On Sunday 13th December at Jack  Rabbit Slims in Hoylake, Wirral, Liverpool Band China Crisis will be performing a Christmas Gig. A support Act to be announced. Tickets available Here The band have been very supportive of our fund raising for a better Meols Park Play Area, so please go along and support them as they have supported us.

Officials decide to close all remaining Edinburgh Leisure centre creches by March 2010…. From BBC News. Full story

This site may contain information about: china city. The blog is also related to: world’s cities.

I’ll be wearing this pretty real soon!

There are other equally gorgeous ones here: lovetaza.blogspot.com

National Free Yoga Day  http://www.asm.org.au/events/national-free-yoga-day

Yoga and other stuff  http://www.healthtree.com.au/

It seems that my attention deficit issues enabled me to stumble upon another fantastic discovery while lurking the intertubes: FailBlog. This happens to be another miraculous website devoted purely to my entertainment…..and I suppose that means you can enjoy it too.

FailBlog is similar to F My Life, My Life is Average, and People of Wal-Mart, except it offers hilarious stories of EPIC FAILURES in the form of videos and pictures. A great thing indeed for a world suffering from entertainment-deprived ADD.

Since I ‘discovered’ the website 2 days ago, I have viewed approximately 50 pages of FailBlog and have yet to complete homework. Thank-you idiots of the world.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Advertising Fail

Advertising Fail

Boat Fail

MySpace Fail

Moving Fail

EPIC House Fail

There are a lot of good videos on FailBlog, too. Check it out for yourself!

With literally thousands of locations in the UK to choose from for a weekend break; the decision of where to go can sometimes be a frustrating and stressful one, but once your mind is made up you can be certain that a weekend break will be one full of excitement!

A weekend break can be whatever you want it to be. Do you head to the country and luxuriate in the peace and tranquillity of the rolling hills and idyllic villages? Do you splendour into one the UK’s biggest cities and find yourself blending into the high paced way of life? Or do you simply head to the coast for a weekend break full of sun, sea and sand?

Whatever you decide, a weekend break can be just enough time to explore something different and simply get away from the day-to-day stresses of everyday life! More and more people in the UK are opting for weekend breaks. It’s a great opportunity to be spontaneous; finish work on a Friday, pack a suitcase, and jump into the car heading towards a new destination a few hours drive from home.

Norfolk is one of the UK’s most popular holiday destinations. The county is an exceptionally diverse holiday location for something for everyone, ranging from sophisticated coastal villages and traditional seaside and market towns, to protected heathland, lowland forests and the Broads National Park. And all of this built around the medieval city of Norwich.

The county’s major short break destinations fall into four types of holiday experience. These are the traditional seaside breaks, quiet and exclusive coastal hideaways, lively city breaks and the best inland waterway boating holidays in the UK.

Potter’s Leisure Resort is located on the coastline boarder of Norfolk and Suffolk and offers a wide range of weekend breaks packed with fun filled entertainment. With probably the highest rate of repeat custom within the tourism industry Potter’s is perfect for both adult and family groups, offering a unique experience with pretty much everything included in the price.

Potter’s really comes alive on Fridays as the weekend guests arrive. Although a mixture of couples, adult groups and families there is only one aim in mind – to turn a weekend break into a holiday. With the help of Potters friendly staff and relaxing atmosphere this certainly is one thing the leisure resort gets right!

Forget work – a weekend at Potter’s can be two days of sports, leisure, entertainment and fun. The evenings showcase live entertainment at it’s very best. Be active or relax and take it easy; It’s your time, your choice!

For more information on Potter’s Leisure Resort weekend breaks please visit their website on pottersholidays(dot)com or call 01502 730345.

We have a winner!  I used random.org’s integer generator to select one of the commenters.  The tickets will go to…

Random Integer Generator

Here are your random numbers:
11

Timestamp: 2009-11-23 05:33:33 UTC

Nildie!  Congratulations.  I will email you with information about picking up your tickets.  Thanks to everyone for entering.  And remember the discount code mentioned in the first post.

For more information about our products, seminars and other services please visit our websites:

http://www.winningway.com.au/

http://twitter.com/ronniekagan

http://www.mentorclub.com.au/

You could also contact us at Tel (02) 9913 7570 Mobile 0412 24 24 44

E-mail: info@winningway.com.au

As stated in our last newsletter, your super conscious mind functions on a non-conscious level 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. Whenever you program a goal into your subconscious mind and then release it, it is transferred to your super conscious mind, which goes to work to manifest the goal.

This work of the super conscious mind can be accelerated by a process known as the “written affirmation technique.”

