Reflection Of My Inner Self

Performance Management - For An Appraisee

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Tue, 16 Dec 2014 09:09:00 +0000

In any performance review discussion with my sub-ordinates, I ask these two questions
   1. What do you think how you are doing? The answer is definite and mostly it is good/excellent.
   2. What do you think, what your manager thinks of how you are doing? In most cases I get a blank look.

It is of then no surprise that many of us feel disappointed after the review. We discover(or rather construct) a set of reasons (inept manager, politics, favoritism, unable to show-off etc.) for our dismal ranking. While I don't deny the existence of any or all of these reasons, their contribution for a dismal ranking is arguable.

During our transition from education to professional life, we often don't realize two important changes
    #1. In student life, you study more, you score better..simple! In professional life, in addition to what you have done, it is also important how your performance is perceived by your superiors, peers, organization.
    #2. In professional life, how good/bad you are is less important. More important is where you stand against your peers. Therefore your self judgement should always take into consideration these wider aspects as well.

Someone once told me, that the best performance appraisal is the one where there is mutual agreement both ways & the discussion is short & crisp. The reason being, if both the appraisee & appraiser were always in sync, frequently discussed the positives, the improvement needs, the discussion becomes just a mere formality. There is hardly any surprise. And that's exactly it should be. Performance review is not a 30-60 minutes discussion, it is a continuous process throughout the year & therefore requires thoughtful planning, execution & follow-up.

At the beginning of the year, we should plan how much effort we are ready to put in that year & what we want to achieve. Depending on personal life, health or because of any alternate priorities(planning for higher studies, preparing for a job in a better organization) we might not want to stretch every year. That is perfectly fine, only it should be communicated & mutually agreed to your supervisor & you should also be ready to accept a proper rating according to your contribution. The comes the follow-up, which most of us miss. Nothing stops us to touch base with your supervisor once in 2/3 months, or just casually asking how you are doing. This gives you chance to introspect & improve (if required) in stead of hearing the same feedback at the year end, when you can't do anything. And then the continuous evolution, act on the feedback.

I should also admit that in spite of you doing everything right, you could still get a bad rating. There could be reasons beyond your control & that I am intentionally keeping outside the scope here. But if a systematic approach is followed, there are more probability of being rightly recognized.

Please note that, due to self imposed limit on the article length, I am only discussing an appraiser's point of view. The appraiser's aspect will be discussed in the next post.

Food Review: Meridian Cafe Punjagutta (Hyderabad)

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Sat, 13 Dec 2014 06:47:00 +0000

I have been hearing very good reviews about their Biryani of late in foodie group & thought of giving it a try. Located on the main road on your left when you are approaching Punjagutta from Ameerpet side just beneath the flyover. I went for parcel though there are provisions for dine-in, too though from the looking of the place, I am not sure how good the dine-in ambiance is. I ordered Special Mutton Biryani & Apollo fish based on recommendation from one of my foodie friend.
I was overly delighted with the Mutton Biryani. To me, this will sit among the top 5 Biryani of Hyderabad. A bit more flavor than the traditional Hyderabadi Biryani, with larger mutton pieces, one plate of special mutton Biryani was sufficient for 2 adults + 1 kid. The Apollo fish was also mouth watering. Perfectly spicy, one of the best fish starter I ever had.

Apollo Fish

Special Mutton Biryani

A definite VFM & it deserved few more visits to try some of their other specialties.

Food Review: Spice 6 (Hyderabad)

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Sat, 06 Dec 2014 08:26:00 +0000

This is the 1st time I am rating a place with 4.5/5 & they fully deserve every bit of it. I went there on a Sunday afternoon as part of a foodie group. It was a set menu with prices fixed at 450/- AI. The Arabian/Middle-East cuisine always excite me and when I saw this place is claiming to serve Lebanese food, I just grabbed the opportunity. We had to choose between a pre-defined Veg or Non-Veg menu & I had opted for Non-Veg menu. The summary:
Arab Champagne: This was a non-alcoholic drink, containing slices of fresh fruits, the mint leaves & a lemonade based drink. The overall flavor made it a very unique experience, neither the aroma of fresh fruits in a drink were disturbing, nor it was overly sweet or salty. This kind of set the tune for what's coming next.

Arabian Champagne

Hummus with Pita Bread: As expected with Arabian cuisine, it was rich with olive oil, olives were also used for decoration. It had a perfect texture and taste.

Tomato Chutney for Kabsa, Garlic Sauce, Hummus

Fattoush: This was the 1st time I tasted this & I liked it for sure. As I had a late breakfast, was kind of feeling heavy in stomach. But as soon as I had it, felt all my hunger is back. It was not easy to maintain the balance of the overall flavor still keeping the hint of tanginess intact & it was just perfect.

Fattoush

Grilled Mutton Kebab & Chicken Kebab: The Chicken Kebab was tasty for sure, nothing specifically different. The Grilled Mutton Kebab tasted quite similar to Patthar Ke Ghost. It was tender, evenly grilled. Only complain is in the 2nd serving, it tastes quite dry. Not sure if the time pressure to serve large gathering was the reason.

Grilled Mutton Kebab & Chicken Kebab

Chicken Shawerma: It was another surprise. The Chicken pieces was very tender, the mixture of right amount of mayonnaise sauce with vegetables made it very juicy.

Chicken Shawerma

Kabsa Laham: The show stopper of the day. I have never tasted so tenderly mutton that it just gets out of the bone automatically, you hardly need to struggle with it. And the rice being prepared with right flavor, I heard everyone praising heavily for this dish. For the mutton/Kabsa Laham lovers this is a must try.

Kabsa Laham

Umme Ali: Perfectly made, nothing to complain.
Kunafa: It was pastry kind of with sweet filling inside and fried vermicelli on the crust. The color was perfect, taste wise also it was sweet. Not sure how it originally tastes, but was finding it difficult to have it more than one for the sweet level. Will leave it to restaurant people to think if any variation can be brought to this.
Sitaphal Rabri: Had mild aroma of Sitaphal, otherwise a sweet Rabri dish. Nothing extra ordinary.

Kunafa

Umme Ali

Sitaphal Rabri

In addition this, I also made parcel for two other sweet items
Caramel Custard: This was simply awesome, but found the quantity to be less for a price of 130/140. Perfect texture, had a balanced taste of not making it overly sweet.
Mango Souffle: Nothing extra-ordinary, had the mango flavor but that's it. Nothing else specific to talk about. Again, I am not happy with the quantity.

Mango Souffle

Caramel Custard

Service: The way they managed the 30/40 people group, showed their maturity, preparedness, thorough planning. Services were prompt, before you can look for waiter, you would find someone nearby your table waiting to help you. This place scores equally good in food & service & that is a rare combination. I sincerely hope that they just maintain standard and don't fall from grace.
Overall, a very good experience & strongly recommend.
Food: 4.5/5
Service: 4.5/5
Ambiance: 4.5/5
VFM: 4/5 - As this was a set menu, it was a good deal no doubt. But I am curious to know the pricing for their individual dishes, how much it costs for a meal of 2. Nevertheless, you can always try it once, if you have inclination for Arabian cuisine.
The other thing I did not feel good looking at their menu is that they claim Indian/Mughlai, Lebanese/Chinese. I know so many places faltered trying to be master of everything, and I hope this guys don't belong to that category. Let's specialize in something and be the best. If I am looking for Chinese, I will go somewhere else. IMHO, it might be confusing for people to find Chinese & Lebanese in the same restaurant where there is hardly anything common between these cuisine. Again, just my personal opinion, the restaurant people are the best judge & I am leaving it up to them.

Food Review: Ci Gusta Madhapur (Hyderabad)

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Mon, 01 Dec 2014 06:51:00 +0000

I was looking for a place for a team lunch & while deciding the venue, found that many of us have Ci Gusta in their wish list, but did not manage to go there yet. So, without wasting further time, we decided to go here. Had called the manager one day before, confirmed the reservation.

Upon reaching the next day, the manager Mr. Nagraju explained their menu & suggested some of the dish to try. We ordered Cheese Garlic Bread, followed by 2 portion of Ci gusts di mafia pasta( veg + non-veg), one portion Mediterranean Pizza, two portion of Arrabbiata Pasta (veg & non-veg), one portion of Peri Peri Veg Pizza. The food started coming within 10 minutes of ordering and thereafter we never had to wait for the food after finishing our plate.

The Pastas were the show stoppers, what an amazing sauce. The overall mixture and the flavour was just out of the world, I liked the Ci gust di mafia the most. Among the pizzas, I liked the Mediterranean. The thin crust base was neither too thin nor too crunchy, a perfect mix. Way better than we normally get in other Pizza joints. Did not try the veg items, so can't comment much but the overall feedback from the vegetarian people were also equally good.

