Five Point Someone !

During this weekend, I read this book named 'Five Point Someone' by Chetan Bhagat. It's all about "What NOT to do at IIT". The book depicts how 3 friends - Hari,Ryan and Alok messed it up@IIT.. All the 3 were doing their Mechanical Engg course. This book will not teach you how to get into IIT.

1. They screwed up their surprise quizzes and exams.
2. Ryan and Alot are always head-on with each other.
3. Hari fell in love with Neha, who is the daughter of their HOD.
4. They try to steal the semester question papers and in turn get caught red-handed.
5. They had to face a severe disciplinary action and was banned for 1 semester.
6. Alok attempts a suicide and is in hospital for a month.
7. They end up with some 5 point grades out of 10.
8. Finally, they somehow manage to finish their course on time, via some hard work in the last legs of their semester.

In total, this books also looks into the entire system of IIT. While many people are so mad about getting into IIT, I feel that IIT kills the individual spirit and creativity of the students by applying too much pressure.

It's a good book(with some non-veg here and there) to read !

Show Someone You Care !

This story is extracted from Motivate Us.com.

I was sitting at the bar of a local restaurant having lunch and taking a break from the daily grind, sitting there thinking about how tough I had it lately and how I was sick of what I was doing. I own a landscape company and never felt I made a difference in people's lives.

As I sat there feeling sorry for myself, a girl who looked about 25 walked in and sat down in a booth waiting for her friend. She was tall, a bit dark and it didn't take long before I saw she was trying to stay hidden in a way from other people's gazes and my heart sank. You could see her hair was falling out and, at such a young age, she was receiving chemo.

I sat there watching her trying to remain composed and she was having a tough time of it. I ached for her, imagining what it must be like to go through this and yet I know some of her pain.

You see I buried my lover, the love of my life just a few short years ago and watched her slowly go away from me.

I needed to get a message of hope to this girl but how? What could I do?

Then it hit me! I called over her waitress and explained that I wanted to buy the girl and her friend's lunch but I also told her you can't tell her it was me, it had to remain anonymous. In doing so, I handed her a note to give to the girl when she told her that her tab was paid.

The note read as follows:
"Someone today thought you were beautiful, someone today thought your smile glowed with excitement, someone today thought your eyes lit up the world, someone today cared and wanted you to know this. Enjoy the rest of your day, pretty young lady".

About 15 minutes later the young girl asked for her check and I watched as she was told it was paid for. She asked why? Who? What for? The waitress simply handed her the note and informed her that the gentleman who did it left, as to keep me anonymous.

I watched as she slowly read the note. Her eyes teared up, for only a moment, and then came the smile! A huge, beautiful, hopeful smile! She lit up the room and then sat up straight, not caring who saw her. Her friend also beamed, not for what was done but because her friend was feeling beautiful again.

It's not how we look or what we have, it's not our houses or how many cars we have, nor is it how much money we can earn. No, it isn't. You see it's all about how much we care and what we do, even if it's making someone feel pretty only for a moment.

Yes, lunch cost only a few dollars but you see the wonderful part, the magic of making somebody feel happy,beautiful and important was free.

Make a difference today in just one life; it's free.

Passion to Manage and Lead Changes !

I attended a workshop on 'Change Management' for 2 days. It was an experience by itself. The trainer Uday(from Core Mind) was just too good. The design of the workshop was such that it was filled with case clinics,experiential learning, role plays and process themes. The focus was clearly on value addition to learning and development on change initiation,implementation and management.

I was very much impressed by the way in which the entire program was designed and executed. The idea of giving the people stickers to reflect their personality created a very informal atmosphere at the start. To top all of it the books were offered(Our Iceberg Is Melting, Tuesdays With Moorie) to all the participants as a gift . This was a clear positive indication that Uday was more focused to add value to the participant's learning and development curve, rather than delivering a training program just for the sake of money. In my view, this optimistic experience was lacking in many of the other training programs that I have attended until now. At the end of 2 days, I really felt energized and motivated.

If any of you are interested, I would request you to attend the repeat workshop, that will held in Bangalore on 7th and 8th of December'07. You will feel the impact of this , only if you attend this. I can assure you of the quality of the workshop and Uday will be there to facilitate it in a unique way.
You can reach Uday @ 99406 11230

Thanks a lot Uday, you and your team were rocking!!!

All Good Deeds have a Natural End!

Yesterday, my cousin sister's Father In Law passed away suddenly. He was a good man, know for his good deeds. His only motive in life was to help and serve others. He was quite close to me for the last 6 yrs. Whenever, I was in a state of confusion on making a decision - I always counted on his support. Many a times, when I went out of track - he was always there to pull me on the right course of action. He was a perfect guide and mentor for me and for sure his death was a personal loss to me. For the last few weeks, I wanted to see him and I didn't. Suddenly yesterday when I learnt that he has passed away, I couldn't take it. I still have the guilty feeling of not visiting him during the last few weeks of his life. A lot of people whom he has helped came over to see him and they were unable to take his death. He was such a great man know for his humility. Even his family members do not know how he goes out of the way to understand others problems and help them just in the hour of need.

