"Do it first or do it different."
-Internet
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Monday, 16 November 2015
Kyunki Har Desk Kuch Kehti Hai
Our workplace is where we spend more than one-third of our day, and so is our very own desk. Every desk in the office premise depicts the traits of personality of the one who sits there. Taking into account an IT guy's work desk, here's a humorous classification of the variety that you can spot around you-
1. The Family Guy
"Where's the Daddy!? Here he is..." At this person's desk rests a photo frame from last holiday with his son, daughter and wife. The other side has a coffee mug, which would rather have adorned his kitchen sink. It has his daughter's fancy dress competition wining photo imprinted on it. The wallpaper of his desktop is a collage of his kids' cake smeared and first-day-at-school collages. One corner contains a heart shaped photo frame featuring him and his sweetheart wife from their honeymoon days.
This man is most likely in his mid thirties, dressed in office formals, treasures his pot belly. He comes to office in time and leaves on time. He sets his phone on flight mode right after he leaves the workplace, and over the weekends.
2. The Hyperactive Guy
This one has a desk with a home-like feeling. Unlike the family guy, he doesn't display an array of family assets, but has his desk's interiors setup to make you feel you are in his living room. His cubical only lacks an attached washroom!
He houses various show pieces including at the least- a soft toy, a clock, a bonsai and a calendar with 365 thoughts- one for each day of the year. He has umpteen office-activity-participation-certificates, printed inspirational thoughts and a couple of awards to flaunt at his desk. You never get bored when dropping by his ornate cubical. This is generally one of most active lads in the organization, the one who has a lot more to do than he's paid for, keeps fluttering here and there and has a cheerful attitude.
He is normally aged 25-30. The backside of his chair has an inspirational thought printed on a paper, and the front side has a comfy pillow to soothe his supposedly aching back. The dustbin below his desk is fuller than full, so much so that the office boy demands hike in his salary to collect the empty bags of chips and the daily filth.
3. The Lazy Guy
This one is an icy man. He is looking forward to renovate his desk some time in future, but either he doesn't feel like doing so, or hasn't got the guts to do so, or is laden with tonnes of work, or is too simple to plan a happy-go-lucky cubical.
To him his desk is no more than a piece of furniture to rest his arms at. No age group classifications for such folks. The coffee mug with their routine espresso occupies it's regular place on that empty piece of furniture. The neatly arranged desktop and mouse make you feel overwhelmed (neat means nothing at all, the office boy is glad to work for him, since he does not have any cleaning work to do for this desk). The less active guy, staring from morning to evening at his desktop screen from his spectacles, who leaves for lunch at sharp 1:00 PM no matter what- famine or earthquake. Lunch time chatter includes poor condition of roads, criticism of the government and his effective ways of saving taxes.
4. The Gadget Geek
This guy's desk features latest model of headphones standing aptly on a stand. His is the latest smartphone, probably an iphone adorned with a superhero wallpaper. The bottom of his desk has a pile of boxes or left over packaging from his recent online-shopping-adventure deliveries. You may spot this person spending most of his time shopping or window-shopping online. He generally happens to be a recent campus hire who earns more than he can spend with both hands.
5. The Religious Guy
When did you visit the temple lately? Never mind, you can easily spot one such desk around you at office where you feel like the only item absent for it to be called as a temple is the temple-vala-shoe-stand. This guy has idols of various gods at his desk, sits in the direction recommended by Vaastu teller, wears ring of almost every planet in his fingers and fasts frequently. He is the bhagwaan-bharose guy, who invests much time flattering god than his manager!
From the aforementioned breeds, which one do you belong to? :)
From the aforementioned breeds, which one do you belong to? :)
Sunday, 15 November 2015
Book Review: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
Firstly, you must be wondering how am I able to post another book review one day later since my last review! The reason is, I am accumulating my thoughts on few recent reads from my shelf and posting them consecutively on my blog.
This is one of the best books that I've read so far, and one of those which I would want to read twice.
