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Saturday 2 November 2013

Friends in six balconies

We stayed in a Society flat for a while with son & daughter in law in Mumbai. The Society had more than hundred flats & in the morning there was lot of activity. Noisy kids hurried to schools, parents or grandparents gathered to see them off, people rushed to their offices, ignition sounds of cars & bikes, honking of horns, maids chattering & hurrying to jobs etc. All this activity cooled down by 10 O’clock or so & for a couple of hours it was quiet. Same scene got repeated in the evening when these people started returning.

Our son & daughter in law come late from their offices & we often had our evening tea sitting in the balcony enjoying the evening breeze. From the balcony of the flat we could see a lot of balconies of other flats. Out of them six were quite near & activity in them was visible though we could not talk to occupants from that distance. We often discussed or rather conjectured about the lifestyle of occupants in those balconies though we had no interaction with them. We even named the balconies based on various factors. Let’s see.

Coconut Balcony was occupied by an old couple. Old man was occasionally seen in folded lungi & vest. He was of darker complexion than his wife. He came out in balcony more than his wife did. He often had steel glass in hand for drinking water or coffee perhaps with a newspaper in his hand. Sometimes both came out with mobile in her hand which she handed over to husband after a long dialogue. We classified old man as retired civil servant. Their kid or kids must be in other parts of the country or perhaps abroad as there were long phone calls which were attended & shared by both. 
  
Jaipur Balcony was so named as its female occupants wore bright Rajasthani style Leharia sarees. Their balcony had several potted plants including Tulsi. At about six in the morning old lady would come with a thali chanting Arti with a small bell ringing in the air & would offer prayers. She would be normally accompanied by daughter in law or a little girl or both. They did pooja together sitting there in balcony. That is a nice scene to watch three generations sitting together. Their balcony was packed with domestic items - potted plants, a washing machine, a cooking gas cylinder, plastic chairs & lots of clothes always hanging there. There was continuous activity on this balcony throughout the day. Seemed to be well set business family.


Six of them


LoC Balcony had a middle aged gentleman who would now & then start quarrelling with his wife especially at the dinner time. He would flare up suddenly & then continue for may be a few minutes or an hour & sometimes even beyond that. A few words which were audible when he shouted at his peak indicated that his wife did not cook well. Response of his wife was never heard though. Noisy scenes & appearance of a cluttered balcony reflected a not so happy family. This reminded of a line of Leo Tolstoy ‘all happy families are alike & each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way’.
  
Tom & Jerry Balcony had a family including two boys aged may be 5 to 10. Most of the time they were hanging on railing, shouting, blowing bubbles, throwing paper planes, banging railings & so on. There was never a dull moment in the balcony except when they were not home. If nothing else they would fight with each other. We saw them being rebuked by their mother or father but no matter in minutes they were at it again. They will have their food in balcony, do their home work in balcony & play in balcony. Good luck boys!

Nxt Gen Balcony had a small baby & homemaker mom. Both made good use of the balcony all through the day. The clothes line remained full of tiny clothes. Father of the baby made seldom appearance which suggested his occupation had more to do with touring. The lights burnt late whenever he was there else the lights were off early. Seemed to be a happy little family - generation next. We had differing opinion as to baby being boy or a girl.

Pigeon Hole Balcony was occupied by a pair of pigeons in courtship. The flat seems to have been locked for quite some time & was not showing any sign of activity. So the pigeons spotted this rent free accommodation for nesting & were in process of settling down here. Male of them was constantly seen trying to please the female with his song & dance routine in Devanand style. Female now said yes now said no in Bollywood style. It was fun to watch them.

Time for tea break!

Tuesday 8 October 2013

Touch or Push?

Of the seven officers working in the branch, RKS was most active & well dressed gentleman. Perhaps the most presentable & smart looking. He was always dressed neatly in brightly coloured shirts, matching ties, trousers & shiny black shoes. He liked perfumes & could give you expert advice in selecting a perfume which suited your personality. He was 45, thin & having fair complexion. He looked younger but was getting bald rather prematurely. Nevertheless he seemed to pay great attention to his hair & kept combing & petting them very delicately several times a day.

From the cabin I could see him adjusting crease of his shirt repeatedly or occasionally wiping his shoes clean with paper. He would love to attend to work relating to female staff as well as female clients with a smile. In those moments he would forget everything else around him. His smile would broaden from ear to ear, voice would be extra soft, speech flattering and his eyes would be scanning the female anatomy. He was nicknamed ‘Phanne Khan’ by staff. He knew it but laughed it off saying that people were jealous of him.

