also This article caught my eye, People tend to leave job in the spur of the moment/ performance apprisal dissatisfaction. Mistake....

To all my Christian friends a pious Good Friday Observation and A Happy Easter. Until next week; take it easy and take care; Live consciously.

Karthik.

Fire fighting; Biar miskin Asal Kaya Hati. Furlough, Birthday.

2010-03-21T16:59:00.000+05:30

Arising out of the Carlton tower building fire in Bangalore which killed 9 people, we had taken up with our builder Renaissance PARK III to complete the Fire emergency system prepardness as soon as it is possible. Accordingly the builder took up the completion and Saturday the residents were requested to participate in a 1 hr Fire Fighting training program in which Sprikler system, Fire hose reel, hydrants, Fire extinguisher working were demonstrated to residents. This is a good move. We also discussed about fire alertness, fire prevention in a home environment. Prevention is the key.
I almost had fits and rage when I saw these 23 Photos of Unsafe practices in a construction site; Clearly the Hazard recognition and awareness is the last thing in the workers who were carryin the work. Also in one photo The helmet caption (Biar miskin...) is Strong heart can overcome Hunger/ poverty (poor) is a telling state of affairs. I only hope that all are still alive and kicking..... I am taking the liberty of pasting photos from the original web site to have the impact!.
Judging by the photos, it is one of the most dangerous professions in the world
Look for yourself.

I am in the middle of my mandatory vacation the coming week; this should give me a good chance to go back to kitchen on regular basis and work the cusine for lunch, dinner over the next 5 days. Infact today lunch was worked by me. Gujarati Kadi Kichadi which I learned in Ankleshwar when Lalitha had gone for delivery of kids 1992/94 and I had to fend myself. Roop Singh Purohit was the cook at Bharuch (Maharaj as we use to call him in the company Guest house). I also look forward to catching up on lot of reading. Lets see...
Who could have imagined that Ipad would have Bing as the default search enginebecasue of Apple/ Google spat; Truth as they say is stranger than fiction. On the social media front, today is Twitter's 5th birthday. It has helped to pass thoughts as microblogging but the interactive part is still a long way to go and happens only between select few and more of cotiere. I am finding BUZZ is more comfortable platform to exchange ideas and response also makes you feel listened.....

On the political front, I am glad the women reservation bill passed its first hurdle; still a long way to go; Shd make thro.

Till next week; take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Work Sation. MT; India Leadership, Blogging. Bugmenot.

2010-03-14T19:32:00.000+05:30

Just wanted to share my work station at home; A good work place is required to focus/ engaged, more so when the norm is 14 Hrs a day. The second picture is WIMAX which helps me to stay connected when there was no last mile connectivity.
The key principles which help me sustain is also on sidewall.

I am a self Confessed Manager tools fan and I consider myself fortunate to have stumbled on the site 3 years back. Since then it has been of immense help and I try to post my comments wherever I can.Most of my work principles are guided my Horstman's law which forms a part of display at my work cubicle. Therefore it was personally overwhelming when I received comment from Mark on the linkedin forum this morning. Thanks MT Team.
I am following @BillGates on Twitter; He sends out valuable links(obviously!). This is one such on what he learns and focuses. On the twitter trips and tricks I find this post helpful to increase response to your twitter page as well as get more followers. I also found Seesmic a good twitter interface and using it now to collect and post tweets in addition to Linkedin interface.

On, HRD front; Peter Cappelli dished out a great article on Leadership lessons from India. The article is well worth to learn aspects that trigger leadership and business. But,I am not sure as whatever is true in 80% of Indian organizations as it is more window dressing here more so when situation demands dog and pony show. Indian companies have a long way to go!!.. On the work front, I found this article interesting on 5 future trends. I agree with 4 of them except taking multiple job aspects tough in Indian environment.

With Facebook,Twitter all hammering in and getting info overload, there is a real threat that blogging which was an hype about 3 years back can lose it's significance. So it was refreshing to read this article on Blogging value add. Very true.

Google keeps dishing out Applications as well as web pages for user interface. Wave, Buzz etc. The new Statistical real time analytic is masterpiece which helps to micro analyze data. Cool one.

An useful apps/ web sits to register temp password without compromising personal data is always helpful. Bugmenot is a good app/web web interface to use to generate temp password,data.

On podcast front FT UK dishes out Good info; icing being Lucy Kellaway's satire.

I am going thro Henry (Hank)Paulson's new book on the brink, good coverage to get inside preview of the 08 financial crisis. I am also going thro Spencer Johnson's Peak and Valleys.
Finally, Here is to wish all the people in Karnataka (Bangalore) Happy Ugadi the New year on Tuesday. While still I am far far away from picking the local language(13 years here!), the place has helped me learn and grow. So a kind of attachment is established more so when you don't have fond memories of your home state.
Till next week; take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.
1930 Hrs.

Roads; Carlton Towers; Budget

2010-02-28T17:28:00.000+05:30

I just wanted to highlight the sad state of Roads in Bangalore. The photos above are not the roads in Rural area / Villages in India but at the heart of Bangalore at Malleswaram; outside our home. Repeated request to do something has fallen on deaf ears. What more can you say on governance! To add insult to Injury this road soon be a path to school and 1000s of apartment homes in the next 4 months. Tragedy waiting I guess.

I am saddened to see the loss of NINE lives in the fire, due to lack of safety norms/ greed at the "CARLTON TOWERS" in Bangalore. This was the building right opposite Diamond District where I lived for 8 years till July 09; always wondered about the mushrooming bill boards and extensions and wondered where it would all lead to. The closure / disappearence of fire passage; the locking of fire exits; rooftop entrance locked for fearing people would use for partying(alchol) were flimsy reasons. Wonder where is the discipline/ governance and compliance to fire safety norms and rules. More so it was the lack of awareness on the employees part on emergency drills; rescue etc was lead to more panic and jumping down. As a safety professional I can only hope that this is a big lesson for companies big and small to learn and put in better fire safety programs in place.They owe it to their people. But would that happen; knowing Indian mentality of cut everything to get profits and business at any cost; I doubt more so with no straight forward legal aspects to enforce. We have one of the weakest/ opaque regulations; so nothing can be expected.

So, the budget is out and looks over ambitious; contrary to what many have showered praise;I stand by Mr Gurumurthy's article on Hindu in which he questions the discipline and brings out more of what the budget evades!!.. Well written...... Yes, the personal tax is ok for middle class; again it misses out the education, medical aspects which are also required to build the future of the country.

Ok; Till next week; take it easy and take care; Live Consciously.
Regards

Karthik

AUTO DRIVER LESSONS----> BOMBAY---->

2010-02-18T15:45:00.000+05:30

Exact Narration by Suvendu Roy of Titan Industries, who shares his inspirational encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai:

Last Sunday, my wife, kid, and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra.
When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different...

As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines (kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver's back rest.

I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel.

My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, dettol and some medicines.
This was enough for me to realise that I was in a special vehicle.
Then I looked round again, and discovered more - there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths
- from Islam and Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism.
There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare and Unnikrishnan.
I realised that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special.

I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished.
I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer's plastic company was shut down.
He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night.
No break unless he was unwell. "Sahab, ghar mein baith ke T.V dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega."

We realised that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai – the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life.
I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time.
He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth brushes, toothpastes, soap, hair oil, and other items of daily use.
He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: "25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped.
Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs. 50.

My wife and I were struck with awe. The man was a HERO!

A hero who deserves all our respect!!!

Our journey came to an end;

45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness, and of a hero-worshipping Mumbai, my temporary home.

We disembarked, and all I could do was
to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a
free ride for a blind man.

I hope, one day, you too have a chance to meet Mr Sandeep Bachhe in his auto rickshaw: MH-02-Z-8508.

Blizzard,Buzz; Toyota; Driving License; Gossip.

2010-02-14T17:15:00.000+05:30

So it appears that summer is fully in Bangalore; last 3 days are getting warm that venturing out 20 min walk at 2pm is a difficult task. One side there is a huge debate between global freezing and global warming in view of the continuous blizzard in the East coast of USA. The debate is on, and will go on forever. Things were not helped by the so called doctoring of data in favor of global warming.

So, the Google BUZZ is out, unlike the WAVE this just came unannounced (without much of the hype of wave;rather than waiting for the invitation anxiously, As I do for any Google product, just love them) this was sitting in the in box sort. 4 days in to Buzz, I kind of like it. Yes, there are many questions about privacy settings, I am sure that all will blow off over time. I am more in to ERIC SCHMIDT's school of thought, if you don't want something not to be in public domain and has concern over that it will be known, may be you should not be doing it in the first place.
On the funny side, It was hilarious to see the Driving license application in Bihar. On a serious side, I am glad to see that the state is making progress. It has been backward for long and things have to change. The challenge is to meet expectations and sustain. On the political side on a different note, it was sad to see the bombing in Pune which took lives. But reading international journals, this was not a kind of not unexpected, it was only a question of when rather than whether as this article explains.

