I am not sure how many of you have read Charlie Brown or Peanuts Comic strip,

which has Charlie Brown, Snoopy the dog and other characters. These are found in

most of the dailies (The Hindu readers have the advantage). Shulz, the German

artist, created it long time back in 1955! These strips are subtle and the ideas never

age.

In the following strip we see Charlie Brown the hero (who does not speak in this

strip), Lucy the real boss, tough one and her brother Linus, the philosopher of the

gang. Go through the strip....

This seems to be the order of the day. We behave in a selfish fashion and try to

then justify the same by not feeling guilty about it. Let us assume some one is late

to office, he/she knows it is wrong, but then not wanting to accept it as one’s fault

or slip, justifies the behaviour by attributing reason generally beyond them, saying

there was a traffic jam or the bus was late and so on.

This is precisely what Lucy is trying to do when she says ‘she would walk over

others’ and she tries to justify the same by saying that ‘that is the only way to

survive’. This, the poor Linus philosophises saying that ‘in times of need’ (that is

when you have to survive) you try to justify. In the case of Lucy, who is ego-centric

and hard headed, this has come out as superiority complex. Some of us have

inferiority complex and start reacting as if the sky would fall on us, and that the

entire world is against us. These people label themselves as “unlucky” and “good

for nothings”.

Have you examined your behaviour from this perspective? Please do. Observe

yourself to understand yourself (and hence the world)!

NCR Consultants Limited

Issue

SEPT 2007

Inside this issue:Inside this issue:Inside this issue:Inside this issue: Tips on Writing Formal Reports(6)

2

Problem Solving Skills (2) 4

The Fire Within…!!! 5

Do you Know ? 6

KBC Update 6

Birthday Wishes 6

Know Your Colleagues 6

From the Editor’s Pen Tip 6

“Do hard jobs first. The easy jobs will take care of themselves”

-Dale Carnegie

Simple and powerful meditation

You are meditation. You can not become what you are not. Problem is MIND. To give an example there is a gold coin at bottom of pool, you can not see it because of waves/ thoughts (MIND). When there are no waves you can see the gold coin (True self)

Breath is the bridge between your body and life force. If you can watch your breath by witnessing it, your MIND will gradually become quiet.

Sit comfortably and watch your breath go In and OUT. If you find your mind wandering you can COUNT 1-2-3-4 etc with inward and outward breath.

Time suggested is 10 minutes at Dawn or Dusk increase to 20-30 minutes as you practice. Proof of pudding lies in eating, your life should gradually change for the better then you know its worth it and then slowly other DOORs will start opening or may be you will get your GURU.

Another property of MIND is it wants to always jump from one point to anther, if you can keep your MIND on ONE single object/ thought for the whole day, MIND will eventually get tired and give up and you will experience True self.

You must also practice self enquiry, ask yourself who AM I ask HONESTLY and you will start to get the answer. Contemplate on this “WHO AM I”.

Are you the BODY? Then how you can see it, are you MIND then how can you watch your thoughts?

Once you learn to direct ALL your senses and MIND inward, YOU will get in touch with your true SELF, you will then realize the nature and mechanisms of this WORLD. GOD will then become CENTRAL thing in your life and everything else will NOT affect you.

Learning from Peanuts!

R.S.Murali

-Mahantesh-Swami Vevekananda collections

Page 2

The more goals you set the more goals you get

Tips on Writing Formal Reports (6)

Source- Business Communication Centre (University of Toronto)

Business Emails: A recent study showed that 25% of the workforce spent at least one hour per day managing and writing business emails, of which 34% were irrelevant. That’s 2 hours per week you may as well be sitting on the beach sipping cocktails!

Consider this. Every business email you write is like a personal PR agent. What do your emails say about you? “The writer of this email is disorganized / creative / thoughtful / unthinking?”

Here are some tips to ensure that when you write business emails you give people the right impression...

Business Email Writing Tips

1. Write a meaningful subject line.

Recipients scan the subject line in order to decide whether to open, forward, file, or trash a message. Remember your message is not the only one in your recipient's mailbox.

An e-mail account get dozens of virus-bearing junk mails each day, often bearing a vague title such as "That file you requested," or no title at all. You'll get a faster response if your recipient can tell from the subject line that it's a real message from a real person. 2. Keep the message focused and readable.

