Dr. Tongue-Fu! – The Doctor of Words.

The quote, “Discipline when properly practised rewards you with a multifaceted approach”, goes true with Professor Dr. Ushy Mohandas.

A doctor, a passionate spiritual scientist teaching meditation, an exemplary natural leader, a stand-up comedienne, a voice artist, a columnist, an ardent writer blogger, she has served many globally reputed media channels. Her inspirational quotes and articles leave an indelible impact on the public, making every earnest reader to sit back and think.

The evangelical enthusiast spearheading DAC, Doctors against Corruption, was awarded with “Hope of the Nation” award and bestowed with “The Indian Doctor of the year” award, for her exemplary service, research and innovation to this profession.

Acclaimed for her energetic, honest unbiased keynote speeches, she is famous for her spontaneous wit and strong and simple delivery style. A much sought-after teacher and speaker across the globe, numerous people have enjoyed the warmth, humor, and transformational power of her mind and self-development workshops.

The book “When Dreams have Wings,” featured her as a born leader. Always in the forefront, discussing social evils and unscrupulous practices, this Iron lady effortlessly and competently manages 12 careers conjointly.

Let’s get to know more about the pillar behind The Mind Workshop, the soul of Dr. Ushy’s Wisdom Works and The Regional Head IHRO Karnataka, Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, the multifaceted Doctor of Words, Professor Dr. Ushy Mohandas.

1) At what age did you take to such intense, deeper level of thinking? What took you to this stride? 

My journey has been filled with lessons, hardships, heartaches, joys, celebrations and special moments that will ultimately lead me to here. From childhood have always been curious observer and learner and ask the why and how very often to gain more clarity on what I saw and felt.

 I will never define myself in terms of anyone else. I will never feel the pressure of peers or the burden of societal expectation. I can view everyone as pieces of a whole, and focus on the whole, not the pieces. I have learned to observe, far better than most people observe. I am not blinded by the past or motivated by the future. I focus on the present because that is where I am destined to live. 100 percent awareness has always been key to my growth and depth of thought. I accept life as it comes.

2) You consider Rumi and Gibran as a great impact in your journey as an influencer, who else would you, add to the list? 

Oh, I always learn from people I meet and interact with every day. It started with a very strong close-knit family and upbringing with values. As one goes on along the journey, got to realize that human consciousness is not confined to the physical being alone. It started with understanding that the whole is much bigger than the sum of the parts. I have also learned that the worth of my life will depend on how I have loved and laughed, cared and shared – and not on the length of my years or the balance in my account. Both these giants have led me to believe and realize that love is the act that tries to bring beauty into being. I do my best to add value either directly or indirectly to as many lives as possible.

 3) Any transformative experience that changed you to such a striking personality? 

Every experience good, bad or ugly has surely transformed me through acceptance of it.

4) Being addressed as a spiritual scientist, how strongly does this term enhance you? 

It is often said that something which does not kill you will make you stronger. It all depends on how one defines the word “spirit” It can have different meanings to different people. In this sense, “spiritual” means looking back at the person you were and comparing it to the person you have become today. It also means looking deep into your soul and realizing that the person you are today would not exist if it were not for the things that have happened in the past or for the people that you have met. I have researched energy a lot and healed a lot of people through the same. Most of what I share has been researched intensely and some I still do not have the answers. This journey of mining the soul and the spirit which is evidence based is both spiritual and scientific. Please remember I am a doctor and always need the evidence!

5 ) What would be your advice and aspirations for the next generation? 

Mental fatigue and burnout is almost like an epidemic post the pandemic. Make the most of what you have, putting resources to unfamiliar use and imagining possibilities like others do not see. Keep learning! Learning means growing. He who always learns knows how to grow in maturity. When you pursue with tenacity, and strive through the adversities and the vicissitudes of life with a mind of fortitude and get to the end of the journey, you shall surely see life. Instead of slipping into denial to cope with hardship, you need to take a sober down to earth view of reality of your situation. You will cope much better. When hard time strike resist the urge to view yourself as a victim and to cry “Why Me” Rather, devise constructs about your suffering to create meaning for yourself and others. You need to build bridges from your present ordeal to a fuller, better future.

