Time flies!

When my father tells me that when he was 20 years old, a telephone on the wall with a rotary dial was a status symbol in a household, I smile, and don’t think much of it because my father was 20 years old more than 40 years ago and progress over such a long time is only natural. When my brother tells me that when he was 20 years old, a cell phone was a giant, unwieldy instrument that was a status symbol in a household, I can’t help but marvel at progress. My brother was 20 years old only 10 years ago, which means that in only a decade, progress in cell phone technology has converted a giant, unwieldy instrument into a sleek easy-to-carry device while shrinking the world. Advances in this field have changed the way the world functions by bringing people together without the need for physical proximity. Mobile phones started to become popular and available in India during my years in high school. Cell phone instruments and communication facilities, that used to be expensive and considered luxuries, were increasingly becoming readily available to everyone. That was a sign that the technology involved was making rapid progress to offer good services at affordable prices.

Little. Yellow. Different

What do you think is so attractive about corn? Is it the shape and color? Or is it the taste? When you think of corn, what initially comes to mind is probably something edible: creamy corn on the cob dripping with golden butter, crisp, salty corn chips or sweet sodas. It’s unlikely that you would consider postage stamps, aspirin or imitation silk, but all of these goods are manufactured using corn byproducts. Archer Daniels Midland is one of the largest agricultural processors in the world, turning oilseeds (like soybeans), corn, wheat and nuts into food products like flour, sweeteners and emulsifiers, as well as plant-derived wood preservatives, industrial starches (which become everything from wallboard to glue) and ethanol. Bunge is the world’s largest processor of oilseeds, turning them into such products as biofuels, livestock meal and mayonnaise, while Cargill is a highly diversified agricultural products processor, making such items as soy waxes, vitamins, pharmaceutical coatings, flavoring agents, dairy and meat products.

Let us now stop with the technical aspects of corn. I cannot imagine life without eating corn. I make sure that at least every alternate day, I grab a cup of steamed corn. After all, corn is nutritious and most importantly, TASTY! J

Jai Ho

All of us are familiar with the Oscar award winning movie ‘Slumdog millionaire’. I am sure it was a great hit because of its universal concept. For those of you who do not know the story I will brief it to you. Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) may not have a penny to his name, but that could all change in a matter of hours. He's one question away from taking the top prize on India's most popular television game show, but as with everything else in Jamal's life, it isn't going to be easy. Arrested by police under suspicion of cheating, Jamal is interrogated by the authorities. The police simply can't believe that a common "slumdog" could possibly possess the knowledge to get this far in the game, and in order to convince them of how he gained such knowledge, Jamal begins reflecting back on his childhood. As young boys, Jamal and his older brother, Salim, lived in squalor, and lost their mother in a mob attack on Muslims. Subsequently forced to rely on their own wits to survive, the desperate siblings fell back on petty crime, eventually befriending adorable yet feisty young Latika as they sought out food and shelter on the unforgiving streets of Mumbai. Whether Jamal finally answers the last question for winning the prize money is the climax. Well it is predictable that he wins the money. Along with the money he also wins back his love Lathika. And they live happily. 

Such a story with brilliant screenplay should have definitely won the Oscars. Well it did. But I still wonder if such a movie directed by any other person other than Boyle would touch so many lives. There are undoubtedly great directors but considering Boyle’s previous genres of movies this was definitely a child’s play for him. It is a brilliant union of amazing technicians coming together for creating history!

Jai Ho!                                                                  

Human Resources

After close to 20 years of hopeful rhetoric about becoming "strategic partners" with a "seat at the table" where the business decisions that matter are made, most human resources professionals aren't really there. They don’t have the seat, and the table is locked inside a conference room to which they have no key. HR people are, for most practical purposes, neither strategic nor leaders.

 

Why are annual performance appraisals so time-consuming and very often serving no practical purpose? Why is HR so often the henchman for the CFO, finding ever-more ingenious ways to cut benefits and hack at payroll? In a 2005 survey by Hay Group consultants, just 40% of employees commended their companies for retaining high-quality workers. Just 41% agreed that performance evaluations were fair. Only 58% rated their job training as favorable. Most said they had few opportunities for advancement and that they didn't know, in any case, what was required to move up. Most telling of all, only about half of the workers below the managerial level believed their companies took a genuine interest in their well-being. It’s no wonder then that people hate HR. Why does such a condition exist? Why is HR more often than not perceived as not adding any real value to the organization? 

