In the name of Entertainment...!!

"All is fair in Love and War"...well this old adage should now be modified to suit the modern world better. In my view it should be now called "All is fair in love, war and Entertainment" !! Entertainment is the buzzword now. Everything can pass off as long as it touted as "Entertainment" ! The word is sooo popular that we now have an "Entertainment Industry" constantly wooing us with their various sometimes weird shows. Is there anyone who cannot understand what Entertainment is right from a four-year old kid to an illiterate to a 60 year old granny?? Ironically despite having too many sources of entertainment people still throng to any place and any damn show if it is "in the name of entertainment" !!

Let me share why I had to write this. It happened a couple of months back during Ganesh Chathurthi. As usual our gullies were bustling with Ganesh Pandals and more and more people visiting the poor Ganesh. (You'll know why Ganeshji is called Poor very soon !!) Our apartment also had a pandal and all of our residents were busy in pujas, decorations, offerings etc. But the one event which drew max attendance and attention was the music and dance show organised every evening. I had a chance to attend one of those....thought i would have some fun and relax in the name of entertainment :)

Of all the performances I was particularly impressed with the performance of a 5 year old girl. She was there on stage dancing to a very popular item number in telugu. The song's lyrics are all about a girl wooing a guy and they have a vulgar tone to them. The poor girl blissfully ignored the lyrics and was gyrating to the song right under the nose of "Poor" Lord !!! Poor Ganesh has no choice but to wonder if all the devotees have come for his blessings or for the 'entertainment' offered !!!

The girl is just 5 but her expressions on her face defy it completely, her dance movements make you feel as if she is born to dance and her enthusiasm....boy it was just unstoppable !! The talent was clearly displayed but i guess at the wrong place. If only the girl was dancing on some classical devotional number with the same enthu..!! That would also become a useful platform to inculcate our values in our children.

The entertainment shows at the Ganesh Pandals are more than welcome but classical music and our traditional rituals/devotion would give the pandal more beauty than this "Item Entertainment" !! Then I am sure such entertainment leaves a happy smile rather than a bad taste on us !!

PS : The views and opinions expressed in the write-up are solely meant to express what I feel and are not intended to hurt anybody [:P]

Our Goa Trip !!

"A Dream Come True" – For a girl who has grown up loving sea & sand , sun & tan, the goa trip with her beloved was indeed a "dream come true". Goa is supposed to be a laid-back city with people who love relaxing near beaches but for me it was all exciting from the beginning.

We were scheduled to leave for Goa on September 3 at 12.30PM flight. The day started on a very tensed note for me as we had to do puja on account of Ganesh Chathurthi and then leave. After our Ganesh Puja we started off to the airport and i must say the new airport was simply awesome !! It was huge yet beautiful. I spent most of time ogling both the food and place at the airport . After enjoying the airport to my eyes content and enjoying the food to my stomach's content we were ready to fly !!! Our flight was moving among the clouds. Despite the severe ear pain and the nausea I was undeterred and kept clicking pics in the flight looking outside the window. One look thru the window you would know we are above the clouds and one look at my face you would know that I am already on cloud 999 :-) !!

The flight had reached Goa around 40mins ahead of the schedule much to the happiness of my greed to spend more time there. Pranita (Phani's cousin) who is now my sister came to receive us. Soooo sweet of her !! Our resort had sent us a pick up and 3 of us went to Bay Watch Resort. The place had a homely feel to it. The floors, bedsheets etc were simply immaculate.

After refreshing and resting for a while we all set out to Colva and Sernabatim beach which were around 5mins walk away from our resort. Sernabatim was less crowded but Colva was happening. We had a long walk from Sernabatim to Colva enjoying the sun and the shells on the way. The sunset at Colva was really awesome. No camera would capture the beauty better than our eye. You just have to purely get lost watching the beauty there. After enjoying the sun set, playing in the beach and seeing off Pranita we started our walk back to the resort. By then it was dark and the crowd lessened. As we were approaching our resort the place had become more and more isolated leaving just me phani and yes the beautiful half-moon ;) It was indeed a romantic stroll on the seashore, in the moonlight, holding hands and engaging in sweet nothings. Our exciting day came to a sleepy (rather sound) end after a pleasant hot shower bath and sumptuous dinner.

Our Day 2 started off on a very confusing note. Firstly we woke up late, secondly we dint decide where to go how to go etc. After hassling and toying with so many ideas we finally decided to go North that day. Pranita arranged a cab for us but he wasnt allowed to take us as he was not from that village. Politics Again !! So we finally got into Norbert's cab by 1.00PM. Norbert was soft-spoken and was talking incessantly about Goa, its roads, the development, the tourists etc. Phani had been a patient listener while I was lost looking outside the window with an ocassional nap. Aguada Fort was the first one we saw that day. Its a big fort with a light house and was mainly constructed to help navigation of ships. The fort is surrounded by sea and its a great view looking at the Arabian sea from the fort. From there we moved to have a quick bite. Norbert took us to a very nice restaurant where the food was simply awesome. Phani was so impressed that he paid an extra tip for the food. After filling our stomachs we moved to the popular Calangute Beach. I have heard so much about beach and the shopping there that I was wondering if i was more excited about the beach or the shopping. The place was happening with a lot of varied crowd and lots of street shopping. Calangute is a beauty in itself. It seemed aggressive and the waves dint die at the shore also. It had a good number of eating joints and there were lots of people who were relaxing there with chilled beer and hot pakodas. From Calangute we moved to Baga Beach. Baga had a mountain towards the right which gave it a very natural look. The scenery there was also beautiful with the Aguada fort seen in a distance somewhere in the middle of the beach. From there we reached the Panjim City's Shopping center. The supposed to be busy center was very isolated with many shops closed as there was the immersion of Ganesh idols going on that day and it was a holiday. After buying a couple of things our friends wanted we moved to the Miramar beach. This beach is in the city center. It also had a beautiful view and it was very near to the main road. From there we reached Dona Paulo a point from where almost all the important cities of Goa are seen. This point is also known for its film shoots. After reaching our resort from there we had a musical dinner with Baretto Brothers playing our fave music and singing for us while we were munching.

