Coping with the aftermath of layoffs

Relief, guilt, grief and fear are all typical feelings of the employees who are left behind in an office after a wave of layoffs. It's easy to get mired in the emotions; it takes deliberate thought and action to manage in the workplace after colleagues have been let go. "To be a survivor, you have to act like one,".
People who survive difficult experiences and economic times are able to do so because they can imagine a time when things will change for the better.
Here's how to cope and position yourself in the office after a round of layoffs.

Confirm new business priorities. Not only does the number of employees change after a layoff, but often the direction of the business and the importance of various projects also change. Check in with managers at least one or two levels above you to find out what the highest priority work is now and ask for detailed descriptions of your new responsibilities, especially if you've taken on the work of a former colleague.

Take initiative. Now is the time to get out of your comfort zone at work and stretch yourself. At a time when there are fewer people to do the work, "look for projects and raise your hand for new assignments that need to be done. Managers will see you as someone who is willing to go the extra mile. You might also open yourself up to other opportunities by taking on new projects or picking up new skills.

Promote teamwork and collaboration. This isn't the time to hide out in your office or to try to fly under the radar. "You need to do just the opposite,". Often, after a layoff, two departments will be combined or responsibilities in one group will be shifted to another. Use the opportunity to forge alliances and work as part of a team to create new ways to get work done with fewer people. Find ways to stay engaged that will help you in your job as well as contributing to the overall health of the business. Consider renewing a relationship with a mentor or planning a casual office lunch.

Communicate constantly. During times of change, it's imperative to seek feedback from your managers and colleagues. You'll want to be sure you're doing high-priority work and that you're doing it effectively and productively. Start out with a formal request to get up to speed on what's expected from you, and follow up with face-to-face conversations in the weeks ahead.

Avoid negativity. Layoff survivors can easily fall into "pity parties" where they kvetch about the state of their workplace. "It's essential that you look for the positive things around you and realize that you have a choice about your morale,". Managers look for people they can count on during these times, whether it means handling more pressure, being a team player or being easy to work with. You want your manager to see you as having a personality that brings energy rather than zapping energy from the group.

Dookh ne eak pal saath na chora

Dard ke daastaan badi lambi hai
Dookh ne eak pal saath na chhora

Sookh mujhe tarsaata raha
Door door se dekh khushi ko

Man ko mere behlata raha
Her taraf rang hai umang hai

Jahaan bhi dekho khushboo hai bahar hai
Tanha dil ko mai samjhata raha

Aur baharow ka mausam mujhe chidhata raha
Taskeen ka eak pal na mila

Chain mera her ghadi beaabroo mila
Apne haathow mei chehra chupaker

Andhere ka darr bhagata raha
Jab bhi dekhi perchai apni

Laga dost purana aagya

Has ke muskura ke mai mila
Uski chuppi bhram todta raha

Haath ke rekha mei dhoonda kavi toh
Dhoonda kavi taqdeer ke keetab mei

Eak chehra jo kho gya hai na mila
Mai panne der panne palatha raha

Kuch saans bachi thi aakhri
Sitamgaarh dekhta aake jara

Mai raastow pe teri her pal
Intzaar ke palkein bichhai rakha

Dookh ne eak pal saath na chora
Sookh mujhe tarsaata raha

THORI SEE KHUSIYAAN

KAHAN SE LAAUN THORI SEE KHUSIYAAN

JAHAN BHER KE GAM MUJHKO MILE HAI

HASNA TOH JAISE BHULNE LAGA HOON MAI

AANSOO SARE MERI AANKHOW MEI BHRE HAI

MAANGTI HUI SE NAJAR MERI RAAT- DIN

DERWAJE SAARE KABSE BAND PADE HAI

MAI DHOONDTHA HEE REH GAYA MERE APNE

DUNIYAAN MEI SIRF SAARE PARAYE BASE HAI

DUSMAN MILTE HAI DOSTOW KE KHOJ MEI

AB HUM BHI SANGDIL JARA HO GAYE HAI

SAANS-SAANS MEI GHUTAN SE HOTI HAI

KAISE BATAYE KIS TARAH HUM JEE RAHE HAI

TADAP KE DAMM NIKAL JAYE TOH CHAIN HO

YAA KOI AUR BERBADIYAAN MERE LIYE HAI

Mera Saath.........

