Sunday, May 27, 2007

Enter..... Exit

Is this a entry or an exit?? .... the confusion will always be there. An interesting pic which really made me think.

Where is this leading to? I could'nt help thinking... what do you think?

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Of personality tests and communication lessons....

Had a day long classroom session at my workplace (Cypress Semiconductors) today. Was fashionably named as 'Working across organizational borders'- wonder who kept that name... sounded so MBAish.. I always wonder if at some point I could take such classes myself- give them fancy names and tell people how to speak on stage, how to make quick presentations, etc etc..

I personally feel that instead of classes, giving someone a book from say Dale Carnegie would do wonders! But, reading a book is not the most fashionable thing to do- one rarely hears anyone say that he spent his weekend reading something. It should always sound exotic, like- 'Yeah, went to this cool new pub that came up', 'Dinner at that chic restaurant with the hot female in our office', 'Oh... weekends went so fast- I had a lot of catching up to do with friends'.. ad infinitum.

Well, never mind- I did learn something new from the class- One of the things was classifying people into different personality types (well, I vaguely remember our MBTI, Johari window personality types.... but who listened at all that crap during MBA!). The classification given here was somewhat more crisp-

  1. Director (D)- Person who attacks problems, expects simple solutions, looks at big picture more, does not like stories, etc....
  2. Administrator (A)- Hard worker, the workhorse, drives things down to last minute detail, process oriented, etc..
  3. Harmonizer (H)- The complete people's person, one who values relations more than anything else, this individual overcommits when it comes to satisfying his friends...
  4. Catalyst (C)- One who comes up with ideas, looks at creative stuff, difficult for people to understand sometimes....
We had some simple questions to answer to discover our major and minor traits. Donno how effective these things are (I personally feel that this psychology study is more voodoo stuff than science!)... but was finally told I am sorta D/C (major trait D and minor trait C). Actually, I feel that one has traits from all four groups- it is very rare you find a person fitting exactly into one.

Well, anyways... this session took the whole day, had to stay back and work for sometime in office. Being in this personality classification mood- I started classifying everyone I met in office as - hey! this guy is A/H, she is H/A the other chap seems like a D/D, etc etc.... now, believe me this is unnerving. You are speaking to someone and suddenly you start asking those questions you answered in the class to come up with this personality classification thingy (people start wondering why Harsha has gone nuts- how do they know I am classifying them!).

Apart from all this, I had to run around the IT group to get my outlook fixed- my mistake actually. In midst of double tasking (classifying and working), I tried setting a 'Out of office' message on Outlook- as I am going back to NITIE for my presentations. But, somehow I ended up replying to a mail that had my name twice on 'cc' and 'to' fields- so, this triggered a vicious loop of 'Out of office' messages coming back to me... Yes, believe me 'strange things happen when you lest expect them'. Here I was in office at 8 PM on a Friday night trying to set my Outlook right... tut.

Coming back to Personality tests- here is one I just searched. Simple test which gives you complex answers. I tried one for kicks, why don't you try and tell me how you felt?! Do let me know from your comments!

Your Personality is Somewhat Rare (ESTJ)

Your personality type is serious, fair, independent, and competent.

Only about 9% of all people have your personality, including 7% of all women and 11% of all men
You are Extroverted, Sensing, Thinking, and Judging.


Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Spiderman- Make way for the desi Makkadman

Watched Spiderman 3 today. After spending nearly 720 bucks on the movie (180*4) at PVR Cinemas; expected a lot more from it! Except for the initial half and some parts in second half where Peter Parker interacts with his Aunt.. the whole movie seemed like a dubbing straight from our Karan Johar flicks..

I was left wondering if it was Shah Rukh Khan wearing a mask and playing Spiderman?! Especially in scenes where he romances 2 women, it became increasingly clear that the movie had strong undercurrents from our desi flicks...

After the movie, I had to console myself by watching this yet again amazing mimic from Webchutney (I am becoming increasingly enamoured by this amazingly creative group). Here comes the amazing spoof- MAKKADMAN!! Enjoi maadi...




Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Random thoughts..

Some good quotes... I was aimlessly browsing, thought lemme share quotes from 2 enigmatic personalities- Oscar Wilde and Vince Lombardi..

Oscar Wilde-

I know that you believe you understand what you think I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.

The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.

In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.

This suspense is terrible. I hope it will last.

Young men want to be faithful, and are not; old men want to be faithless, and cannot.

Vince Lombardi-

Once you learn to quit, it becomes a habit.

Winning is not a sometime thing, it's an all time thing. You don't win once in a while, you don't do things right once in a while, you do them right all the time. Winning is habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.

The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have.

We didn't lose the game; we just ran out of time

It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up.


Ciao till next time...Harsha

Monday, April 16, 2007

Around california...

