Just heard this recently, something to really ponder over:
It is Easy to gain someone's TRUST
It is Easier to lose that TRUST
But It is very Hard to keep that TRUST
I think by normal human behavior we usually trust people around us as we start dealing with them and the level of Trust builds up and increases with time and Experience in dealing with a specific person, as you start knowing more about the person the level of trust in them increases or decreases. - Easy
But even the person whom you Trust a lot. If you come to know of one time that he cheated on you or did something against you Khallas. The Trust breaks, now you start being careful with this person - Easier
But once, someone starts Trusting you and they start talking to you even the secrets about their personal life that they dont share with others. Than it becomes real hard to keep this Trust. Because now you need to have some Amanah! I mean its like someone has given you some Diamond ring or rings for safekeeping. So you can get tempted to sell it off and make some good money. Or just give someone to wear it for a few days, the owner will not know. And you can get a Favor from the person to whom you lend the Diamond ring. To me if someone shows Trust in me. Every word they share with me is Amanah! And yes it is very Hard to keep this Amanah!
Ever thought about it this way??
Monday, December 15, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
After Arrival in Kuwait
Note: This is for Expatriates trying to get their Families on Dependent visa to Kuwait
1. Go to a typist with your Civil ID, Wife's passport and Visa
2. He will make the necessary Forms for Medical and Jawazat.
3. Go for Medical to the hospital based on your Civil ID address.
4. Collect Medical report next week.
5. Get the Civil ID No. by calling 1889988 based on the Visa No.
6. Go to the Insurance counter with the Medical Report, Civil ID copy and Visa copy, Passport
7. He will give you an Health card and a Insurance paper immediately
8. Go to Jawazat first floor(Ahmadi) with the Application, Medical Report (step 4) and Insurance paper (step 7) . Get signature from the Raees.
9. Go to the Ground floor cashier and pay 100KD if Iqamah is for 1 year, get the receipts
10. Go to the ladies on the counter, she will take the papers and passport and will stamp the Iqamah in the passport in couple of minutes.
So it is hardly an 30 minute job Alhamdulillaah in Ahmadi Jawazat. I love Kuwait. If you have the right papers and know the right things, things are Easy!
1. Go to a typist with your Civil ID, Wife's passport and Visa
2. He will make the necessary Forms for Medical and Jawazat.
3. Go for Medical to the hospital based on your Civil ID address.
4. Collect Medical report next week.
5. Get the Civil ID No. by calling 1889988 based on the Visa No.
6. Go to the Insurance counter with the Medical Report, Civil ID copy and Visa copy, Passport
7. He will give you an Health card and a Insurance paper immediately
8. Go to Jawazat first floor(Ahmadi) with the Application, Medical Report (step 4) and Insurance paper (step 7) . Get signature from the Raees.
9. Go to the Ground floor cashier and pay 100KD if Iqamah is for 1 year, get the receipts
10. Go to the ladies on the counter, she will take the papers and passport and will stamp the Iqamah in the passport in couple of minutes.
So it is hardly an 30 minute job Alhamdulillaah in Ahmadi Jawazat. I love Kuwait. If you have the right papers and know the right things, things are Easy!
Thats it! Now you just need to fill up the Civil ID form and you shall be through.
After Visa What Next
Note: This is for Expatriates trying to get their Families on Dependent visa to Kuwait
I earlier blogged about procuring a Residence Visa for your wife, The next step is in your Home Country. The Visa needs to be endorsed by the Kuwait Embassy Mumbai or Delhi. If you do it in Mumbai they need the following:
1. You need to buy an Airline ticket (I took Kuwait Airways)
2. You need to get your Medical done from the Authorized centers
3. You need to submit a Police Clearance Certificate
You can hire an agent like Akbar Travels, to manage all this for you. You will just have to go once for getting the Medical done, thats it.
After all this the embassy stamps behind your original Visa paper as well as pastes a temporary Entry permit in your passport. And now you are ready to Fly.
I earlier blogged about procuring a Residence Visa for your wife, The next step is in your Home Country. The Visa needs to be endorsed by the Kuwait Embassy Mumbai or Delhi. If you do it in Mumbai they need the following:
1. You need to buy an Airline ticket (I took Kuwait Airways)
2. You need to get your Medical done from the Authorized centers
3. You need to submit a Police Clearance Certificate
You can hire an agent like Akbar Travels, to manage all this for you. You will just have to go once for getting the Medical done, thats it.
After all this the embassy stamps behind your original Visa paper as well as pastes a temporary Entry permit in your passport. And now you are ready to Fly.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Never Give Up!
Make this part of your approach to any problem, and you can convert the problem into a stepping stone to success Inshaa Allaah! I was speaking to a friend in India, this short trip and I have seen him surrounded by troubles all the time, Health, Relationships and Business but I still always find him brave and coping up with the problems Alhamdulillah. I was speaking to him and he mentioned that I have learnt "Never to Give Up" He said, whatever comes my way, I dont give up! That was an impressive reply, I was amazed and now knew the source of his energy. And noted this point in my list of things I have learnt. To add to it, a colleague emailed the below story which teaches the same lesson. Its a nice way to represent the same principle, Never Give Up:
One day a farmer's donkey fell into an abandoned well. The animal cried Piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Finally, he decided the animal was old and the well needed to be covered up anyway; so it just wasn't worth it to him to try to retrieve the donkey.
He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well.
Realizing what was happening, the donkey at first cried and wailed horribly. Then, a few shovelfuls later, he quieted down completely.
The farmer peered down into the well, and was astounded by what he saw. With every shovelful of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up on the new layer of dirt.
As the farmer's neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off, to the shock and astonishment of all the neighbors.
Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to not let it bury you but to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up!
Shake it off and take a step up!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Family Visa process - 4.5 hours
Note: This is for Expatriates trying to get their Families on Dependent visa to Kuwait
Lets note down the steps I went through for the Visa process for future reference:
1. In India got Marriage certificate Notarized and stamped from Home Department and Kuwait Embassy.
2. You need Marriage Affidavit from Indian Embassy (2 hours)
Lets note down the steps I went through for the Visa process for future reference:
1. In India got Marriage certificate Notarized and stamped from Home Department and Kuwait Embassy.
2. You need Marriage Affidavit from Indian Embassy (2 hours)
- Submit Marriage Affidavit form in Duplicate
- Passport copy of Wife
- Photocopy of Marriage Certificate
- Civil ID copy
- Applicant passport copy
- Show Original Marriage certificate(Attested by Home department in India)
- Show Original passport
3. Attest the Affidavit of Marriage got in previous step by Ministry of External Affairs, Kuwait (Took 30 mins)
4. Get the Application filled by the office outside Jawazat(Immigration Department). I went to Ahmadi Jawazat, as I stay in that area. Documents that they took with this application were:
- Original Affidavit of Marriage stamped by External Affairs
- Copy of wife's passport
- Copy of My Izne Amal (I had to show original Izne Amal)
- Civil ID copy
She did not take my passport copy nor my Aqd Ijar (House contract) copy which I was hearing is needed now.
Thats it, I think she took 10 minutes to make the visa asked me to check the spellings, passport number etc. than put 3 KD stamp if all fine and get it signed by the Manager
Easy isn't it! Alhamdulillaah!! at 8 a.m. I was in the embassy and at 12:30 I had the visa in my hand. Than I couriered the visa to India for Medical, PCC and Endorsement by Kuwait Embassy. You can use TNT, I gave it to him at 6 in the evening and it was delivered next day before 4 pm in Mumbai.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Most precious thing to give - Time
The best thing you can ever give anyone is Time.
Because when you give someone your time, you give them part of your life.
Pondering over these lines.... Imagine if u give someone a Mercedes or a precious Diamond, U can get these material things back. Provided the person is willing to give them back ;) But imagine when you give someone your time. U sit with someone at the Beach or in the Coffee shop or in Office listening to what they are saying, or having them listen to what you are saying. We share our thoughts or our concerns or our issues and feel relieved. I mean, u dont really share anything material there is no Money going from your pocket to theirs or vice versa. But still u r giving or taking the Most precious thing. Because the time you gave or you took from the other person is gone. You cannot have it back and it is part of your life. If you are going to live for 60 years, you have already given this person some part of your life, Isn't it.
