Dr.Kalam - A visionary beyond boundaries!!

(5th October 1931 - 27th July2015)

Before I write anything further, I'm sure you must have witnessed different reactions of people from all walks of life on the sad demise of Mr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam. They all paid their condolences to this great soul. This is a huge loss for the entire nation. So today, we would like to dedicate this article to him by mentioning some interesting facts about Mr. Kalam’s life, which also gave us immense motivation and inspiration:

Kindness:

The following incident happened during his tenure in DRDO, where he rejected the suggestion to put broken glass on the top of the wall. He reportedly said “If we do that, birds will not be able to perch on the wall”. DRDO officials want to cover the perimeter of the area for security purposes, without keeping in mind the importance of nature and its beautiful gifts. This was an example of the kindness in his heart, towards every living being.

Selflessness:

The Indian government takes care of all its presidents and former presidents for their entire life-time. He knew that and that’s why he donated all his life savings to his NGO named PURA (Providing Urban Amenities to Rural Areas). Apparently, Dr. Kalam called up Dr. Verghese Kurien, the founder of Amul, and asked: “Now that I have become the President of India, the government is going to look after me till I am living; so what can I do with my savings and salary?”

Friendship:

During his presidential visit to Kerala’s Raj Bhavan, he had the opportunity to call anyone, to become the presidential guest. However, he invited a roadside cobbler and the owner of a small time hotel. Both of them were quite close to him during his tenure in Kerala. Can you really beat that?  He never forgot those 2 people who were with him during his days of struggle.

Love for kids:

During one of the award ceremonies in The President House, he interrupted the speech of the government official and instructed him to start the award ceremony as soon as possible. The Reason?  400 students were waiting for him to come outside and meet him. Mr. Kalam doesn’t want to make students wait at all. He always believed in the power of youth and his dream was to shape the future of India with the help of today’s generation.

Equality:

At a convocation in IIT- Varanasi, Dr. Kalam was the chief guest. There he saw 5 chairs on the stage, his chair being the tallest one. He refused to sit on that chair and offered the seat to the University Vice chancellor. The vice chancellor couldn’t accept the offer, and hence, another chair was made available, equal in size to the other 4 chairs.

Hard work and Dedication:

India’s first Satellite launch vehicle (PSLV) was to get the ROHINI satellite into orbit in 1980, however, the attempt was unsuccessful, and the satellite fell into the bay of Bengal. This failure shook Dr. Kalam but he worked harder and the very next year, his team managed to achieve success, and he became the cynosure in everyone eyes. There are many more examples which show that his dedication and hard work led him to get many laurels and gave us inspiration, to not lose our focus and always have hope, even if the first 'n' attempts fail!

These were some of his personality traits which we will never ever forget. We have to keep passing his legacy to our future generations so that the name of this visionary will always glow on the top of this world. The light of the knowledge given by him to all of us will guide us, always. RIP Dr. Kalam. We will miss you!

Peer Pressure - How to tackle it...?

The new session has already started and many of you will come into colleges where a new freedom will be waiting for you. You want to break all the shackles & enrich yourself with new the colors of life. You don’t want to feel restricted by any rules or regulations from any person. You want to try new things. However, some of the things you try are by choice, and others by PEER PRESSURE.

Peer pressure is something which is 'On You' everywhere, whether you are a student or a working professional. It makes you do those things which you might not have done yourself. It can be anything, like buying an expensive watch, having a girlfriend or boyfriend, smoking or drinking. Sometimes it dawns on you so much that you forget your true self and you want to be someone else because you want to remain in your favorite group.

Peer pressure sometimes consumes you from inside and you take some obnoxious decisions that you end up repenting for life. So How to avoid it? We present some ways by which you can avoid that pesky 'Peer Pressure'.

ASK Questions

If someone wants you to give something a try, start asking questions about that thing. Ask as many questions as you can and suddenly your peer will start distancing himself from you. He won't be able to answer all your question and will not apply that pressure on you just because he is afraid of  not having logical answers for you and your queries.

Art of Saying “NO”

You should know how to say NO! It should be assertive, affirmative and you should really mean it. It will help you to avoid the same situation again and also, it will clearly show your interest level.

