Relocation- A Dedication

This Blog is dedicated to Suresh Iyer.

Moving any item from one to place to another even if its just a hundred meters is an effort.

Imagine relocating completely from one place to another, it is even bigger and a mammoth task.

I have discussed about relocation with Suresh lots of times as he has done relocation between, Mumbai,Bengaluru,Chennai and whenever he discussed about relocation and its difficulties, i used to think well what's all the fuss about? Should it not be very easy, just go to the new place, look at a house and settle in, job done.

How grossly wrong i was, i recently learned the acute issues facing relocation and that too to a completely new place.

Its difficult to find a right place which has right ambiance, good neighbours, proximity for travel,proximity for leisure activities, good set of colleagues .... the list is just endless.

You can imagine how much of an effort it is to get all of this right and you could imagine how much of pain one has to endure even if one of the item in the above list doesn't fit the bill.

This isn't it, there is more to do, when one relocates,all changes to bank accounts , changes to payments , let the local people know about your move , change of postal address.. phew its just such an enormous task.

Its dreadful to do it all alone . I have had a bit of luck as i have friends who are helping me out in my relocation.

Suresh,

Its been a great learning experience and i actually underestimated the efforts in relocation.

Its so Easy to Comment!!

How many times do we comment on others work , almost everyday. Don't we?

Atleast once a day we comment "oh mom same food everyday", "Can't you do this simple thing", "That's so simple","He should have done that ","It was a give away , he shouldn't have played like that".

Its easy to pass comments sitting in a couch or comment while we pass. Have we ever thought can i do the same thing better?

I learnt , its so easy to comment but when you are on spot light , things get awfully difficult to even deliver the smallest thing which we commented was easy thing to do.

Last three weeks i have been cooking for myself, believe me every single day when i cook , i think what the heck of a job this is and how difficult this can be .

I always used to ask my mum, oh ma, why same food everyday? Now with the experience of cooking for my own, well i think what a stupid question that was, when i didn't even realize how difficult job that was.

So easy to pass a comment until we are in the same place and doing the same job. So next time when you pass a comment beware that the work in question might warrant a even better comment.

Why Are Things Expensive

Good Crystals, Dimonds, Glass Ware, Mont Blanc Pens, Rolex Watches.

What emotions do they evoke? They are often connected to richness and are expensive to buy.

Apart from the brand, have we thought why are they expensive? Until about a week , i was of the impression that these items are outrageously expensive to buy .

In the past week i have seen two documentaries that have changed that perception . These items are not expensive because they need to be but because of the skills that are involved in hand crafting the items.

I saw a documentary on Mont Blanc and one on world class glass ware. You would just not believe what it takes to make a quality wine glass or a top notch mont blanc pen.

Believe it or not , when you next visit a star hotel and hold a wine glass in your hand , think that these are hand crafted and there are about a dozen technicians who have worked to make that happen from just sand.

It is amazing to see how much it takes to make one and how much patience and interest is required to get it to the quality that warrants those prices.

Well these are worth their prices . Some may not agree. If you do not , well try and watch the documentaries that come under the title "How it works" in Discovery channel.You will know why iam saying this.

Its been a good learning week for me.

Ego Plays Even at the Highest Level

So football is going great guns and fans are out in the thousands to cheer the world cup.

That's one part of the story . What i find incredibly hard to digest is the politics and the ego's that play within many teams . Best examples being Les Blues i.e. the French team . Just couple of years ago , they were a treat to watch . Beautiful spirit and wonderful game .

Just see what a shamble the team is in . Is it to be blamed on Raymond Domenech the coach or the football association for keeping him long.

Just a while ago , the news is that he has sent Nicholas Anelka home for some spat during the 2-0 defeat at the hands of mexico.

That's just ridiculous, he brings a player and for whatever reason , he just sends him back home.

