How the Human spirit grows as time spirits away

The human spirit is the term used to describe a human being's ability to take on things, however bad they might be, in his stride and deal with them head on. When they talk about the exemplary human spirit, they talk about that combination of hope, faith, resilience, patience and related qualities which give the individual the strength to get himself out of, or through hard times.

The human spirit literally, is basically the spirit or the soul of the person, his living essence. However, in this context, the human spirit refers to that part of a human which wants to, or strives to make things better for himself and those around him. Those who have the qualities mentioned above, have a stronger spirit than those lacking in the qualities.

The human spirit is truly indomitable. We somehow manage to pick ourselves up and keep moving forward. Adversity, however detestable at times becomes our best friend, it helps our spirit grow and evolve. It makes us push the very boundaries that limit us.

But sometimes I just want to STOP. "Why" I ask myself. Why do we need to push ourselves.? What are we trying to prove? We often end up hurting ourselves. Is the reward at the end if you succeed really worth it. That answer I guess is a personal perspective. Hence the reason to figure out the human spirit.

The human spirit it seems likes to take a beating. It reflects our very essence, our emotions. It grows stronger with each passing second and with each experience. It possesses the compassion of a giant. Ask yourself if you truly can stay angry with someone for eternity. The spirit is self healing, will forget even the scars as time goes by. It possesses us to do things which define the very essence of humanity.

In the end the greatest triumph of the human spirit is in Death, if we look closely all of us do what we do to achieve the liberation that death offers. This is where the human spirit achieves peace and finally stops agitating.

"I am certain that after the dust of centuries has passed over our cities, we, too, will be remembered not for victories or defeats in battle or in politics, but for our contribution to the human spirit."

John F. Kennedy
1917-1963, Thirty-fifth President of the USA

All about Viral marketing - must read for marketing guys

Hey got this blog by Dan Zarella, am attaching the link here as it is easier than trying to explain all that he has to say about viral marketing ..

http://danzarrella.com/swine-flu.html

Check it out, it makes for a good read

Difference between CV, Biodata and Resume

(Extract from a post by Raj in Citehr, brilliant article wanted to share)

People use the words RESUME, C.V., and BIO-DATA interchangeably for the document highlighting skills, education, and experience that a candidate submits when applying for a job. On the surface level, all the three mean the same. However, there are intricate differences.

RESUME
Resume Is a French word meaning "summary", and true to the word meaning, signifies a summary of one's employment, education, and other skills, used in applying for a new position. A resume seldom exceeds one side of an A4 sheet, and at the most two sides. They do not list out all the education and qualifications, but only highlight specific skills customized to target the job profile in question.
A resume is usually broken into bullets and written in the third person to appear objective and formal. A good resume starts with a brief Summary of Qualifications, followed by Areas of Strength or Industry Expertise in keywords, followed by Professional Experience in reverse
chronological order. Focus is on the most recent experiences, and prior experiences summarized. The content aims at providing the reader a balance of responsibilities and accomplishments for each position. After Work experience come Professional Affiliations, Computer Skills, and Education

C.V CURRICULUM VITAE
C.V Is a Latin word meaning "course of life". Curriculum Vitae (C.V.) is therefore a regular or particular course of study pertaining to education and life. A C.V. is more detailed than a resume,
usually 2 to 3 pages, but can run even longer as per the requirement. A C.V. generally lists out every skills, jobs, degrees, and professional affiliations the applicant has acquired, usually in chronological order.
A C.V. displays general talent rather than specific skills for any specific positions.

BIO-DATA
Bio Data the short form for Biographical Data, is the old-fashioned terminology for Resume or C.V. The emphasis in a bio data is on personal particulars like date of birth, religion, sex, race, nationality, residence, martial status, and the like. Next comes a chronological listing of education and experience. The things normally found in a resume, that is specific skills for the job in question comes last, and are seldom included. Bio-data also includes applications made in specified formats as required by the company.

A resume is ideally suited when applying for middle and senior level positions, where experience and specific skills rather than education is important. A C.V., on the other hand is the preferred option for fresh graduates, people looking for a career change, and those applying for academic positions. The term bio-data is mostly used in India while applying to government jobs, or when applying for research grants and other situations where one has to submit descriptive essays.

Resumes present a summary of highlights and allow the prospective employer to scan through the document visually or electronically, to see if your skills match their available positions. A good resume can do that very effectively, while a C.V. cannot. A bio-data could still perform this role, especially if the format happens to be the one recommended by the employer.

