Disaster care....

Our country has seen several disasters over the years. Some were natural disasters and some executed by terror groups. With each disaster, our hearts bled all the more. Latest being the Mumbai Terror attacks.

The wounds will take more time to heal, the hearts still bleed, the tear glands are still at work.

One thought really scares me as a HR student. What if our organisation becomes a victim of such a disaster?

I guess, HR will have the most key role in such a situation as it is considered as an employee champion. But, are we equipped to champion such causes???

If this question makes you silent then it's time we think fast and act faster to be more agile and nimble footed.

During a recent Social Work seminar in my college[MSSW], several reading materials were distributed. According to one reading material by Psychosocial Support Team, Behavioral Sciences Centre, St Xavier's College Campus,Navrangpura,Ahmedabad; the three aspects of assistance in disaster care are:

1. Helping the affected people to recognise and understand the disaster experience and changes that they experience in their body and mind.
2. Decreasing the physical and phycological effects by listening, encouraging,relaxation and externalisation of interests and activities.
3. Giving practical support to rebuild their shattered lives in areas of housing, work,health and community life.

I know that the above might not fit well enough in organisational context but it can certainly be used as a basis for preparing ourselves. I will write on this issue in near future and would appreciate your thoughts on the same.

Management lessons from wars in India....

This link in Rediff provides insights into management gems which are inspired from wars in India. It has several interesting slides so I would mention the lessons here as the readers can have a quick read:

1. Prepare a backup plan to face any contingency.
2.One could set an aggressive goal even if it is against popular belief or practice, provided one is determined and weighs the decision well by considering the full perspective.
3.Don't be rigid. One should be flexible in entertaining new ideas and suggestions from the team members, and take corrective actions if convinced.
4.Leadership does not come by position, but by the qualities one demonstrates.
5.Willing to change the strategy by learning from the failed ones. The goal is to find a winning strategy.
6.During execution, it is sometimes common to lose sight of the goal and move away from the path and take one that is not aligned with the end goal.
7.One should not be worried about setting aggressive goals for the fear of failure.

The author of the text in the link is Utkarsh Rai, author of 'Offshoring Secrets'.

Dark is beautiful....

WOW and British Council presents 'Dark is beautiful'- An International Woman's Day campaign for 2009 where various forms of art,story,music and interactive programmes will be used to change the toxic belief that a woman's worth is measured by the fairness of her skin.

I am participating in the poetry competition and would like to request everyone to join the campaign with high enthusiasm.

This link provides the details of various contests you can participate in.

Luck By Chance

Luck by chance by debutant director Zoya Akhtar, daughter of Javed Akhtar,sister of Farhan Akhtar is a real attempt to take a real take on the 'Hindi Reel world'.

At the outset, the attempt is genuinely laudable. The movie is about Vikram[Farhan] who leaves Delhi in order to establish himself as a successful bollywood star.The movie revolves around his pursuit of success in bollywood.

This pursuit promises a wonderful journey from falling in an innocent love with Sona[a struggling actress played by the talented Konkona Sen] when he needed somebody the most in his life to falling in another love[not so innocent one] with Niki[pretty looking Isha Sherwani], the star kid when he again needed someone in his pursuit of gaining stardom.

However, falling in & out of love is just one of the many events which helps in drawing the caricature of Vikram's life. His conflicted relationship with his two friends often reminds you of the Dil Chahta Hai magic recreated but not with the same intensity as the scenes are limited in numbers.

It's tough to figure out who is the 'main protagonist of the movie'. Is it Sona[Konkona Sen] whose inner turbulence and the enlightening self realization captures the genuine fervor of the movie or is it Vikram[Farhan] whose grey character does it all to reach his ultimate ambition with a tinge of guilt???????

Other characters in the movie are delightful too. Many might feel that the movie belongs to Rishi Kapoor, who superbly plays the role of a well respected producer being potrayed mostly as a comical character and occasionally as a character of depth if you consider the remorse which strikes him when young actors like Hrithik,Vivek,Akshaye,Ranbir,Abhishek and John decline to do a role in his movie.

Hrithik Roshan in his extended cameo leaves the audience[especially female] cheering for him each time he comes on screen. So does the other A list actors like Vivek Oberoi,Ranbir Kapoor,Akshaye Khanna, Abhishek Bachchan, Kareena Kapoor,John Abraham etc but not to that magnitude. The actor who leaves the greatest impact in the cameo is King Khan[SRK] in a scene where he gives a life lesson to Vikram[Farhan] which propels him to realise his mistake.

And how can I ever forget Aamir Khan in his strong yet subtle prescence in one of the introductory scene of the movie.Aamir remains the quintessential Aamir we all love watching.

Isha Sherwani impresses with her acting,looks and dancing skills. Extremely promising performance from the actor who is just a few films young in the industry.

Then there is Dimple Kapadia — the crocodile in a chiffon saree — as producer Rishi Kapoor puts it. There could not have been any substitute for the role in my mind. Suiting the role perfectly she portrays the Stardom personified as the yesteryear actress who charms,entertains and even keeps us thought provoked.

Sanjay Kapoor is like Anil Kapoor minus the moustache in his performance. So that means an impressive performance considering his brother is one of the best in the job.

The film essentially delivers many life lessons in a non preachy manner.The one I like the most is ' In the road towards success; you might be all alone initially but soon others will follow that same road once you succeed'.

I strongly feel the movie is all about making the choice between success and happiness.

The high points about the movie is the fantastic casting where each character plays the almost perfect ambassadorial role of 'life in bollywood',the cinematography,the climax [might leave you surprised] and the MUSIC. Three cheers for the music which ranges from the awe inspiring 'Sapno Se Bharae Naina', the foot tapping 'Baawre Baawre', the mushy 'Pyaar Ke Daastan' and my personal favourite 'yeh zindagi' whose lyrics encapsulates the meaning of 'living' and it's unpretentious picturisation brings to the audience the lighter side of bollywood in a matter of approximately 5 minutes.

In spite of all the high points, I believe the pace of the movie could have been faster.It is also filled with many bollywood cliches which at times are executed well enough to make us laugh.

Well!!!! I would still give 4 stars out of five. A must watch. Watch On.....Rock On!!!!!

Ciao...a presto!!!!!!