We made a trip to Canada/Seattle/Detroit/Chicago starting september 17th september 2010 ending on 26th September 2010. It was great and memorable. While I can always do a pattern match with the cities of the developed countries, but there are very subtle differences among them. For example Vancouver adorned all Indian taxi drivers and as we hear, the taxis there could be extremely expansive (somewhere in the range of .4-.6 million USD), unbelievable, yes that is right!
City of Vancouver is not any different from any other American cities, just the same road, same mode of driving, same population thickness etc. We lived in a "days in" hotel in Kingsway street owned by an Indian. We were trying to exchange our currency to canadian dollars at the Seattle airport, but the last minute decision dissuaded us from doing so. Reason - the lady was offering 450 Canadian dollars in exchange of 500 USD. If anyone plans to make a trip to Canada just don't get into this, everywhere in canada they accept USD in lieu of Canadian dollars at the rate of 1:1. So, no problem. But if you are travelling in a bus always make sure you have changes. In some shops and some bus stop/Amtrak joints you can buy a days pass for 7 Canadian dollars, that will be good for travelling in any public transportation system, be it water taxi, buses, sky trains etc for the whole day. One good thing I have noticed in Canada was; at every public transportation system, walls, there are good sayings written. For example one of the writings said:
"Don't wash your hands in anti-bacterial soaps, instead use regular soap. Regular soap removes greases and bacteria; while anti-bacterial soap causes antibiotic resistance in bacteria and also kills the good bacteria in your hands". So true, I completely agree with this. In US, most of the hand dis-infect-ants are based on antibiotics, which could be harmful.
The next saying was on baby's crying. It said: "Crying is normal for babys, don't shake them when they cry". Wow, so much truth is there. Usually people shake the baby when they cry - the result, when the baby wants shaking - will start crying.
The third and most important saying was: "Handful of people can't change the world - But, in the history of mankind, only a few thinkers have brought about great changes". I can't agree more on this! It is especially true when we think what can I do alone? How can I change anything, but the truth of the matter is; you can indeed make a great difference if you really wanted to. Throughout human history, it is always has been that way!
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Monday, September 27, 2010
Food that stays for ever!!
Recently, I had a Big Mac chicken sandwich in Chicago with Chitti! I think this is my first sandwich after 4-5 years- seriously. I have stopped taking all these after my stint with sickness, but that day there was no other choice, it was past lunch time, cold and besides we were very hungry. Only shop that was close by was McDonald. Now watch out this video that describes little bit about McDonald sandwiches. The moral is: If the food is indigestible by microbes, imagine how our system will deal with it. Same is true with all cokes(softdrinks), juices, can food, tin food and ready made packed food. So, be aware!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Making Jahni posto
"Jahni", "Turai", "Ridge gourd","Beera Kaya", "Pirkanga", "Dodaki", "Sin qua"(in Chinese) or Luffa acutangula is a very popular vegetable. It is also sold in chinese stores as Chinese Okra(??). Jahni belongs to Cucurbita family and profusely fruits during Late August/September, when the temperature cools down slightly. In India, it is a very popular vegetable sold during the summers like most other cucurbits.
Nutritional Facts:
Luffa acutangula is a high source of fat and nutritionally valuable minerals (P, K, Mg, Ca, Fe). Although the kernel had high proportion of essential amino acids (42.04%) but it was only in (Phe + Tyr) that a balanced content of essential amino acid was found with respect to the FAO/WHO provisional pattern45 while supplementation may be required in ILe, Leu, Lys, Met + Cys, Thr and Val.[ref]. The bitter versions of Luffa is used for curing jaundice. The old ripe fruits are used as scrubbers and is very rich in fibre.
In east Indian cuisine, this vegetable is added to almost every vegetarian dish. Many mixed vegetable dishes(sometimes we add shrimp to it), some leafy vegetable dishes are incomplete without Luffa. One particular dish that Oriyas and bengalis relish with Luffa is the "Posto". It is a very delicious dish and often prepared with great care during special occasions. Preparation of Posto is relatively easy if you have all the ingredients handy. In our language any dish prepared with poppy seeds are called as "posto". [IMP: Poppy seeds are NOT drugs and is a very common ingredient in Indian cooking. It is used as a thickener/spice].