3) Remind yourself of the exorbitant price you can pay for worry in terms of health. "Those who do not know how to fight worry die young."
4) When you, or any of your associates, are tempted to worry about a problem, write out and answer the following questions:
6) Let’s not allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. Remember "life is too short to be little."
7) Cooperate with the inevitable.
8) Let the past bury its dead. Don't saw sawdust.
9) Eight words that can determine your destiny: "Our life is what our thoughts make it."
10) Let's never try to get even with our enemies, because if we do we will hurt ourselves more than we hurt them. Let's never waste a minute thinking about people we don't like.
11) It is natural for people to forget to be grateful; so, if we go around expecting gratitude, we are headed straight for a lot of heartaches.
12) "I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet." Count your blessings, not your troubles!
13) Let's not imitate others. Let's find ourselves and be ourselves.
14) "Two men looked out from prison bars, one saw the mud, the other saw the stars."
15) Forget yourself by becoming interested in others. Every day do a good deed that will put a smile of joy on someone’s face.
16) Remember that unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment. Remember that no one ever kicks a dead dog.
17) Rest before you get tired. Learn to relax at your work. Learn to relax at home. If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep. Learn to organize, deputize and supervise.
18) Time solves a lot of things.
19) Believe in god. Leave things up to god. It is he who will take care of everything.
20) "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference."
This is a 378-page long book, which is more than enough for a new
reader like me. It is penned by the international bestselling author of How to Win Friends and Influence People-
Dale Carnegie. My life wouldn't have been worth if I had missed this wonderful
brain washer (in positive way). I rate
it 5 stars (10 stars if I could).
Goodreads yields that this book has 100 editions, 36,716 ratings
and 919 reviews as of date, whoa! My copy of book says that it was first
published in 1953, quite early though, it is still very much applicable to our
lives. The author himself is a self-help coach. He sums up his experiences and
experiences from other people to justify the teachings that he gives throughout
the book. This book has increased my fascination for self-help genre and has
made me believe that a good book can bring positive change to one’s life. I
didn't want to finish this book.
Without pouring in my heart anymore, yielding my submission to list
down a few quotes / take aways from this book-
1) A magic formula to conquer worry-
- Ask yourself 'what is the worst that can possibly happen?'
- Prepare to accept it if you have to.
- Then calmly proceed to improve on the worst.
3) Remind yourself of the exorbitant price you can pay for worry in terms of health. "Those who do not know how to fight worry die young."
4) When you, or any of your associates, are tempted to worry about a problem, write out and answer the following questions:
- What is the problem?
- What is the cause of the problem?
- What are all possible solutions?
- What is the best solution?
6) Let’s not allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget. Remember "life is too short to be little."
7) Cooperate with the inevitable.
8) Let the past bury its dead. Don't saw sawdust.
9) Eight words that can determine your destiny: "Our life is what our thoughts make it."
10) Let's never try to get even with our enemies, because if we do we will hurt ourselves more than we hurt them. Let's never waste a minute thinking about people we don't like.
11) It is natural for people to forget to be grateful; so, if we go around expecting gratitude, we are headed straight for a lot of heartaches.
12) "I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet." Count your blessings, not your troubles!
13) Let's not imitate others. Let's find ourselves and be ourselves.
14) "Two men looked out from prison bars, one saw the mud, the other saw the stars."
15) Forget yourself by becoming interested in others. Every day do a good deed that will put a smile of joy on someone’s face.
16) Remember that unjust criticism is often a disguised compliment. Remember that no one ever kicks a dead dog.
17) Rest before you get tired. Learn to relax at your work. Learn to relax at home. If you can't sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It's the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep. Learn to organize, deputize and supervise.
18) Time solves a lot of things.
19) Believe in god. Leave things up to god. It is he who will take care of everything.
20) "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference."
As a formal conclusion, I would recommend this book to all those who are motivated to bring a change in the way they lead their lives. Each line would soak deep into your soul, relishing your thought process and conquering your problems.