Yesterday after his cremation, I was able see him reduced to just a box of ashes. That's the real meaning of life! Finally we all fit into a small box of ashes.

In between all this - why are we competing for power,money,wealth,assets,fame,name etc.

Let's all love each other...Love,Love and Love only.

May his soul rest in peace.

Our Iceberg is Melting!!!

This weekend, I had the opportunity to read the book 'Our Iceberg is Melting" by John Kotter. The main crux of the book was on - How to suceed under constantly changing conditions. It was all about change management, which was narrated in the form of a fable based on a colony of penguins living on the icebergs of Antartica. It helped me to realize that changes are good and healthy signs of stable progression. A penguin named 'Fred' discovers that their iceberg is showing the signs of dis-integration. How he analyzes his findings,support his facts, takes this message to the other penguins,makes others understand the situation,communicates the new vision,forms a core group to guide the changes and succeeds in totally a different way of life forms the rest of the story. It was a great eye-opener for me.

8 important steps for managing the change :

1) Create a sense of urgency.
2) Pull together a guiding team.
3) Create a change vision and strategy.
4) Communicate to others and get the buy-in.
5) Empower others to act and make the new vision a reality.
6) Produce short-terms wins.
7) Don't let up
8) Create the new culture.

This can be applied to all spheres of life inorder to guide the change management smoothly. Personally, I felt that I got hold of the book at the right time,since I am seriously planning a couple of changes. I have decided to use this book as platform to guide my change management process.

After reading this book, I started the following self-introspection:

- Is my iceberg melting?
- Is my iceberg showing an indication that it could melt in the near future?
- Do I have my new vision?
- Should I take the help of others to conceritize my new vision?
- What changes should I make to envisage my new vision?
- What's my new strategy?
- Am I complacent?

Yes, It's time to come out of my comfort zone,rock the boat and enjoy the changes!!!

Happy B'Day JUJU : 24-10-2007

Arjuun turns 2 on 24-10-2007.

Thanks to God and my wife for giving me such a adorable son, who has added more colour to my life. Life has changed a lot after Arjuun's birth since interms of priority he tops my list. All my thinking,activities and changes are centered around Arjuun's happiness.

Happy Birthday Arjuun!!!

True Measure of Customer Satisfaction

Last sunday, I went to the Rain Forest Restaurant for dinner. It's a theme restaurant located at Adyar near my house. The entire set up of this restaurant is like an amazon forest with caves, water falls, animals like deer,python,lion,tiger,crocodile and ducks. It was a very good experience. This is my 6th visit to this restaurant and this time Arjuun really enjoyed the entire forest like set-up inside the cave. I also had a great time with him.

The restaurant crew consisted of group of people along with a Manager. This time I also noticed a new lady in the crew and she was constantly monitoring the way the entire crew was functioning. A number of times, I also saw the crew members collecting the feedback feedback from the customers and handing over the same to the lady. After some time, I went up to the lady and asked her if she is working in the restaurant? She informed me that she is responsible for Customer Satisfaction and her objective is to exceed the cutomer expectations. She also monitors the way the crew members work,serve,talk with customers, ask for the requirements. She informed that she provides a feedback about the performance of the entire team inorder to improve the overall performance of the sytem to enhance customer satisfaction.

I was able to related this directly to the Producer Gap : Minimize the gap between 'What the customer has requested' and 'What the customer actually got'.Hotel industry is one where we can get an immediate measure of product quality and customer satisfaction.

Kandaswamy : Vikram proves like capabilities once again

Nice innovation!!!

Vikram looks like Madhuri Dixit!!!

MSQM 3rd sem results

Yesterday, my MSQM 3rd sem mid-semester results were declared. I should say, the marks were a disaster : which was mainly attributed to my lack of preparation and focus. The mi-sem accounts for 40%. My comprehensive exams will be on sep 29th and 30th and this will count for the remaining 60 percentile.

Hopefully, I am looking forward to do better this time. Let's see how it goes!!!

The Power of Focus!

Today I wanted to write something, but I am unable to proceed further. I just do not have the focus to concentrate and build something better. The same happenned during my MSQM closed book exams a week back. This time,I just made a very ordinary performance because my strategy totally lacked planning and preparation. So ultimately it resulted in a poor performance. I did not live up to my strength,instead my strategy lacked focus and dedication. I just did not have the motivation to read for the exams and believed in my fire fighting capabilities. Out of the 4 exams, 2 were just out of sorts. I have to wait and see the results.

It was a clear indication to me, that I did not play to my strength(Planning,Preparation and Hardwork) for my 3rd sem MSQM exams. May be time for me to do some self-introspection,break the rules and re-allign my objectives,goals and balance.

Mr Kalam : Being Humble!