The following is a brief description of how to use it:

1. Write out a clear, present-tense description of your goal, exactly as you would like to see it in reality. (Be as precise as possible)

2. Be sure that you write the goal in accordance with the “3 P’s:”

(a) Positive: The subconscious mind cannot grasp the negative. For example, if your goal is to become debt free, rather than affirming, “I am debt free,” your affirmation might read, “I am financially free and have money in abundance.”

(b) Present Tense: Your affirmation must also be written in the present tense. In the example above, rather than affirming, “I will be free of debt,” you affirm, “I am financially free and have money in abundance.”

(c) Personal: You cannot control the behavior of others. Nor can you set their goals. The only person for whom you can establish goals is yourself, therefore an affirmation always starts with the word “I.”

3. Repeat this “written affirmation technique” for each of your goals.

4. To maximise the affect of your affirmations, read them several times each day. To facilitate this process, many people choose to write their affirmations on a series of index cards, which they keep in their pocket or briefcase, making it easy to pull them out and read them during any lull in the day.

5. When you read your affirmations, picture in your mind’s eye the goal already having been achieved. Imagine the feeling that will come with your success. Imbue the picture with passion!

6. When you have completed this “written affirmation technique” for each goal, simply release the goal completely and carry on with your day.

This process is a powerful way to imprint your goals on your subconscious mind. Then your super conscious mind takes over, drawing on all of your knowledge and experience as well as all of the intelligence, ideas and knowledge that have ever existed or that will ever exist. It will automatically and continuously solve every problem and offer solutions to every challenge on the way to your goals. It will attract the people and the resources required to achieve your goals.

In the weeks ahead, take time to practice this “written affirmation technique.” Then observe what happens in your external world. Be prepared to be pleasantly surprised.

I have received many inquiries about my latest 2 day seminar on How to Win in Business, Make Money and Enjoy a Balanced Life. This is a hands on interactive program where I work with a handful of business owners who are interested in taking themselves and their businesses to a new level of success. To attend the next 2 day life changing event, email me at info@WinningWay.com.au Or you can invest in an audio recording on CD or MP3 format for a nominal investment of $399. However, as a member of The Business of Life you have the benefit of saving $110, which means you only have to invest $289 which will enable you to receive the wisdom and knowledge that I have gained over the past 29 years, thus saving yourself a lot of time and expensive mistakes. I am sure you would agree, this is a nominal investment in the most important person in your life, YOURSELF.

These are available in either a set of 6 CD’s or MP3 format. Just log onto www.WinningWay.com.au and you can take advantage of this fantastic offer by clicking on the tab “The Knowledge Shop”.

If you feel that anyone you know of could benefit by receiving our newsletter please get them to log onto www.WinningWay.com.au and they shall receive a free ebook as well as a copy of the ongoing monthly newsletter.

For more information about our seminars, articles and products please visit these websites:
http://www.winningway.com.au
http://twitter.com/RonnieKagan
http://www.mentorclub.com.au/

LIFESTYLE MANAGEMENT

Are You a Victim of Hurry Sickness

By

VIKRAM KARVE

A central element of lifestyle management is the skill to creatively balance achievement and work success with leisure activities, family life and social involvements.

Another critical aspect is the ability to feel comfortable at work and at home and to enjoy the experience of whatever is being done at that moment.

But nowadays, most of us are obsessed with getting results or completing one’s task. When task completion becomes more important than enjoying and understanding the work or activity one is doing at the given moment, a sure victim of “hurry sickness” is born.

The resultant constant sense of urgency is the trap of hurry sickness. One rushes to “get things done” to the point where it becomes an obsession.

Breaking this syndrome requires that you learn to enjoy experiences for the pleasure they give. When you gain pleasure from an experience, there is no need to get things done painstakingly.

Enjoy experiences, not rewards, and things will get done automatically without any constant stressful sense of urgency.

As defined from a psychological perspective, Hurry Sickness is:

“A pervasive and progressively urgent need to complete task in order to obtain rewards at completion without regard for other aspects of the work experience and by using maladaptive time strategies.”

They key causal factor in hurry sickness is the progressive need for task completion.

Enjoying what you are doing is neglected with a morbid urge to getting it done as quickly as possible, no matter what the activity.

The obsessive need for task completion extends to non-work involvements and activities like eating, playing, romance, making love, sex, leisure, having fun, loafing, taking a stroll, recreation, entertainment, leisure, sports, pastimes, hobbies, holidaying, exercising, lazing around, dozing, enjoying music, cooking, gardening, meditating, enjoying “doing nothing” and delightful timepass, what you consider “wasting your time” with your family, wife, kids, pet dog, friends…

This attitude of Hurry Sickness interferes with the enjoyment of these activities and experiences because of the persistent inclination to hurry up and finish it off.

