Positive Attitude and success

Positive Attitude and success                                                                                  July 4, 2012

                                                                                                                                                    

In my last blog I had mentioned about 3 A mantras---- Accept, Adjust and Appreciate. These work well at work place. However, to begin ushering in a robust and successful future, one needs to understand the power of three major inputs, required to promote a success conducive system in oneself. The three major inputs here are as under:

1, Knowledge

2, Skills

3, Attitude

One may say that these three inputs form a triangle of sorts in each one of us. It may be prudent here to discuss each of the inputs above to understand the import and impact of each one   of them.

1, Knowledge

One must possess excellent knowledge in one’s CORE area of operation. Knowledge is one of the main planks here. One must acquire as much knowledge as possible to enable one to perform efficiently and effectively in one’s chosen area of operation. Further, one must constantly upgrade and update one’s knowledge. For this, one must stay in touch with latest happenings in the industry as also academically.

2, Skills

Knowledge alone is not enough. One must develop sufficient skills to implement the various projects in one’s core area keeping one’s knowledge base in focus. One must constantly endeavour to improve these skills. The skills could vary depending on the chosen CORE area by any individual.

3, Attitude

It’s not merely enough to possess knowledge and skills; one must also have the right ATTITUDE which can also be termed as positive attitude. A positive or right attitude can have a profound impact towards promoting a success conducive atmosphere in any work area chosen by a person. An example elaborated   below would help understand ATTITUDE better.

A multinational company in USA sent its salesman to a remote island in the Atlantic Ocean to promote the sale of their popular brand of shoes. The Salesman on reaching the island was aghast to find that none wore shoes in the island. He immediately sent a cable message to the parent company in USA mentioning that he was rushing back home since none in the island wear shoes.

Another Salesman was then sent to the same island, who on reaching there was quite excited to find that none wore shoes in the island. He promptly sent a cable message---“Send me big consignment of shoes since none here wear shoes”.

The above example aptly describes how an attitude ought to be like at a work place.

Having understood the three inputs briefly, it may be mentioned that the triangle of the said inputs may be small initially but it should be our constant endeavour to increase the size of each side uniformly to form an equilateral triangle. It’s no use having a huge knowledge side with poor skills and even poor attitude. We have plenty of such knowledgeable arm chair critics. Knowing is not “doing” (function of skill), Doing is “doing”. If knowing was “doing” most of us would not have got married. (Lots of laugh)

All the three inputs in the right proportion go to form a success conducive base which would act as a launching pad for any aspiring person to make a tryst with his GOAL in any profession of his preferred   choice.

Needless to emphasize the principles of Accept, Adjust and Appreciate will come handy in addition to the above said inputs of Knowledge, Skills and Attitude.

Above all this is one major guiding principle which should not be lost sight of by any individual would be to pick a core area as his career which is close to his heart and which he enjoys doing most. Remember, the Quote—“If you cannot get what you like, you must like what you get.” Let us avoid such a situation and take an informed decision to choose a CORE area which one loves/likes the most.

In a nut shell ,to generate a success conducive situation at  a work place one must keep in mind and implement 3 A principles of ACCEPT,ADJUST,APPRECIATE. Develop a sound base of KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS and ATTITUDE and above all pick up an area of operation which one LOVES/LIKES doing most.

Regards and

Best wishes to my readers.

K V VAIDYALINGAM

C8 Melur Meadows   and

 Flat no 201,

2nd floor BALDOTA RESIDENCY

1st cross,

14th Main, Munivenkattappa lay out

Uttarhalli main Road., Subramanya post

Bangaluru 560061

My days in Calcutta

My days in Calcutta 

                                                                                                                                       May 28, 2012

During the course of my career with Reserve Bank of India commencing on 11May 1973, I had my first promotion in 1987 when I was transferred to Calcutta office (now Kolkata) from Mumbai. I observed a paradigm shift in terms of attitude and work culture at this new centre. While in Mumbai it was a busy and fast moving life while Calcutta was more laid back and relaxed. Nevertheless, for any one with an open mind who believed in the 3 A mantras---- Accept, Adjust and Appreciate, every work place is an heaven on the earth.

