The Golden Rule says "There are no Rules"

How many times do you think or have thought about knowing the Golden Rules of doing things. Worse, how many times have you got a concrete answer? Leave aside Theories and Pure Sciences including the Golden Rule of Accountancy. When it comes to behavior, success, outlook, achievement, attitude and our life in general do we really have Golden Rules?

Well, I doubt...

I have come across so many people who have achieved great heights but followed a different approach; at times exactly the opposite, but still reached or achieved the same goal/goals. So what does a follower understand who is looking for Six Sigma Perfection in his/her actions and can't afford to lose resources in deviations. Well, does that imply that the Golden Rule is that "There are no Rules". The examples I will be mentioning would be sufficient to prove that the title of this post makes sense...

Mentioning examples of Bill Gates, Narayan Murthy, Sudha Murthy, Mohammad Ali, Sachin Tendulkar, Warren Buffet, Katherine Bigelow etc would not help. I want you to connect with it at a personal level and realize the true logic of NO LOGIC or approach (to success).

Lets talk about academics, since you are reading this, I presume you went to some school. Now since it was a school it would have had a screwed up grading system too. Since std I till std XII you would have witnessed many success stories in academics. Think about it once and you will realize some of them were Geeks who ate, slept, bathed, chewed and vomited concepts and theories, mugged up literature. You also would have come across toppers who were completely chilled out and their parents are yet to be convinced that their (perceived) foolish nut could crack it. Then you would also have come across the ones who were extremely stupid and were always critical of teachers and talked about loopholes in every thing and argued the most. There also would have been assholes who got maximum marks because they were a kin or too cute to resist (Mind you I am not talking about Gender Bias here...).
Now the bottom line is that they were all toppers irrespective of their approach they were all felicitated at the Annual Prize Nights.

When it comes to cracking interviews people have different opinions. Some say "Show all you got", whereas some criticize saying "Show them that you are open to learning and receiving orders, be humble and do not speak much." And the 3rd school of thought says, "Be what you are and if you would suit the profile you will get selected." ha ha
I have seen people who come out of the interview room very excited  "Yahooooooo!!! I said it all, I spoke well, answered all their questions. Made them speechless. Yuppieee... " and when the results are declared their faces are as long as Qutab Minar. Well, the idea is there are no Golden Rules. It entirely depends upon the perception and outlook of the HR and of-course the Job Specifications. One must say what the other person WANTS TO LISTEN TO... without mugging any standard statements.

I had a friend in college who was as fragile as dew drops but when I actually got to know of his credentials I realized he was a National Level Hockey Player and when I spoke to him about his journey through it, He could not think of strenuous practice sessions, or of being coached by the best-est or for that matter slogging in the fields. He just knew it...

My college friend, JP a 33rd rank holder in ICAI Final cracked it in the very first attempt and you wouldn't believe the accounts teacher of my high school who was an MCom and a BEd could not achieve it and surrendered, he got married, produced a couple of children and then attempted again and he could score. Another school friend of mine a student of the same CA aspirant teacher cracked it after 4 attempts before his mentor, though he slogged like hell.... These three had a different lifestyle, different approach and a different attitude.

In government departments, some get their work done by bribing, some by power/contacts and some by massaging the ego of the officers by standing in the Que since dawn till evening with their hands folded and face wrinkled.

Then, how does it work exactly? What should one do? Well, one must follow what makes most sense, which is rational and ethical. Now ethics is a very subjective term. What one might think as ethical can be perceived as a complete NO NO by others.

Thus, my dear friends stop looking for Golden Rules, do what you find feasible and convenient without compromising on passion and dedication and you will end up creating one more Rule for the people who have no idea about the Logic of NO LOGIC.

All the Best...!!!

Money Making is as Simple as Love Making

God says, "Make Merry", but the World says, "Make Money". The irony is people got it all wrong they believe what God said is the Destination and what the World says is the Approach to reach that Destination. Well, let me discard philosophies here and get to the crux of the matter which is Money Making...

Money Making can be defined as a process of generating wealth. A process which requires a lot of brains and little investment OR a process which requires a lot of investment but little brains OR a process which requires both. Now trust me guys its an easy process. The first option sounds apt for people like you and me as we have brains to invest but not much money. Money making process is as simple as Love making, you just need to know your right moves, right time, right intensity and right people. I will tell you about one quick and smart tool of Money making and that is...