Getting things done has become such a strong need because the payoffs or rewards for completion have assumed primary importance.

Your work experience has taught you that rewards always come at the end of the activity after you have put forth great effort to achieve a goal. You do not realize that happiness is not a destination but the manner of traveling.

Not only do you feel a sense of personal satisfaction from your achievements, but tangible rewards, such as promotion, cash incentives, awards, and advancements are given to you as well. With time, these rewards have become clearly linked with your self-esteem.

Each time you “succeed”, your ego, your inner self, sends a message to you which says, “You have done well. You are a commendable person because you succeeded again.” Your need for this kind of reassurance has become stronger than you would care to admit.

Time-Urgency quickly becomes a strong internal driving force towards task completion. Your life becomes a frenzy of completing one task after another. You are obsessed with time and wasting any of it becomes almost a mortal sin.

You strive to maximize your productivity by using time ever more efficiently, but you also have a sense that you are controlled by time and you don’t like it. Time is both your challenge and your enemy. A telling sign of hurry sickness is that even while relaxing, you are constantly fighting time-urgency and this that causes you unrest and never allows you to totally “switch off”.

Another way to seek to increase your output is to adopt maladaptive time-strategies. These questionable tactics do help you get more done over the short run, but you pay a heavy emotional price.

You now do everything faster, you have learned to “multitask” or “double up,” to do two or more things at once, and you are constantly preparing for what is coming next before you are finished what you are doing now.

The insidious trap is that you get something done quickly even when there is no reason to get anything done at all.

You hurry when there is no need to hurry – even when you have all the time in the world.

Because of your emphasis on task completion, you focus on finishing without regard for other holistic aspects of the experience.

In short, you have lost the ability to enjoy yourself while doing anything because of your incessant drive to get to the finish line.

Because you are afflicted by Hurry Sickness, you have lost the ability to emotionally rejuvenate yourself. Chronic fatigue and pessimism are symptoms of this malady.

SIGNS AND SIGNALS OF HURRY SICKNESS

Here are some behavioral signs, symptoms and signals that indicate hurry sickness:

1. Eating.

You now eat in the office while continuing to work or you just skip meals altogether. You multitask while eating. At home, you eat fast, gulp your food, finish meals well ahead of everyone else and eat in bigger bites without savoring the taste of food. Sharing pleasantries at the table is minimal because you cannot sit long enough. Ask yourself – are you eating mindfully and relishing every morsel of your food?

2. Sex.

Relaxed romantic sex and unhurried love-making is but a pleasant memory. The frequency has reduced and even when you do indulge in sex, it is a quick encounter and you are off to sleep or on to some other more “important” or “urgent” activity. Sex is less spontaneous and more mechanical these days. Love-making has become another hurry-up-and-get-it-done-with activity. Worse, you often indulge in “faking it” in order to get it over with in a hurry so you can quickly get on with the more “important” and “productive” things in life – your “high priority” activities!

3. Communications.

Your communication patterns now focus squarely on the negative. Feedback to others emphasizes mistakes and failings and you rarely compliment or offer sincere support to anyone these days. You don’t take the time any more for pleasant chat with family and colleagues. You have stopped listening. You make demands instead of working cooperatively with others or team-building. And hey, are you on your cell-phone most of the time?

4. Leisure.

You put aside less time for relaxation and you enjoy it less when you actually try to relax. Time-off is now more of a hassle than it is worth. When you sit still, you feel uncomfortable almost immediately. You have lost the ability to “do nothing” – it’s difficult for you to loosen up and enjoy an idle hour relaxing, doing nothing. Ask yourself why you work – reflect, contemplate, think about the fundamental reason why you work and realization will dawn upon you that the primary reason you work is to be able to enjoy your leisure, so why aren’t you taking a vacation every day and learning how to enjoy your leisure with full awareness?

5. Family.

Family members now “report” events to you, but you share little of yourself with them. You and your spouse argue more than you talk. The satisfactions of family life have diminished in quality and quantity. Your impatience is just as strong at home as in the office.

HOW TO CURE HURRY SICKNESS

Because you have hurry sickness, your initial tendency is to effect and expedite your “cure” in a hurry too.

But this hurry-up-and-get-it-done attitude may actually sabotage your recovery. What is required is patience, perspective and the ability to deal with setbacks in healthier ways.

It is easy to blame hurry sickness on the pressures of your job, the stress of daily living and what you have to do to survive in the fast paced world of today and on the insensitivity of the complex modern world. While each of these perceptions has a grain of truth in it, the fact remains that most of the responsibility for hurry sickness lies within you.