The other surprise turn of events is the Toyota Recalls. Some lessons. There have been articles in the recent past about how the company is slipping and this has come as a huge blow. I guess this recall even goes to question the effectiveness of lean manufacturing. I hope for the sake of world class manufacturing the order is restored.
There was an interesting article I came across "How to keep your executives". Practical aspects. On the organization side,Mike and Mark have come out with a gem on "Gossip handling". Again it is all down to behaviours.
Till next week; take it easy and take care; Stay Healthy and live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Back; Computer Engineer; Listorious;Carly.

2010-02-07T17:05:00.000+05:30

Good to be back to Blogging; I think this is the best way to put thoughts in to a platform. So off to 167th Post. 4 years have just flashed past.

On the personal side; after ages it was feeling good to fast / starve for some 6Hrs in connection with15th Anniversary ceremonies for my late grandfather to whom I was very much attached. So fasting cant do much damage it seems.

This post on how to cover the basics how to be a good computer engineer gives a good practical 101. Abhisek Desai has covered all the practical aspects. I am still surprised that people have not harvested the potential of RSS feeds;and asking why, why, why. As a Safety professional, I will be on streets If I dont ask that question to get in to the root cause of the issue, so it has become second nature.

As the year is well on; it is a good time to take stock on the goals, objectives, targets as well as career etc; This article gives guidance as what should be the right way to plan a career covering transitions, job search, networking, etc all the essentials for a smart career. On the other side, I have been tracking the fabulous realities of Performance appraisal, incentives; no better expressed than in this blog column with good link to grandmother stories by Arun Vemuri.

On the leadership side; came across from my Twitter following on the best 10 leadership Blogs for 2010. No Surprises are most names are well known. Some of them yes to follow; One twitter application I came across is Listorious which gives a good list of twitters in to follow.

Came across this multiple search engine;Autopedia allows search about 9 search engines and spits out results from 4 of them simultaneously. Good for spread search.

On the political side; Here is an interview with Carly Fiorina; who is likely to run for the Cal Senate seat. The interview "The nation with the best brain power wins, echoes Drucker's ideas of knowledge worker. There is also a great question on Why women should be involved with Technology. Carly is one of the few Business Leaders inspire me; in fact her summary of Leadership" Courage; Capability; Collaboration; Character" I have displayed at my work table to refer.

Got a copy of SIDIN VADUKUT's DORK' Exciting book; planning delibarately to go through slow; but the first 46 pages makes me that task is difficult. I will give my review when completed.

Until next week; take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Karthik

Blog update

2010-01-24T16:29:00.000+05:30

As I will be updating most of the thoughts thro Twitter, My posting in BLOG will be sporadic with deviation from regular Sunday evening posting till further notice.

Please follow me on Twitter.

Karthik.

MLA,EE; Management,

2010-01-17T16:35:00.004+05:30

Today the Renaissance PARK III (Our #APT)Adhoc committee team of which I am member met the Malleswaram (Bangalore Nortwest) Member of state Legislative Assembly(Congressmen in US term) to thank him for helping us to get the Landline Telephone (It took 7 months as there was no last mile connectivity) as well as to request for some better amenities in the area. Dr Aswath Narayan is a medical doctor. This is my first close interaction with elected rep as I usually stay away and great believer that we progress in spite of the Government. The 20 min we spent, I found him to be accessible to people, very practical, down to earth as well as reeling of statistics on welfare measures. Yes, there was a bit of language barrier as I am yet to be well versed in Kannada the local language to fully understand the nuance of the conversation.

I came across an interesting article on Employee engagement, a kind of buzz word some time back but fizzled out in recession times, but still a good concept to work around.The acronym"RAPS" works well. Retention, Advocacy,Satisfaction, Pride. Good basic concept to work and take forward.
On the management side, MT /CT has come out a 2part gem on Admitting mistakes; Admit early and don't beat around bush. The MT podcast on Developing Subordinates (!! most may blink!!) is an eye opener for those not thought of it as necessary.(Org will take care Hmmmm)... On CMM, Wayne has come out 2 podcast (CMM/ Working week). CMM one with Timothy Clark on leadership with volunteering touching the strategic aspects of why/ what you want to be as leader is very thought provoking. On Working week with Dr John Kennedy, the Heart care is a must listen. On the satire/ time pass as we call in India, Listen to Lucy on the awards / Management guff is a must listen.

Here are the list of 15 Most hated companies in USA. No major surprises. Walmart, United,YES DELL.(MY son calls Hell), Yes they do well, the numbers are good but an aversion.

I was fascinated by GOOGLE Squared. Never knew it existed until I stumbled on the site. A good way to tabulate results and compare.

On the books side, Marshall Goldsmith's MOJO is out for release in Feb, cant wait to get a copy when it hit book stores here. Also on the lookout is Sidin Vadukut's DORK. I read the excepts in live mint.

As an avid Non Indian cricket follower, Test Match special BBC was a great site to follow cricket on Audio web for me. Pleasure listening to CMJ, Peter Baxter; Now Testmatch sofa looks equally good.

Pongal came and gone; so Summer (Uttrayan) is not far behind looking forward to move from cold,(20C!) and fog to Sunshine.

Ok, Till next week; take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Newyear, Twitter, Technology, Converters

2010-01-10T15:58:00.004+05:30

It is good to be back to blogging in 2010. We had celebrations in Renaissance Park III for welcoming the new year. It was all Women arrangement and they did an excellent job for entertainment, food, logistics as well as for the memento too. Well done. Photo above of the team who did a great job.

I am posting the photos of the Brigade North star which was in news for the first IT Corridor office complex in Northern Bangalore. This place is 50 Feet from my home and is part of complex of office, hotel, Apts, Mall, school. See Photos.

It was also time in the new year to catch up with my EX-Boss from Monsanto, Jolanta was here in Bangalore and took time in her schedule to catch up with us. It is close to 4 years since I left Monsanto and we are in touch. It was a great relation. On the news of Monsanto, I was not surprised to see HUGH GRANT Monsanto CEO, has been chosen by HBR as the top 10 Best performing CEO. I had met him couple of times, Hugh is all about accessibility, Care, compassion and commitment -the hallmark of leadership. He was instrumental as a Sponsor for bringing in World class vehicle safety program in 2002 to turn around driving concept. Congratulations.

On the tech front came across the 69 coolest web applications that changed the world in 2009 and 5 Tech apps that is dictating us. Very practical and we have reached a stage where we are nothing without these apps as they say.

Mr Murali of Netspeak comes with very useful links, He is one of the Tech geeks I follow on Twitter. His latest links on PDF to word Converter and Scribblar a useful web sharing application. My wife used the Scribblar and says it is very useful but not happy with audio for her web coaching sessions.

As indicated, HBR Print in it's new avatar looks different. Time Hangover!!, but good any way. The website too looks rejuvenated.

I leave with a bit of humor on English. Very funny no doubt.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; Follow me on Twitter at Karaikudy.

Karthik

Sunsigns, Best books of 2009, Panama Canal, HBR

2009-12-27T15:39:00.003+05:30

Good to be back after the Xmas Holidays. I would make this short post as to catch up on things.

I was amazed to read this post on predicting your boss nature based on his sun sign. I guess this is partly correct in as far as me as a boss as well as with some of the boss with whom I had interacted. Cant take it all the way though!.... On the boss front, I came across this fabulous picture post by Kris Ashok on doing Jalsa and showing Jilpa(Dont know what it means, not that I have heard till 1985, when I left Tamilnad) on how boss react to your sick leave. I also came across the post on Interviewing smart tips for tech folks, who miss the nuance of preparing and working out the job interviewing aspects.

As indicated in my earlier posts, I am trying to understand the essence of Bhagavad Gita thro the Discourse of Chinmayananda. I was fascinated with this post on linking Githa in modern management terms. Very apt and practical explaining Passion, Ignorance, Goodness, the 3 key aspects in human being.

I leave with the thoughts on Best business books of 2009, worth the list. Also I look forward to revamped HBR from 2010.

I was fascinated reading about Panama canal, never knew that you need Millions of gallon of Fresh water to move ship and more so to lift 85 Feet...... Marvel..

So 2009 was a decent year, lot of challenges, well overcome with ways to find a practical solution and move on. Ofcourse, ultimately it all boils down to what your stakeholders feel and that's what matters.

Take it easy and take care; live Consciously.
Karthik

Avatar, Meetings, Despair, Cheques bounce

2009-12-20T16:05:00.008+05:30

I am still in daze from the Avatar effect. My son persuaded me that I should accompany all to the movie(My 4th movie in 11 years, Titanic, HP V and Spider man) were the other 3. Also I was pulled in as I wanted to experience the 3D progress from the days of the Poltergeist. my dear Kuttichatan.

