Presentation

It's been a while i attended any sort of self development training
Since i had no work and simultaneously the 'Presentation Skills' training came up i opted for it.

Well the write up is about an observation on the presentation.
We had to give a 3 minute presentation for pre-assessment.

So i talked about a topic too. Just to make it interesting i took a funny topic.
I was sitting in the bus on my way back home,thinking about that episode
Inspite of being an ordinary presentation the topic was found interesting by the team. They got involved so much that they even forgot to give their observations.
A tangential discussion started based on my topic and few of them started talking about thier experience too. So what went wrong/right

I came to the conclusion:
Discussion can turnout good inspite of ordinary explanation if the topic is found interesting.
If this is true then what about the contrary side.
Can the discussion still be good with a very boring topic with extra-ordinary presentation?

Well lets see if i can recollect some examples on most common topics
Cricket - Indian Premiere League, a hit!
Romance - Movies: Same theme but diffent repesentations has resulted in blockbusters

So the contrary side also holds true :)

Into the waters of Pune

This had to happen.
Relocated to Pune last week. Though i was prepared for it, wasnt expecting to so abrupt.
Packed my things and left to yet-to-explore city. Had two days time.
I had to find myself a place for a month in two days. Strangely i wasnt worried about it much. Call it a blind faith or luck or both or yet another exhibition of dumbness. But it worked.
A friend's courtesy resulted in sharing a 15 by 15 ft. room for time being. Reminded me of life of yester years. Its been 2 weeks here and getting used to the new city.
Here are some of the conclusions so far:
1. The auto fare has no relation with distance you travel. Same distance can result in drastically different fares. Auto drivers haven't found the use of meters yet.
2. The bus stops has nothing to do with the city buses. Bus drive takes the call on whether to stop or not. Number of people waiting at bus stop is not his measure to stop
Same bus can travel in different routes. The only constants are start and ends. Back to back buses indicate's a big wait for next bus which can stretch to even a couple of hours.
Bus conductors retain the rights to give back the change or not.
3. The direction given for an asked destination is dependent on which language you ask them. The only way to find out is to ask as many people and proceed based on the concensus.
4. A 10 minute walk should be assumed as a minimum of 5-6 kilometer distance.
5. Brokers decide on who should stay where and how much they should pay. The comission is annual, not one time settlement.
6. Laundry guy owns no responsibility of your clothes. Its uour job to follow up, get it pressed and help them find out your clothes from the filled up racks.
7. Finding an ATM is a treasure hunt.

Food and weather calms you down though

Driven by Curiosity!!

So finally i got a chance to visit that street.
Probably the most talked about in Mumbai. The GRANT Road, known as the Red Light Area.

There was this curiosity to visit this place, which was realized when i came to know i am not the only one .
The date chosen to visit this place adds a smile to experience. October 2nd (Gandhi Jayanti)
We were having morning tea and the program got fixed on the spot. After 15 minutes we were on our way towards South Mumbai
Went till the Lamington Road by taxi and got down there. Four of us. One was married....so i assume it was not so adventurous for him.
Spoke to a taxi driver and convinced him for a guided tour. It was 6.00PM. The driver gained energy when he realized his every word is being heard. He continued 'The business time is from 6-10pm.' After a few minutes of drive we were at that place.
Women standing in front of their houses, with their overdone makeup, bright dresses. Supporting men in their white kurtas and a jeans. It was like what i have watched in movies.
One of a dalal approached our taxi and asked 'Saab chahiye kya?.' None of us reacted.

Taxi Driver had cautioned 'Dont get down, most of them are pocket thieves and cheaters'. None of us were ready to get down either. I could see small 8X8 rooms with curtains partly covering the cot inside. Man! its even visible from the road. Driver was busy talking, 'saab the rate starts from 200 and ranges till 500'. I felt like i am passing through a gutter channel. Our taxi took a turn and reached another road. This one was more packed!
Women were in their 20's and 30's. Then thoughts started flowing, questions. Are they here because they want to be here? Are they victims of some traps? Cant they live a better life? A better profession? How do you define a better profession? what about their kids? Is this the result of their greed? Or answers found by them to overcome their poverty. My observation of their faces said they are not enjoying what they are doing. I was missing my camera.

The trip ended in 15 minutes and i realized i was holding my breath throughout the journey.
The driver was busy unfolding his knowledge to us, regarding the other locations and rates.

Landed at Atriya Mall and filled our stomachs. Went for a "4D' movie. A not so worth overpriced experience. In the end, i felt a sense of achievement. But my mind was still trying to figure out answers for those questions.