"पुणेकरांचे आभार :
पेट्रोल व डिझेलच्या मागणीत देशभरात सर्वाधिक वाढ पुण्यात होत आहे. राज्यातील काही जिल्ह्यांमध्ये इंधन टंचाई निर्माण झालेली असताना पुण्यात तशी स्थिती निर्माण झाली नाही."
This is what I read in Pune's leading news paper. I am highly surprised to know that someone congratulates Puneites for polluting the air more.. Well, this is an utter shame on us. Probably, even I do not have a right to say anything about pollution because even I owned a bike sometime..
There was another news regarding a proposed hike Rs. 10 hike in petrol, Rs. 5 diesel and Rs. 50 in cooking gas prizes. With this rate, I can picture us-common people spending a considerable amount of our incomes on gas.. And still, we will not be able to compensate on this expenditure since otherwise we will feel impaired!
I am pretty sure many wise people have already understood that the world is indeed heading towards its destruction at a faster rate than expected.. Global warming and exhausting resources may soon even cause wars, if the trend continues.. Is there any way out? Do we have any hope left?
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Customer Care (?!)
"ग्राहक: देवो भव|" seemed to have the new motto of the industry. We see numerous products coming out in the market oriented specifically to satisfy the customer needs. But, to sustain in this highly competitive world, the major part of the industry is the post-sell service. The customer care section is the one which is expected to do this job. Well, they do it, but not always in an appreciated manner. I should say, some call center employee simply scare a customer away! No need to mention that companies with very good customer care are highly popular even if the product is not so competitive.
I had some bad experiences with the customer care one of the companies very recently. I was completely exasperated by the rudeness of the call center guy. And that's when I got into a debate with one of my friends on 'why they do this job'. His argument was they don't like the job but for supporting the family they do it. My argument was, if they are not happy with the job, they should leave it or continue doing it as a responsibility. Otherwise, they are neither being honest to their employer nor to themselves! If they want to have the money, they should follow the work ethic and morality. Well, I was baffled by my friend's response. He said, "You see, not everyone has ethics and morals". Hmmm.. So, is that what happens at most of the workplaces? I guess that's why job satisfaction comes as the first priority when you expect to get the most out of people..
I had some bad experiences with the customer care one of the companies very recently. I was completely exasperated by the rudeness of the call center guy. And that's when I got into a debate with one of my friends on 'why they do this job'. His argument was they don't like the job but for supporting the family they do it. My argument was, if they are not happy with the job, they should leave it or continue doing it as a responsibility. Otherwise, they are neither being honest to their employer nor to themselves! If they want to have the money, they should follow the work ethic and morality. Well, I was baffled by my friend's response. He said, "You see, not everyone has ethics and morals". Hmmm.. So, is that what happens at most of the workplaces? I guess that's why job satisfaction comes as the first priority when you expect to get the most out of people..
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Fantasy and reality
I am writing a blog after a long long time... Well, it is kind of difficult to decide of which thoughts I should pen down in my diary and what should I write here..
There is a nice subject I found to resume my blog writing.. Fantasies of youngsters.. I recently came across this book called "Into the wild" by Jon Krakauer. A book about a guy of almost my age who 'walks into the wild..' to have a better conversation with himself. He comes to a tragic end in his 'Great Alaskan Odyssey' which allowed his critics to curse him to be a feckless slacker, adrift and baffled, racked by existential despair. To the contrary, as the author researches and puts forth from this book:
Christopher J. McCandless's life hummed with meaning and purpose. The meaning he wrested from the existence lay beyond the comfortable path: McCandless distrusted the value of things that come easily. He demanded much of himself - more, in the end, than he could deliver.
No wonder he could survive on minimum resources for 112 days in Alaska.
Well, surprisingly enough, I was reading a lot of myself in this book, in this guy and other adventurous people mentioned in this book.. I am sure many of the young people will feel the same while reading the book.. But of all romantic people, McCandless was on a spiritual quest. Simply the way he was seeking answers was his own way.. Kind of reflecting the wilderness originated by the passions and longings of youth..
I liked a few paragraphs from the my read.. They are mostly excerpts from the books McCandless was carrying with him in the wild..
It is true that many creative people fail to make mature relationships, and some are extremely isolated. It is also true that in some instances, trauma, in the shape of early separation or bereavement, has steered the potentially creative person toward developing aspects of his personality which can find fulfillment in comparative isolation. (But this does not mean that solitary, creative pursuits are themselves pathological...)