Your drive to get ahead is the real root of the problem and the fact is that you have lost all sense of perspective. Until you accept personal responsibility for your present state, you will not be in a position to confront and reverse the real mischief, damage and harm caused by hurry sickness.

Remember the well-known story of the hare and the tortoise.

Decelerate your life a bit, slow down, walk leisurely instead of driving and do not carry or switch off your cell-phone where you can, don’t multitask, do one thing at a time with full awareness and mindfulness and learn to enjoy the experience of whatever you are doing.

Do you believe in multitasking?

Are you a victim of Hurry Sickness?

Why don’t you rid yourself of this malady and enhance your quality of life?

Sure, you can get rid of Hurry Sickness!

Just stop multitasking and focus on whatever you are doing at the present moment.

Remember: HURRY BURRY SPOILS THE CURRY.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009
Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

vikramkarve@sify.com

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

http://www.ryze.com/go/karve

As stated in our last newsletter, your super conscious mind functions on a non-conscious level 24 hours each day, 365 days each year. Whenever you program a goal into your subconscious mind and then release it, it is transferred to your super conscious mind, which goes to work to manifest the goal.

This work of the super conscious mind can be accelerated by a process known as the “written affirmation technique.”

The following is a brief description of how to use it:

1. Write out a clear, present-tense description of your goal, exactly as you would like to see it in reality. (Be as precise as possible)

2. Be sure that you write the goal in accordance with the “3 P’s:”

(a) Positive: The subconscious mind cannot grasp the negative. For example, if your goal is to become debt free, rather than affirming, “I am debt free,” your affirmation might read, “I am financially free and have money in abundance.”

(b) Present Tense: Your affirmation must also be written in the present tense. In the example above, rather than affirming, “I will be free of debt,” you affirm, “I am financially free and have money in abundance.”

(c) Personal: You cannot control the behavior of others. Nor can you set their goals. The only person for whom you can establish goals is yourself, therefore an affirmation always starts with the word “I.”

3. Repeat this “written affirmation technique” for each of your goals.

4. To maximize the affect of your affirmations, read them several times each day. To facilitate this process, many people choose to write their affirmations on a series of index cards, which they keep in their pocket or briefcase, making it easy to pull them out and read them during any lull in the day.

5. When you read your affirmations, picture in your mind’s eye the goal already having been achieved. Imagine the feeling that will come with your success. Imbue the picture with passion!

6. When you have completed this “written affirmation technique” for each goal, simply release the goal completely and carry on with your day.

This process is a powerful way to imprint your goals on your subconscious mind. Then your super conscious mind takes over, drawing on all of your knowledge and experience as well as all of the intelligence, ideas and knowledge that have ever existed or that will ever exist. It will automatically and continuously solve every problem and offer solutions to every challenge on the way to your goals. It will attract the people and the resources required to achieve your goals.

In the weeks ahead, take time to practice this “written affirmation technique.” Then observe what happens in your external world. Be prepared to be pleasantly surprised.

I have received many inquiries about my latest 2 day seminar on How to Win in Business, Make Money and Enjoy a Balanced Life. This is a hands on interactive program where I work with a handful of business owners who are interested in taking themselves and their businesses to a new level of success. To attend the next 2 day life changing event, email me at info@WinningWay.com.au Or you can invest in an audio recording on CD or MP3 format for a nominal investment of $399. However, as a member of The Business of Life you have the benefit of saving $110, which means you only have to invest $289 which will enable you to receive the wisdom and knowledge that I have gained over the past 29 years, thus saving yourself a lot of time and expensive mistakes. I am sure you would agree, this is a nominal investment in the most important person in your life, YOURSELF.

These are available in either a set of 6 CD’s or MP3 format. Just log onto www.WinningWay.com.au and you can take advantage of this fantastic offer by clicking on the tab “The Knowledge Shop”.

If you feel that anyone you know of could benefit by receiving our newsletter please get them to log onto www.WinningWay.com.au and they shall receive a free ebook as well as a copy of the ongoing monthly newsletter.

Hanging out by the bar of a club in downtown Los Gatos last night, I was feeling quite debonair in my gray cashmere sweater, complemented by a blue scarf which dangled from my neck ever so casually. In my right hand was my 3rd drink in less than hour, which, needless to say, I took swigs of in a less-than-gingerly manner. It was, after all, my drink of choice: a Martini. Shaken not stirred, you ask? Not exactly. Think less James Bond but more Carrie Bradshaw (of Sex and the City). Now, ridicule all you want, but I love my Apple Martinis, and I have been dubbed as the metrosexual James Bond by a friend due to my undying devotion to this drink.

