The Book "Wings of Fire" is the autobiography of "The Missile Man of India", Mr. A P J Abdul Kalam, also the 11th President of the Republic of India from 2002 - 2007. A fast moving and a lucidly written book, which can lend itself to be made into a movie; it traces the life of Mr. Kalam from his cradle till the end of 20th century. (i.e. before he became the President of India)
The book lays great emphasis on the professional life of Mr. Kalam and chronicles his journey as he gets cherry-picked for one plum assignment after another, on the basis of his sheer hard work, devotion and the work ethics displayed by him. The work ethics, which merit a special mention, are worth emulating and in my personal opinion should be made a must read for all professionals - private or government. For instance, he speaks about how individual contributions when aggregated over several team members and contributions of teams when aggregated throughout organizations, culminates into the contributions of a nation state. Meaning that the economy and ethical underpinnings of a country ultimately depend on the work contributions and ethics of each individual citizen - sentiments very similar to what is preached in The Bhagwat Gita i.e. ensure your personal effort and the rest will follow.
Despite his humble beginnings, Mr. Kalam was a curious child, who had the ability to learn from his environment as much as from the text books, which he could ill afford in the early days of his life. Moving from scholarship to scholarship, the early chapters of the book trace his brilliant academic travails as he impresses his teachers with not only his technical capabilities but also with the honesty of his efforts. One of his eureka moments was when his college professor (aeronautics department) invites him, during the annual class photograph, to share the seat next to all the professors instead of sitting with the students - a recognition and an honor which spoke of his popularity with his teachers!
While starting his career even though Mr. Kalam narrowly missed out on becoming an Indian Air Force fighter pilot, but he realized his dreams of being associated with the aircrafts by inventing the first indigenously developed hovercraft for the Indian military. Though the project was later shelved but Mr. Kalam continued his tryst with the airborne vehicles through his stints at DRDO, ISRO and DRDL, of which he was the first Director. The high points of his career were the launching of SLV 3 (Space Launch Vehicle) and the success of India's IGMDP (Integrated Missile Development Programme), aimed at making India among the select few nations, to have its own indigenously developed Missile Systems for all the three forces of the defence establishment.
All in all the book is a page turner which arouses in all Indians a patriotic fervor, felt and shared equivocally by Mr. Kalam with Indians from all walks of life. A devout muslim, Mr. Kalam was none-the-less well versed with the Bhagwat Gita and the Bible. His interest in poetry is very easily discernible through a generous lacing of the book with short poems and couplets, which precisely emphasize the emotions Mr. Kalam is trying to convey. All these factors and more, make this book a delight to read and is my recommendation for all Indians to read at some point.
Sunday, September 11, 2011
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Book Review: "Touching Distance - The Great Indian MBA Dream" by Shiva Prakash
The book touches upon a very relevant topic especially from the perspective of a modern Indian youth or the modern generation - that of the "MBA Dream". Even today there really seems to be only two major career choices in India. The first being the Civil Services (government sector career) and other being the Management Graduation (private sector career). Every person in any other job aspires to one of these two, if not as a career option but as an education option. The book explores the life of 'Shiva Prakash' as he transforms from being a Techie (Technically qualified professional) working in an IT firm in Bangalore to becoming a Management Graduate in the One year that he spends at ISB (Indian School of Business) and subsequently returning back to his old firm.
The book is highly detailed and sometimes graphic about ISB and the experiences that management graduates generally go through most b-schools. To someone like I, who is a fellow alumnus of ISB (having passed out the year after Shiva), it becomes a riveting nostalgic read, as I get an opportunity to relieve myself of memories of the unforgettable year spent at ISB. But to someone from another b-school or other educational institutions, the book could sound a tad tedious.
In the book, Shiva narrates his own emotions and experiences as he discovers the different facets of working in a group under time pressure, his realizations about his own limitations and also his strengths, his small victories on the football field and elsewhere, his infatuations and the state of suspended helplessness, his expectations from an MBA program and subsequent reality checks, the struggles on the job front post MBA and subsequent compromises and other similar stories. All these and more make this book a riveting read for most MBA graduates, as they will be able to relate to some aspect or the other, as narrated in the book by Shiva.
On the funnier side, Shiva also takes the readers through the lives and idiosyncrasies of his two quad mates (Captain and Ranga), who lead a very atypical life compared to most b-school students - they were very clear about their own priorities (which were quite different from academics), they were relaxed most times (i.e. not in a rat race) and they were self assured about their future, even as they continued to enjoy the journey of their lives through the annals of a b-school.