However, before I was taught the above said 3 A mantras, I was appalled by the lack of work culture and an attitude to make the most of filthy surroundings in  general by the people of Calcutta. A typical working day (non working day to be precise) in the Reserve Bank of India, Calcutta would start with late coming by many a staff for one reason or another and end with early going for a  similar variety of reasons. In between there will 2 to 3 tea breaks and a major lunch break and not  to  mention about gossip breaks during which time there will be debates on current political happenings, football, cricket etc. Needless to emphasize genuine and quality jobs will be executed in between the above mentioned breaks.

I do vividly remember my early times in the year 1987 (August) when I had just joined the office in Kolkata when my superiors posted me to Enquiry desk of Exchange Control department (ECD).Public often came to this desk for various forms (pre liberalization days).I pointed out to my seniors that people who approach this desk invariably speak in Bengali and I was unable to follow them which defeated the purpose of my sitting in the said desk. However, the department had other ideas which enabled me to pick up Bengali on account of continuous bombardment on my audio systems so to speak. One more episode comes to my mind during my early days in Kolkata when I was taken to task by one of the communist dominated trade unions for taking photo copy of a few documents since this according to them was anti labour .I was then instructed to get the documents typed and get it compared with the original and certify the typed document as “true copy”. I was amused to learn that taking photo copy of any document was anti labour. Be that as it may, I took this in my stride and had a hearty laugh. More fun was in the offing outside the Bank when I walked down from Reserve Bank Building at BBD Baug to Esplanade to catch the underground metro rail to my residence. From a distance I was able to observe a motely crowd of people surrounding a small portion of the park near the Metro station. As I reached close to them I was astonished and a bit disturbed to find   that the crowd was amusing itself by feeding hundreds of rats with peanuts in the corner of the park which had many rat holes. Some of the men in the crowd took the rats in their palm and fed them with the other hand. Brave men indeed. Peanut vendors around this place were doing brisk business.

The above experiences remain etched in my memory to this day in view of the initial shock and awe with which I received these in my mind. Nevertheless and again thanks to Kolkata that I learnt the principles of three “A” mantras among many other valuable  HR inputs from Shri Aporesh Acharaya, a  trainer of great repute, who taught me values of Human Relations when I did one of the HR courses from MILT (Macgreth Institute of leadership Training). I made use of these three A mantras in the office as also in the market place with great success. It is better to ACCEPT a person as he is and ADJUST yourself according to his personality and shower genuine APPRECIATION on him when required. This policy worked wonders for me during my tenure in Reserve Bank of India , Kolkata and helped come out unscathed during a period when left militancy in the trade unions was at its peak and the then Manager of Kolkata office was keen to suspend and dismiss as many activists as possible.

I had a memorable, pleasant and enjoyable time in Kolkata. Further, learning their language(Bengali) helped me considerably in understanding an average employee better and in turn they started appreciating me for making efforts to learn their language. I did not also make any issue about their attending office late or leaving office early as long as they completed the tasks assigned to them. Thus my attitudinal shift in understanding them with the three “A” mantras was indeed magical and created bonding  of quality all through.

K V VAIDYALINGAM

Shed pounds effortlessly

Shed pounds effortlessly

I was very keen on receiving  treatment for reducing my excess weight with LYAA WELLNESS, the moment I occupied my cottage at Melur  Meadows. However, in view of my preoccupations with tasks involved in settling down at my cottage, this was postponed. Further, during my recent visit to Bangalore in the last week of December 2011, I had to be hospitalized for treatment of Pneumonia, which further postponed my tryst with LYAA. However, I decided that on returning back after treatment to   Melur  Meadows , my first priority would be to submit myself to naturopath doctors at LYYA  to enable me to detoxify and also shed my excess weight of over 8 kgs.

Accordingly I enrolled with LYYA WELLNESS for a ten days programme commencing from February 7,2012. I found  Dr Satish and Dr Aparna attached to the clinic very friendly ,well informed and willing to share their knowledge with me. Initially I was worried, if I would be able to fast for five long days. However, the doctors convinced me, mentioning that during the fasting process  the body  with its vital  life force starts utilizing the stored excess fat which would help in shedding excess  weight. The doctors further added that the detoxification therapies administered by them would make the fasting   much more effective and purposeful.

