+VE Vibrations

I received a feedback a month ago in office - 'You’re late coming to the office pass negative vibes in the team'. I was stunned!!!!!… The first thought that stirred my mind was – What are negative vibes? Normally I don’t accept any feedback seriously but this one was important because it impacted other members as well. I requested my manager to make me clearly understand this terminology. With no convincing response..... I didn’t gave any marginal importance to this petty issue :)

In this week, on the eve of 61st Independence the Indian boxers brought immense delight in the ongoing Beijing 2008 Olympics games. It all began when Akhil Kumar upset the Russian world champion to qualify for the quarter finals in 54 kg wt category. His strong determination indicated there is only one medal to be won... GOLD. May be this confidence was boosted by Abhinav Bindra first individual gold medal win a week before. In the next two days two more fellow athletes– Jitender and Vijender Kumar followed the bandwagon and qualified for the quarter finals with convincing wins. No doubt their hard work and dedication will bring laurels for the nation but the self-belief was also stimulated by the gold already won. It made them believe that - ‘imPOSSIBLE iS nOTHING’, if one can perform ….others are no less.

The inspiration from another individual can defined as influenced by the positive vibrations. It made me think again on the term - negative vibrations. Finally I anticipated a threat!!!!

It’s obvious that we learn from our team members. I was assured that none of the team members – (Nitin, Puneet, Akhil, Shikar, Vinay, and Pranshu) actually compute the time of my arrival at office and no work was affected as I am usually present before the time of daily morning meeting. The hazardous constituent was my manager. It is obvious that one who adopts her professional behavior at workplace, will soon become socially unacceptable citizen of the society. Before this virus infects me … I insist a roll off from the team and hope others remain cautious.

Comments are awaited from my team members to support my opinion

GOOD Luck to the India boxing champs for the week ahead.

fEAR fACTOR --> Office Phobia

On 2 August, 2005 there was some enthusiasm when I withdrew money from a Citibank ATM. Since then Rs 500 note is seized in my wallet as remembrance of my first salary. It has been 3 long years working since then; however the circumstances have changed and I had preferred to avoid office for the week of 2 August, 2008

Help!!!! I Am Suffering from the Fear Factor -->> Office Phobia

Office phobia for me means willingness to stay at home on weekdays and avoid going to office. I am though assured it’s not the escape from work … but … still there are BIG REASONS for such weird behavior. In this dilemma, I read a published article in Mint - “Knowing when it’s time for you to leave”. The article set out four questions which I answered based on my work experience.

Do you want to go to work every morning? Does the work feel interesting and meaningful or are you just going through the motions to pull a pay cheque?

Money is important, but it is not the only thing. One cannot spend regular hours in office following the daily routine as an obligation only for a salary. Lack of flexibility, most awful working environment, absence of ownership, autocratic leadership are few reasons which may no longer encourage you at workplace. Few thoughts that buzz when there is reluctance while going to office are:

• Monday – ‘Oh no!!! 5 more days to go for another weekend’ …
• Wednesday – ‘Good … 2 days passed…2 still to go…’
• Friday – ‘At last…….. this countdown ends…’
• Sunday – ‘Aahh … another week ahead’

When you’re working only for a job, it’s time to explore other possibilities. However it’s not easy for everyone to quit the job at once because of some responsibilities and dare to face the Indian society.

Second, do you enjoy spending time with your co-workers or do they generally bug the living daylights out of you?

If you enjoy working and respect your peers with whom you generally spend 8-10 hours a day then you feel more responsible for the work. However if there is no companionable between peers, people tend to become more egocentric and these so called ‘negative vibrations’ are toxic. In such circumstances …. ‘Doing good work is like wetting your pants in dark suit. You get a warm feeling, but no one else will notice’

Your manager plays the most essential role in your project analogous to a woman at home i.e. there will be either delight or distress. One who manages the priority of work, understand willingness of the team, dislike sycophants, provides encouraging ambiance following the simple rule – ‘Live and let others Live’ are a pleasure to work with. There are also managers who mismanage resources, desire to gain self importance, artificially inflate issues and make absolute chaos within team. It is sensible to avoid argument with such managers – ‘Don’t fight with pigs. Both get dirty and the pig enjoys it’

Generally female employees (not every single one) are more egoistic and while male (except a few) are altruistic and easy going. (……Based on my work experience till date)

Third, does your company help you fulfill your personal mission?

