THATTUKADA... തട്ടുകട

2008-07-27T07:40:00.000-07:00

To Be a Fraud or Not

Well I had written an excerpt earlier about Fraud Mallus.Yup even I m a pure blooded Fraud Mallu slowly being evangelised into a complete Malayali.Atleast my stomach is completely Malayali :)..haute cuisine being kappa and meen curry..and chakka(jackfruit) perattiyathu and not to forget kanji :)

My first experiences of being the Fraud was in college when my monologues in my mother tongue were seen with contempt...(or may be sympathy).That was because of a huge mistake I made thinking, I had studied in Malluland for quite some time so I had 'picked' up the language in the required style.

When I moved to Trivandrum for my schooling,my first impression was this..Very orthodox town with no night life.All I could see were boards with sickles,hoardings of MohanLal and Mammotty,advertisments from jewellery shops and many more of the hum-ble and sim-ple malayali creations.My school in Trivandrum was fun and very eventful.I learned a
lot about the "smart Malyali".Of course words like paara, thalipolli, kidullam , edaa, jaada, pongacham became a part of my vocabulary.Anyway jokes apart,my idea was to finish the schooling and get out of this boring sleepy town ASAP.

But sometimes, when you run away from something,it clutches you and never wants to leave.It wants to teach you a lesson.I cried,screamed,yelled,went on a silent satyagraha(wicked..) but returned back barely after 3 months to the sleepy town :(.Again my goal was finish the damn college and get out of this place.But something happened, I mean, lots of things happened.After 4 years of living in the same place I had lived earlier, I fell in love...In love with the dreadful monsoons,in love with the tonnes of hartals we were blessed with,in love with the Sharjah Shake(Milk SHake..Read that) in Ramya-Dhanya outside our college,in love with the Shanghumugham beach and Vettucad church,in love with kanji and thenga(coconut) chutney,in love with the crowded green line buses with people bringing vegetables and fish in the morning and surprisingly even in love with the crowd and their colloquial style.

My folks were pretty strict about my third language in school.They did all their best to introduce and invent the Mallu in me.It was funny in the beginning because for a long time I remember speaking in the Queen's language and spoken to in the native language.They introduced and reintroduced.But I was introduced to the Real Malayali in gollege.The Malayali who knew the meaning of every damn word in her/his GRE textbook(by..he-art) but would speak 'pacha' Malayalam.The Malayali who knew the local politics like the back of her hand and every scandal in every town.The Malayali who thought having a 'meesha', is a sign a matured man in gollege.I was being imbibed into this day by day.I do not know how my classmates perceived me in the beginning,but at the end of 4 years my parents were surprised with my friends.Instead of being a part of CBSE/ISC educated english speaking mallu classmates,my friends were humble small town real Malayalees.Yup after 4 years,I wanted to leave the town,but with a difference. With a
difference in my perspective.

Ya only thing,my parents sometimes are awestruck when I translate Comedy thamashaas to Fraud Mallus and my folks think I have edited my Queens language.

2007-05-16T10:41:00.001-07:00

She is Back!

She is finally back.From the flavours of love to Monday blues I have moved to debug mode.A mode to rediscover science and people.

Debug mode kills the Tina in me. In short this is the mode where my project deadlines have to be met.I am forced to kick my frivolous attitudes and even Friday nights seem to be still the middle of the week.I bet many of you are victims of this bug.Your boss hitting your head ;The weekly updates metamorphize to daily updates; People all over the world are interested in every 'bit' you write ; Last minute reorganizations are made;

Last time I entered this mode it took me two months to get back into the real world.This time it is the contrary. Day One ; I wanted to run outta this ASAP. I always define an environment with reference to time and space.Unusual timings are okai. I can live with it.This parameter is unbonded for me. Only 'time' superceded me in the previos debug experience.The space was warm.Right now, my space is so limited and bonded.I wanna break out and move on.

Week 1: It was a real blow. I wanted to run out.
Week 2; New people , new rules, new designations...( I hate change of plans when I am not favoured.. Well who likes them ? )
Week 3:Rock bottom... I cant go on like this. I notify my boss about my space.
Week 4: My roomie advises me to fight back. I applied Newton's third law . I reacted in the same manner my space reacted to me.
Week 5: My boss is surprised that the space is not beating me.
Week 6: I am still enduring this new space. No, I have acquainted to it.

I wont make any more plans for rainy days. Rather i ll enjoy the sun today.......

2007-02-22T06:02:00.000-08:00

FLAVOURS OF LOVE

Just like icecreams love has many flavours.I need not elucidate on this more coz I am still a greenhorn to understand this funny term.Below are 3 responses which I got on Valentine's Day...

On the morning when many people celebrated love, I was walking to my office along with a friend of mine. We looked at all the beautiful flower baskets on the roadsides.Bglr looked chic today!To start a conversation I popped a question "So how did Valentine's day begin for you?"...She gave me an answer," I dont think its great to celeberate Valentine's day when you are young and rash.Instead when I m around 50yrs old, if my husband remembers this day and presents me a bunch of flowers, it would be really delightful."Chweeet idea.I guess many oldies would reply there need not be a day to celeberate their love, infact you dont have to say the golden words everytime or buy roses for her every morning.Love is always in the air for them.

