interesting answers of Organizational Behaviour

In some subjects it is very easy to fire bullets, and the enthusiasm and creativity of students knows no bounds. There is latent potential in each one and here is a glimmer of the creativity of some; thought to be the black sheep of the class or the class clown maybe. I would like to say that such people are not realizing their potential or maybe they are in the wrong line.

Here are some concepts :

Socialization

Correct answer:
The process of an employee acclimatizing himself or herself to the environment of the organization starting from the induction phase.It consists of 3 steps: pre-arrival, encounter and transformation.

Answers of students:

1. Someone once said:" man is a social animal". The statement is quite true. Man tends to behave like an animal sometimes but also needs to socialize. The process consists of Need, research and interaction.
2. It is a process in which the main goal of an organization is to make friendly organization is to make freindly environment in organization. By this all the employees and workers can do social work also.

Socialization process as per one student

Mechanistic culture

Correct definition:
A culture which has elements of bureaucracy and has very strictly defined procedures. It is anathema to flexibility.

Answers of students:

1. In mechanistic culture, the use of machines and technology is of utmost importance. Tasks are fulfilled with the help of machines. Human labour is given less importance.
2. In mechanistic culture there is lot of intimacy between the employees.
3. In mechanistic and organic culture is a type of culture in which the culture mechanism of the whole organism is defined. The culture in an organization sometimes may vary or may not vary according to the position holded by the members of that organization.
4. It is a mechanic or labour based culture. It is culture of very low class people.

Miscellaneous answers:

There are many ways to create and maintain culture in relation to organizational context:

1. Parties
2. Get-together
3. Events
4. Cultural programmes
5. Meetings
6. Annual day
7. Holiday trip

Some ways in which groups are formed:

1. Parties
2. Get-together
3. Events
4. Cultural programmes
5. Meetings
6. Annual day
7. Holiday trip

Perception can be say the inforcement regarding

1. Internal feeling
2. External feeling

Personality can be acquired from the following

1. Hereditary personality
2. Brain
3. Roaming place
4. Birth of Place
5. Situation

All credit to the anonymous contributors

Quote Martial

" The most important learning for a teacher: QUID PRO QUO"

"The most dangerous disease ever contracted by man: DIARRHOEA OF THE MOUTH"

"Every force you create has an echo. Your own bad energy will be your undoing."

"Never argue with idiots. They take you down to their level and then beat you with their experience."

"Anything that doesn't kill you only makes you stronger."

"Even a caged bird was smart enough to be able to figure out how to open the door of the cage with its beak. The dream of flying and breaking free is too great to resist."

"Even a beam of sunlight has the ability to burn a piece of paper; all it needs is FOCUS"
(Just think what you can achieve if you are focused)

"To fuck up on the order is a cardinal sin"

"Those who break the rules are scum, that is true. But those who follow the rules blindly are worse than scum."

"The act of putting pencil to paper is a drag. I would rather take a nap than a test."

"If you are afraid of the dark or think the darkness is too much for you, remember that the darkness is the greatest before the dawn."

"Every mistake I make takes me closer to attaining perfection in what I do."

"Only two things are infinite: The universe and human stupidity. And I am not so sure about the former."
- Albert Einstein

"Victory is won not in miles, but in inches. Win a little now, hold your ground, and later win a little more"
-Louis L'Amour

Memoirs of an extraordinary October

Anon, Oct 4 2009

1) When we were having the entrance exam for B.Tech. in the IP university this year in the college, director cheating karwate hue pakda gaya..
He was forced to resign and didnt even tell anyone where he was going next fearing that the politics that is here would follow him there as well.

2)college has gone from A grade to B grade, and it wont be long before it goes to C grade.

3) First time in 11 years that the whole staff had to hold meetings among themselves and with the management because of the atrocities being committed by the management. All of the staff wanted to go for strike(for the first time) but the strike probably wont be there because of the intimidating dictatorship that is ever pervading at the moment. The issues are not even listened to, they are suppressed forcefully.

