Thoughts from Far East.

I am posting this column from Shiheung City, South Korea. This week blog almost didn't happen as the scrips on home page by default goes Korean. So Clicked by practice the link and the new post link opened up. Looks like practice, practice, practice as they say.
I reached here Thursday on a week trip. The land of Morning Calm looks calm in a sense as we go out of Seoul. Yes, I had heard a lot about Seoul traffic jams and we did get stuck in to one Saturday. The 60 Km journey took 5 Hours.

My colleague SH Kim from Honeywell Korea, set aside his personal situation to take me to the Korean folk village at Yongin city which is about 80 Kms from here. Any foreigner visiting Korea must visit this place to understand the Korean value, culture, belief and tradition. The 4 Hrs I spent gave me a lot insight in to Korean life. I could also see lot of similarities as seen across Asian culture. Some of the practices and customs (Like grand celebrations of one's 60th Birthday) was similar to the Indian traditions. It was time well spent. The food court is worth spending time. The folk dance was amazing. It was thrilling experience to watch the Korean wedding ceremony. I will post the pictures next week once I am back home.
I also did some shopping in the Insadong shopping area for Korean Souviniers, It is worth spending time to see Korean art. Of course, overall the cost seems at least 40% expensive for everything I purchased. Looks like Korean Won is a strong currency and Korea purchase power parity seems High and not favorable to tourists.

My wife was insisting that I pack some food item from home for this trip as the general belief is that vegetarians have problem in this part of the world.(More so with my additional special needs). I must admit this week in both Shanghai and so far here, I have not faced any problem. In fact, I had one of the best barley drink here in Seoul. I fully believe that as long as you are able to communicate what you want, you would get something. Yes, the tongue should coordinate with mind. Communication is the key to a full stomach.

Moving from food, I had the great experience in Shanghai traveling on the MAGLEV train to Shanghai airport.The train reached max speed of 431 Km/hr. It was an amazing experience. Try that out. Yes,be warned that when you take the MAGLEV from the airport and then take taxi to the Hotel etc. Be ready to see and insist with the driver to down the TAXI meter as soon as you board in. You may be ripped off, if that doesn't happen. Also insist for print receipt.
I was also impressed with Dragon Air which I flew from Bangalore to Shanghai.

The service was good. Coffee the best in a long time in a flight. The flight from Bangalore was delayed and I missed the connecting flight, but the customers service personnel were waiting with Alternate boarding pass.

Further on travel Marshall Goldsmith has posted an interesting forum on Business travel tips in HBR. As he mentions, I always change the watch to the new time zone and makes sure I think everything in that time zone. It is tuff but you would get used to it if you practice.

It was amazing to read and watch the followup interviews on the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt. What an effort by the rescue team and what an ordeal She has undergone??. Larry King Handled that well. Bravo.
Till next week, take it easy and take care; Live Conciously.
Regards
Karthik.

Sam Manekshaw, Digital Native, Ergostretch.

I missed posting my thoughts on Field Marshall, Sam Manekshaw who passed away last week. Sam Bhadhur as he was affectionately called (Being from Gorkha Regiment) was my childhood hero. I can still recollect the news paper reading when I was about 8 years, as to how he planned and lead the 1971 war. Of course it is a team effort, the support he got from the Navy and Airforce lead then by SM Nanda and PC Lal were no less. In my opinion,1971 war brought India on the world map of elite nations who can help other nations. Well served, Sir. May his soul rest in peace.

We have been asked to switch to a new expense reporting system CONCUR, Let us see how it goes, All I have heard of it is just grit and do it. Will be intresting to see the road blocks ahead.
I was listening to the Anna Farmery podcast this week and I was fascinated by the podcast with Paul Young He mentioned the words Digital Native and Digitial Migrant. Fabulos concept as to how people who all along lived in digital aspects around them or embraced it as the technology just came through. That got me thinking for a long time!!!. Wonder how much impact digital life has on us!!.

I came across this Ergobreak software. This is cool. When you sit absorbed and dont count the passing of time only to find tired eyes and numb fingers. This program kind of reminds you to take break. Try this out.

I was also reading the Economist supplement of New trends in energy alternatives with Wind,Geothermal, Solar, Batteries etc. Ofcourse, people call the coal as King coal and Oil as Queen Oil and that their empire will regin on. Lets see for how long?.

Ok, Till next week, Take it easy and take care; live conciously.
Karthik.

History, Karmyablogy, Welchway.

Today being my son's birthday, we had a good time spending time on recap over the past 14 years of his life. We(Lalitha and I) also explained how things were in the mid 60 to 90s in our childhood. It is more or less on the lines of RK Narayan's stories.My Son couldn't believe that we lived without Television, computers as well as travel of 100 Km was as exciting as travel to Newyork from India. We also made him see the change in life style like joint families, joint decisions, comadadre and consulting with people on everything. Yes, that is where the generational change happens I assume. He still feels that I am lying when I said that I saw Black and white television when I was 22.!!!. When I mentioned that the 192 pages of a school Blank note book costed Re.1(US 2cents) he fell of the chair. It is 50 cents now.