The book also talks about the inability of the Indian industry's leaders to recognize the value addition that management education can provide to a person and so an inability to utilize that talent appropriately, thus losing a competitive edge to their competitors who are unable to employ management graduates.
All-in-all the book is a decent read and worth giving a flip through. It would also be interesting for those contemplating an MBA program in the near future since the book highlights several shattered expectations from a management program.
The book is highly detailed and sometimes graphic about ISB and the experiences that management graduates generally go through most b-schools. To someone like I, who is a fellow alumnus of ISB (having passed out the year after Shiva), it becomes a riveting nostalgic read, as I get an opportunity to relieve myself of memories of the unforgettable year spent at ISB. But to someone from another b-school or other educational institutions, the book could sound a tad tedious.
In the book, Shiva narrates his own emotions and experiences as he discovers the different facets of working in a group under time pressure, his realizations about his own limitations and also his strengths, his small victories on the football field and elsewhere, his infatuations and the state of suspended helplessness, his expectations from an MBA program and subsequent reality checks, the struggles on the job front post MBA and subsequent compromises and other similar stories. All these and more make this book a riveting read for most MBA graduates, as they will be able to relate to some aspect or the other, as narrated in the book by Shiva.
On the funnier side, Shiva also takes the readers through the lives and idiosyncrasies of his two quad mates (Captain and Ranga), who lead a very atypical life compared to most b-school students - they were very clear about their own priorities (which were quite different from academics), they were relaxed most times (i.e. not in a rat race) and they were self assured about their future, even as they continued to enjoy the journey of their lives through the annals of a b-school.
The book also talks about the inability of the Indian industry's leaders to recognize the value addition that management education can provide to a person and so an inability to utilize that talent appropriately, thus losing a competitive edge to their competitors who are unable to employ management graduates.
All-in-all the book is a decent read and worth giving a flip through. It would also be interesting for those contemplating an MBA program in the near future since the book highlights several shattered expectations from a management program.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Book Review: "Two States" by Chetan Bhagat
The book "Two States" is a fast read about Chetan's courtship with his wife, where he ends up courting his South Indian in-laws and convinces them to let him wed their only daughter to a North Indian Punjabi boy. The book clearly brings to fore the prominent two governing aspects of the Indian ethos. One is the strong regionalism which divides the otherwise unified India. The other is the rigid caste system which predominates the thinking of even educated Indians, even to this date!
Chetan being from the same alma-mater and the same hostel where I had stayed during my IIT Delhi days, strikes a familiar cord, when he mentions to his would-be girlfriend and subsequently his wife, that the reasons for so many IITians hitting on her was that they had not yet "discovered" the art of wooing girls. Students at IIT come from varied backgrounds from all four corners of India, being the Top 1% of the students from across the country, who could make it through the World's toughest and the most competitive test of a person's intellect and technical knowledge of science. Only 40% of students make it through IIT in their first attempt and the rest in multiple attempts. The rigor of studies required ill affords most to have an active social life. Within IIT too the environment is cut-throat. No wonder that most students learn the softer interaction skills with the fairer sex only in their later years.
Coming back to the book, Chetan has once again written a riveting and a fast paced book, taking the reader through his days at Ahmedabad when he managed to meet the prettiest girl at campus and wooed her using his vast experience with women. His writing style is lucid, funny and easy to comprehend. The book will appeal to both North and South Indians since it touches upon the common idiosyncrasies of each region and which are typically the butt of many-a-jokes in either regions.
In the book Chetan opts for a career in the same city as his in-laws and narrates his story of how he goes to great lengths to convert his future in-laws to come to start liking him. The point where he helps his father-in-law loose his inhibitions of drinking in front of others and also of promoting his own achievements at his office, is the most poignant moment in his endeavor. The icing on the cake though is when he manages to convert his mother-in-law from a grumpy old housewife to a stage music artiste.
The only negative which I found in the book was slight exaggeration of facts and situations but I think it was very much within the limits of literary freedom which any author is allowed to indulge, in order to make his book an appealing read.
The plot itself moves like a movie, where there are highs and lows in the author's endeavors to win the two families to like the kids and each others. The point where Chetan mends his dead relationship with his father, gives a glimpse of a typical father-son relationship in many a Indian families.
Overall, a page turner and certainly worth reading once, though not multiple times. A good book to pick when travelling by train or plane or when one has some time at hand to read a leisure book or two.