The other face is the normal one I see today.Make,break,make,break.But for one of my friends who got married on Feb14, it was total cake. Her parents objected to her choice of the guy.The usual story...They found her a suitable boy ASAP and she married him on Valentine's Day.When I met her after the engagement, I told her good luck...Well what else could I say?.I could only derive the equation.Why is Cupid always stupid?

The third is mine.I have a friend with whom I have long dialogues about life.With his didactic tone he gives me his usual sermons.I wonder if he had used a little bit of these thoughts in his work, what a great man he would have turned out to be. And according to him I never improve."You are an immature intelluctual", he would say.We were arguing about Euripides phrase 'He is not a lover, who does not love forever'.I brought out all the mid English literature and bitten by St.Valentine, all the preposterous justifications.This was his final reply who which I ended my rebuttals.

My dear friend,
Euripides was never wrong.That is one thing I should agree, however I agree to this on a higher note.He told us to love forever but he never told us whom or how many to love :)
And I am a large hearted man, I can love a lot of people but I cannot marry all. Euripides was definitely sensible but you are not.

Huh...What..how..I mean this is not right...not fair..I won all the battles but I lost the war.I had to succumb to his reply.We are all idealists, well atleast we claim to be when we are 20.We need the perfect car, the perfect job,the perfect degree and the perfect love.We only realise what we have (as my friend above said) when we have loved a lot of people , married someone among that and became a realist at 40. Till then enjoy your journey with all these flavours of love!!!

2007-01-09T05:50:00.000-08:00

CAT Poop Redemption

Well finally the verdict was out. I had miscalculated my moves. There was a small error in my resistive calibration. The CAT was out of the bag and I received my share of CAT poop along with many other’s who received a null call. My plan for the evening was to get drunk in some obscure pub in Bangalore. So drunk that the pub staffer would finally call my fellow colleague to pick me up at 2 a.m. Ain’t that dramatic. But since I was a teetotaler I drank water in my house. I picked up a movie from the local store to spend my condoled evening. 10 minutes into the movie, I had picked up a depressing movie, ‘Shawshank Redemption’ .The life of an innocent guy in prison.

The movie was about Andy Dufesen, an investment banker convicted with the murder of his wife and her lover, which he did not commit and punished with a life sentence. I felt empathetic because I too was send to a prison for something I did not commit. My prison was my solitude, the aftereffect of my great performance. What I did not commit was lazing around throughout the year. I believe I had put in all my effort but I guess it wasn’t good enough.I have this great ability to step into anybody’s shoes (atleast my writing does) and for the first 30 minutes I really thought I was Andy Dufesen. Alone in contemplation. However he asks a fellow friend in prison to bring him a ‘rock hammer’.

Then one hour into the movie and there were surprises.This guy was in prison but he made use of the person within.He was dejected,he was beaten up but he was an educated man , he had something different from the crowd and within the four walls of his prison made of stone he had hope. Hope can be very dangerous but hoping to hope is what Pandora taught us. He did the guard’s taxes, made them bonds and finally upgraded the library .He conducted the high school diploma courses , he had hope and gave it to many others also. Now I released my situation was not that bad.
Number 1 I wasn’t in prison.
Number 2 I wasn’t drunk J .
Number 3 I realized that hope can set me free.
I had a job. I had dinner to eat. I had a God to thank without fear. And I had a blog to write ( Hope that wasn’t a spoiler )

But then again he is deprived of hope. His doors are shut. The prison warden plays his games and gives Dufesen two months of solitary confinement. Remember that before the storm there is always a calm. We have to wait and pass through time. And finally Andy Dufesen escapes Shawshank. How? With the rock hammer he asked for days after he entered prison. That was the perserverance of the human spirit and that was dramatic.

I felt slightly better. I am not Andy Dufesen so my contemplation will stay on for some time. However hope has set me free.

2006-12-06T21:06:00.000-08:00

Tell Me I am all Yours……Aargggghhhhh!!!

Well truly Aarggh!! This becomes a small chapter in my book of life. I am stuck in corporate services like many others in this nation. It’s the end of the year and as my HR says . “It’s time for your appraisals”. Other than just appraisals it’s time to get your feedbacks, time to get kicked by your bosses, time to kick them, time to tell your peers ‘Oh I have loved working with you (Ya I surely did)’ and finally as we say strategize our next move in the company. You could also get away with all this and instead catch hold of the HR and strategize the other way.

If my team wanted to reset our action plans, we had to go through our Program Manager. My Project lead is sweet bumble bee who-knows-it –all but anything we do has to go through the Big Guy..The Program Manager. Well being a big talker and another know-it-all, they suggested me talking to him. This specimen, our Program Manager is the queerest creature of all. I would certainly title him ‘A true intellectual’ who works without seeing the sun or the moon. He uses his smile and his charm as his talisman.I haven’t made any requests to this aberration yet but this time I had to take proper channels. Moreover it wasn’t just my request but many who trusted me. To find a needle in a haystack is easier than finding him in our 5 floor office. I made an initial study of how to convince, combat and capture him. I understood that unless we were really thick skinned and persevered for around a year, things could be only as good as today. Never had I so much phobia about putting my suggestions than this time. Moreover this guy was a quintessential manager , really difficult to impress. And if you had a 5 point agenda, you would end up telling only 2 and agreeing with his view on the other 3.I decided not to give up either.

