Happy New Year 2014

Dear All Readers, Wish you all a happy and prosperous new year, may the year 2014 turns out to be the luckiest one so far :) 

The photo is inspired by the video

I never watch motorcycle races but despite that, this was too good to watch. Really inspiring video, the way the top 2 fight for the final spot is really commendable.

People Management - Situational Leadership

This workshop was on how to lead a group of people.
 

The framework developed by Hershey & Blanchard covers all aspects of a follower mentality and suggest the respective style of leadership to be followed. Though this concept was taught as part of the OB course during my MBA, but it was better understood in the workshop conducted by Mr.Prem Kumar. For more practical understanding he chose the movie Chak De India, where each of the aspects of the framework were discussed.

For the benefit of my readers below is the framework of Hershey & Blanchard

 

If you see the followers(sub-ordinates/team members) are of 4 types. It is classified based on 2 factors and hence the 4 combinations.

 

The 2 factors are Ability and Willingness

R1 - Unable & Unwilling(No confidence/Insecure etc)

R2 - Unable but Willing

R3 - Able but Unwilling (May be due to personal problems/ego problems/lack of confidence etc)

R4 - Able & Willing

 

Now Leadership styles are also 4 types which are formed based on 2 factors.

The 2 factors are Task Behaviour/Regulation and Relationship behavior/Nurturing

S1 - High Regulation & Low Nurturing or High Task & Low Relation

This is more like directive type, where there will be only one way communication and the followers will be micromanaged. This applies to R1 type of followers

 

S2 - High Regulation & High Nurturing/High Task and High Relation

This is more like coaching type where the leader has to discuss with the followers and plan the works for them and motivate them by rewarding etc. This applies to R2 type of followers. Though the followers are unable they have the passion/interest to take up the work So by being high task oriented the leader will teach them on how to become capable.

 

S3 - Low Regulation & High Nurturing/Low Task & High Relation

This is more like counselling type, where the leader has to discuss with the followers and motivate them to resolve the problems. This applies to R3 kind of followers who lack only in motivation but not skill. These people dont like to be micromanaged on tasks. They need the socio-emtional support.

 

S4 - Low Regulation & Low Nurturing/Low Task & Low Relation

This is more a delegating type, where the leader just defines the boundary and lets the followers own up their areas and peform. This applies to R4 kind of followers, who are self sufficient in terms of skill and willingness. They dont like at all to be micromanaged. They like to work with freedom.

 

The most important point to be noted here is a leader has to be flexible enough to shift from S1 to S4 depending on the type of followers. Also the same set of followers might shift from R4 to R1 depending on various scenarios so nothing is hard and fast. But having an idea of this framework can aid a leader in understanding what type of style might work well for that situation.

That is why the framework is called situational leadership framework.

The following is a vote of thanks by me to our facilitator Mr.Prem Kumar, who is a very good orator and a sensible trainer who connects very well with his participants. I have attended 3 workshops of his so far and I rate him high on his facilitation.

 

Pursuasion

This was one of the workshops I attended on Leadership & Motivation, in which there was a topic on pursuasion for which I had to present a tiny case study. Below is the flipchart I prepared to explain it and the video of the presentation follows

No One's Dog

The happiest creature in the campus :). Wonder if it is still there.

Heights of Creativity - Culinary Skills

Potato Curry at Nice, France.
Dated - 20th Oct 2009
Starring - Venky
Cameraman - Yours Truly, Unknown :)

 

 

Chapathi at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Dated - 6th Dec 2007
Starring - Sridhar Talatam
Cameraman - Yours Truly, Unknown :)

Learning from the above:

It requires thinking out of the box to come up with such ideas. A cup and a glass are enough to make a meal for you :). So enjoy your happy meal, the chapathi with the potato mash curry :)

Dynasty Politicos Speaks

Varun Gandhi's Hate Speech on Jul, 2009, UP

Watch the Video from 2:30; He comments on Muslim names being very scary, saying "Bade Daranvi name hothe unke, Karimullah,Madharullah".

Akbaruddin Owaisi's Hate Speech on 22nd Dec 2012, AP

Watch the Video from 24:00; He insults the names of Hindu Gods.

About :Varun Gandhi

Varun Gandhi was born in Delhi on 13 March 1980 to Sanjay Gandhi and Maneka Gandhi, he is the grandson of the former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi and the great-grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Age: 32 Years

Political Party : BJP

 

Education : He attended Rishi Valley School and the British School, New Delhi, where he was elected secretary of the student council. Varun completed his Bachelor of Science in Economics from the London School of Economics via the University of London External System in the year 2002.[4] He also completed his Master of Science in Public Policy from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, in 2004 also through correspondence.

