Shortstories Vish

Lean Methodology. What is Lean? For example, We have robust processes in place used for generations ,when we relook some of the processes might have  become redundant or unwanted. These processes can be eliminated without affecting the overall flow and the method used ,called Lean. It is also called removing waste and creating a value chain. This is also part  of Six Sigma quality initiatives and contributes to the system efficiency by addressing the system deficiencies. A practical example. Yesterday , ordered new electrical fittings and some furnishing from the nearby shop. The shopkeeper had sent the items as per the electrician requirement with out following any process. We have got three deliveries from the shop and some of the items were not getting tallied with the requirements. I called the shop owner . Please itemize under three heads as below and when we had  cross-checked with the delivery boy , immediately we found what was missing and sorted out. 1...

Construction of Sweet Home.Memories There is an old saying in Tamil Veetai Katti paar Kalyanam Panni paar . Meaning. Construct a house, Conduct a Wedding. Context .Indirect way of conveying... undertake responsibility. Decided to construct a house . Finalized the place, area and size of  the plot. Next we had approached the builder. With the help of an Architect ,we got few modern buiding plans . After few days of discussion,we propsed a typical ,conventional one where our living room , Hall should have maximum place and in the middle wanted Jhula .(Swing) Builder was little surprised and he told us give me a sketch ,then i can finalize the technical plan. The plan was finalized for an open kitchen and two bedrooms . The buliding was ready and the builder congratulated us for proposing this kind of plan as the outcome was marvellous . I replied,  the reason behind made up of four pillars and a beautiful design. Design .My wife wanted a traditional TN style home...

Derive strength from teams . How working together with a divergent team can influence you? Tremendous. Was part of a team for nearly 8 years from 1991 to 1999. Everyone was very unique and had different exposure. Let me share their skills which helped me a lot during the 2003 to 2012 journey where individually had to face the assignments 1.Troubleshooting skills. 2.Analytical skills 3.Statistics 4.PR skills 5.Knowledge sharing 6.Project management skills 7. Administration 8.Documentation 9. Sub Delegation 10.Leadership skills However it was teamwork ,everyone had to share the workload and that's how we have been guided by the teams. Few examples During the installation of technical telecom equipment, we have to have full coordination. Those trained managers will first train us as part of knowledge sharing sessions. That Senior experienced management will allocate proper work as part of sub-delegation. We learned to generate daily project completion reports. Als...

Bikaner.Masalas My friend one day took me to his house and shared some snacks .it was quite tasty. Which shop? , when I asked, he said we never buy snacks as we are from Bikaner, Rajasthan, and every house we prepare some snacks. Very interesting I said .he took me his kitchen and showed all his own masala preparation. He was a bachelor at that time and I found a similar set of jars .what about these? .My cousin who stays with me also prepares his Own masalas. He further added that some of our families will have their own masalas and heavy competition among then to prepare the best ones . He belongs to Bikaner, the famous town of tasty  Bhujia and other snacks   Source from wiki Bikaneri bhujia, often simply called bhujia, is a popular crispy snack prepared by using moth beans and besan (gram flour) and spices, originating from Bikaner, a city in the western state of Rajasthan in India. Light yellow in color, it has become not just a characteristic product of Bikan...

Tamilnadu -Dindugal Poottu (Locks ) Used to hear from my grandpa that Burglars will smash the door of the house easily instead of attempting to break the Dindugal locks. Also, it would be very difficult to make a duplicate key for these types of locks. Whenever we used to go to a hardware shop for buying a lock, shop keeper always asks, you need Dindugal strong locks or ordinary safety locks. That much importance was given to it. We have a rhyme in Tamilnadu linking the name of the town it belongs to. Manapparai Murukku ( Snacks) Thirunelveli Halwa Pathamadai Mat Dindugal Locks  Today's article in TOI I found interesting news. Sharing with you all. 200 yr old Legacy got a GI tag

