'Gang'uly is no more with the Gang!

The extraordinary Indian cricketer Sourav Chandidas Ganguly, popularly known as the Bengal tiger among the fans, has bid farewell to his team & the international cricket recently. Ganguly's contribution to Indian cricket is no ordinary. In a country where cricket is a religion, he would be remembered as the most capable captain. He has been the most successful test skipper of Indian cricket. Under him, Indian team regularly won the tests overseas which was not that prominent until Sourav stepped in.

Ganguly was always ready to come back with great energy whenever he was put down under deep pressure. Ganguly, as a captain made remarkable changes to the team in order make the team get used to winning and not to lose. He encouraged new talent and it is said that even the BCCI( Board Of Control for Cricket in India) could not stop a new player coming into the field if Ganguly is confident about the potential of the player. He instilled the fighting spirit in the team for them to fight back and not to lose hope of winning. There were times when many questions were raised against his moves, but Dada says that he did everything in the best interest of the team's progress. Indian cricketing scene has changed a lot with the times, but the changes associated by the contributions of players like Ganguly are truly inspiring. He made a great comeback after he was not included into the squad in between due to his poor performance in few matches then. The way he was back is certainly a ray of hope & a wonderful saga of inspiration to all the new aspirants of cricketing career.

The last day of the Border Gavaskar Test series is indeed a very emotional day for India as Dada bid farewell to the game. Ganguly has repeated his stunt by throwing of his shirt in to the crowd, which every cricket fan loved. When asked, he told that one among the fans was shouting for his shirt and he threw it. Ganguly was candid in saying that he was misunderstood many times by the cricket fraternity. He also admitted that no place for him in the One Day International squad is also one of the reasons for his retirement and says that he took so much time to make this decision. He says that he still can play but wanted to retire.

No matter what, Ganguly will be remembered forever for his aggressive captaincy and splendid statistics of the game. Other than this, he was also voted the Bengali No 1 in the CNN IBN polls. He says that he would miss Sachin & other players. To the surprise of Ganguly, he got a t-shirt signed by his team members with the courtesy of his wife. Finally Ganguly will no more be with the gang & the gang will miss Ganguly, so will we.

Oh-balm-aah! worked magically to create history

On a Tuesday night when the world was eager to know the future of the American political scenario, walked the first African American president Barack Obama to deliver the historic victory speech. Yes the Americans who were feeling Oh! were relieved by the balm to make them feel Aah!. The new balm which relieved the pain of the majority of the American population is called Obama( Oh-balm-aah!).
Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama has created history by defeating his Republican rival John McCain to become the first Black President of the United States. The 47 year old democratic senator was successful in convincing the large crowds who wanted a change. The would be president celebrated his election victory at the Grant park in Chicago where close to a million people were present to witness the moment which transformed the political scene of the USA. While I was watching him speak, I felt that the magic of words is no less than the magic of a pain relieving balm when you are in extreme pain. I now understand the greatest strength that one could carry is to have the charm & magic of words which can influence & draw people towards you. He uses few realistic examples like a 106 years old woman casting her vote to make the crowd understand the way America has transformed over the years. Whatever we say, the magic has worked on the majority of the American population who now are happy to hear Obama speak.
He is a great admirer of Mahatma & draws huge inspiration from the works of Mahatma. He believes in the transformational change that can be brought in if all the ordinary people join together to do extraordinary things. That could be the reason he might have tried working extra ordinarily with other ordinary people. It was really good to see him making the optimum use of all the available resources, like all forms of media to raise contributions for campaigns to spreading the word over. I could notice the spark in his eyes while he was delivering the historic victory speech which tells us that hard work pays. Obama having an experience of just 3 years in the senate has really worked hard to achieve this. Finally the day has come where America proved that it is ready for the change. With the kind of commitment towards the betterment of the American society, Obama is sure to create a remarkable history. The struggle that he went through since his childhood before he arrived here is worth mentioning. Obama had a troubled adolescence in which he struggled with his biracial identity as he was born to a black father from Kenya and a white mother from Kansas. Obama finally achieved some thing very big which makes the entire nation proud, especially the African American community. The African American community has reasons to celebrate & have found their pain reliever, Oh-balm-aah! the sigh of relief.

Do you care for a clean back(ground)???

Instances of workplace violence, resume falsification, and negligent hiring lawsuits are witnessing a steep rise. In view of this, employee background checks have become indispensable and more important than ever before. An employer would always want to invest time and money in hiring quality employees. The growing BPO industry & software industry demands authenticity in the hiring policies and also want their employees to have a clean record in order to woo their clients. There were many instances in the past like misuse of the customer information, illegal transactions which made companies in banking sector and other information sensitive industries react immediately to re-look into the credentials of their employees. This practice gradually spread to other industries too.

