Tuesday, May 23, 2006

“If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is the significance of a clean desk?”

We have a new consultant who has just arrived from India…it’s been a week now! His boss saying, I have a new neighbour introduced me to him.
That day I didn’t had time to talk to him much..it was very formal talk that we had and I welcomed him aboard.

“The longest journey a man must take is the eighteen inches from his head to his heart”

However, next day he became so friendly that he started asking me if I want to go for a coffee and during or after lunch he will check if I did had my lunch..etc!! We started calling eachother for company for coffee at least..! I could see he is very excited that he has come out of India for the first time to US… and that too straight to California. He feels very proud that his other colleagues didn’t get an opportunity.

“Get excited and enthusiastic about your own dream. This excitement is like a forest fire - you can smell it, taste it, and see it from a mile away”

He keeps sharing things about Indian politics and other US information that he had no idea about. I thought it’s a good start for him to mingle as he wont be homesick!!! Also, he says…he doesn’t want to work for anyone but start his own business in US!

“Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals” ~ Buddha

Yesterday was just like any other morning except that it was Monday Morning…and I had a lot of things to be re-planned just because some people can be happy and I tried to make them :D

I thought to call my neighbor buddy for a coffee…and we both walked to our Pantry section where we have nice coffee from Starbucks..! Yes, that’s kind in disguise I would say, which allowed me to slowly forget about my fav. Tim Horton’s Coffee: D

“Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness” ~ Napoleon Hill

Anyway, we got our coffee’s..had a little chat and then I said have fun and we went to our own cubicles to finish off our task..!

Around 15 minutes later I heard him calling me…saying I spilled my coffee on my desk…whom should I call to clean this mess?
Hahahahah I was totally zapped…! I said..with a surprise…what did you said? I was not sure if I heard him correct…!
He came to my desk with a lazy attitude…saying – I have spilled the coffee on my desk ..now whom should I call to clean this up – office cleaning or is it facilities…!

“If your house is really a mess and a stranger comes to the door greet him with, "Who could have done this? We have no enemies”

I was shocked and was wondering when was the last that I heard something like this?????

I gave him a smile and said go to the pantry take some tissue paper and wipe it off! That’s what we do here :D

Our cubicles are such that we have privacy however one can even hear the other person if they are whispering…so you can imagine later on the queue of people asking me – ‘What was that guy saying about cleaning his mess?’

It was a fun but I am glad he learnt his first lesson of cleaning our own mess :D

“Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean”

15 comments:

Karin said...

Everybody has to learn his/her lessons (and some NEVER learn!) ... he was already right in the middle I have the feeling! This is the sentence I love most : "The longest journey a man must take is the eighteen inches from his head to his heart"! How very very true that is ...

kumarldh said...

I guess its in India only that we have maids and servants in every house. I am also dependent on a maid servant and if she is on leave for more than 2 days everything is messed up. My room mate and my best frend is looking for one more maid or servant who can do laundry, one who can cook and one who can wash his car daily. He has been to US 2 times still I dont see any change in his attitude. One thing I always apprecaite in Western countries/US is that they value human beings. Here in India its not like that. After first time doing my laundry myself I realised how tough or easy the job is and now I prefer doing things myself. Still am lazy. I need some coffee, wait let me get a cup...

Keshi said...

goshhh wut kinda lazy dude is that? lol sorry Dawn but Im so used to cleaning my own mess I can never even imagine of calling someone else to clean..hehehe..

Good that u taught him his first lesson in cleaning his own mess :)

Keshi.

Manish Kumar said...

@ Keshi dear its not the guys fault its way the system works in india. Give him some time:)& he will change. Subcontinental people are qt adoptable. DON is a perfect example :)
@DON Maid, Drivers, Gardeners....ohh there is a long list of them on which indian society is dependent. Poor chap has just landed in CA and u r expecting him to change overnight :) :p.
Khaskar tab jab log khud kehte hain ki kya karein hum to suru se hi aise the :) asha hai ishaara samjha hoga

Masood Ahmed said...

Light reading.I like the post....here in Pakistan too we are used to the Maasis (maids are respectably called Maasis).

The Lil fairy & her angel friends said...

:)
nice hearing from u gal! u sure makes the wolrd a brighter place with ur beautiful smile!

മര്‍ത്ത്യന്‍ said...

Dawn,

Reminds me

New Place, New people, New Ways, New ideas, New New New......
But same old me and my habits

Good post :)

Dawn said...

koffeeshop: Been there done that so I know it all when u r a cashier doesn’t mean that ur attending only to cash :D
Cheers

mirzaghalib: I know u would say tht for sure :D…!!! Its after all the mark of Canadian ..definitely nothing can beat that ….! But I have to survive :D..! hehe..people around me never heard of this…though they know Indian men are spoilt hahahah hence the whisper ;)
Cheers

