Delhi 6: About the Performers

Posted: February 22, 2009 in Uncategorized
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There are some great performers in Delhi 6 – on-screen and behind it too. Before sharing my impressions on the film itself, I thought I would touch upon these.

On screen, Abhishek has the longest role, of course. But there is nothing much to write about him and his role. I mean, he does a competent job, but no huge scenes, nothing fantastic, considering that he was the absolute and complete hero!

Sonam Kapoor had a small role. But she did that well. And also came out looking extremely pleasant on screen. I repeat myself when I say that she looks like the Juhi Chawla. Especially that effervescent smile of hers. So much like Juhi’s. I would love to see her in longer and meatier roles in future.

I noticed that Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra was born in the same year that I was born! I know a few people from our generation who have a Waheeda Rehman fixation. I don’t. But I know others who do. Perhaps Rakeysh has one too. Waheeda Rehman, for her age, puts in an extremely credible performance. She did that in Rang De Basanti too. I am sure she has maintained her health well, and she has put in hard work to execute the role.

Likewise, amongst the older folks who come for character roles every now and then, Rishi Kapoor is one who again manages to leave a mark, even in smaller roles. In Delhi 6, he has a very small role. And he does a good job of it again.

Three very talented actors make their presence felt in small essays here. Vijay Raaz (who can forget his Monsoon Weddings character?!), Divya Dutta and Atul Kulkarni. All of them have good characters written for them in Delhi 6, and perform well.

Om Puri, Supriya Pathak and others do a fair job.

Among the behind-the-scenes acts, there are 4 outstanding performers.

First of course, it’s the director, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra himself. I have paid a separate tribute to him. That he has also written the film makes for special mention. The heart of the film is in the writing. And more of it, when I cover the film itself. But suffice it to say that it is a great job of writing and direction that Mehra has done.

Then there is the cinematography of one of India’s best cinematographers, Binod Pradhan. Coming from the Vidhu Vinod Chopra stable, Binod has fabulous works like 1942 a Love Story, Mission Kashmir, Parinda, Devdas, Munnabhai MBBS, Rang De Basanti and others to his credit.

In Delhi 6 also, Binod leaves his magical touch. The camera panned across a nearly 360 degrees to capture the Friday prayers at the Jumma Masjid is breathtaking. Even the scenes capturing nightime life and lights in old Delhi are very well captured.

Then, there is lyricist Prasoon Joshi. Who comes up with some great lines once again. Considering his advertising industry exploits, he must rank as one of the most creative and talented persons in India. Period.

And of course, finally, you have to salute the master, A. R. Rahman. By tomorrow morning, he might have become an Oscar winner too (he has 3 nominations for Slumdog Millionaire, and the Oscars happen in about 12 hours from now). In Delhi 6, he delivers some great numbers.

The best and most hummable is Masakali. Check it out here:

My other two favorites are Rehna Tu and the title song, Delhi.. or Dilli.. whatever!

Rakeysh has managed to get some great performers together and they have delivered a fine result in terms of Delhi 6!!

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra: A Tribute

Posted: February 22, 2009 in Uncategorized
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I saw Dehli 6 today. And loved it. But more about it later.

I thought it fit first, to write a few words about the filmmaker, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. And I must add, if it was not already obvious, that I am a big admirer of this very talented director. I would believe that he is among the best that we have in Indian cinema today. And I am looking forward to many excellent films coming out of his repertoire over the years.

I presume I was one of the few people (lol) who had seen his first venture. It was called “Aks”. In fact, I remember that we had gone from our company, and several of us in a group, in fact. And all of them did not last through the film. Several left mid-way. Yeah, it was that kind of debut.

I had sat through the film. And while not really enjoying it much, I was certainly impressed with the subject chosen, the method of expression. Very bold, Very different.

In fact, it tackled an interesting subject – shades of Good and Bad within the self. And how one can manifest over another. To an extent, the theme carries forward in Delhi 6 too. In the form of the ‘black monkey’ metaphor.

So though Aks was no great success, I presume it got its fair share of critical acclaim.