Organizations that pay due diligence to the hiring process are not only considering the education & experience verification but also the personal background verification. Many feel that these background checks cannot predict the efficiency of a particular candidate, but these reports are very useful in identifying negative traits, both large and small. Human resource professionals find the verification process to be very useful in retaining quality employees who would definetely add up to the reputation of the company. Few other companies use this background verifiation policy just to have their clients assured that the project is going into the right hands. There are few companies in the BPO industry who perform background checks only if it is mandated by the client whose business is being taken up. This is due to the cost involved in the process of getting the background verification checks done for all the employees. Many HR managers feel that irrespective of the cost factor and the client mandates, it is good to have a background verification policy in order to have the best work culture.

I have come across many cases in which an employee looses his/her job after being with the company for quite sometime because their background verification check gets a red code. Organizations feel it to be better late than never however the employee will get affected in many ways. It is true that the employees should furnish appropriate data(should always be authentic) while entering into an organization however it would be better if the organization gets the background of a candidate soon after he is successful in the interview instead of having a background verification check after certain time of the employment of the candidate which will ensure that everything is smooth since the beginning.

Employee background verification checks vary in degree of use depending on the job requirement and the organization. Background checks are not difficult to perform and widely used by organizations to make hiring decisions. It may prove to be a complicated process in some cases as there are so many different aspects to be considered.It is also mandated that employers take the consent of applicants prior to conducting background checks. Many organizations have understood the importance of these background verification checks.All employers now have a need for employment screening to ensure they are hiring and training the best candidate. A job seeker would drill down to get the background of a company verified through his own sources before applying for a position into the company, hence the reverse trend started as prospective candidates are now being screened before offering them the job. Time to have a clean back(ground) Huh!

Can we manage time???

I have come across many people who just feel that they do not have enough time. There are many reasons for wanting to have more time, you might want to make more money, spend more time with your family, have more time for recreation or develop your hobby. Many people think that the solution to this is to learn the art of time management, but I wonder how could we manage time if all of us get the equal amount of time. I mean, a day has just 24 hours and it is the same 24 hrs to everybody across the globe, so I then realized that it is not the art of managing time that we need to fulfill our needs, it is the art of managing ourselves and prioritizing the jobs in such a way that we can accommodate many tasks in a day or the specific 24 hr period. There were many instances when we discuss about managing ourselves against time, many people misinterpret this to sleeping less so that they get more time to do many other things which is not true because without having a proper sleep you end up taking a little longer than usual to do the same job. So, your focus should always be on how to be productive in the hours that you actually take out to work.By focusing on the productivity factor you will be productive not only in your professional but also personal life.

Many great leaders and successful people felt that postponing a particular task is one of the main reasons to failure. If you postpone a task to a later date without any strong opposing force, then you are just not able to manage yourself against time. We should try and divide the time that we have in a more efficient way so that we would not have to think about the reasons to postpone any task and every schedule is to be followed religiously. To me, managing ourselves against time is an art form and should be developed along with experiences and best practices, there is no hard & fast rule that one has to follow because everyone has a unique style of managing things & hence managing themselves against time. So, the next time when you her the word time management, you should simply understand that it's about you, managing yourself because time itself cannot be managed. Have a great time!!!

Finding a job is also a job, Bob!!!

Many of us are still not sure about how to find a job effectively, most of us do not have any answers for few questions yet. Nowadays, it is not just applying for the job and anticipating the best results, instead you have a to prepare yourself in such a way that you get hired by your dream companies - this again is another job.
To start your job search you must first analyze yourself on what you want to be, and start preparing. Why should you prepare? You should prepare because employers are very selective and among the numerous applications they receive they will have to choose the most deserving candidate who can add to their company's productivity. The competition these days forces you to prepare so that you will gain that edge among other applicants to emerge as a winner, hence you have to prepare before applying to a job or rather before starting your job search.
How will you come to know which company is hiring, especially companies which fall under your interest? Not to worry about this, the speed with which news travels these days is unbelievable, you can look for jobs in almost every media, TV, radio, newspapers & internet, other than your college placement cell, consultants & job fairs. You can also find whether the company that you are looking to get into has an opening or not by networking, just get in touch with a person who is working with that company to find if there is any opening in the company.
Once you find an opening, the next important thing is to prepare or modify your resume according to the position that you are applying for. These days you may find many sample resumes through sources like books, magazines and internet. You may try to implement the rules described to prepare your resume, but remember you have to be true with what you present. Do not copy a resume or try to add things in your resume which might not suit your 'real' personality. Resume creates the very first impression when you apply for a particular job as it stands to be the only source of information for the employer to short list the applicants.So, be careful while you forward your resume.
The next step is to prepare for an interview, and for this you have to prepare well as we discussed before that companies are very selective. In order to grab the job, you will have to convince the interviewer that you are the best fit for the job. Be confident and maintain an eye contact with the interviewer while talking, do not let the smile move out of your face even if you do not have answers to the questions being asked. Companies which fall under the category which anticipates a high attrition rate look for individuals who can promise a stable contribution. So, if you are applying to these jobs, you will have to make the interviewer understand that you are here to stay - you can add a personal reason to support it. You must display maturity, right attitude, and a presentable appearance while you are being interviewed. Remember that you are offering your services to the company, so you should be in a presentable manner.
If you comply with what the company needs and if you convince them that you will definitely add to the company's productivity, the job is yours, and you will soon be a part of your dream company. Stay positive all the time and if you do not get hired, try to work on the areas which you think are the key for the loss. There lies another opportunity for all those individuals who are optimistic. All the very best to you.

