This is amazing video I came across. It explains the reason why my announced goals are never met. Think about it and feel free to comment on this one.

Ask a child and I’m sure you’re likely to get various different answers. Do we know why? The answer is: a child never thinks and works in a predefined boundary. A child has a different vision for the world compared to that we have as an adult. That’s what I call, in a true sense, “New Sense”!

This is just another question which we consider so naïve and obvious yet, we forget to think beyond the obvious. The reason, as I see, is our human brain is so used to constraints that it fails to see beyond constraints. Since childhood, we had been taught to be within constraints. Our education system teaches us to work in boundary conditions. It never taught us and encouraged us to take a step beyond our boundary.

In any business arena, we tend to play with numbers and analyze what numbers tell us. But, can we really believe these numbers? According to the 2001 census, India’s literacy rate for the population, aged seven and above, was 65.4 per cent. What does this number really mean? Can 561 million people, that this rate implies, read a newspaper headline in their own language? Not really. What it means is that households across India reported 65.4 per cent of its members to be “literate”, when the census fieldworker showed up. The literacy rate is a perceptual number — people perceived to be literate. It is not an accurate indicator of the proportion of readers in the population.

Now, consider another research – courtesy of NPD Research: According to their “Kids and Digital Content” study, “Kids are becoming increasingly tech-savvy, playing video games and using and downloading content to cell phones, computers and portable digital music players as young as age 2.”  The study examines kids age 2 to 14 and their device and content habits, asking them, and yes, their mothers, about their digital lives.

According to NPD, “only 15 percent” of 2- to 5-year-olds are using cell phones, but 62 percent of 11- to 14-year-olds use them.

2-year-olds using cell phones?

I have an almost-three-year-old nephew and he could use a cell phone – as a passenger in a dump truck, a percussion instrument, or something new to hurtle through the basketball hoop. But he’s not ordering up a custom ringtone anytime soon. Or maybe they’re talking about simply saying hello to grandma on the cell phone, once out of the ten times you try?

These instances clearly indicate that somewhere something is wrong and we need work out something for our future generations. You may be aware that each year hundreds and thousands of money are spent on hoardings and TV Ads by FMCG companies. They’re blowing investor’s money in these conventional medium of Advertisements but is any value or worth being taken out? How many of us actually read the hoarding and then go to a retail store to buy that product/service? In my life, I don’t recollect any such instance.

Therefore, it is now the right time to take a step forward in spreading “New Sense!” Our business today needs a totally different and unconventional thinking to look at various functions and at entire business also.

This famous adage has captivated thoughts of millions and billions humans across the globe. Whatever we are in life today is all because of our choices in the past. If you retrospect, you will realize that at some point you made a conscious decision to join CL and work towards sharpening your skills to get into elite B-schools. Isn’t it? Right now, I am writing this article. It is not because of mere chance or luck. But, somewhere, sometime, I would have made the choice to start writing this article and to further improve my writing skills.

As we now know that, whatever we are in life at present is all because of our choices in past. Do we unanimously agree with this idea? The answer is obvious NO. In Today’s competitive world, people are getting superstitious. The belief of 50-50 is growing. That is, 50% hard work and 50% Luck. On what basis can I say that?

I have observed growing popularity and beliefs in Numerology, Tarot Card, Feng Shui etcetera. From morning 7AM till afternoon, if you turn on your TV sets, you will definitely find at least one news channel, ready to tell you your future and how your day will be. Even if you open any newspaper, you will find one column for sure describing your day according to zodiac signs. In rural parts, you will still find parrots and pigeons ready to take any chit for you which would decide your future. Everyone meets one or the other form of Astrology or Prophets. I am certainly not opposing or challenging the validity of Astrology. My maternal uncle is involved in Astrology. He refers some charts, does some calculations and suddenly comes with a diagram – termed as “Kundli”. He always tells me to do something or the other which will increase my prospects of success. As far as I am concerned, I don’t have even a 1% of belief in such astrological figures and beliefs. One question always puzzles me is: How one can predict someone else’s future and advice him with 100% confidence? That’s strange!!!

What I am more concerned here is people like my uncle often plays with minds of people. I often failed to understand why there’s so much inclination and zeal to find one’s future. Why can’t people live in present and enjoy life as it comes? One probable answer is: people are becoming more dependent and less confident on their abilities. Whenever we fail or don’t get desired results, we often blame our fate, saying “It’s perhaps not in my fate” or “luck didn’t favor me”. I believe that such people exhibit weaker mind and negative perspective and the fate of our life is decided by our choices and not by our chances to succeed.