Often recipients only read partway through a long message, hit "reply" as soon as they have something to contribute, and forget to keep reading. This is part of human nature.

S.Guhaprasath

Contd on pg 3

Subject: "Important! Read Immediately!!"

What is important to you may not be important to your reader. Rather than brashly announcing

that the contents of your message are important, write an informative headline that actually

communicates at least the core of what you feel is so important: "Emergency: All systems will be

shut down for maintenance on.."

Subject: "Meeting"

The purpose of this e-mail might be a routine request for a meeting, an announcement of a last-

minute rescheduling, or a summary of something that has already happened. There's no way to

know without opening the message, so this subject line is hardly useful.

Subject: "Follow-up about Meeting"

Fractionally better -- provided that the recipient recognizes your name and remembers why a

follow-up was necessary.

Subject: "Do we need an Extra Computer at Office- meeting next Fri?"

Upon reading this revised, informative subject line, the recipient immediately starts thinking

about the size of the room, not about whether it will be worth it to open the e-mail.

Mark Victor Hansen

Page 3

Learn to help people with more than just their jobs; help them with their lives.

If your e-mail contains multiple messages that are only loosely related, in order to avoid the risk that your reader will reply only to the first item that grabs his or her fancy, you could number your points to ensure they are all read (adding an introductory line that states how many parts there are to the message). If the points are substantial enough, split them up into separate messages so your recipient can delete, respond, file, or forward each item individually.

Keep your message readable.

• Use standard capitalization and spelling, especially when your message asks your recipient to do work for you.

• Skip lines between paragraphs.

• Avoid fancy typefaces. Don't depend upon bold font or large size to add nuances -- many people's e-mail readers only display plain text. In a pinch, use asterisks to show *emphasis*.

Don't type in all-caps. Online, all-caps means shouting. Regardless of your intention, people will react as if you meant to be aggressive.

3. Avoid attachments.

Put your information in the body of your e-mail whenever possible. Attachments

• are increasingly dangerous carriers of viruses

• take time to download

• take up needless space on your recipient's computer, and

• don't always translate correctly (especially for people who might read their e-mail on portable devices).

Instead of sending a whole word processor file, just copy and paste the relevant text into the e-mail (unless of course your recipient actually needs to view file in order to edit or archive it).

4. Identify yourself clearly.

When contacting someone for the first time, always include your name, occupation, and any other important identification information in the first few sentences.

If you are following up on a face-to-face contact, you might appear too timid if you assume your recipient doesn't remem-ber you; but you can drop casual hints to jog their memory: "I enjoyed talking with you about PDAs during the seminar the other day."

5. Be kind. Don't flame.

To "flame" someone is to write an abusive personal attack. If you find yourself writing in anger, take a break. Take some time to cool off before you hit "send." Don't "flame" without weighing the consequences. Praise in public, criticize in private. If you want to complain about someone, do it in person or by telephone, so there won't be a permanent record.

6. Proofread.

If you are asking someone else to do work for you, take the time to make your message look professional.

While your spell checker won't catch every mistake, at the very least it will catch a few typos. If you are sending a message that will be read by someone higher up on the chain of command (a superior or professor, for instance), or if you're about to mass-mail dozens or thousands of people, take an extra minute or two before you hit "send". Show a draft to a close associate, in order to see whether it actually makes sense.

7. Don't assume privacy.

Don't send anything over e-mail that you wouldn't want posted -- with your name attached. Remember No Email is 100% Secure. Don’t mail anything Titled “My Secret Passwords” and Expect people Not to open it *accidentally*

E-mail is not secure. Just as random pedestrians could easily reach into your mailbox and intercept the envelopes that you send and receive through the post office, a curious hacker, a malicious criminal, or the FBI can easily intercept your e-mail. In some companies, the e-mail administrator has the ability to read any and all e-mail messages

Contd.. from pg.2

-To Be Contd

-Jim Rohn

Page 4

Between stimulus and response, one has the freedom to choose.

Problem Solving Skills Continued from last issue Finally, Do remember that � Solving an important problem deserves recognition � Acknowledge and thank everyone who helped � Thank everyone who participated in the project, the polite thing to do and encourages them to help you next

time. VISUALISATION – THE POWERFUL TECHNIQUE

� Visualisation – the powerful technique used by the world’s best athletes to condition their subconscious minds for peak performance – is also a problem solving tool.