His tomfoolery was okay so long as he did not misbehave or was not a cause of any complaint. Staff informed that complaints did crop up from ladies but he managed the complainant somehow & matter was buried.

On Monday there was usual rush in the branch. As luck would have it locker in-charge was on leave & a lady approached me for operation of locker urgently. Lady was very nicely dressed & with good looks & who else but RKS was the right choice for the job. He was summoned, introduced & he gladly agreed to serve the customer saying ‘my pleasure madam’.  Me & auditor got busy & forgot RKS or the lockers. But the lady came back after 10 minutes or so & wanted me to call RKS calling him a characterless fellow. She looked charged up & would not listen to me or auditor & would not talk about cause of grouse if any. All she wanted was that RKS be called & ‘who should be taught a lesson on decency’. She did not touch glass of water or cup of tea brought for her & waited patiently.

As soon As RKS entered the cabin she stood up & slapped him. RKS fell on her feet without a word but she left. RKS said that it was only an accidental ‘touch’ which might have irritated her. Auditor meantime rewound the cctv & found that ‘accidental touch’ was a deliberate ‘push’ on the back of the lady. As auditor questioned RKS, fax, phone & mobile rang simultaneously. Orders for his immediate transfer to Regional Office were received & he was to report to Regional Manager that very moment as Madam was also present there along with SHO.

It was later learnt that RKS had accidental ‘touch’ of wife of SHO!   

    

Sunday 6 October 2013

Visit to Chennakesava Temple Belur Taluka, Hassan District, Karnataka - Part II

Chennakesava Temple is situated in a small taluka Belur, district Hassan in Karnataka. It is 220 km from Bangalore & about 40 km from city of Hassan. Nearest railway station is Chikmagalur which is 22 km away.

Its average height is 3200 ft above sea level & breezy weather is similar to Bangalore. Best time to visit is Oct-Mar when humidity level is low.

Belur or Beluru in Kannada, together with Halebidu which is 16 km away were the early capital of the Hoysala Empire. There is a legend about the name Hoysala. It is said that Sala & his guru Sudatta Muni were performing a ritual in a temple of Vasantha Parameshwari in nearby Sosevur & a tiger attacked them. Sudatta Muni gave a call of ‘Hoye” to Sala who struck the tiger (some say it was a lion) down. Thus began Hoysala dynasty which ruled for 300 years with Sala as first ruler. The scene of fight between Sala & the tiger has been carved out of stone beautifully & it became an emblem of Hoysalas.

Of the Hoysala kings two names are very prominent King Vishnuvardhana & his grandson King Veera Ballala II. King Vishnuvardhana was great patron of art & is said to have commissioned 1500 temples of which 100 survived. He started building the Chennakesava temple in 1117 to commemorate victory over Cholas & his grandson king Veera Ballala II completed the task after 103 years.

The temple is dedicated to Chenna-Kesava that is handsome Kesava or Krishna another avatar of Vishnu. The walls & the pillars of the temple are full of intricate & fine engravings & sculptures. Hardly any space is left blank. Besides elephants, horses & tigers, stories from ancient Hindu scriptures have been carved with great care, intricacy of design & poetic depiction.

Soap stone has been used which is easy to work for creating ornate designs. Jakanachari & his son Dankanchari were main sculptors. Others have also been mentioned in inscriptions or have signed the statues. Some of them are Ruvari Mallitamma (over 40 sculptures), Dasoja and his son Chavana (10 madanikas), Malliyanna and Nagoja (birds and animals) Chikkahampa and Malloja (other than main temple).

A well in the precincts of the Temple

Part of the temple is available for marriage ceremonies against payment. Panditji has just finished his job 

Ornate pillars inside the hall are a unique feature of the temple. Each of them has lots of engravings & intricate carvings which are technically brilliant. Smooth surfaces, geometrically perfect designs are magnificent. Guide informed that these heavy stone pillars were rotated with the help of elephants & while rolling they were hand-chiselled & hand polished. The result is fantastic & they look as if they have been smoothened on mechanical lathes. Another remarkable feature is delicate & beautiful bracket figures or madanika’s or Shilbalika’s at the top of pillars. They look so fine & fragile that it is difficult to imagine them to be carved out of stone.

Top portion of the pillars. 

