Mental Excursions

The Maze of Corporate Speak Continuing with what I wrote about last week- corporate jargon i.e., workplace language consisting of set of words, phrases, or acronyms which the business/corporate professionals use to help in their work. Some of them make perfect sense while in case of others perhaps one could use simpler words, more common in use. Optics - It means how something appears to others. Why not use the simpler expression ‘public perception’ in its place? It would still look the same in the public eye. Ping  - You reach for your phone or mouse when you hear the ping sound as soon as the notification of a message lands on the phone/computer. When somebody pings you, they wish to talk to you or contact you, but no worries, you can always choose to answer later. Paradigm shift - This denotes a major change in approach/perspective in respect of a brand/business idea. If you are not a fan of long 8-letter words, you are free to use ‘ a big change’ because after all,...

Management by Jargon The first time I was asked to submit a completed task by ‘EOD’, I had to look up the abbreviation. I learnt that it merely meant ‘end of day’. Several years have passed, I am still not sure though if it is the end of their day or mine, also workwise or otherwise. Don’t you think we could have different timings for calling it a day and switching off to the world? If you feel that corporate jargon is a language manufactured only to make you feel ignorant, take heart. Like thousands of other words, which had been buzzwords in their time, our future generations would find these too in the dictionary with ‘archaic usage’ marked on them. Although I feel that the phrases the corporate world uses, can jolly well be expressed in simple everyday English, yet if they want to have a code language among themselves or work hard to sound professional and knowledgeable, who am I to criticize? After all, we all know someone or the other who is ‘in the corporate’, as the usual...

Patriots for a day 'Sir, he has to hoist the tricolour on his house and he has the tricolour. He is asking for a house.'  Note: The Prime Minister had called out all Indians to hoist the national flag on their homes on Independence Day. I am a compulsive worrier, and very unselfish about it too. I do not need any personal problem/issue to worry about specifically. You tell me what is troubling you,  I shall have my stomach in knots for days.  I shall worry about it, obsess over it, and tell you all the aspects, pros and cons, possible solutions/remedies that my mental faculties can work out.  So, when a school mate said he was going shuddh bharatiya (pure Indian) this August 15, our Independence Day, I naturally went into my hyper grey cell activity time. I imagined him giving up everything that does not have Indian roots, and moving back in time. My first worry was about the time frame he had in mind. Was he talking of the pre-Aryan times? The Aryans, said to b...

The light side of Olympics  Left: Kim Yeji (Republic of Korea)         Right: Yusuf Dikec (Turkiye) Olympics is a treat for sports lovers. But for me, the near excellent human specimens’ focus, dedication, and hard work (read torture) that they have put to prepare their bodies and minds to reach here, hold little interest. More fascinating are the things that go in their stories. Let me share with you some examples/incidents which had cross-cultural appeal. Simone Biles Said to be the greatest gymnast of all times, she added three golds and one silver to her Olympic haul. Her opponent in all-around gymnastics final Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade after her defeat said, “Simone is the best, and she brings out the best of me.”   Biles, had pulled out of the Tokyo 2020 due to ‘disorienting mental blocks. Tom cruise, Snoop Dogg, Nick Jonas, Ariana Grande, John Legend, Anna Wintour were among those present there to see this small-sized greatest gymnast’s fa...