Terrorism - Too little, too late!

Media's been zooming into the goings-on at the Taj as we all watched dumbstruck, and it continued broadcasting the events that followed with a stir in political realms..

All that the opposition parties could come up with against the government was that 'It was too little, too late'. But, even as the opposition party members kept maintaining with the media 'this is not the time to talk about differences', they must've really really been thinking when Shivraj Patil resigned, "Why didn't we get a chance to snap at the government? We could have got some media light in the wake of elections to do some damage to the ruling party.. Grrr... we lost a golden chance!" I'm sure they've been thinking that..

Through Praise, we can be...

“Sorrowful, yet rejoicing”, and “Learn to triumph in Our Hope”

Through Praise You Can:

• Strengthen your Faith

• Tune into God’s enriching Presence: God inhabits the Praise of His people. He is seated on the throne of our praise.

• Activate God’s Power: Praise is that slender nerve that moves God’s mighty hand. Consider the King Jehoshophat’s battle, how the Lord had delivered him through Praise and Worship.
  

• Profit more from your trials: Praise can turn Trials into Triumphs. Praise will help us identify that ‘Distressing circumstances are God’s blessings in disguise’. Praise so that you’re faith strengthens and quality of endurance is produced in you. Praise is a catalyst that speeds up God’s maturing process in your life.
  

• Help you experience Christ ‘as’ your life: Any born again Christian is “dead to sin, but alive to Christ”. Death does not necessarily means being annihilated but being separated. It means our innermost being is separated from sin, it is no longer our nature and we no longer need to let it be our master. Our sin springs from our old sinful tendencies that are no longer our true identity.
  

• Demonstrate God’s reality in a Secular & Materialistic society: Refer Romans 11:33-34. Secularism means God and his will has no part in our lives.
  

• Overcome Satan and His Crafty Strategies: Even the highly educated have turned to Spiritism, to the occult and Satan worship. He gets us preoccupied with him in ways that seem to be strategic to our spiritual warfare. It’s a serious mistake to underestimate Satan’s power, but a tragedy to overestimate it. Any Praise thwarts Satan. Make your praise more powerful by coupling it with God’s word, which is a double-edged sword.
  

• Bring Glory & Pleasure to God: This is something no one but you on this earth or in heaven can give: “the love and adoration of your heart”. Sometimes people try to attach praise unto an indifferent or self willed life, hoping for an emotional lift or special visible rewards. And sometimes, even a disobedient Christian can get into a mood of worship or experience high while listening to Praise music CDs and cassettes. After all, pagans worshiping false gods also experience times of ecstasy. But neither a disobedient Christian nor the pagan honor the true Living God. So how can their praise be a joy to God?
  

Worship is more than emotional turn on. It includes offering ourselves to God, to be His servants, to do His will – nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. It means we radically change our goals. We chose basic life goals that are centered in Cod: to know Him better, to love Him with all our being, to do His will at any cost, to Glorify Him and to please Him.

“O Lord Jesus, my beloved, may I be a joy to thee”. Out of such surrender & worship flows the kind of Praise that fully honors and glorifies and delights God!

Giving thanks in every Situation...

(...continued from 31 days of praise)

Sometimes when we are down, we really are upset and disgusted with the situations. We sometimes feel, 'How long will this be - rejected by the society and sometimes even left by God!' At such times, do we really feel thankful? Doesn’t thanking in such a situation mean hypocrisy? How then, can we be thankful in times of distress & trouble?

The Holy Bible doesn’t command us ‘to feel’ thankful in every situation. It doesn’t command us to ‘manufacture positive feelings’. Instead, it commands us to ‘GIVE THANKS’ whether you are in good situation or in bad, whether you are experiencing high or low. A man of God put it this way: “To give thanks when you don’t feel like, it is not hypocrisy; it’s obedience”.

31 Days of Praise

A book I purchased some 3 years ago authored by Ruth Myers.. It was a good refreshing one, I found it so useful, that I just passed it onto someone and asked him to keep it passed on.. A few quotes from this..