                                                    

Looking for answers to these questions, we came across the following arguments by people. People enter the field by choice and with the best of intentions, but for the wrong reasons. They like working with people, and they want to be helpful and noble and these reasons thoroughly ticks off some HR gurus. "When people come to me and say, 'I want to work with people,' I say, 'Good, go be a social worker,' " says Arnold Kanarick, who has headed human resources until recently, at Bear Stearns, "HR isn't about being a dogooder. It's about how you get the best and brightest people and raise the value of the firm". Most human-resources managers aren't particularly interested in, or even equipped for, doing business. And in a business, that's a serious problem. As guardians of a company's talent, HR has to understand how people serve corporate objectives. Instead, "business acumen is the single biggest factor that HR professionals lack today," says Anthony J. Rucci, executive vice president at Cardinal Health Inc., a big health-care supply distributor. Human resources can readily provide data on the number of people it hired, the percentage of performance evaluations completed, and the extent to which employees are satisfied or not with their benefits. But only rarely does it link any of those metrics to business performance. How many HR people really view themselves as being responsible for a company’s most valued asset, its human capital? A very select few. Most think their job is to choose HMO (Health Maintenance Organization) plans; plan the company picnic, and do all the low brow tasks that no one else wants to do.

 

HR undoubtedly could play a major role in building the human capital of companies and developing the skills and talents of workers. But they don’t. This is the biggest reason why people hate HR: for all it should be and isn’t. Is this situation unworkable? How can we change this mindset among employees about HR and become a true strategic partner to the business?

My Undergraduation

The level of ardency when I began my undergraduate studies was so high I educated myself on the various technologies in the field of communication even before I was introduced to it formally, by the curriculum. Also, in collaboration with faculty and class mates, I studied brake failure in heavy vehicles, and designed a circuit capable of indicating a glitch in the brake system. Further, in my final year, I worked with a senior professor under the supervision of the department head to design a prototype capable of detecting the fatigue level of the driver, integrating the system with an alarm which is triggered in case the driver is rendered inactive. I submitted this project as my final year dissertation which was recognized by the department and chosen to be one among the best three projects amidst 70 in class. In addition, I presented our findings to researchers and fellow students at several national level technical symposiums, where our work was recognized.

The Wright Stuff

Are you wondering about the title of the post?! I am going to talk about the aerospace industry in this post. It is quite different from the posts I have been writing. But I am doing some research on the industry. So I thought I can share it with you all. The aerospace industry consists of companies which produce aircraft, spaceships and the jets, engines and rockets that propel them. The defense industry produces a complementary group of goods, including satellites, ships and submarines, tanks and armored vehicles, and guns, bullets, explosives and other weapons. These industries are closely allied, with companies frequently participating in both spheres. The aerospace industry makes most of its money by supplying individuals and commercial airlines with planes for business or pleasure. The commercial airline industry is notoriously cyclical, operating at the mercy of the business cycle; factors like the price of airline tickets and terrorism (or the threat thereof) can also affect the number of people who travel by air—and hence the rate at which airline companies purchase new planes. The lucrative nature of defense contracts shouldn’t be underestimated, either: the U.S. government had planned to spend a whopping $480 billion on defense in 2008—give or take the odd hundred million allotted for special items during the year. Since making fighter jets and cargo planes doesn’t require wildly different skill sets, and defense contracts are a generally recession-proof form of revenue, nearly all many aerospace and defense companies have arms that handle both commercial and military production. Major manufacturers of engines for planes include Pratt & Whitney, a subsidiary of United Technologies, Westinghouse and GE, Rolls Royce and Daimler-Benz, which put the vroom in more than just cars.

 

My tryst with Investment Banking

I was absolutely certain that I wanted to be a Fashion Designer like Manish Malhotra. Nothing was going to change my mind. My family disapproved. My grandfather, a fabulously rich Septuagenarian, was an Accountant. He ran his own firm along with my dad, a lawyer, and wanted the next generation to continue in his footsteps. He frowned incessantly whenever I mentioned my childhood dream. Then my nerdy cousin brother, whom I idolized (then, not now), became a CA. That did it. I followed suit. Firstly because I wanted to follow my brother's footsteps and secondly because I did not want to be the odd one out in my family. I also figured I would be more ambitious if I worked hard enough at buying my own private aircraft instead of flying someone else's. A few months into the job, I was miserable. I realized post-mortem examination on numbers was the last thing I wanted to do. That's when I saw Wall Street. A wild film on an ambitious young trader in the eighties in New York. Boy, I loved that movie.

 'Greed is good' is what Michael Douglas inculcated in me. I saw the swank apartment Charlie Sheen lived in with his perfect woman and I thought, that's the life I want. Forget the family footsteps. I decided. I needed to do what I was passionate about now. I got in touch with a senior schoolmate and asked him to help me get a job as an investment banker. After a dozen interviews, where I had close encounters with the inflated egos of other investment bankers, I managed to get myself a job. I think my success at landing the job lay solely in my ability to look most interested as the guys interviewing me spoke blatantly about their lives and the deals they clinched.

 My new life had begun in boutique investment bank.

