Seven years in Chennai...

It was year 2000 when I watched a movie called 'Seven years in Tibet' starring Brad Pitt. Even as a kid I liked the movie, there was sense of serenity in the movie which I was drawn towards. As I grew up and so did my candor (quite an unlikely progression :-P), I told my parents about how much I wanted to do something similar to what Brad Pitt did in the movie.

As expected they did not endorse my crazy and adventurous ways. My pursuit of being 'Brad Pitt' ended there.

The last few years at school in Delhi just passed by without much of significant memories . In 2004, I came to Chennai and I 'lived' there. Yes!!! I lived every bit of it.I lived every bit of the 'Chennai' experience.

Those action packed experience in the moments of nothingness in Madras Christian College brought me closer to myself. It blessed me with a sharp sense of awareness, whether it was mindfully observing the scenic beauty hurtling by on either side of that mystic road inside the 350 acre of flora and fauna inside the campus or exploring the facets of friendship with some wonderful people. In the little spare time I could manage, I would also study a bit. Whatever little study I did, I actually enjoyed it. My priorities in life were very clear. Studying BBA in MCC also made me determined that I wanted a career in Human Resource.

Then I got recruited in TCS BPO as a process associate. Idealism was at its peak then with little room for patience. I wanted to get into their HR team in a jiffy. I could not get into the HR team for variety of reasons and all of them were reasonable. But it was a significant experience where I understood what it feels like to be on the other side as a customer of the HR guys. It made me more grounded than ever (I assume so).

The third phase of my life was in Madras School of Social Work studying MA-HRM. It was wonderful to study the subject of my passion. It was fun. It was fulfilling. I enjoyed my HR field works the most. It was a contrast to my MCC experience. I was more engaged in my academics here and in my spare time I hanged around with my MCC friends who suffused me with a joy that was exclusive to the days spent in MCC.

TCS came for campus hiring and I did not appear for the interview this time. Honestly there was no ego involved as my TCS experience humbled me in many ways. But I did not feel connected enough to let the marriage between me and HR happen in TCS. It was an emotional decision.

This was followed by another emotional decision of appearing for the Cognizant interview which was my first interview in Campus. I felt connected to Cognizant then and I feel so even now after one year.

Most of my decisions in life have been in the midst of emotions. I dont regret any decision. My experience in Chennai taught me that the deepest of my emotions originated from the bottom of my heart. And when the heart is fine then the the emotions cultivating from it are also fine.

The above para is indeed the best lesson I have learned in Chennai.

Also the last 6 months in Chennai was the most defining period of my life as I literally became part of a big family. As a Campus Talent Manager in Cognizant I was able to meet many trainees who became my friends and at times my teachers.

As I type this post in Kolkata sitting in my drawing room, I realize that the seven years spent in Chennai did not help my childhood (or rather teenhood) persuit of becoming Brad Pitt even an iota bit. Yet it helped me to become 'Saikat Saha'.

There are many more experiences waiting to embrace me in Kolkata and i am ready for it. But the 'seven years in Chennai' shall remain ethched in my memory....in my heart....

It's time to switch off my lappie and make further sense of this ethereal connection........

TEDx Chennai 2010

I had an incredible time listening to diverse list of speakers during the TEDx Chennai 2010 conference on 9th October 2010 held at IIT-Madras.

All of you who have missed the show and want to get a snapshot about the event, just click the following labels which will link you to interesting posts from the official TEDx Chennai Blog:

• TEDx Chennai 2010 Mindmap
• Rasmus Ankersen's talk
• Peter Van Geit's talk
• Lakshmi Pratury's talk
• Dr Tara Thiagarajan's talk
• Chendil Kumar's talk
• Chinny Krishna's talk
• Dr Ananda Shankar Jayant's talk
• Shekar Dattari's talk
• Rajendran's talk
• G J Siddharth's talk
• Prassana's talk
  

N T Arunkumar on life, universe & everything 2.0

N T Arunkumar who has deeply influenced me in various HR forums and whose tweets I regularly follow is now passionately blogging [Majority of what I retweet are from his tweets].

http://ntak.wordpress.com/ is his web journal where in a short span [July 3rd onwards] he has written a wide array of posts on topics that are immensely close to his heart like CSR,travel, spirituality & very soon you can expect much more like leadership, technology,HR etc.

