vihr2008

at SEARCH !

2010-12-01T20:24:00.000-08:00

am now at SEARCH, Society for Education, Action & Research in Community Health, at Gadchiroli District of Maharashtra state, India.

for details of this amazing NGO, www.searchgadchiroli.org

working with my background in psychology, and doing research as well as intervention... and being in this green, tree laden, uncrowded place with great long views with a chance to be close to nature.. very excited about the work as well. will post laters about the developments here.

Panchakarma therapy

2010-08-14T08:31:00.000-07:00

Panchakarma therapy is part of Indian system of medicine, Ayurveda. I wanted to know about other medicinal systems than the western medicine, which is known as Allopathy. Thus when i got a chance to learn the therapy arm of Ayurveda in 2009, i whole heartedly jumped in to it.
After learning & training with Ayurworld group (www.ayurworld.com) based in Maharashtra, i worked with them.
Later during a trip to Kerala, got opportunity to train in SNA Aushadhasala (clinic), http://www.thaikatmooss.com/ based in Trissur, Kerala, which is nearly a century old and steeped in traditional ayurved methods.
Once again is thus reminded the need for knowledge to be synthesized. so many medical systems of the world remain unknown and unused outside their localities. But after few steps, i feel we can go miles more soon.

About me

2009-04-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

My passion is to contribute towards developing human potential.

I was fortunate to be aware of this prior to my Bachelors & could select Psychology as the subject to major in. Various branches of psychology, such as Social, Abnormal, Developmental, Applied, Experimental etc. were exciting to learn, and an enthusiastic group of colleagues made it into a team effort as well.

Bachelor degree from HPT & RYK College, Nashik – in Maharashtra State of India during 1992-1995 was helpful, as during those years the Dept. Of Psychology there bloomed, new Lab for psychology as well as personality development programs were organized by this enthusiastic batch of psychology students there.

Moved to Bomaby for post graduation studies in Psychology, and joined Bombay University Dept. Of Applied Psychology. Interest in Industrial / Organizational Psychology, as well as Clinical Psychology, made me join (after my post graduation), Institute for Psychological Health, a non-profit organization which offered exposure to both these fields.

I worked in Non-profit sector for last 9 years in India, where i had exposure to community mental health development, corporate HR training in various parts of India, developmental counseling, Research & Computer assistance, Event management & Coordination of projects.

Teaching is something i like very much. my recent brief stint as visiting lecturer for management students at GIMSR on 'communication skills' proved to be an enriching experience to me and i hope for the 60 1st year MMS students i taught as well.

in 2008 had fun traveling thru Singapore & Indonesia, where i had many opportunities to meet like minded people / organizations. Now back in India, Mumbai since June-08, and coordinating a development centre for HR, doing visiting lecturing for executive MBA and regular MMS course as well.

I am currently a manager of Linkedin Professional group, 'psychologists' - focused on bringing psychologists together for overall development.

To join the professional group, 'psychologists'. to join click: http://www.linkedin.com/e/gis/90902/4924790F688D

The Logo of this group 'psychologists' depicts the Greek alphabet 'Psy'... but along with that, its iconic of open arms inviting & to embrace everyone together... who doesn't want a hug ;)

The road ahead...

2009-04-02T04:12:00.000-07:00

At Singapore...

A globally competitive, technology at cutting edge place...
An island, a future model for the whole world even?
Interesting questions, and awaiting their answers...

Getting to know a new country, new culture, new people....
Always think of it as an exciting and learning experience.

Keep in touch.

Inspiring memories

2009-04-01T21:40:00.000-07:00

At Thane, Maharashtra, India during VEDH program, as a coordinator. Special thanks to the photographer, who's an international mental health promoter.

Speaking on corporate mentoring in a conference organized by IPH, in Oct-2007.

Various industry bigwigs, consultants... meeting and interacting with them can be very inspiring. Such memories and sometimes photos also help.

Another way to get inspired... is Trekking!! The Sahyadri mountain range near Mumbai is ideally situated. Treks help to learn about team building too.

Nashik pics

2009-04-01T00:01:00.000-07:00

Nashik, a district in Maharashtra State, India... where i studied for my bachelor's degree. (Its also spelled as Nasik, but the official spelling is Nashik).
Of course, Nashik is a prominent holy place in India. The famed Kumbh-Mela, which happens only once in 12 years happens in Nashik too.

I studied in HPT college, Nashik - part of HPT Arts & RYK Science college. Our group of first year Bachelor of Arts students pose near college founder's statue - 1993.

