Importance of soft skills

By Chitralekha Narayan
As India becomes a larger and vital player in the global economy, as we become a larger outsourcing/offshoring destination for companies world wide, soft skills will give us the winning edge.

In today's corporate environment, much emphasis is laid on ‘soft skills.’ What are ‘soft skills’? What is their importance to the individual or to the company? Why does one need it? How does one acquire it? Let us explore and understand this often used but misunderstood set of skills.

In every industry, a worker brings two aspects to the table - his technical skills and his soft skills. For example, a television technician knows how to mend a TV. He also has rudimentary skills on how to deal with the customer. His technical expertise stems from his technical skills. His customer interaction skills stems from his soft skills. In other words, the softer aspects of one's job requirements can be broadly classified as soft skills.

Master & Internalise

Basic ‘soft skills’ generally include communication skills, social graces, presentation skills, customer service, etc. Some of the high end soft skills may include dining etiquette, stress management and cross cultural sensitivity.
It is interesting to note that these are often skills that take a longer time to master and internalise. They are also difficult to measure. Keen and long term observation in various situations will probably help somewhat quantify the soft skills in an employee.

The soft skills can be further divided into two sections - life skills and business skills. Life skills are those soft skills that largely rest in the individual. He or she will carry it with them to their graves!

For example, communication skills, once mastered, will serve a person in every aspect of his life. He will be a better and effective communicator in his workplace, with his family, and with his friends.

Similarly, stress management will be beneficial to an individual in dealing with stress in the workplace or at home. Simple breathing exercises can be used to de-stress whether at work, or at home, or after a workout at the gym, etc. Business skills are those skills that one needs to navigate successfully through the corporate world. For example, effective decision making skills, delegation skills, conflict management skills, or team building skills are critical for new as well as seasoned leaders.

Its a must, not a fancy

Thus, ‘soft skills’ are significant for both the individual and the company. Nasscom estimates that by 2010, both the IT and ITeS sectors’ workforce would have increased from 700,000 to 2.3 million.

As one of the McKinsey reports state, “India confronts a potential shortage of skilled workers in the next decade, despite its having an adequate talent pool or ‘raw material,’ yet the problem is that this talent pool is largely unsuitable.” Why? The answer is that they are technically qualified but they don't know how to position their superiority. The more soft skills that an individual exhibits, the greater and faster his career growth. When a batch of fresh computer engineering graduates are recruited by a company, the entire batch is on a level playing ground.

All of them are junior software engineers. They have been selected largely because of their academic performance and their technical expertise. How then does the differentiation happen in terms of promotions? It happens one, based on the work deliverables but it also is hinged upon the intangible ‘soft skills’ that the person exhibits.

For example, the person who is able to successfully communicate with his American counterpart, who is assertive and negotiates a win-win, will get more chances to not only interact across cultures but will be chosen if there is an opportunity for an overseas assignment. Hence today, companies like Athiya, work very closely with all leading companies in various sectors, helping them identify their soft skills requirements and training their personnel to be the best in their industry.

It is highly evident that companies focus not only on ‘what’ but the ‘how’. It is no longer acceptable for an employee to send a report, it is extremely critical as to ‘how’ it has been drafted.

Winning edge

Training, constant observation, practice, internalisation, and soliciting feedback are sure ways to acquiring these soft skills. In a soft skills training session, concepts are downloaded and simulations are provided with extensive feedback. The participant then needs to continuously practice some of these skills to internalise them so that they become a part of his/her natural self. Peer feedback and observing a role model enhance these skills.

As India becomes a larger and vital player in the global economy, as we become a larger outsourcing/offshoring destination for companies world wide, soft skills will give us the winning edge. If we need to beat a China, we better brush up on our English language skills, our clarity of communication, and our customer interaction skills, or we might just turn out to be another ‘has been.’

The writer is a co-founder and Director - Learning & Development at Athiya Organizational Competencies (P) limited. She can be contacted at: ask@athiya.com

Complete article @ http://www.deccanherald.com/Content/Jul302008/avenues2008072981626.asp

An interesting insight into Decision Making

A group of children were playing near two railway tracks, one still in use while the other disused. Only one child played on the disused track, the rest on the operational track.

The train is coming, and you are just beside the track interchange. You can make the train change its course to the disused track and save most of the kids. However, that would also mean the lone child playing by the disused track would be sacrificed. Or would you rather let the train go its way?

Let's take a pause to think what kind of decision we could make................

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Most people might choose to divert the course of the train, and sacrifice only one child. You might think the same way, I guess. Exactly, I thought the same way initially because to save most of the children at the expense of only one child was rational decision most people would make, morally and emotionally. But, have you ever thought that the child choosing to play on the disused track had in fact made the right decision to play at a safe place?

Nevertheless, he had to be sacrificed because of his ignorant friends who chose to play where the danger was. This kind of dilemma happens around us everyday. In the office, community, in politics and especially in a democratic society, the minority is often sacrificed for the interest of the majority, no matter how foolish or ignorant the majority are, and how farsighted and knowledgeable the minority are. The child who chose not to play with the rest on the operational track was sidelined. And in the case he was sacrificed, no one would shed a tear for him.

The great critic Leo Velski Julian who told the story said he would not try to change the course of the train because he believed that the kids playing on the operational track should have known very well that track was still in use, and that they should have run away if they heard the train's sirens. If the train was diverted, that lone child would definitely die because he never thought the train could come over to that track! Moreover, that track was not in use probably because it was not safe. If the train was diverted to the track, we could put the lives of all passengers on board at stake! And in your attempt to save a few kids by sacrificing one child, you might end up sacrificing hundreds of people to save these few kids.

While we are all aware that life is full of tough decisions that need to be made, we may not realize that hasty decisions may not always be the right one.

"Remember that what's right isn't always popular... and what's popular isn't always right."

Everybody makes mistakes; that's why they put erasers on pencils.

...is...

Standing for what you believe in regardless of the odds against you,
and the pressure that tears at your resistance
...is Courage.



Keeping a smile on your face when inside you feel like dying,
for the sake of supporting others
...is Strength.



Stopping at nothing and doing what's in your
heart that you know is right
...is Determination.



Doing more than is expected, to make another's life a little more bearable,
without uttering a single complaint
...is Compassion.



Helping a friend in need, no matter the time or effort,
to the best of your ability
...is Loyalty.


Holding your head high
And being the best you know you can be when life
seems to fall apart at your feet,
...is Fortitude.


Facing each difficulty with thoughts that
time will bring you better tomorrows,
And never giving up...
...is Confidence.

