I asked a friend for suggestion on management books. He suggested a couple and then made a rather cryptic comment on the authors.. There are two types of management gurus - one who talk generic stuff and quote anecdotes but have actually never been in a company and "applied" their theories and the other are former CEO's, CFO's who relate their experiences and talk of actual scenarios and how they dealt with it.
The person that I am, I decided to explore both types and bought a book in each of the above genre's - Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey and Straight from the gut by Jack Welch.
Since the first book got delivered earlier, I started off with it. I have been unable to proceed beyond the first 50 pages without stifling a good number of yawns.. but I am still trying to get past it hoping the next page will be more interesting!!
They say never judge a book by the cover.. Similarly, never judge a book by its first few pages too!! Some of the best books that I have ever read - Ayn Rand's Fountain Head and Atlas Shrugged are quite a bore for the first few(600!!) pages.. But once you get past them... its one of the most beautiful books that one can ever find. I have actually went down and re-read all those so called boring pages and understood their actual worth the second time round...
Getting back to management books.. why am I reading them? Thats a question for which I don't have a clear answer.. part of it is to fuel my MBA ambitions, part of it to understand how companies actually work and make decisions and part of it to learn small nuggets that may help me at work. I have realized that by far, the most difficult job is to make others work for you.
So, hopefully the above two books should help me in some manner atleast :)
Saturday, June 28, 2008
My First Car!
Ok, guys I am back after a long break.. The reason for not posting earlier is simple sheer laziness :(. I shall try and post more often.. I consider this blog as an extension of my personality and it obviously requires to be nurtured and fed well :D.
Anyway, in this time.. I got delivered my first car - Maruti Swift last week. I still haven't figured out if it means lesser spending or more of it! :D But its a good feeling to own a vehicle at last. This is the first one for our family.
In a freak incident in the factory, my father lost his right hand index finger and with it went our hopes of having a two wheeler. Bro and I had cycles which we rode to school for a couple of years.. But by far, we traveled most in PTC Buses, Electric train and Autos in Chennai. So after all this, its nice to have a vehicle to hop onto once you get outta the house.
So officially, I have joined the bandwagon of people(including the FM/PM ;)) hoping the fuel prices come down :D.
More later :)
Anyway, in this time.. I got delivered my first car - Maruti Swift last week. I still haven't figured out if it means lesser spending or more of it! :D But its a good feeling to own a vehicle at last. This is the first one for our family.
In a freak incident in the factory, my father lost his right hand index finger and with it went our hopes of having a two wheeler. Bro and I had cycles which we rode to school for a couple of years.. But by far, we traveled most in PTC Buses, Electric train and Autos in Chennai. So after all this, its nice to have a vehicle to hop onto once you get outta the house.
So officially, I have joined the bandwagon of people(including the FM/PM ;)) hoping the fuel prices come down :D.
More later :)
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
After the loss :(
When I promised to write about a light and frothy subject - I was referring to my favourite sport - Cricket. I was planning to discuss about the high and lows this game has brought into my life..
But after that heart breaking 1 run loss by Mumbai Indians against Kings Punjab.. I don't think I can summon up enough pleasure to discuss the game :(. Poor Sachin.. Why is that he always ends up with teams that fall like a pack of cards (or a line of cycles as Sidhu says) whenever he gets out! :(
Well.. I'll save my cricket story for another day..
But after that heart breaking 1 run loss by Mumbai Indians against Kings Punjab.. I don't think I can summon up enough pleasure to discuss the game :(. Poor Sachin.. Why is that he always ends up with teams that fall like a pack of cards (or a line of cycles as Sidhu says) whenever he gets out! :(
Well.. I'll save my cricket story for another day..
Monday, May 19, 2008
Travails with Rock Salt
It all started with our packet of iodized salt getting over. As it happens all the time, we forgot to replenish our stock of salt. So my intelligent and ever resourceful Mom decided to use Rock Salt (Kal Uppu in Tamil) to cook our daily meal.
