I have been seeing and seeing if there has been any difference in Marlborough since I was last here 2.5 years ago, and confound it, if I can find anything or anyone different! I recognised even the tellers in the insurance company, the librarians, as old as they were before! The same roads, the same yield signs, the same lifestyles...
But today I found one gas station which was Exxon before and has now become Gulf!
:-)
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Saturday, May 02, 2009
For the first time...
Was awake for the whole 24 hours (Apr 30th 6.30 am to May 1st 6.30 am).
Except for a disturbed half hour sleep while waiting for the pick up cab to come...
Except for a disturbed half hour sleep while waiting for the pick up cab to come...
USA
Back in USA. Third time. Zillions of thought processes going on. Perhaps will write about it sometime later...
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Quote of the day
Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to the elevation of mankind.
by Henry David Thoreau
by Henry David Thoreau
Monday, April 27, 2009
Quote of the day
‘Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go’
by T S Elliot
by T S Elliot
Did you know?
If the earth had no atmosphere, the sky wouldnt be blue at all but a pitch-black sea and the sun a big bright star in the dark.
Excerpt from A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini
Excerpt from A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Outplaced Vs Ousted
Large companies, thanks to recession, are resorting to 'Outplacing' as compared to 'Ousting' their bench employees, provided they clear the interview and have the right skill set and are agreeable to work in shifts. 'Outplacing' - a new word coined due to recession - means placing an employee, who is on bench, into a sister concern which is less attractive because of the menial tasks involved and comparitively lower pay.
Now, it is not easy getting into the sister concern either. It needs its own particular set of skills and the employee should be fine working odd hours on tight schedules with lower pay. But, any day, 'Outplaced' is better than 'Ousted'.
Now, there are two types of people who get on bench. (For the uninitiated, 'bench' refers to people with no work but on pay roll of a company, waiting for a project to which they will get allocated.) Either an employee is a poor performer due to which he has been ousted from his project or the project in which he was working closed down and hence he has nothing to work on.
Now, projects generally do not close down in one go. Work associated in a project gradually reduce and subsequently, employees working in a project too get gradually reduced. And when that happens, obviously, the manager chooses to get rid of less efficient / poor performers first to retain the cream of the team till the end, in the hope of a renewal of the project contract or to at least ensure the brainer of the lot do not get on to the bench strength. So, logically thinking, the first-comers to the bench strength are less efficent and poor performers of the company.
Now, a company cannot keep lots of people on bench for a long period of time. Hence, they start placing them in their sister concerns which does neither has attractive work nor has a decent pay. But, since outplaced is better than ousted, bench folks are more than glad to accept the offer.
Of course, sister concerns also have a limit on how many people they can take, for they too have fixed amount of work and, in all probability, work that is reducing by the day too. So, just as the lot of poor performers and lesser efficient trickle down from bench to sister concerns, the brainer lot and efficent people start filling up the bench as the projects get closed down and renewals do not come through. At the same time, sister concerns are full too and they do not need any more people. So, now, there is not even an avenue called 'Outplaced.'
So, does this mean that its better to get onto bench as quickly as possible so as to keep hopes of being outplaced than ousted?!
Now, it is not easy getting into the sister concern either. It needs its own particular set of skills and the employee should be fine working odd hours on tight schedules with lower pay. But, any day, 'Outplaced' is better than 'Ousted'.
Now, there are two types of people who get on bench. (For the uninitiated, 'bench' refers to people with no work but on pay roll of a company, waiting for a project to which they will get allocated.) Either an employee is a poor performer due to which he has been ousted from his project or the project in which he was working closed down and hence he has nothing to work on.
Now, projects generally do not close down in one go. Work associated in a project gradually reduce and subsequently, employees working in a project too get gradually reduced. And when that happens, obviously, the manager chooses to get rid of less efficient / poor performers first to retain the cream of the team till the end, in the hope of a renewal of the project contract or to at least ensure the brainer of the lot do not get on to the bench strength. So, logically thinking, the first-comers to the bench strength are less efficent and poor performers of the company.
Now, a company cannot keep lots of people on bench for a long period of time. Hence, they start placing them in their sister concerns which does neither has attractive work nor has a decent pay. But, since outplaced is better than ousted, bench folks are more than glad to accept the offer.
Of course, sister concerns also have a limit on how many people they can take, for they too have fixed amount of work and, in all probability, work that is reducing by the day too. So, just as the lot of poor performers and lesser efficient trickle down from bench to sister concerns, the brainer lot and efficent people start filling up the bench as the projects get closed down and renewals do not come through. At the same time, sister concerns are full too and they do not need any more people. So, now, there is not even an avenue called 'Outplaced.'
