Oh dear,
Who never was near
My love was not as mere,
As you thought then my dear.
A fool was I,
Who often did cry,
For that pretty fly,
Which was never 'my".
Now oh dear,
When I sit here,
I just revere,
That past with a heart heavier.
Thank you I should,
For showing me what you could,
As to what really would,
Lie under that love's hood.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
What Matters in Selling Oneself
In this modern corporate world where proverbs change from “Success is one percent inspiration and ninety nine percent perspiration” to “Success is one percent hard work and ninety nine percent public relations” it is those people with a good blend of hard skills and soft skills that survive and succeed.
Hard skills are those skills that a person acquires through formal education while soft skills are the basic skills of a person like communication skills, reading and writing skills basic arithmetic skills; higher-order thinking skills like problem solving skills learning skills, strategies, creative, innovative thinking, decision making; affective skills and traits like dependability/responsibility, positive attitude to work, conscientiousness, punctuality, efficiency, interpersonal skills, cooperation, working as a team member, self-confidence, positive self-image, adaptability, flexibility, enthusiasm, motivation, self-discipline, self-management, appropriate dress, grooming, honesty, integrity, ability to work without supervision.
In other words soft skills are all about managing oneself so that s/he can easily relate her/himself with her/his customers and/or peers. All these soft skills or vital competencies are an integral part of a progressive organization. They fall under the umbrella of Emotional Intelligence (EI). These soft-skills, or emotional intelligence skills, revelations open the door to a lot of discussion. The western civilization and our traditional management theories tend to lead us in the direction of individualistic promotion. They display our strengths rather than the demonstration of our humanness. These ideas have been so tightly woven into our leadership mentality that they can be challenging to break.
Unfortunately, most institutions don't teach one how to cultivate one’s soft skills. While courses such as Business Writing and Public Speaking are offered, one may never find a course entitled, "The Effective Art of Listening to Your Customer." We live in a society that measures intelligence through quantifiable metrics. A professor will give the students good grades once they know XYZ, but s/he will not increase their grade for being able to deal with a difficult situation, showing compassion, or solving an unexpected problem. Yet most compliments that an employer or the employees receive deal more with the use of soft skills than with your actual knowledge about a particular situation. Most customers appreciate a "willingness to help" and the fact that "she listened to my complaint." The use of these skills is what elevates an organization above the competition.
The development and utilization of soft skills equips one ‘to seek to strive, to find and not to yield’ in a highly competent world. It helps one to make mark wherever one is and leave with a positive and powerful impact on one’s peers and the organization.
Hard skills are those skills that a person acquires through formal education while soft skills are the basic skills of a person like communication skills, reading and writing skills basic arithmetic skills; higher-order thinking skills like problem solving skills learning skills, strategies, creative, innovative thinking, decision making; affective skills and traits like dependability/responsibility, positive attitude to work, conscientiousness, punctuality, efficiency, interpersonal skills, cooperation, working as a team member, self-confidence, positive self-image, adaptability, flexibility, enthusiasm, motivation, self-discipline, self-management, appropriate dress, grooming, honesty, integrity, ability to work without supervision.
In other words soft skills are all about managing oneself so that s/he can easily relate her/himself with her/his customers and/or peers. All these soft skills or vital competencies are an integral part of a progressive organization. They fall under the umbrella of Emotional Intelligence (EI). These soft-skills, or emotional intelligence skills, revelations open the door to a lot of discussion. The western civilization and our traditional management theories tend to lead us in the direction of individualistic promotion. They display our strengths rather than the demonstration of our humanness. These ideas have been so tightly woven into our leadership mentality that they can be challenging to break.
Unfortunately, most institutions don't teach one how to cultivate one’s soft skills. While courses such as Business Writing and Public Speaking are offered, one may never find a course entitled, "The Effective Art of Listening to Your Customer." We live in a society that measures intelligence through quantifiable metrics. A professor will give the students good grades once they know XYZ, but s/he will not increase their grade for being able to deal with a difficult situation, showing compassion, or solving an unexpected problem. Yet most compliments that an employer or the employees receive deal more with the use of soft skills than with your actual knowledge about a particular situation. Most customers appreciate a "willingness to help" and the fact that "she listened to my complaint." The use of these skills is what elevates an organization above the competition.
