Be thankful for the work you have ..

Recession times are times of introspection .. to know our true worth and expectations.. It is also the time for taking stock of our life ..

Gone are the day when we thought we were indispensable not only to your organisation, but to the whole world. Gone are the days when we thought we had the best skills in the world, and nobody could match up to our capability..

I had quit a safe and secure government job about seven months back, with more than 14 years of work life remaining before retiring.. The security the govt job assured was neither interesting nor challenging.. The pulls and pressures of reservation and locals versus outsiders (sons of soil) made me feel uncomfortable. I do not have any qualms about it. Te best strategy would be to seek one's future elsewhere..  I decided to quit seeking a new job, where I can serve the society better and get my children some decent education and quality of life. I thought, elsewhere, I could get  more satisfaction from the job, see the outside world and get to learn from new experiences. 

So far, I had  not taken great risks in life, was busy studying and teaching.. Now was the time to take the plunge. Take risks and the lessons we learn are worth all the pains..Having been away from the centre of action all these years, why not be a part of it.

I  do not know whether I would have taken the same challenge now. As soon as I sent in my retirement papers, I started reading about the downturn getting grim and grim .

But one thing I can say is after taking the risk, I am learning lot more things on the job now, outside a comfortable and cushy govt job. I get to meet more people, from different backgrounds, have new experiences on the job, get to take up additional responsibilities and discharge them.

I do not think anyone is indispensable to the world. Our qualifications may not take us anywhere, unless we are good at applying the knowledge from the qualifications well. Recession times remind us of that.. It is a time to take some time off to resharpen your knife, get additional knowledge and experience.. 

One lesson we have learnt is, if one is satisfied with a realistic salary for qualifications and not run after fancy salary and job responsibilities, one can think of retaining one's job and feel confident of doing so much more than your compatriots. Unrealistic expectation of remuneration and standard of life is the cause of all worries and tensions.

Recession times is also a time for reassessing one's true worth. Were the benefits which we were enjoying really due to us given our efforts and qualifications or was it just a stroke of luck that we are on a job at a point of time and a place..?

Recession reminds us to be more realistic and to get to the level ground from the heights we were flying..

--
George Easaw 

how to get to Hampi ..

Hampi Express

http://www.hampi.in/hampi-express.shtml 

Hampi as it is popularly known today was the medieval capital of the Hindu empire Vijayanagara (the City of Victory). Hampi in the Karnataka state of India is listed as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. 

Hampi is charismatic even in its ruined state. It attracts thousands of tourists and pilgrims every year. Vast stretches of boulder-strewn hills make the backdrop of Hampi unique. 

Hampi in brief..

Dotted around the hills and valleys are 500 plus monuments. Among them are beautiful temples, basement of palaces, remains of aquatic structures, ancient market streets, royal pavilions, bastions, royal platforms, treasury buildings.., the list is practically endless. Hampi is a backpackers� paradise, the same way the pilgrims� delight. 

In Hampi at every turn there is a surprise. Every monument hides more than what they reveal. As an open museum, Hampi has numerous popular (100 plus!) locations visitors throng. 

George Easaw

MBC CET, Peermade....

Mar Baselios Christian College of Engineering and Technology, Peermade, Idukki. View from the KK road ..

--
George Easaw 

An old snap ....

Jobin, Anila and Sunila.. maybe 1995 ..??

ge..

Jobin and Chinnu - Bombay meri hai ... Video ..

Jobin and Chinnu playing and singing Bombay Meri hai ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21QG_8o07C4

george..

With Richard Stallman in 2002 .. IIT Bombay ..

--

This was an image taken in 2002 with Richard Mathew Stallman when he visited IIT Bombay ...

George Easaw 

Rotary Narayana Stem Cell research Centre

The Health city Rotary Club of Electronic City Bangalore has started a major project with Narayan Hrudayalaya, the Stem Cell research Project and with Dr Devi Shetty and his team of doctors from Narayana Hrudayalaya hope to hit big in international fora. 18 March 2009..

Karnataka Hime Minister Dr Acharya was the Chief Guest.

