Reado - Story Tellers

I recently ordered Audio Books from audiobooksindia.com. These are Rashmi Bansal's Books. Though I have read hard copies, I wanted to try out Audio Books. The Audio Cassettes have been delivered and they look very good. In the process, I learned about Reado. They are story tellers. The portal is not yet ready. This is an interesting concept. Worth taking a look.  On one hand, I am wondering that I do not find soft copies (ebooks) of the most financial books in India. On the other hand, I am happily surprised to see Audio Books. On the ebooks, let me go and check the options Amazon India has.

Seva Cafe - Ahmedabad, India

Here is a link to Seva Cafe based in Ahmedabad. They do not have a price mentioned in their menu. You are free to leave cash in the envelope on the table as per your wish. They work Thursday to Sunday in the evenings and cook for 50 guests. Wow - a very nice concept.

Regards, Rohit

Vacation Time

Recently we took few days off for a small vacation in Goa. Stayed at Arco Iris - a boutique home stay. This stay turned out to be a very pleasant experience. Here is their website.

Must see movies for Business School Students

My friend Jitesh Shah has shared an interesting link. I suppose the movies are good for everyone in Corporate world at leadership positions. Here is the link

Don't mess with Gujjus !

The Silent Indian National Anthem

Regards, Rohit

Radio Ghar in Mumbai

This is actually a retail outlet from Raj Audio at Sion Circle, Mumbai. They are into Audio & Video CDs & specialize in Gujarati CDs & VCDs. We visited this store yesterday & were pleasantly surprised. I suppose this is one of the few store in Mumbai having such a huge collection of Gujarati voice media on Laughter, Bhajans, Movies, Philosophy etc.

They also offer courier services. Unfortunately, they are not on web. Store Contact number is 91 22 24075556.

This is a store that every Gujarati in Mumbai will be very happy to visit.

Life Time Subscription

We have opted for Life Time Books Subscription offer with RR Sheth & Co. They are mostly in Gujarati Books publication. We have opted for the scheme that requires to pay Rs. 5,000 upfront and every year receive books worth Rs. 1,000 for life time. If you procure more books, you get 15% discount. There is a 3 month waiting period to order from yearly book quota, for the first year. Seems like an 'investment' worth it.

I suppose there are other Gujarati Publication houses having similar schemes.

http://www.rrsheth.com/

Har Ek Friend Zaroori Hota Hai - Airlel Ad

A very nice Ad by Airtel. Lyrics are taken from http://www.unp.me/

Chai ke Liye jaise toast hota hai--Vaise har ek friend zaroori hota hai

Aise har ek friend zaroori hota hai

Koi subah paanch baje neend se jagaye

Koi raat ko teen baje jaan bachaye

Ek teri kadki mein sharing kare

Aur Ek tere budget mein sneak in kare

Koi nature se guest koi host hota hai

Par har ek friend zaroori hota hai

""Ek ghadi ghadi kaam aaye par kabhi kabhi call kare

Ek kabhi kabhi kaam aaye aur ghadi ghadi call kare""

Gossip ka koi ghoomta phirta satellite

Koi sath rahe toh kar de sab alright

Koi effortless koi forced hota hai

Lekin har ek friend zaroori hota hai

Chat Room friend koi classroom friend

Koi bike pe race wala vroom vroom friend

Shopping mall wala shopping friend

Koi Exam hall wala copying friend

Movie buddy groovy buddy

Hi buddy--Bye buddy ----Joke buddy Poke buddy

Gaana Buddy Shaana buddy ---Chaddi Buddy Yaar Buddy

Kutte --kamine---

Everybody---Sab buddy

A to Z

Gin din ke naam bheja Roast hota hai

Par har ek friend zaroori hota hai

Lekin har ek friend zaroori hota hai

Hum Mein Hai Hero

I liked new Ad Campaign by Hero.

Dil dheere dhadke hai aaj
Hone ko hai aaghaaz
Safar pe Chalne ka badhne
Itna hai Hausla
Uthna faasla
Manzil pe mil hi jaana hai
Khwabon se aage jaana hai

Humi se toh ummedein hain
Humi se toh dilasa hai
Hami pe hai nigaahe bhi
Hami pe Bharosa hai

Hum mein hai hero
Hum Mein Hai Hero

Dil se kaho hai Hum Mein Hai Hero
Khul ke kaho hai Hum Mein Hai Hero
Hum Mein Hai Hero

Ability to speak in few words

One thing I would like to practice more is to speak less, remove clutter in the language and express my views in as few words as possible but still be clear. Everyone loves to speak so often discussions get inefficient since we are speaking in an elaborated manner, be it work place or home.

My Bets

Sara -my nephew - was studying for 10th (ICSE) and mentioned that he would score 80%+. We agreed that I would gift him a Laptop if he does score so. I also mentioned that if he scores more than 90%, I would gift him whatever he likes but if he scores less than 80%, then he would need to gift me a Laptop at some point in time. He took the bet.