I am foreseeing a domino effect which would ultimately lead to the college being de affiliated from the IP university or AICTE recognition being taken back if things continue in the same scheme of things. It only looks like a question of time.

ETERNAL DAMNATION...

Anon, Oct 5

HISTORY HAS BEEN CREATED, and i decline to comment whether it is right or wrong. All I can say is that this was the only road left to walk on. There wasnt an option in the matter. For the first time in 11 years since its inception, there is a strike on behalf on the staff and it does not matter if someone is a peon or a professor (there are hardly any professors in the college anyway). A strike in a non government institute is rather unheard of. This had been in the making since the last change in management that was when we were in the final year, and issues have been fomenting now for a few months that have now culminated in this. Now we have entered into a situation where looking back is not even an option. Its an all out WAR now; tomahawks, rocket launchers, AK-47s, flak cannons, snipers, shock rifles, pulse guns, rippers and all. It is high time that the system needed complete overhauling.

"every force you create has an echo.
Your own bad energy will be your undoing"


There should not be any need to explicitly specify who runs and controls the management people. The director was ousted like Tytler was ousted from the congress.

And why does everyone misinterpret my passages? I never said the management is on strike. The entire staff is on strike against the management, or rather the inordinate and unjustifiable exploitation and also the inhuman treatment that is meted out to the staff by the director general, even the ex-paltu kuttas.

Now it is one for all and all for one.

The situation is currently like either the whole staff would be fired or among other things, the 6th pay commission will be implemented. Either way, it is testimony to the zeitgeist which is a stormy petrel, a herald of totally dramatic change that is , and will continue to happen in the times to come.

2012 is around the corner.

Joban

, Oct 5

Anon,
Thanks for the update.
Its unfortunate that this is happening but i am sure you guys are trying to work for the betterment of the college too.
I heard we have an acting Director after that cheater of a director got fired. How is he handling things?

anon, Oct 5

exactly what is so unfortunate?

That is debatable from my perspective.
When I came into the college then after a couple of months I gave up all hope that anything could be done, but after seeing the events that unfolded today, things can go either way.

Bhai cheater sare hain, its just that that director got caught red handed. The rest of management is more of a thief than him.

As for the acting director, you know him: he is handling like he handled our placements.wo kuch nahi karega.
He is just a figurehead.He is made director only so that he wont interfere and the illegal activities can go on unabated.

The staff is afraid of the director general, but when the acting director tried to break the strike, it allowed people to vent their anger and shrug off their fear. Now lets see what happens when DG comes back.

When Hitler or Mussolini could not last, how could this dipsh** director last?

Rahul Nagpal, Oct 5

Dude

How r u .. I hope you are doing fine ..

Long time since we met

keep on writing like this .....

and also keep writing the last line as you have done.... Its the Killer man ..It gives the kick...

Trust me it rocks..

Anon, Oct 6

ya
I am doing fine, thanks to you..
kabhi ane ko hoga to mil lenge.
baki kabhi scene banta hai kahin nikalne ka to batao.

Anon, Oct 7

Ya, right.
kuch nahi hone wala.
strike ended (for the time being, nothing listened to). The chairman was playing games on his cell ALL the time the meeting was going on, not concerned in the least. For him this is just a side business.

We are under surveillance for the time being, whereas the management should be under surveillance. Next action would be after diwali only.

Anon, Oct 17

The staff goes back into subservient mode after a majority of them got 10k in their bank accounts as DA. One speaker in the strike gets fired, and no one bothers. The minority (which includes yours truly) gets no pay hike from the ludicruous salary of 12k p.m., but only 500rs as diwali bonus, of which 100rs had to be given back for thanksgiving party.

Akal Sahai.

Oct 20, 2010:

As of now the college is in C grade. A total administrative failure who talks of quality policy without giving pay to employees.

Life is...

Its been a while since I last posted on this blog, has it not?

So, coming up is an assortment, a hodgepodge, a mishmash and a menagerie of the different definitions of life that I keep coming up with. You may agree or disagree with me , but it is impossible to disagree with logic.

