Friday, March 5, 2010

life can't all be lemons...

and sometimes things will go wrong
your greatest desires will seem
to be on the verge of crashing down,
but you won't give up,
you'll go on and try,
because life is all about reaching
where your heart desires.
some people get it easy, some don't,
but when it will happen,
and you will achieve your
long-held dream,
there will be no one happier
than you, only till the next
dream comes along.
to smile and still embrace life
and not to lose hope,
to try alternative ways
is what will get you
where you want to be.
sometimes things take time
sometimes you almost lose hope
and then see a shining ray ...
know that life is not all lemons
and love and happiness
will also come your way ...

Pallavi Narayan

The Common Man

I am one of them
I am the common man

Somewhere here I do reside
And with a pinch of salt I take-on the ride

There are enough hurdles
But I always put my best stride

The dust, the stones, the silt and the tar
All are pushed aside
I break all the barriers that may arise

Everyday I pass from here
And I have seen the river’s demise
Slowly, not suddenly did it happened
But none of us realise

Yes, I am one of them
I am the common man

Jasmeet Singh

RELEASED

a lemon being squeezed
juice sluicing into a glass

whirling wheels of a flying cart
behind hooves hammering into the dust
mud
stone
and grass

The steppe is green and vast
with an endless horizon
under the clear, blue sky

He has come far –
opens his fist
and goes the puff of wind off, free –
gone

The calloused palm remains ever open
never to close again

Thoithoi Pukhrambam

LIVING ROOM

hope splattered on the floor,
walls and ceilings smudged

whispers
low moans
silent, eerie smiles –
a muffled hustle, all the time.
him in bed, eyes always closed
silent, still – ever

Since the door was closed last
the wind has not moved
into and out of the room –
Only the muffled inquietude.


Thoithoi Pukhrambam

Thursday, March 4, 2010

If it wasn't for dear, dear Calvin...

Do you remember the lines, 'What is this life if full of care, We have no time to stand and stare...'? Chances are, most of us do and the thought bubble coming up in everyone's head says, 'Yeah, right. But where's the time?' Well, my fellow sufferers of the urban-office-to-home-choc-a-bloc-busy-busy life, there's one panacea of troubles I could suggest.

Meet Calvin from 'Calvin and Hobbes', oh! you couldn't find another darling to put all your worries and frustrations to rest (just count on his parents, they'll handle it just fine). Over the years, of reading his strips I have now graduated to books of him and every night before going to bed I treat myself to a little dose of him and I sleep with a smile that takes care of a pleasant morning the next day.

Not to forget, his philosophies are mind-numbingly thought provocative. I bet you'll be thinking about it for a long period of time. Take my suggestion, reach out to Calvin and reach out to a life we miss everyday in the hustle and bustle of grown-up practicality.
Now, of course a little teaser, a little temptation goes a long way to ensure that suggestions are followed. So, here you are, Wisdom Bites from Calvin and Hobbes:

I like maxims that don't encourage behavior modification.


Weekends don't count unless you spend them doing something completely pointless.


A little rudeness and disrespect can elevate a meaningless interaction to a battle of wills and add drama to an otherwise dull day.


Life's disappointments are harder to take when you don't know any swear words.


That's the difference between me and the rest of the world! Happiness isn't good enough for me! I demand euphoria!


In my opinion, we don't devote nearly enough scientific research to finding a cure for jerks.


I'm not dumb. I just have a command of thoroughly useless information


Calvin: I'm a genius, but I'm a misunderstood genius.
Hobbes: What's misunderstood about you?
Calvin: Nobody thinks I'm a genius.


"Why isn't my life like a situation comedy? Why don't I have a bunch of friends with nothing better to do but drop by and instigate wacky adventures? Why aren't my conversations peppered with spontaneous witticisms? Why don't my friends demonstrate heartfelt concern for my well being when I have problems? ...I gotta get my life some writers."


Calvin: "I'm a simple man, Hobbes."
Hobbes: "You?? Yesterday you wanted a nuclear powered car that could turn into a jet with laser-guided heat-seeking missiles!"
Calvin: "I'm a simple man with complex tastes."


Calvin: "I'm not going to so my maths homework. Look at these unsolved problems. Here's a number in mortal combat with another. One of them is going to get subtracted. But why? What will be left of him? If I answered these, it would kill the suspense. It would resolve the conflict and turn intriguing possibilities into boring old facts."


Hobbes: "I never really thought about the literary possibilities of maths."
Calvin: "I prefer to savour the mystery."

Susie: You'd get a good grade without doing any work.
Calvin: So?
Susie: It's wrong to get rewards you haven't earned.


Calvin: I've never heard of anyone who couldn't live with that.

Dear Santa. Why is your operation located at the North Pole? I'm guessing cheap elf labour, lower environmental standards, and tax breaks. Is this really the example you want to set for us impressionable kids? ...My plan is to put him on the defensive before he considers how good I've been.


Hobbes : "What are you doing?"
Calvin : "Being cool."
Hobbes : "You look more like you're bored."
Calvin : "The world bores you when you're cool."


