- Imagination and Humor - C'mmon we all need fun right?
- Intriguing Questions as against general open ended questions.
- Questions should arouse curiosity and should have novelty.
- Questions should appeal to a wider set of audience.
- Smooth Point of Entry with easy self-explanatory pointers.
- Questions should combine the Familiar with the Unfamiliar.
- Careful phrasing of questions.
- They should test a candidate's visual-spatial intelligence in addition to logic.
- Use of cartoons / illustrations as against detailed instructions.
- Give Feedback / Encourage responses given by candidates towards the end of quiz.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Where is x...?
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Clash Of The Titans...!
Even thinking about the next week gives me chills. Elections for all seats in the House of Representatives, elections for 11 State Governors and ofcourse the much talked about 56th Presidential consecutive United States presidential elections - that has captured enormous global attention oflate ! All major news channels, magazines and publications, talk shows , pre-poll assessments firms etc. seems to have flooded the environment with infinite pros and cons of choosing one presidential candidate over another ! With Halloween round the corner, it sure adds to the excitement but isn't it that we are giving way too much attention to Elections? Given the dimishining amount of free time each one of us have everyday, it surprises me that people engage in marathonic discussions (at Coffee Shops, Lunch Places, Chat Rooms etc) centred around which candidate to choose and why?, will my taxes increase?, what about my 401k? what about my certificate of deposits? I wonder why majority of people and companies get so much attached to their finances (money/stock/wealth) specially amidst turbulent times ? (Google being the only exception that comes to my mind - check this post). Well, my own gut feeling tell me that what we really need to do (amidst dancing stock prices and eventful recession times) is focus on building our skills or better still acquire few new ones instead!! Guess - its time to head to libraries and get some books issued for a change ;)
But yes, do watch and listen to few speeches of the candidates - Republican Party's John McCain and Democratic Party's Barack Obama - they are brilliant orators and accomplished individuals and political gimmicks aside-one can always learn a lot about the US Economy, National Issues, Areas of Concern/Improvement, etc. from their talk shows/speeches etc. And please do go out and vote for your perfect candidate because elections do constitute the foundations of a true democracy and the outcome does have an enormous influence on other free societies globally (specially India) ! Perhaps thats why they say "Every Vote Counts !" :D
"Don't reinvent the wheel, just realign it!"
Monday, October 27, 2008
Sun Always Shines...!
Brilliant & Unbelievably Powerful Image-illustrates the magnificence of the ever majestic "Sun" in the convoluted & grand scheme of interesting things around us (read universe ;))-what a nice way to start one's day with !
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Being A Kid...!
Friday, October 24, 2008
Different Strokes...!
Wordnet defines the word "Color" as the appearance of objects (or light sources) described in terms of a person's perception of their hue and lightness (or brightness) and saturation. Speaking of colors - I am sure most of you will agree that Colors have the ability to trigger our emotions, affect the way we think or act and most important of all influence our attitudes & mood. Admit it or not, but all of us (My quick generalisation stems from my own self belief though;)) do respond to colors around us - cars, homes, clothes, iPods, watches, perfume bottles and even the food we eat perhaps that explains why some of us prefer way too colorful surroundings while the rest prefer a sober one. Is this (creating a lasting pleasant experience) the reason that our decisions to wear a specific clothing varies with the person we are going to meet? Or is this why kids' toys are so colorful ? Is this why Companys' Logos have solid colors? Perhaps a rich amalgamation of colors creates a vivid experience. Well, I honestly think it does and upon getting back home here's what I read about colors:
- Yellow - Represents Joy and serves to energise us quickly. [Mango Frooti]
- Orange - Represents Hope and serves to alleviate us. [Orange]
- Pink - Represents Love and we sure know what it does :) [Pinkberry]
- Blue - Represents Truth and serves to inspire and leaves a peaceful feeling.[Blueman Group]
- Red - Represents Fire and serves to inflame our passions. [Product RED]
Before I could congratulate myself for this "Eureka" Moment-a Google Alert conveyed that there are few ultra-smart folks who are already know significance / impact of colors on human psyche and have a look here [Idée Labs Rock!] or here [and so does Engineers at Nissan] to get wowed like me. Till you (or me) keep our hunt for a super cool, novel and breakthrough product idea - keep relishing the different shades of life :D
"What we appreciate begins to appreciate !"
