The dubious question!

Couples in love seldom drift away. That’s not what the truth is. Certainly not in today’s world where drifting away is so very likely. There could be manifold reasons that remain in oblivion till they manifest themselves in a very unexpected manner. Years of togetherness could come to a standstill not because something went wrong but more so because, you could not find the right reason to be together. That of course isn’t the case with most of the people. Love seems to be reason enough to be together for the rest of your life, bounded by the ties of matrimony. Life can be otherwise for some minute percent of the human population too. People who don’t think that love is enough to sustain a life with someone else for a lifetime. Not that they fall out of love or something like that. It’s just that they want the reason – they want to grow together, both as individuals and as a couple with loads of maturity and understanding in it. When couples have the desire and tendency to explore life together, they seldom grow apart. Couples need to understand the very fact that it is essential for them to have the same zest for enjoying and growing together. That of course comes when you share common aspirations in life with a tang of understanding.

Have I really found the person with whom I can grow together? The question is still very dubious.

Enterpreneurship is like Golf

I was reading one of the issues of Business World and I came across a stupendously realistic article by one lady named Lalitha Amuthan. She brings across an interesting metaphor between playing golf and enterpreneurship. Its about finding one's authentic stroke and you will definitely get it consistently right. Its indeed interesting. If a person doesnt really believe in something, if he doesnt enjoy what he does, no matter how hard one tries, he would not be able to succeed. I mean he may get it but for sure, wouldnt excel in it. Thats what enterpreneurship is all about. Believing in a dream, that passion and then working towards it. It would be quite some time before one can master its nuances but at least, its about moving in the right direction and not the pace at which one is moving. Isnt it?

Writing and Editing

Writing and Editing – two sides of the same coin. Basically similar yet totally different. People say they can both write and edit at the same time. I disagree. I cant. Writing a piece of article and then switching over to edit the same is literally next to impossible. I mean I would definitely be oblivious to the errors, which would have caught my notice otherwise. So I wouldn’t ever say I can write and edit at the simultaneously. But then, if I write an article and then sit and edit something else, it does work out. Ok, lemme put it this way. At my previous job, I scripted my own storyboards and then reviewed (read as edited) the ones scripted by my juniors. It was effective for sure. I mean there was a point of time when I thought I would be better off at only editing rather than writing. But then, that’s not true. I enjoy both in equal amounts. Or probably, I would give a little more weightage to writing. I have to admit it is so very satisfying. I could just spend the rest of my life writing. There is a quote by Issac Asimov that is very apt for me. Here it goes:

If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I’d type a little faster.

Working Class Heroes

Check out John Lennon's version at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njG7p6CSbCU

Check Green Day's version at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttTUT1maGdY

My personal favourite would invariably be the one by Green Day- more political, I would say! Whats yours?

Online Media - Boon or Bane

It has been quite some time since online community sites have come into existence. And they have picked up with great pace as well. Orkut, facebook, Hi5, Minglebox to name a few. It obviously has the advantage of getting people to be in touch with colleagues, long-lost friends and other people we would not have been in touch regularly otherwise. But at the same time, one cannot forego the intoxication of impuritites that has affected the youth today. Say for example, adding unknown people to your friend list - that has a lot of side effects. People are attracted to what is not the real person. The profile picture does not really belong to the same person. More often than not, it is just a representation of what they are or should I more appropriately say, desire to be. Avatars as they are better known are cool replications of borrowed identities. Maybe the real person isnt too good-looking, but to have images that attract another so as to make friends is not exactly what I would have like, but then again, maybe they have something to hide. Well, whatever may be the case, people should defintitely be themselves rather than pretending to be someone they are not!

Welcome MBA

Do I need to say more guys? I am sure I dont! Yeah yeah, its that time in my life when I have just started with my studies again and its certainly not a very good feeling. I mean I love the fact that I am studying and all but at the same time, I am kind of sceptical about the entire thing. You know, getting back to studies again after more than 2 years and wanting to get good grades coupled with the tremendous learning that I am looking forward to.. well, the pressure is humongous!! You can for sure take my word for that. But who cares? I dont for sure. When I mean to do it, I will do it. Wish me luck guys (assuming this blog of mine has readers) ;)

Career move

Does working in a smaller organisation in the initial days of your career serve the purpose? Does it give you the exposure and the opportunity to learn more and more things? It sure does. At least, it did in my case. I started my career as an Instructional Designer in one of the leading companies in elearning. But sometime down my first job, I realised the need to join a smaller organisation and get a chance to learn, with more responsibilities. Having decided on that, I moved on and needless to say, that whatever I know today can be credited majorly to this career move that I made. Good decision!!

