The Pygmalion Effect - You get what you give

The Pygmalion Effect derives its name from a very famous play - Pygmalion: A Romance in Five Acts.

Doesn't ring a bell, ok, try this modern name for this old play: My Fair Lady.

This is a play about a Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins makes a bet that he can train a bedraggled Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, to pass for a duchess at an ambassador's garden party by teaching her to assume a veneer of gentility, the most important element of which, he believes, is impeccable speech.

Sounds like fun, right! But this play holds a very important lesson for us all, that expectations become self-fulfilling. Since Prof. Higgins was sure he would be able to pass off Eliza as a dutchness he was able to do so, more importantly he recognised that Eliza's manner of speech was just a matter of correction. That she was capable of more. That she had an ability she herself had not noticed as yet.

Snake in a Suit? Workplace Bullying in India

While watching Rocket Singh (Ranbir Kapoor is emerging as one of the best actors of his generation) last night, I felt very sorry about the bullying he undergoes at his workplace. 

Reflecting upon that later I realized that work place bullying is actually very rampant in India. 

Countries abroad like US, Australia, Canada & UK have very stringent laws to curb this abuse and it is legally punishable. Not so in India. This bullying has been recently captured in movies like Rocket Singh and to some extent in Karthik calling Karthik. 

Appreciation - Do you like me? Say you like me..

Image by clevercupcakes via Flickr

It costs nothing - except maybe takes a minute of your time, but can pay you back in loyalty, devotion, respect and admiration.

Would you like to know the secret that can make people your staunchest allies, those who fight for you even when you have given up? the answer is simple and plain APPRECIATION.

What is appreciation? The simple act of recognizing the efforts someone else has put in to make your life better. I cannot think of a more simpler definition.