"Time Out" is a jargon from the sports world and often used by players, umpires, commentators or by audience. But I believe each one of us need to practise it in our day-2-day life irrespective of the fact that whether we are sports people or not. First of all what is Time Out? According to me, it is a time dedicated to oneself to reflect on his/her actions, gather all the thoughts and then plan for the next course of action.
In today's world this phenomenon has become highly significant, especially for the young people. So, the question is why it is so important? The answer lies in the changing life style of people and competitive requirements of the world. The young generation is fighting out to be successful and create a unique identity for themselves in whatever activity they endeavour. But to fulfill this demand, they need to put in huge amount of efforts in terms of time. With the popular proverb "All Work And No Play Makes Jack a Dull Boy" holding true, the fun activity also calls for some free time. Here fun time is referred as the time spent with family and friends. So, now the individual needs to fit in his/her serious + fun work in the available 24 hrs. As a consequence, with each passing day, the fatigue level starts increasing and at its peak, it becomes imperative for the individual to call for "Time Out".
There are various ways in which people handle this "Time Out" since the universe is filled out with such diverse entities. Some of them take a "Time Out" at night just before sleeping pondering over the days' events and planning for the mysterious tomorrow. A few others like to do meditation all alone during some part of the day so that they are able to focus and concentrate more. There are still others who like to read or listen to motivational stuff that keeps their life ticking with enthusiasm.
I happen to attend one of the corporate training sessions on "Mind Mapping" (Check for more information on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_map%20.....interesting---> interesting concept !!). In this session, the trainer stressed the fact of being brain ambidextrous :) i.e. using both the sides of the brain equally. Normally, people are using only the left part of the brain. The right part of the brain deals with imagination, rhythm, space, graphics and so on (http://www.ibiblio.org/rcip/images/left_right_brain.jpg). There are also techniques to increase the usage of right part of the brain (Refer to website: http://www.gocreate.com/workouts/ to increase the creative thinking capacity). So, I believe it is essential for the person to use the right part of the brain during the "Time Out" period so the person will be most effective and efficient in achieving the personal and professional milestones with minmal fatigue.
So, to all my blog readers, I strongly advise you to take a "Time Out" so as to become successful person in your arenas of life and at the same time leading a comfortable and relaxing life with minimum stress.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Monday, June 11, 2007
Dress Up to Stun OR Stunned to Dress Up : Where do you fit ?
Today morning, I came across an interview of Malaika Arora Khan (yeah the heart throb of millions). The title was "I dress to stun: Malaika" ---> http://content.msn.co.in/Lifestyle/FashionBeauty/LifestyleHT_090607_1511.htm
Well this article forced me to think on 2 points :
a) How much do people really put in efforts for dressing up ?
b) Secondly, what is the purpose ?
Coming to the first point, some of you might be surprised with the fact of "putting efforts" to dress up. But it is absolutely true. I have witnessed a close male friend of mine who used to match his clothes with his socks and shoes (or sandals). As a consquence, this person had several sets of footwears. With changing times, people are becoming aware of this truth and hence one can see everyone flocking to the malls on weekends may not be necessarily to shop, but to keep oneself updated of the latest styles popularly called as "window shopping" and then finally succumb to the shopping temptation:-) . People remain glued to TV sets to get new ideas of fashioning or even subscribe to a fancy magazine discussing the modern styles of wearing.
But then what is the use of spending so much time on something as trivial as clothing? Sorry, but dressing up is not "trivial" as it sounds. There are some people who want to impress others with the modern style of clothing whereas others are dead serious about feeling good and confident in thir new clothes. These people qualify under the category "Dress to stun" (here stunning means that they can stun either other people or themselves). Dressing up does throw an opportunity for people to switch from their "ordinary" look to "extraordinary" look, causing young people to crave more for dressing up.
But as there is some exception to every rule, there are some "chosen ones" (stunned to dress up category) in the society who defy all this 'brouhaha of dressing' and keep a stubborn attitude of 'sticking to simple life'. Their high thinking opines that dressing cultivates an compulsive habit in the individual to be in line with current dressing sense asking him / her to spend ample amount of money forgetting the fact that whether he/she can afford with this changing lifestyle which is true to some extent.
