Saturday 29 January 2011

adding that personal touch

How'd you like my blog's new get up? =D

After many hours of toil which were spent googling HTML scripts to get around Blogger's absurdly limited style options on its templates, tinkering with font colours, skimming through hundreds of photos, picniking the header (thanks FTLOB!), I finally personalized it. Still not too happy with the background, it's a bit drab for my taste. I'll get around to that later. Like a few months later.

Well? Whatcha think?

Tuesday 25 January 2011

The mother strikes again

I was pulling the clean clothes out of the washing machine (my dad put them in to wash), when my sister noticed white flecks among them. I dusted the jeans and there was a flurry caught in the sunlight streaming through the window. Daddio had forgotten some Kleenex in his jeans pocket.
The mother, vexed,  said thus 'why can't he leave these things to women?'
To which I roared, 'sexism!'
'It's not sexism,' she expostulated. 'Men just can't do simple things.'

Oh snap.

Saturday 15 January 2011

Lessons from The Ten Commandments: A Management Student's Perspective


I just watched The Ten Commandments again, one of my dad's all time favourites. It stunned me to see how many underlying messages it held of management and marketing. Here's what you can learn from the 1956 movie, starring Charlton Heston and the ultra awesome and exotic Yul Brynner (remember The King and I? Etcetera etcetera etcetera).

Disclaimer: This is in relation to the events in the movie The Ten Commandments (1956) and ONLY the movie and is NOT a religious post. It is not my intention to hurt anyone's sentiments so don't accuse me of blasphemy or disrespect. Prophets were many things, this is just one aspect that has not been previously discussed. Please take it in the right spirit. Now read on :)


1) Offer your slaves, er employees, incentives and they will be happier workers.
While Moses is still the Prince of Egypt, the Hebrew slaves are whipped and driven mercilessly to give their all in construction of the temples in time for the Pharoah's jubilee. Prince Moses is sent to oversee the work as Rameses' methods are not bringing in quicker results. What does Moses do? He treats the people with respect and kindness, gives them more rations of grain by raiding the temple granaries and granting them a day off every week. In short, he gives them incentives. The people though not satisfied in the circumstances of course (let's not forget they're still driven like slaves), are motivated to work.
Lesson: Offer relevant incentives that will motivate and satisfy employees. Most importantly, don't treat them like slaves else they will leave your company like the Hebrews left Egypt.
2) A brand ambassador with a great personality can work wonders.
When the Hebrews are rushing through the parting of the Red Sea, Joshua, Moses’ second-in-command, suggests to him - 'stand on that rock, you'll give them hope.' Seeing the wisdom of the suggestion, Moses takes his advice.
Lesson: Strive to be a figure of inspiration, a brand ambassador to your company and the world.
3) The importance of a leader having reliable backup cannot be undermined.
Joshua does his fair share of organizing the tribes and cattle of thousands in the exodus. He is a good man, very likable, a motivator with unshakable faith in Moses, while extremely efficient in getting things done. As seen in the point above, Moses values his feedback and takes his suggestions seriously.
Lesson: Invest in competent and loyal managerial staff, giving sincere thought to their ideas and suggestions. Encouraging two-way communication and incorporating a system of decentralized decision making will keep employees motivated and ensure the company runs smoothly and successfully.
4) Beware of employees that hold their interests above the good of the company.
Dathan is a Hebrew slave, an extremely annoying character in the movie who has wormed his way into the Pharoah's good graces. When the Hebrews are freed, he loses his position of authority over the slaves as he too must join the exodus, albeit against his will. The snake that he is, he consistently tries to turn the people against Moses and towards himself, but never succeeds, as Moses always has a wondrous miracle that reassures the people.
Lesson: Be wary of employees sowing discord in the office by spreading malicious lies, and who wouldn’t think twice about stooping low enough to malign the company if it meant furthering their own interest.
5) Customer loyalty cannot be taken for granted.
While Moses is at Mount Sinai receiving the Ten Commandments from God, most of his people think he will not return. They astonishingly renounce their age old faith and, enticed by Dathan’s inflammatory speeches, turn away from their beliefs.
Lesson: Don’t take your existing customers for granted. Failure to execute timely communication or advertising will result in your customers feeling neglected, giving your competitors an ideal opportunity to lure them from you.
6) Make your own decisions.
Nefertiri, the wife of the Pharoah Rameses, goads her husband into going after Moses and to defy God. Rameses, the egotist that he is, ignores the advice of his counsellors and is incited against his better judgement, consequently following Moses and his people with his army in bitter rage, which eventually leads to his own decided destruction.
Lesson: Listen to what all your Board members and officers have to say, but ultimately any decision rests with you. Rely on your own intelligence, morals and experience; keep sentiments and ego strictly out of business, else you might end up like Rameses, losing everything.