Chetan being from the same alma-mater and the same hostel where I had stayed during my IIT Delhi days, strikes a familiar cord, when he mentions to his would-be girlfriend and subsequently his wife, that the reasons for so many IITians hitting on her was that they had not yet "discovered" the art of wooing girls. Students at IIT come from varied backgrounds from all four corners of India, being the Top 1% of the students from across the country, who could make it through the World's toughest and the most competitive test of a person's intellect and technical knowledge of science. Only 40% of students make it through IIT in their first attempt and the rest in multiple attempts. The rigor of studies required ill affords most to have an active social life. Within IIT too the environment is cut-throat. No wonder that most students learn the softer interaction skills with the fairer sex only in their later years.
Coming back to the book, Chetan has once again written a riveting and a fast paced book, taking the reader through his days at Ahmedabad when he managed to meet the prettiest girl at campus and wooed her using his vast experience with women. His writing style is lucid, funny and easy to comprehend. The book will appeal to both North and South Indians since it touches upon the common idiosyncrasies of each region and which are typically the butt of many-a-jokes in either regions.
In the book Chetan opts for a career in the same city as his in-laws and narrates his story of how he goes to great lengths to convert his future in-laws to come to start liking him. The point where he helps his father-in-law loose his inhibitions of drinking in front of others and also of promoting his own achievements at his office, is the most poignant moment in his endeavor. The icing on the cake though is when he manages to convert his mother-in-law from a grumpy old housewife to a stage music artiste.
The only negative which I found in the book was slight exaggeration of facts and situations but I think it was very much within the limits of literary freedom which any author is allowed to indulge, in order to make his book an appealing read.
The plot itself moves like a movie, where there are highs and lows in the author's endeavors to win the two families to like the kids and each others. The point where Chetan mends his dead relationship with his father, gives a glimpse of a typical father-son relationship in many a Indian families.
Overall, a page turner and certainly worth reading once, though not multiple times. A good book to pick when travelling by train or plane or when one has some time at hand to read a leisure book or two.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Net Photo Album of Trip To Chikmangalur
Hi,
Find the link to photographs taken during the trip to Chikmangalur.
Note: You would require a Flash Player to see these snaps.
The best way to view the photographs at leisure would be:
Step 1: Click on "Multicolor Ring" at the bottom right.
Step 2: Click on link saying "Album:Trip To Chikmangalur".
Step 3: Click on button "Slideshow" on Left Top of the Page.
Step 4: Click on the button for pause (One with 2 sticks) at Bottom of Page.
Step 5: See the photographs using the Cursor Keys (Forward and Backward Keys)
Step 6: At any point if you want to hide or show the Captions, click on links "hide captions" or "show captions".
Find the link to photographs taken during the trip to Chikmangalur.
Note: You would require a Flash Player to see these snaps.
The best way to view the photographs at leisure would be:
Step 1: Click on "Multicolor Ring" at the bottom right.
Step 2: Click on link saying "Album:Trip To Chikmangalur".
Step 3: Click on button "Slideshow" on Left Top of the Page.
Step 4: Click on the button for pause (One with 2 sticks) at Bottom of Page.
Step 5: See the photographs using the Cursor Keys (Forward and Backward Keys)
Step 6: At any point if you want to hide or show the Captions, click on links "hide captions" or "show captions".
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Net Photo Album of Trip To Kerala
Hi,
Find the link to photographs taken during my trip to Kerala.
Photographs of my trip to Kerala:
The best way to view the photographs at leisure would be:
Step 1: Click on button "Slideshow".
Step 2: Click on the button for pause (One with 2 sticks)
Step 3: See the photographs using the Cursor Keys (Forward & Backward Keys)
Step 4: At any point if you want to hide or show the Captions, click on links "hide captions" or "show captions".
Find the link to photographs taken during my trip to Kerala.
Photographs of my trip to Kerala:
 |
| Trip To Kerala |
The best way to view the photographs at leisure would be:
Step 1: Click on button "Slideshow".
Step 2: Click on the button for pause (One with 2 sticks)
Step 3: See the photographs using the Cursor Keys (Forward & Backward Keys)
Step 4: At any point if you want to hide or show the Captions, click on links "hide captions" or "show captions".
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Book Review: "How Starbucks Saved My Life" by Malcolm Gates
"How Starbucks Saved My Life" is a Biography of Malcolm Gates, who was an Executive Vice President at the renowned advertisement firm, JWT for more than 30 years, before being shown the door at the age of 63, in order to make way for a younger and more aggressive generation.
In the book, Gates talks about his hollow, full-of-oneself and pompous existence typically observed in the filthy rich of America, who have no clue about the realities of life and its struggles, being faced at every moment, by the majority of ordinary citizens. He goes on to acknowledge the role of his new job as a Barista at Starbucks and the benevolent help of his African American Lady Boss, Crystal, to re-discover the basic joys of life such as experiencing the joys of growing up along with your child or bringing a smile to people's daily drudge routine life through small gestures of gratitude and respect to everyone or in understanding the real meaning of dignity of labor by becoming the best "Toilet Cleaner" or in re-affirming the belief in oneself that age is no bar for working hard and creating a niche for oneself.