Counting by 1’s and 0’s, I did an extensive analysis on taking on this situation. I even made a flowchart of my requirements. I could only pray for luck and courage. I went up to him and requested for a meeting. He was a lanky guy but definitely charming in any the eye of any Venus. So if you are a Venus and you want to talk to him, it can be not so easy. Anyway I stuck to my guts and my captivating abilities and went ahead for the meeting. Mr.Program Manager smiled at me and says “ Tell Me, Malaika I am all yours..”…What ???Ooops …For a moment all the equations in my head stirred. He had played the kings gambit. I gathered up the courage and brought out my agendas. However like many others I could put forward only 3 in my five pointer agenda. This guy was not just a high profile bookworm but emotionally highly intelligent. I managed not to victimized by notions of virtuous behavior. I tried hard so that I wouldn’t hurt my Achilles tendon. I finished the meeting in 20 minutes. Phew… No wonder he was the senior Program Manager. He knew how to talk with his head. Well I bet he would have faced a same kind of guy 10 years ago ,else how would he know how to satiate so many people.

As for me, this turned out to be another learning chapter. I guess I ll have to go through another year of this mortal combat if I needed vindication. Now soon I ll have part 2,3 ,4 of this meeting. Sticking to my agenda might reform me into an activist. Dont be surprised to find me in front of some dam with Medha Patkar fighting for my agendas coz I think I am certainly getting a drive from great men like these.

2006-09-28T02:36:00.001-07:00

Journalier vivant

All of us live for ourselves.Many people live a life of purpose.Some live for the morning sun, the tingling breeze and all the belongings of nature. Others for their parents or children.Some for science, others for spirituality.But in Bangalore we live for work.Well we need a balance of all to complete the meaning of life.Its a circle which nevers ends and should not stop.

Lately I have been also absorbed into adulthood thats why I think so much.My heart still belongs to the day I entered school, small and insecure.Wanting to hold a hand next to mine.This time the school's a little different.It's a school called life.I have many evident signs to prove my entry into adulthood. Not just my hair turning grey or buying a flat near my office.Or talking to my friend over choosing her child's school or turning to read more of Robin S Sharma.I am beginning to sacrifice.Beginning to forgive.Learning to listen more. Have I caught the adulthood bug? Not that I miss my Saturday parties in "The Beach" or that I have stopped enjoying hanging around in malls, but deep within my adrenaline has turned a little more responsible. I have stopped missing my school and college and and I count my calender not by months or dates but from Monday to Friday or formals to casuals. I have stopped watching cartoons lest to prevent my child from being addicted to the TV. It's a long time that I played a prank on anyone.We have taken a responsibilty that lo that time flies.I am trying to find the meaning of life.I crack atleast 2500 lines of code in 10 days but I didnt figure out that the grasshopper walks backwards. I make a monthly deposit to pay my home loan punctiliously. There are days when I wear my Tshirt inside out and my spouse reminds me. I smile everyday as it adds to my value but its been months I have laughed loudly making a lot of noise. Have we forgotten the gift. Dont we linger for a Sunday now.There were times when everyday was a holiday.But now we are ready to forget all the holidays at the end of the month when we get our paycheck. We are also in the vicious circle.

Turning to what we are right now, can we add more value into it? Can we still be strong and stubborn just like when we were teenagers? Can we pursue all the wild ideas that we had in school or college? I know your boss is calling you, but take a moment and figure out if you have also forgotten to live for something.

2006-07-19T20:40:00.000-07:00

Please don’t shut down the blogs

This Manic Monday saw the blocking of the blogs on blogspot. Many ISP’s were asked to block these sites. How depressing ? I belong to those group of people whose blogs haven’t attracted discerning readers :- .Infact I share a sin of forcing many critics to read my blog . I am not a born writer, by the way none of us are. The reason why I blog is simple. Everyday when I pick up the newspaper, I wonder how the pen can be mightier. I am a passionate math lover that’s exactly the reason why I start reading the paper backwards ( courtesy : Sudoku ) . Blogging has ensured me that I live in a free country. Its given me a teeny-weeny virtual space to express myself. This world has become a small place to live.We even read anecdotes of our cousin’s neighbour’s milkman. That’s how much blogs have spread the word. Blogs like mine might be lowbrow, but I hope they don’t steal this free space we have. Give yourself 10 minutes and you can make yourself happy after writing an account in this diary. It could make you retrospect your actions. Good bloggers can confute our theories, make us laugh with their humorous experiences and hence make an impact. So please, even if I have to share this place with another blogger, don’t block these blogs again.

2006-07-03T00:31:00.000-07:00

Nerdsy Nerds

The scene has 3 charaters who are or were nerds in some point in their life. Their spectacles explain this

Nerd N1 : Fraud Mallu Number* 1.Still continuing to be one .Never stayed in Malluland for more than 3months. A consistent nerd who gave away her nerdship around 6 years ago. She’s dressed in a sleeveless kurta and coloured her hair brown. She has decided to meet Nerd N2 *who was her classmate for 8 yrs and established their nerdship together* after 7 years.N1 is now a PR and event manger and does RJing for a hobby. She has pierced her eyebrows and her navel. The only thing N2 knows about her is that she shaved her head once, which N2 dismisses as some kinda depression.