2 days back I was watching the interview of Mr. Abdul Kalam on CNN IBN and I personally felt, it was a great loss to our country that he was not given a second term. Thanks to our politicians who are still focussing on personal gains. During the interview Mr. Kalam showed how he transformed the Rastrapathi Bhavan into 'People's Bhavan'. His love for nature and his concern for birds/animals was very much evident in his character. He also said that music should be an essential part of every human being. He motivated people to cultuivate the habit of listening to good music. I also learnt that when his relatives came to see him during the year of 2004, Mr Kalam had asked the controller of Rastrapathi Bhavan to keep track of every single rupee that was spent on his relatives. Not once was his office car used for his relatives. Finally he paid from his own pocket for all the expenses incurred by his relatives for their food,transportation,sight seeing and stay at Rastrapathi Bhavan etc. By his act, Mr Kalam has become a source of inspiration for everybody and what I like most about him is that - he is a positive energy centre! His greatest success was the way in which he conceived and transpired his vision of making India a developed country in 2020. This shows that he is a true leader who can clearly see the invisible and shape strategies to achieve his vision.

Another greatest asset(s) of Mr Kalam is his sense of modesty and humility. Inspite of being such a great person, he is just down to earth and so humble. People who are looking for the real all round development of our country will definitely miss Mr Kalam and indeed our politicians will never miss him!

I once read in a book by Robin Sharma that : Mahatma Gandhi,Mother Teresa,Thomas Edison and Abraham Lincon were neither smart,beautiful nor gifted. But there all had the following traits in common :

a) Courage b) Persevearance c) Modesty and d) Humility.

Thanks to Mr Kalam for bringing in a mindset change and awareness into the country. Let's wish and work to get his vision concretized!

Long Pending Tag!

I am back with a long pending tag from my side. I did not know about these tag protocols until Shiva shared the essence of it.

The tag requires me to share the 5th paragraph in the 123rd page of the book I am presently reading.

1) I was tagged by Shiva : To know more about Shiva,take a look into

http://kodaihills.blogspot.com

2) The book that I am currently reading is "Happiness Now" by Andrew Matthews.

3) The book does not have a direct reference to 123rd page.Hence I am sharing the content of the last para in the 121st page(which is the last page).

Everything is Connected!!!

Have you noticed that whenever you exercise regularly,you feel like eating healthier food? Have you noticed that when you eat healthier food,you have more energy-so you feel like exercising more?

Everything in life is connected.Effort you put into one part of life affects all the other parts.When you are happy at home,you are happier at work.When you are happier at work,you are happier at home.

So what does all this mean?

1. That to improve your life you can start on ANY positive path.You might start with a savings plan,a goal list, a fitness program or a commitment to spend more time with your children.That positive path will lead to other positive results because everything is connected.

2. It doesn't matter WHERE you start to put more effort into your life.It matters THAT you start.

3. It works both ways!If you let one part of your life collapse,everything will begin to spiral downward.This keeps us paying attention!

In a nutshell :

Everything you do matters! Happiness is a daily decision.

Express yourself - Don't wait for looong!

Today,I was reading the blog of Abrachan and I found something that was very much needed at this point in time. The crux of Aby's post was this :

Kiss me now . You may not get another chance!!!

Don't wait for too long to express yourself and your feelings. Often in the middle of hectic schedules, I often tend to get into the groove of holding my feelings and thinking that there is still time for me to take care of my near and dear ones. But at times, I don't realize that the time is running out and the people who are present today, may not be present tomorrow.Even the situations might change. So whether it's good or bad - it's always the best to express yourself today, at this very moment.

This is a powerful self-realization that has to happen. So whether it's :

- Taking care of your parents,Hugging your friends,Kissing you child,Expressing your love,Saying thank you,Motivating others,Complimenting your friends,Making a change in your lifestyle .......

DO it this moment.

Thanks Aby.

Sivaji - Is it worth the hype?

Having watched Sivaji, two times and spending Rs 800/-(only for 1 ticket) - the question that comes to my mind : Is Sivaji really worth the hype?

1) Honestly,the film just rides on the strength of only one man named 'Rajinikanth'. In this way, Rajini has once again proved that he is still the 'Badshah' of the Indian Cinema. Success just falls at his feet. This film will not run with such packed houses for any other actor. It's only for Rajini,Rajini and Rajini all over.

2) Weak story line coupled with fragile screenplay.
3) Too much of makeup for Rajini, makes him unnatural.
4) Vivek has dominated every scene from the start,as Rajini's side-kick and he takes care of delivering the punch dialogues.
5) Thota Tharani's settings and K V Anand's camera has created a wonderful visual treat for the viewers.
6) Suman has played his role very well.
7) Since, the basis of the story is very weak - Shankar has taken enough care not to bring the story to the frontline. Instead, he has polished it well with Rajini's style and gimmicks.
8) Picturization of the songs are majestic and sexy.
9) Shreya is the real highlight of the film. She has added the needed richness, to the songs with her simple expressions.
10) Shankar has well displayed Shreya's assests to capture audience attention.
11) Rajini rocks throughout - but I felt he could have avoided using doop(s) especially for simple fight sequence like running....
12) With Sivaji - Please don't expect an Indian or Anniyan. I think, only Kamal and Vikram have that unique capability to ride through such roller coasters.

13) Watch Sivaji without any expectations, you will enjoy it for sure.

