Worth collecting : E-mail Dos and Donts

DO... Use a descriptive subject line

There is nothing more annoying than receiving e-mails in your e-inbox with no heading, or a heading that does not explain what the content of the message is all about. When one receives multiple messages every day, the subject-line is important when reviewing and prioritising e-mail that is in one's mailbox. Also, if you include a descriptive title, your message is almost guaranteed to be read before the ones with blank or meaningless titles.

DO... Use opening and closing salutations

Some people have forgotten that e-mail is interpersonal communication between human beings. Basic civility still applies.
There is nothing much more impersonal than receiving an e-mail that doesn't at least say 'Hello...' or 'Hi...' for the opening; and 'Regards...' or 'Thanks...' or 'Take care...' or 'All the best...', or something similar as the closing.

DO... Use capital letters sparingly

The use of all-caps is shunned on the Internet. It's called SHOUTING. Every once in a while a word or two in capitals for particular emphasis is okay, but avoid overdoing it.

DO... Check spellings, grammar and format

Make a point to ensure that your e-mail is relatively readable. It doesn't have to be a work of art, but at least respect the basic rules of spelling and grammar. Most e-mail programs have a spell-checker option. Use it.

DON'T... Think that e-mail is instantaneous

Believe it or not, e-mail is not as reliable as a telephone call when it comes to timely communication!
The Internet is a loosely connected network of computers and telecommunications equipment owned, operated and managed by many independent companies, institutions and government organisations. Your e-mail must often travel a complex and circuitous route to get to its destination. For example, if someone schedules maintenance on a computer or a piece of equipment on the network that your e-mail must pass through, your message may be delayed and you won't even know it.

worth collecting : Boosting your self-confidence

How many times during your growing years did your parents tell you to walk straight or sit up straight? You may have casually dismissed it, or maybe you didn't really pay attention. As an adult, though, you realise the wisdom of the advice.

Simple practices like these don't just help you physically but also psychologically. Psychologists say that there are many little ways that can instantly help boost self-confidence. Here are some easy tips on how you can do just that.

Grooming
The first thing that works for a confident person is his or her personal hygiene. Right from your hair, your face, your body, your fingers, and your skin -- keep them clean and well maintained. Brush everyday twice, if you can, even after meals. You can even pop in a mint after your meals. Take care of your skin by eating the right food and drinking lots of water.

Dress for success
Dressing well and appropriately can do wonders for one's self esteem. Wear clothes that fit you well. If you are on the healthier side, wear clothes that aren't too tight yet not loose or baggy, which just adds to the bulk and does not make you look any better.
Choose your clothes wisely -- it's quality not quantity that counts.
Pick up a few outfits that make a statement.

Good posture
Good posture has an immediate and lasting impact on your confidence. Do you recollect the time you were at the door, about to face an interview? What did you do instinctively? Didn't you take a deep breath? By doing that two things happen -- your stomach goes in and your head is held high.
Always hold your head high, throw your shoulders back, keep your back straight and walk with confident steps. Practice in the mirror a few times to make sure your doing it right, without looking too stiff.

Walk smart
Do you take small, shuffling steps? Do you fling your arms around when you walk? Stop! You may be doing something sub-consciously that does not really compliment your style.
Be aware of how you walk. Be quick and energetic with a spring in your step. Try this age-old trick. Place a big book on your head and try to walk without dropping it. This is a great way to improve posture and gait.

Smile often
To complete the look, make sure to smile. Smile as often as you can and, if you can manage, let a tiny smile hang around the corners of your mouth. In all your interactions, look people in the eye, greet them and smile. You'll see the other person transform in front of you.

Be empathic
Your confidence levels rise drastically when you successfully connect with people around you. For that you need to be empathic towards your family, friends and colleagues to begin with.

Learn to calm yourself
This is probably the most important factor when it comes to confidence -- being able to face every situation calmly. But this does not come naturally to everyone, which is why you need to train yourself.
Find activities that calm you -- like talking a walk, listening to music, dancing, talking to your friends, reading, writing, gardening, cooking . Do it once or twice a week or month, depending on the time you have.

Empower yourself
Knowledge almost always boosts self-confidence. Empower yourself with knowledge -- of your surroundings, of your job, of people, of the world around you. A good grasp of current events helps you strike up meaningful conversation and ensures that you're not left out.
One of the simplest things to do is read the newspaper, talk to people and be aware and observant.

