Thanksgiving Day !!

I've often heard people crib about the various "Days" like Father's Day, Mother's Day, Valentine's Day, etc etc. The point used to crib is always WHY is there a day required. Why cant the feelings be expressed everyday or whenever needed.

I, however, strongly disagree with the WHY. Firstly, why shud anyone have any objection ? These "Days" are not thrust upon anyone. Everyone has the right to celebrate it or not. If they feel like wishing their father, mother or girlfriend everyday, great for them. However, in today's times people living in the same house also barely get to see one another forget about spending quality time. This dedicated "Day" serves as a reminder that lets give our father, mother or girlfriend, or whoever the appreciation they so deserve. Let's wish them and thank them for their love. In Karan Johar's words....Kal ho na ho !

One such "Day" is Thanksgiving. It is largely a day celebrated in the US. Thanksgiving in the US falls on the last Thursday of November. The occasion always turns into a Thanksgiving weekend. This is wonderful as it allows families and friends to make plans to meet the near and dear from far off places which would not have been otherwise possible with only a day's break. Thanksgiving brings people together to thank one another and celebrate relationships; celebrate life.

This Thanksgiving has a very special meaning for me personally. It is the time that I enter my final week working for Pokarna Limited. I have been associated with the company for almost 9 years and have wonderful memories. I took the opportunity to thank all  my colleagues who have guided and supported me over the years.

The Lizard Attack

I am not scared of heights or depths, water or fire. However, I am shit scared of the freaky cockroaches and lizards. These are creatures that God created in a terrible mood.

Cockroaches have this unique distinction to come from nowhere and go everywhere. However, like most humans, they can be found hanging out in either the kitchen or in the toilets. Lizards on the other hand think they make a great wall hanging. The freaks tend to stand, sit or whatever it is that they do, in one place until we get tired and get the hell out of there. Lizards tend to piss us humans off big time when they make their presence felt on the walls just above the bed or above the toilet seat !! They may seem stupid but they sure know our soft spots.

Earlier today there was this Lizard that announced its presence in our bedroom. The whole family panicked. I felt shivers down my spine.We all got into a huddle and decided that we're going to fight the intruder. We then chased it all around the room but the bugger refused to give up without a fight. We removed one painting from the wall behind which it had taken refuge for a bit; we moved the entire cupboard where it thought it was absolutely safe and finally we prevailed. The intruder was chucked out of the room and we celebrated victory. Victory of good over evil.

Let this be a lesson to the entire freaky community. Dont mess with us !!

The Economist

Thanks to the quantum of my travel during my current job, I was honoured by Star Alliance with the Senator status. This gave me the luxury of using their lounges at various airports. During one such visit to one of their lounges I had a very long time to spend. As I normally did, I hit the bar.....for a diet coke (no kidding) and some snack. I watched TV for a while. After sometime when the news kept on repeating on TV I was forced to look for alternate sources of entertainment. That’s when I lay my hands on The Economist magazine.

The Economist, to me, until that point, was a boring magazine which I couldn’t read for more than a few minutes. However, I was completely hooked on to the mag from page 1. I simply loved the information and data provided. It made me feel so much more confident as a person to know what the heck is going on across the world. I then made it a habit to grab the copy of The Economist at every lounge I visited and even bought several copies.

A few months back The Economist was launched in India. There was a nice offer for subscription for a year which I obviously went for. I have been receiving my copy delivered to my door diligently every Monday. I simply enjoy reading it and try my best to read as much as I can. However, I realised soon that I am unable to devote much time to catch everything in the weekly before the next edition comes in. I have been struggling to keep up pace and have ended up with a back log of 4 weeks !! This back log refuses to go. I feel bad to see a copy come on a Monday when I have 4 weeks of reading stacked up. While I do hope to catch up every month, I strongly feel I will be on track before we hit 2011 !

Negative feedback

After a hiatus of over a month I went back to www.kamaldshah.com. I have always learnt immensely from Kamal, my elder brother. His blogs are addictive. Unfortunately, for a very long time I didn't follow the blog. However, just when I started I came across a very interesting subject on negative feedback posted on this link - http://www.kamaldshah.com/2010/11/on-giving-negative-feedback.html#links

The post inspired me to make a post of my own on this touchy topic. People associated with me in my company would realize why it is "touchy". Anyways, I have been on the receiving end as well as the giving end of negative feedback several times. I always seek feedback and give negative feedback my full attention. I have learnt more from negative feedback than I have from positive. However, there have been instances, many such lately, which I disagreed with. Unfortunately, in these instances there wasn't any scope for a debate as the verdict was given without any hearing whatsoever. This is where I cannot accept a negative feedback. 

I have also given feedback, good and bad to my team several times. Some have taken it very well while some haven't. However, one thing no one can dispute is the fact that I don't listen. Any decision of mine is through deliberation. I firmly believe that a company and its team has to be on the same wave length. There could be disagreements on a few issues which need to be discussed. Everyone has to have a say and everyone has to listen. After all the deliberation the company / team should arrive at a consensus with regard to the direction to proceed on. I believe everyone has his/her own ability. Everyone has something to offer. Negative feedback shouldn't ever be given without an intent of a positive outcome. 

My father's words come to my mind - "Be careful with criticism, liberal with praise."