Avatar

Get Movie Widget

Movies & Actors at Flixster

Avatar is a mixture of Indian beleif(Moving soul from body to body, Spirits etc which are well documented in Indian history) and technology. For 160 minutes you are at a different world forgetting traffic jams, Lousy situations etc. The music of James Horner is master piece (Austrian touch of Mozart!) (As good as John Williams in Star Wars, Riders of the last ark and his own Titanic) adds to the thrill. It is a must watch for every one. The take away for me is It might help me to dream better and get better ideas as seed for thought process/ innovation to continuous improvement.

Cheques are going to be part of the history. With all the plastics, Digital aspects happening, Cheques may become extinct as per decision taken in UK. So the term Rain check may become Rain Digital.

With Cynicism at it's height in these depressing work state across,no wonder the site Despair.com, would help to let out the frustration and show out. Slogans, mug, posters etc. This site came to my knowledge in response to the practices of dog and pony show on safety thro behavior change in Let's get real which I shared with friends.

On the management side, 3 of the articles this week caught my attention. 50 Minute meeting by David Silverman on setting tight time and not just stick to calendar timings. 10 min saving can go a long way. The other post was on How to detect if your colleagues are lying.(Very apt both when lied or lied up on!!). The third one was Retaining top performer in tough times. Show your feeling and thank them is key also work out non cash rewards and align career expectations. Also I want to mention Mike and Mark podcast on Making your favourite candidate succeeding in your interview process. Top Stuff.

Google has come with a navigator that adapted to the Indian needs. In India the concept direction like North, south are alien. It is more to do with street, shop, temple, post office and work reference to that. So Google maps have adapted to that. GMAIL language typing in to TAMIL தமிழ் is a cool stuff.
I leave this week with the chart that caught my eye on How web Browser use has changed over years from all MS to Others. This is what they call CHANGE HAS COME TO THE WORLD. Also a quick look at the top 10 Web platforms.

Till next week, Take it easy and take care; Live consciously.

Regards
Karhik.

PS: As a favor to my son for taking me to Avatar and giving me good time, I will watch and support CHELSEA his team tonight.

Spousal Jealousy, Drucker, Soft Skills, Password

2009-12-13T16:36:00.002+05:30

So the year is coming to an end, 2009 looks like went like a whistle.

Came across this interesting article on Spousal Jealousy arising out of a new term I came across as work spouse. Of course, keeping the relations to the platonic level is the key and to avoid the wrath of home spouse I guess. Very practical article in MI and It covers indepth analysis of various issues at work and has a distinct UK flavor. I also came across lot of good management information at Management today. This also covers practical happening at the Management aspects. From an Indian perspective, Tickledby life is a good website on all updates in management.

I cant help keep writing about Peter Drucker. This HBR Website article just moved me I thought that I should share with all. This covers the personal side of Drucker which we seldom get to know.

Two articles which got Twitted around caught my attention. 1) The soft skills people require to work their way around by Kate Nasser. 2) 10 HR trends of the decade by Susan Heathfield for with web taking over the process. Wonder if HR folks would change their Mindset????

Everyday we use a lot of passwords for various access to websites, machines. A practical way to remember the password is explained here.

A live update of all the trains running in India are covered in the South Central Railway website. This covers update within 20min of current time and give the train status.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Thumb impressions, Tiny URL, Dictinoary, Gil Schwartz

2009-12-06T16:43:00.005+05:30

I am glad to be back on blogging after a week's gap as I was away last Sunday evening for some shopping and couldn't get time to blog. So feels good to be back.

I was amazed to read this story of a Florida, USA, bank insisting on a thumb impression of a man who has no hands to cash his cheque. You think you will hear such stories in this part of the world. Looks like the" crow is black" every where as they say in India, Kawwa Kaala Hi.

Tiny URL is a good feature to use when you have to shorten the URL which are lengthy. More so when you have to use it in Twitter or other microblog or send as link in email. It shortens and cuts it to less than 10 characters.

Google has done it again, The new Google dictionary is amazing to translate meanings. Not only that it gives meanings in various context of word and gives example. I tried features in my mother tongue Tamil and found it fascinating.

Bing, Stanley aka Gil Schwarz, (Bing, not the search engine) has come out with a new book, and has done a great podcast with Wayne on CMM. Give a listen. Bing writes fantastic column on Fortune and blogsite. Wayne in another podcast called Working week has covered the link between environmental sustainability and employee engagement in a conversation with Jagan Nemani. Give it a listen.

Mike and Mark have come out with a fabulous podcast on DISC Behavioral profile downfall and have covered HighC this week. Eureka, that is it.....

Gina Trapani, some time has written an excellent blog post in HBR on throw away your business card and create your GOOGLE Profile. Very true. I have done my Google profile . Of course, GOOGLE exposes you on all about you or what others write about you as this case study "We googled you" indicates.

Ok, Untill next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.

Regards
Karthik

Education, Scandal, Steve Jobs,2611

2009-11-22T15:48:00.005+05:30

Education access is an universal right for every one. I recollect reading some time back that Indian government passed a bill making basic education a fundamental right. In that connection, reading goes as a part of education. So I was amazed to see the SLS Planet read effort by subtitling film songs/ programs which would make people read and improve learning. This is common sense as one might say, but how many common sense ideas get implemented??.

So on to some of the scandals I came across this week.
1) 112 Year old man marrying 17 year old girl in Somalia- Mother of all scandals I guess!!..
2)Read the scandal by Tony Young in duping investor funds. The modus operandi was too common and wonder how people fall for it...

You can love him, you can hate him, you can forget him, but you cant Ignore him. Steve Jobs is back. He has been chosen as Fortune's CEO of the decade. You have to agree, the Ipod, The Iphone and Macs.. What is next? Just cant wait, made music a common access. My son was on for a music recording for his school program yesterday and he got a feel of Mac Pro tools 8.0 for that and says that MAC a thing to have.

This week on Friday will be the First anniversary of the Bombay Seize. Time flies. But you wonder any significant learning has happened and the sense of security has improved. It is time to ask the questions and see if we get answers. Meanwhile I share the grief, memory for the departed. Vir Sanghvi has written a great article.

Ok, until next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Drucker,9 ways, Kalashnikov,Fitbit,

2009-11-15T16:32:00.002+05:30

This week is the 100th Birth anniversary of Peter Drucker. I am sure we are very lucky that Like Gandhi, Drucker was amongst us and helped us to charter a way forward in management. As I read more and more of other authors on management issues, I see the fundamental concepts all boil from Drucker. We are blessed. Interesting would be his thoughts on today's chaos......

Read an interesting article by Liz Ryan on 9 ways to find a perspective employer. Yes, some of it are common sense and practically known in this part of the world like reaching early to find latent aspects, linkedin aspects. Good thoughts.....

With Google wave mania catching here is a practical guide written by Gina Trapani. She covers practical aspects in office work in HBR as well as in her blog called Lifehacker which is a good read. On HBR this article why parents make a great manager, was a good one.....

This week marks the 90th Birthday of Mr Kalashnikov the inventor of AK 47. The weapon yes, has taken lives, but brought more peace I guess. He was my childhood hero.. So salute.....

Yes, It is good to see Linkedin connected to Twitter, but no use in this part of the world as many service providers don't provide twitter connect so just dream.......Also many company firewalls bar twitter.....

Just got the fortune print article which has recognised Steve Jobs as Fortune CEO of the decade. Great accolade. The man has revolutionised digital waves.... Hopefully he takes it to next level on digital reads.....

I leave this week with FITBIT the device that can measure your movements and give feedback. Wish it comes sooner to this part of the world.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Qacks, Disagreement, Students, Readit forme.

2009-11-01T17:36:00.002+05:30

When I was 12 years old in my 7th Grade, I had allergic rashes on my body (reason never known) and my grandmother immediately suggested that I go the Quack to get it treated. Nothing came out of the roadside treatment after 12 hrs, my dad decided to take me to alopathic Doctor in Karaikudi(Far and few that time) and I was Ok in 6 Hrs. This CNN article on the quacks reminded me of that. The other side is the way the medical costs are skyrocketing this way of treatment would be beyond reach for many average Indians.......

Mike and Mark again have done it again. While you may have disagreements with your boss and it will be big joke if you had not had one over time(then it is career derail). They have come out with a fantastic podcast on how to disagree with your boss. I would even take this to work out over my children and family and friends based on this article when to shut up.

Here is an interesting piece on advice supposedly given by Bill Gates to Children. (of course now confirmed that he is not the source). Good thoughts to pass on to children regardless of source.

Came across this website Readitforme gives summary of best books released to go thro on a video. Also liked the web page Aggregated Alltop as a good source to read all threads in one page.

OK, till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.

Regards
Karthik.

Wave,Online Hazard, 100 working, Slip, Sleep.....

2009-10-25T16:47:00.005+05:30

I received yesterday morning the email invite for the Google wave, the collaboration tool and a communication tool from Google Inc. I must admit that I am pretty excited about it as it leads to explore on topics and people whom you would never have known. It looks good, let's see. The only hitch is there are only 20 Invitations to give away to connect to your wave. I hope the number increases as the system stabilizes.

