Sometimes some things are destined to happen! I believe in miracles but sometimes some things happen in such a way that you feel there is a third party planning all this.
You know for example, a few weeks back early morning I was preparing for an important meeting with one of our advisors. The meeting was scheduled at 11 A.M. and I left home at 9:30 A.M. to give me sometime to work out on some documents at the office. But when I reached there and opened the flap of my laptop, to my horror, the laptop screen had a huge black spot on it and a crack running through the whole screen. Apparently, I forgot my earphones between the flaps and closed the flap, which caused the crack.
For a moment, I was very disappointed at my luck and fearing how huge a bomb it might cost me to get it repaired. I wasn't earning then, I aint earning a single penny now, so it was quite a shock. I quickly recuperated and got the essential documents I needed for the meeting printed out from the e-mail attachments I had sent out. The meeting went well.
Following the meeting, I called up Sony Vaio Service centre to know the potential lost it has caused me. They told me a visiting charge of Rs 1000 and a screen replacement charge of approx Rs 17000(gulp!). I was feeling so very screwed, for paying such a huge penalty for a seemingly small mistake of forgetting my earphones between the flap. I just casually asked the office wardboy, if the computer guy at IIM can repair it(trying to console myself although I knew the answer!). I took his number and called him to know what can be done.
After a day, he quoted me a price of Rs 8,500 for a non-sony screen, which I readily accepted after some hard negotiation bringing the cost to Rs 8000. Subsequently, I had to give away my laptop for repairing.
During these days, I used to sit in the computer centre at IIM. One day, I was sitting alone in the centre, when a gentleman arrived. Surprisingly, computer centres at IIM remain empty as compared to 60-70% occupancy rate back at IIT.
He came here for some computer related troubleshooting and as no-one was there, he asked me where the computer guy was. I said he'll be here in sometime and that you might like to wait. So, he started talking and we introduced ourselves. He told me he was working in the army as a strategist for 8 years, after which he worked in a consultancy firm as a managing partner and now was doing an MBA. The guy was good in strategy as well as quality processes( black-belt in Six Sigma). When I discussed my plans and told I was from IITG, he found them interesting and after some more time, he got his computer repaired and we said our goodbyes. One day, after a week or so, I was returning from office at about 10:30 in the night. I found him on a post-dinner walk enjoying the breeze. I recognised him and told him about the progress I made. He asked me for my business plan to give me better advise to which I said that I was looking for someone who could help me write one! He readily agreed. A few meetings with him have been good so far and his advices certainly add that 360 perspective to my thinking, in addition to the motivation he provides.
None of this would've ever happened, if I hadn't forgotten those earphones that day. Probably Rs 8000 is too low a fee for a great consultancy.
Second incident happened today, when again I came to computer lab to get my laptop formatted as I was fed up of vista. Instead of a simple windows xp installation, my laptop being the super-smart laptop that it is didn't function as normal laptops do. It instead didn't detect the installation CD and on further tweaking with the settings and all, somehow a critical file got deleted which resulted in its logging off as soon as it logs on. This happened at 8:30PM at which time I had to go to office for a conference call happening between three continents( California, Norway and Ahmedabad). Later the computer guy came back asking me to give him my laptop for the night and that I use the computer centre for tonight.
Again, in a twist of destiny, I was alone there and a guy came. he was looking for printout and matter-of-factly didn't have A4 papers. As fate would have it, he asked me for help to which I suggested to look for at the reception or the placement office which remain open till late in the night. He got the papers from the reception and came back to thank me. He then introduced himself, as a gesture of good attiquette. He said he was a Columbia graduate in Economics policy and was working in Clean Energy infrastructure finance projects and was associated with the second-largest bank in Japan for last 8 years. What could be better? Meeting a person with a policy and finance background and that too in clean energy. He heard my plans and agreed to give me a helping hand and asked me to send him a financial model. I would've never met him had my laptop had a successfull installation or if I hadn't come to the computer centre or came at a different time.
Sometimes things just happen. And as long as the results are good, all is well.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
What strategy to follow with people!