6) Having interest in Pediatrics, neuropsychology, music, public speaking, RJ, standup comedian, a leadership coach and an intense motivational speaker, (multi-faceted roles) which role would you relate yourself the most? 

In the end, the wealth, comfort and joy we had in life would matter less as compared to how we used the wealth, comfort and joy for distinctive footprints. I have strived to make a difference and create footprints so every opportunity has mattered. I do not compare one with the other and have given each role I play my 100 percent. Day by day we live life! Day by day we live and leave something behind; something good or something bad! Something mediocre or something noble! Make sure you leave a legacy behind.

7) Your thoughts on empowering women and gender biases? 

Business ventures are currently facing all sorts of risks that seem to be endangering their very existence. And in that business world, women leaders are still a minority. This statement comes as no surprise to most of us; what is surprising is that men outpace women in leadership roles across every sector in the world: corporate, nonprofit, government, education, medicine, military and religion. At Fortune 500 companies, however, women hold only 19 percent of board seats and 15 percent of executive officer positions, and the number of female CEOs at these companies is a paltry four percent. Four percent of 500 companies equal 20 female CEOs, with male CEOs running the remaining 480 companies. I will choose to discuss some unseen barriers in this context. At any given point in a woman’s career, she is likely to experience one or more of these barriers. Sometimes the barrier is overt, and other times the barrier will be concealed behind another agenda.

Changing Institutional Mindsets

Institutional mindsets are the most significant barrier and are a major reason that we do not see more women at the top levels of leadership. People make assumptions about women at work and as leaders based on their stereotypical roles in society. Often, women are limited in their advancement or, worse, never even given an opportunity because of bias. Even more worrisome, much of the bias that people have toward women is unconscious. Research has found that it is not the conscious or explicit bias that primarily causes barriers and misunderstandings and limits potential. Rather, it is the unconscious or hidden biases that are really problematic. One solution is for women to proactively and consistently communicate their desires to advance, travel or take a new assignment. This type of communication will help put to rest any assumptions made about them.

Changing Individual Mindsets

One example of individual mindsets or limitations is office housework: getting the coffee, taking the notes, picking up the donuts, planning the holiday party and all the other behind-the-scenes work that helps a company run smoothly. Women frequently volunteer for office housework, which is time-consuming and often goes unrecognized. On the other hand, men tend to volunteer for activities that are more visible. One solution is for women not to volunteer for these types of activities every time. While they are supportive and helpful, let other employees contribute, including men.

Accommodating Lifestyle Choices

Lifestyle choices and work-life balance priorities are more valued now than in previous generations. The most recent data show that millennial men value work-life balance as much as women have for the past several decades. However, there are many companies who still adhere to rigid work hours, structure and policies. One solution is to seek employers that value (and promote) work-life balance and offer flexible options. If no options are available, request that your company create new programs or policies. Companies are now more responsive to employee and corporate pressures, and chances are that your colleagues want the same things, too. Only after these barriers are removed will women advance in large numbers to senior leadership positions. It’s the only way to achieve more diverse, inclusive and balanced leadership across global organizations. When women become leaders, they bring skills, different perspectives, and structural and cultural differences which ultimately drive effective solutions to the companies occupied by men. With different perspectives and a sense of awareness, women can investigate finer details to see what is really going on underneath.

8) Why Wisdom Works and how do you visualize Wisdom Works five years from now?

We have many people with degrees not knowing how to apply their education. Knowledge can be communicated, but not wisdom. It is slow and surely works once acquired. It is a long arduous journey and well worth at the end. It is being here now that is important. There is no past and there is no future so it is very difficult for me to visualize Wisdom Works five years from now. However, I am of the firm belief that tomorrow belongs to those who put in efforts and preparation today. Let’s not ruin the present by worrying about our future!

On behalf of the Shesight team we extend our sincere thanks and gratitude for her time and effort. We wish her the very best on both personal as well as professional front.

Written by-

Hey Man, Are you Truly Empowered?

After February, the month of love comes March and the month becomes too hot to handle! 

Exam fever, the hot weather and yeah, the women’s day posters – aren’t these enough to make our day hot in March!!

