Dust Thou art, and into dust Thou shalt return

"Dust Thou art, and into dust Thou shalt return"
- Genesis 3:19

As TRIBUTES continue to POUR in for late STEVE JOBS... this one paticular image...

BREAKS MY HEART and makes me REFLECT...! No amount of WEALTH can decide HOW LONG YOU LIVE...
Reminds me... that WE ALL BELONG to the ALMIGHTY...
and HE decides when YOU enter HIS KINGDOM...
Considering any of us could be the next to be summoned... We all need to consistently train ourselves towards 'GOOD' THOUGHTS and ACTIONS...
A GOOD life is not only about AVOIDING the EVIL... its also about DOING GOOD deeds and FRUITFUL work...

I'm positive about late STEVE JOBS contribution to the latter...
His bright mind in the areas of TECHNOLOGY and BUSINESS MANAGEMENT is evident...

Our prayers... that he receives a SOUND JUDGEMENT at the PEARLY GATES...!
A great amount of 'HEART-FELT SYMPATHY' to his FAMILY, FRIENDS and RELATIVES...!

(Feb 24th 1955 - Oct 5th 2011)
Rest In Peace.

The Return of the Red Aloos (Red Potatoes)

For those who enjoyed reading 'Red Aloos'... this is a continuation of the funny yet inspiring story of my sister's cooking...

Well after that point of time (when my sister prepared her 1st dish 'red aloos' for us)... we (my brother and I) thought that in the coming months our sister would continue preparing dishes for us that she learnt at the cookery class in school... How unfortunate were we... ? :-( ...For the remaining part of that year in the 8th grade, she hardly cooked anything for us... But we never lost HOPE.... hehehe... we continued pestering her to cook for us, even in the vacations that followed that particular academic year...
The following year in 9th grade.... my sister never had 'cookery' class as part of her extra-curricular activities. So she thought, we would stop pestering her to cook for us, but as annoying as most siblings are to each other during childhood, we bothered her every single day... in the hope that we she we cook for us again... and yes.. one fine day, she once again gave into our demands... and decided to cook for us...So what would it be this time...? ...Both of us eagerly waited for her decision... and guess what... she decided to make for us...

'Red ALOOS'... ONCE AGAIN... at first we grumbled... but we were later ok with it... and this time it turned out much tastier than the last time...

Ok now.. to cut a long story short... in the next few years... as she passed junior and degree college... she rarely cooked for us... except for 'The Return of the RED ALOOS'...
We even made a joke out of this. Whenever we had visitors...my brother and I sarcastically asked her... "Why don't you prepare RED ALOOS for them?"). Though she felt quite embarassed... she forgived us too quickly...
Later on as she took up employment, she did pamper the family with a lot of snacks (that she usually brough from out)... but seldom cooked for us... To be fair to her... she did learn few dishes, desserts and how to make India's most consumed and popular beverage 'TEA'... hehehe...!
From that time till few years back in 2008... she limited her learning in 'cooking'... and always relied on mum continuing to be the main cook for the preparation of our household meals...

THE TWIST in the story...

She's married today, with a 3 yr-old kid and has migrated abroad... In the last 3 years while hearing the conversations betweem Mum and her on international calls... I noticed a substantial amount of these conversations (believe me or not) were about cooking Indian dishes out there. No matter what notes she took down from my mum in these conversations, I was prejudiced to think that she'd always be a poor cook... since she had never cooked much back here in India... But recently she visited us (in India) with her kid and stayed with us for over a month. Other than never being able to gulp the fact that my sister is a full-fledged parent with matured responsibilities... another astonishing fact was, my sister had made huge improvements in the area of 'COOKING'. She genuinely helped Mum in the kitchen, made new dishes and cooked readily for the house. This experience makes me believe that one day.. yes one day... if not better than My Mum's cooking... she might be at par with her...!

Also hoping that the next time we are together... she is willing to prepare her 'once-upon-a-time' speciality... 'RED ALOOS'..!

ALL the BEST to this lovely lass... My Sister...!

REFLECTION
- I believe EVERYBODY matures with TIME.

- Secondly when an Individual is put in a situation of discomfort/difficulty, it is at that time where you will most probably see the best of him or her.

- Lastly, don't give up on anybody. Everyone is unique. Bring out the best in one another.

