Save India, My India, Our India

After 72 hours of the horrendous ordeal, the 10 odd terrorists have been finally killed. We all have been watching and know what all had happened, who all died, who all escaped and what all has been damaged.
Sorry if I may appear a bit blunt below, but that just reflects the overall sentiments of the people around. It reflects the mood of my friends with whom I have been talking. What should be done immediately to restore the confidence?

• First and foremost thing, the terrorist caught alive, Mr. Mohammad Ajmal Mohammad Amin Kasab, the only terrorist to have been arrested in connection with the three-day terror attack should be handed over to the public (just for 2 hours per day). Rest all will be taken care. Please don't kill him. He needs to be kept alive till his last breath.
• The so called intelligence collected so far (as claimed by Mumbai police) needs to be shared with USA. Sorry to say but we are incompetent people and can't do much except making some noises. Not very sure if anybody even listens and cares. And there is no point in feeling ashamed of anything in doing so. One should definitely feel proud, but only when one is capable of. Mr. Bush and Obama are pledging all the support. Why can't we leverage our so called newly improved relationship with USA and mount international pressure on Pakistan.
• If these so called newly formed friends are not helping us out, we should just bomb the Pak Occupied Kashmir and destroy the terrorist camps. Yes, let's not think about anything. We have been doing this for past 50 years and have suffered a lot. Let the new era begin. What will happen? Some few thousands will be killed. Anyways we are dying every day. Isn't it? Innocent people are anyways getting killed. In Kashmir alone some 50000 might have died over a period of past 15-20 years. Let's try to bring an end to it for ever. If USA can de thrown Afghanistan and Iraq after 9/11, why can't we? It's time for an image makeover. Guys enough is enough. One can't have infinite patience. And people should not be allowed to test our patience again and again and again.
• The foremost important thing is that the elected representatives of the country/states should be made accountable. We put all our faith in them and elect them to run the country/protect our country. It's time to hold them accountable and punish them if they fail to do so. Otherwise how a Home minister can still continue despite the country suffering so miserably and so many times repeatedly. We have seen almost 15 - 20 terrorist attacks over a period of past 5-6 years. If HCL CEO 'Som Mittal' can be charge sheeted for failing to protect a ground level company BPO employee, why can't the same rule be applied to all those elected honorable representatives. What's the difference here? In fact they are also running a much bigger company i.e. our country. Today we are taking pride in celebrating the (non) heroics of Mumbai Police Force. I feel the other way round. In fact it is the very failure of the Mumbai Police force which made us go through the ordeal. Indian Police are the most corrupt government officials in the country and Mumbai Police are the most corrupt police force in India. Every one must have encountered this. I have my own experiences. If they would have done the job properly, we wouldn't have seen this day. What were the CST police doing when 2 terrorists were creating Havoc on the CST platform? What were they doing when the terrorists entered with AK - 47 rifles, grenades and RDX (which was huge enough to kill 5000 people as claimed by Deputy CM)?
• Right from the Home minister, Police commissioner, The Sub Inspector in charge of Gate way of India region, the Police constables on duty (may be sleeping at that time) at Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus all should be Punished for carelessness with the stringent punishment.

• Now we are all convinced that terror has no single form. It can happen anytime, anywhere and in any form. Today India, the largest democracy in the world is totally vulnerable. Nothing is safe here. Our lands, water, air, hotels, trains, airplanes, and buses literally nothing is safe. (Except the parliament). People can just walk in freely, do anything they want, walk out of the country without any questions asked. There is a serious need for having reforms on the overall security front and there should not be any compromises. Till the time something serious happens, the junta should be more careful and protect themselves.

But somewhere deep inside I am convinced we are very very patient people. Even a disaster of this magnitude will not shake us and make much difference. I am convinced nothing will happen. What can happen at most is

• Karkare, Salaskar, Kamte and Unnikrishan will get the Ashok Chakra.
• The thick skin home minister might get sacked this time.
• New committee on similar lines of FBI will be formed. At least discussions will happen and promises will be made, tax payer’s money will be allocated.
• Afzal guru may get executed. Elections are round the corner and UPA government doesn't want to take any chance now and lose out.
• Most important, the Twenty-20 champions trophy will start soon. Off course they will provide some Z+++ level security to all the players and officials. Everything will be forgotten and we will PROUDLY say Mumbaikars/Indians are resilient.

Things will be back to normal till tragedy happens the next time in some other format. What I do not know at this time is when and where and in what format!

India under Siege

At this moment I am sitting in front of the television and continuosly watching the hostage drama for past few hours. I am personally feeling really sad. NDTV is showing live that 2 people are standing in the hotel window frames and waving restlessly towards the crowd. They are requesting for help. One couple is standing helplesssly in the windows with words 'SAVE' scribed on the WINDOW glass. I can hear the gun shots being fired and people running in the background while Barkha Dutt is giving the live updates. There are news about blasts taking place inside the hotel. Feels like India is under Siege. I can imagine the state of mind of those who are stuck inside, their near and dear ones. What must be going through their minds? At this moment what I can do it just pray for them. My heart goes to all those 100+ who lost their lives, the 200+ people stuck inside the Oberoi, Taj hotel and Nariman house.

On one hand are these helpless innocent people who ar killed, scared. And on another hand are my favorite leaders busy delivering speeches.

I just heard my favorite leaders. The honorable home minister addressing the media and heard PM's public statement.

Mr. Shivraj Patil was very calm, composed and polite. Seems like he is ready with his post analysis.

Mr. Patil said "Before I could reach there, the terrorists who had attacked one of the hospitals, the Cama Hospital, had left and those who attacked the railway station had also left,". I sincerely wish the terrorists should have waited.

He also said “We are confident that we will be able to secure the freedom of the hostages at the earliest and teach a fitting lesson to the terrorists,”
“The terrorists have again challenged the nation by targeting the commercial capital of our country. We will meet this challenge resolutely and unitedly. We must convey a strong message to terrorists that we will not be cowed down by their senseless and dastardly acts,” Patil said.

This time the PM looked fully convinced about foreign hand involvement and mentioned that he would be raising the issue with our neighbour and reuest HIM Not to allow it's territory for such acts. great!. He also added that the attackers were "intent on creating a sense of panic by choosing high-profile targets”. PM is planning to use stringent security act if need arises.

I am quite confident that these kind of strong leaders/characters will certainly protect my country and my innocent fellow contry wmen men as they have been doing so far.

At this moment I am just praying. GOD BLESS INDIA!

Amen

Letter to Mr. Home Minister

Dear (?) Sir,

It's long time (not really) since we met last. I guess you are really busy for past 2-3 years now, isn't it? Starting with Mumbai railway stations(Mar 13, and Aug 25, 2003), Delhi markets (Oct 29, 2005), Varanasi temple (March 7, 2006), Again Mumbai railways (July 11, 2006), Malegaon (Sep 6, 2006), Hyderabad (May 18, 2007), Hyderabad park (Aug 25, 2007), Jaipur markets (May 13, 2008), Bangalore streets (July 25, 2008), Ahmedabad markets (July 26, 2008), New Delhi markets (Sep 13, 2008). You missed the party on two occasions. Bangalore was not upto your stature. Surat episode really humiliated you. Sir, yes I am talking about these serial bomb blasts and the (only) occasions when I have seen you around. Looking at your track record doesn't look bad though. I really wonder why the Moghals have so much of affection towards you. May be it is because of your friendly nature!

