About Me

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I love good humor and healthy interactions. Life and what it unfolds everyday fascinates me...

Friday, December 01, 2006

The Brilliance of Diversity

Imagine living in a world where every movie you see has the same story line. Imagine if the only choice of drink was water and the only flavor of ice cream was chocolate (okay maybe that one wouldn't be so bad!!). Imagine that every conversation with every person made the same point. And imagine that every day had the same ending and that every thought reflected the same idea. There's a point I'm getting to. Please stay with me...!

When i walk around at work to help inspire, develop and elevate employees so they play at world-class levels, I often see mission statements espousing a respect for diversity. "I value differences and cherish diversity." And, most of the companies I work with actually do. But here's my question: Do you?

Do you really get the brilliance of diversity? When you really think about it, it's the people who see the world through a different set of lenses that actually serve to stretch your thinking and provoke new understanding (and provoke they do). Sure they irritate you. They drive you crazy. Because they are not like you. But may I suggest that behind your irritation is the emotion of fear (big idea there). Not the terror on the darkness type of fear. It is More a fear of the unknown or a fear of having to leave the Safe Harbor of The Known (the worldview that you've had your whole life) and maybe see a new way of seeing things. No one likes to leave the shores of the home they know. It Always brings up fear. It is something that is extremely scary however for your ultimate growth-very essential. Never run away from what will help you grow and step into your greatness - no matter how uncomfortable it makes you feel (that's where courage and your natural bravery needs to be called into service).

Yup-diversity helps us in ways we cannot fathom. Makes us better people. Those different people with different perspectives and different skin colors and different languages can equip you with your MILs (Most Important Lessons). The people and experiences that are different offer you the gorgeous opportunity to rethink the assumptions and closely held opinions you have lived your life under. It takes a lot of courage to open your mind - as well as your heart - and listen to what they have to say to you. It is an uncomfortable dawning to sometimes realize that you might not be right. That the way you see the world (or whatever) just might be flawed in some way. Or that there may be a better way (of thinking or behaving or working or living). But unless you are willing to empty the cup that is full, no more can enter. And you just might miss out on your greatest possibilities and best of life...

Friday, July 07, 2006

Enchanting Bhutan!




Hola World,

I just got back from a wonderful holiday and i felt this immense necessity to share with the world what a beautiful time i had. The idea had been to take a time out and travel with my mother and 3 friends to an exotic location where we could all unwind from the hectic pace of our daily lives and something we all terribly needed!




The first choice had been Thailand but then torrential rainstorms hit there and so we decided to change destinations. Bhutan was decided and i must confess initially i was pretty pissed off. Their was a tinge of curiosity since i love Ladakh but i kept it to myself and continued to show i was miffed!!!

We flew out from Bombay to Calcutta and from their Paro (Bhutan) is a 55 minute flight. The Bhutan airport is n the Guiness Book for two reasons-the shortest runway and the smallest international airport. i was fine with the second but the first (shortest runway0 seemed to scare the crap out of me!) The flight was amazing, you see the himalayan range and fly past 'Kanchenjunga'. All you see is mountains and i could see no runway anywhere.
The approach to the runway is phenomenal, you start decending and before you know it you are flying through mountains making sharp lefts and rights and then as you make a right you see this short airstrip and wonder how this boeing is gonna land it. IT WAS A PERFECT SMOOTH LANDING!!!

Bhutan does not encourage tourism and you have to have it all worked out before you enter the country with prior permissions from the Government all arranged. Though it is a visa on entry, if you do not have the paper work ready they will very politely have you board back the same flight to India!!

We had finally landed and the first thing i was struck by was the architecture. Bhutan sets you back about 200 years in the way it is. Rooted to maintaining its rich heritage and tradition they are more than content to preserve the way they are today with no desire for modernisation of any kind.

We travelled through Bhutan starting off in Paro and then covering Thimpu, Punakha, Bumthang and Gangtey all by road. The road etiquette was a learning lesson for all indians and where ever we went we were greeted with warmth and affection. We had a wonderful Prado which was amazingly comfortable for the terrain and all in all must have driven a total of 3 and a half days to cover Bhutan.

We visited Dzongs and Monasteries and were treated to some exquisite food. One of my favorites was the Taktsang Monastery (an 8 hour climb!) in the mountains which is one of the holiest places for all Buddhists and Bhutanese. It is a place they must visit once in their life time. The Taktsang to Buddhists is like what the Mecca is to Islam. It was a mind blowing experience.

Bhutan is a must see for those who love nature and want to be in a country far away from the hustle and bustle of life. For peace go to the Gangtey Valley which visually looks like an 18 hole golf course set between two mountains. It is a famous place where the endangered Black Cranes come to rest. A MUST SEE....

There is so much to say but i shall end this article for now....