I know Arun Sir as a successful leader and one of the few genuinely good human beings who is selflessly concerned about development of young people like me. The blog gives me an opportunity to know Arun Sir even better.

I have found a teacher in him. Follow the blog regularly and get a slice of precious life lessons from him.

Following are a few links of my earlier posts on Arun Sir:

Link 1

Link 2

A small break from blogging

I am sorry for not blogging regularly these days. I am spending considerable amount of time reading. Most of these books are non-HR books and focuses on life & spirituality . I am thoroughly enjoying this phase.

I am also watching the football world cup matches too[mostly on weekends]. A little sad that Argentina lost today. But 'Jai Ho' to the Germany team. Young,spunky,energetic, aggressive and immensely determined. The team also has great ethical mix. I have to cheer for this team from now on to celebrate their passion to perform and the open mindedness to embrace inclusiveness. Thats the best team for the HR professional inside me :-)

At work I was busy doing an HR project which has been extremely satisfying in terms of creativity and learning. I am indeed having a great time at work.

In a couple of days, I will be back with blog posts.

That magic of 100%

I came across an old video of Harsha Bhogle addressing the students of his alma mater, IIM- Ahmedabad. His speech on 'excellence' is immensely inspiring and I was glued in front of my computer monitor throughout.

Please watch this video which is of over 1 hour duration but certainly worth it.

In case you want to read a summary of the video then refer to the following links from a few impressive blogs:

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

The links above do an absolute justice of summarizing the video but I feel tempted to make a special mention of the part in the speech where he speaks about 'excellence being a series of 100 %'.

He says "If you give every moment 100% and then wait for the next moment and say “You know what! This is the moment I wanted to give 100% too” and then the next moment turns up and then you say ” Actually this was the moment I really wanted to give my 100% best” . And then you will find the little things in life that makes the difference between the good and great just happen."

Even though Harsha Bhogle works as a cricket commentator yet he chose to give his 100 % even while delivering the speech. Once we learn to give 100 % in one area of our life, it becomes easier to give 100 % into any other area if we choose to be passionate.

Happy to be a part of the Sandbox Network :-)

I am delighted & humbled to announce that I am a member of the Sandbox Network now. It is a worldwide network of hand picked achievers below the age of 30 years.

I am certainly below 30 years but being considered as an achiever is pleasantly surprising. The best part of being in the sandbox network is that there are many inspiring young minds in the network. They are from various walks of life like entrepreneurs, researchers, innovators and even blogger ;-)

You can interact, learn, network and participate in interesting events. I am sure it will be fascinating for all.

I have already made some inspiring friends across the world.

Please visit the website http://www.sandbox-network.com/ to get more information regarding application & selection process.

Let's get connected at the Sandbox Network soon :-)

Love Letters....

I watched a play aptly titled 'Love letters' directed by Rahul Da Cunha starring Rajit Kapur & Shernaz Patel. The Pulitzer award winning play written by AR Gurney revolves around Melissa Gardner (Shernaz Patel) and Andrew Makepeac (Rajit Kapur) over 50 years when they communicate through letters except a few cherished moments when they met each other occasionally.

Their formative years and ever evolving maturity (& immaturity) is perfectly captured through the letter correspondences (which were beautifully recited & acted by them) .

The correspondence begins from a mere 'birthday party' thank you note to the last moment of Melissa's life.

The play reflects how Andrew & Melisa lived in a denial mode about their romantic feelings and got married to different people inspite of harboring their true feelings for each other only within themselves.

The plot might seem quite cleshay. But it's the brilliant performance and the lessons from the play which makes it remarkable.