Anyways how is it going it with you? I heard that recently you are quite disturbed as few elements in the society are behind your resignation. Is that true? What crap is this? How come these guys just don't understand that you really have nothing to do with the whole episode and you are not at all responsible directly or indirectly for any of these blasts? (At least there is no evidence to prove). In fact one must admit how sincerely you are doing your job. I would say, you are doing more than what is expected. You are pretty much quick in your media response. You revert back within 1-2 days. You have pretty much maintained consistency in your responses. Despite of all these above blasts, you have maintained the same consistent pitch stating that states need not be blamed. In fact you always offered helping hand to all these state machineries to work together and fight as a unit. You have never ever blamed anybody (and you don’t like to accept also). How strongly you have refuted demands of bringing in tougher laws. Not sure, but looks like credit of abolishing POTA/TADA goes to you, isn’t it?

As far your hard work is concerned, you have even gone ahead and ordered enquiry into the whole Haywood fiasco. How could such a BIG Haywood slip out of our country? You made sure that Haywood was back to India within 2 weeks. Simply amazing work! (It’s another story that poor Haywood doesn't have any involvement in this whole episode). You were instrumental in Not extending the ban on the SIMI outfit.

I know, I know yours is a very very high profile portfolio. You need to delicately handle all the issues in hand. (even at the cost of few lives). It was amazing to see the way you managed Quatrocchi's escape, relationship with China (even if they were stake their claim on Arunachal Pradesh), relationship with Pakistan (I heard recently there were some fires exchanged at LOC. Did you? May be you didn't as you were busy).

Agree you definitely can't hurt anyone’s sentiments.  And that was the reason why Madam trusted you and offered you the high profile home ministry (even though you lost the 2004 elections from your constituency and made back door entry). You are definitely doing a wonderful job in holding the million (sorry billion dollar) moghal votes and the Moghal vote bank. There were few blasts and deaths here and there. Another 6-7 months of your term as Home mister and I think there won't be more than 8-10 blasts. Majority of the cities are already covered (unless the Moghal's decide to strike the same city again). What does your analysis say on this? Which all cities you are expecting now? But these few blasts should not dampen the high spirits. I must admire and appreciate your patience.

I have few words of advice to you. Please be bold and strong. Kindly neglect any suggestions around stepping down from other nonsense political parties. Yes, exactly the same way you neglected Narendra Modi's pre cursor to Delhi Blasts. Let me tell you this Modi is a big freak. He doesn't care about the Moghal votes/vote banks (it's another story that he is still ruling his state royally). But you can't afford that. Finally it's question of you folks coming back to power next time. Just hang around unless Madam kicks you off. Let's meet again sometimes on some News channel at some other city.

Jai Hind!!!

Spirit of Wipro Run - locationwise route maps

Wipro organizes Spirit of Wipro run every year across it's locations to rearticulate the Wipro values. It is open to all Wipro employees, it's partners, customers and families of the employees. Last year around 8500 participants particiated across various locations.

I have put together locationwise route maps, which may be useful.

Flash Slideshow

From leukemia to gold medal!!!

From leukemia to gold, Dutch swimmer wins 10-kilometer race

Courtesey - International Herald Tribune

Just came across an article from net. This is an absolute example of strong will power, and never give up attitude. The guy was diagnosed with one of the worst forms of cancer (Lukemia). But just with his sheer will power, he not only fought over the cancer , but won the gold medal at beijing. Read below.

Dutch swimmer Maarten van der Weijden skirted just inside the final red buoy to grab gold in the men's 10-kilometer open water race Thursday, completing a comeback after recovering from leukemia.
Van der Weijden won a three-way sprint in the inaugural event with a better-angled finish under a steady rain.
"I think the leukemia taught me to think step by step," Van der Weijden said. "When you're laying in the hospital bed and feeling so much pain and feeling so tired, you don't want to think about next week or next month, you're only thinking about the next hour.
"You just be patient. You lay in your bed and just wait. It's almost the same strategy I've used here, to stay in the pack, to be patient, and stay easy just waiting for your chance."

"If there is anyone in the field that can beat me, that guy is an absolute legend," Davies said of van der Weijden. "He's a great guy. He's obviously been to the depths in his personal life and to come back is a great story. Lance Armstrong epic."

Van der Weijden was diagnosed with leukemia in 2001. He came back in 2003 and began swimming faster than before he had the disease. He now commits a large portion of his time to raising awareness for leukemia.
"Because of the treatment I got, the stem cell transplants, I had the luck to recover," Van der Weijden said. "The stem cell transplants are because of research worldwide for cancer. So everyone who donates money, donated money in the past, I'm grateful too or otherwise I wouldn't be here."

Mobile telephone numbering in India

Many times I recieve missed calls and really wonder atlist which region this call is from. Just out of curiosity searched the net and found out the following link on google.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_Cellphone_Numbering

This highlights all the prefixes used by Indian Cell phone providers in various regions.

Olympics and time to celebrate or introspect?

The world's greatest sports spectacle - the Summer Olympic Games 2008 will be over soon in Beijing on Friday. Indian officials are busy celebrating. The pressing question going around Delhi is whether they should really celebrate?
For one, a nation of a billion-plus people - the world's most populous democracy - has dispatched a small squad of 57 athletes (and 42 officials, in 2004 we had 227 officials with 75 athletes :-)) to the Games. In other words, with a total of 28 sports and 302 events to compete in, only a meager 57 Indians athletes were qualified and managed only 3 medals. Contrast this with the United States, which marched into Beijing with a powerhouse contingent of 596 athletes (106 medals). China had 639 (96 medals) and even tiny Estonia has 47 representatives (1 gold + 1silver). In terms of the total Olympic medal tallied, India ranks even behind Nigeria, a country whose economy is one-twentieth of its size.
Yet with 3 medals,the IOA is celebrating and busy taking the credit. Not that they should not be celebrating, but more than that, they should make a sincere attempt to sit down and introspect.

Why did we win only 3 medals? Why did we not win any team event? Forget winning we did not even quality for any of these event. Indian ruled hockey for decades and this year we couldn't even qualify for Olympics. Same is the story with other sports such as Soccer, basketball.

No one can take away the credit from Abhinav Bindra, Sushil Kumar and Vijender Singh. They deserve what they have earned. It's only because of their hardwork and efforts, India could manage the individual medals. But one really wonders what IOA/Indian government contributed in their success.

Months before the Olympics, I read stories about the sub standard facilities provided for the Indian rowing team. The Badminton team didn't even have shuttles for practice sessions. (Abhinav Bindra had made his own investments in setting up the world class shooting range for practicing.) How can we expect them to compete against the world class athletes and then deliver?