Ingredients for Luffa Posto:
2 table spoons of dry poppy seeds
1 table spoon mustard seed
1 table spoon cumin seeds
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 of big onion
pinch of turmeric
2/3 green chillies
2 table spoon oil
2 table spoon oil
3 lbs of Luffa
Preparation:
First grind the poppy seeds into powder in a coffee grinder. Then wash the vegetable and peel the ridges and cut them into small pices(1 inch X 1/2 inch dimension). Cut the onion into small pieces, and crush the garlic into near paste. Heat oil in a pan, put the mustard seeds and cumin seeds into it, and allow them to burst. Then immediately add crushed garlic, and fry it in medium flame till it is golden in color. Then add onion, turmeric, chillis, salt and stir fry till it becomes golden brown. Then add the cut Luffa along with poppy powder to the pan. Add little bit of water and cover it. Allow it to cook in slow flame. Stir occasionally. The whole process takes around 20 mins. Serve with hot rice/roti.
Posto tastes very good if mushroom is added along with Luffa - this is my personal favorite. If you have pumpkin flowers, then add them to it, it gives a very exquisite taste to it.
Nutritional Facts:
Luffa acutangula is a high source of fat and nutritionally valuable minerals (P, K, Mg, Ca, Fe). Although the kernel had high proportion of essential amino acids (42.04%) but it was only in (Phe + Tyr) that a balanced content of essential amino acid was found with respect to the FAO/WHO provisional pattern45 while supplementation may be required in ILe, Leu, Lys, Met + Cys, Thr and Val.[ref]. The bitter versions of Luffa is used for curing jaundice. The old ripe fruits are used as scrubbers and is very rich in fibre.
In east Indian cuisine, this vegetable is added to almost every vegetarian dish. Many mixed vegetable dishes(sometimes we add shrimp to it), some leafy vegetable dishes are incomplete without Luffa. One particular dish that Oriyas and bengalis relish with Luffa is the "Posto". It is a very delicious dish and often prepared with great care during special occasions. Preparation of Posto is relatively easy if you have all the ingredients handy. In our language any dish prepared with poppy seeds are called as "posto". [IMP: Poppy seeds are NOT drugs and is a very common ingredient in Indian cooking. It is used as a thickener/spice].
Ingredients for Luffa Posto:
2 table spoons of dry poppy seeds
1 table spoon mustard seed
1 table spoon cumin seeds
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 of big onion
pinch of turmeric
2/3 green chillies
2 table spoon oil
2 table spoon oil
3 lbs of Luffa
Preparation:
First grind the poppy seeds into powder in a coffee grinder. Then wash the vegetable and peel the ridges and cut them into small pices(1 inch X 1/2 inch dimension). Cut the onion into small pieces, and crush the garlic into near paste. Heat oil in a pan, put the mustard seeds and cumin seeds into it, and allow them to burst. Then immediately add crushed garlic, and fry it in medium flame till it is golden in color. Then add onion, turmeric, chillis, salt and stir fry till it becomes golden brown. Then add the cut Luffa along with poppy powder to the pan. Add little bit of water and cover it. Allow it to cook in slow flame. Stir occasionally. The whole process takes around 20 mins. Serve with hot rice/roti.
Posto tastes very good if mushroom is added along with Luffa - this is my personal favorite. If you have pumpkin flowers, then add them to it, it gives a very exquisite taste to it.
 |
| Luffa growing in my garden |
 |
| Jahni posto after it is cooked yum yum! |
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
This is the stuff legends are made of..Worth a read..
[This is an inspiring article by a great person of our times and one of my role models. Stumbled upon this article today and thought shall post it here. Enjoy reading]
THE GIRL WRITING AS HERSELF....
It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies' hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science. I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the US... I had not thought of taking up a job in India.
One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors)... It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.
At the bottom was a small line: 'Lady Candidates need not apply.' I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination.
Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers... Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful?
After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco
I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company's chairman then) I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote. 'The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India, such as iron and steel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives they have cared for higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender.'
I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mate told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs30 each from everyone who wanted a sari when I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough to make the trip.
It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city.
To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office for the interview.
There were six people on the panel and I realized then that this was serious business.
'This is the girl who wrote to JRD,' I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The realization abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted.
Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, 'I hope this is only a technical interview.'
They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude. The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them.
Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, 'Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories.
I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place.
I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered, 'But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories.'
Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married.
It was only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw 'appro JRD'. Appro means 'our' in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him. I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, 'Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate.
She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor.' JRD looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it).
Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he remarked. 'It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?'
'When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir,' I replied. 'Now I am Sudha Murthy.' He smiled and kindly smile and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room.
After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.
One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realize JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me.
'Young lady, why are you here?' he asked. 'Office time is over.' I said, 'Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up.' JRD said, 'It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor.
I'll wait with you till your husband comes.'
I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable.
I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, 'Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee.'
Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, 'Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again.' In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused.