About : Akbaruddin Owaisi

Akbaruddin Owaisi was born in Hyderabad on 14 June 1970. Akbaruddin is a member of the Owaisi family, being the son of Sultan Salahuddin Owaisi and the younger brother of Asaduddin Owaisi

Age : 42 Years

Political Party : MIM

 

Education : He studied in the Hyderabad Public School till tenth grade and completed his intermediate from St. Mary's Junior College in Hyderabad. Owaisi studied medicine for two years in Gulbarga but quit during his second year of MBBS course to enter politics.

 

 

Conclusion:

In Politics,

Be a Graduate or a Drop out

Be a Young or a Matured

Be a Hindu or a Muslim

Be it in 2009 or 2012 or anytime or anyplace..

Everyone becomes Insane...

 

It's high time we say..Enough for this dynasty politics, these fit for nothing spoilt brats, who are born with silver spoon, basking in the glory of the ancestors think they are born heroes and can do anything and say anything to anyone but still remain at large.

 

 

The real side of the real babu

What's wrong with Mr. Nara Chandrababu Naidu?.
I was shocked when I saw this video. Do check the video after 3:00 for the shocking part. In this video you can see our babu raising his hand on a tribal woman to silent her and hitting another woman to grab mike from her. Hitting someone is socially unacceptable and that too by a person of such status is strongly condemnable. In front of a huge crowd someone can do such an ugly thing, wondering to what level these guys will degrade behind the screens.

Dear Babu,

I hope you realize that it is a very shameful act and you better  apologize for the same. I've always had some respect towards you for your vision and execution of plans. The way you lead the transformation of Hyderabad from a normal metro to a global hub for IT jobs. But following the recent happenings and this incident all that respect I had towards you is no more.

A leader should maintain his cool even at trying times and you've failed at that.
May be it is true that the real character of a person is known during bad times.

Where there's a will, there's a way

Readers, Here comes a video taken by me using my old Nokia 5700 Xpress Music.
The specimen in this video is my friend Sridhar Talatam. He is an expert when it comes to using minimal resources. You will see how he manages to make a chapathi without any proper equipment [i dont know what you call that wooden thing] in this video. I dont think anyone in this world would have tried this. This is heights of innovation and creativity

The marathon continues

This week was the shortest ever I felt, I still feel the last weekend was just day before yesterday and now am in my 4th weekend. Time just flies when you keep counting weekends and not weekdays.

As usual I've been watching movies till now. I've watched 3 tamil movies and 1 hindi movie.

Madrasapattinam (Tamil) Rating : 3.5/5
This is yet another movie which has some parts inspired by Lagaan like the love between the firang girl and our desi hero and wrestling match between hero and fiance of the girl(british officer). But overall the movie is ok. The music is very good. I loved the song thaana thaana

M.Kumaran Son of Mahalakshmi (Tamil) Rating : 3/5
Totally mass oriented movie. A good time pass. The comedy portion is really good. Apart from that its a regular masala drama. It's a remake of the telugu movie "Amma Naana O tamil ammayi". So in telugu the heroine,Asin, plays a Tamil girl and in this one she plays a Malayalam girl.

I Hate Luv Storys (Hindi) Rating : 1/5
Got so bored with this, but I had nothing better to do so was watching it till the end. I liked Sonam in Delhi6 but in this one she dint look that great. The story is pathetic and the comedy really sucked.

Sillunu Oru Kaadhal (Tamil) Rating : 4.5/5
This one is the best movie I've watched this weekend. It's again a love story. But the story is different. Jyotika and Surya acted really well. The music is also another highlight. It's only  after watching the movie, I discovered that it was by our Oscar winner. I loved this song "Munbe Va En Anbe", beautiful tune.

Happy Independence Day

This is the official instrumental of the National Anthem of India.

The below video is what our Indian Idols have contributed to the nation

From time immemorial historians all over the world have been writing about India. I am not going to write about India, cos how much ever I write about the greatness of our nation it is like a drop in an ocean.

I just want to say that I am

"Proud to be an Indian"

My dream is to fly over the rainbow, so high

I like this song . You may find the original one here. Yves La Rock

When I was a kid, like most of us, I used to look high up in the sky at aeroplanes and wonder when I would get to fly in a plane and when I would get to travel to other countries.

Used to dream of flying in plane, served unlimited chocolates by hot air-hostesses, flanked by clouds on both the sides of the plane, look down at houses and lilliputs through the window......

Little did I know that air travel is not all hassle free thing.

As of today I can say I am a frequent flier, but not of any particular airline.

 

Just for the numbers sake, I took around 60 flights so far starting from the first one in 2003( Anil,Meghamsh,Anurag,Keerthi & Bhargav should remember this for pushing me into the plane as I was sick then). And I've seen about 6% of the globe and been to around 18 countries.

Now coming to the interesting part, some of the incidents I faced. I can bet I've experienced all types of issues with air travel except to the fatal ones (touchwood)!. Some are to be blamed on me also.

Flight delay and wait at airports.

Itinerary:- Hyderabad->Chennai->Muscat->Riyadh.