Now when I think of this in conjunction with the other post I wrote about Companions and their effect, they both together mean we should be soo careful with whom we are spending our time. Imagine u r spending your time with a jerk with whom u dont benefit at all instead maybe u learn some bad stuff from him. In this case u r giving the most precious thing u have in return for some Junk stuff. Isn't it Strange and we never think before we spend our time. We think its the least we can give anyone. But when it comes to giving something monetary to anyone we think 10 times. Strange right. Where is our Common Sense, As they say "Common sense, is soo Uncommon"
Because when you give someone your time, you give them part of your life.
Pondering over these lines.... Imagine if u give someone a Mercedes or a precious Diamond, U can get these material things back. Provided the person is willing to give them back ;) But imagine when you give someone your time. U sit with someone at the Beach or in the Coffee shop or in Office listening to what they are saying, or having them listen to what you are saying. We share our thoughts or our concerns or our issues and feel relieved. I mean, u dont really share anything material there is no Money going from your pocket to theirs or vice versa. But still u r giving or taking the Most precious thing. Because the time you gave or you took from the other person is gone. You cannot have it back and it is part of your life. If you are going to live for 60 years, you have already given this person some part of your life, Isn't it.
Now when I think of this in conjunction with the other post I wrote about Companions and their effect, they both together mean we should be soo careful with whom we are spending our time. Imagine u r spending your time with a jerk with whom u dont benefit at all instead maybe u learn some bad stuff from him. In this case u r giving the most precious thing u have in return for some Junk stuff. Isn't it Strange and we never think before we spend our time. We think its the least we can give anyone. But when it comes to giving something monetary to anyone we think 10 times. Strange right. Where is our Common Sense, As they say "Common sense, is soo Uncommon"
Monday, October 06, 2008
Win them or Lose them
I was speaking to a close friend after a long time. And in our discussions we went to the topic of Relationships and dealings with difficult people. We were speaking about how some people are difficult to deal with and willing to do things to Insult or Embarass you. How to deal with such people. My friend suggested a solution to deal with this in a very nice way. Whether you want to Win them back or Lose them. If you want to Win them back than you forgive and forget and accept whatever excuse they give for the differences that took place. But If you want to lose them, than you can remember every mistake they made and think how every excuse they make could be a lie. So its upto you Win them or Lose them.
I have some real Wise Friends... Isnt it!
I have some real Wise Friends... Isnt it!
Monday, September 08, 2008
Being Thankful
Among friends we often discuss this: That we have soo many favours of Allaah upon us. We should be soo thankful to him for the innumerous favours he has made upon us. But we on the contrary keep ourselves busy complaining and cribbing even on the smallest thing that we dont like happens to us. I just want to put this post as a reminder to myself... I did some reading on Being Thankful to Allaah, will try to summarize from the different articles:
Characteristics of a True Believer:
The believer is thankful to Allaah in his heart, with his tongue, and with the actions of his limbs. He is thankful for Allaah's Blessings and the great amount of goodness that Allaah has given him, those that he enjoys at all hours of the day. The believer is thankful and utters phrases of Allaah's remembrance, and he does not see any blessing greater than what Allaah has given him, nor any token of generosity greater than what has come from Allaah.
The believer scoffs at the materialistic fancies of this worldly life, as he is focused on the delight of repenting to Allaah, and turning completely to Him alone. With this, he takes an ample share of worldly delights and enjoys them, but not as the disbelievers or heedless ones do. He indulges in them in a way that assists him in establishing the Rights of Allaah and the rights of His servants.
By contenting himself in this way and hoping for the reward from Allaah, the believer fulfills his desires, his heart rests peacefully, and he finds tranquility. He does not become saddened if some affairs reach him that he does not like. With this, Allaah has combined for him the happiness of this worldly life and the happiness of the Hereafter.
Soul Cleanser - we must be Thankful
We have to live in this life and be thankful for even the smallest blessings of Allah (SWT), in order that we live in this world with a higher aim that merely earning a few extra dollars, and our life should be to seek the hereafter.
The key to achieving tranquility and harmony of a balanced heart, mind and body is that we look at those who are below us materialistically and we forget about those who are above us.
Quranic Ayah: And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks (by accepting Faith and worshipping none but Allâh), I will give you more (of My Blessings), but if you are thankless (i.e. disbelievers), verily! My Punishment is indeed severe."
Extract from a Poem:
I also Pray, Inshallah that ........... If you have a bad day at work, be thankful to Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala. Appreciate that you have a job. Some people don't. When you pay your bills, be thankful you can pay them. If you see a gray hair, be thankful. Think of the cancer patient in chemotherapy who wish they had hair on their head ...........
When you find yourself waiting in line or the recipient of poor service, be thankful.Many don't have services. Think about the people who have no food to eat and are hungry all the time .......... When you realise how much work it is to take care of a house, be thankful you have a home. Think about those who are homeless and wish they had a home to take care of ..........
When you feel like complaining because you have to walk a long distance from your car, be thankful . Think of what it would be like not to be able to walk! If you get irritated by other people's anger, apathy, ignorance, bitterness, or insecurities, be thankful. Things could be worse. You could be one of them! When you think everything in your world is terrible, and you want to give up, think of the people who have been told they only have a certain amount of time to live. They don't want to give up.
Characteristics of a True Believer:
The believer is thankful to Allaah in his heart, with his tongue, and with the actions of his limbs. He is thankful for Allaah's Blessings and the great amount of goodness that Allaah has given him, those that he enjoys at all hours of the day. The believer is thankful and utters phrases of Allaah's remembrance, and he does not see any blessing greater than what Allaah has given him, nor any token of generosity greater than what has come from Allaah.
The believer scoffs at the materialistic fancies of this worldly life, as he is focused on the delight of repenting to Allaah, and turning completely to Him alone. With this, he takes an ample share of worldly delights and enjoys them, but not as the disbelievers or heedless ones do. He indulges in them in a way that assists him in establishing the Rights of Allaah and the rights of His servants.
By contenting himself in this way and hoping for the reward from Allaah, the believer fulfills his desires, his heart rests peacefully, and he finds tranquility. He does not become saddened if some affairs reach him that he does not like. With this, Allaah has combined for him the happiness of this worldly life and the happiness of the Hereafter.
Soul Cleanser - we must be Thankful
We have to live in this life and be thankful for even the smallest blessings of Allah (SWT), in order that we live in this world with a higher aim that merely earning a few extra dollars, and our life should be to seek the hereafter.
The key to achieving tranquility and harmony of a balanced heart, mind and body is that we look at those who are below us materialistically and we forget about those who are above us.
Quranic Ayah: And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks (by accepting Faith and worshipping none but Allâh), I will give you more (of My Blessings), but if you are thankless (i.e. disbelievers), verily! My Punishment is indeed severe."
Extract from a Poem:
I also Pray, Inshallah that ........... If you have a bad day at work, be thankful to Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta'aala. Appreciate that you have a job. Some people don't. When you pay your bills, be thankful you can pay them. If you see a gray hair, be thankful. Think of the cancer patient in chemotherapy who wish they had hair on their head ...........
When you find yourself waiting in line or the recipient of poor service, be thankful.Many don't have services. Think about the people who have no food to eat and are hungry all the time .......... When you realise how much work it is to take care of a house, be thankful you have a home. Think about those who are homeless and wish they had a home to take care of ..........
When you feel like complaining because you have to walk a long distance from your car, be thankful . Think of what it would be like not to be able to walk! If you get irritated by other people's anger, apathy, ignorance, bitterness, or insecurities, be thankful. Things could be worse. You could be one of them! When you think everything in your world is terrible, and you want to give up, think of the people who have been told they only have a certain amount of time to live. They don't want to give up.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Appreciations
I usually make a folder in my Outlook PST files called Appreciation, where I keep all the appreciation emails received for work, how small a task it may be. It might seem small task to me sometimes, but helps the business user in such a way that he/she drops in an appreciation email. So the email deserves to be saved atleast for personal viewing and you can look back how many times or in which parts of your career you got appreciated. So I was advicing the same thing to a friend to make a folder for such emails. And popped up the question: Awwab, you should send me an email.
That made me think. Our friends affect our lives soo much. Whenever we are low we know which ones of our friends we can talk to and they can cheer us up. When we have a problem, we know who to share it with and get some good advice. Friends will try their best to cheer you up! We learn soo many things from them. Yaani, they are so much part of your life. And yes we dont send them any appreciation emails...
That made me think. Our friends affect our lives soo much. Whenever we are low we know which ones of our friends we can talk to and they can cheer us up. When we have a problem, we know who to share it with and get some good advice. Friends will try their best to cheer you up! We learn soo many things from them. Yaani, they are so much part of your life. And yes we dont send them any appreciation emails...
