A tag for you.

http://indianhomemaker.wordpress.com/2010/06/30/my-sins-against-gender-stereotypes/
Text from ihm's blog:
If you are a woman,
Have you ever wanted something that is considered ‘manly’ ? Like a basketball, a cell phone, a dog, a camera or a new laptop? A new car or motor bike? Ever wanted to be a pilot? A doctor or not a nurse? And the manliest want of them all – The remote!
As a kid did you enjoy playing with a bat and a ball?
There was a time when books were considered ‘manly’, women authors had to pretend to be men – would you say books are still rather manly – women should want to embroider and crochet?
If you are a man,
Have you ever wanted something that only women are supposed to want – like bags, shoes, clothes, creams, perfumes, babies, flowers? A peaceful home and a happy family? Have you ever been afraid of the dark or of insects?
As a kid did you ever want to play ‘teacher-teacher’, cooking or did you like playing with a doll? Have you ever enjoyed cooking? Bought something in pink? Loved chocolates?

So here’s a tag – Please list at least ten things you have ever wanted or done which your gender is not supposed to.
The tag is called ‘My Sins against Gender-Stereotypes’. And you must tag twelve blogging friends.
************End of text from ihm's blog******************

i tagged self on this one.
Here's my list. What's yours?

1. Played football as a child. And wondered why there isnt a girls' football team.
2. Saw Dil Bol Hadippa and wondered whats the big deal abt girls playing in a boys team. Its a game, and any one can play it.
3. For a while, handled the investment portfolio of our house, incld. home loan negotiations with banks. ( You should have seen their faces)
4. Wanted to be a pilot to fly a plane (but hated maths and science)
5. Love gadgets.
6. Can read a map. Really well. Use GPS for navigation on a routine basis.
7. I genuinely like driving. Though, in all honesty, the old car was driven way better than this one is driven. And two wheelers were driven best of all.
8. Love spending time alone and cannot talk too much in general. (women are supposed to be good with words and articulate. beats me)
9. Value investing in stocks is sth i have a gut feel about. My portfolio has beat BSE sensex over the last 4 year period - at almost every interval. Its a small portfolio, but its gud.

Thats all i can think of.. whats ur list? Consider yourself tagged if u r reading this.

Thoughts on offshore model

Slowly, offshoring is moving to higher end services like consulting and even specialised consulting. (Legal, Technical, Medical etc)

First, a brief on how the model works. Usually, there is an onsite co-ordinator who front ends with the customer and gathers requirements and inputs. An offshore consultant then provides the solution that is shipped back to the onsite consultant. This onsite consultant then presents this solution to the customer. The customer OKs or modifies it, and then the offshore consultant starts work to implement the solution.

My 2 penny:
Offshore -onsite model is like a split AC. The blower throws all the cold air, but the backend unit has to do all the work. Most importantly, the duct connecting the 2 must be absolutely clean and clear.

what this means in the real world:
The onsite co-ordinator usually gets the credit for all the work. Thats a reality that cannot be changed. The only time this will actually hurt the project is if the onsite co-ordinator also starts giving himself/herself that credit and forgets that the work is being executed by a more experienced consultant in the backend. The blower can throw the air, but there cannot be 2 cooling units in an AC.
The offshore consultant has to remember that the customer will never see how articulate one is, how well one has designed the solution et al. That clarity on expectation needs to be in place. Even if the customer knows that another consultant is doing this work in the backend, the onsite co-ordinator is the face and just as you see how white the blower of the split AC is, the customer will also see just one face.
The communication channel between these 2 must be absolutely transparent and clear. This is key to the success of the project. Sometimes, onsite co-ordinators might start to take decisions that rightfully belong to the offshore consultant. The offshore consultant then withholds good advice from the onsite co-ordinator. Thats like the AC failing. If there is an expectation mismatch, or if there is a communication error, it needs to be set right rightaway - by the 2 consultants in question.

Software programming organisations have been working this model for decades now with a very respectable level of success. The higher end industries should benchmark to see what works in that industry. After all, they are the pioneers of the game.

PS: do you think i shld start writing a separate technical/consulting blog instead of taking up byte space here?