Analysis of Friends

You should know who your friends are. If they want you to do something you are not comfortable with, then start avoiding those friends. True friends will always respect who you are and what you are. Find a buddy who shares your values and point of views.

Take Advice

This is what your parents, seniors and teachers are there for. Take their advice and then try to implement them. They are more experienced and they have been through all this before. You just need to believe that what they are saying is true.

Share your opinions, loud and clear

Always support the underdog. For example, if you see that someone in your group is getting bogged down by your other friends then support that friend. When you support him, you will also clear your point of view simultaneously on the same matter. Always remain clear with your thoughts and speak in a clear and assertive manner.

Be Repetitive

Keep repeating yourself till the time your other friend stops putting pressure on you. It will be irritating for him and he might not buzz you next time onwards for the same uncomfortable thing.

Confront the leader

Last but not the least, just nab the leader of your bully friends when you are alone with him and confront him on all the matter with which you have issues.

These are some of the tips by which you can tackle peer pressure in a positive way. Finally a real account of someone’s life in her own word:

Alison (aged 18) says:

“I started doing drugs when I was 15. All my friends were into it and I honestly felt it was ok to do the stuff with them. I now know that I shouldn’t have done and it has taken me over a year to get back to where I’m at today. I’ve got drugs out of my body. I still don’t feel good about it and some days can be better than others... but I’m looking forwards, not backwards. I think that’s important. I know it was peer pressure that got me into that stuff. We all got screwed up. My advice to anyone is if you know that you shouldn’t do stuff then don’t do it – even if your friends think it’s cool. It’s not worth it… and your life gets messed up. I still have some of my friends but they’ve changed. They’re still trying to get their lives together. Don’t do drugs. You only get one body and only you can look after it.”

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6 Must-Reads for New Age Businessmen

When starting a company, there are many resources available to you with folks telling you how, why, when and where to start your business in order to become a successful entrepreneur, at an early age.  Unfortunately, many, if not most, of these resources are mediocre, misleading, or just not useful.  Having access to the right resources to assist you is critical for your long term success.  Since your ‘time’ when you start your company is at a premium, you want to ensure that every moment you spend reading relevant books is time well spent. So, without further delay, here is a list of 6 books that I have found invaluable for new age businessmen, in starting a venture, afresh.  

Good Luck:  Creating the Conditions for Success in Life and Business.  I like this book as a motivational book.  Without becoming too trite or platitudinous, it is another short read that will put you in the proper perspective for starting your company and putting your efforts into the context of your overall life plan.  This is a great book to read, discuss with someone you trust, then give to someone else you think will benefit from it. 

The Little Red Book of Selling.  Every entrepreneur will need to know how to sell.  Whether you’re selling prospective employees on your vision, investors on your company, or customers on your product, you need to be able to sell.  Even if you have a partner who is responsible for sales or you hire a sales person, you need to understand the methodical sales process.  This book takes you through an industry-generic process for the sales cycle.  It’s a fast read, and a book to keep for reference.

3-D Negotiation. Another critical skill for any entrepreneur is to be able to negotiate.  Much as fighting in a skilled way isn’t about wading in and swinging wildly and aggressively without direction, negotiation isn’t about shouting loudly and playing hardball on every point.  This book emphasizes the setting of the negotiation game board before the negotiation even starts, so that the actual tactics employed during negotiations, become secondary in importance. 

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap…And Others Don’t. How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness? Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?

Rich Dad, Poor Dad. It’s basically what I would call a personal finance perspective told in the form of a parable, a complete rethink of how money works. For example, rather than seeing an asset as something with value, this book defines an asset as being something that generates cash flow. This means that according to this book, your home is not an asset. “The rich don't work for money, they invent money” is one of the many quotes you would find whilst browsing through the book.

The E-Myth Revisited: Why Most Small Businesses Don't Work and What to Do About It. "Work on your business, not in it" may be the most oft-quoted piece of wisdom in the entrepreneurial vernacular. The author urges readers to develop systems that allow their companies to operate even without them. This book doses starry-eyed entrepreneurs with much-needed perspective.

Unsung Heros: Glimmer of Hope!!