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Two wives
Well After spending a good amount of time on Sharepoint Administration and Consulting I am back to Web Solutions. I have a good requirement to work on. It seems to be a crucial project for business. But I think it is just the tip of the IceBerg. If we Inshaa Allaah deliver it to the expectation. Lot of requirements will just bombard on our team. Good part is, that I again will get to do the whole cycle Inshaa Allaah. Requirements Gathering, Analysis, System Design, Develop, Test, Deliver Inshaa Allaah. And I am lucky to give a good supervisor and team to work with. So now lets c whether I use Agile practices or any other technique...
But the bad part is this is soo addictive as it was when I was in India and used to spend 10-12 hours at work + weekends in office. Now I am again getting used to sitting late in office. But I should not be doing that I am a married man now with two wives. shocked!
But yes, I can do it until my second wife comes to Kuwait for sure. But maybe it will be crucial war between my first wife and second wife to know who gets more of Awwab's time in a day. People who know Awwab know that his first wife is Work, married on 12th September 2003. See I also remember my wedding date. Neways... Life is soo much fun, when u enjoy your work and soo boring when u dont enjoy it! I love challenges but I think it is gonna be difficult to deal with two wives.. Lets see if I survive.... Guys, Listen to me dont get married... Just kidding...
Honestly speaking, U should Marry, why should only we Suffer..!! ;)
I know all my friends are gonna bombard me for this post.....but as u guys know, I am not scared!
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Sleepless to Sleeping
We all know friends always have an impact on life. Little things they say or do, might have a huge Impact - Good or Bad. I have read online stories about how a kind gesture affected the friend in a big way (Not sure they are true or fictitious). My story goes like this, last couple of weeks many of my friends were on leave and I was going through an issue that I was thinking about it soo much. I had some of my friends whom I had shared this with. I had explained my problem and what I thought was the solution. But still I was thinking on it soo much, that I was Sleepless...I eat, drive, try to sleep, do watever. I could not get this out of my mind...Kept thinking thinking.. And after some of my close friends came back, who know a lot of my secrets... and I discussed with them what was going on and got the same advice that they always give me. Awwab Be Patient, May God Help You. Now I am back to normal, All praise be to Almighty God.
Yaani, Ajeeb I did not solve my problem yet, but just shared it with my closest friends and phew... I am soo cool about it now. Yaani, earlier I was confused that may be I was wrong. Since it was all my thoughts, but after discussing with my friends, I did not get to hear "Awwab u r wrong" So Now I am soo normal Alhamdulillaah. That I changed from sleepless to Sleeping extra.
I had two Alarms one at 3:45 a.m. and another 6:00 a.m. N can u believe it I did not wake up on any, I straight away woke up at 7:46 and came to work at 8:30 . Thats 1.5 hours late, I guess in the last 2.5 years I have been working here, I have never been soo late.... Allaahul Mustaan
Yaani, Ajeeb I did not solve my problem yet, but just shared it with my closest friends and phew... I am soo cool about it now. Yaani, earlier I was confused that may be I was wrong. Since it was all my thoughts, but after discussing with my friends, I did not get to hear "Awwab u r wrong" So Now I am soo normal Alhamdulillaah. That I changed from sleepless to Sleeping extra.
I had two Alarms one at 3:45 a.m. and another 6:00 a.m. N can u believe it I did not wake up on any, I straight away woke up at 7:46 and came to work at 8:30 . Thats 1.5 hours late, I guess in the last 2.5 years I have been working here, I have never been soo late.... Allaahul Mustaan
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Progress
What we call 'Progress' is the exchange of one nuisance for another nuisance.
Havelock Ellis (1859 - 1939)
I sometimes belive in this one. But I hate it when the newer Nuisance is worse the older one. Than I think it definitely is not Progress, but destruction!!!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
And give not a thing in order to have more
I was speaking to a friend some days back, and from my box of principles and things learnt and memorized, I mentioned: Key to happiness is you keep giving without expecting anything in return.
Example: If you give a smile and expect the other person should also smile back, you will be hurt, if he/she does not Smile back. But If you smile without expecting a smile in return and the other person chooses to ignore you and does not smile back you will not be hurt. I think I had learnt this from some of my Intellectual friends. I dont remember from where I learnt it.
Example: If you give a smile and expect the other person should also smile back, you will be hurt, if he/she does not Smile back. But If you smile without expecting a smile in return and the other person chooses to ignore you and does not smile back you will not be hurt. I think I had learnt this from some of my Intellectual friends. I dont remember from where I learnt it.
Monday, August 11, 2008
The Phone picker
How would u react if someone unknown calls u and tells u that Mr. XYZ in your department is not picking up the phone, can u ask him to pick up the phone. And u dont even know Mr. XYZ nor the caller. So much to ur amazement, I think u will go crazy like "Excuse Me Dude, I m neither your secretary nor His, to ask him to pick up the phone. If he is not picking up the phone u use some common sense and send him an email to pick up the phone if his picking up is so important for you OR walk down to his office. But why the hell, u call me to tell him to pick up the phone" So now u have a trouble situation to handle and u dont have time to think bcos the guy is on the phone. So my intelligent friend did not lose the temper but instead calmly adviced that u can drop him an email and tried to enquire who gave you my number, to which the caller preferred not to Answer. So there r soo many variety of people you can find in a big organization. Strange Isn't it! Every experience brings in soemthing to learn. So dont do the mistake again dude "Ask him to pick up the phone" People have taken ur act to the blogs.... ;)
U r like a Fish!
One of my friends said that to me, "U r like a Fish" and I was surprised at the phrase, because I did not know what it means. So I enquired what do u mean by that. Obviously Kuwaiti's know much more about the Fish as they go Fishing as well as Diving in the sea. Brave folks Man! Neways, so I when I asked what it means, I learnt that some fishes of the Sea cannot swim in the River and some fishes of the River cannot swim in the Sea. This is what is meant when u hear someone tell u, U r like a Fish! So u were swimming well in one area/place/department but U might not be able to survive in another area/place/department. Bcos u will not be able to swim there. Bcos u r like a Fish. well I dont know If I am really like a fish or not. But, I do miss my old team and the lot of ideas I used to have to work on when I was there :(
Thursday, August 07, 2008
Prayer - the peasant and the king
I went to a Mosque close to our Main Office as I was late leaving office and it was time for prayer. And after reaching inside I was so pleased with what I saw and could not stop praising Almighty God. In the same row, I could see some very influential intellectuals of this country/our company side by side with may be a meagre cleaner in the company who might be getting 20 KD (~3000 INR) salary. It touched me soo much, what a noble religion it is that brings down the rich and the poor, the Fair and the Dark, the Arab and the Non-arab all are equal in front of their lord. And when they pray they stand shoulder to shoulder and feet to feet with whoever is next to them. Can people still have pride and look down upon others, after going through this practice 5 times a day where you proclaim God alone is great and you kneel down putting your forehead on ground out of Submission to God. I dont think so... I remembered something similar said by a lady leader of Indian history called Sarojini Naidu, who mentioned in A talk given to the Young Men's Muslim Association, Madras, 1917 : "the democracy of Islam is embodied five times a day when the peasant and the king kneel side by side and proclaim, "God alone is great."
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Weekend is here
Thats how time flies.... I joined mid of last week. So I completed one and half week in my new department and did not even realize. I feel I just joined yesterday. But time flies soo fast. Although I am trying to deliver some stuff using Sharepoint Out of the box, but there are some other things in my mind that I would love to deliver but I cannot due to unavailibility of the right tools... I wish I get my workstation with all the software development tools I need soon. In order to start being productive. Although I am also investing time learning something new everyday. I just learned what Back Allocation is today. But I will not tell you, what it is. So I think I am enjoying learning about Oil. But still I am missing my Development tools...waiting...waiting... a long wait.... I feel like a carpenter who knows his work but is still waiting for a Hammer. he cannot do anything without a hammer, can he?? Maybe he can hit the nails with a screw driver. But how good will be a product where the Nails were hammered with a Screw Driver instead of a Hammer. Will you buy it?? I would not, for sure!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Techno-Functional
No, No...Dont get me wrong. I have not left Systems Development to become a DBA. I will try to convey what I mean by Managing Data. I have joined the Data Management team which is very important for the Exploration & Production business in an Oil Company. So basically all the data needed to run the Oil business is managed by the Data Management team. Atleast thats what I think until now. I just joined last week, so maybe after getting more understanding I might take back my words... So I think I am gonna enjoy this new job Inshaa Allaah. Although I will have to learn a lot, as I would be expected to understand and take requirements from people who are from 100% Petroleum background. They speak in abbreviations, that I hear for the first time and they speak technically right in their taxonomy of Oil. So its not technically right according to an IT guy... Do u understand, G&G, seismic, E&P, GOR, etc, etc... i get to hear all this everyday now..
