Handwriting! - A topic for analysis ??

Hello readers, Greetings!!

After writing a blog recently regarding my 'Blitz Chess' experience in my office, I received appreciations from many of my friends, colleagues and siblings. Thank you for that. But there was one of my friend who asked me,"This is not of your worth buddy. You are from technical background. Try to write something technical."

Yes, 100% amiable comment, my dear concerned friend. But it’s too early for me to start writing a technical blog. So till then you'll have to tolerate my abstract blog topics or some LIFE-CO-RELATING stuff. Just joking readers. I’m not here to intimidate or burden you with stuff that only a peculiar faction of people would understand. NO!

Writing upon a general topic is never too difficult. Just see what topic I chose to blog about today! It’s a simple word “Handwriting”. Today morning, I and my colleagues were just going through our notepads (not the computer software, but a REAL one instead), and comparing each other’s handwriting. We were actually grading it literally, bad, worse, worst. Only these terminologies have their place when a boy’s handwriting is checked. It seems funny isn't it?

This same comparison took me down the memory lane and I started thinking about the distinctions that are generally observed whenever a girl writes and a boy writes. (Again, let me be very distinct and clear that I don’t support any kind of gender discrimination in any respect). 

"Good handwriting fetches you good grades." 

Every guy reading this blog would agree to this (and it’s a general presumed myth prevailing in educational institutions). During our school days, the topper would be compulsively a girl. I really admit that girls are good in their handwriting. You get to see the fluency and subtlety in their writings, how discrete they write, each alphabet and letter; these habits leave an good impression on the paper checker. This doesn't happen that often with male category people. Yes, there are exceptions. My engineering college friend Shashikant Hake is the best example of which I can think of. Throughout my engineering career, this mate never changed his way of writing. Don’t know how he managed to write so patiently and in much adorable sublime manner, that too with a gel pen and even during exams!!!  At the same stage we preferred to use a 2 - 5 Rupees pen, or even sometimes we use to borrow a pen from our classmates and never give it back. This had nothing to do with our handwriting but the blithe behavior had unnoticeable effects (which were shockingly noticed after results).

Other thing which I also observe is the uniformity in writing styles. Oh common, in my whole school and college career, I never have achieved such uniformity. To be more candid about this, my writing changed from week to week. Yes, literally. The changes weren't that drastic, but changing from normal to cursive and vice-versa. Changing the float padding of my characters that would nearly touch the upper line’s character and many more like that. There were endless combinations that I would try!

Taking this change to a further extent and rather a funnier one, the SPEED of writing. Now what I sometimes deduce from the word QUICK writing speed is - BAD HANDWRITING. I wonder why handwriting speed should bother us much to keep consistent with our ‘Calligraphy’ skills. The most ridiculous part (it’s what I've inferred), is whenever the situation comes to write something really QUICK, the ears listen the word QUICK, but the brain interprets as BAD. So a QUICK leads to a BAD. That’s human nature, that’s how it becomes eventually. 

This reminds of me of another person, my dearest friend Akshay Agrawal. Any of my school or polytechnic college friends reading this blog would definitely be knowing him (and his handwriting too). We both attended the same school (RJEM, Nashik) and thereafter the same polytechnic college (KKWP, Nashik). One could not miss this guy in terms of handwriting. 

"I don't have bad handwriting, I've my own font."

This is the most apt statement that would really go with him. Actually this line I saw it on a Facebook post, and the first name I remembered is Akshay. Same is applicable to me also. And we are really proud of telling it to people, even our teachers used to get fed up with us with regards to our handwriting. But it was already a highly inculcated habit that became incorrigible now. It was indeed our own font and we were the only ones who could decipher it very well that anybody else could do.

There are endless examples that I could state here, but I would like to contain giving the examples now. What I need to really discuss comes here. I recently came to know that handwriting helps to judge the personality, acumen, habits, and also thinking perspectives of the person. Surely, don't infer that I'm a calligrapher or the one who is studying graphology. This is what I came to know (by a exemplifying experience) from a friend Gargee Hiray. She works as a speaker for Digital Device's and Graphology Science. And also she is into her final year of Computer Engineering, SKNCOE, Sinhgad Institutes, Pune. For further reference visit http://www.gargeeshiray.com/.