Today, i am going to speak about those unsung heroes who are doing so much in the field of education with a novel intentions. They are adamant to bring the change the lives of many. Our main objective as Questeach is always share these stories and encourage others to become part of their vision and hardwork. So without much ado, let's start :

  

Roshni Mukherjee:    Exam fear YouTube Channel 

Due to untimely death of her father she had to leave her passion of teaching and took up a corporate job. Passion is like a spark which just need a little bit of air to become a full-fledged fire. Passion for teaching made her quit her job and took up the virtual platform to teach student. 

Today the online subscriber of Roshni’s channel is more than 70,000 and she has the content of more than 3900 videos. She teaches science and math from class 9^th to 12^th. Her platform is an example of perfect balance between costly education and quality education which normally you don’t find in sync.

    Sonal Kapoor:  Protsahan

During the shooting of a corporate film, she came across a mother of 6 daughters and about to give birth to 7^th. She was living in poverty and about to sell her daughter to brothel. It only took 1 hour for Sonal to know what she want to do from that moment onwards and she decided to start “Protsahan” to help young girls living in slums and help them to learn the nitty-gritty of arts. 

Protsahan is home of 400 girls who are undergoing through courses in NGO and some of them are rape victims at the age of 4 or 5. . Protsahan team comprises of people from IIT & IIM and people from some private companies from Johannesburg and Singapore. Today, Sonal is one of the youngest social entrepreneurial woman in India to lead an international non-profit, and Protsahan, which has been lauded with several awards and recognitions.

Amol Sainwar: Help Our People of       Education (HOPE)

He changed car tyres, gathered coal to cook mean for him and his family and used to sell bread to earn his daily mean but today he helps students to become IAS and Engineers. His project “Vidya Deep” helps in lighting the dark houses of many villages in Maharashtra with the help of solar power.

With the help of his teacher, he managed to pass class 12^th exams and get into engineering college where he tops the college and was second in university. Hope has helped 35 students to get into IAS and more than hundreds of homes got lightened because of project Vidya deep.

  Arvind Gupta: Explaining science with Trash Can

He is an IIT alumnus but his patience for science made him visit more than 3000 schools all across India. One thing which is very special about him is that all teaching aids in his class are handmade and made of trash and waste. 

He explain everyday phenomenon like light convergence and divergence by using ball point pen, tetra packs, rubber slippers etc. He has been recognized by organizations such as UNESCO, UNICEF, International Toy Research Association, Boston Science Centre, Walt Disney Imagineering and Research.

These are the modern gurus who belive in setting an example so that others can follow. As Swami Vivekananda said " One should always take the initiative - If you wins, you will lead .If you lose, you can guide". These are the people who believe in making the first move.

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The Great Indian Teachers!!

  Savitribai Phule (3 January 1831 – 10 March 1897)

In Tiffany Wayne words Savitribai Phule is  "one of the first-generation modern Indian feminists, and an important contributor to world feminism in general, as she was both addressing and challenging not simply the question of gender in isolation but also issues related to caste and casteist patriarchy."

She was the first women teacher of first women school of Indian when she opened a school of untouchable girls in 1852. As a result, people start throwing rotten eggs, stones, Cow dung etc. when she used to walk to school.  She pursued her dream and at the end of the year she managed to open 5 more school for untouchable girls. 

She was a poet and social reformer as with her husband she kept working for the welfare of widows and helpless women.

P. C. Roy (2 August 1861 – 16 June 1944)

Prafulla Chandra Roy (P.C.Roy) was known as father of modern chemical industry of India. He played a prominent role in Bengal renaissance. He Single handedly established “The Bengal Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works Limited', the first Indian Pharmaceutical company. 

As a result of his perseverance and hard work he was successful in chemical synthesizing of potassium nitrate. A very popular teacher, eminent scholar and devoted his life to spread the scientific knowledge in people.

   Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan (05^th Sept 1888 – 17^th April 1975)

India’s second president, Bharat ratna and a great philosopher is a teacher for which we should be proud of.  We celebrate teacher’s day on his birthday, everyone knows that but no one knew that his father never want him to study English. He wants him to be priest. But as destiny persists he became a great philosopher and one of the most renowned and liked figure which represented India on international arena. He was India’s ambassador to USSR during 1949-1952. Also he was the vice president from 1952-1962. He was also a professor in Oxford University on eastern religion and ethics.