But the good part, to add to my IT technical skills, I will get a chance to add functional knowledge of the Oil Business. Sounds Good. Isn't it?? As some of my friends had adviced me earlier (I can remember two friends giving me the same advice, 1 Indian, 1 Kuwaiti) that Awwab you need to diversify your skills if you want to grow. In today's world specialization in 1 product or technology is acceptable but will not help too much in growth. As much it will help if you have knowledge of several Technologies, products.. Earlier they used to say it is not good to be Jack of All, Master of None. But it seems in today's world you need to be Jack of All or maybe Master of All..
So Moving towards a more Techno-Functional role in the Oil Business Inshaa Allaah... wish me luck...
But the good part, to add to my IT technical skills, I will get a chance to add functional knowledge of the Oil Business. Sounds Good. Isn't it?? As some of my friends had adviced me earlier (I can remember two friends giving me the same advice, 1 Indian, 1 Kuwaiti) that Awwab you need to diversify your skills if you want to grow. In today's world specialization in 1 product or technology is acceptable but will not help too much in growth. As much it will help if you have knowledge of several Technologies, products.. Earlier they used to say it is not good to be Jack of All, Master of None. But it seems in today's world you need to be Jack of All or maybe Master of All..
So Moving towards a more Techno-Functional role in the Oil Business Inshaa Allaah... wish me luck...
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Wedding Blues
I know a lot of my friends keep reading my blog regularly and will be shocked reading this post. Yes you have guessed it right, this is not a pre-marriage blog post but a post marriage blog post. I came for my vacation on the 1st June and had planned to get married in this trip since I was already engaged. But things turned out in such a manner that I got married in 4 days, I just had 4 days left when I knew my final wedding date. I got married on the 13th of June 2008. It was a completely different experience. There was so much of excitement. I remember as I was sitting in the car going for my wedding ceremony, all the thoughts were passing in my mind, that I was entering into a new phase of life, things would change for Good Inshaa Allaah. But I was pretty cool through the whole process. Alhamdulillaah everything went on fine. I apologize to all my friends that I could not invite them due to the unavailability of time.
Saturday, June 07, 2008
First Flood
Welcome to MUMBAI. I have been in town since 1 week. Enjoying it. It started raining since yesterday, weather is cold. You dont need A/C or Fan. Today morning it started raining heavy. And I stay close to Maratha Mandir Theatre which is well known for water flooding. So even that 1 hour rain led to flooding and what I could see sitting in my open gallery is:
1. The roadside hawker still finds a customer
2. A foreigner enjoying tea from the roadside hawker as it rains
3. A taxi guy who could not keep his car running in the water.
4. The front garden outside our buiding submerged in water.
And Yes I wanted to go out to do shopping today but now I am stuck.... :(
1. The roadside hawker still finds a customer
2. A foreigner enjoying tea from the roadside hawker as it rains
3. A taxi guy who could not keep his car running in the water.
4. The front garden outside our buiding submerged in water.
And Yes I wanted to go out to do shopping today but now I am stuck.... :(
Human Fish
I went to local Fish shop that sells fish for your fish Tank at home. I was just casually visiting bcos I have got no Fish tank at home. This fish looked so Human to me, its head and face simulates humans so much. Mashaa Allaah, All glory be to GOD. This shop had a lot of uniques fishes, some had natural text like texture on their body, it seemed someone has written something in japanese or chinese. Did not click those though. And yes the above fish comes with a price TAG. It costs 45,000/- Indian rupees Yaani 300 KD. Its too much for a common man, but nothing for fish lovers.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Wow...Awesome..Fantastic..Amazing
None of the words in the title fits what I want to say...
Today was a day that my friends and my seniors made me feel like I was soooo Important... The honor and respect I got from them throughout the last 2 years I worked with them was great. But the sweet surprise Farewell party that was arranged for me was Amazing. I have never received a more pleasant surprise than this before in my life. I am sure,the effort behind it was enormous and I had no clue they would do such a thing for me.... It makes me feel sooo happy. The way the cakes had a message was a fantastic idea by a Genius I know, I could not resist clicking it as soon as i saw it. And the cake was very tasty tooo.. There was Yummy Biryaani with home cooked Curry and the Samosa's and Sandwiches too.... It was a great treat... Well if you are intelligent enough, u would know there were some great female brains behind the whole idea... who were so caring and nice to arrange something like this for a dear friend/brother for some... I dont have any words how to thank all of those who were involved it.
Before the treat I got to hear some words from my immediate colleagues and big boss which were very touching and soo true. Bcos all the time I worked with them, we did work like a family. Although they were client to me, I always got the chance to represent them in meetings in front of other vendors/other groups whenever needed. They encouraged me by accepting my ideas/opinions and supported me through thick and thin. I could take a stand on many things because I knew I had overwhelming support and trust from my superiors.
And the last words I mentioned to my immediate boss were: "I did not work for you guys, because they say If you like to do something, than make it your line of work and you will never have to work again. And I enjoyed my work soo much that It was more pleasure than work.. " sometimes i used to go on weekends to do things or implement ideas that were running in my mind. It was FUN!
Yes U can ask me, If all was fine with you and them, why did you leave them. In the past, whenever I changed a job it was for better prospects or more salary but not this time. Unfortunately, I did not leave them nor did they leave me, but due to some unavoidable contractual conditions I was unable to continue providing my services there. But yes, in the future if given an opportunity, I would love to be back to these lovely people that I worked with.
But Yes, after hearing their opinion about me leaving and the Joy of the respect they gave me... my feelings had become a Mushakkal (Mushakkal is arabic dish which has different stuff mixed). So I was happy for the surprise and sad because they did not like that it was my last day and I did not like it either.. I hope I will get over this feeling.
I left for office @ 7a.m. and just reached home at 1 a.m., bcos after work I did shopping and saying good bye to some friends n stuff. But still, I would be unable to sleep until I poured my heart out here on my blog. So thats the first thing I had to do. Its 2:25 now, dont have the energy to do a type/grammer check. Thats it for now... more soon.....
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Last Day Morning Coffee
Its my last day working for a Client which is IT Group of one of the top 10 Oil Companies. It was amazing working over here. I think it was the best opportunity out of all the places I have worked. And I wish and pray that I may get a chance to work for them again in the future and provide my services to them.
Spent more than 2 years now, and got soo adjusted to it, the environment was good, people are good, work was what I loved. In a single sentence: "I enjoyed being in ITG @KOC" . I made a lot of friends...and great friends..Got to know many nice people. And since it was my first overseas job, learnt a new culture, got to see people from different countries and working with them... Lived alone, so learnt responsibilities... But I am sure I am lacking in that department... being the most careless about my household chores.
The guy who gets my morning tea, just came in and was like "Shhh we wont get to see you from tomorrow", It was very touching... Well because all around me have been like family to me..
So anyways, have to see how the last day passes by, need to make sure everything goes cool, have already taken a step back since 2 weeks in work related issues, only advicing my team when needed. Trying to get them up n running to Replace Me!
Spent more than 2 years now, and got soo adjusted to it, the environment was good, people are good, work was what I loved. In a single sentence: "I enjoyed being in ITG @KOC" . I made a lot of friends...and great friends..Got to know many nice people. And since it was my first overseas job, learnt a new culture, got to see people from different countries and working with them... Lived alone, so learnt responsibilities... But I am sure I am lacking in that department... being the most careless about my household chores.
The guy who gets my morning tea, just came in and was like "Shhh we wont get to see you from tomorrow", It was very touching... Well because all around me have been like family to me..
So anyways, have to see how the last day passes by, need to make sure everything goes cool, have already taken a step back since 2 weeks in work related issues, only advicing my team when needed. Trying to get them up n running to Replace Me!
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Upgrade or Migrate
Well finally completed the task to Upgrade/Migrate from Sharepoint 2003 to Sharepoint 2007. Invested a lot of time in this project to make sure everything moves fine and as planned without any issues for end users.
And I come to office next day morning and try to delete an item in a list and get the error. "Cannot complete this action Try again later" try to edit the same item and get an exception "Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040E14". Not very pleasing indeed. And than I remember I had faced this and fixed it in the past. What could it be.... Wear my thinking Caps, Switch the button to ON. And go and ask Big Brother. U know whose Big Brother...Its bro Google..
