changes @ zice head quarters 5

2 quarters back we have decided to change the look of our office.. we started inviting proposals.. this was one proposal sent by a reputed agency...they proposed an 8 seater office.. and the quote was a cool lakh and a half thats a whole lot of money... (3750 USD Approx)
what have we done with the proposal..

r-e-j-e-c-t-e-d

common sense prevailed

:-)

changes @ zice head quarters 4

working space for 4.. that was our team strength 6 months back... in this image you can see two desktops and one lap top... and a printer.. that was our seating arrangement two in the front.. kris and shoaib.. and two at the rear.. anurag and me.. wires dangling around...
ugly uh!
we have painted the furniture blue..that was a cheap substitute to the laminate... and yes we also added 4 revolving chairs...

changes @ zice head quarters 3

GOT AC! Voila...


this was the second important event at Zice...


buying an AC!

Thanda Matlab Zice Office!

changes @ zice head quarters 2

photogarph taken about 18 months back.. fyi: thats me with my dad ( babu rao, engineer at bhel ).. showed my office for the first time..
that was one my memorable moments..
you can have a look at the furniture in the back ground.. we were using quarter finshed furniture... asbolutely raw stuff.. and two make shift pinboards..

changes @ zice head quarters 1

salaries sky rocketing !

have heard numerous stories that salaries are hitting the roof. the one that really shook me of the ground was "we were looking at hiring a office boy.. this 17 yr lad comes in .. and asks fro 4000 rs a month.. we were trying to poach him from our neighbours... where he was paid 2500.. that's a whopping 60% hike that he was asking for...

:-(

we haven't hired him: common sense prevailed
my neighbour still has his office boy and when i last spoke to him and shared the incident.. he said that he is asking for a raise in salary..

vintage selling by the office boy! kudos to him.

why is rupee becoming stronger against dollar ?

1) because rbi ( our govt ) has run outta money due to heavy lending.
2) fdi's are moving out of INDIA
3) banks have lent too much money
4) in order to retain some money from phirangs ( fdi's) ruppe value has been increased from 45 to 40. this means phirnags will loose about 9 percent. this may de-motivate them to immediately pull out money.
5) bottom line: one way to stop fdi's to run out with their cash bags.
6) its all by design thanks to rbi

pearl

Motionless was i !
when i saw you first
your innocent smile
magical eyes
and the brilliant radiance
is reminiscent of a pearl.
my pearl!
you make me curl
you bring so much joy
i promise to take this pearl
i promise to take this pearl
to places as far as i can go!

~ravi

ps: i have composed this poem for my girl friend ekta

look out for possibilities

one has little or no control on situations. but how can you come out of a bad situation or make the most from a good situation. have a hawk eye! look for possibilities and make the most of it. recently as a part of business deal we had to organize a corporate offsite for a three day offsite at a popular destination called corbett national park. because of some shoddy vendor management from our end ( MY END ) we were unable to get reservations at the destination. our vendor cancelled our booking. this was done 6 hrs before departure ( imagine 60 participants all set for offsite and the vendor pulling off at the last minute). now the situation was "it was a extended week-end i had little control on that. all the resorts were full, up and running. the only way was either to cancel the trip or do it at any other destination. the later was ruled out. i mustered the courage to call the client and wanted to inform him that it was just not happening. tho at the back of my mind i was scanning uttaranchal and himachal to figure out where to accommodate. there we found a place that was brand new and they were willing to take us in.

PERFECT was how the holiday was described by the client at the end of their offsite. but in the bargain we have fumbled upon a destination that is a gold mine. under normal circumstances we would never have tried this place. but looking for this possibility unlocked a whole new hidden opportunity.

so guys LOOK OUT FOR POSSIBILITIES!

how much one should consume?

consumerism has been a boon to all the retail big wigs around the world. and yes it has got indians flight of fancy too. my question is how much is too much? the ugly head is excessive consumerism in simple words people buying too many things than they require. this is the new age junk mind set. the upside is retailers making more money. the downside is ... guess its a long list. it has a huge impact on the eco system. by buying more we are creating a divide... so how do we stop it?

ravi, founder ceo, zice holidays www.ziceholidays.com