Entire pillar has been divided in to small well crafted windows. Every window has a image of god. This particular window has been left plain without any carving. There are two anecdotes for this window - (a) that artist left this window plain as God is 'nirakaar' that is He has no shape (b)  that any other artist who could carve better statues may do so here
Every inch of the pillar has a story to tell

Divine beauty in stone
Lady feeding a parrot

Lady drying her hair after washing them

Dancing Lady
Lady getting her drum ready for the show
On the right is a dancing lady. The middle one is a smiling spy or Vishkanya with least clothes. Near her left feet is a scorpion justifying her name. On left is an arrogant beauty getting ready.
Lady with a mirror DarpanSundari.


History Repeats Itself

In good old times under the rule of great king Maho, the treasury & banking operations of his kingdom were entrusted to a minister named Baho. Minister Baho worked hard and managed well the operations of treasury & banking. It benefitted inhabitants as well as king Maho. After all the treasury was for the welfare of the inhabitants despite the differences in colours of their skins and difference in their faiths and difference in shapes of their eyes. Minister Baho had appointed a chieftains, sub-chieftains and many sub-sub-chieftains in various towns and bazaars. Minister Baho earned great respect and recognition from the inhabitants of the kingdom due to his untiring efforts. But you are aware that no one can live forever.

Health of minister Baho was declining and it was being carefully watched by a big landlord Ghato. He was no doctor but his wish of life was to capture the ministry of treasury & banking. He was seeing opportunity coming his way as minister Baho was getting weaker by the day. He consulted his astrologer, his trusted friends & prepared a roadmap. First road shall lead to the palace of queen which shall be travelled by his wife. Suitable jewellery & gifts were packed for the queen. Second road will go to jungle for hunting by the Prince to be followed by son of Ghato. Fully loaded team for the purpose was organised. Ghato himself will take care of some of the ministers in the cabinet of His Highness Maho. Their gift boxes and invitations were ordered. Ghato was now looking for his deputies.

He spotted a suitable hand named Hencho from across five rivers who promised to eliminate anybody on slightest hint given by Ghato. He would not rest till ministry of treasury & banking was cleaned as per wishes of the new boss Ghato. He said he was all thorough his life a lower rung henchman but if given promotion he was ready to do anything. He said he knew how to scare people and to push them in a corner. Scaring the people gives great inner joy & satisfaction he said.
The Hunter

Soon Ghato became minister and Hencho also started getting some piece of action. Minister Ghato handed over a list of rogue staff of treasury & banking operations and sub-chieftains etc to Hencho for action. 

Part of secret list shared between Minister Ghato and his henchman Hencho has been obtained and is produced here along with action taken report submitted by Hencho. Please keep this to yourself or else.

Minister Ghato - Instead of arranging free supply of chicken & mutton to royal kitchen this chieftain of bazaar named AKS, himself demands free chickens from supplier. I don’t like this. Please take action. 
ATR of Hencho – The chieftain AKS has been charged with unbecoming behaviour with a client last year & also shifted away from family to eastern hills as sub-chieftain. His sub has been made sub of a sub-chieftain in western hills. Their guard has been dismissed. Area has been cleared for appointment of person of choice Your Highness Ghato!

Minister Ghato - Chieftain of town BKS, is always short of business targets given to him. He always agrees with given targets in meetings but thereafter he forgets the targets. What’s wrong with him? 
ATR of Hencho – He has been threatened with dire consequences and posting into far flung areas. He has been booked for lapses committed seven years back. You would have enjoyed looking at him when he was booked – perplexed Your Highness Ghato!

Minister Ghato - Chieftain of Lower Bazaar CKS, is not seen in bazaar area during the day. How is that? Is he not interested in business? 
ATR of Hencho - Horse provided to him has been seized thereby reducing his horsepower. Warned & threatened him Your Highness Ghato! Things should improve now.

Hencho carried on the executions as and when asked by Minister Ghato. In due time he  learnt about history of Minister Ghato and his tricks of getting into the cabinet. Soon Hencho started preparing a team & in a short while eliminated Minister Ghato & took over the ministry in a silent coup.

After becoming a minister Hencho came in direct contact with the king Maho & started cultivating relationship with him. He soon found out weakness of the king & by attending to the weakness he gained the confidence of king. Slowly his ambition grew & he started preparing for final assault on the king. He built up a team headed by Tippo & after a while he ousted the king Maho in a coup. Hencho declared himself to be the king.

Hencho appointed Tippo as his minister of treasury & banking operations. Tippo put in his best & things improved a lot. In due course he learnt about history of previous ministers & he also became ambitious.