EQUITY MARKET: Trust me on this one, I have seen many who made a life out of share trading. We were a group of 16 friends in college (St Xaviers, Kolkata). Out of which 9 were actively involved in share trading. They had everything they needed and all of which was earned through the use of brains and a little investment in the stock market, they started with a modest investment of 25k approximately and soon became regular traders capitalizing on the crazy concept of Share Market. The only difference between them and the rest 7 of us including me was that we did not have the guts, inclination and determination to take the risk and make some money.

Mind you its not very difficult to make money in the share market. I will share some of the techniques with you to give you a fair understanding of how and what can be achieved via share trading.

Technique 1: Identify ONE SCRIP. Study the performance of the scrip over a period of time, record the fluctuations and try and identify as many variables / factors as possible for the fluctuations. Study closely and discard the variables / factors which do not have direct correlation with the market price. Build a relationship and then invest at the right time.

Technique 2: Wait for the BUBBLE to Burst. For Eg: When the stock market crashed in the first quarter of 2008, the scrip value of Banks and IT companies was the worst hit (I too lost a lot of money), smart traders soon capitalized on the same and now when the sensex is touching 19k, I am sure they have had many holidays this season then they ever had in their entire lives.

Technique 3: Look for CONTROVERSIES. Remember the Satyam Kaand, the scrip was trading at as low as 12 per share. Lets take an example: You bought 10 thousand shares @ 12 per share. Total investment equals RS 1,20,000. Now the scrip is trading at 100 plus lets take it to be 100/- per share. Your wealth now would be 10,000 x 100 = 10 Lacs. So the investment was 1 Lacs 20 thousand and the value now is 10 lacs. You created wealth to an extent of 8 lacs 80 thousand rupees in just ONE year . Return on Investment 733.33%. Crazy is int'd. Who and what can give you a return to this extent. Thats the magic of our Stock Market.

Note: Its easy to make money in the share market but its even easier to lose money. Its a fool's paradise but still you need to be a smart fool or else you will end up getting beaten up by your spouse and children for having made them sacrifice on their lavish needs.

So when do you plan to open a D-Mat Account....???

Your Thoughts Determine Your Life....

I am putting up this article on my blog because I thought about it. If I had never thought about it, it would not have happened. The events that happen in our lives, the timing and the intensity is entirely dependent upon our thoughts.

When I say thought is everything I mean that literally everything in your life could be a construct of your thoughts. According to Albert Einstein and other brilliant scientists like David Bohm, it seems reality is nothing more than the projection of thought. Everything in life that we perceive with our 5 senses comes firstly from our habitual thinking. The fact that we all see the same things when we are in a group of people means that collectively our thoughts work together. This togetherness of perceiving the same things makes sense since we know the entire universe is made up of energy vibrating at different rates. Everything in the universe is connected on some level even though it might not seem that way.

Some of us live in the lap of luxury and some of us live in total poverty. Some of us are happy with ourselves and our lives, some of us are dreadfully unhappy and cannot see a way out from the problems that seem to engulf us.

If thought is everything we should able to change virtually every aspect of our life by simply changing our habitual thoughts. Although this is a difficult concept to prove scientifically, you only have to look over your own life and look at the ups and downs you have gone through to see that this concept seems valid. I can only speak for myself but when I look back over my own life I can clearly see how when I am thinking positively and optimistically I have experienced success on so many levels and have felt content during those periods. At times when life has not gone so well, it was my thoughts that let me down, not bad luck or misfortune.

I enjoy reading biographies and almost all biographies are written about successful people, I guess a biography written about someone unsuccessful would not be very successful. There seems to be a common theme with all successful people and that is, they thought about being a success in a certain area of their life long before, perhaps many years before, they became a big success.

One other very fascinating aspect of the lives of many successful people was the fact that in other areas of their life, these super successful people were quite unsuccessful. Perhaps they were successful in their primary field but many suffered failures in their relationships, financially and in other important areas of life. Many of these people claim the same story and that is they never gave much thought to success in other areas of their life other than their primary goal.

If you believe in the concept that thought is everything, you could probably make incredible changes in your life that lead to greater happiness and success. If this concept seems like fiction I guess you just have to leave your life to the winds of fate, but for me I like the idea that my thoughts do control the outcome of my life and I feel I have seen enough evidence over the course of my life to know deep inside that thought is everything.

TRUST ME...

HR Professionals BEWARE...!!!

In my 33 months of experience as an HR, Recruitment, in one of the MNCs listed on NASDAQ I came across a lot of situations wherein I had to compromise on my values to add value to the Organizational objectives. Many a times I found my job unethical, sometimes unjustified and sometimes useless. Trust me when I say this, being an HR completely changes your outlook over a period of time. You become extremely professional. Now the word professional is a mild one. The word most suited here would be 'Curt'. There were days when Human Resource and Resource were used to refer to two different sets of Inputs in a business. But slowly and gradually, the businesses, in pursuit of surviving the competition have forgotten the difference. Now, the scenario is that if you call up your Boss to tell him/her about your inability to come to work, the first thought that comes to his/her mind is "O' F*** One resource short".