The development and utilization of soft skills equips one ‘to seek to strive, to find and not to yield’ in a highly competent world. It helps one to make mark wherever one is and leave with a positive and powerful impact on one’s peers and the organization.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Last Word
If it hadn’t rained,
Our world would have been much brighter;
Letting the birds see other,
To echo the world with laughter
If it hadn’t rained
Oh it poured so heavily,
Spreading words like droplets
Piercing its edge into me
Making me blame someone else
Who could stop the rain?
Who could stop the words?
And who would know the pain –
that my little heart bears?
It was 4.00pm and another working day had come to an end and there was a small large gathering on the veranda outside my classroom. Josan, as usual, was delivering some of his usual stuff at which everyone was laughing. Tebin was busy arguing with Prijeesh on the acting skills of Mohanlal versus Mammootty. Titten, combing his long hair, was trying to impress Renu with his rhetoric.
I was there, leaning on one of those old brick-coloured pillars of the “Mar Kurialasserry Arts Block”. I was not thinking of the part that I was doing in Christopher Marlowe’s – “Dr. Faustus”. After all Wagner was not a significant character in the adapted version of the play that we were enacting. Neither was I thinking about those dark clouds marching in unison. I hardly noticed them.
My mind was full of thoughts of Anu – the smart girl from the junior batch. Mr. Josy Joseph, their mentor, had not dismissed the class yet. I was waiting, in fact dying to meet her. There was nothing extraordinary about her. She was one lean figure, 5ft three inches tall, “fair”, dark eyed and her hair cut at shoulder length. She had a deep voice, for which I always tripped on her.
The pale green cotton salwar was looking good on her. The carefully folded dupatta looked as if it was pinned on to the salwar. She saw me and smiled at me. I was just waiting for that and moved towards her.
“Hi”
“Hi da. Josy sir was talking about some play that they are doing.”
“Which play?”
“I don’t know. Some doctor or something.”
“Ha ha.. It is Dr. Fautus by Christopher Marlow. Dint I tell you yesterday?”
“Did you? You know na, that i’m not that interested in all these stuff.”
“Then why did you take up English?”
“Because... Hmmm.. I don’t know” Her face sulked.
That was the last thing I wanted to see. How can I ever hurt her even with an innocent question?
“Hey Anu, would you like to have a Chocolate? Here take it.”
A smile suddenly beamed on her face. What a beautiful smile... I didn’t tell her that I had literally begged Gijo for that one aphrodisiac. His Aunt, it seems, had returned from the US and got him a box full of chocolates and other gifts.
“Da, do you want half of it?”
“No dear. You have it. I have many more in my room. Gijo gave us all quite a few of these.” !!!
“Mmm.. This tastes so good”
“Yeah.. I know.. I had two Snickers in the morning. So, aren’t you going home?”
“Oh yes. I am.. I am just going to enjoy the weekend at home. What about you?”
“I have that play practice happening in some time. Will be able to leave for home only once it gets over. Chal, I’ll come with u to the gate.”
We walked together through the grass that had covered the hockey ground, towards the gate near the college post office. I didn’t see all those fellow creatures meandering towards the comforts of their homes. I could see only her; I could hear only her; I could smell only that perfume that she had on her dress.
We had passed the post office and the gate adjacent to it long time ago. But I realised it, only when the first warning came from the heavens.
“Anu, do you have an umbrella? I think its already drizzling.”
“Thank God. Amma had reminded me to take it in the morning. I have it here inside my bag.”
She was standing on the roadside, searching for the three-fold Johns umbrella in her bag. A few strands of her smooth hair had fallen on her face in front of her eyes and I could see little droplets clinging on to them.
Suddenly she looked up with a smile and took out the umbrella from her bag. It was one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen in my life. The combination of all those colours.. The various shades of green, the dark clouds, the violet umbrella.. everything looked like a colourful palette and in the middle of it all, she was there – the artist’s masterpiece.
“Juby, what will you do? You don’t have an umbrella.”
I woke up from that dream and without even thinking anything, told her, “Its not a problem. I’ll run back to college.”
“Hey that won’t help. You’ll get wet. There is not even one building till the end of the road. You won’t be able to find any shelter. You come with me.”
Did I hear the right thing? I kept staring at her as if I didn’t hear what she said.
“DA.. COME UNDER THE UMBRELLA. You’ll catch a cold.”
The clouds shouted something else at me. But I was not going to listen.
We both walked along the road ignoring those quirking eyebrows around us. My right hand was almost touching her left hand as we both were holding on to the umbrella. Evading the numerous pools of muddy water and the stares we walked against the strong wind towards the bus station. That was the closest I had ever got to a girl and I was not listening to all that she was saying. I was just blushing like a small kid who had got a priceless gift.