Can we look at the below mentioned 5 Point formula to improve our state in Olympics?
1> Shift Focus -> We Indians need to take little focus away from Cricket and start focusing on other sports/games. Media should play a bigger role in this. Corporates to focus equally on all the sports. In fact Government should lay down policies for the cooperates so that they can spend equally on other sports as well.
2> Talent Hunt -> Organize leagues/championships on similar pattern as that of cricket leagues (Ranaji, IPL etc)
3> Corporate responsibilities -> Corporates to adopt one particular region and invest equally on all the sports in their respective regions. They should be given specifc targets in terms of Olympic medals. Based on the performance, SOPs/facilities to be extended to these Corporates.
4> Increased Sports Budget -> India's annual sports budget to be increased from a paltry $280 million (You know how much China's budget is $ 2 billion dollars). Also the budget should be properly utilized for getting best world class coaches, world class equipments etc.
5> Disciplined Sportsmen -> and equally important for the sportsmen to stay focused and not to get carried away by the little success and the endorsements.

If these initiatives are followed through there's no reason why a nation of billion-plus people cannot have more podium finishes at the Olympics.

But again we just talk, discuss and write about the situation. I am sure nothing will change in the coming years. Situation won't be much different for 2012 London Olympics thna today. Just praying if we can preserve the existing medals at least.

God please spare Bindra, Sushil Kumar and Vijender at least from getting spoiled by the Reebok's, Pepsi's and the Adidas's.

I want to become Indian Member of Parliament(MP)

Till recently I used to feel very proud of my profession. I used to consider myself one among the lucky fews. But for past 1 week (since Prakash Karat withdrew the support), I have started feeling bit uneasy. Don't know but somehow I have started feeling that I chose the wrong profession. May be my dad, my relatives, cousins didn't guide me properly. During my childhood days, everybody just told me engineering, medicine, law were the best professions in the world. Pilot, IAS, IPS were professions for the super intelligent and super wealthy. I was told that irrespective of any field I choose, I had to study hard as none of the professions were so easy. Somehow myelf and my cousin decided to opt for engineering. We studied very hard, got the merti ranks and landed with the cream IT job. I was on top of the world with the thought of getting best salaries, foreign trips. Wow.

But damn, I am wrong. Till recently I didn't know that there was more lucrative profession (MP) which existed in India than my job. Why my parents didn't tell me about that???
I regret of not chosing the right , best profession. I am sad because I spent almost 15 precious years of my life studying very hard for the dream profession. But then I learnt that there was more lucrative, more powerful and on top of it more respected profession available right here in India. And the best part was the kind of hard work and effrorts I had put in were also not required. Isn't it fascinating??
Yes I have decided to change my profession. I have decided to become MP. Not just MP, Honorable Member of Parliament.

Today my job is not guaranteed. Whatever is my performance, if US economy doesn't do good, I am in trouble. After every appraisal cycle, I eagerly wait for the salary hikes. But once I become MP, my job will be assured for 5 big years. That's enough, isn't it? I will earn for my life if not for 7 lives.

My CTC will be something like this.
Monthly Salary: 12,000
Expense for Constitution per month: 10,000
Office expenditure per month: 14,000
Daily Bhatta during parliament meets : 500
Charge for 1 class (A/C) in train : Free(For any number of times - All over India)Charge for Business Class in flights : Free for 40 trips / year (With wife or PA)
Rent for MP hostel at Delhi: Free
Electricity costs at home: Free up to 50,000 units
Local phone call charge: Free up to 1,70,000 calls.
TOTAL expense per year: 32,00,000
TOTAL expense for 5 years : 1,60,00,000
Even after I work for 40 years in my current job, I won't be able to earn the same. As MP that is just official white money. And what about .....

Again atleast once in 2-3 years there would have been some sort of unstability at the government. May be in the form of nuclear deal or some women's
reservation bill or some coalition partner just playing some fun (to pull down the government). Muah. wow. Each opportunity worth 25 crores.

Ha did I tell you one thing, I want to become an independent MP. No affiliation to any political party. I have realised that associating myself with my political party would just brong down my value. Else how can I earn 25 crores over night. How can I ask for coal ministry or how can I ask for naming some airport in my grand father's name.

As you all know , once I become minister, you can call me as scamsterfodder. Fodder scam, sugar scam, cement scam, bofors scam, shoe scam, saree scam, land scam. DI forget anything? I guess these are enough for 5 years.

Best part is, the profession is very much respected. I will be Honorable Minister of Parliament. All IAS, IPS officers at your service. Ambani's running behind you. what else one need?

My assignment in current profession is over and I am in free pool right now and available. If anyone of you have any vacancies anywhere as MP, just give me a call. I am ready. No location constraints as well. I am willing to take up any of the 543 constituencies. Please do it fast, before 22nd July. Else I may miss the bus and one big opportunity.

Jai Hind...

Best and easy way of Account Mining

The exceprts are from the mailer sent by one of the GMs. Nice one. Target audience is the PMs facing customer and senior, middle management. Pasted as it is , removing the company references.
___________________________________________________________________
Team: I know that we continue to put our best efforts to mine existing accounts but at times we get so engrossed in our day to day transactions that we loose focus on this important aspect. Collectively we can grow fast as a team and inorder for each one of us in the account to have the same understanding, rigour, passion and drive, the email below uses few analogies to drive the points and helps sink-in the aspects on account growth and management more easily.

A print out of this sticked on to the desk of each one of us will help bring back our focus on a daily basis :

Surround Sound : We need to keep looking for opportunities (surround sound) at client site. Some of the basic surround sounds that we can look for are : which other groups within the account we do not have the presence yet, which are the other custom/legacy systems that can be replaced by our products/modules, are there any new geographies where the customer has presence and we can leverage the current project work, who is supporting the current environment and how can we get involved there, what will be the support plan post go-live, who is the competition in the account and what are they working on, what are their weaknesses and when can we pitch in to weed them out and the list of surround sound can go on and on.

Inside Sound (CompanyEcho System) : Often we hear from our customers that many of the things they saw in the first corporate presentation remained as a presentation. I guess in our day to day rut we do not take the wipro echo system to the customer unless specifically asked for (and at times even delay after asking). So while listening to the surround sound we should take the inside sound to the customer even before they ask for. It could mean reaching out and networking with other groups within our company to showcase broader expertise/facilitate fulfillment of requirements in non-eas areas, it could mean doing a no-obligation offerings/knowledge sharing presentation by our Center of Excellence team, it could mean inviting the BSG group for educating the customer on our strenghts on doing strategy (basically driving the point that we are beyond technical), it could mean inviting the Quality team to do an audit with customer involvement, it could mean doing a cross culture training with the customer, it could mean doing a webinar with help of company strategic marketing team with senior management of wipro and senior management of client alongwith analyst groups and the list of inside sound can go on and on.

Tapping without Mapping : Converting an opportunity to an order requires buy-in of multiple stakeholders in the client organization starting from the group who needs it to the group who funds it to the group who actually implements the system with us. Unless we maintain the mapping at all levels, all our tapping for new business will not yield positive results. We should get the right people from within the company (inside sound) to meet the right people at customer (surround sound) and keep the sounds going on a ongoing basis.