[A]voidance behavior is a response designed to protect the infant from behavioral disorganization. If we transfer this concept to adult life, we can see than an avoidant infant might very well develop into a person whose principal need was to find some kind of meaning and order in life which was not entirely, or even chiefly, dependent upon interpersonal relationship.
--Anthony Storr, Solitude: A return to the self.
Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, an obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. The hospitality was as cold as the ices.
--Henry David Thoreau,
Walden, or Life in the woods.
For children are innocent and love justice, while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy.
--G.K.Chesterton
Now what is history? It is the centuries of systematic explorations of the riddle of death, with a view to overcoming death. That's why people discover mathematical infinity and electromagnetic waves, that's why they write symphonies. Now, you can't advance in this direction without a certain faith. You can't make such discoveries without spiritual equipment. And the basic elements of this equipment are in the Gospels. What are they? To begin with, love of one's neighbor, which is the supreme form of vital energy. Once it fills the heart of man it has to overflow and spend itself. And then the two basic ideals of modern man - without them he is unthinkable - the idea of free personality and the idea of life as sacrifice.
--Boris Pasternak,
Doctor Zhivago
I don't understand much about sacrifice as yet.. But this book makes me rethink about my fantasy land I had been dreaming about since childhood.. I used to long for a small equipped place in deep forest with ample supply of food. A well connectivity to the outside world with a cell phone say and just me alone in the company of lots and lots of books.. Well, now I think about this to be a sheer fantasy. Reality is, I have to live in this world amongst humans, not off the land...
There is a nice subject I found to resume my blog writing.. Fantasies of youngsters.. I recently came across this book called "Into the wild" by Jon Krakauer. A book about a guy of almost my age who 'walks into the wild..' to have a better conversation with himself. He comes to a tragic end in his 'Great Alaskan Odyssey' which allowed his critics to curse him to be a feckless slacker, adrift and baffled, racked by existential despair. To the contrary, as the author researches and puts forth from this book:
Christopher J. McCandless's life hummed with meaning and purpose. The meaning he wrested from the existence lay beyond the comfortable path: McCandless distrusted the value of things that come easily. He demanded much of himself - more, in the end, than he could deliver.
No wonder he could survive on minimum resources for 112 days in Alaska.
Well, surprisingly enough, I was reading a lot of myself in this book, in this guy and other adventurous people mentioned in this book.. I am sure many of the young people will feel the same while reading the book.. But of all romantic people, McCandless was on a spiritual quest. Simply the way he was seeking answers was his own way.. Kind of reflecting the wilderness originated by the passions and longings of youth..
I liked a few paragraphs from the my read.. They are mostly excerpts from the books McCandless was carrying with him in the wild..
It is true that many creative people fail to make mature relationships, and some are extremely isolated. It is also true that in some instances, trauma, in the shape of early separation or bereavement, has steered the potentially creative person toward developing aspects of his personality which can find fulfillment in comparative isolation. (But this does not mean that solitary, creative pursuits are themselves pathological...)
[A]voidance behavior is a response designed to protect the infant from behavioral disorganization. If we transfer this concept to adult life, we can see than an avoidant infant might very well develop into a person whose principal need was to find some kind of meaning and order in life which was not entirely, or even chiefly, dependent upon interpersonal relationship.
--Anthony Storr, Solitude: A return to the self.
Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth. I sat at a table where were rich food and wine in abundance, an obsequious attendance, but sincerity and truth were not; and I went away hungry from the inhospitable board. The hospitality was as cold as the ices.
--Henry David Thoreau,
Walden, or Life in the woods.
For children are innocent and love justice, while most of us are wicked and naturally prefer mercy.
--G.K.Chesterton
Now what is history? It is the centuries of systematic explorations of the riddle of death, with a view to overcoming death. That's why people discover mathematical infinity and electromagnetic waves, that's why they write symphonies. Now, you can't advance in this direction without a certain faith. You can't make such discoveries without spiritual equipment. And the basic elements of this equipment are in the Gospels. What are they? To begin with, love of one's neighbor, which is the supreme form of vital energy. Once it fills the heart of man it has to overflow and spend itself. And then the two basic ideals of modern man - without them he is unthinkable - the idea of free personality and the idea of life as sacrifice.
--Boris Pasternak,
Doctor Zhivago
I don't understand much about sacrifice as yet.. But this book makes me rethink about my fantasy land I had been dreaming about since childhood.. I used to long for a small equipped place in deep forest with ample supply of food. A well connectivity to the outside world with a cell phone say and just me alone in the company of lots and lots of books.. Well, now I think about this to be a sheer fantasy. Reality is, I have to live in this world amongst humans, not off the land...
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