मै तुम्हारे पास रहूँगी हर पल
धूप कभी तो कभी छौं (shade ) बनकर

दूर् हूँ तो इसलिये गम ना करना
पास रहूँगी सदा याद बनकर

किताबौ मे ढूंदते हो अस्तित्व अपना
उतर जाउन्गी हर्फ पे शब्द बनकर

ग़मे जुदाई मे कभी आंशू ना बहाना
खव्बौ मे होगी बस्लेयार ( date ) ख्वाईश बनकर

थक जो जाओगे तन्हा सफर मे
मेरी मुस्कान होगी दिल मे हौसले बनकर

मै ना रहूँगी इस जहाँ मे तो क्या ?
मेरा साया साथ होगा हमसफ़र बनकर

हो मुकम्मल ( complete ) ज़िंदगी तेरी , ख़ुशीयौ से
मेरी ये इल्तzआ है खुदा से दुआ बनकर

Three habits of highly ineffective employees

OK, this one may hurt.

Think you have what it takes to dig a career hole for yourself and then stay there? If not, here are three tips that are sure to get you the kind of attention nobody really wants.

Miss deadlines: If each person in a company operated in an independent vacuum, a missed deadline might not be such a big deal. But, as you well know, almost every action of every employee has some kind of effect, either direct or indirect, on the performance of another employee. Let’s say Person A–that would be you–has four days to complete the first part of a project; Person B has four days to complete the second part; and Person C has been given three days before the ultimate out-the-door deadline.

Since you’re not that hung up on specifics like deadlines, you take an extra day to get your portion of the project done. Person B has now missed an opening window of time for getting his portion launched so he, in turn, borrows another day from the master schedule. Now poor old Person C finds himself at the end of the project, and his deadline is one day away. As in DEADLINE. Not Ailing Gray Area. Person C probably has to work late and miss his daughter’s soccer game where, as it turns out, she scores the winning goal. And it’s all your fault.

Complain too much: OK, look, most people like to complain. They do it more often out of frustration if they feel like it’s not feasible for them to take any real action — but that’s not letting you off the hook. Like it or not, your job is to make things happen for the company you work for. If you can find fault with everything that entails (everything legal, that is), your input will lose its value. Constant complainers have no credibility.

Of course, you complain because you think you know better than those who make the decisions. Maybe you do and maybe you don’t. Either way, you don’t want to get a reputation as the person who will point out all the bad aspects of every suggestion and have to be dragged kicking and screaming into every new endeavor. It’s exhausting for everyone you work with. Ultimately, no one will think of you as a discerning employee as much as they will think of you as a pain in the butt.

Be the company doormat: This is the Complainer’s polar opposite, but it’s just as toxic. Are you the guy who helps everyone? The one everyone knows they can dump work on because you’re so nice and capable? And if everyone likes you, they respect you, right? Wrong. Your manager probably interprets this helping tendency as an inability on your part to set boundaries. And, believe me, no one is going to foist any make-a-name projects on you–only the penny ante stuff they don’t want to do.

The ability to set boundaries is something you need to have if you want to move up in the company. And if you take nothing else away from this blog, know this: Those co-workers lining up to pawn work off on you will not set your boundaries for you.

Although your intentions are good, your desire to help everyone may result in your workload being too much to handle, which could make you a deadline-misser (see my first point), and you don’t want that. Another result is that, with things piled on as they are, you will do no one project really well.

In brief, finish on time, develop a streak of optimism, and learn to say no.

Why you must insure your wedding

"The latest entrant into the insurance family is wedding insurance," I told my brother Prabhat who is getting married this year. His immediate response was: "What's the need of such an insurance cover?" But before i could answer, his next question was, "What is the premium and what is the term insured?"

Wedding insurance is for providing cover to protect you against any untoward incident on or before the wedding.