Here are a few reflections of my personal thoughts from the play:

• We often encounter these immensely special moments when we have to make seemingly indistinct decisions about our life. Yet quite foolishly our good humour supersedes our true intent and the pattern of our life completely changes. This pattern eventually extols 'regrets'.
• We are always communicating with our people but how often do we really connect??? And even if we connect then does it stop there??? Relationships are nurtured through communication...connections... and beyond [Figure it out yourself]....
• There are few people in our lives without whom there would be a vacum. Spend a lot of love and time for them. Do it either in a selfless or selfish manner. But do it. As long as you do the right thing it doesn't really matter whether it's selfless or selfish.
  

The MSSW-SIFE Story – Recreating lives...

The association of MSSW with SIFE reached it's peak last year when my college was selected as the finalist of the National SIFE tournament. It was a proud moment for all of us in college and the core team of SIFE did a fabulous job. It was not merely about touching lives, it was beyond that. It was all about recreating lives. I once again thank and congratulate last year's SIFE team for their sincerity and selfless work.

But even this year the students of MSSW will have a lot to cheer about. The new SIFE team consisting of Prof Jayanthi Peter,HOD, Dept of MA-HRM,MSSW[Faculty Incharge]; Hadeeja S; Rakesh Kumar Patil; Madhumitha Sowndararajan;Prashanti. T; Arvind Srikantan; Adline Sophia;Sowmya Mathews;Harish.S;Tanvir Ahmed are working very hard towards multiple projects that could generate a lot of benefits and goodness in various target communities.



I pray and wish that the projects are a huge success. I would like to share a snapshot of this year's projects undertaken by the SIFE core team along with the support of everyone in MSSW.

Following is a write up mailed to me by my good friend and SIFE core team member 'Madhumita Soundarajan':

The Madras School of Social Work, as a pioneering institution in professionalizing social service, has undertaken several initiatives to promote the feeling of community development amongst students. One such quintessential initiative has been the SIFE.

SIFE stands for Students in Free Enterprise. As an NGO, headquartered in USA, it aims at creating self sustainability in a chosen community, by partnering with students from various educational institutions.

Thus, it is synonymous to the saying, “A meal today is for now; A skill today is forever".

MSSW is one such prestigious college to have been partnering with SIFE.

Every year, the MSSW-SIFE team undertakes a new project, targeting at a different community than before. It is interesting to note that students, as a part of this initiative, play the role of facilitators, thereby ensuring the non-dependency of the community on anybody else. This year, the new initiative undertaken has been named “Project Vidiyal”

This project targets the women community who are tsunami victims. The project comprises approximately of 40 women, across different locations in Chennai such as Thiruvanmiyur, Royapuram and Pazhaverkadu. These women belong to the age group 20 years to 40 years.

The community at Thiruvanmiyur (Identified by The TamilNadu Women’s Collective) has been trained on various skills such as candle making, embroidery and artificial flower making. They have also been trained on soft skills such as team building and entrepreneurial skills. The products done by them were also displayed for sale in one of the college festivals. It is to be noted here is that, these women have also been given certificates for undergoing the training program. This authenticity will help them get a loan in future.

The community at Royapuram and Pazhaverkadu are involved in the making of office stationery items (such as notepads, files, pen stands etc, as shown in the picture) made of eco friendly materials such as recycled paper. These women are paid Rs.15 per hour as labour charges for the work they do. The sale proceeds from the products are ploughed back into the business again.

The sife team has been helping the community in active selling by displaying the products in a lot of college fests. From the last week of February till date, the sales proceeds has reached Rs.38,000. The Sife team also helped the community get bulk orders from colleges and corporates.

As a future course of action, the MSSW-SIFE team is currently involved in active branding for the products and in the process, also preparing a product catalogue that could be used by the community representatives on their sales front, for marketing and publicity purposes.