" Life is nothing but a game of probability"

Every event has a certain probability of occuring, and this applies to the events in our life as well. Through our actions, we can alter these probabilities in our favor. we can increase the probability of an favourable event and reduce the probability of some unfavourable event. The altered probability will still never be 1 or 0, it has to be something in between only. So we are playing with the probability.

Say someone is doing engineering, then it is at least 90% probable that he will have a career in the IT industry. The probability increases if he goes with the flow, and can decrease if some unforeseen events occur or the person himself makes some conscious and planned efforts to deviate from the obvious. The change that occurs as a result may be for the better or the worse.
In case of planned efforts being present, the changes so brought forth are bound to be for the better. Then again, how many of us think beyond the obvious?

"Life is a journey in quest of the answers"

The first definition was rather unconventional, this line is more out of the book. The line may be heard of, but how many of us take life in this perspective, much less follow the path earmarked herewith? Doesnt anyone have sufficient curiosity or questioning attitude?

Do you have a defined goal or vision for your future to fuel the fire of curiosity and the thirst of knowledge which acts as a beacon of light while you are on the journey?

"Life is... A Heist"

IPL by Rajnikanth

Rajnikanth is one of my favorite topics for a joke. Others include "sansani"(impersonations), DG jokes and all. And then I always have my repartees with me, especially used on my students. I am putting up a Rajnikanth joke , and may put up more in the time to come:

The scene is the final of IPL series, between the Tamil JumpingJacks and the Mumbai Daredevils. Its the final ball and 24 runs are required. According to eminent and recognized personalities like Albert Einstein, sir Isaac Newton, Thomas Alva Edison , Duckworth, Lewis etc etc, it is impossible. Rajnikanth is on strike. The bowler bowls his stuff, confident of the victory. Rajani hits the ball in his signature style. While the ball is in the air, it splits into four pieces; and all four pieces go for sixes. Its 24 runs!!! The Tamil JumpingJacks win!!!

Life vs death: The eternal struggle

Life and death can be seen as two entities that are constantly and perennially embroiled in a struggle, a tug of war. At the atomic level, we humans as an organism have to fight for our survival, just like millions of other different species. Even though the modern advancements in medical science have made possible extension of our life span beyond what was earlier thought possible, we live as long as we have a burning will of fire to live. We ensure our safety to live and that's what our efforts are in our fight on the side of life. We well know that for the other species, "survival of the fittest" is manifested on a physical level. For us, it is applicable on a mental and a financial level.

All being said about the fight between life and death, have we ever even thought which one is more important, or which one is more powerful? Given a choice, would you like to eliminate the entity called death altogether? Now, don't jump to conclusions straightaway, first read on...

For starters, if you observe the scene in a jungle, or even in or around the undergrowth in a local park, you can see fresh plants, saplings and leaves and blades sprouting out of just about everywhere. The dead plants and trees are very quickly replaced by the new ones. Does this not suggest that life is more powerful than death and always wins over death? Where there is death, there will be life and vice versa. Only the numbers game shifts depending on the situation, say score 100-10 for death in case of an epidemic or a catastrophe, but whatever the situation , ultimately it is life which regains its hold. Was Europe or India not repopulated after the disastrous plagues of biblical proportions in the midieval and the colonial eras? Do you not get to experience the highs of life after surviving the lows? So, I am definitely tempted to say that life is more powerful than death.

That being said, it is also true that life has no meaning without death. SAY WHAT? do we even need death, anywhere or anyplace? Is death actually welcome? The answer is that death is of course never welcome, but it plays its part in the eventual winning of life. Hard to digest? In a forest, whenever an old and large tree dies, it creates space for the development and flourishing of fresh plants and fresh life. That is the part that death plays. When an old player like Kumble retires, he makes way for the arrival of a new player like Ojha or Mishra. In our household, a member becomes old and passes on the responsibility of the family to us, and later we pass it on to our progeny.

