An Ode to MIEL – ISTI

It was my last day @ work yesterday in MIEL and in all senses i believed i had a great learning experience to have worked with wonderful people around and just to write down what it felt like after working there, i have written an Ode to it which is given below.

My Dept, all the Instructors and above all my Boss played a huge role in whatever i have learned and achieved in MIEL-ISTI. And when i am successful tomorrow; the work, the people and the environment in MIEL will play a definite role.

Apart from my team, my boss and all support staff, there is one person who has made me realize my weaknesses and helped me to overcome them. I would say that if it had not been for Ms. JALPA KOTHARI, the journey would not have been sweeter and better, she was like a mirror to me in which i could see where i am lacking in, she was a true critic who criticized when i was wrong but also appreciated my efforts and felt proud when i did something big !!!

So three cheers to you my dear friend Ms. Jalpa Kothari (I will seperate poem for you) !!!

So, here goes my Ode to MIEL - ISTI

An Ode to MIEL – ISTI

What would a person ask for at the start of his career?
A good Organization, a better team and the Best Boss!!!

Well, am I expecting too much too early? Or is it sounding imaginary to you?
However, fictitious it may sound to you, its true for me as I have got all this right here
in MIEL,
in ISTI
& working
with Ms. Pushpa Redkar

A sales team like a family;
Having members only 3
But, on that, we had no worries
As we were determined to widen our boundaries
And in literal sense we did
When we launched trainings in Pune, Bangalore, Chennai and Ahmedabad

We kept working day In and out
Rarely saw sunset
And rarely knew when moon came out
But that were no issues on it neither was it a big deal for us
As just positive energy was running across us

We had many roles to play at one time
But to do them perfectly was the motive prime
We switched roles; shared responsibilities
But multiplied our joy and success
Always kept a cool head
And worked like 1 thread

No expectations, no boundaries, no limits
We kept cruising at top speed
Managing 3 trainings in a day
We felt the heat of May
But, with an Excellent support from all Instructors and Admin
We certainly knew what we were in

We kept performing quantitatively
And were also upfront qualitatively
Records, Expense Sheet, Material Register, Training Centre Occupancy
You name it, we had it
And to make us happy and to make our day
Appreciation Mails, Awards and Respect came our way
It was amazing to be a part of this journey
Which proved to be an important chapter in the book of MIEL – ISTI

Now, the MIEL - ISTI family has grown to 5 from 3
And with it has come even bigger responsibility
Not just to maintain what we have done so far
But to surpass what we have achieved so far
Having full confidence in the entire team
I wish them all the best in all their endeavors to achieve their dream

The only regret I have currently
Is that I would no longer be a part of MIEL & Especially ISTI Family

MIEL Communication Meet 2008-09

The best pic so far in my tenure at my company "MIEL e-Security Pvt. Ltd.". More than the awards been given at the Communication Meet, it was the efforts in the entire year that has got those big smiles in the pic above. I mean, it was a complete "Hats-off" performance shown by ISTI division (the dept i work in) in 2007-08. Not only did we perform with the numbers but also, we developed the processes and put various systems in place. So, it was not only quantitative but also qualitative performance by the team in the year 2007-08.

Much credit obviously goes to Ms. Pushpa Redkar (centre in the pic) as without her innovative ways of thinking, her way of giving us (Smeet sir (left in the pic) & me) freedom to do things our way with apt support, this would not have been possible.

Without saying much (as i will write one more blog after i resign on 17th June 2008), i would conclude by saying that, there could not be a better way than this for me to start my professional career, as i got appreciation, awards and over-all good feedback by working here in MIEL. Not everyone is blessed and as lucky as I am to have got this opportunity to have worked under ISTI Team of MIEL e-Security Pvt. Ltd. and that to be a part of successful team under aegis of a wonderful people around....

Take care and keep smiling !!!

Off the Past !!!