1000 English Proverbs and Sayings

1. A bad beginning makes a bad ending.
2. A bad corn promise is better than a good lawsuit.
3. A bad workman quarrels with his tools.
4. A bargain is a bargain.
5. A beggar can never be bankrupt.
6. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
7. A bird may be known by its song.
8. A black hen lays a white egg.
9. A blind leader of the blind.
10. A blind man would be glad to see.
11. A broken friendship may be soldered, but will never be sound.
12. A burden of one's own choice is not felt.
13. A burnt child dreads the fire.
14. A cat in gloves catches no mice.
15. A city that parleys is half gotten.
16. A civil denial is better than a rude grant.
17. A clean fast is better than a dirty breakfast.
18. A clean hand wants no washing.
19. A clear conscience laughs at false accusations.
20. A close mouth catches no flies.
21. A cock is valiant on his own dunghill.
22. A cracked bell can never sound well.
23. A creaking door hangs long on its hinges.
24. A curst cow has short horns.
25. A danger foreseen is half avoided.
26. A drop in the bucket.
27. A drowning man will catch at a straw.
28. A fair face may hide a foul heart.
29. A fault confessed is half redressed.
30. A fly in the ointment.
31. A fool always rushes to the fore.
32. A fool and his money are soon parted.
33. A fool at forty is a fool indeed.
34. A fool may ask more questions in an hour than a wise man can answer in seven years.
35. A fool may throw a stone into a well which a hundred wise men cannot pull out.
36. A fool's tongue runs before his wit.
37. A forced kindness deserves no thanks.
38. A foul morn may turn to a fair day.
39. A fox is not taken twice in the same snare.
40. A friend in need is a friend indeed.
43. A friend is never known till needed.
42. A friend to all is a friend to none.
43. A friend's frown is better than a foe's smile.
44. A good anvil does not fear the hammer.
45. A good beginning is half the battle.
46. A good beginning makes a good ending.
47. A good deed is never lost.
48. A good dog deserves a good bone.
49. A good example is the best sermon.
50. A good face is a letter of recommendation.
51. A good Jack makes a good Jill.
52. A good marksman may miss.
53. A good name is better than riches.
54. A good name is sooner lost than won.
55. A good name keeps its lustre in the dark.
56. A good wife makes a good husband.
57. A great dowry is a bed full of brambles.
58. A great fortune is a great slavery.
59. A great ship asks deep waters.
60. A guilty conscience needs no accuser.
61. A hard nut to crack.
62. A heavy purse makes a light heart.
63. A hedge between keeps friendship green.
64. A honey tongue, a heart of gall.
65. A hungry belly has no ears.
66. A hungry man is an angry man.
67. A Jack of all trades is master of none.
68. A Joke never gains an enemy but often loses a friend.
69. A lawyer never goes to law himself.
70. A lazy sheep thinks its wool heavy.
71. A liar is not believed when he speaks the truth.
72. A lie begets a lie.
73. A light purse is a heavy curse.
74. A light purse makes a heavy heart.
75. A little body often harbours a great soul.
76. A little fire is quickly trodden out.
77. A man can die but once.
78. A man can do no more than he can.
79. A man is known by the company he keeps.
80. A man of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds.
81. A miserly father makes a prodigal son.
82. A miss is as good as a mile.
83. A new broom sweeps clean.
84. A nod from a lord is a breakfast for a fool.
85. A penny saved is a penny gained.
86. A penny soul never came to twopence.
87. A quiet conscience sleeps in thunder.
88. A rolling stone gathers no moss.
89. A round peg in a square hole.
90. A shy cat makes a proud mouse.
91. A silent fool is counted wise.
92. A small leak will sink a great ship.
93. A soft answer turns away wrath.
94. A sound mind in a sound body.
95. A stitch in time saves nine.
96. A storm in a teacup.
97. A tattler is worse than a thief.
98. A thief knows a thief as a wolf knows a wolf.
99. A thief passes for a gentleman when stealing has made him rich.
100. A threatened blow is seldom given.
101. A tree is known by its fruit.
102. A wager is a fool's argument.
103. A watched pot never boils.
104. A wise man changes his mind, a fool never will.
105. A wolf in sheep's clothing.
106. A wonder lasts but nine days.
107. A word is enough to the wise.
108. A word spoken is past recalling.
109. Actions speak louder than words.
110. Adversity is a great schoolmaster.
111. Adversity makes strange bedfellows.
112. After a storm comes a calm.
113. After dinner comes the reckoning.
114. After dinner sit (sleep) a while, after supper walk a mile.
115. After rain comes fair weather.
116. After us the deluge.
117. Agues come on horseback, but go away on foot.
118. All are good lasses, but whence come the bad wives?
119. All are not friends that speak us fair.
120. All are not hunters that blow the horn.
121. All are not merry that dance lightly.
122. All are not saints that go to church.
123. All asses wag their ears.
124. All bread is not baked in one oven.
125. All cats are grey in the dark (in the night).
126. All covet, all lose.
127. All doors open to courtesy.
128. All is fish that comes to his net.
129. All is not lost that is in peril.
130. All is well that ends well.
131. All lay load on the willing horse.
132. All men can't be first.
133. All men can't be masters.
134. All promises are either broken or kept.
135. All roads lead to Rome .
136. All sugar and honey.
137. All that glitters is not gold.
138. All things are difficult before they are easy.
139. All truths are not to be told.
140. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.
141. "Almost" never killed a fly (was never hanged).
142. Among the blind the one-eyed man is king.
143. An apple a day keeps the doctor away.
144. An ass in a lion's skin.
145. An ass is but an ass, though laden with gold.
146. An ass loaded with gold climbs to the top of the castle.
147. An empty hand is no lure for a hawk.
148. An empty sack cannot stand upright.
149. An empty vessel gives a greater sound than a full barrel.
150. An evil chance seldom comes alone.
151. An honest tale speeds best, being plainly told.
152. An hour in the morning is worth two in the evening.
153. An idle brain is the devil's workshop.
154. An ill wound is cured, not an ill name.
155. An oak is not felled at one stroke.
156. An old dog barks not in vain.
157. An open door may tempt a saint.
158. An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of learning.
159. An ox is taken by the horns, and a man by the tongue.
160. An unfortunate man would be drowned in a teacup.
161. Anger and haste hinder good counsel.
162. Any port in a storm.
163. Appearances are deceitful.
164. Appetite comes with eating.
165. As drunk as a lord.
166. As innocent as a babe unborn.
167. As like as an apple to an oyster.
168. As like as two peas.
169. As old as the hills.
170. As plain as the nose on a man's face.
171. As plain as two and two make four.
172. As snug as a bug in a rug .
173. As sure as eggs is eggs.
174. As the call, so the echo.
175. As the fool thinks, so the bell clinks.
176. As the old cock crows, so does the young.
177. As the tree falls, so shall it lie.
178. As the tree, so the fruit.
179. As welcome as flowers in May.
180. As welcome as water in one's shoes.
181. As well be hanged for a sheep as for a lamb.
182. As you brew, so must you drink.
183. As you make your bed, so must you lie on it.
184. As you sow, so shall you reap.
185. Ask no questions and you will be told no lies.
186. At the ends of the earth.
187. Bacchus has drowned more men than Neptune .
188. Bad news has wings.
189. Barking does seldom bite.
190. Be slow to promise and quick to perform.
191. Be swift to hear, slow to speak.
192. Beauty is but skin-deep.
193. Beauty lies in lover's eyes.
194. Before one can say Jack Robinson.
195. Before you make a friend eat a bushel of salt with him.
196. Beggars cannot be choosers.
197. Believe not all that you see nor half what you hear.
198. Best defence is offence.
199. Better a glorious death than a shameful life.
200. Better a lean peace than a fat victory.
201. Better a little fire to warm us, than a great one to burn us.
202. Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow.
203. Better an open enemy than a false friend.
204. Better be alone than in bad company.
205. Better be born lucky than rich.
206. Better be envied than pitied.
207. Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion.
208. Better deny at once than promise long.
209. Better die standing than live kneeling.
210. Better early than late.
211. Better give a shilling than lend a half-crown.
212. Better go to bed supperless than rise in debt.
213. Better late than never.
214. Better lose a jest than a friend.
215. Better one-eyed than stone-blind.
216. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.
217. Better the foot slip than the tongue.
218. Better to do well than to say well.
219. Better to reign in hell, than serve in heaven.
220. Better unborn than untaught.
221. Better untaught than ill-taught.
222. Between the cup and the lip a morsel may slip.
223. Between the devil and the deep (blue) sea.
224. Between two evils 'tis not worth choosing.
225. Between two stools one goes (falls) to the ground.
226. Between the upper and nether millstone.
227. Betwixt and between.
228. Beware of a silent dog and still water.
229. Bind the sack before it be full.
230. Birds of a feather flock together.
231. Blind men can judge no colours.
232. Blood is thicker than water.
233. Borrowed garments never fit well.
234. Brevity is the soul of wit.
235. Burn not your house to rid it of the mouse.
236. Business before pleasure.
237. By doing nothing we learn to do ill.
238. By hook or by crook.
239. By the street of 'by-and-bye' one arrives at the house of 'Never'.
240. Calamity is man's true touchstone.
241. Care killed the cat.
242. Catch the bear before you sell his skin.
243. Caution is the parent of safety.
244. Charity begins at home.
245. Cheapest is the dearest.
246. Cheek brings success.
247. Children and fools must not play with edged tools.
248. Children are poor men's riches.
249. Choose an author as you choose a friend.
250. Christmas comes but once a year, (but when it comes it brings good cheer).
251. Circumstances alter cases.
252. Claw me, and I will claw thee.
253. Cleanliness is next to godliness.
254. Company in distress makes trouble less.
255. Confession is the first step to repentance.
256. Counsel is no command.
257. Creditors have better memories than debtors.
258. Cross the stream where it is shallowest.
259. Crows do not pick crow's eyes.
260. Curiosity killed a cat.
261. Curses like chickens come home to roost.
262. Custom is a second nature.
263. Custom is the plague of wise men and the idol of fools.
264. Cut your coat according to your cloth.
265. Death is the grand leveller.
266. Death pays all debts.
267. Death when it comes will have no denial.
268. Debt is the worst poverty.
269. Deeds, not words.
270. Delays are dangerous.
271. Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies.
272. Diligence is the mother of success (good luck).
273. Diseases are the interests of pleasures.
274. Divide and rule.
275. Do as you would be done by.
276. Dog does not eat dog.
277. Dog eats dog.
278. Dogs that put up many hares kill none.
279. Doing is better than saying.
280. Don't count your chickens before they are hatched.
281. Don't cross the bridges before you come to them.
282. Don't have thy cloak to make when it begins to rain.
283. Don't keep a dog and bark yourself.
284. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.
285. Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
286. Don't sell the bear's skin before you've caught it.
287. Don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you.
288. Don't whistle (halloo) until you are out of the wood.
289. Dot your i's and cross your t's.
290. Draw not your bow till your arrow is fixed.
291. Drive the nail that will go.
292. Drunken days have all their tomorrow.
293. Drunkenness reveals what soberness conceals.
294. Dumb dogs are dangerous.
295. Each bird loves to hear himself sing.
296. Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.
297. Easier said than done.
298. East or West ? home is best.
299. Easy come, easy go.
300. Eat at pleasure, drink with measure.
301. Empty vessels make the greatest (the most) sound.
302. Enough is as good as a feast.
303. Envy shoots at others and wounds herself.
304. Even reckoning makes long friends.
305. Every ass loves to hear himself bray.
306. Every barber knows that.
307. Every bean has its black.
308. Every bird likes its own nest.
309. Every bullet has its billet.
310. Every country has its customs.
311. Every dark cloud has a silver lining.
312. Every day is not Sunday.
313. Every dog has his day.
314. Every dog is a lion at home.
315. Every dog is valiant at his own door.
316. Every Jack has his Jill.
317. Every man has a fool in his sleeve.
318. Every man has his faults.
319. Every man has his hobby-horse.
320. Every man is the architect of his own fortunes.
321. Every man to his taste.
322. Every miller draws water to his own mill.
323. Every mother thinks her own gosling a swan.
324. Every one's faults are not written in their foreheads.
325. Every tub must stand on its own bottom.
326. Every white has its black, and every sweet its sour.
327. Every why has a wherefore.
328. Everybody's business is nobody's business.
329. Everything comes to him who waits.
330. Everything is good in its season.
331. Evil communications corrupt good manners.