Red Aloos (Red Potatoes)

I hope I've not got anybody smacking their lips in anticipation of some recipe that I'm going to post. Sorry folks... no recipe... This article is a funny yet inspiring narrration of how my sister has grown from being just a 'Red Aloo' cook...

I'm gonna take you back to memory lane to more than a decade and a half ago... when we were all schooling... We are three siblings, my sister being the eldest, followed by my brother and then me. My sister finished her schooling in a convent. In a particular year of her schooling when she was in the 8th grade, as part of the extra-curricular activities for the students... they had a class on 'COOKERY'... where they were taught the basic art or practice of cooking. One of the main activity of that class was creating and mantaining a journal of recipes (vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes), and also trying those recipes at home. Initially that year, for my brother and me the most exciting part of going through our sister's journal was seeing the attractive images of various dishes (recipes) stuck all through the journal and allowing ourselves to greedily salivate by looking at those images.

(A quick snippet of our childhood sibling relationship was, as many times as we fought, we united pretty quick because of our 'Maandavli Baadsah' (peacemaker)... our 'Mother'. )

As few months passed by in the cookery class, my brother and I ALWAYS HOPED that our sister would start cooking few of the many dishes she learnt in the 'cookery' class. (An average Indian girl is expected to learn cooking at a pretty early age... not for my sister. Though she was not lazy... she always had the comfort of our mothers hands to do all the cooking...)

On one particular holiday my brother and I decided that we had it... we approached our sister very peacefully and pressurised her to making any dish for us that she learnt in the cookery class... She succumbed to our pressure, my Mum agreed too.. and there you go... she was in the kitchen... trying her first dish for us... Yipee...! So what was she going to cook for us?... She quickly went through all the pages of her journal atleast thrice... while my brother and me got hold of our empty plates much before she started to cook... (lol...) She finally decided it was going to be..... 'RED ALOOS' (A spicy veg dish where the main ingredient is 'potatoes' with red-chilly powder, a tangy touch of lime and corriander leaves)

The RESULTS : It turned out too good for a first-timer... and as expected my brother and I finished most of it... keeping hardly any for our mum, dad or the cook (my sister).... hehehe...!

A learning I would like to add - Though she messed up the entire kitchen, my sister for the 1st time, experienced a sense of achievement and encouragement that she cooked for us, and that we all enjoyed.

~

For those who enjoyed reading this story... its doesnt end here... stay tuned... the funny, ironic, yet inspiring story continues in...

'The Return of the RED ALOOS' :-)

~

The Paradox of OUR LIVES...

~

The Paradox of our time in history is that we have TALLER buildings, but SHORTER tempers; WIDER freeways but NARROWER viewpoints; we spend MORE but have LESS; we buy MORE but we enjoy it LESS.

We have BIGGER houses and SMALLER families; MORE conveniences but LESS time; we have MORE degrees but LESS sense; MORE knowledge, but LESS judgement; MORE experts, but MORE problems; MORE medicine, but LESS wellness.

We have MULTIPLIED our posessions, but REDUCED our values. We talk TOO MUCH, we love to SELDOM, and hate TOO OFTEN. We learned HOW TO MAKE a living, BUT NOT A life; have ADDED years to life, NOT life to years; we have HIGHER incomes, but LOWER morals; we have become LONG on quantity, but SHORT on quality.

We have been all the way TO THE MOON and BACK, but have TROUBLE CROSSING the STREET to meet the new neighbour. We HAVE CONQUERED outer space, BUT NOT inner space; we have CLEANED up the air but POLLUTED the soul; we HAVE SPLIT the atom BUT NOT our prejudice.

These are the times of TALL men, and SHORT character; STEEP profits and SHALLOW relationships. These are the times of world PEACE , but domestic WARFARE; MORE leisure, BUT LESS fun; MORE kinds of food but LESSER nutrition.

These are the days of TWO incomes, but MORE divorce; of FANCIER houses but BROKEN homes.

It is a time when THERES IS MUCH in the show window and NOTHING in the stockroom; a time when a well-wisher can bring this message to you and you choose either to SPREAD this message and MAKE a DIFFERENCE or be PASSIVE and KEEP this to YOURSELF.

~

Original Source : Unknown
Original Author : Unknown
Contributed By : Dr. A T Kaji

Selecting the CEO

A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.

He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you." The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed. Everyday, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by - still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however he just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be HONEST about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful - in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him! When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives. Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!" All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front. Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story. The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!" Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed. "How could he be the new CEO?" the others said.

Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow. All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!"

*****

~ If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
~ If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
~ If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
~ If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
~ If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
~ If you plant hard work, you will reap success
~ If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation
~ If you plant faith in God , you will reap a harvest

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later..
"Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back"
*****

Original Source : Unknown
Original Author : Unknown
Contributed By : Sandra Fernandes

Juggling 5 Balls

~
(Inspiring 30 second speech by Bryan Dyson - Former CEO of COCA COLA)

Imagine 'LIFE' as a game in which you are JUGGLING 5 BALLS in the air. They are WORK, FAMILY, HEALTH, FRIENDS and SPIRIT and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand WORK is a RUBBER ball. If your drop it, it will bounce back. But the other 4 Balls - FAMILY, HEALTH, FRIENDS and SPIRIT are made of GLASS...

If you drop one of these; they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even SHATTERED. They will NEVER Be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.
~

ATTITUDE Application

ATTITUDE Application

1 - I will NEVER GIVE UP so long as I know I am RIGHT.
2 - I will BELIEVE that all things will work out for me if I hang on UNTIL the END.
3 - I will be COURAGEOUS and UNDISMAYED in the face of ODDS.
4 - I will NOT PERMIT anyone to intimidate me or deter me from my GOALS.
5 - I will FIGHT to overcome all physical handicaps and SETBACKS.
6 - I wil try AGAIN and AGAIN and yet again to accomplish what I DESIRE.
7 - I will NEVER SURRENDER to discouragement or despair no matter what seeming OBSTACLES may confront me.

* Original Source : Unknown

The Triple H factor..... (For Corporate/Business Trainers)

~
Physics Teacher : "Isaac Newton was sitting under a tree when an apple fell on his head and he discovered gravity...! Isn't that wonderful?"
Student : "Yes sir, if he had been sitting in class looking at books like us, he wouldn't have discovered anything."
~

Among the many characteristics that a TRAINER needs to possess, the following, if naturally displayed, will ensure a positive response by the participants (trainees/delegates) attending the program. They are...

H - Humility
H - Honesty
H - Humour (Humor)

HUMILITY : The more humble a trainer is, the more 'APPROACHABLE' will he/she be perceived to be by his/her participants thus reflecting a positive opinion about himself/herself. There are participants who are passive in their interaction during the training program, this deficiency of theirs unfortunately leads them in giving a negative feedback on the trainer's effectiveness. Hence if a trainer, can go that extra mile and display humility, he will ensure participants open-up and engage easily in a discussion. In addition to skills of effectively handling questions by participants this characteristic also ensures that the trainer is not targeted unnecessarily by difficult participants during the program.


HONESTY :
Q : What is it that trainers know, that they need not know?
A : They need not know "EVERYTHING".

Sometimes, in preparation of a training program, a trainer PRESUMES he needs to readily have a solution for every unexpected query from a participant. NOT TRUE. Remember as a trainer, each program you lead or conduct, is a learning for you too. Its absolutely fair to be HONEST of something that you don’t know or didn’t know about. In such a situation the ability to pick up something relevant from a participants experience/view and incorporate the same in your subsequent training programs is a required skill for any modern trainer.

HUMOUR :
Everybody has experienced trainers having great knowledge on the topic, and handling queries effectively, hence meeting the main objective of any training program i.e ensuring knowledge is imparted to the participants. That being true, today maintaining the attention of participants throughout the program has always been a challenge for any trainer. The common solutions to this challenge is facilitating various ice-breakers or games during the entire program. In spite of that, the challenge still remains.
Thats when its necessary to trust the old saying "LAUGHTER is the BEST medicine". As much as any trainer can genuinely develop an appropriate amount of humour while delivering a training, they will definitely have the attention of the participants/delegates/trainees. Maybe its not every trainer's feature, but it can be developed gradually.

Having said that, the extreme display of any of the above 3 traits by a trainer, can also be a disadvantage. Hence knowing the appropriate level is also essential. So next time you walk into a program please check list your ability as a 'Triple H' Trainer.

Happy Training....!

Mr. Hotelwalla and 'Makhan'

~
Mr.Hotelwalla is a small businessman owning a mini restaurant in a crowded city in India. The restaurant has average business until one day they come across a new hire named 'Makhan'.
Makhan is a school dropout and understands English with his limited education. He is about 20 yrs old when he migrates to the city for better prospects after working in a rural area 'dhaba' (a road side, usually illegal small-time eating joint).

