Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar!
Ducks Quack, Eagles Soar
Poasted at http://raghudonspeaks.blogspot.com/
No one can make you serve customers well.
That's because great service is a choice.
Harvey Mackay, tells a wonderful story about a cab driver that proved this point.
He was waiting in line for a ride at the airport. When a cab pulled up, the first thing Harvey noticed was that the taxi was polished to a bright shine. Smartly dressed in a white shirt, black tie, and freshly pressed black slacks, the cab driver jumped out and rounded the car to open the back passenger door for Harvey .
He handed my friend a laminated card and said:'I'm Wally, your driver. While I'm loading your bags in the trunk I'd like you to read my mission statement.'
Taken aback, Harvey read the card.
It said: Wally's Mission Statement:
To get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible in a friendly environment.
This blew Harvey away. Especially when he noticed that the inside of the cab matched the outside. Spotlessly clean!
As he slid behind the wheel, Wally said, 'Would you like a cup of coffee? I have a thermos of regular and one of decaf.'
My friend said jokingly, 'No, I'd prefer a soft drink.'
Wally smiled and said, 'No problem. I have a cooler up front with regular and Diet Coke, water and orange juice.'
Almost stuttering, Harvey said, 'I'll take a Diet Coke.'
Handing him his drink, Wally said, 'If you'd like something to read, I have The Wall Street Journal, Time, Sports Illustrated and USA Today.'
As they were pulling away, Wally handed my friend another laminated card, 'These are the stations I get and the music they play, if you'd like to listen to the radio.'
And as if that weren't enough, Wally told Harvey that he had the air conditioning on and asked if the temperature was comfortable for him.
Then he advised Harvey of the best route to his destination for that time of day. He also let him know that he'd be happy to chat and tell him about some of the sights or, if Harvey preferred, to leave him with his own thoughts.
'Tell me, Wally,' my amazed friend asked the driver, 'have you always served customers like this?'
Wally smiled into the rear view mirror. 'No, not always. In fact, it's only been in the last two years. My first five years driving, I spent most of my time complaining like all the rest of the cabbies do. Then I heard the personal growth guru, Wayne Dyer , on the radio one day.
He had just written a book called You'll See It When You Believe It . Dyer said that if you get up in the morning expecting to have a bad day, you'll rarely disappoint yourself. He said, 'Stop complaining! Differentiate yourself from your competition. Don't be a duck. Be an eagle. Ducks quack and complain. Eagles soar above the crowd.''
'That hit me right between the eyes,' said Wally. 'Dyer was really talking about me. I was always quacking and complaining, so I decided to change my attitude and become an eagle. I looked around at the other cabs and their drivers. The cabs were dirty, the drivers were unfriendly, and the customers were unhappy. So I decided to make some changes. I put in a few at a time. When my customers responded well, I did more.'
'I take it that has paid off for you,' Harvey said.
'It sure has,' Wally replied. 'My first year as an eagle, I doubled my income from the previous year. This year I'll probably quadruple it. You were lucky to get me today. I don't sit at cabstands anymore. My customers call me for appointments on my cell phone or leave a message on my answering machine. If I can't pick them up myself, I get a reliable cabbie friend to do it and I take a piece of the action.'
Wally was phenomenal. He was running a limo service out of a Yellow Cab. I've probably told that story to more than fifty cab drivers over the years, and only two took the idea and ran with it. Whenever I go to their cities, I give them a call. The rest of the drivers quacked like ducks and told me all the reasons they couldn't do any of what I was suggesting.
Wally the Cab Driver made a different choice. He decided to stop quacking like ducks and start soaring like eagles.
How about us?
Smile, and the whole world smiles with you.....The ball is in our hands!
A man reaps what he sows. Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up...let us do good to all people.
"Bachna Ae Haseeno"
This is some movie review!!!!!!