(PS: the reviews expressed here are based on my personal reading experience, and do not intend to defame, derate or degrade the sale or vice-versa for the book. I am not paid for writing the reviews.)
If you are an author and want your book to be reviewed, drop an email at bookreviews@mansiladha.com.
(PS: the reviews expressed here are based on my personal reading experience, and do not intend to defame, derate or degrade the sale or vice-versa for the book. I am not paid for writing the reviews.)
If you are an author and want your book to be reviewed, drop an email at bookreviews@mansiladha.com.
Saturday, 14 November 2015
Book Review: It Doesn't Hurt to Be Nice
BY A DEBUT AUTHOR, FOR DEBUT READERS!
The author has used a simple language, with mention of chants from upanishads and vedas at various places. The content is shallow, and picturesque of a Delhi girl's life transition from school to college to moving her way up the corporate ladder to love marriage to being a mother and then a mix of all. It sounds very obvious and a li'l filmy at times, covers the events of life that most of us go through at various stages of life. What is good about it is that the author has related these with some philosophy and learning. It's about finding your purpose in life and striving to be better each day than you were yesterday, which basically sums up my own belief as well, so that's a plus point.
Overall, the book was a speedy read for me and had vibes of optimism in it and hence I loved my experience with the book. If you are willing to take a break from reading huge books that take weeks to finish, and feeling overwhelmed with the contents from foreign authors, you can give it a try. Lastly, a learning for debut authors- Never write a book in hurry!
(PS: the reviews expressed here are based on my personal reading experience, and do not intend to defame, derate or degrade the sale or vice-versa for the book. I am not paid for writing the reviews.)
If you are an author and want your book to be reviewed, drop an email at bookreviews@mansiladha.com.
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
A little less ME
In our personal or professional lives, almost all of us have this excessive need to be 'me'. We are self obsessed and cling to satisfying the "me" in ourselves. The consequences are not positive oftentimes.
We keep repeating such clauses either verbally, or in a constant internal monologue- "I do this", " I dislike this", "...this is not my cup of tea", "...how dare thy say that about me", "...because I ain't ever mistaken, I won't apologize." , "Hey, that's me. Deal with it." and so on. We surround ourselves with a wall of our rules, our superiority, our appreciation, our opinion, our definition of good or bad around us. Setting a definition for ourselves and devoting our senses to keep up to that by resisting anything that comes in the way, is indeed harmful.
Once in a while, give it a thought that if you keep aside the pointless notion of ME, you'd certainly open new gates for yourself and lead to a long term change in your behavior. Moreover, you'll make people feel better about you.
As Marshall Goldsmith quotes in his book What Got You Here Won't Get You There, "It's an interesting equation: Less me. More them. Equals success." And "It's not about you. It's about what other people think of you."
The mantra is- "laugh at your yourself; apologize frequently; show gratitude whenever possible and learn from each person you meet."
Once in a while, give it a thought that if you keep aside the pointless notion of ME, you'd certainly open new gates for yourself and lead to a long term change in your behavior. Moreover, you'll make people feel better about you.
As Marshall Goldsmith quotes in his book What Got You Here Won't Get You There, "It's an interesting equation: Less me. More them. Equals success." And "It's not about you. It's about what other people think of you."
The mantra is- "laugh at your yourself; apologize frequently; show gratitude whenever possible and learn from each person you meet."
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
Bookworm
I've recently introduced this section on book reviews. I am not an avid reader, but have started cultivating the habit of reading lately. My book reviews may be naive taking the benefit of doubt that I am at the infant stage of it! I have started reading a little late than I should have done, because till now I could have finished a few dozen more books. Nevertheless, it's better late than never.
Now that I have read a few books and continuing to read more, new insights for life have emerged in my senses. I feel satisfied to pen down my evolving opinions here.
I hope you would appraise this new section, and also suggest me some books which I can dive into. After all, books wash away from the soul, the dust of everyday life.