Well...!!! Now the Human Resource is very well aware of the roles and responsibilities of HR personnel and their tricks and smart ways of working.

Some call it 'Hardly Required', while others prefer 'Harassing Resource'. What are we talking about? HR = once known as 'Human Resources'. With changing times, the Human got lost somewhere and the Resources are no more accessible. We've all had our rather unpleasant experiences (99% of the time) with this species that every company hires to bring some method to madness.

We've all waited with baited breath for that one call or one email. But they just don't bother to convey the response - especially if it's negative. Here's a lowdown on some common excuses, statements, reasons whatever - used by HR professionals, and what they really mean so you are not left hoping and anticipating for that response for days and even months sometimes.

1. We'll get back to you / We'll call you for the next round
This is that one thing, which is inscribed on each and every HR textbook in college, we are sure. And we are also sure there are special classes on voice modulation and acting, when it comes to saying it. Each one of them practised repeating this one line again and again, even in their dreams. And every successful HR professional has scored a 100/100 on this one.

What it means: You hear this, and it's all over for you. They just forgot to add that 'never' before the 'get back to you'. Never ever even in your most optimistic dreams, expect a positive... sorry... any response from this person ever in your life.

Piece of advice: Move on. There are better pastures to be captured.
2. We are waiting for the top management's decision / The decision maker is not in town
Wow! What a way to shoo away a candidate.

What it means: It means there is no top management. And if there is, they don't even know you exist. This HR professional wanted to break the cliche (refer statement no 1), and came up with this one.

Piece of advice: Google the company's CEO/VP/Director's email id, and send an email to this HR person, putting all the biggies on cc. You might just get someone fired. Revenge was never this sweet.
3. The position is on hold
This one's a classic rage this season. Its origin lies in recession, and this one statement has been ruling the recruitment industry for the last couple of years. You usually get to hear this one after 10 calls to the HR department.

What it means: Forget that you even went to this company for an interview. Put on hold all the dreams you ever had to join them.

Piece of advice: Please move on. It's the classic 'The End' with a different sound.

I am sure there are a lot more innovative words of wisdom some of you would have been subjected to.

But I am worried that this increasing awareness will put the HRs in a situation wherein any smart answer from them will invite a smart abuse...

HR Beware...!!!

Indian Driving Standards...!!!

For the benefit of every Tom, Dick and Harry visiting India and daring to drive on Indian roads, I am offering a few hints for survival. They are applicable to every place in India except Bihar, where life outside a vehicle is only marginally safer.

Indian road rules broadly operate within the domain of karma where you do your best, and leave the results to God. The hints are as follows:

Do we drive on the left or right of the road? The answer is "both". Basically you start on the left of the road, unless it is occupied. In that case, go to the right, unless that is also occupied. Then proceed by occupying the next available gap, as in chess. Just trust your instincts, ascertain the direction, and proceed. Adherence to road rules leads to much misery and occasional fatality. Most drivers don't drive, but just aim their vehicles in the intended direction.Don't you get discouraged or underestimate yourself except for a belief in reincarnation, the other drivers are not in any better position.

Don't stop at pedestrian crossings just because some fool wants to cross the road. You may do so only if you enjoy being bumped in the back. Pedestrians have been strictly instructed to cross only when traffic is moving slowly or has come to a dead stop because some minister is in town! . Still some idiot may try to wade across, but then, let us not talk ill of the dead. Blowing your horn is not a sign of protest as in some countries. We horn to express joy, resentment, frustration, romance and bare lust (two brisk blasts), or, just mobilize a dozing cow in the middle of the bazaar. Keep informative books in the glove compartment. You may read them during traffic jams, while awaiting the chief minister's motorcade, or waiting for the rainwaters to recede when overground traffic meets underground drainage.

Occasionally you might see what looks like a UFO with blinking colored lights and weird sounds emanating from within. This is an illuminated bus, full of happy pilgrims singing bhajans. These pilgrims go at breakneck speed, seeking contact with the Almighty, often meeting with success. Auto Rickshaw (Baby Taxi): The result of a collision between a rickshaw and an automobile, this three-wheeled vehicle works on an external combustion engine that runs on a mixture of kerosene oil and creosote. This triangular vehicle carries iron rods, gas cylinders or passengers three times its weight and dimension, at an unspecified fare. After careful geometric calculations, children are folded and packed into these auto rickshaws until some children in the periphery are not in contact with the vehicle at all. Then their school bags are pushed into the microscopic gaps all round so those minor collisions with other vehicles on the road cause no permanent damage. Of course, the peripheral children are charged half the fare and also learn Newton's laws of motion enroute to school. Auto-rickshaw drivers follow the road rules depicted in the film Ben Hur, and are licensed to irritate.

