‘Fruits’ of Expectations

OK, it’s been a while. With my head forged into challenging course work and assignments and exams, though lots of thoughts came to my mind to blog, they did not travel far. Had an interesting face to face classes last month. It was a usual jiffy mode but this time, in addition to the classes where we explored the business strategies of Netflix, Yahoo, FedEx  Harley, Teva, we had some networking events – a Women entrepreneurial forum where most questions centered around how to juggle a personal life of being a mother and a professional life of being an Entrepreneur (there’s no easy and right answer for this, would be a million dollar question for ages and any answer can never be a satisfying answer), a get together event at one of my classmate’s place – the aerial view of Bay bridge from his place was magnificent. I really loved the walking to school conveyance which took 20 minutes from my classmate’s place where I stayed this time. This time I purposefully sat with folks with whom I have not talked much before or never mingled much. Brainstormed more about patents and if it is worthy enough to share an idea with others. You never know who is watching you – a Venture Capitalist could be watching you and may be interested in your idea (No spoiler alerts! ).

Time passed since the face to face classes and one is coming in few weeks. Though I felt anxious and nervous and struggled with my concentration power or focus in the beginning, I enjoy the B-school ride just not for the ROI it can give me, but for the lessons and knowledge and new things it is bestowing upon me. There’s one big hope that pervades in me – If I can join Babson after few (many?) years of rigorously following it and breathing the dream in and out, why not a startup and becoming a VC?

Ok, OK…I heard you..there’s no logical connection here and that’s why I am going to write about the ‘fruits’ of expectations.

Do you know what’s the most difficult thing in life? Meeting or managing expectations. It holds us through in all walks of life – be it a promotion or love or marriage or family or friends or colleagues or anyone or anything for that matter.

There are only 4 ways to tackle this (pun intended):

1. You cannot expect ‘Apples’ from a ‘Mango’ tree. You got to accept that Mangoes only can come from Mango tree and not Apple. You have to crush that expectation and start liking the Mangoes (could be your family or friends or spouse or kids)

2. Like the early age Tavasees (Not namma Kaptain ‘Thavasi’ and not namma guys’ current hearthrob ‘Tapasee’), you can meditate daily and believe ‘Miracles do happen’ and ‘One day I will get apple from this mango tree’. One day, you may, you will!

3. Be cool and take as it comes – if apples come from a mango tree, why question? You like Apple, so eat apple. If a mango comes from a Mango tree, eat Mango because you like Mango too

4. Be like Mahatma – ‘Be the change you want to see in this world’. Become a Scientist or engage a scientist and put efforts to bring Apple from a Mango tree. Perseverance pays rich dividends. If you really aim for apple from a mango tree, your aims could become fruitful through efforts

I hope you got something out of this and you’ll apply any of the 4 solutions to manage your own expectations and that of others.

Do whatever you can

We need not donate $100 to a charity everyday. But small acts of kindness and good deeds can make our day – Be it helping a blind person to cross the road, giving a bus seat for an old woman, holding the door for a pregnant woman to enter, giving way for a car trying to merge in the packed road, giving the ‘unused’ or ‘never to be used’ book to library etc.,

While we converse daily about very serious issues and concerns of the society, country and the world, we tend to forget or fail to appreciate the small inspirations that we see in our daily life. The small inspiration could come from a neighbor, a friend, a colleague, a family member, a classmate.

“We can do good from where we are, with what we have”. And here’s a life inspiration that truly depicts the above line. [The below narration is from one of the email forwards that I received recently from a friend (Thanks S for sending this)]

Narration of a unique auto-rickshaw ride by Suvendu Roy of Titan Industries, who shares his inspirational encounter with a rickshaw driver in Mumbai.

Last Sunday, my wife, kid, and I had to travel to Andheri from Bandra. When I waved at a passing auto rickshaw, little did I expect that this ride would be any different. As we set off, my eyes fell on a few magazines (kept in an aircraft style pouch) behind the driver’s back rest.

