The Eight-Cow Woman

There once was a town where men paid the dowries for their future wives in cows. The highest dowry that a man had ever paid a father for his daughter's hand in marriage was four cows.

One father in the town had a daughter who was very plain and unattractive, and most of the townspeople doubted if she would ever find a husband. However, one day a rich, successful rancher who owned many cattle saw the woman and fell in love with her. He went to the girl's father and began negotiations for the dowry. Everyone expected him to ask for a bargain, because no one had ever made an offer on her before, but he said, "I will pay you eight cows." They were shocked! But even more shocking was what happened next.

That homely girl became the most beautiful woman in town. Because her husband valued her, she began to carry herself differently. She stood straight and tall. She dressed well. Her whole countenance changed because of the value placed on her by someone who loved and cherished her.

As a man, your goal should be to make your wife feel cherished like this "eight-cow woman." Go after your wife as if she were the best catch in town, because she is, to you. Bless her in any way you can, and watch her flourish under the nurture of your love. If she likes gifts, give her gifts, and give her the kind she likes. Does she like flowers? A dinner out in a nice restaurant? A hike in the woods? A new ring? Or does she just want uninterrupted time every night to be alone with you?

"Love your wife as Christ loved the Church."(Ephesians 5:25)

The earth can save itself. I am worried about us!

No matter how you look at it, a good night's sleep is necessary for physical and mental well-being. The following tips will help you to not only fall asleep, but will ensure your night's sleep is peaceful and fully restorative. Be sure to read the entire list for some tips that may surprise you.

1. Exercise, ideally everyday. This positive stress will tire out your body in a good way -- just be sure not to exercise too close to bedtime (within three hours), as it could keep you up.

2. Drink a cup of relaxing tea, like chamomile.

3. Stretch a bit before you lie down. You can literally stretch out some of the "kinks" and tension of the day.

4. Wear earplugs or an eye mask. If you can hear noisy traffic or see lights from outside,earplugs and an eye mask can give you the silence and the darkness that are ideal for sleep.

5. Create a relaxing bedtime routine. Take a bath before bed, brush your teeth, get into your PJs and turn on some soothing music that will let your mind know it's time for slumber.

6. Once you are in bed, listen to a relaxation CD like the Sleep Easy CD to help you "shift gears" and relax into sleep.

7. Don't drink caffeinated or alcoholic beverages near your bedtime.

8. Keep to a regular schedule that includes a standard time to go to sleep and wake up.

9. Make your room "sleepable." A very dark, cool room is best for sleep.

10. Get a handle on your stress. It is the number-one cause of sleep problems, according to sleep experts.

11. Put the kibosh on work before bed. If you work or do other mentally trying activities too close to bedtime, you may have a hard time relaxing for sleep

Catching up

Has it been two years? I swear it was too fast or did I lose sense of time? was it another dimension? Anyway, I will pick it up from here again. Several times I felt like writing about things that touched me(the wrong way too) but again, time!! After running after life, meeting expectations, being judged, running running (nopes, I didnt lose any weight either) I am beginning to realize that it is nothing. Just nothing. I;ve decided to stop and stare. I want to live. Strange life IT you. It is a monster! Tempts you with a a handsome pay cheque soon after you graduate (with a non-sense degree)and later completely sucks you up. I am almost into the hold of quick sand, in my last attempts to break free!

Coastal Andhra....at its best :)

Godavari - by the sunset (above)

Mighty, endless, blissful Godavari

Konaseema

Kadiya poo lanka - Kadiyam (above)

Pictures worth a thousand bucks!

When my Cannon SD400 shot some rare, beautiful, spectacular frames....

The Alps! Need I say more?

Before the dawn broke and after the night fell, I was lost in the sheer pristine beauty of this sight... blissfully unaware of my loneliness...

(A park across Premier Travel Inn, Basildon. )

A bird's eye view of Kanbay Software India Pvt Limited, Hyderabad.