A company has its own purpose and vision. Not every individual in a company can have similar career graph. It all depends upon the available opportunities within the company and the effort to take hold of them. A worthy employee cannot be always kept away from his rewards for long…..sometimes it is just a matter of time. If an individual’s personal goals are not getting fulfilled for a long duration, its time for him to move ahead at a different path.

Fourth, how you picture yourself in your company after one year

I asked this same question to one of my friend. The answer was – ‘my missing picture in the photo frame’. It’s true for a person who has switched thrice in his 3 years of long career. Generally factors of your sustainability are pay package, preference of location and work. If one has planned to stay in the company for long then ‘Designation’ is of prime importance.

I am still oblivious about my plans and growth goals...… Let me hunt for them.

Currently the prime target is to battle the phobia and demolish the FEAR fACTOR. For now -It's Sunday today and '...Another week ahead.....'

CC Trauma

Credit cards (CC) provide us with option of plastic money and ease tedious handling of payment by cash. Financial advisors generally recommend to restrict its usage as they initiate reckless spending and (if used) not to default on the outstanding bills. Some people still prefer to make payments via credit/debit cards as they provide convenience and reduce the bulk of your wallet. However being solely dependent with the SMART MONEY option sometimes can be chaotic and annoying.

This Sunday I was in Shipra Mall, Indrapuram – considered one of the happening places in NCR region. The disappointment began at JAM ticket counter where we booked tickets for a movie.

:( Only CASH …………............. No CARDS Accepted :)
After paying cash for the tickets we moved to the food court – Bite Inn. There were a variety of preferences to satisfy my appetite but the only constraint was – CASH.

“Sir, we take only CASH”
“सर, वे टेक ओनली कैश” ....
...."सर , हम यहां केवल नकद" .
“Sir, only CASH accepted” … was the murmur at other leading chain of food restaurants – McDonalds, KFC and Yo!China. Finally to our rescue was Cafe Coffee Day (CC-d) where we got the privilege to make smart payment.


All the leading banks are making effort in expanding their credit card business. One may expect 5-7 call in a week for sale of credit cards providing features of % cash back, discounts, easy loan facilities and EMI payment options. But the immediate need is to integrate their services with retails outlets. Also the retail, food outlets should provide customers these benefits. Queuing at a near-by ATM in shortage of cash is not in the best interest of consumer when he has other viable options.
The situation deteriorated the next morning when I had to walk at 4 different ATM locations to finally receive CASH from my account.

Let’s hope for the best in near future …

fEEL LUCky…Always

Right TIME, Perfect STRIKE ...an IMPULSIVE force, positive ATTITUDE – are all ingredient(s) required in a must WIN situation. Hard work is essential, smartness provides the vital edge but – Can you possibly ignore the factor ‘Luck’???

It is obvious that – “if you want to win you cannot afford to lose”. Each individual has its own traits and on THE DAY when strengths accumulate to deliver performance no other can leverage and exploit your weakness. Does this mean that “Luck” is dominant among other factor? … Not in reality. ‘ केवल एक सर्वश्रेष्ठ खिलाड़ी की हमेशा अच्छी किस्मत होती है'

Luck makes association (-- Kismat Connection --) only with those who are proficient. You cannot self scrutinize your performance on this factor. Achiever always competes with self and in such situation LUCK factor is insignificant.