Its a really crappy title to a really wonderful set of words coming ahead. I saw this on some website, I swear I couldn't have written this better myself. So I'm copy-pasting it :
Who makes difference in your life
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America Contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. They are not second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
Easier?
The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are NOT the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones who care.
A great lesson to follow at work or play! The point is if you want to get the best out of your employees, you need to care for them rather then treating them just another cog in the wheel. When you make a difference to their lives in a positive way, they'll be only happy to return the favour, which will mean higher employee morale, higher productivity, higher talent retention and willingness to make sacrifices like paycuts etc in times of downturn. All of which will make your company earn higher revenues and make a mark subsequently.
Who makes difference in your life
1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America Contest.
4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.
How did you do?
The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. They are not second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.
Here's another quiz. See how you do on this one:
1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.
Easier?
The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are NOT the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones who care.
A great lesson to follow at work or play! The point is if you want to get the best out of your employees, you need to care for them rather then treating them just another cog in the wheel. When you make a difference to their lives in a positive way, they'll be only happy to return the favour, which will mean higher employee morale, higher productivity, higher talent retention and willingness to make sacrifices like paycuts etc in times of downturn. All of which will make your company earn higher revenues and make a mark subsequently.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Why are we here?
Some of the fundamental questions that have baffled the human civilizations ever since it appeared on this planet was 'Why are we here?' and 'What is the purpose of life?'.Well, I think I can try and answer it and I'm pretty convinced with my answer. Rest is upto you to decide. Leave your comments if you have any.
The answer is "to propagate and discover".
We are here to move forward in the evolutionary chain. Ever since we came on this planet,we've been trying to beat what all challenges nature has put forth in front of us and moved forward. Solving the problem of food,transportation,energy and communication with the path breaking inventions of farming,wheel,fire and language systems. This helped us collaborate with other humans to solve even bigger problems. As societies evolved,so did these basic inventions helping us collaborate with civilizations first in their vicinity and then on in other parts of the world.
Now the world civilizations are collaborated and they're going forward to accomplish bigger tasks like further exploration of other planets, solving the puzzle of ever lasting energy and giving home to ever increasing population. Soon,we'll be finding answers to warp speed which will help us travel between inter-galactic spaces,which will eventually help us to collaborate with other civilizations from various planets to help accomplish even bigger tasks like knowing the mysteries of life and the end of universe. When lifeforms will find answers to these questions,they will be posed with other challenges which cannot be comprehended now. There might be other universes at the end of our universe and lifeforms from different universes may collaborate to achieve challenges of their time and so on and so forth.
The answer is "to propagate and discover".
We are here to move forward in the evolutionary chain. Ever since we came on this planet,we've been trying to beat what all challenges nature has put forth in front of us and moved forward. Solving the problem of food,transportation,energy and communication with the path breaking inventions of farming,wheel,fire and language systems. This helped us collaborate with other humans to solve even bigger problems. As societies evolved,so did these basic inventions helping us collaborate with civilizations first in their vicinity and then on in other parts of the world.
Now the world civilizations are collaborated and they're going forward to accomplish bigger tasks like further exploration of other planets, solving the puzzle of ever lasting energy and giving home to ever increasing population. Soon,we'll be finding answers to warp speed which will help us travel between inter-galactic spaces,which will eventually help us to collaborate with other civilizations from various planets to help accomplish even bigger tasks like knowing the mysteries of life and the end of universe. When lifeforms will find answers to these questions,they will be posed with other challenges which cannot be comprehended now. There might be other universes at the end of our universe and lifeforms from different universes may collaborate to achieve challenges of their time and so on and so forth.
Saturday, May 9, 2009
30 before 30
Well endsems are over! and after a thesis presentation,I'll be done with my bachelors engineering education. Its ,needless to say, a new beginning for all of us. People have planned all sorts of stuff for their life ahead. And I am no exception.
I turned 22 today, and feel its an appropriate day for me to write my 30 before 30 list. It was in my mind from a long time but never got around to writing it,so here it goes( in no particular order):
1)Want to start a company and turn it into a fledgling venture which actually does something useful.
2)Want to learn Saxophone and perform for a huge audience.