I looked in front and there was a small TV. The driver had put on the Doordarshan channel.

My wife and I looked at each other with disbelief and amusement. In front of me was a small first-aid box with cotton, Dettol and some medicines. This was enough for me to realize that I was in a special vehicle. Then I looked round again, and discovered more – there was a radio, fire extinguisher, wall clock, calendar, and pictures and symbols of all faiths – from Islam and Christianity to Buddhism, Hinduism and Sikhism. There were also pictures of the heroes of 26/11- Kamte, Salaskar, Karkare and Unnikrishnan. I realized that not only my vehicle, but also my driver was special.

I started chatting with him and the initial sense of ridicule and disbelief gradually diminished.
I gathered that he had been driving an auto rickshaw for the past 8-9 years; he had lost his job when his employer’s plastic company was shut down. He had two school-going children, and he drove from 8 in the morning till 10 at night. No break unless he was unwell.  ”Sahab, ghar mein baith ke T.V dekh kar kya faida? Do paisa income karega toh future mein kaam aayega.”

We realized that we had come across a man who represents Mumbai – the spirit of work, the spirit of travel and the spirit of excelling in life. I asked him whether he does anything else as I figured that he did not have too much spare time. He said that he goes to an old age home for women in Andheri once a week or whenever he has some extra income, where he donates tooth  brushes, toothpastes, soap,  hair oil, and other items of daily use. He pointed out to a painted message below the meter that read: “25 per cent discount on metered fare for the handicapped. Free rides for blind passengers up to Rs. 50.

My wife and I were struck with awe. The man was a HERO! A hero who deserves all our respect!!!

Our journey came to an end; 45 minutes of a lesson in humility, selflessness, and of a hero-worshiping Mumbai, my temporary home.

We disembarked, and all I could do was to pay him a tip that would hardly cover a free ride for a blind man.

I hope, one day, you too have a chance to meet Mr. Sandeep Bachhe in his auto rickshaw: MH-02-Z-8508.

Who is your inspiration today? Spend few minutes to draw it from your memory. Have a great inspiring day!

Invest in yourself

In the hustle bustle of life with juggling priorities and responsibilities, we often throw away or overlook the idea of investing in ourselves. The same routine, the same old menial work – we just live the way life takes us thinking ‘money’ and ‘peaceful or balanced life’  is all what we aim for.

How many of us wanted to change our jobs but never had spent time looking for it?

How many of us wanted to get promotions at work but did the same amount of work with the same level of commitment?

How many of us wanted to start a new thing but started and never pursued after a day or a week?

How many of us live in the opinion of others and never ventured out anything that we truly believed in?

How many us have unique potential that has never been utilized?

Almost most of us do. Why do people who have the same ability, same potential, same resources as many of us here became successful in what they wanted to do in life when we struggle to become one or not being able to become one? It’s because they invested in themselves before they invested in what they wanted to do, achieve and become successful.

Here’s a 5 min clipping from ‘MSN Today’ that caught my attention. A session of insightful questions & thoughtful answers from 4 self-made people in their own field. A must watch not only for the change makers/Entrepreneurs but for anyone who wants to excel in life: [Click on 'What brings success?' to watch the video]

What brings success?

My take-away is to continue introspecting 5 mins daily before going to bed and persist on investing in the ideas, thoughts, beliefs, goals that make me.

And, What’s your take-away? 

Randomized…

T20: There are 2 T20s that I want to talk about: India Vs Pakistan. Became an ‘app’ woman – only checking updates from the notifications of the app. While you are busy working, these notifications do help – they do remind you that something else is also going on in this world other than work or school A win against Pakistan if not in hockey at least in the world of cricket draws some contentment. Second T20 is of Airtel Super Singer’s. It was legendary Kamalhaasan’s presence made the show special (DD maadhiri thirumba thirumba naan solla maeten ) I admire him not only for his acting and skills which is a very common justification of being a fan, but also for his pursuits, bold ventures and sincere efforts. If you have watched the show this week, you would have noticed how he enjoyed the music and singing (by nodding and tuning his head and hands to the tunes). That’s the beauty of an artist – enjoying his own as well as others work.