Posted on http://raghudonspeaks.blogspot.com
| My thoughts on Bachna Ae Haseeno Posted: 16 Aug 2008 03:21 AM CDT Warning: This is not a review. When you walk in to a Yash Raj Films movie, you're expecting three hours of street-smart humour threaded into an unconvincing plot with fabricated drama. Bachna, for the record, gives you all three. At any rate, this might just be a one time watch, not because it's watchable, but probably because God Tussi Great Ho is utterly horrible. Ranbir does well, except when he tries to emote, which, incidentally, applies to atleast two of the women as well. The story goes thus: Raj (Ranbir) first meets Mahi (Minnisha Lamba) in Switzerland, who is so smitten by DDLJ that the very title track playing in the background brights up her eyes and makes her run towards the source of the melody. She misses her family and the train, he jumps off it, walks up to her and they ride, through the scenic locales of Switzerland, to Zurich where Mahi's family wait for her anxiously. On the way, they fall in love with a song thrown in, only to realize that Mahi is engaged. A goodbye-kiss at the airport later, Raj reveals his true intent: he has little long-term interest in Mahi anyway. And heart number one, a cute little punjabi one dripping in DDLJ, crashes. Fast-forward to Bombay, where Raj is now working for Microsoft, X-Box Halo 3 to be precise, and is in a live-in relationship with Radhika (Bips). Only just that he *thinks* it's a live-in, and he *thinks* she's that modern-type-ki-ladki, the stereotype model, who doesn't believe in marriage, who puts her career ahead and whatnot. As a result, you can feel for Ranbir who, like the audience, is surprised when Radhika, after hanging out in all those shorts that define 'short', says she wants to marry him: red-saree et-all. But where is Raj? Oh, a timely Microsoft transfer to Australia, mate. And what there? After hanging out with — and being thrown out by — a number of 'firang' girls that he himself can't keep a track of, Raj meets Gayatri (Deepika Padukone), who isn't as feminine as Raj is perhaps used to. She drives a cab, makes secret notes of stock tips as she overhears them, works at a retail store and studies for her MBA. The independent expat girl in Oz, and what's more, she's likable enough for Raj to actually fall in love with her. He fetches a few hundred candles, and at a fountain, goes down on his knees and proposes. But Gayatri, minutes before the interval, says she doesn't believe in marriage, that it's not economically practical, and a host of other stuff that make you go - 'hey, she really makes sense - now is this really a YRF movie'? The joy, unfortunately, is short lived, for it really *is* a Yash Raj film. Because our hero, God bless his golden soul of pure intent, decides to go back to girl 1 and 2 and apologize to them. Which he does, obviously, and why wouldn't he, armed with a name and dancing steps like the 'real' Raj we know. The second half is as predictable as a sunset, except that watching it doesn't give you the same kind of pleasure. Ranbir is good, he can dance, he can walk the talk and while he does look clumsy at times, that's just another added dimension to his character. Minnisha Lamba has an infectious smile, but she really could work on her dialogues. Bips plays the smart, seductive and the arrogant bitchy heroine rather well. Deepika is also a treat to watch, and she sounds very Bangalorean when she speaks English, dripping wet in the Mount Carmel accent when she goes 'dood' for dude, and for her second flick does quite well. But the film-makers really need to give her better names: from Shantipriya to Sandy to Gayatri. Right. Director Siddharth Anand, unfortunately, has gone downhill since Salaam Namaste. That movie worked because the characters were all so likable, and the inimitable Javed Jaffrey thrown in. Ta Ra Rum Pum bombed, and rightly so, although there was a bit of a storyline in it. Bachna, however, is really extended. It's too long, or it feels that way, with a number of unnecessary songs pushed in. Incidentally, there's another way of looking at Bachna Ae Haseeno: an extended commercial for Microsoft X-Box Halo 3. Last I recall, Microsoft Australia didn't pay its game-developers enough to rent a classy apartment in a prime location in Sydney *and* Porsche SUVs. And they surely don't grant a six-month vacation for their lead developer to go back and apologize to two of his ex-girlfriends. And there really aren't tuxedos and overly sophisticated people at a Microsoft product launch party. Nope — I'll tell you what happens at a Microsoft launch party: the software crashes. And while we're at it, Yash Raj and co. have to stop borrowing from their old films. They've borrowed the music from Dhoom, from Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, and possibly the same fashion-sense of JBJ as well which is, to put it mildly, questionable. In fact, throughout Bachna Ae Haseeno, there is this serious DDLJ hang-over ('Raj', the title track playing in the background, Switzerland, the train, and I could just go on). Now, DDLJ is a classic, and I bow to thee. Bachna, unfortunately, is far from it. |
[RJ] Posted from www.Mutiny.in
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Where were you when I was burnt and broken
While the days slipped by from my window watching
Where were you when I was hurt and helpless
Because the things you say and the things you do surround me
While you were hanging yourself on someone else’s words
Dying to believe in what you heard
I was staring straight into the shining sun
Lost in thought and lost in time
While the seeds of life and the seeds of change were planted
Outside the rain fell dark and slow
While I pondered on this dangerous but irresistible pastime
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the moment had arrived
For killing the past and coming back to life
I took a heavenly ride through our silence
I knew the waiting had begun
And headed straight…into the shining sun
Timeless and absolutely unbeatable.
