Live Punjabi, Play Punjabi...

This is the anthem of Kings XI Punjab team. Whenever I hear this, I just start dancing. I am just so on to this song. And over the days I have realised, I support the team of my janambhoomi more than the Daredevils of my karambhoomi.

I just hope that Kings XI Punjab wins this season's IPL. And as Yuvraj says, Aaja Baee...

Thank You Boss

In my very short career of just 3 years, I have had more bosses than the number of organizations I have worked with, and certainly more than the number of years of experience that I have.

During my first job with Spectrum, I had two bosses, simultaneously. It was dual reporting.

Then my second job with RR exposed me to three bosses, three different styles of working and I learnt quite a lot.

My current job has me reporting to three different people at the same time. This means three different kinds of working styles. Not that they have weird whims and fancies, but still I am learning quite a lot at multi-people-tasking.

And, I am immensely thankful to all my Bosses for making me learn so much, from their competencies and incompetencies!

IPL- The Tamasha Begins

The much hyped and much awaited Cricket ka Karamyuddh, the Indian Premier League, starts today. It is being said that this will change the way cricket is played, forever.

Well, I am all for Kings XI Punjab, after all its the team of my janambhoomi, Punjab. But then, I also support the team of my karambhoomi, Delhi Daredevils.

Today, the first encounter is between my favorite cricketer's team, Rahul Dravid's team (Royal Challengers) and my favourite actor's team, Shah Rukh's team (Kolkata Knight Riders).

Oh! I am so confused. My loyalties are just shifting sides. I think for today's match I'll just sit in front of the TV screen and enjoy.

"My Delhi, I Care"

I really like this slogan of Delhi Government. It was coined to foster the involvement of people staying in Delhi with the Delhi city (or state). CM Shiela Dixit talks about this in a story which can be checked here.

Red FM has also stated a similar initiative, anchored by their RJ Nitin (my favorite!). He talks a lot about this in his morning show. Be it safety of women, bad roads and the recent one is the cleanliness drive. He has started going personally to clean the kurha-karkat in Delhi.

I think other states can learn a thing or two from the city. I have been in Mumbai, stayed there for almost an year. Never felt that anyone cares for the city, everyone cares for him/herself. The litter in the trains, along the roads, pathetic condition on roads are just few examples.

I, sometimes, consider myself as a confused Delhite. I hail from Punjab, studied in Delhi, worked here, moved out, returned back, got married and now working in Delhi but staying in Gurgaon. For an outsider I may still be staying in Dilli, as for them entire NCR is Dilli. But this does not mean I care less for Delhi. I have heard a few people say that it doesn't matter to them because they stay in Noida or Gurgaon or Faridabad, so they just don't care. Their place of stay is all they care, and just their society or colony or street. Is it a justified excuse? Definitely NO! Because I drive on Delhi roads, eat in Delhi restaurants, shop in Delhi markets, visit friends who stay in houses in Delhi, I feel responsible for the place. And, I damn very well care.

Growth From Within

A few days back I was at a friend's place and the discussion moved on to promotions in our respective organizations and the growth opportunities. The organizations prefer to grow people from within the ranks, to fill up the vacant position, to highlight growth avenues, to motivate employees and hence, to retain them. But, for people who are grown from the grass root level, have they been successful?

Agreed that the person who has worked his/her way up the ranks, is thorough with the processed, knows the system, knows the customer. But is s/he equipped with right skills to take up the leadership role, that is being offered. Most of the Government Organizations/ PSUs give promotion on the basis of your tenure in the organization. People keep on moving up the ladder. They handle teams, starting from one or two to tens or twenties. They probably understand the technicalities involved in the day to day work of their subordinates, but then leadership is not just that. Somewhere they are just not ready to manage the dynamics involved in handling people.

This is not the case with only Government organizations or PSUs. Many of the private sector organizations or the MNCs also tend to ignore this. They may keep on blowing the trumpet of growth avenues within the organization, in the name of 'Succession Planning' but what about training and mentoring? Have you prepared the person to handle the new role? Just because customers are happy with an employee does not mean that s/he can lead a team?

I feel rather than just promoting people in the name of growth and motivation, there has to be a proper growth route laid out, that is, succession planning. Organizations, of late, are realizing the importance, but still it has to go a long way. Till the time it gets applied to PSUs and Government set ups, I will not term it as a 'success'.

Trip to Corbett Tiger Reserve

We had been to Corbett over the Holi weekend. Corbett Tiger Reserve falls in Distt Nainital and is nestled in the hills with rivers criss-crossing the jungle.

We had made reservations a couple of months in advance, with Tiger Camp. We started Friday morning from Gurgaon, at 8.00 am, planning to reach by 3.00pm. But destiny had something else in store!

The road till Hapur, NH 24, is damn good. Post that, till Moradabad, it is OK. Around 15 kms before Garh Mukteshwar, there was an enormous traffic jam. We had started off towards the jungle to get away from the hustle-bustle of the metro, including traffic jams, but it would just not leave us. We managed to cover 13km in 2hrs. I guess, it summarises our situation.

Apparently, it was purnima and near Ganga ghat there was some pooja. This led to congestion on the river bridge. And hence, the jam. By this hour it was already 2.00pm. So much for our planning. On the way, we stopped at A1 Plaza at Reliance Petrol Pump. It was something out of loyalty to my ex-employer and Adesh's present employer. We hit Moradabad in another hour and a half. Discovered the local market in our effort to buy a memory card for the digicam. Last minute shopping... Finally after another 2 hrs, we reached our destination.

En route, we discovered a local village market dealing in cattle. Also, a lot of mango orchards. Weather was cool at Corbett. The moment I stepped into the resort, I was spellbound. It was WOW!!! So green, so cool and so relaxing... And, we had an entire cottage to ourselves! No TV, No Newspaper and Low mobile network. It would be interesting. That very evening we went down to the Kosi river (which flows next to Tiger Camp) and walked along the bank. We also watched a couple of wildlife documentaries.

Next day, early morning we went to discover jungle, riding an elephant. Ours was a female elephant named Padma. It was 6.00am and sun had not risen yet. We carried our cameras, hoping to spot a tiger, which we could not. We did spot some herds of Cheetal and Sambhar. Also lots and lots of langoors. The ride was fun. We saw a lot of different kinds of birds. The elephant would just wander in the forest on its own. She would stray away from the path and enter the bush. It was some adventure, though it left me with bad scratches on hands and arms.

We came back at around 8.30 and savaged the breakfast. It was holi and we played with colours. The reserve was closed, so we just chilled out and relaxed in the resort. The next day, after spending few hours in the reserve and driving around, we started the return journey.

It was a refreshing break from the monotonous schedule that both of us follow. We returned recharged and rejuvenated and full of fond memories. The vacation was awesome and memories are still fresh. A must visit for all nature lovers.