But what I really ponder is, no matter whatever technique they use to elicit these human qualities from a mere piece of paper with a handwritten paragraph, how do they do it, when men like me have this capricious way of handling our letters ? Do they really deduce  it correctly all the time ? Yes, there may be chances of errors, but what if one changes his writing skill from time to time ? This would affect a big time when such thing happens while investigating crime. Don't you think so !


Note: This post contains mentions about certain people. This post is not intended to hurt anyone and is written in light moods intending a very general sense. 

Blitz Chess!

Hello everyone. Greetings!!

Today I'll be blogging about my experience at my new office. Nothing much about my new job. But what other lesson I learnt here. This new lesson which I would like to co-relate with life.

I joined Informatica Business Solutions, Bengaluru (Bangalore) in the last month, in the department of Global Customer Support. First of all, STOP! Global Customer Support as you take it etymologically to be a Call center or Service Center kind-of-stuff; beware, its definitely NOT! Its rather more than what a developer does and what a tester assures. Thus making it a very logically challenging vocation. 

This was a very terse detail about what I do here, but now I'm going to write about what I learn, assimilate and strive to enact accordingly. Daily after office hours, I and my colleagues have put up a habit of playing chess. Yes. After office hours its allowed. Its just feeding your brain with much more strategical and logical stuff. I am, particularly, at the learning stage of this game 'chess' (shatranj'). But I not only learn how to play, how the bits move, how you give a check and assure that opposite party doesn't have an option, but what I practice is something called the Blitz chess... 

Yes, guys, this is what I am insinuating about to you all. Blitz Chess. I know it sounds crazy for a normal person. But as you keep on playing in that way you realize, Blitz chess keeps your mind active than usual and helps to take decisions faster. Yes, those might be wrong or right, but, at the end of the day, you learn a very significant thing, that is to take risks. The whole idea behind this is, making your mind more robust and quick about taking chances, that might either end up on the winning side or the otherwise. If you win, you win with the fullest satisfaction. Yes, I can guarantee you on that. But don't be disheartened if you lose. The funda here which I picked up is not repeating the Mistakes again. 

Learn from your 'RAPID' mistakes.

Along with the rapid moves that you make, thinking and deploying new strategies to hold up your opponent in a deadlock is also a crucial learning. Whenever you think of making a move just analyze whether that move will be beneficial in your next moves. Devise those in such a way that opponent should be cajoled to take another way.

Plan the 'QUICK' way.

And the third, sometimes sacrificing your own bit to let the other commit some mistake so that you take a grip on the game. 

Compel the opponent to do an 'ERR'!!

And all that remains is practicing these fundas. That's all! See, a competent Chess player is standing now. But WAIT, ever wondered how this can be related to our happenings in our life. Our life is much more analogous to this game. One wrong move and you fall abyss. But a single move could change the whole course of the game.

What we do in our whole lifespan...?? Candidly speaking we do nothing but "Take decisions". From the moment we are born till we breathe our last breath. TAKING DECISIONs. 

Right or Wrong doesn't matter, but what matters is how you support your decisions in a apt way. How you strategically backup all your plot for making your decisions right. As one of my mentors, his name is Jayavardhan Kale, says:

"A decision at any point of time is never wrong. The circumstances play a very vital role in compelling you to take a decision."

Augmenting to the above said quote, my engineering college friend Upasana states: 

"A decision  taken is never right or wrong. After you take a decision you have to make it right by your ways and means."

See, finding something analogous to the game. Chess, take a move, stick to it, make it right.

Some decisions give you the strength and the courage to hold up against your problems (your opponent). These blitz decisions make you more stronger and dauntless. Many of you would point to the cliched adage 

"Haste is Waste." 

Yeah that's partially true. Sometimes we end up blundering some task that was almost on the verge of completion.

But, 

'Time & Tide wait for none.'

another proverb I learnt in my 4th grade, is very much applicable here. 

Just like the moves in chess, your decision making time improves your self confidence. And eventually it boils down to a point where you isolate some endless possibilities and focus on only the valid and legitimate paths. Thereby facing your problems with equanimity and making you the competent player of this game and have the triumph! 