332. Experience is the mother of wisdom.
333. Experience keeps a dear school, but fools learn in no other.
334. Experience keeps no school, she teaches her pupils singly.
335. Extremes meet.
336. Facts are stubborn things.
337. Faint heart never won fair lady.
338. Fair without, foul (false) within.
339. Fair words break no bones.
340. False friends are worse than open enemies.
341. Familiarity breeds contempt.
342. Far from eye, far from heart.
343. Fasting comes after feasting.
344. Faults are thick where love is thin.
345. Feast today and fast tomorrow.
346. Fine feathers make fine birds.
347. Fine words butter no parsnips.
348. First catch your hare.
349. First come, first served.
350. First deserve and then desire.
351. First think, then speak.
352. Fish and company stink in three days.
353. Fish begins to stink at the head.
354. Follow the river and you'll get to the sea.
355. Fool's haste is no speed.
356. Fools and madmen speak the truth.
357. Fools grow without watering.
358. Fools may sometimes speak to the purpose.
359. Fools never know when they are well.
360. Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.
361. For the love of the game.
362. Forbearance is no acquittance.
363. Forbidden fruit is sweet.
364. Forewarned is forearmed.
365. Fortune favours the brave (the bold).
366. Fortune is easily found, but hard to be kept.
367. Four eyes see more (better) than two.
368. Friends are thieves of time.
369. From bad to worse.
370. From pillar to post.
371. Gentility without ability is worse than plain beggary.
372. Get a name to rise early, and you may lie all day.
373. Gifts from enemies are dangerous.
374. Give a fool rope enough, and he will hang himself.
375. Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.
376. Give him an inch and he'll take an ell.
377. Give never the wolf the wether to keep.
378. Gluttony kills more men than the sword.
379. Go to bed with the lamb and rise with the lark.
380. Good clothes open all doors.
381. Good counsel does no harm.
382. Good health is above wealth.
383. Good masters make good servants.
384. Good words and no deeds.
385. Good words without deeds are rushes and reeds.
386. Gossiping and lying go hand in hand.
387. Grasp all, lose all.
388. Great barkers are no biters.
389. Great boast, small roast.
390. Great cry and little wool.
391. Great spenders are bad lenders.
392. Great talkers are great liars.
393. Great talkers are little doers.
394. Greedy folk have long arms.
395. Habit cures habit.
396. Half a loaf is better than no bread.
397. "Hamlet" without the Prince of Denmark .
398. Handsome is that handsome does.
399. Happiness takes no account of time.
400. Happy is he that is happy in his children.
401. Hard words break no bones.
402. Hares may pull dead lions by the beard.
403. Harm watch, harm catch.
404. Haste makes waste.
405. Hasty climbers have sudden falls.
406. Hate not at the first harm.
407. Hatred is blind, as well as love.
408. Hawks will not pick hawks' eyes.
409. He begins to die that quits his desires.
410. He cannot speak well that cannot hold his tongue.
411. He carries fire in one hand and water in the other.
412. He dances well to whom fortune pipes.
413. He gives twice who gives in a trice.
414. He goes long barefoot that waits for dead man's shoes.
415. He is a fool that forgets himself.
416. He is a good friend that speaks well of us behind our backs.
417. He is happy that thinks himself so.
418. He is lifeless that is faultless.
419. He is not fit to command others that cannot command himself.
420. He is not laughed at that laughs at himself first.
421. He is not poor that has little, but he that desires much.
422. He jests at scars that never felt a wound.
423. He knows best what good is that has endured evil.
424. He knows how many beans make five.
425. He knows much who knows how to hold his tongue.
426. He laughs best who laughs last.
427. He lives long that lives well.
428. He must needs swim that is held up by the chin.
429. He should have a long spoon that sups with the devil.
430. He smells best that smells of nothing.
431. He that comes first to the hill may sit where he will.
432. He that commits a fault thinks everyone speaks of it.
433. He that does you an i!i turn will never forgive you.
434. He that fears every bush must never go a-birding.
435. He that fears you present wiil hate you absent.
436. He that goes a borrowing, goes a sorrowing.
437. He that goes barefoot must not plant thorns.
438. He that has a full purse never wanted a friend.
439. He that has a great nose thinks everybody is speaking of it.
440. He that has an ill name is half hanged.
441. He that has no children knows not what love is.
442. He that has He head needs no hat.
443. He that has no money needs no purse.
444. He that is born to be hanged shall never be drowned.
445. He that is full of himself is very empty.
446. He that is ill to himself will be good to nobody.
447. He that is warm thinks all so.
448. He that knows nothing doubts nothing.
449. He that lies down with dogs must rise up with fleas.
450. He that lives with cripples learns to limp.
451. He that mischief hatches, mischief catches.
452. He that never climbed never fell.
453. He that once deceives is ever suspected.
454. He that promises too much means nothing.
455. He that respects not is not respected.
456. He that seeks trouble never misses.
457. He that serves everybody is paid by nobody.
458. He that serves God for money will serve the devil for better wages.
459. He that spares the bad injures the good.
460. He that talks much errs much.
461. He that talks much lies much.
462. He that will eat the kernel must crack the nut.
463. He that will not when he may, when he will he shall have nay.
464. He that will steal an egg will steal an ox.
465. He that will thrive, must rise at five.
466. He that would eat the fruit must climb the tree.
467. He that would have eggs must endure the cackling of hens.
468. He who is born a fool is never cured.
469. He who hesitates is lost.
470. He who likes borrowing dislikes paying.
471. He who makes no mistakes, makes nothing.
472. He who pleased everybody died before he was born.
473. He who says what he likes, shall hear what he doesn't like.
474. He who would catch fish must not mind getting wet.
475. He who would eat the nut must first crack the shell.
476. He who would search for pearls must dive below.
477. He will never set the Thames on fire.
478. He works best who knows his trade.
479. Head cook and bottle-washer.
480. Health is not valued till sickness comes.
481. His money burns a hole in his pocket.
482. Honesty is the best policy.
483. Honey is not for the ass's mouth.
484. Honey is sweet, but the bee stings.
485. Honour and profit lie not in one sack.
486. Honours change manners.
487. Hope is a good breakfast, but a bad supper.
488. Hope is the poor man's bread.
489. Hunger breaks stone walls.
490. Hunger finds no fault with cookery.
491. Hunger is the best sauce.
492. Hungry bellies have no ears.
493. Idle folks lack no excuses.
494. Idleness is the mother of all evil.
495. Idleness rusts the mind.
496. If an ass (donkey) bray at you, don't bray at him.
497. If ifs and ans were pots and pans...
498. If my aunt had been a man, she'd have been my uncle.
499. If the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.
500. If the sky falls, we shall catch larks.
501. If there were no clouds, we should not enjoy the sun.
502. If things were to be done twice all would be wise.
503. If we can't as we would, we must do as we can.
504. If wishes were horses, beggars might ride.
505. If you agree to carry the calf, they'll make you carry the cow.
506. If you cannot bite, never show your teeth.
507. If you cannot have the best, make the best of what you have.
508. If you dance you must pay the fiddler.
509. If you laugh before breakfast you'll cry before supper.
510. If you run after two hares, you will catch neither.
511. If you sell the cow, you sell her milk too.
512. If you throw mud enough, some of it will stick.
513. If you try to please all you will please none.
514. If you want a thing well done, do it yourself.
515. Ill-gotten gains never prosper.
516. Ill-gotten, ill-spent.
517. In every beginning think of the end.
518. In for a penny, in for a pound.
519. In the country of the blind one-eyed man is a king.
520. In the end things will mend.
521. In the evening one may praise the day.
522. Iron hand (fist) in a velvet glove.
523. It is a good horse that never stumbles.
524. It is a long lane that has no turning.
525. It is a poor mouse that has only one hole.
526. It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest.
527. It is an ill wind that blows nobody good.
528. It is a silly fish, that is caught twice with the same bait.
529. It is easy to swim if another hoids up your chin (head).
530. It is enough to make a cat laugh.
531. It is good fishing in troubled waters.
532. It is never too late to learn.
533. It is no use crying over spilt milk.
534. It is the first step that costs.
535. It never rains but it pours.
536. It's as broad as it's long.
537. It's no use pumping a dry well.
538. It's one thing to flourish and another to fight.
539. It takes all sorts to make a world.
540. Jackdaw in peacock's feathers.
541. Jest with an ass and he will flap you in the face with his tail.
542. Judge not of men and things at first sight.
543. Just as the twig is bent, the tree is inclined.
544. Keep a thing seven years and you will find a use for it.
545. Keep your mouth shut and your ears open.
546. Keep your mouth shut and your eyes open.
547. Last, but not least.
548. Laws catch flies, but let hornets go free.
549. Learn to creep before you leap.
550. Learn to say before you sing.
551. Learn wisdom by the follies of others.
552. Least said, soonest mended.
553. Leaves without figs.
554. Let bygones be bygones.
555. Let every man praise the bridge he goes over.
556. Let sleeping dogs lie.
557. Let well (enough) alone.
558. Liars need good memories.
559. Lies have short legs.
560. Life is but a span.
561. Life is not a bed of roses.
562. Life is not all cakes and ale (beer and skittles).
563. Like a cat on hot bricks.
564. Like a needle in a haystack.
565. Like begets like.
566. Like cures like.
567. Like father, like son.
568. Like draws to like.
569. Like master, like man.
570. Like mother, like daughter.
571. Like parents, like children.
572. Like priest, like people.
573. Like teacher, like pupil.
574. Little chips light great fires.
575. Little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
576. Little pigeons can carry great messages.
577. Little pitchers have long ears.
578. Little strokes fell great oaks.
579. Little thieves are hanged, but great ones escape.
580. Little things amuse little minds.
581. Live and learn.
582. Live and let live.
583. Live not to eat, but eat to live.
584. Long absent, soon forgotten.
585. Look before you leap.
586. Look before you leap, but having leapt never look back.
587. Lookers-on see more than players.
588. Lord (God, Heaven) helps those (them) who help themselves.
589. Lost time is never found again.
590. Love cannot be forced.
591. Love in a cottage.
592. Love is blind, as well as hatred.
593. Love me, love my dog.
594. Love will creep where it may not go.
595. Make haste slowly.
596. Make hay while the sun shines.
597. Make or mar.
598. Man proposes but God disposes.
599. Many a fine dish has nothing on it.
600. Many a good cow has a bad calf.
601. Many a good father has but a bad son.
602. Many a little makes a mickle.
603. Many a true word is spoken in jest.
604. Many hands make light work.
605. Many men, many minds.
606. Many words hurt more than swords.
607. Many words will not fill a bushel.
608. Marriages are made in heaven.
609. Measure for measure.
610. Measure thrice and cut once.
611. Men may meet but mountains never.
612. Mend or end (end or mend).
613. Might goes before right.
614. Misfortunes never come alone (singly).
615. Misfortunes tell us what fortune is.
616. Money begets money.
617. Money has no smell.
618. Money is a good servant but a bad master.
619. Money often unmakes the men who make it.
620. Money spent on the brain is never spent in vain.
621. More haste, less speed.
622. Much ado about nothing.
623. Much will have more.
624. Muck and money go together.
625. Murder will out.
626. My house is my castle.
627. Name not a rope in his house that was hanged.
628. Necessity is the mother of invention.
629. Necessity knows no law.
630. Neck or nothing.
631. Need makes the old wife trot.
632. Needs must when the devil drives.
633. Neither fish nor flesh.
634. Neither here nor there.
635. Neither rhyme nor reason.
636. Never cackle till your egg is laid.
637. Never cast dirt into that fountain of which you have sometime drunk.
638. Never do things by halves.
639. Never fry a fish till it's caught.
640. Never offer to teach fish to swim.
641. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do (can be done) today.
642. Never quit certainty for hope.
643. Never too much of a good thing.
644. Never try to prove what nobody doubts.
645. Never write what you dare not sign.
646. New brooms sweep clean.
647. New lords, new laws.
648. Nightingales will not sing in a cage.
649. No flying from fate.
650. No garden without its weeds.
651. No great loss without some small gain.
652. No herb will cure love.
653. No joy without alloy.
654. No living man all things can.
655. No longer pipe, no longer dance.
656. No man is wise at all times.
657. No man loves his fetters, be they made of gold.
658. No news (is) good news.
659. No pains, no gains.
660. No song, no supper.