George P. Conger said, "Among the philosophers of our time, no one has achieved so much in so many fields as has Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan of India ... William James was influential in religion, and John Dewey has been a force in politics. One or two American philosophers have been legislators. Jacques Maritain has been an ambassador. Radhakrishnan, in a little more than thirty years of work, has done all these things and more... Never in the history of philosophy has there been quite such a world-figure. With his unique appointment at Banaras and Oxford, like a weaver's shuttle, he has gone to and fro between the East and West, carrying a thread of understanding, weaving it into the fabric of civilization."

  C V Raman (7^th Nov 1888 -  21 Nov 1970)

India’s first nobel laureate for “Raman effect” in Physics. He was not only India’s but Asia’s first Nobel Laureate and also awarded India’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna. Raman also worked on the acoustics of musical instruments. He worked out the theory of transverse vibration of bowed strings, on the basis of superposition velocities. 

He was also the first to investigate the harmonic nature of the sound of the Indian drums such as the tabla and the mridangam.  He discovered that, when light traverses a transparent material, some of the deflected light changes in wavelength. This phenomenon is now called Raman scattering and is the result of the Raman Effect.

     Ramchandra Kundgolkar (19th Jan 1886 – 12th Sept 1952)

The most amazing thing about Ramchandra Kundgolkar is that he was the teacher of Bharat ratan laureate Pt. Bhimsen Joshi but he himself was never completed his education of music. He studies music under Ustad Karim khan who told Sawai to stay with him for at least 8 years but Sawai left him in between and become a stage singer and started playing the role of female and become famous

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These were the 5 teachers who were so good in their profession but still people don’t know much about them. We need to educate about this great personalities especially to our younger generation. They have left amazing legacy which we need to keep pass on generations after generations. There are many more in the list which we would keep sharing with time, till then enjoy reading the article.

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How to Fund your Start-Up Company

How Funding Works – Splitting Equity

First, let’s figure out why we are talking about funding as something you need to do. This is not a given. The opposite of funding is “bootstrapping,” the process of funding a start-up through your own savings. In this article, we will discuss the ‘easiest to understand’ explanation of the process. Let’s start with the basics, shall we? Every time you get funding from somewhere, you give up a piece of your company in return. The more funding you get, the more ‘company’ you give up. That ‘piece of company’ is ‘equity.’ Everyone you give it to become a co-owner of your company from there on, till they hold their share of the pie.

Splitting the Pie

The basic idea behind equity is the splitting of a pie. When you start something, your pie is really small. You have a 100% of a really small, bite-size pie. When you take outside investment and your company grows, your pie becomes bigger. Your smaller slice of the bigger pie will be bigger than your initial bite-sized pie. Take the example of Google. When it went public, Larry and Sergey had about 15% of the pie, each. But that 15% was a small slice of a really big pie.

Funding Stages

Let’s look at how a hypothetical start-up would get funding.

The Idea Stage. At first it is just you. You are pretty brilliant, and out of the many ideas you have had, you finally decide that this is the one. You start working on it. The moment you started working, you started creating value. That value will translate into equity later, but since you own 100% of it now, and you are the only person in your still unregistered company, you are not even thinking about any equity yet.

Co-Founder Stage. As you start to transform your idea into a physical prototype you realize that it is taking you longer (it almost always does.) You know you could really use another person’s skills. So you look for a co-founder. You find someone who is both enthusiastic and smart. You work together for a couple of days on your idea, and you see that he/she is adding a lot of value. So you offer them to become a co-founder. Soon you realize that the two of you have been eating ‘Maggi Noodles’ three times a day (Although not any more). You need funding. You would prefer to go straight to a VC (Venture Capital), but so far you don’t think you have enough of a working product to show, so you start looking at other options. At this stage, its best to try and work harder and faster to increase your chances with VC’s OR if you think funding is what’s holding you back, look for a rich uncle! Basically, someone who you’ve known for a while and have a mutual manner of trust and understanding.