So, does this mean that its better to get onto bench as quickly as possible so as to keep hopes of being outplaced than ousted?!
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
15th March 2009 to 2nd May 2009
March 15th-21st:
6 day week.
21st working day.
March 22nd-28th:
3 day week.
On Duty travel on 23rd and holiday on 27th.
March 29th-April 4th:
4 day week.
April 3rd holiday.
April 5th-11th:
4 day week.
Took leave on 8th.
April 12th-18th:
5 day week.
Normal week but 16th was birthday and hence could hardly work.
April 19th-25th:
4 day week.
23rd holiday.
April 26th-May 2nd:
4 day week.
1st holiday.
Cant get better than that, eh?!
:-)
6 day week.
21st working day.
March 22nd-28th:
3 day week.
On Duty travel on 23rd and holiday on 27th.
March 29th-April 4th:
4 day week.
April 3rd holiday.
April 5th-11th:
4 day week.
Took leave on 8th.
April 12th-18th:
5 day week.
Normal week but 16th was birthday and hence could hardly work.
April 19th-25th:
4 day week.
23rd holiday.
April 26th-May 2nd:
4 day week.
1st holiday.
Cant get better than that, eh?!
:-)
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Policy Vs Humanity
“When things start going wrong, every company starts cutting corners.”
That’s one of the beautiful lines that one of my managers quoted regarding the company making stricter and stricter policies day by day.
So, there I was, sitting in the company bus one day, minding my own business, when I overheard a row between fellow colleagues. Apparently, one guy had kept a note book on a seat and a lady had sat on the seat ignoring the note book’s significance (read ‘reservation’). So when the guy came back to his seat, he was given his note book but not the seat because the lady steadfastly refused to move from the seat as she justified that the seat rightly belonged to her and not to the guy who had just kept a note book. But the guy argued that he had come first and since he had a pressing job, he had to go out for a few minutes but he didn’t want to relinquish his seat and so he had kept the note book so that others wouldn’t occupy it. Then, the girl informed him that as per the company policy, nobody is supposed to reserve seats in the company bus. Now, the guy cant talk back on her because she quoted the policy, so he just said that what she had done was not right and finally got down the bus as there were no empty seats for him to occupy.
My thoughts on this interchange: I agree with the guy. What she did was not right. All policies do not make sense and some of them have to be taken with a pinch of salt. Of course, it depends from person to person. If I were in that girl’s position, I would have seen that note book and dutifully left that seat alone instead of occupying it. After all, there is policy, and then, above all, there is humanity.
That’s one of the beautiful lines that one of my managers quoted regarding the company making stricter and stricter policies day by day.
So, there I was, sitting in the company bus one day, minding my own business, when I overheard a row between fellow colleagues. Apparently, one guy had kept a note book on a seat and a lady had sat on the seat ignoring the note book’s significance (read ‘reservation’). So when the guy came back to his seat, he was given his note book but not the seat because the lady steadfastly refused to move from the seat as she justified that the seat rightly belonged to her and not to the guy who had just kept a note book. But the guy argued that he had come first and since he had a pressing job, he had to go out for a few minutes but he didn’t want to relinquish his seat and so he had kept the note book so that others wouldn’t occupy it. Then, the girl informed him that as per the company policy, nobody is supposed to reserve seats in the company bus. Now, the guy cant talk back on her because she quoted the policy, so he just said that what she had done was not right and finally got down the bus as there were no empty seats for him to occupy.
My thoughts on this interchange: I agree with the guy. What she did was not right. All policies do not make sense and some of them have to be taken with a pinch of salt. Of course, it depends from person to person. If I were in that girl’s position, I would have seen that note book and dutifully left that seat alone instead of occupying it. After all, there is policy, and then, above all, there is humanity.
Multi cultured India
As I was heading to Chennai recently, I thought, in India, if you travel for about 10-12 hours on road or train, you are most likely to encounter a place with different language. [I thought about this specifically because I do not know Tamil and Chennai being in Tamil Nadu is renowned for its legendary Tamil signboards everywhere]
But with language comes so much more, such as different art forms, like poetry, novels, movies, songs, etc. A language has a culture associated with it. A culture that exists for centuries together, and has enriched the literature and made man achieve more in each form of art. It has sustained all these years and there is so much depth in each language, so much thought that has gone into it and people have been part of such cultures for ages.
And hence, India with its umpteen hetero-lingual states has so many such rich cultures associated with it, unlike popular countries like US, UK, Australia who have the same language but with different accents spoken in different states. Its truly fascinating.
PS: Just as I was departing Chennai, I saw a bank’s advertisement on the train: “In India, there is a different language every 400 kms.” The ad continued something like “Bank on us for banking” or some such thing, but it was quite a coincidence that my exact thought was out there on the train as an advertisement!