1992, the final year of HSC (Higher Secondary Course); Next year we will be big college kids... Sports, a big thing among us students during those HSC years at Nashik. Water Polo, Football, Cricket, Volleyball were some of the games we used to play regularly. Here posing with college shield, as a friend who had recently become the local newspaper photographer practiced his art on us.

Bombay pics

2009-03-31T23:09:00.000-07:00

Some of the photos from Bombay during 1995-96. It became Mumbai later on...
This one is from 1995, inside then Bombay University, Psychology Dept.

With friends at Bombay Univ. campus, at Santacruz (East) part. August 1996 to be exact.

Another Bombay Univ pic... Participating in a street play, which won us a prize. Our play was titled "Misconceptions about madness". it was fun too.

South Asian Association of Psychologists (SAAP) conference - at Institute of Banking & Personnel Selection (IBPS), Mumbai in 1996.

At Bhavan's college, Mumbai (India), with two of my senior batch mates of Psychology. We were part of an exhibition, which was part of Bombay Psychologists Association (BPA) Conference.

Bombay till 1996, and after that changed that city's name into Mumbai. Shakespeare did say that centuries ago.. "What's in a name?"...

Course of life

2009-03-31T22:40:00.000-07:00

CV or curriculam Vitae is a latin word. it means course of life.

here's an example of CV ;)

I was born in Kerala state (that's southern most state in India, Asia). Moved from Kerala state to Another state towards western side of India, and my major higher education happened there... which is Maharashtra state.

in 1992 i passed out from Maharashtra State Board's Higher Secondary Course from Nashik district (Nashik is about 200 km away from Bombay, the financial capital of India).

June is the month in which the new academic year starts in India. in 1992 June, i joined Bachelor of Arts (graduation) course in HPT college in Nasik. Its a 3 year full time course, and during the first year i selected English, Politcal Science, History, Geography & Psychology subjects.

In the second year of BA (Bachelor of Arts), i took up psychology to major in, as its a favorite subject of mine. thus i had 6 papers of psychology (in the course of next 2 years), and
i had two minor subjects - Economics & History (2 papers each of both in the next 2 years).

i passed out my graduation class in 1995, with 5th rank in college.

Extracurricular activities & Achievements during my years in Nashik:
· Swimming & Water polo – Represented College & Nasik District team from 1992 to 1995
· Member of college football (soccer) team (HPT & RYK College, Nasik, Maharashtra, India) from 1992 to '95
· Triathlon – Nasik district open division (participation & completion) - in 1993.
· Don Bosco Summer Club, Nasik – 1991, 92 & 93: Group leader & participant in athletics & dramatics.
· Volleyball & Cricket team member at intra-college sports (HPT & RYK College, Nasik) in 1992 – 93.
· Athletics (1500 meters) bronze & silver medals at college sports competitions in 1993 & 1994 respectively.
· Academics – 5th in college merit rank list in year 1992 and on year 1995.

Move to Bombay City in 1995 June:
decided to join Bombay university for post graduation, even though it meant moving on my own into a metro city, i took it up as a challenge. i got through into Unversity Dept. of Applied Psychology (UDAP), of Bombay university in 1995 June. the 2 year full time post graduate course admission also got me into Bombay University boys hostel, where top notch students get staying accomodation inside the University campus itself.

the next 2 years flew... it was hectic and a great learning opportunity.
i passed out in 1997, with specialization in Industrial Psychology.

The subjects i had taken in the first year were:
Cross Cultural Psychology
Personality Theories
Cognitive Psychology
Research Methodology
Statistics
Psychological Testing
Experiments in Cognitive processes

the subjects i had taken in year 2 were:
Organizational Behavior
Human Resource Development
Organizational Development
Management Development
Personnel Psychology
Psychology Practicum

There were lots of extracurricular activities during these 2 years in Bombay/Mumbai:
· University of Bombay– Boys hostel annual sports competitions, silver in 800 & 5000 mtrs athletics (1996-97).
· Wrote, Directed, acted in “Misconceptions about mental health”, street play: - performed at Bombay Univ, festival, ‘Sangam’ in 1996, and won second prize.
· Designing, crafting & managing in exhibitions to promote mental health such as: “Psychology in everyday life”, IPA Seminar, Organizing member, Nov. 1996. “Prevention of student suicide”, in Vice Chancellor’s Special seminar, March 1998;“Community psychology - problems & applications”, B.P.A seminar, Dec. 2000;

In May 1997, the Post Graduation exams got over. I moved out of hostel, and started living on my own.