Cutting the story short, Makhan turns out to be their most talented cook with an exclusive hand, who cooks many lip-smacking dishes, one of his specialities being the 'chicken-makhanwalla' which happens to be the top-ordered item in the restaurant such that no other cook is allowed to prepare that dish. The business grows gradually raking a substantial revenue for the owner. The owner is impressed and after a years completion of Makhan's tenure with the restaurant, he gives him a decent raise. Makhan is glad to get and increment in salary, but being an 'eager-to-learn-more' cook he also asks the owner if he could sponsor him for a short craftsmanship course in learning other dishes and specialities served in the city, this in return of being loyal to the restaurant and innovating more dishes. The owner though willing to agree to such a request, postpones the decision and asks Makhan to focus on this new-found success, which has increased current revenues for the business, and promises him that he would look into the request after 6 months. The business continues running good and 6 months hence, the request is forgotten by the owner, and so is Makhan over-burdened with being their most engaged cook that he too forgets to remind the owner. Another year and a half goes by with business being consistent, and the owner giving Makhan his annual salary increments keeping him monetarily satisfied.

All this, until one day a competitor (Mr. Gyan Chatur) knowing the internal operations of the restaurant decides to poach Makhan and offer him a similar job with a fractional salary hike, but with an additional joining bonus, (Mr. Chatur will also sponsor Makhan to complete a 3 week craftsmanhsip course in cookery before he starts with the new job). Makhan is 'overjoyed' only due to the additional perk and accepts the offer.

What happened to Mr.Chatur's business thereafter is something we would all like to rightly presume, and so we will end our story here.....
~
Reflection time. I would like you'll to focus on.... What SHOULD HAVE happened in the 3 years, that Makhan had spent with Mr. Hotelwalla...!

This might be a simple anecdote, but there are still many of us who can relate similar situations of this story to our corporate careers.

My primary reason for writing this article, was to focus on one of the sub-functions under the Human Resource (HR) Function popularly known as 'PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT' or 'PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (PMS)'.

Now ask yourself these question...
1 - Has your organisation (current employer) ever considered PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT ?
2 - If PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT has been considered and implemented, has it been taken seriously by the management / employees / Human Resource Division (HRD) specifically?
3 - What has been a chink in the armour (vulnerable area) for firms trying to effectively implement PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (PMS) ?
4 - What is the relation of 'PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS' to the entire PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (PMS) ?
5 - Why do employees from a NON-HR function think of PMS as just another fad of the Human Resource Division (HRD) ?

In my next write-up we will look at some of the BOTTLENECKS in implementing PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (PMS)...

SNAKES and LADDERS

No X-Box, No PSP, No Mobile or I-POD gaming.... Yes, we didnt' have any of these games in our early schooling days.... but we still had a lot of simple yet exciting fun....

My write-up in NOT ABOUT GAMING today... its about one of these exciting board games we've usually played indoors when we were all children... popularly known as 'SNAKES and LADDERS' (and in hindi 'SAAP-SEEDEE'....)

When you think about 'SUCCESS' in your life today, you can easily compare the 'process of achieving success' to a game of 'SNAKES and LADDERS'.

Lets check the components/aspects of the game first...
(a) The game's PHYSICAL BOARD you play on.
(b) The PLAYERS in the game.
(c) The SNAKES in the game.
(d) The various LENGTHS of the SNAKES.
(e) The LADDERS in the game.
(f) The various LENGTHS of the LADDERS.
(g) The dice.
(h) The RESULT after throwing the dice.
(i) The PERIOD while you WAIT for your turn to throw the dice again. (The MOST IMPORTANT)

Now let us see how 'the game & playing the game' translates In Your LIFE....

(a) The game's PHYSICAL BOARD you play on.
In Your LIFE : A particular PHASE or STAGE
One particular round of board game that you play, is like one particular phase of your life. The different phases what you go through as an - infant, child, teenager, young adult, middle-aged adult, elderly adult. etc or however you wish to define your own phases.

(b) The PLAYERS in the game.
In Your LIFE : People who you regularly interact with - colleagues, peers, friends and people you know.
These are also people who you usually tend to compare yourself with. These people will always exist.

