Every day begins and ends with share of surprises and the day before yesterday was one such day with a different pattern. I got myself to be the events coordinator of "Wordsworth International Spelling Bee - National level Finals". To coordinate events in a totally new environment for a very diverse class of students ranging from grade 3 to 12 was an experience worth the time spent. As this busy day mellowed out with a satisfaction of a job well done, it was time for me to be a part of the Chennai road traffic. Awesome sight with lights close to each other all over the roads, everything bright and beautiful yet so silent. All this beauty and splendor for one to enjoy is all there, only from a bird's eye view. As we move closer things become clear with dust, sharper with horns so profound that their tiding decibel levels are a musical treat to the Deaf. With every ticking minute the vehicles move from start to start to start. They are very much there in the same place where they were minutes before. With no space to walk and a long way to go, I sat in the car amidst the tiring city traffic. Laughter... oh, I almost forgot to mention. It was the driver who sat behind the wheels and the only thing that bothered me was the time that was being wasted on the journey back home after a long day. Traffic has been this way for a very long time and by now I'm very much used to it ;). In company of various franchise partners & directors the journey back home was full of laughter over various issues and impromptu cracks. Although i had planned to blog about the day that night, as I reached home an interesting article in McKinsey Quarterly caught my attention. I'll be blogging about this article tomorrow. And after that article, it was a good a good nights' rest and the rest is assured to be the same for a good few hours... :)
Monday, May 24, 2010
A Story to tell... :)
I really wonder how to describe the situation am in... A time when am obviously supposed to be free, I've managed to keep myself occupied to make sure that I don't miss my under graduation days at college and a lot more... I realized that it had been a long while since I'd got off my blogging spree and I intend to change that. After all, what good is a man if he is incapable of managing his very own time?
Saturday, May 8, 2010
The day's Toast ;) Feeling tired... Take a dark bite!
It sure has been a long time since my last post... With lots of interesting things happening and lots to share, I confine myself to one post. Time sure is on a very high demand, and I'm on a spree to chase it down. A tiresome job rite ;) ?...
Well, here is an interesting piece of information that I brushed past.
It's dark, delicious and definitely health...
And now, their makers sure seem to have become a happier bunch, with have another feather to play their market.
It's the "DARK CHOCOLATE"
Researchers have it as follows...
"Dark Chocolate fights Fatigue."
To be precise, a daily dose of dark chocolate may help patients suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS).
It has been found that dark chocolates lower the level of serotonin when consumed.
Serotonin is believed to play a major role in the regulation of one anger, aggression, mood, sleep, body temperature and appetite.
A cautionary note-
Anything over your bin could leave with a dirty spin. Like the famous saying goes, too much of anything is good for nothing... Dark chocolates are no exceptions.
Over consumption could lead to over stimulation of the nervous system.
Consuming two cubes is good enough to get one a fresh start.
For all those who count the calories with a menu card by their side, here is an excuse to dare a bite ;)
And for the rest... enjoy your day :)
Thursday, April 22, 2010
!!! Lighter side !!! laugh your heart out !!! # 8
You should be worried !!!
Problems caused by deforestation!!!
Laugh !!! But, give it a thought...
If not grow, at the least... Help SAVE Trees... !!!
Teaching the world to change
An article on Social Entrepreneurship by Dan Viederman
Teaching the world to change
An estimated 200 million children work in developing countries. Another 25 million people are enslaved in factories, farms, mines, and homes. Hundreds of millions more are cheated out of wages that are rightfully theirs and have no choice but to work in conditions that put them at risk of injury and even death.
It is easy to be numbed by these figures. So let’s consider the story of Rani, a girl we met in India in late 2009. Rani is now 14 and has worked at a spinning mill in Tirupur, a textile city located in the southern part of the country, since she was 11, bleaching cloth and using chemicals to wash garments. Her family sent her to the factory, which produces clothes for export, under the sumangali scheme, in which underage girls work far from home for three years, in return for a lump sum payment of around $750. Rani’s family had no other way to make enough money to pay her dowry. But after repeatedly burning herself with chemicals and suffering under the risk of sexual abuse from her employers, Rani ran away—returning home injured, poorer, and in conflict with her parents because she had forfeited the payment due to her.