Friday, January 25, 2008
TREAT AS URGENT AND CONFIDENTIAL.
FROM THE DESK OF ADAMU ATTAH
THE HEAD OF FILE DEPARTMENT, AFRICAN
DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB)
OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO WEST AFRICA.
PLANE CRASH WEB SITE...http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/859479.stm.
("REMITTANCE OF $15.5MILLION U.S.A DOLLARS
CONFIDENTIAL IS THE CASE")
COMPLIMENTS OF THE SEASON 2008,
I AM (ADAMU ATTAH),HEAD OF FILE DEPARTMENT & DEBT RECOVERING IN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO IN WEST AFRICA.
FIRST, I MUST SOLICIT YOUR CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION.THIS IS BY
VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL AND TOP SECRET.
HOWEVER AFTER SERIES OF PETITION WAS RECIEVED BY THIS PRESENT REGIME FROM FOREIGN CONTRACTORS AND INABILITY OF THE AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB)TO FULFILL THEIR OBLIGATION FOR THE PAYMENT TO ITS FOREIGN CREDITORS, IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, THEY MANDATED US TO CARRY OUT A CAREFUL AND COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF ALL OVERDUE PAYMENTS TO FOREIGN CONTRACTORS AND TO EFFECT PAYMENTS IMMEDIATELY.
DURING THE ABOVE MENTIONED PROCESS, WE DISCOVERED AN ABANDONED SUM OF US$15.5M (FIFTEEN MILLION FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND US DOLLARS) IN AN ACCOUNT THAT BELONGS TO ONE OF OUR FOREIGN CUSTOMER WHO DIED ALONG WITH HIS ENTIRE FAMILY IN A PLANE CRASH THAT HAPPENED IN (MONDAY 31ST JULY 2000)SINCE WE GOT INFORMATION ABOUT HIS DEATH, WE HAVE BEEN EXPECTING HIS NEXT OF KIN TO COME OVER AND CLAIM HIS MONEY BECAUSE WE CANNOT RELEASE IT UNLESS SOME BODY APPLIES FOR IT AS NEXT OF KIN OR RELATION TO THE DECEASED AS INDICATED IN OUR BANKING GUIDELINES AND LAWS BUT UNFORTUNATELY WE LEARNT THAT ALL HIS SUPPOSED NEXT OF KIN OR RELATION DIED ALONGSIDE WITH HIM AT THE PLANE CRASH LEAVING NOBODY BEHIND FOR THE CLAIM.
IT IS THEREFORE UPON THIS DISCOVERY THAT I AND OTHER OFFICIALS IN MY
DEPARTMENT NOW DECIDED TO MAKE THIS BUSINESS PROPOSAL TO YOU AND RELEASE THE MONEY TO YOU AS THE NEXT OF KIN OR RELATION TO THE DECEASED FOR SAFETY AND SUBSEQUENT DISBURSEMENT SINCE NOBODY IS COMING FOR IT AND WE DON'T WANT THIS MONEY TO GO INTO THE BANK TREASURY AS UNCLAIMED BILL.
