A butterfly in a rainbow soaks the violet hue

A butterfly in a rainbow soaks the violet hue
Sun lit the greens and grass holds the due.
‘Serve up the cookies with jam and tea’
Said a rude rabbit hyper-actively.
‘We’ve waited a while for a beautiful day’
The horses neighed, all ready to play.
It was time for music and naturally,
Birds of paradise hummed whimsically,
‘Summon the flowers for a symphony
We’ll add the rhythm and harmony.’
Chameleons and snails took their time,
On a day like this, to hurry was a crime.
The caterpillar volunteered emphatically...
he took the dahlias to drum the leaves.
Its hollow stems made pretty good flutes,
The owls added with regular hoots,
Calla lilies made excellent trumpets,
thought the toads with bulbous throats.
The wicked cricket was watching this all,
Liked ruining parties; it was his call.
He landed in the midst with his Oleander helicopter,
‘All happy and celebrations and jubilations and songs,
Won’t last the day with ever-changing weather.’
In chorus, the ladybirds had to retort,
‘Go away you blasted spoilsport.’
They were backed by the flighty sparrow-
‘Nothing lasts forever we know.’
Hurricane tomorrow or rain or snow,
The earth has changed in a small duration,
We are these life forms on a similar probation!

A butterfly in a rainbow soaks the violet hue

A butterfly in a rainbow soaks the violet hue
Sun lit the greens and grass holds the due.
‘Serve up the cookies with jam and tea’
Said a rude rabbit hyper-actively.
‘We’ve waited a while for a beautiful day’
The horses neighed, all ready to play.
It was time for music and naturally,
Birds of paradise hummed whimsically,
‘Summon the flowers for a symphony
We’ll add the rhythm and harmony.’
Chameleons and snails took their time,
On a day like this, to hurry was a crime.
The caterpillar volunteered emphatically...
he took the dahlias to drum the leaves.
Its hollow stems made pretty good flutes,
The owls added with regular hoots,
Calla lilies made excellent trumpets,
thought the toads with bulbous throats.
The wicked cricket was watching this all,
Liked ruining parties; it was his call.
He landed in the midst with his Oleander helicopter,
‘All happy and celebrations and jubilations and songs,
Won’t last the day with ever-changing weather.’
In chorus, the ladybirds had to retort,
‘Go away you blasted spoilsport.’
They were backed by the flighty sparrow-
‘Nothing lasts forever we know.’
Hurricane tomorrow or rain or snow,
The earth has changed in a small duration,
We are these life forms on a similar probation!

Rising productivity and fun people at work

If you’re thinking this line of thought is not relevant in today’s tough times, well… restart, robot. Rising productivity and fun people at work have much more brewing than you think and dismiss quickly.

These are tough times, of extracting more from work hours of fewer people to manage. But we go wrong somewhere- not in what we do, but more in what we don’t. We recruit the best people, spend a considerable wad on infrastructure and training, yet the team glue is not strong enough. High attrition ails the best and biggest of corporations. Why?

Increasing dehumanization of our society, a self-centered approach at the workplace, constantly being hypnotized by screens and devices, higher expectations from superiors and other reasons for stress create negativity at work. We like to think of ourselves as a team of high performers who working seriously to achieve our targets. Alas we stay with ourselves, work in silos, put up a façade and at least pretend to respect each other and the hierarchy. In time we have (d)evolved into ambitious, articulate and ruthless people who measure performance according to scales which have been passed down from bigger desks. In time, everyone agrees to these methods because it demands the least bit of people-engagement or interaction. Emails, SMS and plasma videos are supposed to aid communication within people, not replace it. Sadly, we have become the robots we feared in sci-fi stories!
Dost, your IQ will get you a job. Your Emotional Quotient sustains it. Shooting off excessive emails, avoiding small chats with colleagues, meeting people only for work issues, constantly chasing targets only reduces EQ drastically. Its seems ok when we do it, but are sickened when others do the same thing.