Business and IT : Study shows that millions of dollars spent on the best written code gets unused because of lack of involvement from business. Irrespective of whether the business is more powerful or IT in the client organization, we should ensure that we have established the right connections in business from day one.

Do Lunch or Become Lunch : "The family that eats together lives together" is a very old saying and if we extend this beyond our families we have actually seen that the team that eats together (atleast once a month) with the customer lives together :-) On a serious note if we do not build the relationship (have lunch) and just stay technical, we will become lunch for the competition. This also calls for changing our lifestyle to a large extent on relishing local cuisines and not eating Indian food (sambar rice) all the time, exploring new restaurants, reading non-technical books, listening to local music/podcasts, watching movies, going to concerts/operas, following local sports (baseball in USA, Ice hockey in Finland etc...) and infact even trying some local sports like skiing, snorkling etc, reading local newspaper and not always be glued to indiatimes.com....all this is required to make each lunch meeting a memorable one for you as well as the customer and help build relationship beyond work.

Do share with me any other analogies that trigger in your mind that will help all of us remind us on a daily basis to succeed.

A leader should know how to manage failure

'A Leader Should Know How to Manage Failure'

(Former President of India APJ Abdul Kalam at Wharton India Economic forum , Philadelphia, March 22,2008)
Question: Could you give an example, from your own experience, of how leaders should manage failure?

Kalam: Let me tell you about my experience. In 1973 I became the project director of India's satellite launch vehicle program, commonly called the SLV-3. Our goal was to put India's "Rohini" satellite into orbit by 1980. I was given funds and human resources -- but was told clearly that by 1980 we had to launch the satellite into space. Thousands of people worked together in scientific and technical teams towards that goal.
By 1979 -- I think the month was August -- we thought we were ready. As the project director, I went to the control center for the launch. At four minutes before the satellite launch, the computer began to go through the checklist of items that needed to be checked. One minute later, the computer program put the launch on hold; the display showed that some control components were not in order. My experts -- I had four or five of them with me -- told me not to worry; they had done their calculations and there was enough reserve fuel. So I bypassed the computer, switched to manual mode, and launched the rocket. In the first stage, everything worked fine. In the second stage, a problem developed. Instead of the satellite going into orbit, the whole rocket system plunged into the Bay of Bengal. It was a big failure.
That day, the chairman of the Indian Space Research Organization, Prof. Satish Dhawan, had called a press conference. The launch was at 7:00 am, and the press conference -- where journalists from around the world were present -- was at 7:45 am at ISRO's satellite launch range in Sriharikota [in Andhra Pradesh in southern India]. Prof. Dhawan, the leader of the organization, conducted the press conference himself. He took responsibility for the failure -- he said that the team had worked very hard, but that it needed more technological support. He assured the media that in another year, the team would definitely succeed. Now, I was the project director, and it was my failure, but instead, he took responsibility for the failure as chairman of the organization. The next year, in July 1980, we tried again to launch the satellite -- and this time we succeeded. The whole nation was jubilant. Again, there was a press conference. Prof. Dhawan called me aside and told me, "You conduct the press conference today.

" I learned a very important lesson that day. When failure occurred, the leader of the organization owned that failure. When success came, he gave it to his team. The best management lesson I have learned did not come to me from reading a book; it came from that experience.

Good Listeners = Good Managers

Courtesey: Rediff 5th March 2007

The Journal of Business Communication published a recent study disclosing that good listeners hold higher-level positions and are promoted more often than those with less effective listening skills. Many executives believe listening skills are vital to the success of an organisation. Lee Iacocca, CEO of Chrysler, said that listening could make 'the difference between a mediocre company and a great company.'
Unfortunately, a number of experts note that managers and executives tend to become better talkers than listeners -- because they are used to 'being listened to'.
God gave us two ears so we could listen more and speak less. This is seldom followed and we end up spending more time speaking and much less actually learning from what was conveyed.
In our fast-moving world, it is easy to miss out on what people say. These six tips can help though.
More tips on how to listen better
One: Observe the listener Psychologist Jerome Burner of New York University says that people only remember 10 per cent of what they hear, but the percentage is as high as 80 per cent if they can see the listener as well. When we are with a speaker, it important to be involved in the conversation. Concentrate on the listener's non-verbal signals, such as the body language and facial expression. When we are not with the speaker, other signals play an important role -- the speaker's pitch, intonation, tone, utterance groups and stressed words in sentences. This will help us understand the speaker's thoughts. If you are a manager, active listening is crucial. Ideally, managers should spend more than 50 per cent of their time listening to what is being said. Try not to broadcast your idea until you have heard everyone.
Two: Be attentive and avoid distractions Most of the time, we miss out on things because we are either so pre-occupied with our thoughts or busy doing something that isn't as important as what the speaker has to say. While we are the target audience, it is discourteous not to pay attention to the speaker. Look at the speaker and keep aside everything else. Stop thinking about work, family, your partner, love life or promotions. These things happen when they have to. It might take some of us time to concentrate, but practice makes this easier. Believe that every speaker is equally important. Do not fake attention.
Can you learn from job interviews?
Three: Think, revise and stay interested When you hear something, it's easy to revise the key words. Focus on 'content words' -- those that contain the main content of the sentence. If you have to pass on a message, make sure you understand it, personalise it and get it in action. Some messages need to be passed on verbatim. In such cases, avoid jumbling words; pass it on word for word. Demonstrate that you are interested in what a person is saying even if the delivery is monotonous or verbose. Don't let your mind wander; your focus should be your listener.
Four: Make notes Some of us cannot afford to rely on memory, and are too lazy to pen down what we have heard. This leads to skipping important appointments, missing meetings, forgetting important date and ventures. Overall, it leads to loss. Write down what you need to communicate, to whom and by when. No reminder or note is complete without the date and time. If you have an assigned work area or cabin, use post-its with the required details. Focus on ideas, not just facts. Listening only for facts often impedes grasping the speaker's meaning.
Five: Paraphrase what the speaker says Paraphrasing is your version of essential information or ideas uttered by the speaker and presented in a new form. This outline focuses on a single main idea. The process that is involved in paraphrasing helps us remember (what we hear) as well. It also creates trust and a speaker learns that you did grasp what he or she said. Reflecting what we hear, to each other, helps give each a chance to become aware of the different levels a speaker and listener may be at. This brings things into the open where they can be more readily resolved. Avoid rushing or interrupting the speaker. Changing the subject is often taken for lack of interest; don't change it until you are sure the conversation is over. Asking questions to clear the grey areas and to demonstrate interest could prove helpful.
Want to improve your English?
Six: Do not assume Nothing can be a bigger sin for a listener than to assume. We assume ideas, thoughts, and sometimes even facts and figures. We try to be correct all the time and that blocks learning and the influx of new ideas. Avoid jumping to conclusions and anticipate what a person is trying to say. Imagine yourself in the speaker's situation and then form a frame of mind. It shows that you welcome what the speaker has to say.

Remember the old poem:A wise old owl lived in an oak.The more he saw, the less he spoke.The less he spoke, the more he heard.Why can't we all be like that bird?

