Month: September 2014

Is too much of everything is as bad as too little.

| Subhash

“Perhaps too much of everything is as bad as too little.” – Edna Ferber

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.

Opening lines from Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare.

Duke Orsino is so drenched in love that the show opens with the Duke saying this.

This reminds me of an incident in my life when I was in London which I will share. Once I was shopping for my wife to give her a surprise on the occasion of our anniversary. She love fragrances, eye make ups, so I was there at the Debenhams and being assisted by a young and vibrant girl. She was very happy that I was purchasing it for my wife and told me details about various items. I bought a fragrance and some other stuff.

When I was about to go for billing she insisted that I take some more of them, to this I replied to her which I always remember and she applauded to this.

Eyes that make me happier, Pearl with her eye make up done by her mother, she had a school skit.
Eyes that make me happier, Pearl with her eye make up done by her mother, she had a school skit.

I told this young lady, see child happiness should always come in small installments, otherwise the importance dilutes.

Good and bad are part and parcel of life and they make us feel these emotions only when they are balanced and rotated. The day only feels good as we have a night. Excess sugar or salt spoils the dish.

So in a true sense I wish that we get our daily dose of happiness, sadness, fun, surprises and that wow moment all in manageable proportions.

I would end this by sharing a Bee Gees song which comes to my mind:

Nobody gets too much heaven no more
It’s much harder to come by
I’m waiting in line
Nobody gets too much love anymore
It’s as high as a mountain
And harder to climb

Impediments: Do they really exist or merely created|Raising the Red Flag

| Subhash

People are trained time and again to inform or mitigate risk in the team by raising the red flag.

“To raise a red flag it means that something potential is blocking which needs immediate attention”. In Agile world it is termed as an IMPEDIMENT.So team members raise a red flag when they are stuck and cannot proceed, this may be due to some internal or external dependencies.

When presenting topics in a seminar the organizers have special dedicated persons who peep in when the last few minutes are left to make the speaker aware that they need to wind up quickly to allow the next person otherwise he may eat up his slot. Some even use a small alarm bell.The point of concern is while we have observed, heard, demonstrated and made people aware of this philosophy; I still find two most important point people forget while administering this:

1-People tend to defeat the very purpose

Why the flag needs to be raised, although they raise the flag but still the aim is defeated for which it was raised. Let me dig more into this as to why this happens.

Imagine the scenario of the seminar mentioned above, the person just waves a flag and leaves without having confirmed that the speaker has had an eye contact with him. This was not the aim after all…The aim is to make him close the event on time, and if he did not notice he will continue as it happens on most seminars when in the last minutes Q & A sessions are in full bloom. So the very purpose of showing the flag was defeated.

Although raising the flag promptly is a proven practice, more important is to ensure whether the flag has been noticed.

We often hear, I have emailed to the database DBA that the database is down so I took up another task. The server was not connecting; I have emailed it to the IT guys since morning and also raised a ticket for this.

And the most wonderful among these were I saw a person put up a red flag on his seat.

People are aware of the fact that the task they were having was of high priority and his manager has made some commitments based on it, they feel they are doing justice as they have some impediments or blockers which is beyond their scope to resolve. So by shooting an email their job is done.

A person with a higher sense of responsibility and ownership will be chasing this down with the external party involved in the transaction and then conclude on it. He might call up the person and request him to look over to the email or note he has left for him. So there is just a change in the way you think and work.

The reason I am highlighting this is because the person on whom the dependency is on, might be having other high priority activities, and your email does not bother him for the day. He might have a look in it after 2 days. So once you chase it up it just gets fast, albeit taking the proper channels and having the correct communication.

2-Have you tried other alternatives:

This is another subtle point but ignored most of the time, before going further and raising an impediment have we explored what all options are available.

There are other alternatives by which I can complete this, raising the red flag should not be taken as a handy tool to pass the buck to other person.We should look for all possible ways to resolve the challenge which in our way to proceed.

So to sum it up we always have different option in our hand; It is for us to decide how to get to the problem solving approach rather than just raising the red flag.

An approach to resolving an impediment :

The person does not explore all possible ways he can resolve the impediment.
The person does not explore all possible ways he can resolve the impediment.