661. No sweet without (some) sweat.
662. No wisdom like silence.
663. None but the brave deserve the fair.
664. None so blind as those who won't see.
665. None so deaf as those that won't hear.
666. Nothing comes out of the sack but what was in it.
667. Nothing is impossible to a willing heart.
668. Nothing must be done hastily but killing of fleas.
669. Nothing so bad, as not to be good for something.
670. Nothing succeeds like success.
671. Nothing venture, nothing have.
672. Oaks may fall when reeds stand the storm.
673. Of two evils choose the least.
674. Old birds are not caught with chaff.
675. Old friends and old wine are best.
676. On Shank's mare.
677. Once bitten, twice shy.
678. Once is no rule (custom).
679. One beats the bush, and another catches the bird.
680. One chick keeps a hen busy.
681. One drop of poison infects the whole tun of wine.
682. One fire drives out another.
683. One good turn deserves another.
684. One law for the rich, and another for the poor.
685. One lie makes many.
686. One link broken, the whole chain is broken.
687. One man, no man.
688. One man's meat is another man's poison.
689. One scabby sheep will mar a whole flock.
690. One swallow does not make a summer.
691. One today is worth two tomorrow.
692. Open not your door when the devil knocks.
693. Opinions differ.
694. Opportunity makes the thief.
695. Out of sight, out of mind.
696. Out of the frying-pan into the fire.
697. Packed like herrings.
698. Patience is a plaster for all sores.
699. Penny-wise and pound-foolish.
700. Pleasure has a sting in its tail.
701. Plenty is no plague.
702. Politeness costs little (nothing), but yields much.
703. Poverty is no sin.
704. Poverty is not a shame, but the being ashamed of it is.
705. Practise what you preach.
706. Praise is not pudding.
707. Pride goes before a fall.
708. Procrastination is the thief of time.
709. Promise is debt.
710. Promise little, but do much.
711. Prosperity makes friends, and adversity tries them.
712. Put not your hand between the bark and the tree.
713. Rain at seven, fine at eleven.
714. Rats desert a sinking ship.
715. Repentance is good, but innocence is better.
716. Respect yourself, or no one else will respect you.
717. Roll my log and I will roll yours.
718. Rome was not built in a day.
719. Salt water and absence wash away love.
720. Saying and doing are two things.
721. Score twice before you cut once.
722. Scornful dogs will eat dirty puddings.
723. Scratch my back and I'll scratch yours.
724. Self done is soon done.
725. Self done is well done.
726. Self is a bad counsellor.
727. Self-praise is no recommendation.
728. Set a beggar on horseback and he'll ride to the devil.
729. Set a thief to catch a thief.
730. Shallow streams make most din.
731. Short debts (accounts) make long friends.
732. Silence gives consent.
733. Since Adam was a boy.
734. Sink or swim!
735. Six of one and half a dozen of the other.
736. Slow and steady wins the race.
737. Slow but sure.
738. Small rain lays great dust.
739. So many countries, so many customs.
740. So many men, so many minds.
741. Soft fire makes sweet malt.
742. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark .
743. Soon learnt, soon forgotten.
744. Soon ripe, soon rotten.
745. Speak (talk) of the devil and he will appear (is sure to appear).
746. Speech is silver but silence is gold.
747. Standers-by see more than gamesters.
748. Still waters run deep.
749. Stolen pleasures are sweetest.
750. Stretch your arm no further than your sleeve will reach.
751. Stretch your legs according to the coverlet.
752. Strike while the iron is hot.
753. Stuff today and starve tomorrow.
754. Success is never blamed.
755. Such carpenters, such chips.
756. Sweep before your own door.
757. Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves.
758. Take us as you find us.
759. Tarred with the same brush.
760. Tastes differ.
761. Tell that to the marines.
762. That cock won't fight.
763. That which one least anticipates soonest comes to pass.
764. That's a horse of another colour.
765. That's where the shoe pinches!
766. The beggar may sing before the thief (before a footpad).
767. The best fish smell when they are three days old.
768. The best fish swim near the bottom.
769. The best is oftentimes the enemy of the good.
770. The busiest man finds the most leisure.
771. The camel going to seek horns lost his ears.
772. The cap fits.
773. The cask savours of the first fill.
774. The cat shuts its eyes when stealing cream.
775. The cat would eat fish and would not wet her paws.
776. The chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
777. The cobbler should stick to his last.
778. The cobbler's wife is the worst shod.
779. The darkest hour is that before the dawn.
780. The darkest place is under the candlestick.
781. The devil is not so black as he is painted.
782. The devil knows many things because he is old.
783. The devil lurks behind the cross.
784. The devil rebuking sin.
785. The dogs bark, but the caravan goes on.
786. The Dutch have taken Holland !
787. The early bird catches the worm.
788. The end crowns the work.
789. The end justifies the means.
790. The evils we bring on ourselves are hardest to bear.
791. The exception proves the rule.
792. The face is the index of the mind.
793. The falling out of lovers is the renewing of love.
794. The fat is in the fire.
795. The first blow is half the battle.
796. The furthest way about is the nearest way home.
797. The game is not worth the candle.
798. The heart that once truly loves never forgets.
799. The higher the ape goes, the more he shows his tail.
800. The last drop makes the cup run over.
801. The last straw breaks the camel's back.
802. The leopard cannot change its spots.
803. The longest day has an end.
804. The mill cannot grind with the water that is past.
805. The moon does not heed the barking of dogs.
806. The more haste, the less speed.
807. The more the merrier.
808. The morning sun never lasts a day.
809. The mountain has brought forth a mouse.
810. The nearer the bone, the sweeter the flesh.
811. The pitcher goes often to the well but is broken at last.
812. The pot calls the kettle black.
813. The proof of the pudding is in the eating.
814. The receiver is as bad as the thief.
815. The remedy is worse than the disease.
816. The rotten apple injures its neighbours.
817. The scalded dog fears cold water.
818. The tailor makes the man.
819. The tongue of idle persons is never idle.
820. The voice of one man is the voice of no one.
821. The way (the road) to hell is paved with good intentions.
822. The wind cannot be caught in a net.
823. The work shows the workman.
824. There are lees to every wine.
825. There are more ways to the wood than one.
826. There is a place for everything, and everything in its place.
827. There is more than one way to kill a cat.
828. There is no fire without smoke.
829. There is no place like home.
830. There is no rose without a thorn.
831. There is no rule without an exception.
832. There is no smoke without fire.
833. There's many a slip 'tween (== between) the cup and the lip.
834. There's no use crying over spilt milk.
835. They are hand and glove.
836. They must hunger in winter that will not work in summer.
837. Things past cannot be recalled.
838. Think today and speak tomorrow.
839. Those who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
840. Time and tide wait for no man.
841. Time cures all things.
842. Time is money.
843. Time is the great healer.
844. Time works wonders.
845. To add fuel (oil) to the fire (flames).
846. To angle with a silver hook.
847. To be born with a silver spoon in one's mouth.
848. To be head over ears in debt.
849. To be in one's birthday suit.
850. To be up to the ears in love.
851. To be wise behind the hand.
852. To beat about the bush.
853. To beat the air.
854. To bring grist to somebody's mill.
855. To build a fire under oneself.
856. To buy a pig in a poke.
857. To call a spade a spade.
858. To call off the dogs.
859. To carry coals to Newcastle.
860. To cast pearls before swine.
861. To cast prudence to the winds.
862. To come away none the wiser.
863. To come off cheap.
864. To come off with a whole skin.
865. To come off with flying colours.
866. To come out dry.
867. To come out with clean hands.
868. To cook a hare before catching him.
869. To cry with one eye and laugh with the other.
870. To cut one's throat with a feather.
871. To draw (pull) in one's horns.
872. To drop a bucket into an empty well.
873. To draw water in a sieve.
874. To eat the calf in the cow's belly.
875. To err is human.
876. To fiddle while Rome is burning.
877. To fight with one's own shadow.
878. To find a mare's nest.
879. To fish in troubled waters.
880. To fit like a glove.
881. To flog a dead horse.
882. To get out of bed on the wrong side.
883. To give a lark to catch a kite.
884. To go for wool and come home shorn.
885. To go through fire and water (through thick and thin).
886. To have a finger in the pie.
887. To have rats in the attic.
888. To hit the nail on the head.
889. To kick against the pricks.
890. To kill two birds with one stone.
891. To know everything is to know nothing.
892. To know on which side one's bread is buttered.
893. To know what's what.
894. To lay by for a rainy day.
895. To live from hand to mouth.
896. To lock the stable-door after the horse is stolen.
897. To look for a needle in a haystack.
898. To love somebody (something) as the devil loves holy water.
899. To make a mountain out of a molehill.
900. To make both ends meet.
901. To make the cup run over.
902. To make (to turn) the air blue.
903. To measure another man's foot by one's own last.
904. To measure other people's corn by one's own bushel.
905. To pay one back in one's own coin.
906. To plough the sand.
907. To pour water into a sieve.
908. To pull the chestnuts out of the fire for somebody.
909. To pull the devil by the tail.
910. To put a spoke in somebody's wheel.
911. To put off till Doomsday.
912. To put (set) the cart before the horse.
913. To rob one's belly to cover one's back.
914. To roll in money.
915. To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.
916. To save one's bacon.
917. To send (carry) owls to Athens .
918. To set the wolf to keep the sheep.
919. To stick to somebody like a leech.
920. To strain at a gnat and swallow a camel.
921. To take counsel of one's pillow.
922. To take the bull by the horns.
923. To teach the dog to bark.
924. To tell tales out of school.
925. To throw a stone in one's own garden.
926. To throw dust in somebody's eyes.
927. To throw straws against the wind.
928. To treat somebody with a dose of his own medicine.
929. To use a steam-hammer to crack nuts.
930. To wash one's dirty linen in public.
931. To wear one's heart upon one's sleeve.
932. To weep over an onion.
933. To work with the left hand.
934. Tomorrow come never.
935. Too many cooks spoil the broth.
936. Too much knowledge makes the head bald.
937. Too much of a good thing is good for nothing.
938. Too much water drowned the miller .
939. Too swift arrives as tardy as too slow.
940. True blue will never stain.
941. True coral needs no painter's brush.
942. Truth comes out of the mouths of babes and sucklings.
943. Truth is stranger than fiction.
944. Truth lies at the bottom of a well.
945. Two blacks do not make a white.
946. Two heads are better than one.
947. Two is company, but three is none.
948. Velvet paws hide sharp claws.
949. Virtue is its own reward.
950. Wait for the cat to jump.
951. Walls have ears.
952. Wash your dirty linen at home.
953. Waste not, want not.
954. We know not what is good until we have lost it.
955. We never know the value of water till the well is dry.
956. We shall see what we shall see.
957. We soon believe what we desire.
958. Wealth is nothing without health.
959. Well begun is half done.
960. What can't be cured, must be endured.
961. What is bred in the bone will not go out of the flesh.
962. What is done by night appears by day.
963. What is done cannot be undone.
964. What is got over the devil's back is spent under his belly.
965. What is lost is lost.
966. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.
967. What is worth doing at alt is worth doing well.
968. What must be, must be.
969. What the heart thinks the tongue speaks.
970. What we do willingly is easy.
971. When angry, count a hundred.
972. When at Rome, do as the Romans do.
973. When children stand quiet, they have done some harm.
974. When flatterers meet, the devil goes to dinner.
975. When guns speak it is too late to argue.
976. When pigs fly.
977. When Queen Anne was alive.
978. When the cat is away, the mice will play.
979. When the devil is blind.
980. When the fox preaches, take care of your geese.
981. When the pinch comes, you remember the old shoe.
982. When three know it, alt know it.
983. When wine is in wit is out.
984. Where there's a will, there's a way.
985. While the grass grows the horse starves.
986. While there is life there is hope.
987. Who breaks, pays.
988. Who has never tasted bitter, knows not what is sweet.
989. Who keeps company with the wolf, will learn to howl.
990. Wise after the event.
991. With time and patience the leaf of the mulberry becomes satin.
992. Words pay no debts.
993. You can take a horse to the water but you cannot make him drink.
994. You cannot eat your cake and have it.
995. You cannot flay the same ox twice.
996. You cannot judge a tree by it bark.
997. You cannot teach old dogs new tricks.
998. You cannot wash charcoal white.
999. You made your bed, now lie in it.
1000. Zeal without knowledge is a runaway horse.
__._,_.__