*Not familiar with this jargon ..Go to terms and Analogies

Nerd N2: Fraud Mallu Number 2 .Her fraudness is shedding away slowly ever since she moved to TVM,capital of Godz Own Kuntry. A nerd with a lot of perseverance. She has evolved from a full time nerd to a part time one ..but mind you, she still has a nerd score of 76.N2 has been absorbed by the IT industry. She has grabbed a significant job and a 12 hr worker. She eats, sleeps and drinks work.N1 remembers her as highly competent individual who cracks math like a spark and marks her still as a nerd.

Nerd N3: A nerd who is budding to give away his nerdship.N3 has come to meet his virtual friend N1.

N1,N2 and N3 sound like some kind of mathematical induction theorm. I ll rechristen them as Priya(mole..) ,Chinnu(kutty..) and Rahul.

N1 and N2 decide to meet at Barista in St.Mark’s Road. Oops Priya and Chinnu
In pink, what they think
In grey, what they speak

Chinnu (on her W-600&*Thanks to her IT job ) :How will I recognize you ( I hope she has some hair on her head)
Priya : Oh Cmon Chinnu,I still look the same .. Just walk into Barista .You ll see me sitting in the corner

Chinnu walks inside, fishes for Priya, finds her in the corner. Elated to see each other, they hug. Priya introduces Rahul to Chinnu of course focusing of how nerdish they were and what has become of them

Priya : Chinnu, you still look the same, haven’t grown a bit vertically or horizontally.
Chinnu smiles.Well haven’t I changed?
Chinnu : Okai dear I knew you were asking for this .You look different .Let me rephrase this, you look great. And whats that on your eyebrow.. Priya brushes her hair on the eyebrow.Gosh you pierced your eyebrow ..
Priya : I wanted to try out something different I have even got a navel ring
Chinnu : Gr8,she shaved her head, pierced her navel .Well guess it reflects her identity. May be its her job
Priya : So you are working ?
Chinnu : Mainly with databases …… goes on
Priya : *(*(&%^$%$^*&……… well the usual IT stuff I guess

Suddenly the silent spectator Rahul gets interested with Chinnu’s talk and breaks the ice

Rahul : So how long do you work in a day ?
Chinnu :Around 12 hrs
Rahul ;What … you are literally living there.
Priya ; God , I don’t understand why you need so much time,Chinnu .Rahul,Chinnu is really quick and in school if I got one mark more than her in Math ,she used to be in tantrums…coz she was so quick
Chinnu I wish I still was as quick..Not exactly Rahul..I was just better of the lot in school.I didn’t go to any IITs though
Priya : So aren’t you studying further
Chinnu : Got a call from IITs for Masters but not my choice
Rahul: Well don’t go there … I come from IIT x
Chinnu: Oh so we have a bigger nerd here
Rahul :Not exactly … I gave up studying after I entered college

Chinnu orders a capuchino.Rahul continues about life in IIT

Priya : So is it just like that book…what ?
Chinnu : Five Point Someone
Rahul: Not exactly , but some of them sound familiar.Its many stories together I guess..
Priya : Chinnu,what do you do on weekends?
Chinnu : If my boss doesn’t ask me to work..I hang around with my friendz but Bangalore’s a boring place ..Just malls and IT people.I don’t see any school children or pensioners..Just overaged teenagers with tags around their neck…
Rahul: Well I am doing my internship here,its got lotta oppurtunities.Its true though I have never seen school children
Priya what an analysis Chinnu
Chinnu:True, but somehow I need a break
Priya: Should I ask her..The answer would be no Well do you go pubbing or clubbing
Chinnu:Clubbing ,I do .Pubbing .Nop
Priya:As expected..No smoking ,drinking
Chinnu :No way yaar
Priya: Me too ..Pubbing is okai.You don’t have to drink to enjoy
Rahul :But I think people who smoke look kewl
Chinnu:The kid..well they have a dominant body language
Priya:Ajay Devgan holding the cigarette butt …
Chinnu : Ramdoss is scared of you people yaar..Ramdoss the Minister
Rahul : People will continue..they have to make up their mind on their own