Mopeds: The moped looks like an oil tin on wheels and makes noise like an electric shaver. It runs 30 miles on a teaspoon of petrol and travels at break-bottom speed. As the sides of the road are too rough for a ride, the moped drivers tend to drive in the middle of the road; they would rather drive under heavier vehicles instead of around them and are often "mopped" off the tarmac.

Leaning Tower of Passes: Most bus passengers are given free passes and during rush hours, there is absolute mayhem. There are passengers hanging off other passengers, who in turn hang off the railings and the overloaded bus leans dangerously, defying laws of gravity but obeying laws of surface tension. As drivers get paid for overload (so many Rupees per kg of passenger), no questions are ever asked. Steer clear of these buses by a width of three passengers.

One-way Street: These boards are put up by traffic people to add jest in their otherwise drab lives. Don't stick to the literal meaning and proceed in one direction. In metaphysical terms,it means that you cannot proceed in two directions at once. So drive as you like, in reverse throughout, if you are the fussy type. Least I sound hypercritical, I must add a positive point also. Rash and fast driving in residential areas has been prevented by providing a "speed breaker"; two for each house. This mound, incidentally, covers the water and drainage pipes for that residence and is left untarred for easy identification by the corporation authorities, should they want to recover the pipe for year-end accounting.

Night driving on Indian roads can be an exhilarating experience (for those with the mental makeup of Chenghis Khan). In a way, it is like playing Russian roulette, because you do not know who amongst the drivers is loaded. What looks like premature dawn on the horizon turns out to be a truck attempting a speed record. On encountering it, just pull partly into the field adjoining the road until the phenomenon passes. Our roads do not have shoulders, but occasional boulders. Do not blink your lights expecting reciprocation. The only dim thing in the truck is the driver, and with the peg of illicit arrack (alcohol) he has had at the last stop, his total cerebral functions add up to little more than a naught. Truck drivers are the James Bonds of India, and are licensed to kill. Often you may encounter a single powerful beam of light about six feet above the ground. This is not a super motorbike, but a truck approaching you with a single light on, usually the left one. It could be the right one, but never get too close to investigate. You may prove your point posthumously. Of course, all this occurs at night,on the trunk roads.

During the daytime, trucks are more visible, except that the drivers will never show any Signal. (And you must watch for the absent signals; they are the greater threat). Only, you will often observe that the cleaner who sits next to the driver, will project his hand and wave hysterically. This is definitely not to be construed as a signal for a left turn. The waving is just an statement of physical relief on a hot day.

If, after all this, you still want to drive in India, have your lessons between 8 pm and 11 am-when the police have gone home and - The citizen is then free to enjoy the 'FREEDOM OF SPEED' enshrined in the constitution.

Do we Always have a Choice...!!!

I was watching this usual action flick on my laptop wherein the lead actress, oops!!! lead female actor kept spreading this message which said "We Always Have a Choice". No wonder by the end of the movie I was convinced that we always have a choice. But when the hangover of the movie was gone I gave it a second thought. Do we Always have a Choice? Really!!! Does that imply we are never option less. Well!! I did a detailed analysis on this, spoke to various people but what I got at the end were perceptions and not facts.

Now, when I am writing on this, trust me I really do not know whether we always have a choice or not. However, I have identified some facts about this which are universal and pervasive. First and foremost is that each and every choice has a cost attached to it. Now, we tend to avoid the choices completely which have a cost which is beyond our scope and we end up saying that We did not have a choice. Having said that, Do we really have a choice all the time? As I mentioned earlier I do not know the answer. Most of the times, when we take certain decisions and if those decisions do not produce good results we end up saying or realizing that there were other options as well. So why is it that we forget to identify other options at the very beginning. Is it because we do not want to deviate or is it because we are too stereotype to venture into unexpected plains? or maybe its because we are careless. The approach of decision making requires one to analyze all the options and then to chose one. However, how many of us can swear on our mums that we do that all the time? Most of the time we just go by our gut feeling. It also depends upon the kind of risk involved. People generally tend to think twice and identify more and more choices when a lot is at stake and vice versa.

What if Ramalinga Raju, the man behind the decline of Satyam Computers comes and says he did not have a choice. How many of us would agree? I do not think any of the readers of this blog would!!!