Having said that such behavior does not amaze me. It is a human tendency that whenever something good or positive happens, we, as human, say “I did that”. But, whenever something bad or negative happens, we say “it’s all because of my luck” or we try to find someone to blame. Don’t we?

With the rich history of India, I am sure you will observe that people who have done exceptionally well and have reached at the pinnacle were never dependent on luck. They were not dropped at the top by someone by chance. They have climbed the mountains and faced any difficulty on their way. They have achieved what they desired primarily on their courage and passion in what they were doing. Such people mend their fate their own way. But, what “mending your fate” exactly means? In my terms, it means to make the best decision based on current time and situation and also to live accordingly. If we can follow that, I am sure that our fate will be in our hands and we can achieve whatever we desire for.

Impossible is nothing. It’s just a matter of right choice at right moment. Also, remember – Rome was not built in a day. Each day comes with new learning and we gain new experiences. Live life to the fullest. With this thought, wish you all the best. Hope you make your choice and stick to that in future. Good luck, friends…

World Book & Copyright day, also known as ‘International Day of the Book’ or ‘World Book Day’ is celebrated annually on 23rd April. It is observed by people in over 100 countries, in hundreds of voluntary organizations, schools, public bodies, professional groups and private businesses. Books, magazines, newspapers, journals, reports and other several media are considered as vectors of values and knowledge, as depositories of intangible heritage, as windows onto diversity of cultures, as sources of material wealth. On this occasion, we all pledge that the place of books and reading receives full recognition for the benefit of world that can claim to be truly learned in mind and in practice. But, with advance technology to support podcasting, Streaming video, online classes, blogs etc., books and other traditional sources may not be continued in near future. With variety of products available with faster technology, one can get access to electronic media anywhere, providing great amount of information and news at one’s finger-tips. With PDAs, light laptop, 1GB of wireless internet connection available, one may opt for accessing any kind of information in electronic form anytime anywhere.

New high-technology based solutions of accessing information and knowledge are preferred over traditional media when it comes to searching and updating information. As it is often observed, the printed articles are hard to correct. If any editing needs to be done, a new edition with correction needs to be published which is often time consuming and costly. Also, searching for information in book is often more cumbersome than searching in electronic content. With the use of any text editors or text programs, the words or phrases can be searched quickly. Even corrections are less costly than printed article.

Also, environmentalists may argue that the books are published on papers which often consume natural resources and affects the environment. Whereas, contents delivered through internet or any other electronic form does not harm the environment or forest. But, that may not be 100% true since a person hardly reads the book in purely electronic form. Many people may prefer to read the content on screen and take print-out of the interesting article(s) or information. Ironically, this practice wastes excessive paper and affects natural resources more than practice of reading books.

Accessing the technology anywhere and anytime, however, still comes with not only monitory costs but also costs to health. The technology is providing costlier means to access electronic media like e-books, website, blogs etc. For a person, it is impossible to stare at monitor for 2-3 hours and read the entire book or material on screen. Reading contents in electronic form strains eyes and affects person the health of the person. However, this is not the case with books. Books can be read any time and any where i.e., whether you are traveling or you are laying on your bed, and can be carried anywhere and in any conditions. You can read the books for hours and in your comfortable place. You read books at no additional expense like internet access charge, electricity bill etc. Also, books are one time investment. A person purchases a book once, reads the book several times and passes on to his/her friends and so on…

With all these benefits, books and other traditional paper-based sources are very safe, cheap and reliable source of information and knowledge even in today’s time. But, once technology advances to overcome these bottle-necks, traditional paper-based media will then be obsolete. Till then, let’s cherish our books and continue to celebrate such international day.

To begin with, books can be read any time and any where i.e., whether you are traveling or you are laying on your bed. The books can be carried anywhere and in any conditions. Those who argue against this view might say that with advent of technology you can access electronic media anywhere. However, accessing the technology anywhere still costs you. The technology is providing costlier means to access electronic media like e-books, website, blogs etc. In contrast to this, physical books are one time investment. A person purchases a book once, reads the book several times and passes on to his/her friends and so on… For a person, it is almost impossible to stare at monitor for 2-3 hours and read the book on screen. Reading contents in electronic form strains eyes and back of person and also affects the health of the person. However, this is not the case with books. You can read the books for hours and in your comfortable place. Also, you read books at no additional expense like internet access charge, electricity bill etc. Hence, still books are very safe, cheap and reliable source of information and knowledge.