I participated in the live webmeeting conducted by Wayne turmel last week using DIMDIM. This was on how to manage the remote teams. A practical aspects to work around,more so in the age of globalisation. Wayne does very good meetings besides his podcast. Worth giving a try. I geuss DIMDIM looks value for money. This is great for webmeeting and save costs of telephone call.

Jack welch has launed his website the Welchway. Lot of interesting stuff out there. Pl give a try. In repsonse to the Jack's thoughts on Working for a good or bad boss, I posted the question in MT forum.

I also came across an intersting management thoughts from website, Kamyabology (whatever it means). It has useful presentations on management aspects,career management etc. Worth exploring. I get email notifications on some practical PPT files.

I had requested the review of my resume from MT resume review service it is new service launched recently by MT. The price is meagre US50$ which is even low by Indian standards. Wendii Lord who manages this service at the back end. More than anything else, it is my way of appreciation for the great service done by Mike and Mark. The 180$ premium content amount I pay per annum is chicken feed for what I get in return. I wil keep you updated once I receive the feedback.

I long felt the need for a print cum scanner at home and we did buy one (hp model) yesterday. This will help to scan and share print docuements. The price of 85US$ was value for money.

I heard a very practical conversation between Lisa Haneberg in her fireside chat collection with Dr Marty Seldman Again goes to show stamina is critical for focus, excellence, discipline and excecution. I agree with Lisa thinking that you shouldnt be the last person or not knowing what your strengths and weakness are!!!.

Yes, this week had its chance to gauge value of network. There were some situation that required to take important decisions that kept coming up, valuable counselling from friends and well wishers helped to see the issue in broader perspective and helped to come to a final decisions. Their inputs has been significant and helps you to see hidden issues.

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

Good news,Infopig, Tom & Jerry, Sadnews

I am glad to let you know that there have been significant progress in our upcoming construction of our FLAT in Park III Apartments, constructed by Renaissance builders. There have been significant delays and deviations that started happening. Thanks to the team work of active engagement, close coordination and followup done by the adhoc team of 5 members, formed on behalf of 95 owners (Potential) helped us resolve amicably some issues that crept up and threatened the whole integrity of the project. Thanks to Mr Suparna for tirelessly coordinating all the activities on behalf of the team. It is a small but significant victory. We are aware that the next 4 months are crucial for timely completion as promised. To be fair to the builder, the entire real estate and construction industry is caught in a price raise, labor shortage spin and project delays of up to 2 years are common. Yes, while my side of the bargain is less than 8 months, today I met people who had booked flats more than 3 years back and were promised possession in May 2007. Some story. Will keep you posted as significant developments happen.

Atlast more than a month after commisoning of the dreaded new airport, I had a chance to visit the place to see off a relative who was on travel to the USA. While I made the journey during the offpeak hours, the approach roads to the airport is excellant for the last 25 kms to the airport. The airport per se is an eyesore, poor parking management (You need to park miles away for long term parking and some dual parkings which are confusing) the vehicle managment is passengers nightmare as once you get down from your vehicle, you need to cross a road where vehciles ply at 100 a minute. As a safety Manager,I am just waiting to hear the first serious passenger accident soon. The airport complex itself is a disappointment, looking like a matchbox in a million acre field. In the 20 countries I have visited, never seen an so much pre commisoning hype for an airport and ending up such ugly one like this. Again like Indian sports, good excecution, poor finish. Thankfully, my travels are less these days to have less of practical pains of this unhappy experience. The worst insult to injury was that Rs.1050 (US$25) as user fee was not collected as part of the ticket and we need to chase for the rupee to payout. So much for coordination.!!.

I came across the the INFOPIG a great website of RSS feeds that kind of neat combines all the info on various aspects. Good to try it out. I also took time off yesterday(Didnt open the laptop) to watch Tom and Jerry show for an hour. The show was so refreshing and so much creativity besides laughter all the way. I am sure folks take time off to see and relax themselves.

Not sure If I shared the Carly Fiorina Speech link here. I listened to her speech she delivered at Stanford. I am always fascinated by the turn around she did in HP. She mentions the key aspects as Leadership, People, Change. For leaders, Creativity, Colloboration, Charecter are a must to succeeed. Great speech and intersting Q&A.
I am saddened by the passing away of Jane McGrath this morning. Glenn did so much for the cancer society on her behalf. May her soul rest in peace.

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

Cynisms, Hate IT, Fathers day, Benefits

It has been a while I have expressed some sort of frustrations in this forum. So here I go on the soap Box.

1) I have always had the least of regards for most of the civil servants and the government Bureaucracy. They are known as Babus. I never wanted to go in to that line. Thankfully it never happened.(My father is a retired federal government paid scientist!!) Working in world class MNCs (over the past 18 years)who value the core of integrity with policies implementing FCPA ( I am a certified FCPA trainer) has further distanced me further from this people. Enhancing my core competence too has made me to more of strategic role in my job rather than chasing them for getting done the day to day jobs. Over the years, the feelings are further enhanced by the rarest of interactions one encouter. In short, I stay away from them. I have never seen such a class of people more unfriendly in the developed/ developing world in my travel of more than 20 countries. Ofcourse, here is the other side to the story!!.