Shankar has once again proved that he is only a director and NOT a CREATOR like Manirathnam or K Balachander. He needs that high budget,long lead-time,tech-funda graphics, and big actors(like Kamal,Vikram,Rajini etc) to provide his share of (hyped) hits.

To sum it up :

"Sivaji" is a rich and flourishing design that has been constructed by Shankar, for a super-natural actor named "Rajinikanth".

Principles of SCRUM

Today, I was reading the 'SCRUM Development Process' by Ken Schwaber. A lot of these principles could be related to any kind of development. In today's fast paced world where the requirements are constantly changing,customer's are constantly evolving,priorities keep changing,new scope keeps coming in,each project being unique in its own way - Agile and SCRUM could be the ideal fit(may be not the best!).

The word SCRUM is basically derived from the game RUGBY. Scrum is a group of 8 individuals in Rugby, who move together closely inorder to move the ball down the field. This close integration and interaction is the fundamental principle of SCRUM.

Teams work as a tight integarted units, with each team member performing his/her well defined role for that increment to achieve the goal of the team. The entire team must have a single focus and goal and everybody works towards this. This team focus is the platform for the success of SCRUM.

The primary difference between the defined (waterfall, spiral and iterative) and empirical SCRUM) approach is that the SCRUM approach assumes that the analysis, design, and development processes in the Sprint phase are unpredictable. A control mechanism is used to manage the unpredictability and control the risk. Flexibility, responsiveness, and reliability are the results.

Characteristics of SCRUM methodology are :

· The first and last phases (Planning and Closure) consist of defined processes, where all processes, inputs and outputs are well defined. The knowledge of how to do these processes is explicit. The flow is linear, with some iterations in the planning phase.
· The Sprint phase is an empirical process. Many of the processes in the sprint phase are unidentified or uncontrolled. It is treated as a black box that requires external controls. Accordingly, controls, including risk management, are put on each iteration of the Sprint phase to avoid chaos while maximizing flexibility.
· Sprints are nonlinear and flexible. Where available, explicit process knowledge is used; otherwise tacit knowledge and trial and error is used to build process
knowledge. Sprints are used to evolve the final product.
· The project is open to the environment until the Closure phase. The deliverable can be changed at any time during the Planning and Sprint phases of the project. The
project remains open to environmental complexity, including competitive, time,
quality, and financial pressures, throughout these phases.
· The deliverable is determined during the project based on the environment.

Who will cry when you die!

Last saturday, I was at Odyssey - browsing a number of books on leadership,motivation,relationship,men,women etc. I was lucky to get hold of one of Robin Sharma's best ever book - "Who will cry when you die". I looked into some of the chapters and decided to buy that book immediately.The beauty of the book lies in the simplicity of the content and the abundant wealth of information that it carries through. Each chapter is like a sugar coated tablet and just 1-1.5 pages long. It has a total of 101 chapters and the book is defined in such a way that, one need not read it in a sequence. You can pick up any chapter at any point of time and read it. It adds a lot of meaning to your life. Some of the lessons that I read :

1) Discover you calling.
2) Be kind to strangers.
3) Maintain your perspective.
4) Practice tough love.
5) Live life.
6) Learn to say no gracefully.
7) Get up early.
8) Maintain a journal.
9) Spend a day without your watch.
10) Learn to be silent.
11) Talk to yourself.
12) Take a weekly sabbatical.
13) Honor your past.
14) Take troubles as your blessings.
15) Learn from a good movie.
16) Model a child.
17) Think of an ideal neibhourhood.
18) Focus on the worthy.
19) Take more risks.
20) Develop a honesty philosophy.
21) Write thank you notes.
........

Ever since I started reading this book - I have made some changes to my living pattern and started implementing some of the lessons. I find it really very benefical and it has a positive impact on me. As an individual I have alerady started realizing the benefits. Some of them are :

1) I feel more inspired.
2) Monotonity has reduced.
3) My energy levels have increased.
4) Able to focus better.
5) Commitment level has increased.
6) Self - realization that any change take time,effort,discipline and patience.

This book is one of the best gift that you can give to people whom you like and love.Sure it will make everybody's life better!

Women are always special!

Today morning as I was travelling to my office, I got a call from my associate saying that her baby had expired. She was in her 8th month of pregnancy. I was really shaken and didn't have any words to express my feelings. But after sometime I managed to regain my composure and gave her some pep up and told her that I will come to the hospital to meet her. There were quite some complications in the operation. I do not have the courage yet to meet her personally.It's a dreadful feeling especially for mothers and this single attribute of bearing a child for 9 months always makes women special and takes them higher than anybody in this world!.

A simple Gesture!

Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve.You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve.
You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

(Source:Chicken Soup for the Soul,by Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen).

Mark was walking home from school one day when he noticed the boy ahead of him had tripped and dropped all of the books he was carrying,along with two sweaters,a baseball bat,a glove and a small tape recorder.Mark knelt down and helped the boy pick up the scattered articles. Since they were going the same way,he helped to carry part of the burden.As they walked Mark discovered the boy's name was Bill,that he loved video games, baseball and history,that he was having a lot of trouble with his other subjects and that he had just broken up with his girlfriend.