The book is a fast read which is packed with several small instances which illustrate through examples, how Gates while working as the Barista, gave up his pre-conceived notions about several aspects of his past life and re-learnt new and joyful ways of giving and receiving love and respect from those around him - the colleagues, who were in their twenties, his boss in her thirties and the various customers of Starbucks, from various hues of society, across different age groups.
An engaging read especially for those of us who lead a cocooned life and are not aware of struggles of daily life of ordinary citizens. The book is written in easy prose and is instantly appealing to the rich of America. For those from the non-developed nations, the concepts discussed might sound a tad obvious, but they score bang on for the privileged Americans since the concepts come straight from Gates, who had been in their shoes and after losing his job and life, had regained both back through his new humble job at the Starbucks.
In the book, Gates talks about his hollow, full-of-oneself and pompous existence typically observed in the filthy rich of America, who have no clue about the realities of life and its struggles, being faced at every moment, by the majority of ordinary citizens. He goes on to acknowledge the role of his new job as a Barista at Starbucks and the benevolent help of his African American Lady Boss, Crystal, to re-discover the basic joys of life such as experiencing the joys of growing up along with your child or bringing a smile to people's daily drudge routine life through small gestures of gratitude and respect to everyone or in understanding the real meaning of dignity of labor by becoming the best "Toilet Cleaner" or in re-affirming the belief in oneself that age is no bar for working hard and creating a niche for oneself.
The book is a fast read which is packed with several small instances which illustrate through examples, how Gates while working as the Barista, gave up his pre-conceived notions about several aspects of his past life and re-learnt new and joyful ways of giving and receiving love and respect from those around him - the colleagues, who were in their twenties, his boss in her thirties and the various customers of Starbucks, from various hues of society, across different age groups.
An engaging read especially for those of us who lead a cocooned life and are not aware of struggles of daily life of ordinary citizens. The book is written in easy prose and is instantly appealing to the rich of America. For those from the non-developed nations, the concepts discussed might sound a tad obvious, but they score bang on for the privileged Americans since the concepts come straight from Gates, who had been in their shoes and after losing his job and life, had regained both back through his new humble job at the Starbucks.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
"Autobiography of a Yogi" by Swami Paramhansa Yogananda
Probably one of the most insightful and the best book ever read by me on spirituality was the "Autobiography of a Yogi" by Swami Paramhansa Yogananda. Its lucid description and introduction of the spiritual aspects of our life, in form of several contiguous short story-like autobiography of Swami Paramhansa Yogananda can only be best described by actually reading this book. The practices like Kriya Yoga can of course only be done rather than read to experience the path to Moksha. A highly recommended read for everyone, even those who are not spiritually inclined or think it is poh-poh, if only to catch a glimpse of sometimes magical world of our spiritual and mental powers within our own grasp, as shared in this book. Do not get me wrong - This is not a children's book on magic but does describe several feats which would appear magical but are achievable even by you and I, provided we are willing to go through the rigors required for acquiring those supernatural powers. Mind reading, Levitating, Fasting indefinitely, etc. are some of the few displayed powers of human beings described in the book along with a few examples of sages and yogis who practice those. But all-in-all, the book provides a very logic framework for people in this World to relate to Spiritualism and a path to help adopt it, without the need to do any idol worship or follow any archaic customs, but simply through self discipline and practice of certain techniques.
The following link gives access to the free online edition of the book:
http://www.crystalclarity.com/yogananda/index.html
The link to the book review of this great masterpiece:
http://www.sandeepweb.com/2007/08/22/book-review-autobiography-of-a-yogi/
I agree with Sandeep in the very first few lines when he says that "Reviewing the book is like insulting it...".
The following link gives access to the free online edition of the book:
http://www.crystalclarity.com/yogananda/index.html
The link to the book review of this great masterpiece:
http://www.sandeepweb.com/2007/08/22/book-review-autobiography-of-a-yogi/
I agree with Sandeep in the very first few lines when he says that "Reviewing the book is like insulting it...".
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Meditation Explained Scientifically
Dear All,
It has been quite sometime (maybe more than an year) since my last posting. I came across the following article in Times of India's "Speaking Tree" and thought it deserves a place in my blog. Though meditation is more to do with the experience but for those who love intellectual stimulation may find the following explanation of meditation and thereby the effects of practising meditation, to be quite an endearing read.