NOTE: This very term Blitz Chess is used by me and my colleague Mohit Yadav, who is being the whole inspiration behind practicing this kind of play. And also not to forget my other office colleagues Akash Mehrotra and Mukul Shukla who have pushed me and urged me to play this game when I was at the beginner stratum. 

My second blog post

Hello fellas,
                 Actually i am a bit late today to post this blog, so i will not give much detailed explanation about the further skills. Don't worry guys, will definitely do it whenever I get sufficient amount of time.

                 So, I would like to put a light on some of the mistake that students do when they are delivering their seminar. Considering the fact that, almost everyone uses a Powerpoint presentation slide show for this presentation purpose, here are the few mistakes that i have seen in my career of giving seminars till now.

1. While developing any seminar through a presentation slide, students, always make a mistake of putting up all the things on the slides and make them unnecessarily messy.
2. Many a times, the slides shows that are prepared, are too fancy and contain more and more animation i.e. more images and sometimes the custom animations that are many a times not required.
3. The font size is also a part of consideration as the presentation is not only for the judges, but also for the audiences.

                    Now here are few remedies for the above mistake that should be followed so that it can help our presentation to look for graceful and tidy.

1. Making the slide Unnecessarily messy : For resolving this problem, one must keep into his mind, that more he keeps his slides compact with not may words or sentence on it, it is the presentation that is admired the most. But keeping it compact doesn't mean that you should skip some of the points that are very very essential.
2. As all of u know, images speaks more than words, but an animation goes further step ahead, and it can even make one imagine what things could happen. So keeping images as well as animation in our presentation is a good practice, but along with that there should not be any overdose of the same. One should keep the amount of animation put up in the presentation in proper proportion. Also a point to tell, that if one could get videos to show about the same concept, then its even more good.
3. The third point, is that of the font size. This is the most crucial part of your presentation as your presentation cannot be fully of images and animations and those suitable videos, but also of words. The most preferred font are the basic fonts such as the Times New Roman, Arial and such simple kinds of it. And considering the visibility, the font size of normal text should be at least 24 pt size, and for the further text such as the sub title and the title it should be 36 pt size and 48 pt size respectively.

          I hope these tips really help you in your seminars. Keep in touch for further suggestions and posts.

- Regards

Anand Karandikar

Getting my first blog done...

Hello dear fellows,

                            This is my first ever blog that i'm writing into. Till date, using many of the Google products was fun and exciting, may be its Gtalk, Orkut, Buzz, Gmail, and now the very latest into the market, posing as a rival to the greatest social-networking hub; Facebook, Google+.

                            But just today my attention moved towards this thing, the Blogger. Actually, I must admit that I can't blog much ;)... But remember guys, trying out a thing is very much important whether you fail or you reach the peaks...

                         May this be my first ever blogspot, AnandKarandikar, I would like to focus on the presentation skills (seminar skills), that are very much required when one wants to present his/her concepts, or any inventions or a project.

          

           What I basically feel about the Presentation Skills ?

                   Many people have the ability or the technique to do physical things or we can say the things which can be done. I don't say that job is easy but if a manufacturing company suppose say Tata Motors, (for example), manufactures cars, but if it doesn't announce it to the people about it, then how the masses will come to know about what car will be coming in the market. This is where a Presenter comes into the picture. When you see the advertisements on TV sets, some of them have been done very attractively with a great imagination power, you feel like buying those things.

                 Thus, presenter's importance is felt. Same things happen whenever a concept is to be put-forth before many people. The person who with his own imagination power presents all these things, must create interest among the listeners so that they become envy of the things you are showing and attract their attention to the new concept.

Thus for today, i will conclude my blog with some following tips for new presenters looking for some guidelines on how to present things:

1. A presenter should always be confident about what he speaks.
2. For being confident, a presenter should thoroughly know what topic he is explaining.
3. Taking a personal review and feedback while presenting, is also necessary because a presenter need not be static to the manner in which he explains every point; some things must be presented with much interest. In this case, getting a video, or some descriptive images is very helpful.