But with language comes so much more, such as different art forms, like poetry, novels, movies, songs, etc. A language has a culture associated with it. A culture that exists for centuries together, and has enriched the literature and made man achieve more in each form of art. It has sustained all these years and there is so much depth in each language, so much thought that has gone into it and people have been part of such cultures for ages.
And hence, India with its umpteen hetero-lingual states has so many such rich cultures associated with it, unlike popular countries like US, UK, Australia who have the same language but with different accents spoken in different states. Its truly fascinating.
PS: Just as I was departing Chennai, I saw a bank’s advertisement on the train: “In India, there is a different language every 400 kms.” The ad continued something like “Bank on us for banking” or some such thing, but it was quite a coincidence that my exact thought was out there on the train as an advertisement!
Peace
I keep traveling a lot. In this year itself, I have traveled to Udupi, Dandeli, Chennai, Ooty, to name a few. In each place I go, I feel the serenity of life. Of peacefulness and tranquility. How nice it is when there is peace all around, isn’t it? I tried to imagine places like Afghanistan, Pakistan, where every other day, there is terror. Terror while walking on the streets, terror at hotels, terror everywhere.
Why cant people live in peace and harmony? It is so nice and good and easy!!
:-)
Why cant people live in peace and harmony? It is so nice and good and easy!!
:-)
FF
“Whats the time?” she asked.
“9:30,” I replied
She saw the time on the car dash board.
“No. It is just 9:17,” she replied.
“While the whole country is still at 9:17, I am already at 9:30. I am living my future!”
And we both laughed.
Now, that’s what I call “Fundu Funda.”
But she prefers to call it “Fundu’s Funda.”
:-)
“9:30,” I replied
She saw the time on the car dash board.
“No. It is just 9:17,” she replied.
“While the whole country is still at 9:17, I am already at 9:30. I am living my future!”
And we both laughed.
Now, that’s what I call “Fundu Funda.”
But she prefers to call it “Fundu’s Funda.”
:-)
Pot-holes
My wife, my 3 year-old cousin and I were walking on a road full of pot-holes.
My cousin had her one hand held by my wife and one hand held by me.
As we walked on the road, my cousin used to guide us happily to the pot-holes.
The idea was for her to use the pot-holes as jumping grounds, supported by my wife and me, as we air-lifted her.
So, as each pot-hole arrived, she used to jump in joy, and look forward for another.
Each pot-hole in the road gave her so much joy and gaiety that for the first time in my life I realized pot-holes on the road too have a usefulness!
:-)
My cousin had her one hand held by my wife and one hand held by me.
As we walked on the road, my cousin used to guide us happily to the pot-holes.
The idea was for her to use the pot-holes as jumping grounds, supported by my wife and me, as we air-lifted her.
So, as each pot-hole arrived, she used to jump in joy, and look forward for another.
Each pot-hole in the road gave her so much joy and gaiety that for the first time in my life I realized pot-holes on the road too have a usefulness!
:-)
Boarding School
I recently had been to Ooty. I was told that that my aunt had studied in Lawrence School, Lovedale which is about 6 kms away from Ooty. Needless to say, it was a boarding school and it is nothing like those that we see in urban areas. It is a school afforded only by NRIs and those who are extremely affluent. Not that my aunt got into the school because of either of those reasons but she got into the school because of merit.
Anyways, we asked for directions to the school and finally reached it. But to our surprise, we weren’t allowed inside, nor were we allowed to take a snap of the school. No visitors are allowed inside unless prior intimation is provided and permission obtained or if any of the ‘wards’ (that’s the word used by the security guard) belongs to us. Now what does this resemble?
Exactly. A prison. True, a boarding school, especially in the mountains, makes students into great human beings, and all that, but stuck inside the walls of the school for an entire term, year after year, with school’s own strict rules, doesn’t it make the student unaware of the true life outside? Doesn’t it seem too harsh to enforce upon a child a prison-like environment? Doesn’t it remind us of The Truman Show?
I rather felt a child learns more out in the wide vast world during the formative years - and there is more scope of becoming even greater human beings - rather than being confined within the premises of the school.
Anyways, we asked for directions to the school and finally reached it. But to our surprise, we weren’t allowed inside, nor were we allowed to take a snap of the school. No visitors are allowed inside unless prior intimation is provided and permission obtained or if any of the ‘wards’ (that’s the word used by the security guard) belongs to us. Now what does this resemble?
