Empathy in MNC employees Why am I specifically saying MNC employees? If you're friends with people who work in large global corporations you probably enjoy their company. They have money to spend, like the good life, have stories from around the world to tell you, etc, etc. If you're working with these same people, the story might not be the same.  Aren't corporate memes based on these kind of people? The one's about the mismatch in the expectation and reality of clients, about HR insensitivity or about letting your life's big decisions be decided by the mood of your boss on a random day. Why is it that loving humans suddenly turn to Mr. Hyde when they are at work? As a friend/relative you're loving and caring; as a boss/client you're oblivious to the feelings, timelines and even lives of others. Is it that we are in just a mad rat race that we want things done ASAIWT (as soon as I want it)? Is it that we are eloquent about raving about the benefits of coll...

It's ok to take a break Take a break ... From work, from studying, from binge watching tv, from fitness... Take a break... It's absolutely fine! For the 1st 2 scenarios, you've often heard people share their pearls of wisdom. For scenario number 3, is often spoken about but goes by thr name of digital detox most of the time. But scenario number 4... A break from fitness? Why would you do that? How is that even possible?  But it is possible and very much required. Sometimes you workout too much, almost getting to the point where the exercise does more harm than benefit. But sometimes you just want to laze in bed; you want to avoid setting an alarm the night before; you want to watch the sun rise from in between the curtains of your bedroom rather than from below a sweat soaked brow. And that's ok... Take that break... Enjoy the lazy morning... Cherish those moments... Because if you're a fitness enthusiast, you know you'll be gunning to get exercising the next da...

Meditation Vs long distance running Many people have spoken about the benefits of meditation, scientific journals have published findings and daily rituals of the most accomplished men and women mostly have meditation as one of the common things they do. But I genuinely believe that long distance running is a kind of meditation in itself.  But wait, I don't mean the kind of running when you have earphones plugged in listening to music, podcast, or audio books or the kind of run when you're constantly chatting with other runners as you complete the kilometres. (Hats off to that btw; how do you have the stamina to run and talk at the same time?) I mean the kind of run where the run is lost in the world inside his or herself, the kind where all you're focused on is the sound of your feet hitting the road and your breathing. That utter concentration, that focus on making yourself continue to put one foot ahead of the other as your get to your running goal - that's also a me...

Don't learn a new skill, learn to LEARN Just a random daily musing... I'm back to writing and will try to do so daily. I will try to share 1 important moment/thought from my day. In today's news, I had to conduct an interview for our channel on Zoom and this was after almost 1 year. I had to revisit some of the basic rules of shooting.  But rather than reminding people to put phones on silent, ensuring adequate lighting and a quiet environment - what struck me was the fact that rather than remembering old techniques or learning new ones, what's more important is to be prepared to learn quickly. As life continues to rapidly change, the most important thing is no longer what you know, but how fast can you grasp the next thing. So learn to learn, and learn to unlearn with the confidence that you will learn what you need when you need it. That's it for today. P.s. : In other news, i had to rush to the Out Patient's Department of the hospital because the rubber at th...

That's right!!! The GK Nugget is going places . We're moving to a newer cooler web address So come on over to www . gknugget . in The usual fortnightly pieces of general knowledge will continue to flow. See you there and thanks for your support.

Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget. This time I’m writing about a man who greatly impacted one of the things I am passionate about – Cars. 30 th July marks the 154 th Birth anniversary of Henry Ford , the man credited for starting mass production of automobiles. Before you start reading, here's a small video teaser with the main points from the post. While he wasn’t the inventor of the 1 st gasoline propelled automobile ( That was Karl Benz in 1886 ), Henry Ford was instrumental in building the modern assembly line for use in car manufacture . But the Ford Motor Company (which is still in existence today) was not his 1 st car company . He founded the Detroit Motor Company in the late 1890s, but dissolved it in 1899 because he was not happy with the product. The Henry Ford Company came next, but here again Ford butted heads with investors. He quickly dissolved the company in 1902 and formed the Ford Motor Company in 1903. He started ...

Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget. We’re turning back the pages of history today, and the date I’m talking about is 18 th July 1918 . In a small village called Mvezo in South Africa, to the Madiba clan, was born a boy called Rolihlahla , who went on to be known to the world as Nelson Mandela . The South Africa that Mandela grew up & lived in was very different from what it is today. White people were in charge of running the country & had access to all the privileges and facilities while the black people were denied many basic rights – like voting in elections or using the same schools, hospitals and even beaches as the white people. This system of differentiation between people based on the colour of their skin was called “ Apartheid ”. Mandela attended primary school in Qunu, where his teacher, Miss Mdingane, gave him the name Nelson , in accordance with the custom of giving all schoolchildren “Christian” names. A two-year diploma in law a...

Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget. Growing up, we all dreamt of exploring the universe, thanks to Star Wars, Star Trek, ET and other iconic movies & shows. One of the front runners in the race for human interplanetary travel is the subject of this GK Nugget - Elon Musk , the Founder of SpaceX & CEO of Tesla Inc, who was born on 28 th June 1971 in South Africa. Musk believes that it is important to not just travel to Mars, but also to have humans living there . This is so that the human race can be a multi-planetary species as well as to prevent the complete extinction of life in case a catastrophic event destroys earth. His company SpaceX is working towards drastically reducing the cost of space travel, by developing reusable rockets . The company has returned reusable rocket boosters to Earth 12 times since the first successful Falcon rocket landing in 2015. The Federation Aronautique Internationale, which is the world governing bod...

Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget . This time instead of looking into the past, I’m focusing on something in the present – a little toy that has caught the fancy of millions around the world. Do you remember when I wrote about the Pokémon Go fad on 24 th July 2016 ? Well, this is a fad that just might beat its craze. I’m talking about the Fidget Spinner .  We’ve all heard about it; read about it, some of us have seen it and many of us have wondered what that odd shaped piece of plastic/metal is and why kids today find it so engrossing.  So here’s all you wanted to know about the Fidget Spinner but didn’t know who to ask: What is the Fidget Spinner? It’s a small toy like device, shaped like a 4 leaf clover, but with 3 leaves. Or just imagine the club card ( chiddi ) in a set of playing card but without the stalk. It is usually made of a mix of metal and plastic parts and has a hole in each of its 3 blades. It also contains ball bearings...

Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget. This weekend we’re talking about one of my favourite politicians (yes, there are some likeable ones too), who passed away too young. He was the leader of one of the superpowers of the world and 29 th May 2017 was his 100 th birth anniversary. I’m talking about John Fitzgerald Kennedy , famously known as JFK . JFK was the 35 th President of the USA from January 1961 up until 22 nd November 1963 , when he was assassinated. He was the youngest president of the country and also the youngest to die . JFK’s inaugural address had him reach out to all Americans – “ Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country ” – a line that is till date quoted in essays written by school and college going children. JFK led the US at the height of the Arms Race with Russia and also during the critical Cuban missile crisis . (In October 1962, U.S. spy planes discovered that Soviet missile bases had ...

Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget .  Did you know that from Jan to March 2017 , Indians spent 2.5 hours a day on apps, higher than the 2 hours they spent during the same period in 2016? And this is more than the 1.5-2 hours spent by citizens of the US, UK, Germany and France. And did you know that WhatsApp has 1.2 billion active users currently, making it the most popular mobile app globally. But today’s GK Nugget will bring you some lesser known facts about another app/website that we spend a lot of our time on – WhatsApp’s mother company – Facebook . (Facebook bought over WhatsApp for $19 billion in Feb 2014) On 18 th May 2012 , Facebook was listed on NASDAQ (US stock exchange, which is the 2 nd largest in the world). It was the largest tech IPO till then, making the company worth $104 billion . (Alibaba listed on the New York Stock Exchange -largest stock exchange in the world- in Sept 2014 at a company worth of $230 billion ). ...

Hello & welcome to another edition of the GK Nugget. In today’s selfie obsessed world, “ Say Cheese ” might have become our most favourite phrase. May 7 th marks a momentous day for this photo snapping world of today for it was on this day 129 years ago (in 1888) that George Eastman patented the ‘ Kodak Box Camera ’ and so today’s GK Nugget will uncover trivia about the inventor of the camera and his invention. The Kodak Box Camera contained a roll film with 100 exposures . It was an easy to use camera with a fixed focal length and once the photographer had used up the 100 exposures, s/he could send the camera to the Eastman Kodak company which would develop the film and also insert a new one in the camera and send it back to the owner. In 1900 , the Kodak Brownie camera was introduced which sold for $1 . This further helped photography turn into a hobby. The Kodak tagline was “ You press the button – we do the rest ” thus symbolizing that all the buyer had to d...

Hello & welcome to this fortnight’s GK Nugget. Last Sunday was the 128 th birth anniversary of one of the world’s most famous and recognizable comedians, Charlie Chaplin . So this edition of the GK Nugget is about the actor who has made generations of people across the globe laugh out loud. Born on 16 th April 1889 , Charles Spencer Chaplin was born just 4 days before infamous German Dictator Adolf Hitler. One of Chaplin’s most famous movies was ‘ The Great Dictator ’ which saw him satirise Hitler. Released in 1940, it was nominated for 5 Academy Awards and went on to become one of Chaplin’s most commercially successful films. Interestingly, this was Chaplin’s first true sound film. An expert of the silent films, he was the only Hollywood film maker to continue making silent films well into the period of sound films . Chaplin wrote, produced, and acted in two movies in the 1930s, well after conversations were prevalent in the "talkies" (motion pictu...

Hello & welcome to this weekend’s GK Nugget. This time I’m writing about a subject that has fueled the fantasy of mankind for generations. I’m talking about space travel . April 12 th marks 56 years since Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space ( 1961 ). He traveled aboard the Soviet spacecraft Vostok 1 to an altitude of 187 miles (301 kilometers) above the earth & completed a single orbit in a flight lasting 108 minutes. Many believe this was one of the defining moments in space history, not just based on the magnitude of the event but also because it intensified the already ongoing Space Race between the Russians & Americans. 23 days later , Alan Shepard became the first American in space. Eventually on 20 th July 1969 , the space flight Apollo 11 carried the first humans to set foot on the Moon. American astronaut Neil Armstrong made his place in history by uttering the famous words " That's one small step for a man, one g...