An important note for Indians when travelling to Bhutan:

Please carry a lot of cash with you. There are no ATMs in Bhutan and they do not accept Debit or Credit Cards. They also do not accept 500 or 1000 rupee notes. The currency equivalent is the same as that of the rupee.

Thursday, March 09, 2006

The Musketeers Rock


Hola World,
Am in a great mood and feeling very very happy (sitting at work and its 8.00 PM)!!! One would wonder what makes me so happy well its my group that just rocks my life and i would be so incomplete without them.....Well who are these elite special people that can never ever be substituted....Ajay A.K.A Aju, Hitesh A.K.A Hi-Tech, Vaibhav A.K.A Dada and Chitra A.K.A Chits.

These are for me the bestest people in the whole world who i would love to take a holiday with, hang out with ,travel with and LOVE WORKING WITH.
What is very special about the friendship is that it ain't just a group that came together but one that found a zone within each other, a chord that was so unique. The specialness is that we are a group and yet at the same time share individual relationships with each other. We have seen each other's highs and lows and i have blind faith in them.

It is so amazing at this juncture in life to know that there are people that can give you so much pleasure and joy and you know will always stand by you. I love the feeling. We have worked very hard on each other and know that well when we are forty we shall still be chilling out and doing the things we do. (Dada would have got chutneyed by a cyclist by then!!!)

The world must wonder why i share this with you and why its on my blog but the reason i do so is because True friendships do exist out there and what is even more amazing is Friendship minus competition and egos is rare to find and we have as a group found it and i think it is pretty commendable.

So world don't give up and keep looking and you will find true friendships like we have and they will be an extension of your families.....

Love always Me.....

W3C Standards (An Important Read)

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) develops interoperable technologies (specifications, guidelines, software, and tools) to lead the Web to its full potential. W3C is a forum for information, commerce, communication, and collective understanding. You will find below URLS to the guidelines that need to be followed when working with the very same things.

I think it is important that in our free time we read up on this because it is extremely important and relevant to what we do as designers or developers and is slowly becoming a must to have to know when interacting with our international clientele. My buddy Hi-tech felt that its important i post this up on my blog when i shared it with him and so here it is...

Happy reading people!

http://www.w3.org/ On this page look up W3c A to Z on the bottom left corner.

http://web.uvic.ca/webcoor/guidelines/design.html this is self explanatory.

http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/e-government/resources/handbook/html/2-4.asp self explanatory


Lots of love,
Meee...

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Whats with the government???

You know life is such a piss off, you work your ass off to make the money and then a part of your hard earned cash is taken away because it is TAXED. Chalo i would imagine my money shall be put to good use but what does one see around us....politicians in a lexus suv470 (btw, that cost around 40 lakhs).

Look around you mumbaikars, show me one road that is perfect. Shanghai toh dur ki baat hai i have seen villages with better roads. And we have a government set up what the f*&#k are they doing???

First its road widening so ok, they dig the road up, they take months to ever get it back together again but when they finally do it up (which by the way is never a perfect job), a week later it is dug up again.....by whom....reliance (cable dalna hai na!). How about some organisation and coordination between departments people. It is our money after all that you are f^*king around with and WE DO NOT APPRECIATE IT. And guess what Mr.Politician its our votes that gave you your seat.

I am so sick and tired of suffering the drive to work everyday with bad roads. And i wish everyday that someone would just realise but then one day i see the dividers being painted and i am like 'oh wow may be i was wrong' but before the happiness sets in i hear the near by cab driver saying to his passenger, 'koi politician aah raha hai, rally hai'.

DO a lot of you feel this and share my thoughts......think about it.

Entertainment Tax

Hola people,
the city of mumbai continues to amaze me...have you all ever wondered why over thas few years mumbai is dying when it comes to being the showbiz mecca of India.

Well guess who is to blame?
The Entertainment Tax Department.

And if you thought that having the law in place and doing things by the book would cut you some slack-YOU ARE SO WRONG!

So how does it all work....
Lets say you wanna do a show and call xyz band to come and play at a concert you are organizing for 10000 people.
You price the tickets at 2500 rupees each.
SO the rule in place courtesy our wonderful government is you need to pay 25% of the ticket value + a10% security deposit on the price of every ticket you sell (unlike earlier where it was dealt with after the show was completed). So well if you don't sell 10000 tickets-your bad luck, you still need to pay a tax on all the tickets AND they in turn stamp every ticket.

Now you would think that this will allow for a successful event- YOU ARE SO WRONG!!!

Guess what even before the event starts, they will have their men come by your show-pot bellys that boast of corruption and try to create a racket by having you sign paperwork which binnds you to pay them more money. You are expected at this time to do the under table thingie (you know like the police who raid your party and say stop the music and u hush them away with a crate of fosters....you know what i mean?). The long and the short is they just never stop eating.

Honestly i mean it is so sad.....we are just so messed up. And then we wonder why no performers want to perform here.....YOU KNOW NOW......JAAGO INDIA JAAGO.