Yes, they find a way to harass people by raising issues on aspects that were done many years ago and make them run from pillar to post.That you had no clue that such thing would ever come. Nor when one goes to the railway station to receive relatives. Wonder when things will change!! Not in my life time I guess.

2)Ok, enough of my cribbing. I was also astounded that schools have banned students from bringing cell phone in to the school/ college premises. I am all for not using cellphone during class hours or in the school timings and if found using at that time the school management can confiscate or even take punitive measures. Today an average child commutes 2 Hrs to School and another couple of hours to attend coaching classes etc. Were there an emergency or need to get in touch with the child, How the devil it can be done?, I wonder!!!. Some thinking gap I guess in the educators, who are also out of sync with the way the world is changing. Wonder when they will catch up?.

I cant blame the schools, why to blame them. Even IT (Information technology) folks are out in sync. Here is a great article by Susan Cramm on why every one hates IT. Yes, I have some good friends in IT from my previous Jobs. But mostly I agree with what is said here. One of my friend has an interesting experience, when IT folks advised not use firefox browser as it can have security issues. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. That are the signs of things for you. Yes, Susy has posted a latest blog on why every one should love IT.

Wayne Turmel has a great conversation with Ken Blanchard, the author of 1 minute manager. Wayne talks about the new book, 1 minute enterpreneur. Great listen. The act of 1 minute manager as 1minute goal, 1 Minute Praise and 1 minute correction and reprimand is common sense right.(But never adhered to). Also listen to Anna Farmery of the engaging brand on conversation on how to manage stress in the workplace with Cary Cooper

I have posted in the manager tool forum on the Indian employee compensation and benefits. Wonder if in any other part of the world employees are given so many allowances and perquisites as well as employer paying the Fringe benefit tax to the government.

I was dumbfounded literally by this article as Hillary Clinton as possible Running mate yes for John MCCain. Yes, personally I was disappointed that she didnt make it. In my conversation with many of my American friends that we felt that women is what America needs to bring in sweeping changes. Somewhere things didnt go the way. As Economist wrote last year,that it will be Hillary Clinton's loss should she has to loose the democratic nomiation. Lets see how things take shape in the form of running mates for both the candidates!!. I guess religious feelings will go some way.

Yes, I close my thoughts on being thankful to my Father on Father's day. I have great respect for my father and called him to wish father' day. But we always disagreed on issues and how we viewed things. The only thing that is common is our unrelenting support for WestIndian cricket and discuss when Indian cricket team does badly. Yes, We were one of the few who were very saddened won India won the cricket world cup in 1983. Mercifully, the agony never returned so far. HAPPY FATHERS DAY to all the DADs in the world. Have a good time and enjoy the success of your children.

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

Regards
Karthik.

Narashima,Career change, NEW Y2K, Process audits, Irenea Sendler

This week it was all happening.

This Friday,I was for a taking an autorixa (3 wheeler) to attend a meeting. My car was unavailable for the fact that my son has to be picked up from the school. While proceeding to the meeting with my builder in Malleswaram from Honeywell Office (A distance of 10 Miles), I saw (rather my autorixa driver, His name was Narashima) a wallet falling out of the hip pocket from the 2 wheeler (Scooter) in an intersection. He stopped and picked it up and handed over to me so that it can be handed over to the owner. The Indian social system is such that if an auto driver hands it over to the owner or the police, there will be more questions and things can go tangential if something is missing for various reasons. (Many taxi/ Auto drivers are held in low esteem in India). So I opened the wallet and found 4 credit cards, PAN card, and many business cards of other personnel, but no business cards or cell phone number of the owner of the wallet. I then started calling each of the business card personnel that was in the wallet to see if they know the owner of the wallet. Long story shot, I did find one person who managed to make contact with the wallet owner and he could come and meet me. I duly handed over the wallet to him. It was good that I could do that. One take away is to keep your contact numbers, (May be write in credit cards, keep 2 or 3 business cards in Wallet).

Over the last a year or so with the Indian economy getting vibrant more and more opportunities are coming for a better career for Indian professionals. In my discussions with many of my friends and colleagues and even for myself, we always get the call from recruiters as to if we are willing to look for a change. While many or most of the times, you just let the situation pass. Once in blue moon, we sense that happenings are of good platform for career change. So I just posted the question as to what we should do if everything is going well in Manager-tools forum. Lets see wait to the response.

I came across an interesting photo in Fortune magazine of the mechanical fuel filling pump which cant sell more than 3.99 $ gas and more than 99.99$ sale. Interesting, 17,000 such pumps needs change and will cost 12,000$ each. WOW!!!!. Who would have thought that this will be another Y2K.

Also I was moved by this story out there in the magazine for Citicorp trader Craig Gile who was sentenced to 1 year in prison for falsifying records. Wonder, where from you are caught.!!!. Some times law can take its course fast on some mundane events just to show the world and others to teach lesson.