I started working in some Market Research projects, as Consumer Behavior was something i wanted to learn as well as get some work experience. I started working with Contract Advertising at Mumbai. The preliminary projects i was involved were related to launching of a new brand of jeans, and attitude towards micro-wave ovens, as they were still new in the market.

By the end of the year i got into an HRD consultancy, called 'Scope Consultants' in Thane city. Thane is neighboring district to Mumbai and growing rapidly due to its nearness to the biggest metro city in India. Coordination & designing of HR training programs, psychological assessment & documentation were some work i started with. Due to my interest in computers, i took up computer admin work as well whenever possible. Those days the computers had maximum of some 100's of MB memory only, and internet speed was very slow as well.

In 1999, i joined IPH (Institute for Psychological Health), an NGO working in Community Mental Health. They were doing lots of HR training related activities as well. I already a member SINCE 1998 of their 'MAITRA' Telephone Helpline service, where emotional first aid was provided free of cost to anyone in distress.

Other activities & associations i had in the following 9 years (from 1999 to 2007)were:
· Faculty member in ‘Swindia project’ for Social work students from Sweden for studying IPH model of mental health (18 students in a batch, with 2 per year arrive, since 1999).
· ‘Jidnyasa’ Adolescent Sensitization program for School Students – Faculty member 1999-2000.
· Coordination team member in 'VEDH', an annual career conference which is attended by more than 3000 High school students & about 1500 teachers/parents since 1999 to 2007.
· Associated with NGO Muktangan De-addiction center, Pune, and had observer-training at their campus in October 2000.
· Consultant at ‘Kalasanskar’ – institute for art & artivities, Thane, from 2000 -2007.
· Core coordinator of VEDH fund raising programs - Involves an audience of 8000 people and 20 eminent performers since 2001-2006.
· Member of Association of Hypnotherapists, Mumbai, from 2001 to 2006.
· Advising Psychologist for production house which created Marathi TV serial “Stree”, & “Mhala kayi sangaycha aahe”, both based on mental health and broadcasted on Indian TV channel DD ‘Sahyadri’, in 2002 - 2003.
· Co-editor of a comprehensive 150 page book on Mental Health: ‘Family Mental Health Guide’, published by Institute for Psychological Health in 2004.
· Life Associate Member of IPS (Indian Psychiatric Society) since January-2006.
· Associated with NGO SEARCH, Shodgram, At Gadchiroli, Maharashtra, and had observer training at their campus in April 2006.

LANGUAGES I know:
Since I am born in Kerala, i know the language of that state which is 'Malayalam'. I did my initial schooling in that language, and know to read, write & speak it. Since Tamil-Nadu is neighboring State, I was encouraged to learn Tamil as well and know how to speak it, though i dont know how to read or write Tamil.

During my school, i learned Hindi language which is the natinal language of India. English is also taught in every Indian school.

I learned Marathi which is the language of Maharashtra State, when in shifted there. The script of Marathi is same as that of Hindi language, so there was no need to learn to read / write it.

My education in Maharashtra was all in English language (English medium courses). Generally Higher education in India is mostly available in English only. Thus English became the language i most commonly use. Now i feel i should try to learn some more languages, and Chinese (Mandarin) is something i am planning to learn.

Activities Coordinated

2009-03-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

CONTRIBUTED AS COORDINATOR OR FACILITATOR IN THE PROGRAMS CONDUCTED AT IPH:

1998
March-98: ‘OCD Conference’ held at IPH, free for public – Coordinating member.
June-98: Maitra Helpline – your emotional first aid, manned completely by community volunteers is inaugurated and first Maitra Melava conducted on the theme of “Stressful life & Harmony” – Volunteer Counselor.
Dec. 98: VEDH – VII, Conducted on theme of scientific attitude and career – Coordinating member.

1999
Jan ’99: Maitra Melava – II, conducted on theme of “friendship” – Coordinating member.
Maitra Anniversary, and Jidnyasa project anniversary conducted and 3rd Maitra Melava on theme “changing relationships” is held. Maitra E-mail Helpline also is inaugurated during this function - – Coordinating member
December 4/5th, 1999: VEDH - VIII, conducted for 3500 + audience – Coordinating member.