Success is a participative and collective process...

The Corn Story

There was a farmer who grew superior quality and award-winning CORN. Each year he entered his CORN in the state fair where it won honor and prizes. Once a newspaper reporter interviewed him and learnt something interesting about how he grew it. The reporter discovered that the farmer shared his seed corn with his neighbors. "How can you afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbors when they are entering corn in competition with yours each year?" the reporter asked. "Why sir, "said the farmer, "didn't you know? The wind picks up pollen from the ripening corn and swirls it from field to field. If my neighbors grow inferior, sub-standard and poor quality corn, cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my neighbors grow good corn." The farmer gave a superb insight into the connectedness of life. His corn cannot improve unless his neighbors’ corn also improves. So it is in the other dimensions! Those who choose to be at harmony must help their neighbors and colleagues to be at peace. Those who choose to live well must help others to live well.

Success does not happen in isolation. It is very often a participative and collective process.

Courtesey: emaill circulated by my friend.

Mumbaitale 'RAJ'karan

For the past 1 month we have been reading a lot pertaining to the ongoing war between few leaders in Mumbai and the North Indian people/politicians. And the cause is to protect the rights of marathi manoon.
Different people interpreting the whole problem in different ways. The political parties/media are trying to get mileage out of it. Myself being a marathi who is presently staying outside Maharashtra, was also curious and was following up the same since the beginning. I am not very sure how it started exactly, but the comments by Raj gave a good publicity to the whole episode and it all started in a big way. It became a national issue and Raj also became national Hero inbetween.:-)
It won't be easy to say who started it all. We can't blame a single person here. Also it is not so easy to easily justify if whatever Raj did was right or wrong. I won't be writing anything on that as enough has been discussed so far. It's just few points which I felt should be discussed and everybody should be aware of. If one thinks carefully, there are many unspoken things which one must ponder upon. Forget the political angle, but one really needs to think about the core issue. I am also a Marathi, I have stayed in Mumbai and I have closely seen/faced few things. As we say Mumbai is a metro city in true sense. It has always accepted people from all over the country. There is a saying in Hindi that 'Yaha koi Bukha nahee raheta' (Everybody survives in Mumbai). Yes, for decades people from all part of the country, from all races, poor and rich all have come to Mumbai and got sucked into it's lifeline. Mumbai changed fortunes of many. So the so called migrants coming to Mumbai is not new. Then why this sudden outburst. The outburst is also not new. Almost 40 years ago, when Balasaheb Thakarey formed 'Shivsena', the same agitation against the South Indians/North Indians had happened. And it has continued at regular intervals. And yes he benefitted from it to certain extent. His party ruled Maharashtra for a shroter stint.

Mumbai

Why so many people come to Mumbai. Because it is the financial/economical hub, used to be the industrial hub till mid nineties. Film Industry, stock market, IT Industry, Underworld head qurters all were housed here. The growth/development of the city started much earlier compared to other cities in India. Take the examples of Bangalore, Kolkata, Hyderabad it's just past 15 years since the development began. Moreover Mumbai had so called open culture. 'Atithi Devo bhav', everybody is treated like a guest here. Hindi/English were the primary languages spoken here and not Marathi. What else anybody would have expected. So in 60s/70s the industry was also pretty much concentrated here. And the result was but obvious. The jobs were getting created, it needed huge manpower. Jobs were not available so easily in other states.

Till that time all was fine. But eventually what started happening was all the jobs were getting captured by the outsiders. Yes, all low scale/high scale jobs were going to outsider. And the local people were almost thrown out of their jobs which were inherited from their forefathers. All low scale jobs such as labourers, cab drivers, riksha drivers, mill workers, Fisherman, Sabjeewala, middle management, top management, literally all the jobs. These lower or lower middle class people form the masses of society. And when the so called 'bhoomiputra' become jobless/unemployed, that's when the problem starts. I strongly beleive this is what has started happening recently. Say there are some 300 odd jobs available in Railway recruitement and almost 275 go to outsiders, who will not feel bad. Obviously there will be some sort of resentment among the people. On top of it there is this arrogance showed by these outsiders, then there comes the show of strength and the issue become complecated.

Government needs to sit back and think seriously, rather than detaining few people. There should be a concious effort to protect the rights of the locals. You can't make the locals jobless at the cost of outsiders. The industry should not be concentrated at one region. The decentralization of industry has just started happening, but still no sincere efforts have been made by the policy makers. The north states(Rajastan, UP, Bihar, MP) and the north indian states still lack the basic infrastructure and the industries. All the growth still concentrated to few states down south. Wake up government, wake up.
Local people, are we putting in enough hardwork? When someoutsider comes and snatches your job literally. Have you ever though why it has happened? Because he is willing to do all the hardwork. It's question of his survival. Whereas we have become complacent. We don't want to do the low end jobs. We directly want to become managers. "Wakayachee tayareech nahee ajibaat'. Obviously how will you survive in the competition.
Politicains please learn!Coming back to the above episode, the political parties are just taking mileage out of it. They are just trying to play with the emotions and sentiments of the people. I am not defending or justifying what 'Raj' did. But based on whatever little I have learnt, he is enjoying a huge support. Many people may not have openly supported him, but yes he has huge support of masses.
So it will be wrong if you detain Raj or extend the GAG order. This is not at all solving the root problem. If it is 'Bal Thakarey' or 'Raj' Thakarey', tomorrow there will be somebody else. Also Raj never told people to attack the cabbies, Samosawalas, it was all the people who vented their anger.
All the politicians are playing enough with the emotions with people. In fact I strongly believe that they provoke the innocent people, who are otherwise living in harmony. What's the need for 'Amarsingh' and 'Mulayam SIngh' yadav to come down to Mumbai and perform the Shakti pradarshan. We all very well know there leaders have been literally thrown out of the power by Su. Shri Mayawati. Amar Singh and Mulayam are job less in UP and trying to Shakti pradarshan in Mumbai. What's the need for out Honorable Lalu Prasad to challenge 'Raj' Thakaray about the CHAAT Pooja. They need to focus more on their state and not poke nose in other states. Can they do the same in Tamilnadu, West Bengal?
Why are people trying to give a rigional angle to whole issue without solving the root cause. Also are the Gujrati's, South Indians, Bengali's not staying in Mumbai peacefully. Have their leaders ever tried to do any sort of shakti pradarshan in Mumbai. Did anyone ever heard of any issues between Gujrati/marwadi/sindhi and the marathis. Forget mumbai, The gujrati's/marwari's are everywhere in India. They have peacefully setteled in other parts of the world and they have become part and parcle of the scociety where they have setteled. Why the UP/Bihari can't do the same. Why they try to create another UP and Bihar wherever they go? There was even a bigger mess which happened I believe in Orissa. One Bihari comes and then 100 come along with him. No issues with that. But if you are in Maharashtra or anywhere, then respect the local culture. You can not try to force your culture on others. recently I read that the north Indian corporators were demanding 'Hindi' to be made as official language in Mumbai corporation. First of all why is that so? Will you make Marathi as the official language in UP and Bihar corporations. Some Delhi senior office named 'Melhotra' himself has talked about the attitude problem of these UP and Bihari people. Raj has been refrained from making provokative statments. How about Amarsingh, Lalu Prasad, Au Azami???
Politicians, you are all elected leaders of house. Don't yu think it's your responsibility to behave sensibly.?