Personal information such as age, sex, religion and others, and hobbies are never mentioned in a resume. Many people include such particulars in the C.V. However, this is neither required nor considered in the US market. A Bio-data, on the other hand always include such personal information.

Why women fall for flattery - usually flat on their faces

Psalm 78:36 in the Bible,"But they flattered him with their mouth, And lied unto him with their tongue. "

Was going through the Bible and this psalm just got stuck in my head. I related it to one of the conversations I had with my colleague as to why women fall for guys who have glib tongues. I think you have noticed this too, this truth is universal. Good looking intelligent women hanging around superficial smooth talking men who regard themselves as the modern day Don Juan's. Who can also forget most of them are also fighting a losing battle against alopecia.

But what is flattery is it really something wrong or just another talent. To "flatter" is to give insincere or excessive praise, but it does not have to be believed or have any affect on the intended person. These words reflect badly upon the flatterer, not the target of the flattery. The same with "lying: it is just verbal false hood.

You may be wondering then why I am making such a fuss about it. It is because the Bible talks about the lord who is infallible and won't fall for cheap praise, but just a reminder we are talking about women here. I have in my limited observation noted that they usually not only believe but also secretly crave for such oratorical praise.

This is where the fine line between "flattery " and "deception " is drawn. The words might be factual but the intentions are hidden. Flattery is misleading because one is using words only to manipulate or to get what one wants and the so called facts are highly exaggerated. So in a way, flattery is deception. This is not an honest way of speaking.

I just hope that women wise up one day and stop falling for such cheap trickery. It is human nature to want attention, but at what price is the question? Just give the other blokes out there with limited words in their vocabulary a chance. Their actions may end up speaking louder than their words. Insincere words may not end up hurting you, but the opportunities those words open up may end up causing you more trouble then you would have anticipated.

Why management education is still relevant - lessons learnt the hard way

For a while have been rethinking my decision to pursue an MBA. I share this feeling with quite a few of my colleagues. One year has passed since I began this roller coaster journey, but have not been able to remove this thought from my head, and the setting in of the recession has not helped matters either.
I would like to highlight events that have steadily changed my feelings of despair into hope. I now truly feel that management education has it's hidden merits. The turning point has been my quest for enlightenment in my "summer internship". People always tell me what a great company they had a chance to intern with; I tell them about the not so great one I ended up in. The greatest lesson I learnt here is, "How not to do things". And trust me I have learnt from the best in the industry.
All the non nonsensical theory which I loathed and found no practical use for, suddenly seemed to make sense. Wish I could give the people here a discourse on the same.
My MBA has thought me to reflect regional content and diversity. I understand the needs of my customers better, because I have learnt to put myself in their shoes first. Only if you are able to connect with them can you proceed to sell something to them. All that technical knowledge and other brouhaha can be thrown out the window.
It has made me more competitive as there are fewer management jobs out there, and also forced me to become the proverbial jack of all trades. I am being forced to reinforce my resume. Things which I earlier ignored are becoming significant all of a sudden. The fear of this recession has actually made me more astute.
I have actually started networking, this will be a valuable lifeline when I need it. The age of one man show's is over and the current global environment has given us ample evidence. It really isn't that hard to do but does require an effort.
Also the recession is the perfect time to pursue an MBA because instead of being stuck in a rut you are using your time to try out something different. You are adding value to self while not missing out on any opportunities.
Glad to be doing my MBA! That is all I can say, at least I will not end up making a fool of myself when I start my professional career. As for my mentors here all I have to say is that even fools are an integral part in a circus.

An article on Marketing functions by Rahul Soni

Marketing techniques and management firm’s:

Marketing management is a business discipline focused on the practical application of marketing techniques and the management of a firm's marketing resources and activities. Marketing managers are often responsible for influencing the level, timing, and composition of customer demand accepted definition of the term. In part, this is because the role of a marketing manager can vary significantly based on a business' size. For example, in a large consumer products company, the marketing manager may act as the overall general manager of his or her assigned product. From this perspective, the scope of marketing management is quite broad.

The implication of such a definition is that any activity or resource the firm uses to acquire customers and manage the company's relationships with them is within the purview of marketing management. Additionally, the Kolter and Keller definition encompasses both the development of new products and services and their delivery to customers. Noted marketing expert Regis McKenna an article "Marketing is everything." McKenna argued that because marketing management encompasses all factors that influence a company's ability to deliver value to customers, it must be "all-pervasive, part of everyone's job description, from the receptionists to the Board of Directors."