Movie time: Watched NEPV (Needhane En Pon Vasantham) and NKPK (Naduvula Konjam Pakkatha Kanom). Gautham Menon has disappointed me. I am a big fan of his Vinnaithandi Varuvaya and with huge expectations, I watched the movie but it pushed me to a point “Please padatha seekirama mudinga”. It was a totally opposite experience when I watched NKPK. I did not have any expectations other than few friends suggested to watch it. Though I felt the start was a bit boring, the fun part started from “Ennachu? Cricket Velayadinom…” till the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. Vijay Sethupathy has acted very well and so as others. The “Ennachu” disease has stuck me and I keep saying
that word, though neither did I play cricket nor did my Medulla Oblongata is repaired. I would recommend any Tamil movie lovers to watch it – You will have fun, you will laugh a lot, you will feel relaxed and at the end you will feel contended that you spent few hours worthy relaxing and entertaining yourself.

Cash flows: Ha…I always took pride that I am good at Math. With my ‘Financial Reporting’ coursework in progress, my problem solving and analytical skills are being tested. Only with two courses completed in my school curriculum, I feel that being an Entrepreneur is the most challenging and difficult thing in this world. It’s not about focusing on one area, it’s about focusing on almost all areas – Investment, ideas, revenues, people, talent, time, market share, economy, structure, design, employment, opportunity and also a bit of luck and being at the right place at the right time. Though Entrepreneurship is a long way to go, my current focus is only on tackling cash flows, balance sheets and income statements [Hair stands like Einstein's when I do financial accounting assignments. I should at least get pass marks in this course is my goal ]

Innovation: Reading articles, watching shows like ‘Shark Tank’ and ideation does not do any good unless there’s some sort of action involved. Travel industry is the major market that’s being targeted for innovation. Though there are yoga studios and checking the menu and ordering via an iPad in the restaurant seems to be new ideas, I’ve always wondered why not a ‘Red box’ (I don’t own some movies that are recently released and while the flight is delayed, need some form of entertainment to pass time) rental or ‘Book rental’ (I don’t need to carry books or my Kindle or nook) or ‘Toys rental’ (distract or engage the kids while waiting) in the airport [though the ROI may not be that great is a reason behind not having these rentals]?

Innovation starts from observation. Startup mantra is:
1. Finding a problem that YOU currently have
2. Building something that solves the problem
3. Iterating and never stop improving
4. For every iteration, checking if the end meets the means

“Empty vessels make much noise”: SFO women’s startup pitching competition is in Feb 2013. I wish I had an idea, a business plan and a prototype to pitch there, even if it does not scale or win. There’s an Entrepreneurship teaching campaign in Africa led by Babson during Spring break for which I really wish to go and teach kids about Entrepreneurship. I want to take internship in my dream company IDEO. I wish to go to India and work with NGOs for my non-profit start up to have a beginning. Sometimes, it’s like I want to do too many things and end up doing nothing

1 more week of break time and I rather use it efficiently and effectively writing blogs, eating & sleeping, watching movies and listening to music ‘Study mode’ button will soon be pressed after New Year.

Have a fantabulous new year ahead!!!