Verite can resolve the specific problems Rani faces by intervening at that factory in India to improve its management, and by ensuring that Rani has the support she needs to stand up for herself. But our only chance of reaching the tens of millions of vulnerable people around the world—to achieve large-scale change—is to change the practices of others. Our primary approach to scaled change is to ensure that businesses around the world integrate the interests and needs of their most vulnerable participants. Our best chance to improve the rights and livelihoods of the many is if others replicate our intervention.
Here’s an example. One of our initial innovations was finding a way to elevate workers to the status of full stakeholders in the factories and farms where they work. We make sure that workers’ knowledge about the places that employ them becomes part of the picture we develop about working conditions. We do this in a deceptively simple way—by talking to them. But this conversation can be difficult to come by. On a recent assessment visit to a farm in the western United States we were told by the owners that work started at 10am, and that we should arrive at the field then. Instead of taking the owner at his word, our auditors showed up at 6:45am, to find two buses of migrant workers just arriving for work. We spent the next two hours hearing their stories, learning about their experiences and discussing their problems. Our findings from workers then become part of the facts we present to factory or farm management, and to the companies that buy their goods.
Too often this sort of investigation ignores the perspectives of workers. We set out to change this. After a year of multi-stakeholder conversations around the world we promulgated a standard for the conduct of social audits. This standard has now been adopted by a coalition of the world’s largest companies. We have simultaneously begun to train others outside Verite to conduct social audits according to this standard. As a result, our approach will be implemented by thousands of people around the world undertaking investigations at the behest of those companies. We leverage the information they provide to guide change in standards and management. Last year, our approach was formally adopted as an emerging standard by a coalition of the world’s largest companies. It will be implemented by thousands of people around the world undertaking investigations at the behest of those companies into the daily operations of factories and farms.
It’s important to note that this replication-oriented approach to entrepreneurial innovation may present some challenges. Sometimes investigators will undertake worker engagement effectively, but sometimes they will fail to follow the standards that we have promulgated. Some companies may decide to adopt and apply the standard completely, while others may choose portions of it or implement it halfheartedly in certain circumstances. In scaling this innovation, our recruitment of implementation partners necessitates that we give up control. The result may be some “implementations” that we don’t entirely endorse. But when companies take a first step towards responsibility, they have at least started walking forward.
This approach to scaling implies two challenges to the typical understanding of social entrepreneurship. First, entrepreneurship is often seen as a solitary pursuit, one that glorifies the individual (or her institution). At Verité, however, we believe that collaboration is an essential part of scaling social impact; our efforts require partners—both businesses and governments—at every step of the way. As with any partnership, we may in some cases lose control over the intervention. But we embrace the trade-off between control and expansion, believing that the problems we’re trying to address are so dire that it is imperative to reach as many people as possible, as quickly as possible. Our work with the world’s largest companies leverages billions of dollars of spending, vast but intangible corporate reputations, and thousands of daily business transactions into better working conditions for millions of people. At the same time, we recognize the limits of business “responsibility.” Social entrepreneurship can often overemphasize the role of private-sector frameworks. However, we believe that market mechanisms can make the achievement of human rights less costly. They can ensure, for example, ensure that Rani is more likely to prosper than face danger and disgrace in the workplace——but they can’t guarantee rights.
Only governments can guarantee rights for individuals and only governments can ensure that rights are respected wherever people are at risk. As social entrepreneurs we have to be clear on the limits of our own models—in particular, that markets are neither more nor less effective for delivering social goods than they are for delivering private goods. Our work with business, then, aims to create an environment that is conducive rather than hostile to government action. Over the past ten years, for example, multinational businesses have opened space in China for an explicit conversation about labor rights that the Chinese government may not have begun. Our work with international business lays the groundwork for changes in the acceptance of social regulation.
