Tag!

Update: I think I have not done justice to this tag and post. I realize that my language is almost indifferent and somewhat crazy. I had absolutely no intentions to hurt the person who so kindly passed this tag to me and also appreciated my blog! God! And I took up the post like as if it is a burden! Thanks to the foul mood I was in at the time of writing this post. It seriously has nothing to do with my not wanting to take this tag or pass it on! I was too disturbed to write like my usual self and I guess I did not have the mental strength to spend time on passing on the tag and awards to selected people because of my state of mind. Shame on me! And apologies to all those who felt they were wasting their time on a neutral post. S-O-R-R-Y! :( And if you decide to pick up this tag and pass it on, please do so and let me know. You can make amends for my crazy state of mind and general blogging lethargy! Thanks in advance!

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I've been tagged (and given an award as well)....and after a really loooooong time. There was a time when I found tags coming to me somewhat frequently but then, later, the traffic died down. Since then, I've wished for tags to come my way especially when subjected to extreme blogging boredom. This isn't really such an occasion but I, nevertheless, would love to take this tag and pass it on. The tag comes from here. Thank you, Prashant! So, here goes....

1. Print screen your desktop, post the image here and write a story on it.
2. Give away some Blogging Friends Forever awards
3. Give away some Brilliant Weblog awards



Here's what my desktop looks like - for the past one week or so! I actually had a cute little pic of Calvin and Hobbes till last week. But, having recently celebrated Ganesh Chaturthi and feasted on lots of sweets and snacks prepared for the one and only Elephant God, I replaced the C&H pic with one of my favourite pics of the former, on an impulse. I love this pic of Ganesha. He looks fresh, charming, colourful and creative - made out of beautiful flowers and the special 'Ganesha grass'. Apart from the pic, if there's anything else I must say about my desktop, I like it to be as 'empty' as possible. The fewer the icons, the better. Love to have all my shortcuts on the thin bar on the right hand side. Can't manage without a few desktop Post Its. And I rarely keep the same pic for more than a month. I like variety...in life as well as on my desktop.

The Blogging Friends Forever Award: If you're reading this, then it's yours. Simple. :-) (Psst: I don't intend to rely on my memory to list down all the people I have met in Blogosphere. Remember, I've been blogging for more than 4 years now)

The Brilliant Weblog Award: I think I've already mentioned most of the blogs that I like to read in many of my previous posts and via my Blogroll. I believe that there are plenty of blogs that make for brilliant reading. I have no inclination to repeat my previous posts or for that matter list down just a handful of blogs here. I sincerely think we all have flashes of brilliance now and then....so most blogs will qualify for this award. I am in a generous mood today! (Did I hear you say "Generous or Lazy?!" ;P) No....really! I think there are too many brilliant blogs for me to be able to list them here. But if you insist, I think I'll give it to one top-of-the-mind blog now - The truly brilliant Eknath Easwaran. He is no more...but his thoughts are eternal. He has the capacity to weave wonderful stories around profound thoughts. I find his writings to be unique in the sense that they are very simple and yet extremely compelling.


PS: I pass on the tag to anyone who is reading this and feels like spending some time on it. :-)

Rocking Girl Blogger?! :)

Jeane here has given me the Rockin girl blogger award! Mmmmm!! I think that’s really really nice of her! :) I actually don’t know what else to say except that it is an amazing feeling when people indicate that you’ve been able to engage them in a positive and constructive (and, at times, entertaining) way. While on the topic, I feel like sharing a little something. I was rearranging my shelf a week ago and found a lot of old greeting cards and letters that some of my friends (at different points of time) had sent me and was pleasantly surprised to see a common thread emerging in most of those communications. I am not going to describe what it is lest I sound like an awful trumpet-blower but suffice it to say that it left me with a very nice and pleasant feeling of having made a tiny difference -in my own small way - to all those friends. Jeane’s recognition brings back those memories and inspires me to get better at what I sometimes attempt to do – share my joy/make others feel good/happy/inspired. Okay. That will be all. I can see that I am dangerously close to getting into the zone of self-indulgence. ;) If there’s something I can do to make this worthwhile, without wanting to sound patronizing…..I just want to tell you to try making others feel happy. Especially kids. Bliss!! :)

The Rockin girl blogger award originated here and the rules are that you ought to give credit to the initiator – Roberta Ferguson – and you need to tag girl/women bloggers who, you know, rock. Some of the rocking girl bloggers (only referring to people who blog somewhat regularly) I know are Astha, Sari, Deepthi, and Chinmayee. But having said that, this is also confession time for me. I know I am doing a very incomplete job of identifying rocking girl bloggers because I haven’t been catching up with many blogs of late – my RSS reader is probably sulking and calling me names because I’ve made him (her?) undoubtedly obese. But honestly, there’s so much to read and so little time. Books, articles on the internet, magazines, papers, mails, messages, sign-boards, brochures, visiting cards, clocks, and now blogs. For that matter, even speed-reading courses need to be read. Ok. I know my using this opportunity to ramble like mad is completely unjustified. My sub-conscious is probably trying to make up for lack of opportunities to post on other topics. Be warned that any tags coming along shall be grabbed and crazily held on to when I am going through such a low-inspiration-action phase. Forgive me. I promise to put up some good content next (oops, burned my bridges). Meanwhile, here are links to those rocking girl bloggers….