A smarter way to work before terming an issue as an impediment:

Being Proactive,"Smarter Approach"
The person explores all possible ways he could think to resolve the issue before raising an impediment.

 

Criticism: Does it make or break you

| Subhash

How are you at receiving criticism? Do you prefer that others treat you with kid gloves, or go for brutal honesty?

As they say Kites rise against the wind not with it. Similarly criticism is the flight towards a better you.

The more criticism you face the more is the likelihood of your being famous, rising as a star, creating a niche everyday and continuous self-improvement. Criticism should be straight forward and honest. It should be true and authenticated.

One must also keep in mind that the criticism should be thought of when given in a good light. Is the person aware of the area in which he is criticizing you. Is he himself a master or leader to give a note good enough to propagate your instincts in the correct directions or it is just another passers-by comments which needs ignorance.

A vital factor in criticism is that people often intend to sandwich criticism, they mix the good then the bad (criticism) followed by positive points again. It is indeed a sandwich criticism.  This dilutes the criticism and it is not taken correctly by the receiver. To make it more adaptive it should be direct and to the point.

So to conclude we must be receptive to criticism and at the same time use our senses to plead further.

Litmus Test in Life!!!!

| Subhash

If you had to come up with one question, the answer to which would determine whether or not you could be friends with a person you’ve just met, what would it be? What would the right answer be?

Does it sound interesting to you all, at least it does to me.

Litmus test on life @http://agileopedia.com
Litmus test on life @http://agileopedia.com/

So the question which I would throw at the person would be:

What keeps you busy all day and is it a reason good enough to lend me $2000.

This will help me comprehend that what he does as a daily journal in life and provide a hint of whether he appreciates it or not. The way he narrates will help to understand whether he is contended in his life. Does he bestow respect for family, moral values, society and culture? This will indeed let me get a sneak peak in his life.

His preferences towards life on his daily routine, whether he is self employed, entrepreneur, working professional, Jazz artist, rock-star and the like.

The question will open up the Pandora ’s Box from his side which will be not only good to hear but at the same time provide a spring of surprises to me.

Whether he lends me a stranger 2000 bucks will decide his ability to trust persons and to make a friend forever. If he gives the money he will be ready to take a challenge and risk in life. I would like such a person and moreover he is providing me with some money, albeit I won’t accept it at the end.

These stints will be enough for me to concur whether I have a take or not.

This was my short and sweet view on the litmus test on strangers, do you have some other opinion or believe in what I said.

 

Absolute Beauty:Is all beauty contingent on a subjective point of view?

| Subhash

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, is it true?

As far as nature is concerned my thoughts are that all beauty is not contingent on a subjective point of view.

Show me a person who does not like the beauty of sunshine, the smile of rainbow, the beauty of rain, the beauty of winds blowing past you in the hills, the lush green meadows and the snow falling on X-mas.

Beauty of Sun Rise: Sun rises behind the trees
Beauty of Sun Rise: Sun rises behind the trees

People might have a perspective of favorite seasons or they may or may not like rain or winter, however when it comes to the beauty which nature has provided us I can’t find someone who coins a different opinion on this.

When it comes to beauty relating to people or objects it does have meaning that we can have different versions from different eyes for the same people or object.

A painting which I may like is quite possible does not go well with others. The smile on a face may bring cascading smiles and some may frown on it.

As I write the post I just have the vague thoughts, here we discuss about beauty and eyes and what about those who have an impaired vision. they only imagine the beauty of rain, sun light, rainbow, lovely smiles. they stay happy and contended with what is around them and don’t have any regrets on whats good, bad or ugly. They are blessed with the power of sensing – hearing, feeling and touch. May God grant them courage to beat all odds and be inspirations to people who refrain from admiring the beauty in and around them.

As a closing note on Absolute beauty I would like to add a line I heard long time back:

Beauty lies in the eyes of the beer holder.

Meeting with a Stranger!!!

| Subhash

You’re sitting at a café when a stranger approaches you. This person asks what your name is, and, for some reason, you reply. The stranger nods, “I’ve been looking for you.” What happens next? Continue reading to know more about this adventure.