And as they say-
"Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light."
If you are an author and want your book to be reviewed, drop an email at bookreviews@mansiladha.com.
(PS: the reviews expressed on my website are based on my personal reading experience, and do not intend to defame, derate or degrade the sale or the contrary for any book. I am not paid for writing the reviews, unless otherwise stated in the post.)
Now that I have read a few books and continuing to read more, new insights for life have emerged in my senses. I feel satisfied to pen down my evolving opinions here.
I hope you would appraise this new section, and also suggest me some books which I can dive into. After all, books wash away from the soul, the dust of everyday life.
And as they say-
"Whenever you read a good book, somewhere in the world a door opens to allow in more light."
If you are an author and want your book to be reviewed, drop an email at bookreviews@mansiladha.com.
(PS: the reviews expressed on my website are based on my personal reading experience, and do not intend to defame, derate or degrade the sale or the contrary for any book. I am not paid for writing the reviews, unless otherwise stated in the post.)
Saturday, 7 November 2015
Tuesday, 27 October 2015
Saturday, 24 October 2015
Hathon Me Aa Gaya Rumaal Aapka-to-Saree ke Fall Saa
Interesting though, I have titled this post to make a note of the apparent transition that music has seen with time, and how it occurs to me. The lyrical journey of Hindi songs - from Hindi to Hinglish and Funjabi; the experimental musical journey varying from generating sound using glasses of water to the use of electronic musical instruments or sometimes, none.
Hands down, I love them all, I am a music freak. Every genre is my taste... The heart-touching melodies, the night mood gazals, the energetic raps, the powerful and inspiring sankrit chants, the mesmerizing sufi kawwalis, acoustic revisit of the old songs, the pop filmy numbers or the peppy rap tracks...... While I am typing this, I am actually listening to one such absolutely cool number from this rainbow of genres! In thirst of unconventional music I recently ended up in finding some wonderful videos (precisely, audios as movies) like meditation music, healing om chanting, lively religious hymns, assorted playlists from the 90s, and also acoustic versions of various songs, some of which compete the original ones well!
Let me define a song in my words- a poetic placement of words woven beautifully, with the perfect harmony of musical instruments and melodious human voice or a hybrid of such voices. A therapy to touch the listener's heart and soul, it gives wings to the mind, and flight to the imagination.
Hands down, I love them all, I am a music freak. Every genre is my taste... The heart-touching melodies, the night mood gazals, the energetic raps, the powerful and inspiring sankrit chants, the mesmerizing sufi kawwalis, acoustic revisit of the old songs, the pop filmy numbers or the peppy rap tracks...... While I am typing this, I am actually listening to one such absolutely cool number from this rainbow of genres! In thirst of unconventional music I recently ended up in finding some wonderful videos (precisely, audios as movies) like meditation music, healing om chanting, lively religious hymns, assorted playlists from the 90s, and also acoustic versions of various songs, some of which compete the original ones well!Let me define a song in my words- a poetic placement of words woven beautifully, with the perfect harmony of musical instruments and melodious human voice or a hybrid of such voices. A therapy to touch the listener's heart and soul, it gives wings to the mind, and flight to the imagination.
I wonder how beautifully they do the task of composing the lyrics.. what risk must be involved in composing and trying unconventional lyrics or the kind of beats no other song has ever had? How would they judge, this is it- the right sound, the distinct lyrics and a perfect voice? How tedious it must be to choose a singer appropriate to give life to a song? Are the singers nervous before each recording?
I am blessed to be born in the era when such exhilarating music is being hatched and available without a hitch, over the web. There is a song for every situation. We can connect so flawlessly to the lyrical tunes in every mood! Some or the other song is the tell-tale of one of our life incidences.
I am blessed to be born in the era when such exhilarating music is being hatched and available without a hitch, over the web. There is a song for every situation. We can connect so flawlessly to the lyrical tunes in every mood! Some or the other song is the tell-tale of one of our life incidences.