I was now thrilled to undertake  this 10 day programme including fasting for first five days and breaking of fast  from  sixth day onwards under doctor’s supervision. The first day of the fast was  troublesome with nagging headache which I was told was on account of not consuming my daily dose of coffee/tea etc. However, this vanished on 2^nd day morning and I started feeling fine. I was told to consume at least 3 litres of water every day  while Lyya wellness were providing me with liquids like coconut water ,lemon water with honey   every two hours.

As the fasting continued I started feeling lighter and lighter as also fitter than  before. All  the after effects  of  my treatment for pneumonia in January 2012 vanished. The detoxification therapies administered twice a day were having a salutary effect  on me and  I was feeling the difference for myself. At the end of fifth day of fasting, I had successfully shed about 5kgs and feeling fitter than ever before. The feeling was like driving a car after it has come back from servicing.

The fast was broken under doctor’s supervision on the sixth day. I was told that this was the most important aspect of the programme since one should not rush and consume solid food immediately. For next two days I was given fruit juices from time to time while detoxification therapies too continued twice daily. Solid food in the form of fruits were given to me on the 7^th day followed by salads on the next day. On the ninth  and tenth day cooked food was  served  in lunch and fruit juices were served for breakfast.

Overall this ten day programme has a very profound effect with regard to losing excess weight and promoting good health. I strongly recommend this programme for all those who wish to shed their excess weight effortlessly  and also to those who wish to live a healthy life in harmony with nature.

Cheers-----with fruit juices only

K.V.Vaidyalingam

Bollywood –Then and now

Bollywood –Then and now                                                                                    August 12, 2011

Having enjoyed Bollywood movies during the past many decades beginning from 1960, I observe that perceptible changes have taken effect from decade to decade. In the sixties and early fifties the movies were mainly filmed in black & white. There were also not many releases during those days but these invariably were on Fridays as is in vogue presently. The films were dominated by Dilip Kumar, Dev Anand and Raj Kapoor for nearly 4 decades. Films like “Awara”, “Shri  420”,”Madhumati”, “Mugel-E-Azam”,”Kala Pani”,”Paying Guest” come to mind vividly. There was considerable emphasis on songs and dances in most of these movies.

 Changes started occurring in during the early sixties when a few films were   produced in colour. Before this a few movies were partly in colour. I am able to recall the famous number “Chaudhvin Ka Chand Ho “ from the film “Chaudhvin Ka Chand“ was filmed in colour while the rest of the movie was in “black & white”. The trend for full length feature film in colour, was set by R.K films, with the release of “Sangam” in 1964 which was a roaring success and ran for more than a year at the “Apsara” cinema, Mumbai. With the release of “Sangam” by the show man Raj Kapoor, new trends were set in the exposure norms with regard to swimming costumes for the female lead artists. Raj Kapoor was criticized by the Indian middle classes for his methods. However, it may be mentioned that although there were shifts in the visual scheme of things, the audio aspect remained almost unchanged. The dialogue delivery was pretty decent with quality script writers. The songs in the movies were meaningful and within the limits of decency and set to great music by the likes of “Shankar–Jaikisan”,”Kalyanji-Anandji”,”S.D Burman”and “Laxmikant Pyarelal”.The audio abuses in these movies would be confined to the basket of “Kuttey ,Kamine, Haramzade & saley” since none of the producers thought it (mercifully enough) necessary to usher in or rather experiment with any new exposure norms here. It may also be very likely that the producers during that generation were not exposed to travel by Mumbai local trains where  Mumbaikars are exposed to rich and sumptuous menu of nationalized abuses, if I may say so in a lighter vein.

 Be that as it may, liberalization of the visual fare received further momentum with the release of R.K films such as “Bobby”,”Ram Teri Ganga Maili”,”Prem Rog”,”Satyam Shivam Sundaram “ etc. Raj Kapoor’s main thrust here, I think was to highlight the hidden sexuality in a female form and make an appeal to subtler senses of viewership, keeping the overall strict censorship norms prevailing then.

The liberalization process in the Bollywood movies commenced much before India liberalized its economy in the early 90’s.With the free flow of Capital, as also new thoughts and ideas from Hollywood movies, the earlier liberalization of exposure norms were applied to male forms too with Mr Salman Khan and Mr Hrithik Roshan leading the way. Further, with Hollywood adopting liberal doses of foul language and pedestrian audio stuff in its movies, can Bollywood remain far behind? Not at all, the new trend has taken off and  is already assuming alarming proportions in India. The foul language observed in the dialogues is now creeping into the lyrics of the songs in the movies as may be observed from one of the songs in the movie “Delhi Belly”.