Few articles I have found very practical, then this one by Michael Hammer on Process audits. It covers the whole gambit of shaping up the 5 process capability with Infrastructure, Performers, Owners, design, Metrics(IPODm) and 4 enterprise capabilities as Leadership, Culture,Expertise, Governance and his model to check maturity. Fabulous article. It won the Mckinsey award. It is must read for everyone to see a large scheme of things and big picture.

Finally, as weekly reader of economist on Sunday mornings, I happen to read Obituary every week. I was touched by passing away of Irena Sendler. It appears that she did as much as Oscar Schindler during Nazi atrocities made legend by the movie Schindler's list by Spielberg. Some times it doesnt get recognized.

Ok, Lalitha has to rush to the new Airport this evening for unscheduled visit. I will share her Nightmare or whatever experience to the Airport next week. (OF course today being Sunday, it could all be different).
Glad to see Steve Pavlina back in the podcast. Also came across a good Tamil podcast on random ramblings.

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

Monsoon, College, DiSC, Monkey.

As I write this blog at 4pm Local time here in Bangalore, the rain is smashing out in the window, announcing the arrival of Monsoon on time( May be a day ahead as It rained heavily yesterday). I am glad the summer is over for this part of India. It was hot by any standards, with mercury touching 100F one day. (effect of global warming, I guess). Any way lets look for good wet season. Yes it would affect the time we spend walking for exercise, thus the time spent on Ipod. Any way self interest should be at the back end when large public interest are things that matter.

I am glad after lot of deliberations and chase, we managed to get the Pre university college admissions for my daughter for . The college will open next week and there are lot of regulations to go by. Wonder, how much of it will be practical to implement in this modern world. I am also puzzled at the orientation program arranged for parents this week. Wonder Why?. Never ever remember my parents coming any where near my school(even for complaining about me to the class teacher or for all the mischief I use to do at home). Looks like simple system / process of education is made more complex. Incidentally from this week schools have reopened after summer holidays of 8 weeks,(It just flew) so it is going to be hectic morning run for the next 10 months. See picture is great, I guess we all have done that.

I attended the DiSC training cum marketing session yesterday conducted by Iamontrac agency of Bangalore. The session was interesting. I basically attended to kind of have a chance to meeting people from HR area as thats where these kind of sessions are focussed.This is official DiSC trainer certification course, there is lot of potential for this from trainer perspective as DiSC, I feel is a good way to understand behavioral and Ego issues. The cost ca US$2000 looks reasonable to explore at some stage for taking this. This also gave me a chance to get my DiSC profile done. I was surprised a bit to see the profile as HIGH D. (Result oriented pattern with HIGH D, followed by I and equal S and C). The profile threw up some surprise, may be a bit skewed as it focuses more on work front. I could pick up lot of interesting conversations with the fellow participants so it was time well spent.
I was amazed when I read the HBR article, Who has got the monkey, the article is 35 years old, and nothing has changed in 35 years.It is all about delegation and close supervision. As, Mark Horstman insists, it is all about coaching, One on ones, delegation,Feedback and Performance review. Interestingly, Mark has come out with a fabulous 5 part video on giving feedback. Watch here.

So, the new Bangalore airport looks like passengers nightmare, All my friends are having lot of grouse. Thank god I have no travel planned this time. Some new services are on for transportation to the New airport through shared cab ride for US$7. (Airlift) which is good 2 to 3 Hr drive from east or south end of city.

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

HAL; Interesting thoguhts.

A tribute to the HAL Airport, Bangalore which was closed after so many years(45 Years!!) of service yesterday (Saturday). I made all the business trips and Personal journeys from this Airport and got a chance to see the world from door step. We reside very near this airport and used to watch aircraft land and take off. (Yes the noise during midnight is sleep breaker, that is OK) The new Airport is situated 40 Kms from home and the road conditions are so bad that it would take 3 Hrs to reach and then take a 40 min flight to nearby cities like Mangalore, Madras. That is some planning for our politician. Yes, the newly launched bus service looks cute for the ride to the New airport. I will get a chance to see the new airport after 2 weeks.

This week was also kind of memorable as it brought me to a stage where parents run for children's school admissions. My daughter's ICSE 10th Standard(Grade) results were announced Tuesday. From that day, it is running pillar to post for every college in Bangalore for Pre university( 2 years). The fact that there are affirmative action programs in schools don't help you, if you are in General category. (My home state is worst off one, so any where else in better!!!) Lets keep our fingers crossed and see what comes out this week when the colleges will release the admissions list. Far cry from the old days when merit alone is enough to get admissions in to what you wanted.

On a political note, I am happy that the new government is formed in the state after all the chaos of the past 4 years. I am glad that people have given mandate for a stable government. It is another matter that I didn't vote, nor bothered to see if my name is in the voting list. It has become a joke. The election day was one of the day when our servant maids and house helps are treated as VIP, by political parties wooing with Cash, BOOZE, utensils etc as a pay off for their vote.

I was reading couple of HBR articles written in the 1980s, and nothing has changed over the last 28 years. Very practical aspects covered in Boss relations as well as Managing work life balance. I am giving link below.

Must success cost So much

Nobody trusts the boss completely- Now what?