Well, history was about to repeat itself.
No mistake this time!


Saturday 5 October 2013

Hobby

We had decided to celebrate the birthday of our friend RK in Standard Restaurant in Regal Building. It was a nice cosy restaurant a bit pricey but you will agree that birthday comes only once in a year & with friends it is fun time & expenses no bar. Standard Resto was located in Connaught Place which was a convenient place to catch DTC buses after the party to go home.

But RK suggested that four out of seven friends would like to have drinks also. So four friends multiplied by two pegs each will cost a bomb in Standard Resto & at that cost he could bring a full bottle of whiskey with something to spare. He can organise a place also nearby our office where one could enjoy two pegs each with omelettes & still half the bottle shall be spared for future usage. His calculation was accepted unanimously.
  
After finishing day’s job three of us seven friends walked down Parliament Street to reach Standard Resto as they were teetotalers (good-for-nothings!). Four of us including RK proceeded to tea stall of Kale Singh just behind the Election Commission. RK ordered the omelettes & passed on the bottle wrapped in newspaper to Kale Singh with appropriate instructions in a whisper. Four pegs with soda were prepared by Kale Singh in aluminium glasses & the muted ‘cheers for happy birth day’ went up. At this point Kale Singh also cheered & joined with a Patiala peg. All around the tea stall were govt offices & they also consented to celebrations.

After that we hopped on to two motorbikes Yezdi & Rajdoot to join other friends. We all chatted noisily & a bagful of jokes were cracked. RK sang a gazal for us & we had wonderful dinner. Everybody thanked RK for his organisational capabilities & reminded him of half a bottle kept in reserve.

Birthday Dance
RK was a happy go lucky man who was least bothered about the job or promotion or rules & regulations. He was always on look out for parties, picnics etc & loved to hang around ladies staff. Couple of weeks later I was surprised to receive an invitation of dinner at his place. After a couple of pegs he opened up & said that he had a hobby of collecting superior type of cutlery items & then he arranged a display on the dining table. First item he indicated in the display was a sugar bowl from last birthday party at Standard Restaurant! I was surprised & he was laughing. Some of the other items displayed on the dining table were:

Hotel Janpath ............ 4 spoons,
Hotel Ashoka  ............ 2 forks & 3 spoon,
Kwality Restaurant ......2 spoons & 4 knives,
Nirula’s ........................ 3 long handle ice cream spoons,
India Coffee House ....1 sugar bowl & 2 spoons. Etc etc.


Sunday 15 September 2013

Visit to Mahabalipuram - Part II

Arjuna's penance has been depicted as a huge bas-relief & is said to be largest of it's type in the world. The rock measures 27 meters in length & 9 meters in height.
Arjuna is seen in Tapasya mode with Gods, demi-gods, beasts & birds. Figures of Yakshas, Gandharvas, Nagas & Nymphs all merge in to a theme. 
They all seem to be rushing towards Arjuna to watch & bless him. Entire bas-relief has been beautifully chiseled 1400 years back. Looks as if it has been done on wood with each carved figure telling a story.
There is a natural fissure in the stone which has been used to depict penance of Bhagirath for bringing Ganga to this world.
Brilliant & magnificent. 

Arjuna's Penance - on left is a small temple & a sage sitting near it. He is Dronacharya with his various disciples

The depiction has a touch of humour as well. Near the trunk of the elephant a cat is standing with hands above his head in Tapasaya mode Arjuna-style. Finding the cat inactive, mice start playing & the cat devours one or two of them & again comes back in Tapasya mode! On the left two standing figures & two sitting figures (heads broken) are also following Arjun. They are termed Fakes!

Just over the temple with his hands above the head & right feet touching his left knee is Arjun. He was looking for powerful divine weapon. In the process he has grown beard & lost weight & his ribs are showing. On top left is moon-god & on top right sun-god both having round plates behind their heads.

In between two parts there is Vishnu releasing the Ganga to go to earth & feed millions. (Some people mention river Krishna instead of Ganga).

People & animals rushing from left to see & bless Arjun.


People & animals rushing from right to see & bless Arjun. Two black monkeys watch the proceedings sitting on a platform on the right side


1. Temple of Brahma. Rare find outside Pushkar, Raj

2. Temple of Vishnu

3.Temple of Mahesh. Lingam has been placed here about 125 years back

Out of this single rock three caves have been carved in for temples of Brahma, Vishnu & Mahesh. Idols of the three are shown above. Statues outside the entrances are those of  Dwarpals.
Shore Temple. It is believed that there were seven beautiful temples on sea shore constructed in seventh centuary during the reign of Narsimha Varman II. The place was known to the sailors of the world as 'port of seven pagodas'. Only one has survived. Bushes & trees have been planted towards the sea shore to save further erosion & damage to this one. 