2000
Jan.12th 2000: 16 hour stress management workshop based on REBT for Health club - Galaxy2000, - Training faculty
March 7th 2000: ‘Perfect Group’ – 12 hr prog for people suffering from OCD & caregivers – Facilitator /Coordinator
July 30th 2000: Channel E-ten annual program for students – Coordinator/ Researcher.
June 25th 2000: Maitra Anniversary 5th): A Program on Creativity & Communication – Coordinating member
Oct. 9th 2000: Swedish Social work student visit to studying IPH model of mental health - Facilitator / Coordinator.
Nov. 12th 2000: Public conference on OCD. The second one after our 1998 OCD conference – Coordinating member.
Dec. 2/3, 2000: VEDH, its 9th year with theme of Career: Selfishness & Satisfaction - – Coordinating member.

2001
Jan. 3rd 2001: play “Vaatevarti kaacha ga”, on child sexual abuse (free for public) – Coordinating member.
Feb. 4th 2001: Maitra Melava, an extempore, “talk for a minute’, on changing relationships – Coordinating member.
Feb. 17th 2001: workshop on “study skills & concentration” for 4th to 7th Std. Students – Coordinating member.
March 6th 2001: “Schizophrenia – The Rights conference” held with Govt Mental Hospital – Coordinating member.
July 1st 2001: Maitra anniversary program, ‘Media Quiz’ conducted – Coordinating member.
July 22nd 2001: Channel Exam-Tension workshop for 200 students – Coordinating member.
Sept. 5th 2001: 60th N group (Nourishment for mind) 16 hour REBT based stress mgt workshop – A Facilitator.
Dec. 6th, 7th & 8th: VEDH (CC & SS – Career Conference & Sur Sammelan) – Coordinating member.

2002
Jan 4th / Fri 2002 - N group -16 hour REBT based stress management workshop – A Facilitator.
Jan 11th / Fri 2002 - Perfect group starts - Facilitator / Coordinator.
Feb 9th & 23rd 2002 - Half day prog on Concentration (5th-7th Standard students) - Facilitator / Coordinator.
Mar 1st / Fri 2002 - N group, 16 hours of stress management program starts - Facilitator / Coordinator.
April - 27 to 30: Sports Psychology Workshop (10 am to 4 pm) - Facilitator / Coordinator.
June , 5th Wed: Preparing for college workshop (10 am to 4 pm) – Designer / Facilitator / Coordinator.
June , 7th Fri: N group - 16 hour REBT based stress management workshop – A Facilitator.
June 29 Sat: Workshop on Handling Depression - Facilitator / Coordinator.
July - 5 Fri: Perfect group (support group for people suffering from OCD) - Facilitator / Coordinator.
July - 14 Sun: Channel Exam-Tension workshop- 2002 - (8 hours) - Facilitator / Coordinator.
August - 14 Wednesday: N group - 16 hour REBT based stress management workshop – A Facilitator.
September - 28 Saturday: Workshop on Decision Making skills development - Facilitator / Coordinator.
December - 6, 7, 8: VEDH (career conference & Sur Sammelan) – Coordinating member.

2003
Jan 2003, 8th – N group - 16 hour REBT based stress management workshop – A Facilitator.
Feb 2003, 7th – Sanyojan presentation full day – Coordinating member.
March 2003, 5th – N group - 16 hour REBT based stress management workshop – A Facilitator.
May 2003, 1st to 4th – 4 day sports psychology workshop for sportspersons – A Facilitator.
May 2003, 10th & 11th – N group - 16 hour REBT based stress management workshop – A Facilitator.
June 22nd 2003 - Maitra anniversary program; Thinkitiwitty game show – Coordinating member.
July 2nd 2003 - N group - 16 hour REBT based stress management workshop – A Facilitator.
July 20th 2003 - channel e–ten (for students to cope with exam tension) – Coordinating member.
Sept. 10th 2003 - N group - 16 hour REBT based stress management workshop – A Facilitator.
December 12th,13th, 14th 2003 – VEDH (CC & SS) – Coordinating member.

2004
Feb 2004: Social work students from Sweden at IPH to study its MH model - Facilitator / Coordinator.
Feb. 2004, 19th & 20th Thu/fri – REBT workshop - Coordinator.
Feb 2004, 25th - N group - 16 hour REBT based stress management workshop – A Facilitator.
April 2004, 3rd Saturday – IPH presentation & building fund raising meeting – Coordinating member.
April 24th & 25th Fri/sat – 2 full day stress mgt group – A Facilitator.
October 1st– N group - 16 hour REBT based stress management workshop – A Facilitator.
November 5th– session: ‘Physician-Patient relationship’ at Hinduja hospital – A Facilitator.
Dec 17, 18 & 19 (Fri – sun) – VEDH CC & SS – Coordinating member.

