Transition .....

I think I ve been kind of waiting for this moment secretly !!

Today in a father-son tennis match, the 12 yr old raced ahead to convincing win in less that 45 mins of game.

I certainly did not have answer to some of his strokes.

This is one loss that makes me happy :) A milestone in a way of giving in to younger ones. 

religious integration !

For great tasting mutton kebabs ;)

Of "money" and "things" ..

Here is a true Betaal story, for the Vikramaditya's of the world.

One of my dear friends, who is settled in  USA for more than 15 yr now, was chatting with me.
And thus goes the story - around kids and their B'Day parties.

One of her daughter's friends (sub-10 yr olds) invited them for B'day party.  Out of courtesy she asked, is there a particular thing the boy would like as gift ?

The mom of the b'day boy answers, "No. My boy has set his eye on a specific very expensive toy. And we are asking all our guests to pay cash instead. How much would you like to contribute towards it ?"

It was a bit of shock for my friend. How can some one ask for cash openly ? She was new to the concept of "Fundraising Kids B'day party".

If that expensive toy needs to be given to the boy, is this through this means ? On the other hand whats wrong ? We give gift cards some time, which is "cash" in a way.  What if the toy becomes 10 percent costlier ? Will they invite 10% more people to the party ?

My friends comes home and asked her kid, "If you want that expensive toy for your B'Day, would you prefer NOT having a B'Day party and save the money and buy that thing instead?". The lil girl said honestly - "I would prefer the toy, even if it means we have no party and guest coming over for my b'day".

This brings much deeper questions to Betaal's mind. In both cases, little kids are more desiring the "Objects" than the fun of having their friends around ! In one case, it is being blatantly planted in to their head by parents innovations (Fundraisers B'Days) ! In other case, the kid is much more honest that she has to give up something to get something, but chooses to get the THING.

In my mind, an old fashioned one,  having guests over for any reason other than enjoying their company, is a social crime. In the first case, there is an financial agenda in inviting the guests to the party. In the second case, which is much more noble deal between mom and daughter, there is a painful confession that even kids starting to love the objects than their own B'day parties !


 

Writing own "Obituary"

During the last exec coaching sessions, my coach assigned me a rather jarring assignment.

To write my own "Obituary". And that came after hours of probing on "What I a want to be known for?".

Tough - the same question used to be "What I want to be ?" For someone, who has never really had an "Ambition in normal sense", the question was tough to answer in a corporate sense.

Actually, corporate ladder growth has never been on my ToDo list.  However, ambition like, remain healthy, enjoy simple things of life, be a harmless and likable person over all.

So, finally this assignment comes around. Write your own "Obituary" in less than 200 words. Its a very nice way of getting out some concise answer to "What you want to be known for?".

Thanks Coach !!

The Cancer Diary: Finds its own place away from Betaal Gyan

Took some time to move the "Journal of Cancer" to its own blog space.

The Cancer Diary     <<< Click here to go to the blog

if you typing in the URL :

http://thecancerjournal.blogspot.in/


Content  so far has been moved and all new content goes there directly.  Just to keep all content related to this phase of my life together. Betaal Gyan will continue with its own theme !

Humbling ! Truly humbling !!

The diagnosis has brought in ample "humility" along with the usual rest-of-it, that it comes with.

We have no control.

Being proud of things one does right .. not the pride that comes across as boasting or arrogance, but more affably preachy types.

-  Take care of your health.
-  If you do not find time for exercise, you ll find time for falling sick
etc. All that lil pleasures of advising, caring with self at the center, as an example. No point really !

All that - "Stay cool.. and you are not in control of future" ! - better said than done.

That sense of satisfaction in providing for the family, the sense of accomplishment in being a useful employee - all that creates a small sense of pride inside. Somewhere. Over a period of time.

And then, all that comes crashing down .. making one believe "really!! You take credit for that ?, can you sustain it ?"

Its been a very humbling lesson indeed !

A true *test* ?

In India, the students pursuing computer science, want to be developers when they come out of school and enter their dream IT companies. The formal education, curriculum around testing and validation has evolved just a bit, in last 20 years. The project work even the masters do, all focused on churning some leveraged code, which can not stand the test of productization, field usage even for a day.

So, today we were trying out an experiment to boost our luck of hiring young talented engineers motivated about test. The experiment had all the known pitfalls addressed.

Masters only, so no attrition after 2 yrs for higher study. M.Techs means MBA vs. MS ambiguity is over. Compensation is good. It was clearly marketed as network testing role, so people who are truly interested would come for it. Campus season is over, and all of them are placed. So, only when truly interested in this company, they will come to the test. - That was the thought !

So, 250+ students wrote the test, 45 selected for interview, and 19 cleared the interview for 8 positions available.

So, as a tie breaker, we went to the "team work" test round. Single, large problem to be solved by a larger group, while observers watch their approach, who takes the lead, who provides clues, who helps others, who leverages others - all that.

And, one group was "Strong Hires" from tech rounds, and the other batch "Hires" !

Interestingly I found the "Strong Hire" side was all over each other, making a point each - thinking like "Developers". While the "Strong" batch was more civil in discussing the problem, and coming somewhat to a decent solution, and thinking more fundamentally correct way.

Question it - were those "Strong Hires" from technical interview rounds all "faked" during the interview about being "passionate" about test ?

Will know, only after they join and see them work for some time :)