Exactly. A prison. True, a boarding school, especially in the mountains, makes students into great human beings, and all that, but stuck inside the walls of the school for an entire term, year after year, with school’s own strict rules, doesn’t it make the student unaware of the true life outside? Doesn’t it seem too harsh to enforce upon a child a prison-like environment? Doesn’t it remind us of The Truman Show?
I rather felt a child learns more out in the wide vast world during the formative years - and there is more scope of becoming even greater human beings - rather than being confined within the premises of the school.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Mom and Dad
Girls Habits
For quite some time now, I have been wondering about some of the habits of girls - girls who are in their teens or even beyond their teens - such as keeping their childhood dolls, playing with balloons, gossiping, fussing about their hair, about their dress and the actual attire itself.
The attire itself is such a complex, mystic feature that I just couldn’t figure out why girls liked to wear skirts, the shorter the better, wear pretty low-cut neck-lined tops, and the emphasis was always on ‘more-skin and less-clothes’. The fashion industry too has understood this and hence, skimpier the dress, that much more expensive it is. I have also observed girls adoring the attire of heroines - which expose quite a lot – and wanting to try the same attire.
Not that its bad or anything, especially because ‘more-skin and less-clothes’ is a concept that girls like to try on and is a concept that boys like when more and more girls do try on! But, for me, it opened up a new line of psychological thought.
Did girls prefer to wear skimpier dresses to impress guys around or more for their own joy? Although there have been instances of gals trying to impress guys around in parties and hang-outs by wearing thundering dresses, I rather feel, as a first preference, the dress is meant for themselves and for their own joy and happiness.
But such dresses are not called as ‘provocative dresses’ for nothing. Not only does the guy get impressed but the bad lot use it as an opening and provoke the gals. Tragedy has stuck at many a place just because of the women’s attire.
So, getting back to the point, there I was, unable to decipher the habits of the girls. Why? I asked myself and I had no answer.
Interestingly, the answer came to me in an Agatha Christie novel (Nemesis, 1971, pg 201, Harper Collins publications). And the answer seemed perfectly plausible. Below is the extract of Christie’s portrait of a typical girl through a character in the novel:
Girls are said to mature earlier. That is physically true, though in a deeper sense of the word, they mature late. They remain childish longer. Childish in the clothes they like to wear, childish with their floating hair. Even their mini skirts represent a worship of childishness. Their Baby Doll nightdresses, their gymslips and shorts – all children’s fashions. They wish not to become adult – not to have to accept responsibility. And yet like all children, they want to be thought grown up, and free to do what they think are grown up things.
Ah. Enlightenment comes in many ways. Novel, too, is one such way.
Amen.
The attire itself is such a complex, mystic feature that I just couldn’t figure out why girls liked to wear skirts, the shorter the better, wear pretty low-cut neck-lined tops, and the emphasis was always on ‘more-skin and less-clothes’. The fashion industry too has understood this and hence, skimpier the dress, that much more expensive it is. I have also observed girls adoring the attire of heroines - which expose quite a lot – and wanting to try the same attire.
Not that its bad or anything, especially because ‘more-skin and less-clothes’ is a concept that girls like to try on and is a concept that boys like when more and more girls do try on! But, for me, it opened up a new line of psychological thought.
Did girls prefer to wear skimpier dresses to impress guys around or more for their own joy? Although there have been instances of gals trying to impress guys around in parties and hang-outs by wearing thundering dresses, I rather feel, as a first preference, the dress is meant for themselves and for their own joy and happiness.
But such dresses are not called as ‘provocative dresses’ for nothing. Not only does the guy get impressed but the bad lot use it as an opening and provoke the gals. Tragedy has stuck at many a place just because of the women’s attire.
So, getting back to the point, there I was, unable to decipher the habits of the girls. Why? I asked myself and I had no answer.
Interestingly, the answer came to me in an Agatha Christie novel (Nemesis, 1971, pg 201, Harper Collins publications). And the answer seemed perfectly plausible. Below is the extract of Christie’s portrait of a typical girl through a character in the novel:
Girls are said to mature earlier. That is physically true, though in a deeper sense of the word, they mature late. They remain childish longer. Childish in the clothes they like to wear, childish with their floating hair. Even their mini skirts represent a worship of childishness. Their Baby Doll nightdresses, their gymslips and shorts – all children’s fashions. They wish not to become adult – not to have to accept responsibility. And yet like all children, they want to be thought grown up, and free to do what they think are grown up things.
Ah. Enlightenment comes in many ways. Novel, too, is one such way.
Amen.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Quote for the day
"If you just keep doing things, you spend all your time justifying what you have done.
But if you dream and deliberate, you only do what you can justify."
~ Colleague who quoted from an article he had recently read
But if you dream and deliberate, you only do what you can justify."
~ Colleague who quoted from an article he had recently read
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