Astha is undoubtedly rocking because she is so genuine and nice to read. Especially because her thoughts on the HR function in organizations are so refreshing

Sari is second to none when it comes to passionate and amazing write-ups – and not just on sports but on some other topics like work culture as well

Deepthi’s writing style is cool. She writes with flair and panache and there’s something very absorbing about it

Chinmayee is such a talented singer and blogger…! I think she simply rocks in the song Sahaana (from Shivaji – The Boss) which is my current favourite number!

Jessica’s creativity, range of topics and ideas are overwhelming. Period.

Tagged!

Raj has tagged me. I’ve been tagged before on “things people don’t know about me”. This tag is somewhat similar and is called “8 random things about me”. So, I am going to say whatever comes to my mind at this point of time. Once again, as many tags go, the post is self-indulgent. But sometimes one does enjoy such tags because it points out where one stands and how much more there is to life…..it actually brings out one’s minute dimensions in comparison with the world’s gigantic equivalent. On a more selfish note, it can help one open up and strike a chord with potential friends.

1. I am tremendously patient when it comes to serious/huge problems in life and quite impatient when it comes to many of the smaller things! Silly me!

2. I laugh like there’s no tomorrow for the silliest of things and don’t care when others don’t seem to find it equally funny (all it means is that they’ve forgotten how to enjoy life!) :D

3. I love to make people laugh and generally resort to ridiculous and pun-based humor (Thus the interest in PLUM, C&H, Asterix and Obelix…)

4. I love watching mother nature in solitude. I love to inconspicuously observe naughty children and pets and relish their reactions when they are caught red-handed. Talented children bring tears of joy to my eyes.

5. I sometimes feel I have too many interests in life and that makes it difficult for me to become an expert in areas outside my core profession (KM). But I do like being a Jill of all trades………

6. I am so obsessed about music that I pray to God to make me a great singer in my next lifetime (The only solace is that I play a bit of guitar in this life)

7. I am a natural introvert who has gradually evolved into a semi introvert/semi extrovert. But when it comes to bonding with people, I let my intuition dictate and generally have a lot of fun with people who are on the same wavelength. I generally hit it off well with children. I feel at home with people who are genuine, fun-loving, and share at least some similar interests. Once I begin to like a person, it’s very hard for me to see/register any negative qualities in him/her thereafter. I (blush) have typically fallen for musical and literary talent/ vision & intelligence/ wit and sense of humor/genuineness, good nature and simplicity. If all these come together in one package, I may find it next to impossible to refrain from gushing and gaping in awe at the subject under question

8. I love being silly & goofy as well as feel good getting into a spiritual and philosophical mood and can comfortably switch between the two ‘profiles’. I sometimes suspect that people find it difficult to understand me because of such contradictions and they wonder how I might want to be on both ends of the illusory spectrum.

I don’t believe in passing on tags that have negative conditions/tell people something will not work out if they don’t pass on the tag etc. So, I shall take the liberty of removing the last condition from the tag. Just take the tag and pass it on to 8 of your friends. To reiterate, I am leaving out the negative condition(s) and ‘am tagging……

Gautam – my blog mentor. The person who introduced me to blogs and helped me start 3 odd years ago. Also the person who I pick up a lot of business knowledge from….

Sari – A cool friend of mine who is quite unconventional and extremely talented. She truly belongs to another world :D

Ilker – A very kind fellow-blogger who made me feel special by giving me the ‘Thinking Blogger’ recognition.

Matt – A KMer friend with whom I’ve exchanged occasional thoughts on KM.

Dale – A new Canadian fellow-blogger also interested in KM and Innovation

Ashwini – A friend who is always there to listen and lend some sensible advice to me…

Peter – A new friend from the KM world…….

Pragz – A new friend who joins my unusual list (I’ve no idea on what basis I choose people to be a part of this list but it happens more or less sub-consciously) of people I love to tease and tickle (genuine giggles and guffaws from the audience make my day)

The rules....
-Each player starts with 8 random facts/habits about themselves.
-People who are tagged, write a blog post about their own 8 random things, and post these rules.
-At the end of your post you need to tag 8 people and include their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment and tell them they’re tagged, and to read your blog.

Media Sources - Tagged!

I’ve been tagged by a Blog Meme that I earlier came across on a few blogs I visit and didn’t actually imagine that this meme would hop on to my blog….at least, not so soon…given my not-so-strong blog network. Patrick has passed it on to me (thanks to my recent comments on his blog? :-)) and here’s my stab at it.

The meme is about media sources. Like Dave Snowden indicates, most of these memes are ego-strutting opportunities. So, err, please bear with me and skip the sections where I talk too much about myself. I shall understand.