2005
February 19th – 8 day REBT workshop for professional begin - – A Facilitator.
March 18th & 19th – 2 day REBT workshop for NAB (Blind persons) – A Facilitator.
April 5th & 6th Tue/Wed- REBT for Swindia (social work students)
April 7th & 13th – Swindia student’s program (social work students) - Facilitator / Coordinator.
May 6th – 12th – Mission Exellence-2 (5 day sports psychology workshop) – A Facilitator
June 26th – one day VEDH Career Conference at Ahmadnagar – Coordinating member
August 6th – one day Channel E-ten program at Vasai – A Facilitator
September 19th to 26th – Swedish Social work students visit & programs - Facilitator / Coordinator.
September 24th – Channel E-ten (half day workshop for students) – Coordinating member.
Sept. 28th – 99th batch of N-group (stress mgt & self development) – A Facilitator
December 9th, 10th & 11th – VEDH SS (Sayankalchi Samvadmala) – discourse on comparative study of REBT & Indian philosophy by Dr. Nadkarni – A Coordinating member.
December 10th & 11th – VEDH career conference (CC) – Coordinating member.

2006
January 2006: IPH participates in ANCIPS, national level conference on mental health, with many research presentations from IPH team.
February 2006: social work students from Sweden at IPH 8 day visit - Facilitator / Coordinator.
April 2006: The 7th Batch of REBT (8-day) course conducted in IPH – A Facilitator
April 2006: N group’s 101st batch conducted in IPH – A Facilitator.
Aug 2006: Project to Indianize WISC-4 IQ test begins at IPH, with plans to include more than a score of psychologists from Mumbai & Thane – Coordinating member.
September 2006: From Sweden (18 social work students) visit IPH for their bi-annual Sweden-India project training program for 8 days - Facilitator / Coordinator.
November 2006-2007: Research study of primary school children (6 to 10 years old) which includes individual pre & post assessment of more than 200 children for Meyer Pharma– Test Administrator / Coordinator.
December 2006: On 9th & 10th VEDH CC (15th year) conducted at Thane & more than 2500 students & more than 1200 parents/teachers attended– Coordinating member.

2007
Feb 2007: Sweden-India project- social work students from Sweden at IPH - Facilitator / Coordinator.
March 19th 2007: IPH shifts into its own new 3 floors, 6500 sq. ft space. Spanking new interiors and specially designed rooms for counseling and mental health activity adds impetus to mental health outreach – made possible through donation drive managed by IPH staff through these last 17 years – Coordinating member.
May 2007: Anger Management half day workshop (once a month) starts as a series – A Facilitator.
April 2007: REBT 8 day certificate course at IPH starts – A Facilitator.
April 2007: Mission Excellence –sports psychology workshop conducted – A Facilitator.
May 2007: Anger Management (half day) workshop conducted – A Facilitator.
June 8th 2007: N group – stress management & Self development group program – A Facilitator.
July 2007: Tuff teens club – for students from Shikshak Prabodhini project, on sports psychology – A Facilitator.
August 2007: Memory workshop – Cognitive processes based for 10-12 age group - Facilitator / Coordinator.
September 2007: Dr. Albert Ellis memorial presentations on REBT, for psychotherapists– Coordinating member.
October 2007: Sweden-India project- social work students from Sweden at IPH - Facilitator / Coordinator.
December 8th & 9th 2007: VEDH career conference with 4000 plus audience – Coordinating member.

2008
Feb - June 2008: At Singapore and Indonesia... Observation of Mental Health services, social perceptions, cultural differences, wondering at high standards of infrastructure development and discipline in public conduct, etc. etc.
July - 2008: Coordinating member and faculty at Elegance- HRD services wing of IPH & psychotherapy
July - 2008: Visiting faculty at MBA and MMS courses in 2 post grad management courses in New Mumbai.
Sept - 2008: Qualitative Research at Quantum Market Research p. ltd, at Mumbai

2009
June - 2009: Consultant at Q market research, as moderator in Qualitative Research projects
Sept - 2009: Consultancy in Health services and training in Panchakarma techniques of Ayurveda treatments with ayurworld, a holistic health services provider

2010:
Jan - May 2010: Exclusive training in Kerala Ayurveda techniques, at SNA ayurvedics as panchakarma therapist, based on their centuries old ayurvedic treatment methods of the ThaikatMooss tradition
June - Oct - 2010: Vipassana Meditation at Igatpuri, Maharashtra (through vow of silence), understanding 'self' meditation at Ramana Maharshi's ashram, Tamilnadu, Himalayan region meditation experiences at Rishikesh and Gomukh, and self explorative wanderings.
Nov 20th -2010: as MHO (Mental Health Officer) at S.E.A.R.C.H, - including research, intervention, HR and coordination work, based at Gadchiroli, a tribal District, Maharashtra state, India.