Apart from Project Vidiyal, the team is also involved in the active monitoring of their last year’s sustainable venture, “Project Suyam”. This project focusing on the farming community, is now supporting around 50 families. The project, on one hand, targets a community in Tamabram, involving the cultivation of Vincea Rosea, a drug that is widely used for Cancer treatment. On the other hand, the venture also extends to the outskirts of the city in Melmaruvathur where various leguminous crops such as groundnuts are also being cultivated. These are regularly put through crop rotation to ensure the fertility of the soil. The team proudly conveys that this project has already become sustainable and is continuing to be run in association with Mr. P.S Nathan, Farm Director, Apoorva Farms, Kayapakkam, Kanchipuram Dist, TamilNadu

In conversation with Nithya Shanti

Nithya Shanti holds a Post Graduate degree in Human Resources from the prestigious XLRI and has worked in the field of Human Resources and Corporate Strategy. But what's really fascinating about him is that he is a former Buddhist Monk who underwent rigorous training living with meditation masters in remote forests across South East Asia for 6 years. At a certain stage in his practice he felt guided to shift his emphasis from secluded sadhana to engaged spirituality. With the blessings of his teachers he stepped out of the monk role so he could share the timeless principles he had learnt in a modern context. Please visit his website.

His essential teaching is 'Be loving...'


I was genuinely inquisitive to have a chat with him since the first time I heard about him. Yesterday, he replied to a few questions I had asked him online.

Saikat: What attracted you towards spirituality?
Nithya Shanti: I was attracted by the peace and joy I saw in the people who meditated regularly. They were so patient and wise and caring and great fun to be with. I also wanted to be like them. This is what attracted me to spirituality.

Saikat: What is your opinion on Spiritual Quotient'? Is it underrated at workplace?
Nithya Shanti: I have heard of Dannah Zohar's concept of SQ. But I do not know too much about it. So I will not comment on this.

Saikat:How were your learning from XLRI different from the learning you received as a Buddhist Monk?
Nithya Shanti: One was focused toward being a good manager. The other was toward being truly happy and at peace. One was focused on the intellect. The other on cultivating the body, mind and heart. One was outer education. One was inner knowing. One came from learned professors. The other came from wise spiritual masters. One embraced worldly values. The other transcended worldly values. The horizon on one was this life time. the horizon of the other was many life times. One was concerned with getting a good job. The other was concerned with doing a good job. There are so many differences...I could go on for a long time :)

Saikat: How easy/difficult was the transition from a MBA graduate to a Buddhist monk?
Nithya Shanti: It was not really difficult. I really wanted to be a monk. So it was a dream come true. I loved it all and embraced the challenges with enthusiasm. Probably the most difficult part was learning to walk barefeet to the village and back each morning to get our food. But my feet got used to that in a few weeks.

Saikat: What is your advice to budding HR professionals?
Nithya Shanti: Remember that HR stands for helping Human's Return to Source. It's not about manipulating people to attain organization objectives. Its about helping people discover their genius and find purpose. Remember that a 'job' is a chore you do so you can pay your bills. A 'career' is motivated by money, prestige and advancement. And a 'calling' is work done as an end in and of itself. Help people discover their calling.

Saikat: Tell us more about your vision?
Nithya Shanti: My vision is to spread happiness in spontaneously creative ways for the rest of my life.

Saikat: Your thoughts on the pursuit of happiness?
Nithya Shanti: Don't pursue happiness, don't gather happiness. That will never work. Stop seeking and start spreading. Start in your own small little ways. Choose to "Be happy!"

Interviewing him was a true pleasure as he readily agreed for the interview and responded to my questions within a few hours. He can be reached at Facebook, Linkedin and even Twitter :-)

Life lessons from an artist

Hi buddies!!!

I am back!!! If you are also a blogger then you would appreciate the fact that we do reach a saturation point...or ateast we feel so...I did feel that way for the past few days...And that's why I had this brief hiatus..

And while I was complaining about this to my best friend...she reminded me of a video in TED website that I had shared with her few weeks back...