Print - Books – I love books. I suspect that I suffer from some sort of obsessive compulsive disorder when it comes to books. There has not been a single occasion when I’ve stepped into a book shop and come out empty handed. That would be a crime as far as I am concerned. But a few months ago, I ran out of ideas on where to stack my books because my book shelves cannot possibly accommodate any more. And that has, unfortunately for the book shops, kept me at bay. I bought a couple of books last week though and might have to keep them under the pillow - Creativity by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and C&H - Sunday Pages by Bill Watterson. I normally pick up Books on Business, KM, Creativity, Innovation, Humor, Adventure, Mystery, Autobiographies (Business Leaders), Philosophy, Self-Development and Spirituality.

Print – Magazines/Journals – When I was in Business School, I consumed every possible business magazine that was available, basically because I was passionate about business quizzes and wanted to know everything there was to know about business and business personalities. I also used to read a magazine on Investment - Outlook Money – as it was mandated by our SAPM (Securities and Portfolio Management) lecturer. And, well, err……you know….I even managed to win a quiz based on the magazine for which I received a book on the relationship between the tides in the sea and the share market movements (No, I do not apply this knowledge for my investments). Coming back to the present, the only magazines I get to read now are Harvard Business Review and McKinsey Quarterly, and this is only when I visit the office library. I am also subscribed to online articles from Knowledge @ Wharton, Fast Company and Business Week.

Print - Newspapers – I was addicted to Economic Times a few years ago. Now, I am ashamed to say that I don’t even touch newspapers. My love for business has been sacrificed at the altar of KM - now, this only means that I am not fully aware of what's happening in the world of business and has no implications in terms of understanding the relationship between KM and business and how the former can enable the latter :-). But I occasionally browse through RSS feeds from newspapers.

The Web – I spend a lot of time on the web. Googling for information is the rule. I use Bloglines to subscribe to blogs feeds as well as other general RSS feeds. Wikipedia is another great source of information. But I rarely am able to concentrate when on the web because of frequent disturbances at work. If there is something that appeals to me, I end up saving it for offline reading. (Most of the posts I write are also written offline when I am not subjected to disturbances.)

Communication – I rely on Email more than anything else. I was once obsessed about keeping my inbox almost empty. But I’ve got over that phase and ‘am now okay to see it bustling with mails. Apart from my office ID, I use Gmail and Yahoo. I use my mobile for making calls and exchanging messages with local friends. Long ago, I’d tried out Groove to keep in touch with cousins abroad but, now, I use Yahoo messenger.

Audio - Radio – I was addicted to the Radio but only till I bought an iPOD. I have 4 pocket radios and was known for carrying my pocket radio wherever I went when in college and for playing it 24 hours a day.

Audio & Video - Films/Movies – I rarely watch the ‘regular’ movies. But I love animation movies. I went berserk just a couple of days ago and decided to splurge on some animation movie DVDs – I am now a proud owner of Finding Nemo, Garfield, Madagascar, Ice Age 1 & 2, and a few Indian Mythological Stories.

Audio & Video - Music – Music is my oxygen. I can’t live without music. I bought an iPOD video a year ago and have accumulated over 3500 songs so far (apart from hundreds of photographs) . Looks like I will soon use up the remaining 11 GB of space as well. I listen to Indian film music (both old and new), Indian classical music, Western music (melodies only), fusion (I love albums that combine traditional Indian instruments with the Western ones), and a variety of instrumental music.

Audio & Video - TV – I’ve almost stopped watching TV for the past 1 year and ‘am happy for it. But during the weekends, I do spend some hours switching between animal planet, history channel, discovery, nat geo, cartoon network and pogo. I occasionally watch news channels like NDTV and CNBC. I also watch selected music programmes hosted by the Indian channels (Vijay/Jaya/Sony/Zee).

Time to pass it on. I tag the following: :)

Chris Collision, Gautam Ghosh, Ron Young, CHO, and Jack Vinson

What you may not know about me...

I just realized that Gautam's tagged me...

So, here goes....

1. I am a cartoon freak. I love watching cartoons (T&J, Looney Tunes and the like) and would prefer that (apart from music-based programmes) to any other stuff on TV. This may explain my being too weird for an adult at times ;)
2. I have changed a lot (fundamental changes in my attitude and philosophies) over the past few years and I'd like to believe that it is for the better ;), But I believe in being a child at heart irrespective of philosophical thoughts that may cross a mature adult's mind
3. I don't do justice to the books I buy. I don't read them at the same rate at which I buy them (understatement). I simply love gloating over the books I own and perhaps spend more time admiring them rather than reading them
4. I have a fleeting mind. I want to learn too many things at the same time and this makes me pick up some hobbies that I don't do justice to. Palmistry was the last hobby that I picked up and dropped before you could have said 'show me your palm'
5. I am scared of traffic :D

I tag the first five people who read this post. Let me know if you're one of them. Ha Ha :)