Here is a beautiful write up on Dr Devi Shetty .

.

http://www.domain-b.com/people/profiles/20030820_devi_prasad_shetty.html
--
George Easaw 

Robbing from the begging bowl and other stories !!

American Insurance Group (AIG) has once again demonstrated to the world how greed, recklessness and insensitiveness can get the upper hand of public sympathy ..

If this company was allowed to go bust in the first instance itself, this reckless act of paying bonuses to the top executives from the begging bowl(who helped the company sink into the red and was seen running around with the begging bowl for governmental interference through public taxpayer funds) would not have come up at all.

The act of public-tax payer benevolence in rescuing the sinking AIG, has been misunderstood by the AIG top executives ( very much representative of the average sensibility) as okaying their reckless behaviour of splurge and extravaganza ..

How could Obama not have got outraged, lest he be branded as a dumb and ineffective President, as most of his predecessors ?

AIG top execs not responding on how and to whom these bonuses were to be disbursed, is the icing on the cake which they would repent for a long time to come.

Till the insensitive American public, rises up to the occasion, it is " Privatisation of profits, socialisation of lossses and robbing from the begging bowl" policy .. The American spirit of enterprise, freedom and indomitance being demonstrated to the outside world.. American values being put to the test, overcoming the trials and tribulations !!

American macho is stressed. The values for which leaders like Washington, Lincoln and Kennedy stood for are being tested and it is good that the tests are being overcome most successfully ..

Well done boys !!

george..

jobin ..

You have been sent 1 picture.

college 033.JPG

These pictures were sent with Picasa, from Google.
Try it out here: http://picasa.google.com/

The great symphony in action !!

$ 50 billion + hopes and aspirations of a few thousand (upmarket, respected) investors = 150 years ...The recipient of this unusual sentence is a 74 year old fraudster and former chairman of NASDAQ .. Bernie Madoff, the respectable private investment banker, who assured investors of a good 10 % returns during times, thick and thin, was the heart-throb of the "gullible" investing public...  

Madoff should have been given more serious model punishment which would have ensured such frauds do not recur.. In the meantime while Madoff cools his heels in the jail, he still remains the most respectable-turned ultimate con of the century !!  

The civilised world is shell-shocked, unable to believe that such respected people still exist .. How perverted is the society which respects him and its values ?? a society which believed everything revolved around money !! The world feels pity for this sad state .. 

The IMF ( the organisation which failed miserably in identifying the crisis as it unfolded) is so quick to state that the recession has hit the Asian countries much harder than the western countries ( maybe to buy peace with its funders and donors) even though it conveniently covers up the fact that it originated from the unethical actions of a few people in the western world... 

Newly educated and presently displaced people looks to Asian countries for new employment opportunities .. Is it not funny ?  

The great "cover-up" symphony in action !!  

george..

PGPCM poster

PGPCM XIME .....

GE pushed to the wall, humbled !!

Nobody thought this would happen to the giant General Electric ... The AAA credit rating giant is now humbled as never before, the last time it cut its dividend by two thirds as it did this time was during the depression of 30s.

From $ 17, the shares now trading at $ 6, with about $50 billion as the accumulated loss of GE capital, the company is unwilling to disclose its health, assets and liabilities, lest its share prices come tumbling down faster inflicting greater damage ...

CEO Jeff Immelt, is a much troubled man ... Never in his wildest dreams would he have thought the company he was leading would be humbled..

But more is yet to come.. and the chaff will be separated from the grain ... 

The world hopes this company will not bite the dust like AIG or Citibank .. If it does, God save America ...

--
George Easaw

Our Silky ...

Silky, our Labrador Retriever, with its familiar, innocent look ..

ge..

Can Pak wash its hands off ???

The terrorist attack this morning on the Sri Lankan cricket team touring Pakistan is re-affirmation of our fears. It is the last nail in the coffin of all Pak excuses and lies to cover up its complicity and ultimate helplessness at how things have gone out of its hands..