The video is titled as 'Five lives of an artist'. This video extols refreshingly unpretentious and honest vibes from the speaker Raghava KK. Now before you read the post any further please watch this brilliant video if you haven't till now.

Now that I presume you have watched the video, let me share a few observations that have inspired me to write this post:

• Innocence is a delightful trait but it must often be coupled with courage and a strong belief to strike the perfect symphony in life. KK Ragahava received a punishment in school that detached him from his passion of cartooning for long as a kid but he got back to pursue the passion by using a simple logic of making his principal happy :-) . Passion for art along with basic sensitivity towards relationship building helped him to continue his passion.

• Whenever you follow your heart, do it with a full stride- His decision of dropping out of school was very critical especially from an Indian context. Yet he lived up to his promise of being disciplined, curious, learn [being a learner], hardworking, self sustaining. I am sure that he has achieved this humongous amount of success and happiness in his profession because he passionately imbibed those values since the time he first promised his father.

• Collaboration is necessary- One aspect about his speech I loved the most was the way in which he appreciated and valued each and every collaboration he made throughout his journey. I simply admired the way he valued the contribution of his mother :-), wife :-), father :-) and especially the children :-). When was the last time we learned a few lessons from a kid we know??? He indeed learned a lot from the kids. How to be more happy??... How to take ruthless criticism from kids in the right spirit??? How to be much more cooler;-) ??? Well!!! Lets keep our adult ego aside and learn a few life lessons from the kids around :-)

• Ownership: The cartoon related to 9/11 incident left him without a job. It was probably an innocent effort from his side but it required a little more sensitivity from him. Sometimes we get driven by our passion to such an extent that we forget a few important elements of our life. Hence, ownership is a lesson which can be learned from the video.

• This shall pass too: He went through a very dark phase in his life when his mother fell ill and his customers were not able to appreciate the honesty in his paintings. His friends left him. Yet, in this video he passionately talks about colours, his success, his family and so much more. So life can offer a few darker shades but if we are a great painter from within then we can surely add beautiful colours to our life.

• Passion with compassion: I felt inspired in the way he created job opportunies for the billboard painters and learned the art of painting from them. That not only requires compassion but also humility.

• If you believe you can then you can: One of his deepest desire was to see his paintings dance. He believed in the dream and he achieved it by painting his dancers :-)

• Do that special act for the special person: I am sure what touched you the most in the video was the story of the small kid who died of cancer and how he touched her few last days with happiness...hope...and COLOURS...

After watching that video, I felt like becoming a painter. I am not sure if I will be able to be great with paper and colours but I strongly feel that if we truly want then we can infuse a but of art in our profession and daily life.


Being a painter is awesome but what's even better is believing and living like a painter. Thats something we all can do.


Keep adding colours to life :-)

Sensational Samson- An auto driver & marketing genius

Aamir Khan is respected for his acting skills as well as marketing skills. The way he marketed his movies like 3 idiots and Ghajni is a topic of intense brain storming in top business schools.

Yet many might complain that bollywood examples are becoming too common.

Stop complaining!!!!

If you are bored of hearing about Aamir's marketing skills then you need to meet Samson. Mr Sensational Samson is an auto driver according to his website.

Being in Chennai my encounter with auto drivers have not been delightful but this virtual encounter with Mr Samson and his friends is extremely delightful.

In times when even companies feel apprehensive to launch a website, Mr Samson has embraced webspace for great business advantage.

Following are the few lessons which we can learn from Mr Sensational Samson

• No matter what is your job, marketing it with passion is worth it.
• Market intelligently: Samson is intelligent enough to introduce Chennai and it's attractions in the website which is bound to create greater interest in his customers as his passion for the city reflects here.
  
• Know your customers well: Samson knows his target customers [foreigners] and their preferences really well . His great knowledge about the city helps him further.
  
• Monetize your idea: He has a special provision for advertisements too. He has collaborated with a webmaster for the purpose.
• Acknowledge your friends: Samson is sweet and sensitive enough to have a special page to introduce his friends.
• Patience and perseverance: He has been driving auto since 1992. So along with passion, one also needs patience and perseverance.
  