I have heard people working till 70s, 80s that is all fine, here is a story of an Attorney in Texas coming in to office and working, guess his age!! Yes, 101.... Read on. At half his age, I am already feeling on some days that office is boring and what could be done differently to bring excitement in to work.
This is a shocker of a story in which a person who was doing online dating was killed.... I am sure many such incidents of fraud, cheat etc must be happening, but to kill some one for gain is horrendous!... Never thought that online could be such a hazard.

This is a classic case of slip between the cup and lip. Recently heard a interesting experience from a friend. After attending a job interview a job offer was received. Up on discussions, with not being very happy on terms and conditions and benefits and further negotiations, the company sent revised terms in which the cash component was much much less than initial offer as well as what is offered in present job. Both stuck to their guns and offer vanished!!!... Classic slip case.... So watch out.......

I leave you with the sad story of the passing away of the SAP India CEO aged 42 due to massive cardiac arrest this week. What kind of saddened me was his belief that 4 hours of sleep was enough to keep going. I recollect reading HBR article on sleep deficiency- a killer. Wonder if there are connections?...... May his soul rest in peace. I guess corporate needs to focus on this and do something as well as CEOs set an example. This is also a case for work life balance or choice.....

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Diwali 2009. Articles with Impact.

2009-10-19T16:57:00.005+05:30

Glad to share snaps of the DIWALI Celebrations at Renaissance Park III. We had a great time at our home on this joyous occasion. This time it was a simple get together as less than 20 families have moved in. We hope others move in soon.....

I thought of listing 5 articles I read which has an impact on me.....

Managing Oneself Peter Drucker.

What great Managers do? Marcus Buckingham

Manage your energy not time. Tony Schwartz

Who has got the MONKEY
Lary Bossidy- Honeywell. (Allied Signal). A Job No CEO should Delegate

Bonus
Process audit Michael Hammer.

Overwhelmed, Leap, Portfolio,Charity

2009-10-11T16:54:00.002+05:30

I am just pondering:-

1) Barrack Obama Nobel Prize, this was totally a bolt from the blue. I agree with the school of thought that the president is yet to deliver on results. Anyway, the decision is made as they say, past is history as is this year prize and we need to move on to await the Next Nobel Peace prize winner.

2) I was listening to Bahgavad Gita discourse by Swami Chinmayananda in my IPOD as I do every weekend 2 to 4pm. I was listening to the Chapter 11, in which Lord Krishna takes VISHWAROOPAM to show his full form to Arjuna. I am still to recover from the explanation and its manifestation. If hearing only makes me go in AWE, I just wonder what it must have been for the Mighty solider on the battle field.

I listened to Wayne Turmel on chat with Rick Smith on LEAP. It is a very thought provoking podcast. It covers three aspects as interface of Creativity, Excecution and Leadership. I undertook the test.

Came across, intersting info on the hedgeable award for worst investment fund award.

Also this article touched me on charity being done by N KRISHNAN at Madurai. He feeds about 1000 invalid/ mentally handicapped people in and Around the temple down. I am doing my best to contribute.

Looking forward to DIWALI celebrations less than a week away.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Ambulance, KS Mangalam, Subramaniam Siva, Roads.

2009-10-04T16:12:00.022+05:30

Whenever any government is involved, I usually criticise them or find that the quality of service is pathetic or poor. For a change, I witnessed something positive and here how it goes. Last Wednesday, when traveling from Bangalore to Trichy by train, a fellow passenger who boarded the train at Mysore,complained of Symptoms that could possibly lead to paralytic stroke. The Passenger's family members informed the railway traveling ticket examiner, (TTE) who in turn, communicated the situation to the Bangalore city station and sought an Ambulance to be brought around to the Platform 6 (Which is crowded, congested more so being holiday season!!!) when the train reached Bangalore city station. This is how I saw Ambulance in the platform while waiting for the train to arrive. As soon as the train arrived, the Ambulance crew swung in to action and worked first aid and shifted the passenger to nearby hospital. The family decided to discontinue journey to be with him. I am not sure of the outcome, but this effort by Railway authorities is indeed commandable.

We went for our annual pilgrimage to our family deity at KariSuzntha mangalam( Means Temple surrounded by Elephants) which is 25Kms from Tirunelveli, corporation in South Tamilnadu. It was a memorable experience to spend a day in the midst of greenery, on the banks of the river Tamira bharani and away from daily chaotic life. I felt recharged and good to go on at high levels for some time. The weather was indeed surprisingly mild, (It has started raining since we left). The decoration done on the deities makes you wonder, that the people who do that may be blessed......

On the way back we spent a couple of hours at Lalitha's home town Trichy and for dinner we went to Hotel Sangam. There at the Chembian resturant, we were treated to melodious Flute music by Subramaniam Siva, a 3rd Year Engineering student from Coimbatore.( He is native of Trichy). The 45 Minutes, we spent were simply great. Again you need besides talent, skill and attitude, a special blessings from almighty to render such enthralling performance. The team was great.......
I am also attaching a video which My son shot thro his mobile. The song is Kurai onrum illai. (Lord I have no grievances, composed by Rajaji, the First Indian Governor General of Independent India). Take a listen.

I was also impressed with the road conditions in Tamilnadu. Vast improvements with an average speed of 60 Km/hr. A far cry from days when 40 is superfast. Yes, that do bring the issue of severity being high when things do go wrong, like the near miss we had when our driver managed to avoid the state bus entering in to highway without a watching to his right!!....

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik

Women as better managers, Email, Glassdoors, Gmail

2009-09-27T16:30:00.004+05:30

Here is wishing all a Happy Dasserra. It is the only day of the year, when I sit behind the wheel of my car and drive the 30 yards, (of course my driver sits beside just in case!!)as an auspicious beginning for the year ahead.

Interesting article posted in New York times,in which Carol Smith of Elle group which says women are in all sense Better Managers than men. After working for a Female manager and the female manager had a woman manager. I cant help to agree with the statement. They give you more head room and tend to seek and take your opinion more than male managers do. Of course, the issue is only that some times conversation can go a bit longer and you need to master the time management skills.

Here is an interesting website, Glassdoor which gives inside information on all companies thro opinions posted. Of course, this only perceptions of individuals who post what they feel.

Read last night on the HBR article in Sep issue on death by information overload. A must read article for those drowned by information, more so from Web and dont know how to manage. The article talks about thebrain and Twine as source of tools to help manage information overload. Let me see start using and see how it goes.

Hmm, Again Gmail had trouble this week, when I couldn't access my contacts for couple of hours. Wonder, where the invincibility disappeared?? Yes, again Mike and Mark are right, Always take a printout of contacts.....

Ok, Looking forward to catch up the next 2 days holidays with lot of catching up to do on reading.....

Until next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik

Eid Mubarak,Internet Kills, Tragedy, Art of living, Navaratri.

2009-09-20T16:24:00.003+05:30

I am posting this blog in a more relaxed manner as tomorrow Monday is a public Holiday for the Islamic festival Id-ul-Fitr. I pass on warmest Eid greetings to my Muslim friends, more special greetings to my friends in my second HOME, Lahore; Pakistan. (Special friends in Monsanto Pakistan, Dr Rahman, Rana Rafiq and Zahid Islam, the last mentioned was instrumental in getting me to visit Pakistan) I am really amazed that in every religion the path to spiritual greatness are done thro sacrifice, discipline, (I am not an expert, this is my initial views, still a long way to go).

Saw an interesting web piece on 50 things that Internet has killed. I will add one more thing is looking at Dictionary or writing the correct spelling.

I found the web page History search engine Infoaxe cool, It helps you to search the web pages you visited and restores. Cool..... So no struggle for pages visited and lost.

I have posted a poll on linkedin on work life balance, a topic that is very close to my heart. I find it very irritating and frustrating to see many Indian companies and managers don't try to do a bit or walk the talk to enforce this important concept!!. I posted my brooding on this topic about an year back in my blog. Seems nothing has changed. They seem to live in a different plane(t) on this as compared to companies like bp, Honeywell. As much as we don't understand the western divorce concept as I was explaining to my wife.

I am listening to Malcolm Gladwell's Blink Audio Book. A must listen for every one to get a sense of thinking on feet as well as go by hunch. Gladwell also explains the concept of Contempt/ criticism which is a big take away for me as well as the concept of THIN SLICING...

It was heart rendering to read that a 12 year old girl died in labor in Yemen. It shook me to the core and it took me a while to regain composure. Where the world is going??????

I had a chance to examine my pulse thro Nadi Pariksha( Pulse Diagnosis) thro AOL. Some of the concepts and treatment are akin to grandmother's remedy in a core sense. (Pita, Kapa, Vatta).

Yes, navarathri, 2009 has commenced from Yesterday. It will fun filled 9 nights. Of course, We have not kept the Golu(Doll arrangement at home, I have been pestering Lalitha for one, may be next year!!). How much I miss the Gujarati Garba/ Dandiya Rass of Bharuch, Ankleshwar which are etched in my memory even after a dozen years of moving away from that wonderful place and people.