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Winged Formation...!
- Fun - pushing things (products/services they say) out of my cubicle in a quicker and efficient fashion. And yes those eventful team outings !
- Seriousness - When a bunch of people get together in a Meeting Room and talk about strategies, goals and lots of numbers and metrics.
- Euphoria - Product Launches or Conducting Orientation Sessions / Training Programmes for new recruits or experienced professionals. Spotting that fire (intense desire to prove themselves in professional world) in new joinees was breathtaking indeed.
- TeamWork - So many of us co-ordinating on Web Messenger to get a code snippet perfect - with proper exception handling, near zero memory leaks and bug free execution.
And here everything seems so different when compared to my myopic view of the world as listed above! Never before have I spotted so many people working together, pushing steadily forward with full zeal towards meeting a common objective. Considering the weather conditions - (its scorching hot here and yes there's no Air-Conditioner too ;)) and absence of otherwise omnipresent Soft Drinks / Food Outlets - this is certainly an exhibit of true team work. As I walked past the Rock Blasting Area (they do that to construct foundations of Turbines, Boilers etc), I asked my Dad a dozen of questions seeking explanations for how so many diverse people (who aren't that educated too) work together, whats their motivation (certainly money isn't), how the synchronisation is achieved....and so forth. Well, as anticipated he smiled back and said lets go for a walk around the plant area and promised that we'll talk about it at the end of the day. Here's what I observed during the next 4 hours:
The Only Area with a Shade was this Boxed Movable Meeting Room- Abundance Of Greetings - Everyone here genuinely likes and respects their team members as evident from their way of exchanging greetings.
- Willingness to Go Extra Mile - The idea of grasping opportunities right in time is drilled deep in the minds of workforce. My Dad suggested positioning an extra beam for tensile strenth of a column post the usual column reinforcement operations and to my utter surprise one of the guys responded "Sir, Why Wait - lets do that right away?". And I was wondering why they don't have spreadsheets to track minute by minute progress of people.
- Frequent Boost Up Dozes- Many of the plant construction operations require extreme physical exertion (I was so shaken observing a guy doing some metal fixing well below the ground level) and what these guys know is every move can't be perfect. Sometime discouragement sets in inspite of a day's hard work but together they still pat each others back saying "Good Going...Good Going! " and move on at even faster pace the very next day.
- Being in Control - When faced with technical challenges, few amongst them are real quick to take charge and rest of them provide their full support to face it right on.
- Family to Support - Every person who works here knows that their families know that they are working towards a huge goal and I know (from personal exp) that challenges become so easy when you have support of your loved ones !
- Quick Thinking - Ofcourse their are distinguised engineers here who are expert at conjuring up quick associations (and improvise existing Plant Drawings at the same time) of how a plant structure say Boiler Casing would look like if you do A as against B.
One things is for sure - I am quite moved by this visit and am certainly very thankful to my Dad for arranging for my visit. Oh and yes, we headed back home my Dad quietly said (may be it was intentional:)) : "Our unique ability to choose how we respond to and process any event that happens to us can make us either a "great" or a "not-so-great" person ! - Think about it" I sure will Dad :D
>> My Google Gears will push a few more posts that I wrote while in India - life should get back to its normal self then :)
Monday, October 20, 2008
Sound Of Stillness...!
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Conflicts are Gorgeous...!
- Reality - C'mmon lets admit that to disagree (or clash) with near and dear ones is a part of life.
