April 13th Weekly .....
Quotable Quotes
Rules must be binding . Violations must be punished. Words must mean something -- Barak Obama US President after North Korea fired a long range missile
I wish my parents had kept a tutor to teach Malayalam -- Shashi Tharoor --Congress Candidate from Trivandrum
Had I been the country's home minister , I would have crushed Varun Gandhi under a roller - Lalu Prasad Yadav
The smart Auto Driver or not
It was a doggy noon time and it was school leaving time --I was on my way back home from Anna Salai and took the Gopalpuram route to get to cathedral road that touches Chola Sheraton -- the junction leading to this lane was jammed-- Wriggled through the corner and got to this lane -- It was packed on the opposite side as well -- To my front was a auto that was leading our pack -- Suddenly the auto stopped and a boy ran out in to a house on the street-- The traffic stopped-- Cars blared loud-- There was no way to go past the auto -- I pulled downed my window and looked at the auto driver -- Response "" Enna horn adichalum , auto poovathu , engine seizema "-- Saying this he started pushing the auto very slowly- the auto hardly moved as I followed him and rest of the pack followed me -- It was painful one minute drive -- the boy who went in to a house came running and gave the driver currency note -- The driver uttered niceties words (chennai slang ) to the boy , got in to auto -- The engine sprang to life and the auto was away and went down the lane and crossed left to Music Academy-- I was horrified -- One moment , felt bad that I and others were played out but the next moment could not but appreciate the driver for his smartness in getting the fare paid and pretending the auto was down and had to be pushed along !!
Nila Choru
I had wanted to do this on our flats terrace ever since I read on Kirubha Shankar's blog -- Last Thursday ( 9th April 0 was full moon and the schools were closed -- My wife and SIL volunteered to get the food items going and the children were all too excited to understand and eat under the full glare of the moonlight- It was close to 8 PM and we went up to the terrace with food , mats to sit on the floor -- -- The moon played hide and seek with the clouds and that forced us to have the terrace lights on We played a few games with the kids and then it was time to eat-- The kids wanted the lights to be off and I did that -- But alas , they could not locate their plates and the delicacies -- There was lot of grumbling and one of the kids said I was outdated on technology and no one eats under the moon light -- The lights were switched back on and the kids finished their dinner --
I recollected my young days at my old house where for "Chitra Pournami ", we used to have nila choru on the terrace - The kids were not impressed at all -
Good lesson learnt -- With modern technology , try avoiding to get back in terms of the years -- May be the kids would have enjoyed if I had disco lights on and with current Kutthu pattu !!
Henry
I met up with Henry nearly after ten years -- to those who ask who is Henry -- When we started at Ford in the TNPL building Henry used to take care of the coffee vending machine ( I can see few people smiling and recognising this lad )-- He had very good communication skill ( English ) , street smart , diligent and was very caring of what he used to do but no formal education -- He moved to the MM Nagar plant along with the facility service provider and I lost track of him except for the new year greeting card that he was sending year after year --
I was very happy to see him this week end and where he was today -- Henry grew up in the last eight years with the facility service provider as a Team lead , as a Supervisor and when he quit them , he was a site in charge -- What was his journey of ten years -- he says "tremendous" -- He talks about what all he learnt working in a Ford facility , the grooming , hygiene , unrelentless commitment to safety , people management , treating everyone as customer -- he says Ford was remarkable in making him what he is today -- The last assignment with the facility service provider prompted him to start on his own -- he was asked to set up the entire facility management right from scratch -- he did that successfully and that prompted to ask why not do it on my own -- Armed with nothing , he started going around ( minus was the 22k monthly salary he was getting ) -- He agreed to a small time housekeeping job at a leading retailer at Pondy Bazaar -- the job was to keep the public toilet clean -- It was a mess to begin with -- Henry went on it for eight months with two support staff and made a meagre 800 rupees a month -- He changed the way the toilets looked , put hygiene posters , good practices ( he thanks the Ford experience ) and he was emotionally resilient -- At the end of eight months having tested him on the worst area they could and seeing results , the MD of the large cloth retail chain added more floors under his governance and there has been no looking back -- today he has close to 120 people who work for him in more than 6 -8 sites -- He talks of setting objectives for each year for himself ) add X many staff , X no of customers ) --He talks of challenges on people front -- hiring , holding on to them , handling petty theft cases -- He has tons of energy and I was amazed to listen him talk with candour and openness to one of his customers but at the same time very polite -- What a success story to talk about and that can inspire many a youth who are struggling today -- But one things the fundamentals need to be sound and as Henry says it is the environment around him that helped him -- he wishes that everybody could get that opportunity ..