Which got him going on his piece de resistance movie, Rang De Basanti. An excellent film for the times, it delivered its message in no uncertain terms. About the angst of the youth, about the restlessness that they face, and their clear thought about not wanting to take any more nonsense. The presentation was extremely creative. From the eyes of a foreigner who was here to make a film, and taking on idling youth to do her movie. And then even as she went over her story from the times of India’s freedom movement, the extent of juxtaposition of the story to current times, and to the lives of the actors, was the way the story got presented. Interspersed with great acting performances and excellent music (A. R. Rahman).

Rang De Basanti did create a stir beyond the film itself. Where people came out of theatres feeling good, they also carried the message forward, and the people’s voice against various unjust political wars, can be partially attributed to the impact made by the film.

RDB was a classic in that sense. Got Mehra a lot of acclaim and recognition, and finally he was taken to be a serious film maker. He won a host of awards for RDB.

But all through the fame and glory that he got, and the many TV appearances as a result, what came out from Mehra was a consistent humble message. Acknowledging Aamir Khan. Acknowledging Ronnie Screwala. And others. Maintaining a calm front that kept talking sanity, never letting success go into his head.

In fact, one program on TV really brought him out as a class act. He was on the Karan Johar show along with Rakesh Roshan, Raju Hirani and Kunal Kohli. Along with Karan Johar there, they made for some of the more successful directors in India. And in this interaction, the one voice that kept responding to many questions in the best way, was the voice of Rakeysh Mehra. In fact, that show kind of gave an impression that Rakeysh was the most thinking director from amongst them, Karan Johar was certainly the smartest, Raju Hirani had a good feel for the masses (maybe a good ad filmmaker’s trait), Rakesh Roshan was perhaps the best businessman, and Kunal Kohli was out of place there!

And now, Delhi 6. Another great work from Mehra. Some part of his style and his convictions carry on, I guess.

The part of the evil inside people, comes back from Aks.

The mixing of history / mythology to current story characters is done here again, as was done in Rang De Basanti. In this film, it’s the Ramayana and the black-monkey story (from Delhi folklore) that are mixed up to drive the film’s message across.

But more about the film in another post.

For now, I would just reiterate my admiration for Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. Really glad to have such great talent working together at the same time – Mehra, Ashutosh Gowariker, Sanjay Leela Bhansali, Farhan Akhtar, Raju Hirani, Madhur Bhandarkar, etc. Film enthusiasts like me never had it so good.. 🙂

Valkyrie – about history and what could have been..

Posted: February 22, 2009 in Uncategorized
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Broke a dry spell and took the late night show of Valkyrie last night. Having had an early morning start, I was concerned if I could stay up through the movie. But I need not have worried. The film was captivating enough to not only keep me awake, but in fact, keep me on the edge of my seats right through, with anticipation and excitement.

War movies, especially the ones of the World War have their own charm. Although Valkyrie cannot be termed a war movie, it used the war times as the backdrop to tell the story of one bold and nearly successful attempt (out of a total of 15 such ones) to assassinate Hitler. Since it’s history and a true story, we know very well that the attempt did not succeed, and the destiny’s child that Hitler was, he survived.

But the film shows poignantly the extent of opposition to him that prevailed in the German ranks, and yet how most of them were not able to come out in the open, with their objections / opposition to Hitler. The film also goes to show once again, the intricate web of control that Hitler set for himself, which was one of the strengths on basis of which he commandered over his forces, even as he led them with this all conquering ambition that took no prisioners!!

If only the attempt had been successful, how different the world could have been today.. ?! Quite a hypothetical, rhetorical question now.. !

Tom Cruise does an excellent job and its really sad that he is not seen much nowadays. The supporting cast is competent.

Drama from history makes for good stories and films, wonder why film makers do not use this treasure chest more than they have done so far. This is far more engaging stuff than the fantasy make believes that we keep seeing from Hollywood too often nowadays!

Getting Twitter influence the right way

Posted: February 8, 2009 in Uncategorized
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So what’s the typical Twitter users that one comes across nowadays?

There are newbies, who are trying to figure their way around. So they are in transition in a way.