Talk about women, suddenly in March, the whole world gets reminded that there is this fifty per cent of the world population that needs to be recognised, that needs to be cared for, appreciated and admired and their voices also need to be heard. Thankfully, due to the thousands of Women’s day events, seminars and campaigns, we today acknowledge better the contributions of women in our society. 

Well, despite all these celebrations, every day we hear news which depreciates the value of a woman and her life on this planet. 

For e.g., look at some of the news headlines that I read in the past week 

1. Court asks the rapist if he is willing to marry the victim. 

2. Court says “However brutal a man is, can sex between husband and wife be called rape?” 

3. A Politician addresses a rally of women demanding school fee waiver as “You produce children, why should Govt pay for education?”

4. The Father of a minor rape victim shot dead for giving a police complaint. 

5. 23 year old woman sent out of her house for dowry dispute commits suicide. 

6. 14 year old school girl drugged and raped several times by the drug mafia at her own house. 

7. Divorce petition filed by husband since wife does not know to cook his favorite dish. 

8. Touching a minor girl’s breast with clothes on cannot be considered molestation. 

9. Husband beat up and strangled wife since he did not like the tea she made. 

10. Husband locked up his wife for several days in a bathroom due to an argument.

Oh, well, the above list is endless and this is just the tip of the iceberg considering the number of gender-based violence and issues that women face on a day to day basis. These might seem like “yet another societal problem” and we can even blame the Government for not providing safety for women or scorn the lopsided judiciary. But let me also share a message that I received in Prayaana last day. 

The message is from a woman in her 40s who contacted our Comeback 2 Career Mission coordinator for getting help as a job. Though she was a BTech holder (which was taken almost two decades back), she needed a lot of up-skilling and mentoring to be able to join back career. 
Our coordinator counselled her and asked her to join the mentoring program for which she needs to pay a nominal monthly fee of Rs.300/-

. To which she replied that she won’t be able to make the payment since her husband won’t give her the money and her parents are not alive. This might seem a shocker for some people. But I am used to hearing these kinds of responses from women many times.

The basic premise under which the Indian society (and many other nations as well) still functions is that women are one step below the powerful and strong men. All her decisions and needs are to be met by the man in the household. Unless this concept is changed, we cannot progress as a society. 

Ironically, most International Women’s Day posters glorify the empowered women and also keep telling that “Women are already empowered”. Well, I think, this is a myth propagated by the privileged segment of people. In reality, it is still a question, whether our women are empowered at all! As long as women are not empowered to make financial decisions related to family and their needs within a family, I do not think she is empowered.

Financial empowerment is the first and foremost thing a woman shall be aware of. Being a housewife doesn’t mean that she cannot take financial decisions for her own needs! Forget housewife,  we still have working women whose husband is the custodian of her ATM card and who decides how much money she gets every month for her travel to the office and other needs. 

Well, these may appear as things happening in some rural India or some underdeveloped country. But the fact is that these are incidents happening in our locality! Maybe in our neighbour’s house or in our own house. Did we ever check or have we taken it granted as a norm? 

According to me, the possible solution to all women issues is first making the woman truly empowered. And True empowerment starts with two things 

1.Empowered to make decisions related to self and stick to it without any guilty feeling. 2.Empowered to pay their own bills and to make financial decisions in the family. 

Change must begin in small things. Change must begin within each of us. A woman shall also invest in building her life better. Any money spent on upskilling, personal growth or pursuing passions/hobbies are all investments that you make for yourself. And the more you invest in yourself, the more you become precious and valuable.  And once the woman is empowered in the above two aspects, I am sure the men also need to empower themselves. 

So, to all the women who are celebrating International Women’s day this year, I challenge you to become “truly empowered” before you celebrate your womanhood! 

And to all men, who forward IWD posters to women you know, I challenge you also to become “truly empowered” by not depending on a woman for your day to day needs. This dependence in the form of glorification is indeed a chain that prevents a woman from flourishing her potentials!

Happy Women’s Day 2021!