Zoomed in…

I have not been consistent in blogging since school started, trying to juggle between work, team discussions, classes, meet-ups and assignments. I don’t remember if I started this year on a high note but definitely this is a year that’s ending with many sweet memories, new challenges, intrinsic learnings, futuristic visions, growing bucket lists and much more. I always take time to reflect and rewind to see how things scaled up and this is what exactly I told when my classmate asked “What do you want to achieve personally by doing an MBA?”. My reply was “There should be a difference between how I was when I joined and how I am when I leave. There should be a graphical representation that shows a giant leap of weaknesses that transformed into strengths” All these differences and transformations should align me to make a difference in this world. Pete Cashmore whose blogging turned into a site that is ‘mashable’
today attracting 23 million readers everyday. He considers his success as 1% of what Steves (Woz and Jobs) could do to put a dent in this universe from their garage. My view of life is similar to this – If I could do a 1% difference [subjective] in this world before I die, I would die happily having lived a worthy life. That difference is my dream. That difference is my vision.

Joy of Giving:
This year had been a great year filled with the ‘joy of giving’. Be it donations to ‘Give a book’, ‘CRY’, ‘Petral dhaan Pillaya?’ or buying cookies for seniors or adopting a family for giving Xmas gifts, nothing in this world can beat the feeling of giving a ray of hope, an arch of sunshine, days of happiness to those whom you can never expect or get anything in return. That’s when I decided that I will donate something for a noble cause for my best buddies and close relationships special days like birthdays and anniversaries. In a way, my materialistic gifting to all those people has dwindled but karmic goodness and blessings has reaped.

Vroom:
First trip of the year in NJ and MA spending time with family was delightful (Kids are the best part in life). Then a pleasure and sight-seeing trip to Vegas followed (No gambling but beautiful views of casinos esp. Bellagio’s). Trip to SFO for my friend’s baby shower and spending late nights decorating and enjoying the company of friends with laughter and joy was a memorable one (Did not realize that I may be visiting SFO often after that). Each one of us who long for, get excited about and end up with ‘don’t want to go back’ feeling – The India trip revealed a new me in me (lots of attitudinal shift for good). Trip to Seattle to meet the two tiny ones for their first Birthday – Had a blast mingling with people enjoying the fun times (Happy feeling). And the time with my best buddies for the B’day, roaming in MN, WI and IL (That’s special). Then the first foot at my dream school gave a feeling of pride (That awesome feeling cannot be equated to the words expressed). Later and now Silicon Valley has become my next stop

The flops:
Started various things in this blog but most of those did not prevail – The Leadership Ladder, I read. I liked, One observation, one new thing, The starting point, Stanford’s online classes. ‘Time Management’ needs focus

New realms:
Focused on many interpersonal skills, initiated new strategies to study, got new people whom I can look up to, thought about new ideas and approaches in my entrepreneurial readings this year. Had a huge smile while looking back and connecting the dots on how past experiences and initiatives has helped me to step into Babson. It has reiterated a point strongly – any skill, any knowledge, any effort can never go waste. It may not render immediate benefits but at some point in life, it would help – At that time, you would look back and smile.

2012 definitely had been a great year for me. And when I look forward for 2013, I can see many challenges, many new experiences on its way.

May the new year 2013 bring you
New avenues to accelerate your learning
Challenges to shape you better
Happiness to show the beauty of life
Prosperity to show you how to live and give
Good health to have fun
Wonderful times to accelerate the hopes
Blissful moments to show the purpose of life

Wishing you wonderful days in 2013 and have a great and happy New Year!

Ladder to Leadership #1 – Response

If I were Adi, I would have done the following:

1. Have a 1:1 with the newbie and detail him on his job responsibilities and the factors on how his performance will be measured – This will give the newbie an overall idea of what needs to be concentrated on

2. Give tasks to the newbie where he/she needs to collaborate with the team and bring in reports/results of the discussions – This will give him a chance to work with the other team members and listen to their ideas/thoughts to bring the results that’s expected of him

Employees should be made to feel responsible and have something meaningful for them to work on, with passion and enthusiasm. Empowering people to achieve the desired results lies in the hands of a leader which will make him/her successful and in turn the organization grow successfully