Check pics around California on my fotu blog. I have selected the 3 best places I have been to-

1. Santa Cruz
2. San Fransisco
3. Monterey Bay and 17 Mile drive

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Thursday, April 05, 2007

Bah... discipline- I hate it !

There are some things I can do, there are a few others I can try to do. But there are those last few which I simply can't. And one of them is- to be disciplined.

Somerset Maugham would have commented- 'Strange ol' things happen when you least expect them'. Yeah, quite true.

Well, I have fairly quickly come to know that I can't- wake up early, drive in a straight lane, make proper coffee, iron my clothes properly and catch breakfast on-time every day!

Now these small things add up over the day and make you feel a little bad about yourself. But hey, so what- I usually sleep late (seldom before 1 AM), drive crazy back in bangalore- but till date have never got into an accident (mind you- the roads and craters of moon have a standard deviation of zero), I prefer jeans that require minimal pressing and I love to drink milk...

Yeah, I can live with these defects, can't I? One of the things which Uncle Sam has thought me after coming to US is- follow the routine, make the right decisions, dont be uncommon and everything will be fine.

But, hey if everything is so systematic, mundane and regular- where is the chance for new ideas, new thoughts to come up? One would see people here in US thinking only on linear scale- 'X' + 'X' = '2X', burger for breakfast everyday, follow the same schedule week on week... year on year... take those quaterly paid time offs- go on the pre scheduled vacation, live to be sixty and one day retire.

There is always someone behind you making every decision for you. Someone always guides you- if you are unemployed you have social security, if you want to cross the road- press the pedestrian walkway button... which will tell you when to cross the road, if you get lost on road- check your GPS, ad infinitum..

Now, I am not saying this is bad; its very good- excellent to have things defined, made easy and quantified. But with these comforts come some difficulties- people are happy to live on social security and wait for the perfect job to come by, if there is a power-cut the whole life comes to a standstill- traffic goes haywire... automated systems go crazy, you don't know how to go back home from places near your neighbourhood because you did'nt have the map, ad infinitum..

These things never happen back there in India- because one has to make these decisions all the time- 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. One is very adaptable- flexible as they say here in terms of work, living conditions, dressing sense, social setup, etc etc. Our thinking process is more complex- we make calculations based on number of factors, recalculate decisions, challenge thought process every single time. We look at different ways to solve the same thing- 'X' + 'X' can also be XX, its not just the straight line that connects 2 points, even a circle can pass through it.

Uh ha... now I've written enough! Do write back for any arguments. I love being in US- It makes me think so much.... Well, may be that is the reason they say that US is the most free country in the world! It's liberated my thoughts, isn't it?

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, March 17, 2007

The funniest moment in cricket!

As they say, cricket is a funny game. I was searching for some files on the net and by chance came upon this classic video.

There are times when everything goes wrong for the best of individuals. You and me have faced some situations too where things have been forgettable during bad times. Then again, it is fine... one just needs to move forward- make the right moves and take the right turns..

Here's a runout involving the mercurial Chanderpaul and Morton. It's arguably Chanderpaul's worst form in his career (just before the India-West Indies series in 2006 when he turned things around to become the highest run scorer for West Indies in that series) and he is struggling to retain captaincy and remain a leading player in his team....




After this runout, Chanderpaul lost captaincy but regained his status as the most consistent performer in West Indian squad. He tormented Indians, Pakistanis and the Englishmen right through the better part of the year following this incident.

Way to go Chanderpaul....., my money is on you to come up as one of the leading scorers in this edition of the World Cup!

Ciao till next time... Harsha

Wednesday, March 07, 2007

Tired? Relax with these...

Just back from office... its almost 10.30 PM, no mood to eat... gotta go early tomorrow too... back to the grind.

But hey, I just found some cool Ads from the one and the only webchutney!! Here you go- enjoi maadi!

http://www.happydent.in/protex/viral/index.html
http://us.makemytrip.com/promotions/aao_viral/aao_viral.html
http://www.webchutney.net/extras/airtel/chaalischor/chaalischor.html

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Sunday, February 18, 2007

Cricket saga- A commentary by the pied piper

A T Pierson had commented long back that 'Life is a game' and immortalised himself. Nearer home our cricketers have made foray into all walks of our lives- we listen to Sachin's advice to select the brand of toothpaste one should use, soap which is best for health, that energy drink which will give you and me his power, the kind of hair oil which will make us achieve that perfect shine. Rahul, Saurav, Dhoni, Bhajji are not to be left behind when it comes to selecting the kind of flat TV one needs to purchase, soda that gives a fizz, biscuits that provides super powers and ad infinitum..