Learning knowledge management from Ramayan and Mahabharat

Epics of India, Ramayan and Mahabharata, war ends not with celebration of victory but with transmission of knowledge . In the Ramayan, Ravan lies mortally wounded on the battlefield and the monkeys are celebrating their victory, when Ram turns to his brother , Lakshman, and says, “While Ravan was a brute, he was also a great scholar. Go to him quickly and request him to share whatever knowledge he can.”
The obedient Lakshman rushes to Ravan’s side and whispers in his ears, “Demonking , all your life you have taken not given. Now the noble Ram gives you an opportunity to mend your ways. Share your vast wisdom. Do not let it die with you. For that you will be surely be blessed.”
Ravan responds by simply turning away. An angry Lakshman goes back to Ram and says: “He is as arrogant as he always was, too proud to share anything.” Ram looks at his brother and asks him softly, “Where did you stand while asking him for knowledge?” “Next to his head so that I hear what he had to say clearly.” Ram smiles, places his bow on the ground and walks to where Ravan lies. Lakshman watches in astonishment as his brother kneels at Ravan’s feet. With palms joined, with extreme humility, Ram says, “Lord of Lanka, you abducted my wife, a terrible crime for which I have been forced to punish you. Now, you are no more my enemy. I see you now as you are known across the world, as the wise son of Rishi Vishrava. I bow to you and request you to share your wisdom with me. Please do that for if you die without doing so, all your wisdom will be lost forever to the world.” To Lakshman’s surprise, Ravan opens his eyes and raises his arms to salute Ram, “If only I had more time as your teacher than as your enemy. Standing at my feet as a student should, unlike your rude younger brother, you are a worthy recipient of my knowledge. I have very little time so I cannot share much but let me tell you one important lesson I have learnt in my life. Things that are bad for you seduce you easily; you run towards them impatiently. But things which are actually good for always fail to attract you; you shun them creatively, finding powerful excuses to justify your procrastination . That is why I was impatient to abduct Sita but avoided meeting you. This is the wisdom of my life, Ram. My last words. I give it to you.” With these words, Ravan dies.

There’s similar knowledge transmission after the Mahabharat war is over and the Kauravas are all dead. As the victorious Pandavas are about to assume control of Hastinapur, Krishna advises them to talk to Bhisma, their grand uncle, who lies mortally wounded on the battlefield. As a result of a blessing, death would elude him for some time. “Make him talk until his last breath. Ask him questions. He has a lot to tell,” says Krishna. Sure enough, when prompted , the dying Bhisma spends hours discussing various topics: history, geography, politics, economics , management, war, ethics, morality, sex, astronomy , metaphysics and spirituality . Bhisma’s discourse is captured in the Shanti Parva (discussions of peace) and Anushasan Parva (discussions on discipline) that makes up a quarter of the Mahabharata. After listening to their grandsire, the Pandavas have a better understanding of the world, and this makes them better kings.

Long has this knowledge drain been recognised. Over the past decade, a whole new business process known as knowledge management has evolved that seeks to harness, store, transmit this knowledge . Every CEO agrees that it is a valuable business process, that investment in it is critical. Policies have been made, people have been hired and systems have been deployed.
Unfortunately, for all the initial enthusiasm, implementation has been lacking. Unlike retrieving cash, retrieving knowledge from employees, both current and future, is not easy. Often because they are like Sahadeva. Sahadeva was the youngest Pandava and, in the South Indian Mahabharata, he is described as an expert in many predictive sciences such as astrology , palmistry and face reading. But he is cursed: if he ever gave any information voluntarily , his head will split into a thousand pieces. That is why he is silent throughout the epic.
He knows every fortune and misfortune that his family will go through, but he can never use his knowledge to forewarn anyone. When Yudhishtira finally learns of his brother’s prowess he is furious. “Why did you not tell me all that you knew?” All he gets in response is Sahadeva’s silence. Most employees in an organisation are Sahadevas. Sahadevas are of two types: either they are unwilling to share their knowledge or they don’t have the means to do so. The former category knows that knowledge is power and will not give it away under any
circumstances. The latter category is willing to share knowledge but either no one asks them for it or there is no system where they can make it available for others.

Knowledge Management is leadership driven. Only a Ram, not a Laskhman can do it. He must first believe in it. He must respect the fact that everyone in his organisation, even those who he does not particularly like, are repositories of great wisdom – not only knowledge of things that work but also knowledge of things that do not work. He must make conscious efforts to capture as much of it as possible. The simplest method is talking to people, while they are on the job and especially when they are leaving the organisation . An exit interviews must never be a ritual. Neither must it be an exercise to just get the venom out nor an exercise to expose the underbelly that has prompted the resignation. It must be a concerted effort to gather what was the knowledge acquired between joining and leaving the organisation. Interviews work if the organisation is mall. As the organisation grows in size one needs a more formal system, at
the very least a simple archival system managed by a clerk or secretary but on a larger scale, a sophisticated knowledge repository , a kind of electronic cupboard where at least the final version of presentations, documents and spreadsheets of key business events can be stored.
This sounds very logical but most organisations do not do this. The effort involved is huge and the rewards are neither immediate nor tangible. A brand manager joining a reputed FMCG company, for example, once discovered that they did not have the brand deck (plans, tools, research, messages) of the past five years of a key product . What the organisation did have is the financial numbers – but not a clear history of marketing messages it had put out before the consumer. Previous brand managers had handed over all documents to someone and it was kept somewhere. But no one knew who that someone was and what that somewhere was. In the absence of a simple archiving system, the new brand manager had to collate all brand related background information from scratch so that he could define the future brand positioning. A fully avoidable waste of energy and resources. Every organisation has a very powerful Finance Department that works round the clock to keep an eye on money flowing in and out of the organisation . Internal and external auditors, controllers and accountants keep a hawk’s
eye on every bill and purchase order. But not even a fraction of that energy is used by companies to manage their knowledge. This indicates that most organisations do not believe that Lakshmi follows Saraswati: they do not believe that existence of knowledge systems improve efficiency and effectiveness and can provide raw materials to provoke new ideas or prevent old mistakes. Unless a leader believes that Saraswati is critical , he will end up with an organisation of Sahadevas.
Take a step back. Check if you are creatively shunning this rather tedious matter of knowledge management. If you are, then remember the wise words of Ravan: it must be actually good for you.
Coutesey: Economic Times dated 21st December 2007

Australians really suck...

First of all accept my apologies if anybody got offended. But yes I literally mean this.
We all have been watching the recent developments in Australia. These A(u)ssies are literally getting to the nerves now.