Then there are the other ‘veterans’. Most of these are on Twitter for a purpose. To largely be able to promote something or the other. Their services or some product or some brand. And they have come to the conclusion that the way to get there, is simply by having as large a follower base as you can.

And so we have people following, and getting followed by tens of thousands of people.

And they figure that when they send out their spams or their blog links or their status messages, their various followers are interested, and would catch it and that is their Twitter success.

Or like telemarketers, they figure that on a large base, a small percentage hit rate, still counts, and that’s the way to go.

But really is that the right way to use Twitter?

Let’s think for a moment, from the average Twitter user’s point of view. Chances are that she also has hundreds of people that she follows and gets tons of updates as a result. She is not watching her Twitter feed whole day long. Even if she has clients set up, she really “looks” at the feed, few times a day. At the rate at which tweets come in, I am sure she is not going back to see all the tweets that she missed between her consecutive Twitter sessions. So she is likely seeing only those which are active and fresh at the point of time.

And in those, if something appeals to her, she reads, takes action and others she lets go.

So for those other Twitter users, who had sent their tweets in between her sessions, and who counted her as amongst their thousands of followers, she was a waste. She did not read their tweets, and did not react to them!

Twitter used in this manner, then is a complete hit-or-miss situation.

For a tool that is so amazingly simple to use, that is so popular, can it’s utility be left to sheer chance, in this manner? There’s got to be a better way.

And sure enough. Enough serious and real knowledge gurus have been using the medium with a lot of understanding and foresight.

They ensure that their tweets are all relevant and good 140 character bits, which would actually be of interest to their followers. They ensure that the content is good. They don’t spam you with links, they don’t aggressively pitch you their wares. They don’t update each time they’re having coffee. In short, they don’t overburden their followers. They ensure that their tweets are made to count, and are worthwhile for their followers.

When done consistently and repeatedly, they make a reputation for themselves. And then if an average user is following them, even if she has infrequent Twitter sessions, she will look out for their updates. And pause to read, or click a link posted by them. Over time, she will eagerly await updates from them.

NOW, the sphere of Twitter influence has been established.

This is the way that a Twitter account needs to be built and used.

And here is where, the core point is same for Twitter as it is for web pages (and search engines), viz. that good content counts!

To summarize my two point formula for success on Twitter:

1. Don’t run after creating large number of followers. It is important to have a focused follower list, one that is typically your “target group” for whatever it is that you are trying to achieve. If others come on board, and they don’t react to your tweets and then leave, so be it. Don’t be obsessed with the number. Seek quality of followers rather than just quantity.

2. Good content works here too. If you give useful tweets, which are not just re-tweets or links being passed on, but your knowledge being shared, that will be valuable to your followers. Develop credibility on the basis of your content. Then your followers will watch out for your updates and you will truly have a sphere of influence via Twitter!

Good, relevant content – strategy works everywhere!

Posted: February 8, 2009 in Uncategorized
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As many SEOs that you interact with, so many strategies you will get, for getting your page on top of search rankings! Likewise, the latest “how to” is all about using Twitter for influence.

My own thoughts on both of these come to a common base.

Good, relevant content!

Let’s take search engines first.

In the increasingly competitive and changing world of search engines, the real game for the search engines is to give you, the searcher, 10 perfect results. So if you search for “Java”, the search engine should not give you a mix of programming language, coffee and an Asian island, but rather, the search engine must KNOW what you want to see, and accordingly, deliver all 10 results that you want. That indeed, is the goal that search engines must be working towards. And they are getting better at doing so.

This is called “personalisation of search”.  Catering to you – the individual searcher.

As soon as this gets more and more real, what happens to SEO? To a large extent, it goes for a toss! Especially that part of search that focuses on getting you high SERPs or Search Engine Ranking Positions. BECAUSE there will be nothing like “positions”!! At least not universal ones.

So if we extend the same simplistic example, and find three different people searching for the same word, “Java”, they are quite likely to see entire different sets of results, based on amongst other things, a) their location, b) their previous searches, c) their ‘history’ of other things done, sites accessed, etc. If different people are going to see different sets of results, for the same search phrase, then there is nothing like a SERP. So that’s what I meant by SEO going for a toss, in a way.