Whatever may be your financial status, weddings in India attract huge expenditure, what with it being a once-in-a-lifetime event. After some research, I knew wedding insurance is not that big in India as awareness is still quite low. Moreover, people shudder to even think of an unforeseen, unfortunate event happening around their own or their child's wedding.

Mostly, it is a case of: Let's not think about it; and nothing will happen. But considering the huge amounts at stake in such a short duration, it is advisable to protect yourself from any such incident.

In a nutshell, wedding insurance safeguards you financially against unforeseen events that could postpone or cancel the wedding.

A conversation with the relationship manager of Bajaj Allianz revealed that they have recently launched a wedding insurance package.

He said, "In case the wedding gets postponed or cancelled, there is a certain risk of monetary loss. Our package covers the specific risks related to weddings. But yes there are not many takers for the same till now; moreover the policy is not being marketed aggressively as well."

Normally the wedding insurance policy covers wedding cancellation / postponement due to fire or any natural disaster, accident of the bride / groom, accident of blood relations for a seven-day period (three days prior to the wedding date, the wedding date, and three days after the wedding date), damage to property including the venue, burglary, and even cases of food poisoning at the function.

Typical wedding insurance covers range from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 8 lakh and their indicative premiums range from Rs 3,770 to Rs 14,276.

What wedding insurance broadly covers?
Right from brides or grooms coming late to burglary of valuables, everything is covered. The biggest risk covered is non-availability of groom or bride owing to stranded transport or law and order problems. Any damage to building and contents due to fire or allied perils is also considered a ground for claims. Accidental death in family or that of close family friend is also covered.

Legal liability and third party damages are recognised as risks. There is cover against food poisoning too, which comes under public liability clause. In case wedding ornaments are lost, the policy stands.

Money kept in safes at the wedding residence also comes under insurance policy. It extends to the day after the nuptials. Burglary of valuables is covered for one day after the marriage, as it is assumed that people stay back the night after wedding.

What wedding insurance doesn't cover?
The insurance policy cannot be claimed if dispute arises between two families. There are a whole lot of exclusions, which prevent a wedding insurance claim from being accepted. A marriage under duress, criminal acts, misconduct, misrepresentation, willful negligence, insolvency and influence of drugs or alcohol are sufficient to exclude a policy.

Nuclear perils, radioactivity, war and war-like perils also come under exclusions. The fine print has to be read because damage to electricity through short-circuits or self-heating deprives you of policy benefits.

The wedding insurance policy does not cover 'cold feet', that is, when the bride and / or the groom change their mind at the wedding venue.

Also nothing can be done if bride and groom decide to run away! Nevertheless, you should find the wedding insurance bug catching on... There is just too much expense and value involved for that not to happen.

चिडिया और सफ़ेद गुलाब

आओ सुनो एक कहानी

एक चिडिया को एक सफ़ेद गुलाब से प्यार हो गया , उसने गुलाब को प्रपोस किया ,
गुलाब ने जवाब दिया की जिस दिन मै लाल हो जाऊंगा उस दिन मै तुमसे प्यार करूँगा ,
जवाब सुनके चिडिया गुलाब के आस पास काँटों में लोटने लगी और उसके खून से गुलाब लाल हो गया,
ये देखके गुलाब ने भी उससे कहा की वो उससे प्यार करता है पर तब तक चिडिया मर चुकी थी


इसीलिए कहा गया है की सच्चे प्यार का कभी भी इम्तहान नहीं लेना चाहिए,
क्यूंकि सच्चा प्यार कभी इम्तहान का मोहताज नहीं होता है ,
ये वो फलसफा; है जो आँखों से बया होता है ,

ये जरूरी नहीं की तुम जिसे प्यार करो वो तुम्हे प्यार दे ,
बल्कि जरूरी ये है की जो तुम्हे प्यार करे तुम उसे जी भर कर प्यार दो,
फिर देखो ये दुनिया जन्नत सी लगेगी
प्यार खुदा की ही बन्दगी है ,खुदा भी प्यार करने वालो के साथ रहता है