On a personal note, all of this is worth if it comes at an economic cost by being aware of one's spending capacity and staying within one's limitations.
So, ponder sometime on this "dressing up" funda and decide where do you lie ?
Well this article forced me to think on 2 points :
a) How much do people really put in efforts for dressing up ?
b) Secondly, what is the purpose ?
Coming to the first point, some of you might be surprised with the fact of "putting efforts" to dress up. But it is absolutely true. I have witnessed a close male friend of mine who used to match his clothes with his socks and shoes (or sandals). As a consquence, this person had several sets of footwears. With changing times, people are becoming aware of this truth and hence one can see everyone flocking to the malls on weekends may not be necessarily to shop, but to keep oneself updated of the latest styles popularly called as "window shopping" and then finally succumb to the shopping temptation:-) . People remain glued to TV sets to get new ideas of fashioning or even subscribe to a fancy magazine discussing the modern styles of wearing.
But then what is the use of spending so much time on something as trivial as clothing? Sorry, but dressing up is not "trivial" as it sounds. There are some people who want to impress others with the modern style of clothing whereas others are dead serious about feeling good and confident in thir new clothes. These people qualify under the category "Dress to stun" (here stunning means that they can stun either other people or themselves). Dressing up does throw an opportunity for people to switch from their "ordinary" look to "extraordinary" look, causing young people to crave more for dressing up.
But as there is some exception to every rule, there are some "chosen ones" (stunned to dress up category) in the society who defy all this 'brouhaha of dressing' and keep a stubborn attitude of 'sticking to simple life'. Their high thinking opines that dressing cultivates an compulsive habit in the individual to be in line with current dressing sense asking him / her to spend ample amount of money forgetting the fact that whether he/she can afford with this changing lifestyle which is true to some extent.
On a personal note, all of this is worth if it comes at an economic cost by being aware of one's spending capacity and staying within one's limitations.
So, ponder sometime on this "dressing up" funda and decide where do you lie ?
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
The fallen Tomato Cart ......SUBROTO BAGCHI
Not my post...but amazing article to read...
I pass through this very intersection every morning with so much ease. Today, the pace is skewed. There is a sense of disarray as motorists try to push past each other through the traffic light. The light here always tests their agility because if you miss the green, you have to wait for another three minutes before it lets you go past again. Those three minutes become eternity for an otherwise time-insensitive nation on the move. Today, there is a sense of chaos here. People are honking, skirting each other and rushing past. I look out of my window to seek the reason. It is not difficult to find because it is lying strewn all over the place. A tomato seller's cart has overturned. There are tomatoes everywhere and the rushing motorists are making pulp of it. The man is trying to get his cart back on its four rickety wheels and a few passersby are picking up what they can in an attempt to save him total loss. Though symbolic in the larger scheme of things, it is not a substantive gesture. His business for the day is over.
The way this man's economics works is very simple. There is a money lender who lends him money for just one day, at an interest rate of Rs 10 per day per Rs 100 lent. With the money, he wakes up at 4 am to go to the wholesale market for vegetables. He returns, pushing his cart a good five miles, and by 7 am when the locality wakes up, he is ready to sell his day's merchandise. By the end of the morning, some of it remains unsold. This his wife sells by the afternoon and takes home the remainder, which becomes part of his meal. With the day's proceeds, he returns the interest to the money lender and goes back to the routine the next day.
If he does not sell for a day, his chain breaks. Where does he go from here? He goes back to the money lender, raises capital at an even more penal interest and gets back on his feet. This is not the only time that destiny has upset his tomato cart. This happens to him at least six times every year. Once he returned with a loaded cart of ripe tomatoes and it rained heavily for the next three days. No one came to the market and his stock rotted in front of his own eyes. Another time, instead of the weather, it was a political rally that snowballed into a confrontation between two rival groups and the locality closed down. And he is not alone in this game of extraneous factors that seize not only his business but also his life. He sees this happen to the "gol-gappa" seller, the peanut seller and the "vada pao" seller all the time. When their product does not sell, it just turns soggy. Sometimes they eat some of it. But how much of that stuff can you eat by yourself? So, they just give away some and there is always that one time when they have to simply throw it away.