Anyway, I was merrily sipping the sweet-and-sour goodness of the aforementioned cocktail when my sole wingman for the night, Vu, said something remarkably funny. (I don’t remember what it was, and he claims he did not say anything at all.) Despite my attempt to literally contain myself from laughter, I could not, and that’s when small particles of Appletini started spraying out my mouth, into the cold, dark air of the club … and onto Vu’s smiling noggin. No harm done, I thought, since Vu has seen me do far worse things than that when I’m, um, tipsy. But that was before I saw and heard this cutesy blonde in front of me, flanked by 2 burly dudes on each side, no less.  She was wearing a sleeveless top and just happened to cross my path at the … exact … wrong … moment.

It felt like the rest of the club stood still as I, as did she, saw the mist — my saliva/vodka-laden mist — splattered on her arm. It was then she let loose a loud, horrific shriek:”EWWWWWWWW!”

Now, that has got to be one of the most memorable reactions I’ve received from a girl. (Beat that, 007!)

P.S. Because of this incident, I’m no longer considered as the metrosexual James Bond, but instead, am now dubbed as Shamu, the animal who spritzes cocktails out the blowhole. I think I like my old moniker much better.

Crowded Japanese Wave Pool

This photo is from a Japanese WAVE pool (as opposed to a “swimming” pool). Apparently it is quite normal for wave pools in Japan to get this crowded because they aren’t meant for swimming. You are supposed to stand in one place and get moved up and down by the waves.

You can see a 30-second video of large waves moving through the pool, and the people moving up and down, HERE,  in Japan Trends Magazine.  From the discussion which follows the video I learned some interesting facts.

Some people who have been to this pool said that most likely it was one of the first days of summer to be this crowded, and that they have been on other days when it was less crowded.  On the day this video was filmed, the “wave” was apparently broken until 3 pm, when they finally got it working.  This may also account for why the pool was so crowded.

According to a  Japanese commenter, one reason so many people would get in to a pool is explained by the mentality in Japan.  He says that the Japanese prefer to have many people around them, doing the same thing, rather than being alone.  Japanese prefer to always act together, not alone, and to be part of the “mass.”  A second commenter pointed out that in Japan it is not at all uncommon for people to be in such close contact in a public place.  A third commenter seconded that sentiment by pointing out that if Americans were in such close contact, there would be fights, and that  being able to handle this kind of closeness is a testament to the manners in Japanese society.

My own thought while watching the wave moving through the pool was, “Why don’t these people go to the miles and miles of real beach surrounding Japan, and enjoy the REAL waves.”  This was addressed by another commenter who pointed out that there is actually very little coastline in Japan because it’s all built up with buildings.  Another person pointed out that “vacation halls” are common in Japan is that Japan is very crowded and there is such a lack of living space.

A lifeguard named Diana (probably American) commented,

“I am a lifeguard, and let me just say, that wave pool is a lifeguard’s worst nightmare! With that many people in the pool, it is very easy for someone to slip underwater and get crushed by the crowd. It’s like a solid wall of people between the water and air- a small child could never force his or her way back to the surface. Just as well, if someone suddenly had an asthma attack, or a heart attack, or some other sort of medical emergency, it would be nearly impossible for the lifeguard to get to the person in time, unless they just crawled all over the crowd, ha. They really should limit how many people they put into that thing …”

The final group of comments echoed my own worries.  My first thought upon seeing such a crowded pool is that people would be urinating in it.  I found several commenters, none of whom seemed to be Japanese, so I don’t know what the Japanese themselves think about it.  Comments ranged from explaining that after the waves, they clear everyone out of the pool, saying that people use the bathroom and not the pool, to pointing out that urine is not a problem because it is a sterile fluid, and that people’s sweat is much dirtier than urine.  There were a couple other comments about the possibility of “larger” problems occuring in the pool.  But as I said, I saw no Japanese comments about this problem, so I have no idea what they really think about it.

I don’t think I would get in this pool.  If I wanted to go there, I would try my best to go late in the season or on a weekday morning.

According to a recent post by American Expat in France, here are the latest estimated figures for non-military American expats living abroad.

2% in Africa

11.15% in the Middle East

14.3% in Asia and the Pacific

28.3% in Europe

42.3% in the Western Hemisphere

Total non-military American exapts abroad:  5,256,600

After one week of eating sensibly and walking around 6.5 miles in a brisk fashion, I have lost ten pounds. My “sensibly” includes making sure I have a banana in my Sultana Bran, loads of fruit when I’m peckish, nothing with my coffee and a decent dinner, followed by more fruit again mid-evening.