The food turned out to be a lot better than normal with just that extra bit of salt. The aloo karamadhu(curry) turned out excellent last week :). So far so good. Then Amma decided to do most, if not all her cooking using rock salt..
Now rock salt is very unlike the normal free flowing powdered salt that we use. I am told 1 1/2 teaspoons of normal salt is equivalent to about 1/2 teaspoon of rock salt. Anything extra might just make your food inedible ;).
My Dad, a competent cook himself decided to experiment and added rock salt to the Idli batter. There started the problem - the batter turned out salty and the idlis saltier! Now to salvage the batter, we added onions and chillis and made dosas.. they were no better! Dad ate them with a straight face ;). No comments :)
We then added water to the existing batter, my mom's logic - the water will absorb the salt and then we can spill the excess water and use batter to make more idli's :). After all this natak.. what remained was a watery white liquid that can be only thrown away :D. I believe I glimpsed happiness in my Dad's face when he did that :D
And when Dad started making upma, he added all the ingredients.. took the salt, thought about it and called out to my Mom..."Please come and add salt for this upma!". Mom and I couldn't help ourselves and we started laughing out loudly :))
The food turned out to be a lot better than normal with just that extra bit of salt. The aloo karamadhu(curry) turned out excellent last week :). So far so good. Then Amma decided to do most, if not all her cooking using rock salt..
Now rock salt is very unlike the normal free flowing powdered salt that we use. I am told 1 1/2 teaspoons of normal salt is equivalent to about 1/2 teaspoon of rock salt. Anything extra might just make your food inedible ;).
My Dad, a competent cook himself decided to experiment and added rock salt to the Idli batter. There started the problem - the batter turned out salty and the idlis saltier! Now to salvage the batter, we added onions and chillis and made dosas.. they were no better! Dad ate them with a straight face ;). No comments :)
We then added water to the existing batter, my mom's logic - the water will absorb the salt and then we can spill the excess water and use batter to make more idli's :). After all this natak.. what remained was a watery white liquid that can be only thrown away :D. I believe I glimpsed happiness in my Dad's face when he did that :D
And when Dad started making upma, he added all the ingredients.. took the salt, thought about it and called out to my Mom..."Please come and add salt for this upma!". Mom and I couldn't help ourselves and we started laughing out loudly :))
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Words
தீயினால் சுட்டபுண் உள்ளாறும் ஆறாதே
நாவினால் சுட்ட வடு
குறள்129
The above is a couplet from Thirukural. I read it for the first time on a PTC Bus in Chennai and immediately mugged it up enough to search through google and get the write verse.
Meaning - Even if you get a fire burn, it will heal inside, but a bad burn(words) uttered by you will never heal.
This is something I feel very strongly about. I hate bad words and more so negative words. I think uttering negative words like "You won't do it, You will not be able to complete this unless... ,I don't have the knowledge to do it.. etc", they all subconsciously contribute to us being unable to complete the task. Well, I haven't done any scientific analysis on it to say its always true - but I believe I am right. You pick any self-help, personality development book and the first thing they say is think positive and a positive person will never utter the above words! So probably, we need to work at our vocabulary first for success!!
I hate to utter bad words and detest somebody using one against me. There have been numerous occasions where I have talked off a friend/ room mate for saying something as silly as "Dog" (Naye in Tamil). I agree they never meant to offend, but I don't like it and I don't think its healthy. I never say them and don't say them to me. Many a times, I fight with my Dad for speaking negative... He has the right to guide me/advise me, but he should not say I would not be able to do it!
From the looks of it, I guess I have projected myself as some saint! I am not, I do use some unmentionables, mostly in English..! The other day I couldn't stop myself from cursing an auto fella in the choicest of expletives.. He cheated me :(. In hindsight, I guess it affected me more than anything else!. Anyway, the point is I make a conscious effort to avoid speaking such words. I do fail sometimes, but its a struggle worth doing.