“Success is a journey not a destination” – Luck alone cannot drive your journey throughout. One can always say ‘I’m fEELing LUCky’ and appreciate the competition because you cannot restrict the growth of others but with such mind-set you can always capitalize on your efforts.

hAtRiCk

It gives me great satisfaction and delight to be a part of Sapient since past 3 years. What a journey it has been since 11 July 2005, obviously now long-drawn-out :)

Each weekday it was schedule being late to office, aim to avoid meetings, energize self with coffee mugs, stroll around after lunch and chat with friends. Sandwiched between these daily to-dos’s I have to dig out time for some work – make code changes, update documents; create plans, attend sessions, hold discussion with peers etc. I was fortunate to have worked with some good colleagues - Yatish, Sharad, Bipul, Nikhil, Nitin …and few more.

However, there is some dejection because of the ambiance and current peers. I anticipate few changes around myself. Let’s hope the best things work me

“Find a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life” – currently inquisitive to find this love … but have a strong intuition that NO such love exists.

" R " series

The 4 R's are Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover make a difference and should be applied every day….because you must care and protect the environment around you.

Similarly people should be more jovial and enthusiastic at their workplace and must posses a ‘feel good’ factor for their job. When strained, they should follow the following R’s and make an attempt to renovate the trash.

• 5th R – Rejuvenation
• 6th R – Revitalization
• 7th R – Reinvigorate

However one may not always be successful and other option they have is the selection of the R’s listed below.

• 8th R – Resignation
• 9th R – Retirement
• 10th R – Rest

Next is What?? -->-->> “Reincarnation” of Self

this WeekEND

“What is obvious is usually the most oblivious” - The plans for next week rendezvous at NCR got an initial set back when Mittal was made to work on some task during his last days in Amdocs. Let’s hope he doesn’t make any changes in his itinerary.

Also there are complaints from my friends in Gurgaon (Jha , Jeetu and Sharmji) for not visiting their place since long. Jha however remains occupied on weekend with his brokers/clients and office colleagues. Sharma’s plans are also erratic as a lot depends on his -- “इच्छा”. All your planned activities with him are dependable on this factor. No one can elude his “इच्छा”.

Still not sure about the plans this weekend but ideal would be to spend some quality time with friends

कारपोरेट Kurkure

कारपोरेट clinches 'देअद्लिनेस/तिमेलिनेस' ,'बैंडविड्थ' , 'कांसर्न्स/इस्सुएस/रिस्क्स', 'प्लानिंग/एस्तिमतेस' buzzed throughout the day.
My restless manager as usual made the environment panic and hackneyed when she exaggerated redundant concerns on certain tasks. We now are habitual in lending our deaf ear to her talks and working on our own terms.

@6:30 PM back home, had bakar time with atul, bansi and pandey bhai along with "chai ki chuski's"

In the night while watching television I learned the corporate TRUTH from the movie '123' ---
Follow 2 rules at office
Rule 1 - Your boss is always right
Rule 2 - If your boss is wrong, follow rule 1

Also watched 'Vishwatma','Sehar' and 'Aatish' simultaneously with bansal. Truly once in front of idiot-box you have the only option to switch channels.

At 1:00 AM it was time to sleep, take rest and gear up for the NEXT day.

Champions Lost

"Never say DIE" was the slogan for the day- 6 July 2008 - as the sporting events were at their best. It was though disappointing as both my favourite’s lost.

Nadal restricts Federer in setting to create history for modern-era record of six successive Wimbledon titles. It was a perfect match with the Spaniard winning the marathon on his 4th championship point. It was a double treat for Espanol as they already celebrated Euro 2008 win in June 2008.
Back home, India continued they miserable performance in cricket finals. It was a second straight final loss in a month. Initially Sehwag made the win for India look easy but no other batsman gave additional dividends.

Let me now begin work in office with some positive attitude (let me try atleast – amidst all fake issues, concerns ...etc etc).
The Sensex has also gained momentum as is already up 300 pts…. Let this WIN stay for me …