Whatever has happened, he is the boss and should have sorted it out amicably. You could say, some times tough medicines work but Anekla, lets agree is a world class player and Domenech would need his services if France are to progress to the next stages in this world cup.

I just don't get my head around how even people at this highest competitive level have big ego's. As a manager he should handle such things , am no expert but even a manager at a small company is expected to solve people related problems and be the nucleus of the team, well Domenech for all reason's isn't one.

It was obvious even looking at the body language of the coach during the match .

Lets hope team spirit wins and let not egos cast a shadow on this brilliant sporting history.

Its Back Again

Its the 19th Edition , this event did not take place only twice in its history . The event has seen some of the best sporting actions, great legends were born.

You have guessed it right, the world cup football fever is back . Just about a week for the first game to kick off.

Adidas have made the "Jabulani" , the world cup official football but not without its fair share of controversy.

The great thing about this editions world cup is that , for the first time ever this is going to be held in the African Continent and that too in South Africa which showed the horrors of Apartheid to the world and also one which produced one of the greatest leaders in Nelson Mandela.

Its only fitting that South Africa hosts this prestigious event.

I seriously hope that this tournament brings in the much needed assistance to Africa. I have already seen that FIFA is banking on this tournament to develop football in the region and also to assist in various other humanitarian programmes as well.

I and the whole world expect that south africa would make this tournament memorable and show the world what potential a region often connected to poverty and Aids has.

May the best team win and let this be the window of opportunity for Africa.

I just cannot wait for the games to begin. Its going to be a cracker of a contest.

The Season Begins!!!

Seriously i did not know what to write and i had this weird goal that i set at the beginning of the year . The goal is to blog every week. Its easy to give up but to blog at least once a week is doable.

Hence this blog.

The Tennis Grand Slam season is underway with Australian Open completed and French open underway . Whether it is going to be the King of Clay " Rafa" who is going to rule or is it going to be the elegant Federer or Andy Murray or Novak Djokovic or Soderling or Verdasco ... its too difficult to predict the mens section.

In the women's section , it looks more like the clash of the noted top seeds specifically the williams sisters again this year, with a very little room for upsets, may be that's too early to conclude.

However grand slams have always provided the much needed upsets. So we cannot yet say what would be the outcome of the tournament that has just got underway or can we predict the outcome of the rest of the grand slams which would be as keenly fought as always.

What ever happens, let sportsmanship be the order of the games and may the best player win this tournament and the subsequent ones.

Money Makes Many Things

Money Makes Many things so goes the saying.

It was a classic display of the old adage last week.

On Sunday i took a flight , economy class to Singapore the flight was good , travel time short and inflight service was ordinary. I forgot to order my vegetarian food , when i asked for one , they said they'll try and some how found the same for me. Will not delve into cramped seats etc ,which is obvious for the class i travelled. Lets focus only on service.

I get water in a plastic cup, same with the juice . Probably juice served only twice during entire flight and that too in the plastic cup. More over i had to remind them that i need vegetarian food.

Just five days later on my return i flew the same return flight but only that i flew the class of coats , suits and fake smiles i.e. Business Class.

Whoaaa what a difference in five days . Ordinary mortal just turns close to immortal. Seperate check in queue , once checked in , i am whizzed past through immigration. Then onto the cozy lounge to relax and connect to the world if need be .

Then comes the time to board the aircraft , the announcement goes like this . " we call upon passengers with seats xyz to board and our business class passengers can board the flight as and when they wish".

Once in my seat , a stewardess comes to me and says " Sir what would you like to drink, champagne , wine, coffee or juice"

Again same mistake i did not order veg food , this time the difference is that the stewardess finds the meal for me. I get different magazines to read, offered many different kinds of news paper. Have a range of entertainment to choose from . The list just goes on and on.

What a world of difference in service. Money makes many things , what better evidence can i see to substantiate the old adage.

Phew, it does make a difference . Is it ethical to differentiate people based on money ? Well that's for a different blog altogether.

As of now , money does make many things.