#CeeVee 

Dr. Chandra Vadhana
Founder and Chief Mentor 
Prayaana Labs

“Edge” of the Computing

Cloud Computing had been a buzz word for quite some time. However, certain latency and network connectivity aspects of cloud computing brought a need in processing the data on-prem or near to the premises where the data is captured. This gave birth to a new aspect called “Edge Computing”. While Edge Computing is not a replacement for Cloud Computing, it has certain advantage over Cloud Computing in certain uses cases, especially from a networking, data processing and storage perspectives. Edge computing is already familiar to us in many ways, from your wearable watches to drone-enabled crop management.

What is Edge Computing?

In simple words, edge computing is the practice of capturing, processing and analyzing data near where it is created, i.e., data analysis takes place on a device in real-time. Thus, this computing brings data and compute closest to the point of interaction and instead of journey to the cloud data center for processing which takes more time, more bandwidth and costs more – the data processing happens on the user’s device at the edge of the network.

Where is the ‘Edge’?

‘Edge’ is relative to a topology. A customer device’s edge is not the service provider’s edge. Since the processing of data over the WAN, even it is to a private data center cannot be called as Edge Computing, the edge should ideally be before the data crosses any WAN.
The following picture illustrates the typical devices in an Industrial IoT solution and the ‘EDGE’ is seen before the WAN in this topology :

Examples of Edge Computing
EDGE Computing offers a variety of unique selling points for smart IoT applications and use cases across multiple industries. Some most popular use cases that depends on Edge computing for improved performance, productivity and security includes
1) Voice Assistant technologies like Amazon Echo, Apple Siri, Google Home etc. which requires computational power and data transmission speed for improved performance. There are aspects where customer’s privacy and data security need to be maintained and thus vendors in this technology are enhancing their AI capabilities and deploying the technology closer to the edge so that data is not moving across the network.
2) Autonomous Vehicles are another real-time processing required devices, where without drivers, the vehicles should be capable of reacting to road incidents on real-time. Latency in data transmission between vehicle sensors and cloud data centers can have huge impact on the responsiveness of self-driven vehicles.
3) Predictive Maintenance in manufacturing industries is another strong use case for edge computing as it demands continuous performance and uptime of automated machines. With edge computing, IoT sensors can monitor health of the machines and identifies the time-sensitive maintenance issues in real-time.

Future of Edge Computing

Several researches and developments are happening in AI and 5G connectivity technologies and with the rising demand of smart industrial applications, edge computing is getting matured faster. Edge computing in telecom, referred to as ‘Mobile Edge Computing’ or ‘Multi- Access Edge Computing’ will be a revolution in the next generation cellular network called 5G. Edge computing will be an enabler for broader use-cases in the future with increasing interests in Augmented Reality/Virtual Reality, upcoming 5G radio networks, smart manufacturing etc.

References:
https://alln-extcloud-storage.cisco.com/blogs/1/2020/02/Edge-Compute-Inline-Image.png
https://stlpartners.com/edge-computing/what-is-edge-computing/

written by-

Haima Deshpande & Caroline Samson

‘Age is just a number, don’t be burdened by its weight’

–Haima Deshpande

A few decades back, Journalism was a male-dominating career. Only a few courageous women took up a career as a Journalist. So, Haima, who was in her twenties, decided to pursue her passion. Little did she know that one day she will become today’s entrepreneur who is shaping up the careers of many. No, she isn’t alone. Like Arjun had Krishna’s back during Mahabharata, similarly, Haima didn’t begin her journey on her own. She has Caroline Samson as Krishna by her side.

The aim of starting this company is to create brands, make celebrities of those who are armed with a purpose that serves society. This is a content-driven company aimed at branding the work of those who are otherwise shy to talk about their achievements. 

During this COVID-19 period, they came up with the idea that apart from their own life, how can they contribute to society? They sat down and thought why not step into the world of entrepreneurship? Of course, it wasn’t as easy as it may sound. But they were determined to head towards this new journey. After discussions that went on for many hours, they finally decided to start a joint venture named ‘Haimadeshpande LLP’.

It was not easy for Caroline who had been a marketer for decades, to move out of her comfort zone, by stepping out of her regular 9-5 job, to start something which could have risked her employability. Neither was it easy for Haima, who was a successful journalist and a writer. But as said by Caroline, ‘ Pressure makes diamonds.’ This pushed the two to begin the road which was least travelled.

