Salaam Namaste

US President George W. Bush, realizing that India would emerge as a great economic power in the near future, had asked Americans to learn Hindi. But the question is do we ourselves feel confident while talking in our national language. In a way we are very flexible nation which does not bother other countrymen with their difficult national language (e.g. Japan, China, Germany, etc) but this doesn't mean that we just leave it away just like others. We have got rich epics and works of great writers in Hindi (Premchand, Soordaas). We must take active efforts to pass it on to coming generations on India and the world.

Few days back in a seminar few French speakers opened the session with warm Namaste which was rather unusual for most of us. I am not pro-saffronist who insists on Hindi billboards and name plates but as a proud Indian each one of us must take attempt to preserve our rich culture and language.

Quick Note: A country which doesn’t feel proud about its history can seldom create history.

Wireless World

This term is often used but seldom realized. Even though technologists are trying real hard to free this world from entangles of cable but very little success is achieved so far. But these two innovations might help in removing long-long cables from our homes.

Cables behind TV may soon be obsolete by new Wi-Fi chip developed by IBM. All the bulky cables will become obsolete. Cable operators will give access of particular channels to particular Wi-Fi chips. Time is not far when we have to pay monthly charge per channel rather than complete monthly package in which there are many unnecessary cannels as well.

Intel is planning to deliver broadband through power lines. Regular data will be transferred @ 200 Mbps while audio / video files will be transferred @ 85 Mbps.

Now only thing that can completely take away all the wires from our lives is wireless electricity transfer. Will it be possible?

Passing Joke: What will you call a person who does not use condom?
Daddy.

Versus

In many a times in our day to day life we use the terms interchangeably without paying attention to their actual differences. They are:

Loneliness Vs Aloneness:
Loneliness is a negative state when you are missing somebody, while aloneness is a positive state where you enjoy being with yourself.

Sports Vs Games:
A sport is a physical activity carried out under an agreed set of rules, with a recreational purpose: for competition or self-enjoyment or a combination of these. A game is a recreational activity involving one or more players, defined by a goal that the players try to reach, and some set of rules to play it. Games are played primarily for entertainment or enjoyment. The difference of purpose differentiates sport from game, combined with the notion of individual (or team) skill or prowess.

Job Vs Placement:
Job is something you do to get engagement and earn money in life. Placement is something you aspire to apply your knowledge and skills. Main aim is not to earn money or get engagement. It is more do with satisfaction which you derive by doing that job. That why many say that they got the job but only few says they are placed.

Light Note: What will you call Imran Hashmi? A Serial Kisser

10 Down

Nothing is permanent but the change. But some objects become so much part of our life that we start thinking that they are eternal. It is not survival of fittest but fitiest (which can fit in the changing surrounding conditions). So the products which failed to change themselves with changing times either became obsolete or vanished. Even though these products once upon a time ruled our day to day lives but they could not survive the changing times. Here are few of them:

1) Ambassador car: Amby, once upon time was status symbol on Indian roads. It ruled Indian hearts for quite a long time. But with the arrival of better cars from US, Japan and Korea, Amby is now decoration of few ministerial bungalows and defense colonies.

2) Public Call Office (PCO): These black-yellow boxes are getting killed by cheaper cellular services and mobile phones. Thanks to telecom boom.

3) Beauty Pageants: Five beauty queens in three years and saga is over now. It was a very good strategy adopted by foreign beauty product brands to enter India and lure Indian females. Now they have changed the rule of the game. Instead of choosing one beauty from lakhs of Indian beauties they are now making each one of them beautiful by selling their products.

4) Countdown shows: Countdown shows were like salt and pepper for every entertainment channel of India in 90's. The impact was so much that children started counting from 10 to 1 when asked to count.

5) Indi-pop: Daler Mehndi, Baba Shegal, Alisha Chinoy, Apache Indian got early bird advantage in Indian pop music. They stayed for almost a decade but their music became cliché after some time.