They arrived at Bill's home first and Mark was invited in for a Coke and to watch some television.The afternoon passed pleasantly with a few laughs and some shared small talk, then Mark went home.They continued to see each other around school,had lunch together once or twice,then both graduated from junior high school.They ended up in the same high school where they had brief contacts over the years.Finally the long awaited senior year came, and three weeks before graduation,Bill asked Mark if they could talk.

Bill reminded him of the day years ago when they had first met. "Do you ever wonder why I was carrying so many things home that day?"asked Bill. "You see, I cleaned out my locker because I didn't want to leave a mess for anyone else. I had stored away some of my mother's sleeping pills and I was going home to commit suicide. But after we spent some time together talking and laughing, I realized that if I had killed myself,I would have missed that time and so many others that might follow.
So you see, Mark, when you picked up my books that day, you did a lot more.
You saved my life."

You can WIN!

When I was reading Shiv Khera's 'YOU CAN WIN', the following messages always had a positive effect on me. I prefer to start my day, after reading these messages. I always felt better and it helps me when I am confused.

WINNERS VERSUS LOSERS

¨ The Winner is always part of the answer;
The Loser is always part of the problem.
¨ The Winner always has a program;
The Loser always has an excuse.
¨ The Winner says, "Let me do it for you";
The Loser says, "That is not my job."
¨ The Winner sees an answer for every problem;
The Loser sees a problem for every answer.
¨ The Winner says, "It may be difficult but it is possible";
The Loser says, "It may be possible but it is too difficult."
¨ When a Winner makes a mistake, he says, "I was wrong";
When a Loser makes a mistake, he says, "It wasn't my fault."
¨ A Winner makes commitments;
A Loser makes promises.
¨ Winners have dreams;
Losers have schemes.
¨ Winners say, "I must do something";
Losers say, "Something must be done."
¨ Winners are a part of the team;
Losers are apart from the team.
¨ Winners see the gain;
Losers see the pain.
¨ Winners see possibilities;
Losers see problems.
¨ Winners believe in win-win;
Losers believe for them to win someone has to lose.
Winners see the potential;
Losers see the past.
¨ Winners are like a thermostat;
Losers are like thermometers.
¨ Winners choose what they say;
Losers say what they choose.
¨ Winners use hard arguments but soft words;
Losers use soft arguments but hard words.
¨ Winners stand firm on values but compromise on petty things;
Losers stand firm on petty things but compromise on values.
¨ Winners follow the philosophy of empathy: "Don't do to others what you would not
want them to do to you";
Losers follow the philosophy, "Do it to others before they do it to you."
¨ Winners make it happen;
Losers let it happen.
¨ Winners plan and prepare to win.
The key word is preparation.

Legacy of Love!

Source : Chicken Soup for the Soul,by Jack Canfield and Mark Hansen

As a young man,Al was a skilled artist,a potter.He had a wife and two
fine sons.One night, his oldest son developed a severe stomachache.Thinking it was only some common intestinal disorder, neither Al nor his wife took the condition very seriously.But the malady was actually acute appendicitis, and the boy died suddenly that night.Knowing the death could have been prevented if he had only realized the seriousness of the situation,Al's emotional health deteriorated under the enormous burden of his guilt.To make matters worse his wife left him a short time later, leaving him alone with his six-year-old younger son.The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Al could handle, and he turned to alcohol to help him cope.In time Al became an alcoholic.

As the alcoholism progressed, Al began to lose everything he possessed—his home, his land, his art objects, everything.Eventually Al died alone in a San Francisco motel room.When I heard of Al's death, I reacted with the same disdain the world shows for one who ends his life with nothing material to show for it.

"What a complete failure!" I thought. "What a totally wasted life!"As time went by, I began to re-evaluate my earlier harsh judgment.Yousee, I knew Al's now adult son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most caring, most loving men I have ever known. I watched Ernie with his children and saw the free flow of love between them. I knew that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere.I hadn't heard Ernie talk much about his father. It is so hard to defend an alcoholic. One day I worked up my courage to ask him."I'm really puzzled by something," I said. "I know your father was basically the only one to raise you. What on earth did he do that you became such a special person?".

Ernie sat quietly and reflected for a few moments. Then he said, "From my earliest memories as a child until I left home at 18, Al came into my room every night,gave me a kiss and said, 'I love you, son.'"

Tears came to my eyes as I realized what a fool I had been to judge Al as a failure. He had not left any material possessions behind.But he had been a kind loving father, and he left behind one of the finest,most giving men I have ever known.

PMBOK : An bird's eye view!

If you are preparing for PMP or have the idea to go for this - I recommend you to look into the following sites :

www.pmpdistilled.com
www.pmpmentor.com

Abrachan provides a great insight for all the participants on how to take this credential and come out successfully.

DABBAWALLAS – Self Organizing Teams

The below information is extracted from the detailed presentation about 'Advanced Scrum V 1.2.1'- made by Abrachan Puduserry.