Cheese Garlic Bread

Peri Peri Veg Pizza

After this, we went for gelatos & we were invited to taste all the available flavors. Among them people chose the very famous Pan (Betel leaves), Salted caramel, PanaCotta, Pina Colada, Dark Chocolate. Obviously the Pan was the winner, my personal favourite was Pan, Panacotta & Pina Colada. Also the option of taking 2 different flavors of 1/2 scoop each gave people the flexibility to try many flavors, which was widely appreciated.

The Gelatos collection

Overall a very satisfying experience, every bit of words that I heard before about the place was true. Special mention about the manager Mr. Nagaraj, he knows his job. Always smiling, making the guests feel comfortable, explaining the dishes - he was at it whatever you want. I would strongly recommend this place for people looking for option other than Indian & Chinese.

Food: 4.5/5
Ambiance: 4.5/5(Very good Wi-Fi connectivity)
Service: 4.5/5
VFM: 4/5 (A bit higher on the pricing side, almost same Pan flavor you would get on Prabai at a lesser price & Prabai is anyway bit costlier than other ice-cream joints)

Food Review: Eagle Boys Pizza Begumpet (Hyderabad)

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Fri, 07 Nov 2014 13:04:00 +0000

This place was getting very good reviews in recent past, so thought of making a visit. Went to Eagle Boys with family on a weekend. We had ordered two 7" pizzas(1 veg supreme with thin & crispy base + 1 Chicken Mexicana with deep dish base), two plate chicken nuggets (as chicken wings were not available), 1 Sweetza. Including water bottle & coke, total bill came along 600/=

I did not find it much VFM that too considering this was 1+1 offer. Same size pizzas would cost me less in Dominos.

Taste wise the thin & crispy base is bit on strong side, after a while it was pain to chew it. Same was Sweetza, very hard. And the topping tasted like how Bournvita drink tastes. The chicken nuggets tasted like it taste in any other place, nothing specific. The best was the Chicken Mexicana with deep dish base, I really liked the deep dish base, have never tasted pizza so soft in either of Pizza Hut, Dominos.

Service needs to be improved, though the persons were very courteous & were trying their best, felt they just need little time to get experienced & stabilized.

Overall an Ok experience, would go there once more to taste deep dish with some other flavor. First experience looked like just another option beside Pizza hut & Dominos, nothing extra-ordinary

Identity or Rather The Lack of It

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 16:39:00 +0000

They are three siblings. The eldest daughter is studying medical, probably in her 3rd/4th year. Next is a son, 2-3 years younger than her, just entered into college. And, there is one more daughter, 1 years younger than him, still in school. The father works abroad, come home 2-3 times a year. The mother along with her three children stay in India.

The daughters go to school in car pool and so is the son. In addition, whenever the daughters need to step out of the house, the son accompanies them. He similarly accompanies her mother, too. I have never seen the mother/daughters going anywhere alone. They have their own car, but only the son drives it. He is a free bird,

he chit chats with friends till midnight on the roads in front of their house, goes to college with goggles on and what not. Few months back, they had bought a bigger car. Next day was the counseling day in son's college. He drove the new car, with dad sitting beside him. I have never seen the eldest daughter in the driver's seat in either of the cars, didn't she ever wish to drive, openly or secretly in her mind? Few days back, we got a card, a marriage invitation card for her. We had to attend the marriage, found that she is married off to a richer family, the dream many of the girls' parent have since a daughter is born. I don't know if she had finished her education. I don't know if she wanted to continue her study or was happy being married off. But I know for sure what thought process the son must have, that he is the guardian of the house in absence of his father, that his mother & sisters are dependent on him, that what you are as a human being is not important, what is important is being a "son". Will he learn respecting woman? Would he ever want a daughter as one of his children? and even if he has a daughter, what teaching he would provide to his offspring? I wonder if ever, the mother or the daughter experienced what true freedom is, at least for once. The story repeats, across families, across generations…

Food Review: Blue Fox Kondapur (Hyderabad)

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Tue, 14 Oct 2014 12:46:00 +0000

I went to this place for a team lunch from the office for the buffet. The overall ambience was impressive. Though Blue Fox is a known chain in Hyderabad, but did not hear any feedback earlier, so went without much expectation.

The starter was not very impressive, one Fish Kebab & one Chicken Kebab. On the veg side they had Potato Fry, Crispy Vegetable. The fish was the best of all the items, the crispy veg was good enough. Finding just a potato fry as starter was least expected.

On the main course for non-veg, it had Schezwan Prawn, it was so hard & elastic that could not cut into pieces with all force of knife & fork, and while eating could easily felt the half-cooked prawns inside my mouth. The Butter Chicken was below average, same was Coriander Chicken, and a simple Egg Curry, nothing worth mentioning. Did not feel like trying the biryani but later heard from team mates that it, too was horrible. On veg side, it had Paneer, Mixed Veg Curry and traditional curd rice etc.

Desert had fruit custard. I have never tasted custard so dull & sticky. Then there was couple of dry fruit cakes that you normally get with Britannia cakes, one sweet item & Khurbani ka meetha, sabu dana payes & pure vanilla ice cream. Overall an ultimate thumbs down.

Service was pathetic to say the least, had to wait for 10 mins to get our first roti basket, hardly 4-5 people waiters/service managers were on the floor and many a times noticed that none of them were visible.

With 450/- around per person, there are many many better options around the same locality.

Food: 3/5
Service: 2/5
Ambiance:3/5
VFM: 3/5

Flipkart এর ডিগবাজি

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Tue, 07 Oct 2014 16:52:00 +0000

কালকে খুব জোর বেচে গেছি। এমনিতে সকাল সকাল উঠে ঈদের নামায পড়ে ঘুম ঘুম পাচ্ছিল। তো নামায পড়ে ফিরে আত্মীয় স্বজনদের শুভেচ্ছা জানিয়ে ভাবলাম একটু ঘুমিয়ে নেই। গত কয়েকদিন পুজোর ব্যাস্ততার জন্য কাগজ বা টিভি তেমন দেখা হয়নি, এই সব বিলিয়ন ডে হেন তেন আমার আইডিয়া ছিল না। হটাৎ দেখি কে যেন ধাক্কা দিয়ে ঘুম ভাঙ্গিয়ে দিল আর আবছা আবছা কানে এলো মোটো ই আর মোটো এক্স প্রায় ৫০% ডিস্কাউন্ট এ বিক্রি হচ্ছে। অন্য কেউ হলে সকালের কাঁচা খিস্তি আর গোটা দুয়েক লাথি তো বাঁধা ছিল, কিন্তু ঈদ এর দিন বলেই হয়ত আল্লাহ একটু মেহেরবান ছিলেন আমার উপরে। সেই আধ খোলা চোখ দিয়েও ভাগ্যিস দেখতে পেয়েছিলাম সামনে কে বসে আমাকে এই সকাল সকাল এমন অবিশ্বাস্য সুখবর গুলো দিচ্ছেন। অগত্যা উঠে বসে কাগজের পাতায় একটু চোখ রাখলাম। দেখি স্যামসাং ট্যাবলেট এর অরিজিনাল মূল্য ৫ ডিজিট, আর ডিস্কাউন্টেড মূল্য ওই ৫ ডিজিট এর শেষের শূন্যটা বাদ দিয়ে বাকি ৪ ডিজিট। এরকম আরো ৩-৪টে নমুনা দেখে ভাবলাম হয় চোখের ভুল, নয়তো প্রিন্টিং এর নয়তো কোথাও কিছু একটা। আর তা ছাড়া পুজো, ঈদ আর সামনে একটা পারিবারিক অনুষ্ঠানের ঠেলায় পকেট একেবারে গড়ের মাঠ, অগত্যা ঘুমাতেই গেলাম। ভাগ্যিস…

হেয়ার স্টাইল এর পরম্পরা

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Fri, 03 Oct 2014 08:34:00 +0000

আমি তখন ক্লাস সিক্স কি সেভেন এ পড়ি। মুখে সবে একটু গোঁফের বলিরেখা পড়েছে। পাড়ায়, টিউসান ক্লাসে দু এক জনকে ভালোলাগা শুরু হয়েছে। তো স্বভাবতই মানজা মারার একটু চান্স পেলেই, জাস্ট ট্রাই করে দেখা। কখনো চুলের মাঝখানে সিঁথি, কখনো বা আবার ডানদিক দিয়ে, কখনো আবার স্নানের পরে ভেজা চুলে ব্যাকব্রাশ - কিন্তু সারাদিন যে কম্বিনেসানই বিরজমান থাকুকনা কেন, সন্ধে বেলায় বাবা বাড়ি ফেরার আগে একদম তেলাপাটি চুল আঁচড়ে নিপাট সুবোধ বালক।