So what will be the strategy for website owners to reach their target markets, via the search engine route?

The critical factor here is “target market”. So far, in the world of SERPs, if you got on to the top rankings, you would reach your target market, and then, you will reach others as well. You may not mind, but your site will be wasted for those others!

Now, in the upcoming age (and I don’t know how far we are from truly personalized search results) of personalized search, you will need to be satisfied with your target market. And once you know your target market, and what they would want from you (on the subject of your website), if you make sure that you get GOOD, RELEVANT CONTENT for this target group, it will already include the right keywords, it will get popular and others will link back to you, and in short, you will rank up in the search engine results for those phrases, when searched for, by your target market.

This strategy will work now, in the days when SERPs are still valid, and it will work later too, when they are less relevant.

“Don’t try to be something for all of the people, better to be everything for some of the people!!”

There is a similar strategy for Twitter, and I will share the same in a following post.

Luck By Chance – Refreshing

Posted: February 8, 2009 in Uncategorized
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The sister shines too.

Following the footsteps of brother Farhan who debuted as director with the brilliant Dil Chahta Hai, Zoya Akhtar comes up with a credible first venture in the form of Luck By Chance.

One more look (there have been other attempts before) at the lives of strugglers trying to make it into the big bad world of Hindi cinema, the execution is good. Farhan Akhtar and Konkona play the lead strugglers, while Isha Shravani is the star child who has everything handed to her on a platter. Not many idle moments, the film engages you with the story, the dialogues, and a decent pace.

Farhan is an unconventional hero. While he is very talented, I am sure, he is not your serious hero material. Face, height, voice are all ‘not right’. But he manages to make up for that, with his sincerty. Konkona of course, is one of the best actresses on the Indian screens right now. She slips into the character beautifully.

To accommodate Isha’s acrobatic skills, they unpretentiously brought in a full fledged circus scene!! The “oldies” did a good job.. all of them – Rishi Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Dimple Kapadia. They prove that they are good actors and are able to come back and get noticed all over again. Dimple is ravishing still, although it appears that some cover up job was needed to get her there. On the other hand, I am so impressed by Juhi Chawla. She has maintained herself so well, and she keeps coming back in the 1-2 films a year, with meaningful work. I wish they write a good script for her in a central role, like they are doing for the Big B.

There were a lot of special appearances. Most of them were people who have worked in Farhan Akhtar’s films in lead roles. What a coincidence?! Shah Rukh, Kareena, Boman Irani (Don), Hrithik (Lakshay), Aamir and Akshay Khanna (Dil Chahta Hai).. all returned favors 🙂 And then there were others – Ranbir Kapoor, John Abraham, Abhishek (he is the special appearance favorite of Hindi cinema), Karan Johar.. and I might have still missed a few.

A good film to go to, especially considering the drought of good films right now.

Billu Barber and Dilli 6…which will be the winner?

Posted: February 8, 2009 in Uncategorized
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While seeing Luck By Chance yesterday at the PVR Phoenix, there were two film trailers that I saw, Billu Barber and Dilli 6. The former releases next Friday. A Friday, the 13th release – wonder how that will affect its fortunes! The latter releases a week later on Feb 20th. A week’s gap is enough between two big releases, as really, the first 4-5 days are the defining days, to see if a movie succeeds or not.

Purely based on these previews, my call is that Billu Barber will be an average film and Dilli 6 will be another big winner.

Billu Barber comes from Shah Rukh Khan’s Red chillies entertainment. So the full force of the SRK publicity machinery is behind it. Also because of this reason, the film has been propped up (out of insecurity, I suspect) with a whole host of special appearances from stars.

When a film needs to do this, and then of course, give that little time and presence to these stars on the screen, it obviously deviates from the core story. Its a first indication to me that there isn’t enough core strength, and these props have become necessary to support the film. There is Irfan Khan, and he is an undoubted talent. So the film will rise and fall with him. The glamorous Lara Dutta has been ruralized to a village housewife. What a waste. None of the songs have stayed in my head. Priyadarshan, who loves to work with Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and the kind, has been given charge of this film. Might be out of place, to an extent. So an early prediction on this film is that it will be average, perhaps disappoint considering the extent of expectations.