Bose-Einstein condensate and state of samadhi
30 Dec 2008, 0000 hrs IST, DEEPAK RANADE
Matter and energy are inter convertible. Matter is present in various energy states. These energy states were found to be temperature-dependent. The higher the temperature, the greater the energy. For example, water boils when it is heated to higher temperatures. This increases the disorder in the molecules as they are energised. This disorder is referred to as entropy. It represents the excitability and chaos of the molecules that constitute matter. Satyendra Bose proposed to Einstein that if matter was cooled to very low temperatures to Absolute Kelvin or minus 273 degrees Centigrade, then the entropy of that matter should decrease and matter should come down to a zero-energy state. This remained only in the realms of hypothetical speculation until it was proved much later on. This zero-energy state is now known in physics as the Bose-Einstein condensate. This state of matter is also called a super atom as the entire mass behaves as if it were a single atom. It loses all its characteristics of shape, charge and polarisation. It probably reverts to a shapeless, attribute less phenomenon in a de-evolution of matter, reverting back to just the potential to manifest as anything and everything. The human brain is an aggregate of nearly 100 billion neurons. Various thoughts that constantly crowd our minds are the sum total of simultaneous activity of different neurons. No wonder there is chaos in our waking state. The thoughts translate into various biological changes mediated by the hormonal apparatus at the pituitary interfacing system. The complex interconnections that abound in the nervous system ensure that even a small impulse rapidly spreads seismically via the dense network. Some individuals have innate higher entropy levels and so find it harder to concentrate. They are `distracted' easily. They have fleeting thoughts and are very restless. The sensory organs serve as an important pathway to increase the entropy as they stimulate various neuronal circuits adding to the entropy. Therefore, closing the eyes helps in the process of concentration. Continuous stimulation of the neural networks is what happens in the waking state. Hence sleep is necessary for minimising these constant excitatory inputs. Sleep deprivation leads to fatigue of the neural networks. When you concentrate, there is a resultant decrease in the disorder of the neural system. As concentration increases, the tendency of the mind to waver and scatter decreases. The mind is more sharply focused. We all have experienced the need to concentrate when we are studying or performing some important activity. So when we concentrate, we are increasing the synchronicity of a specific group of neurons and silencing unrelated neuronal activity. In scientific parlance, concentration decreases the entropy of the neuronal apparatus. Just as the entropy of matter drops to near-zero levels when we approach Absolute Kelvin, similarly, the neuronal disorder keeps waning as we concentrate. The neuronal firing decreases in amplitude as well as frequency. So would the propagation across various networks. In the waking state, when you consciously attempt to decrease the entropy of the nervous system, it is referred to as meditation. As the entropy of the neurons keeps decreasing, a state of calmness is perceived. As this progresses further, the neurons start becoming synchronous. That is, they neither modulate nor amplify any incoming signal. They just resonate in harmony. As this orchestra gets more in sync, you experience varying states of bliss and happiness. Till what is presumably the final state of zero-entropy, where all 100 billion neurons function in total unified quantum coherence. The Bose-Einstein condensate equivalent of the neuronal system is what may be termed as Samadhi.
It has been quite sometime (maybe more than an year) since my last posting. I came across the following article in Times of India's "Speaking Tree" and thought it deserves a place in my blog. Though meditation is more to do with the experience but for those who love intellectual stimulation may find the following explanation of meditation and thereby the effects of practising meditation, to be quite an endearing read.