There has been many a times, i wish i could do this or i could do that, but apart from just moaning over it, i could not do anything else. The reasons for it were either it was too late to do those things or i did not have time/money then to follow what i wish to do because i had things on the list that i need to do. So, need took priority over wishes.
Few things, i wish i could learn earlier in my life were swimming, travelling to places, learning some musical instrument and to have much more social and healthy routine in my life...
Its just at this time, i realize that how important it is, to have an environment around you where in you can grow with the world around. The sole reason why i missed out on learning those things was mainly due to absence of such receptive & open envirnoment around me during my childhood. I mean i got to know importance or to say passion of learning those things when i started interacting with the world around me, when i gave myself to the people around me, to my friends, colleagues et al.. Today when i see my nephews and nieces involving themselves in gamut of activities, i feel a bit jealous as to the fact of me being unlucky to be deprived of those things in my childhood days. But, on the other hand, i feel proud of cousins who are on the right path to educate their children not only academically but also non-academically (music, dance, games/dance etc.).
Talking about the receptive & open environment, i feel there was more need to be open to challenges, seeking out opportunities, learning new things around and better finacial planning by my parents in their task of letting me grow in a way world wants all of us today. Only academics was given importance when it came to determine how good i would be in future.. I mean i had no connection whatsoever with the school sport activities (though there were few of them), no connection with any social club till date, no favourite sport till 12th std. , no favourite singer or musical instrument i knew to play (then and now).
Despite having said that and looking that situation ain a positive manner, i do not regret to be in such an environment, because i got an opportunity to explore the world, the opportunities around first hand. As we say, life is a challenge, and for me the challenge was to come out of that shell and open up to the world. And i am happy not only to have done that but also been part of all those activities that ensured personal growth in some way or the other.
Just to give an example, A guy from my engg class once looked at my resume and asked "Have you mentioned any non-academic achievements from your school days in the resume?". I replied "I dont have any". He then said "You have wasted your 16 years then just studying !!!". I was silent. Then, he flipped the page to read my non-academic achievements in engg. college and he commented "how the hell did you get so much under your belt in 3.5 years? ", I proudly replied "It was in the process to make up for those lost 16 years".

What i mean to say is that there was lot of emphasis on studies earlier, but time has come to shift a bit of focus to extra-curricular activities as well. Had i been able to do few of those acts earlier, i could have been enjoying life a bit better. But, theres no regret as its better late than never.

Though I believe that learning something first hand is always better than otherwise. But that does not mean that every child should face what i did because all can not be as lucky as i was (and am) to get to meet those people who helped me in coming out of that shell !!!

Positve Thinking !!!

Going by the old saying "Where there is a Will, there is a Way", in life we come across many such instances where our attitude is at stake, and we want to come out of those situations as winners in whichever way we can. We term it as hard luck if we fail to come out as winners, and never think beyond it. While if someone succeeds in the same case, we term it as pure miracle or good luck. Well, the key difference in two cases is not the end result but the mindset of person facing it. The result in 2nd case which we call as miracle, is nothing but the outcome of pure positive thinking !!!

There is a theory behind this positive thinking which goes on to say, that "Our thoughts are commands to Universe". Whatever we think that would happen to us, would definitely happen. The strength of thought determines the ultimate impact of our thought in real life. So, if a person thinks that he is gonna lose, then entire universe supports him and help him to lose. But, on the other hand, if a person strongly thinks that he is gonna win, he will surely be supported by the entire universe to help him do so !!!

Now that the entire thing if depends on our thoughts, then why dont all of us start doing the same thing and win all the way through? Well, its not as easy as we think so. The reasons that i personally feel which would come in the way would be
(1) Its difficult to think something or to imagine something that might not be practically possible.
(2) We do not feel strongly about things for future as in most cases we tend to think just the next step (short term) and not in the long run.

But having said that, there is no denying to the fact, that positive attitude does come out as deciding factor in situations impasse.

Positive thinking in itself is a task that requires self-belief and "Fight hard" attitude. And that is the reason ppl say winning is nt easy, bt if u hav right spirit n positive though process, u shall have the glory in ur hands !!