Cultural Differences

2009-03-29T02:05:00.000-07:00

Differentiating on the basis of communication is one way to understand cultural differences .

2 main groups can be formed and these groups can be generalized for example as North American & Asian (even though USA & Asia are too vast areas to be pigeon-holed into one label. Both areas may have pockets where communication style differ).

But I have taught this concept to students learning to improve their communication skills, and found that this brief concept does give many insights.

Let’s see what are they and their differences:

Low context cultures (N.American) High context cultures (Asian)

Direct communication style Indirect communication style
Focus on verbal communication Focus on non-verbal as well as verbal comm.n
Task orientation focus Relationship orientation also focused
YES / NO directly conveyed ‘NO’ generally avoided (indirectly conveyed)
Sense of time – punctual Sense of time – flexible
Concrete Abstract.

Each of these points can be elaborated, with examples. You can also try to visualize / imagine by using stereotypes of an Asian & an American talking with each other.

does it make sense? i hope so. please feel free to write to me regarding your suggestions as well as direct criticisms. i can take low context cultural style of communication as well ;)

Acculturation

2009-03-28T02:01:00.000-07:00

Recently read about a research study based on Repatriates feedback.

The study tried to find out what factors negatively affected their acculturation, when they had gone abroad for an international assignment recently as an expatriate.

Lack of realistic preview of exapt assignment and not adequate cross-cultural training were 2 of the common feedback.

Acculturation or the process of adapting to host / expat country culture is well known phenomena. The process can be differentiated by two extremes, Non-adaptation of host country culture & preserving home country culture; and on the other end, over assimilation of host culture without home culture preservation.

Non-adaptation can lead to dysfunctionality in the host country and most agree to it.
and over-adaptation / or over-assimilation can lead to problems in repatriation.

The golden mean & the most effective way could be 'Integration' - of home + host culture (the best of both).

Other coping styles between the above 2 extremes are:
Separation / segreation - preservation of home culture and non-assimilation of host culture &
Marginalization - Non -preservation of home culture &non-assimilation of host culture.

But for integration to happen, attaction & knowledge about host culture is found to be important.

- thus develooping ways to attactively present knowledge about host culture should be part of acculturation... such a solution needs to be remembered in current globalized economy.

though a persisting problem is what is called as 'Homophily' - i.e. tendency to socialize with others from similar background. Many repatriates confessed to this tendency, even though they admitted it was not as effective for integration.

the coping methods of expats if listed could also help in acculturation. they were mainly:
- socializing with host nationals
- socializing with other expats
- sports & exercise activities
- communicating with people back home (Email, chat, phone)
- learning more about host country, sight-seeing.
- spending time with own family (for expats with family)
- being busy with work
- solitary activities (movies, reading, increased alcohol consumption).

here coping methods are just stated, without segregating them as healthy or unhealthy in being effective. rating own acculturation & coping methods can be helpful for expats.

is knowing about acculturation ONLY for expats or people who are going to work abroad? in an increasingly globalizing world, it is no longer so. Of course, expats should make efforts to be highly functional in host country. But as more multi-cultural work teams are becoming more common, host country people also learn to understand acculturation process to better aid it, as difficulties in work teams will affect their own economies as well.

diversity in teams does make them more resourceful, but tapping it requires awareness & efforts from each member of the team for all of us to surge ahead globally as humanity.

wheel turns again

2009-03-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

now back in india, mumbai... and how things have changed withing a dozen or so months! The steel fall witnessed in mumbai sensex in 2008 Jan, continues. If known that its an indicator for the world markets were to tumble so much, the media here would have lauded that a sign of india's strength. (but of course, i really am happy with the level of criticism that indians seem to enjoy). maybe that's an angle russel peters should explore, after saying indians are cheap, with pride!

behavior of consumers... or buyology (buy-ology) as its getting to be known is something i've always been interested in. these days doing some research in that area. its amazing to see how brands are similar to religion. such faith, so many cults, and everyone is an advisor.