Also, the books are published on papers which often consume natural resources. In contents delivered through internet or any other electronic form, this consumption is often less. But, that is a myth as a person rarely reads the book in electronic form. He/she prefers to take print-out of the interesting article. This practice wastes natural resources excessively and sometimes consumes more paper than a published book can consume.

However, one may argue that the printed articles are often hard to correct. If there’s any mistake in text, a new edition with correction needs to be published which again consumes the natural resources and costs a lot. Also, searching for information in book is often more cumbersome than searching in electronic content. With the use of any text editors or text programs, the words or phrases can be searched quickly. Even corrections are less costly than printed article.

Hence, there are pros and cons in each method of accessing information. But, the decision to use book or e-book is very controversial and is solely choice and preference of the reader. But, I would answer the question with Yes as health and comfort come on top in my preference list. Finally, it’s your choice… it’s your decision…

In fact, IIMs are renowned for their infrastructure, pedagogy and fat salaries for post-MBA students. Most of the students are ready to take up career in Business because of fat post-MBA salaries. After all as famous adage says: education is a good investment. In today’s time when knowledge is given more importance, MBA is definitely a good investment and is definitely proving the adage’s words true. Who wants to leave the opportunity to spend 6-7 lakhs in 2-year MBA course and earn more than 10 lakhs every year post-MBA? If we calculate ROI (Return on Investment) for this, it certainly comes out to be a very good figure (assuming that an average student’s pre-MBA student is approximately 3-4 lakhs). But, after fee hike, the situation has changed significantly. Now, one has to invest for over 10-11 lakhs and earn 10-12 lakhs every year post-MBA. This indicates that the time taken to start enjoying their investments returns is now deferred and students will certainly have more debt after MBA. This doesn’t stop students, who can afford this hike, to continue dreaming about the IIMs. What about dreams of poor or middle-class family students? There will be certainly worries about finances creeping in minds of these students before filling up forms of CAT.

Providing more scholarships or financial aids could be a solution. But, in India not maximum population will fetch great benefits from MBAs as people feel they are not (directly) linked to management or corporate world. For few Indians, petrol/diesel prices and food commodity prices are more important than the fee at IIMs. People of this country do not feel the pinch unless linked directly to world of Management and MBAs. In India, people pay taxes hoping that infrastructure improves, facilities provided by government increases and many more such expectations are always heard from a common man. In such country, is it really feasible for government to spend taxpayers’ money in management education? This can be a significant factor for HRD ministry to consider against the fee hike by IIMs.

One can argue that students are getting fatter salary every year which compensates the fee hike. Also, since India is on path of becoming developed country and currently is growing economy, this hike in fees should NOT be a major concern. If India has to continue the growth, India needs great leaders and great managers. But, what such argument fails to look at is: the growth is not equally distributed. Also, there’s always a risk associated with economy. What if the economy slows down after 1 or 1.5 years? Will students surely get equally fat salaries as IIMs claim? Will IIMs decrease their fees in case of slow-down in economy?

Moreover, considering the stature and “brand” of IIMs, it is not impossible for IIMs to look for alternatives to raise the funds. IIMs can also choose to go for Research path and Management consultation to Indian Corporate who looks for graduates of IIMs particularly. In presence of these possibilities, why IIMs chose to go for fee hike and burden students with more financial debt? This question is still floating and need to be answered by IIMs.

Apparently, IITs also followed this trend and increased their fees. These hikes only indicate that the institutes want to raise more funds using their brand values and have chosen simplest option in front of them. If India has to be considered as a developed country and achieve her dream of super-power by 2020, we must all work to improve our education system and provide equal opportunity to all parts of the society.

(The view is personal and for internal purpose)

by Rev. Ronald McFadden

An African proverb states,

“Before you get married, keep both eyes open,and after you marry, close one eye.” Before you get involved and make a commitment to someone, don’t let lust, desperation, immaturity, ignorance,pressure from others or a low self-esteem, make you blind to warningsigns.

Keep your eyes open, and don’t fool yourself that you can change someoneor that what you see as faults aren’t really important.Once you decide to commit to someone, over time his or her flaws, vulnerabilities, pet

Neither of you are perfect, but are you perfectfor each other? Do you bring out the best in each other?Do you compliment and compromise with each other, or do you compete, compare, and control?