Someday Symond has problems with the word 'Monkey', and Harbhajan gets punished. Some other day Hayden calls Harbhajan as 'Obnoxious weed', no action taken.
Ishant bowls Symonds, utter few words, Ishant gives back in Symonds style, but again Ishant gets punished. Guys this is getting too much now.
Today I read Hayden calling Harbhajan as 'Obnoxious weed'. He is also asking Ishant Sharma to focus on his game as he is just 21, meet him in the boxing ring. Mr. Hayden not sure what you meant by all this,but you are undermining Harbhajan for being from small time village, or for his not so important contributions, then you should think twice. But do you know your worth in IPL and do you know how much Harbhajan/Ishant cost? They will purchase 5-6 more Haydens with Harbhajan and Ishant's worth. Jtake it lightly, no offense please. Also did you forget your (Australia's) own roots? Do you know about your anscestors? I heard you people are descendents of all thugs, robbers, slaves which Britton wanted to get rid a long time agao. You thiefs survived and yes you are somewhat better in sports field. But has the success gone to your heads now? Why do you have to use this intimidating tactis against the opponents? You use the same dirty tactis almost against everybody and all the time. It almost became an habit. Yu almost ruined muralidharan. Nobody even gave it back to you. But interesting thing is you have issues when others (india) started giving it back to you in your own style. SORRY folks...
During the Sydney test match, Harbhajan patted Bret Lee, which was objected by Symond(key). You very well said it is not allowed on the field. We accepted.
During the Sydney one day match, on your dismissal you uttered few words. Ishant Sharma like everybody assumed that you were not happy and uttered abusive words. He simply showed you the place. Now you are saying you had praised him for his fine bowling. Come on Symonds, showing double standards.
One more thing Symonds, do you have any real problem in your life. I mean anything happened in your past. Because why you have to be part of every controversy. may be with harbhajan, Ishant Sharma, with Indian crowd. Also I sugget you are perfect fit for the WWF matches. I guess you chose wrong profession. You should have been facing KHALI and not Harbhajan. Think mate think...
India, guys please give them back. Be aggressive. Start sledging. I know bit difficult for you to win matches, but let's atleast win this game of sledging.

Saren Zameen Par...

All those who saw yesterday's match will definitely agree with me that this blog deserves no better title. Australians literally crushed us. I was praying if there was any possibility of Rain @ MCG.
I had one preplanned meeting at 3.00 PM. I just postponed it for the India - Australia 20-20 match.
After the so called superb performance of our GREAT Indian Team in the recent test series, like everybody I also had big hopes from our stars. Why not, after all they are the so called world champions of the shorter version of the game. Sorry they were the champions of the game. But yesterday I saw the very champions coming down one after another from the cloud NINE. All the super(stars) came down to earth.
Mr Gambhir, Mr. Uthapa, Mr. Rohit Sharma, Dhoom dhoom Dhoni, And the big mouth Shrisanth just landed straight on earth.

Guys what I was saying,I had post poned my 3.00 PM meeting to 5.00 Pm so that I could enjoy the cricket match. Thought of having the lunch while watching the match and had other big plans. But what plans.Like the Indian team, my plans also came crashing like a pack of cards.
I had left my desk at 2.10 PM. By the time I reached for lunch, switched on TV I had imagined something like 5 overs 100 runs. But to my surprise (actually I should not have been surprized), it was 5 overs some 5 wickets and 32 runs. I quickly switched off the TV. Somehow grabbed my lunch and was back to my desk again 2.45 PM. At 3.15 PM Somebody from my team yelled 'India all out for 74 and Aussies are well on course of reaching the target'. I tried to neglect and tried to concentrate on my work.
I was still repenting why the hell did I postpone my meeting? Don't know. I knew Aussies will win this time. But atleast I was expecting a good game of cricket. Few big hits, few sixers. Nothing more. Forget big hits, there were only 3 boundaries in the whole innings. I didn't watch the world cup (except the final). After the world cup exit earlier, I had drifted away from cricket and our inconsistent players. But the world cup win again pulled me back.
I always wonder why this happenes only with the Indian team. Look at Australia, whenever they lose (hardly I remember any matches they have lost), but they lose in style. They they will try till the end. They never give up. They win 16 matches in a row. They try to break their own record of consecutive wins. Whereas our team, we win few matches and lose many. We win matches only against Bangladesh, Zembabwe, Kenya. We will only in India (where the pitches help us). We don't lose only when rain GOD is happy.
Moreover these 1 or 2 wins are sufficient to make our players the heroes over the night. Then again no guarantee if they will repeat the same performance in future. Mr Joginder Sharma, Mr Yusuf pathan our 20-20 World Cup heroes where are they? I heard Joginder got married immediately after the world cup final. because he himself was not sure if he will ever get an opportunity to play again, forget performance . ha ha ha.

India's performance is really disappointing and frustrating. I have decided, I will not waste my time again. But again soemewhere I know, that is not possible...

And BCCI had the final laugh...

It's not that common to see that India flexing the muscles of superpwers and getting the things done the way SHE wants.

But if it's cricket, it's possible. We have seen the same recently. People just can't neglect India. Australia may be the world champions on the field. But India is the superpower in cricket and dictates the game. Otherwise who in the world will dare to take panga with ICC and the Aussies . As said by somebody , here cricket is religion and cricketers are Gods (as long as they perform). You just drop the heroes from the team and then see the streets of Kolkata, mumbai, jalandhar ... No need for me to write anything here. Basically it's all linked with our pride, self esteem and insult.

This is what happened during the recent test series in Australia during the Sydeney test. This time it was Ponting and his men (where victories have gone to the heads). They thought of using the typical aussie sledging tactis against the Indians. Poor kangaroos, little idea they had about the whole episode backfiring at them and putting them in poor light.

For India it was a question of pride. Here Tendulkar is our GOD. And Honorabe mr. Procter has neglected our very own tendulkar's testimony. ha ha. How in the world was that possible. And how millions of Indian fans were going to accept the same. On top of it Mr. Bucknor added enogh fuel to keep the fame burning with intensity. And then... it was a big drama in India as you know, also it had created enough sympathy for us. What best one could have imagined. Support poured in right from common man, politicians, cricketers across the world, the very own Australian media. Mr. Ponting might have won the test match in Sydeny, but the battle was started which eventually he was going to lose.

First signs of ICC taming down came when BCCI took a very tough stand on halting the series. I read somwhere about 2.2 M USD penatly being imposed on Indian board, had India decided to discontinue with the series. Let me tell you it's peanuts for the BCCI. Though everybody was well aware that India would never have discontinued with the series. It had put enough pressure on the ICC and first signs of ICC getting bogged down started showing. Finally Mr. Sharad Pawar who is heading the BCCI is a seasoned politician after all. :-). Mr. Bucknor was sent back to Jamaica, the other gentleman had to pack off his bags. This was enough. India had a moral victory at that point of time. The tension relieved to some extent.

Then India went ahead and almost dominated the remaining 2 matches. Inbetween some other enquiry commission was appointed. Guys, I believe it was all drama. Finally we all were aware what the result was going to be.