Keep a soul knick-knack
A soul knick-knack can help you tide over those times when your confidence is tested. It could be your guru's photo, a gift from a loved one, your lucky charm, or even a photograph of a loved one. This soul knick-knack needs to be something that can bring a smile to your face, specially during testing times.

Find solutions to problems
Do not procrastinate or run away from your problems. The sign of a confident person is that he or she takes the problem head on and finds a solution. If you don't think you can handle it on your own, there is no shame in seeking help.

Talk about it with friends or colleagues, or write it down while listing out various solutions, pros and cons.

List of books i own

Now this is gonna be a dedicated page to list in all the books i have in my Library till date:

1, Still reading Khan
2, Paradise - Khushwant Singh
3, Bachelor or Arts-KR Narayan
4, Speaking Tree-Volume 2
5, Spouse- Shobha De

I will try and make sure that after spending some time out here i should be able to put more details about the books and their reviews from my perspective too....i already have 400+ books with me now, so i hope i would be able to catalogue them properly.
luv,
saurabh

Journalist inside:: Weekend...relaxed and working

Voila, this is getting to be good. Two weeks of non-stop work, dozen cups of coffee everyday, tiring and deadly fifteen hours at the office enclosures, packs of cigarettes and rotten collar dizzy formal shirts…and yet it is Friday evening.
You look anywhere, people feel more excited about the Friday evenings than what would have been the case of their wedding night. Yes, the corporate culture gives way to this five day working to its employees with a two day off over the weekend. This looks pretty inspiring and unwinding when you have lots of time at the end of the week for perfect siesta. Even on my view point, I would unwind over the weekend by sleeping long hours, partying at our penthouse watching old classics and talking to one of my friends. The evenings would be spent at one of our favorite cafe, sipping over the simmering hot coffee and loud music. All around, IT people will surround you if you happen to be at Bangalore but then tech talk will go missing over the weekends, as if no one wants to talk about that nightmare which happened to them through the week. Guys would clamp up with their girls and every single seat would be occupied at the premium, average and not-so-hot coffee shops and restaurants through the city.
Yeah, this seems to be a great weekend outing for the dreaded fellows, but have you thought at the same time, out of the few hundered thousands of software engineers, some thousands must be staying back at office for various reasons. And mind you, these reasons are also as diverse as are the people working in the software industry. Some have been cramped up with huge loads of work, some were too slow over the week or involved in their own stuff to realize their deadlines and now turn up to the office for finishing it off before the Monday blues come Tring Tring. Few blessed sheep turn up for the simple reason that they either don’t have girl friends which according to them is a good enough reason to come to the office or for availing all the simple benefits of the official environment. According to these poor fellows, why do you need to stay at the rented place over the weekend when you can have centralized ACs running out, calm and sane cubicles, coffee and tea vending machines and off course internet access which is the most lucrative factor as internet has everything…hope I don’t need to explain the EVERYTHING keyword…seems a great decision.
But if you belong to the category of the first types who were put on lots of work for reasons likes an oncoming release or evaluation or as simple as an audit, then you will be in a soup. Its really tough to fine tune your routine and you get a feel as if there is no stopping by because as soon as Saturday rolls to Sunday, the only thing you will head into is a big Monday which will see you coming out of work over the weekend whereas others coming in after a Sabbath over the weekend.
So my suggestion to all you junkies working late at the offices and that too over the weekend is to take care of schedules and work out as to how would you like to spend your time and that too especially at the office. During the weekdays be honest to your work and leave the premises as soon as you are done with it. It’s never a great thing to spend useless time at the office doing nothing. Instead try to be at the office, working and out of it, when idle. This way you will do lot of good to yourself, by not letting people to get a wrong notion about you, and in future when you think of getting settled there would be no exaggerated expectations from you.