6) Pool Parlors: A few years ago, there was a sudden emergence of pool parlors in every neighborhood of major cities in India. It became craze among teenagers not only in cities but also in semi urban areas. But they vanished shortly after making some quick money.

7) Pagers: When Pagers came into market people liked to flash them with a pride. Now they find no place even in lowest strata of society. Even auto rickshaw driver uses mobile phone.

8) Mopeds: Luna, Hero Majestic, Avanti were princess of Indian roads. Now they moved from showrooms to museums just for the display to the future generations.

9) Dalda: This product enjoyed top shelf in Indian kitchen for almost six decades. Over the years, Dalda lost out to cheaper edible oils; also due to concerns of it causing a hike in bad cholesterol levels and heart problems.

10) Pokemons: Pokemons (abbreviation for Pocket Monsters) are miniatures of children superheroes. If you want to sell any children products just give pokemon with it and the product will be a hit among children. But now days kids are smarter than we think. You can't fool them anymore.

Unless manufacturers of products learn the lesson "To exist is to change, to change is to mature, to mature is to go on creating oneself endlessly." they cannot survive in the future.

Quick note:Anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

Staggered Weekends

There was a time when Indian definition of weekend was Sundays starting with Rangoli & Great Indian Epical soaps in the morning. But with more and more MNC's coming in India and with increased purchasing power of Indians we are in the era when weekends start right from Friday evening. Lots of things are planned for weekends and certainly watching the idiot box (TV) is last thing we do on weekends. Since weekends are special for everyone most of the weekend zones are jam and packed.

Normally people go to Discos, Restaurants, Malls, Multiplexes etc on these days. So at the end of every weekend, each one of us end up blaming the crowd at these places without even thinking that we also contributed to the same crowd. So what is the solution for this problem? Only solution seems to be staggered weekends. Staggered weekends means there will be weekend off on different days for different companies. So with the same infrastructure we can get our private spaces (which we desire) and enjoy our weekends peacefully.

Advantages:
1) Lesser crowd in Malls, multiplexes and restaurants.
2) No traffic jams near weekend zones and on roads.
3) Ample parking places for vehicles.
4) Round the week business for weekend zones.
5) Stable labor (human resource) demand at malls and multiplexes.

Disadvantages:
1) All the people won't be able to meet at weekends due to different holidays.
2) Difficult to enjoy the weekends at the same time when all the family members are working for different industries.
3) Employees at malls and multiplexes would become busy through out the week.
4) Difficult to get the feeling of real weekends on the days other than Saturdays and Sundays (psychological)
5) There won't be seriousness in work when someone is working while his/her friends are enjoying outside.

So there are pros and cons of the staggered week system but to reduce to load on existing infrastructure, companies and government have to find some middle way and give their people a good life which they deserve.

Quick Note:
Little neglect may breed mischief:
for want of a nail the shoe was lost;
for want of a shoe the horse was lost;
for want of a horse the rider was lost;
for want of a rider the war was lost.

Do you have it in you ?

IQ is the measure of intelligence of a person and EQ is a person's ability to understand his own emotions and those of others, and to act appropriately using these emotions. But are high IQ and EQ alone sufficient to make a complete personality?

Good looks are god's gift. But even an average or not so good looking person can win attention just by keeping himself neat and tidy or wearing a nice cheerful smile. Conversely if a good looking person does not take care of looks, his personality turns repulsive. I remember a nice advertisement of a beauty parlor which says "A bad haircut may make look you dumb" and showing Albert Einstein's photograph. It is well taken that there is no substitute to a good brain but if a person can enhance his personality just by putting some extra effort it is yo-yo.

People with nice personality are welcomed everywhere. Thus, the way a person keeps and carries him is known as Style Quotient.

Elements of Style Quotient are:

1) Clothing.
2) Haircut.
3) Body Odour.
4) Accessories (which goes well with overall dressing).
5) Smile and Etiquettes.

So next time, if you want reach someone's brain try the route through his heart.

Quick Note: People don’t change when you tell them there is a better option. They change when they conclude that they have no other option.