Gently, he said, 'So what are you doing, Mrs. Kulkarni?' (That was the way he always addressed me.) 'Sir, I am leaving Telco.'
'Where are you going?' he asked. 'Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune.'
'Oh! And what will you do when you are successful.'
'Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful.' 'Never start with diffidence,' he advised me 'Always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. Wish you all the best.'
Then JRD continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive.
Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me, 'It was nice hearing about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he's not alive to see you today.'
I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.
Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.
My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and magnificence. (Sudha Murthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation involved in a number of social development initiatives. Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy is her husband.)
Article sourced from: Lasting Legacies (Tata Review- Special Commemorative Issue 2004), brought out by the house of Tatas to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of JRD Tata on July 29, 2004 .
THE GIRL WRITING AS HERSELF....
It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies' hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science. I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the US... I had not thought of taking up a job in India.
One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors)... It stated that the company required young, bright engineers, hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.
At the bottom was a small line: 'Lady Candidates need not apply.' I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination.
Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers... Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful?
After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco
I thought it must be one of the Tatas. I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company's chairman then) I took the card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly what I wrote. 'The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India, such as iron and steel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives they have cared for higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender.'
I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mate told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs30 each from everyone who wanted a sari when I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough to make the trip.
It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city.
To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office for the interview.
There were six people on the panel and I realized then that this was serious business.
'This is the girl who wrote to JRD,' I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The realization abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted.
Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, 'I hope this is only a technical interview.'
They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude. The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them.
Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, 'Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories.
I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place.
I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered, 'But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories.'
Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married.
It was only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw 'appro JRD'. Appro means 'our' in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him. I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, 'Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate.
She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor.' JRD looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it).
Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he remarked. 'It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?'
'When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir,' I replied. 'Now I am Sudha Murthy.' He smiled and kindly smile and started a discussion with SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room.
After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.
One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realize JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small incident for him, but not so for me.
'Young lady, why are you here?' he asked. 'Office time is over.' I said, 'Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up.' JRD said, 'It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor.
I'll wait with you till your husband comes.'
I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable.
I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, 'Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee.'
Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, 'Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again.' In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused.
Gently, he said, 'So what are you doing, Mrs. Kulkarni?' (That was the way he always addressed me.) 'Sir, I am leaving Telco.'
'Where are you going?' he asked. 'Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune.'
'Oh! And what will you do when you are successful.'
'Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful.' 'Never start with diffidence,' he advised me 'Always start with confidence. When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. Wish you all the best.'
Then JRD continued walking up the stairs. I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I saw him alive.
Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me, 'It was nice hearing about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he's not alive to see you today.'
I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.
Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.
My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had the same vastness and magnificence. (Sudha Murthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation involved in a number of social development initiatives. Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy is her husband.)
Article sourced from: Lasting Legacies (Tata Review- Special Commemorative Issue 2004), brought out by the house of Tatas to commemorate the 100th birth anniversary of JRD Tata on July 29, 2004 .
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Macromanager and Micromanager
I have stolen this topic from my husband today. We were discussing the qualities of macromanagers and comparing that with the micromanagers.
We have few relatives(I think most of them), in most part of their adult lives are micromanagers. In other words, they pay attention to every small details of the life and styles of all the family members/guests. We know someone who has been living alone for a long time, can't have anyone in the house for more than a week. Not even her own parents, brothers, sisters etc. leave alone outsiders. The reason - micromanagement!
What she does is; simply dictates when each member should take bath, have lunch, what they should do post lunch etc. All these she plans for everyone because she thinks it is best for them. If they fail to follow her plan probably they will fall into trouble, but they(the enforce-es) don't realize that when they are enforced with all those rules. So, they just get upset for being dictated terms and leave her house as soon as they can. And there are people on the extreme other end too. They don't bother if someone is in their home, whether they took bath or not, whether they would like to go shopping or not whether they would like to lie down or not. They make their own plans without asking the guests and expect the guest to follow them. If not also, they are fine with it. I would label them as insensitive.
I think the best type of people to stay along will be the macromanagers. The macromanagers are the people who make the guest aware of the water, electricity situation and tell them the best timings for them to take a shower or have food or do other chores. They don't get upset or angry if these rules are not strictly followed. They will leave the consequences upto the people to realize the situation and act accordingly.
Well, as you may have guessed, it is the macromanager that is the most successful boss at work, most pleasant host and a pleasant guest.
We have few relatives(I think most of them), in most part of their adult lives are micromanagers. In other words, they pay attention to every small details of the life and styles of all the family members/guests. We know someone who has been living alone for a long time, can't have anyone in the house for more than a week. Not even her own parents, brothers, sisters etc. leave alone outsiders. The reason - micromanagement!