Information Source :
1) www.abrachan.org
2) www.scrumnet.org

Email : abrachan@pmriglobal.com

What is NMTBSA?
(Nutan Mumbai Tiffin Box Suppliers Association)
History : Started in 1880
Charitable trust : Registered in 1956
Avg. Literacy Rate : 8th Grade Schooling
Total area coverage : 60 Kms
Employee Strength : 5000
Number of Tiffin's : 2,00,000 Tiffin Boxes
i.e 4,00,000 transactions every day.
Time taken : 3 hrs

Error Rate : 1 in 16 million transactions
Six Sigma performance (99.999999)
Technological Backup : Nil.
Cost of service - Rs. 200/month ($ 4.00/month)
Standard price for all (Weight, Distance, Space)
Rs. 50 Cr. Turnover approx.
[200,000*200=400,000,00 p.m. i.e 48 crore p.a.]
“No strike” record as each one a share holder
Earnings -5000 to 6000 p.m.

APPROACH

DISCIPLINE :
No Alcohol Drinking during business hours
Wearing White Cap during business hours
Carry Identity Cards

Some Achievements
World record in best time management.
Name in “GUINESS BOOK of World Records”.
Registered with Ripley's “ believe it or not”.

LOGISTICS LOGISTICS
Logistics is happening 24 hrs a day,7 days a week
and 52 weeks a year.
Logistical competency is achieved by coordinating
the following:
- Network Design
- Information
- Transportation
- Inventory
- Warehousing

Motivation from Aby!

Today,I got some comments about my blog from ABY(Abrachan).Abrachan has always been a source of inspiration for me. He has a great sense of vision and direction. I have learnt a lot from him about project management,quality management and about life too!

(Visit his website : www.abrachan.org)

These were his comments :
"Today I reached your blog accidentally, and I am really glad to see the grooming of a great blog. I am really honoured to see links to www.pmpdistilled.com and to www.abrachan.org. Keep up the good work. Best wishes, Abrachan".

Thanks a lot ABY for everything!!!

SCRUM - Is slowly catching up!

SCRUM development process is slowly catching up. It's an agile way of working that lays stress on people and interaction over processes and documents. An attitude change is the baseline for the success of SCRUM.

The word SCRUM is derived from rugby.A scrum is a team of eight individuals in Rugby. Everyone in the pack acts together with everyone else to move the ball down the field.Teams work as tight, integrated units with each team member playing a well defined role and the whole team focusing on a single goal. In development teams, each team member must understand his or her role and the tasks for each increment. The entire team must have a single focus. The priorities must be clear. As we now describe, the Scrum development process facilitates this team focus.

Rewind - Love only!

Today, I had the opportunity to discuss with one of my close friend his experiences with 'Love'. This created a sort of a flashback and I was able to reflect the same on me.

Every person in this world would have fallen in love. Love has personally given me some majestic highs and depressing lows.Love is something that has no words to describe and yet it is the most powerful feeling that human beings can relate to.

I was infact IN and OUT of it, a lot of times with different people at different times.On a lot of occassions,it was from the other side and hence it gave me the confidence to travel that extra mile.

As an institution, I do not believe in marriage.I strongly feel that marriage puts that extra bit of pressure on women.To me it's an old framework with crumbling edifice.But the only reason why I entered into it, was that I did not want to hurt the feelings&emotions of the girl with whom I had a relationship.

I appreciate live-in relation: since it assures women's liberation.It gives that extra impetus to women,that marriage cannot provide.

1) No person in this world can say that he has fallen in love only once.It's just a matter of whether the love has been expressed or not.

2) Love cannot happen after marriage. Really..Why not? When you can fall in love before marriage, why not after marriage?

3) Love need not be expressed only in words...Even before you express it in words, the other person will uncover it.

How to build Self Confidence?

"What makes you weep,my friend? In you is all power.Summon up
your all-powerful nature mighty one and this whole universe will lie at
your feet.It is the Self alone that predominates and not matter."

- Swami Vivekanananda.

Though the potential strength is hidden within us,we are not able to
utilise it.Right attitude, positive thinking,and firm faith alone can
help us to manifest this hidden strength within.

How do great people achieve success in life?They cultivate certain qualities in order to awaken the hidden confidence within themselves.Why not we also
give a try if we wish to be great and successful in life?

The qualities needed to be cultivated to build self-confidence are:
1) Conviction
2) Hard Work
3) Will-Power
4) Self-respect
5) Long preparation
6) Communication
7) Commitment
8) Discrimination
9) Definite Goal
10) Love
11) Concentration
12) Strength

Difficult 2 Express !

For the last few days, I wasn't able to spend much time on my blog. At times,I was finding it difficult to express certain things to certain people.I don't know why, but it's happenning.

Just at the right time, I was reading Shiv Khera's 'You Can Win'. One chapter highlights the importance of attitude. I will definitely have some take aways from this and something to share tomorrow.

Until then, Take care.

Coming Together

Over the last few days,my office has become a very happenning place. Lot of initiatives and activities are going on for the Family Day 21/4/07. People are grouped into 4 teams and it's throwing out quite some talents,innovations and competition. Most important point is that a lot of NETWORKING is happenning among the people.