� Here’s a simple four-step visualization technique that can help you solve nearly any problem you may face. FOUR STEP VISUALISATION TECHNIQUE

� Decide with absolute conviction that a solution to your problem already exists � Break the problem down into its component parts. � Take a mental “walk” around your problem. � Review your notes and brainstorm possible solutions.

STEP 1 : Decide with absolute conviction

� This step is as simple or difficult as it seems. � Decide with absolute conviction that a solution to your problem already exists; � Your job is to find it.

STEP 2 : Break the problem down into its component parts

� If you prefer, use a separate piece of paper for each segment of your problem or situation, or use your computer’s word processor as a “dynamic scratch pad” to jot down everything that comes to mind.

� Your goal is to define, as completely as possible, everything that you know about each aspect of your current problem.

STEP 3 : Take a mental walk around your problem

� Imagine hanging it from a hook in the center of the room and then walking slowly around it, viewing it from all sides.

� To help you consider your challenge from many different perspectives, try asking yourself open-ended, thought-provoking questions.

STEP 4 : Review your notes

� As you record your thoughts and insights, patterns will begin to emerge. � Follow each of these leads as far as you can; don’t censure any ideas at this

stage, no matter how ridiculous they may seem at first. � The way to come up with one great idea is to generate many of them. � Brainstorm for possible solutions as many.

What this technique does ?

� What this technique does, at its most basic level, is get us moving. � And when we do so, our perspective changes. � Solutions that may have been hidden from us are now suddenly obvious. � Obstacles to our progress, seen in a new light, are often much smaller than they

appeared to be. � And barriers that once seemed insurmountable often evaporate under this rigorous scrutiny.

To conclude :

� If you follow the 10 guidelines and 4 step formula, you are sure to solve problems at work or elsewhere. � Let’s at the same time remember that

� If we don’t become part of the solution, we would then become part of the problem.

� Problem solving is fun

� Problem solving is opportunity

� Problem solving is success.

C.S.Suresh

Dr, Stephen Covey

Page 5

It is not what we get, but we become, what we contribute…. That gives meaning to our lives.

Saturday, August 18th 2007 began just like any other weekend. Our minds were preoccupied with how to spend the weekend. But when we got to our BBMP office, the scene turned out to be totally different. A fire had broken out there due to an electrical short circuit.

We saw with utter disbelief the computers which had melted due to the heat, burnt records and the soot which had settled on virtually every thing in the room. To add to our agony was the crowd of about 100 people which made every attempt to get in and out that much more difficult. The toxic smell of burnt plastic and the fire extinguisher material was also unbearable .

Our immediate concern was for any casualties. Fortunately, since the fire had occurred around 8.15 a. m there was nobody in the office. It was a big relief to know that nobody was hurt.

Our immediate next concern was for the data. For those of you who don’t know, we have six years’ of accounting, works, payroll information of the entire BBMP. One server was burnt beyond recovery. The other four servers looked physically safe but we were never sure until we powered them on. It was only around 4.30 p.m. that we got confirmation that the servers were safe. What a relief that was!!!

It was a game of coordination between our database administrators, people from HP (servers were from HP), the BBMP Management, the Engineering Department (for cleaning up the place). The worst part was dealing with the Press who were hell bent on making ‘Masala’ out of a normal electrical fire incident.

The next problem looming was of missing/ burnt out records (vouchers/ cash books which come for data entry). In addition to the loss of records due to fire, the fear that records might have disappeared with the huge crowd interfering was very worrying.

The next two days was all about cleaning, arranging, classifying, grouping, tallying of the thousands of vouchers with the records of incoming/ outgoing documents. It was another act of Providence that most of the records lost were duplicate records and any loss of source documents was minimal.

‘All’s Well That Ends Well’. Currently, BBMP is working at restoring the infrastructure and we expect work to start in the week beginning 10th September. The BBMP team is taking some time off and enjoying a break. Some of the staff are also trying their hand at learning new skills by making use of the time available.