• We need to cultivate a lifestyle of Praise which is the basic response that our Lord God looks for.
• Worship is a beautiful crown adorned with two jewels. One jewel is Praise; the other one is Thanksgiving.
• Of all the gifts we offer, the chief gift is offering ourselves.
• Praise and give thanks for three things: “Who He is; What He Does; and What He Gives.

Will put up more from this book shortly..

Employee Engagement in action!

Listed are a few HR initiatives which could ensure maximum engagement of employee with any organization could be--

1. Periodical Communication / Discussion Platforms (Townhall / Org-wide update / Business Development Update) with employees - Everybody would like to know what's happening with their organization. Whether we accept it or not, there's always rumour mills running, and the best way to clear confusion to employees would be a monthly or quarterly Townhall meeting followed by a MoM / Letter of Update from Management. Townhalls would give a greater experience for the sheer joy of meeting up with a senior management member.
2. Fun at Work - Out of 5 or 6 working days, perhaps 1 hour in a week can be taken out for 'Fun at Work', which would be a great destressor for everyone, and also motivate employees. You can arrange for small games, the objective being 'fun at work', and 'not winning'. Most organizations have it already, in a more informal way. It just needs a little more branding and institutionalization. These little things somewhere add up to a more healthier workplace. The only thing at the end is that you need to look at the ROI of these things in terms of engagement of employees at work, retention and healthier workplace climate rather than monetary returns.
   
3. Reward & Recognition Programme (A scoreboard defining the Hot-Shots / Hi-Performers of the Company on a display to all) - It's not necessary that all rewards & recognition provided to employee have a significant monetary bearing on the organization. A board of fame like this on display to everyone would surely create an enthusiasm and get the adrenaline pumping to get their names up there. Of course, a little difference here and there can surely add zing and spice up the competition to perform. Even a board for TLs (Team Leader)/ PMs (Project Manager) specially can get them running. Only, the criteria of judging best performers must be clear and transparent to all to avoid negative crop-up of issues.
4. Appraisal / Increment Clarity - It is natural and acceptable for employees to think that appraisal means or would result in salary increment. So, it is the Management / HR Communication through various initiatives which needs to make it clear that while increments would only be effective once a year, mid term appraisals have a bearing on the same, or whatever wise the policy of the company states.This small clarification does wonders.. do not underestimate it.
   
5. Goal Setting - Employees are lost and are in absolute 'lost' situation with only 'perceived' and 'assumed' goals about their work. At least for employees with a vintage of 6 months, you may encourage the team to team to do goal setting for the next 6 months. This will ensure focus and goal-orientedness for organizational delivery to be aligned with primary objectuves at all levels all the time. This ideally, needs to be a top-down exercise, where first SBU heads have their goals, which then are cascaded to Project Managers, TLs, and eventually to the bottomline drivers. Alignment certainly can't work any other way.
6. Career Pathing - This can be clubbed with Goal Setting, where the focus is on employee development for progression and promotion. This needs individual attention and a plan for employee to attain necessary skills to move up the ladder professionally through necessary trainings, and skills development programmes which can be critical for taking up advanced roles as the employee gains vintage in the organization. A great motivator / and keeps employee on track.
7. Early Warning Indicators (EWIs) - Most of the IT companies follow the practise of EWIs, which is a tool managed by TLs to keep abreast with attrition, and help them plan proactively. Typically, this is done twice a month, at the beginning and at the end of every month. This tool helps determine the attrites in advance, and help taking any proactive steps to retain or replace as the case may be with individual employees.
8. Culture Building - Policy Sessions - Each organization has its own culture and values specified, and it's necessary to ensure all employees align themselves to the same. If communication about organization policies / events / values does not happen regularly, the reinforcement is lost. Typically, this are only done during the New Joinee Induction only. But, human nature easily tends to forget it with time. For this, some refresher sessions, or some sessions on regular basis about different policies need to be conducted to ensure adherence to organizational policies and values thus establishing an organization's Culture.
9. Employee Satisfaction Index & HR Skips - Employees certainly have many issues and feedback which they may not share with their TLs or operations managers. If not given an opportunity for them to speak, they would start talking among themselves and creating a parallel communication channel which may be unhealthy for the organization. Therefore, it is necessary for HR to give them a channel / platform to voice their concerns through open-house sessions and SKIPs to make actionables as necessary and give back the feedback. This will also ensure that the employee satisfaction as far as work and work environment is concerned stays high.
10. Team-Building Initiatives (Budget Driven) - Lead by the PM / TL, the teams could have some time off-work or on-site activities which may lead to more bonding and cohesiveness of team members for better performance as a whole. A org-wide consensus needs to arrive at this for implementation as it may have a significant financial bearing..