Priya : If you think Bangalore ‘s boring then how abt Trivandrum
Chinnu : Initially I believed it’s a small town of people with agoraphobic ideas.I chose the place I had to live with it.
Priya Ok chinnu bring on the rationliaztion
Chinnu : I went to a college again in TVM,but that’s where I found the heart and soul of my place. Met a couple of people with genuine ideas .Ordinary people who aspired for the best in life. More importantly people who felt nothing could stop them.
Priya : I hve heard of ur college,
Rahul Which is this place..okai gotta check it out in Google
Chinnu : Lots of people think different there…and I met really good people and great friends.Now I don’t dread it anymore…
Priya: That’s good..Never expected Chinnu of all people to do that..justify a boring sleepy town with no discos.Any of ur classmates studying
Chinnu: Many are…and many would join…I guess I ll pop it out..was it a depression or not that made u shave ur head,priya..oh chinnu,be more empathetic..Priya why did u shave ur head
Rahul: That’s freaks me out too
Priya:Well I just felt like
Chinnu:Not good enough
Priya;I did it for charity..I donated my hair to make wigs for people with cancer
Chinnu…Oh my God..Is it the Priya I knew in school
Priya:It was hard..But ours would grow back ..I wanted to do something good and different
Chinnu I sware I never thought you were under depression or something
Priya:Cmon which 22yr old would do that
Chinnu What a rhetoric You are right . Noone would
Priya When did chinnu start admitting she is not the only one doing great things..well people change..i m seeing it
Barista guy tells then that people are waiting for the table..In other words “Plz don’t waste our customers..Its high time u guys left”

Rahul : Okai lets make a move
Priya : Oh..well we need to find another place
Chinnu notices the crutches near Priya for the first time..no words spoken..looks at Priya
Priya: Well that’s a long story …I had a hip surgery .Its been over a year. I have to go with this ..Crutches.. for some more time
Chinnu : Oh ..well what happened
Priya:Cut it out..I can walk now ..No probs..Lets make a move

They start walking out .Discusses about their old classmates. Ones who have children,ones who have carreers..ones who have broken lovers..ones who went into depression…Reverted back to the nerds….

Priya:I don’t remember them Hell I do … I cant bliev I was a nerd
Chinnu:Of course you do…Cmon you were a nerd although it was once upon a time
Priya: Okai I was .
Chinnu:Rahul,Priya never left a single book in school.We processed her into a great nerd
Priya:Somehow I lost it when u guys left .
Chinnu:I think you found yourself.You never lost anything
Priya: Chinnu,do you remember that prognostication you made that I would be in a crazy career
Chinnu : I guess it was to finish off some one mark you got more than me…Anyway since I said its good…Not exactly.. All those child egos
Chinnu : Well we are all born different …Even if we force ourself we ll revert back to ourself
Priya:By the way don’t you blog..Rahul is an ace blogger ..Thats how we met
Rahul:I reached 1000 visitors in a month. No lying ..Actually it was 997,I refreshed it thrice
Chinnu:I blog when I m depressed
Rahul :Okai I might loose it when I start working though
Priya : Well I don’t get depressed or worried anymore especially after this ..crutches.. I stopped thinking about my friendz careers or how much money they make..I just wanna live meeting a lot of people and touching a lot of lives…I guess that should answer why you shouldn’t blog if you aren’t depressed
Priya:Where the hell did I come from..Were we really from the same school ..what a magnanimous thought…Good thought though
Rahul:So girlz any other plans..Where did u say you both where from?
Then they went explaining about Malluland.2 hrs passed .They discussed RJing,databases,Bangalore ,Jazz,spagettis and what not

Chinnu : Gosh gotta start moving ..I have to buy something
Priya::Like what
Chinnu…should I lie..no way.. A table
Priya: I m not surprised..she’s damn academically inclined..i bet she’s gonna force herself some European history on that table..Okai then go ahead…..
Rahul:Okai we better split..I have some googling to do
Chinnu:Kid/Nerd/He has to survive IIT..Bye then
Priya hugs both of them…Good you took time out, Chinnu
Chinnu: You had the noble thought to call
Rahul :This is life..too good aint it?

They separate …Rahul just met two strangers ..but he had a great experience. Chinnu understood how she has evolved in life. Priya ultimately found life…

Terms and analogies

Fraud Mallu : People hailing from Malluland who needs to sharpen their Malayalam skills. Due to their aweful knowledge of their mother tongue, they become an item of fun for many in Malluland. According to some critics, they are people who use their Mallu stature for securing admissions in professional colleges or to find their spouse.

W-600 : Sony Ericsson

2006-06-06T21:14:00.000-07:00

R U CAREER CONFUZED ?.......

Below is an article I read from MindTools,which was worth sharing

Shape Up Your Career Using Holland's Codes

You know when you are in a job you like. You also know when the task you’re doing just isn't right for you.

What lies behind our feelings of work satisfaction or dissatisfaction are our fundamental work interests: These are the things that we enjoy doing, whatever the industry or the job title. The trick to finding career satisfaction can be to identify those core interests and match your job to them.

For example, if you’re a science person, you may not be happy working in a job that needs quick decisions, or where you need to use your “gut” to guide you. Likewise, artistic people would be driven mad in a profession that has lots of rules and procedures, or which demands a lot of number crunching.

In a perfect world, we would all choose careers that suit our core interests. However this is not a perfect world: For all sorts of reasons, we can find ourselves in positions where what we’re doing just doesn’t suit our natural interests and abilities. This is where understanding how job and personality fit together can help you change the situation for the better.

Ability and personality are the two main things contribute towards job satisfaction. You’re likely to find that jobs that suit your ability and personality are much more rewarding than those that don’t. Here we look at your work interests – an important part of your work personality.

Understanding the Theory:Holland's Codes

In the 1970’s John Holland developed a popular theory of interest development based around these six personality types:

1. Realistic (R):
These are people who like well-ordered activities, or enjoy working with objects, tools, and machines.

Realistic people:

see themselves as mechanically or athletically talented, but may not be good with people.
value concrete and tangible things like – money, power, and status.
avoid “social” activities, those that need interaction with other people.