( I worked here for a cppl of years )

Flying back home- the eastern route...
India's coastline and the Bay of Bengal

Greek Business Etiquette

I lived in Greece for a couple of weeks and I must admit that its a very beautiful country. Blessed with Mediterranean climate, I was pleasantly surprised to see orange trees on the roadside!!

Relationships & Communication
• Greeks prefer to do business with those they know and trust.• They maintain an intricate web of family and friends to call upon for business assistance since they can be confident of their trustworthiness.

• Nepotism is not viewed negatively and it is very common for relatives to work for the same company.• Greeks prefer face-to-face meetings rather than doing business by telephone or in writing, which are seen as too impersonal. • It takes time to develop relationships: this can be done in the office, over extended lunches, dinners, and social outings. • Never say or do anything that can be construed as challenging the honour or integrity of a business colleague.• Under no circumstances should you publicly question someone’s statements. • Greeks do not like people who are pretentious or standoffish.• Although business is relaxed, it is also serious. Acting informal before a relationship has developed is considered discourteous. • If your Greek business colleagues become quiet and withdrawn, you may have said or done something to upset them.
Business Meeting Etiquette
• Appointments are necessary and should be made 1 to 2 weeks in advance, although it is often possible to schedule them on short notice. • Confirm meetings one day in advance by telephone. • Many businesspeople eat lunch between 1 and 3 p.m., so this is not the optimal time for a meeting.• Quite often it is not until the third meeting that business is actually conducted. During the first meeting your Greek business colleagues will want to get to know something about you as a person. The second meeting is used to develop trust and mutual respect. By the third meeting, business may begin. • Have printed material available in both English and Greek. • Meetings are often interrupted. Several people may speak at the same time.• Greeks will deviate from agendas. They view agendas as starting points for discussions and will then follow the discussion to the next logical place.• Although some business people speak English, it is a good idea to hire an interpreter.
Business Negotiation
• Forming a personal relationship is critical to developing a successful business relationship. • Companies are hierarchical. Greeks respect age and position. • Business is conducted slowly. You will have to be patient and not appear ruffled. • Demonstrate how your product or service enhances your colleague’s reputation. • Do not lose your temper or appear irritated during business discussions. • Greeks are skilled negotiators. They quite enjoy haggling. • Decision making is held at the top of the company. • Imposing a deadline on reaching a decision may end the negotiations. • Contracts are often quite simple since the personal relationship dictates that accommodations will be made on either side should the need arise.

Business Etiquette - United Kingdom

Appearance

• Business attire rules are somewhat relaxed in England, but conservative dress is still very important for both men and women.Dark suits, usually black, blue, or gray, are quite acceptable.
• Men's shirts should not have pockets; if they do, the pockets should always be kept empty. Additionally, men should wear solid or patterned ties, while avoiding striped ties.
• Men wear laced shoes, not loafers.
• Businesswomen are not as limited to colors and styles as men are, though it is still important to maintain a conservative image.

Behavior

• Always be punctual in England. Arriving a few minutes early for safety is acceptable.
• Decision-making is slower in England than in the United States; therefore it is unwise to rush the English into making a decision.
• A simple handshake is the standard greeting (for both men and women) for business occasions and for visiting a home.
• Privacy is very important to the English. Therefore asking personal questions or intensely staring at another person should be avoided.
• Eye contact is seldom kept during British conversations.
• To signal that something is to be kept confidential or secret, tap your nose.
• Personal space is important in England, and one should maintain a wide physical space when conversing. Furthermore, it is considered inappropriate to touch others in public.
• Gifts are generally not part of doing business in England.
• A business lunch will often be conducted in a pub and will consist of a light meal and perhaps a pint of ale.
• When socializing after work hours, do not bring up the subject of work.
• When dining out, it is not considered polite to toast those who are older than yourself.

Communications

"America and Britain are two nations divided by a common language" George Bernard was once quoted as saying. In England, English is the official language, but it should be noted that Queen’s English and American English are very different. Often times ordinary vocabulary can differ between the two countries.