These need to take place in organization with Operations & HR Collaboration to make them more productive and bring better ROI to the organization.

O, She was young and beautiful!

(A song composed out of Proverbs chapter 5, which I heard in '99 during the CMTC camp at Kotagiri)

Proverbs Chapter 5

She was young and beautiful
She was anytime on the phone, I talked o her all the time
She said that she loves me and be with me all of my life
Honey drips from her lips and sweeter were her words
I thought she's the one and only woman of my life

O She lied all the time!
She had many others on her mind
She wasted all the time and made me cry all night..

All these things made me recall Proverbs Chapter 5
Wrong became the trend, bitter was the end
Wasterd were all those days, so foolish were my ways
I've come to be much wise, to a stranger woman is disguise..

O she lied all the time..!

Bond with your boss..

Though I'm of an opinion that each should bond with their bosses, what I've generally experienced is what is shared below-

Bonding over a period of time leads to cohesiveness; and cohesiveness leads to things happening on a very personal level. Trust me when I say then, bonding crosses the professional limitations.. if not, I'd suggest it's not bonding at all. But then, "Survival of the fittest" operates strongly in the corporate jungle. Well, when it comes to survival, any bond comes after 'ME', even for one's boss. Leaving apart the exceptions who go the extra mile, bonding, in my experience has failed to work in the corporate world, where it's all about cut-throat wars.

And yes, there's always a chance where bonding may somewhere also divert focus from work deliveries. Bosses can't really can't talk hard for results, deliveries on time etc. because of the personal touch (or who knows, some even do). So, bonding, in it's sanctity, is actually not done!

But, yes, as a fashionable and another wasteful word that can be used by management to adorn their hollow practices... and they call for team bonding activities, and a few also allocate budgets for team-building exercised and outing to encourage bonding among colleagues. But, that bonding as I already said is with a non-connecting emotional distance, which is like, I'm not doing this cos I wanna do it, but I'm doing this cos I have to.

I hope somebody would be able to see some reality in these words. Don't take it for a pessimistic POV, it's just experiences..

National Prayer Alliance

For the will of God, and the love of a nation!

It's mostly out of my Mom's force that I go to Jesus Calls meetings, and so it was even with this one being led by Dr. Paul Dinakaran. After an hour and a half long drive from Dwarka, we reached this venue near Civil Lines. I wasn't expecting the sight which caught my eye, thought it was usual for Dinakarans' meetings. Though the number wasn't so great, it was an absolute delight to see young, old, men and women gathering in one accord and pray for one cause...

The agenda was to pray for the six states in which elections were going to be held. Delhi, Mizoram, Chattisgar, Madhya Pradesh, Mizoram, Jammu & Kashmir. The agenda was this simple... Pray for God's will to be done in these few states, that the leaders coming into authority will be after God's will, and that which get elected may be led in the fear and love of our Lord Jesus.

What's touching, is the spirit of the multitudes as they raise their hands towards heavens and shout out in agreement.. Ah! It's truly a national prayer alliance for the will of God and the love of our nation! After returning home, I felt good and blessed I did go there.. thanks to my Mom :)

LK Advani & Gangs on a Chicken Run

LK Advani and his Sangh Parivar associates are on a chicken run. Thanks to ATS revelation of terror linked with people in safrron! What I've been failing to understand, rather the whole intelligent lot digging the case is 'If one religion's leaders can be accused of sedition and violence, why are not the Sangh Parivar leaders not being arrested, and put to judgment?'