And 2 minutes and I click the same link that I must have read before. This error comes when the Transaction Log on the Backend databases becomes full and needs to be truncated. So I call the database support guy and he fixes it for me and everything is working fine..... Cool
And I come to office next day morning and try to delete an item in a list and get the error. "Cannot complete this action Try again later" try to edit the same item and get an exception "Exception from HRESULT: 0x80040E14". Not very pleasing indeed. And than I remember I had faced this and fixed it in the past. What could it be.... Wear my thinking Caps, Switch the button to ON. And go and ask Big Brother. U know whose Big Brother...Its bro Google..
And 2 minutes and I click the same link that I must have read before. This error comes when the Transaction Log on the Backend databases becomes full and needs to be truncated. So I call the database support guy and he fixes it for me and everything is working fine..... Cool
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Kuwaiti Hospitality...Too Good
Amazing !!! The Arabs are known to be a hospitable people and Kuwaitis are far ahead in it. I have seen this around with all my Kuwaiti friends. You go to a Deewaniya, and you will be showered with Gaawa(something similar to coffee I think), Dates and other sweets. And the tradition with Gaawa is that you drink, than he serves you more until you shake the cup to indicate that you dont need more.
Besides that @ work, I have friends, who get me home cooked stuff too. No need to mention the ready made stuff. What I like more, is when someone gets you something from home. In that case, the person when they cook it at home, remember you and take the trouble of getting it to office for you. Wallaahi, it means a lot to me. I still remember the cup cakes I ate 2 weeks back they were awesome!!
Yesterday was a busy day, I went to some meetings to other departments, and when I came back I saw a plate with variety of fataair and trust me since I had come from outside, I was hungry too. So I ate it to my full. And it was lovely. JazakAllaahu Khayran to the one who sent it for me. It was lovely.
So now you know, why I love to be in Kuwait so much, I think I get pampered a lot over here.
Besides that @ work, I have friends, who get me home cooked stuff too. No need to mention the ready made stuff. What I like more, is when someone gets you something from home. In that case, the person when they cook it at home, remember you and take the trouble of getting it to office for you. Wallaahi, it means a lot to me. I still remember the cup cakes I ate 2 weeks back they were awesome!!
Yesterday was a busy day, I went to some meetings to other departments, and when I came back I saw a plate with variety of fataair and trust me since I had come from outside, I was hungry too. So I ate it to my full. And it was lovely. JazakAllaahu Khayran to the one who sent it for me. It was lovely.
So now you know, why I love to be in Kuwait so much, I think I get pampered a lot over here.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Arabic or Kuwaiti or Misri or Lebnaani...
Hala beek...
Well I dont know how much is my Arabic improving or I am at the same level. Try to memorize new words On and Off. Well Arabic is a very rich language and there's a lot of confusion because real Arabic is different than what is spoken in different Arab countries. Each region has got a different Accent, a different set of regularly used words.
For example, I might say Something to a Kuwaiti friend, than they would say its Misri, means the way I said it, is how egyptians say it. Or I might say Something to an egyptian, and he would be like what does that mean. For e.g. Sach("I know its similar to our Hindi Sach") - is it true? I have some Kuwaiti friends using that, but egyptians are not aware of it. So I end up in a loop, based on what I learn from who. I know some friends who say "Afwan" for "Sorry" and some lebanese friends say the same word for "Welcome". And there are many Urdu/hindi words that we already know mean the same thing in arabic as well. E.g. "Mahabbah" = love, u remember Mohabbat for sure. The "t" at the end is pronounced as "h" And some other issues come like, there is no "P", so they would say "Bebsi" instead of "Pepsi". Egyptians will pronounce every "J" as "G", even if its a proper noun. So "Joseph" would become "Goseph". In kuwait all the "Q" are pronounced as "G", So "Manqaf" is pronounced as "Mangaf"
So what I speak is a mixture of Kuwaiti+Lebnaani+Misri+Hindi = Hindi arabi... But I enjoy it. The good part it, I can know arabic words and pronounciation, because we read the Quran. But when I try to teach the Arab friends some Hindi words, they are like whats this, how to pronounce etc. Its a big thing for them.
And I know lot of Kuwaiti friends, who speak the usual Hindi words like: Kaisaa Hai? Kyaa Haal Hai? Theek hai? Bohat Achchaa, Ek paani Do, Nahi, Cheeni Kum etc etc. It sounds so cool when they say It.
Well I dont know how much is my Arabic improving or I am at the same level. Try to memorize new words On and Off. Well Arabic is a very rich language and there's a lot of confusion because real Arabic is different than what is spoken in different Arab countries. Each region has got a different Accent, a different set of regularly used words.
For example, I might say Something to a Kuwaiti friend, than they would say its Misri, means the way I said it, is how egyptians say it. Or I might say Something to an egyptian, and he would be like what does that mean. For e.g. Sach("I know its similar to our Hindi Sach") - is it true? I have some Kuwaiti friends using that, but egyptians are not aware of it. So I end up in a loop, based on what I learn from who. I know some friends who say "Afwan" for "Sorry" and some lebanese friends say the same word for "Welcome". And there are many Urdu/hindi words that we already know mean the same thing in arabic as well. E.g. "Mahabbah" = love, u remember Mohabbat for sure. The "t" at the end is pronounced as "h" And some other issues come like, there is no "P", so they would say "Bebsi" instead of "Pepsi". Egyptians will pronounce every "J" as "G", even if its a proper noun. So "Joseph" would become "Goseph". In kuwait all the "Q" are pronounced as "G", So "Manqaf" is pronounced as "Mangaf"
So what I speak is a mixture of Kuwaiti+Lebnaani+Misri+Hindi = Hindi arabi... But I enjoy it. The good part it, I can know arabic words and pronounciation, because we read the Quran. But when I try to teach the Arab friends some Hindi words, they are like whats this, how to pronounce etc. Its a big thing for them.
And I know lot of Kuwaiti friends, who speak the usual Hindi words like: Kaisaa Hai? Kyaa Haal Hai? Theek hai? Bohat Achchaa, Ek paani Do, Nahi, Cheeni Kum etc etc. It sounds so cool when they say It.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Be the Best!
Lesson 1: I was in 9th class in school, and had a senior who was in 10th Grade, his name was Rehan, i dont remember the family name. He was the most notorious/mischievous guy in school along with that he had the best results, a cool combination. I was around 2nd- 10th ranker in school, because, I was always the last nite student. I could never study ahead for exams, that was a weakness I had... Rehan told me than, either be in the Top 3 or fail, he meant, If you are not in the Top 3 than it does not make a difference, what rank u r at. No one looks at you, you are a common folk like anyone else... I still remember that advice, till this day... And i recollect rehan had topped in our school in SSC exams that year. I am sure he is at the top wherever he is in this world.
Lesson 2: I dont very clearly remember who told this to me, but I remember the lesson which said: "Whatever you do, do it in the best way, Give it your best shot. And this has been my strategy since then" Although people around you might not like it. But I believe in giving it my best whatever I Do!
Lesson 3: Was with a friend recently, and he was mentioning how this world is so very competitive today. Everywhere you want to work you have contracts, and while the company will give you benefits in your contract, it will squeeze you like a Orange is squeezed to take the juice out of it. So you are always at the Edge, you have to be the best..Or else the company would not need you any more... SO i have his words embedded in my mind too...
Lesson 4: The next was Irfan on the Nite Out. as he was mentioning how businesses need to be competitive, need to have con-cept's to keep customers attracted. I m not gonna put down his ideas out here.. They are owned by the genius... I asked him, what would you say for people like me, who work in a Service Industry, like IT-Companies. How do you think we sell ourselves.. he said you need to Diversify, In the past people said "Master of One, is better than Jack of All" but now you need to be Master of All, Master one wont help you. Made sense... So you have to be the best at your job, you cant say, I am a network Specialist and I know nothing else... Valid point.. So I was matching my roadmap, what I had achieved and where I wanted to be with his ideas and it did make a lot of sense.
Conclusion: I gotta be the Best. If anyone looks at my work, they need to say "WOW" thats my Aim reinstated again. Need to work a lot harder to achieve this kind of results.. Wish me Luck :) It is not easy to hear Wow in today's world!
Lesson 2: I dont very clearly remember who told this to me, but I remember the lesson which said: "Whatever you do, do it in the best way, Give it your best shot. And this has been my strategy since then" Although people around you might not like it. But I believe in giving it my best whatever I Do!