The kids in India watch most of these movies and with the prospect of their picking up this garbage, for use at home or outside, we as parents are seriously concerned. No sensible parent would want their children to make use of these abuses in their spoken language. It’s a shame that the producers supposedly include this rubbish on “Public demand” as though the so called “public” sent a signed petition to them.

From my experience during my service period in the Reserve Bank of India, I have come across many a  colleagues who were hesitant to keep their young children to the care of a servant at home in order that the children do not pick up substandard language during their impressionable age. One can understand their concern since it would be rather difficult to erase this rubbish, if it is already picked up when children get constantly exposed to this, particularly when they interact with other children who have already grasped the audio garbage. But now with Bollywood adopting this carefree attitude from Hollywood and children imbibing every bit from their favourite stars, mothers or rather parents would be truly challenged to resist this onslaught.

 Will the Censor Board in India wake up???

 GOD save our children     

Regards

K.V.Vaidyalingam

Mr P.Anand Rao,Cricket commentator

Cricket ---1960-1970                                                                                          August 7,2011

The cricket season is presently underway and I observe that the Indian cricket team is struggling to retain their number one position. I also observe that I am finding it difficult to sustain my interest in the game as Indians continue their losing streak. They have lost two tests in a row. However, now that I have retired from active service, I need some interesting subjects to occupy myself with. Cricket being one of my major interests, I thought it would not be a bad idea to revisit my childhood days when there was no television and we had to mainly depend on radio commentary. I am talking about the period from 1960 to 1970 while I grew up in Mumbai. Test matches were played at Mumbai, Madras, Calcutta, New-Delhi and Kanpur. The radio commentators at all these centres were based from these regions. At Mumbai we invariably had Mr Vijay Merchant, Mr Anand Sethalvad , Mr Dicky Rutnagur and Mr Suresh Saraiyya. At Chennai we had Mr P. Ananda Rao, Mr Balu Alaganan and Mr  R.T Partrhasarathy. At Calcutta, we had Mr Pearson Surita, Mr Devraj Puri and Mr Barry Sarbadhikary. However, my favourite here was Mr P. Ananda Rao who had a very special nasal voice and had excellent command over his English. He had his own inimitable style of commenting. Mr Anand Rao had his set of phrases and usages which none other used during his time. He also did not copy the likes of Mr John Arlott or Mr Lindsay Hasset. Take for example a sample of his style of commenting.

 "There is a bowling change at the Walaja Road end. E.A.S Prassana has been brought in place of B.S Chandrasekar. Skipper Pataudi needs to be complimented for this change. What do you say Lala (Amarnath) about this change. Lala, appointed as expert for the match would offer his comments and Mr Rao would proceed as described below:

 ' As Prassana comes in bowls to Butcher, right arm over the wicket, good length, on the off and middle stump this time, the ball wraps him on his pads, there is an appeal for lbw, and the umpire Mr Shambu Pan who had a closer look  has no hesitation in giving him out'. On some other occasion for a similar lbw appeal Mr Anand Rao would continue in the same excited fashion, to  say  that umpire has no hesitation in giving him 'not out', while eager fans  would be expecting yet another wicket. That was Anand Rao googly for his fans. He was using terms like 'hugging mother's hair' when ball was hit all along the ground. His general presentation was very exquisite and detailed .This also suited the listeners who were keen on every single detail on the field since there was no television during those days.

 However, there was one very annoying aspect of Mr Anand Rao's commentary. During the post tea session of   every test match, listeners in South East Asia, Australia and New Zealand were given a brief account of the day's proceedings, which lasted for about ten minutes. During this time Mr Anand Rao would refrain from commenting on the current happenings till he completed the brief reporting of the day's proceedings. I vividly remember one such reporting when three English batsmen were dismissed, but the listeners were able to make out that wickets have fallen on the basis of roaring noises which were generally made when wickets fell.     

 During this nostalgic recall, I feel like listening to the nasal voice of Mr Anand Rao. If any of the cricket lovers can help me here I shall be grateful. Incidentally I may like to mention that I have tried You tube as also other websites but without success.

I would like to cover a few more observations concerning cricket during my later blogs, so watch out.

regards

K.V.Vaidyalingam