Management Pot-Pourri-- A Lesson for Every Salaried Employee

10 Amazingly Simple Tricks To Refresh & Speed-up Your Brain

There are two basic principles to keep your brain healthy and sharp as you age: variety and curiosity. When anything you do becomes second nature, you need to make a change. If you can do the crossword puzzle in your sleep, it's time for you to move on to a new challenge in order to get the best workout for your brain. Curiosity about the world around you, how it works and how you can understand it will keep your brain working fast and efficiently. Use the ideas below to help attain your quest for mental fitness.

1. Read a Book
Pick a book on an entirely new subject. Read a novel set in Egypt. Learn about economics. There are many excellent popular non-fiction books that do a great job entertaining you while teaching about a subject. Become an expert in something new each week. Branch out from familiar reading topics. If you usually read history books, try a contemporary novel. Read foreign authors, the classics and random books. Not only will your brain get a workout by imagining different time periods, cultures and peoples, you will also have interesting stories to tell about your reading, what it makes you think of and the connections you draw between modem life and the words.

2. Play Games
Games are a wonderful way to tease and challenge your brain. Suduko, crosswords and electronic games can all improve your brain's speed and memory. These games rely on logic, word skills, math and more. These games are also fun. You'll get benefit more by doing these games a little bit every day-spend 15 minutes or so, not hours.

3. Use Your Opposite Hand
Spend the day doing things with your non-dominant hand. If you are left-handed, open doors with your right hand. If you are right- handed, try using your keys with your left. This simple task will cause your brain to lay down some new pathways and rethink daily tasks. Wear your watch on the opposite hand to remind you to switch.

4. Learn Phone Numbers
Our modem phones remember every number that calls them. No one memorizes phone numbers anymore, but it is a great memory Skill. Learn a new phone number everyday.

5. Eat for Your Brain
Your brain needs you to eat healthy fats. Focus on fish oils from wild salmon, nuts such as walnuts, seeds such as flax seed and olive oil. Eat more of these foods and less saturated fats. Eliminate transfats completely from your diet.

6. Break the Routine
We love our routines. We have hobbies and pastimes that we could do for hours on end. But the more something is second nature, the less our brains have to work to do it. To really help your brain stay young, challenge it. Change routes to the grocery store, use your opposite hand to open doors and eat dessert first. All this will force your brain to wake up from habits and pay attention again.

7. Go a Different way
Drive or walk a different way to wherever you go. This little change in routine helps the brain practice special memory and directions. Try different side streets go through stores in a different order anything to change your route.

8. Learn a New Skill
Learning a new skill works multiple areas of the brain. Your memory comes into play, you learn new movements and you associate things differently. Reading Shakespeare, learning to cook and building an airplane out of tooth picks all will challenge your brain and give you something to think about.

9. Make Lists
Lists are wonderful. Making lists helps us to associate items with one another. Make a list of all the places you have traveled. Make a list of the tastiest foods you have eaten. Make a list of the best presents you have been given. Make one list every day to jog your memory and make new connections. But don't become too reliant on them. Make your grocery list, but then try to shop without it. Use the list once you have put every item you can think of in your cart. Do the same with your "to do" lists.

10. Choose a new skill
Find something that captivates you that you can do easily in your home and doesn't cost too much. Photography with a digital camera, learning to draw, learning a musical instrument learning new cooking styles, or writing are all great choices.

-received as an e-mail

Ten Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills

We all have people with whom we have to work to get things done. Our ability to communicate with clients, customers, subordinates, peers, and superiors can enhance our effectiveness or sabotage us. Many times, our verbal skills make the difference. Here are 10 ways to increase your verbal efficacy at work:


Develop your voice – A high whiney voice is not perceived to be one of authority. In fact, a high soft voice can make you sound like prey to an aggressive co-worker who is out to make his/her career at the expense of anyone else. Begin doing exercises to lower the pitch of your voice. Here is one to start: Sing — but do it an octave lower on all your favorite songs. Practice this and, after a period of time, your voice will begin to lower.

Slow down – People will perceive you as nervous and unsure of yourself if you talk fast. However, be careful not to slow down to the point where people begin to finish your sentences just to help you finish.

Animate your voice – Avoid a monotone. Use dynamics. Your pitch should raise and lower. Your volume should be soft and loud. Listen to your local TV news anchor; take notes.

Enunciate your words – Speak clearly. Don’t mumble. If people are always saying, “huh,” to you, you are mumbling.

Use appropriate volume – Use a volume that is appropriate for the setting. Speak more softly when you are alone and close. Speak louder when you are speaking to larger groups or across larger spaces.

Pronounce your words correctly – People will judge your competency through your vocabulary. If you aren’t sure how to say a word, don’t use it.

Use the right words – If you’re not sure of the meaning of a word, don’t use it. Start a program of learning a new word a day. Use it sometime in your conversations during the day.

Make eye contact – I know a person who is very competent in her job. However, when she speaks to individuals or groups, she does so with her eyes shut. When she opens them periodically, she stares off in a direction away from the listener. She is perceived as incompetent by those with whom she consults. One technique to help with this is to consciously look into one of the listener’s eyes and then move to the other. Going back and forth between the two (and I hope they only have two) makes your eyes appear to sparkle. Another trick is to imagine a letter “T” on the listener’s face with the cross bar being an imaginary line across the eye brows and the vertical line coming down the center of the nose. Keep your eyes scanning that “T” zone.
Use gestures – Make your whole body talk. Use smaller gestures for individuals and small groups. The gestures should get larger as the group that one is addressing increases in size.