• The most special lesson one can learn from him is that everyone has the right and the capacity to make his job extra special.

Hats off to Mr Sensational Samson.

Bye guys!!! I gotta catch the auto. Wish me a great auto ride :-)

Got quoted in Indian Express for my views on the Ruchika Case.

I got quoted in the Indian Express for my views on Ruchika Case. The views are candid and I am sure many of you feel the same. Click this link for the e-paper version.

Marina Beach: 5 years after Tsunami....

It's five years since Tsunami struck in the Indian Coastline. It's also five years approximately since I came to Chennai. 26th December 2004 was a day of despair and immense pain. It was a day when nature showed it's ugly side.

We never searched for the answer as to why nature did so.

Maybe we were too consumed in the pain we got inflicted with.....
Maybe we were too busy with our prayers....

Today early morning I went for a jog in the Marina Beach. It appeared calm and pristine.

Did it appear the same way moments before Tsunami struck five years back?

Did one of the Tsunami victim feel the same way moments before Tsunami struck as I felt today morning?

Well!!! the pics above have been clicked by me this early morning.

A fascinating interaction with an Indian Army Officer!!!

I am not shy of interacting with strangers anywhere. This habit has often helped me to make new friends and have scintillating conversations with them.

I have added one more person in my friend list today. He is a Major in the Indian Army and was sitting next to me during a book reading event which we attended. He appeared to be a simple man completely engrossed in his book. We reached the venue pretty early. It made sense to start a conversation and we greeted each other. Then I came to know that he is an Indian Army officer, a Major.

I have a lot of respect for the Indian Army for many reasons. However, let me mention two of the multiple reasons. Firstly, I wanted to join the Indian Army but could not because of personal reasons [I love the phrase 'personal reasons'. It makes justifications so easy ;-) ]. Secondly, I have met many great HR professional who are ex Army officers.

My conversation with him ranged from how he got into the prestigious National Defence Academy, his training, the Kargil War, his Shaurya Chakra and even HR [how can I miss that :-)].

He told me how supportive his parents and siblings were while joining the armed forces. In a way I feel we civilians must thank every parents of the Indian Armed forces officers and jawans for being so supportive and encouraging to them.

He even shared a lot about the tough training which he went through in National Defense Academy. The secret behind getting used to the training is all about conditioning one's mind. When he joined NDA, he struggled to do a few push ups but after the training of about 6 months, he could easily do 150 push ups and even run more than 15 kms per day. I particularly liked a statement where he mentioned that the body listens to the mind and it is even more important to train the mind than the body.

The most fascinating part of the conversation was about his fight with the enemies during the Kargil War. He had even shot at a few enemies. I could not help in resisting myself from asking him how he felt when he shot at the enemy. I thought that it was an insensitive question from me and I wondered how he would react. He was calm and candid. He said that at the moment when he shot the enemy, he was only thinking about his duty. There were no causalities in his team. He was focused about his job and killing the enemy was his duty. However, later he came to know about the enemy's family [through the photograph I guess] and felt sad about the incident.

His bravery won him the Shaurya Chakra. I feel the Shaurya Chakra belongs to his family too who have been encouraging and supportive of him in joining the army.

He even shared a few HR lessons with me. He told me the huge relevance of motivation in the army. He shared many examples about leadership in crisis and team work.

It's interesting how the corporate world complains about economic turbulence and turmoil. On the other hand, the Indian Army gives birth to national heroes during turbulent times through bravery and outstanding professionalism that matches none in the world.

I feel the HR community has a lot to learn from the Indian Armed Forces.

Let me share a few quotes by Field Marshal Madappa Cariappa . I am sure the HR community will find these simple yet immensely powerful quotes very interesting:

• "An officer is nothing without the soldiers."
• "Army is there to serve the Government of the day, and we should make sure that it does not get mixed up with party politics. A soldier is above politics and should not believe in caste or creed,"
• "an Indian and to the last breath would remain an Indian. To me there is only two Stans - Hindustan (India) and Foujistan (the Army)."