Best regards,
Rima

Knowledge Management

What is Knowledge Management?
Knowledge Management, as we all know, is not a technology or a set of methodologies, it’s truly a practice or discipline that involves people, processes and technology. If implemented correctly with cultural buy-in from users and management, plus clearly defined goals, a KM initiative can improve the productivity and efficiency of an entire organization.
Knowledge Management for Service and Support
A successful knowledge management initiative within a help desk can reduce training time and speed new employee ramp up. Customers and end-users also benefit when they have direct access to a knowledge base to solve their own issues without ever contacting a helpdesk.
Ten Principles for Knowledge Management Success
1. Knowledge Management is a discipline. - Knowledge management is a discipline. Creating content is not a one-time project. Also, over time the content must be updated
and supplemented as new products or services are supported.
2. One champion is not enough - To be successful, your project must have several champions within the organization. These are individuals that believe in the project,
enthusiastically advocate it and have the clout to “make things happen.”
3. Cultural change isn’t automatic - Include some people from the various groups that would directly or indirectly use the system. Sometimes there is a fear that knowledge management will be used to
replace people. If staff thinks that is what we are trying to do, then we really need to address that head-on.
4. Create a change management plan - If employees are not already sharing information, you will need a change management plan because we are asking people to do their jobs differently. As part of the overall change management plan you need to update job descriptions, feedback sessions and performance reviews to reflect the new workflow. Neglecting to make these changes may foster acceptance issues with your team members.
5. Stay strategic - Knowledge management is a strategic endeavor, not just a project. With KM you are never really done; you initiate it and you build it and then its online and you maintain it.
6. Pick a topic, go in-depth, keep it current - Pick one area that needs improvement or has limited resources, and then build a robust knowledge base for that subject matter.
7. Don’t get hung up on the limitations - Certain types of knowledge are very well suited to quickly harvesting into a knowledge base. KM initiative could be somewhat limited because of the nature of complex knowledge, and thankfully we will always need human expertise
8. Set expectations or risk extinction - A big pitfall is the failure of knowledge management proponents in helping executive management set appropriate expectations. In addition to setting management expectations w.r.t. KM we have to set customer and end-user expectations.
9. Integrate KM into existing systems - When selecting a KM system, consider systems that have open architectures and proven integrations into existing help desk tools to ensure a successful implementation. Integrate reporting capabilities where possible to best understand how the combined systems are affecting the effectiveness of your support operations.
10. Educate your self-service users – Finally you need to educate your self-service users on how to find and access support information online to ensure a satisfying experience. There are many ways to “push” your selfservice out to your end-user audience. Encourage users to visit your online support site by making it easy to find and access the knowledge base.

Sudhanshu Goyal

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Factors that make a book, a sucess


In the business of book publishing many factors come together to make a book a success.
First there’s the author who may not always feel very creative, but can find inspiration anywhere:

 

Sometimes an author can get some hidden help:

 

Once the manuscript is written, it has to be accepted by a publisher.
Here’s where the author first gets direct feedback on his manuscript:

 

Or a more polite response:

 

Sometimes an author takes a more aggressive approach:
 

Once published, a successful author may attract fans of all shapes and sizes:

 
As well as have a significant impact!
 
At the end of the day, it’s great to work in an industry where one keeps learning and has a few laughs along the way!

Cheers,
Priyamvada














World Book Fair 2010

 

  

Samira Junaid

How to deal with rude behavior ?

What do you do when someone behaves very rudely towards you?
Get upset
React rudely back
Get frustrated
Run away and avoid the person or situation
Blame the person
Preach to the person
None of these will in any way strengthen you.

Then what are the options? See rude behaviour in this light:

It indicates the intensity of their commitment
It indicates their stress and insensitivity
It projects the upbringing of the person
It shows a behavioural pattern
It shows lack of knowledge
It shows lack of observation of the mind and its sensations
It shows you behaviour to avoid
It is an opportunity for you to welcome and absorb the rudeness
It strengthens your mind
It reveals the love that you are as unconditional

The next time when someone is rude to you, just give back a broad smile. If you can digest their rudeness, nothing whatsoever can shake you.

Aman Pilani

Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna


Meri Dilli Meri Yamuna is a project for making a difference to our city, Delhi-NCR. It started as an initiative of The Art of Living, but now, is a full blown Citizen’s Action Plan. Dozens of NGOs and Companies have already joined as Partners and more are joining. We are in touch with various Government departments of India, Delhi to join hands and support. Join Facebook to Support
Delhi-NCR needs to be cleaned up – India is at the centre of the world today, poised for global leadership in future – we can’t remain dirty, something needs to happen. Commonwealth Games are in October, and it would be great to present a clean city to the world.
Over the next few weeks, we expect to have 100+ partners, who will together inspire a million citizens to come out and clean Delhi in September 2010. Everyone will be contributing – people and leaders from all sectors of the society will be joining, including the NGOs; Corporate and Business community; Resident Welfare Associations; Defence and Allied Services; Schools, Colleges, Universities; Leaders from Art, Culture, Music, Literature, Theatre and Films; Media, Government, and every citizen of Delhi. Click here to download MDMY materials
http://meridillimeriyamuna.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/mdmy_logo_new.jpg?w=222&h=134
We plan to begin with Yamuna first, our sacred river. Yamuna is immensely important for the economic, ecological and basic needs of the region and its people – but, over the years, it has become one of the most endangered waterways in India. Numerous attempts have not had much success, and there is confusion about what will happen in future.We need to join hands and increase the awareness about cleaning of the river Yamuna – more than half of 3.6 billion tonnes of sewerage produced in Delhi everyday flows into Yamuna untreated! And we are dependent on Yamuna for more than 60% of the water needed by the Delhi region. We are organizing an event on March 7, 2010 in Delhi where the citizens and leaders from all sectors and areas would be participating. This will be followed by a massive cleaning of the banks of Yamuna between March 8-14 by the citizens to demonstrate that it is possible to make a difference’.
 Aman Pilani