The final point that I want to make is that death makes life an enjoyable and worthwhile. am I wrong in the head or something, is that what you are thinking? Consider this: If there was not any death, then we would live on forever. Then exactly what would we do in that long a lifespan? Because of death, our lives are limited, and that very thing makes our time and our moments precious. The happenings, the moments in life just whiz by , so it is entirely upto us to make our experiences memorable and the moments enjoyable, not only for ourselves but also for the world and our progeny. Time wated is a life wasted. We can only succour those special moments because they are limited. There is no point an infinite life without purpose. We have but one life, so better make it count to something. 

How do you KILL an immortal???

This one is really interesting matter, at least in theory.

I don't know what your reaction on reading this, but I will put him in a particle accelerator. The mass will be converted to energy by the equivalence of E=mc^2, and atom by atom, the matter will be destroyed irrevocably. Since nothing can replace the matter that has been lost forever, the person would eventually be erased from existence. And the energy can light up a city for an YEAR.

An incident of the DG

For the unenlightened, I would tell that DG stands for director general in a certain college. This person is highly infamous for, among other factors, his nasty habit of snatching cellphones from the students whenever he sees a phone in the hand of a student.

As it so happened in September 2008, a first year student was covering his ground in the college while talking on his cellphone.

Hither came DG, the crack, wrinkle faced, sullen eyed, attitude in head, a thug, a liar,a fiend, an authoritarian, with no respect even for the God. Then, this was what transpired:

DG: Do you know who I am?

Student: NO!

Impossible is nothing: RAJNI KANTH style!!

For those not keyed in, I will let you know that Rajni Kanth is a superstar in South Indian cinema. He is well known for his incredulously superhero-like antics. His talent as a superstar can best be compared to that of Longshot of the X-men, whose speciality is blind,wild luck. I  am quoting a story of Rajni Kanth and will follow it up with my comments:

Recently the father of physics(Sir Isaac Newton) made a visit to earth to watch a movie. He watched a few Tamil movies  - including his latest release Sivaji -  and had his head spinning. He was convinced that all his logics and laws in physics were just a huge pile of junk and apologised for everything he had done. In Rajanikanth's movies  Newton was confused to such an extent that he went paranoid. Here are a few scenes:

1) Rajanikanth has a Brain Tumor which, according to the doctors can't be cured and his death is imminent. In one of the fights, our great Rajanikanth is shot in the head. To everybody's surprise, the bullet passes through his ears taking away the tumor along with it and he is cured. Long Live Rajanikanth!

2) In one of the movies,  Rajanikanth is confronted with  4 gangsters.Rajani has a gun but unfortunately only one bullet. Guess, what he does....... He holds a knife in his hand and throws at  one  gangster..& shoots the bullet towards the knife. The knife cuts the bullet into 2 pieces and kills two gangsters. Then the bullet also splits into two and kills the other two gangsters!!

 3) Rajanikanth is chased by a gangster.  Rajani has a revolver but he got no bullets in it. Guess, what he does. Nah not even in your remotest imaginations. He waits for the gangster to shoot. As soon as the gangster shoots, Rajani opens the bullet compartment of his revolver and catches the bullet. Then, he closes the bullet compartment and fires his gun. Bang... And the gangster dies.... This was too much for our Newton to take and he was completely shaken and he decided to go back. But he happened to see a movie for one last time and thought that at least one movie will follow his theories of physics. The whole movies goes fine and Newton is happy that all in the world hasn't changed. Oops not so fast. The Climax finally arrives. Rajani gets to know that the villain is on the other side of a very high wall. So high that Rajanikanth can't jump even if he tries like one of those superman techniques that our heroes normally use. Rajani has to desperately kill the villain because its the climax.Newton dada is smiling since it is virtually impossible...........  

Rajanikanth suddenly pulls two guns from his pocket (probably a backup). He throws one gun in the air and when the gun reached the height of the wall, he shoots at the trigger of the first gun in air, with his second gun. Now the first gun fires off and the villain is dead.

Newton commits suicide!!

The story quoted above may be a joke, but through this and various other means as well, I want to accentuate this point again and again: The human body is limited only by the human mind. 