New Broadband booking experience I had placed an internet broadband feasibility for my old house with a service provider. Upon registering, I got a message that service available in your location, and due to COVID, our sales team will contact you within 10 days  .pleae bear with us. Surprisingly the next day the call came The salesperson spoke to me and gave a good dump about the offers. I told him  yet to shift my house, please contact me after a week. The interesting thing happened that time .The salesperson while discussing, almost gave me a  warning, of course in a submissive tone. Sir, you will get calls for booking by another team also .so please tell them that I am just checking the feasibility and will call  after 15 days due to COVID. Further he added,  Sir, I am the first one to contact and will miss my monthly targets. So I request not to entertain others. He has fwd  what's app messages also I was taken back .the pressure on the sales ...

Other side of online classes. Please Read the below article in the comment section . Today's kids are forced to buy smartphones to attend their online classes. One such story. Father has to sell his cow, a good income source for his family. Basic needs became 3 to 4 now . Roti..Food Kapda..Clothes. Makaan. House Smartphone...Education  No doubt Technology plays a role everywhere and that's  why Smartpone is a must for edu sector also . At the same how do we address. Quoting earlier success story   (source. from wiki). Under the Chief Minister of Tamilnadu Kamaraj  ,the  State made immense strides in education and trade. New schools were opened, so that poor rural students had to walk no more than three kilometres to their nearest school. Better facilities were added to existing ones. No village remained without a primary school and no panchayat without a high school. Kamaraj strived to eradicate illiteracy by introducing free and compulsory education up to ...

A gardener's diary. In my ancestral house, we had a small but beautiful garden in the backyard. It had coconut trees, plantain trees, vegetable plants like brinjal, tomato, and ladies' fingers and flower plants also. We,siblings, owned each one of them for its care. My grandpa told the importance of this backyard garden and how humans should conceive, imbibe their attributes, and grow like them. Coconut trees. Are always treated as the eldest son of the family. In Tamil, we call Thennam Pillai. Coconut trees have a long life, although takes time to grow but once grown the yield can easily cater generations to come. Banana tree. Completely consumed by humans .fruits,stem, leaf,flower etc. For more info, pl find links in the comments. The purpose of growing at the backyard, not only to absorbs its nutritional qualities but also to emphasize that every living being born with a purpose.  At the back end our mind we should remember and water this aspect regularly. My gr...

Bounce back. My old house needed painting and civil work. I was enquiring my neighbor and they suggested the name of a known person who was working as a caretaker in the adjacent compound. His wife was working as a house help in our house for quite a long time. Somehow we got his son's contact. After the inquiry, his son told me that my father is doing painting jobs now. Earlier he was addicted to alcohol. Nowadays he is doing civil and painting works. I am also supporting my family by doing tinkering work. The next day, the caretaker  met us and said  I can undertake this civil and painting work.  Also, he added, in between, I lost my track and never saved money for my children. Now I wanted to work, earn, and save money. He showed us the photos of his painting work. The way he presented himself, instead of pleading and gaining sympathy, made us engage him for this work. We had a second thought about his bad habits and once he revealed his inner urge to contribute...

Airport new food trends. Today I saw a news item about the menu in our domestic airports served during this COVID. My memory gone  back to my village days. Two south Indian items. Rasam and Curd rice. Both are must in any south Indian food. Both take less time to prepare but provides instant energy. The preparation differs state to state, district to district, town to town, home to home. My mother used to tell me the rasam prepared by her mother is different from what the in-laws family follows. A lot of variants, mixers, combinations are available. It is served hot always and goes with papad, dry vegetable smoothly and can be consumed like soup. Today we use more ingredients, garlic, pepper, ginger, cumin seeds to increase our immunity. Then comes curd rice. In our childhood, we used to eat the rice soaked in water a day before and morning it will added with curd,  along pickle called vadumangai (small mango ).In my school life, I was throughout a  frontbenc...