The ten pounds seems like a huge amount of weight, and it is, but is to be expected as I have cut out all crisps, biscuits and snacks other than fruit between meals. As mentioned previously, I downloaded Runkeeper to my iPhone which has motivated me to exercise more.

I already feel much better, even though I still weigh 266 lbs. The sugar swings have gone and I’ve noticed my concentration is much better. I will be walking further over the coming week (as long as it’s not raining – fair weather walker!) and hope to be hitting five mile walks three or four nights a week by next weekend. Might even take the hound!

THE ART OF OUTSOURCING

By

VIKRAM KARVE

Short Fiction – One of my favourite fiction short stories…

One leisurely morning, while I am loafing on Main Street, in Pune, I meet an old friend of mine.

“Hi!” I say.

“Hi,” he says, “where to?”

“Aimless loitering,” I say, “And you?”

“I’m going to work.”

“Work? This early? I thought your shift starts in the evening, or late at night. You work at a call center don’t you?”

“Not now. I quit. I’m on my own now.”

“On your own? What do you do?”

“LPO.”

“LPO? What’s that?”

“Life Process Outsourcing.”

“Life Process Outsourcing? Never heard of it!”

“You’ve heard of Business Process Outsourcing haven’t you?”

“BPO? Outsourcing non-core business activities and functions?”

“Precisely. LPO is similar to BPO. There it’s Business Processes that are outsourced, here it’s Life Processes.”

“Life Processes? Outsourced?”

“Why don’t you come along with me? I’ll show you.”

Soon we are in his office. It looks like a mini call center.

A young attractive girl welcomes us. “Meet Rita, my Manager,” my friend says, and introduces us.

Rita looks distraught, and says to my friend, “I’m not feeling well. Must be viral fever.”

“No problem. My friend here will stand in.”

“What? I don’t have a clue about all this LPO thing!” I protest.

“There’s nothing like learning on the job! Rita will show you.”

“It’s simple,” Rita says, in a hurry. “See the console. You just press the appropriate switch and route the call to the appropriate person or agency.”

And with these words Rita disappears. It’s the shortest induction training I have ever had in my life.

And so I plunge into the world of Life Process Outsourcing; or LPO as they call it.

It’s all very simple.

Everyone is busy. Working people don’t seem to have time these days, but they have lots of money; especially those double income couples, IT nerds, MBA hot shots, finance wizards; just about everybody running desperately in the modern rat race.

So what do they do? Simple. They ‘outsource’!

‘Non-core Life Activities’, for which you neither have the inclination or the time – you just outsource them; so you can maximize your work-time to rake in the money and make a fast climb up the ladder of success.

A ring, a flash on the console infront of me and I take my first LPO call.

“My daughter’s puked in her school. They want someone to pick her up and take her home. I’m busy in a shoot and just can’t leave,” a creative ad agency type with a husky voice says.

“Why don’t you tell your husband?” I suggest.

“Are you crazy or something? I’m a single mother.”

“Sorry ma’am. I didn’t know. My sympathies and condolences.”

“Condolences? Who’s this? Is this LPO?”

“Yes ma’am,” I say, press the button marked ‘children’ and transfer the call, hoping I have made the right choice. Maybe I should have pressed ‘doctor’.

Nothing happens for the next few moments. I breathe a sigh of relief.

A yuppie wants his grandmother to be taken to a movie. I press the ‘movies’ button. ‘Movies’ transfers the call back, “Hey, this is for movie tickets; try ‘escort services’. He wants the old hag escorted to the movies.”

‘Escort Services’ are in high demand. These guys and girls, slogging in their offices minting money, want escort services for their kith and kin for various non-core family processes like shopping, movies, eating out, sight seeing, marriages, funerals, all types of functions; even going to art galleries, book fairs, exhibitions, zoos, museums or even a walk in the nearby garden.

A father wants someone to read bedtime stories to his small son while he works late. A busy couple wants proxy stand-in ‘parents’ at the school PTA meeting. An investment banker rings up from Singapore; he wants his mother to be taken to pray in a temple at a certain time on a specific day.

Someone wants his kids to be taken for a swim, brunch, a play and browsing books and music.

A sweet-voiced IT project manager wants someone to motivate and pep-talk her husband, who’s been recently sacked, and is cribbing away at home demoralized. He desperately needs someone to talk to, unburden himself, but the wife is busy – she neither has the time nor the inclination to take a few days off to boost the morale of her depressed husband when there are deadlines to be met at work and so much is at stake.

The things they want outsourced range from the mundane to the bizarre; life processes that one earlier enjoyed and took pride in doing or did as one’s sacred duty are considered ‘non-core life activities’ now-a-days by these highfalutin people.