Another inspiring quote I would like to share is by Field Marshal Philip Chetwode which my new found friend shared with me:

‘The, honour and welfare of your country comes first, always and every time, the honour welfare and comfort of the men you command comes next .Your own ease, comfort and safety comes last, always and every time'

Whenever the Indian Army is at work, they live the above mentioned quotes and thats what makes them so special to all of us. They make a huge impact to our nation through their sacrifice, integrity, work ethics, discipline, bravery and much more.

If the HR community has to make a huge impact in the business then we should also have the same qualities with same intensity. Many might say that the dynamics in the Army are very different from the ones in business. Thats true but we can still learn a lot from them.

Can't we foster similar pride among our associates for their company???
Can't we enjoy better team spirit and camaraderie???
Can't we infuse better discipline and work ethics in our company???

A yes to the above three questions can make a huge difference to the business and in being a true HR professional.

And like always, a Salute to Indian Armed forces from the bottom of my heart.

MSSW shines at HR Vista 09

Madras School of Social Work continued it's winning momentum during HR Vista 2009- A National Study Conference on 'HR Challenges-Post Recession' held at Women's Christian College on 4th December 2009.

MA-HRM Department won the first prize and the third prize[it was shared by 2 teams from MSSW jointly] in the paper presentation competition. The first prize winners made a presentation on HR Outsourcing and it's tremendous opportunities. A very well deserved win which comprised of an indepth study done by the team that included various companies and their perspective about HRO[both supply and demand perspective].

My team that comprised of yours truly :-), Lijo Jacob and Shruthi Thomas won the third prize in the paper presentation on the topic 'Managing transition from Transactional HR to Transformational HR'.

We divided our presentation in three parts where we first explained the concept of transformation in the HR context, followed by the road blocks in the transition and finally the road map of the transition.

The third prize was shared by another impressive team from MSSW. So out of the 4 prizes, 3 were won by MSSW.

In the best manager event also we took the limelight as three of our student including me :-) have reached the final round that takes place this week. Wish us good luck :-)

Thanks a lot :-)

It's been more than 2 years of blogging. In the process I have learnt quite a bit and made new friends who continue to inspire me. But the biggest propeller to continue blogging is something else.

I must admit that it feels humbling and empowering when friends start blogging and acknowledge that I had a little influence on them.

Two of my close friends, Arvind Srikantan and Ria Dua have started blogging. They both are brilliant, passionate and keen observers.

Check out their blogs!!!! [Click on their names appearing at the top to know more about their posts].

26/11/2008- Memories have not faded....

On 26/11/2008 I was comfortably sitting in my house in Chennai and was a mere silent spectator of the News TV shows which were providing live coverage of the massacre that swept Mumbai.

Hundreds of innocent people were held hostage by terrorists having horrific purpose in their minds, some of the prominent and iconic buildings in Mumbai were burning in fire and so was the soul of many Indians.

Even days and months after the incident my local train journeys to college, occasional dinners in luxury hotels and even violent scenes in movies used to remind me of what the hostages went through in the Taj hotel or Trident hotel or the railway station etc. I must admit the feeling was scary and sad.

It was a tragic incident which we would like to forget but we better not. We better not forget it for the sake of the brave NSG commandos, Mumbai police and many more people like the staffs in the hotels who redefined professionalism and patriotism.

Along with rage, remorse and hope this incident gave birth to Indian heroes for whom we feel extremely proud. No matter how much we thank them, it will still not be enough.

It also brought together political parties to brainstorm beyond party agendas and forget inter party rivalries for a little while in order to deeply think about National cause and security.

Many promises by political leaders were made and I hope that at least some of those strategies to tackle terrorism have been executed well enough.

We Indians have shown immense courage to bounce back and progress but in the midst of all these developments I realize that the best thing which has ever happened to me is the fact that I am born as an INDIAN.