Top 10 newsmakers in 2007

I know its a little late to come up with this blog. I mean its mid feb of 2008 and am still talking about 2007. But what the heck? Here it is anyways..
1. Shah Rukh Khan for many reasons ranging from a power-packed performance in Chak De India to his 6 packs in the tailor-made OSO. Leaving that aside, SRK popularized himself as a brand synonymous with Hyundai but could not live up to the charm and charisma of Mr. Bachchan, in KBC 3.
2. Chak De India which became the unofficial anthem that had both the masses and classes of India all geared to make it big in all possible sports.
3. Team India and M S Dhoni for winning the first T20 World Cup defeating arch rivals Pakistan in the finals and not to forget, the wonderful victory over Australia en-route.
4. The Sensex for touching the record-breaking 20,000 mark and giving a lot of scope to investors.
5. The Abhi-Ash wedding which made more news and had even more coverage in the news channels than anything else which is public and sane!
6. Prakash Karat for being the only ever marxist, almost killing the much awaited Indo-US nuclear deal and becoming a famous political actor in the process.
7.Ratan TATA for steering the largest acquisition of an overseas company by an Indian biz house when Tata acquired the Anglo-Dutch steel maker Corus.
8. Sanjay Dutt for bringing the 1993 Mumbai blasts to the front and also his stay at the Pune Yerwada Jail.
9. Mayawati for rising back to the political scenario in UP and single-handedly steering BSP to power again.
10. Deepika Padukone for being the new face in Bollywood after a dream debut with King Khan in OSO and the link-ups with both the stars of Indian Cricket - M S Dhoni and Yuvraj Singh.

The AC is driving me crazy

You bet, the AC is for sure driving me nuts. Yes. It is. I am trying to get used to but then the very fact that I am born somewhere near the Tropic of Cancer doesnt really let me get acclimatized to the cold surroundings, be it natural or artificial. The mercury has been dipping really low for the past couple of months here in Pune and to top it all, my home is nothing less than a cold compartment in itself. There are times when it gets so bad that I find it better to climb upto the terrace and enjoy the warmth outside even if its past sunset. The other place where I get to suffer the wrath of man-made tortures is my workstation which makes me freeze eternally. Too bad for me people. I am for one among those who is desperately waiting for the season to change. Come come spring!

Writing for self

Writing has always been something that makes me feel delectable and contended. My passion for writing dates back to the time when I used to drag myself to school and used to get caught by my mother writing stories and articles when she asked me to study. College days brought more avenues for writing to the forth. Eventually, I start off my career as an Instructional Designer. Its even better.. I get paid to write and to conceptualize things.. something that I could dedicate the rest of my life to. Notwithstanding this fact, I have some deep and sincere cravings that are churning a whirlpool within me. I feel its time I write for myself. Well, if you are wondering what that means, I want to write not for anyone (in my life, the client whose project I am handling) but for myself. And when I say that, I mean it. I want to author a novel and be one of the writers in the Indian writing scene who is ultimately known for being able to write sensibly and thoughtfully. I want to harness my thoughts and weave good stories from my imagination and put it on paper. Express my innermost thoughts and let the world be the critic. Good or bad, I long for people to opine about what I write. Well, the blog does serve the purpose to some extent but then, print media is my first and eternal love.

Instructional Designing as a career in India

I have been wanting to write this for quite sometime now. But something or the other has kind of stalled the coming of this post. Coming to the point, am talking about Instructional Designing as a career in India. Yes, it is booming. In the current scenario, its not not just the elearning companies but also BPOs, banks and software companies which are on a recruiting splurge for Instructional Designers. Youngsters start their career as a Trainee ID and move on to become Senior IDs and eventually may be a Project Manager or an elearning specialist. Sounds pretty lucrative! I know. It did to me as well when I started off a couple of years back. But at the same time, the grass is not all green. IDs in India are highly underpaid in comparison to their counterparts in other parts of the world. This can be attributed to the probable lack of skills in Indian IDs. Basically, most of the IDs in India are in this profession without any formal degree on Instructional Designing. But in other countries, people have a Graduate or Post-Graduate degree in Instructional Designing before they start working. I guess to match upto their standards and learning requirements, it is highly important for IDs in India to undergo some training in the same. Gear up IDs!

The actual journey has begun

These were the words of the winner of the Times India initiative, Lead India - R. K. Mishra. Originally, these words belong to his opponent, Nanavati. But thats another story. Mishra won the much coveted award after presenting his public partnership model along with his dream to start a dairy farm in his village Sonari in UP. Having very humble backgrounds, Mishra is an IITian and later studied at the Tokyo University. But this certainly did not deter him from wanting to go to his native village and help the people out there. My question - will this actually work?? We will have to wait and watch.

Overjoyed

Thats exactly how I feel right now.. overjoyed! The reason -...well, no prizes for guessing man! My bro' is back and am on cloud number 9. Its like blood running in my veins has come back.. I just dunno how to feel. Other than this sense of complete happiness.. something beyond measure and sans the quality of being expressed.