LK Advani has been a lifetime supporter of the militant Hindu fundamentalism, and has led many such militant and Hindu fundamentalist movements like the Babri Masjid demolition, and the continued 'Rath Yatras' and 'whatnot yatras' during the election time and other wise which only lead to endless violence and hate among communities and always have resulted in rioting between communities.

LK is now the BJPs prime ministerial candidate for the coming elections, and now he's on a facelift exercise to his personal image and the party's image. No doubt that the party has a few intellectual and able leaders, but the roots of the party ideology called 'Hindutva' run deep in them. The point of fear here is that the idea of 'Hindutva' stems out of violence and terrorism. Though the nation's consitution and judicial framework has not given the propogaters the latitude they need, this nation would have been still waging civil wars and rioting within taking it to doom.

The idea of 'Hindutva' is based on hate, intolerant and selfish motives by a few militant Hindu fundamentalists and the implementers of the idea are such inhuman and merciless mercenaries, that images of that brutality can be seen in the demolition of Babri masjid, the riots that followed, the Godhra burning, the Gujarat riots, burning of Staines' family, the blood-thirst killing of tribal Christians across parts of India, and continued attacks across various parts of the nation of India. These are all just glimpses of the pitiable idea called 'Hindutva' generated by a terrorist group called Sangh Parivar where all parties like BJP, VHP, RSS, Bajrang dal among others.

Take a search of Sangh Parivar, or why, visit their site: www.sanghparivar.org and read through what hate they spit, what ideas they propogate, and how dubious they stand in their own partnership with each other in the parivar. Also, remember, Nathuram Godsey, who murdered Gandhi, the father of our nation was also a RSS supporter, or had his ideas nurtured by the Sangh Parivar.. and the most dismal of all, is that the Sangh Parivar is absolutely unapologetic towards any of their disastrous and inhuman acts. What else do we call terrorism?

I urge everyone to please educate yourself about the ideas of Sangh Parivar which propogates Hindutva - a terrorist idea, and create awareness around the same.

Coming back to LK Advani, no matter how much he may try, the ghosts of his past will certainly haunt his future, and no matter how much he may try to cover his wolverine instincts in sheep's clothing and bleeting, his ideas are vicious, his influence is violence and his roots are from a terrorist organization!

Making right decision ain't so easy...

Remember the decision making puzzle on group of children playing on two railway tracks? If you haven't heard that, it is given below (a popular email forward, though)...

I was facing a similar kind of situation a month back, when I had limited number of job openings and a whole lot of applicants.. and everyone was trying their best to influence by getting recommendations. Recommendations, such that they would surely get the job. There are other eligible and more qualified ones too... but, it was a matter of collective decision, cos the recommendation went at all levels of selection.. though we all know the others have not made a mistake to get them one opportunity less and allowing a fair competition, we do such things, many a time out of choice, sometime out of helplessness. Anyways, who said the life's easy and the world fair? Wonder if I'd say the same thing if were in the receiving end.

For now, here's the Railway Track and Group of Children puzzle:
A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track.

The train is coming, and you are just beside the track interchange. You can make the train change its course to the disused track and save most of the kids. However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make................

...

Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child. You might think the same way, I guess. Exactly, I thought the same way initially because to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally. But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was. This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are. The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him.

The great critic Leo Velski Julian who told the story said he would not try to change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens. If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe. If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one.

"Remember that what's right isn't always popular... and what's popular isn't always right."

Everybody makes mistakes; that's why they put erasers on pencils.

Terrorism has no religion ‘now’!

