Vocabulary EXtempore, Insufferable Nonplus Gaffe (VEXING) Sentences

Our catharsis is the cathexis of an avoidable tragedy; hypermnesia by a people and media that intersperses reminders, so random donnybrooks and vacuous, impolitic specimens do not disport or debilitate the effort to promulagate reform from rulers who are tutelary to regression and as algid as the weather. 

Emerging market grovels at the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid

A gruesome rape in the city has brought our seething youth back on the streets, voicing dissent against a government that appears indifferent to a lot of recent other bad things. Matters have worsened because of the callous approach with which protesters were handled. This along with previous news on graft and rampant corruption, our reputation and image as an ‘emerging market’ has been scarred further, dragging us further down on a global scale on issues of dependability, growth and development.

Why is this crime affecting us so much today; that too in a nation where women are already least safe as per recent findings on security for women index for all nations?

Reminiscing the days of studying for my MBA, one particular element that will stay in my mind forever, is the Maslow’s pyramid, and where we stack up, as a nation. Do look this up to know where you as an individual stand in your own life’s timeline. If we want to get anywhere higher in our lives as professionals or citizens, we need to shift our focus beyond our basic needs- also called Safety, Biological and Physiological needs, which lie stacked at the bottom of this pyramid. Just in case you thought the rapists are slum-dwelling, illiterate, uncouth animals that deserved to be bathed in acid, let’s take a look at where it all starts.

As men born and raised in this patriarchal society, we have grown up looking at women being ill-treated in our very own homes. It starts with killing the girl child, of the ones that live- assigning them menial jobs that ‘they are made naturally to do’, being preferred over daughters for higher education and other goodies of life, reserving womenfolk to the kitchen or child-bearing and rearing activities only, dismissing their opinions in important matters of the home, demanding dowry and other plagues that never seem to go away. 

What is ironical is that most male children do not yield the 'returns' of all this investment bestowed. It is ultimately the girl child that brings or keeps the family together and keeps the home running despite challenges which men don't have the courage to face up to, simply because the male child always had it easy through his convenient childhood. So much contradiction in a nation that worships numerous, 'powerful' mythological goddesses.

A change needs to be bought about in our upbringing.  It is never too late. It seems easy to say, but political will can change things in a short span of 5 years. An entire nation can change, and be the super power we so can be.
The symbolic artwork is a ballpen on paper copy from 'Green Lantern - The Sinestro Corps War'.

Emerging market grovels at the bottom of Maslow’s pyramid

A gruesome rape in the city has brought our seething youth back on the streets, voicing dissent against a government that appears indifferent to a lot of recent other bad things. Matters have worsened because of the callous approach with which protesters were handled. This along with previous news on graft and rampant corruption, our reputation and image as an ‘emerging market’ has been scarred further, dragging us further down on a global scale on issues of dependability, growth and development.

Why is this crime affecting us so much today; that too in a nation where women are already least safe as per recent findings on security for women index for all nations?

Reminiscing the days of studying for my MBA, one particular element that will stay in my mind forever, is the Maslow’s pyramid, and where we stack up, as a nation. Do look this up to know where you as an individual stand in your own life’s timeline. If we want to get anywhere higher in our lives as professionals or citizens, we need to shift our focus beyond our basic needs- also called Safety, Biological and Physiological needs, which lie stacked at the bottom of this pyramid. Just in case you thought the rapists are slum-dwelling, illiterate, uncouth animals that deserved to be bathed in acid, let’s take a look at where it all starts.

As men born and raised in this patriarchal society, we have grown up looking at women being ill-treated in our very own homes. It starts with killing the girl child, of the ones that live- assigning them menial jobs that ‘they are made naturally to do’, being preferred over daughters for higher education and other goodies of life, reserving womenfolk to the kitchen or child-bearing and rearing activities only, dismissing their opinions in important matters of the home, demanding dowry and other plagues that never seem to go away. 

What is ironical is that most male children do not yield the 'returns' of all this investment bestowed. It is ultimately the girl child that brings or keeps the family together and keeps the home running despite challenges which men don't have the courage to face up to, simply because the male child always had it easy through his convenient childhood. So much contradiction in a nation that worships numerous, 'powerful' mythological goddesses.

A change needs to be bought about in our upbringing.  It is never too late. It seems easy to say, but political will can change things in a short span of 5 years. An entire nation can change, and be the super power we so can be.
The symbolic artwork is a ballpen on paper copy from 'Green Lantern - The Sinestro Corps War'.

Travellage

From GBs of photos taken over the past few years, here are two collages. One from my trips in India and the other outside. All elements are self-slicked.
Photos taken in Ladakh, Jaisalmer, Mumbai, Pondicherry (yellow auto), Kolkata, Ranikhet (gramophone) and Delhi.