Back Log Grooming Human always wants to excel in their own preferred, interested areas once exposed. Not all their aspirations are fulfilled but remain in their subconscious mind. Wish to share about three such areas thought of. During the age of 12, want to pursue music but could not afford to buy an instrument that I was practicing. During my 10h std, I wanted to join NCC and was rejected as I was very short , lean. During my college life, wanted to express things by writing or through public speaking. Due to commitments of Job, social responsibilities was not able to pursue the above  in full potential. The past three months, a blessing in disguise, utilized this golden opportunity to meet my earlier life goals and aspirations. The subconscious mind allowed me to groom myself, that is Music (Vocal Singing), physical fitness (yoga postures and breathing ) and story writing (LI Short stories ) Everyone had dreams but could not pursue Everyone attempted their best. Agre...

Adi Thallupadi - Deep Discounts -70% This Tamil month called Aadi, starting from 16th July to 17 th August very famous for two reasons for Tamilians. Aadi Perukku commonly known as the Aadi monsoon festival. The festival pays tribute to water's life-sustaining properties. For the blessing of mankind with peace, prosperity, and happiness, nature worship in the form of Amman (Mother Goddess )deities are organized to shower Nature’s bountiful grace on human beings. The second one Adi thallupadi. Deep discounts are offered by retailers of Tamilnadu, an annual end of season sale kind of. This was started one of the textile retail showrooms in midtown and the same spread like fire across  Jewellery, consumer durables, etc. Normally one can witness heavy rush during this whole month but due to this pandemic, the business was totally affected and the retail giants came up with innovative methods. Using online video, customers can choose the sarees,churidhars, and other dress items...

Traditional school plus Homeschool The Current online model of teaching  forced everyone to revisit the homeschooling. Also this is an ideal time  to debate ,discuss and arrive at a consensus for betterment of the young,vibrant student community . Screen time of the students became prominent nowadays more than teaching the course  content itself . Pl go through the news item appeared in newspaper daily . That means the effective way of teaching in a classroom kind of experience ,a long way to go during this pandemic. Now if the coaching time by teachers reduces, then parents will have to shell more time and energy . Almost take the role equal to the classroom teachers . This almost fall in line with the home schooling concept of education . Sharing two articles on the same . One shares the  experience and other one  pros and cons . After going through the both news items,my take Traditional school Issue . Justification to syllabus by teachers may not...

Varun.Sweet little kid. Let us invoke the learner in us. Let us learn from everywhere. A small story. In my apartment floor, there are 6 flats., that consists of families speaking different languages. Telugu Kannada Bengali Badaga (one of the languages of Nilagiri hills belt) Tamil -2 families. A cute 2+ age, a little boy named  Varun of one of the Telugu speaking family visits all of us daily. He identifies the small things and repeats what we say. Suppose we ask him, show us the Buddha statue in Tamil and he understands and take us there. He may be playing and running inside  around for 15 minutes  or so, interacts with us in Tamil sometimes .we are also recollecting our Hyderabad days and try our little Telugu also. Similarly, he moves to all the other flats almost equally and in particular,  he spends most of the time with little elder children  of a Kannada speaking family . Varun's father told us that he sometimes uses some typical words pi...

Meditation series -Part 4 (The fourth and final post of this series.) Silence transforms one to the infinite state of spirituality. True meditation is also called abide in silence. The border tea shop is the boundary in which we have access to one's own country. Also called The line of control The demarcation The boundary limits Apply to both the parties. Everyone respects their border. You may wonder, is this relevant to meditation. Yes. Centuries ago we the human planted seeds and watered it till now. Yes.Religion. Every religion is like the border. Every religion is like the sea has got a coast. Every religion is based upon doctrine beliefs  and principles Every religion has got thousand of documents for interpretation of truth. Every religion produced great seers Every religion leads us to the path of righteousness. Like all rivers will merge into the Ocean All religions will merge in Spirituality. Whether you are an atheist or theist one can dissolve in ...