This was in the year 2006 when I was going to Saudi for my onsite project at Riyadh. A direct flight generally takes 4hrs(Emirates). But the great TCS booked me this long itinerary just to show off their loyalty towards Gulf Air(cheap flight). My luggage was a huge suitcase, 1 backpack and a laptop bag. This was my first time going out of the country and was going alone as the other person who was supposed to travel with me dropped out at the last moment. And that too it was to gulf land so there were butterflies in my stomach. Took a Kingfisher airline at Hyderabad Begumpet airport to Chennai and reached at around 8pm. My next flight was at 4am. I sat there in airport watching at people moving in and out, for me every minute was like an hour. That was one of the most boring moments in my life. I sat till around 10pm cursing TCS everynow and then, then comes the nature call.. I had to relieve myself urgently..had this whole luggage in front of me and cant leave it also...kept holding it for long time and when I realised I cannot any more I took the trolley kept my luggage on it and pushed it till the toilet, then I discover the toilet is so narrow cant take the trolley inside.. I looked around desperately..at one moment I thought I will leave it there..but somehow dint, I thought of asking someone to watch my luggage and was looking for reliable people around....then suddenly I spotted a cloak room far outside the airport..phew~..I went out showed the security the eticket.. dumped my luggage in the cloak room..kept my lappy with me..obviously...felt relieved....thanked GOD for saving me :)..the flight was delayed by 3hrs..it took off at 7am..was awake all the time..after reaching Muscat again there was delay with the next flight..around 6hrs. Finally when I reached Riyadh..I realised it took me 30hrs to reach that place.

Note:- Never ever board a Gulf Air flight. It's worse than a red bus(literally). All kind of mass and cheap people board the flight. By cheap I dont mean the people are poor. They behave insanely. Trying to touch the airhostess, throw the food stuff down, keep the used plates along the passage,fight with airhostess for an extra drink..etc..

Sleeping in airport

Itinerary:- Kolkata->Hyderabad

This was in the year 2008 when I was in my first year in IIM Calcutta, I was coming home to Hyderabad. I booked the Kingfisher flight which was at morning 6:50am. The airport is 50kms away from the campus, so we generally leave around 4am by taxi. Since I was traveling alone I dint want to take chance so I kept awake the whole night, at around 3 am called the taxiwalla, and reached the airport around 5am. Got my boarding pass and the security check was also done. The area near the gate was crowded with people waiting to board. I saw there was still 1hr time for boarding. I somehow managed to get a seat. Was looking at the clock..and in no time I was in dreams..I heard an announcement that the flight was delayed by 15mins. To this day also am not sure if it was in my dream or in real. So then I thought, ok I can sleep for some more time.....

After a long time...I woke up from my deep sleep and it was the pin drop silence which disturbed me..... There was no one around me...Then I remembered that I had a flight to take. I dint find the kingfisher flight in the charts also...ran to one kingfisher crew asked him about the flight. That man said the flight already left and I could see the frustration in his face, he yelled at me asking where I was all the time when the announcements were going on. I said "I was sleeping here(pointing at the seat)" and asked them how could they miss me. Then there was another crew member with a sorry face. I asked them, "now what? Can I get another flight immediately?"...At that moment..there was one girl(Kingfisher crew) standing at that gate.. shouting at me to run fast.. I ran fast towards the gate..then she told me get into the bus immediately..she ticked on my boarding pass..and I jumped into the bus..It dropped me next to the Kingfisher flight and left..... I was a like lilliput standing all alone next to this giant airbus plane.... Then after 5mins arrived the stairs, the captain opened the door for me. It was one embarrassing moment for me. I just avoided everyone staring at me.....could see some awkward faces...and murmurs..aaah wwoo...I just sat at my seat..slept till the breakfast arrived..and in no time we reached hyderabad..and even till then..I couldn't believe that I actually managed to take the flight.

Ok the story is not yet over...

A funny bengali song

This was taken on one of those bumpy taxi rides on the roads of kolkata outskirts. I found the song very funny. It will be a great favor if some one could let me know what this song is.

Tsomgo Lake

Tsomgo Lake also called Changu Lake is at an altitude of 12,310 ft on the Gangtok - Nathula highway. It's a beautiful lake and see yourself to believe it.

Credits:-
Background music : Swadheen's Sony Ericcson mobile
Narration : Soham
Camera : My Nokia 5700 Xpress Music

The view from Tigerhills

Credit crisis - simplified

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

I haven't seen any thing which explains in much simpler way than this. It is worth a watch.

A bad week...

Really sad….Arsenal lost badly….and then Markets in bloodbath...almost everyday sensex crashed……Am taking a time out now…
First time in my life my portfolio showed losses….
My fingers crossed now…hoping something better in the coming week.

oflate am getting depressed even for silly things....i feel as if am one loner...totally lost everything...:((....
My experiments with the new handycam(Samsung SC-D353) ..
1)Me flaunting my arsenal jersey gifted by Anil...
2)crying for no reason...