They have something or the other to recommend from our birth to death. Your and my choices are closely governed by a bunch of cricketers who have consistently managed to beat bangladesh, kenya, zimbabwe and lesser known countries in their own chosen profession- cricket. It is funny to note that one takes Sachin's, Saurav's or Dravid's choices into consideration when purchasing a toothpaste, TV, washing machine, electric blade (and what not) when they among all the other people would be the last authority on such matters (let alone cricket where they have failed to win a series abroad excepting the sorry shores of West Indies recently)!

I was watching the cricket match yesterday- the last one day match between India and Srilanka
where our Indian players managed to beat the Lankan team comfortably with all batsmen managing to toy the bowling at will (which was sans Muralidharan and Vaas who have featured in more Lankan wins together akin to Mc Grath and Shane Warne for Australia). But like always the world cup is around the corner again and the experts and punters are here to make their comments. Expectations as they say is lowest since 1983. Yet it is likely that by the time India beat Bermuda and Bangladesh in their opening matches jingoism and patriotic fervour would have been whipped up by the usual parties (advertisers, media, former players and our very own idol worshippers).

Winning the world cup we would be made to believe is just one step away which is a mere formality for our stars to achieve. And this is how gullible you and me would be wooed by our Ad-men to buy more soaps, electronic gadgets, moisturizers, health drinks, biscuits, etc etc..

With all the sponsorship deals hailed as a mental victory and just a step away from victory on field, one just hopes that our stars re-discover their fluent cover drives and mesmerizing googlies and not just be satistied with practising the silken signature on the many cheques that are coming their way!

In between all this, here goes an ode to the Indian consumer- 'We buy things we do not need, with the money we do not have, to please people we do not like. This is consumerism at its best and this is what drives the modern economy'.......

Ciao till next time...Harsha

Saturday, February 17, 2007

Trying to gather my thoughts

The long break between module 6 and winter internships has really helped me in trying to slow down and analyse myself. It has been a longish break starting off right after placements (Jan 4, 07) till now; with winters (winter internship) starting off from Monday.

It was good to do some of the things which I really wanted to do; but had failed to find time during last year.

The first thing which I did after placements was to roam around Mumbai- its splendid mangroove forest (now just confined to some parts of the old islands), beautiful fort area, some of the oldest zoroastrian temples, the oldest church in VT, yeah also the busy Crawford market and wonderful lunch at Rajdhani- a must visit restaurant if in Mumbai (and many more places which everyone in Mumbai is aware off... the best & tiresome was the journey to fishers village; too bad that I bought my camera only afterwards!).

A welcome break from the moribund routine was also the trip to Chennai, Vizag and Kolkota. Stayed in Chennai for a day or so (in which time my dear friend Vandy was too engrossed in other important activities to show around the city much!), after which the trip to Vizag was really interesting- for all the right and wrong reasons. The right reasons being the beautiful environs in and around Vizag- the beautiful Borra caves, Kailasgiri hills, Submarine and also the wonderful time we had in the water park. The wrong reasons can be attributed more to the exploits of a most unique, innocent and near kiddish persona of Pilaka... Subbu, Vandy and Myself will never forget the antiques of Pilaka during the trip to a nearby hill station. It would take too much of space to highlight the googly of events, so let me restrict my comments on that!

The tour around Kolkota can really be termed as 'something to remember'. It started off with the chill weather creating havoc to Vandy's and my health. Unsuspecting victims as we were; we had not taken warm clothes in the middle of winter there. Another bad timing being the time we reached there- middle of night. But cold or otherwise the hospitality of the bong gang (bengalis from our batch) of NITIE ensured we get back to ship shape. A special thanks to all the bong dada's is especially needed. Well, I have not introduced you to the real reason for visiting Kolkota! We had travelled all the way there to attend to the marriage of the inimitable Sharba's marriage which turned out to be a good meeting place for good friends too. It was really interesting to observe the traditional marriage from the Eastern part of India- especially to someone like me from the south. They can easily be termed as oppulent and also most colorful of marriages. One never really felt out of place with such warmth and friendliness around (that too with my limited understanding of bengali- restricted to only 2 words- ki holo and kemon aachis). The marriage itself is short compared to the considerable buildup associated. It was nice to see so many NITIEans around in marriage and also catch more than some passing 'attention' myself! Uh, that apart Kolkota is worth visiting again in leisure. One of the drawbacks of the long trip was the amount of travelling involved!

Also worthwhile was catching up with all my friends here in Bangalore- Perot gang, SAP friends, Koramangala brothers and RV mates after a looong loong time. With most of the weekends booked to catch up with all the buddies here, it does feel good to be back amongst the known faces, 'swalpa adjust maadi' type of crowd and offcourse with the familiar 'yella ok, cool drink yake?' type of local pubs!

Just looking forward for winters to start off in full swing now.....! Up and raring to go...

Ciao till next time...Harsha