Erosion due to sea water can be seen


The bulls placed above the wall have been recovered from sea bed. Varah has been reassembled by cementing the pieces.

Weather & sea water has taken a toll

Effect of weather & sea water

Elephant after wear & tear

Some parts of the washed away temples recovered from sea
Parikrama around the temple


Another wonderful piece of work. Carving shows a cow & a calf. In case the head of cow is covered, it becomes an elephant & a calf! So two-in-one is not new but an ancient concept! 



Saturday 14 September 2013

A view from the cabin

You see everybody has a boss & boss also has a boss. Targets are given by the boss & you don’t want to miss them at any cost. Then you take a look on your team & begin to wonder how the target will be achieved.
  
Sitting in the cabin I could see the team of officers working in the hall – a happy sight indeed. It is one of the rare days when all of them are present. If one of them is on leave not much of problem is faced. If two of them are on leave or missing other four take it with a pinch of salt. If three of them are off then the remaining officers start grumbling. Their smiles change to frowns & temperature rises in the hall despite it being air conditioned. So coolant needs to be applied before the heat reaches cabin! 

This is particularly so with Ms Sharma as her departure in the evening gets delayed. She keeps on working & simultaneously keeps on murmuring about workload at home & in office. She keeps adjusting her spects back & forth, her remarks become terse & her working style erratic. Don’t you provoke her by saying that Mr Sharma shall take care of kids & cook for them. She would flare up & narrate history & geography of Mr Sharma, his parents & even grandparents! Seems he drinks a little too much & his speeches thereafter in garbled English are awful & therefore the kids are getting unruly. If she is around Mr Sharma & the kids have to behave. At times Ms Sharma uses the same commanding tone with clients also leading to unnecessary complaints. As branch manager you got to keep her in good humour.

Not so with Mr Goel also called Lalaji by staff because of his bulky figure. He is easy going & amicable in contrast to Ms Sharma. Work or no work he carries on in his own leisurely style & is never in a hurry. Rather amusing to look at occasionally he will doze off on his chair. He is to retire this year & likely to become a grandpa soon & therefore taking life easy. But this very quality lands him in trouble some times. Once he almost missed his flight as he took his time from car to check in counter & from there to security check. After the check he sat in the lounge sipping cold drink & reading magazine. After several announcements desperate staff located him & took him to his seat in plane. Keeping his qualities in view he was usually kept for back office work. This keeps him happy & motivates him for putting another extra hour or so in case of need.

Team Work
As for Mr Gupta, he considers himself to be a smart guy & loves to attend female clients. Always neatly dressed with polished shoes, he keeps a comb ready to set the thinning hair in style now & then. Likes to wear perfumes. On such occasions when he is dealing with ladies his smile broadens, his tone becomes intimate & he becomes a little more active. He has been nicknamed ‘Majnoo’ by the colleagues & everybody tries to push female clients to him & nobody is disappointed. He has lots of contacts in the market so before going for shopping do consult him. He can advise you about menus of lunch & dinner of different restaurants, about sale of bed sheets, suits & sarees etc. Such fellows are good at PR jobs & he is given the job profile accordingly. He is of great help in case you want to entertain or arrange gifts for bosses or auditors.

Quite reverse is the case of Mr Rustagi. He is less inclined to work & more inclined to quote rules & regulations. Generally keeps aloof as if walking under cover of a mosquito net! He keeps himself abreast of all types of news & is ready with negative side first. At times it looks that he manufactures the news out of thin air! He would present the news as if it is confidentially known to him only. For example ‘I tell you such & such incident has annoyed the boss & transfer letter of so & so is on the table for signature’. So if you want to spread the rumour as news he is the man for it. He prefers to talk to boss of the boss rather than the boss. He seems to say that ‘I have talent but why should I work?’.

While I break my head over sketches of members of my team vs my target please have a chilled one.  