What do you bring to the relationship? Do you bring past relationships,past hurt, past mistrust, past pain? You can’t take someone to the altarto alter him or her. You can’t make someone love you or make someone stay.

What keeps a relationship strong? Communication, intimacy, trust, a sense of humor, sharing household tasks,some getaway time without business or children and daily exchanges (ameal,shared activity, a hug, a call, a touch, a note).

Growth is important. Grow together, not away from each other, giving eachother space to grow without feeling insecure.Allow your mate to have outside interest. You can’t always be together.

It’s a treasurehouse called the Public Speaking Blogosphere (http://sixminutes.dlugan.com/2008/01/04/public-speaking-blogosphere/ which has seventy eight blogs devoted to Public Speaking, Presentation Design, Humor and Toastmasters neatly arranged as a ready reckoner.

Here are some interesting blogs ( by no means exhaustive… as you dig deeper, you discover gems !)

Presentation Zen Garr Reynolds virtually freaks out on presentation design, use and abuse of Powerpoint and religiously updates his blog !

Andrew Dlugan is the real hero who’s managed to compile 78 blogs with a snapshot of each blog !

As Toastmasters, you will find the Speech Critiques section very interesting and informative. Speech videos are critiqued objectively, with maniacal attention to details. You may not agree with all the evaluations but they make compelling viewing !

Dave Paradi’s Power Point Blog is a virtual Bible for Power Point worshippers ! Unlike those who denounce this medium outright, Dave provides a gamut of ideas and resources to make your PPTs lively !

Oh yes, blogs of Toastmasters are also listed ! If you run a regular blog on any of these topics, Dave will be happy to list it in the Blogosphere !

This is one feast you can gorge into without getting any indigestion !

Good afternoon fellow toastmasters and guests…

I read somewhere that for every person a phase comes in life when person’s character and traits get defined. While preparing this speech, I realized that I am into that same phase of life. The only reason to believe this is: I, who was once a shy and introvert person, is delivering a speech in front of you.

Before I go further, let me first provide some background about me.

I am Parthiv Dave. My friends call me “Parth”. My total work experience is of 3.5 years. Previously, I was working for Wipro Technologies and joined TCS in last June.

Born in Gujarat but brought up in Mumbai. I did my schooling and engineering in Mumbai and only for 3 years I was away from home and was at Bangalore. I am the only son from my parents that gave me all previledges during my childhood. I got whatever I demanded for. If there’s an award for Best Spoiled Kid, I would have won that too.

Things I like:
a) Building Websites – I have made many websites during my college time and was web admin in my previous project at Wipro Technologies. So, if you want to do anything realted to Web, you know who to contact…

b) Watching cartoons and creating animations – When I was a kid, I was fan of “Tom & Jerry”. As I grew, my list of favorite cartoons also built. I like Launch-pad of Duck Tales (because he was the one who was counting his plane crashes), Johny Bravo (who gave me tricks which I shouldn’t try on girls), Scooby-doo (who removed my fear of ghosts) and Calvin (who provided new perspective).
    When I got into college, this likeness changed to creating cartoons and animations. Though now I don’t find time to use my creativity, but that’s the activity I like to do.

c) Reading Books – This is a new passion. I have read non-fictional books. There’s no favorite author but I like Robin Sharma (for philosophical subjects), Jack Welch (for management learnings) and many more…

Things I don’t like: I won’t say I don’t like but I don’t believe in Horoscopes, Astrology etc. But, I will keep this topic for my future speeches.

Academics:

I finished my engineering from VJTI, Matunga which is very renown institute. I am sure who are from Mumbai know VJTI. I was able to get into VJTI because I did diploma in computer technology. I did engineering in 10+3+3 patter instead of usual 10+2+4.

During my college life, I always maintained reputation of “Nerd”. Because of this, I didn’t focus on my inter-personal skills and which delayed my campus placement. I finally got into Wipro and was posted to Bangalore.

The experience at Bangalore was really amazing and changed me a lot from any person to what I am in front of you. Bangalore has also taught me cooking, washing my own clothes and started eating all vegetables etc.

Goals:

My short term goal is to get into Business School and complete MBA. Regarding my long term goal, I want to start my own firm… of course, related to web services and designing. Also, I want to write an autobiography.

Before I conclude, if you want to know more, you can check my profile in Orkut or Facebook.

I would now conclude my speech with this quote by Samuel Butler:
” Life is like playing violing solo in public… and learning the instrument as one goes on…”

God bless you all….

Back to madam toastmaster…