কিছুদিন পরে বাবার ধানবাদ এ ট্রান্সফার হয়ে গেল। পড়াশোনার জন্য আমরা দুই ভাইবোন মায়ের সাথে বারাসাত এর বাড়িতেই থেকে গেলাম। নেক্সট পুজোর ছুটিতে ধানবাদে যাওয়া, ওখানেই সবাই মিলে একটা মাস কাটানোর প্ল্যান। সেখানে আমাদের কোয়ার্টার এর কাছেই একটা বিশালাকার মোষের খাটাল ছিল। সকাল সকাল ঘুম থেকে উঠে হাল্কা ঠাণ্ডার আবেশ গায়ে মেখে দুই ভাইবোন বাবার সাথে সেখানে হেটে যাওয়া, লাইনে দাঁড়িয়ে মোষের ঘন তাজা দুধ নেয়া আর ফেরার পথে গরমা গরম জিলিবি নিয়ে ঘরে ফেরা - এ ছিল মোটামুটি আমাদের প্রতিদিনের রুটিন। তো একদিন সকালে খাটাল যাবো বলে বাবা আর বোন অলরেডি প্রস্তুত। উইপোকার যেমন কাল ঘনিয়ে আসলে পাখনা গজায়, আমারো তেমনি সেদিনই একটু মানজা মারার ইচ্ছা হল। ভাবলাম অনেকদিন চুলটা নিয়ে নাড়াচড়া করা হয়নি, একটু ডানদিক দিয়ে সিঁথি করে দেখি, সকালের তাড়াহুড়োয় বাবা খেয়াল করবে না। কিন্তু সেদিন শুধু উইপোকা যথেষ্ট ছিল না, সাথে মিস্টার মারফি ও যোগ দিলেন, "এনিথিং দ্যাট ক্যান গো রং, উইল গো রং"। চুলটাকে আর কোনমতে সেট করতে পারি না, একটু তেল, একটু জল হেন তেন করতে করতে মিনিট দশেক যে অলরেডি অতিবাহিত, খেয়াল ই করিনি। হটাৎ পিছন থেকে একটা শুধু দৈববাণী কানে এলো "পলি(বোনের ডাকনাম)! ভাইয়াকে বলে দিও সেলুনে গিয়ে চুলটা কেটে আসে যেন". তার পরে মনে হয় চুলে নেক্সট মানজা ট্রাই করেছিলাম চাকরি পাওয়ার পরে।

এই ঘটনটা আমি কোনদিন ই ভুলবোনা, কিন্তু নতুন করে আবার মনে পড়ল দিন দুই আগে। ছেলেকে স্নান করিয়ে, জামা কাপড় পরিয়ে দিয়েছি, চুলটা আঁচড়ে দিতে ভুলে গেছিলাম, লাঞ্চ করে অতঃপর ঘুম। বিকালে উঠে সে দেখে অনেকক্ষণের না আঁচড়ানো চুল মাথার মাঝখানে একটু ঢেউ খেলে আছে, আয়নায় প্রথম খেয়াল করে বল্ল "আব্বু, দেখ আমাকে একদম দিব্য আঙ্কল(আমার ফুটবল গ্রুপ র একজন) এর মত লাগছে"। আর তার আম্মু আবার আরেকধাপ এগিয়ে বললেন "হ্যাঁ বাবু, একটা খুব ভাল ফুটবলার আছে, রোনালদো - তোমাকে একদম তার মত দেখাচ্ছে"। ব্যাস, তার পর থেকে সকাল সন্ধে ছেলে আয়নার সামনে দাঁড়িয়ে দুই হাত দিয়ে তার তৈলাক্ত কেশরাশি কে রোনালদো ওয়েভ বানানর অবিরাম চেষ্টা করে যাচ্ছে আর আমি নির্বাক!!

প্রবাসে পূজোর স্বাদ

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Tue, 23 Sep 2014 16:58:00 +0000

পুজোর সময় কলকাতা যাওয়ার জন্য ব্যাকুলতা আর নেই, ছোটবেলার যেসব বন্ধুদের সাথে পুজো কাটতো সেইসব বন্ধুদের অনেকেই আজ কলকাতায় নেই, নেই এখানে সকালের সেই চেনা হিমেল হাওয়া, নেই বর্ষার ঘন কালো মেঘ কেটে গিয়ে নীল ক্যানভাসে পেঁজা তুলো। কলকাতার পুজোর অনেক কিছুই এখানে নেই। তবু যা আছে সেটা দিয়েই মনকে বোঝাতে হয়, মন ভরাতে হয়। আর ধীরে ধীরে সময়ের সাথে সাথে মিস্‌ করাগুলোর সাথে আপস ও হয়ে যায়। পাওয়া যায় নতুন বন্ধু, পাওয়া যায় নতুন পুজো। এখন আর পুজোর সময় কেউ কলকাতা গেলে, নিজে যেতে পারছিনা বলে মন খারাপ হয় না, বরং উল্টে এটা মনে হয় যে 'এমা, অমুক তো আমাদের হায়দ্রাবাদ এর পুজোটা এবার মিস করবে'। ভগবান, পুজো মণ্ডপ, পুরোহিত - এসব তো নিমিত্ত মাত্র। উৎসব এর প্রাসঙ্গিকতাই তো পরিবার-পরিজন-বন্ধু-বান্ধব কে নিয়েই. আগামী চারটে দিন তাই শুধু হই, হুল্লোড়, খাওয়া দাওয়া, চেঁচা মিচি, ঠাকুর দেখা আর ভেসে যাওয়া। আর গত এক মাসে মর্নিং ওয়াক করে যে ২ কিলো চর্বি ঝরিয়েছি, সেটাকে সুদে আসলে উসুল করে নেয়া। কলকাতায় নয়ত তাতে কি যায় আসে, এটা তো গ্লোবালাইজেসান এর সময়। ৪টে বাঙালি আর ১টা দুর্গা পুজো, প্রাণ ভরে হাসতে এর থেকে বেশি আর কিছু লাগে কি। শুভ মহালয়া… সবাই কে নিয়ে আনন্দ করুন, সুস্থ থাকুন, সুন্দর থাকুন। পুজো আপনাদের সবার ভালো কাটুক…

Food Review: Aao Khao (Hyderabad)

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Wed, 17 Sep 2014 12:24:00 +0000

This place just came up recently & was already getting very good reviews in the foodie circle. So, I had planned to make a visit for dinner. As this is a standing eatery, so planned for parcel. Reached the place around 7pm. The initial look, the neatness, sufficient number of fans + AC makes it a convenient place for eating unlike so many other standing eateries. I had ordered half butter chicken, half Tandoori, one Amritsari Kulcha & one Naan. The food was packed within 10 minutes & I headed for a 30 min drive towards home. In the car while driving, the aroma of the Kulcha was just making me irresistible, already had a feeling that this will not disappoint.

Upon reaching home, got ready for the food. The first bite of Kulcha just melted in the mouth, have never tasted Kulcha like this before. The butter chicken was just mesmerising. The soft, creamy gravy with the right mix of sweet yet mild spicy was very good, and so was the Chicken Tandoori. Overall it was a very good experience with complete VFM of 600/=.

I will definitely go there to try some of their veg dishes as they also seem to be very authentic. A must try place for office lunch as well as weekend lunch/dinner around Gachibowli area..

Food: 4.5/5
Ambiance: 3.5/5
Self Service
VFM: 4.5/5
You can find my Zomato review in https://www.zomato.com/review/qzbxPQ

Food Review: Ayati (Hyderabad)

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Tue, 09 Sep 2014 11:51:00 +0000

When I was looking for a place for team lunch around Hi-Tech city area, I got to know about this place from foodies' group as well as from some of my friends. This was a Friday lunch, so had called them a day before for reservation, we were asked to come sharp @12.30pm. Though we reached on time, the buffet was not ready till 12.45pm, a disappointing experience to start with. If you expect punctuality from your customers, you better demonstrate that first!

Anyway as the food was getting ready, we were greeted with a Mango Panna, which tasted really good. Then we proceeded for the buffet, I must admit that I was impressed with the sheer number of items they had for buffet. Around 3/4 types of salad, Dahi Vada, Veg Sikh Kebab, Fried Corn, Kung Pao Fish, Murgh Adraki Kebab, deep fried Moroccon Egg. All of the starters tasted very good.

In the main course, they had Kadai Sabzi, Kadai Paneer, Chicken Malai, Murgh Makhani, Egg Nilgiri(egg cooked with Palak curry). I specially liked the tenderness of Chicken Malai & Egg Nilgiri, the later one was a rather unconventional dish. They also had Veg & Dum Gosht Biriyani. Worth mentioning is the large size yet tender mutton pieces in the biriyani, which is very rare in Hyderabadi cousine.

In the desserts, they had Fruit Pudding, Mango Pudding, Double Ka Meetha, Gazar Ka Halwa, Fresh Fruits & 3 flavours of ice-cream. The Fruit Pudding was the best.