This is where fun people come in. They see more than the machines, understand people for who they are, and ensuing behavior increases productivity- the Holy Grail. But fun people are misjudged a lot. They may not have the tact which more diplomatic people possess. It’s not always that fun people can hold back a natural flow of thought, words and actions. But that’s the charm of fun people. They are not bounded by codes of conduct so much. Lovers of life can be tamed by PowerPoint as much as a free bird can be lured in by screensavers. When they see a workplace lose its people touch, they quit; because for them, there’s more to life than just earning a salary. Enslaved is the man who sees no more beyond FYA messages.

So how do you become a fun person without pretending to be one? Here goes. Smile at least once when people walk upto you. If you’re averse to smiling, even a gesture that opens up conversation will do- like an extended hand. Turn and face people who talk to you. Reduce emailing. Call people back after get-togethers, meet remote teams. Chat up on stuff other than work, take people out for lunch (and don’t discuss work there). Write a note people want to hang onto, highlight good things people do. Reprimand in private, stop worrying about your own image too much. Let others hog the limelight. In fact, turn the limelight on others. There, 10 things that can help make a place more fun, and without losing your dignity. After spending decades of our lives working, we will not recall what we did so much as the people we worked with.

(10 tips are collected from observing very inspiring current as well as ex-colleagues)

Rising productivity and fun people at work

If you’re thinking this line of thought is not relevant in today’s tough times, well… restart, robot. Rising productivity and fun people at work have much more brewing than you think and dismiss quickly.

These are tough times, of extracting more from work hours of fewer people to manage. But we go wrong somewhere- not in what we do, but more in what we don’t. We recruit the best people, spend a considerable wad on infrastructure and training, yet the team glue is not strong enough. High attrition ails the best and biggest of corporations. Why?

Increasing dehumanization of our society, a self-centered approach at the workplace, constantly being hypnotized by screens and devices, higher expectations from superiors and other reasons for stress create negativity at work. We like to think of ourselves as a team of high performers who working seriously to achieve our targets. Alas we stay with ourselves, work in silos, put up a façade and at least pretend to respect each other and the hierarchy. In time we have (d)evolved into ambitious, articulate and ruthless people who measure performance according to scales which have been passed down from bigger desks. In time, everyone agrees to these methods because it demands the least bit of people-engagement or interaction. Emails, SMS and plasma videos are supposed to aid communication within people, not replace it. Sadly, we have become the robots we feared in sci-fi stories!
Dost, your IQ will get you a job. Your Emotional Quotient sustains it. Shooting off excessive emails, avoiding small chats with colleagues, meeting people only for work issues, constantly chasing targets only reduces EQ drastically. Its seems ok when we do it, but are sickened when others do the same thing.

This is where fun people come in. They see more than the machines, understand people for who they are, and ensuing behavior increases productivity- the Holy Grail. But fun people are misjudged a lot. They may not have the tact which more diplomatic people possess. It’s not always that fun people can hold back a natural flow of thought, words and actions. But that’s the charm of fun people. They are not bounded by codes of conduct so much. Lovers of life can be tamed by PowerPoint as much as a free bird can be lured in by screensavers. When they see a workplace lose its people touch, they quit; because for them, there’s more to life than just earning a salary. Enslaved is the man who sees no more beyond FYA messages.

So how do you become a fun person without pretending to be one? Here goes. Smile at least once when people walk upto you. If you’re averse to smiling, even a gesture that opens up conversation will do- like an extended hand. Turn and face people who talk to you. Reduce emailing. Call people back after get-togethers, meet remote teams. Chat up on stuff other than work, take people out for lunch (and don’t discuss work there). Write a note people want to hang onto, highlight good things people do. Reprimand in private, stop worrying about your own image too much. Let others hog the limelight. In fact, turn the limelight on others. There, 10 things that can help make a place more fun, and without losing your dignity. After spending decades of our lives working, we will not recall what we did so much as the people we worked with.

(10 tips are collected from observing very inspiring current as well as ex-colleagues)

Super heart and mind - Why I think Nick Fury and Captain America were the best of The Avengers

I watch all movies in nearby halls and forget about them the next day. Very rarely do I discuss a film. But this is different.

