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.

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).

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.

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.

-_-

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!! =)

a look back - ghost of the year past

2010's been a blur. Honestly. For some months, I had to refer to previous posts. It's been a great year for shoes though! And books too, as I rediscovered my love for reading.

Let's recapitulate.. This is more for my benefit than to entertain you.

All through Jan-May: Last semester of MBA. In terms of studies, it was a fruitful sem, it made me glad I chose Marketing and I learnt a lot about it. Some relationships thrived, some suffered, but everything ended on a good note. The sole incident in April that held any excitement was that I fell down the stairs. It was thrilling. The pain was not and my phone lost a crucial key. I haven't replaced the key or the phone. Now it has a story behind it :D

June is a total blank.

July: A bloody AWESOME trip to Bombay.

August: Extractions and Gossip Girl. Period.

Come September and it was all about audieu, one mind blowing day out at a lake with my entire family and some of the best times I've had with my friends. Which inspired me to write this, so far the best post on this blog.

October: Interviews and a couple of amazing morning outs. And books.

November was a test of our hospitality as home was more like a guesthouse. My bff was down, then my cousin, then my mom's bff and after they left my grandmom (who I almost poisoned UNINTENTIONALLY, but let's leave that story for another time) and my cousins from Hyderabad for a couple of days in between. And another fab fab fabulousssso two trips to Bombay. Best month of the year - strengthening the bonds with family, friends and Damon Salvatore (YUMMY!) from The Vampire Diaries. I admit the relationship with the last is a bit one sided.

And December? I sliced the palm of my right hand. How, you ask? Indeed you should.

Well, I was walking. Maybe it was with a little skip. It was dark. The road was bad. And the rest of me decided to join my feet on the ground. My cousins helped me up and I felt a sharp stabbing pain in my right hand. I turned it and was surprised to see it trying to drown itself in my blood. I turned the palm down again lest they should see it and freak out. Which they did. What followed was people gathering and gazing at my hand in dazed horror, a rickshaw driver trying to stop the blood with 'spirit' (so he said which I suspect was his daru ki bottle), a two hour wait for a surgeon at Jehangir Hospital after the nurses patched me up and a lie down in the minor operation theatre getting stitches by the craziest doctor I'd ever met who made me promise my next holiday would be in Paris.

That's a promise I don't mind keeping.

And then there was my birthday. 23. Some great gifts. 'Nuff said.

Now I'm back in Kuwait. I've caught up with all the series worth watching (Outsourced is a good one), lost the mood for movies and have a whole bunch of books to read. The stitches and bandages are off but my skin still feels tight. I still love my own company and prefer to be left in solitude most of the time. My age is still mistaken to be around 15-18 years and I found in me a passion (of sorts) for photography after I was blessed with a hot purple compact camera (Canon SX210 IS - a cam so cool, so mod, it has sex in it! xD) which takes gorgeous pictures without giving me the need to tweak on photo editing software.

I have time to read again. My muse reaches out to me more often than it ever did before. And as long as I have that I don't need much more.

Except that holiday in Paris. ;)

the tall and short of it

I have one sibling.

The sister.

The sister is 4.5 years younger than me.

The sister also towers over me by 3 inches at 5'7".

The sister and I are often asked if we are twins (this never fails to puzzle me deeply, we look nothing alike).

When we reply in the negative, the public, dissatisfied, then inquire if the sister is older than me.

Infallible logic but we have encountered it countless times.

Much the same thing happened yesterday.

Only nothing was asked, but assumed.

Whole new angle.

The sister was congratulated for completing MBA.

When the bungle was cleared, I was asked in wonder how the sister hit such a growth spurt and I am obviously stunted (not exactly in those words).

'God's will,' I usually reply, an answer which is a huge hit with older people (read uncles who are no relation).

But this time, I merely shrugged, weary of the whole act.

Image courtesy: a forward - how to kill time at work.

the biggest bloomin' roses

Every time we fly down from India, the first thing that catches your eye as you enter the house is a humongous bouquet of flowers on the dining table reaching halfway upto the ceiling. My dad places a rose on each of our pillows with a chocolate. This time it was a cream coloured rose with a pink tint and a Kit Kat.

my winter wonderland

If you're in Pune right now, you're probably feeling the chill. I love that it's finally cold enough to wear a sweater throughout the day. It's exceedingly gratifying to dust the woolens out of their prolonged hibernation.

Revelation for the day: Bad idea to get the remaining wisdom teeth extracted in winter when you're down with the flu and your immediate diet should include only ice cream and all things cold.

Yes, a very bad idea indeed.

Not that it matters anymore, as I intend to keep the rest of my teeth firmly attached to my jaw.

(rescued from drafts)