Yes, leave you with "GREED IS GOOD" saw the movie after 22 years of its release. What a theme and very relevant in present day context. Vintage Michael Douglas.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.

Regards
Karthik.
Amritkala,Bangalore, India.

Austerity, IC, Gandhi, Children,India medical

2009-09-13T17:37:00.003+05:30

I was away to Bombay on a private visit Saturday,after almost 7 years for a domestic travel( I had hobson's choice for Lahore!!) I had a chance to take Indian Airlines ( Rechristened Air India) flight.(Because of the ongoing Industrial action by Jet Airways Pilots with whom I hold loyal Platinum membership), To my pleasant surprise I found the experience enjoyable, both ways the flight was on time, the food was reasonable and the entertainment and papers on board were aplenty. So private competition has increased Indian Airlines service attitude to customers. Lets hope they sustain this!!.... As for Bombay visit, I was stuck in the unusual traffic jam for Saturday evening on the way back to Airport on LBS Marg Bhandup, thanks to the brevity of my cab driver, I managed to reach on time to board the flight.(The 20 Mile Journey took 2 Hrs!!, my plans catching up with friends on the way back went for a toss!).

On another news on travel front the news that is making headlines in India in on the austerity measures (!!!!!??) by the central ministers to travel economy and reduce spending.. Wonder how long they can stick to it...... knowing the integrity (All political parties are in the same boat) of our folks, they will find a way to game the system to get upgrades without cost, with pro quid pro, or arm twisting!!... Let's wait and watch. Of course, with mobile phone camera around it is easy for anyone to shoot photo of politician's caught on wrong foot and expose them.

I am glad that I read this article on Indian medical care,Lovely story self explanatory. Also this one on Mother in Law forming as association to protect their rights!! Wow......

I am not a great Gandhi admirer, ( I am from Patel, Bose Clan) but still found it interesting to read Obama's views on the father of the nation. Of course, I always believed that it is the dignity of British (personally convinced having a British Boss)that they let Gandhi do what he did. Anyone else, we might have to do with an Omar Muhktar. Hmmmmmm........

I leave with the images of the kids(Cant call anymore like that) growing fast. 2006 and 2009, the same place for my daughter's birthday party.... Time flies. Makes you feel old.. Scary!

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.

Regards
Karthik

Chase, Inhuman Resources, Drunken Grandmaster, YSR

2009-09-06T16:21:00.003+05:30

I am now doing a wild goose chase and learning the frustration of handling customer service ineptness. About a year ago, I had ordered a home safety security alarm system from EUREKA FORBES(Honeywell make!!!!) at a discounted price at an exhibition sale in Honeywell premises. At that time, I had indicated to the salesman that I would require the system installed after 6 months or so at my new house and that I am purchasing, paying the full amount (US$ 300) to take advantage of the discount. It appears that salesman is no longer employed in the company. The company couldn't trace my order. (Being an average Indian company) I am not surprised that they have state of the art ERP to track orders. I am now not sure whether I will get the product or the money back!!!......... This is a lesson to learn to go after discounts or pre order.... Some lessons. I am also in a frustrating followup for a online order cancellation with ICICI Bank credit card, that is a story for another day.

We all know HR is a touchy area in many organisations and how much we would like to stay away!!(More so over the last decade and a half when it is getting more and more robotic!) emphasising that point is a great is a book by Michael Stanford which explains all the process of inhuman aspects at work thro your colleagues and boss etc etc and HR or any one cant do anything about it......... (except you to get inoculated against it)

Here is a funny side to sports in which a grandmaster came to play his chess match drunk and slept over the board. Hmmmm, at least he was sober to come to the right place in the first place.....

This morning during my walk I was listening to the podcast by Robert Goffee on his upcoming new book, Leading clever people. I had read the Article" Why should anyone be led by you" on HBR some time back. It was a very revealing article on authentic leadership.

On the management bookshelf, came across an interesting website which lists great management books of all time.

I will leave you with my thoughts on passing away of Dr YS Rajashekara Reddy, (YSR)the Chief minister of the state of Andhrapradesh(Hyderabad), killed in a Air crash. If I remember right, after 20 years, a state has lost its CM in office. May his soul rest in peace. But what saddened me was, that during the 24 Hrs he was missing and as efforts were on to trace his helicopter, 6 to 7 out of 10 messages that were posted in various new forums was that he would be found dead or good that he is gone. I am also averse to Indian politicians and many have done an irreparable damage. I endorse the saying by many that "India is doing extremely well, in spite of her politicians". But to hope that they all die, would lead to administrative vacuum. The other way is we choose,what we deserve!!. In my interactions with people from that state is that he had done his bit for the downtrodden. RIP......YSR.....

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik

Awards, must known thing, Alumni, RFK

2009-08-30T17:05:00.004+05:30

I am hugely distracted from routine over the last 8 weeks since moving in to our Apartment. The noise from construction from the projects within and the neighborhood have put spanner on the daily routine. What saddens me was that noise from construction projects are well past midnight with least concern or respect for people living in the community. I am aware that in Indian context the respect to compliance and following the law and order are minimal (More so when some norms are voluntary) and people try to work a way out thro bribe, coercion power, position or influence. But to see blatant violation as well as putting aside voluntary compliance is the saddest aspect. What is also shocking is the so called board of directors of such companies are much respected men in Indian society. I guess they have no clue to the ground level realities!!!. Remember Satyam!!.....

I am also puzzled by the craze to chase awards in many organisations, a friend of mine was sharing an experience of how his company is chasing awards in various function so much so that their HR and corporate communication functions were doing only the emails on awards protocols and sending emails to that effect. (Where is the question of not influencing!!??). It is a case that these functions have forgotten their primary responsibilities of meeting the internal customer requirements viz meeting HR deadlines etc.? Hmm, signs of things.....

Wayne talks about managing various aspects with Lisa Hanaberg in the 5th Anniversary podcast. I am pleasantly surprised that he mentions about my job profile in the conversation. Thanks Wayne!!.

A must listen for people who have direct reports the acid test, the podcast from Mark and Mike. It is simple.

Scary story of an Alumni suing her college for having not able to find employment. Read here...

Sad about the passing away of Ted Kennedy, great liberal champion. May his soul rest in peace. Incidentally, his brother Robert's assassination is the news, is as far as I could back to my childhood to remember times(1968 when I was 4 years old, staying in Madras!!!).

Till next week, take it easy and take care; Live consciously.

Regards
Karthik.

Back to posting.

2009-08-16T17:12:00.003+05:30

I am glad to be back to posting this week after almost away for more than 3 weeks due to Ill health as well as chasing on issues, as well as laziness to some extent due to settling down at our new home. We are still not falling in to a groove, I guess it should happen say from this week.

Last Sunday( 9th Aug) I was glad to catch up with my classmate from college, Ganesh, who had come from USA to India on a 3 week trip. He took time in his schedule to work a visit Bangalore. The 4 Hours flew just like that. It was a good chance to recollect events that happened over the past 25 years.....

Mike and Mark have come with Excellent podcast on Airline travel in their career tools Podcast. A must listen for all the frequent travelers.

On connection, Anna Farmery has gone out a with podcast on the engaging brand show with Iggy Pintado. This 2 part podcast is a must listen for people to work out the intricacies of connection on Social media.

Ok, I will start active posting from next week, I promise. Until then Take it easy and take care; live consciously.

Regards
Karthik.

Kalaivani, 20p, Bribe, Songbird, Indians don't give!!!

2009-07-19T16:14:00.004+05:30

Good to be back to blogging after a couple of hectic weeks with the move to our new apartment.

I was very much touched by this story forwarded to me. This goes to show how Kalaivani a 17 or 18 year old girl as a sales girl at a book Shop in Madras manages the family... There are so many families out there. The story has a happy ending.....

I was touched to read this saga/ epic struggle of this entrepreneur who had refused to pay bribe to the authorities for carrying out the legal formalities in connection with the house he had built. Corruption in this part of the world is given, more so to escape the opacity and slowness of the process. This story gives the courage to face the situation.

When are the times the money you carry is more its worth!!???. I remember old story of a Petrol station agent melting the coins to make fortune as the Silver that came out was worth more than its currency value!. Read this story here in UK where some discrepancy in date makes 20p worth 50£

The best of the 2009 Leadership blog survey is out, I had voted.Some interesting thoughts on leadership expressed in these blogs and this survey is done by Kevin Eikenberry thro his blog.

On the question of best business books I had come across an intersting link. Worth going thro and help you choose the best books in Print or audio form.

On the tech front, here is a challenge to ITUNES from Songbird. The Ipod software to sync your Ipod with a Computer. I have downloaded it and will begin using it. The reviews on Songbird are pretty positive.....

