Coffee and Stimulation

Bosses do lot of useful things in any office. A good boss always provides stimulation to all his subordinates.

Here is how a boss can replace coffee.


Anyone else wants urgency and stress and stimulation ?

40 tips for better life - Part 3 of 4

Things are becoming a bit more sober as we move to the 3rd part of the Better life Tips ! here they are :

21. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

22. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

23. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is all about. Don't compare your partner with others.

24. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

25. Forgive everyone for everything.

26. What other people think of you is none of your business.

27. GOD ! heals everything.

28. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

29. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

30. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

Stay tuned. The last episode is to come shortly. Same time, same place ...

Corrections & Clarifications

From an issue of The Times from 1841, reprinted last week in the same newspaper, the editor has given an indication how long the Old Printer's Devil has been with us!

"In the Article on the Hoo Union in our paper of Saturday, an important typographical error occurred, the word 'died' being printed for 'did'. The passage should read thus: 'It was a Sunday but neither I nor the child went to church, the child's mother did (not 'died'), and he was flogged for crying after her."

Sometimes, mistakes make interesting reading, isn't it?

Can cook ? Go to UK

If any of you are in a position to provide Career Guidance to young aspiring citizens of our country, you can ask them to forget computers, but go straight to the kitchen. Here is a news item to bolster your case:

Indian chefs will be allowed to work in Britain's multi-million pound Indian restaurant industry but the IT workers from that country are no longer required in London, a key government committee on immigration said on Tuesday.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) of the Home Office revised its list of occupations and skills that are in short supply in UK, which enables employers to recruit skilled workers from India and other countries outside the European Union.

The revised list includes skilled chefs, secondary school teachers of Maths and Sciences, consultants and senior specialist nurses, some engineering occupations, including civil and chemical engineers.

When we were young (oh man, that was long time ago !), my mother will shout at me - if I did not perform well in any exam, "Go, you are just good for tending the cattle - மாடு மேய்க்கத் தான் லாயக்கு!" And, my sister used to be told, "You are good for just cooking!"
Things have changed so much and have proved my mother wrong. 'Just Cooking' is one of the most promising career options - not only for girls, but for men especially. And, for tending the cattle, I always feel that it is one of the best jobs in the world. But, we don't get paid that well there ...

40 tips for better life - Part 2 of 4

Here are the second 10 commandments for better life. Don't want to interfere now, so will just leave with these tips.

11. Drink plenty of water.

12. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

13. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

14. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

15. Don't have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

16. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

17. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

18. Smile and laugh more.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

20. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

I can't keep quiet. I like the last one. But, disagree with the 17th one. I eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a super king and dinner like a mega king !

53 and romantic

A recent article in all the leading newspapers took me by surprise. It goes like this :

"Men are the most romantic when they reach 53. Fifty-three-year-olds are much more likely to surprise their partner with a simple gesture such as a walk in the summer rain or a sprinkle of rose petals in the bath, a survey has found. This is the time they tend to splash out on chocolates, flowers and perfume.

Fifty-three emerged as the age of romance in a poll of 2,000 men between 18 to 65.

French President, Sarkozy (53) with his wife Carla Bruni

Of the 20 to 25-year-olds, only one in four said they had recently treated their loved one to a candlelit dinner. But almost half of the over 50s had. 'By the time a man reaches his 50s he has a wealth of experience under his belt and will be wiser about the things which please a woman,' said a spokesman for the hotel company that carried out the survey.

'He will have endured countless arguments with his partner, made hundreds of mistakes and blundered his way through the early years of his relationship. 'When a man reaches 53, he will be wiser about what works for his partner, and will be more likely to make an effort.'

The study also found a third of the over 50s have recently surprised their partner with champagne compared to just 19 per cent of men in their 20s. The other details of the survey are given below.
As I just crossed the half way mark between 25 and 53, I was wondering where do I stand on this scale of romance! More so, when I know that the percentage possibility I would have offered to walk in the rain (when I was 25) is next to 0%.

I have lots of questions about the methodology adopted in this survey and doubts about the results. However, the most glaring thing that is missing from these results is this. "What was the age of their counterparts with whom these oldies became romantic?" (Remember Sarkozy ...)

News and Butter chicken

We have people called Animators in our organisation. Agitators, conscience keepers, they are supposed to be. Some of them complain once in a while, "Earlier when people were suffering, we used to give them confidence and they listened to us. Now that they are better off, they do not listen to us. It is difficult to get their attention if we talk about unpleasant things like alcoholism. It is easy to discuss things which they like to hear - like giving loans or other goodies."



We used to say in these discussions : "Animator is a person who always says things which are not liked by others. If people are doing the right thing, then there is no need for an animator. However difficult it is, that is our job."