In the weekend ‘The Avengers’ was released in Delhi, I heard a radio jockey commenting on the characters in this film, and who his favorite was. He started by saying that Captain America was a boring loser and that he liked Iron Man the most, and that the Hulk was awesome. Now it’s been a few decades since I was 8 years old, but I can't let this go buddy.


I wish people would understand superheroes for more than just fictional pieces with super-human powers, or no more than figments of someone's imagination. A superhero may be created by a group of talented people who contribute to popular art for entertainment, but the substance emerges from the real world. Everyday geopolitics, news and events on chaos and terrorism, small crimes and untouchable drug lords, remorseless politicians make us wish there was a quick fix. When governments or police do not act quickly, one wishes a renegade cop would. Along with supernatural powers, a weakness is planted in our superhero; to make him vulnerable, approachable and someone you can have a beer with. Yes, Captain America appears to be at sea with cutting-edge tech, defrosting from an era gone by, but that was a great era. Despite that, his greatest strength was his heart, a good sense of judgment and a love for mankind you’d see from a wise, Yoda-like grandfather.


Sometimes, superheroes we relate to are people we want to be like. So if you like The Hulk a little too much, clearly you're not the one to sort things out surgically or with some mind-numbing strategy. Just smash your way through. For Thor, it’s all ego and the golden image of the self one cares about, intolerant to any suggestion of humbling, or playing second fiddle to a larger person. Same for Iron Man. He’s brilliant and seriously capable, but is also limited by the lack of willingness to collaborate with others.
That's where Cap emerges. There's so much one can do alone. But when various powers collaborate, the unified force is unbeatable. For that, one has to be able to look beyond ones own self, be able to diffuse ego issues and bring everyone to the table, voluntarily, for a common purpose.


So it’s Captain America for me. But I would look further to collaboration- between him and Nick Fury, from where comes the teaming, decision making sense and grit.


Here’s a lovely infographic on The Avengers I can't stop loving- http://lemon.ly/work/avengers-assemble

Super heart and mind - Why I think Nick Fury and Captain America were the best of The Avengers

I watch all movies in nearby halls and forget about them the next day. Very rarely do I discuss a film. But this is different.

In the weekend ‘The Avengers’ was released in Delhi, I heard a radio jockey commenting on the characters in this film, and who his favorite was. He started by saying that Captain America was a boring loser and that he liked Iron Man the most, and that the Hulk was awesome. Now it’s been a few decades since I was 8 years old, but I can't let this go buddy.


I wish people would understand superheroes for more than just fictional pieces with super-human powers, or no more than figments of someone's imagination. A superhero may be created by a group of talented people who contribute to popular art for entertainment, but the substance emerges from the real world. Everyday geopolitics, news and events on chaos and terrorism, small crimes and untouchable drug lords, remorseless politicians make us wish there was a quick fix. When governments or police do not act quickly, one wishes a renegade cop would. Along with supernatural powers, a weakness is planted in our superhero; to make him vulnerable, approachable and someone you can have a beer with. Yes, Captain America appears to be at sea with cutting-edge tech, defrosting from an era gone by, but that was a great era. Despite that, his greatest strength was his heart, a good sense of judgment and a love for mankind you’d see from a wise, Yoda-like grandfather.


Sometimes, superheroes we relate to are people we want to be like. So if you like The Hulk a little too much, clearly you're not the one to sort things out surgically or with some mind-numbing strategy. Just smash your way through. For Thor, it’s all ego and the golden image of the self one cares about, intolerant to any suggestion of humbling, or playing second fiddle to a larger person. Same for Iron Man. He’s brilliant and seriously capable, but is also limited by the lack of willingness to collaborate with others.
That's where Cap emerges. There's so much one can do alone. But when various powers collaborate, the unified force is unbeatable. For that, one has to be able to look beyond ones own self, be able to diffuse ego issues and bring everyone to the table, voluntarily, for a common purpose.


So it’s Captain America for me. But I would look further to collaboration- between him and Nick Fury, from where comes the teaming, decision making sense and grit.


Here’s a lovely infographic on The Avengers I can't stop loving- http://lemon.ly/work/avengers-assemble