Overall a satisfactory experience as far as food is concerned. On the service, felt they were bit under-staffed. Also, we went in a time where maximum tables were not yet occupied, still they were having difficulty serving. Not sure how they will manage when they will have all the tables booked.

Also felt the number of items were bit heavy for a weekday lunch & the price (375, though they had mentioned that the buffet price would increase very soon)

Food: 4/5
Ambiance: 4/5
Service: 3/5
VFM: 4/5

Disclaimer: As they had too many items for the Buffet, I might have missed out some dishes that I had or even might have mixed up with dishes that were not on offer. My sincere apology in advance.

Are 'We' better than 'Them'

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Thu, 28 Aug 2014 09:47:00 +0000

This post was selected by BlogAdda for Saturday Pick. This was originally posted in Another blog of mine. I am moving it here to consolidate all my blog posts on this blog only from henceforth..

We live such a bright,colorful and dynamic life with varieties spread across horizons that we even feel suffocated to think how they lived their boring, monotonous, black and white life.
We have color TV, 24*7 new channels, umpteen nos of other entertainment medium. They had a b/w TV, news once/twice a day, two movies per week one on Saturday and another one on Sunday. Still we feel not being sufficiently entertained that filler has come in the avatar of reality shows.
We have mobile phone, email, fax, Internet and social network sites. They only had hand written letters which might take weeks to reach the destination and some times would not reach at all, and for some privileged one, a land line phone. Still they were more 'connected' than we seem to be.

We not only change jobs across companies but across domains, too and by the time we retire, most of us will not remember how many jobs we have changed. They, in most cases started their career and retired from the same place. Still I guess they were more satisfied, because the term 'job satisfaction' was not used and heard that frequently then.

We get lost selecting what brand of clothing to wear, where to have tonight's dinner, which car conveys our social status (read bank balance) the best and even for some, picking which BF/GF is the most profitable for us. They were mostly content with the limited options available to them.

We have freedom almost in everything, studying what we want, marrying the person we like, leading a lifestyle we choose, wearing the clothes we find stylish and also the freedom to even ask our parents to shut up, when we found they are not in 'sync' with us. They studied what their father wanted, married the person family chose for them, at times they argued with their parents but with due respect and not crossing the limit of decency.

So to put it simple, we have so many choices and they hardly had any. We consider ourselves living a much better life than they had. We also take stride acknowledging we are far more knowledgeable than them. We are certainly smarter, more matured than they were and we grow at a much faster pace, so much so that we sometimes feel our parents are failing to catch up. I was shocked but not surprised, when I saw one fellow blogger shouting in one of the recent post I visited that why can't the parents grow up (I could not put it within quote as I forgot exactly what he/she said), whatever be the topic it was. Anyway, personal choices apart. But the question of the hour is "Are we happier than them"?

'A happy and peaceful life', I guess that is what most of us aspire for. If everything is better now than before, then my confused mind fails to answer why the suicide rates are much higher today? Why are we so much frustrated in our work life in spite of drawing a salary that they could never think of? In spite of being intelligent, why are we so much confused today? Why marriages are so fragile today than it was ever before? We have everything, but still why do we feel 'something' is missing!!

Are we then a bit quicker than required concluding everything they had is bad, irrational and obsolete. Majority of us believe that most of the values and practices of yesteryear's don't have much relevance today, but is that the ultimate truth, are everything we preach and practice today 'the perfect'? They had already lived their life, most of them are standing at the faded end of their journey waiting for the final call from Him. Where as, we are just living our life, we are yet to reach the destination to be in a position to look back and judge whether the life we had lived is indeed a better one or not. Till then, we need to be little considerate in our thoughts, flexible in our actions, give due respect to those age old 'obsolete' values (we do not agree does not mean we should disrespect it) and also remember nothing is permanent, so what we think righteous today will become irrelevant tomorrow and the way we are treating 'them' who brought us here, we will be treated the same by 'them' whom we will bring here.

I love that movie "Kal Aaj Aur Kal", everyone must watch it, if not already...

Please note:
#1. If you find the post disoriented,conflicting or confusing with the message being conveyed, please ask for clarification. I just poured my thoughts onto paper without thinking anything else much...
#2. The 'We' and 'Them' is what I generally perceive and I am very well aware of the exceptions. So, those who do not fall in either of the category, must not feel offended. In case you feel, my sincere apology.

রঙের গরমিল

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 17:00:00 +0000

পুরুষ দের রঙের বৈচিত্র নিয়ে সমস্যা কিঞ্চিৎ। লাল, নীল আর হলুদ - তিনটে প্রাথমিক রঙ আর তার সাথে মিলিয়ে মিশিয়ে আরো গোটা সাত-আষ্টেক না হয়। মেয়েদের ক্ষেত্রে ব্যাপারটা একটু জটিল। একটা রঙ যতই হোক বিদঘুটে, তার কম্পজিসান হোলই বা ততই জট-পাকানো, মেয়েদের কাছে প্রত্যেকটা রঙের একটা আলাদা আলাদা গুরুত্ব আছে। সে যাই থাকুক না কেন, পুরুষের দৈনন্দিন জীবনে তা নিয়ে তেমন মাথাব্যাথা নেই। মাথাব্যাথা তখনি হয় যখন মা, বোন, বউ, পিসি বা মাসি এর কারণে আমাদের জীবনে বিন-বুলায়ে-মেহেমান এর মত কোন সমস্যার সমাগম হয়। সে আজ থেকে প্রায় বিশ বছর আগের কথা। স্কুলের শারীর শিক্ষার পরীক্ষা। আমাদের নেক্সট জেনারেশান এর ছেলে পিলেদের এই বস্তুটির সম্মুখীন হতে হয়নি, কিন্তু আমাদের কাছে এটা সাক্ষাৎ যমের থেকে কিছু কম ছিল না। যোগব্যায়াম আর শরীরচর্চা এর পরে অশীতিপর বৃদ্ধ মাস্টারমশায় এর প্রশ্নবাণের সম্মুখীন - 'ধমনি কেটে গেলে যে রক্ত বেরোয় তার রঙ কি ?' উত্তর টা এক বিশেষ ধরনের লাল, সেটা মনেই ছিল, কিন্তু হটাৎ কি মনে হোল বললাম, ~ 'রানি কালার'। মাস্টারমশায় আমার দিকে চশমার ভিতর থেকে বৃদ্ধ ক্লান্ত ঘোলাটে চোখ দুটো বড় বড় করে তাকিয়ে আছেন আর পিছন থেকে বন্ধুদের মুচকি মুচকি হাসি কানে আসছে। - 'রানি কালার!! সেটা কেমন রঙ??' আমার পরের উত্তরটা টিপিকাল মৌখিক পরীক্ষার উত্তরের মত - ভিন্ন ভাষায় একই স্টেটমেন্ট এর পুনরাবৃত্তি। ~ 'ওই রানি কালার এর মতই লাল'। - 'এই রানি কালার টা তোমায় কে শিখিয়েছে? আমি তো বাপের জন্মে এমন কোন রঙের নাম শুনেছি বলে মনে পড়ছে না'। ~ 'স্যার, মায়ের মুখে শাড়ি আর লিপস্টিক নিয়ে আলোচনা করার সময় এই রঙ টার নাম শুনেছি'। পরীক্ষার সময় মায়েদের স্কুল এ গিয়ে বসে থাকার একটা চল ছিল আমাদের মায়েদের মধ্যে। অতঃপর গার্জেন কল হোল, একটু আলাদা এই বারে, মানে গার্জেন এর জন্য গার্জেন কল! স্যার মায়ের সাথে কিছু আলোচনা করলেন, আমি দূরে নিষ্পাপ মুখে দাঁড়িয়ে থাকার চেষ্টা করলাম যাতে এর এফেক্ট আমার রেজাল্ট এ না আসে। রেজাল্ট এ প্রভাব পড়েছিল বইকি, উপরি পাওনা ছিল বন্ধুদের সামনে বেইজ্জত হওয়া আর বাড়ি এসে আবার মা এর বকুনি শোনা। কিন্তু পাঠকগন তিন সত্যি করে বলুনতো আমার কোন দোষ ছিল কি? নোটঃ কিছুদিন আগে ফেসবুক এ একটা পোস্ট দেখেছিলাম যে একটা মাল্টিকালার স্পেস এ ছেলেরা যেখানে ৪-৫ টির বেশি কালার দেখতে পায়না, মেয়েরা সেখানে ২৫-৩০ টা কালার আইডেন্টিফাই করতে পারে। সেটা দেখতে দেখতেই এই ঘটনাটা মনে পরে গেল।

Food Review: Pabrai's Fresh & Naturelle Ice Cream (Hyderabad)

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 10:35:00 +0000

I had recently read many positive reviews about this place in Foodie's group, so made a visit on a Saturday evening with family. We reached there around 7pm, not very crowded, yet the few tables they had were all occupied, so had to adjust with the sitting tools. Small disappointment to start with. Ordered 1 scoop of Nolen Gur (Date Palm Jaggery) & 1 scoop of Pan(Betel Leaves). As soon as we took the first bite, everyone was awestruck. The feeling inside the mouth was exactly the same that I was expecting. Could not believe that someone could recreate the exact flavours for these not-so-common ice-cream flavours.