Day 3 was our Sightseeing day by our resort. It was scheduled in the noon from 2.00PM. We had a relaxed morning with a wonderful body massage in the resort's Spa and then a yummy lunch. The resort team has arranged a cab for us which took us to Mangeshi Temple, Old Churches in Goa and to a Cruise on the River Mandovi. The cruise was the best part of the day. The sunset was beautiful and we had a nice musical and dance show by a couple of local dancers. They have treated us with Goan folk dance, Marathi dance and a Portugese number. The DJ was intermittently inviting the couples and guys to shake a leg to his bollywood beats.

Day 4 we wanted to completely relax and yes that's what we did the whole day !! We had a wonderful time spending together hovering around the resort, getting to know a lot of things about it, spending near the pool, engaging in sweet nothings etc. At around 4.00PM the resort team took us to the Goa Go-Kart. We were given a complimentary 10 laps. It was my first experience and i must say I thoroughly enjoyed it. Back from Go Kart we spent time in Sernabatim beach just to have fun and play games like kids in the beach. The day ended on a sad note for me as we were leaving the next day :-( !!

Day 5 I woke up feeling nostalgic already even before leaving the place. We had planned to spend sometime with our new friends Preetha and Sunil. We couples went out to the near by beach, had some pics taken and had lunch at the beach hotel Furtado's. It was raining rather drizzling that day and it was the time it did after we went. Phani was especially excited about it as he wanted it to rain and I dint want that to happen. We came back to our room, packed everything, got into the cab which was waiting for us to drop at the airport. The return journey for me was the saddest part...frankly i dint feel like coming back. When we got down at our Hyderabad airport we were left with a lifetime memories of Goa

Goa is definitely a place for those who enjoy beaches and like to relax. All the beaches there have a unique beauty which cannot be replaced by another. Every beach is unique in its own way. The place has a different feel to it unlike other cities. The moment you step in you will feel as if you are disconnected from the rest of the world. No huge buildings, no crowded shopping malls, no big hoardings and posters and above all no irritating traffic jams. The roads and lanes are also narrower than what we see here with lots of Cocount and other green trees grown fully. It's so natural and serene there. Don't forget to take a romantic stroll with your partner in the moonlight on the seashore, playing in the beach as if you were still a child, posing in the beaches with the Goan outfits etc. These are a must for people like me who want to have fond memories of the trip ;-) All in all I would rate Goa as an excellent romantic getaway !!!

How NOT to Hire Right !

Yes you read it right. It's about how NOT to hire right. While a lot of literature is rampant on the net about how to hire right, here's an audacious attempt to share with you how not to. This audacity comes from the fact that these are not based on any theory or principles proposed by the so-called Management Gurus. These are a classic example of "Experience speaks" types where the people around us have gone through. Let us look at those simple and easy-to-implement tips to make the poor job hunting prospective employee shy away in no time. Just get into any of the below categories and watch the prospect vanish in a second.

The "I-don't-know" type : They are too naive..work for a small firm..whose earnings are also small. They desparately wait to hire without being smart enough to know how?? Usually start off by addressing you "Sir / Madam" and giving some vague info like there is an opening (without giving you the whats of it) but persist asking you "Are you interested?" They sound more like a Customer Care Executive of a Bank asking if you want a Credit card!! The prospective employee by now understands that you hardly know anything and so will think of giving your company a miss !! Try it out..it sure works !!

The "I-am-smart" type : Here I recall an incident which my friend shared with me. She got a call from a girl who claimed that she was calling from a Top brand. After my friend's excitement and promise to her to meet the next day the girl slowly discloses that she is calling from a small firm and they deal with the top brand and this firm can be considered a subsidiary of it !!! That the girl got the firing of a lifetime from my friend is not relevant now anyways !! This is one trick to get an easy prey!

The "I-dont-care" type : Sometime ago when I was very busy with my wedding shopping in a big sari mall I got a call from this Gentleman who is supposed to be the Regional Head of a popular Indian MNC. As soon I pick up the call he doesnt care if I am even interested or if I can talk to him then...all he says was "Hi I am XXX calling from YYY. When can you come down to meet me tomorrow? I will be here in Hyderabad only till tomorrow evening." I was shocked by his attitude. How could such a senior person calling from such a popular company talk like this??? An utter disrespect towards the candidate. Go for it and you wouldn't be hiring right even if you are calling from the biggest brand :-) !!

The "I-am-too-desperate" type : One of my friends got a call from the biggest brand for a position of Resource Manager. She was never into Resourcing and had conveyed the same to the recruiter. But the recruiter persisted in saying that it is ok as she holds an MBA and is into HR. When she shared this with me I was wondering if he is trying to tell us that the biggest and the most wanted brand is not finding people to fill their positions that they have to compromise like this??

The list will go on and on and on....

On a more serious note, are jobs only for people? Don't companies need the right candidate? If yes why aren't they recruiting right ?? Most of people's experiences make me feel if the companies consider all these job-hunting candidates beggars begging for a job !!

Agreed that we need to be aggressive in reaching targets, closing positions and growing but what about Quality? what about values? and what really is "Right person for the Right job" all about ? Are we soooo lost in the number game that we miss wood for the trees, that we recruit for the heck of it only to see the wrong-fit vanishing in just a couple of months time?? Look who's talking about "Attrition" !!!!