Dont believe me, u cn always try it out, n find out urself !!!

INNOVATE' 06

Well, Innovate' 06 had been one of those learning experiences in my life that exposed to whole new world of organizing large events, meeting new ppl from different colleges, working with them, its lik a complete blessing in itself to get such an opportunity and when u realise the importance of it, u knw wht u r into and wht it can turn out for u in future.. it was great time we had in planning, organizing, co-ordinating, activities and all.. below poem is written by me just to summarize hoe it was

INNOVATE 2006

As the name suggested - INNOVATE ----- A CHANGE

ENHANCE, ENABLE , ENVISION

No one knew how IT Will turn out to be

and what we will see.

Let us go down the memory lane and see it all.

THE JOURNEY OF INNOVATE' 06

The Engine of this car named Innovate'06 got ignited by Mr. Ravi Miranda on the eve of Christmas,

With various Teams coming into Existence.

Then started the journey of our LIFETIME,

With IT'S Occurence being the FACTOR PRIME.

In IT'S Very First Gear,

IT saw various Permutations and Combination,

Ist and 2nd MARCH 2006 finalised as the dates of Convention

And under the Aegis of MUMBAI UNIVERSITY,DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS,

Began the Preparation of IT'S Existence.

In the next Gear,

Started the Printing of the Posters and the Brochures,

And dispatching them to various Places.

By that time all Teams working parallely for delivering the best,

But came an Obstacle of calling off the FEST,

And various difficulties coming up on the crest.

With all hurdles seen, going ahead became the decision,

And leading into their suppression.

Then came the 3rd Gear,

With all back hand work being done,

Publicity in all areas begun.

Events in all colleges started happening,

Though the participation being disheartening.

Yet, not afraid of getting crashed

And working like one thread.

Having the spirit and the faith,

We just went forth.

Speeding towards the "D" Day,

we felt the heat of MAY.

Finally came the 4th Gear,

Came the Days of Convention,

with only 300 registrations on hand,

No one expected it to reach 1 GRAND.

Started side by side Parallel tracks,

And things falling into apt places.

TWO DAYS OF THIS CONVENTION WENT IN A SECOND

AND THE FEST COMING TO AN END.

Crossing all the limits,

and clearing all the boundaries,

THE CAR INNOVATE'06 EMERGED AS THE CAR OF THE CENTURIES,

AND THE CSI-TEAM INNOVATE'06 AS THE RACE WINNERS.

______________________________________________________________

Well what we just saw in above text matter was the 5th Gear ( REVERSE )

I chose to model this journey in terms of Car driving as it resemble it according to me.

Hope you would have enjoyed reading it and relived each and every moment that went into the making of INNOVATE'06 in past 2 and a half months.

Great Learning Experience : Past 4 months

Life is a learning experience and for me it has been a sharp learning curve in these recent months.

Taking up first, I have learned how to behave or to say how to react to difficult situations that one faces in life. I learned that everyone eventually comes out of those bad times that they may face, but the way he/she comes out of it is what matters, one needs to be calm and composed and face it with courage, just moaning over the problems would not help, but to work on it and get going to solve it with smile while keeping faith in oneself is the key to come out of it UNAFFECTED.

One more thing I have learned is that there has to be a strong push each day from within which gets you a step closer to your goal in life. We all have certain goals in life and we all want them to get fulfilled sooner or later, but despite having a clear goal, one may find it difficult to achieve, the reason for this is that we do not push ourselves each day towards it, we leave it for tomorrow or day after or day after and this goes on. One thing I promised myself after this realization is that I must do some work or something that gets me atleast a mm closer to my goal, it could be small task or a big one, but has to be done the same day it is intended to do.