Blaming that the terrorist attack in the morning of 3 Mar 2009, was on similar lines as that on Mumbai in Nov 2008, Pakistan is trying to wash its hands off the actions of this group of extremists who are trained and have executed their operations in their homeland and in neighbouring countries, to clockwork precision.

The meeting on 26 Feb between the ISI chief and AlQaeda chief in the border regions of Pakistan is enough indication that there are many people running the show in Pakistan. On the one hand, the civilised face of Pakistan is the President Zardari, PM and others, the other face is of the military under Gen Kayani, remotely controlling the civilian establishment and finally the third face is of the Intelligence service, Inter Service Intelligence ISI, which is remotely controlling Muslim fundamentalist terrorist groups owing allegiance to Taliban and Al Qaeda ..

The incident, besides threatening to change the image of Pakistan in international circles to that of a terrorist, failed state similar to Afghanistan , where gun power and fundamentalism rules over the brain and brawn, hatred and terror over love and compassion, will brand Pakistan as a terror supporting and friendly state. Other countries of the world will think twice before having any negotiations with Pakistan in future..

Buying peace with Taliban by handing over state control in areas of North West Pakistan bordering Afghanistan to Taliban, the present govt of Pakistan has abdicated its right to rule over the country. It is in the process of giving up its responsibility towards its citizens of maintaining law and order and insted is playing into the hands of the ISI and the terrorists. A sad and pitiable state I would not ever wish Pakistan to be in. It is, no doubt, a big threat to India too.

And US still maintaining cordial relations with Pak and considering extending financial aid to it is the topping cream ...

God only can help US and Pakistan ...

ge..

Handling oneself in these times of crisis ..

International Labour Organisaton predicts loss of 50 million jobs world wide during 2009.. In other words quoting from a Times of India report, about 4 job losses per minute all over the world.. Jan 26, 2009 saw upto 80,00 job losses world-wide in a day ...

Japanese companies who were considered employee friendly have been laying off workers left and right..

dec 08 Matsushita/Panasonic 15,000

Jan 09 NEC 15,000
Hitachi 7,000
Honda 3,000

-------------------

Since I understand this is a global phenomenon and nothing can be done, I am more or less mentally prepared to face the consequences..

A workshop, covering social and psychological aspects, on how to handle the economic downturn, when you are the affected party, was planned in our Institute, but got postponed due to poor participation.

This is not the time for any academic discourse on layoffs and dismissals from work, this is the time to reconsolidate our finances, reconsider our commitments, to our family and banks and to have a relook at loans.

Do not jump into financial commitments running into more than two three years, evaluate them very closely.. This is the time to think of alternate means and methods to keep oneself employed, busy and earning for the family. One needs to think with a cool head as to what are our strengths and weaknesses, whether one needs to hone up some skills or not...

If you have not been spending quality time with family, one needs to sit calmly with them and think of ways to overcome this temporary phenomenon. The very first terrifying thoughts which come to one's mind, during such times, is , will I be able to take care of my family, what will they do ?

In fact, you are living for them and if you are able to openly discuss the situation with them , citing all difficulties which some elderly family members may have to endure for a short time, it brings lot of clarity to issues ..

Peace of mind and assurance from family members will definitely take oneself a long way and help tide over the crisis. It is also the time to rediscover one's roots, reconnect with old friends, relatives and acquaintances for whom we never had the time earlier..

To quote from my personal experiences, these days I am spending lot of quality time with family, have realised the value of keeping daily accounts of my expenses, avoid unnecessary expenses, trips, visits to the hotel, impulsive purchases and so on..

Maybe if I am laid off, ( having taken the risk of moving from a very secure, lazy and dull government job to an exciting and risky private sector job),I know it is not due to my incompetence, but it is a natural global restructuring exercise. Maybe this purge the society of unwanted greed, speculation and ethical void.

I am now satisfied with what constitutes a reasonable remuneration for my legitimate needs to take care of my family, family needs and other expenses.

I also realise how important it is now to understand one's roots .. You cannot ignore the route which you came from, your parents and siblings..

They are the only people you can really turn to in these times..

I am preparing myself, are you ?? Better prepare oneself then be taken really by surprise..

cheers ....

ge..