Lesson 3: Was with a friend recently, and he was mentioning how this world is so very competitive today. Everywhere you want to work you have contracts, and while the company will give you benefits in your contract, it will squeeze you like a Orange is squeezed to take the juice out of it. So you are always at the Edge, you have to be the best..Or else the company would not need you any more... SO i have his words embedded in my mind too...
Lesson 4: The next was Irfan on the Nite Out. as he was mentioning how businesses need to be competitive, need to have con-cept's to keep customers attracted. I m not gonna put down his ideas out here.. They are owned by the genius... I asked him, what would you say for people like me, who work in a Service Industry, like IT-Companies. How do you think we sell ourselves.. he said you need to Diversify, In the past people said "Master of One, is better than Jack of All" but now you need to be Master of All, Master one wont help you. Made sense... So you have to be the best at your job, you cant say, I am a network Specialist and I know nothing else... Valid point.. So I was matching my roadmap, what I had achieved and where I wanted to be with his ideas and it did make a lot of sense.
Conclusion: I gotta be the Best. If anyone looks at my work, they need to say "WOW" thats my Aim reinstated again. Need to work a lot harder to achieve this kind of results.. Wish me Luck :) It is not easy to hear Wow in today's world!
Baby's Night Out
U must have heard of Baby's Day Out... Isnt it! Well there no baby here...Just was wondering what to use as a title for this post and came up with this.
This Friday Nite. I was with 2 friends and I had gone to drop them to Salmiya at 12:00, so we were not very hungry but we did not have any dinner that nite. SO we thought of eating out. Than suddenly we came up with an idea of a Nite out. A pure Halaal night out. So we parked my small little car there. Took my friends GMC Suburban and hit the roads. Its engine was locked at 170km/h, so could not go beyond that in speeding. But it was a good experience, Its height is more than my height. And once you sit inside it, you feel like you are on the top of the world... The other cars look small, and the smaller cute cars like BMW Z3 looked soo small.. SO it was fun we had hit road 40 towards Ahmadi... and than opened the window to feel the air, and it was mild cold too. Sometimes speeding, sometimes going slow, sometimes playing with the Cruise control.. In 1 hour we reached a place that said "Slow checkpoint ahead" wow we were at Nuwaiseeb, I think thats the border, so we took a U-turn and back into Our lovely Kuwait... By now we were hungry, Stopped at a Sultan Express near the petrol pump. But didnt find anything interesting.
Than recommended we go to "Turkey Al-Mansoorin" thats in Fahaheel, A place I love, and atleast eat once over there every week, if not more. The chicken Kabab and Chickedn Faham are amazing. My Favorite, Shawarma is good too. So I took the driving seat, wanted to make sure I could handle this monster (Suburban) and yes it was great Fun!! I think I should buy one! Drove down until I was @ Turkey. The guys there know me bcos I go there so often. The time was 2:30, he told Mashawiyat close at 2, so I could not have my favorite dishes. I tried to convince him with my broken arabic, that its just Nuss saa(30 mins), do some for me. And than he told me he will speak to the manager to extend the time till 3 a.m. in couple of weeks, but right now I just had the option of having some Sandwiches and meal stuff. So we ordered some and were chit chatting while eating, I was learning a lot from Irfan, he is an Advertising/marketing dude. So he speaks a language which is abotu Business/Industry etc etc, which has too much for a guy like me to learn... So I got a lot of tips and motivation, Maybe another post on that soon. So by the time we left it was 3:30 a.m. And If I wouldnt sleep now, I would sleep while getting my car back from Salmiya to Mangaf. So I rolled out on the Suburban back seat and slept, and woke only when we were in Salmiya at 4:15 a.m. Drove back to Mangaf, reached around 4:32 while Fajr Adhan was going out. Prayed and went into Sleepppppppppp mode......
Good fun, Did some Off-roading too!!!! It was cool....
This Friday Nite. I was with 2 friends and I had gone to drop them to Salmiya at 12:00, so we were not very hungry but we did not have any dinner that nite. SO we thought of eating out. Than suddenly we came up with an idea of a Nite out. A pure Halaal night out. So we parked my small little car there. Took my friends GMC Suburban and hit the roads. Its engine was locked at 170km/h, so could not go beyond that in speeding. But it was a good experience, Its height is more than my height. And once you sit inside it, you feel like you are on the top of the world... The other cars look small, and the smaller cute cars like BMW Z3 looked soo small.. SO it was fun we had hit road 40 towards Ahmadi... and than opened the window to feel the air, and it was mild cold too. Sometimes speeding, sometimes going slow, sometimes playing with the Cruise control.. In 1 hour we reached a place that said "Slow checkpoint ahead" wow we were at Nuwaiseeb, I think thats the border, so we took a U-turn and back into Our lovely Kuwait... By now we were hungry, Stopped at a Sultan Express near the petrol pump. But didnt find anything interesting.
Than recommended we go to "Turkey Al-Mansoorin" thats in Fahaheel, A place I love, and atleast eat once over there every week, if not more. The chicken Kabab and Chickedn Faham are amazing. My Favorite, Shawarma is good too. So I took the driving seat, wanted to make sure I could handle this monster (Suburban) and yes it was great Fun!! I think I should buy one! Drove down until I was @ Turkey. The guys there know me bcos I go there so often. The time was 2:30, he told Mashawiyat close at 2, so I could not have my favorite dishes. I tried to convince him with my broken arabic, that its just Nuss saa(30 mins), do some for me. And than he told me he will speak to the manager to extend the time till 3 a.m. in couple of weeks, but right now I just had the option of having some Sandwiches and meal stuff. So we ordered some and were chit chatting while eating, I was learning a lot from Irfan, he is an Advertising/marketing dude. So he speaks a language which is abotu Business/Industry etc etc, which has too much for a guy like me to learn... So I got a lot of tips and motivation, Maybe another post on that soon. So by the time we left it was 3:30 a.m. And If I wouldnt sleep now, I would sleep while getting my car back from Salmiya to Mangaf. So I rolled out on the Suburban back seat and slept, and woke only when we were in Salmiya at 4:15 a.m. Drove back to Mangaf, reached around 4:32 while Fajr Adhan was going out. Prayed and went into Sleepppppppppp mode......
Good fun, Did some Off-roading too!!!! It was cool....
Monday, March 17, 2008
Companions and their Effect
Watch your companions! They have an effect!
Either you have an effect on them or they have an effect on you, this will always happen with your companions or friends. So watch out, try to see and analyze who you are taking as friends, if their effect on you is good or bad. If you are learning good things or vice versa.
Heard the above from a friend last week, and started analyzing my behavior. How it varies with the different sets of people I know. When I am company of good people, what are the good things and habits I have learned from them. When I am with the people with an attitude, how it has an effect on me. And May God protect me from having an attitude. When I am with people who are so Down-to-Earth and humble and nice, how I learn being nice and humble from them.
Ultimately, i watch whose company is giving me what and trying to protect myself.
Either you have an effect on them or they have an effect on you, this will always happen with your companions or friends. So watch out, try to see and analyze who you are taking as friends, if their effect on you is good or bad. If you are learning good things or vice versa.
Heard the above from a friend last week, and started analyzing my behavior. How it varies with the different sets of people I know. When I am company of good people, what are the good things and habits I have learned from them. When I am with the people with an attitude, how it has an effect on me. And May God protect me from having an attitude. When I am with people who are so Down-to-Earth and humble and nice, how I learn being nice and humble from them.
Ultimately, i watch whose company is giving me what and trying to protect myself.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Identifying the 'B' Manager
B stands for Bully... Well In my case there is no way of dealing... bcos its too late.. Now I just have to part with my company bcos of this dude. Neways for rest, they can try to read some stuff on how to deal with 'B' Managers befor this:
"There now seems no end to your tormentor's campaign of psychological harassment and personal and professional destruction -- aimed squarely at you. The nitpicking, the demeaning comments, the misleading digs and full-blown lies have all come together to exact their intended effect: to make you quit or get fired"
Why Bullying:
There are two reasons for this: 1) Many subordinate directors and managers, as a survival technique, begin to adopt the negative behavior and it is then perpetuated throughout the organization. 2)These executives are smart enough to know that yelling and hitting are quite visible, they also pride themselves in how cleverly they can (or think they can) belittle and humiliate the victim without others realizing what they’re doing. 3) They don’t target weak individuals, as most authors claim. They target competent and capable individuals. They generally pursue one victim (for the most part) at a time, until they fire the individual or the individual quits. They will then move on to the next target. Bullying is a set of behaviors that stem from fear and feelings of inadequacy. Bullies seek control over others and will try to discredit or humiliate those who intimidate them or who they perceive as a threat(are more competent/more well-liked/etc.)