What she does is; simply dictates when each member should take bath, have lunch, what they should do post lunch etc. All these she plans for everyone because she thinks it is best for them. If they fail to follow her plan probably they will fall into trouble, but they(the enforce-es) don't realize that when they are enforced with all those rules. So, they just get upset for being dictated terms and leave her house as soon as they can. And there are people on the extreme other end too. They don't bother if someone is in their home, whether they took bath or not, whether they would like to go shopping or not whether they would like to lie down or not. They make their own plans without asking the guests and expect the guest to follow them. If not also, they are fine with it. I would label them as insensitive.
I think the best type of people to stay along will be the macromanagers. The macromanagers are the people who make the guest aware of the water, electricity situation and tell them the best timings for them to take a shower or have food or do other chores. They don't get upset or angry if these rules are not strictly followed. They will leave the consequences upto the people to realize the situation and act accordingly.
Well, as you may have guessed, it is the macromanager that is the most successful boss at work, most pleasant host and a pleasant guest.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Joke of the Day!!
Here is a joke which takes a potshot at pakistan's habit of accusing india for all their miseries.Here it goes.How will the people of different nationalities respond to a situation when a fly falls in their beer mug?The ENGLISH will throw away the beer as they find consuming contaminated beer against their TRADITION.FRENCH will get the mug with the fly in it photographed as they will find it quite FASHIONABLE to consume beer while the fly is in it.CHINESE will take the fly out and eat it in anger and throw away the beer.They can't stand anybody challenging their new found MIGHT.AMERICANS will take the fly out and continue sipping the bear.Not for nothing they are known for their ECONOMIC power.JAPANESE will squeeze the fly to take back the one drop of beer that it may have consumed and then continue drinking the beer.They are one step ahead of americans and are SUPER ECONOMIC power.INDIANS are the INTELLIGENT lot.They will ofcourse not consume a contaminated drink.Instead they will export the fly to the chinese as they ate the fly and will export the contaminated drink to the americans as they have no problem consuming it.Revenue generated by this export will be used in buying a fresh mug of beer.PAKISTANIS are the ultimate CRYBABIES of this world.Moment a fly falls in their beer mug they start shouting indian conspiracy.They even link it to the possible attacks india is planning against them and a bomb may be dropped by the indians in the way a fly dropped in the mug.They send the snap of the contaminated mug to both UNO and USA.They ask for grants to compensate for the loss incurred.They buy weapons with the grants while they keep the terrorists in good spirit with that contaminated spirit!!
Friday, September 3, 2010
Facebook trending..
I started using facebook seriously exactly a year back. Before that I had an account with them, but never felt the need to check it regularly and my friend list was sporadic. I had an orkut account as well, that I used most prolifically to post pictures and share opinions with friends.
Now after about a year, I am very comfortable with facebook, and my regular day begins with checking facebook pages along side checking emails, to know what is happening in my network. Well, it is good to be informed about happenings in your friends/acquaintances life , but the one thing that is a put off with facebook is lack of privacy. Suppose say you have 50 friends and you can easily classify them as family, school friends, work friends1, work friends2 ... local friends and others. Now, when you want to share something on facebook, at the first sight may be somebody is tempted to respond to your post who belongs to the first group. Now, it is very unlikely that a member from the second group is ever going to comment on that post unless it is something very universal. In other words, people generally feel very comfortable to comment when the earlier commentator is known to them or they all belong to the same group.
So, I think it will be way more useful, if facebook has options on grouping people and allowing users to post comments that will be only visible to a particular group. I guess in that case, all will be comfortable and there will be no breach of privacy issues. Just my 2 cents. Hope facebook developers are listening..
Now after about a year, I am very comfortable with facebook, and my regular day begins with checking facebook pages along side checking emails, to know what is happening in my network. Well, it is good to be informed about happenings in your friends/acquaintances life , but the one thing that is a put off with facebook is lack of privacy. Suppose say you have 50 friends and you can easily classify them as family, school friends, work friends1, work friends2 ... local friends and others. Now, when you want to share something on facebook, at the first sight may be somebody is tempted to respond to your post who belongs to the first group. Now, it is very unlikely that a member from the second group is ever going to comment on that post unless it is something very universal. In other words, people generally feel very comfortable to comment when the earlier commentator is known to them or they all belong to the same group.
So, I think it will be way more useful, if facebook has options on grouping people and allowing users to post comments that will be only visible to a particular group. I guess in that case, all will be comfortable and there will be no breach of privacy issues. Just my 2 cents. Hope facebook developers are listening..
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)