However I feel a little silly and very ashamed that why did it take an incident like 26/11/2008 to occur in order to have this wonderful realization in me?

I dont have an answer. I can only say 'Jai Hind' from the bottom of my heart.

Extremely encouraging words from a very promising blogger & buddy

Raakesh Mohan is one of the brightest person I have known for the past one year since we met in the MMA National Debate Finals. We both had infact lost the finals after giving a tough fight to the winner but I do not regret participating there at all. Firstly bacause I learnt a lot there and won a great friend 'Raakesh Mohan'.

Raakesh has started writing his blog which seems very promising. Visit www.raakeshmohan.blogspot.com to know more about his writing.

He has been extremely kind by writing a few words about my blog in his first post. I really do not know if I deserve it. Here is what he says:

'Writing is not as easy as you think or at least as I thought. BELIEVE ME!! I realized it is a tough job during my unsuccessful attempt last time. It needs lots of work and dedication, pretty new words in my dictionary. So I take this opportunity which I created with the help of Mr. BLOGGER to appreciate these young yet legendary writers for what they are doing.

On the top of the list of friends who inspired me is Saikat Saha.Man oh Man People call him a HR prodigy for nothing. His passion for life and Human resource is splashed all over his blog. Just one visit tells you that this guy is a revolutionary thinker. Please visit him at http://ideatezone.blogspot.com .'

Thanks Raakesh :-)

Jai Ho Indian Army!!!!!

It's been 10 years since the Victory of the Indian Army during the Kargil War. Many gallant officers and jawans sacrificed their lives for Mother India. Many parents,wives,children also made huge sacrifice in the process. We knew all about it then and we still know it. It's the 10th anniversary of Kargil Victory today and we remind ourselves of those huge sacrifices by the brave Indian Army again.

However, merely knowing all about the sacrifice and occasionally reminding ourselves of it will not be enough to pay our true tribute to them.

We need to realise how it feels to go through years of tough training to join the armed forces. We need to realise how it feels to stay away from family and consider the entire troop to be one's family. We need to realise how it feels to guard the nation in snow peaked mountain against enemies so that miles away from the border a kid can feel the warmth of sleeping in his mother's lap. We need to realise what it feels like to make death look so easy so that we civilians can lead an easier life. We need to realise that when these brave men put themselves in insecure circumstances, we can lead a secure life. We need to realise the pain of bullets entering our body or bombs shattering our body parts.

If we can realise this much then there is still much beyond...not to be realised alone...but to be done...

Whatever proffesion we persue, let's persue it with greater integrity and greater sincerity in the persuit of making a Stronger India. As a HR proffesional in the making I feel that is the best way we can pay our true tribute to those brave army officers and jawans.

Thanks Mother India for blessing us with such brave Army Officers and Jawans.

Jai Hind!!!!!

Conditions Apply...

I am back after watching a very engaging play called 'Conditions Apply' starring Mandira Bedi & Darshan Jariwala [directed by Vikranth Pawar].

It was a pleasure watching both Mandira and Darshan act. The play revolved around the life of the two charachters played by them. Both led their conflicted life in such ways that it left them confused,amused and worried. They had their own wierd ways of infusing sanity in their lives but their efforts made them all the more insane.

I am not going to review the play in this post but share a little thought on what I learnt from the play.

Sometimes we focus too much on what we want in our life ie love,money,success,fame etc. But we do not realise that everything in life comes with a 'conditions apply' tag. We get so carried away with our wants that we overlook the 'conditions apply' tag.

Simmilar to the advertisements in newspapers which talk about ultra attractive offers but often with a small 'conditions apply' tag in the end.

That 'conditions apply' tag suddenly seems unreasonable.

So, it becomes important that we give due focus to the 'unreasonable conditions apply' tag which we often miss out.

For any unreasonable want in life, there is an unreasonable 'conditions apply' tag.

All the best with your dreams in life *

*Conditions Apply: You gotta stop dreamin and start sloging ;-)