"Our car needs servicing very badly" I told Harish...
"OK. So this time you can take it for servicing" Harish replied
"ME??? " I just can't believe what he was saying!!
Earlier, before my marriage,my father used to check the air, petrol levels in my vehicle. Also he used to start the vehicle every morning so as to avoid the morning strating trouble. I was so much pampered by my parents and now he is asking me to take the car for servicing.... gosh!!
I thought of throwing some reason... "But I'm so busy, I don't have time in the whole week"
But he was ready with answer "I know. So you can take it on saturday".
"But even I give it on saturday, I'm not able to collect it on Monday because of my office"
But today he was not in the mood to listen... "Give early morning on saturday and they will give your car back on the same day. So take the appointment accordingly for coming saturday "
All roads were closed for me by then!!!
I called the service centre. Got the appointment for Saturday 9.00AM.
Hearing that time, I asked the service centre guy if he is sure the centre will open at morning 9.00?
That guy was pretty sure... he said it's their everyday job.
I reached there before time at around 8:45AM and noticed there were people like me already waiting for the service engineers.
Right now there was only one man who were greeting the customers, preparing the job cards, giving the estimats.. So all one-man-show :)
But he assured all of us that 3 more service engineers will come in 10 mins. I just roamed around to see the service centre.
It was 9.00AM in my watch and the scene literally changed within 5-10 mins.
There were 3 more service engineers calling people according to the job cards.. My number also came sooner than expected.
We took the test ride in my car, he asked what all problems I'm facing currently, and some general questions like when was the last servicing done, what all things needs to be done in this servicing etc.
Then came the million dollor question "When can I get it back?"
That guy thought for a moment and said "You will get it today at around 6.00 PM. Do call up before coming"
I called them up in the evening. The vehicle was ready. I got almost brand new car :)
Well... I was much relieved... The process was much simpler than I thought it before..
"So from next time you are going to take the car for servicing, right? " Harish asked.
"let's see" I gave politically correct answer this time.
मागच्या आठवड्यात श्री. भास्कर लिमये लिखीत "नर्मदे हर..... हर नर्मदे" हे पुस्तक वाचायचा योग आला.
श्री. लिमये आपल्यासारखेच एक सर्वसाधारण व्यक्तीमत्व.
"Bank Of India" मध्ये नोकरी करुन सेवानिवत्त झालेले... त्यांच्या मनात अगदी लहानपणीच गोनिदांचे "कुणा एकाची भ्रमणगाथा" हे पुस्तक वाचुन पायी नर्मदा परिक्रमा करायची इच्छा निर्माण झाली...नोकरीत असेपर्यत त्यांना ते जमले नाही...पण नंतर मात्र त्यांच्या जबरदस्त इच्छाशक्तीमुळे त्यानी हे शक्य करुन दाखवले.
या पुस्तकात नर्मदा परीक्रमा बरीच खोलात जाऊन समजावून सांगितली आहे...
फ़क्त परिक्रमेचा रस्ताच नव्हे तर परीक्रमा म्हणजे काय, नर्मदा परीक्रमा का करावी, गंगेसारख्या पुरातन नदीची किंवा इतर कुठ्ल्या नदीची परीक्रमा का करत नाहीत , परीक्रमेदरम्यान सांभाळायची काही पथ्य/नियम, परीक्रमेसाठी केलेली शारीरिक आणि मानसिक तयारी अशा सर्व वि‌‍षयांकडे लेखकाने आपले लक्ष वेधले आहे.
oveall पुस्तक खूप छान आहे. पुस्तक वाचताना आपण पण लेखकाबरोबर परिक्रमा करत आहोत असा भास होतो. परीक्रमे दरम्यान आलेल्या अडचणी, त्यांचे नर्मदा मय्याने केलेले निवारण, काही खरोखरच चमत्कार वाटाव्या अशा घटना, १२ जणांच्या group मध्ये फक्त लेखकाची पूर्ण झालेली परीक्रमा, पुनीसाच्या जंगलात अश्वत्थाम्याची पडलेली गाठ ह्या सगळ्या गो‍ष्टी खरोखरच भान हरपून टाकणा-या आहेत.