It was a warm morning and I was enjoying the last sip of my coffee at Starbucks as the part of my daily routine. I was running through my mind the to-dos for the day, the meetings, appointments deadlines when I felt a drift from behind and someone called out to me “Yes you, can I have your name”.

Intrigued by this behavior I turned around to discover a person in a black suit standing behind me carrying a bag. He did not carry the looks of the marketing or sales person, rather he was very calm and had an impressive persona that of an intellectual. I was wondering what led him to this behavior.

I replied “Hiya, this is Subhi, How can I help you gentleman”.

“Ahh! There you are, I have been looking for you since the last few days; I am John Prescot”.

This took me back again and I wondered what on earth I have done to become so demanding. I inquired “Why are you looking out for me”.

Strangers or Dangers @http://agileopedia.com/
Strangers or Dangers @http://agileopedia.com/

“Mr. Ben has sent me to contact you” replied John.

“Sorry!  Mr. Ben, who is Mr. Ben.” I inquired.

“You know him very well; indirectly you are working for him and helping him out”.

“I am getting late”, I started to walk for my office.

“Mr. Ben, Ben Huberman, remember, WordPress, the daily post, writing prompt, community pool.” shouted John.

“You work for him daily, respond to his daily post and participate in the community pool.”

John said “He is very impressed by the posts in your blog” and added “He wants me to invite you to be in the editor’s community at WordPress”.

I thought it was enough and it might be some prank from my friends but then John revealed his identity by showing his cards and other detailed documents and photographs.

“Sir, you are invited to be a part of the community and we will send you details recently” said John politely.

The morning turned out to be amazing for me and I was very elated.

He asked me to follow me to a convention being held at a corporate hub near to where we were.

He stopped a bus and got in; while I was gathering my belongings the bus started to move, owing to the traffic. The stranger Mr. John waved his hand out and prompted me to rush.

I felt some resistance and tried my best to reach out his hand, somehow I cannot move, walk or even run. Someone was holding me very firmly and pulling my hand.

At last I got up in a flash and found my daughter pulling my hand. She said Dad, what strange things you have been doing and saying while sleeping, get up and get ready for office, drop me to school too.

I paused, smiled and gave her a hug, then I suddenly realized what I have been doing all these days, working for Mr. Ben for all these days although not directly but he is driving me and all bloggers out there.

But thanks Mr. Ben, would for sure continue to work for you.

That’s my take with the stranger, keep coming back for more.

Can you keep a secret?

| Subhash

Secrets are a part of life and we all are part of it at some point of time or another, circumstances create them.

It all depends on the secret and the person involved, deciding whether the secret needs to be a secret at all.

Whether the secret is authentic:

Verify the secret, maybe it is not at all a secret. At times people who share something and ask to keep it a secret are doing this with a host of people. So it no longer remains a secret. Then there are people who spread gossips and to be protected ask to keep it as a secret. Get the secrets verified secretly before without worrying to protect the secret.

Does the secret needs to be discussed:

Circumstances often force people to situations which they may share with their intimate friends or family. If the problem needs discussion with a wider audience then we should guide the originator to sort out the situation and may be they could consult with other common friends to help it out.

I have witnessed in my life that secret is short-lived and whether I do it or not, very soon the so-called secret is public and wide open.

In my opinion if the secret is known to you it involves a person close to you. It is daunting to spill the beans and leak out the secret to others which he confronted with you as he had a trust in you. In other words it is termed as a breach and creating gossips. Secrets are shared to us by our friends’ family and in our professional world too.

So we should learn to have patience and handle the secrets with wits. This promotes a sense of strong bonding and a long-lasting relationship. Just be wise and keep the facts in place when you are handling secrets.

The power to foresee

| Subhash

You have the ORACLE with you and it can utter all the prediction for you.

WITH GREAT POWER THERE MUST ALSO COME–GREAT RESPONSIBILITY! – Stan Lee

Having this super power by my side I must ensure that it is used responsibly and for good and noble causes.

I don’t long for wealth by predicting the lotteries or the results of a Grand Slam or FIFA.