Bose-Einstein condensate and state of samadhi
30 Dec 2008, 0000 hrs IST, DEEPAK RANADE
Matter and energy are inter convertible. Matter is present in various energy states. These energy states were found to be temperature-dependent. The higher the temperature, the greater the energy. For example, water boils when it is heated to higher temperatures. This increases the disorder in the molecules as they are energised. This disorder is referred to as entropy. It represents the excitability and chaos of the molecules that constitute matter. Satyendra Bose proposed to Einstein that if matter was cooled to very low temperatures to Absolute Kelvin or minus 273 degrees Centigrade, then the entropy of that matter should decrease and matter should come down to a zero-energy state. This remained only in the realms of hypothetical speculation until it was proved much later on. This zero-energy state is now known in physics as the Bose-Einstein condensate. This state of matter is also called a super atom as the entire mass behaves as if it were a single atom. It loses all its characteristics of shape, charge and polarisation. It probably reverts to a shapeless, attribute less phenomenon in a de-evolution of matter, reverting back to just the potential to manifest as anything and everything. The human brain is an aggregate of nearly 100 billion neurons. Various thoughts that constantly crowd our minds are the sum total of simultaneous activity of different neurons. No wonder there is chaos in our waking state. The thoughts translate into various biological changes mediated by the hormonal apparatus at the pituitary interfacing system. The complex interconnections that abound in the nervous system ensure that even a small impulse rapidly spreads seismically via the dense network. Some individuals have innate higher entropy levels and so find it harder to concentrate. They are `distracted' easily. They have fleeting thoughts and are very restless. The sensory organs serve as an important pathway to increase the entropy as they stimulate various neuronal circuits adding to the entropy. Therefore, closing the eyes helps in the process of concentration. Continuous stimulation of the neural networks is what happens in the waking state. Hence sleep is necessary for minimising these constant excitatory inputs. Sleep deprivation leads to fatigue of the neural networks. When you concentrate, there is a resultant decrease in the disorder of the neural system. As concentration increases, the tendency of the mind to waver and scatter decreases. The mind is more sharply focused. We all have experienced the need to concentrate when we are studying or performing some important activity. So when we concentrate, we are increasing the synchronicity of a specific group of neurons and silencing unrelated neuronal activity. In scientific parlance, concentration decreases the entropy of the neuronal apparatus. Just as the entropy of matter drops to near-zero levels when we approach Absolute Kelvin, similarly, the neuronal disorder keeps waning as we concentrate. The neuronal firing decreases in amplitude as well as frequency. So would the propagation across various networks. In the waking state, when you consciously attempt to decrease the entropy of the nervous system, it is referred to as meditation. As the entropy of the neurons keeps decreasing, a state of calmness is perceived. As this progresses further, the neurons start becoming synchronous. That is, they neither modulate nor amplify any incoming signal. They just resonate in harmony. As this orchestra gets more in sync, you experience varying states of bliss and happiness. Till what is presumably the final state of zero-entropy, where all 100 billion neurons function in total unified quantum coherence. The Bose-Einstein condensate equivalent of the neuronal system is what may be termed as Samadhi.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Net Photo Album of Second Trip to Singapore
Hi,
Find the link to photographs taken during my second trip to Singapore...
Photographs of my Second Trip to Singapore:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anuragr2004/MySecondTripToSingapore?authkey=rERVOpIi7QY
The best way to view the photographs at leisure would be:
Step 1: Click on button "Slideshow".
Step 2: Click on the button for pause (One with 2 sticks)
Step 3: See the photographs using the Cursor Keys (Forward & Backward Keys)
Step 4: At any point if you want to hide or show the Captions, click on links "hide captions" or "show captions".
Find the link to photographs taken during my second trip to Singapore...
Photographs of my Second Trip to Singapore:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anuragr2004/MySecondTripToSingapore?authkey=rERVOpIi7QY
The best way to view the photographs at leisure would be:
Step 1: Click on button "Slideshow".
Step 2: Click on the button for pause (One with 2 sticks)
Step 3: See the photographs using the Cursor Keys (Forward & Backward Keys)
Step 4: At any point if you want to hide or show the Captions, click on links "hide captions" or "show captions".
Net Photo Album of Trip to Amsterdam (Holland) via Munich (Germany)
Hi,
Find the link to photographs taken during my trip to Amsterdam via Munich...
Photographs of my Trip to Amsterdam:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anuragr2004/MyTripToHollandAmsterdam?authkey=Q8I6opjcqFE
Find the link to photographs taken during my trip to Amsterdam via Munich...
Photographs of my Trip to Amsterdam:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anuragr2004/MyTripToHollandAmsterdam?authkey=Q8I6opjcqFE
The best way to view the photographs at leisure would be:
Step 1: Click on button "Slideshow".
Step 2: Click on the button for pause (One with 2 sticks).
Step 3: Now see the photographs using the Cursor Keys (Forward & Backward Keys).
Step 4: At any point if you want to hide or show the Captions, click on links "hide captions" or "show captions".
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Net Photo Albums of Trips to Singapore & Malaysia
Hi,
Find the links to photographs taken during my recent trip to Singapore and Malaysia...
Photographs of my Trip To Singapore:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anuragr2004/MyTripToSingapore?authkey=1JQ60crujPg
Photographs of my Trip To Malaysia:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anuragr2004/MyTripToMalaysiaKualaLumpur?authkey=5yRFaj-l9j0
Find the links to photographs taken during my recent trip to Singapore and Malaysia...
Photographs of my Trip To Singapore:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anuragr2004/MyTripToSingapore?authkey=1JQ60crujPg
Photographs of my Trip To Malaysia:
http://picasaweb.google.com/anuragr2004/MyTripToMalaysiaKualaLumpur?authkey=5yRFaj-l9j0
The best way to view the photographs at leisure would be:
Step 1: Click on button "Slideshow".
Step 2: Click on the button for pause (One with 2 sticks).