Off the Laptop and PC
Last week due to pain in the neck ( literally ) , I was asked by the Ortho to stay off for a couple of days from doing any techie work !!I realised what a difficult task it is to stay away from the Internet , e mail , networking groups -- It was like deaddiction to a extent -- When you get used to a particular life style and way of work , to get out off it is a big challenge--
Humour Club
The less said the better for this month -- the open session went well but the guest speaker was disappointing -- Not prepared and added to this was the hall we were using was just beneath the hall where the National talent Search scholarship exam was going on and just 10 minutes in to the guest speaker address , we were asked to shut down !! This was one of the perils of having this program in day time and during the months where the exam fever runs high -- The organisers promised a better meeting next time with aircon comfort and two programmes for May -- I can tell you , in the past two years I have been to the humour club, this was the first disappointment
Rules must be binding . Violations must be punished. Words must mean something -- Barak Obama US President after North Korea fired a long range missile
I wish my parents had kept a tutor to teach Malayalam -- Shashi Tharoor --Congress Candidate from Trivandrum
Had I been the country's home minister , I would have crushed Varun Gandhi under a roller - Lalu Prasad Yadav
The smart Auto Driver or not
It was a doggy noon time and it was school leaving time --I was on my way back home from Anna Salai and took the Gopalpuram route to get to cathedral road that touches Chola Sheraton -- the junction leading to this lane was jammed-- Wriggled through the corner and got to this lane -- It was packed on the opposite side as well -- To my front was a auto that was leading our pack -- Suddenly the auto stopped and a boy ran out in to a house on the street-- The traffic stopped-- Cars blared loud-- There was no way to go past the auto -- I pulled downed my window and looked at the auto driver -- Response "" Enna horn adichalum , auto poovathu , engine seizema "-- Saying this he started pushing the auto very slowly- the auto hardly moved as I followed him and rest of the pack followed me -- It was painful one minute drive -- the boy who went in to a house came running and gave the driver currency note -- The driver uttered niceties words (chennai slang ) to the boy , got in to auto -- The engine sprang to life and the auto was away and went down the lane and crossed left to Music Academy-- I was horrified -- One moment , felt bad that I and others were played out but the next moment could not but appreciate the driver for his smartness in getting the fare paid and pretending the auto was down and had to be pushed along !!
Nila Choru
I had wanted to do this on our flats terrace ever since I read on Kirubha Shankar's blog -- Last Thursday ( 9th April 0 was full moon and the schools were closed -- My wife and SIL volunteered to get the food items going and the children were all too excited to understand and eat under the full glare of the moonlight- It was close to 8 PM and we went up to the terrace with food , mats to sit on the floor -- -- The moon played hide and seek with the clouds and that forced us to have the terrace lights on We played a few games with the kids and then it was time to eat-- The kids wanted the lights to be off and I did that -- But alas , they could not locate their plates and the delicacies -- There was lot of grumbling and one of the kids said I was outdated on technology and no one eats under the moon light -- The lights were switched back on and the kids finished their dinner --
I recollected my young days at my old house where for "Chitra Pournami ", we used to have nila choru on the terrace - The kids were not impressed at all -
Good lesson learnt -- With modern technology , try avoiding to get back in terms of the years -- May be the kids would have enjoyed if I had disco lights on and with current Kutthu pattu !!
Henry
I met up with Henry nearly after ten years -- to those who ask who is Henry -- When we started at Ford in the TNPL building Henry used to take care of the coffee vending machine ( I can see few people smiling and recognising this lad )-- He had very good communication skill ( English ) , street smart , diligent and was very caring of what he used to do but no formal education -- He moved to the MM Nagar plant along with the facility service provider and I lost track of him except for the new year greeting card that he was sending year after year --
I was very happy to see him this week end and where he was today -- Henry grew up in the last eight years with the facility service provider as a Team lead , as a Supervisor and when he quit them , he was a site in charge -- What was his journey of ten years -- he says "tremendous" -- He talks about what all he learnt working in a Ford facility , the grooming , hygiene , unrelentless commitment to safety , people management , treating everyone as customer -- he says Ford was remarkable in making him what he is today -- The last assignment with the facility service provider prompted him to start on his own -- he was asked to set up the entire facility management right from scratch -- he did that successfully and that prompted to ask why not do it on my own -- Armed with nothing , he started going around ( minus was the 22k monthly salary he was getting ) -- He agreed to a small time housekeeping job at a leading retailer at Pondy Bazaar -- the job was to keep the public toilet clean -- It was a mess to begin with -- Henry went on it for eight months with two support staff and made a meagre 800 rupees a month -- He changed the way the toilets looked , put hygiene posters , good practices ( he thanks the Ford experience ) and he was emotionally resilient -- At the end of eight months having tested him on the worst area they could and seeing results , the MD of the large cloth retail chain added more floors under his governance and there has been no looking back -- today he has close to 120 people who work for him in more than 6 -8 sites -- He talks of setting objectives for each year for himself ) add X many staff , X no of customers ) --He talks of challenges on people front -- hiring , holding on to them , handling petty theft cases -- He has tons of energy and I was amazed to listen him talk with candour and openness to one of his customers but at the same time very polite -- What a success story to talk about and that can inspire many a youth who are struggling today -- But one things the fundamentals need to be sound and as Henry says it is the environment around him that helped him -- he wishes that everybody could get that opportunity ..
Off the Laptop and PC
Last week due to pain in the neck ( literally ) , I was asked by the Ortho to stay off for a couple of days from doing any techie work !!I realised what a difficult task it is to stay away from the Internet , e mail , networking groups -- It was like deaddiction to a extent -- When you get used to a particular life style and way of work , to get out off it is a big challenge--
Humour Club
The less said the better for this month -- the open session went well but the guest speaker was disappointing -- Not prepared and added to this was the hall we were using was just beneath the hall where the National talent Search scholarship exam was going on and just 10 minutes in to the guest speaker address , we were asked to shut down !! This was one of the perils of having this program in day time and during the months where the exam fever runs high -- The organisers promised a better meeting next time with aircon comfort and two programmes for May -- I can tell you , in the past two years I have been to the humour club, this was the first disappointment
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