Anyway, I feel strongly about this, so the topic found its way into my blog! The next time around, I will discuss something light and frothy ;)
Bye then!
நாவினால் சுட்ட வடு
குறள்129
The above is a couplet from Thirukural. I read it for the first time on a PTC Bus in Chennai and immediately mugged it up enough to search through google and get the write verse.
Meaning - Even if you get a fire burn, it will heal inside, but a bad burn(words) uttered by you will never heal.
This is something I feel very strongly about. I hate bad words and more so negative words. I think uttering negative words like "You won't do it, You will not be able to complete this unless... ,I don't have the knowledge to do it.. etc", they all subconsciously contribute to us being unable to complete the task. Well, I haven't done any scientific analysis on it to say its always true - but I believe I am right. You pick any self-help, personality development book and the first thing they say is think positive and a positive person will never utter the above words! So probably, we need to work at our vocabulary first for success!!
I hate to utter bad words and detest somebody using one against me. There have been numerous occasions where I have talked off a friend/ room mate for saying something as silly as "Dog" (Naye in Tamil). I agree they never meant to offend, but I don't like it and I don't think its healthy. I never say them and don't say them to me. Many a times, I fight with my Dad for speaking negative... He has the right to guide me/advise me, but he should not say I would not be able to do it!
From the looks of it, I guess I have projected myself as some saint! I am not, I do use some unmentionables, mostly in English..! The other day I couldn't stop myself from cursing an auto fella in the choicest of expletives.. He cheated me :(. In hindsight, I guess it affected me more than anything else!. Anyway, the point is I make a conscious effort to avoid speaking such words. I do fail sometimes, but its a struggle worth doing.
Anyway, I feel strongly about this, so the topic found its way into my blog! The next time around, I will discuss something light and frothy ;)
Bye then!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Big Mom
Heeding to the wishes of my friend, here I relate the story(!!) of the "Big Mom"..
Who is "Big Mom"..? That is... yours truly! My BITSian name is supposedly Big Mom, but I can assure you no one actually called me by that name except in the first few weeks!
It all began in the first semester. We were about 11 girls from the same class in school at Pilani. At one point of time, we were badly ragged by some seniors..(Who will not if 45 people land from the same school..including the boys?). After that session, I believe I spoke some encouraging and sensible words(Well.. I never cried.. thats all. I don't remember saying anything ;)). So, the gang of girls decided to name me "Big Mom". I was Ok.. I mean Big Mom is not too bad a name... is it?
Then came the misery.. The friends(??) felt it was too long and decided to shorten it. Some of them called me "Big" and some "Mom". Since the latter was confusing, they decided "Big" was the best bet... and it stuck on. All of them :( , except of course the Professors and the boys(!!) called me "Big" at BITS. There were other forms used as well.. Bada, Badi, B..
I was Ok.. as long as it was confined to the walls of the hostel. But more often than not, I had somebody shouting at me at the top of the voice in the corridor... "Biggggggggg.. Hi!". I felt more irritated that anything else responding to whoever that was!
Even now, after so many years... when I bump into a BITSian girl from my batch, they have a confused look as to how to address me :|, and the first thing I tell them is my name! So much for having studied at the same place!!
Now, its an old story and not many people call me so but I must admit, I am relieved! I won't say I am missing too much of my name... but I do miss some of the folks who called me so :). Anyway, its a small world and I will surely catch up with them all!
So, thats it for now. Signing off!
Who is "Big Mom"..? That is... yours truly! My BITSian name is supposedly Big Mom, but I can assure you no one actually called me by that name except in the first few weeks!
It all began in the first semester. We were about 11 girls from the same class in school at Pilani. At one point of time, we were badly ragged by some seniors..(Who will not if 45 people land from the same school..including the boys?). After that session, I believe I spoke some encouraging and sensible words(Well.. I never cried.. thats all. I don't remember saying anything ;)). So, the gang of girls decided to name me "Big Mom". I was Ok.. I mean Big Mom is not too bad a name... is it?
