Reflection 2020!

The year 2020 has ended . But the year was unique and unusual for each one of us. The year can be remembered for many reasons and hence it is important for me to reflect and introspect as to how I had gone through the time and which lessons I had learnt:

1.  The year started with positive note when my mentor Mr Robinson D'souza held my hand and agreed to help me in improving my pronouciation. He asked me to practice in Cubbon park in the morning. He was correcting the incorrect words over the phone everyday for 10min. I was reading 'My Experiment with Truth' by Mahatama Gandhi. This experiment was done for a month and it helped me to improve my pronunciation 

2.  The year started on very a positive note because I begin my journey in Auto Division of my company. Culture and class of the division assisted me to explore the auto world that makes the world move 

3. Toastmasters is the platform for improving  not just communication skills but life skills as well. Hence, I got the opportunity to be part of committee as a Treasurer. The learning and experience was immense. Other than accounting, one important aspect that i needed to learn to improve my empathy level. Convincing members for renewal and understanding the difficult time that they were facing during pandemic made me realise that it is important to get in touch with the feeling and thoughts of others to form any opinion.

4. I had always thought and limiting believe of fear of failure and fear of rejection. So I challenged myself to participate in 5 contests like Monologue contest and story telling contest etc,  took different roles, joined other clubs to explore other roles and played a role of contest chair. My participation have overcome my limiting believe and substituted with strong believe of many possibilities 

5. Due to covid, we are highly protected and connected to our family for their health and emotional state of affairs. During this time, I could able to connect with all children of our family and started 'Communication Session' everyday. This was started in April and ran for almost two months. Session was started aiming at building confidence and developing content within children. Everyday session was full of learnings and fun with prepared speeches, extempore, evaluation, quiz, dumb charades, jokes etc. I am happy that within one month time our children improved their thinking, confidence and delivery immensely

6. In professional career, I feel that I contributed to company needs and meet the expectation and differentiated myself. Areas that I brought the change in the company e.g. improving reliasation by getting better price extras, engagement with Sr Management, building capability of downstreams facilities, sustainable business with new accounts 

7. The year was time that I could complete my long pending chore of house registration. This activity helped me to develop the habbit of getting away from procrastinate

8. The year also taught me how to live a life of abundance with gratitude. Many people around us are some or the other helped and assisted in our life to make complete. We must show gratitude for everything that get from others. I am very thankful to my family, my colleagues, Robinson Sir, Surekha Ma'am, Aiyappa, Sreejith, Deepika and many more.

9. I felt happy in voluntarily initiated the process of collating donation for office staff in Diwali. That made me realise that happy is contagious when we do selflessly for others.

10. One thing learnt from BTMC President Aiyappa that be always unreasonable and always try to do what you felt not possible and this can be done in Toastmasters and subsequently in professional and personal life 

So 2020 had been a great year of resilience and always been a year to reflect on our actions. 

Happy Year Ending 2020 and Happy New Year Beginning 2021!

~K.K

Employee Engagement!

We had a special occasion to celebrate this Christmas among our Auto Team online. This was splendid and remarkable effort made by team members. This initiative was a part of employee engagement beyond our day to day work

This initiative taught two valuable lessons:

1. This reminded me dialogue of movie Taare Zameen Per. "Every child has own speciality, potential & liking"

We discovered many young child among our team with different speciality and liking. Many of us have capability of rediscovering new likings, habits & hobbies keeping our childhood alive. This is what I like most that keep us realise that anything is possible in your personal or professional life since each of us is special and precious

2. Normally, employee engagement means meeting physically, have chat, fun & enjoy the time. Even just one year back no one thought of meeting seamlessly on virtual platform and having some sort of fun even at this platform. But nowadays, it is made possible and made us shrink closer to each other and knowing each other better as an individual. Knowing each and being friendly not necessarily we need to meet together physically, virtual meeting can also be substitute

Learnings shall remain with me forever and inspire me to keep rediscovering myself with limitless potential 

~K.K

Overcoming My Fear!

Have ever you experienced that you know something but when it was asked from you in gathering, you could not answer it because of fear of what others may think of me if I am incorrect. 

Yes this happened to me again today.

Today we had an exciting Quality Quiz session in our company. Different teams across the Marketing & Sales function participated in the quiz. The questions were so messimerising to keep the audience and participants spell bounded and excited. Interestingly, the questions were such that difficult to search on google.

There were 5 rounds of questions and after each round or in case participants could not answered the questions, the audience can answer them. In one such round, I was 100% knowing the answer but because of fear that if it is wrong what would other may think. So I could not answered it. Surprising I noticed that persons from Sr Management also tried but answered them wrongly.

Aprat from this situation, many times in my life it happened to me, it is because of fear that is pulling me down or I could not able to speak or I could not able to answer the question or I could not strike a small conversation with others.

So from today's session I learnt a lesson that forget what others may think or judge. Always keep in mind that no person in this world is perfect. Let's flow with rhythm of the situation without caught up in fear of situation.

This way I can overcome my fear. I am sure a small improvement in myself that may have profound impact in my life sooner.

~K.K

Toastmasters' Journey!