Away from the street-vendor selling perishable commodity with little or no life support system, the corporate world is an altogether different place. Here we have some of the most educated people in the country. We don the best garbs. We do not have to push carts; our carts push us. We have our salary, perquisites, bonuses, stock options, gratuities, pensions and our medical insurance and the group accident benefit schemes. Yet, all the while, we worry about our risks and think about our professional insecurity. We wonder, what would happen if the company shifted offices to another city? What would happen if the department closed down? What would happen if you were to take maternity leave and the temporary substitute delivered better work than you did? What would happen if the product line you are dealing with simply failed? In any of those eventualities, the worst that could happen would still be a lot less than having to see your cartful of tomatoes getting pulped under the screeching wheels of absolute strangers who have nothing personal against you.
All too often we exaggerate our risks. We keep justifying our professional concerns till they trap us in their vicious downward spiral. Devoid of education, sophisticated reasoning and any financial safety net, the man with the cart is often able to deal with life much better than many of us. Is it time to look out of the window, into the eyes of that man to ask him, where does he get it from? In his simple stoicism, is probably, our lost resilience?
I pass through this very intersection every morning with so much ease. Today, the pace is skewed. There is a sense of disarray as motorists try to push past each other through the traffic light. The light here always tests their agility because if you miss the green, you have to wait for another three minutes before it lets you go past again. Those three minutes become eternity for an otherwise time-insensitive nation on the move. Today, there is a sense of chaos here. People are honking, skirting each other and rushing past. I look out of my window to seek the reason. It is not difficult to find because it is lying strewn all over the place. A tomato seller's cart has overturned. There are tomatoes everywhere and the rushing motorists are making pulp of it. The man is trying to get his cart back on its four rickety wheels and a few passersby are picking up what they can in an attempt to save him total loss. Though symbolic in the larger scheme of things, it is not a substantive gesture. His business for the day is over.
The way this man's economics works is very simple. There is a money lender who lends him money for just one day, at an interest rate of Rs 10 per day per Rs 100 lent. With the money, he wakes up at 4 am to go to the wholesale market for vegetables. He returns, pushing his cart a good five miles, and by 7 am when the locality wakes up, he is ready to sell his day's merchandise. By the end of the morning, some of it remains unsold. This his wife sells by the afternoon and takes home the remainder, which becomes part of his meal. With the day's proceeds, he returns the interest to the money lender and goes back to the routine the next day.
If he does not sell for a day, his chain breaks. Where does he go from here? He goes back to the money lender, raises capital at an even more penal interest and gets back on his feet. This is not the only time that destiny has upset his tomato cart. This happens to him at least six times every year. Once he returned with a loaded cart of ripe tomatoes and it rained heavily for the next three days. No one came to the market and his stock rotted in front of his own eyes. Another time, instead of the weather, it was a political rally that snowballed into a confrontation between two rival groups and the locality closed down. And he is not alone in this game of extraneous factors that seize not only his business but also his life. He sees this happen to the "gol-gappa" seller, the peanut seller and the "vada pao" seller all the time. When their product does not sell, it just turns soggy. Sometimes they eat some of it. But how much of that stuff can you eat by yourself? So, they just give away some and there is always that one time when they have to simply throw it away.
Away from the street-vendor selling perishable commodity with little or no life support system, the corporate world is an altogether different place. Here we have some of the most educated people in the country. We don the best garbs. We do not have to push carts; our carts push us. We have our salary, perquisites, bonuses, stock options, gratuities, pensions and our medical insurance and the group accident benefit schemes. Yet, all the while, we worry about our risks and think about our professional insecurity. We wonder, what would happen if the company shifted offices to another city? What would happen if the department closed down? What would happen if you were to take maternity leave and the temporary substitute delivered better work than you did? What would happen if the product line you are dealing with simply failed? In any of those eventualities, the worst that could happen would still be a lot less than having to see your cartful of tomatoes getting pulped under the screeching wheels of absolute strangers who have nothing personal against you.
All too often we exaggerate our risks. We keep justifying our professional concerns till they trap us in their vicious downward spiral. Devoid of education, sophisticated reasoning and any financial safety net, the man with the cart is often able to deal with life much better than many of us. Is it time to look out of the window, into the eyes of that man to ask him, where does he get it from? In his simple stoicism, is probably, our lost resilience?