The option of making 1/2 scoop of two different flavors into one single scoop came handy when we were planning to order next. We tried 1 scoop(1/2 Pan + 1/2 Nolen Gur), 2 scoops of Kesaria Rabri Malai, 1 scoop of Mango Alphonso for kid. The mango was a total let down. Parents liked the Rabri Malai, even more than the Pan, they did not like the strong flavour of Pan that much. Thereafter, went on to try some other flavors like Lemon Grass(found it blunt, could be the because of lingering effect of strong Pan still in my mouth), tender Coconut, South Indian Coffee. The coconut was one more surprising flavor, taste wise it was no less than the Pan/Nolen Gur.

When we were almost done, there came a pleasant surprise. As we did not get a table to sit initially, they offered a complimentary scoop of Chandan(Sandalwood) Sugar Free. The fragrance of Chandan was very much prominent. Overall a bill amount of 640/= for is very good value for money. Will definitely go there again. I recommend this place a must-visit for the Ice-Cream lovers

Food: 4.5/5
Ambiance: 3/5
VFM: 4/5
Self Service

My Zomato review can be found here https://www.zomato.com/review/qzqwbQ

শরীরচর্চা

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Tue, 13 May 2014 14:11:00 +0000

হাতে এখন অঢেল সময়, তার উপরে কদিন পরে বাড়ি গিয়ে আঁশটে পিষ্টে খাবো। যে ওজন টাকে অতি কষ্টে লেটার মার্কস এর নিচে নামিয়েছি তাকে তো আর উপরে উঠতে দেয়া যায়না। অতএব গতকাল সকালে একটু বেশি ই এক্সারসাইজ করে ফেলেছি, যাকে পাতি বাংলা বা আমাদের যাদবপুরিয়ান ভাষায় "বার" খাওয়া বলে আর কি। যাইহোক, বেশি কিছু করিনি, জাস্ট নর্মাল ৩ পাক এর জায়গায় কালকে ৮ পাক রানিং করলাম , তার পরে কিছু ফ্রি হ্যান্ড, একটু উঠক বৈঠক আর নিজেকে আয়নায় মেপে একটা বেশ গর্বিত ফীলিং হোল। যথারীতি আপিস এ এসে রেগুলার কাজ কম্ম শুরু হোল। লাঞ্চ টাইম এ যেই ডাক পড়ল, অনুভাব করলাম য শরীর র মনের মধ্যে কথাও একটা তু তু ম্যায় ম্যায় হয়েছে। মানে চেয়ার থেকে উঠতে চাইছি কিন্তু কেমন যেন পারছি না। অনেক কষ্টে উঠে লাঞ্চ তা করে আসলাম। লোকজন জানতে চাইলে বলেছি ফুটবল খেলতে গিয়ে একটু আধটু লেগেছে আর কি। কিন্তু তার পরে যতবার ই হাঁটছি মনে হচ্ছে সবাই কেমন যেন আমাকে আড়চোখে চেয়ে আছে। টেকনিক্যালি বোঝাতে গেলে শরীর এর নিচের অর্ধাংশ ভারটিকালি আছে আর ঊর্ধ্ব অর্ধাংশ তা যেনও ভারটিকাল এর সাথে ৩০ ডিগ্রি একটা অ্যাংগল করে চলছে। অনেকটা ওই "আঁখে" ছবিতে চাঙ্কি পাণ্ডের "ও লাল দুপাট্টা ওয়ালি" গান টায় কোমর দুলিয়ে নাচ টার মতো। যাইহোক, আপাতত অনেকটা ভাল আর হে এরকম একটা সেলফি পোস্ট করতে একটু রুচিতে বাধছিল বইকি, কিন্তু মনে পড়ল দুর্দিনে ব্যাথা ব্যাদনা শেয়ার করলে নাকি কষ্ট থেকে তাড়াতাড়ি সুরহা মেলে, তাই পোস্ট করলাম

The third person

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Thu, 24 Apr 2014 10:16:00 +0000

The wife just finished her morning bath. Traditionally dressed in a sari, getting ready for the Puja, carefully applying the Sindoor on her forehead. For some unknown reason, her hands are shaking, she is restless, is there anything to fear? is anything unusual?

A car just reached the house. Comes out a girl, modernly dressed in a nicely cut jeans. The door bell rings and suddenly she drops the Sindoor box on the floor by mistake. Is it a sign of misfortune? Who has come? Wife slowly opens the door, the husband also accompanies soon. It turns out the guest is an old college friend of the husband.

Every one comes inside. Wife slightly pushes the husband to a corner, "Did she study with you in the college"? "Yes", the husband replies, "we were very close friends". "But I have never heard of her, you told about all your other friends, not about her"!!, wife is surprised. An aunty from a distant relation joins the discussion from the other corner, "Can everything from the college life be shared" & she winks.

This is the story on the other side. On this side, the husband, sitting on the sofa & smiling from the corner of one eye looking at the wife. Wife is angry, visibly disappointed with the sudden appearance of that college friend. A pillow fight starts, followed by a loud laughter. Suddenly Muntasir(our son) comes running "Ammu, ammu ki hoyeche (Mother, what happened)"?

Watching TV serial once in a while is a very good stress buster...

Food Review: Khaa Ke Dekh (Hyderabad)

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Fri, 28 Mar 2014 10:49:00 +0000

As soon as we entered, the aroma of the traditional Kolkata biriyani just engulfed us. We tried mutton & chicken biryani, roti & mutton pasinda. The biriyani had all the original flavour(yes the potatoes, the integral part of Kolkata biriyani was present!!), the mutton was so soft that it just melted inside my mouth. The quantity of a single plate biriyani & the chicken/mutton sizes were not what you would get in an usual Hyderabadi biriyani, but it is sufficient for a single person.

Few areas of improvements include either increase the chicken/mutton size in the biriyani or reduce the price even lower, more structured service(e.g. I was not given the raita & the salon).

This place is NOT for you
- If you are looking for a swanky restaurant with good spacious ambiance, it is not. Don't plan to take your office client there.
- If you are very much reserved about south Indian style, please avoid.

This is a must try for you
- If you want to enjoy very good food with reasonable price with friends/family
- If you are craving for a Kolkata style biriyani in Hyderabad, it's must for you.

Also, it is good to keep in mind that in the same price, you would get almost the double quantity of Hyderabadi biriyani in any biryani joint in Hyderabad. Hyderabadi biriyanis typically have less flavour (fragrance of Ghee, spices etc.) compared to Kolkata biryani. So, don't go for comparison, it's not apple vs. apple. But as far as the authentic taste, fragrance, flavours of a Kolkata biriyani is concerned, this place has all of them.

Food: 4/5
Ambiance: 3.5/5
Service: 3/5
VFM: 3/5

Unity in Diversity: a Reality or a Myth

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Tue, 14 Jan 2014 09:47:00 +0000

This post was selected by BlogAdda for Tuesday Pick. This was originally posted in Another blog of mine. I am moving it here to consolidate all my blog posts on this blog only from henceforth..

During my childhood, I first met India through these three words, "Unity in Diversity". That in spite of our religious,cultural,linguistic and so many other differences, we are one unique nation. Then during my formative years, I realized the inner significance of those three words, it was not easy to earn our independence with so many differences & still being united, a stupendous task fighting hand in hand against the British in spite of religious differences at a time, where still in many parts of India a Hindu could not drink a glass of water at a Muslim's house and vice versa, an unbelievable achievement where each individual, each group, each states had its share of problems still the cause of the nation stood bigger than everything else.That was indeed "Unity in Diversity".

Now after knowing my India for about more than 2 decades (even though I am 30, but leaving the initial 10 years) I often wonder why India is where it is today. Ask any one from 'mango people'(Am janta) to the intellects to the privileged one and there is no dearth of reasons for the wretched condition India is today & my apparent answers are also the same. But is it really so? If it's size and population, China is ahead of us, if 60 years of independence too short, South Korea was independent in 1945, Malaysia in 1957,UAE in 1971, if it's politicians, we choose them, if sluggish and corrupt govt officials, then I am sure some of them are our close relatives/acquaintances and did we ever protest? NO!!! Therefore, for every reasons we have, we have a counter argument, too and that convinces me enough to believe that these reasons are just not enough, there is something else beneath.