If at all we have been able to come out unscathed out of these difficult times (with no impact whatsoever on our credibility) it is only because of ‘The Fire

Within’. Full credit goes to the team for working tirelessly and joining hands to see that normalcy got restored ASAP. How well and how early we will be able to cover the backlog that has developed during this time will be another testi-mony to our will power.

At this juncture we need to acknowledge some well wishers who stood by us throughout the series of events without whose support it would have been difficult to come on top of things so quickly (Ex-colleagues Vimal, Rajesh, Sunil, Ravi & Venky and 4SPL).

The whole episode gave us a few good lessons in ‘Disaster Management’ (nothing like practical learning …). It also established that the internal systems (manual) introduced by RSM and team during 2000-2001 are very much working and also have passed the ‘Fire Test’.

Not to leave out the lighter moments in all this – Suresh(Jr.) who suggested that this is a good time to go for the trip that we have all been planning for so long; the clerk who convinced a section of the crowd that the whole incident was due to a NOKIA cellphone which was being charged with a defective battery in it; one BBMP official who with his hysterics left us wondering whether things were really that bad and there was no hope; or the odd ‘so called well wisher’ who was more interested in how many records got lost than how many did not.

Ashok Rao

Anthony Robins

Page 6

NCR Consultants Limited

Bangalore Office:

147, 1st Floor, 11 C Cross, Behind G.D.Naidu Hall, Mahalakshmipuram, WCR II Stage,

Bangalore 560 086

Ph: +91 80 65737503

Fax: +91 80 23190143

email: bangalore@ncrcl.com

Regd Office:

2nd Floor, New No. 4, Old No. 23, Sir C P Ramasamy Road, Alwarpet, Chennai 600 018

Ph: +91 44 2466 0955

Fax: +91 44 4218 5593

email: chennai@ncrcl.com

Website: www.ncrcl.com

Do you know that there is an expiry date (physical life) for

LPG cylinders?

Most of us do not know this. Expired Cylinders are not safe for use and may cause accidents. In this regard please be cautious at the time of accepting any LPG cylinder from the vendor.

Here is how we can check the expiry of LPG cylinders:

On one of three side stems of the cylinder, the expiry date is coded alpha numerically as follows A or B or C or D and some two digit number following this e.g. D06.

The alphabets stand for quarters -

� A for March (First Qtr),

� B for June (Second Qtr),

� C for Sept (Third Qtr), &

� D for December (Fourth Qtr).

The digits stand for the year till it is valid. Hence D06 would mean Fourth Qtr (December) of 2006.

Answer for last month’s KBC question:Answer for last month’s KBC question:Answer for last month’s KBC question:Answer for last month’s KBC question:

Which mobile company is the market giant next to Nokia?

Answer: MotorolaAnswer: MotorolaAnswer: MotorolaAnswer: Motorola

KBC Readers’ Question of the month : KBC Readers’ Question of the month : KBC Readers’ Question of the month : KBC Readers’ Question of the month :

Which airline presently bought a stake in Air Deccan?Which airline presently bought a stake in Air Deccan?Which airline presently bought a stake in Air Deccan?Which airline presently bought a stake in Air Deccan?

Send in your answers to the editor at bangalore@ncrcl.com

KBC Update:

From the editor’s pen tip

Dear Readers

Please send in your comments and suggestions

to bangalore@ncrcl.com.

Thank You...

Know Your Colleagues

Name: Thiruvengada Ramanujam R

DOB: 26 th Nov.

Native of: Thiruvananthapuram

Years with

NCRCL:

1 Year

Qualification: B.Com, M.Com, PGDBM,M.B.A

Job Profile: Consultant

Other Interests: Sports, Reading news papers

Contact Details: Mobile No. 9886509904

Email– rtramanujam1980@yahoo.com

My Role Model: Dhirubhai Ambani

My Message: Dream, Believe, Work, Achieve Achieve what you Believe, Believe in what you Achieve.

Every thing you do is trigged by an emotion of either desire or fear.

To the Sept & Oct bornTo the Sept & Oct bornTo the Sept & Oct bornTo the Sept & Oct born

4th Sept– U.S Mohanty

5th Sept– R.S Murali

22nd Sept– Roopa Kamath

24th Oct– Sudharshan

SMILE

SMILE

SMILE

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SMILE

SMILE

SMILE

SMILE

SMILE

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SMILE

SMILE

N. Ramesh

Brian Tracy