My little niece Prakriti and I share a special bond. I am her ‘other mom’ and she is my ‘baby’. Adulation and special bond mean she is my faithful shadow, and my little lamb whenever I am in Chennai. She follows me around, observing everything I say and do, keenly examining, and making mental notes on my clothes, jewellery, and, er……….. my footwear. It took me a while, and a…
leadership
Pigs or chicken? Building commitment, not just interest, in the frontline
This story caught my attention long back, as the simplest illustration of ‘interested’ vs ‘committed’. A Pig and a Chicken are walking down the road. The Chicken says: “Hey Pig, I was thinking we should open a restaurant!” Pig replies: “Hm, maybe, what would we call it?” The Chicken responds: “How about ‘ham-n-eggs’?” The Pig thinks for a moment and says: “No thanks. I’d be committed, but you’d only be…
Knicker Bocker Glory, and lessons in motivation and management.
My friends Jo, Sadhana and I used to be regulars at the Taj Coromandel Coffee Shop and mithai shop – not to dine there, but to work. We used to be paid a princely sum of Rs 100/= for day long assignments. As students at the Hotel Management School, this was a great opportunity to work while you study, and experience the industry first hand, and of course, to earn…
Voice of the customer, looking green, or feeling green?
‘Are you trying to fool the customer?’ ‘You have rated yourself a five, and now you are trying to get me to put the pin so it gets submitted’ ‘No maam, that is how it is designed, the default is five, check when the next delivery comes’ pleaded the delivery man. Not one to be convinced, I selected a one star, put in my pin and submitted the rating. My…
The dark side of funny!!
‘Wow, she is so fair, now your parents have their OWN baby. Didn’t you know, they got you from the curry leaves vendor since they didn’t have a baby and wanted one’ (curry leaves vendor since curry leaves is synonymous with dark in South India!) The neighbour who said this thought it was very funny; so did my parents unfortunately…..unfortunately since they allowed her to repeat it often, laughed at…
Ask and ye shall receive……………
I learnt the art of asking, along with driving and I guess I received my licence for both simultaneously. I am probably better at asking than at driving, as the male chauvinists in my life would like to have me believe. Anyway, let me share the story of how I learnt to ask. In 1995, I used to commute from home to Taj Coromandel and back home in auto-rickshaws. Vexed with…
Whats your black thread?
When Ashwin was a little baby, we spent many an evening at the paediatrician’s clinic, since he was a child who fell sick very often – so often, that the paediatrician eventually because a very good friend. I remember one such evening, where we had entered his room, and were waiting for him to see us. The child before us was about 11 months old, and was sporting ugly and…
I HAVE invested in Health Insurance…………..
This blog is for all my young friends and family, for their health in all respects; for the older ones, to their continued health and joy. If it speaks to you, please share it. Every financial advisor worth his salt, every column on financial planning, everyone these days drum into you that apart from the health insurance your organization offers you, you need to ensure you take one in your…
Curiosity did not kill this cat!
I am not an engineer. I did not learn to write code, learn programming languages, nothing! I do not have any kind of formal education on anything to do with technology. As a matter of fact, my first introduction to computers was when I joined, in 1990, the Hotel Management School, and had to roster my students into the practical sessions. I had to do this, to my horror, on…
A haircut and some entrepreneur lessons…………
Last weekend, I went to Harish, my favourite hairstylist. I have followed him from salon to salon, till he opened his own salon 4 years ago. I just don’t get my hair cut anywhere else – and all who read this will understand that if you are lucky to find a great hair stylist, you will do the same; because, he makes you feel beautiful or handsome as the case…