At the end of the day I feel illuminated on this novel concept of Life Process Outsourcing, and I am about to leave, when suddenly a call comes in.

“LPO?” a man asks softly.

“Yes, this is LPO. May I help you?” I say.

“I’m speaking from Frankfurt Airport. I really don’t know if I can ask this?” he says nervously.

“Please go ahead and feel free to ask anything you desire, Sir. We do everything.”

“Everything?”

“Yes, Sir. Anything and everything!” I say.

“I don’t know how to say this. This is the first time I’m asking. You see, I am working 24/7 on an important project for the last few months. I’m globetrotting abroad and can’t make it there. Can you please arrange for someone suitable to take my wife out to the New Year’s Eve Dance?”

I am taken aback but quickly recover, “Yes, Sir.”

“Please send someone really good, an excellent dancer, and make sure she enjoys and has a good time. She loves dancing and I just haven’t had the time.”

“Of course, Sir.”

“And I told you – I’ve been away abroad for quite some time now and I’ve got to stay out here till I complete the project.”

“I know. Work takes top priority.”

“My wife. She’s been lonely. She desperately needs some love. Do you have someone with a loving and caring nature who can give her some love? I just don’t have the time. You understand what I’m saying, don’t you?”

I let the words sink in. This is one call I am not going to transfer. “Please give me the details, Sir,” I say softly into the mike.

As I walk towards my destination with a spring in my step, I feel truly enlightened.

Till this moment, I never knew that ‘love’ was a ‘non-core’ ‘life-process’ worthy of outsourcing.

Long Live LPO!

Life Process Outsourcing!

Love Process Outsourcing!

Call it what you like, but I’m sure you’ve got the essence of outsourcing.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

Appetite for a Stroll

http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm

vikramkarve@sify.com

AMRUT TULYA CHAHA

Tea Town Pune Special

By

VIKRAM KARVE

Pune is a Tea Town.

Yes, when I was a small boy, Pune [or Poona as it was known then] was a “TEA TOWN”.

During those days, in Pune, everyone drank tea, except some quirky upaas type aunts who always insisted on sweet milky jaiphal spiced coffee and were “fasting” most of the time on yummy delicacies like Sabudana Khichadi and Wade, Rajgire, waryache tandul, healthy fruits, nourishing milk, calorie-rich pure ghee sweets and similar lip-smacking upasasache padartha. [By the way DALDA, quite popular in those days, made from hydrogenated oils was mysteriously “permitted” for upaas as it was considered “ghee”].

At home tea was made in typical Puneri manner as described in HOW TO MAKE A CUP OF TEA

Outside your home, there were chiefly two types of tea for the laidback discerning gourmet Punekar to relish – AMRUT TULYA CHAHA at the ubiquitous Amruttulya Tea Shops at every nook and corner of Pune, and the peerless IRANI CHAI served by the numerous Irani Restaurants all over Pune city and camp like Café Naaz, Lucky, Good Luck, Volga etc. Indeed Amrut tulya Chaha and Irani Chai are an important aspect of the culinary heritage of Pune.

Irani Chai is the most rejuvenating beverage I have ever had. They keep the steaming rich tea brew and hot milk in separate containers and mix it in just the right proportion to get the terrific inimitable gulabi Irani Chai.

Drench in a fresh soft bun-maska, place it on your tongue, and close your eyes – aren’t you in seventh heaven? Even a cup of piping hot Irani Tea by itself is sheer bliss. 

Of my favourite Irani Restaurants, Naaz, Lucky have disappeared, and only Good Luck remains.

Amrut Tulya Chaha tea shops are fast vanishing too like the one nearest to where I lived on Tilak Road in Sadashiv Peth in the 1960’s next to Ashok Bakery [also disappeared]. Further down the road past SP College towards Maharashtra Mandal there still exist the legendary Ambika and New Ambika Amruttulyas [a friend of mine used to say that the morning tea was superb in one and the evening tea in the other].

It’s really sad. The culture of Pune is fast changing. The youngsters don’t drink tea anymore – it’s infra dig, isn’t it?

The young and the restless prefer Coffee. No, not the peaberry-plantation filter coffee served by the Udipi Restaurants which we used to love, but the expensive stylish international coffees served at posh Baristas, CCDs, and high-falutin coffee shops proliferating rapidly all over Pune.

Just imagine, the other day I couldn’t get a cup of tea in a multiplex, but there were plenty of varieties of coffee all around.

Hey, it seems I am rambling away and have gone off on a tangent, so let me not digress from our main topic – The Art of making Amrut Tulya Tea.