Along with their aim to help people create their own brand story and use the platform to either climb the corporate ladder or help you boost your brand through our platform, they thought to contribute some percentage of their earnings to charitable causes for senior citizens.

This way, they wanted to work for the betterment of society.

They say that behind every successful man, there’s a woman. But for Caroline and Haima, it was the male-driven society because of which they were constantly pulled down for everything they achieved. No matter how good you are, there is always that one person who will always pull you down no matter how hard you try. 

And this is what motivated the two to start their own company.  

Haima and Caroline have grown together, they were colleagues, close friends, and now business partners. They are proving that no woman needs a man’s back. It’s you who has to decide what you want from your life. If not you, then somebody else will control it. Their family background had no connection in this business industry, yet they made it big. The reason being, their hard work, and perseverance. Their journey not only encourages women to stand on their own feet but also tells them that nothing is impossible if you have the inner desire to achieve what you want. Now, they are working every day to help people buildup their brands. 

Some golden words of wisdom that they wanted to share with the world

 It is easy to achieve your dreams if you work with a plan. Make your dreams your reality by giving them energy.

   – Haima Deshpande

(Haima Deshpande)

Believe in yourself, everything is possible, if you put your mind and heart into it.

– Caroline Samson

(Caroline Samson)

Article by-

Ms. Neha Nautiyal

No Sympathy please : says the First Transgender contestant in Assembly Election!

-Meet Ms. Ananya…. The first transgender to contest in Kerala elections

Ms. Ananya Kumari Alex of the age 28, is the first transgender person to be a part of the assembly elections in the state. A model, news presenter, anchor, make-up artist, radio jockey and resource person on gender issues. She has overcome a lot of hurdles ever since she came out in 2011. 

This move to stand in elections has been a historic step, not only for the transgender community but also for Kerala. The election campaign was challenging for her as some people were not even aware of the existence of the transgender community. When asked about how she would like to change the mind-set of people, she said, “We do not want anyone’s sympathy. What we want is equality. People who have a voice in the society should start to spread awareness about male, female and transgender equality whenever they talk about equality.”

She is representing the Democratic Social Justice Party (DSJP). Her mother’s experience in Vengara where she could not get access to safe drinking water, made her rethink policies that ought to be followed in such cases. This would be the first thing she would fix. The main aim of DSJP is to provide equal opportunities to marginalized communities. This led her to stand for the elections.

Only 290 people have been identified as transgender in Kerala, to which she replied the reason may be the technical issues as well as personal choice of people which is to not identify themselves as transgender.

Her solution to end the crisis which the third gender faces includes giving reservation in PSC vacancies. She also said that government should create a workspace with more people from the transgender community.

#asssemblyelections #kerala #equality #equalopportunity #freedom #KeralaElections #leadership

Ask the Mentor

Q1. My son is in 7th standard and wishes to be a You Tuber. Should I encourage him or ask him to focus on his studies first?

Answer. First, appreciate your son that he has a passion. Then discuss the theme of this passion and seriousness in that. Do not say that you cannot do. But inspire him for the studies so that he will have a better understanding that degree is added advantage for a You tuber. Motivate and discuss with son and be friendly with him so that he will always discuss his plans with you. Time will change their interest and passion. If he is having more passion he can take up the role of You tuber along with studies with your supervision.

Q2. My husband lost his job a few months ago, and I have been shouldering the responsibilities at home. But now he is getting frustrated with the job rejections. How do I handle this situation?

Ans. I appreciate for your capacity to shoulder the responsibility. As a family understanding between couples and mutual help is needed.

 Sit with your husband and discuss with him the situation of the job market during the Corona pandemic and give a positive vibe that better is offer is yet to come. Motivate him to upskill or can take up his passion and add his knowledge in that. Take him for a morning or evening walk or meet friends so he will not be frustrated. Try to have a small chit-chat daily with your husband at least 30minutes daily to share his feelings. Tell him to allocate few hours for job search and then for upskilling. As a wife you help him to make a timetable for each, so he will use time wisely.