Then came the misery.. The friends(??) felt it was too long and decided to shorten it. Some of them called me "Big" and some "Mom". Since the latter was confusing, they decided "Big" was the best bet... and it stuck on. All of them :( , except of course the Professors and the boys(!!) called me "Big" at BITS. There were other forms used as well.. Bada, Badi, B..
I was Ok.. as long as it was confined to the walls of the hostel. But more often than not, I had somebody shouting at me at the top of the voice in the corridor... "Biggggggggg.. Hi!". I felt more irritated that anything else responding to whoever that was!
Even now, after so many years... when I bump into a BITSian girl from my batch, they have a confused look as to how to address me :|, and the first thing I tell them is my name! So much for having studied at the same place!!
Now, its an old story and not many people call me so but I must admit, I am relieved! I won't say I am missing too much of my name... but I do miss some of the folks who called me so :). Anyway, its a small world and I will surely catch up with them all!
So, thats it for now. Signing off!
Books
Since my posts are so far and few in between.. I am gonna stop making excuses. This is my next post ;).
I wanted to talk about Books this time and the habit of reading. Ironically, I never read fiction when I was young, my reading was restricted to Text books(:|), Comics and Magazines! I started off in my college second year with the Sidney Sheldon thriller - "If Tomorrow comes". Then came a group of Sidney Sheldon books and loads of M & B's. In the hostel, you got a M & B from almost anybody! When taking it, I used to ask.. "How is it?"!! :) To be fair to the authors, I think most of them had/have similar plots ;).Strange!!
And then I got the reading bug, so to say. Shifted to John Grisham after that. I liked his court room related stuff. I actually had two of his books gifted for my Birthday one year. My friends not sure which book of his was good consulted our Batch topper for the title. I must admit, my friend looked more excited at talking to him rather than celebrating my birthday :D.
Anyway, I continued with this habit in Hyderabad as well. There, I grabbed my first copy of Harry Potter and the rest is history. Refer to my earlier post which talks about my obsession for the Harry Potter series! I also managed to read Ayn Rand's master pieces - Atlas Shrugged and The Fountain Head. Besides all of this, I have also read my share of Self Help books ;).
So what kinda book fascinates me..thats a question I have no clear answer. I like books which stimulate me. Until now, I have enjoyed books that have had humour, have discussed some strong ideas or have been informative.
I intend to carry on.. Next on my list is P.G.Wodehouse, Management books and Autobiographies..
I wanted to talk about Books this time and the habit of reading. Ironically, I never read fiction when I was young, my reading was restricted to Text books(:|), Comics and Magazines! I started off in my college second year with the Sidney Sheldon thriller - "If Tomorrow comes". Then came a group of Sidney Sheldon books and loads of M & B's. In the hostel, you got a M & B from almost anybody! When taking it, I used to ask.. "How is it?"!! :) To be fair to the authors, I think most of them had/have similar plots ;).Strange!!
And then I got the reading bug, so to say. Shifted to John Grisham after that. I liked his court room related stuff. I actually had two of his books gifted for my Birthday one year. My friends not sure which book of his was good consulted our Batch topper for the title. I must admit, my friend looked more excited at talking to him rather than celebrating my birthday :D.
Anyway, I continued with this habit in Hyderabad as well. There, I grabbed my first copy of Harry Potter and the rest is history. Refer to my earlier post which talks about my obsession for the Harry Potter series! I also managed to read Ayn Rand's master pieces - Atlas Shrugged and The Fountain Head. Besides all of this, I have also read my share of Self Help books ;).
So what kinda book fascinates me..thats a question I have no clear answer. I like books which stimulate me. Until now, I have enjoyed books that have had humour, have discussed some strong ideas or have been informative.
I intend to carry on.. Next on my list is P.G.Wodehouse, Management books and Autobiographies..
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