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

Karthik.

Jobs, Plastics, UAE.XOBIN

I wonder at the recent Number of jobs that are being moved out of USA/ Europe. While this was thought as a IT Phenomenon, it is fast catching up in the Manufacturing/ supply chain. This is evident from calls I receive from Overseas placement companies requesting for help in locating candidates through my network in India. While the staff costs may be low on comparable terms (Of course less liability issues in this part of the world !!) I wonder the other costs like travel for business requirements, competency aspects would be an issue. More so the Operating budgets do not take in to considerations these aspects when these positions are created and causes lot of heartburn in job content and job satisfaction or value add from incumbents perspective. This also creates an uneasy time for the person who fits in the job. I guess it all evens out for people at every part of the world. Looks like a ZERO SUM GAME.

I am amazed at the resistance to the use of plastic bags etc by school children these days as well as their commitment to protect general environment. My Kids have made sure that the Sunday market we go to, we return with no plastic bags with fruits and vegetables. We now make sure that we carry enough cloth bags to fill in all the vegetables that we purchase at the market. The kids constantly monitor the house for leaky taps and promptly orders maintenance if required without even telling us(It costs a bit its OK). They also decided to look for eco friendly features in whatever they purchase.They have also made sure that 80% of the lighting in the house is the CFL

I listen to Wayne Turmel's Cranky middle manager show for the past 12 months. He brings in to conversations with a lot of diverse issues. Please listen to this episode in which he gets the middle east perspective with Ms. Sarah Shaw. It is very informative and gives a flavor of different perspective. I request all of you reading this blog to give a try at Wayne's podcasts as well as to sign for his free news letter.

Yesterday I downloaded the Tool XOBIN (Inbox spelled reverse), it is a great tool for indexing and statistics of outlook inbox. This also separates out attachments, time at which the mails were received as well as many other features.


Finally I want to bring in J Murali who contributes to the Weekly tech column Netspeak in Hindu( Every Monday). In my early days I used to try the softwares he mentions in the article and it was of great help. I only wish there are RSS feeds to such useful column to directly tap in to the browser.

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

Regards
Karthik
Karaikudy@gmail.com

Empty House, Life is so uncertain, Great Advice.

It has been a different week, the house looks quiet, things are orderly. Time just stands still. No one to shout at or order, everything you got to do yourself. WHY?. Because the children are away for a week on vacation to Bombay on their own. The accrued miles helped to get flight tickets for them on redemption. (Thanks to Jet Airways) So myself and Lalitha are alone for the past 4 days (after exactly 16 years) at home. It kind of gave a different perspective as to how life has moved on. This will also prepare us for the time in future as to kids will go their own way. So you can say a dress rehearsal for the time ahead!!!. Also I remember the time when we used to go for Holidays it will be 2 to 3 days travel by train and ofcourse spend 15 to 20 days!!. Now a days that is a luxury as well as rude to your Host I guess!!!.

Life is so uncertain. I was listening to the Podcast on Anna Farmery's The engaging brand show on Emotional Intelligence by Galba Bright. It was great show (2 sessions) on the practical approach to EI. 2 weeks later as I was listening to other podcast on the show, I was shocked/ saddened to hear Anna paying tribute to the memory of Galba. Makes you wonder about the uncertainties of life. What saddens me is that with so much uncertainty, we take life for granted and show or own egos/ like/ dislike/ hatred etc...!!.

Came across 3 fantastic articles on Leadership recently. After reading that I concluded that Leadership is all about you having the ability to have

VISION
AUTHORITY
STRATEGIC DIRECTION
ENERGY

I also came across interesting aspects which cement the traits; these are

Expose your weakness
Have Intuition.
Show Empathy
Differentiation in style.

Fabulous summary of leadership.
Also, came across this article by Larry Bossidy (EX Honeywell CEO) on How selection plays a great part in talent management.

Ok, till next week, take it easy and take care; Live Consciously.

Regards
Karthik.

BMTC; Lenovo; Foxmarks; Docking station.

Today, I had the chance to board the BMTC bus for a 2 mile shopping trip for our weekly visit to the vegetable market. This was my first encounter in city bus for travel. (8 years!!!!) I usually take a cab or Autorixa if the need arises. I was kind of pleasantly surprised with this air conditioned Volvo bus. The fare Rs. 10 (25US cents) was worth it. Bus service has come a long way I guess.

My Son was convinced me that he would need a laptop more than a desktop for his day to day use. (Kids have come a long way I guess). I had to bow in and the selection of a good value for money laptop was difficult. I could manage to get the Lenovo Notebook. Looks like value for money with the Office 2007 software (basic) bundled in. The Laptop world at Indira Nagar here is a good shop and offers value for money. Yes, With FIFA 08 being used for games, wonder How long before the plan starts with the functionality?. ( I am told games affect computer performance!!)

Thank god I had downloaded foxmarks, the web browser synchronizer for my web use. My Official laptop crashed last week and the hard disk was replaced. While I had all the back up for the work data, the web pages I browse and store as favorites couldn't have survived but for the tool which helps you store your favorites in the server and helps you synchronize or help you retrieve favorites from any computer.