Step 3: Now see the photographs using the Cursor Keys (Forward & Backward Keys).
Step 4: At any point if you want to hide or show the Captions, click on links "hide captions" or "show captions".
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
The Day Designed to go Wrong...
Hi Everyone...
Today was my 5th day in Singapore and my 4th day at work. But the day started off with a sour note. I woke up late and realized soon that I was going to miss my meeting with the Asian Region Head (The senior most official who has sponsored my stay at Singapore!).
As expected, I was late by half-an-hour and was made to wait for another hour before meeting the person. The first thing he says "Your attitude needs to change!". I felt internally, "Oh Shit! Not this guy at the least - the person who would ultimately be writing my professional assessment for the project from the client's side." But apart from this incident, I like this person. He is a German and an authoritative figurehead who realizes the position he holds and wields his influence accordingly.
During the day after finishing my interviews with the four Singaporean Managers, I went back to my Singaporean colleague who is working with me, only to realize that we aren't getting appropriate responses from Japan and Korea because the cost center managers in these locations were too stubborn to accept a better point of view from others. So, Evina (my Singaporean colleague) and I decided to accept their less-than-efficient work (Japanese were much better than Koreans) in the interest of the mid-day deadline. If we were to argue or try and convince them, then the deadline would certainly be missed! A second set-back for this day, which had already begun with a sour note!
I thought that I might just grab a quick lunch and looked out for "Krishna", another Indian, who had recently been transferred from India and knew the Indian eating joints in the vicinity. He took me to a nearby restaurant serving North Indian food. Only after walking for 10 minutes to reach the place, we realized that the queue was so large that it would take us at least 15-20 minutes of standing in the queue before we even reached the food counter! I was already getting late for the deadline and so decided to dump the lunch for the day in interest of time and rushed back to the office leaving my colleague Krishna standing in the queue. So, no lunch for me today...Crap! My stomach had started growling and I had wasted about 20 minutes of my precious time...Another set-back! Now my mood too was becoming truly surly!
But anyways, after getting back to my desk, I decided that the remaining work of consolidating the 46 excel sheets of work into a single excel sheet should not take me more than 1/2 hour and that we should be able to miss the deadline by about 15 minutes, which was quite acceptable. But things on this day were not to be so easy! The job took me 1.5 hours and when Evina and I finally managed to finish off the deliverable by 3:30 pm and send it to Switzerland (headquarters of Clariant), we were about 1.5 hours later than what we had promised.
But luckily for us (thank god for small mercies), the late deliverable was not noticed at all since the team in Muttenz (Swiss Capital) was itself running late! So the deadline was extended by another half-a-day! Anyways, this did not help my mood, when I was informed that Evina was being given a compensatory day-off for having worked on the previous Sunday since she was an employee and was required to work only for 8 hours for 5 days a week and that there was NO compensation for me since I was a consultant and was expected to put in extra hours ! What bull-and-crap logic is that !
But the day was not finished yet...After office, I went to "Plaza Singapore" to get a SIM Card to call home with, but reached the place only to realize that the authorized shop of Singtel (the most popular telecommunications firm in Singapore) had run out of SIM Cards ! Wow ! How bad can a day get. But GOD is NOT so forgiving... I was hell bent upon buying a SIM Card today and so after dumping my luggage in my hotel room, went to "Mustafa Stores" (It is the Indian Supra Bazar, if there is any format of that kind of retailing, with everything from Gold Jewellery to toothpicks being sold at this one-stop shop for Indians!). Here I at last got my SIM Card. Though I had to shell out S$28 for it in cash, which I was already running short of, I was happy to have a local mobile number of my own. The shop keeper took the money and activated my card and then after I was going out of Mustafa, I realized that he had loaded the wrong calling card on my cell phone! I rushed back to the sales person only to be informed that the calling card that I was looking for was out-of-stock and so instead of informing me about the same, the person merrily loaded my cell phone with another Singtel card, which was much inferior to the one that I had initially planned to purchase! So, here I was stranded with S$28 less and with something I did not want!
But if you are thinking that my woes were over for the day, I would consider you to be an optimist! After I reached my hotel room after a good South Indian dinner thali meal, I called my home and talked at length knowing that the calls to India were quite reasonable even while using this "unwanted" calling card. But towards the end of the conversation of about 6 minutes, I realized that I had depleted about S$9 or approximately one third my limit! Oh Crap, how could I have let this happen? Well, I had forgotten to dial "019" in front of the India number, a requirement for utilizing the discounted charges for international calls. Instead I was charged at 8 times this charge per minute by the government of Singapore - I felt really cheated now!