Some Excerpts from answer sheets of students

As a teacher, I have to check a lot of papers on a regular basis. When I started, I had some 420 students studying from me whose answer sheets I had to check. Apart from them, there were some students who had got back in their subject, and I had to check their paper as well. Now, any task is as interesting or as boring as we perceive or take it to be. Now, someone can easily say that paper checking is a very repetitive , monotonous and boring task and can even be done away with. But on the other hand, someone like me or especially some new teacher would say that the the best paper is done when you know nothing of the subject, and have to use up all your creativity. Sometimes, some answer may turn out to be very idiotic, even funny. Henceforth is a compilation of some interesting answers:

"The definition of perception is actually very hard to comprehend"
---organizational behaviour

(The deduction is that the student doesn't know the definition)




"Some wise gentleman has stated : cogito, ergo sum"
---organizational behaviour

(was that gentleman your relative?)




"A causal system is one in which the output comes after we give the input"
---digital signal processing

(no,no, what is the need to give input in case of a super intelligent student like you?)




"A causal system is one in which the output depends on the input"
---digital signal processing
(no comments)


"scanf() is used to scan whether the program is correct or not"
---introduction to programming



"getchar() is used to stop the output screen, and we can get back only after we press a key"
---introduction to programming

"break; statement is used to break the line or paragraph"

---introduction to programming

Full form of XP in Windows XP:

1)Extra premium

2)Extreme programming

3)Extreme performance

And so on...

Fact: This was from the introduction to computers paper(first year), and the destructively creative terms such as extra premium were given by third year students who the freshers asked for help since they themselves didn't know the answers. The correct answer is experience.

Can we DECIDE our... Destiny???

Now we come to the third and final dimension of information: The Future. This one is a real doozy: It requires meticulous work, we may have to work out unto more ends than just one; and at the same time we need precision: sort of like walking on a razor edge. This is difficult to explain as well.

Information gathering, related to the past and the present, is just the preliminary step unto this end. Now, I am breaking down the process into a series of steps:

1)Find out what will happen with certainty up to a certain point in the future, by logically extending our present and past data. Remember that we are finding out the future of only one aspect of our life, and that the point up to which the future is certain is important. That point may be an hour away or an year away.

2)Now comes the reason why deciding or even knowing the future is a real doozy:- ALTERNATE TIME LINES!! After the point of certainty, we reach the region of uncertainty. But even 'uncertainty' can be broken down into a finite number of 'certainties'.

3)Try to associate probabilities with the different events or certainties, subject to the condition that the sum of probabilities has to be one. Approximations would suffice as we are not doing some mathematical problem or studying QTBD (quantitative techniques for business decisions).

4)The probabilities will tell us how much we need to focus on each alternative. We may need to rule out certain possibilities, but that would require some doing. For we cannot say "this will happen" or "this will not happen". Our actions should cause the happening or not happening of a certain event. So basically we have to cause out the occurence of a low probability event or an unfavourable event. We have to be careful and thorough in our work and not leave anything to chance, so that things go according to plan.

5)Only one possibility should remain now as we have ruled out the lesser possibilities. We just have to work out so that our plans do not go to waste.

It is important to note that all our efforts should be well directed, and not just slogging out. Undirected efforts are most likely to be fruitless and that add to the frustration, and that can mean that we run out of steam at just the critical moment. Also, the efforts have to be tempered with belief, for the possibilities are only limited by our own mind.

The biggest advantage of this approach lies in the fact that while considering lesser or unfavourable possibilities to rule out, we are only considering the "bad" mishappenings. Since we are ruling out the bad luck, only the "positive" mishappenings or the good luck remains unaccounted for. And that is why, things will fall into place.


Making our own destiny may be a doozy, but yes, it is possible. The only undecided factor or unknowns that remains is the good luck.

Deducing the past

Now having gained the present information, just how do we gain information of the past that we cannot get by conventional means? Ever thought about widening the horizon, forward and backward?