I also moved away from ITUNES in my laptop. I got a Ipod docking station to listen to the podcast. This is cool gadget, this also helps charging the IPOD as we listen. I got rid of 31GB space from my Laptop.

Came across great article in HBR on level 5 leadership by Jim Collins. How level 5 leaders, put personal aspects aside and build a great company. Interesting.

I came across a word which struck me a lot. Employee Embededness in a HBR Management update on retaining talented employee. New Jargon!!. Would HR learn to think differently!!! I wonder??.

Till next week; Take it easy and Take Care; Live consciously.
Karthik
Karaikudy@gmail.com

Chelsea, Marriage. Heart rendering, resume updates

I had never seen my son so overjoyed, emotional and elated as yesterday when Chelsea beat Manchester united 2-1 to keep their premiership title hopes alive. He now says, even if they dont win the EPL, it is enough that MU were beaten, that is good enough. Reminds me of my days as a school boy that beating Pakistan in cricket is good enough. Winning against Rest all teams does not matter.

I attended a marriage ceremony in the family today. The boy is from our community and got married to a girl from the local community (Kannada) in their tradition. It was different style and it was an experience to go through the protocols and rituals. Yes, the food served was also different.

I was appalled and outraged to read that tourists are paying money to see cows being killed by Lions as entertainment. Where we have come to. I think the moral and ethical values are hitting a lowest of low. I believe, god sees the truth, but waits. Every one who was part of the event as a witness or organizer, have to answer him one day!!!. The pity is that they wont realize that when their kith and kins suffer, they cant correlate that to their deeds (Or misdeeds??) as usually the kith and kin pay for their misdeeds. God help them.

I am glad to see that Mike and Mark have fulfilled the long standing need of folks form the manager tools forum. They have commenced the resume review service. At 50$ it is worth every penny as even the mediocre resume companies in India charge 40$ for review and comment on resumes. Some Indian sites charge 200US$ (Thats eye opening even for an Indian!!!!) Worth the try. I plan to get my done in the I week of May.

I was delighted to see now you can search for specific file type in google. (PDF, DOC etc). So should help pick some useful files to read or save.

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

Regards
Karthik.

Praveen Angre, Strengths Finder 2.0, HBR green, Whiskey, 100,000

I wanted to thank Mr. Praveen Angre, one of the Chef at the BA Terminal Four BA Gate 1A Lounge at Heathrow. Praveen dishes out the requirements of the passengers based on their needs, thus customizing the food. Considering Hundreds go thro the menu and request, this is great service. More so, when there are vegetarians like me whose special needs are to be attended to (Like he prepared a Schezwan noodles with Veg ingradients when the menu item is under Meat). Great customer service. Thanks Praveen.

Sorry to see the heads roll at Terminal 5 fiasco. Read an interesting article by Vir Shangvi in livemint as to how BA is fast loosing its market share and that Indian Airliners are making a dent in to the west. I agree with him, the Jet and Kingfisher are making huge wave with their great customer service. I am also seriously contemplating the switch, it just the fact that No international flight of Jet Airways flies out of Bangalore that is holding me back to BA.

On the other front, I completed the Strength finder 2.0 yesterday, though I purchased the book 4 months back, I could find the time yesterday. This is an updated version with more practical and customized inputs. There are 34 Traits from which the top 5 manifests.

My Top 5 Clifton strength finder Characters (Talent)were
Consistency
Harmony
Input
Learner
Discipline.

The Top5 Strength finder 1.0 when I did in 2006 were
Focus
Achiever
Input
Learner
Self Assurance.

So more or less consistent. I guess I have mended a bit with more responsibility of family and stability taking the priority !!!!.

Read a very interesting article in HBR by Daniel Goleman which made me think a lot, this was on Reawakening your passion for work.

Also read / heard a very thought provoking podcast / article on HBR Green by Rakesh Khurana on "Should managers take a Hypocratic oath?. Kept me thinking. I think the MBA degree or universities are slowly loosing the final objectives. They tend now to focus on short term aspects rather than long term vision and gains for the individual as well as to the society.!!!!.

I was appalled at the news article that the Wine and Whiskey lobby is pressurizing the government to resume serving alcohol on Domestic flights. Knowing the way our folks behave and having personally been a witness to the misdeeds of couple of folks on international flights with Air hostess, this will be a disaster. Many of the Indians have an attitude that when it is free, you may as well rip it. So I hope the common sense prevails and nonsensical decisions on the affirmative don't happen.

Finally, I was amazed to hear that my wife's colleague paid Rs. 100,000(US$2600) as donation for her 4 year old baby for admission in to Lower Kinder Garten (LKG). WOW!!!!. That was at least Rs. 35,000 more than the entire amount I had spent for my Education from 1st standard in 1969 to my masters degree in 1985 in India (From Madras to Coimbatore). I just did a quick check and 65,000(US $ 1700) was the total expense as education fee. Add may be another 20,000 for the Hostel fees and the bus travel expenses!!!!. Still less than Rs. 100,000 (We call 1 lac in India). So as economy prospers, so are the educators who form the basis/ foundation. Make the hay while the sun Shines I would presume.