• Loud talking and disruptive behavior should be avoided.
• One gesture to avoid is the V for Victory sign, done with the palm facing yourself. This is a very offensive gesture.
• If a man has been knighted, he is addressed as "Sir and his first name" example: Sir John.
• If writing a letter, the envelope is addressed "Sir First name and Last name" example: Sir John Roberts.

Think out of the box and ask the right questions

(Source: www.financialexpress.com)

"As I think about what IIM-Ahmedabad did for me, I recollect one of our marketing classes. We were reviewing a case study on marketing pens. I had spent long hours the previous evening doing various clever analyses around the costs of the products, different marketing approaches, impact for the management, brand creation etc. Wanting to make the most of this invested time, I was contributing maximum “CP” (Class Participation). In response to every fancy analysis I presented, the professor kept asking me the same question: “So what?”

While I did come out of this (and other!) marketing classes mentally exhausted, as I look back, this is what I think IIM-A taught me most effectively—to think outside the box, to think about higher level issues, to constantly assess everything with a “so what”. And it was not just the marketing classes, but all our courses, whether finance or economics or strategy or organisational behaviour. Our professors used the case methodology very effectively to impart this higher and more important skill. And I will be frank—I may not have realised the significance of this less tangible, but more broadly applicable skill during my time at IIM-A. At that time, I was probably focusing more on mastering the technical skills, getting the best grades and being among the gold medalists!

don’t, however, want to minimise the importance of the basic skill set that IIM-A imparted—the understanding of business concepts and frameworks, the ability to quickly grasp the facts and analyse a situation, conducting financial analyses, applying principles of economics, etc. These skills certainly helped me a lot in the earlier part of my career, to be a good analyst, and to build the foundation for my future professional growth. However, without the ability to ask “so-what”, I would not consider myself an effective senior executive today.

This was the entire premise on which we built Pipal’s delivery model. Research can provide just data and information or it can take the information to the next level by addressing the “so what”. Custom research is at the end of the day shaped by client demand, and if clients want just information, we are happy to even deliver just information. I always encourage my teams to ask the “so what”. For example, one of my clients wanted us to look at a company as an investment opportunity. We could have laid out the facts (for example, revenue, net income, costs, growth, strategy, operations, organization), but then the client would have had to do the rest of the work to analyse the facts to establish whether it’s a worthwhile investment.

We do not claim to advise clients on whether they should make an investment or not, but we can certainly analyse the available information to reach some credible conclusions, for example, has the company invested behind its stated strategy, has the company achieved its targeted numbers in the last few quarters, in what areas is it behind competitors or ahead of competitors, are the industry dynamics supportive of the company’s model. Once the client had all these analyses and so-whats, they could focus on the investment decision itself rather than the underlying analyses. Another key skill IIM-A taught me is people management. The softer courses such as Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management were considered the “easy” courses for scoring As, but you realise the significance of these skills only after entering the workplace. This becomes particularly important in a services business like research, where you can share work samples, client testimonials etc, but clients will do business with people they feel comfortable dealing with—that said, by no means are those client relationships going to grow in the absence of quality service delivery!

To share one of my recent experiences, we almost lost out on a large client situation, had it not been for the strong relationship I built with one of the key decision makers. This enabled me to place Pipal in a winning situation with this client. The same holds true on the internal side as well. Even if team members are competitively compensated, senior executives also need to maintain motivation by continually offering challenging professional opportunities and recognising individual contributions.

While I have written in detail about the “so-what” skill, the technical capabilities and the people skills that IIM-A builds, there are several other key contributions IIM-A made to my life — professionally and personally. The network you build with other students, alum and professors is unparalleled. So is the IIM brand name that opens doors and ensures a jump start to your professional career—for me, it was the opportunity to work with an esteemed firm like McKinsey right out of campus and then ICICI Bank and now Pipal. The demanding nature of the course makes you a stronger person, better able to deal with stress.

In sum, I would not be the same person that I am today, had it not been for my two years at IIM-A. It changed me as a person, built skills that will stand the test of time and forms the foundation of my professional career thus far and I am sure, even for many more years to come. "


—The author is director, client services & head of financial services sector, Pipal Research