Common traits:

Hard-headed, inflexible, persistent, materialistic, practical, and genuine.

2. Investigative (I):
Investigative people like activities that involve creative investigation of the world or nature.

Investigative people:

see themselves as highly intelligent, but often lack leadership skills.
value scientific endeavors.
avoid activities that seem mundane, commercial or “enterprising”.

Common traits:

Analytical, curious, pessimistic, intellectual, precise, and reserved.

3. Artistic (A):
Artistic people like unstructured activities, and enjoy using materials to create art.

Artistic people:

see themselves as talented artists.
value aesthetics.
avoid “conventional” occupations or situations.

Common traits:

Idealistic, complicated , introspective, sensitive, impractical and nonconformist.

4. Social (S):
Social people enjoy informing, training, developing, curing and enlightening others.

Social people:

perceive themselves as helpful, understanding and able to teach others.
value social activities.
avoid activities demanded by “realistic” occupations and situations.

Common traits:

Generous, patient, emphatic, tactful, persuasive, and cooperative.

5. Enterprising (E):
These people enjoy reaching organizational goals or achieving economic gain.

Enterprising people:

see themselves as aggressive, popular, great leaders and speakers, but may lack scientific ability.
value political and economic achievement.
avoid activities demanded by “investigative” occupations and situations.

Common traits:

Extroverted, adventurous, optimistic, ambitious, sociable, and exhibitionistic.

6. Conventional (C):

Conventional people enjoy manipulating data, record keeping, filing, reproducing materials, and organizing written or numerical data.

Conventional people

see themselves as having clerical and numerical ability
value business and economic achievement
avoid unstructured or “artistic” activities

Common traits:

Efficient, practical, conscientious, inflexible, defensive, and methodical.

The Model
Holland then arranged these six personality types into a hexagon (see figure 1, below) organized according to people’s preference for working with different stimuli at work: people, data, things, and ideas. Holland’s theory is that people with different personality types prefer working with different work stimuli, and that the distance between work personalities indicates the degree of difference in interests between them. For example Artistic people are least like Conventional people and most like Social and Investigative people.

Holland’s conclusion was that for any personality type, the career most aligned with that type is most likely to be enjoyable and satisfying. For example, a Realistic person would be best suited for a Technical job and least suited for Social job. Jobs with Conventional or Operational characteristics would be the next best choices.

The way that this works in practice is that people people use a personality test to identify their three top personality types. This gives their Holland's code (for example, ESA). This is then matched against the Holland's codes of people typically found within particular careers.

How to Use Holland Codes Career Model:

There are two good ways of using this model - either in helping you choose a career that suits you, or in helping you shape your existing job so that you maximize your fulfillment. To find your ideal career according to this approach, just complete steps i and ii below. To shape your job, use all of the steps we outline.

Using Holland’s Codes is a straightforward process, which is made all the easier by some useful online interest evaluation sites.

Part One Identify your Work Personality

Step i: Read through the brief descriptions given above and find the one you most identify with. You may want to take an official Holland Code Assessment. There are many of these, costing different amounts – you can find them by typing “Holland Code Assessment” into Google.

Try one: Does the assessment say what you thought it would? If they aren’t, ask yourself why: Often we choose a personality type that reflects who we want to be, not who we really are. (If so, learn from this!)

Tip 1:
Do try the online tests - they're not expensive (for example, one costs US$9.99) and a good one will show you the careers and professions that most suit your code once you've completed it. This can save you a huge amount of painstaking research!

Step ii: To further explore your “true” work personality, ask yourself, “How would my spouse, family, and friends categorize me?” Show some of your friends and co-workers descriptions of the types and ask them to categorize you. Here again, explore any differences between your assessment of yourself and theirs.

Part Two: Analyze your job in terms of your interests

Step iii: Look at your main tasks and responsibilities. Are they aligned with your work personality?

Step iv: List those responsibilities that are aligned in one column and those that are not in another. Use this to decide whether your job is a good fit for your interests or not.

Step v: For each of the job roles where your interests are not well matched, work out at least one way of bringing the two sides together. For instance, if you are a “Conventional” person working in an administrative position, many of your roles will be in-line with your interests. However, if you were asked to organize the Christmas party, you might be very uncomfortable about deciding about decorations, entertainment, and so on. These are more Artistic responsibilities, which are directly opposite to your Conventional ways. One strategy to deal with this is to delegate the Artistic tasks and assume responsibility for making sure the tasks get done. You maintain the Administrative duties and get rid of the Artistic ones.

Part Three: Set Goals to Bring Your Interests and Responsibilities in line

Step vi: The best way of making sure that something gets done is to set a specific, time limited goal. Identify two or three of the most important problem areas, and set realistic goals to change things.

Tip 2:
Remember that this is a model – it’s a useful way of looking at things, but it can’t possibly capture all of the complexities of the ways that people behave at work. Make sure that you interpret any conclusions with common sense.