And then there is Dilli 6. From the absolutely awesome talent which is Rakyesh Omprakash Mehra. The one who made the classic, Rang De Basanti. And an interesting experiment Aks before that.

Well, Dilli 6 looked good in the trailer. A classic capture of old Delhi life. Amazing cinematography by the best in the business, Binod Pradhan. One scene of prayers at the Jama Masjid is absolutely breathtaking. Sonam Kapoor is actually looking good.. like an early days Juhi Chawla. Very pleasing to the eyes. The music by none other than the maestro, A R Rahman, is so much fun. Check out this song to sense the energy of the kind last seen, only in RDB, I guess. Abhishek can deliver with the right directors, as we have seen in Guru, Yuva, etc. I think Mehra would have also got the best from Abhi and this should be one good movie to see. Waiting for Feb 20th now.

Here are my preview rating for a change.. Billu Barber: 2.5/5.0, Dilli 6: 4.5/5.0.

Recession? What recession?? An evening at the Phoenix Mills..

Posted: February 8, 2009 in Uncategorized
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I had spent the whole day at IIT Mumbai, at the Entrepreneurship Summit (more on that, in a separate post later). I had heard entrepreneurs talking about the recession and the tough times, and survival and cost cutting and what not.

And then, in the evening, I went to Phoenix Mills, to see a movie a the new PVR Cinemas 7-screen multiplex there. And being there, it felt like a different world! You’d wonder what those guys were talking in the day?? Recession? Where’s the recession?!

It was full of people. People who were shopping. People eating at the various food joints there. Having their ice creams and the expensive coffees. The new very large parking lot was full. I had to drive up to the 4th level before I could find a spot. The PVR cinma screens with 225/- a ticket and 70/- for popcorn (just to give an idea) was doing roaring business. As was the large extremely well located, well lit, attractive Croma store, selling all kind of electroncs.

The whole Phoenix Mills complex holds a special fascination for me. We moved in to our first office in Lower Parel, for Homeindia.com (my first startup venture) in 1999. This office was bang opposite of Phonenix Mills. And during those days for Web 1.0 in India, there were plenty occasions for us to cross the road and go to the Phoenix Mills, for food or for bowling or just for a change. At that time, the only places that were worth going to, were the CO Bowling Co, with its Sports Bar (and where they served a good lunch) and Soul Curry, a quaint little restaurant there.

And then, as we spent from 1999 to 2007 in Lower Parel (we changed offices once, but it was right there too), we kept going across to the Phoenix Mills, at least once a week, on an average.

And we saw the transformation happen before our very eyes. Big Bazaar came, and Barista, and Planet M, and McDonalds, and Bombay Blues, and Noodle Bar, and Spaghetti Kitches, and Natural Ice Cream, etc. etc. etc. The traffic increased. There were “events” in the quadrangle in the central open area. Suddenly people were all over the place. It started taking more and more time to cross the road!! In between there were a couple of ‘incidents’ – some accidents, with workers dying too. Work slowed down, but then the Ruias managed to get things under control and work resumed. And more changes happened.

All in all, if was very fascinating to see the transformation of an old textile mill into a thriving consumer hub.

Now, there is just SO MUCH happening there, that you could pretty much get LOST!

And lost I almost was yesterday, trying to find my car back in the parking lot.

But not before seeing a society that was apparently not aware of the recession, or was not affected by it, or was living in complete denial!!

State of the economy: the hoardings say it all

Posted: February 2, 2009 in Uncategorized
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Hoardings and press advertisements have a story to say, about the state of the economy.

You know which sector’s booming and shouting itself hoarse.

We cannot forget the many dot com brands that stared you in your face, in 1999-2000. We know what happened to them after the bust.

In recent months, we have seen at times, the boards dominated by Airtel / Vodafone / Reliance… the telecom wars.

We have also seen Nokia / Samsung / Motorola / LG.. the mobile phone wars.

The eternal fighters, Coke and Pepsi, or Levers and Colgate / P&G have been consistently around.

Then there was a spurt in the retail world. And you could not go 100 meters without seeing hoardings of Lifestyle or Big Bazaar or Pantaloons..