On the way of life in India, I came across a thoguht provoking article in mint on why Indians dont give back to the society like the way it happens in West. I have heard of stories of famous Indian personalities becoming tight fisted when it comes to charity..... Some truth I guess.. I assume the Hindu way of life of living as a zero sum game!!!.... Hmmmm...,,

As always I leave with obituary of two people who passed away recently, Robert McNamara, the first international figure I had known from my school days (As world bank president). The other person was Walter Cronkite, who was a famous announcer. Coincidentally both were in 90s, and both connected to JFK......

Lot reading to catch up!!!.....

Till next week take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

AMRITKALA

2009-07-18T08:18:00.004+05:30

I am delighted to blog this post sitting in our new Apartment "AMRITKALA". We completed the legal formalities Friday, 17th July 09 and so our move is complete. Amrit= Nectar of God and Kala is Time. So more reign for things that have god's blessings etc.

We managed to get the Internet connection and wireless phone in this area Subramanya Nagar, Bangalore where the last mile connectivity is yet to be established. So things would go on. We are in the process of settling down and I expect the process to complete soon. Yes we are the 3rd owner to move in out of this 110 Apt of Renaissance Park III. I expect others to follow in 4 to 6 weeks. As for completion of construction I would assume it is 3 to 5 months to complete, so we got to bear with the noise associated with them as well as construction from massive adjacent project of Brigade Gateway(Photo above).

Here is the google map of the Apt. coordinates.

Our achievement was all due to collective efforts put in by all of us as the Renaissance Park III Owners association who chased things at every stage over the last 15 months. Every project needs a great leader and we got one in Mr Suparna, about whom I had mentioned before. The managing committee of our association was helpful at all stages to help when required. Yes, Renaissance Builders also did their best, to be fair in these tough times, So thanks to all.

I am posting some of the photos of the house and ceremony which we did before we moved in.
Hope to resume regular blogging from Sunday........

Regards
Karthik

Rush Rush Rush

2009-07-08T11:55:00.002+05:30

Last 10 days have been kind of rush with chasing for final completion of our apartment, Managing finance for shortfall (as usual and as expected dipping in to savings from my pension fund to take from government takes ages; so no help there- not surprising???!!!! ) Wimbledon also took time, seeing off parents to home town after 8 weeks here (With a surgery for dad)...... So Blogging took a back seat! (Lazy too!!!).....

OK, Take it easy and take care; Till then live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Balance, School children, Coffee, Good Boss.....

2009-06-28T17:08:00.002+05:30

It is good to be back to blogging after last week ill health. It was tough times but it gave a chance to catch up on reading.....

One of the key aspect in life is work life choice. To choose and work balance between work and personal life. Both needs to be maintained, somehow in this part of the world one overlaps over the other most of the time. I saw an interesting aspect of this during my visit to Japan a couple of years back. On Wednesday evening, no one is allowed to stay late, they need to clear their work desk and leave for home. Exceptions are by prior permission from Boss's boss. A good chance to at least spend an evening with family. Wish some of our folks learn this and make a beginning.

I always wondered when I hear from my American friends that children participate in so many extra curricular activities!. I always wondered how do they find time for all such events beside studies. I got some of the answer from Lexington this week, that American children spend 32 Hrs a week in school with 3 months vacation vis a vis 45 Hrs a week here in India.(6 days) and 6 weeks holidays. No wonder there is time, but I am glad at least many kids there spend it usefully in extracurricular activities!. Good for them... I hope.

This article made me wonder!! May be it is a joke! That Comrade Chavez fears that President Obama is more to the left than himself or Castro!... Yes, the way economy is shaping up.. Staling may stir in his grave!!.

Here is an interesting snippet on the drink to which I am addicted. Coffee is good for health so says HBR so justifying my 7 cups a day (large 400 Ml cups)..... I almost gave up coffee in the year 2000. The addiction picked up during the Maiden USA visit in 2001 kicked in the habit back and since then the resolve has gone downhill... More so with cups presented in USA as souvenirs didn't help.. Talking of HBR, here is a great article I read by Prof. Sutton on How to be a good boss in bad economy. I only hope, we don't put this in to execution!! and as good to know. I begin to feel HBR is beginning to revamp itself under new editor Adi Ignatius. I wish him success and look forward to great compilation serving practical aspects of Management and leadership.

Mr Suparna, our good friend (Park III Home owners association) has forwarded me an email on Vivekananda university on Yoga here in Bangalore. Thought of sharing this information in the blogosphere.

Until next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik

Emotional Being!!!!!........

2009-06-22T10:06:00.003+05:30

I am down with VIRAL Fever since Friday evening and hence couldn't post Sunday evening.The Bone crushing pain was horror and sleep deserted me for 3 nights. I am hearing many of my friends / colleagues here did suffer effects and didn't attend office last week.

I assume it was also linked to psychological/ emotional well being as some events / situations during last week were disappointing; from there on could have let the mental guard down!!. I guess there is connection between Physical well being and emotional state!!!......

Amidst all this, the good feeling Sunday was my son's team Winning the basket ball tournament and picking up a medal, certificate and a cash Prize of Rs. 151(US$3). I don't remember ever doing one!!!!.

Will post this weekend.
Until then take it easy and take care; Live consciously.

Karthik

Emergency, Traffic, Soderling, U-Turn.

2009-06-14T16:03:00.004+05:30

This Blogpost is worked from IE8.0 for a change. The search for this blog post is done thro BING. Let me post my comments next week on how this worked out.!!!

As posted in my facebook page, My father has been hospitalised in Manipal hospital for an emergency (but not life threatening) surgery Friday evening. The surgery went well and he is recovering well. We hope to have him back home, Tuesday. The Manipal hospital (near my home so makes the commute easy)is one of the best hospital with team of good doctors and support staff. Yes, I do find the administrative section like paying doctor fees, getting appointment, retrieving medical reports are irksome and frustrating. I wish they could take advantage of technology, Medical Record management systems to manage information/ access/ for patient interaction better. !!

Also Friday was a significant day for other event, yes, if you had read my recent posts, I have been covering the progress about my upcoming home and issues etc. We did get an appointment to meet the CEO of Renaissance Holdings Mr Ramanj. The meeting went well in a cordial atmosphere(!!) and we got to understand each other's perspective and issues. The good news is that CEO has committed himself to end our Park III project, in about 4 to 6 weeks. We are also seeing some evidence like permanent Electric supply restored etc. I will for the time being put an end to this topic and lets review in say about 6 weeks to see where things stand!!.

Over the last 2 weeks, I had first hand experienced the perils of traffic jam in Bangalore. The heavy rains in low lying areas at which my office is located made experience of commuting a 10 mile drive in over 120 minutes.(twice in a week!!). Yes, the positive side for me is almost after 2 years, I switched on the CD system in my car and listened to the music/ FM Radio. Hmmm, something positive. The rains had its share of tragedy with 2 people being washed away in the open storm drains in to which they were sucked in by the flood waters. You would assume the city is safe!! Not so. Yes, there are changes in civic administration, but it calls for more of execution I would assume.

Who remembers a loser!, we may wonder. The way Robin Solderling, conducted himself in the presentation ceremony of the French open final at Roland Garros is an example of some times the winner gets overshadowed, the way we enjoyed himself made me wonder as to whether he had won the open?. He treated us to a great exhibition of Tennis. Well Done Sir.!!.

It was interesting to read Andrea Jung interview in which she says Fire yourself and do an introspection to come good. Very true!!, the issue is we don't let go the ego in us to do a self search!.

I leave with an interesting article which I read in WSJ, on the reverse brain drain the great U TURN. Who would have thought that thing would come to this!!!. Anyway!!.

Don't wait till next week, I am more comfortable with GOOGLE. Switched after doing half the blog.!!.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

PS: Meeting a school senior after 29 Years in the hospital yesterday. Dr Latha; whom I met in Hospital Saturday, is a senior (3 years) from my school at Karaikudi. Amazing is the human memory to recognise some one after 29 years in a split second!.

Temper, Kindle, Recession,Art of living, AF 447

2009-06-07T19:31:00.006+05:30

Posting this blog with the multitask of watching French Open Men's final.

Saturday was a new experience for me from holding emotions/ temper perspective. As I had been indicating in the previous blog that I am planning to move to our new apartment, and I was indicating that the project at Renaissance Park III in Malleswaram, (Renaissance Holdings) is almost 18 months behind schedule. Yesterday, we had been given to understand that we will be meeting the CEO at his office to express our concern and request a speedy progress. When we reached the office, it was a shocker to see none of the senior executives had turned up and tempers of some of the flat owners assembled (About 40 of them) was flaring up; after a lot of angry exchange over phone, the mid level staff came to the office and met us stating that the project is slow progress but definitely not a no progress. After great reluctance, they have committed to bring the CEO to meet us next week. Let us see how things shape up!!. What saddens me personally was the lack of communication on progress, No regret at deadlines after deadlines being missed with no sense of remorse!. What was a shocker yesterday (with people who had come there by chance,) was other projects are also painfully slow. We hope to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, the market is slow; all projects by other builders are also delayed and flat owners having no say, but a honest, transparent communications and treating customer with dignity and respect as said by Gandhi would go some way!!. Looks like lack of emotional intelligence. Yes, some of the flat owners were in angry mode, but that is understandable.