- Black or White - During war of words we tend to focus on the "said" things and declare a person as Good/Bad, Caring/Heartless etc- but hey communication is not all about talking...lets give some credit to the so called feelings of those involved too.
- Zero Escalation - We might not reach an agreement immediately but we can agree to disagree for now and still keep peace.
- Staying Neutral - Avoiding being Judgemental really helps. Mother Teresa once said "If you judge people, you don't have time to love them"
- Its just a Game - The dualistic concept of who wins and who loses dilutes pretty easily if one of the person quits this quarrel game (Games People Play is a must read).
That said lets admit that a conflict free "perfect" world with "perfect" partners and acquaintences isn't the way things happen in real world; So lets (for a change) try being little adaptive, super patient and relish the potential conflicts carry. They sure serve as eye openers for some, positive experiences for some others and indicators to start afresh elsewhere for the rest ! **
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Outdoor Pleasures...!
Friday, October 10, 2008
Scope In Scope Out...!
- Attention Span: In our present super busy lives, we make (or have to make) very quick decisions everyday based on what we feel, hear and most importantly see. This kind of advertising is sure to grab one's attention.
- Take It Easy: I define this kind of advertising as "Take It Easy" one. Neither the advertisers are forcing / interrupting us to view their ads (like in Television)nor they are distracting us elsewhere (Internet Ads).
- Epicentre: You can ignore Ad on one coach or may be 2 coaches if you are quite indifferent or busy on phone like me. However, if the whole train is painted Red or Yellow or Blue - c'mmon you are bound to atleast give it a passing glance.
- Imprint: For daily passengers in Mumbai, commute in trains is the time when they unwind a little, think about how their day was, feel good about heading for home / office etc. In such a scenario, if you spot this kind of a Ad - believe it or not - you'll atleast remember you saw a train with "Dena Bank" or McDonalds" Ad on it. Thats it - that was the whole idea !
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Crisis Of Implementation...!
Now that (Thanks to the Dental Surgery I had early this week) my volume knob has been forcefully turned down for 3 days, I feel so different (read rejuvenated) for I am certainly not used to staying quiet for periods more than few minutes ! Since past 48 hours, the numerous thoughts emanating from my otherwise chattering mind have subsided quite well and I must admit that everything around seems so strange. Never before I was able to appreciate seemingly small things around me - like vivid colours of the fruits and vegetables while going for shopping at local market, notice shopkeepers strange 'n' different expressions while I pay for the goods purchased, genuinely appreciate home made food by focussing more on its taste rather than taking about my US' experiences or enjoy listening to the latest hits ! My initial reaction to the suggested (My dentist Dr. Suhana Gupta is brilliant by the way) abstinence from solid food and speech was hostile ; afterall for the first time I am really short of time and I have so much on the agenda - visit old friends, meet relatives, go for few treks around Mumbai, buy and read many bestsellers, explore latest restaurants, call up close pals but then life is all about surprises - isn't it?
- Destination Cleanliness : Brushing our teeth regularly atleast twice a day is a MUST.
- A Matter Of Habit : Most of the Gen-X food we devour contains cheese, butter, oils and other substances that tend to stay in our mouths for an extended period of time. My Doc says one should rinse mouth 7 times after every meal.
- Vitamin C to the Rescue : Vit C builds up the tensile strenth of teeth. So have more yum lemonades or feel free to sprinkle more lime juice as a seasoning on processed food.
- Boost Fibre Intake : All dieticians suggest a Fibre Rich diet for a healthier heart. I'll just add that most of the unprocessed Fibre rich foods are relatively harder to chew which means more exercise for the teeth ! And yes the darker the vegetable, the more the natural fibre content in it.
- Irrigate Often : Using Oral Irrigators that aim a stream of water at your teeth to remove food particles is better than using toothpricks.
That said, the challenge lies in implementing these tips and many others. But on second thought beautiful smile doesn't come without efforts :D
"Memorable Moments just come and go like ripples in a stream"