Now, What if the government of Gujarat says that they had a choice pertaining to the Earthquake which shook the foundations of this state in 2001. How many of us would believe? I think None!!!

Well, it implies that if the problem can be solved by some or the other means irrespective of the solution being under the scope of the concerned person, we say that there was a choice. If the problem can not be solved by any means then we say that there was no choice.

My Dearest Friend's younger sister succumbed to Swine Flu on 28th Sep, 4 days and game over. She had nothing but just mild fever and she was taken to the hospital in the afternoon, by evening she was moved to the ICU and she never came back. My Friend Neha, still can't believe that her sis is no more. Did neha have a choice? Offcourse she had, and that was to pray to God, Alas!!! this choice was not a very good choice or maybe she did not have a choice at all.

With brimming eyes, when we see our near and dear ones go, we crave for one single choice, but we do not get any. This is one situation wherein I feel that we have no choice at all, else we do have a choice but all depends upon our intensity, the risk involved and our dedication to give our best which determines the number of choices we identify to tackle various situations.

Interactive Theater

On 22nd Aug, led by her, I got to know of a theater performance which was scheduled at 7pm in Seminar Hall 1 of our college. It was 6:30pm and I did not know whether to attend it or not as I was feeling very lethargic and a typical action movie on my laptop was all I desired. Something in me, not really sure what exactly, made me get ready and be a part of it. I readily followed that something. To be honest, I followed that strange instinct just to avoid being in my hostel room. In half an hour I found myself standing outside the Seminar Hall 1, the corridor was flooded with the juniors from the new Aug batch. Their excitement was very well justified. I registered myself and entered the hall. It was chaotic, warm and indifferent. I was a little restless since I did not find any favourite people around. I sat comfortably waiting for some excitement.

Little did I know that the next 2 hours would give me so many stunners. I had seen a couple of theater performances in Kala-Mandir in Kolkata during my college days. Never did any of those performance had a lasting impact on me. No wonder I do not even remember the theme of those performances. Thus, I was expectation-less.

To my amazement the hall was soon filled to its full capacity. Honestly, I was not expecting such a good response from the students. Not all were art lovers, in fact some turned up just to have a glance at the chicks / hunks around. Though, I did not conduct a survey but I can very well conclude since my decision of being a part of it was mainly led by this objective.

The show started with a nice, sweet, fat lady trying to tell us what they had in store for us. She mentioned that its not a normal theater performance wherein the actors act as per the script and the audience have no other option but to doze off. That is when she introduced the term "Interactive Theater". It caught my attention and I was curious to know what service differentiation is she talking about. Soon she threw a question at the Audience which said "What comes to your mind when I say CAMPUS? ". The question looked terribly foolish but since the excitement was too much, it overpowered the ability to tag the question as foolish and the audience happily responded including me. Some of the answers were "Sutta", "Horrible food", "Washing Clothes", "Case-Studies", "Friendships", "Chicks", "girlfriends" etc etc. The anchor was satisfied to the core and she left the stage for the actors. Let me first discuss the look and feel of the stage and the actors. The actors were dressed in a white kurta and denims. All of them looked the same except their faces being different. Once the anchor left, one by one the artists started enacting the opinion/views/perceptions of the audience of the word CAMPUS. The most innovative thing about this entire concept was that the actors did not discuss anything before enacting as they were all their on the stage when the question was asked by the anchor. They just did not interact with the audience but among themselves too. The most incredible thing about the entire act was that it looked like someone has planned it to the minutest detail and that the actors have been rehearsing since birth.

There were other such questions and then answers and then enactments. Now, towards the end the anchor asked the audience to close their eyes and think of one event which changed the way they perceived the World. E'one around followed and the magic was working. People actually started stressing their nerves to identify that incident. Now, the anchor announced that she will let one of us to discuss the story to all present and then the same story would be enacted by the actors present there with one of them playing the role of the orator. One of the champs discussed his experience of heart break, how it led to his rise and fall and then rise again. I was bored to the core listening to the story not just because the story was boring but because we are so used to background music in films that the entire story-telling process looked like the worst crime on earth.

I was curious to see how creative the actors can get in enacting the story. Let me tell you guys, I am not able to create even 1% of my excitement through this blog. The actors began with personifications with somone being the clock, someone being the thought, someone the marksheet and someone the binoculars which were used by the lead actor to peep into the room of the lead actress.

Without props, without costumes and without lousy backgrounds they were still able to take us to a ride into our imaginations. We, the audience could actually feel the entire thing going on in our brain like a well directed film. It was INCREDIBLE. I still wonder......