पुस्तक वाचुन खाली ठेवले की आपल्या मनात लेखकाबद्दल कौतुक आणि नर्मदा परीक्रमेचे कुतुहल मात्र जागे होते आणि मग आपण पण नकळत म्हणतो.... नर्मदे हSSSर हSSSर.
The other day when reading TOI, the paper was filled with lots of flashy news about the most talked game cricket as who should be the coach, about the actors/actresses how they enjoyed their parties, the latest who's who were invited and about the politicians as usual.
But apart from that, there was a very small news somewhere in the corner
"people in Vaikuntha crematorium honoured for their work" -- people working there were honoured for doing their daily job so well, without any complaint, suffering so much of heat all the time, seeing thousands of people crying for their dear ones day in and day out.
And still all of them were smiling in the photo.
I was shattered!!!! We never even thought of it!! We all are so much busy in our lives to even care for it!
But I was more surprised to see there are people or organisations who not only thought of it, but also they carried out such events.
Effect??? I'm sure it would have done immense effect on the workers of vaikuntha.
There are people like Baba amte who has devoted his life to the care and rehabilitation of leprosy patients, Medha Patkar who led the organization for the Narmada Bachao Andolan, people who run the orphan care centres, who care for the AIDS affected.
I really respect all these people. I think they are the real pillars of our society. Otherwise it would have been a mess totally.
This blog is really dedicated for all those seen and unseen people who works for the society without any expectations.
Hats off to them...
So from next time, when the AC stops working, instead of complainting, if we try to suffer a little then I think all these efforts are really paid off!!!
Mr. Gopalakrishnan succeeds Mr. Ratan Tata as Chairman of Tata sons Ltd., the holding company for many of the Tata blue chips like Tata Steel, Tata Motors, Tata Power, Tata Chemicals, Voltas etc.
Possibly he is the first Non-Tata person to head the Tata Empire.
The below article by him is really interesting.
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The grass isn't always greener on the other side!! Move from one job to another, but only for the right reasons. It's yet another day at office. As I logged on to the marketing and advertising sites for the latest updates, as usual, I found the headlines dominated by 'who's who'
Moving from one company to another after a short stint', and I wondered, why are so many people leaving one job for another?
Is it possible now to work with just one company for a sufficiently long period?
Whenever I ask this question to people who leave a company, the answers I get are: "Oh, I am getting a 200% hike in salary"; "Well I am jumping three levels in my designation"; "Well they are going to send me abroad in six months".
Then, I look around at all the people who are considered successful today and who have reached the top be it a media agency, an advertising agency or a company. I find that most of these people are the ones who stuck to the company, ground their heels and worked their way to the top. And, as I look around for people who change their jobs constantly, I find they have stagnated at some level, in obscurity.
In this absolute ruthless, dynamic and competitive environment, there are still no assured short cuts to success or to making money. The only thing that continues to pay, as earlier is loyalty and hard work. Yes, it pays!
Sometimes, immediately, sometimes after a lot of time. But, it does pay.
Does this mean that one should stick to an organization and wait for the golden moment? Of course not. After, a long stint, there always comes a time for moving in most organisations, but it is important to move for the right reasons, rather than the superficial ones, like money, designation or oversees trip.
Remember, no company recruits for charity. More often than not, when you are offered an unseemly hike in salary or designation that is disproportionate to what the company offers it current employees, there is always an unseemly bait attached. The result? You will, in the long term have reached the same level or may be lower levels than what you would have in your current company.
A lot of people leave their organisations because they are 'unhappy'. What is this so called unhappiness? I have been working for donkey years and there has never been a day when I am not unhappy about something in my work environment, boss, rude colleagues, fussy clients etc.
Unhappiness in a work place, to a large extent, is transient. If you look hard enough, there is always something to be unhappy about. But, more importantly, do I come to work to be "happy" in the truest sense? If I think hard, the answer is "No". Happiness is something you find with family, friends, may be a close circle of colleagues who have become friends. What you come to work for is to earn, build a reputation, satisfy your ambitions, be appreciated for your work ethics, face challenges and get the job done.
So, the next time you are tempted to move on, ask yourself why are you moving and what are you moving into?
Some questions are:
1. Am I ready and capable of handling the new responsibility? If yes, what could be the possible reasons my current company has not offered me the same responsibility?
2. Who are the people who currently handle this responsibility in the current and new company? Am I good as the best among them?
