I like folk from Calcutta ( oops Kolkata ), the youngster's at least.......
Why ? The do not have the cockiness of the Bangalorean, the worldly wisdom of the Mumbaikar or the bravado of the Delhite. What they seem to have is a veneer of wisdom & old world culture.You can see the 'simple living, high thinking shroud them like a coat of paint.
To cut to the chase, when a few days ago, I found myself interviewing kids of all hues, for admission to ABS, I was pleased to see that many of them were from the City of Joy!When the first Kolkatan sauntered in, looking wise beyond his years, peering at me from behind his spectacles, I wound myself up & tossed him, what I thought was a no brainer- 'What is the length, of the Hoogly?'. The guy, went pale, gulped a couple of times & replied hesitantly that he did not know. I was stymied! My next question- 'Had he heard about the Hoogly?'. He visibly brightened & said that he had. I was releived. As the day wore on, the curve ball was tossed to ladies & gents from Kolkata. The right answer never came my way & one gent testily told me that he had not measured the length.
A dinner that night, I asked my son, if he knew the length of the Hoogly, considering that he has sailed up/down the river on numerous occasions. Amidst watching 'Hanna Montana', he asked me why he should know & what difference would it make to anybody?
Good question & fortunately one that has an answer. Openness to experience is a trait that is much valued these days, not surprisingly because, there are tectonic shifts in technology, which occur at the speed of light and for an organization to survive they require alert,bright and well informed Human Resources.The more well informed you are as youngster, the better your chances of learning new skills as an adult, in the work place. Research has also shown that a major stressor, is the pace of change around us & the inability to cope, because we cannot unlearn & learn fast enough.
Some features of people with a strong 'Openness to Experience':
Rich vocabulary.
Very curious.
Vivid imagination.
Excellent ideas.
Appreciate art & beauty.
Reflect on things.
Use difficult words.
The other day, I asked Alexus Collette, CEO - Philips, Bangalore, on what kind of engineers he recruited & his answer- those with a strong OTE.
Recruiters these days do test you on this personality trait & many organizations judge this as the most important competence that they want their employees to have.
So is the length of the Hoogly important?
2 comments:
well,, it many times happens to us that we don't realise what we we have right in front of our eyes and get busy with everything else possible!!!! but then the more knowledge we have the more are our chances of learning.also due to the stress and competition now a days the learning and unlearning process has become very slow. so we all need to inculcate in us really strong OTE,, which would help enhance our knowledge give us that extra edge and keep us on top!!! :)
well its surely important sir:) am going to kolkata for internship. I wiil return with an answer to your question..not by googling it but by seeing and appreciating hoogly by myself:) OTE is really important being one of the big five personality trait. Because the more you open yourself to experience the more you adapt change and the more you will learn. learning is a life long process we just need to keep our senses open towards it:)
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