Pratima Shah

   The women of my generation might be considered naive and the generations that followed us is too practical. We knew too little compared to the what the girls of today know. The girls that are growing up today may not be the first to encounter equal opportunity but they are definitely the first to learn that all the opportunities may not ever translate in professional achievement. These girls have watched their mothers sacrificing something by trying to "do it all". The something that women gave up / sacrificed was actually their careers.    Women have the skills to lead in any position at the workplace. In some of the elite institutions in India women are outnumbering men at the workplace. The gender gap in academics is a threat to the men as women have outnumbered them here. Yet the tragedy is that the pipeline that is choked with educated women at the entry level is enormously filled with men who are into the leadership positions. The reasons for this winn...

   Have you ever felt that there is a kind of tension in your body due to which you have a tight neck / tight shoulders / upset stomach / headaches / or anything like a heavy weight on your body? Due to these symptoms one feels as if there is a huge burden on the body; like a heavy backpack on you. This backpack is filled with nothing but the emotional baggage that one carries throughout the life. This baggage may have come into your life due to childhood problems / familial issues / workplace issues / issues of the society. Sometimes one is so stuck in the old habits that these old habits are responsible for adding a load to the existing emotional baggage that you have stuffed your backpack with.    The emotional baggage one carries interferes with many of the phases of one's life - personal / professional / societal / ambitions / relations / satisfaction in life and many others. This happens because we are very much influenced by our past experiences - solved ...

   There are a variety of techniques through which the candidates can answer the questions during an interview. Techniques like compelling story technique, parroting technique, re framing technique, mirroring technique and the Abraham Lincoln technique. One particular approach that can be used to answer the behavioral questions is STAR (situation, task, action and result). It helps a candidate to answer the questions related to his / her behavior by structuring it as per the situation, task, action or the result. This technique helps your to deliver your responses in a simple yet powerful manner and gives an idea on how he / she has dealt with specific work situation and its challenges.     STAR is also known as CAR (context/ challenge, action, result. Both are same in its approach; context here in the CAR relates to situation and task of STAR. Both these methods are similar to the PAR (problem, action, result). The plus point of STAR is that it allows to ...

   Sometimes I wonder - do we love our people in the right way? What is the right way to love our dear ones? Who decides what is right and wrong? But then with experience all of us realize that to love someone in the right way we need to set them free; allow them to fly in the sky they want to fly and not suffocate them in the name of love. This is so easy to type / say, but difficult to practice. Everyone especially the emotional and highly sensitive ones among us are sooooo caring, anxious, and touchy for the ones they love. This behavior leads to many issues in their relations. Sometimes it is even on the verge of getting shattered completely.     The highly volatile issues that come up in any relation are due to the immense love / care / concern for the person we love. It is possible that the person we love may feel suffocated due to this excess things from our side. This happens the most in cases where one of the partner is over - possessive / when ...

       It is aptly said in the Persian language - " bee aamoz ta-zindai " which means - There is no end to learning.  Only a learner till the end, can acquire true knowledge in life. It is the duty of every teacher to keep oneself abreast of all the developments and teaching strategies in their field. Read a lot, do proper planning of classes, prepare yourself daily for classes and deliver it with great enthusiasm. Times have changed and so must the teacher. There is abundant to read, learn and restructure as today's classroom is very different and difficult to handle than the past. Teaching is a noble profession where one has no right to play with the future of the learners. Develop virtues of honesty, integrity, punctuality,  simplicity and discipline as they are at the core of being a good teacher.  Create a conducive environment for learning and this will all be possible if you are like a learner all your life. Do not let the learner within ...

   Irrespective of your field / job description you are always a salesperson - because you communicate the value of something that you do / are required to do. Due to the competition and rivalry one must learn the art of selling yourself in your field / career.     One constantly strives to sustain a positive image of the self. One is selling ideas by highlighting its merits / trying to expand your horizons of influence / negotiating to disagreements / trying to make others agree to your point of view. We need to get better at all of these in order to rise at a personal and professional level because we are always selling our ideas / views / creativity / opinions and many more things that we are required to do for the profession we are in.     To sell yourself effectively one must have a well written sales pitch in the form of your resume / CV. It will shortlist you for the position you are applying for, if it sounds like a professional ...

   One is mostly hurt by the expectations which he / she has from someone in life. The rash of expectations has the power to lead us towards despair. Once we experience despair we begin dissecting ourselves and the situations that led to despair. On reflecting, one finds that even though there is anger towards the situation and the person, the heart does not quit. It goes on and on with the memories / thoughts / conversations / and the roller coaster ride in that vicious cycle. Estrangement does not come that easily to many of us. One longs to be in the situation even though in despair. This is witnessed when you are in love with someone to the extent that you do every little thing for the person but still get no affection in return.             Many times things take a drastic turn and relations may even turn into hate stories. When so, one needs to reflect over the reasons - like the kind of words used / actions of the past and behavio...