So, let's see in stead of talking non-stop about the problems, if we set out to solve it, whether that leads us to the devil which is causing India so much pain. And just for the sake of comparison, if i want my India to be the USA, where are the difficulties. Now I sincerely believe, for every nation to progress further, there should be one nerve bonding every single individual. One cause above every other small individual interests & I guess that is missing here.If you don't feel brotherhood, at least don't feel divided. An American from California does not feel difference from his fellow countrymen from Florida the way a Punjabi feels from a Tamil, just because they speak two different languages.'Where(which state) are you from?' I have hardly heard this in US whereas it is such a common question here whenever we are meeting an unknown.Development is up most important there, a road will be built if it has to be built.Here a road will only be built, if there is no Mandir or Masjid,if the land does not belong to people supporting a particular political party.There not too many political parties exist and they talk about real issues, here we always suspect people from other community, other state and that's why so many parties, and without any real agenda, they always have people base.These parties only help keeping those disruptive sentiments alive because that provides their bread and butter.And I can go on and on about this.

We human beings, like any other living creatures are selfish by nature, nothing wrong. I love me, my family, my near and dear ones. Then is it not natural that I love my mother tongue more than other language? If it was Hindi or something else but only one for every Indian, we would have felt less divided. We have often seen two educated, cultured Bengali talking in Bengali completely ignoring the presence of a third non-Bengali speaking person in official discussion in our corporate offices (Being a Bengali, I dared to take them here, but it is prevalent among all).The same two Bengali wouldn't dare to speak a single Bengali word in the presence of their foreign colleagues in foreign countries.If we did not have so much diversified food habit,I would be less hesitant to stay in Chennai and same for a Keralites in Punjab.I do not deny the variety of food we taste, the various festival we celebrate, hardly any one experience the same in any other country.But beneath underline somewhere, does it make us more attached to our homeland which is our state and not the country.We all know that if everyone does his part,takes care of their own panchayat, village, municipality, state the problem will be solved. But being such a diverse country, conflicts arise and soon we forget about the country and think only about us, our state, our language, our religion.

More often that not, we are asked to use our vote to curb all the problems we face.But when we vote, don't we vote more for the local causes than the national issues? Do you think a sincere and honest central minister would easily win the next election if he does more development in other than his home states, even if those states genuinely required it from his department?

The diversity is an integral part of India but the unity seems to be fading with each passing day.As a whole,anyway we are gradually becoming narrower, more happily living in our small corners blinding ourselves from the rest and this is worsening the situation.I wish we had leaders who could have again bonded us with the single chord like they did in pre-independence.The future looks bleak & I earnestly want but can't see a bright sunshine. Everyday I hope for miracles, may be with "bhagaban bharase", we will rise again. But then GOD helps them who helps themselves. How? Does anyone have an answer?

P.S. #1. I am very well aware of the problem USA has, I have mentioned them just for comparison purpose from development perspective.
#2. The examples I have cited above are purely my personal experiences.
#3. Most importantly, I know this post is highly debatable, so please share your thoughts without hesitation, even if not a single person agree with me, I don't mind. These cluster of thoughts were roaming in my mind for some time, and this post is primarily to clarify my own doubts.So, your honest opinion is sincerely appreciated :)

Dos & Don'ts while job change (Part 2)

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 18:09:00 +0000

If you have happened to come here directly, please read the previous post here before continuing further.
Whenever we think of any job change, it is more often than not for a better career as well as for a better life rather than getting out of a messy work environment i.e. your present job. So, you should always look for the positives what your next job is offering, but at the same time, you should also take sufficient precaution to safeguard yourself from landing into another worse environment.You should leave no stone unturned to scratch every truth beneath the carpet whatever you can.So, here are those that one shouldn't do while going for a job change.Needless to mention, the below points are in no particular order.
Do NOTs #1: Do not mix business with relation. You might have heard it before, but here the context is little different.If you are planning to join an organization through reference of your friends, ex-colleagues or any other acquaintance, listen to them but finally take your own decision with enough self conviction.Just because he/she is saying everything is good at the new place, it need not necessarily be true.Do not forget that your acquaintance also has responsibilities toward his/her own org, so practically there is no point to believe that he/she is baring all the facts in front of you & also to remember, if something does not work out as planned in the new place, it is mostly you who has to take care of yourself.Listen to everyone, but believe your instincts and take your own decision.
Do NOTs #2: Do not be a hanging fruit,have your own roots.During your job interviews, try to get clarification about your job responsibility as much as possible. You should have your own identity and you should not be identified as which big tree you are working under. You might get some advantage being in the shadow of some big boss, but you also run into danger of loosing your job when the tree top itself is chopped off.Also do not buy statements in response to any of your concerns like "oh..don't worry, you will be working with/under me and everything will be fine". What is the guarantee that the person who is promising you today will be tomorrow in that organization? Try to get the answers you are looking for, then question yourself and if you find yourself convinced, go ahead.
Do NOTs #3: Do not compromise with yourself.After seeing the big pay cheque being offered, we think we would be able to adjust, compromise.But unless you are into the situation, you do not know the limit you can stretch.Think yourself & compare the excitement you had after seeing the first pay slip of your present job and the excitement that you get now after receiving your month's salary. It is the day to day proceedings that keeps you going and if that starts to piss you off, I doubt even your dream salary could hold you back in that org.There is a core among all of us and there is a wrapper, where we try to do all the adjustment keeping the core intact.Do not compromise with that core of yours, exceptions apart, most people are not comfortable compromising that in lieu of anything!!
Do NOTs #4: Do not let your decision be wrongly influenced by others. The young people face a dilemma when what they want is different than what their parent wants.Do not take a decision telling your parents that they don't know a thing and also do not take a decision only to make your parents happy sacrificing your interest.It is very true that if you are not happy, you can't make others happy. There are better ways to show respect to your parents, to make them happy. But if you feel they are wrong, don't accept it, have a decent discussion, let both the parties put forth their perspective, and then reach a conclusion.
Do NOTs #5: Do not blind yourself just after seeing the offer letter, but unfortunately this is what most of us do.If career to you is to only make money,then you should not read any further :P.Otherwise,make a career, reach the desired destination, everything else will automatically fall into place.Do not look for a job change to bail you out from an unplanned bank loan. do not look for a job change to have an extended foreign trip at the expense of others.It is very important for all of us to realize that the Indian industries(specially the software industries) are changing and gone are the days where you are as big as the no. of reportee you have in your excel sheet in spite of you might not have any substantial knowledge.You have to really put lot of effort just to plan your career, focus on your learning, make yourself indispensable and to quote someone I have indirectly worked with "Be buyable, don't be sellable".
Again, thanks to all those great people I am privileged to have work with and when people are appreciating the posts on this subject, the credit actually goes to them.I am just conveying what they have taught me & I am absolutely not political here, sincerely.

Dos & Don'ts while job change

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 08:21:00 +0000

One of the most disturbing element of your otherwise peaceful work life is the news that some colleague of yours is leaving the present organization with a hike of X%.Suddenly a whole list of dissatisfaction from nowhere starts floating in front of your eyes and you loose your mental peace. The more is that percentage hike figure, the more you loose your good night sleep. Changing a job becomes your prestige issue. There is nothing wrong in changing a job, but if there is not enough reason to leave your present job & if you have not thought well about your future job, you will be in further mess & if you continue this for 2-3 times, you will soon find yourself in no man's land where every road in front of you seems to be blocked. So this is what I feel every one specially the young ones MUST do & MUST NOT do before changing your present job.

Dos #1: Ask yourself what would be the exit criteria for your next job that you are considering taking upon.I was simply stunned when I was asked the same!! We become so obsessed with the excitement of leaving our present job and going to a new place, we hardly try to see a little further. If the exit criteria for my present job is as same as that of my next job, it is of equal probability that it would be the same for my next to next job,too.And if we keep on this job hopping, the reason could be either we are escapist, or we don't know what we want or we just want to have short cut always.But irrespective of the reason, there is only one outcome and you will simply find yourself lost.

Dos #2: List down what all is causing pain in your present job, what you did to rectify them and what you are looking from your next job.Believe me, there is a difference between thoughts roaming around our minds and penning them down.Only when you write them, you will find many of the obvious issues you thought is actually no longer an issue, it was just one of your random thoughts. When you are completely sure that there was nothing more you could have tried to solve the existing issues, then only you should look for a new job, otherwise mostly the problem is with you.

Dos #3: Always have a plan for your career and if it is not for your entire career, it should at least be for the next 3/5 years. And you will change your job only if it is aligned with your master plan.Some time people change jobs with the intention of changing again within 1-2 years, nothing wrong if it helps you reaching closer to your target, otherwise just changing the job for whatever reason without any plan will not lead you anywhere.