Finally came the realty chappies. And you had big buildings and swimming pools and gardens to see on hoarding as one brand lured you after another, to get you into their new construction projects!

Then, the economy went down..

For a while, the hoardings were barren and you could see the many messages of the hoarding owners.. Some with their phone numbers to reach out to, some with a public service message.. waiting for someone to pick them up!

And yesterday the new reality struck me. At least in one specific stretch of the road. Going from Sion towards Chembur, on the Sion Trombay road, we pass the Everard Nagar / Somaiya College grounds.

On both sides of this road, as well as on the lampposts in the middle of the road, are hoardings of some Gurus. The religion “brands” if I may say so. And therein, lies the bigger message.

That when times are tough, everyone turns to God…. ! ‘Tis HIS season now.. !

“Who will cry when you die?”

Posted: February 2, 2009 in Uncategorized
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My dear friend (and I’d rather call him friend than ex-boss!), Simar referred to the book by this title, few times. I never managed to read the book, but the title intrigued me, and stayed with me.

Events of Saturday brought back this phrase to my mind. As I walked the four floors of the offices of Compare Infobase Ltd., to shake hands with most of the team members, to bid goodbye to them, on my last day at work there, I was touched by several very emotional reactions.

Some young members of the team, at least 2 levels down in the reporting hierarchy, with whom I had brief interactions over time, were verbal enough to tell me, “Sir, you can’t leave us. What will we do without you? Who will teach us?”. No, I was not a “teacher”, I was the Chief Operating Officer. But I guess, I might have managed to share some knowledge over time.

I spotted many a moist eyes, as I walked around and met managers, programmers, team leaders. There were genuine feelings of loss that they were going through, and I sensed many voices choke, as they shook their hands with me.

A couple of direct reportees – senior managers – got quite emotional. And to top it all, my friend / boss /CEO, Simar, could not completely hold back his feelings.

I was overwhelmed by the many flattering words, combined with examples, that my colleagues shared at the farewell. Also appreciated, not just the gift that they gave me, but also the large farewell card, signed with special messages by my many colleagues there. A few insisted on coming down till the car, as I left for the airport.

Very touching. Quite embarrassing also – especially, the car-drop part!

As I looked back on the day’s events on my way to the airport, I thought of this book title, “Who will cry when you die?”.

Do we leave some mark where we go? Are we touching lives? Do our actions and words inspire others, and make a change in their being?

As entrepreneurs, modesty and humility is in our being. Because we have a long agenda, and there’s always things to do. So even the intermediate victories are enjoyed momentarily, before we move on, to the next agenda. We don’t make much of it.

Likewise, as experienced persons, we have a lot in our heads, and we share bits and pieces of it, casually, in interacting with our teams and colleagues. Okay, sometimes we impart specific knowledge in training sessions and the like. But more often, it’s the casual interactions, which we may ourselves not make much ado about, but for the recipient, who is still in the early days of her career, that small bit is very valuable!

As I thought about the reactions that I got on Saturday, I realized that it was in spite of having been:

  • responsible for bringing in structured reporting, which put far more accountability on everyone; ordinarily, it should have not been a popular thing to do!
  • a strong voice to change the culture from being ‘accommodative to low performers’ (by giving them opportunities in other areas, etc.) to being a proponent of ‘if there is a clear question on performance, there is no room for the person’ theory,
  • unfortunately, at the helm of affairs and at the forefront, during the period when we needed to do few rounds of layoffs; it’s never pleasant, but what had to be done, had to be done.

There were other factors too, which were clearly steering some people away from a comfort zone. So I was glad that in spite of all these, there was appreciation and admiration of my efforts and my tenure there.

I was feeling equally bad to move on, especially after seeing this reaction. If circumstances were a little different, I would have continued and tried to lead the company to even greater heights.Well, that was not to be…

For now, I cherish the farewell. I appreciate the emotions of the team.

But most of all, I recognize the impact that my experience, my sincere involvement with the team, my bits of training, my knowledge, can make. It’s something to recognize, and to utilize well, for the benefit of any organization that I am associated with, now and in future!!

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