The boon will be used for the betterment of mankind, nature, saving lives, preventing accidents, preparing for major disasters to be handled.

The Malaysian Airlines would never have disappeared, nor would it have been taken down. I would ensure that our skies will be a lot safer and not due to advanced technology albeit by preventing air mishaps.

There would be no calamity of sunken ships and ferries, Titanic would have never sunk with such powers around.

I will also be preparing the countries for averting the major natural disasters and save more and more human lives. We lose so many lives in landslide, cloud-burst, floods, fire and epidemics.

Life is by planning however death cannot be planned. Death is inevitable and it should be oblivion. We are never aware of the numbers we have in our life, so let’s not get bothered that our life will be reduced by a day with each prediction. Life should be large; it may or may not be longer.

The feeling of happiness, satisfaction and the state of elation which will be achieved will never bother me to rethink about the fact that I am going to lose a day.

Let’s pray for a happy world… Stay blessed and waiting for the view of the blogging community to respond on it.

Pingback:Advantage of Foresight

Movies that Moved me

| Subhash

If they can makes us smile, laugh, get motivated and inspired then they are definitely meant to make us cry.

This is what the movies are meant for – to communicate and to strike the audience with their clear cut message.

A great deal of effort, time, energy, passion, money and above all talent goes in the production of a movie. Hope Floats of many hearts with them.

Yes they do make us CRY, at least it does work with me, one needs to have a heart to be engaged with the story teller and understand the feelings.

"Fault in our stars" by http://www.impawards.com/2014/fault_in_our_stars.html. Licensed under Fair use of copyrighted material in the context of The Fault in Our Stars (film) via Wikipedia -
The Fault in our Stars

The fault in our stars Image Courtesy : Via Wikipedia 

Over the time there have been many movies which did move me, to list down a few:

  1. The Fault in Our Stars: It moved us to tears and mesmerized us. Thanks to WordPress for suggesting the topic and comment by The blogging bee that I happened to watch the movie yesterday and included this in the list. It is based on a novel by the same name written by John Green. It is all about living and dying. Hazel and Gus are teenagers and going through a terminal illness. They met in a cancer support group. Hazel’s life transforms after she meets Gus and they fall for each other.The characters are very string in the movie; the direction and screenplay is very brilliantly implemented.I would love to share the following lines from the movie:Between 0 and 1 there is an infinite numbers, between 0 and 2 there’s a bigger infinite. Thanks Gus for being a part of infinite. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn’t trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I’m grateful.– Hazel’s funeral speech, for Gus on a pre-funeral event requested by Gus. I fell in love the way you fall asleep, slowly and then all at once. – HazelI’m grand! Yeah. I’m on a roller-coaster that only goes up, my friend. – Gus says when asked how you are doing in the support group.

    Pain demands to be felt. – Shown in a book read by Hazel.

  2. Autumn in New York: Story about a restaurateur(Richard Gere) and playboy and how his life changes when he falls in love with a pretty innocent girl and discovers that she is going to die very soon.
  3. Life is beautiful: I love the way Guido, a father (a Jewish Man) handles the entire duration of his stay in a Nazi concentration Camp with his humor quotient.
  4. Kal Ho Na Ho: This is a Hindi Bollywood movie. The movie is set in USA. It is revolves around a girl called Naina (meaning eyes) who is a serious girl and believes all the burden of this world is in her shoulder. Aman (played by Shahrukh Khan) arrives as her neighbor and changes her approach towards life and teaches her how to smile owing to his jest towards life and happy go lucky nature. she turns into a happy and bubbly girl and falls for Aman, only to discover that he is suffering from a fatal cardiac disease. Aman dies in a hospital with Naina by her side and promises that in his next life and all life to follow she will be his forever.
  5. August 7, 4:15: A song by Jon Bon Jovi, he wrote and composed this song inspired by the death of Katherine Korzilius, the daughter of Bon Jovi’s tour manager at the time. The death still remains a mystery.

I really thank all the artists, actors, directors and producers and all crew involved so that we get to enjoy some heart touching stories that move us.

This was my take on “Do movies, songs, or other forms of artistic expression easily make you cry?” Tell us more about  your feelings or movies or songs you have gone through.