So, recently when I read an article by Outlook's Vinod Mehta on the role of media, I was interested. In the new Market capitalism, the mantra is "consumer is the king and the companies should satisfy his needs." Is it the same for media also ? Here is Mehta's speech on this :

Consumer is Kinky

"Content is more, much more than what readers want. It also has social dimension. Thus, content is a mix of what the reader wants and what he does not want.

The new journalism is entirely based on reader or viewer demands. So, we are told the reader is king and it is the job of a responsible media organisation to provide cent percent satisfaction. This perception is now so widely accepted that to argue against it is like whistling in the dark. Those who believe otherwise are seen as cranks, out of touch with the contemporary market - that is, the reader. If journalism is a consumption item like butter chicken, then why not give the customer the flavour and taste he wants ? That after all, is the first rule of free market capitalism.

This piece of nonsense is outrageously and self-evidently absurd and dangerous. To demolish it is urgent. To let it become the benchmark of our profession is to put in peril everything we have worked for in 60 years."

Well said, Vinod Mehta. News churned out by our magazines and TV news channels are not butter chickens. And, as you said, Consumer is Kinky. He needs to be told things he does not like to hear. Even She, for that matter, needs to be told things she does not like to hear !

Musings of course has other problems. While the consumers are reasonably okay, the author (editor) is kinky beyond any hope of correction ...

Two faces of Depression

A wonderful cartoon which explains how the Great Depression-I in 1929 was different from the current Great Depression-II.

Royal Yolk

"It seems, Prince Charles is served seven boiled eggs ranging from "soft" to "hard" each morning and chooses one which he thinks is exactly right."

- Read in 'Outlook'.

Only the royalty can afford that kind of luxury at the taxpayers' expense !

Even the tiny himalayan kingdom of Nepal has shrugged off the royalty and abolished it in favour of a democratically elected President. After waiting for more than a year that he will gracefully exit, the maoist government had to send him off packing. Last heard, the Nepal King was searching for a house that he can afford.

While, Prince Harry, it is reported, flies home cutting short his military training in Canada to be with his girl friend - who was recovering after a dental surgery !

When will the Great Britain learn from Nepal ?

Laugh at Hard Times

Valluvar, the great Tamil poet said, a இடுக்கண் வருங்கால் நகுக, which means 'Laugh when you are faced with a difficulty'. Now that the world is in deep financial crisis, first let us start laughing. Then, let us talk a bit more about the bubble.

These quotes were collected from different people.

"There are two sides to a Balance Sheet - Left & the Right (Liabilities and Assets respectively). On the left side there is nothing right and on the right side there is nothing left".

Q : "What is the difference between a guy who lost everything in Vegas and an investment banker ?"
A : "A tie"

Q : "What is the difference between a Pigeon and a London investment banker ?"
A : "The pigeon can still make a deposit on a BMW"

Q : "What is the full form of AIG ?"
A : " American Innocence and Greed"

"I went to buy a toaster and it came with a Bank."

And, the best is,

"I want to warn people from Nigeria, who may be watching this show. I warn you - if you get any emails from Washington asking for money, it is a scam. Don't fall for it."

Tarsh sent the link to another wonderful British talk show where they discuss the sub-prime crisis. Really nice. Do watch this hilarious Video from You Tube.

UFOs and Witches .. and America

Market Research, opinion polls and consumer preference surveys have become part and parcel of our lives. Twenty years ago, when I first designed a survey questionnaire to understand the tea drinking behaviour of Gujaratis in Anand, I did not realise that life is going to be full of such stuff in future.

But, the interesting aspect is the kind of things that people choose to study. That is the key and makes the entire exercise novel. Take this survey about the belief systems in America about hell and heaven and witches and UFOs for instance.

For all its world leader status and excellence in scientific research, far more people in America believe in the Devil than in Darwin, as one late 2007 poll put it. Belief in (literal) hell and the devil was firm amongst 62 percent of those surveyed. Darwin, complete with evolution, natural selection and the rest of it, clocked in with a poor 42 percent.

79 percent believed in miracles, 75 percent in a (literal) heaven. Witches and UFOs drew roughly the same score, with about a third of Americans believing in them. The UFOs have it by a short head among the general population - 35 percent against 31 percent for witches. But witches outclass UFOs amongst born-again Christians - with whom Darwin fares worse than both, logging a mere 16 percent.

The findings themselves are quite amusing to read; but when I try to imagine the numerous discussions they would have had while designing the questionnaire and later actually adminstering the questionnaire to different people, I am quite tickled. Imagine, how the conversation would have been :

"Excuse me, can you stop for a minute ?"
"Yes ..?"
"We are doing a survey on heaven and hell ..."
"Beg your pardon .."
"Want to know your views about heaven, for instance ..."
"Go to hell ! I am in a hurry ..."

I think, it will be good fun to design such a survey form. Any ideas ?