but so few people seem to grasp consumer behavior, or aware of the need to understand. there's so much scope there, and it still seems in its infancy as an academic area. maybe its best that way ;)

from Indonesia

2008-05-27T03:40:00.000-07:00

whew! indonesia is huge... and almost like india..

great people though.. very polite and every smiling. though not many speak english, and bahasa indonesia is spoken often without consideration whether you know it or not (again kinda like india?)

been traveling around here abouts.
one of the cool places i found was the sulpher lake, a natural hot water spring at Kavaputi, somewhat near to Bandung. its really up in a hill area, and pretty cold too.

on way found a very nice eating place, smack in the middle of rice fields and farm area. its got soft indonesian live music, with great service and different food ;)

will write more later about indonesia.

Check this out

2008-05-19T20:35:00.000-07:00

http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb06/egos.html

an interesting article for all those who send emails, do net chat.... & in general about text communication. did the earlier written letters also had the same problems?

write your comments too..

HR Summit-08 at Singapore

2008-05-07T22:47:00.000-07:00

Recently i attended the HR Summit 2008 at Singapore - link: http://www.hrsummit.com.sg/

With about 86 brands as sponsors and attendees, it was a huge event. the event management quality at Singapore generally sets a high level benchmark. this event was also well managed.

It was exciting to see HR professionals mingling together. Since communication, presentation and networking are areas HRD Dept's focus on as training need area, many of the HR professionals here showed that dynamism. Whether they had achieved it through training, or on their own, the impact was visible.

The Suntec conference premises lobby is also impressive. Though when i caught it on my camera, thel ights were bit dim. Singapore climate even though mostly just rainy or sunny, can be quite unpredictable, and from sunny to cloudy the weather can change, unlike the stability the economy shows here ;)

As i left the HR summit-08 in the evening on 7th May evening, i decided to stretch my legs a bit by walking a short distance.

And i came across the biggest wheel (165 meters tall) in the world. Of course, a bigger one is coming up in Beijing (supposedly 200 mtrs tall), but right now, this is the one to go around in... ;) along with the whole world....

Community Mental Health in action!

2008-05-07T22:13:00.000-07:00

At Singapore, i had the opportunity to attend a public forum, organized by Silver Ribbon, Singapore - to reduce stigma regarding mental illness, and to promote mental health.

[Here's a report of that program “Emerging Trends in Psychiatry and Successful Recovery” - with title "I have Mental Illness, SO WHAT", happened on 26th April 2008].

I have mental illness, SO WHAT? was the bold title of the first Community Mental Health related program I could attend after coming from India to Singapore. This public forum, free for all interested public, started exactly at the time announced, 2.00 pm at Punggol room, near Toa Payoh Mass Rapid Transport (MRT) Station, (Train-station) in a centrally located area in Singapore. The hall with seating capacity of 100 people was completely full before the program started with the program announcer’s comments. A spokesperson of Janssen-Cilag, a pharmaceutical company cum the sponsor of this program, gave his address first.

Ms. Porsche Poh, the Executive Director of Silver Ribbon, Singapore came next. Her pleasant & informal style put the whole audience at ease, and she quickly gave background information of why and what of this forum, and described the efforts of Silver Ribbon’s team members to reduce stigma associated with mental illnesses. Ms. Poh then explained how this stigma is one of the biggest challenges faced by not only the mentally ill patients, but it spills over to their caregivers & family members as well. Stigma acts as a block, when it comes to seeking treatment, difficulties in gaining employment honestly, financial problems & even as a cause for quitting medication. She ended her talk by pointing out that everyone has a role to play and the need to strive towards positive mental health.

Dr. Fatimah Lateef, Member of Parliament, Singapore, who is also Consultant at Dept of Emergency Medicine, Singapore General Hospital, was the next speaker. ‘Touch one life – Make a difference’, the title of her presentation itself was welcomed with applause all around. Dr. Lateef gave statistical information regarding prevalence of mental illnesses in Singapore, which together with Depression (5.6%) , Anxiety (3.4%) & schizophrenia (1%) accounts for 10% of the population, and dementia affects 5.2% of elderly. Results of studies also pointed out the impact of stigma & lack of awareness as only 49.1% had sought assistance to treat their mental illness.