3)Want to try various adventure sports(paragliding,sky-diving,snorkelling,scuba-diving,deep-sea diving,wind-surfing,anything crazy will do)
4)Want to go to Antarctica on an expedition and live a day like Bear Grylls.
5)Want to go to Iceland,Egypt,South Africa,Bora Bora and other untouched places.
6)Want to own a designer house.
7)Want to own a designer car.
8)Want to learn Kenjutsu.
9)Want to learn Clay Modelling.
10)Want to be in a very good shape.
11)Want to take up a village and transform it into a place where all people are educated,all have enough to eat and all have jobs.
12)Want to start making canvas art in my free time and showcase at a gallery.
13)Want to own a kickboxing bag and gloves and practice boxing.
14)Want to meet Aung San Suu Kyi.
15)Want to meet a famous hollywood/bollywood star.
16)Want to get listed in world's youngest billionaires list.
17)Want to meet a Korean movie actress.
18)Want to learn swimming.
19)Want to meet creators of South Park and go to their studio.
20)Want to make a movie on a shoe-string budget.
21)Want to learn cooking some exotic dishes.
22)Surprise my family.
23)Surprise my friends.
24)Drop at a really old friend's place after many years without giving him a hint.
25)Meet my old school teachers who taught me when I was very young.
26)Meet Bill gates and Richard Branson.
27)Fall in love.
28)Speak at a commencement of some big university.
29)Travel first class on a private jet.
30)Travel on a private yacht.
So that's about it.Sounds too utopian? Well 30 under 30 lists are utopian!
The list includes many things that many people want,so things like money/fame,no surprises there!
Anyways there are other things that I look forward to more.
Frequently used verbs : Learn,try,meet,to go/travel,own.
Will check back in another 8 years! Ciao for now!
I turned 22 today, and feel its an appropriate day for me to write my 30 before 30 list. It was in my mind from a long time but never got around to writing it,so here it goes( in no particular order):
1)Want to start a company and turn it into a fledgling venture which actually does something useful.
2)Want to learn Saxophone and perform for a huge audience.
3)Want to try various adventure sports(paragliding,sky-diving,snorkelling,scuba-diving,deep-sea diving,wind-surfing,anything crazy will do)
4)Want to go to Antarctica on an expedition and live a day like Bear Grylls.
5)Want to go to Iceland,Egypt,South Africa,Bora Bora and other untouched places.
6)Want to own a designer house.
7)Want to own a designer car.
8)Want to learn Kenjutsu.
9)Want to learn Clay Modelling.
10)Want to be in a very good shape.
11)Want to take up a village and transform it into a place where all people are educated,all have enough to eat and all have jobs.
12)Want to start making canvas art in my free time and showcase at a gallery.
13)Want to own a kickboxing bag and gloves and practice boxing.
14)Want to meet Aung San Suu Kyi.
15)Want to meet a famous hollywood/bollywood star.
16)Want to get listed in world's youngest billionaires list.
17)Want to meet a Korean movie actress.
18)Want to learn swimming.
19)Want to meet creators of South Park and go to their studio.
20)Want to make a movie on a shoe-string budget.
21)Want to learn cooking some exotic dishes.
22)Surprise my family.
23)Surprise my friends.
24)Drop at a really old friend's place after many years without giving him a hint.
25)Meet my old school teachers who taught me when I was very young.
26)Meet Bill gates and Richard Branson.
27)Fall in love.
28)Speak at a commencement of some big university.
29)Travel first class on a private jet.
30)Travel on a private yacht.
So that's about it.Sounds too utopian? Well 30 under 30 lists are utopian!
The list includes many things that many people want,so things like money/fame,no surprises there!
Anyways there are other things that I look forward to more.
Frequently used verbs : Learn,try,meet,to go/travel,own.
Will check back in another 8 years! Ciao for now!
Farewell and stuff
Ya,well like all the other colleges, we had our farewell too.It was pretty decent.
Some notable pointers :
*Only two faculty came( one was HOD due to his obligation,and other was a new faculty,so he came just to experience it).I guess all the other faculty is pissed or they don't care to say a final word to the batch they spent 4 years with.Nonetheless,I don't give a damn.Everbody has a right to do what they want.Expectations make this world somewhat less beautiful!