Dos #4: Remember the golder rule "You will not get everything".So, be prepared for surprises in your next job. Other than your pay cheque, there are lot of other aspects in your present job, which has intangible value but we just don't realize them because they don't reflect in our pay slip. Don't get yourself disheartened if you miss any of them in your next job. You get some, you loose some, that's the way it is.

Dos #5: Think of this.To take a big leap forward, it helps if you first take few steps backward and then jump in stead of jumping from the same place.This is so true in life as well. If you need to sacrifice here and there while changing your job, it is fine as long as it helps you reaching the target as per your plan. Don't try to get everything.Every individual is different, give weightage to what is important to you and if you get them, go for the change.

This post is already long enough, so I would talk about the DONTs in my next post.

P.S. The above Dos are in no particular order. My sincere thanks to all those people from whom I have learned whatever I am talking here otherwise neither I have enough professional experience to be seasoned nor I am formally educated on this subject.

P.P.S. This is my first post after almost 6 months.When you have a jam packed work schedule and a new born baby at home, I guess you hardly have time to even breathe:)

GolMal hain bhai Sab gOLmAL hain

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:58:00 +0000

During my onsite trips in early stages of my career, I used to write long emails back home to my college friends giving them "update".Those emails were not my usual tour diary, covering common stuffs,but I used to focus on any weird, foolishly funny and mostly unique incident that occurred on that trip surrounding me. So, when few days back, one of my college friend told me that I am blogging good and that he first noticed the "writer" inside me after going through those long emails, I thought why not revisit those emails from Hall of Fame (read from the old mail archive of yahoo group mail ) and share with a larger audience here.So, without wasting further time on introduction, here are those real funny stories, bole to ekdum 'dil se'

Words of caution: This post contains mild non-veg, I could not edit them as they are being integral part of the story itself. Viewer discretion is advised :-)

Story #1:

While going to US, I had a stop over in Frankfurt for around 2 hours and it being my first trip, I got lost while searching my connecting flight.I was late and did not have time to freshen up in the morning,thought will do it once I board my connecting flight. As soon as I boarded the flight to Chicago, I headed for the restroom with my toothbrush and toothpaste. But after I started brushing my teeth, I found something unusual, weird, indescribable taste, not the usual foam, too. I came back to my seat with a disgusting feeling inside my mouth that I never tasted before. But when I was about to keep the brush and paste into my shaving kit, I realized the toothpaste was already there!! What did I use then? I looked at my hand and I was holding, along with the tooth brush, a tube of HIMALAYA AYURVEDIC CONCEPT......ANTICEPTIC CREAM!!!

Story #2:

Once me and my friend were travelling & I was driving the car. As I needed to change my lane, I started blinking th indicator, but there were cars coming at a faster speed on the adjacent lane, so I had to wait. I let the first car pass by, then the second and then the third. By this time, I was impatient and I thought it's now or never. I sharply changed my lane in front of the incoming car from behind and almost instantly, all those colorful lights started flashing on my back. I was very confident that i was within the legitimate speed limit. Not knowing what my fault was but following the rules, I stopped at the sideways and the flashing light followed me, I was sure it was "him" and it was me he was after.

I came out of the car barefooted, with my shorts on and started walking towards the cop .By the way, I did not know that in such situations, I am supposed to sit in my car and wait for the cops to come. Any approach made by me could be seen as revolt and the cops are allowed to shoot me. Anyway, knowledge posessed at the right time matters and not afterwards. I heard the guy shouting at me but did not realize his words. I gradually reached towards him and after a long discussion with him, I finally realized what I did. The cop was chasing those three cars which I let pass by in the beginning as they were over speeding and I actually blocked him from following them. Poor me, but I was still fortunate that I was not fined and more importantly, I was not shot.

Story #3:

After exploring all the nice scenic beauty around the Miami beach, we felt it was time to take a step forward. Yes, you are right, we wanted to explore the nude beach!!! We did not know the direction, nor did we get any help from Yahoo Maps. Only information, we had was one of our senior visited there few days back with my same old friend (I mentioned before) and now that friend is to lead the way for us from the front. But unfortunately , he only remembers some turn at some places not the exit number not the name of the place. He told us "You take me there then I can recognize but I can't tell how to go there"!!Can you imagine a better navigator??

So, we set out for this audacious adventure and after roaming around for an hour or so around Miami, finally we reached the parking lot of a beach. My friend told us the name of the beach sounds familiar to him, but as opposed to what he promised before, he can't recognize the place!! Anyway, we entered the parking place hoping to get some information from the security guard there and to make things worse for us, there was a lady at the ticket counter. How could we ask a lady whether that is the nude beach!!! Everyone was hesitant but at the same time not ready to back off after coming so far. So, I (Why me? I don't know. Either I was the foolest of the lot so they could have convinced me or somewhere I had read before leaders step up in situations when no one else does !!) finally gathered some courage and approached the lady

"Mamm..(mumbling already) is it the XYZ (I don't remember the exact name now) beach?" Even though we had read the name at the entrance but we had no other idea of starting the discussion..
Lady: "Yes, it is the nude beach you are looking for. $20 per hour"!!! We were still as if struck by a lightning, we did not expect to be exposed and that too in front of a lady that we were looking for a nude beach. We might be just interested to visit the beach in general and not interested in that "special" fenced area!! GOD knows what made her think like that, but I hope it was not evident on our facial expression.Still feel shame about that incident :(

Story #4:

This is the second part of the story related to the same beach, happened after a year during another trip, it was time to guide our juniors. This time, we did not have any difficulty reaching there, enjoyed a lot and came back to our apartment. Everyone got involved chit-chatting of what they have seen, they have done there etc. Suddenly I saw one of our junior very depressed, not taking part in the discussion and sitting aloof.

"Kyu re kya huan?..tu itna udas kyu hain" (what happened? why looking depressed? ) I asked...
"Nehi actually not feeling good, mujhe wahape(he was referring to the beach) nehi jana chahiye tha" (I shd not have gone to that beach)..he replied.
"are thik hain" I said, "parents ko thodi pata chalega, aur tera abhi GF bhi nehi hain...so why r u worrying"? (anyway parents will not know this and you do not have a GF yet to answer, so chill)
He replied instantly "yeh thik nehi huan, kuch cheese ey shadi ke bad hi dekhna chaiye"!!!(This was not right, certain things should only be seen after marriage!!) I have never heard a better one liner than this in my entire life.

Customer is GOD

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:08:00 +0000

If there is one mantra driving business all over the world, then it had to be "Customer is GOD". Since the day we turn into a professional till we retire, so many times in so many situations we are bombarded with this single line phrase, that the real GOD sitting above takes a back seat.And because GOD is the super power, he can't ever go wrong, he even can't afford to and so are His so many avatars on the mother earth.'They' are always correct.

Whether we like it or not, this business model will continue until and unless someone comes up with a better idea/better slogan to run the businesses with a bigger profit margin.And this model works OK as long as we are inside the four walls of our neat and clean AC offices, some time we curse the customer, some time we make fun of them to flush out our frustration but we accept that he is the GOD and we move on.But the ugly teeth of the problem comes out even bitterly when we are out of the office, the role is reversed and now we are 'the Customer'.We start behaving as if the rest of the world is at our service, be it the restaurant we go to, the airlines we fly in and even the mere grocery shop we go to.

Basic dignity and respect towards a fellow human being is vaporized. We are all out with our 'the Customer' tag, a slight mistake on the other side make us furious (only we forget the lesson "To err is human") and we don't mind asking for his head, after all how could he make the customer unhappy.We easily forget we were nothing more of a kitten a few hours back inside that four walls, not even daring to speak. In a country where the demi Gods (read the cricketers) are often treated better than the real GOD & where money talks more than anything else, this is of no surprise at all.Incidents of human being harassing another human being in the name of not adhering to 'Customer Satisfaction' is so common that we have lost the sensitivity to even notice it.

Once I was traveling from Mumbai to Kolkata on a flight and because of traffic or whatever reason, the airplane was waiting for long on the side ways before taking off.I was feeling very hot and asked the air hostess whether the temperature inside the flight is Ok.In the same situation another discussion goes between the person sitting beside me and the air hostess as follows:
P(Passenger): Is not the AC running?

H(Air hostess): Yes sir, it is running perfectly.

P: Then am i lying? Are not you able to see the I am sweating? (How on earth an air hostess would know whether a person is sweating?Is that part of her job responsibility)

H: Sir, I am sorry, but as soon as it would be air born, the temperature would be just fine.

P: Why is it taking so long to take off? Why don't you ask the pilots?

H: Sir, I don't have any idea and because this is take off time, we are not allowed to go inside the cockpit.

P: So, then what do we do now? Wait here for eternity and sweat like pig? (This was not some dehati flying for the first time, but a suited booted executive)

H: Sir i am really sorry, we will try our best to adjust the temperature.Sorry for the inconveniences.
And as soon as the air hostess is gone, that guy starts talking to me to gain support in favor of him and as always I feel disgusted talking to such people, so just after nodding my head once I looked other way.

