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.