I also look forward to spending the next 4 to 6 weeks at home as no travel is planned.

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

Regards
Karthik.
Karaikudy@gmail.com

Trieste, Pizza, Terminal 5, Day of the Jackal

I was away on Business travel to Trieste, Italy. Trieste is a beautiful small town of 250,000 people on the Adriatic coast near Slovenia and Austria and 140 Kms from Venice.
The town is famous for its long unspoiled beaches of the Adriatic sea. It was an undivided stretch of atleast 5kms. Great to walk and enjoy the dashing waves.
The castle of Miramare, is located, built by Maxmillan the emeror of Mexico. It is worth spending 30 minutes there.
The visit also gave me the chance to taste, Italian Pizza। I never had time or chance to visit such resturants to order one. When I expressed a desire to my Italian team, they immediately fulfilled it. The famous story of Margarita Pizza.(The colour of Italian flag of Red, Green, white by tomato, Basil, and Cheese) was a classic innovation. Trieste has some very good restaurants too.

With great reservations/ skepticism of delays and chaos in Terminal 5, I worked this trip through London Heathrow(Via Munich to Trieste). It was not as bad as I thought, as more than 10 days has passed since the fiasco of March 28th Inauguration nightmare. Still some of the elevators didn't work so were some of the toilets. The terminal 5 is good 25 minutes by bus from Terminal 4 where most International flights land. No wonder! they have postponed the Full move of other BA flights from Terminal4 to 5 till June. You should keep good 150 minutes for flights connecting from terminal 4 to 5 or vice versa. Yes, the shopping experience, Galleries Lounge are all too good. I guess it is a question of couple of months before order would be restored. The Lounge at Madras (I took the flight from Madras to London)

By the way, 30 years after, Reading the classic by Fredrick Forsyth's Day Of the Jackal, I got a chance to watch the movie during the flight back from LHR to Bangalore. This is also a case where the essence of the movie was captured fully. I also watched the movie Kite Runner a story set in Pre Taliban Afganistan. This movie is also from a book from the same name. Worth watching.
Ok, then till next time, take it easy and take care; Live Conciously.

Karthik.

Kumbakonam Fire Tragedy

I post this special post to pay our homage to the Children who perished in the Kumbakonam School fire tragedy in 2004. We visited Kumbakonam (See last post) and took time to visit the school in which 93 children lost their lives. Our anguish was indescribable seeing the unsafe way the school was allowed to run. I hope this is the last of such incidents. Will the authorities learn a lesson on implementing school safety norms? I doubt!!!!!!.
I reproduce the poem of APJ Abdul Kalam, the then president of India.

Prayer for departed children of Kumbakonam

Oh dear little ones! Oh dear little ones!
For you, parents had glorious dreams !
And you were all immersed in your own dreams
Yet, Agni engulfed you and all of those dreams
Taking you to Almighty's divine presence
Usually, departed old parents are buried by sons
Whereas, Kumbakonam, saw a sad scene!
Crying parents burying their little ones!!
Oh Almighty! show Your grace on those little ones
And keep them all in Thy Holiest Presence!!
Oh Almighty! bless those parents wilting in grief
To have the strength to bear this great loss
May Thy compassion and grace pervade all souls
And bring down the pain and wipe away the tears
Oh Almighty! show Your grace on those little ones.

A.P.J. Abdul Kalam

Karthik.

Swamimalai, KS Mangalam, Vellankani.

Ok, It is Good to be back to Blogging. I am planning to make up for the last time this week.

We had a good holiday time. We had been away to our home town, Karaikudy. En route we visited some of the interesting places.
Our first stop was Swamimalai, a small temple town about 10 miles from Kumbakonam. (Near Tanjore). We had to offer prayers there for my son. There is a form of worship called taking Kavadi which my son performed. My son is named Swaminathan (Family name) after the Lord here.

The hotel we stayed in Kumbakonam, (ARK Lodge) was mediocre. The services was below average. Added to the insult was some construction work from which the noise was unbearable.

We then left for Vaideeswaran Koil which is about 75 min from Kumbakonam. This visit was also long overdue(17 years) and from there we proceeded (after a long debate in view of time constraints) to Velankanni. The road to reach the place was a traveler's nightmare.(Potholes and diversions). The town like The small Church over the years has grown in to a big shrine. (I visited Velankanni then a small unknown hamlet in the early 1970s). I always have secular outlook to religions and we offered our prayers to the virgin Mary there. The 4 Hour drive to Karaikudy was good, the roads were excellent. Karaikudy wore a festive look in view of the visit by Sonia Gandhi that week. I experienced the frustration of being stuck in a traffic jam of 1 Hr the day she visited on 5th April.(An impossible event in a town of 100,000).

We also visited the Family Deity at Karisuzhntha mangalam which we try to visit atleast once a year. The photos of the deity Kalahasthiswarar (The temple was inagurated recently) and Godess Ganambigai. The town is 20 Km from the famous Halwa sweet making Tirunelveli town.