Monday, July 31, 2006
Partyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!
Well this simple word infuses or generates a tremedous amount of excitement ! Isn't it ? This party funda which has started from the West has also now stabilized in the East. It has lately been generalised to the smallest happiest event or happening or a moment one experiences. Every person is throwing a party to his friends, relatives and closed ones every now and then. That's the reason why we are having "freaky fridays" or "wild weekends".
If you stop for a while and ponder on the different types of parties, here is a list:
1) Birthday Parties
2) Anniversary Parties
3) Promotion / Salary Hike Parties
4) Purchase of new house / new car / new .... Parties
5) Festival Parties
6) Romantic Parties (Valentines Day)
7) New Year Parties
8) Reunion Parties
I think now the list is endless. One can just rumble on and on.....
What's the reason for this party thing to be popular amongst various circles or levels of people? The primary reason is that nowadays life is getting busier and busier and people are scarcely finding time to meet & talk with each other. There are cases where even the spouses just get enough time to say "Good Morning", hurry off to their work and then come back, say "Good Night" and go to sleep. So I think through such kind of parties, people try to connect with their old friends and closed ones as then the invitees are also geared up to have nice food and share the golden moments they had spent in the past. It has now become a kind of social norm which needs to be respected in the society.
I read the following line somewhere :
"There isn’t much better in this life than finding a way to spend a few hours in conversation with people you respect and love. You have to carve this time out of your life because you aren’t really living without it."
I truly believe whatever is said in this line. So, since there is acute shortage of time in everyone's life, then practically thinking, I believe parties are definitely a better way to get socially connected.
If you stop for a while and ponder on the different types of parties, here is a list:
1) Birthday Parties
2) Anniversary Parties
3) Promotion / Salary Hike Parties
4) Purchase of new house / new car / new .... Parties
5) Festival Parties
6) Romantic Parties (Valentines Day)
7) New Year Parties
8) Reunion Parties
I think now the list is endless. One can just rumble on and on.....
What's the reason for this party thing to be popular amongst various circles or levels of people? The primary reason is that nowadays life is getting busier and busier and people are scarcely finding time to meet & talk with each other. There are cases where even the spouses just get enough time to say "Good Morning", hurry off to their work and then come back, say "Good Night" and go to sleep. So I think through such kind of parties, people try to connect with their old friends and closed ones as then the invitees are also geared up to have nice food and share the golden moments they had spent in the past. It has now become a kind of social norm which needs to be respected in the society.
I read the following line somewhere :
"There isn’t much better in this life than finding a way to spend a few hours in conversation with people you respect and love. You have to carve this time out of your life because you aren’t really living without it."
I truly believe whatever is said in this line. So, since there is acute shortage of time in everyone's life, then practically thinking, I believe parties are definitely a better way to get socially connected.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Today's Media
The role of media is to convey messages and opinions expressed by particular individuals or organizations to a mass of people. Therefore, for any democratic country, it is necessary that media does a good job in focussing on correct issues and giving right level of value & importance as the subject at hand demands. After all media can become an important tool in educating the people of the country in th right direction.
There are different types of media available these days with journalism and television reports playing a major role. Numerous leading newspapers and popular TV news channels are being set up these days and all of them require NEWS. As a result, any person who gets slightly famous because of his achievements or activities is bound to find his mention in the newspapers or in the flying headlines of the TV. I remember when I used to play table tennis in my school days, very few newspapers felt the need to cover the TT tournament. Now after a few years, I have observed that every newspaper attempts to cover the local sports events. In fact some of them have a separate edition for such sports coverage. This has been a good change, since then the image of all kinds of sports has been lifted and people's mindset has become more open to allow their children to play different kinds of sports.
People are now even aware of the latest products that touch the market and are educated on various social, cultural and medical fronts. The TV media (advertisements and news) forms an important source of information to know what is happening outside our pretty world. The news channels are continuously updating on stock market analysis (ups and downs) as well as the "flash news" which narrate on the current happenings (so that people don't have to wait for the next day's newspaper). The TV news channels addressed the recent event of "Mumbai Blasts" in an excellent manner. The media advertised a helpline toll free number so that people could enquire the whereabouts of their friends and relatives which otherwise was impossible since all the telephone lines were jammed. Even on entertainment front, TV is undoubtedly at its best through its different programs. All these factors reflect the brighter side of today's media.