Dr. Fatimah then went on to show the various govt. Interventions that had taken place since 1995, which have induced more patients to seek treatment, as well as to reduce duration of hospitalization. She also briefly showed various schemes ongoing and in the pipeline. Especially encouraging were the positive results of Psychological Outreach Program or POP as its commonly known, in dealing with depression & caregiver burden. She also described a pilot project to deal with primary school children, where by a stick figure ‘Zippy’ is introduced to them for sharing emotional issues & for psycho-educational purposes.

Dr. Rita Goh, presented the next session, “Back from the brink of insanity”; a sharing session, as Dr. Goh had suffered from paranoid schizophrenia 4 year ago. When she pointed out that 45 thousand Singaporeans are diagnosed with schizophrenia, the enormity of that figure it sunk in, as for a country with 4.5 million population, its a huge figure. She further stunned the audience with objective description of her symptoms very openly. Dr. Rita then pointed out how early treatment, effective counseling, support from others & self helped her. Further, she pointed out the negative impact of stigma in detail, through her presentation slides. Photo of an elderly inmate in a hospital, who has not received a single visitor in his 49 years long stay, suffering from mental illness was a symbolic example of stigma & existing misconceptions regarding people with mental illness.

Currently, majority of mentally ill patients are youngsters (teenagers & below), and other revealing information followed through. She pointed out that recent efforts like a play depicting mental illness ‘off center’, and celebrity admissions regarding their depression etc. have been helping to increase public awareness & reduce stigma. She encouraged more people to open up about their mental illness, as self-stigma is something they can immediately work on. This followed by a tea & snack break around 3.20 pm.

I was already itching to move around and be part of the coordination process of this event, as this wonderful mental health initiative brought back memories of countless public programs organized by IPH (Institute for Psychological Health) in Thane, India. In those events, I have always been an active organizing member, and am not used to sitting at one place and taking notes. During the tea break I got an opportunity to move around and talk to various people. Mr Ng Choon Peng, the Country Manager of Janssen-Cilag was a refreshingly different & deeply involved in the whole proceeding & volunteered his assistance in many ways during the program itself. I also could talk a little with Ms. Porsche Poh, though we met for the first time, through Ms. Gayathri Ramprasad, we were already introduced. But obviously she was very busy as a main coordinator of the whole program.

In about 20 minutes the post tea session started. As Ms. Porsche had pointed out to me, majority of Singapore audience don’t stay back after tea break... but here surprisingly most people gathered in quietly again, and the hall filled in no time. Though the dreariness of afternoon time was setting in and I was wondering, how will this speech be, as Mr. Harris NG, the next speaker walked in to talk on “Back to society”. But Mr. Harris with his informal & affectionate style warmed up the audience. Through his story telling way he shared his 16 years of fight with mental illness, hospitalizations, quitting medicines, subsequent relapses and path to recovery. Applause and laughter freely flowed along with these stories and a truly community spirit fully gathered around again.

Harris discussed about 2 types of stigma. One is external – which is pointed out the most, but the other type, internal also needs to be tackled. He quoted that, “Our own shame & guilt about mental illness needs to be overcome by openly accepting it & sharing it”. He further indicated that, there definitely has been more awareness & less stigma than 20 years ago, but we still have a long way ahead, and though patients are now called as clients, but they need to be called as ‘consumers’, as and the caregivers/family members as well. He elaborated by comparing consumer rights movement with movement of rights for mentally ill.

Mr. Harris also shared through his stories, the strength & insights he received due to the rapport with his counselor, which help to stay in the path of recovery. His urged all consumers to compare medicines with a pedestal, which help you to stand higher up, rather than as a trouble, and was greeted with much applause. He then introduced his life partner, his wife as speaker for next presentation, titled “For good..... and even better times: A life partner’s view”.

Mrs. Violet Ng, wife of Mr. Harris Ng, started by saying this was her first ever public speech in all these years, and the supportive audience began to cheer even more. The positive attitude and sparkling spirit of Mrs. Violet was very evident throughout her sharing. She emphasized that, it is possible to have a purposeful, satisfactory life despite having a mental illness... What else can be called normal?” She questioned. She also expressed her gratitude for all those who helped in a touchingly emotional way to end her speech.

Next was a short Q & A session due to time constraint. Here also Ms. Porsche Poh’s informality & charm sparkled through, and helped everyone to be interactive. As the session ended, I could see many people rapidly completing Silver Ribbon (Singapore) membership forms, obviously inspired to take up the cause & go ‘towards positive mental health’.

(Report by Venkatesh Iyer, Psychologist from India, who attended the program as an invitee).