The dude scored 93% but restricted his demand to a latest Dell XPS Laptop. I offered him a deal. It did not make sense to spend so much money on Laptop when he does not really need one at the moment. Suggested him to refresh his Old Desktop and put differential money in a Mutual Fund that would help him later for further studies. For a change, dude took with my advise. His Dad said he would take care of the Desktop upgrade so I just transferred the Laptop equivalent funds to his bank account for a MF investment. Happy to loose this Bet.

On a different note, since I travel long distance every day, I have a driver. He keeps bothering me after every few months for a Salary hike. While I accommodated two times, can't do this every time. I know he needs a radical change to manage his financial problems. So I have challenged him and asked to take a bet. I have bought him a Rapidex English Speaking Book and CD and asked him to learn English in next few months. I would be happy to assist him getting a Drivers job that can get him a substantial hike, with English speaking capability, especially at 5* Hotels or Rental Car agencies for Foreigners. He has ample time during the day and seems willing to learn. So let's hope this one too turns around with a pleasant surprise.

Gujarati Humor Show Performed By Shahbuddin Rathod - Haasya Ni Rangat - ...

Here is an excellent Humor Show by Shahbuddin Rathod.

Here, you can visit his website. 

Hamara CD & Zoomin

Came across two interesting sites. Hamara CD allows you to customize your CD and they have a vast collection of songs to select from. You can also listen to the songs and select. Price is bit on a higher side but I still see a value. I have not yet tried this out but seems very useful.

We have used Zoomin site earlier as well. Recently, we got a photo cover album made for our vacation in Shimla & Manali. They now have an excellent site with so many features and options for one to customize. The site has a bit funky look and I am amazed with the flexibility it gives one to select. Must have gone lot of efforts in backend infrastructure to support this as well as to get to this level. Yes, sure they can add lot more things and features in the time to come, though.

http://www.zoomin.com/
http://www.hamaracd.com/

Mukam karoti wachalam

Its been a long time that my dad asked us to visit a place for blinds and get them some food to eat. Finally, we recently visited the National Association for Blinds, Worli office. We arranged lunch for about 11 of them. My Wife promised them that we will visit regularly and let us know what we should get for you guys, next time please? The answer was, just come and talk to us. That's more important than anything else. 

We walked around the premises. They have a Computer Lab, Training Center and many other things. What I could see all around is lot of confidence in these differently able people. I wish sometime I could hire them at our workplace.

Mukam karoti wachalam,
Pangum langhyate girim
Yatkrupa tamaham vande,
Paramanad madhavam

Mind Power Study Techniques & Spoken English

I have read this years before and found very useful. The site address is as below.

http://www.mindpowerindia.com
 
Also, you can visit below link for their products on Spoken English. This is one of the best option I have seen around while recommending to needy members in my team etc.

http://www.mindpowerindia.com/spoken-english.htm


Regards,
Rohit

Sarakti Jaye Hai - Jagjit Singh

I came across this beautiful Gazal by Jagjit Singh. You can find the Lyrics here

Simple Truths

I recently learned about Simple Truths. They are a provider of inspirational & beautiful gift books. I found lot of good thoughts and contents though I did not yet buy any book from there. You can visit there site here

Colorful Holi

We enjoyed playing Holi this year. The Apartment guys arranged for a celebration in the Water Fountain near Club House. This was a good arrangement as using Swimming Pool for such purpose is not a good idea. I observed all kids having great fun. We stay at Rustomjee Ozone in Goregaon (W), Mumbai.

Cheers

5 Years Service Award

I recently completed 5 years of Service with IBM. This is a remarkable career journey as I moved into full fledged Project Management, obtained PMP Certification, ITIL Certification and now gearing up for IBM Internal Certifications for Sr. Project Manager and Delivery Project Executive.

Being able to let go

Few years before I read an interview with a well known business leader. He identified the ability to let go as a key learning. I am not sure but I think it was Nusli Wadia and don't recall the full context but this made a strong impression in my mind. Having been in corporate world for now 13 years, I realize this is an important aspect of behavior and comes only as one matures. Its being able to balance between the need to aggressively pursue and go after what one wants and thinks and how it should be done and on the other hand take people together, respect the differences and at a times, respect the experience and age, keeping aside ego.

The Doctors Quality Policy

I was operated on my ear in 2008. Somehow, the intended benefit did not come. So this Christmas vacation, I took up the follow up operation. While I paid close to Rs.80,000 or so in 2008, for the same operation repeated now, Doctor charged only Rs.7,500 or so. This charge was also only for Anesthesia & medicines. No fees by the doctor or room rent or OT charges and so on. They explained to me that this was part of their Quality Policy. It seemed that I had not completely followed their instructions post operation in 2008 so it was my mistake. However, Doctor decided to stick to his Quality Policy. Its difficult to find such Doctors in today's world. I have seen utter commercialization and profit maximization objectives every where. But this is completely opposite.

I am referring to Dr. ABR Desai Clinic. I was operated by Dr. ABR Desai.

http://www.drabrdesai.com/

Doctor - we salute you for your noble intentions & ways of working. 

Ideas worth spreading

Few weeks before I had attended a leadership training by Franklin Covey institiute. One of the reference was made to the below website. Looks very thoughtful.

http://www.ted.com/