Registering the Company

But to share your equity, even with a known family member, you must first have a registered company. Tough work right? Grab hold of a good lawyer to help you along. Only a professional and field proven lawyer would know what strings to pull in order to get your work done faster and as per rules and regulations. Now let’s assume that you ended up registering your company & issued some common stock, gave 5% to uncle and set aside 20% for your future employees – that is the ‘Option Pool.’ You did this because 1. Future investors will want an option pool & 2. That stock is safe from you and your co-founders doing anything with it…:-P

The Angel Round

With uncle’s cash in pocket runs out (God, this is really being mean to the ‘Now Poor’ uncle), you realize that you need to start looking for your next funding source right now! If you run out of money, your start-up dies. So you look at the options:

Incubators, Accelerators, and “Excubators” – these places often provide seed money, working space, and business advisors. The cash is tight – about 10 Lacs, for (10-15) % stake in the company.

Angels – These are the high bid high risk investors. That’s the good news. The bad news is that angels usually give money to companies that they valued north of 10 Cr. So, now you have to ask if you are worth 10 Cr. How do you know? Make your best case.  Let’s say it is still early days for you, and your working prototype is not that far along. You find an angel who looks at what you have and thinks that it is worth 50 lacs. He agrees to invest 10 Lacs as seed money, solely on his risk of investment and a trust factor that you happen to have developed with him during your presentation.

Now let’s count what percentage of the company you will give to the angel. Not 20%. We have to add the ‘pre-money valuation’ (how much the company is worth before new money comes in) and the investment which is 50 Lacs + 10 Lacs = 60 Lacs, post-money valuation (Think of it like this, first you take the money, then you give the shares. If you gave the shares before you added the angel’s investment, you would be dividing what was there before the angel joined). Now divide the investment by the post-money valuation which is (10/60) = 1/6 = 16.7% (The angel gets 16.7% of the company, or 1/6).

How Funding Works – Cutting the Pie

What about you, your co-founder and uncle? How much do you have left? All of your stakes will be diluted by 1/6. Is dilution bad? No, because your pie is getting bigger with each investment. But, yes, dilution is bad, because you are losing control of your company. So what should you do? Take investment only when it is necessary. Only take money from people you respect. (There are other ways, like buying shares back from employees or the public, but that is further down the road)

Venture Capital Round

Finally, you have built your first version and you have traction with users. You approach VCs. How much can VCs give you? Let’s say the VC values what you have now at 15 Cr. Again, that is your pre-money valuation. He says he wants to invest 1 Cr. The math is the same as in the angel round, but now, it’s his company, too!

Your first VC round is your series A. Now you can go on to have series B, C – at some point any of the three things will happen to you. Either you will run out of funding and no one will want to invest, so you die. Or, you get enough funding to build something that a bigger company wants to buy, and they acquire you. Or, you do so well that, after many rounds of funding, you decide to go public!

Why Companies Go Public?

There are two basic reasons. Technically an IPO is just another way to raise money, but this time from millions of regular people. Through an IPO a company can sell stocks on the stock market and anyone can buy them. Since anyone can buy you can likely sell a lot of stock right away rather than go to individual investors and ask them to invest. So it sounds like an easier way to get money.

There is another group of people that really want you to IPO. The investment bankers! They will give you a call and ask to be your lead underwriter – the bank that prepares your IPO paperwork and calls up wealthy clients to sell them your stock.  Why are the bankers so eager? Because they get 7% of all the money you raise in the IPO.

Group Discussion: How to Crack it?

Yesterday we posted about the intricacies of correct body language in your interview but before that, the one step which everyone has to go through is Group discussion (GD). GD is important as it brings out your leadership skills, team management, communication, knowledge, listening skills, problem solving and critical thinking skills.

It brings so many facets of your personality out in front of everyone and that is why it has become the stepping stone for one’s success. Cracking a GD can be very tricky, as many things happen during a very short spell of time. Lets find out what you can do to make it the "Right" spell!

Initiate the GD

As they say, it’s all about taking the first step. So don’t wait, initiate the GD and set the tone for the discussion. When you initiate the discussion, you get noticed and earn those "Extra" important points.