But if you peep on to the darker side, one can see a certain level of ambiguity and skewness in the absolute truth of the reports due to heavy competition in private sector. Everybody is into the business of minting money thereby making the story look bigger than the fact themselves and totally forgetting or rather ignoring the actual responsibility of the media towards the people. I wonder whether there is a need for all the events or happenings to be broadcasted by the media as I partially believe the age-old saying "Ignorance is a Bliss". Sometimes unnecessary or irrelevant information given by the media causes lot of problems to the society indirectly. Nevertheless, there are some sincere souls in this media world who win their bread by collecting and reporting information. I deeply appreciate such people since they have a tough job to do by working at odd hours and have to be alert whenever and wherever something happens irrespective of their liking.
Finally to conclude, I would say that it is upto the audience how to receive the media (take what you want and leave the rest). They need to be intelligent enough to pick up the correct or absolute meaning of any information reported. This could be possible for educated urban people, but what about the rural people in small cities and villages. That question still needs to answered. What do you feel ?
There are different types of media available these days with journalism and television reports playing a major role. Numerous leading newspapers and popular TV news channels are being set up these days and all of them require NEWS. As a result, any person who gets slightly famous because of his achievements or activities is bound to find his mention in the newspapers or in the flying headlines of the TV. I remember when I used to play table tennis in my school days, very few newspapers felt the need to cover the TT tournament. Now after a few years, I have observed that every newspaper attempts to cover the local sports events. In fact some of them have a separate edition for such sports coverage. This has been a good change, since then the image of all kinds of sports has been lifted and people's mindset has become more open to allow their children to play different kinds of sports.
People are now even aware of the latest products that touch the market and are educated on various social, cultural and medical fronts. The TV media (advertisements and news) forms an important source of information to know what is happening outside our pretty world. The news channels are continuously updating on stock market analysis (ups and downs) as well as the "flash news" which narrate on the current happenings (so that people don't have to wait for the next day's newspaper). The TV news channels addressed the recent event of "Mumbai Blasts" in an excellent manner. The media advertised a helpline toll free number so that people could enquire the whereabouts of their friends and relatives which otherwise was impossible since all the telephone lines were jammed. Even on entertainment front, TV is undoubtedly at its best through its different programs. All these factors reflect the brighter side of today's media.
But if you peep on to the darker side, one can see a certain level of ambiguity and skewness in the absolute truth of the reports due to heavy competition in private sector. Everybody is into the business of minting money thereby making the story look bigger than the fact themselves and totally forgetting or rather ignoring the actual responsibility of the media towards the people. I wonder whether there is a need for all the events or happenings to be broadcasted by the media as I partially believe the age-old saying "Ignorance is a Bliss". Sometimes unnecessary or irrelevant information given by the media causes lot of problems to the society indirectly. Nevertheless, there are some sincere souls in this media world who win their bread by collecting and reporting information. I deeply appreciate such people since they have a tough job to do by working at odd hours and have to be alert whenever and wherever something happens irrespective of their liking.
Finally to conclude, I would say that it is upto the audience how to receive the media (take what you want and leave the rest). They need to be intelligent enough to pick up the correct or absolute meaning of any information reported. This could be possible for educated urban people, but what about the rural people in small cities and villages. That question still needs to answered. What do you feel ?
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
Friends
We make variety of friends throughout our life. There are school friends, college friends, engineering friends, company friends and so on. There is no end to this ramification list on different types of friends. But there is a certain category of friends who remain forever and sail with you through your good and bad times. It is as though you have some right over their life (and vice versa) and can ask or lend some help without following any kind of discipline/manners as one would normally do in case of others.
My school friends fall in the above mentioned category. Our friendship in many ways is like the old banyan tree. The roots of this friendship had been sown 15 yrs ago and are now like the long roots of the banyan spread under the ground. The strong trunk of banyan tree represents our solid bonding, common interests and hobbies over the years. The different branches represents us, each being different in certain ways but yet united as one. The most astonishing aspect is that after school, we have been in different colleges, working for different companies, then going to different universities for MS to USA, but yet coming back and taking shelter under the very same umbrella "Amche Pune" where our hearts reside happily.