3. As the new job offer has a different profile, why have I not given the current company the option to offer me this profile?
4. Why is the new company offering the new job? Do they want me for my skills, or is that ulterior motive?
An honest answer to these will eventually decide where you go in your career to the top of the pile in the long term (at the cost of short term blips) or to become another average employee who gets lost with the time in wilderness?
Celebration means......
Four friends.
Bahar barsaat.
Four glasses of beer.
Celebration means......
Hundred bucks of petrol.
A rusty old bike.
And an open road.
Celebration means......
Maggi noodles.
A hostel room.
4.25 a.m.
Celebration means......
3 old friends.
3 separate cities.
3 coffee mugs.
1 internet messenger.
Celebration means......
Rain on a hot tin roof.
Pakoras deep-frying.
Neighbours dropping in.
A party.
Celebration means......
You and mom.
A summer night.
A bottle of coconut oil.
A head massage.
You can spend Hundreds on birthdays, Thousands on festivals, Lakhs on weddings, but to celebrate all you have to do is spend your Time with your loved ones.
Keep in touch with your loved ones ........
So lets celebrate TODAY!!!
Once there was a man called Taichi Ohno.
He was working as a supervisor in one of the world famous Japanese car manifacturing company.
In that comapny,there was a conveyor belt on which cars used to get manifactured 24*7, all the time long.
Many processes like car chassising, rear suspensioning, front suspensioning, electronic fittings, wheel hub fittings, painting used to take place one by one on that belt.
After some days, few of the workers complainted to Taichi Ohno saying some processes takes a lot of time for some car models, which in turn increasing the traffic at the end of the belt, putting extra pressure on the next sequential process and creating a lot of workload on the people too..... Solution????
Taichi Ohno decided to work on one idea. He drew a circle. Asked the workers, who'd complainted to him, to stand in the circle and just watch the overall manufacturing process, jot the comments if any. He repeated the process almost for a month.
Everyday those workers used to stand in the circle, watch the process, note down their comments.......
cars getting manifactured, deployed, painted, built....... everyday.
After a month, Taichi Ohno called them and asked for their comments and observations.......
All of them started shooting their thoughts. .. we should do this, we shoudn't do this, we should do this process first, we don't need this process here at all, this process is affecting the overall processing speed...... there were lots.
Taichi Ohno asked them to implement what they thought. They did and the results were amazing....
They observed, they noted down, they thought, they discussed and they implemented... They got fianally what they were looking for. :)
This process is nothing but called, introspection. Introspect yourself everyday.
If you can give proper justification for the things you did, go ahead.
But if you can't satisfy yourself with the answer, it's time to change the working and thinking style.
Stand out right in the circle. Keep your tags, statuses outside for somet time and watch. You will find the solutions to the problem you are facing, the mistakes you did, new improvements on your own.
Try Taichi Ohno today!!!!
I wasn't very familier with Pune earlier to my marriage...
But when I shifted to Pune and started working, my company was around 13-14 kms away from my home.
So obviously the first question arised was "the route to take" for it.
There were around 2-3 alternatives.. But what everyone insisted was to avoid the Furgussion college road, mainly known as "FC Road"
Reason??? There were many.... the bikers, the voice, traffic jams, pollution and many more....
I became a little bit curious. I actually wanted to "see" the road.
So one day while coming back to office, I decidecd to take that route....
And what I found?? yes there were traffic jams, it was noisy, a little bit polluted too... but at the same time it was also fresh, completely new and extremely live.
It refreshed my memories of the college days.. the guys, girls were in groups, on their bikes, sipping coffee, discussing ideas, completing their projects, preparing for the theatre completitions, chitchatting in general in the hotels nearby, commenting on the latest fashions, doing lots off show off for latest outfits, enjoying the chats/icecreams on the stalls and what not?
I enjoyed the whole atmosphere and in fact started liking that road very much....I started taking that path almost everyday..
Wasn't it hampering my time?? It was actually.
Though, I was loosing a few extra minutes but I was gaining a lot of energy for the rest of the day..
I miss all that today as my company reloaced somewhere else now.
So in case if you don't like FC road at all and you have to pass it for some reason, try looking at it from the this perspective...
It's always better to change our attitude rather than trying to change the whole situation, what say?