We copy so many things from the west and we don't forget to refer to the west when cribbing about our country but more often than not, we forget to imbibe the good qualities from them and one of them is "No job is detestable".There are better jobs and there are not so good one, there are highly paid ones and there are of low wages, too but nothing of them gives any one the right to disrespect the other fellow human being.Why are we so much self possessed about our social status that we don't waste a single opportunity to show it off?Why don't we be a little considerate in our demand (I agree that we should get the service if we are paying)?And above all, why do we forget what mental trauma we go through when humiliated by our supervisor/customer? When we are serving the customer, we wish if the customer was understanding, flexible and shows respect to us and unfortunately we forget everything when we are sitting at the other side of the table.I don't think I have ever seen a worse example of double standards...

Our Eid, Their Durga Puja

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 09:40:00 +0000

The religious demarcation does not leave as much an unfathomable impression on the aged mind as it does on a young soul. Being grown up, you make a choice and take a decision, but for the younger ones, who are yet to conceive the true essence of religion, it is baffling as well as sometimes heart breaking not being able to realize why Durga Puja is “their” festival where as Eid is “our”s.

All my close friends till date are from non-Muslim background & I never seemed to have questioned why. Neither had I any prejudice of considering their religion before making friends, nor my traditional parents ever forced me to be friend with “Muslims” only .They were my closest circle and they still are and I never found difference in religious beliefs making any interventions ever into that sacred territory.

But it was that time of the year, when the two biggest festival of both these religion, the Durga Puja & the Eid, were celebrated I used to find myself secluded from this known circle of mine. Neither did they do it intentionally, nor did I keep myself away. I was never fascinated about wearing new clothes during festival, but when they used to boast of their increasing count of Pujo’r Jama (Puja shopping), I wished the same for me, too. When I saw all their houses coming to live with pre-puja preparation, it was the usual day-in-day-out in our house. The gentle touch of the sweet breeze without the suffocating humidity from the previous rainy season, the blue sky above except a cluster of clouds scattered throughout, the huge puja mandaps being built and the roads being lit up to embrace the Mother Goddess, everything in the whole environment seemed to have gone for a facelift except my nearest vicinity being the usual same, everywhere I used to sense that pujo pujo gandho (I could not translate it into English, but here are the ingredients to make that "pujo pujo smell" in the comments section of this post ) , except no activity, no hustling bustling in and around our house.

Of all the four days, I missed the Ashtami the most. All the people used to gather at the pujo pandels to offer the Anjali to Debi Durga. While for the elders, it was devotion time, it was that unique golden opportunity of the year for the Gen Next. The boy would anxiously wait for her since morning and plan the timing for Anjali together (the girl will obviously come with her family, so the enactment had to be perfect with precious timing as if they just bumped into each other to sweep away any suspicion). Therefore, on the D-day, while all my friends would be rigorously working on their self made assignment, I would be trying my heart out to concentrate on my studies, just to distract myself from being left alone, just to brush off the despondency of not being able to offer my Anjali with her, not being able to contemplate that rare glimpse of her in those gorgeous sarees (Well…for those looking at me with a suspicious look, you know most of these were one-sided that time & today I don’t have slender idea of where she is & I am happily married, happy ha?).

Nabami night is the one, I would be earnestly looking forward, when all of us would go for our puja darshan. This was the only breather for me in those suffocating four days, when, I would be among them again and enjoy the festival, which is as much of mine as of theirs. We would roam around the town for Debi darshan with most of us eagerly looking for the "other" debi, the love of our life, how fabulous they look in their puja dresses, we would also keep an vigil so that we don’t get caught off guard by any of our teachers, and we would finally end our excursion by having an sumptuous meal in a restaurant (in those days we did not have cultures of eating at places every now and then and so we would look for this day to have a full meal outside, of our choice and most importantly sponsored by parents :D)

And when it was Eid for us, my day would start with praying Eid er Namaz at the nearby mosque in the morning, taking blessings from the elders and giving blessing to my younger sister too, a 100 rupee note,and then having delicious meals in friend's & neighbor's places. Somtime it also included various sports competition arranged by a local club. But amidst all these, I would still feel solitary, my celebration being incomplete and would be impatiently looking for the afternoon, when all my friends would visit our house. Then only, my Eid celebration would be in full swing. Without them, it would be just another day gone by.

Today, staying away from Kolkata I don't miss Durga Puja as much as I did then and I also don't miss Eid without my friends, for my very own circle has grown up with my wife, brother-in-law, nieces and likes. I have also realized friendship is not about meeting them day in day out, more importantly be there when they need. But the silent solitariness of those 4 days still scrape my inside, and the ineffable pain of missing those precious moments makes my heart tattered at times. My sacrosanct childhood questions my profane adulthood "Was I incomplete? And why was me different from my coevals"? Is it because the month long Puja'r chuti, the family vacation, the Rabindra Sangeet being played out at almost every Puja pandels, everything created an exuberance that wrapped the whole ambiance which Eid never did for me.Or is it because somewhere the thin underlying religious difference played its part, if I was to offer Anjali with them and if they were to pray Eid er namaz with me, religion would have reached the pinnacle of divinity. If i had Muslim friends, would the celebration be different? Whatever it may be, the aged me never had an answer to the question of that effervescent child and I will never have the answer...

My MOTO: Memories Forever

noreply@blogger.com (Mustaf) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:00:00 +0000

Disclaimer:
This is my personal opinion about one of the organization I had worked before and I have intentionally ommitted the name of the organization to avoid any
unnecessary controversy. I have used "MOTO" below whenever I need to refer to the organization.
I repeat this is my "personal opinion" & everyone is entitled to have their own and agree/disagree with me.********************************************************************************
Hardly a couple of months back, with MOTO announcing the closure of one of its business division in Hyderabad, the journey finally came to an end. The journey, that started a decade ago in a tiny little corner of a rented house with very few employees, made MOTO-Hyderabad standing on its own feet on the Indian IT map. Over the years, it had created an identity of its own, shredded the image of being a younger sibling of MOTO-Bangalore, crafted an platform for so many success stories worldwide. The journey reached its pinnacle with the release of "MyRazr" (dummy name of a world famous mobile phone), when it almost become the #1 player in the mobile world.

But unfortunately of late, a combination of various reasons resulted in declining market share & the graph started descending. People had started to leave for better opportunity. There were those who tried to hang on till the very end, but some of them had to be practical, leave their emotional attachment aside and move on. But everyone, including the one who already left and the one still hopeful, prayed that MOTO should bounce back. The most surprising fact was that more than the one still being with MOTO, it was those who already left, wanted MOTO to return to its glory. They already had seen the world outside, the work culture, the relationship among people and so many other factors that they were quick to realize what made MOTO stand out from the rest of its contemporaries. Every now and then I used to receive those phone calls from my ex-colleagues eagerly waiting to know any sign of a good news. They were on their toes. just to be back to the old family. I could see the dreams of reuniting again in their eyes.

With the decision of MOTO shutting down one of its business division in Hyderabad center, these dreams are all shattered. Everyone has accepted the reality that the distant hope they had of going back to MOTO again, is no longer feasible. The far reaching effect of this lost hope is more than the immediate effect of some people losing their job. You loose a job today, you will hopefully find another one tomorrow, but it is painful to accept that you will hardly get those relationships where one is in hurry to catch the train to go home and his manager is doing his work sitting at his desk to meet the deadline or the one where you can ask for your manager's opinion about the organization that you are going for an interview next week or even the one, where an appraisal meeting went for 5 hours till the wee hours in the morning because the person being appraised had lot of issues to discuss other than his own assessment and the manager believed it was his responsibility to listen to all those issues first, whether or not they are relevant, can be discussed upon. MOTO is not the only organization in the world, where you find such instances, but such examples are very few and MOTO is one of the best among them.

There are not too many places in the world which teaches you that human beings are more important than the mere deliverables, that taking care of personal responsibilities is as equally important as taking care of professional assignments, that relationships are built over time with respect and trust irrespective of an individual's position in the organization. It is always believed that a base should be strong enough to build a monument and I am fortunate MOTO has given me that base both professionally and personally. And the same feeling is echoed by others, too some of them even are introspecting whether they took the right decision by leaving MOTO. I guess it was then rightly said that when something is not with you, then only you realize its actual worth.

Like every other good thing, this was to come to an end and may be so did it happen. But the name "MOTO" is etched into our hearts, those memories are still vivid in our minds and that very dream of reuniting again may be still alive in some eyes. Some dreams are too good to be realized, but still we should dream, who knows one day it might just materialize.

Note:I would specially request to all my MOTO ex-colleagues to share your experiences with MOTO. And stick to "MOTO" please, don't take the name while commenting :-)