So if the first step is to use your senses, the next step would be to use your head. Your deduction and logic would take you where your information networks cannot. Theoretically, what you need to do is to ask yourself questions like why,how, what etc. i.e.relating to a particular situation; and then logically think out the answer to that question, i.e. what might be the logical possibility. If you cannot single out a cause or answer, then you need to keep in mind the different possibilities and if you can, then whittle it down to a single possibility or keep in mind the probability of the different possibilities. One question would essentially be followed by another question, and a chain would have to be established.

I think an example would do better:
Question:why did I get supple( failed in a test) in Organizational Behavior(a subject)?
Answer:Because the teacher gave me very low marks in the internal
Q: Why did the teacher give me low marks, and misbehave as well?
A:He must be having some problem of his own, most probably something playing badly on his mind.
Q:And what could that be?
A: His boss , the director general, would be paying him trinkets and giving him scant respect, despite of his credentials.
Q:But that's his problem with someone else. Why the heck would we students become targets?
A:The director general is in a high post. The teacher being his employee, cannot say anything to him. Ultimately the teacher can only possibly vent his anger on the students.

The deduction: Ok-kay. So I flunked in my subject because of the Director General.

This was an example of a chain of thoughts. We can also find answers to other questions. But the question has to come first.

Q:Why does the director general have this habit of snatching cellphones from students?
A:uske phone me koi balance nahi hoga (He must not be having balance in his cellphone)

Q:Why is the director general so stubborn , and frustrating to interact with? Why is he such a good for nothing headache?
A:uski biwi usse bat nahi karti hogi (Maybe his wife doesnt talk to him)

Note: I have put up an example that is quite specific. It is so chosen for a bit of humour, and also because it shows that I apply my logic at places other people never think about. Nevertheless, I would request the reader not to go totally into the specifics of the example, not to personalize it, but see things with a logical perspective. The questions and the answers have to logically follow, and a chain of thoughts will have to be formed. The logic in the given series of question and answers has to be understood and appreciated. The purpose of the post and the example is to help the reader develop a logical bent of mind so as to obtain information where the conventional sources fail.

Exploring the present, to the limit

One of our teachers always used to say"Everything is information". I would not like to name that teacher because of my dislike for her and her snake-like nature. To me, information is a very powerful tool/weapon that you cannot live without, and that information has three dimensions: past, present and future.

First let me talk about how to gather information about the present.
1) This stuff is pretty much banal and platitudinous, but firstly you need to have a very good friends network, and interact with as many people as you can on a regular basis. This much I think we all do.
2)An exigent need to keep all of our senses open as to what is happening around us. Not only the intake or the input channel should be fine-tuned, but the perception should also be sharp and precise. sometimes we do see "see" what happened, but do not "sense" or perceive it.
3)After the input of the information and also after interpretation, we also need to identify what that means, and also foresee the consequences of what would happen because of the current scenario. We have to see the consequences from our vantage point, and also what that means to the world.

The use of some logic is always a plus.While I say that u need your network, the fact that you have something in your cranium must never be forgotten. For there are many sources of yours, or some people you know who spread rumours or bend the information in a way so as to attain their own ends. That's why you need to listen what the other has to say first, and then apply your own logic , observation or even common sense to come to your own conclusions.

For example, the director general always shows himself to be very helpful, approachable and kind person. But we observe that the college is in a perpetual downfall. Now this is a logical inconsistency. For if he was as he shows, the development in the college should show clearly.

The only logical explanation is that the director general is an 'illegitimate rescuer' , which effectively means that he is only acting. He is simply pretending to be helpful, but actually does not do any good.

When I played games with IMT: An impossible heist

IMT or Institute of Management Technology was the college from where I did my MBA. As it so happened, my scores or grades were really low and my degree/diploma was in jeopardy. My CGPA(cumulative grade point average) for the first five semesters was a mere 4.4 on a scale of 10, and I needed to achieve a GPA in excess of 7.3 in the final semester so as to secure my degree. I needed to be very alert and active so as to know when our papers had been checked, and then see to it that I had got at least what I deserved, and maybe even make a last minute request to the teachers to increase my scores. All our answer sheets were dumped onto a common table and we had to really search for our papers in the huge stack. I needed to get rid of all the unwanted sheets in the lot. Unto this direction, I, along with Yogesh Poddar( more popularly known as Y-Pod ), decided to clear that particular table of all the unwanted sheets.