Again Mr. BCCI applied the pressure tactics and finally all racial charges against Harbhajan were dropped. SO final victory came India's way and has definitely put Australia in poor light. We are not still very sure what mr. Bhajan said. Whether he said or not said that's also a big question. It all was possible because BCCI has the money, India has the viewers. I doubt if Bangladesh or Zimbabwe would have been successful. :-)

Aussies some advice for you as well. By now you must have realised that you may be winning 16 matches in a row, but you have a long way to go. First try to behave yourself. Your tactics may work against few but not all. You will agree that this time your selection proved wrong. Aussies we may not be as good as you on the field, but we have enough power. So please don't take panga. Think twice next time.

Winning matches may be simpler for you, but winning hearts is not so easy and that's what you need to learn. Look at West Indian team. they dominated in the last 70th and early 80s. They were also world champions. But they were down to earth. The victories didn't reach the heads.

It's a long way to go for you...

Stock Market Crash...

Stock market crash
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A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market. Crashes are driven by panic as much as by underlying economic factors. They often follow speculative stock market bubbles.
Stock market crashes are social phenomena where external economic events combine with crowd behaviour and psychology in a positive feedback loop where selling by some market participants drives more market participants to sell. Generally speaking, crashes usually occur under the following conditions: a prolonged period of rising stock prices and excessive economic optimism, a market where P/E ratios exceed long-term averages, and extensive use of margin debt and leverage by market participants.
There is no numerically-specific definition of a crash but the term commonly applies to steep double-digit percentage losses in a stock market index over a period of several days. Crashes are often distinguished from bear markets by panic selling and abrupt, dramatic price declines. Bear markets are periods of declining stock market prices that are measured in months or years. While crashes are often associated with bear markets, they do not necessarily go hand in hand. The crash of 1987 for example did not lead to a bear market. Likewise, the Japanese Nikkei bear market of the 1990s occurred over several years without any notable crashes.

Mathematical theory of stock market crashes

The mathematical characterisation of stock market movements has been a subject of intense interest. The conventional assumption that stock markets behave according to a random Gaussian or normal distribution is incorrect. Large movements in prices (i.e. crashes) are much more common than would be predicted in a normal distribution. Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows that there is evidence that the frequency of stock market crashes follow an inverse cubic power law.[6] This and other studies suggest that stock market crashes are a sign of self-organized criticality in financial markets. In 1963, Benoît Mandelbrot proposed that instead of following a strict random walk, stock price variations executed a Lévy flight.[7] A Lévy flight is a random walk which is occasionally disrupted by large movements. In 1995, Rosario Mantegna and Gene Stanley analyzed a million records of the S&P 500 market index, calculating the returns over a five year period.[8] Their conclusion was that stock market returns are more volatile than a Gaussian distribution but less volatile than a Lévy flight.
Researchers continue to study this theory, particularly using computer simulation of crowd behaviour, and the applicability of models to reproduce crash-like phenomena....

Nostalgic Ads...

Nirupama - The Nirma Girl

Washing powder Nirma, washing powder NirmaDudh si safedi, Nirma se aaye Rangeen kapda bhi khil khil jayeSabki pasand Nirma Washing powder nirmaanirmaa
If you have been hearing this for the past 25 years, there has to be something special attached। Maybe it is the fact that the brand name is derived from
Nirupama, the company owner’s daughter who died in a car accident but whose image has become iconic with the brand.

Karen Lunel - The Liril GirlLa la la la la la la la laa la laa।

Quite simple isn’t it. When Alyque Padamsee decided to shoot an ad for Liril with a relatively unknown model, Karen Lunel who was wearing a lime green bikini in the icy cold waterfalls near the Guna caves in Kodaikanal, not even the folks at HLL would have thought it would become such a phenomenon. Not only did it capture the imagination of an ultra-conservative Indian society, it also multiplied Liril’s sales figures. So much so that McCann Erickson, the agency who was handed over the Liril account recently from Lowe India (formerly Lintas) who has held it for the last 30 years will have the ominous task of creating a new vigour in the brand. Karen Lunel worked as an airhostess for Air India (apparently she was on duty in the flight when Rajiv Gandhi celebrated his birthday on his way back from USSR in 1988) and later became a DJ for Times FM. She is married to Tibetan Tashi Hishey and has a 18-year old son, Scott.

Salma Sultan Doordarshan News reader of yesryears

Salma Sultan’s famous rose brightened up her otherwise cold renditions of the government press releases praising their own achievements. Set to retire in 1984, legend is that she was granted an extension after shedding a tear while reading the news about the Prime minister Indira Gandhi’s death.
Having got her first chance as a newsreader only because her compatriot Gopal Kaul came with a completely shaven head to avoid reading the news, her long association with Doordarshan continues even today after producing serials like ‘Panchatantra’ and ‘Jalta Jawal’ for DD under her production house Lensview Pvt Ltd.
These are the days of celebrities Anthony and Bani as they say and sometimes I miss those ‘Sorry for the Interruption‘ boards. Especially during reality shows.

Lalitaji >> Surf

Lalitaji“Bhai saab, aagar itni saari safedi yadee kaam dam me mile to koi yeh kyoun le, yeh na le“।An obvious reference to the the cheaper competitor, Nirma(once available for Rs.3 per Kg) by Lalitaji, posing as the ‘typical no-compromise, quality conscious, bargaining Indian housewife’ set the momentum for Surf as a brand that stands for quality at an affordable price.

Kavita Chaudhary went on to achieve more fame in the television saga ‘Udaan’ portraying the real-life story of Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya, Kavita’s own sister who become an IPS officer overcoming the odds. Kavita is also a gold medalist from the National School of Drama. For a while she got into making corporate and ad films and did not have much success with her forays into screenplay and dialogue for movies as well as a socio-drama called ‘Your Honour’. Apparently, she is now planning to direct one।

Courtesey : mutiny.wordpress.com

Nano is here to stay...

Last week Ratan Tata kept his words and delievered his promise। Yes you are right Tata gave the much awaited 'People's car' with the agreed prise and within the agreed timelines. As he rightly said Pachaouri need not have nightmares। Not Sunita narain or the green activists need to worry because of Nano.

I always wonder if these NGOs are really against the development। The whole life they just think about protesting and not progressing। When Sunita Nairain can come in her luxury car why should not others? Why only the small Nano will create trafic problems and why can't be her car or Pachouri's CAR? Surprising।

Okay I agree with the environmentalists who are trying to the noble cause of the 'Global Warming control'। Then they should protest against the Government policies, the policy makers, the law makers and not against the one who is a visionary, who is trying to bring out the revolution. It reminds me of the old stories I read in school book। Way back in 16th century when Gallilio galieli put forward the concept around earth's motion, there was a huge outcry. i don't exactly rememebr. but I more of less think the same here. Not only he, there were so many revolutionary, visionaries who faced the wrath of the society. But still nobdoy could stop them.

I guess Nano is a paradigm shift. No body would have imagined a lower middle class, middle class having a car. It was just assumed as a rich man's area. Now even an autoriksha driver can think of Nano. Who knows tomorrow you and may be using Nano as our cabbi. See below how a Nano can change the society. Little bit of exageration, but worth have a look....

Flash Slideshow