A very good article, that divided them to be of 4 types is at: http://www.ameinfo.com/95129.html
Bullying Managers can be put into four types:
1. The Bulldog Bully This is a manager who resorts to raised voices and aggressive body language to get their way and refuses to allow you to state your case often with a torrent of verbose. Other techniques include getting red in the face, using abusive language, slamming doors and banging the table a great deal. They operate under a cloud of fear and employees are petrified of making any slips or mistakes in case they incur the boss's substantial wrath, this leads to a lack of desire to take any responsibility for tasks outside the employee's job specification and any creativity is stifled.
2. The Silver Tongued Tempter This type is most skillful and cunning, not for them the crudities of the active bully their style is wholly more covert but no less devastating. They happily promise great rewards and watch with glee at the extra activity their falsehoods generate. When the unfortunate victim realizes the full extent of the STB's empty promises and complains the STB then accuses them of negativity, because they dare to take them at their word. Often the STB will blame the withheld reward on 'situations beyond my control', 'other departments' or change the goal posts. For example an employee in a local financing firm was promised a promotion to team-leader with the associated pay rise, when the date arrived for her promotion the manager explained that the company wouldn't pay her a supervisor' s wage until she had 'proven herself'! This results in apathetic de-motivated and disengaged staff.
3. Messrs Reasonable & Co This one somehow manages to make all your requests seem not only ridiculous but outrageous too and convince you that their interpretation of the situation is perfectly acceptable and even normal, when, in fact, the reverse is true. The outcome is staff adopting a work to rule style and rejecting any attempt to take any initiative, as the perception is that there will be no back-up or assistance.
4. The Trapper Perhaps the trapper is the worst of the lot, if there is a 'worst'. These managers will actively work to set-up the unfortunate victim by setting vague or difficult work tasks or engineering an altercation so that they can paint the employee into or corner or use the event as an excuse for trumped up charges or even verbal/written warnings. This style results in massive turnover as staff get wise to the scammer and look for more ethical managers elsewhere.
"There now seems no end to your tormentor's campaign of psychological harassment and personal and professional destruction -- aimed squarely at you. The nitpicking, the demeaning comments, the misleading digs and full-blown lies have all come together to exact their intended effect: to make you quit or get fired"
Why Bullying:
There are two reasons for this: 1) Many subordinate directors and managers, as a survival technique, begin to adopt the negative behavior and it is then perpetuated throughout the organization. 2)These executives are smart enough to know that yelling and hitting are quite visible, they also pride themselves in how cleverly they can (or think they can) belittle and humiliate the victim without others realizing what they’re doing. 3) They don’t target weak individuals, as most authors claim. They target competent and capable individuals. They generally pursue one victim (for the most part) at a time, until they fire the individual or the individual quits. They will then move on to the next target. Bullying is a set of behaviors that stem from fear and feelings of inadequacy. Bullies seek control over others and will try to discredit or humiliate those who intimidate them or who they perceive as a threat(are more competent/more well-liked/etc.)
A very good article, that divided them to be of 4 types is at: http://www.ameinfo.com/95129.html
Bullying Managers can be put into four types:
1. The Bulldog Bully This is a manager who resorts to raised voices and aggressive body language to get their way and refuses to allow you to state your case often with a torrent of verbose. Other techniques include getting red in the face, using abusive language, slamming doors and banging the table a great deal. They operate under a cloud of fear and employees are petrified of making any slips or mistakes in case they incur the boss's substantial wrath, this leads to a lack of desire to take any responsibility for tasks outside the employee's job specification and any creativity is stifled.
2. The Silver Tongued Tempter This type is most skillful and cunning, not for them the crudities of the active bully their style is wholly more covert but no less devastating. They happily promise great rewards and watch with glee at the extra activity their falsehoods generate. When the unfortunate victim realizes the full extent of the STB's empty promises and complains the STB then accuses them of negativity, because they dare to take them at their word. Often the STB will blame the withheld reward on 'situations beyond my control', 'other departments' or change the goal posts. For example an employee in a local financing firm was promised a promotion to team-leader with the associated pay rise, when the date arrived for her promotion the manager explained that the company wouldn't pay her a supervisor' s wage until she had 'proven herself'! This results in apathetic de-motivated and disengaged staff.
3. Messrs Reasonable & Co This one somehow manages to make all your requests seem not only ridiculous but outrageous too and convince you that their interpretation of the situation is perfectly acceptable and even normal, when, in fact, the reverse is true. The outcome is staff adopting a work to rule style and rejecting any attempt to take any initiative, as the perception is that there will be no back-up or assistance.
4. The Trapper Perhaps the trapper is the worst of the lot, if there is a 'worst'. These managers will actively work to set-up the unfortunate victim by setting vague or difficult work tasks or engineering an altercation so that they can paint the employee into or corner or use the event as an excuse for trumped up charges or even verbal/written warnings. This style results in massive turnover as staff get wise to the scammer and look for more ethical managers elsewhere.
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
U should always Learn
I remember one of my cousins advising my brother when he was going abroad for the first time, more than 10 years back, i definitely was a kid than('Smart kid'- this is a debatable issue) Keep your eyes open and observe things around and try to learn from the environment. N I dont know if my brother remembers it, I remember this and hence always keep learning...
I was sitting with a friend the other day in office, I believe in when u spend a lot of time doing work, a 5-minute break talking about other things refreshes u and increases productivity. So while we were chatting we came up to a MSN Messenger issue she was facing at home. N I said show me your messenger, i will tell u what could be wrong. and I got a shocked reply. "This is work, No messengers here". N I did have messengers at my work PC. So I clarified my position, referrring back to my Invensys days, where we all @ work had Messengers and most of the times discussed issues on it instead of talking n disturbing others. (Being a smart kid, i covered my position)
But when I went back and was trying to be honest to myself. I realised that I am not using the messenger at work now for work purposes, but just for short Hi, Hello with friends, when i find time. So learnt a new lesson.
I got a new workstation today as a replacement for my PC and I resolve that I will not be installing Messenger on this one. Need to be more professional...
Thanks to my friend - Learnt a lesson.
I was sitting with a friend the other day in office, I believe in when u spend a lot of time doing work, a 5-minute break talking about other things refreshes u and increases productivity. So while we were chatting we came up to a MSN Messenger issue she was facing at home. N I said show me your messenger, i will tell u what could be wrong. and I got a shocked reply. "This is work, No messengers here". N I did have messengers at my work PC. So I clarified my position, referrring back to my Invensys days, where we all @ work had Messengers and most of the times discussed issues on it instead of talking n disturbing others. (Being a smart kid, i covered my position)
But when I went back and was trying to be honest to myself. I realised that I am not using the messenger at work now for work purposes, but just for short Hi, Hello with friends, when i find time. So learnt a new lesson.
I got a new workstation today as a replacement for my PC and I resolve that I will not be installing Messenger on this one. Need to be more professional...
Thanks to my friend - Learnt a lesson.
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Hypocrisy
I was trying to read some articles about it, trying to see what my views about Hypocrites are and are they correct and trying to learn How to deal with them.
One of the most common vices, or bad habits, is hypocrisy. Mainly, it’s a misuse of the gift of speech because language is used to conceal instead of reveal. By pretending to be what they are not, hypocrites imprison themselves. Although the doors of their cells are unlocked, they are afraid to step out and reveal their true selves. Hypocrites are liars. They practice deception. They bear false witness against themselves.
Leo Tolstoy (1828 ~ 1910) describes our reluctance to act on our hypocritical concerns for the welfare of others: "I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means — except by getting off his back." - I really loved this statement, its so true about some people you see around, they will try their level best to harm you but when they speak to you, it would be as if they are the only well-wishers you have in this world.
Some lessons on hypocrisy:
1. Let’s learn to recognize hypocrisy in others, not to condemn them, but to learn from their mistakes how we, too, may be guilty. Don't scorn hypocrites. For how can we know what fears, weaknesses, and troubles lurk in their hearts? Our job is to judge ourselves, not others. Don't sow contempt and disharmony by speaking ill of others. After all, "Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat." (Harry Emerson Fosdick, 1878 ~ 1969)
2. Once you discover your own hypocrisy, congratulate yourself, for that means you admire the virtue you pretend to have. The trouble is, you believe you cannot practice it. It's time to correct your misperception, for you are capable of far more than you realize. Just as a physical weakling can develop muscles and strength by lifting weights, all of us can develop greater moral and spiritual strength by practicing the traits we admire in others. All we have to do is stop pretending to be what we are not and start acting in the manner we pretend to be. Don't worry about being perfect; just try to be better.