Did I hear her saying, “if any of my dad’s friends spots us like this.. then that is the end of it.” I chose to ignore it.
I got back to college all high spirited in an auto and paid the guy, the 10 bucks that I had borrowed from her. Straight to the drama practice.
There was not a single minute that weekend that I didn’t think of her. I had to wait till Monday morning to learn that she was gone forever, leaving the puddles behind.
Our world would have been much brighter;
Letting the birds see other,
To echo the world with laughter
If it hadn’t rained
Oh it poured so heavily,
Spreading words like droplets
Piercing its edge into me
Making me blame someone else
Who could stop the rain?
Who could stop the words?
And who would know the pain –
that my little heart bears?
It was 4.00pm and another working day had come to an end and there was a small large gathering on the veranda outside my classroom. Josan, as usual, was delivering some of his usual stuff at which everyone was laughing. Tebin was busy arguing with Prijeesh on the acting skills of Mohanlal versus Mammootty. Titten, combing his long hair, was trying to impress Renu with his rhetoric.
I was there, leaning on one of those old brick-coloured pillars of the “Mar Kurialasserry Arts Block”. I was not thinking of the part that I was doing in Christopher Marlowe’s – “Dr. Faustus”. After all Wagner was not a significant character in the adapted version of the play that we were enacting. Neither was I thinking about those dark clouds marching in unison. I hardly noticed them.
My mind was full of thoughts of Anu – the smart girl from the junior batch. Mr. Josy Joseph, their mentor, had not dismissed the class yet. I was waiting, in fact dying to meet her. There was nothing extraordinary about her. She was one lean figure, 5ft three inches tall, “fair”, dark eyed and her hair cut at shoulder length. She had a deep voice, for which I always tripped on her.
The pale green cotton salwar was looking good on her. The carefully folded dupatta looked as if it was pinned on to the salwar. She saw me and smiled at me. I was just waiting for that and moved towards her.
“Hi”
“Hi da. Josy sir was talking about some play that they are doing.”
“Which play?”
“I don’t know. Some doctor or something.”
“Ha ha.. It is Dr. Fautus by Christopher Marlow. Dint I tell you yesterday?”
“Did you? You know na, that i’m not that interested in all these stuff.”
“Then why did you take up English?”
“Because... Hmmm.. I don’t know” Her face sulked.
That was the last thing I wanted to see. How can I ever hurt her even with an innocent question?
“Hey Anu, would you like to have a Chocolate? Here take it.”
A smile suddenly beamed on her face. What a beautiful smile... I didn’t tell her that I had literally begged Gijo for that one aphrodisiac. His Aunt, it seems, had returned from the US and got him a box full of chocolates and other gifts.
“Da, do you want half of it?”
“No dear. You have it. I have many more in my room. Gijo gave us all quite a few of these.” !!!
“Mmm.. This tastes so good”
“Yeah.. I know.. I had two Snickers in the morning. So, aren’t you going home?”
“Oh yes. I am.. I am just going to enjoy the weekend at home. What about you?”
“I have that play practice happening in some time. Will be able to leave for home only once it gets over. Chal, I’ll come with u to the gate.”
We walked together through the grass that had covered the hockey ground, towards the gate near the college post office. I didn’t see all those fellow creatures meandering towards the comforts of their homes. I could see only her; I could hear only her; I could smell only that perfume that she had on her dress.
We had passed the post office and the gate adjacent to it long time ago. But I realised it, only when the first warning came from the heavens.
“Anu, do you have an umbrella? I think its already drizzling.”
“Thank God. Amma had reminded me to take it in the morning. I have it here inside my bag.”
She was standing on the roadside, searching for the three-fold Johns umbrella in her bag. A few strands of her smooth hair had fallen on her face in front of her eyes and I could see little droplets clinging on to them.
Suddenly she looked up with a smile and took out the umbrella from her bag. It was one of the most beautiful things that I had ever seen in my life. The combination of all those colours.. The various shades of green, the dark clouds, the violet umbrella.. everything looked like a colourful palette and in the middle of it all, she was there – the artist’s masterpiece.
“Juby, what will you do? You don’t have an umbrella.”
I woke up from that dream and without even thinking anything, told her, “Its not a problem. I’ll run back to college.”
