Getting Wiser

A friend went through my blog recently and commented that I am getting wiser. Every one gets wiser with age, but what was the need for that remark??? Then he pointed at the recent two posts on getting more etiquettes and a better dressing sense!! Well, in that sense I am much wiser, I must admit.

In our routine browsing of the www and while wilfing, all of us come across loads of information. Some flies as OHT. For the uninformed, it means Over Head Transmission (OHT is a term we coined in our engineering days). Some of it is understood by us, we do like it also but, still we do not implement it. And the remaining little, we do understand and implement too. Let me stop beating about the bush. All I want to say is that with the information I have definitely become more dress wise and e-wise. And this information falls in the last part of getting and implementing information.

How I have implemented this info is, one, I have stopped using different coloured fonts in my mails. Its been over a fortnight that I sent a coloured mail! My colleagues will vouch for that.
Two, I have started smart casuals in office, even on weekdays and Saturday is reserved exclusively for Funky T-shirts.

And now, I have another chance of getting wiser, on the spiritual side. Over the last week I have been attending Yoga classes in the morning. Believe me, it has been really effective. Less stress and sound sleep. Wow, I am loving it! Another benefit that I am counting on (literally) is weight loss! I am through with 6 days, lets see how many more days I last in this mission of increasing the Spiritual Quotient. The mission is ON...

Office Dressing- The Code

I had mentioned in an earlier post (E-etiquette Wise) about a gentleman whose e-mail had led me to my search. Co-incidentally (or may be something else) the same gentlemen turned in office this Tuesday dressed in a very very weird T-shirt, and here I was getting orders from my manager, and yours truly was searching on 'Dress Code'.

Well, I had done similar research a couple of years back in my previous organization, and was sure that this one too would be a cakewalk. Though I knew that I would have to tweak few things as per my current organization. As I started checking relevance of my material, I was surprised by the results.

A couple of years back, the dress code for corporates was formal dressing for weekdays and smart casuals on Friday or Saturday, depending upon whether you worked five days or six days. The IT companies, though, were rewriting the code, courtesy the trends in the ITES sector. But majorly, the companies stuck to the formal code.

But now, the rules have changed. Most of the companies today follow the simple code of Dress to chill. Women come dressed in kurtas, funky skirts and wrap-arounds. Business suits, sarees and starched cotton salwar-kameez are reserved for power meetings. Gentlemen prefer the good old pair of jeans, khakis and chinos.

With more and more young blood getting pumped into the corporate world, even the very formal business suits are getting designer. Board room dressing has definitely come of age. Hugo Boss, Armani and other top brands are adding extra punch.

But the old school of thought still maintains that what you see is what you get. A formal attire leads you to behave in a very subtle and elegant manner, while the casual look gives an air of informality and "to hell with rules" kind of a feeling.

The debate is still on, and it depends on where you are working and with whom you are working. But there is a class of workers which chooses the workplace based on the attire it permits! An acquaintance had once turned down an offer to work with a top company just because he would raise brows if he ever walked down in shorts!!!!

As far as I can see, casual's the word. But, people, its safe to keep a mix of clothes.

As for me, I am much more dress-wise , but I could definitely do with some wardrobe tips.

Visit to Wagah

During the month of March, I was visiting Amritsar and had a chance to visit Wagah Border. Though I have lived in Punjab for most of my life, but never got a chance to visit the border. For those who are not aware, Wagah border is the border check post between India and Pakistan. It is around 30 minutes drive from the Amritsar city. I was accompanying my boss, whose friend had arranged for seats in VIP area (One of the many privileges still available in India!)

As we were approaching the border side, I could see the fencing that had been done across the fields to mark the end of our country. I felt an unusual sensation and it was exciting! With grandparents who had immigrated from the other side at the time of partition, I have very mixed feelings about our neighbour country. Nonetheless, I was too excited to visit the check post. Well, it was Sunday evening and we were going to witness the very famous closing ceremony. There were hoards of people on every possible mode of road transport heading towards the border.

As we approached the border and alighted from our vehicle, I could see the BSF and Pakistani Rangers, standing across the fence. Our guide informed us that there were many farmers on the Indian side whose land was on the other side. They have a pass and they cross over every morning, till the land and return at sunset. I had heard and read about all this, but watching those farmers crossing back was something different.

Finally, after various points of checking, we were able to view the 'Point Zero', which marks the end of Indian territory. There is an amphitheatre on both sides of the border. As the time of closing ceremony was approaching, the rush of people kept increasing. I could feel goose bumps on my arms.

People were clicking pictures at the gate. There were loudspeakers blaring patriotic songs on both the sides. One of the many differences that I noticed, on the Pakistani side, there were separate seats for males and females. One side had women in colourful burqas, while the other half had men mostly in kurta-salwar. While on the Indian side there was no such demarcation!

The drama began when a man with a microphone emerged in the centre of the crowd and started urging the crowd to repeat the slogans after him. And he started, "Hindustan Zindabaad" The crowd went berserk (including the two of us!) shouting after him.
Then came "Bharat Mata ki Jai", and the third one "Vande Matram". We have all done that during our school days, but there at the border, my voice had a new enthusiasm. I was experiencing patriotism of a different kind.


Our patriotic slogans were followed by similar shouts from the other side, "Allah o Akbar" and "Pakistan Zindabad", with equal fervor.
After various such rounds, a few puzzled foreign tourists sitting next to me asked, "What are they saying?" I explained to her and with an amused look on her face, one of them asked, "But why do you need to shout that???"

I just could not explain that to her. I feel, no one else anywhere in the world can feel the same way as Indians and Pakistanis do here. I have known people from both nations to be at very friendly terms when together in any other part of the world, but here it all changes!
May be the feeling that comes while watching an Indo-Pak cricket or hockey match, can come very close to this.

Anyways, the wait for watching the very famous ceremony of gate closure and taking down of the National Flags, was worth it. As the sepoy blew horn, indicating the time, the guards from both sides came marching. There feet almost touched thier turbans!!!!!!!!!!! You have to watch it to believe it! And enjoy it!

As the guards shook hands for the last time for that day, and the National Anthem was played, the National Flags of both the countries came down in perfect harmony.

Our visit had come to an end, but something inside me had changed forever. I had heard about it from friends and relatives, who could not explain it, but now I know why they could not. All I can say is that each of the fellow countrymen should visit the place at least once. It is worth it!