Indian politicians (specially BJP and Gang) and other religious leaders are now singing – ‘Terrorism has no religion’. So far it’s been a question very aptly scripted in ‘Shoot on Sight’, which is “Why is every terrorist a Muslim?” With the revealing investigations of Malegon blasts it’s become clear (without drawing conclusions) that there is a fair chance of Hindu extremists involved directly in the incident. Thankfully, it’s just not me who’s realized that but a couple of few Hindu extremist leaders including politicians who’ve also come to terms with the fact, and are singing the chorus now – ‘Terrorism has no religion’. The last of bamboozlers to admit that, finally..

Love's got me again

I really wonder, if it is love actually? But I'm pretty sure it feels a lot like love... I don't really know what to say.. We get all excited at what we find, but it's only later (which we do not know when it is) that we really know if we did find love or not, ain't that so?

As for me, love remains Utopian for the very sanctity of it to beheld. We hear all the speech, that it's a great feeling to love rather than to be loved.. but, with experience, I've come to believe that love is as much for the other person to receive as much as it is for me to give. So as long as there is a receiver, whether active or passively, my love remains.

As I think of writing this, I cannot forget all that I've already written in parts in different posts, a mix of all those thoughts running in my mind.. whether it's just friends with/without faces and odd little names, or is it priceless words for people, or am I just trying to be a jerk living my lover of love dream? Whatever it is, I'll try to avoid my missed calls...

I know many who's reading this is lost! But, dear, it's my blog, my pour out! Tis ok if you don't get the head or tail of it!

Quotes from 'Memoirs of a Geisha'

From my 2006 Diary: These are quotes from the movie 'Memoirs of a Geisha', pl do correct in case of any mistakes..

• "You cannot read loss, you can only feel it" (When Sayuri, as a little girl is being read the news of her parents' death)

• "Don't be afraid to look at me" (Twice spoken by the Chairman to Sayuri 1. as a little girl on the bridge, 2. as a Geisha when he reveals his efforts towards her)

• "The heart dies a slow death, shedding each hope like leaves until one day there are none, no hopes; nothing remains."

• "She paints her face to hide her face, her eyes are deep water. It is not for Geisha to want, it is not for Geisha to feel. Geisha is the artist of a floating world."

• "She dances, she sings, she entertains you, very way you want. The rest is shadows; the rest is secret"
• "You cannot say to the sun, more sun; nor to the rain, less rain."

• "To a man, Geisha can only be a half wife. We are the wives of the nightfall."

• "To learn of kindness after so much unkindness; to understand that the little girl has more courage than she knew; would find her prayers were answered, can that not be called happiness? After all, these are not memoirs of an empress, nor of a queen, these are memoirs of another kind"

This was one very good movie.. can watch it again, anytime!

Chewing the cud - 'Anyway'

Found this from my '98 Diary, reading it was like chewing my cud.. posting it here now..

People are unreasonable, illogical and self-centered. Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you win false friends and true enemies. Succeed anyway.
The favors you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. Do favors anyway.
Honesty and Frankness make you vulnerable. Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years in building may be destroyed overnight. Build anyway.
People really need help, but may attack you if you help. Help them anyway.
Give the world your best, and you'll get kicked in the teeth.
Keep giving the world the best you've got anyway. Always!

I looked up the internet, and looks like these words were authored by Dr. Kent M. Keith

Our savior does not cast us off!

As I keep diverting my focus that leads me away from the Lord and realize it, I can't help but think of Kefa (Peter), to whom Jesus Christ said, that He will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Later on, during the trial of Jesus, Peter disowns Jesus thrice, and declares not knowing Him.

Being the Lord of all the heavens and the earth, Jesus surely knew what wrong and right things Peter would do, but He still chose to bless him with the keys of the kingdom of heaven without any conditions whatsoever. Well, knowing all our weaknesses, is it not an evidence that our Savior will not cast of us off? I was encouraged these lines I came across in a ' Our Daily Bread' reading:

Our Savior does not cast us off
because we fail or turn aside;
He wins us back through ways of love
That in His love we may abide

"God can transform tragedies into triumphs"

Amen!