“Hey that won’t help. You’ll get wet. There is not even one building till the end of the road. You won’t be able to find any shelter. You come with me.”
Did I hear the right thing? I kept staring at her as if I didn’t hear what she said.
“DA.. COME UNDER THE UMBRELLA. You’ll catch a cold.”
The clouds shouted something else at me. But I was not going to listen.
We both walked along the road ignoring those quirking eyebrows around us. My right hand was almost touching her left hand as we both were holding on to the umbrella. Evading the numerous pools of muddy water and the stares we walked against the strong wind towards the bus station. That was the closest I had ever got to a girl and I was not listening to all that she was saying. I was just blushing like a small kid who had got a priceless gift.
Did I hear her saying, “if any of my dad’s friends spots us like this.. then that is the end of it.” I chose to ignore it.
I got back to college all high spirited in an auto and paid the guy, the 10 bucks that I had borrowed from her. Straight to the drama practice.
There was not a single minute that weekend that I didn’t think of her. I had to wait till Monday morning to learn that she was gone forever, leaving the puddles behind.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Chuck the Chandelier
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. (Gen 1:3 NIV)
Have you ever stood in awe looking at those huge and beautiful chandeliers that decorated those old church buildings out there? Well, I have. As a kid, I was so proud of the fact that my church had a real big chandelier in its altar. There was a huge debate where to install the sixteen-bulb piece when it was donated to the church some filthy rich member of our church. The Vicar of that time decided to have it in the altar, hoping that at least would shift the congregation’s attention to the altar (and to himself) for a while.
[image courtesy: the ubiquitous google]
Last May, I had been to a small church – as small as a 40 student classroom – in Bangalore. The room (Church) was part of a multi-storeyed building that houses shops, and other establishments. It looked like a very humble place from the outside. But once I entered, I was taken aback by the sight that I saw there. They had a proper stage with all the musical instruments that you can think of. What surprised me even more was the presence of an array of disco lights!!! Yeah, the dedicated light operator changed colours and the intensity of the lights as the songs and the prayers reached a crescendo. What a “dramatic” effect. I could feel the “spirit” filling every one present there (almost everyone. There were other newcomers like me who were gaping at the whole setup).
The Church at Mavelikara, Kerala, is more than 160 years old and was huge enough to house the mammoth light installation. The Church in Bangalore was an independent church and was therefore a new one. They didn’t have all those chandeliers may be because they found those kind of lights too traditional for a modern congregation.
Whatever it be, have we ever thought on the ecological impact of all those high wattage installations in our worship places? We talk about “green parishes” these days, where the church authorities put up a “plastic-free zone” and declare it a green parish. Having a plastic free environment is good but, it is high time that we tuned our sensibilities to other issues like that of Greenhouse gas emissions and energy conservation. It is quite strange to realise that the electricity that we depend on, almost everything – including reading this post – is not clean energy. Most of it comes from burning coal or other fuel to turn the turbines, which in turn produce electricity [burning of even a wooden log emits CO2]. Even the Hydro power, that some of our states extensively use, is not that green, as the dams submerge hectares of green cover.
I am not competent enough to calculate the energy consumption (dumb ass)even though the formula is quite simple [watts x hours per day x days per year ÷ 1000]. I should infer from the length of the formula, that the consumption of a 16 bulb chandelier should be quite high, let alone those halogen lights that “illuminate” the buildings through the night. Yeah the church is rich enough to pay its bills, but there is more to it.
God asked Adam to be the protector of His creation. He gave Adam the right to use the resources but not to exterminate it. As a responsible institution, the churches of the world, should take up the lead in energy conservation programmes by making the first step in their own buildings. After all, cutting down on lights is far more easier than doing away with the air conditioning system and way inexpensive than setting up solar panels on the roofs of the church buildings... Well that can actually be the second step.
Percapita greenhouse gas emisions by countries in 2000
[image courtsey: Wikipedia]
Have you ever stood in awe looking at those huge and beautiful chandeliers that decorated those old church buildings out there? Well, I have. As a kid, I was so proud of the fact that my church had a real big chandelier in its altar. There was a huge debate where to install the sixteen-bulb piece when it was donated to the church some filthy rich member of our church. The Vicar of that time decided to have it in the altar, hoping that at least would shift the congregation’s attention to the altar (and to himself) for a while.