We basically have 4 teams - Red,Blue,Yellow and Green.Every day, the teams are coming out with novel ideas to promote their culture,thinking and character.

It's very nice to see such competition, but as professionals we also have the responsibility to ensure that the spirit of enjoyment and fun does not die. This is more important than winning.

Sea Gulls Did Not Come Near That Day!

There was an old sage who was known for his love,affection,serenity,compassion and silence.He had the power to cure anything and anybody with his sheer optimisim.Everyday he used to meditate on the sea shore. During his meditation, the sea gulls would just climb up and down over his body and will play over all him. They would love his presence and the bright aura that emanated from his body.

Seeing this wonderful sight, one day a fisherman came to the sage.He told the sage that he was unable to get a good catch for the last few days and his family is starving. He told the sage to catch one or two sea gulls so that he can cook them to feed his family. At first the sage was very hesitant, but after seeing the plight of the poor fisherman, the sage agreed. He told the fisherman that he will catch a seagull on the next day.

The next day morning, the sage and the fisherman came to the seashore. As usual the sage sat down and started his meditation. The fisherman was watching the sage. Surprisingly, not a single seagull came near the sage. They didn't even come into the direction where the sage was sitting.The sage waited for quite some time and the seagulls clearly avoided his boundary.

The sage got up and started walking. The fisherman came to the sage and asked

'What happenned? Not a single seagull came near you today?

The sage replied

'Everyday I came here to meditate.Hence I was full of positive energy and the seagulls were attracted towards those positive vibrations. But today, when I came here - my intention was to catch hold of a seagull. This clearly created a negative energy field within me. The seagulls were able to sense my negative vibrations and hence they did not come near me'

If you are negative, people around you will be able to clearly sense it and they will avoid you.
So be POSITIVE and create a WIN WIN!!!

Winners Never Quit!

MSQM : End of 2nd Sem

Yesterday, I completed my 2nd semester exams in Quality Management. Writing 2 exams a day,for 2 continuous days in a very poor environment was a challenge by itself. The infrastructure at the exam centre was so bad that I had a severe neck sprain at the end of the 1st day. Though I was frustrated, I wanted to finish off the exams,since postponment will cause a great deal of distress.

2 more semesters to go. This time at the end of 2 days of exams - my confidence level is better(compared to the 1st sem) due to the fact that, this time - I spent quite some time in planning and preparation.

IIQM/BITS boasts so much about their achievements and every year their rates for the distance learning programmes are just on the increasing trend. It's time that they also give some due attention and effort to provide the candidates a good environment and infrastructure to learn. It is their basic responsibility to ensure this. At this moment, they need a rapid improvement in this area.

May be they also need to do a bit of handholding with their customers(students,service providers) and apply the principles of TQM to ensure a true customer satisfaction!
Practice what you preach!

Bcoz I still Love You!

I found this beautiful expression on love,when I was browsing the blogs(cish.rediffiland.com) on the net.

Clearly proves that love is natural and spontaneous!

You’re moving away

I know but can’t stop

My silence cries

But no one can hear

My eyes are shouting my pain

Your ears are so deaf

My heart shows you’re still there

Your eyes are so blind

I’m nothing for you hereafter

You have your love and

All the happiness

I’m not the reason

You still have that sparkling smile

But not for me

Is it a sin to love you anymore?

I don’t know

If it is so

I love to be a sinner

‘coz I still love you'

Being Positive!

If A=1,B=2,C=3,...... and Z=26, then

a) HARDWORK = 98.
b) ATTITUDE = 100.
c) POSITIVE = 115.
d) EFFORT = 70.
e) INTELLIGENCE = 115.
f) MONEY = 72.
g) FAME = 25.
h) HAPPINESS = 107.

Combining c and b,
POSITIVE ATTITUDE = 115+100 = 215

Conclusion:

POSITIVE ATTITUDE scores higher than INTELLIGENCE(115),MONEY(72) and FAME(25).

Having a POSITIVE ATTITUDE makes a lot of difference in your life and helps every individual to be a winner.
All materialistic pleasures like MONEY,FAME score very less.

Tribute to a great individual - Bob Woolmer!

I was shell shocked, when I heard about the tragic death of Bob Woolmer.Personally I love Bob Woolmer a lot.My thoughts are scatterred and disturbed after hearing this news.Bob has given away his live for the spirit and passion of cricket.What a noble person!!!

Bob brought about a lot of inventions and simplicity to the game with his unique ways of coaching. His combination with Hansie took South Africa to new heights.He is a kind of person who underplays his success and works for the overall benefit of the team.

He created a sense of direction,purpose,belonging and strong networking within the pakistan team - something the other coaches didn't bother to do! This was his true success and he always took the criticisms as an opportunity to improve.

I am bit more disturbed about the timing of his death-immediately after the PAK's elimination from WC'07. This clearly shows how much he would have been hurt for all the hard effort he has put in for the last 3 years to revive Pakistan cricket.
I think nobody would love the game as strong as Bob.

I sincerley pray to GOD that his sudden death is natural and not due to dirty cricketing politics.

May BOB's soul rest in peace and my condolonces to his family.