Why population is an economic issue

I was talking to someone who works with the poorest of the poor on their health issues. I asked them if they also work to generate awareness abt population. They said that since population is a "personal" issue, no, they do not talk about it in the health camps, where they provide free check ups and medicines et al.
I really think that population is an economic issue. And a health issue.
A woman's health is severely compromised through multiple gestations. Also, her poor health in turn impacts her ability to look after her children, thus impacting their health as well. A woman with just one child and one gestation is any day healthier than one with multiple gestations.

It is an economic issue because, the one way out of poverty is through education and employment in higher paying jobs. But if there are so many mouths to feed that basic food is an issue, no one can think of education. This, in turn, creates a vicious cycle of poverty-sickness-debt-poverty that is impossible to get out of.

Therefore, for any health initiatives to happen with these people, it is imperative that population - and its economic and health impact, is discussed and openly debated. Unless people - especially the poor, are driven to the debate, they will not think of it as a factor in their poverty.. and its important that they do...

What do you think?

Super 30 - Himmat-e-marda-madade-khuda

They used to tell us this phrase when we were children... Himmat-e-marda-madad-e-khuda.. meaning.. if you make the effort, God will help.
This story this morning made my day...
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/Hat-trick-for-Super-30-at-IIT-JEE-exam/articleshow/5979009.cms
so much that i had to blog about it... though the post logically belongs on the Esha blog where i write about other people doing great work.. it is here that it will be read more..

How to create a coaching institute with 100% result in the first 3 years of its inception - for ALL the 3 years?? Learn from the Super 30 in the link above.

To my soul sisters..

We all know this pain... its born to us even before we are born to our mothers...
How long have i known you? 10 years? 12? I feel like i have known you all my life.. and you have known me all that time too.. from a life before, and before that.. in all these centuries.. only the numbers on the calendar have changed.. very little has changed in the truths of our lives..

The End.

i should have waited for you
by the mango tree
where we promised to meet
and elope.
But when
you left
unannounced
the thought
did not
cross my mind.
To look
for the small , familiar things
about you
to go
to the mango tree
where we always met
and breathe the air
and imagine
your scent
still in it.
Noi... nope
not
the thought
did not come
at all.
I just
went to the swings
and reached higher
and higher
until
i could breathe
fresh air again
and the tears
were washed away by the wind.

तेरे झूठ

तेरे झूठ ,
मलमल जैसे,
नर्म, मुलायम, चमकीले
उस का सच
खद्दर जैसा
ओढो तो सख्त
बिछाओ तो खुरदरा

तेरे झूठ
महलों जैसे
बड़े, हवादार, मायावी,
एक पल में परी बना देते
एक पल में बेघर
उसका सच
झोंपड़ी जैसा
न कमरे, न कोई आराम
पर सर पर छत
हमेशा ।

तेरे झूठ
सपने जैसे
बहुवचन।
उस का सच
सपाट, एक सार,
बस एक वचन।
****************************
Translation:
Your lies
like velvette
soft, caressing, shiny..
His truth
like the rough cotton cloth.

Your lies
like a castle -
BIG, airy, unreal..
They make me a fairy one minute
and homeless the next.
His truth
like a poor man's hut
there are no layers
not enough room
But always
a roof on the head.
************
Note: this is not a literal translation. This is what i wld have written if the poem was in English.

To the Union Carbides of the World

India loves being raped. Come.

If you can only bear to read one more piece of writing about the verdict, read this:
http://serious--fun.blogspot.com/2010/06/bhopal-case-some-ignored-facts.html

In fact, read it even if you cant bear to read another word of rhetoric. This one is no rhetoric.. pure facts. Brief. incisive. Highly Recommended.

BTW, did you know that Eveready Batteries is a product of Union Carbide?

Different people
are made of different substances.
I, you see,
am made of paper.
Fold me like this, and I am a flower
Turn like that, and its an aeroplane that you can fly.
Fold in this way, and i am a doll again
There, that was easy..
Now let's try something harder, shall we..
Suppose you turn a new leaf
And make me
a breathing woman again?