And so, it started. We stayed there in the hostel, and for starters, we went to the academic block where all the papers were kept in the night at about 1a.m. We picked up all the papers, bundle by bundle, and stashed them in a green dustbin just outside the academic block. Our work was done, or so we thought.

Next evening, what we got to see was amusing, in the least. We found that all the sheets were back in their place on the table! Someone had found out the sheets in the dustbin, reported the matter, and we don't know whether it was some sweeper or who it was who actually picked the sheets out of the dustbin, and put them back on their place.

So, we just set about our task in a more meticuluous manner for the second time. This time, we knew that the risk was greater of getting caught as someone could be vigilant. But nevertheless, we arranged a huge bag in which we had to put in the papers, and went to the place at around 2a.m. We put in all the papers, and were halfway through when I realized that my cellphone was missing! But we had to first get the bag and the sheets out of sight. So we first got the behemoth of a bag to Yogesh's room ( which was on a tiring second floor) , and I first went to my room to check if my cellphone was there, but it was not. So we had no choice but to got to the academic block once more, and Yogesh sent many a bell to my phone from there. Then on the way back we were again stopping every meter and sending a bell. Then finally, after much effort, and some luck, we found my phone in the dark at a place where myself and Yogesh had switched sides on lifting the bag( It was a big bag and two persons were needed to lift it).

Even after this much trouble, there still was the trouble of where to keep the papers. We could not simply throw them away, as we could not leave anything to the element of uncertainty. Even in our room, it was some trouble as someone could probably find out. Anyhow, Yogesh lived in a single room, and we kept the troublesome junk under his bed, in a kabaadiwallah(junkdealer) like bag, so that no one would notice.

We disposed of the litter only when we we got our degrees and marksheets, safely in hand.

Shades of life

now how should I put this?

Basically we encounter good people and bad people in our life, and we associate 'white' with a good person and 'black' with a bad person. That much is taken for granted. But after that comes the tricky part, when we slip. It is our tendency to see a person as completely white or completely black. This is the sort of characterization used mostly in Bollywood movies, where the hero is totally white and the villain is totally black. But in reality, there is no such thing as a completely one-dimensional character. The fact that we percieve people to be black or white is a perceptive distortion and is called the "halo effect".

In reality, there is no black or white, but only everchanging shades of gray. The very building blocks of this world are the maybes, the can-bes, the what-ifs, the could-bes, the if-nots, the if-elses, the half-truths and the like.

We can take the case of former Satyam CEO Ramalinga Raju. Today we know that he embezzled some funds and showed faulty balance sheets. So just about everyone paints him in bad light and wants to get even with him. But we must not forget that he was the one who opened a gave bread and butter to thousands of engineering graduates who may have been struggling to find a decent enough job, and the company also set benchmarks in good corporate governance practices. Thats about the bottomline, that we need to have a really wide perspective so as not to be parochial in our approach, and when we are carping about how tough life is, we need to keep in mind the positives we might be enjoying at the moment or how worse life could have been.

The purpose (of the blog)

In this blog I am going to put down in writing my thoughts, and maybe also some of the anecdotes of my life, from here and there. The posts may revolve around things like purpose, logic, destiny, some happenings etc. I think I need a blog so as to reach out, and also because some of my thoughts may be kinda hard to comprehend and digest, at least orally. This is needed more for the teachings that I think I cannot impart in the classroom as they may be too heavy, at least for sophomores. These are the sort of facts of life that are very much there, but no one thinks about them. And life began for me after 23, so I should basically be getting new material to post in the future.

The purpose is also to show that everything - what we do , what our capabilities are and even what is possible , is limited only by our mind. The only limits we percieve are only apparent and the limits can always be redefined through planned, directed efforts