One Observation, One new thing – #1

Robin Sharma says if we do one thing differently each day, we would have experimented and learned 365 things in a year. Creativity sprouts from observation. Observe one thing a day and let your thoughts flow free. Why are kids

more creative than us? Kids observe a lot where as our attention span is limited in this fast paced world. What am I trying to do with these two? Trying to fit this into my daily activity. Let’s see how far it goes

Observation: Why do ‘Knowledge Sharing/Training’ (KT) sessions always boring whether you give it or take it? I was asked to do a role play of a trainer after I have been ingested with some knowledge on a new system. The actual trainer played the devil’s advocate. It was fun and lots of additional knowledge and clarifications unfolded due to that and added value. Try it out in your next turn.

What’s new?: I started this blog post series today

What’s yours?

P.S.: I’m not going to post this everyday, but once a week.

Enriching experiences

[Warning: Long post. Read at your discretion]

Taste buds: It’s a series of festivals…Halloween and then Diwali…As I said earlier, I’m in the road to breaking my routines. So, made up my mind to prepare 2 new dishes for Diwali this time – K (Kaaju Khathli) & K (Kaara Bhoondhi), it was! Poor me, with my tooth braces tightened, could not relish much of the Bhoondhi. But was grabbing the K sweet every evening as I passed by that small dabba where it resided. For everything I do, there’s either a self motivation or an inspiration from someone I saw – This cooking inspiration was from my friend ‘A’ who has a forte in preparing sweets like Badam Halwa, Kheer etc., For you all to believe that my hands on these two new items turned out well, here’s a picture [2012 'From Raji's kitchen' Copyrights reserved ]

Celebration time: Not only this, we had a Diwali celebration at work place like the ones that we had last year. My responsibilities spanned from ‘Rangoli’ to ‘Diya decoration’ and I did help sometime in serving desi food. After watching all those creative minds decorating diyas, I couldn’t stop my longing to do one. So, grabbed a Diya type that most of them did not pick and created a colorful one, realizing that the diya had only five petals. I thought it had six and started decorating with two different colors. Mine was an average creation. I saw some superb ones, gold plated, plush green ones etc. I’ve placed it in my cubicle now. It was a fun time with friends and colleagues enjoying some music, sports, dress booth, dance, food, ethnic decorations, Henna decorations etc. I couldn’t stay till the end for a group snap (Cha…I missed it this time) since I had to rush to catch my flight to SFO for my face to face MBA classes.

Traveling in trains: Though I did not have any clue of how trains operate in CA or the different public transportation systems (BART, Caltrain, Muni, Light rail), I did enjoy the journeys. I could use that 1 hour 40 mins train travels from Sunnyvale to SFO to review my class notes, do the case studies, talk to family and friends, browse, observe people and surrounding and sometimes munching snacks. I hail the technology of this time – My friends in those trains were the iPhone apps – Caltrain and BART and Google maps [No, I don't have iPhone 5]. I relied on them totally for my walks from train station to the class, getting tickets, checking timings and even sometimes some FAQs. I don’t know even if my other friends would have helped this much as how these apps did. Thanks to Technology!

Class connections: Since I am one among those who comes from a different state to the classes in CA, all my classmates cared to ask where I stay, how I commute, when my flights were. Every breakfast, lunch and snacks time was a time to connect with different people. During one of those lunch time, met one of the prospective student visitor who was asking about the classes, course work etc. I could see a bit of intimidation in her face watching us cramming through the presentations and case study reports even during lunch time.