Not sure that if I had mentioned about the Amazon Kindle, the new revolutionary ebook reader. Having seen a couple of them in old version over the last 18 months during the flights, I was impressed and the new Kindle version as well as Kindle Dx. No wonder it can be the Iphone of ebook industry. Yes, the price at 359$ is high and and is not available outside USA. I am sure with the popularity it would soon come out in other parts of the world.

The more I read international articles, the more it appears that India and China have escaped the deep effects of Recessions. Looks like the Decoupling has happened. I am seeing signs when I talk to my Indian company friends, who ask me back, "Recession,!! What Recession!!???". It is good to see India and China would lead the recovery. Of course, the effects on long term would be worth waiting and watching.

This week on the personal side, I attended the Toastmasters session as a guest and found it interesting!!. I might give a serious thinking to become a member. Worth the efforts it appears. Also, for the first time I attended the Art of living session conducted by Sampath Althur who did a great job guiding us to the right way. It was a great experience to undergo the session. While the activities, per se, were nothing more than an ergonomic stretch,I feel the effect of refreshingly different from within comes from the deep peace and the way breathing in and out which kind of cools you a lot. Let me see how I take this forward to the next level.

I leave you with tragedy of AF 447, and pray that the trauma of the family of dead is settled soon with the discovery of the wreckage and bodies. That will give the family members a chance to give decent funeral and feel an unknown is resolved. Also with the black box, when found would lead to the mystery unveiled and lessons learnt will be implemented to avoid recurrence and to take aviation safety to the next level.

As I finish blog, Federer has won Roland Garros, the last frontier for him.!

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik

Illegal downlod, Bond, Travellers,Wave

2009-05-31T19:26:00.003+05:30

I am back from a meeting of our association in which we discussed the inordinate delay about our Housing project of Renaissance project Park III. It looks like it is going to take more and more delay with things moving at snails pace in the common utility front like power and municipal water. Looks like we need to escalate the issues. Matters were not helped by the traffic chaos due to the Marathon relay arranged here today. Just wonder, when the public will have free access to roads without all the nuisance of rally, marathon, protests etc!!!!. Bangalore traffic has become nightmare!!.

I was not surprised to read that people all over the world are resorting to illegal downloads from sites. The articles show that in Aussie land, Uk the use of bit torrent sites is rampant and is a big concern due to the recession in which people care for every penny. This is more a personal experience as this week I spent about 85$ for renewing my wife's laptop Norton's account. The satisfaction of buying original stuff is amazing!!. Of course, I must make a disclosure that some of the info that comes from Bittorent sites are useful, no questions!!. It comes from a click of a mouse and of course, the charges you pay of 45$ per month, for your ISP provider is the cost for that I guess!!!.

This week marks 100 years of James Bond's secret service MI6. What a character!!, and thrilling the audience in both paper and celluloid. My favorite Bond actor has always been Sean Connery. No questions. Don't remember seeing the latest bond movies!! (Bump in to them in flights more to kill time!!).

It is coincidence that as I read about the violent attacks on Indian students in Australia this week. I read couple of articles about Aussies being the worst tourists abroad!!. It is not surprising given the adjustments needed to be a traveler!!. It is tough and needs resilience to fit in to local culture and a sense of emotional adjustment.

We agree that politicians are made of stronger stuff and don't let their emotions out!. So it was kind of strange to read about El Salvador's president weeping over his son's death and bring the perpetrators to justice. After all every one is human!!.

Google news on Working on Algorithms to see which employee would leave has interesting aspects of employee retention prediction. In a sense, scary that it becomes commercially viable!!. On other google news, watch out for Google wave, the interactive aspects of communication which would go to a next level. My feeling / excitement on seeing demo of Wave was the same as when I saw MS sharepoint about 3 years back!!! for data storage and interaction and which is part and parcel today for me at my work in Honeywell.

Ok, so on IPL Cricket, the Hyderabad team won the championship. It was a great result and personally satisfying one, more so they beat a team in the final sponsored by an Brewery brand!!!. I am also glad that I stayed away from live cricket having watched in total less than 20 Minutes over 35 days. Good for me!!.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik
Bangalore,India.

Iron Lady, WSJ, Toddler, expenses,

2009-05-24T17:02:00.002+05:30

The week was a hectic one with the preparations for the house warming ceremony Friday for our new apartment at Renaissance Park III at Malleswaram. The last 3 weeks work was like about 3 years work to bring the house to speed with the chasing/ followup. The function went well, hopefully we should be able to move in the next 6 to 8 weeks.

I could not write about the Iron Lady I admire most,(Conservative of course, who else) Margaret Thatcher last week due to various issues covered and for want of time and space. It is 30 years since she assumed office and brought a turnaround to the British economy as well as the famous war. She and Golda Meir are the kind of leaders the world needs to turn things around. I am sure her leadership style would return to UK in the next 50 weeks!!.

Glad to see the Wall Street Journal print edition in India. While I follow WSJ articles online as well as through the Indian print partner Livemint till now. I need to decide on subscribing to it. The subscription price US$ 250 for 2 years at 50% discount, looks little high for a personal subscription. With the recessionary trends, I wonder any individual would ask for official subscription ??!!! Worth hearing comments!!!

It was an amazing story of toddler ordering an excavator for 15,000 $ thro online auction site. He wanted a toy and ordered it online. I recollect my cousin informing me that his son tried online buy once and burnt a hole in the wallet!!. Perils of online access.!!

Echoing my views on the Pathetic state of Indian TV coverage here is the column by Mahesh Vijapurkar. Very practical, best way is to go back to the old days of watching TV News twice a day (Morning and night).. Just wonder when the standard of Indian TV would improve????, not in my time. Anyway, I had stopped watching/ wasting time. It is less than 10 min a day!!!.

The expenses scam in UK is a big news, the speaker resigned an historic event. Wonder what the British would think, if they hear the way our Member of Parliament do things, to me what the British folks did is nothing compared to what our guys do here!!!.
But people are sensitive and politicians are thin skinned!!!.

Came across the NIGHT JACK Blog of a frustrating British policemen. Very Intestine facts. On the Blogfront, here is an interesting post by Anna Farmery on Blogging facts.

I leave this week, with the former South Korean president, Roh Moo -Hyun committing suicide over corruption and favouritism scandal. Not surprising there, the high moral and ethics that prevail in South Korea which I had witnessed. Our politician will say........../

Until next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Election, Balmer, Ramesh, Food, Counterfeit

2009-05-17T17:13:00.003+05:30

So, the results of the Indian elections were out yesterday, Saturday and as with the election results over the last 8 months all over the world, it has been a disappointing results to take for me. The only silver lining I see in this election is people have voted overwhelmingly for a party with interests/ focus in the national main stream. So this at least gives the government of Dr Manmohan Singh, that comes in a free mandate to do reforms which are badly needed without the whims to attend of smaller, regional parties and the left which I feel should have been long consigned to museum as happened in other parts of the world. So in the interst of national development, we hope things start happening after 5 retarded years. Wishing the Prime minister good luck till next elections. May be, we await a leader who would do a turn around for our agenda!! There is always hope!!. (Labor waited 18years in UK, so a 10 is acceptable)

As a practice now a days I stay away from TV and followed the whole election (but for 15 minutes of TV) on the web. My classmate Thirumalai Rajan, settled now in Bay area, Frisco runs a blog called IDLY VADAI( A south Indian Breakfast dish) in which I followed the fortunes of politician from my state of Tamil Nadu. Interesting developments as well as shameful display of money muscle power.

Moving away from political chaos and mess, it was refreshing to hear Steve Balmer speak to upcoming students at Stanford on challenges and issues ahead in Tech world as well as in MS. Worth a listen from the Microsoft CEO. On another front, this week I tried MS IE 8.0 for a change after downloading, and I was pleasantly surprised, it is not bad after all. Although when I tried to set up weather (It is now raining since 2pm, 4 hours ago) for Bangalore in the browser, there were B and C grade cities, but no Bangalore( A city with 7 mio people!!!).

Of late, I have switched to spending more time on listening to the south Indian music more of instrumental types, which I find very very soothing. I hit up on a great fusion of Western and south indian music by Ramesh of Nadaswaram fusion. A fabulous one especially Malai Soodinal.(Garland exchange during Indian marriage). I am looking for the lyrics for the songs, can anyone help?

So, the recession effects are beginning to take efforts in this part of the world. I am seeing in some places where, canteen food is no longer subsidised and you got to pay for yourself and buy food. I am seeing amazing change in the crowd behavior that comes to canteen has dwindled and many many people carry packed food from home, I am yet to do the switch over. Also the good part is the wastage of food has shrunk dramatically. I see clean plates at the disposal points, a great feeling. Food waste is a crime. Also hearing from friends that some companies are switching to 4 day week. Hmmm, sign of times!!!. Lets hope things move back to gear fast.!!.