*Many juniors came but left after the food was done.No surprises there! Happens all the time but it hits you when its yours!
*Food was amazing and so were the host(3rd yr guys).My very best wishes to them and many thanks for keeping us company till the end and giving us a great farewell.
*The venue was horrible! No AC.Don't blame the juniors. IIT kind of tries to be very controlling of the use of its premises for apparently no sensible reasons.These guys are just not social or they think that giving a bare minimum of an AC room for a farewell is probably asking for too much!
*Night of confessions,revelations and experiences soon followed. Although many of the incidents discussed had a sexual overtone.Probably some hot topics never change.
The thing was followed by a t-shirt scribbling session. Somehow half the comments written on my t-shirt were related to 'balls' :D After this followed our DP where we got drunk and talked about business(Ravi said he was investing in some web company,goofy and sudhanshu wanted to take over our business),rajkiran,sudar and I talked about taking LSD and getting high and regretting why didn't we meet before,mayur didn't drink much,so we were devoid of his fundae on why our batch is the best batch.
Here are some of the comments I recieved(letter case/punctuations/abbreviations maintained) :
U got balls dude - G.Abhilash
U r irritating and u r fun buddy - Aditya Upadhyay aka Goofy
You wish you had his balls - Mayur
HATS OFF TO UR DREAMS.U SHOULD SUCCEED. - Thauseef
BOND - Anonymous
Never worried of being (called) a fool. - VENU
BECOME THE NEXT(written,then crossed) BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO OUR COUNTRY - Adithya Sagar
Junkie(wannabe) - Rajkiran
Cartman of Biotech - Mayur
I am an arrogant and selfish bastard - Mayur on behalf of someone else
MOST IRRITATING,U SUCK,IDIOT BT STILL U GOT THE BALLS! - Chandrashekar Singh alias Cool Chandu
JACK of all trades, still I rock :-) MISS YA BRO - Akshay alias Tau
I deeply appreciate your attitude & courage.Good Luck. - Garima
Great boobs dude - Ravi Shankar
THE UNIQUE MIND | HEADSTRONG - Chavan
LIFETIME PARTNER !!! - Mohit aka Commander
Overall,it was cool.Good times.
Some notable pointers :
*Only two faculty came( one was HOD due to his obligation,and other was a new faculty,so he came just to experience it).I guess all the other faculty is pissed or they don't care to say a final word to the batch they spent 4 years with.Nonetheless,I don't give a damn.Everbody has a right to do what they want.Expectations make this world somewhat less beautiful!
*Many juniors came but left after the food was done.No surprises there! Happens all the time but it hits you when its yours!
*Food was amazing and so were the host(3rd yr guys).My very best wishes to them and many thanks for keeping us company till the end and giving us a great farewell.
*The venue was horrible! No AC.Don't blame the juniors. IIT kind of tries to be very controlling of the use of its premises for apparently no sensible reasons.These guys are just not social or they think that giving a bare minimum of an AC room for a farewell is probably asking for too much!
*Night of confessions,revelations and experiences soon followed. Although many of the incidents discussed had a sexual overtone.Probably some hot topics never change.
The thing was followed by a t-shirt scribbling session. Somehow half the comments written on my t-shirt were related to 'balls' :D After this followed our DP where we got drunk and talked about business(Ravi said he was investing in some web company,goofy and sudhanshu wanted to take over our business),rajkiran,sudar and I talked about taking LSD and getting high and regretting why didn't we meet before,mayur didn't drink much,so we were devoid of his fundae on why our batch is the best batch.
