This too shall pass...

Greetings to you this Monday Morning…
In today’s e-world, e-mail signatures are here to stay. Most people create signatures that go out with each email that they send. These signatures usually contain information such as designation of the person, phone numbers and website addresses.
However a lot of young people also have very funky lines as part of their email signatures. One very interesting email signature that I came across recently said “This too shall pass”. I was quite amused to read this line as part of an email signature. We don’t change email signatures daily, so having this kind of an email signature probably meant that this gentleman was anticipating his bad time to continue for quite some time and so he put it as part of his email signature.
On second thoughts, may be he wasn’t going through any bad time at all. The moment we think from this viewpoint, a new theory emerges which I think is very apt. We all go through good times and bad times. Having an expectation that only the good times OR only the bad times will continue is not realistic. If we are going through a bad time, this signature tells us to keep the faith and not give up hope. When times are bad, we tell ourselves frequently “This too shall pass”, so hang on there.

What is also interesting is that it helps to read this line even when the going is great. If life today is great, full of fun, excitement and opportunities, it helps to keep an eye on the line – “This too shall pass”. The intention is not to be pessimistic but to expect that there are a lot of factors beyond our control that can affect the good times. The dynamic industry, natural calamities, political instability, world terror or even something such as a road accident that can happen to anyone of us and affect us badly. So it helps to be prepared for some bad times. Let’s not get very complacent and careless because things are great today. Whatever situation you are in today, remember “This too shall pass”.

Have a great week…

Correctness Vs Effectiveness

Correctness Vs Effectiveness
Greetings to you this Monday Morning!
I could not write to you last weekend due to a demanding traveling schedule. I was in Goa for some work and my travel to Goa and back gave me my subject for this Monday email.
I traveled to Goa and back by air, and had to avail services of different airlines during travel (let me leave out the names of the airlines? ). As the flight staff gave safety instructions I noticed the emergency exit doors. The emergency exits had large red lettering that said "EXIT". In addition to having this in English, the doors also have the same word in Hindi.
Here is the interesting part – One airline had put up the word "Nikas" and the other had put up the word "Baahar". I noticed this difference and did a small dipstick survey on these words among some of my colleagues and acquaintances. My findings – All people whom I checked clearly knew the meaning of the word "Baahar" in Hindi, but a very few of them knew the meaning of the word "Nikas". I must add though that the technically correct word for Exit in Hindi is probably "Nikas" and not "Baahar".
However what is important is that when an emergency strikes, the sign on the door needs to be effective rather than correct. In whatever we do as part of our professions we need to know the purpose of doing it. There is a balance to be maintained in Correctness and Effectiveness, and at most times we would want to be more effective in doing what we want to rather than being only technically correct.
Have a great week…