Journalist inside:: dosti@professional circuit

"ye dosti, hum nahi chhodenge..." cues me of amitabh ji and dharam bhaji dallying, cuddling and doing all kinds of moto-circus over their enfield bullet in the legendary movie "SHOLAY". Till date, people often remember that, when they feel nostalgic after two three rounds of large patiala pegs. its a frequent phenomenon that the things, which you dont feel like verbalizing in sane mood do it on a high. it is even foreign too and i go skeptical about it. But then how relevent are these relations are in the current scenario in the corporate sector, is one of my concerns.
Often people put lots of hunky-dory about relations, lousy and lul to go about it, but how many do really mean that. one of the close peers of mine, suggested me once "Be friendly to all around you, but dont fall ever to make one there....". how true is that. i dont blame him for feeling so low. he is in a way, correct also as he has been working with another MNC since last two years, and i dont doubt anybody feeling the same after some exposure to the corporate culture.
In a way its the sad fact about the professional race. people are so much goal oriented that they will cross over any limits to lure anyone or bust their ass getting the work done. An instance will guide you to help someone as they are good bunch of guys around and you tend to help people out and on another instance, the same bunch of people turn out to be crooks, will be trying to cut your throat downunder..its the same old official politics which has been always surmounting any official enviornment since the concept of ruling humans came into being.Alas, those medivial period...those naked adam & eve days, those good old apes, our ancestors...those must have been great days for sure.
but my experience says you should take best of all the worlds. you can be selfless as well as helping and a great peer at the office enviornment. you dont need to a pink ribbon on red carpet to lure people to get your stuff done, nor do you need to be bush, busting butts of iraqis for his favour not done.
I always believe "A smile is the only curve, which sets everything straight."
and if i would have been a management guru, i would have taught people the importance of smiling at the office and then no wonder you will find all around you, suddenly available and mind you, this will not be being sharing napkins, single bed and sheet, growing old relation called friends..it would just be adorable good old monk in the office circuit.....
so any of you who has been sulking off getting screwed by mean people around and if you often complain of being getting used, then stop screaming..stop thinking that people should be on the same level of honesty as you do..just be sane, look forward to your goals and then be genuinely interested talking to people and remember, keep smiling and then see...you will get things moving without making friends or with driving anybody crazy...

Journalist inside:: Me...resource Number....

define resource:
"Anything used or consumed while performing a function."

this is the perfect definition which i could figure out for a RESOURCE. but try equating your self to "anything". Peaching about the corporate sector, and that too especially about the wow...hot IT industry, people are merely resources. yep, they have drawers, tags, blue and white shirts with black shoes, plastic money and lots of numerals following them which make for some attributes of this race of RESOURCES.
they work, yield results as profits/losses, boom, get chopfallen, get downed by the sick no off time working routines and tonnes of junk food which gets readily available over their desks without the need of moving out and does no good to them in any sense. these resources get paid a little more than 'nuff to feel jolly about it.
I lately got into the same act as i joined with a MNC. great ambience, coffee vending machines yelling out cappuchinos round the clock, conference calls aroud the evenings giving it a share market typo feel, ostentatious offices with numb bamboo streaks on one side of the parkings and miles of mahagony top conference rooms with chairs all laid up with leather, diverse kinda people talking loud in various dialects/versions of english...some calling it hinghlish proudly to their benifit, some using it to speak bangla, bhojpuri in sync and all mixed up, which a britisher may stumble upon on listening. But since this time, i never felt that i too am a white duck in the rainforest..a RESOURCE which is a bit of human and more of a employee id over the cubicals of the office. as a new joinee i had a feel good factor about it but sooner or later i have also realized that nothing matters except you doing your work in time and leaving office as soon as possible.
people like me, who come over and join MNCs with emotions inside and ambitions, get hurt sometime when they see people being too professional. i mean, how do you feel when you are working late at the office, starving for food but feel inside "as soon as i finish this i am gonna eat"...or "the TL has not yet had food, he too must be hungry..so can i resist" and then suddenly you come across a huge roar which does everything to tell you that those morons had already ordered food for them and the party is on. this situation, if you get into, forget eating, you would sulk for not having a machine gun. you would want to own a AK-56 or which ever has most rounds in it and fire those crooks all the rounds. i mean do you call this professionalism or what...
people often mistake the meaning and usage of words and they end up tagging everything to being pro typos...but no, it is not. professionalism would idealy mean A practitioner with excellent practical skills and proven results in his field and undoubtly doing it for money, but until and unless some heart is involved, you dont get raised hands for you when you vote out yours well wishers.

i am an open book, yet my world remains a mystery

hi welcome all,
this is saurabh mittal.
welcome to my blog where you get all what i love.