Allow others to speak
When you finish speaking, it’s important to not interrupt, while others are stating their point of view. If you interrupt, you will come across as a dominant personality. Also, it will be a test of your listening skills. If you really want to make a point in between, wait for the right moment to barge in.

Don’t use too much Jargon

It’s quite understandable that you might have prepared a little too much for this GD. You want to showcase your knowledge but using too much jargon and data will make your views really complex to understand. Speak clearly and politely.

Direct the flow of discussion

When the group discussion starts going haywire or the discussion looks like a scene from a fish market, step in and bring the discussion back on track. It will show your leadership skills and also highlight your problem solving and critical thinking personality

Positive attitude

Presenting negative in a positive way is a skill which you need to master, during a GD. Be positive in everything weather it’s your body language, your thoughts or your tone. Positivity will stand out and help you to get noticed.

Dress Formally:

Don’t take your casual attitude along with you ina formal discussion. Dress formerly, neatly and take care of personal hygiene.

Be prepared

Knowledge is power, and has no replacement. Read newspapers regularly, always update yourself with current affairs and increase your knowledge database, slowly and steadily. This will not happen overnight! Most of the topics which you get in GD are from current affairs so it’s important to keep updating yourself.

Hope these tips help you strike the right cord during your next formal group discussion. 

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Bad Habits due to which you're always so tired!

Have you ever wondered why you start to feel sleepy just after lunch, sitting in front of your computer screen? Or why is it that you don’t even feel like buying your own vegetables, even over the weekend, and instead rely on apps even for this! And how many times did you want to wake up early to go for a jog, set your alarm, but chose sleep over exercise in the morning. Yes, it’s the snooze button that I’m talking about here! Lack of sleep isn't the only thing that’s sapping your energy. Little things you do (and don't do) can exhaust you both mentally and physically, which can make getting through your day a chore. Here are some common bad habits that can make you feel tired, plus simple lifestyle tweaks that will put the pep back in your step.

You skip exercise when you're tired

Skipping your workout to save energy actually works against you. Regular exercise boosts strength and endurance, helps make your cardiovascular system run more efficiently, and delivers oxygen and nutrients to your tissues. So the next time you're tempted to crash on the couch, at least go for a brisk walk—you won't regret it when you’re back!

You don't drink enough water

Being even slightly dehydrated—as little as 2% of normal fluid loss—takes a toll on energy levels. Dehydration causes a reduction in blood volume, which makes the blood thicker. This requires your heart to pump less efficiently, reducing the speed at which oxygen and nutrients reach your muscles and organs. To calculate your normal fluid needs, take your weight in pounds, divide in half and drink that number of ounces of fluid a day. Typically an adult in the hot and humid sub-continent should consume 3 litres of water every day. I’m sure you’ve heard this number many times, but I hope you will try harder to incorporate this habit into your daily regime. 

You're not consuming enough iron

An iron deficiency can leave you feeling sluggish, irritable, weak, and unable to focus. "It makes you tired because less oxygen travels to the muscles and cells," Boost your iron intake to reduce your risk of anaemia. Load up on kidney beans, eggs (including the yolk), dark green leafy vegetables & nuts, and pair them with foods high in vitamin C (vitamin C improves iron absorption when eaten together).

You skip breakfast

The foods you eat fuel your body, and when you sleep, your body continues using what you consumed at dinner the night before to keep your blood pumping and oxygen flowing. So, when you wake up in the morning, you need to refuel with breakfast. Skip it, and you'll feel sluggish. Eating breakfast is like starting a fire in your body by kick-starting your metabolism. Try a combination of milk products with some eggs (The way you like them) and perhaps a few fruits like apples and bananas.

You live on junk food

Foods loaded with sugar and simple carbs (like the ones you'll find in a box) rank high on the glycaemic index (GI), an indicator of how rapidly carbohydrates increase blood sugar. Constant blood sugar spikes followed by sharp drops causes fatigue over the course of the day.

