Life's Big Lesson in a Small Scoop! 9

Elephant the Management Guru!

Date: 5th July, 2009
Time: 7:45 pm
Venue: Gokhale Road Naupada,Thane

Are you perplexed with the Tittle? Are you taxing your brains thinking about the connection between this Mammoth and Management? Allow me to explain.
I had always heard that Elephants are very intelligent animals. But have you ever seen an Elephant practising Management? This Elephant seems to have all the qualities of a Management Guru. I will tell you why!! : )
Foreword: It collected coins and notes on the tip of his trunk and would give it up to the Mahout only when a substantial amount was collected to avoid taking pains by raising his trunk consecutively again and again. This shows that the Elephant was a Smart Worker and not just a Hard Worker. But it got swayed when it saw someone giving him Bananas. He lost his focus, gave whatever coins he collected to the Mahout and continued to binge on the Bananas. One Man just pretended to give him something to eat but never gave it to the Elephant. The Elephant however gave all the coins to the Mahout.

Now what are the lessons that we learn from this Elephant.
1. Keep some cards in your hands, do not divulge all. You rule the roost till the time you are the sole party to whats IMPORTANT.
2. Be a smart worker and not just a hard worker. Gone are the days to slog. It is time to be proactive and plan strategic moves. Foresight, initiative, innovation, interpersonal skills and Plan B are the new found key words.
3. It is good to focus on something and treat it as significant but if a fruitful(literally in this case : ) opportunity comes along you may switch your streams to be part of the High Tide.
4. There are people who show us Gajjar( banana in this case hehe) but that might just be a facade and you might end up loosing out on what you had in your hands in the first place.
5. Every situation is different and it is necessary to contemplate the pros and cons of every action and act accordingly. One way of reacting might not necessarily fit the bill for all the circumstances. Your thought process needs to be fluid.

Isn't it weird but wonderful how people, places, animals and our surroundings have a lesson or two to teach. We just need to observe them closely and decode the hidden meanings and apply them in the due course of our lives.

Finding Ujwala.......

I am writing this though we completely stand a risk of going pink in cheeks
when Rohini reads this for our Hawaratpana. hahahaha

When we three musketeers- Clifford, Banoo and Me are together we roll out a lot of fun. Our definition of fun is not restricted to behaved and composed behaviour. More importantly we are best friends because we have stood by eachother in our most testing times. But more importantly we have accepted eachother in just the way we are. And when we all are together we bring the house down with our pranks. We usually end up singing OUR SONG " DIL KABHI GANDA KABHI HAI NEK BANDA" in full volume with the radio blaring it and people peeking in the car window to see whats wrong with us whacko brains.

Sometimes when we go to picnics we embarrass Banoo by rushing for autographs in crowded streets and speaking loudly that she is some actress on televsison to our astonishment other people join in too. We enjoy at Fun fairs and enjoy all the rides and laugh out loud when we are on the top in the giant wheel to avoid the embarrassment of crying out loud. We always end up going to Good Luck coz all three of us love Biriyani and brune bread and big fat kulfi served there( And we always have a good laugh at the mis-spelled notice boards put up in Goodluck). All this is harmless fun without hurting anyone and gets our spirits high and tension lightened.

Yesterday we all were at Hotel Nakshtra, Kothrud celebrating Lil Aryan's(Rohini's son) 5th birthday. And trust me we had a blast. I mean we played musical chairs, we danced like nobody watched(especially on Kombadi palali) and had great food. When we went to the ice- cream counter, I wanted extra ice cream but I didn't know how to ask the person manning the stall about it. So I looked at Banoo and the following dialogue took place