Friday 6 September 2013

Visit to Pattadakal, Karnataka - A World Heritage Site

Perfect geometrical shapes & lines of Nandi Temple
Pattadakal a tiny village, is situated on the banks of river Malaprabha in Bagalkot district of Karnataka. It is 22 km from Badami & over 520 km from Bangalore. The town has also been referred in ancient texts as Raktapura - Red Town & Pattadakal Kisuvolal linked perhaps to reddish rocky hills all around this place. Chalukyan rulers had their coronation (patta) ceremonies here from seventh to ninth century.

The group of magnificent temples & shrines is representative of Chalukyan temple architecture. Some temples are in Nagara ( North Indian) style & some others in Dravidian architectural style having beautiful engravings & statues based on stories of Ramayana & Mahabharata. Chalukyas evolved their own distinct styles by fusing them. It is said that queen Lokadevi (Lokamahadevi) brought sculptors from Kanchipuram to create the marvelous temple complex in honour of victories of King Vikrmaditya II (734 to 745) over Pallavas.

Spread over an area of four acres this wonderful complex has been included in the list of World Heritage sites in 1987. Some photos.

Jambulinga Devalaya
Magnificent style of temple
Canopy here has a different style. Part of Virupaksha temple. 

Vamna Avtaar. As dwarf brahmin Lord Vishnu asked three steps of land from asura king Bali & then measured the world in two & a half steps. King asked Vamna to place foot on his head as King had nothing more to offer
Restoration work is on

Symbol of Chalukyas. The symbol shown here comprises of selective distinct properties of seven animals - Elephant, Crocodile, Lion, Peacock, Boar, Horse & Mahisha
A view of the Virupaksh temple

Time & weather have taken their toll

View of the monuments

Wednesday 4 September 2013

Manager's Cabin

Hot & Spicy from Pink City
There are managers & there are managers. Every manager has his own ideas which gives individualistic touch to his cabin. Some will keep the door closed & some will not. Some managers will keep the window covered with blinds or curtains & some will not do so. Some managers have their table clean & organised & some have their table cluttered with pens, loose papers, files, diaries, note books & other nick-knack items.

I prefer to keep the table top as free of luggage as possible. Somehow this helps me in keeping the thought process focused. A diary, a pen & a mobile seem to me enough of equipment to run an office. Most of the clients & members of staff appreciate this but not my boss The Baldy.  Whenever he visits & looks at the clean table he sarcastically remarks ‘no paper on your table not even audit report?’

If the space inside the cabin permits I always go for an aquarium with small colourful fish swimming around in it. They move around gracefully & inside there is no traffic jam for them. At times I wish I could keep a whale in the aquarium only to check the auditor & / or my boss The Baldy!

I always keep the door of the cabin open for visitors with the idea that all clients as well as staff members are welcome for discussion any time. They generally feel comfortable this way & the feedback is positive. Once in a while though there is a likelihood of unwanted people barging in or somebody coming in at a point when things are at delicate stage or a meeting with VIP is on. In such cases it has been suggested to the management that cabins should have three doors: front door for clients, side door for staff & back door for The Great Escape to street outside!

As regards glass pane window in the cabin, I keep it free of curtains or blinds. This helps in looking out in the hall & for keeping an eye on things so to say. This is of great help in ensuring that nobody crosses the LoC & the peace is maintained.  There is a simple law of nature which is applicable here that if there is peace outside the cabin then there is peace inside the cabin & then everybody can plan to go home in time!

Some managers keep printouts or photos of their gurus or Gods under the glass on the table. First thing in the morning as soon as they enter the cabin is to bow to photos & pay respects. Some managers keep small statues or calendars depicting temples etc in cabins. And yet some of these managers accept under the table items as well!

Another very important item is the chair in the cabin. General belief is that the larger chair carries larger impression. Some HRD people have a theory that a manager or a member of interview board should sit on larger & higher chair than the visitor or the candidate to impress upon him the power vested in you. Perhaps this is derived from the historical chairs used by kings & rajas. HRD & their views blah blah blah!

This reminds of a story narrated by my fb friend. Yamraj said ‘manager HRD now that you are here please proceed to hell for 24 hrs then to heaven for 24 hrs. Come back, discuss & we shall place you accordingly. In hell the reception was warm; offers of food, drinks, movies, games & friendship were many. In heaven it was much more beautiful but nobody talked & nobody listened to him. He told Yamraj that he now preferred hell due to nice friendly guys there. Yamraj promptly placed him there. To his horror the ladies & gents who met him earlier were all ugly skeletons now & the scene was of junkyard full of rubbish. On enquiry he was told by the skeletons that “earlier we were recruiting you & now you are an employee!”  
Cool & Sweet