Coming to my family, while I kept myself busy planning my future and building up for the same, I missed out on enjoying with my family and caring for them. I believed that I have rest of my life to do so, but then life is unpredictable, who knows what happens when. I realized that winning an award in academic life or professional life, or getting praises from the world over is not enough for the family to be proud of oneself, what they need apart from that is ones time, a few words of concern, and importantly mental support more than the financial one. They require ones presence in crisis rather than ones money. Believe me, a 5 minute chat of concerns with family members can just get that smile on their face which one might be waiting for since years…

At work, I have learned how same things have to be done in different ways at different times. Working with a good pace is a good attribute, but there are times, where in one should think and then act, I found my pace of work getting acknowledged some times but on the other hand I did find the same pace of work creating problems too. Every job done should be on its merit, if it requires immediate action do it other wise think and act. Same goes with my way of communication to others, i usually speak fast when I know the subject at hand, but I miss out on whether the person whom I am talking is getting what I am saying, so speaking with ease and at gentle pace is what I have been practicing since then.

Next, the most important lesson I got to learn is Patience, I would say I am learning it yet or should I say practicing it. I realized that I used to be pushy about things to be done, and people used to get irritated with this attitude, I realized that things come at their own pace no matter how long one waits for them. Agreed some people are laidback and need to be pushed but that can be done in a cool and calm way rather than getting hyper about it. I realized certain things come to us at the right time, until then patience is required. But with people it may be a different case, they work at their own will, so one needs to find an alternate way to get things done from such kind human beings. So, Patience holds one up in this case for all to be done smoothly.

Apart from all these I still need to learn a lot and that is not to be stubborn and short-tempered.

All of you who read this might be wondering how did I realize about what I need to learn and how did I learn all this and how did I know what I need to learn?

The answer to all these questions is Ms. J.K., she is the one who has been the first one to criticize me if I was wrong somewhere, even at the smallest of places and she was also the happiest person to see me being praised at the smallest of good thing I do. She kept on checking my patience level, each day or rather I should say each hour!!!! She has been the person responsible for all that I have mentioned in this blog!!!! So, if I am wrong somewhere, you know who to catch hold of (hehehehehe), but on a serious note, I would not thank you Ms. J.K., for all that you did for me and are continuing till date, as it would be your insult if I do so and also I cant think there can be anything that could be done by me to thank you, aur haa waise bhi your role in my life is not over yet and will never be!!!

Coming back to the topic, in these past few months, I realized the true meaning when they say “Life is a learning experience and Success is a journey and not a destination”. You learn each day, each hour, each minute, each moment …..and work towards your goal !!!!!!!

LIFE : A BLESSING

Well, there has been many a times where i see myself sit and think as to why things go wrong despite no fault of mine. Its like at times we do become victim of situations and there cannot be anyone to be blamed for it, and its at this point in time we crib about our lives and crib about everything around, we spend efforts to crib rather than to come out of that state of mind. Certain situations did happen to me in past and still happening when i think this and as a way to self-motivate and get out of that negative state of mind, i wrote the following poem then, which still drives me in a positive manner:

LIFE : A BLESSING

LIFE IS JUST LIKE A RIVER,

FLOWING WITH NO BARRIER.

HAVING IT’S OWN TWISTS AND TURNS

AND MANY UPS AND DOWNS

BUT AS THE MAN PROGRESSED,

MEANING OF LIFE DIGRESSED.

WE TERM IT A CURSE,

MOMENT THE CONDITIONS BECOME WORSE.

WE BLAME IT FOR OUR LOSSES,

BUT FORGET IT FOR THE WINS.

STOP COMPLAINING, STOP CRIBBING

AS IT WILL YIELD NOTHING

WELCOME THE SAD MOMENTS TOO WITH A SMILE

AND THEY WILL GO AWAY IN A WHILE

WIDEN THE BOUNDARIES OF YOUR COURAGE,

AND FACE EACH SITUATION AS A CHALLENGE

PUSH UP THE LIMITS OF YOUR PATIENCE,

AND MAKE LIFE FEEL YOUR PRESENCE.

BE PROUD TO BE HUMAN,

AND HAPPILY FIGHT EACH AND EVERY SITUATION.

SO, ONE DAY WE CAN PROVE LIFE’S TRUE MEANING,

WHICH IS NOT A CURSE BUT A BLESSING.