I was amazed to read about the counterfeit racket in Lima, Peru. What was shocking also there was an arrest of 90 year old woman in robbery attempt. Wonder where things are going????!!!.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Outage, Githa, House,Evil

2009-05-10T17:30:00.006+05:30

I was away last week and was tied up to ceremonies due to death in family and so good to be back.

I was away in Bombay for the ceremony and for the first time faced power outage in Bombay, black outs are common. Being a regular visitor in Bombay for more than 24 years, this was a surprise and I was always felt that Bombay is immune from power cuts. Everything is relative in time, it appears!!!.

I got access to the audio of teachings of Swami Chinmayananda on Bhagavad Gita. ( 55 parts each of 2 Hrs!!). What master preacher he was!!, he has presented the complex aspects of Krisha's battle field teachings to Arjuna in an elementary form with a sense of wit and laced with real life incidents. Worth listening. I plan to spend 2 Hrs on Saturday/ Sunday for this.

We are nearing the completion of our new apartment, Renaissance Park III in Malleswaram, Bangalore. The Project delayed by a year, we hope to see some happy end to this ordeal, may be over the next 4 to 6 weeks. We are in better shape than many other projects which are in inordinate delay as well as being scared by news paper advertisements by authorities (DLF) warning of purchase of properties.

So after 20 days, yesterday, I spent 8 min to watch live 11 balls in IPL. It was an accident, but yes, the fact that I stayed away from this evil for 20 days is a good sign.

Ok, till next week, take it easy and take care; Live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Chagas, Twitter,Marc Dreir, Job Hunting, Ants

2009-04-26T18:38:00.002+05:30

We use the term"Chagas" as a term for expressing something when a happy ending in an unexpected situation. I was therefore horrified to read an article that Chagas is the number one killer in Latin America. This is an insect bite in the face and causes Heart and intestine failure. I was shocked to read that it is as a dreaded killer as fearful as Malaria in Africa and still nothing being done in a large scale to combat the disease.

Many months back I listened to the podcast in the Stanford university thought entrepreneur series when Evan Williams spoke about his journey in creating blogger and his work with Google. I could sense that time, listening that this guy has untapped potential. It is great to see that the Twitter is his brain child. I like Twitter and created account in 2007 but is not crazy about it, but I appreciate the effort. His next revolution, as indicated, email.

Mark has come with a great podcast last week on freeing your calendar for accomdating your schedule to be effective as well as efficient. A must listen to improve your productivity thro delegation and how to do it.

Would you believe that there are 14,000 Trillion(yes) ants in this planet ?The weight of ant on earth is equal human being and that the biggest colony of ant is 2.5 sq.km in Indonesia. Interesting facts. I was amazed!!!. Ants use swarm intelligence to work and as an individual are idiots!!! Hmmm.

Many Tamil movie viewers of the 1960s, would have seen Thangavelu playing as a comedian fraudster, (cheating/ compulsory liar as a employee in famous company, while unemployed) in the movie Kalyana parisu.(Wedding gift). I was reminded of that story when I read this Fortune article, on How Marc Dreir committed fraud to the extent of 700Mio$ as an impostor. Read this exciting, sad story as they say, truth is stranger than fiction.

Fortune magazine recently covered a practical article on how to land in tough times. A practical guide to be ready when things do go dreaded.!!

I was always feeling disgusted about IPL. So here is a blog on FAKE IPL that exposes the idiotic things happening there!!!. So my IPL stay away from TV has extended to 9 days and I haven't watched a single ball. Yes, also TV watching is less than 10 min. Keeping the idiot box away.

Wayne has done an excellent podcast on Telecommuting with Kate Lister, worth listening.

Till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Regards
Karthik.

KID's blog, Esamskriti, Virodhi, TRUE/ SLANT, Bumptop

2009-04-19T18:47:00.007+05:30

Glad to be back to blogging after a week gap, as I was tied to running around for the completion of the upcoming apartment (Reniassance PARK III in Malleswarm) which require inputs from our side. Hopefully we look forward to moving in about 6 weeks time. ( A year behind schedule) Also, last week, I had lot of catch up on reading the magazines, journals so thought of giving update of the blog a miss.

Ok, Seeing me doing blogging, My Son wanted to give a shot at Blogging and has created his website at Blogspot.com. He did this on his own and did this when we were away on travel, so great to see some independent quick decisions. His blog is called Sharavansstance. I must admit that while I am a right wing, conservative, pro Republican, traditional, orthodox in my views, I have no way influenced him in what he writes and always insisted kids to be on their own sticking to basic values of humankind. He is delighted at having found his apparently lost FIFA 08 CD as well as Chelseas wins over the last 10 days so away on seventh heaven to come back to real world as well in his summer vacation mood. Incidentally this the link to my Daughter Radha's blog. She has been doing it for a while but I never did mention!!!.

Of Blog I must mention that My good frined and ex-collegue Aparna Sharma had sent a link to her husband's site on esmaskriti. It captures the essence of Indian culture. Here is the link.

We celebrated our Tamil new year on 14th April, the Tamil new year is called VIRODHI. Virodhi means ENEMY in Tamil. I just wondered how it would shape. As Tamil new year calendar is 60 year cycle, my friend Dilip looked at 1949 to what it was, and we found that the Indian constitution was written that year. Was it good or bad omen!!!! I will leave it to readers judge!!!!!??????.

My resolution not to spend not more than 10 minutes per day at the television is going great. I am in to the III week and yes it is not more than that. Yes, when I have dinner got to gulp as the family watches some serial, so that 15 Minutes don't count. I am staying successfully staying from the poisonous IPL for the second day. Hope god gives me the courage, resolute to go that way.

I read Walter Mosberg review on TRUE/ SLANT and I had subscribed to it. Great resource to see live journalism. Also try the Bumptop reviewed by him. I have instantly downloaded and installed in this laptop. A great view of the desktop.

Parliamentary Election process is on India and it will be a 5 week process. I guess at the end of the day, We wont have chads and Hopefully a clear mandate for a stable, progressive looking government which can make up for the 5 years we lost!!!.

Today, I had been to the inauguration of the POLAR BEAR ® Ice cream parlour opened by good friend near Hebbal. Ice creams have become all season item. This gave me a chance to catch up some of my ex-colleagues from Astra Zeneca after 12 years.

Ok, Till next week, take it easy and take care; Live consciously.

Regards
Karthik.

Copytrans, Transcend, MS MOUSE, Unhelpful souls.

2009-04-05T16:45:00.005+05:30

I have to make this blog entry a brief one as I am in the midst of travel for personal family events over the last 3 days.

As indicated in my blog post last week, myself and my son should give kudos to our selves for successfully completing the IPOD copying back to Itunes. We did this thanks to the Software, COPYTRANS. It was one of the 19$, I had invested. I just installed and took a backup of the IPOD in the newly purchased Transcend 250 Gb hard disk as a backup Plan B. Then I added the IPOD library in to newly installed ITUNES and it copied all songs including play list(Though not the Smart play list) which I duplicated manually and deleted the play list. The only hitch is in doing all this IPOD needs to be restored and SYNC again. The job lasted almost 14 Hrs. (Despite copying rate of 20Mb/sec from my 2Gb RAM). I did goof up a bit in copying New Itunes library folder in an existing folder so it duplicated. So hard to delete all files there and reinstalled. (Yes My son did say to install in a new different path, I missed it by oversight). So a good job done.

As indicated I find Transcend back up portable disk a good one. I got at GLASGOW computers shop Brigade road. ( Got my Ipod docking station last year) Guy gives good discount and has all latest products. Like the cooling fan which Walt Mossberg discussed this week in WSJ was with him. I also purchased the cool MS ERGO Mouse. Worth the purchase, life turning for comfort. It gives a different sense to use mouse and addresses Ergonomic issues.

We had a frustrating experience, no wonder with whom you can guess, the government servants. For the travel we undertook, we need some change of plans which require some authorisation from railway reservation agents. Lalitha had taken a photocopy of her passport to submit, but had forgotten to take the original. She had the original ITIN card ( Called PAN Card). When she gave the copy to the officer at Bangalore cantonment reservation, the officer asked for original passport to check her identity, when she was told they would only want to see the passport to verify her identity or get photocopy of her PAN card. When Lalitha indicated that she is there in person and has one original to show, the argument fell on deaf ears. She couldn't find any photo copy shop nearby and had to spend 30 minutes to take a photo copy. Classic example of height of bureaucracy. I always felt 99% (I would assume many would agree)Indian government servants are unhelpful and frustrated souls. (Yes, My father was one!!!). Yes, the sad part is many private organisations, in recent past, in Multi national context are fast catching up this disease.

Ok, till next week, take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Karthik

Restoring

2009-03-29T16:16:00.002+05:30

The laptop in which I store all my music, Podcasts (35 Gb) crashed last week. I am working restoring the info from my IPOD since last night. Looks like will take a couple of hours more.
So I would post on that and other issues to discuss next week.
Till then Take it easy and take care; live consciously.

Regards
Karthik.