One of the appreciating things in our group is the respectable distance we keep amongst ourselves. This is essential in any relationship as then we are not invading the other person's privacy, thus giving him the freedom he desires. Of course, we do talk about each other's good and bad points, but such gossips do occur only within our group. We derive our joy and pleasure from the smallest of things that life has to offer. As a consequence, we have formed a bagful of memories to cherish and remember throughout our life. It will be a herculean task to single out one memory and place it above the others.
Many people are of the opinion that the friends you make during your school time are the ones who remain with you till the end. I somehow agree and believe this viewpoint. One of the major reason is the time that is spent in a friendship by a person in his early years (before attaining maturity) as compared to the time he spends in the friendship in his latter years (after attaining maturity). In the former case, a person shows more willingness to compromise and change as compared to the latter. As a result, the friendship is allowed to grow more in the early phase. In the latter years, things like personal ego, principles, selfishness and many such other factors do creep in somehow and become the barriers of everlasting friendship in its inception phase itself. Distance and time are also the popular inhibiting factors of a good friendship that probably started in college days.
Note that the above analysis is based on the 80-20 rule (meaning that 20% exceptions do exist). Sometimes the best of friendship incubates during the college days and continues for life time. But such examples are in 20% category meaning very few as then the right set of people need to meet each other. It is like the meshing of gears - where the 2 gears need to have same tooth type and same pitch in order to mesh correctly (if you are a mechanical engineer, you may understand perfectly what I mean).
Many friends have come into my life and left footprints in my heart. I am happy for their lifepaths have crossed mine, but sad at the same time that they are no more with me. Hence some of these prints are now kinda hazy since time has taken us away from each other. But my school friends have left indelible footprints in my heart as I am sure that they will be there with me through all times, thick and thin.
My school friends fall in the above mentioned category. Our friendship in many ways is like the old banyan tree. The roots of this friendship had been sown 15 yrs ago and are now like the long roots of the banyan spread under the ground. The strong trunk of banyan tree represents our solid bonding, common interests and hobbies over the years. The different branches represents us, each being different in certain ways but yet united as one. The most astonishing aspect is that after school, we have been in different colleges, working for different companies, then going to different universities for MS to USA, but yet coming back and taking shelter under the very same umbrella "Amche Pune" where our hearts reside happily.
One of the appreciating things in our group is the respectable distance we keep amongst ourselves. This is essential in any relationship as then we are not invading the other person's privacy, thus giving him the freedom he desires. Of course, we do talk about each other's good and bad points, but such gossips do occur only within our group. We derive our joy and pleasure from the smallest of things that life has to offer. As a consequence, we have formed a bagful of memories to cherish and remember throughout our life. It will be a herculean task to single out one memory and place it above the others.
Many people are of the opinion that the friends you make during your school time are the ones who remain with you till the end. I somehow agree and believe this viewpoint. One of the major reason is the time that is spent in a friendship by a person in his early years (before attaining maturity) as compared to the time he spends in the friendship in his latter years (after attaining maturity). In the former case, a person shows more willingness to compromise and change as compared to the latter. As a result, the friendship is allowed to grow more in the early phase. In the latter years, things like personal ego, principles, selfishness and many such other factors do creep in somehow and become the barriers of everlasting friendship in its inception phase itself. Distance and time are also the popular inhibiting factors of a good friendship that probably started in college days.
Note that the above analysis is based on the 80-20 rule (meaning that 20% exceptions do exist). Sometimes the best of friendship incubates during the college days and continues for life time. But such examples are in 20% category meaning very few as then the right set of people need to meet each other. It is like the meshing of gears - where the 2 gears need to have same tooth type and same pitch in order to mesh correctly (if you are a mechanical engineer, you may understand perfectly what I mean).
Many friends have come into my life and left footprints in my heart. I am happy for their lifepaths have crossed mine, but sad at the same time that they are no more with me. Hence some of these prints are now kinda hazy since time has taken us away from each other. But my school friends have left indelible footprints in my heart as I am sure that they will be there with me through all times, thick and thin.
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