I AGREE THAT 40% OF THIS MONEY WILL BE FOR YOU AS A FOREIGN PARTNER, IN RESPECT TO THE PROVISION OF A FOREIGN ACCOUNT,AND 50% WOULD BE FOR ME, WHILE 10% WILL BE FOR EXPENSES INCURE DURING THE TRANSACTION. THERE AFTER I WILL VISIT YOUR COUNTRY FOR DISBURSEMENT ACCORDING TO THE PERCENTAGE INDICATED.THEREFORE, TO ENABLE THE IMMEDIATE TRANSFER OF THIS FUND TO YOU AS ARRANGED, YOU MUST APPLY FIRST TO THE BANK AS RELATION OR NEXT OF KIN OF THE DECEASED INDICATING YOUR BANK NAME, YOUR BANK ACCOUNT NUMBER, YOUR PRIVATE TELEPHONE AND FAX NUMBER FOR EASY AND EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION AND LOCATION WHEREIN THE MONEY WILL BE REMITTED.
UPON THE RECEIPT OF YOUR REPLY, I WILL SEND TO YOU BY EMAIL THE TEXT OF THE APPLICATION TO FILL AND SEND TO THE BANK. I WILL NOT FAIL TO BRING TO YOUR NOTICE THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS HITCH-FREE RISK AND THIS TRANSACTION WILL ONLY TAKE US 14 BANKING DAYS BECAUSE AS A BANKER, I KNOW WHAT TO DO AND MOVE THE FUND INTO YOUR ACCOUNT WITHOUT ANY DELAY AND THATYOU SHOULD NOT ENTERTAIN ANY ATOM OF FEAR AS ALL REQUIRED ARRANGEMENT HAVE BEEN MADE FOR THE TRANSFER.
YOU SHOULD CONTACT ME AS SOON AS YOU RECEIVE THIS LETTER SO THAT I WILL SEND YOU THE TEXT OF THE APPLICATION TO APPLY TO THE BANK AND THE DATA INFORMATION OF THE DECEASED .
YOUR'S FAITHFULLY,
ADAMU ATTAH
FROM (ADB) OUAGADOUGOU BURKINA-FASO.
La carrera hacia la Casa Blanca, a un click de distancia http://www.starmedia.com/noticias/especiales/gobiernousa.html
Thursday, January 24, 2008
TREAT AS URGENT AND CONFIDENTIAL.
From: Mr.ADAMA KADIOGO
Manager,Audit/Account Section
African Development Bank
Ouagadougou Burkina-Faso
Dear Comrade,
How are you today? Hope all is well. Please be informed that I have decided to contact you for a fund transfer transaction worth the sum of US$10,500,000.00 into your reliable bank account as the sole NEXT-OF-KIN to the foreign deceased customer of our bank (an International Billionaire French Businessman) who was killed with his entire family by PLANE-CRASH in Central England atmost 3 years ago. Since his death occured, no body have show up as his next of kin for the claim because the account is untraceable.
Upon the investigation I carried out from his records, I found out that his foreign business consultant who would have trace the account died earlier before the deceased. Therefore, this is a confidential and sealed deal.
For the success of this transaction, you should apply and act as the only existing NEXT-OF-KIN to the deceased which our bank will replace the deceased account information through proper documentation in position of your own account.
This transaction is risk-free, it will never harm your good reputation in your society because no one can trace the account, and on the instant of the transfer of the fund into your account, the chapter of this transaction will be closed entirely.
Note that in a business of this nature, the bank dont want to know your difference between the deceased country, religion or believe because our bank inheritance law is against that. So, it is a preference for us achieve this success without any problem.
Please note down that once the fund get transferred into your account, you will take 39% of the total sum while the rest will be for me as I will arrange myself down to your country to take my share.
I need your urgent response and include your private telephone/mobile numbers for easy communication.Please reply if you can be trusted in this deal.
Thanks,
Mr.ADAMA KADIOGO.
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