get warm this winter and prevent global warming

By now most of us must have heard about the phenomenon called 'global warming', what exactly is it? Global warming refers to the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades and its projected continuation. Reports say that human beings caused most of the current planetary warming, by industrialization, deforestation, and pollution. It is also said that humans are pouring carbon dioxide into the atmosphere much faster than plants and oceans can absorb it. What happens if this trend continues?

• Sea level could rise between 7 and 23 inches (18 to 59 centimeters) by century's end, the IPCC's (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) February 2007 report projects. Rises of just 4 inches (10 centimeters) could flood many South Seas islands and swamp large parts of Southeast Asia.
• Glaciers around the world could melt, causing sea levels to rise while creating water shortages in regions dependent on runoff for fresh water.
• More than a million species face extinction from disappearing habitat, changing ecosystems, and acidifying oceans.
  
• Strong hurricanes, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, and other natural disasters may become commonplace in many parts of the world. The growth of deserts may also cause food shortages in many places.
  

There are many ways to prevent global warming, the primary way that we all can think of is reducing the energy consumption in order to reduce the amount of green house gases that is generated. The things which follow might seem to be of less importance to you, but my making these simple changes you show people around you how to prevent global warming, thus you lead by example. So, please read carefully...

• One of the simplest and easiest ways to prevent global warming is to make sure all your windows and doors are draft free. Small gaps in your windows and doors can cause you to consume a lot more energy than you really need to in order to heat and cool your home. To make your home free from drafts wait until a cold day, then hold your hand along the edges of your doors and windows feeling for cold air. If you detect drafts, buy weather stripping from your local hardware store and install it wherever it is needed.
  
• Amazingly about 11% of residential electricity consumption is used by "phantom loads." A phantom load is caused when an electrical appliance draws electricity when it isn't in use. For example, a DVD player has an electrically lighted display that stays on even when you turn the power off. An easy way to eliminate these phantom loads is to plug your computers, printers, scanners, DVD players, televisions, etc. into multi-plug electrical surge protectors. Then, with one flick of the switch, you can make sure that the appliances plugged into your surge protectors are drawing no electricity at all.
• One of the simplest ways to prevent global warming is by using more efficient light bulbs. The Union of Concerned Scientists tell us that if every household replaced just one incandescent light bulb with a compact fluorescent one, then over the life of the bulbs 90 billion pounds of CO2 emission would be prevented from going into the atmosphere. This is like taking 6.3 million cars off the road!
• Prevent global warming by turning down your hot water heater this winter, most of us have our hot water heaters turned up too high. If you turn down your hot water thermostat just 10 degrees Fahrenheit, you reduce 3% to 5% of your energy consumption.
  

I'm sure that the above discussed ways of preventing global warming are not too hard to implement.So, start implementing today and also refer this article to your friends and encourage children in learning about the do's and don'ts in regards to global warming. Lead by example and help others do the same. Heal the world!

The pursuit of 'Happy'ness

It is very true that people around us impact our thinking and reacting ability. How would you feel when you are with a group of people who always crib on everything possible? You would not feel comfortable, right? And, if you are surrounded by a group of happy souls, then I'm sure you would look forward to spend more time with the same or similar group. Most of us want to be happy all the time, however many of us are busy worrying. Only few are content with what they have and these are the few who are happy most of the time. Because, if you do not have time for anything else, how would you find time to pursue happiness?
Although, you might not realize it, being happy and thereby acting happy are the ultimate win-win behaviors. Do you know how? Think about it. Just try to get a picture of all the people you met today into your mind, which folks tend to make you feel good ? The miserable ones? Of course not, happy people tend to make you feel better in many aspects. I think a person who is happy and content can inspire others to be the same way. Even at your work, most likely, you enjoy working along with people who have a positive outlook on life and you will, more likely, be ready to learn from these people. And in the same way, you should ask yourself, "Am I joy to be around?". I also think that even if you are not able to fill humor & happiness around, you should be in a position to enjoy the same brought in by others around you in a positive spirit.
It is your duty to be as happy as possible to make this world a better place to live, because the world will be much better if the majority of the occupants are just a little happier. Be happy!!!