Don’t send mixed messages – Make your words, gestures, facial expressions, tone, and message match. Disciplining an employee while smiling sends a mixed message and, therefore, is ineffective. If you have to deliver a negative message, make your words, facial expressions, and tone match the message.

Improving your communication skills will improve your productivity.

-received as an e-mail

How to Succeed

a 15 point plan...

• Dont talk negatively about people behind their backs. If you gossip, people won't confide in you. Mind your own business.
• Try to work for someone who ll challenge your powers. You'll learn more in a year than 4 years of college.
• Successful bosses have good communication skills. They'll learn more from people, including their employees.
• Work in such a way that makes your boss look good. It's not flattery.
• On downsizing, the first to go are those with a few friends. Bosses prefer competent people whom they respect.
• Dress for the job you want, not the one you have. Let your dress reflect professionalism.
• Work to get in good physical shape. Unless exceptionally skilled, the unhealthy are at a comparitive disadvantage.
• Personal integrity is crucial. Tell nothing but the truth. Bosses can forgive mistakes, but if you lie, you are gone.
• Be on time. Try to arrive a few minutes early. It saves you from stress. You'll be much relaxed and work better.
• Strive your best to keep a deadline. If you cannot meet, then apologize and ask for an extension.
• Don't take things personally. If some people are unhappy with you, it's their problem. But always strive to give your best.
• If you must correct someone, don't get personal about it. Do it never in front of others.
• Spend some time alone everyday. What is the mission of life?What do I want to be?And how to go about it.
• As you move along Plan A of your career, maintain a Plan B as well - an alternative course to rely.
• Always remember that the secret of success is passion. Always think big. Spread love and joy. You'll have blissful years ahead.

-received as an e-mail

Interesting Management Stories!

Story # 1

It's a fine sunny day in the forest and a lion is sitting outside his cave, lying lazily in the sun. Along comes a fox, out on a walk.

Fox: "Do you know the time, because my watch is broken"
Lion: "Oh, I can easily fix the watch for you"
Fox: "Hmm... But it's a very complicated mechanism, and your big claws will only destroy it even more."
Lion: "Oh no, give it to me, and it will be fixed"
Fox: "That's ridiculous! Any fool knows that lazy lions with great claws cannot fix complicated watches"
Lion: "Sure they do, give it to me and it will be fixed"
The lion disappears into his cave, and after a while he comes back with the watch which is running perfectly. The fox is impressed, and the lion continues to lie lazily in the sun, looking very pleased with himself. Soon a wolf comes along and stops to watch the lazy lion in the sun.
Wolf: "Can I come and watch TV tonight with you, because mine is broken"
Lion: "Oh, I can easily fix your TV for you"
Wolf: "You don't expect me to believe such rubbish, do you? There is no way that a lazy lion with big claws can fix a complicated TV
Lion: "No problem. Do you want to try it?"
The lion goes into his cave, and after a while comes back with a perfectly fixed TV. The wolf goes away happily and amazed.

Scene :
Inside the lion's cave. In one corner are half a dozen small and intelligent looking rabbits who are busily doing very complicated work with very detailed instruments. In the other corner lies a huge lion looking very pleased with himself.

Moral :
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY A MANAGER IS FAMOUS; LOOK AT THE WORK OF HIS SUBORDINATES.

Management Lesson in the context of the working world :
IF YOU WANT TO KNOW WHY SOMEONE UNDESERVED IS PROMOTED; LOOK AT THE WORK OF HIS SUBORDINATES

Story # 2

It's a fine sunny day in the forest and a rabbit is sitting outside his burrow, tippy-tapping on his typewriter. Along comes a fox, out for a walk.

Fox: "What are you working on?"
Rabbit: "My thesis."
Fox: "Hmm... What is it about?"
Rabbit: "Oh, I'm writing about how rabbits eat foxes."
Fox: "That's ridiculous ! Any fool knows that rabbits don't eat foxes!
Rabbit: "Come with me and I'll show you!"
They both disappear into the rabbit's burrow. After few minutes, gnawing on a fox bone, the rabbit returns to his typewriter and resumes typing.
Soon a wolf comes along and stops to watch the hardworking rabbit.
Wolf: "What's that you are writing?"
Rabbit: "I'm doing a thesis on how rabbits eat wolves."
Wolf: "you don't expect to get such rubbish published, do you?"
Rabbit: "No problem. Do you want to see why?"
The rabbit and the wolf go into the burrow and again the rabbit returns by himself, after a few minutes, and goes back to typing. Finally a bear comes along and asks, "What are you doing?
Rabbit: "I'm doing a thesis on how rabbits eat bears."
Bear: "Well that's absurd!"
Rabbit: "Come into my home and I'll show you"

Scene :
As they enter the burrow, the rabbit introduces the bear to the lion.

Moral:
IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW SILLY YOUR THESIS TOPIC IS; WHAT MATTERS IS WHOM YOU HAVE AS A SUPERVISOR.

Management Lesson in the context of the working world:
IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW BAD YOUR PERFORMANCE IS; WHAT MATTERS IS WHETHER YOUR BOSS LIKES YOU OR NOT

Listening Power

The art of good conversation centers very much on your ability to ask questions and to listen attentively to the answers. You can lace the conversation with your insights, ideas, and opinions, but you perfect the art and skill of conversation by perfecting the art and skill of asking good, well-worded questions that direct the conversation and give other people an opportunity to express themselves.

Ask Open Ended Questions

Ask open-ended questions that cannot be answered with a simple "yes" or "no." Open-ended questions encourage the speaker to expand on his thoughts and comments.
And one question will lead to another. You can ask open-ended questions almost endlessly, drawing out of the other person everything that he or she has to say
on a particular subject.

Be Content to Listen

In order to be an excellent conversationalist, you must resist the urge to dominate the discussion. The very best conversationalists seem to be low-key, easy-go
ing, cheerful, and genuinely interested in the other person. They seem to be quite content to listen when other people are talking and they make their own contr
ibutions to the dialogue rather short and to the point

Share the Opportunity to Talk

In fact, good conversation has an easy ebb and flow, like the tide coming in and going out. Whether it is between two people or among several, the conversation
should shift back and forth, with each person getting an opportunity to talk. Conversation in this sense is like a ball that is tossed from person to person, wi
th no one holding on to it for very long.

If you feel that you have been talking for too long, you should stop and ask a question of someone in the group. You will be tossing the conversational ball and
giving that individual an opportunity to converse.

Learn to Listen Well

Listening is the most important of all skills for successful conversation. Many people are very poor listeners. Since everyone enjoys talking, it takes a real e
ffort to practice the fundamentals of excellent listening and to make them a habit.

Action Exercises

Here are two things you can do immediately to put these ideas into action.

First, make a habit of asking good, open-ended questions of others in every conversation and in response to problems or difficulties. This shows interest and in
creases your understanding.

Second, take a deep breath, relax and let the other person talk more. Practice over and over until you become an excellent listener.

"It takes a minute to have a crush an hour to like someone and a day to love someone but it takes a lifetime to forget someone" Be in touch..

Four Agreements

Agreement 1

Be impeccable with your word - Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.

Agreement 2

Don't take anything personally - Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.

Agreement 3

Don't make assumptions - Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.

Agreement 4

Always do your best - Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.

Ten tips to build English vocabulary

Feeling overwhelmed trying to memorize so many vocabulary words? It doesn't need to be a daunting task! Check out these top strategies and practical pointers that can help you build your word power!

Connect: It's easier to memorize words based on a common theme. Make your own connections between words and possibly organize them in a spider diagram.

Write: Practically using vocabulary can help it stick in your mind. Write sentences with new vocabulary words or compose a story using a group of words or expressions.

Draw: Expose the artist in you by drawing pictures related to the words you study. Your drawings can help trigger your memory in the future.

Act: Get your moves on by acting out words and expressions you learn. Or, imagine and act out a situation where you would need to use them.

Create: Design flashcards in English and study them in your spare time. Each week make new ones, but continue to review all of them.

Associate: Assign different colors to different words. This association will help you recall vocabulary later.

Listen: Think about other words which sound similar to the words you're learning, especially complex words. Associate the other words with this new word to help you remember the pronunciation.

Choose: Remember that topics that interest you will be easier to learn. Therefore, carefully select words that you will find useful or interesting. Even the process of making the choice is a memory aid!

Limit: Don't try to memorize the dictionary in a day! Limit yourself to 15 words per day, and you'll gain confidence instead of feeling overwhelmed.

Observe: Keep an eye out for the words you're studying when reading or listening to English.

Table Manners

Q. Is it considered rude to take a sip of your drink while still chewing?
A. It is considered good manners to wait until you have finished chewing and have swallowed your food before taking a sip of your beverage.

Q. What is the correct position for a coffee cup in a formal place setting?
A. The coffee cup and saucer is placed to the right of the place setting, to the right of the furthest utensil. Since most people are right-handed, the handle should face to the right.

Q. How should I fold a large napkin before placing it in my lap?
A. Large dinner napkins should be folded in half after opening and before placing on one's lap.

Q. Is it proper for a woman to apply lipstick at the table after a meal?
A. It is appropriate for a woman to excuse herself and apply lipstick in a private area such as a restroom.

Q. When should the host/hostess of a dinner party be served?
A. The host hostess of a dinner party should be the last one served. If the meal is getting cold, the host/hostess may state something to the effect, "Please begin while the food is still warm".

Q. At a formal dinner party, how do I properly serve and remove the dishes and glasses?
A. When entertaining formally, dishes are presented or served at guest's left and removed from the right side. Glasses are filled from the right.