Amrut means Nectar, and Tulya means Comparable, so “Amrut Tulya” means “Comparable to Nectar” and indeed, true to its name, Amrut-Tulya Tea is comparable to nectar –  sweet, ambrosial, like the elixir of life!

I loved watching Amrut Tulya Chaha being prepared. Amrut Tulya Tea is not brewed in the traditional Tea service style. It is “cooked” in front of you in a brass vessel which becomes “tastier” with time.

I love the “special” chaha. Milk and water are boiled together, with plenty of sugar, masala [comprising crushed cardamom, ginger], and tea leaves, stirring continuously to make sure it doesn’t overflow.

Come, my dear Tea Lover, let me tell you how to make Amrut Tulya Chaha – The Art of Tea – Pune Style. 

Assemble the following Ingredients for Two cups of Amrut Tulya Tea “Special Chaha”

Assam CTC Tea or, if you live in Pune, get the famous CTC+OP “Family Mixture” Tea Powder from your favourite “Tea Depot” in the heart of Pune City.

[By the way, the acronyms are: CTC – Crush, Tear, Curl; OP – Orange Pekoe; BOP – Broken Orange Pekoe].

Full Cream Buffalo Milk [I like Chitale or Sane dairy]

Fresh Water

Sugar

Fresh Ginger Crushed [Better still you can crush the juicy fresh ginger with the chimta directly in the water-milk concoction to let the ginger juices flow out and blend in smoothly]

Cardamom – peel, crush and powder the pods

Before you start, dear reader, here is a note of caution: Please remember that Amrut Tulya Tea is not your traditional Masala Chai so please don’t add any Tea Masalas or spices like clove, cinnamon, black peppercorns or herbs like gavati chaha (lemon grass), tulsi leaves etc. and neither is it the “khada chamach” or “cutting” Chai so please don’t boil away to glory – remember, you must achieve Amrut Tulya Chaha of just the right consistency!  

Now let us start “cooking” amrut tulya tea – we will make two cups, one for you and one for me.

In a brass vessel [or stainless steel, if you can’t get a brass vessel] mix one cup of water and one cup of milk.

Add four teaspoons of sugar.

Put on the stove on medium heat.

Squeeze in a bit of fresh crushed ginger and add a pinch of cardamom powder and the freshly crushed peel.

Lightly and lovingly stir the concoction, let it warm, and bring to a boil.

Smartly add two teaspoons of tea powder and keep stirring gently to ensure the boiling concoction does not spill over.

Keep boiling till the tea attains beautiful bright golden-orange colour – the moment you see a reddish tinge, give the heavenly brew a loving last stir, twirl the vessel, and sieve the Amrut Tulya Tea Special Chaha directly into the cups.

You can drink it from the cup, or better still the saucer sucking and pulling in the yummy liquid with your lips and let it deliciously emulsify on your tongue for that heavenly elevating feeling.

Sip the delicious tea slowly and mindfully, roll it on your tongue, let it mingle in your palate, close your eyes, absorb, discern the flavour, the rich taste, relish every sip lovingly.

Amrut Tulya Chaha is truly lip-smacking tasty and soul-refreshing – blissful ambrosia, an experience of nectar – you can take my word for it.

Now you know why they call this refreshingly delicious and nourishing tea Amrut Tulya “comparable to Nectar” Chaha.

VIKRAM KARVE

Copyright © Vikram Karve 2009

Vikram Karve has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

http://vikramkarve.sulekha.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/karve

Appetite for a Stroll

http://www.indiaplaza.in/finalpage.aspx?storename=books&sku=9788190690096&ct=2

http://www.flipkart.com/appetite-stroll-vikram-karve/8190690094-gw23f9mr2o

http://books.sulekha.com/book/appetite-for-a-stroll/default.htm

vikramkarve@sify.com

It is one of my favorite things to do – considering the limitations of my current life.  It’s a slice of Italy.  It’s laying on my back gazing up into the stars (which i have never done).  It’s a long trek by foot across a mountain (which i have).  Jogging through the Muslim quarter of the Old City listening to Prince on my iPod (“check”).  Good conversation.  It’s my thing.  For now.  Considering.

I recently met Victor Chu, one of the co-creators of LEGWORK, and I have to say the guy is pretty much a genius.  He gave me my very own copy of the LEGWORK video and I’m obsessed.  The workout is great and learning to adjust your strut for high heels is practical, fun and definitely sexy!

We love the whole concept so much here at Grace Lockwood that we built an incredible sexy gift around it.

Legs of Your Life gift package from www.GraceLockwood.com

Purchase it out here and give the gift of a graceful workout!