Tip 3:
Also bear in mind that as you develop in your career you’ll need to extend your skills into new areas. In particular, as you take responsibility for people and then move upwards within an organization, you need to develop the “Social” ability to work with other people, as well as other skills that normally go with other personality types (if you’re going to be a CEO, there’s a lot of “Conventional” work that you just have to do, and do well.)

For all those insecure people who dont wanna waste a penny on online tests, the following test is a simple personality test
http://www.outofservice.com/bigfive/

2006-03-23T04:27:00.000-08:00

INQUILAB ZINDABAD….. Mera desh mahaan :-)

Into that heaven of freedom,
my Father,let my country awake.

A man of peace, Guru Rabindranath Tagore wrote the above lines. Many who shared this vision of freedom succumbed to the powerful and cruel clutches of the British. One being Bhagat Singh , who gave up his life at a mere age of 23 ,on this day several decades ago.
May be it was ignorance, however I always felt our methodology for winning freedom was unique especially under the principles of ahimsa and nonviolence. Coincidently these principles took birth in our nation too. Below is an excerpt from one of the men who did not believe in these during our freedom struggle . A man who changed the face of our struggle. What amused me is how this youth had such powerful ideas at 23 , when many of us in 'shining' India (With Sensex touching 11K it's okai i guess) dread the history we learned. The idea of revolution in his own words from one of Bhagat Singh’s letters…

The sense in which the word Revolution is used in that phrase, is the spirit, the longing for a change for the better. The people generally get accustomed to the established order of things and begin to tremble at the very idea of a change. It is this lethargical spirit that needs be replaced by the revolutionary spirit. Otherwise degeneration gains the upper hand and the whole humanity is led astray by the reactionary forces. Such a state of affairs leads to stagnation and paralysis in human progress. The spirit of Revolution should always permeate the soul of humanity, so that the reactionary forces may not accumulate (strength) to check its eternal onward march. Old order should change, always and ever, yielding place to new, so that one "good " order may not corrupt the world. It is in this sense that we raise the shout "Long Live Revolution."

Déjà vu …
But check out a clipping which I received today. Who said we are afraid to change..?
http://www.yourdailymedia.com/media/1142169137/Government_Brawl_in_India_
Oops ... excuse me i couldnt put the track here
so just watch the clipping from the site

2006-03-21T01:58:00.000-08:00

C'EST LA VIE

Life is a mixture of many good beginnings and many cul de sacs. Well last Friday ended in style as I met my work schedule in time. The celebration continued till Saturday evening and by Sunday I was fatigued. It was too late to realize that I had'nt finished my chores or paid my Airtel bills. Cant blame it on procrastination, this time. It was sheer revelry which got carried away and which made me forget my earlier blog. I started Monday, thinking of everything ludicrous that irritates me.

10 things which piss me off :-(

1. Dishonest people.. I dislike people who wear a mask. Especially those who wear it for a personal gain or do anything precalculated to cater their profit. I come across such people with a definite frequency and everytime my tolerance races ahead to stop me from telling them why I dislike them.
2. People who make noises at the dining table .No table manners..chhiiiii..Unfortunately sometimes even if you are a fine corporate material, some people can never kick off their 'ghati' habits.
3. Giving long and horrible words like 'arachibutyrphobia' for word scramble.This added to my yawps on Monday morning.
4. When the meaning of the above word goes like 'the fear of peanut butter getting stuck on your palate'. It's preposterous. Monday blues is another paltry excuse.
5. Hypocrites ... People who preach, but never practice
6. Bad language. Some of my buddies who were naive and nice are now tyros of bad language. They reason it's stress. They need to blame on it on the weatherman.
7. Stand in a counter and two turns before mine, the lady cheekily says she has to close for lunch .Thanks to the E-revolution, I could avoid this irritation except when the message 'Your page has not been found' pops up.
8. Tell me to change my dress when I m late
9. Ask me if my company is a call center. This becomes highly disgusting when the appachans and ammachis in your hometown thinks there are no companies other than Infosys, Wipro and TCS.I cant do anything in this regard ,instead I smile back and reply I like something different.
10. Assume I am a dodo when people realize I m/was a NRI.
11. Movies in my mother tongue which try aping the west.

I cheered up soon realizing Monday mornings can only bug me 14.28% of the year , dishonest people are dishonest to everyone, peanut butter getting stuck on your palate is not that bad and movies in my mother tongue are hit by globalization. I felt like a free bird by the evening,solely because I could flee my office. I thought of all those wonderful things I forgot in life like

1.Frank people I meet in life....I think only your true friends can tell u how dirty your face is (Courtesy : This line is 'lifted' from my batchmate's table.She wrote this to remind herself to keep away from sycophants)
2. Brain teasers..although some have peanut butter in them. I am still getting over that.
3. Remember Julie Andrews liked girls in white dresses with blue satin......For me it's,guys in denims and light coloured plaid shirts.
4. Trekking.
5. Punning
'Whats in a name ,
May be Shakespeare's game
Yet it adds to the fun
When there's a pun'.
Ooh la la..I caught the poetic bug.