Memory game ice breakers: Our first class was our final project presentation of the innovative product that we created as a team. All of us had this anxiety syndrome on how we were going to present and tackle through the questions from the other class mates and professor. The professor found our inherent anxiety and started the class with an introduction game where we had to tag our first names with an adjective which starts with the same letter as our first name and then tell about our job and a fun fact about us. The next person has to tell the names of those previously did the process and it continues on. We all had a notebook with all those names. I could have told ‘Relaxed Raji’ but I said ‘Reluctant Raji’ and the whole class now calls me with that name Snakes coming in my dream was a fun fact [Idhu fun fact-a? it should be a nightmare] about me and one of my other Asian class mate detailed that in their custom, if someone gets snakes in their dreams, he/she will get a very good guy in his/her life. I smirked and said ‘I have been waiting so long for one’ and the whole class giggled. The same Asian classmate told that she drives out the snakes in her dreams…I turned back and asked ‘Are you the one who drives away my luck of getting a good guy?’ After the whole game of introductions, we laughed much that the anxiety went away. Each team presented an innovative product prototype that has a potential to be in the market. I don’t want to reveal any of the product ideas here which will hinder our chances of being an Entrepreneur to create such new products. Though all of those products including ours were not mind blowing but each had its own usefulness and uniqueness.

Rocket pitch: Since I had been following the TV series ‘Shark Tank’ and some entrepreneurship forums and articles, I was aware of what a Rocket pitch was. Nevertheless to mention, earlier, I went to my professor who’s also a venture capitalist and said ‘I want to become a VC and what should I do to become one?’  He gave me a ‘bulb’ asking me to find what VC is and why I want to become one? I’m yet to find the answer for that We have to show case our product ideas to a bunch of investors within 3 minutes allocated covering all significant details that will make an Angel investor or a Venture capitalist to invest in the idea. The most important learning was the feedback and questions and insights shared by the other classmates and the Prof, after it was presented. It was a coincidence that I had glimpsed through ‘Steve Jobs’ presentation skills and tips few days before and it helped me to easily traverse through what was discussed. I’m seriously considering some tips to be put into action. There’s one big area of improvement for me, Public Speaking – Planned strategies in place and its going to take some time for me to implement and become successful in it. Some people are very good at it and they inspire me. Inspiration does not help in its entirety, some action needed from my end.

Role plays: This was the most fun part for me. We were put into positions of being CEOs and planning strategies and composing visions and subjected to “If I were the CEO of company X, what would I have done differently?’. After we reported the role play pointers, class discussions happened on analyzing and working through which would work and which wouldn’t. With a mix of different thinking abilities of people, I automatically learn new perspectives which I would have never even thought of. Another time, we were partnered and negotiate for a start-up company that we were about to start as partners. To my knowledge, I played it very well that most of the negotiations fell in my favor. High fives!!! But I failed considerably in the role play of how to give constructive feedback and gain momentum to work with others. My partner said ‘You are too humble and giving up easily. Give me a tough fight so that we can learn from each other’ for which I smiled (not knowing what else should I do).

These freedom of thoughts has brought out my openness in asking how to bring innovation at work place. I could see a change in me - Analyzing the business reports of the company which I never spent much time earlier rather than just reading it. As one ages, memory deteriorates. I try harder to keep up with the memory after I read various case studies and text book articles, but its not coming up easily. Any tips are welcome!

Time with friends: It was a (S)Funday! Spending time with friends, eating loads, watching movies and playing with ‘S’ (my friend’s 4 month old son) – A relaxing day after travel and studies. Flights are not being friendly with me these days. Missed the connecting flight last time (not my fault, airlines’s) and stuck inside the flight for 2.5 hrs due to some servicing yesterday.

Back home now and enjoying my ‘Me’ time – Yeah….it’s the first break time of the course! Time to clear the back log of reading magazines, watching video and movies and connecting with friends.

Deep sense of gratitude to all my friends and family who’s helping me in (m)any ways that they could, to achieve this ‘MBA’ dream of mine possible. With this thanks giving note, wishing ‘Happy Thanks Giving’!