Q. When dining at a fine restaurant should you eat different types of food on your plate individually or eat all the food groups together?
A. It is appropriate to eat all items together as the different foods complement one another.

Q. When eating meat, should you cut one piece, put your knife down, then eat the piece, or should you cut all of your meat up first, and then eat the meat?
A. When eating meat, should you cut one piece, put your knife down, then eat the piece, or should you cut all of your meat up first, and then eat the meat? When eating meat, always cut and eat one small piece at a time. If you are eating American style, you may put your knife down, switch your fork to your other hand and eat your bite. If you are eating continental style, you may cut the piece of meat and eat it without putting setting your knife on your plate. Continental Dining Style is becoming more prevalent today and is considered the preferred method of eating.

Q. What direction should food be passed at the table?
A. Food should be passed to the right, or counter-clockwise, For additional information on dining etiquette, please consult Manners 2000 Volume I Social Graces and Table Manners Video.

Q. Is it wrong to stand when a lady excuses herself from the table? What is the proper etiquette when the woman excuses herself and returns?
A. What is the proper etiquette when the woman excuses herself and returns? Answer: In a social setting, it is always appropriate for a male to stand when a female is taking her leave. However, in a business setting, it is not always necessary for a male to rise whenever his female coworker(s) leave the table.

Q. Should you dismiss yourself from the table if you need to sneeze or blow your nose?
A. Yes, excuse yourself from the table, and at no time should you use your napkin as a handkerchief.

Q. When dining out, is it okay to share your food with the others at the table for tasting purposes?
A. Yes, it is appropriate to share when others at the table are also willing to share. However, always request additional small plates and clean utensils for dividing the shared food.

Q. Where do I place my napkin when briefly excusing myself during the meal?
A. Place your napkin on the chair when excusing yourself during the meal as it is not appropriate to place a soiled napkin on the table while people are still eating. At the completion of a meal, carefully place the napkin at the left of your place setting or if the plates have been cleared, place the napkin in the center without actually refolding to original state.

Q. Who pays the bill when dining out?
A. When entertaining a guest, such as when out for dinner or cocktails, the person who extended the invitation (regardless of gender) is responsible for paying the bill.

Q. When do I use the salad fork?
A. When served a salad as the main entrée, use your dinner fork or entrée fork. Also, if your salad is served as a side dish on your main entrée plate, use your dinner fork. Otherwise, use your salad fork for your salad!

Q. What is the correct way to butter bread or a roll?
A. When served bread or a roll on a bread/butter plate; break the bread with your fingers into pieces small enough for one or two bites; butter a pulled apart piece and then eat it. Do not butter the entire roll or piece of bread at one time.

Q. Which side of the guest should I pour wine from at the dinner table?
A. Pour wine and all beverages from the right, while standing behind and to the right of the guest.

Q. When should charger plates be removed from the dinner table?
A. The charger plates should be on the table when the guests are seated. The soup, fish or salad course are served on top of the charger. It is customary for the charger plate to be removed prior to the serving of the entree or dinner course. Some people however, prefer to leave the charger plate on the table during the entree because they enjoy the appearance of the charger. Regardless of if you remove the charge after the soup, fish, salad or entree, the charger plate should always be removed before the dessert course.

Q. What is the correct way to serve yourself a portion of brie cheese? Do you just cut a piece from the soft part or try to cut off a portion including the hard skin?
A. Do you just cut a piece from the soft part or try to cut off a portion including the hard skin? Serve yourself an entire piece of cheese neatly and then you may cut away the crust on your own plate.

Q. When you have some food in your mouth that you don’t want to swallow, what should you do?
A. Move the food forward with your tongue onto the fork and place it back on the side of your plate.

Q. Where do I place the finger bowl after cleansing my fingers?
A. When using a finger bowl, after cleansing your fingers, place the finger bowl and the doily on the upper left side of the place setting; this clears the dessert plate for the dessert.

Q. Where are the dessert utensils placed in a formal table setting?
A. When setting the table, the dining utensils (or flatware) used for eating dessert should placed using one of the following options:1) At the top of the place setting with the fork (handle pointing left) placed above the plate and the spoon (handle pointing right) placed above the fork.2) The dessert spoon placed to the immediate right of the plate.3) The dessert fork and spoon placed on the dessert plate along with the finger bowl and presented immediately before the dessert.

Q. What do you do when the salad has big pieces of lettuce? Can you cut them with your knife?
A. Years ago, when knife blades were still made of silver, this was true, as the vinegar harmed the blades. However, today, most knife blades are stainless steel and therefore, may be used to cut lettuce into smaller bites.

Q. Should a child stand or sit while the adults are being seated at the dining table?
A. When at a dining table, a child should stand behind his/her chair until all the adults have been seated.

Q. Where should I put my napkin at the completion of the meal?
A. At the completion of a meal, carefully place the napkin at the left of your place setting or if the plates have been cleared, place the napkin in the center without actually refolding to original state.

Q. In a family setting, which direction should food be passed for serving?
A. Food is passed to the right, or counter-clockwise.

Q. What should you do if you spill a beverage on yourself while dining?
A. Clean up the spill at the table or excuse yourself to the restroom if needed. Apologize to anyone your slight mishap may have inconvenienced.

Q. When a fellow diner asks to "please pass the salt,” is it standard etiquette to pass both the salt and the pepper?
A. We recommend first passing the salt and then inquiring if the other guest would also like the pepper.

Social Etiquette

INTERACTING WITH PEOPLE IN WHEELCHAIRS

First and foremost you must remember that people with disabilities are individuals ? they may be your friends, your co-workers, your neighbours. When dealing with people who use wheelchairs you must know that they might have different disabilities and varying abilities. Some can use their arms and hands. Some can get out of their wheelchairs and even walk for short distances.

Here are some important tips to keep in mind when interacting with people who use wheelchairs or have mobility impairments -

? Wheelchair users are people, not equipment. Don't lean over someone in a wheelchair to shake another person's hand or ask a wheelchair user to hold coats. Setting your drink on the desktop attached to someone's wheelchair is a definite no-no.
? Don't push or touch a person's wheelchair; it's part of her personal space. If you help someone down a curb without waiting for instructions, you may dump him or her out of the chair. You may detach the chair's parts if you lift it by the handles or the footrest.
? Keep the ramps and wheelchair-accessib le doors to your building unlocked and unblocked.
? Be aware of a wheelchair users' reach limits. Place as many items as possible within their grasp. Make sure that there is a clear path of travel to shelves and display racks.
? When talking to a wheelchair user, grab your own chair and sit at his or her level. If that's not possible, stand at a slight distance, so that he/she isn't straining her neck to make eye contact with you.
? If your building has different routes through it, be sure that signs direct wheelchair users to the most accessible ways around the facility. People who walk with a cane or crutches also need to know the easiest was to get around a place, but stairs may be easier for them than a ramp. Ensure that security guards and receptionists at your business can answer questions about the most accessible way around the building.
? People who use canes or crutches need their arms to balance themselves, so never grab them. Mobility-impaired people may lean on a door for support as they open it. Pushing them or quickly opening the door may cause them to fall. Even pulling out or pushing in a chair may present a problem. Always ask before offering help.
? If you offer a seat to a mobility-impaired person, keep in mind that chairs with arms are easier for some people to use.
? Falls are a big problem for people with mobility impairments. Be sure to set out adequate warning signs after washing floors. Also put out mats on rainy or snowy days to keep the floors as dry as possible. (Make sure they don't bunch up and make the floor impassable for wheelchair users.)
? People who are not visibly mobility impaired may have needs related to their mobility. For example, a person with a respiratory or heart condition may have trouble walking long distances or walking quickly.

ETIQUETTE AT THE SWIMMING POOL


If you?re going for a swim in a public pool you dive in expecting a clean, hygienic, hassle-free experience. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Remember that public pools are just that? they?re public, therefore open to all. When making use of them, personal hygiene and a consideration for others should be your top priorities.

Here are 10 essential rules to follow when using public pools.

1. Read and follow the specific rules posted at the pool. Every public pool has a set of guidelines they expect patrons to adhere to. It is your responsibility to carefully go over and follow them.

2. Shower before entering the pool.

3. Wear a swimming cap, especially over long hair. The last thing you want to do is leave behind a chunk of your hair for other patrons to deal with.

4. Select a swimming lane based on skill level and speed and stay in it. Do not frighten less experienced swimmers with your speed and momentum and do not bother the more experienced ones with a lack thereof.

5. Make it a point to wear swimming goggles as it helps you to clearly see other swimmers.

6. Not all public pools employ lifeguards. Always use caution, whether or not a lifeguard is present.

7. Do not leave young children unattended at any time. Even if a lifeguard is present it is your responsibility to ensure your children are safe and protected.

8. Do not urinate in the pool, and discourage children from doing this as well.

9. Don't jump in the pool, or push off on a backstroke length, without making very sure you're not going to crash into someone or just scare the living daylights out of them. Be mindful of your surroundings.

10. Don't let your pets swim in the pool. Keep them out of it. If your pets must accompany you while you take your swim, make sure that they do not enter the pool at anytime and are being supervised by someone when you aren?t watching over them.

MANNERS: DO'S AND DON'TS AT THE GYM


During the summer, the gym is usually busier and more crowded. Exercising at a health club or fitness center calls for considering those around you. Here?s how:

? This is the number one ?do? and the most important etiquette rule at the gym:
Wipe up your sweat, please! This includes mats and machines. Keep a towel with you at all times. No one wants to sit or lie in someone else?s sweat.
? Don?t hog the weight machines.
When others want to use them, agree to rotate your sets.
? Do reset the weight machines back to a low setting.
Otherwise, the next person may have to spend resetting them?or worse?could injure themselves by trying to lift a weight that?s too heavy.
? Do limit your time on the treadmill or other cardio machines to 20-30 minutes if others are waiting for a turn.
? Don?t flirt.
If you?re into flirting, and you find a receptive party, flirt only when you won?t be disturbing others around you. If you try to strike up a conversation with someone you find attractive and he or she gives you the brush off (no matter how politely), drop your overture then and there.
? Do obey the fitness center?s rules.
These may include wearing correct workout shoes, not using cell phones, and signing in at the front desk.
? Do think about how you smell!
Arrive clean, remember to apply deodorant, and lay off the perfume and cologne (the aromas get stronger as you work up a sweat).
? Don?t be late for personal training sessions and group fitness classes.
? Do your part to keep the gym and locker room clean.
Keep your clothes and other personal items stored in lockers. Clean up after yourself in the showers, sinks, and changing areas. Deposit used towels in their receptacles.