You check E-mails at bedtime

The glaring light of a tablet, smartphone, or your computer's backlit screen can throw off your body's natural circadian rhythm by suppressing melatonin, a hormone that helps regulate sleep and wake cycles. Sensitivity to the digital glow of tech toys can vary from person to person, but in general it's a good idea to avoid all technology for one to two hours before bedtime. Can't avoid checking your device before your head hits the pillow? Then hold it at least 14 inches away from your face to reduce the risk of sleep interference. Don’t need to reach out for a scale, just keep your phone at a distance!

You rely on caffeine to get through the day

Starting your morning with a java jolt is no big deal—in fact, studies show that up to three daily cups of coffee is good for you—but using caffeine improperly can seriously disrupt your sleep-wake cycle. Caffeine blocks adenosine, the by-product of active cells that drives you to sleep as it accumulates, which in turn disrupts your sleep! Just can’t catch a break right? Don’t worry, because there’s just one more reason to possibly worry about, and this one’s probably true for all of us!

You stay up late on weekends

Burning the midnight oil on Saturday night and then sleeping through Sunday morning leads to difficulty in falling asleep on Sunday night—and a sleep-deprived Monday morning is what awaits you, staring at the face of your client in during your first meeting of the day. Since staying in can cramp your social life, try to wake up close to your normal time the following morning, and then take a power nap in the afternoon. "Napping for 20 minutes or so allows the body to recharge without entering the deeper stages of sleep, which can cause you to wake up more tired!

Simple lifestyle changes can really go a long way in ensuring that you stay fit, healthy and active, throughout the day, every day!

Do's & Don'ts during an Interview

Most of us are yet to appear for our most important interviews and all our aspirations to get into the institute / company of our choice are linked to it. You must be going through your technical knowledge and spending your time brushing up on skills you've already acquired, but in today's competitive world, is it really enough to know what you do really well? When 97 people on average, are eligible for a job post you have applied for, don't you think there's something extra that needs to be done to sharpen your chances of cracking that much awaited interview opportunity? You’re technical skills ARE important, but sadly, not enough. Today we will discuss a few of the more important passive traits that must be incorporated into your persona before you can be rest assured of having more than a fair shot at working with your new employer.

Correct Body Language is the key! Here are some Do’s and Don'ts of correct body language during an interview.

Make eye contact:

It means that you are paying attention to your interviewer but it doesn't mean that you stare blankly at them. If you are facing more than one interviewer then it’s really important to make eye contact with all of them. Address the person who asked the question, then hold eye contact with the other interviewer for a few seconds, before returning your attention to the first interviewer.

Use your Hands:

You have to use your hands subtly. Do not wave too much and don't clench your fist as it will make you look nervous. As obvious as this may sound, please don't bite your nails! You might not know this, but many people actually do it unconsciously. Always keep your palms facing up as it is a sign of openness, so keep it on your lap. Touching your fingertips shows authority but use it in moderation.

Smile:

You want to show your interviewer that you have a confident personality. Smile when your interviewer does.  The tone of you smile should not be very timid or soft as it will show your nervousness and it should not be too loud as it will make you look too domineering.

Don’t slouch:

Never sit hunched forward and your legs and hands everywhere as it will show your casual approach and over relaxed attitude. As soon as you enter into the reception area, keep your posture intact.  Sit up straight and lean your body a little forward, when the interviewer asks you a question.

Don’t cross your arms:

Crossing your arms means that you are defensive and not open to the conversation which the interviewer is having with you.

Don’t touch your face:

Playing with your hairs and touching your nose make you look untrustworthy and dishonest. Also don't rub your head or neck as you will be looking bored or disinterested in the conversation.

Don’t move too much:

Don't jiggle your legs too much as it will make you look impatient and also it’s a sign of boredom. Keep your feet planted firmly on the floor.

The Perfect Handshake:

 Last but not the least; a great handshake is the perfect start and end to your interview. If you are planning to shake your right hand, arrange your stuff including whatever it is that you may be carrying, in your left hand. Be gentle with your hand grip and raise your palm up so that the interviewer’s hands can cover yours. Then, all it takes is 3 strong harmonics, not 2, not 4!

The next time you are preparing for an interview; do keep these small tips in mind. They will go a long way towards contributing in the success of your newest endeavour. Also, a classy goodbye is as important as a nice hello!

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