The early buzz

Days pass by so fast. It’s already November and holiday season is near by. We had Halloween celebrations last week. After 2007, I dressed up for Halloween this year, even did some cubicle decorations, invited kids to home for ‘trick or treat?’. Won the costume and cubicle decoration contest at work and our team won the contests both in CLE and CO. It was a great moment for all of us for our deliberate prep work and we all owed to it 2 guys who were the think-tanks behind the idea of executing the ‘CLUE’ board game. I was Ms. Scarlet and people asked me why I look pretty (thanks to a team-mate who gave her very beautiful red gown) rather than spooky or creepy? I remember running to Walmart in the morning to look for an alternative and the similar purse that Ms.Scarlet held in her hands in the ‘CLUE’ movie that I watched the weekend before Halloween (I thought I could enact well if I see the movie. It helped with the costume and accessories but not the seductive look and cigars though ). Had some decorations at home too. Did a handmade ‘boo’ door tag and had a pail of candies for kids. When 3 kids knocked the door, I was a bit scared to ask for trick. I passed the first moment by saying ‘Treat’ and gave a handful of candies to each of them I did research on the history of Halloween before all this happened and so I was well prepared. This Halloween was different from the earlier years since I engaged myself to do something on that day. A pumpkin carving and ask for tricks next year may be…

Classes and Assignments have become an integral part of my day-to-day life. I used to be stuck with routines, not any more – One basic thing that is thrusted upon me in the coursework. Break the routines and do something new. I’ve been trying to put this technique to work. No more ‘pre-programmed’ 9:30 sleep time, social networking for a few hours in the evenings etc., 2 courses this time – one that squeezes your brain to handle difficult situations and bends you to think on leadership capabilities; the other one pushes you to bring out your creativity, challenges you to get out of your comfort zone – I never thought creativity and Entrepreneurship can be thought, until now. Every week, I try out new strategies to improve my game plan of reading case studies, working on assignments and bring out new things that I may have resisted to try before. Though time stays critical and significant in all these, its worth the experience and energy spent. Our team is creating a new product which we got to present in 10 days during my second face to face classes. Lovviingg it!

Amidst all this, trying to catch up with Masterminds session. After missing a few in the row, did listen to it this week. Some of my interpretations from it:
Give up your comforts to go up
Make a difference – You should feel like this birth of mine is worth it, everyday
You shouldn’t be in a position to give up things that your heart desires, because of economical reasons

Amitabh Bacchan, T.T.RangaRajan, Robin Sharma, my cousin J Akka – I’m sure I’ll add many more to this list – I wonder how in this world these people get time and energy and passion to do things that no ordinary person like me can think of, accomplishing in 24 hours a day that’s given to all of us in this earth. They inspire me every now and then. I wish to be like that one day.

3 songs that I’ve glued my heart and soul to it. Worth listening:
‘Nenjukulle’ from Maniratnam’s movie Kadal – Nenjukulle is definitely in my nenjukulle now.

‘Ayyayo anandhame’ from Kumki:

‘Oru paadhi kadhavu neeyadi’ from Thaandavam

That’s for now. More later…

The Finder

From cradle to cubicle, we work on fixing our shortcomings everyday and not working on our strengths – a line from Strengths Finder 2.0, a book that I got as a gift recently. Before I got into the online assessment, I was reading the first few pages of the book and went into contemplation mode – While this book emphasizes on focusing your strengths more, I believe in what has been said otherwise – ‘Your life starts when you go out of your comfort zone’; ‘Life begins when you give up being a caterpillar to become a butterfly’. There’s no one straight route towards the focus on strengths and weakness. To me, it goes hand in hand. You cannot just focus on one thing. While you focus on changing your weakness to strength, you should also have a grip on your strength. Though I don’t rely on an online assessment to know who I am or know my strengths or weaknesses, I was asked to take this online assessment to identify my core strengths and put those strengths into power play to transform my ‘goodness’ to ‘greatness’ at work. So, I complied

Do you know what your core strengths and weaknesses are? Have you found any strategies that worked for you in transforming weaknesses into strengths? If so, do share…most will benefit from it.