I joined BTMC in June 2018 with the intention  of improving my communication  skills. Initially I had the impression that this was an apt platform for just improving my communication skills. But later while spending some meaningful  time in Toastmasters I realised that it offered ample opportunities to cultivate and enhance one's leadership skills as well. The roles of the seven  cardinal positions of  President, VP-Ed, VP-PR, VP- Mem, Secretary, Treasurer and SAA are similar to the seven luminous  stars of our brilliant galaxy. These positions enable us to embark on the worthwhile journey of not just  developing and grooming our  leadership skills but also strengthening  our competence for giving back to the worthy Toadtmaster's Movement from which we have had priceless gain.

I personally experienced that, while holding the position as Treasurer .lt helped me to connect with members and convince them for renewal by empathising with them. Keeping a track of all financial transactions with integrity improved my 'Daily Management Skills'...those proficiencies that we require to upgrade our effectiveness  in personal and professional life.

I also derived the priceless wisdom and insights into   how an international institution operates and functions across the globe.l felt priveleged  to be associated with  an institution of such  high repute  which stood for the exemplary  values, of Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence( RISE)

This institution is defintely the  laboratory, which enables us not only to progress along the Pathways of more resplendent  Communication and Leadership but also to give our life skills a substantial boost !!!

~K.K

World Toilet Day!

Today morning I went to pick the newspaper and wondered to get fragrance in the coridoor. I thought it would be the fragrance of incense lightened up by my neighbour. After picking the newspaper, frangrance continued and my mind started wondering again. Same observation was also made by my wife.

When I turned the pages of newspaper to get attention on headlines, suddenly my smell sense catch attention of fragrance coming out from front page. My mind didnt allow further to seek headlines rather stick to fragrance. 

It was amazing experience to notice and making our sense pleasant. 

It was cover page advertisement from Domex's toilet cleaner. It says that cleaning itself doesn't ensure germ free toilet. Odour can also reflects presence of germs. 

It says "Next time you step into toilet,stop. Sniff the air. If it smells bad, even slightly, you know that the toilet isn't safe.

Because an  unpleasant odur is the surest sign of germs.

Now, smell this paper, its the Domex Freshgurad fragrance. If your toilet smells like this, it's proof that it is safe from germs."

This is the first time I could get new experience of smell from the newspaper which was so lively and prevalent without having any stain of sample. What a innovation to grab the attention. Such experience created space in the mind of potential consumers. Normally, on basis of visual senses in print media, we take buying decision but stimulating to  smell senses reinforce our mind to complement our buying decision. 

Other important thing to notice that timing of advertisement was so appropriate to notice on day of World Toilet Day.

Such innovation opens the door of new opportunities for marketers. Need of hour is just challenge our status quo and come out with new ideas and innovation.

~K.K

MahaAsthami!

Mahaasthmi is a very speacial day in Navratri. We offer prayer to Maa Durga and seek blessings. 

On this day, our domestic helper, Gayatri brought her daughter to our home. She asked my wife, Sweta if she can teach her daughter Hindi. She knows that my wife is a Hindi teacher and teaches at NPS School. Without much of a thought she happily agreed to teach her without any tuition fee. She loved to teach and bring smile to her life. 

She taught her for an hour and asked her to come on weekend. Now she is coming on weekend and my wife could teach her with delight.

In this Navratri we could not visited to temple to offer Pujas but I think what my wife did as selfless act of teaching is just as offering Pujas to God. 

Let's celebrate the Pujas by bringing smile to someone's life by lightning hope and wisdom.

There Is A Will, There Is A Way!

Lockdown has changed the life the way we live. Either in office or in home, life has taken ups and downs & twist and turn. We acknowledge the need of hour work from home and accepted new norms of work at home. 

Now, working from home has become new norms for me and my wife. I can understand that my job is more of connecting to our colleagues and clients that can be possible over phone and laptop. So connecting with them over Microsoft Team and phone was easy for me in lockdown working from home.

On contrast my wife, Sweta is a school teacher in NPS Rajajinagar, Bangalore. She has experience of teaching in different schools at multiple locations over more than 15 years. Over the years she has been very comfortable in teaching in class with blackboard and chalk within four walls.

Post lockdown, she was asked to teach online. She never thought that she may need to teach children online ever. Even in pre covid, she was not very conversant and used to of using computer frequently as I have been. But post one month of lockdown, she was started getting target to start the class as soon as possible by school management. She was asked to make work plan and innovative teaching methods to meet the standards of the school. 

She had two options. Either quit the job and just manage the home without having domestic help and take up this challenge and find new ways to do it without compromising work at home. She has shown her willingness to take up this challenge and prove herself that she is not just good at class at school but also at online class. She attended the training, discussed colleagues and put in the best of effort to come with more interesting and innovative ways to start the class. She tried and prepared herself and in her demo class with the Principal she stood apart. She was highly appreciated by management and she set herself an example for others. Now, she is very comfortable in teaching class on Microsoft Team and she comes with new ideas and enriching the teaching experience further for the students. She also managed the home nicely with the change of new norms.  

This is possible because she strongly believes that 'there is a will, there is a way' 

~K.K.