6. A clean and clear heart
7. Sci fi movies exception starship troopers
8. Telling a wonderful excuse to a sir whose class I bunked last hour solely because its valueless
9. Night outs in the college hostel..Be it music nites or exam night outs.People who haven't been a part of it,you just missed it.
10.Strict vegetarians from a nonvegetarian family. Dont ask me why....
11. Google themes
12.Erratica in TOI

It took me half an hour to find out what I disliked and put it down ,but hardly 5 minutes for the good things. Thats how life is .There is so much good that we bat an eye on them. Ever since I heard my title phrase, I have been its frequent user. Whenever I use this phrase, my motto transforms to carpe diem. Simply because it gives me a feeling of celebration and foreign languages always add to my revelry. Next time I should think of ways I irritate other people.....but I sware it wont be as bad as peanut butter..! :-)

2006-01-11T01:22:00.000-08:00

THY 10 COMMANDMENTS
Hi It’s a long time I caught with ParThenOn….Before I go into an ultimate crash of words Happy New Year to everyone who reads this…. i will begin this year with a poll …question? …. are bloggers people without any work?....i don’t know if u have work or not, but it gives me some peace of mind…talking about mind and peace…a lot of our scientific power might soon eat up our spiritual power in these techno-ridden days,so in a lot of ways blogging wakes up the writer in me…..who wants to blab..blob and finally bloggggg! Well that’s one thing my partner,Google whom I spent nearly 10hrs a day presented me last year…Moving into 2006,which has begun in a special way by adding a leap second into it…resolutions held me up too, which kept me wondering why we make them on new year and why don’t we make them on any other day and why when we make them on any other day, we r nt too strong about it……well that can be better explained by behavioral science! We must never miss the train .. I decided to make some ReSolutions this year also

1. Ever since I joined my new company, I tried a lot to ignore it and even managed deleting its existence from my memory …Believe me..Temptation has many forms but this was the worst of them ....to add.. my friends and colleagues just pulled me into it….not to forget even my sister ….well Gtalk and Y Messenger..what else? ....but technology has rewarded us with these unique joyrides that no one can be blamed for testing its efficiencies …This year
Thy shall not use it for more than 30 minutes but my left brain coaxes me to extend it by 10 minutes. So far ..so good

2.Thy shall learn something new ….Ya..which I have very earnestly followed..or rather follow…which includes jumping 5 steps , finding out the optimized route from my house to the company, writing backwards as in a reflection , becoming creative at making excuses , finding occasions for treats…..Oh no..! The angel in me chides again…at these ‘creative’ and ‘constructive’ hobbies I try to master…..Well this year its started with Salsa….Ya Salsa... last year it was the violin..which I don’t even wanna think about ….As for my salsa endeavour….I haven’t found the first requirement yet…FYI ..A partner

3. I don’t comprehend why and how some of my beloved friends are always busy..I had one reason to it …I was underusing time…I did some thinking on it and concluded that it’s the state of the mind..Some people have time always like our mothers , but some never have time.. Being busy (BB) is a relative matter.. However in one perspective by BB we have 2 advantages..create a notion that ‘ I have work’ and if u have the talent to be busy, get involved in many tasks.. so next one is not BB , but understand the account called time..so Thy shall not dump time

4. One trait that I have …. Infact which has helped me in many phases….is my inquisitiveness….but this has also landed me in a state of dubiety at many times.. Well I digged into this problem ..and suggested to myself ..clarity was the issue here…This is a common problem that many of us have indulged into …In other words..make assumptions…And sometimes really bad assumptions…Let me reflect that I am not a pessimist…But our assumptions be it anywhere must have axioms to prove it ..So here goes..Thy shall look into the veracity of the premise

5. Well….yes so far..I have tried to evade temptations, cultivate habits and introspect thyself … I belong to the rock capital of India (okai after Mumbai)..so this year Thy shall attend a rock concert.......

Halfway through ….. I have resolved my blog and my solutions remains to be tested for another 355 days…. 5 more commandments ...I need a parameter called time …

2005-12-07T04:27:00.001-08:00

Fair Skin Prejudice
A recent advertisement on TV for a new product (I believe) “Fair and Handsome” made me gasp. Well on one hand it is another call for the metrosexual man and on the other hand when did women stop loving tall, dark men.
The fair skin prejudice……is it now running through men ? The stakes of a fair bride are still running high in our society , even in the middle classes . Why is there still a tussle ..However over the past few years the earthy colour has been a haute couture popularized by Bengalis beauties Kajol , Bipasha Basu and the sizzling Tanushree Dutta. The attributes of beauty are being redefined now, thanks to the growing touch of globalization.
I get reminded of a movie which runs a dialogue “Ladke thode boot na ho,phir bhi ladki gori honi chahiye”(Even if the guy look like a ghost, the girl must be fair)……and why I am writing this……Recently one of my friends got married, fulfilling all requirements that a typical Indian bride required……the stakes put in by the guy too were high….but a naughty thought just flashed across my mind……what if their kids looked like him and not his beautiful bride….perhaps at that time he would realize living in the new world. I would rather say grow up to these men. But I guess its happening the other way around too, else why would they want Fair and Handsome…….?

ANything

2005-11-29T21:50:00.000-08:00

Hi, I m a new blogger on d block....ANything is what i shouted in d mornin 2 wear 2 my office..its d middle of d week and evryone seems 2 b on fire.....