(c) The SNAKES in the game.
In Your LIFE : Various events or situations of HARDSHIPS, DIFFICULTIES or BARRIERS you come across in a particular phase of your life.
These events or situations are inevitable and unavoidable part of your life. These could be situations like - death of a loved one, loss of a job, an accident, an illness, a natural disaster you are personally affected by, etc. These are events or situations of SADNESS. You might want to avoid them, but you ultimately accept them because no one of us is free of them.

(d) The various LENGTHS of the SNAKES.
In Your LIFE : A measure of HOW AFFECTED are you by those NEGATIVE events or situations in your life.
What is the impact of these events in your daily functioning - minimumly affected, mediumly affected, highly affected.

(e) The LADDERS in the game.
In Your LIFE : Various events or situations of OPPORTUNITIES, BLESSINGS or ASSISTANCE you come across in a particular phase of your life.
These events or situations are what you eagerly search, look or work for. These could be situations like - a new house, your marriage, birth of your child, a new job, a promotion, a hiked salary,etc. These are events or situations of HAPPINESS. You always welcome them and keep looking for them again and again.

(f) The various LENGTHS of the LADDERS.
In Your LIFE : A measure of PROGRESS/ACHIEVEMENT you have made by those POSITIVE events or situations in your life.
What is the impact of these events in your daily functioning - minimumly motivated, mediumly motivated, highly motivated.

(g) The dice.
In Your LIFE : The factors that decide the outcome.
These factors may or may not be in your control. If they are decisions in your control, what is your role in influencing that outcome. If they are not in your control, you just accept it when it happens.

(h) The RESULT after throwing the dice.
In Your LIFE : The outcome of a situation.
This is the occurrence and outcome of the event itself - POSITIVE, NEGATIVE or NEUTRAL.

(i) The PERIOD while you WAIT for your turn to throw the dice again.
In Your LIFE : What is your response or attitude to that event?
This according to me, is the MOST IMPORTANT part of the game.
How do your perceive that event or situation that has occurred to you?

If NEGATIVE - Is the VENOM of the SNAKE too difficult to handle...

Will you QUIT or CONTINUE?

If POSITIVE - What does the HELP of the LADDER mean to you...

Will you be CONTENT, COMPETITIVE or HELPFUL?

(We will discuss this in the latter part of my write-up)

Looking For...!

Just few days ago a candidate after sending me his resume for a job opening, called me to ask if I received his resume. During our conversation, knowing that he had experience broadly under the 'Finance' function, I asked him what kind of break was he looking for. He said " I'm looking for a break in 'Operations'..."

From my experience as a recruitment consultant, this was definitely not the first time that I have heard candidates (having work experience) use such 'generic' words while speaking to recruiters or a prospective employer. Hence for the benefit of job-seekers, I would like to highlight the flaws in using such 'generic' words, especially when a candidate knows what he is looking for in his next opportunity or job change.

While using words, please understand the difference between using a 'Generic' word and a 'Specific' word. Lets take an example... We'll take a simple word like 'Finance'.

The word 'Finance', when used in the context of looking for a job change becomes a 'Generic' word. It would be fair if this word is being used by a fresher having no experience who is probably looking for his first job and is unaware about sub-functions under 'Finance' as a career. But if you are an experienced candidate, using such a word, would imply that you are directionless in understanding where you want to go with a career in 'Finance'.

Hence sticking to the same example of 'Finance', try using more 'Specific' words like... "I'm looking for a job related to.... 'Credit & Risk' or 'Debt Management' or 'Budgeting' or 'Collections & Recovery' or 'Forex' or 'Funds Management'....".

In simple words I'm asking you to communicate what kind of break are you SPECIFICALLY looking for.

What if your a FRESHER, and wanted to express getting a break under any sub-function of 'FINANCE'. In that case what you could probably say is... "As a fresher, I'm willing to understand and explore any function that becomes a part of the borad understanding of the Finance function..."

Hence please avoid using 'generic' words like 'operations', 'marketing', 'back-office', 'hr'. PLEASE DO YOUR HOMEWORK on what sub-functions comprise a broader 'general' function. Also ensure to use these 'specific' words when you are asked to describe your 'keyskills' on online job portals where you have your resume uploaded. It will definitely help recruiters like myself and employers to find the right candidates more quickly.

This article does not appeal to those who have substantial years of experience in various sub-functions and are now looking for senior opening, where using a word can be 'Generic' . For Example ('Head-Marketing', 'VP-Human Resources").

I'm hoping this article assists you / other job-seekers, to use the right words while developing your career path... All the best...!