HOW TO BE A GOOD GUEST

As a guest you are likely to share the responsibility for the success of a party. But are you the kind of guest that gets regularly invited? Well, here are a few tips to make you the kind of good guest who is welcome at anybody's table.

Respond to your invitation. Let your host know (and no later than the stated RSVP date) whether or not you can attend the party. This way your hosts can make plans knowing the exact number of guests who will be attending.

Ask if you can contribute anything to the meal/party. The hostess may be relieved to have someone take charge of one of the courses, such as an appetizer, side dish or dessert.

If you have the time, offer to come a little earlier than the other guests to help with pre-party setup. But if your offer is accepted, don't be late - your hostess will be counting on you.

Arrive at a dinner party on-time. Most people love to start a party or meal s on time. You wouldn't want to hold up the meal and spoil the food for everyone else.

When the meal is over, ask your hostess if you can help clear the table. But if her answer is "no thanks", then just relax and leave things alone. If you see the hostess frantically cleaning in the kitchen after the meal is over, offer to help.

Be friendly and make conversation with other guests. Your acceptance to mingle with others is what will lead to the party?s success.

Do not raise a conversation of a sensitive topic; especially one that you know will cause dissension among that particular group of guests.

Drink responsibly. Your host may be serving alcoholic beverages to complement the meal, but it doesn't mean he/she wants to have a group of sloppy drunks on their hands at the end of the party.

Have Passion!

It was probably the April of 1974. Bangalore was getting warm and gulmohars were blooming at the IISc campus. I was the only girl in my postgraduate department and was staying at the ladies' hostel. Other girls were pursuing research in different departments of Science.

I was looking forward to going abroad to complete a doctorate in computer science. I had been offered scholarships from Universities in the US. I had not thought of taking up a job in India.


One day, while on the way to my hostel from our lecture-hall complex, I saw an advertisement on the notice board. It was a standard job-requirement notice from the famous automobile company Telco (now Tata Motors). It stated that the company required young, bright engineers,
hardworking and with an excellent academic background, etc.

At the bottom was a small line: "Lady candidates need not apply." I read it and was very upset. For the first time in my life I was up against gender discrimination.

Though I was not keen on taking up the job, I saw it as a challenge. I had done extremely well in academics, better than most of my male peers. Little did I know then that in real life academic excellence is not enough to be successful.

After reading the notice I went fuming to my room. I decided to inform the topmost person in Telco's management about the injustice the company was perpetrating. I got a postcard and started to write, but there was a problem: I did not know who headed Telco I thought it must be one of the Tatas.

I knew JRD Tata was the head of the Tata Group; I had seen his pictures in
newspapers (actually, Sumant Moolgaokar was the company's chairman then) I took the
card, addressed it to JRD and started writing. To this day I remember clearly
what I wrote.

"The great Tatas have always been pioneers. They are the people who started the basic infrastructure industries in India, such as iron and teel, chemicals, textiles and locomotives They have cared for higher education in India since 1900 and they were responsible for the
establishment of the Indian Institute of Science. Fortunately, I study there. But I am surprised how a company such as Telco is discriminating on the basis of gender."

I posted the letter and forgot about it. Less than 10 days later, I received a telegram stating that I had to appear for an interview at Telco's Pune facility at the company's expense. I was taken aback by the telegram. My hostel mate told me I should use the opportunity to go to Pune free of cost and buy them the famous Pune saris for cheap! I collected Rs 30 each from everyone who wanted a sari When I look back, I feel like laughing at the reasons for my going, but back then they seemed good enough to make the trip.

It was my first visit to Pune and I immediately fell in love with the city.To this day it remains dear to me. I feel as much at home in Pune as I do in Hubli, my hometown. The place changed my life in so many ways. As directed, I went to Telco's Pimpri office for the interview.

There were six people on the panel and I realised then that this was serious business.

"This is the girl who wrote to JRD," I heard somebody whisper as soon as I entered the room. By then I knew for sure that I would not get the job. The realisation abolished all fear from my mind, so I was rather cool while the interview was being conducted.

Even before the interview started, I reckoned the panel was biased, so I told them, rather impolitely, "I hope this is only a technical interview."

They were taken aback by my rudeness, and even today I am ashamed about my attitude. The panel asked me technical questions and I answered all of them.

Then an elderly gentleman with an affectionate voice told me, "Do you know why we said lady candidates need not apply? The reason is that we have never employed any ladies on the shop floor. This is not a co-ed college; this is a factory. When it comes to academics, you are a first
ranker throughout. We appreciate that, but people like you should work in research laboratories. "

I was a young girl from small-town Hubli. My world had been a limited place.I did not know the ways of large corporate houses and their difficulties, so I answered, "But you must start somewhere, otherwise no woman will ever be able to work in your factories."

Finally, after a long interview, I was told I had been successful. So this was what the future had in store for me. Never had I thought I would take up a job in Pune. I met a shy young man from Karnataka there, we became good friends and we got married.

It was only after joining Telco that I realized who JRD was: the uncrowned king of Indian industry. Now I was scared, but I did not get to meet him till I was transferred to Bombay. One day I had to show some reports to Mr Moolgaokar, our chairman, who we all knew as SM. I was in his office on the first floor of Bombay House (the Tata headquarters) when, suddenly JRD walked in. That was the first time I saw "appro JRD". Appro means "our" in Gujarati. This was the affectionate term by which people at Bombay House called him.

I was feeling very nervous, remembering my postcard episode. SM introduced me nicely, "Jeh (that's what his close associates called him), this young woman is an engineer and that too a postgraduate.

She is the first woman to work on the Telco shop floor." JRD looked at me. I was praying he would not ask me any questions about my interview (or the postcard that preceded it).

Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he remarked. "It is nice that girls are getting into engineering in our country. By the way, what is your name?" "When I joined Telco I was Sudha Kulkarni, Sir," I replied. "Now I am Sudha Murthy." He smiled and kindly smile and started a discussion with
SM. As for me, I almost ran out of the room.

After that I used to see JRD on and off. He was the Tata Group chairman and I was merely an engineer. There was nothing that we had in common. I was in awe of him.

One day I was waiting for Murthy, my husband, to pick me up after office hours. To my surprise I saw JRD standing next to me. I did not know how to react. Yet again I started worrying about that postcard. Looking back, I realise JRD had forgotten about it. It must have been a small
incident for him, but not so for me.

"Young lady, why are you here?" he asked. "Office time is over." I said, "Sir, I'm waiting for my husband to come and pick me up." JRD said, "It is getting dark and there's no one in the corridor. I'll wait with you till your husband comes."

I was quite used to waiting for Murthy, but having JRD waiting alongside made me extremely uncomfortable.

I was nervous. Out of the corner of my eye I looked at him. He wore a simple white pant and shirt. He was old, yet his face was glowing. There wasn't any air of superiority about him. I was thinking, "Look at this person. He is a chairman, a well-respected man in our country and he
is waiting for the sake of an ordinary employee."

Then I saw Murthy and I rushed out. JRD called and said, "Young lady, tell your husband never to make his wife wait again." In 1982 I had to resign from my job at Telco. I was reluctant to go, but I really did not have a choice. I was coming down the steps of Bombay House after
wrapping up my final settlement when I saw JRD coming up. He was absorbed in thought. I wanted to say goodbye to him, so I stopped. He saw me and paused. Gently, he said, "So what are you doing, Mrs Kulkarni?" (That was the way he always addressed me.) "Sir, I am leaving Telco." "Where are you going?" he asked. "Pune, Sir. My husband is starting a company called Infosys and I'm shifting to Pune."

"Oh! And what will you do when you are successful."
"Sir, I don't know whether we will be successful."

"Never start with diffidence," he advised me

"Always start with confidence".

When you are successful you must give back to society. Society gives us so much; we must reciprocate. I wish you all the best."Then JRD continued walking up the stairs.

I stood there for what seemed like a millennium. That was the last time I
saw him alive.

Many years later I met Ratan Tata in the same Bombay House, occupying the chair JRD once did. I told him of my many sweet memories of working with Telco. Later, he wrote to me, "It was nice hearing about Jeh from you. The sad part is that he's not alive to see you today."

I consider JRD a great man because, despite being an extremely busy person, he valued one postcard written by a young girl seeking justice. He must have received thousands of letters everyday. He could have thrown mine away, but he didn't do that. He respected the intentions of
that unknown girl, who had neither influence nor money, and gave her an opportunity in his company. He did not merely give her a job; he changed her life and mindset forever.

Close to 50 per cent of the students in today's engineering colleges are girls. And there are women on the shop floor in many industry segments. I see these changes and I think of JRD. If at all time stops and asks me what I want from life, I would say I wish JRD were alive today
to see how the company we started has grown. He would have enjoyed it wholeheartedly.

My love and respect for the House of Tata remains undiminished by the passage of time. I always looked up to JRD. I saw him as a role model for his simplicity, his generosity, his kindness and the care he took of his employees. Those blue eyes always reminded me of the sky; they had
the same vastness and magnificence.

(Sudha Murthy is a widely published writer and chairperson of the Infosys Foundation involved in a number of social development initiatives. Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy is her husband.)