So let it be written.

(Note on the text: The position of the Hebrews changes from employees to customers because of the change in their relationship with Moses, who goes from Egyptian prince to Hebrew prophet).

Thursday 6 January 2011

bella luna


The waxing crescent. 
Gleaming like the pearly whites in the smile of a Cheshire cat.
The sight of the moon instantly turns on the song Bella Luna by Jason Mraz in my mind.

Wednesday 5 January 2011

touché

The mother while typing in her gmail in the username bar, continues with '@gmail..'

Me: You don't have to add the domain name when you're logging into gmail.
The mother starts hitting backspace.
Me: You don't have to remove it when you've already typed it out.
The mother is impassive.
Me: Noob.
The mother: Boob.

-_-

Saturday 1 January 2011

dedicated to the twa



HAPPY BIRTHDAY B^2!!

For the friend, the awesome ever-encouraging friend, current twin, sole companion throughout the 4th sem,  proof reader, critic, faithful follower - being the one person in the world (as far as I know) who has read my blog completely and gives me feedback after thoroughly enjoying each post (=P), self-proclaimed maverick..

Here's to the discovering, exploring, bargaining with nariyal pani walas and every other wala, intense book analyzing, movie criticizing, vocab enhancing, mouth watering discussions of chicken and crab and the everlasting yearning for the same, testing the elasticity of our imagination, trudging through the city streets, exaggerations, heated ego disputes, excursions over the hills breathing in fresh air gazing at the view in awe, side splitting conversations whiling away Vodafone minutes..

Here's to a lot lot more of that.

And of course a heartfelt wish for you to inevitably succumb to the shackles of matrimony, hopefully by year end =D

Hope the new year brings in everything you want, deserve and more.

Cheers mate!

thrusting out the old, saluting the new


A few weeks back while ravaging through my old sketchbooks and stuff, I found a list of resolutions I had written with a friend in 2008. There were some 20 points, some of them general like keeping my room clean so it didn't look like Hurricane Paloma hit it, organize stuff (FAIL), less facebook, while others were involved with being a better person such as less swearing and being nice to dumb people. I think I crossed most of them off, the last was a bit of a pain.
This time, I will not be so ambitious.

Resolutions for 2011:

1. Find a job by Jan end.
2. Move base to a country where I know no one and no one knows me. And keep it that way.
   And if THAT doesn't work out, visit atleast ONE country that isn't India, Kuwait or the UAE.
3. Write something remotely decent that'll throw the world into shock and awe.
4. Make memories doing something totally unconventional, innovative, avant-garde. Things so thrilling, I'll never have trouble remembering them and will relish the thoughts of. Coz life is too short to be taken seriously.
5. Never, ever leave home without the camera and take a picture every time the thought 'I should take a picture of that' crosses my mind.

So far, so good.
For the first time in a loong time, I am strangely excited this new year's eve. It's always been like any other night for me. But tonight is different. I feel something, an intense energy, adrenaline throbbing in my veins, charging me up. And I feel this year holds promise, that it has great things in store.

Here's wishing you all a very Happy New Year!! =)