3. Don't refuse to learn a valuable lesson just because the messenger is a hypocrite, for as Oscar Wilde (1856-1900) wrote, "The value of an idea has nothing whatever to do with the sincerity of the man who expresses it."
4. Even if we were free of hypocrisy, if we were to speak ill of hypocrites, we would be guilty of spreading gossip. Never speak about someone you dislike, for if you dislike them, you have a bias and cannot speak fairly. We can avoid much trouble by refusing to speak about others, unless we have something good to say about them.
Ajeeb! I guess its tough to act on these lessons...And you wont know sometimes that some people are hypocrites until they are gossiped about. There were some people who were really nice to me and trusted and told them everything but eventually I realized the same people were trying hard to spoil my good image and speaking bad about me and raising false issues.
Reference: http://www.personal-development.com/chuck/hypocrisy.htm
One of the most common vices, or bad habits, is hypocrisy. Mainly, it’s a misuse of the gift of speech because language is used to conceal instead of reveal. By pretending to be what they are not, hypocrites imprison themselves. Although the doors of their cells are unlocked, they are afraid to step out and reveal their true selves. Hypocrites are liars. They practice deception. They bear false witness against themselves.
Leo Tolstoy (1828 ~ 1910) describes our reluctance to act on our hypocritical concerns for the welfare of others: "I sit on a man's back, choking him and making him carry me, and yet assure myself and others that I am very sorry for him and wish to ease his lot by all possible means — except by getting off his back." - I really loved this statement, its so true about some people you see around, they will try their level best to harm you but when they speak to you, it would be as if they are the only well-wishers you have in this world.
Some lessons on hypocrisy:
1. Let’s learn to recognize hypocrisy in others, not to condemn them, but to learn from their mistakes how we, too, may be guilty. Don't scorn hypocrites. For how can we know what fears, weaknesses, and troubles lurk in their hearts? Our job is to judge ourselves, not others. Don't sow contempt and disharmony by speaking ill of others. After all, "Hating people is like burning down your own house to get rid of a rat." (Harry Emerson Fosdick, 1878 ~ 1969)
2. Once you discover your own hypocrisy, congratulate yourself, for that means you admire the virtue you pretend to have. The trouble is, you believe you cannot practice it. It's time to correct your misperception, for you are capable of far more than you realize. Just as a physical weakling can develop muscles and strength by lifting weights, all of us can develop greater moral and spiritual strength by practicing the traits we admire in others. All we have to do is stop pretending to be what we are not and start acting in the manner we pretend to be. Don't worry about being perfect; just try to be better.
3. Don't refuse to learn a valuable lesson just because the messenger is a hypocrite, for as Oscar Wilde (1856-1900) wrote, "The value of an idea has nothing whatever to do with the sincerity of the man who expresses it."
4. Even if we were free of hypocrisy, if we were to speak ill of hypocrites, we would be guilty of spreading gossip. Never speak about someone you dislike, for if you dislike them, you have a bias and cannot speak fairly. We can avoid much trouble by refusing to speak about others, unless we have something good to say about them.
Ajeeb! I guess its tough to act on these lessons...And you wont know sometimes that some people are hypocrites until they are gossiped about. There were some people who were really nice to me and trusted and told them everything but eventually I realized the same people were trying hard to spoil my good image and speaking bad about me and raising false issues.
Reference: http://www.personal-development.com/chuck/hypocrisy.htm
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Difference between Need and Want
Was discussing with a senior friend of mine. I always have many senior, mature friends because I get to learn a lot from the wisdom that they have from their experiences. So its good to know people who have seen the world more than u. We were discussing NBA and Basketball champs. And they were mentioning about some guy who was a very good player, what he mentioned in his interview.
It was something like this: "My family has taught me that there is a Difference between a Need and a Want" I liked that statement that I asked my friend to narrate it again and I try to add it to my collection of some wise talk. I hope I remember it when i need to consider it.
Basically there are many things we want. We want to have a lot of money, the most amazing cars, etc. etc. But do we need them? We may be able to survive with a Moderate car and good amount of money to have a decent way of life etc etc. So there is always the difference between "I need to" and "I want to" and we should try to be careful in judging things whether we need them or we just want them.
Food for thought!
It was something like this: "My family has taught me that there is a Difference between a Need and a Want" I liked that statement that I asked my friend to narrate it again and I try to add it to my collection of some wise talk. I hope I remember it when i need to consider it.
Basically there are many things we want. We want to have a lot of money, the most amazing cars, etc. etc. But do we need them? We may be able to survive with a Moderate car and good amount of money to have a decent way of life etc etc. So there is always the difference between "I need to" and "I want to" and we should try to be careful in judging things whether we need them or we just want them.
Food for thought!
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Back Home from Home!
Is it confusing?
Think Think what is the title trying to say!! Ok lets analyze. Basically it is speaking of two homes. So I have got two homes. One is the home where my MOM is, Back in India. I was born brought up there, have my family, childhood friend so I love my Indian home.
Lets break it "Back Home" and "from Home"
Now lets deal with "from Home" refers to my home in India. Actually I went for a 2 week vacation to India to see my family. I took 6 days off and concataneted it with Eid vacation to make it 2 weeks. Went back to my family, had a great time...did a lot of shopping and came back. Met friends, had some late nite Sitaphal cream at Haji Ali Juice center, some Veg. Thali @ Shagun etc etc. Since I was home on last Eid, it was a year now...n I desperately neeeded this vacation after the rigorous mental pressures in the last 3 months post resignation. And wanted a refreshment before starting the critical new tasks that are going to start soon.
So Alhamdulillaah I am fresh and kicking ready for the new challenges.
The first part "Back Home", now this indicates I am back home. So this indicates besides India I have another home. Wow... Dont get any wrong ideas I am still Single and Looking ;) Well What I refer to Home here is kuwait and specifically my friends and workplace in Kuwait. I remember sometimes when I used to be sitting late in office, my Kuwaiti friends would say "Go Home", I would say My Home is in India, Because Home is where the family is. In Kuwait I just have a house not a Home. And I got the reply. "We are your Ahl" Ahl is arabic for Family. And that statement means a lot. And to be honest, yes I have my colleagues over here who r my Family. They take care of me like a small brother. They advice me, support me and what not. So I also have a family out here. Hence a home out here.
Hence, Back Home from Home. I am sure that was really confusing... Even I am not sure whether I conveyed what I started this post for to Convey.
Neways....About the trip soon
Think Think what is the title trying to say!! Ok lets analyze. Basically it is speaking of two homes. So I have got two homes. One is the home where my MOM is, Back in India. I was born brought up there, have my family, childhood friend so I love my Indian home.
Lets break it "Back Home" and "from Home"
Now lets deal with "from Home" refers to my home in India. Actually I went for a 2 week vacation to India to see my family. I took 6 days off and concataneted it with Eid vacation to make it 2 weeks. Went back to my family, had a great time...did a lot of shopping and came back. Met friends, had some late nite Sitaphal cream at Haji Ali Juice center, some Veg. Thali @ Shagun etc etc. Since I was home on last Eid, it was a year now...n I desperately neeeded this vacation after the rigorous mental pressures in the last 3 months post resignation. And wanted a refreshment before starting the critical new tasks that are going to start soon.
So Alhamdulillaah I am fresh and kicking ready for the new challenges.
The first part "Back Home", now this indicates I am back home. So this indicates besides India I have another home. Wow... Dont get any wrong ideas I am still Single and Looking ;) Well What I refer to Home here is kuwait and specifically my friends and workplace in Kuwait. I remember sometimes when I used to be sitting late in office, my Kuwaiti friends would say "Go Home", I would say My Home is in India, Because Home is where the family is. In Kuwait I just have a house not a Home. And I got the reply. "We are your Ahl" Ahl is arabic for Family. And that statement means a lot. And to be honest, yes I have my colleagues over here who r my Family. They take care of me like a small brother. They advice me, support me and what not. So I also have a family out here. Hence a home out here.
Hence, Back Home from Home. I am sure that was really confusing... Even I am not sure whether I conveyed what I started this post for to Convey.
Neways....About the trip soon
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)