This has happened a few minutes before I have started writing this blog...which I hope to end now and go to sleep, lest my saga of bad luck for the day continues...Bon Nieu (Good Night!)
Today was my 5th day in Singapore and my 4th day at work. But the day started off with a sour note. I woke up late and realized soon that I was going to miss my meeting with the Asian Region Head (The senior most official who has sponsored my stay at Singapore!).
As expected, I was late by half-an-hour and was made to wait for another hour before meeting the person. The first thing he says "Your attitude needs to change!". I felt internally, "Oh Shit! Not this guy at the least - the person who would ultimately be writing my professional assessment for the project from the client's side." But apart from this incident, I like this person. He is a German and an authoritative figurehead who realizes the position he holds and wields his influence accordingly.
During the day after finishing my interviews with the four Singaporean Managers, I went back to my Singaporean colleague who is working with me, only to realize that we aren't getting appropriate responses from Japan and Korea because the cost center managers in these locations were too stubborn to accept a better point of view from others. So, Evina (my Singaporean colleague) and I decided to accept their less-than-efficient work (Japanese were much better than Koreans) in the interest of the mid-day deadline. If we were to argue or try and convince them, then the deadline would certainly be missed! A second set-back for this day, which had already begun with a sour note!
I thought that I might just grab a quick lunch and looked out for "Krishna", another Indian, who had recently been transferred from India and knew the Indian eating joints in the vicinity. He took me to a nearby restaurant serving North Indian food. Only after walking for 10 minutes to reach the place, we realized that the queue was so large that it would take us at least 15-20 minutes of standing in the queue before we even reached the food counter! I was already getting late for the deadline and so decided to dump the lunch for the day in interest of time and rushed back to the office leaving my colleague Krishna standing in the queue. So, no lunch for me today...Crap! My stomach had started growling and I had wasted about 20 minutes of my precious time...Another set-back! Now my mood too was becoming truly surly!
But anyways, after getting back to my desk, I decided that the remaining work of consolidating the 46 excel sheets of work into a single excel sheet should not take me more than 1/2 hour and that we should be able to miss the deadline by about 15 minutes, which was quite acceptable. But things on this day were not to be so easy! The job took me 1.5 hours and when Evina and I finally managed to finish off the deliverable by 3:30 pm and send it to Switzerland (headquarters of Clariant), we were about 1.5 hours later than what we had promised.
But luckily for us (thank god for small mercies), the late deliverable was not noticed at all since the team in Muttenz (Swiss Capital) was itself running late! So the deadline was extended by another half-a-day! Anyways, this did not help my mood, when I was informed that Evina was being given a compensatory day-off for having worked on the previous Sunday since she was an employee and was required to work only for 8 hours for 5 days a week and that there was NO compensation for me since I was a consultant and was expected to put in extra hours ! What bull-and-crap logic is that !
But the day was not finished yet...After office, I went to "Plaza Singapore" to get a SIM Card to call home with, but reached the place only to realize that the authorized shop of Singtel (the most popular telecommunications firm in Singapore) had run out of SIM Cards ! Wow ! How bad can a day get. But GOD is NOT so forgiving... I was hell bent upon buying a SIM Card today and so after dumping my luggage in my hotel room, went to "Mustafa Stores" (It is the Indian Supra Bazar, if there is any format of that kind of retailing, with everything from Gold Jewellery to toothpicks being sold at this one-stop shop for Indians!). Here I at last got my SIM Card. Though I had to shell out S$28 for it in cash, which I was already running short of, I was happy to have a local mobile number of my own. The shop keeper took the money and activated my card and then after I was going out of Mustafa, I realized that he had loaded the wrong calling card on my cell phone! I rushed back to the sales person only to be informed that the calling card that I was looking for was out-of-stock and so instead of informing me about the same, the person merrily loaded my cell phone with another Singtel card, which was much inferior to the one that I had initially planned to purchase! So, here I was stranded with S$28 less and with something I did not want!
But if you are thinking that my woes were over for the day, I would consider you to be an optimist! After I reached my hotel room after a good South Indian dinner thali meal, I called my home and talked at length knowing that the calls to India were quite reasonable even while using this "unwanted" calling card. But towards the end of the conversation of about 6 minutes, I realized that I had depleted about S$9 or approximately one third my limit! Oh Crap, how could I have let this happen? Well, I had forgotten to dial "019" in front of the India number, a requirement for utilizing the discounted charges for international calls. Instead I was charged at 8 times this charge per minute by the government of Singapore - I felt really cheated now!
This has happened a few minutes before I have started writing this blog...which I hope to end now and go to sleep, lest my saga of bad luck for the day continues...Bon Nieu (Good Night!)
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