Marriages on Mobile Vans Innovative ideas by TN event managers. As big and small marriage halls are closed during these days, an event manager in TN has thought of an innovative concept. In Tamilnadu, most of the marriage happens in big marriage halls. One day rent is itself runs into lakhs. Parents spend a lot on food, decoration, etc for the fun-filled event. Yesterday, I read an article about a  Marriage conducted on a temporary decorated platform. And the decorator says, Why can't we have to take the decorated hall itself to the designated places instead of celebrating in a house like mobIle ATM or Mobile Banks etc? They have erected  full stage set up and carried to the marriage venue itself so that  the restricted 50 plus persons can have a great experience and feel of a marriage hall. The  writer in me...imagined... This marriage hall set instead of keeping at  a fixed place and can be kept in the transport van itself . Advantages. This decorat...

Delhi to Chennai train memories. A distance of 210O km Two trains. Tamilnadu express - 30 hrs G.T. 36 hrs Yes, I might have traveled more than 20 times between 1982 to 1990. The ticket booking process itself takes hours Morning at 8, if you are in the queue, then it may take 3 to 4  hrs minimum to clear 10 people ahead of you sometimes. As it was on a manual booking process two separate tickets were issued. One for the seat.One for the birth. A mini-trial journey kind of, completed at the booking counter itself. Tamilnadu Express was the fastest train at that time ..1983 .. later ran at a reduced speed .only limited stops. outside food was not allowed. But G.T got a lot of stops and we cross four states and enjoy the local food, in addition to hawkers who sell bhelpuri, groundnuts, seasonal fruits, etc. To mention a few. 1.UP -  Agra .Sweet  - Peta 2.MP -Bhopal - Matka chai.. Jilebi etc . 2 Maharashtra - Nagpur -Oranges&grapes 4.AP - Warangal, and Vi...

Gift from the vibrant Metro Mumbai. After serving 23 years in different places Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad got transferred  to Mumbai Lifeline of  Mumbai as everyone knows yes it is ..suburban electric trains. Used to travel from Churchgate station to Dadar in the mornings. Once you step out, you absorb mass crowd's  rythm  and move briskly . At the age of 43, it was a little tough initially but after three months I got into the groove. After six months, my office gave me a laptop and I am forced to carry home. During train travel, I felt ,get in and get out itself a big task for me, so thinking of Laptop, I switched over to the bus travel, the only issue was traffic jams and waiting time at the bus stop. One day I shared with my friend and he was laughing. Me. Hi I need to commute with   laptop safely and that's my concern Friend.Hi .i understand. For the six months, you traveled and got  habituated .now only addition is the laptop .ok ...

Learning life lessons from a Common man. Born and brought up in Tamilnadu and Tamil being my mother tongue, my brother insisted me to learn  Hindi as it was a must to survive once I go out of Tamilnadu. Started learning part-time from 8th std and after 3 years of hard work, passed up to the 5th level offered by Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha. Know to write and read but speaking fluently was the missing element. I joined my first training assignment for a job in Pune and picked up the spoken format very well. Later got posted in Delhi. Complete dejavu experience. Started loving the language the most spoken in India. During that time, my brother got transferred to Chandigarh. Jan 1983, peak winter, I traveled by bus to Chandigarh. Landed in the bus stand and took a cycle rickshaw. Just asked the rickshaw man, Kaise hain app? (How r u ?) Kya halchal hai? ( How is life going on ?) He started telling his story and was talking over 20 mts and finally came to my brother's hous...

E-Learning Series -part 4 Request you to go through the video. Augmented Reality is used to help teachers reach out to students properly with visuals. Yes a tech enabler for improving  teaching methods If you closely watch, the teacher is using technology and wants to cover the syllabus. Teacher-Sudents-books-syllabus followed by technology. The underlying principle is technology comes as an aid but not to replace books and its contents. It shows the way the teacher further helps students to gain knowledge. Computers and Gadgets can be an enabler to address the nonclassroom sessions. Never assume to replace or come near the traditional way of teaching because the human brain can only understand the other human brain that too growing ones. That is the level of grasping power. Differs from person to person. Teachers Students Books Curriculum Teaching methods Plus computer-aided lessons Technology can contribute to nonclassrooms either online or offline meeting the abo...