Here are some of the comments I recieved(letter case/punctuations/abbreviations maintained) :
U got balls dude - G.Abhilash
U r irritating and u r fun buddy - Aditya Upadhyay aka Goofy
You wish you had his balls - Mayur
HATS OFF TO UR DREAMS.U SHOULD SUCCEED. - Thauseef
BOND - Anonymous
Never worried of being (called) a fool. - VENU
BECOME THE NEXT(written,then crossed) BEST THING THAT HAPPENED TO OUR COUNTRY - Adithya Sagar
Junkie(wannabe) - Rajkiran
Cartman of Biotech - Mayur
I am an arrogant and selfish bastard - Mayur on behalf of someone else
MOST IRRITATING,U SUCK,IDIOT BT STILL U GOT THE BALLS! - Chandrashekar Singh alias Cool Chandu
JACK of all trades, still I rock :-) MISS YA BRO - Akshay alias Tau
I deeply appreciate your attitude & courage.Good Luck. - Garima
Great boobs dude - Ravi Shankar
THE UNIQUE MIND | HEADSTRONG - Chavan
LIFETIME PARTNER !!! - Mohit aka Commander
Overall,it was cool.Good times.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Love as a weapon
Love is the most misunderstood thing in this world.Most people believe love is beautiful or love is 'good'.Love however can be just as good as heaven or as bad as hell depending on how you use it.
Let me give you an omnipresent example. A mother and a son* relationship-the most selfless,most giving relationship in this world,nothing comes above it can become bad for the son. A mother finds it hard to see any difficulty/discrepancy in the son's behaviour.According to her,all is fine but the world knows all sons are not the best people.Criminals have moms too. A mother usually never looks at the contents of a dish her son likes.She is too preoccupied by the happiness on her son's face that she completely ignores that the dish might be giving her son's heart or pancreas a hard time.
People go on ranting about how love is the most selfless thing in this world.Although there is nothing more selfish in this world than love itself.Period.
Love intensity ranking :
# 1 : Self-love or your love for yourself. Hence,you are your biggest friend or enemy.
# 2 : A mother and a child love . The person,after you,who has the highest effect on you.
# 3 : All other love.
* 'son' is just an example here and is completely replaceable by 'daughter'.
Let me give you an omnipresent example. A mother and a son* relationship-the most selfless,most giving relationship in this world,nothing comes above it can become bad for the son. A mother finds it hard to see any difficulty/discrepancy in the son's behaviour.According to her,all is fine but the world knows all sons are not the best people.Criminals have moms too. A mother usually never looks at the contents of a dish her son likes.She is too preoccupied by the happiness on her son's face that she completely ignores that the dish might be giving her son's heart or pancreas a hard time.
People go on ranting about how love is the most selfless thing in this world.Although there is nothing more selfish in this world than love itself.Period.
Love intensity ranking :
# 1 : Self-love or your love for yourself. Hence,you are your biggest friend or enemy.
# 2 : A mother and a child love . The person,after you,who has the highest effect on you.
# 3 : All other love.
* 'son' is just an example here and is completely replaceable by 'daughter'.
Friday, November 21, 2008
WITNESS YOUR DEATH
WITNESS YOUR DEATH
Para 1
i hope you cry and weep through the nights....
you turn all blind
and you cannot see the lights....
better be prepared,you lowlife
your days are numbered,
And you cannot hide...
The fire of revenge
Is burning in my veins
All you can do is
burn in this rain.....
On a black day,you will feel the wrath
your soul will turn hollow
and you shall witness your death...
Para 2
i hope your blood will freeze through the mind...
the master of the grave
will call you out tonight...
Once again you betrayed my trust
This wont get you
Your laughter and your lust...
And we will see
when the sword of the devil goat
will soon be
pushed down your throat.....
on a black day,you will feel the wrath
your soul will turn hollow
and you shall witness your death...
---
Footnote :
Some Death Metal Lyrics by Me , Bodom is including them in their latest album after they struck a $5mn deal with me recently ;)
Para 1
i hope you cry and weep through the nights....
you turn all blind
and you cannot see the lights....
better be prepared,you lowlife
your days are numbered,
And you cannot hide...
The fire of revenge
Is burning in my veins
All you can do is
burn in this rain.....
On a black day,you will feel the wrath
your soul will turn hollow
and you shall witness your death...
Para 2
i hope your blood will freeze through the mind...
the master of the grave
will call you out tonight...
Once again you betrayed my trust
This wont get you
Your laughter and your lust...
And we will see
when the sword of the devil goat
will soon be
pushed down your throat.....
on a black day,you will feel the wrath
your soul will turn hollow
and you shall witness your death...
---
Footnote :
Some Death Metal Lyrics by Me , Bodom is including them in their latest album after they struck a $5mn deal with me recently ;)
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