This view is also consistent with the perspective of management guru Peter Ducker, who wrote: "Because the purpose of business is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two--and only these two--basic functions: marketing and innovation. Marketing and innovation produce results; all the rest are costs. Marketing is the distinguishing, unique function of the business.” But because many businesses operate with a much more limited definition of marketing, such statements can appear controversial or even ludicrous (foolish) to some business executives. This is especially true in those companies where the marketing department is responsible for little more than developing sales brochures and executing advertising campaigns.

The broader, more sophisticated definitions of marketing management from Drucker, Kilter and other scholars are therefore juxtapose against the narrower operating reality of many businesses. The source of confusion here is often that inside any given firm, the term marketing management may be interpreted to mean whatever the marketing department happens to do, rather than a term that encompasses all marketing activities -- even those marketing activities that are actually performed by other departments, such as the sales, finance, or operations departments.[4] If, for example, the finance department of a given company makes pricing decisions (for deals, proposals, contracts, etc.), that finance department has responsibility for an important component of marketing management -- pricing.

Failure - The key to success

Not sure if I am the right person to be writing about failure. I have to confess that I have had minor glitches along the way in my life, but not something I would categorize as a failure. Failure is the reward for those who dared to take risks in their daily lives. It is also highly relative, failure for one could be perceived as a phenomenal success in the eyes of another.
I have noticed the general perspective which people have about failure; they regard it as something which should be avoided at any costs, a sign of incompetence. Hell even I have the same opinion. But what we don’t really realize is that failure is the other side of success and has an equal probability of occurring.
Fact remains that even the best of us cannot avoid failure. If you are smart you will not let it discourage you, you will push on with a single minded determination. The beauty in failure is that with each occurrence you will learn valuable little lessons which will geometrically reduce the probability of failure.
The point I am making here is that failure teaches you important lessons which is not learnt in any other way. So go out there and try new things, look forward to falling flat on your face, even if the world laughs at you keep in mind that you will have the last laugh. We need to inculcate this mindset if we ever want to achieve the limits of our potential. I would finally like to say that our mindset is all important, if we succeed at failing to recognize failure as “Failure”, it will fail to present itself.
“Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. it's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere.”- Barrack Obama

Ideas: Nectar of our mind, essence of our souls

Idle minds is truly a devils workshop, was wondering what ideas are all about, are they just random thoughts that leave a imprint in your head, imprints which you decide to act upon? Or am I putting too much thought behind nothing.
The very fact that I am writing a blog reinforces my belief that ideas originate from the very core of our consciousness. Ideas have always spurred me on, made me look for my purpose in life. But if this were so, then why don’t we execute all of them. There is a barrier that prevents us from acting on our “gut” feelings. Is it the fact that people may laugh at our ideas, our creative essence, thus indirectly at us. We have become a truly logical race that believes in conformity.
But if you look back at history and what really shaped it, it is the most preposterous ideas of ordinary people. But ideas by nature are not constructive all the time; they may cause repercussions that we might not be able to foretell. What I am trying to figure out is which ideas I should act upon? Should I listen to my heart, my mind or to my environment?
One thing I do realize is that ideas are not meant to be shackled, even if not implemented it must at least see the light of day. And if one of the whisks of thought is your claim to fame then let it be. If we ever want to take the next step in our intellectual evolution we must not only pour out new ideas, we must find ways to stimulate it.
I am quoting Linus Pauling here,” The best way to have a good idea is to have lots of ideas”. It’s my mind; and my blog will help me bring my ideas one step closer to reality.

Sands of time

Ok I have the most cliched title....that's originality. It is 4 th of May 2009 and as I look back on my existence the only thing that hits me is the void that is so apparent. I pause to ask myself exactly what I am doing? Introspecting on my second blog, this is not good!! I am existing not living my life and this bothers me terribly. I read this article a friend sent over and it just opened up a flood gate in my head. Things I have lost out upon, friends that have faded away......the only thing that is left are my own idiosyncracies. Takes an effort to live, I guess I am better off than I was a year ago, but have to put everything into "living". Finally that little extract had a meaningful definition about what love is. I could relate to it, it is not cliched, it speaks of it in a practical sense. The gist from what I could comprehend is basiclally when you live for someone else, that's love. Hey go check out Mr. Adrian Tan's speech at this link. You can draw your own conclusions.

Listening to "Winds of change" by the "Scorpions", time to create my own little flutter in this world.