I love munich : Yes dear…and I totally agree with u!!! I remember we went to this friends place for X’mas and after the dinner we all were helping in the kitchen to clean the dishes and keep the extra food nicely in the fridge where as one guy…he was just going from one room to other…having peanuts in his hands…I felt so embarrassing that I asked me why don’t u help as everyone is helping…and he said…everyone is helping so why I should? You are right some NEVER learn!
Yes I too liked that quote :D…
Cheers

kumar chetan: Yes I will say they are spoilt! I was injected this vaccination of ‘do your work by yourself’ (Apna kaam svayam karo) and hence taking the responsibility was more or less in born…! My both parents work and I guess that makes a big difference..! Did u get that cup of coffee by urself..or did someone made for you ;)
lol
Cheers

keshi: Yes dear..me too! I am always teased for that though…even when I clean the keyboard and phones ppl laugh at me …but hey…whts the harm in dusting of some dust ..doesn’t harm anyone :D
Cheers

manish: Dear Manish, I would say it’s the culture…for some reason men think they are not supposed to or they are not born for this..! Another incident an Indian guy brought his lunch in the meeting room just coz the meeting was scheduled @ lunch time and he was eating when someone asked him do u cook or ur wife…and he said …well this is a take-out as y’day we went out but usually my wife who cooks not me hahahaha! I don’t know wht to say…as he was justifying his situation by saying that he compensate by going out :D…! Its true there are facilities provided hence ppl take undue advantage..! As we also get maids here to clean the house etc but then…people don’t prefer that …as when you do for yourself…you are not in anyone’s control :D…
Ishara to mil hee gaya hai…bagiya mein maali phul lagayega phir paani dene ke liye koi aur…sabzi ke liye koi aur…:D…but then man becomes handicap ..that’s what I feel..!
About me…well being in NDA teaches u a lot…and my parents both were working and we had no help from relatives or so …servants and maids were removed as I grew up :D…so it was clear to me what is expected…! It was very easy for me here I would say and many Canadians talk and appreciate about that too…so its nothing but the culture..as what is practiced :D
Cheers

masd: WOW that’s a nice loving word I would say…but it all relates to one :D
Cheers

unaiza nasim: Dear its like a mirror..as you do so you see the reflection ;)
Keep smiling and enjoy life…as life is too short :D
Cheers

marthyan: Welcome Marthyan…YES so true about the place and you :D…habbits can be changed but how serious one takes that’s what its all about :D…
Thnx
Cheers

kumarldh said...

I
a) take bath myself, obviously
b) do dishes my self
c) laundry myself, had bad experience with outsourcing this job to gali ka dhobi
d) have a good dhobi at my disposal but still iron my cloths myself
e) used to do dusting myself now dependent on a maid which my landlord has appointed for "my rooms"
f) cook myself
g) and even make coffee myself
these are the only things I do except working on my PC.
BTW am as lazy as Kumbhkaran, and oh I remeber now he was also a brahmin like me, reservations on the basis of caste is a quite hot topic in India now a days

ishipishi said...

hmmmm...better late than never!:)...

and the above statement wasn't just for d guy learning his lesson...

it was also for me getting here after ages!!

i loved d last quote...

Manish Kumar said...

Yes I do agree abt some of the pt u mentioned abt typical indian male. But main reason here for employing domestic help , drivers, gardners, washerman etc is that their services are affordable.

kumarldh said...

oops I contradict Manish
The basic reason is to show off. Lets do some basic analysis of Indian society.
Case 1: We wont wash our car ourself cause our neighbourer Mr. XYZ (where XYZ = {A ji...Z ji}) has appointed a new servant for washing his new Maruti800. And we superwise the car washing caouse the servant may spoil the paint. Show off the prestige
Case 2: The bahu rani is a professional so she is tired when she returns home and no body can do the cleaning. And also mopping up the home, doing dishes will not leave any time for all the parties and other stuff. So we can employ a Maid Servant. Show off the earning.
Case 3: We can scold a maid servant easily in high tone but can't pin point to our own family memeber. To show off the "Raub" or "Rubab" we can have on people we employ servant.
...
And so on.
In mathematics ... (three dots) means continue the operation/process. I can cite n number of caes and examples. I dont know much about Southern Parts of India but in Northern India we love to show off. We call it "Shaan". Remeber the song.
"Jeet hain shaan se, marte hain shaan se."
One of my best friend will get up late but wont wash his car himself because it will not "suite" his personality.
I know some servants who earn more than what a fresher MBA in India earns. I will give example of a scurity guard. This guy gets 3K from his job as security guard, then washes 10 cars everyday, 150 @ car. His accomodation is free. Lives in a housing society. So he earns aroun 4500 per month + accomodation free. Compare to a fresh MBA, who first have to register himself with job consultants, then run for interviews. We are talking about simple MBAs not IIM passouts.
Bottomline we show off.

Keshi said...

Manish I know :) Most men (even some women) in Sri Lanka r the same...spoon-fed and spoilt-rotten..hehe...but yeah not all r like that. So I guess it's really not the culture alone, it's the upbringing as well...if one is taught from childhood to clean his/her own mess, they will do so when they grow up too. Cos I was born in SL and I always cleaned my mess!

Keshi.

hope and love said...

i respect men who cleans up their own mess..
during my house surgency days iv seen some specimen male colleagues who messed up the duty rooms badly..

Dawn said...

OOPS seems like I started to open the whole can of worm ...lol!!!
Yes we all are familiar with one or the other specimens :)
But all I have to say is...it doesnt harm anything if you do clean at least your own mess :)...or helping your wife will never make you degraded or low...it will increase the love isnt it...;)

I appreciate everyone commented with there views openly! & yes
Welcome the recursive loop
do come again!
Cheers

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