[image courtesy: the ubiquitous google]
Last May, I had been to a small church – as small as a 40 student classroom – in Bangalore. The room (Church) was part of a multi-storeyed building that houses shops, and other establishments. It looked like a very humble place from the outside. But once I entered, I was taken aback by the sight that I saw there. They had a proper stage with all the musical instruments that you can think of. What surprised me even more was the presence of an array of disco lights!!! Yeah, the dedicated light operator changed colours and the intensity of the lights as the songs and the prayers reached a crescendo. What a “dramatic” effect. I could feel the “spirit” filling every one present there (almost everyone. There were other newcomers like me who were gaping at the whole setup).
The Church at Mavelikara, Kerala, is more than 160 years old and was huge enough to house the mammoth light installation. The Church in Bangalore was an independent church and was therefore a new one. They didn’t have all those chandeliers may be because they found those kind of lights too traditional for a modern congregation.
Whatever it be, have we ever thought on the ecological impact of all those high wattage installations in our worship places? We talk about “green parishes” these days, where the church authorities put up a “plastic-free zone” and declare it a green parish. Having a plastic free environment is good but, it is high time that we tuned our sensibilities to other issues like that of Greenhouse gas emissions and energy conservation. It is quite strange to realise that the electricity that we depend on, almost everything – including reading this post – is not clean energy. Most of it comes from burning coal or other fuel to turn the turbines, which in turn produce electricity [burning of even a wooden log emits CO2]. Even the Hydro power, that some of our states extensively use, is not that green, as the dams submerge hectares of green cover.
I am not competent enough to calculate the energy consumption (dumb ass)even though the formula is quite simple [watts x hours per day x days per year ÷ 1000]. I should infer from the length of the formula, that the consumption of a 16 bulb chandelier should be quite high, let alone those halogen lights that “illuminate” the buildings through the night. Yeah the church is rich enough to pay its bills, but there is more to it.
God asked Adam to be the protector of His creation. He gave Adam the right to use the resources but not to exterminate it. As a responsible institution, the churches of the world, should take up the lead in energy conservation programmes by making the first step in their own buildings. After all, cutting down on lights is far more easier than doing away with the air conditioning system and way inexpensive than setting up solar panels on the roofs of the church buildings... Well that can actually be the second step.
Percapita greenhouse gas emisions by countries in 2000
[image courtsey: Wikipedia]
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The End of the World?
The world's most expensive experiment is to take place today, triggering a lot of questions regarding the ethics of scientists who are supposedly letting the future of our planet hang itself precariously onto a question mark.
The $7.7 billion project is aimed at recreating the conditions of the Big Bang, which scientists believe created the universe. The experiment will be caried out in the "Large Hadron Collider", in an underground ring tunnel of 27 kilometres beneath the French-Swiss border) that will smash sub-atomic particles together at nearly the speed of light.
A key aim of the experiment is to find the Higgs boson, the so-called "God particle" that some theorists believe gives matter its mass. But the experiment could shed light on other mysteries like the existence of supersymmetry, dark matter and dark energy.
Some critics claim it will create "black holes" of intense gravity that could implode the Earth, or that it will open the way for beings from another universe to invade through a "worm hole" in space-time.
Some scientists even say that all this could lead to a Biblical Armageddon where there will be "cloud and fire" and the energy produced from the resulting black holes can lead to "catastrophes such as earthquakes and tsunamis".
Whatever be it, I got a call from one of my friends late in the night yesterday saying, "in case the world comes to an end tonight"!!!
Lets wait and watch to find out what really happens. Till then, Hold on tight folks.
The $7.7 billion project is aimed at recreating the conditions of the Big Bang, which scientists believe created the universe. The experiment will be caried out in the "Large Hadron Collider", in an underground ring tunnel of 27 kilometres beneath the French-Swiss border) that will smash sub-atomic particles together at nearly the speed of light.
A key aim of the experiment is to find the Higgs boson, the so-called "God particle" that some theorists believe gives matter its mass. But the experiment could shed light on other mysteries like the existence of supersymmetry, dark matter and dark energy.
Some critics claim it will create "black holes" of intense gravity that could implode the Earth, or that it will open the way for beings from another universe to invade through a "worm hole" in space-time.
Some scientists even say that all this could lead to a Biblical Armageddon where there will be "cloud and fire" and the energy produced from the resulting black holes can lead to "catastrophes such as earthquakes and tsunamis".
Whatever be it, I got a call from one of my friends late in the night yesterday saying, "in case the world comes to an end tonight"!!!
Lets wait and watch to find out what really happens. Till then, Hold on tight folks.
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