! A journey by train !

Sometimes I wonder how God handles all of us. Yes it includes ALL of us, everyone on this planet - human beings, animals, insects, every flora or fauna. We are indeed puppets in HIS hands as rightly said in an old Bollywood cinema. Everything happens for a reason and that too a good one. There is a reason behind the chirping of birds, there is a reason behind roar of a lion, there is a reason behind life and death, and there is a reason behind every accident and incident. In my, not very long lifespan, I have not come across any incident, which has not positively affected me. Even the mistakes & blunders did make a huge impact on the environment around us.

Recently I encountered an interesting episode, in which the mistakes done could have been a disaster, if it was not God's wish. But to view it in other way, again it was a lesson to teach how to avoid our carelessness and un responsive behaviour. And there is a third view to it as well, that there are infect many good people around us. Its up to us if we encounter them or not!

We were returning from small town of Punjab after attending a family function. Our trip was very comfortable while going from Delhi to a small green village in Punjab. We were traveling by train this time leaving our cozy comfort of the car. My husband actually does not like to go for long drives. :) Isn't this so unromantic? Anyways romantic long drives are there only in movies and TV. So we got our train ticket's print outs and identity cards to show at the time of travel. We boarded the train in the evening around 7 pm from Punjab to Delhi. As soon as we boarded we found ourselves in the compartment full of Sikh men and women. I was amazed because it cannot be a co incidence that whole compartment is full of Sikhs. In few minutes we came to know that the whole compartment is full of a group from Sikh community. They were coming back from holy expedition to their famous pilgrimage located in Amritsar. They were of all ages and gender. Women were doing their 'path' and men were also in the process of arranging seats to their people or just relaxing after their holy encounter. What was making me furious because some other people also occupied our seats? Especially I was annoyed, as I having habit to react very quickly on any action done in front of me. Well! My husband was just trying to understand the situation at that time instead of getting angry. He has this innate capacity to be calm and quiet in worst of situations. 

After discussion for few minutes, kids and me were given a seat in the nearby compartment. There also few of their seats were booked. After good 15 minutes of wait, my husband came to me and told me shyly that we carelessly checked the timings of train and our train to Delhi is already gone in the morning at 7 am. And that strange '24 hours format' has done it again. The moment he told me this, I gave him a stern look as if he belongs to some terrorist group. 

But it took only few seconds to regain my calm back. 

What amazed me was the behaviour and attitude with which people in the compartment held this situation, especially group of Sikh people. They not only gave us seats but also provided us the dinner for all. As it was a ticket, which would have provided us with dinner also, had we boarded the right train? My kids were accommodated comfortably and played throughout the journey with other kids in the train. Overall it was a pleasurable journey and a great learning experience.

Though we could not get a chance to formally thank them, but in my heart I prayed for them. 

This incident solidified my belief that we all are interconnected with each other in this world. 

It’s only about striking the right chord. And moreover its up to you only, what kind of people are attracted towards you - good or bad: clever or simple. 

How to make your resume attractive?

In my short career span of consultancy business, I came across n types of resumes. They all are in different colour, shapes and sizes. My eyes open to MS word document in the morning and closes with the same in the morning. It’s totally wonderful and fun seeing different types of resumes. The word “résumé" or "Curriculum Vitae"(the generation Y name of resume) is a brief account of a person's education, qualifications, and previous experience, typically sent with a job application. In Latin its actually means “course of life”. 

When we open a resume we can actually see the complete picture of life of candidate. Candidate mentions all the details of the company they have worked with in the past and present. We spend 8-10 yrs of our day in the office and sometimes it becomes our “second home”.

Most of the resumes are just written for the sake of mentioning all the details. It seems resume of Person “a” is written by a person “b”. I mean to say resume does not seem to carry a soul. It’s a just a document or notification about a person and loudly says “this is to inform you that I am ‘ME’ ”

My basic point here is to mention that resume is the first document in front of the client, which is the FACE of the candidate. It should not be confusing at all. It should be clear, simple and easy to understand. If a person opens a resume and after going through it still wondering where the resume owner is working then it will be very confusing. It shows that resume owner is him/her self very much confused and garbled. 

Resumes should be sorted, straight & full strength. 

If you are an experienced candidate, looking for a job change, always mention your work experience first thing in the resume. And for freshers mentioning academics in the neginning will make sense.

It should carry information about candidate’s career growth in ascending order. Recruiter will be least bother in knowing what the candidate was doing 10 years back. Everyone wants to know about TODAY. “What are you today?” – Is the popping question in the minds? 

There is no point in writing strength and weaknesses. I find it very funny to write them on resume. Why should I let others know my weaknesses? Rather I would work on them and rectify them. And strengths are only the result of circumstances. A person can be stronger in a situation, which he never thought could be possible. So these two traits can be discussed at the time of interview. But yes, be very well prepared for this question during personal round of interview.

Strengths and weaknesses are important if we mention them in relation to our work or job profile. For example: Person “a” is strong in Java & C++ and week in some other language. 

Never put different colors of fonts in your resume. It looks funny and kiddish. Font should be simple in style, readable and black on white background.

There is no need to write Hobbies as well, thats actually what I feel. Yes ! if your profile is that of an actor or an advertiser then you may mention your hobbies. But instead of hobbies, head should be 'Interest'.  At least I think so. Well! It’s a matter of personal choice if someone wants to tell the consultant and HR manager that he/she loves travelling/driving/music/watching TV etc etc. Any ways it won’t influence the profile, which is vacant or will not increase few digits on the offer letter.

Always, Always check your resume for spelling and grammer in the last and before sending it to HR manager or consultants. Spelling mistakes give worst impression on the person reading resume.

Hope this will help prospective candidates to upgrade their resumes. 

! Rain again !

Whenever there is a rain be it in winters or summers, it makes me more vocal, active, romantic and I suddenly become eager to shed out words out of 'brain bank' about anything. Today in winters of January its raining outside and that too very heavily since morning. The wind is heavy and very cold. My kids are gone to school and husband to office. I am trying to take time out to write something amidst this cold winter morning. Well ! finally I got myself settled in front of my Mac and started typing on key board.

And suddenly I was out of words as if simply words were not coming to me. Then I realized that here I am sitting in the cozy comfort of my study room, enjoying this awesome weather, and there is someone out side my home, colony, city or country who is much less fortunate, struggling hard - full of frustration fighting a lone battle with this weather.

I mean what am I thinking ? Rains, baarish, mausam these all are beautiful romantic words for me and someone else's life is disturbed and shaken by these rains. Homeless will be drenched on the road and that will include small kids also. When I am bringing my kids in comfort of cars, umbrellas & raincoats, at the same time some kids will be shivering of cold in a broken shade without proper clothes forget about rain coat.

While I am writing and waiting for the hot lunch on my dining table, someone else is running pillar to post for a single cold meal of a day. When will those days come when fundamental rights to live respectfully will be provided to each and every one. Definitely, it can not be achieved only by thinking about it. It can only be achieved by moving our pretty ass from our cushioned seats and do something about it, create value or take responsibility of at least one child. Again this can not be preached or taught. This feeling has to come from inside, from the heart.

And then rest of the others will definitely follow. Like you, they will also follow their heart. Try to change life of atleast one individual, and that will change everything around.

And here I am from romanticize baarish to visualize roti, kapda aur makaan....at their basic level.