Sugar coating at work...

I work as a trainer and developer in my company and I basically keep teaching people about the corporate culture, soft skills, communication skills...etc, etc... to be precise, i teach them how to sugar coat on talks which actually means something else.

Some times I think, its mundane to always follow the rules inspite of knowing that the other person is already aware of whats up your mind actually.

A few mundane activities like, every time you write a mail, it starts with -

" Dear Sir (as if the person has been declared officially SIR by the Queen of England),"

"This is in regards/ reference to our conversation/ telecon/ previous mail...." (why do we always assume that the other person has a bad memory that you need to remind him/her of all the previous conversations, though that last conversation may be just a few minutes ago?)


There are a lot other examples. Also, being a part of HR, while recruiting people we say a few things which actually have a hidden meaning to it...here are a few. Hope they help you next time you join a company :)

Beware of these words -

"Competitive Salary" (We remain competitive by paying you less than our competition)
"Join our fast-paced company" (We have no time to train you)
“Casual work atmosphere" (We don't pay enough to expect that you will be able to formally dress up)
"Some overtime required" (you need to write letters to be connected with your family)
"Duties will vary" (Anyone in the office can boss you around)
"Must have an eye for detail" (We can’t afford a quality assurance dept. You have to do it yourself)
"Career-minded" (Female applicants must be childless - and remain that way)
"Apply in person" (If you're old, fat or ugly you'll be told that the position has been filled)
"Seeking candidates with a wide variety of experience" (You'll need it to replace the three people who just quit)
"Requires team leadership skills" (You'll have the responsibilities of a manager, without the pay or respect)
"Good communication skills" (Management communicates, you listen, figure out what they want and do it)

RAB BACHAYE IS CORPORATE WORLD SE !!!

Seeking attention....

After posting the first article on my blog, I was so excited about creating it that every half hour, I kept checking if anyone has commented on it or is some one following me...
and each time I saw, I got disappointed... :( thanks to vishal and rashmi to having supported my moral.... :)
so then I put up my blog on orkut updates so that others would see it too...
now this made me more anxious....even though I had a hectic schedule at office, I managed to sneek in from others and open my blog to check out if any updates....being an IT company, every site that we open, is being registered, even then i was ready to take up the risk to see who has appreciated my blog...or even that how beautiful the lady on the top of my blog is....as if I am going to get an appraisal by others commenting on it...
After two days, i realised, why am I expecting others to see my blog and appreciate it??? what is the purpose of me writing my thoughts in public....why would somebody be interested in even reading what i think???
surely i am not Amitabh Bachhan whose blog is visited by thousands of people in a day...
But may be its not only about the blog...its about life in general...
we all seek for attention and we all feel confident on getting appreciated...
I could have written all this in my personal diary too....but then whats the point if no one can ever read it???
It is true when we say -
“The greatest gift you can give others is the purity of your attention.”

Down the memory lane...Uttarayan

This is my first post on my new blog...what made me create a blog???
Well i dont know exactly why, but may be because everyone else is doing it??? :) ... or may be just to share a few thoughts or incidents that come up during the journey of life.
I wont define this blog, I just want to continue writing anything and everything that comes upto my mind...
Today is Uttarayan, a festival of kites, also known as Makar Sankranti. Like every other festival, Uttarayan brings in good cheer and celebrations, albeit its own unique way. Festive special food like undhiyu and jalebi, a sky full of kites, a home full of fun and the special bondage with family.
Makar Sankranti symbolises the onset of the harvest season and the end of winter(which hardly begins in ahmedabad). It also marks the entry of sun into a new zodiac sign Capricorn (Makar).
I was amused to hear the history -in India, the Kings and Nawabs who found the sport both entertaining and a way of displaying their prowess, used to employ trained fliers to fly kites for kings. What I cant understand is what pleasure would they be getting in only watching the kites fly...they should have tried flying the kites themselves...its so much fun...
Personally, I have a lot of memories connected to this festival, each Uttarayan brings me different memories of life...
As a kid, I used to go to my Mama's place, where all cousins used to gather. The preparation used to start from the previous night. All papa's alongwith the bachas used to go to shops to purchase kites, phirki, gundar patti (to stick the torn kites), toti (to protect fingers from cutting), tukkal (night lamps to fly alongwith the kites), dhaal (the big kites).....after getting all this stuff back at home, bachas were at the highest satisfaction level...then the preparation started to tie the kinnas of the kites...obviously that task was done by the papa's...while we kids were just happy to count the number of kites we had and to select the best ones for self...all the mummies used to be busy purchasing different vegetables to make undhiya....and prepared chikkis made of gud(jaggery) and til(sesame seeds).
It is considered that the reason behind preparing undhiyu is that it contains all vegetables, which is a symbol of togetherness. While reason behind preparing chikki is that til is a symbol of affection while jaggery of sweetness. Well but who cares what it symbolises??? we just relish the sweet chikkis and the delicious undhiyu made by our mummies... (which now i eat less thinking about my calories)
And then all the kids used to get up early in the morning hearing with the shoutings "kaipo chhe", "Ae lapet", meaning i have cut your kite, so roll your strings back. No alarms required on this day. The whole day was spent on terrace with no worries of studies...more than flying the kites, we enjoyed catching the cut kites...there was an unsaid competition between the kids that who would catch the maximum number of kites and also an unsaid competition between the elders...kiski patang, kise kategi?
Then when I came in college, I stopped celebrating this festival with family, I celebrated with friends...and more than kite flying, it was spending good time with friends and looking at the handsome guys and beautiful girls on the terrace....
And now when college is over, I neither celebrate it with family nor friends....everytime i hear the shoutings from the terrace, I remember those good old days, the bonding with the family, the fun with friends...
I really miss those days...