This one made from trips taken since 2007, while in New York (wall street bull), Rome, Paris, London (Love, Hope, Joy balloons in Soho), Florence (Da Vinci boat), Barcelona, Capri (sea), Venice (mask), Madrid (levitating sadhus), Sri Lanka (decorated dancer).

Travellage

From GBs of photos taken over the past few years, here are two collages. One from my trips in India and the other outside. All elements are self-slicked.
Photos taken in Ladakh, Jaisalmer, Mumbai, Pondicherry (yellow auto), Kolkata, Ranikhet (gramophone) and Delhi.

This one made from trips taken since 2007, while in New York (wall street bull), Rome, Paris, London (Love, Hope, Joy balloons in Soho), Florence (Da Vinci boat), Barcelona, Capri (sea), Venice (mask), Madrid (levitating sadhus), Sri Lanka (decorated dancer).

Original impulse and great people

Original impulse, go for.
Does your product come from an original impulse, with a sincere effort to create and offer something new? Or is it a knee-jerk reaction and a copy of a rival’s product to get a slice of market share? If you connect with the latter, then drop everything right now. Go to a nearby lake, give yourself a few hours of peace and quiet, and rethink why you are in the business at all.
A hurried, half-baked approach to any project shows in the strength of the final product. Is copying others really strengthening our brand, or weakening it? Actually, it is only making the other’s brand stronger.

First, study the target audience, understand user behavior, see what you can create that others cannot, and then create a market for it. Only then do we get down to designing anything. If you want your material to have a decent shelf life, or to increase brand connect and recall, look at your own product from the perspective of the people you are selling to. Now, do you want to buy it?
These questions need to be answered before we put in precious resources into any project. Else you get a ton of ‘I told you so’s from random strangers when the product fails.

Awesome people or big brand?
We were speaking with a vendor for branded gifts, who started with bragging about his connections and companies he had delivered branded gifts for. He spoke about one particular client who had worked in several companies. Since he stayed in touch with this client throughout, he also continued as the gifts vendor to all these companies. What’s interesting was, he doesn’t even remember the logos he printed on those gifts.
So who’s bigger here- the person or the brand? True, we all want to work with great brands, but so do a lot of average people. We all know that people quit ‘great brands’ because of incompatibility with their bosses. So what is the stickiness factor? It’s the awesome people you work with.

Between people and the brand, it boils down to the people, who make the brand greater.

No technology please, we’re great people. 
In the good old 90s, there was very little technology, and more people connect. We worked much harder, sincerely and with least distractions. Today, all we care about is our designations, status messages, our phones’ operating systems. So what are we missing? Well, its original impulse and great people. To start with, keep your ego below knee level, do some great work, and respect others by giving them credit.

Original impulse and great people

Original impulse, go for.
Does your product come from an original impulse, with a sincere effort to create and offer something new? Or is it a knee-jerk reaction and a copy of a rival’s product to get a slice of market share? If you connect with the latter, then drop everything right now. Go to a nearby lake, give yourself a few hours of peace and quiet, and rethink why you are in the business at all.
A hurried, half-baked approach to any project shows in the strength of the final product. Is copying others really strengthening our brand, or weakening it? Actually, it is only making the other’s brand stronger.

First, study the target audience, understand user behavior, see what you can create that others cannot, and then create a market for it. Only then do we get down to designing anything. If you want your material to have a decent shelf life, or to increase brand connect and recall, look at your own product from the perspective of the people you are selling to. Now, do you want to buy it?
These questions need to be answered before we put in precious resources into any project. Else you get a ton of ‘I told you so’s from random strangers when the product fails.

Awesome people or big brand?
We were speaking with a vendor for branded gifts, who started with bragging about his connections and companies he had delivered branded gifts for. He spoke about one particular client who had worked in several companies. Since he stayed in touch with this client throughout, he also continued as the gifts vendor to all these companies. What’s interesting was, he doesn’t even remember the logos he printed on those gifts.
So who’s bigger here- the person or the brand? True, we all want to work with great brands, but so do a lot of average people. We all know that people quit ‘great brands’ because of incompatibility with their bosses. So what is the stickiness factor? It’s the awesome people you work with.

Between people and the brand, it boils down to the people, who make the brand greater.

No technology please, we’re great people. 
In the good old 90s, there was very little technology, and more people connect. We worked much harder, sincerely and with least distractions. Today, all we care about is our designations, status messages, our phones’ operating systems. So what are we missing? Well, its original impulse and great people. To start with, keep your ego below knee level, do some great work, and respect others by giving them credit.