The question of scale for Verité is how we can reach tens of millions of people whose rights are constrained. We ourselves are about fifty people worldwide, a number small enough to be quite at odds with our aspirations. Like Archimedes, we seek a lever long enough to move the world. For us, this is the business world, which we hope to inspire with the feasibility of doing things better.
Courtesy : Internet.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Aqua Night ~ Wednesday delight ;)
It's been a long time since I blogged... And a lot has happened...
Well, what do I start with... The Aqua Night >>>
Yeah, one of my really close buddies had decided to treat me and a few other friends at
The Park hotel.
Restaurant Aqua situated on the eight floor opens out to a blue jelly textured rectangular pool
surrounded by fount white fabric draped cabanas, arc tables, luxurious beds under the night sky,
live music, beautiful lighting and a lot more.
This is one perfect place to unwind with friends.
Wednesday nights are a must check ones. The flower power barbeques on Wednesday nights add a smoky touch to the place.
The Azure pool and the night sky with a good view of the city and natural breeze give this restaurant the flavours it needs to justify the name "AQUA".
I had a great time with friends. We were enjoying the evening to the fullest that we never realized the ticking time until it was just an hour before the next day.
I'm running short of words to explain the !!! FUN !!! part. I guess it's well understood without words. :)
It was an awesome night. A few beautiful memories are to be cherished for a long time. This is one such occasion. Hoping to have many more of these awesome memories :) :) :)
Monday, February 8, 2010
Anise - The taj touch ;)
ANISE’, is a stylish, innovative, high energy international all day dining hub at Taj Coromandel that emphasizes elegance, vibrance and epicurean passion by showcasing its World cuisine in addition to Oriental and North Western Frontier specialties.
Well... If you happen to begin wondering why I'm blogging about this restaurant, let me stop you there. This is where I dined with ma buddies. This restaurant is unparalleled in its offering. With shear luxury in a semi-formal environment and the most expressive buffet in town one could hardly anything the otherwise about this place.
As an icing on the cake, I was in company of two of my really close buddies.
The highlight of dining at ANISE is the chef-driven interactive meal experience. It sure makes one feel good.The restaurant boasts a new beverage menu that includes seasonal fresh fruit shakes, exotic fruit smoothies, single origin coffees, speciality coffees, selection of teas and naughty martinis.
I almost missed typing this... This was a part of my b'day bash ;) :P :)
Many Thanks to ma Parents and ma buddies, the day turned out to be a memorable one. :)
Hope I get to enjoy many such memorable occasions in the days to come :) :)
The interiors are designed by renowned architect and interior design firm, Chhada Siembieda and Associates Ltd., based out of
The swanky international restaurant serving world cuisine will play specially selected music by in-house DJ Eddy ranging from Hip Hop, Blues, Soul, Retro, Rock and Pop. The collection of music, which changes by the season, sets the mood according to the meal period.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Fuel your fire !!! Inspirations in the day's cup !!! # 7
Inspiring one !!!
"The Dream is not what you see in sleep ! .... Dream is the thing which does not let you sleep .!!!
Excellence...
A German once visited a temple under construction where he saw a sculptor making an idol of God. Suddenly he noticed a similar idol lying nearby. Surprised, he asked the sculptor, "Do you need two statues of the same idol?" "No," said the sculptor without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one got damaged at the last stage." The gentleman examined the idol and found no apparent damage. "Where is the damage?" he asked. "There is a scratch on the nose of the idol." said the sculptor, still busy with his work. "Where are you going to install the idol?"
The sculptor replied that it would be installed on a pillar twenty feet high. "If the idol is that far, who is going to know that there is a scratch on the nose?" the gentleman asked. The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the gentleman, smiled and said, "I will know it."
The desire to excel is exclusive of the fact whether someone else appreciates it or not. "Excellence" is a drive from inside, not outside. Excellence is not for someone else to notice but for your own satisfaction and efficiency...
Courtesy : Internet
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