My final year of college life

During the final year of undergraduate education, I sought admission to graduate programs in schools in the United States and employment in India’s technical industry sector. Many schools, including University of Southern California, offered admission into their graduate programs. In addition, Wipro Technologies, a reputed software company, and Idea Cellular, an Indian tele-communication industry giant, offered job opportunities. With the lure of these jobs and their attractive compensation packages, I decided to stay. While I got a glimpse of the corporate world as a graduate engineering trainee in Idea Cellular, I realized that a bachelor’s degree alone was not adequate for sustained professional and personal growth. As a first step to garner additional education, I enrolled in the Cisco Certified Network Administrator (CCNA) course for which I am attending a training program. It was during these classes that my curiosity was re-kindled and I re-discovered my desire to learn and probe further into the field of electronics and communication. I then decided to re-apply for admission into the graduate program and also took my GRE again as well.

Unexpected encounter!

Today was such a great day. I really want to write about it in my blog. I am a great enthusiast when it comes to sports. I love football and will stay awake through the night to watch any match. I have never tried my hand at playing a full-fledged match though. My friends keep teasing me saying I was not fit to be a fan of his sport when I did not play it. Today after college I went to an ice cream parlor where I came across an old gentleman. He was talking with another person. After he finished speaking to him he walked up to me and asked me if I could drop him to the football stadium located nearby. I do not know what made him ask me that. I was hesitant and then I agreed to drop him. Apparently after I went to the stadium I realized that everybody was waiting for this man to come. He was Pele and I was simply shocked to discover that. I had heard of him before but I had seen him for the first time! He said thanks and told me that there were very few youngsters today who actually helped old people like him. He smiled. That was enough for a life time! One of the most unforgettable days of my life!!

Don't you think so?!

Know more!

There is a serious concern about education in the world today. The kind of education that is given to the children has become so important that parents never think twice before spending large amount of money on it. Of course they can be justified because they wish a brilliant future for their children. But the real concern is that they seldom pay attention to the thoughts and emotions of the children. Sometimes I wonder why we know to read and write. These days we use these skills to read all the glorification of humans failing as opposed to reading some great novel thoughts etc.

I sincerely feel that it is the responsibility of every parent to tell his child the purpose of studying. We, as students study because we want to clear all our exams. But the real purpose is to “know”! Once we have this attitude there can be nothing called ‘bored to study’ or ‘this subject is so irritating’. I think that it is an over dose of philosophy today! It is very late in the night and I will log out now!

Hope you have learnt something valuable today :-)  

Sri Lankan issue

As a responsible citizen of my country I have never let go of any of my duties or obligations towards the government. I have been paying taxes, filing returns annually and been voting in every election. It hurts to see that the same is not being reciprocated by the government. Leave alone the recognition for doing these duties without cribbing. I am extremely displeased with the way the governments of the world are reacting towards the Sri Lankan issue. They are observing a very unhealthy silence that could affect the world peace tomorrow. When the Kashmir issue came up the whole world was silent. When the LTTE issue is havocking lives in Sri Lanka the world is still quiet. 

Tomorrow there will be an issue worse than this and still the so called ‘developed nations’ will mind their own business. There is no point in simply giving worthless statements through the media. What kind of a world are we living in? There should be a basic human emotion that runs in us right? Well, there are some people who always think that as long as their stomach is fed and there is no problem for them they would not get into all this. But my question is what if that person was born and brought up in such a war zone? Why don’t people put themselves in the shoes of those living in such a disastrous place? These questions are often left unanswered! Let us all at least spend about two minutes of our time thinking about this. We cannot wait for the change because we are the change! Be healthy do good work.

College and my life

Well, as high school grads you are expected to know what your career interests are. Whether you want to get into college or move out etc. I was totally confused. I did not know if I wanted to pursue science or take to business. But I was sure of one thing. I wanted to live on my own. Not that I wanted to move out with my friends. But that I wanted to fund my own education from then. I spoke to my parents and some of my mentors from school. They all agreed with me that I was more of a business minded person and asked me to consider taking up something related to commerce. Ok now there was a lot more pressure for me since I wanted to fund my own education. It meant earning something equal to my dad’s salary.

I was thinking of some great business prospects and I ended up combining my favourite pass time with my business. I learnt a classical art form called ‘Bharathanatyam’ that requires immense concentration and stamina. I decided to teach that great form of art to others. Believe me it was a brilliant idea. End of it I had almost 50 students learning from me. It meant more money and great utilization of time. And now I have joined my college. I still continue to teach in the basement of my apartment and it is called ‘Avigna’ dance school. Contact me if you want more information on that! 

Moments in life

There are certain things in life that mean a lot more to us than its real worth. For example, just being able to spend some time with parents is more important than a meeting with a client for some people. For some it is important to pay attention to even the slightest thing when it comes to their spouse like what brand of deodorant she/he likes etc. For me spending quality time with family and friends is a must! Whether it gives others the same feeling or not is a different issue.

I always believe that when you are giving your time to somebody you are giving them that part of your life that you are never going to get back. Such is the importance of time. I have had some quality moments which are very close to my heart. The best conversation I have ever had till now is with my mom about the future et al. Of course I would not make public what we spoke. I am just trying to tell that we should all be aware of all such things in life!

Here’s hoping that your life is full of such lovely moments :-)