Me: Give me one more ice-cream as I have to give it to her(HOLDING ONE CUP)
Banoo: Her who ??( WITH HOLDING HER CUP IN HER HAND)
Me: You forgot kya she told us to get it for her( TRYING NOT TO WINK AND MAKE THINGS OBVIOUS)
Banoo: Oh yeah Get one for her (SLY FOX. GOT THE SCHEME FINALLY)
Me: Yeah give me one more scoop (HAPPY AT HEART)
Man: Ok Mam (SMIRKING. MAY BE HE KNEW OF OUR PLAN ALREADY)
Banoo: Get it fast or Ujwala will get angry( EH.EUUUUU...UJWALA.YUCKS CANT IT BE A BETTER NAME FOR OUR IMAGINARY FRIEND LIKE MONA ADITI OR EVEN SHEVANTHA)
Me: Yeah Ujwala wont like the delay( ME SMILING AND LOOKING GLEEFULLY AT THE ICE-CREAM)
Me: Thank you( YEAAAAAH! WE MADE A FOOL OF YOU)
MAN: You are welcome (I GOT YOUR PLAN.PLEASE DON'T COMEBACK)
Me: Where is Ujwala ( LAUGHING AND ENJOYING TWO SCOOPS)
Banoo: You are Ujwala (LAUGHING BACK LOUD)
Mannn all three of us laughed our heads off for 2 hours on t his Ujwala matter. It was just so spontaneous. I mean we all had our set of imaginary friends when we were small but this was way too funny. Without concocting any plan earlier me and Banoo were able to make the perfect excuse to grab another ice-cream.........But am still wondering why UJWALA......of all names
Just imagine Ujwala is such a off-beat name.When banoo was questioned on this..she said somehow this name struck her and she blurted it out........
yeah life is so strange and funny altogether at the same time...and by the way we are still searching for UJWALA....DOES ANYONE KNOW HER WHEREABOUTS???? OR DO WE HAVE TO FIND UJWAL FIRST.......HAHAHAHA

Weird but Wonderful! 2

Act of Kindness!!
Today a strange incident happened! At about 7 pm I was loitering in the Panch Pakadi Area of Thane with my parents visiting some furniture shops to locate the perfect shoe rack ever!! We were enjoying our usual chats, occasionally checking out the decoration in the display windows for the new year. When I spotted a completely nude man on the road! Many chose to ignore his existence, some made disgusting faces at him, few winced at his sorry state and a handful of them laughed on his face!
The man whose skin had been darkened and completely tanned was speaking to himself! It looked as if this poor insane soul had no idea that he was completely monty with no piece of clothing to cover even his bare essentials!!
He was meandering in his own mindless fervour when a young man in his early twenties came on his bike! He had got something for the man. It was a shirt and a pant! He gave it to the poor man! The man smiled! We had passed them both till that time. I do not know whether our person in question wore the clothes brought by our hero!!
I do not know whether this act was out of shame or charity! In an age when no one has the time or the thought process to think about helping others, this youth had chosen to step up and help this poor insane fellow! I felt a sense of immense respect and gratitude towards him!!It is sad and ironic to recollect how many of us stop by to help people even though we have the capability to do so? What the youth did was highly commendable! May God Bless the youth for his act of kindness!

Weird but Wonderful!

Strange things keep happening around us! And sometimes we wonder how and why! But we are left with no specific answers! The eccentric nature of the event only leaves us more baffled than perplexed. And you are left in a mental limbo whether to laugh or to continue pondering on it.

One such incident happened today morning. As usual, I was enjoying my morning sunshine walk and was the first to reach the bus stop. My headphones were stuck into my ear buds and I was tuned in to the morning local radio on my MP3. I was dazed and lost in my own reverie when suddenly, out of the blue appeared a man before me. Probabaly in his late forties, he was dressed in rags. But the point of notice was that he looked radiantly healthy for his dwindling financial status. He said something, I couldn't hear because of the song blaring at top volume in my ears. So I removed my earphones and decided to give him a patient hearing and allowing him to have his 30 seconds of fame. As expected he was begging for alms. But what he said next nearly had me drop my jaw in awe. He said in Marathi" Mi ithun chalatach nighaloy" ( I have started to walk from here) and the next line had me stark awake from my wee hour sheepishness. In crystal clear English he impeccably and eloquently blurted out, "Madam, I will be very grateful if you could help me with some money to buy a cup of tea". My eyeballs almost popped out!

The only word I could think of was a big WOW! And I actually said it! Mann I was entirely impressed! He smiled in anticipation acknowledging his success in catching me completely offguard. However, I disappointed the fellow by not giving him any money. I don't believe in providing for people who are healthy and wise enough to fend for themselves. He just made a sad gloomy face and dragged away! Its a personal principle.

I don't know why this educated pauper man was out on the streets begging in the early hours of morning. I kept on thinking about the circumstances that might have prompted him into an insecure and dependant living. But the whole incident left me a little scared, a lot surprised and completely awestruck! Life is strange, isn't it? And this experience was truly weird but wonderful!