I plan to post more posting for the day.
Karthik.
0945am.

Sorry being away

All,
I was away on Holidays and business travel out of India to Italy. Sitting now in Terminal 4 in Heathrow on the way back home. Passed Thro Terminal 5.
Will catch up this weekend and would make up. Lot of thoughts to share.
Take it easy and take care; live consciously.
Karthik.

Releif, Appeal, Movie.

This week the school exams for the kids got over, needless to say it was a great relief for me and Lalitha. More so when last Monday, my daughter took the math exam,(She is in Grad 10th school final) I was never more never as anxious waiting to hear how she did it. The past 4 weeks was mostly spend following their progress of their performance. The sad part was the Indian school exam system has not changed much over the last 30 years, (The time I took the school final exam) it all boils to memory recall and vomiting it on the answer sheet. The real test and practical aspects come much later and the kids are confused in the absence of good guidance and maturity. The syllabus was far too much and it all boils down to luck that questions are straight forward. Wonder, when this will change??

So much engrossing was John Grisham's Appeal, that I burned midnight oil and finished it within 24 Hrs of purchasing the book yesterday evening. Wonderful story how agencies, justice can be manipulated by the power be. Wonderful book, brings out more questions!!.

With Kids enjoying their first day of holiday from today, they rented a DVD and watched the movie Tarae Zameen Par(Star on earth). I was invited to watch the second half of the movie and I obliged. (after I finished Appeal). It was a touching movie touching up on Dyslexia of a 9 year old kid and how it is handled by the Teacher who takes special interest. Good effort worth spending time.The kid has acted very well. Will it get Nominated for Oscar??, lets see.

By the way, At last for my forthcoming Europe trip,I got two year Schengen entry visa, This should remove my agony and grouse of endless documentation submission every time I plan a Business trip to the region and applying for visa, with a need to meet unique documentation requirement of Each of the member countries.!!!. I wonder, when the visa free travel or some biometric effort would materialize for genuine Business traveler?. Not in my life time, I guess!!!.

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

Kichadi, Innocent Man, Playing for Pizza, Terminal 5.

3 days holidays have just flown it is time back to business. Of course, I have had a busy and anxious week with kids having their exams(Both kids have the dreaded Maths exam tomorrow, Monday) and exams get over this Friday.

After ages(almost 5 to 6 months) I had been inside the kitchen to cook lunch for the family as Lalitha was busy coaching children for the exam. I usually cook the Gujarati Kadi and Kichadi with Lijjat Pappad turned out well. Yes, Lalitha must be complaining of inventory management as the stocks must have plummeted.

Ok, I finished the book Innocent Man by John Grisham, It took me 10 months to finish the book and it was always lying near my bed all the time (with 90% to finish) and I decided enough was enough and finished at one shot (350 pages) last night. If you beleived that law is an ASS(H...) your views would be consolidated by this. To imaging this as non fiction is more horrendous. What a tragedy!!!. Yes, It might be still happening in the great US of A and everywhere else in the world. Yes, at the same time, I believe that if you stay away from evil, you are not affected. Ron was not doing that, things took a turn for the worst. Excellent must read book. Ofcourse, Grisham takes the plot in a masterful way.

Of course, Friday was a holiday, I had finished Economist, Fortune, HBR (Skimmed thro) (The week was of less sleep due to heavy jet lag). I took the book "Playing for Pizza" by Grisham and finished in 3 Hrs. Since I had seen a bit of super bowl during US visits and had been to Italy 3 times, I could visualize the scenes. A thoroughly enjoyable book. Ofcourse, Grisham also takes us through the Italian cities to give a tourist's overview. Agree totally on the good Italian food, even as a vegetarian, I had enjoyed the Olive oil, Bread and the Parmesan cheese. Of course the Egg plant roast in some of the restaurants (Eggplant Parmigiana) are a delight.

With the Hyderabad new International Airport opening last night, and Bangalore in limbo (expected in 7 weeks!!!!!) both will have connectivity issues with the mess of the traffic jam. In that situation, I look forward to the opening of Terminal 5 at London Heathrow, this week on Thursday(27th). This brings all BA flights under one roof and no longer the steeple chase (for the last 12 years for me) to catch the terminal bus, rush for security checks from Terminal 4 to 1 or vice versa for connecting flights to USA and European cities. I hope the terminal lives up to the pre opening hype. Let's see. I must be hitting there in the next 2 to 3 weeks for my next European visit.

I leave you with some of the thought provoking articles I read this week.

Does your commitments match your convictions, has generated some sparks and Aha Moment in me. Very insightful article from HBR.

Local Memoirs of Global manager Gurcharan Das of P& G. Think local and act global. Yes, the local way is some times the best way. great Article.

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

3 in one.

Today is a very significant day for people with secular outlook.
Today is Holi the festival of colour. This marks the beginning of Spring in India. Today is also Good Friday. Also the Islamic festival of Miladi Nabi (Birth of Prophet). While we have 10s of festivals every year, cant think of any time when all the 3 religious festivals coincided on a day. I take this opportunity to wish you all a great festive time.
Regards
Karthik.