BOB- You had a strong influence on people like me.We will miss you and your POSITIVE ATTITUDE!.

When I finished writing this post, I observed that there were a lot of typing mistakes.An example of the impact that a loss like this can have on people like us.

True cricket can never exist without BOB WOOLMER!!!

EPGL Seminar - India 2007

On March 14th and 15th- we had the Alcatel-Lucent EPGL India seminar 2007. It was a wonderful experience. We had a bunch of bubbly and vibrant participants from Delhi,Noida,B'lore and Chennai. It was great learning experience and this platform promoted a lot of networking and interaction among all the participants.

For me this was the most important take away from this seminar! It really helped to de-stress a lot and know each other well.Another promising event that created a lot of positive vibrations and energy!

Will upload the photos in another 2 days.

The method of blogging

I had the opportunity to visit Shiva's blog. It was wonderful,poetic with a lot of expressions and reflections about life.

When I analyzed shiva's blog,I was able to relate the following :

Shiva's blog had a method to go about it,whereas mine does not follow any structured methods.

Have a look into

http://kodaihills.blogspot.com/

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Greatest Battle!

Yesterday, I read an article from the news paper on women's liberation.There it was mentioned that a lot of women now prefer to live alone and they do not want to get into marriage.In a way that's good and bad.

I think - it's more to do with how you see marriage.As an institution,I do not believe in marriage.It puts that extra bit of pressure especially on women.

The conventional rules needs to be broken.Commitment,Trust and Love should take the lead for a happy relationship. I guess quite soon live-in relationship would be the call of the day. This will keep the relationship healthy without putting any pressure on the individuals.

But this is not easy in our environment and the greatest battles will be with our own minds!

Women's Day-March 8th 2007

To all the women whom I came across-My Kudos to U for being:

W-Wonderful,O-Optimistic,M-Magnanimous,
E-Enchanting,N-Not so good(at times!).

Have a stunning women's day!

The hero of the day!!!

Today, DS published the BDay snaps of Pranav.
It was a wonderful and funfilled party.
The comments were too cute and it takes some
special effort and focus from DS to bring it to such perfection.

DS - I guess it's a perfect gift for the women's day.

For enjoying those special moments:

http://picasaweb.google.com/
pranavsiva/Pranav_1stbirthday

The lesson learnt from ANTS!

Today, I was reading a chapter out of Oh! Mind Relax Please. There was a story describing how human beings can learn a lot from the ants.

Ants have some great inherent qualities:

1) Ants always proactive. During summer they plan for winter and during winter they plan for summer.
2) Ants posses a great deal of flexibility. They always have the capability to cross the obstacles on their way.
3) Ants have a great deal of patience during tough periods.
4) Ants always follow a common discipline and pattern during their course of travel.
5) They have a wonderful networking capabilities - the leader in the front pass the signals through the network if they face a hurdle on their way and they very quickly change their course of direction.They manage the critical path very well!
6) The group always follow the leader and the leader leads their way through the network. Humility is a great strength of the ants.
7) Last but not the least - they synergize as a team and work towards a common objective.

Analyzing the above qualities of the ants - I think it is directly applicable to the project management scenario.Indeed,we have a lot to learn from the ants.

It's a great lesson.

7 rules to guarantee project failure!

A must read from www.spmn.com

http://www.iceincusa.com/Content/7Rules.pdf

Sean Covey's 7 habits of highly effective teens!

These 7 habits are the synopsis of sean covey's message to youngsters :

1) Be Proactive.
2) Begin with an end in the mind.
3) Put first things first.
4) Seek first to understand and then to be understood.
5) Think WIN WIN.
6) Synergize.
7) Sharpen your saw!

I am trying hard to follow this and these 7 habits makes me stronger whenever I fail.

MSQM 2nd Semester

Just now, I received my closed book exam marks for MS Quality Management 2nd semester.

TQM - 28.5/30
EMS -27.5/30
QTM -26/30
TC -21/30

Lot of scope for improvement especially in Technical Communication.

Also this time,the assignments were quite tough - Calibration and Technical Communication was a very big challenge for me! It did put me out of track for a while,but I somehow managed the assignments. Kudos to IIQM for setting such high standards.

So quite some preparation needs to be done for the comprehensive exams on March 31,April 1 2007.

Such positive challenges always helps me to pursue my goals better!

Have a great weekend...

What's up this weekend?

Some reading,Lot of playing with Arjuun,Outing with friends,Some recharging....and some unknowns!

The power of positive energy!

This week, I was in a finance training for non-finance executives. There were quite a lot of take aways from this training. In addition to learning some basics about finance - I got the opportunity to meet 'Munish Agarwal'.

Personally Munish left a great impact on me! After a long time - I met a person who had loads of positive energy.He was an expert in the field of finance,operation and every word from his mouth was so meaningful.

I learnt a lot from his values - optimism,self confidence,self respect,respect for others,open mind and his commitment levels.

In addition to this-my self confidence grew up in size(for a different personal reason)after seeing Munish.

I felt extremely motivated after the 2 days of fruitful interactions with Munish.

Thanks a lot Munish - You were rocking!!!