Every human resources person worth his payroll has heard and used these clichés over and over again.

“People are our greatest assets” takes the cake. It is usually put on posters all over the organizations that least believe in that philosophy. Ask anyone why they wanted to choose HR as their major in business school or as a career and you get another cliché that makes me groan. The person will curl up their toes and say, “Because I really enjoy working with people.” or that “my friends told me that I am really good with people.” That basically means I am not sure what I am good at, but I think I can have coffee and make conversation.

So why do people choose HR as a profession? I chose it because
a) I knew enough about all other courses to dislike them.
b) This was the only one that I did not know enough about to dislike.
c) All of the above.

Of course, when I started working after B school, they used to call it personnel management. Today you would be really deemed to be uncool if you did not know that we no longer handle personnel. We are the new and improved human resource department. I guess those days we had to handle the animals in the zoo ourselves, unlike the new kids who get computers to do it all. No more human contact. We can now outsource the contact part of it. Someone told me that anything that can be templated can be outsourced. So I guess human contacts have just been so classified. Outsource that stuff so that we can get down to doing real work.

In one company where I worked, they were implementing a new fangled ERP system that was sucking up more resources than the Gulf war. I was told we had to implement that HR system so that it would leave the HR folks free to do real work. “If all the work was taken away, what would be left for the fellows to do anyway?” I had asked. My boss who was standing at the podium with the big cheese of the ERP company said that he would take my question offline. That basically means that he would either ignore the question or he would stab me when he met me in the hallway later that evening.

Please don't joke about your HR manager

Look at the seminar topics on HR. That will tell you what is the big question that the clods are grappling with. In those days seminars were around topics like “Human Resources РArt or Science?” Two days or five days of asking bad questions left neither the participant nor the trainers any wiser. In fact I have always had a queasy feeling when I was told that someone was a trainer. It always reminded me of the trainer who came to teach Rover how to shake his paw without wetting the carpet. It was after I joined HR that I discovered there were trainers for humans too. Their task was not different from what Rover’s trainer tried so hard to do.

I am just curious. Do all functions manufacture clichés like HR does or is it just us? Do all other blokes have self-doubt like we do? Well you know every now and then we will hear seminars where people ask “Is HR a business partner?” The answer is obviously expected to be yes if you are to be let in to join the party. But truthfully speaking the jury is still out on that one.

The film has some amazing songs. The combination of lyricist Gulzar and composer RD Burman produced many gems. But I will always rate this as a film where the chemistry was unbelievable.

My favorite song from Ghar has to be the classic Aapki AankhoN MeiN Kuchh Mehke Huey Se Raaz HaiN आपकी आँखों में कुछ महके हुए से ख्वाब हैं (trans: Your eyes are lined with the aroma of mysteries.). The voice of Kishore Kumar and Lata Mangeshkar. What is also interesting about this song is that it is based on Raga Kedar which normally so typical of devotional music (remember the Kedar based classic Hamko Man Ki Shakti Dena हमको मन की शक्ति देना from Jaya Bhaduri’s debut Hindi film Guddi). There is of course anothe great example of using Raga Kedar to creat a romantic mood in the film Ek Musafir Ek Hasina. The song was Aap Yunhi Agar Hamse Milte Rahe

The second song I have always loved is Tere Bina Jiya Jaaye Na तेरे बिना जिया जाये ना (trans: It is so hard to live without you). Watch Rekha who plays the pining housewife, arrange her husband’s photos like a deck of cards that gets blown away with a gust of wind.

Phir Wohi Raat Hai, Raat Hai Khwabon Ki फिर वही रात है रात है ख्वाबों की (trans: It is the night that dreams are made of, once again… ). Set to the Latino beat that was so dear to RD Burman.

Aajkal Paaon Zameen Par आजकल पाँव ज़मीन पर नहीं पड़ते मेरे (trans: Have you noticed lately that I don’t walk on the floor anymore) talks about the heady feeling of being in love. See the video here. This look of Rekha reminds me of the other film Khoobsoorat (check out this clip) made in 1981 that had her singing in films for the first time – the song is Kaida Tod Ke Socho Ek Din. Rekha clearly will not be remembered as a great singer but as one who was never afraid to experiment.

Ghar is what the Gulzar-RD Burman-Kishore magic is all about. I have always wondered whether this is a film one should watch because it shows the transition of Rekha as an actress or just listen to the music. I think I’ll vote for the music.

To read more articles by Abhijit Bhaduri on music click here

The perfect antidote to stress is Conscious Relaxation, which is simply allowing our bodies to relax bit by bit in a controlled, aware manner. Not only is it extremely refreshing and rejuvenating, with every exhalation we release the build up of negative energies, toxins and tensions.

Many techniques exist for Conscious Relaxation including Meditative techniques, Yoga Nidra, Progressive Muscle Relaxation and techniques used in Hypnotherapy available in the form of classes, CDs and books.

Conscious Relaxation needs no added skill and simply taps into what our human bodies are designed to do naturally, which is breathe and relax. And if practiced daily for as little as 20 minutes, it can benefit us in the following ways:
1.    Boosts of our energy levels. We automatically experience increased energy levels when our bodies relax. This allows us to be more productive and focused in our tasks and chores.
2.    We smile more and feel better about ourselves. Studies have revealed those who consciously relaxed were more positive in their outlook and generally optimistic about life.
3.    By consciously letting go suppressed emotional energies like anger, anxiety and sadness we end up feeling lighter after a session of conscious relaxation.
4.    Body organs function normally and over time, immunity increases.
5.    Decreases muscle tension and allows the release of suppressed mental and emotional energy, promoting feelings of well being and harmony.
6.    Better problem solving abilities and greater concentration especially for students.

Conscious Relaxation is easy to practice and requires no more than 20 minutes per session. A single session of conscious body relaxation is equivalent to hours of sleep and rest.

What about basking in the extra attention you get because your significant others go a long way to be more sensitive and considerate when they realize that you are feeling blue?

Remember your depression can actually trigger off a feeling of glee in others. The moment some associates realize that you are depressed, they begin to feel good about themselves and life as a whole. What better way to make others happy than by letting them know you are depressed? So you will find a lot of people trying to act very concerned – as if your well-being is the sole purpose for their existence. They will listen to you, sympathize, empathize and comfort you with their “sweet” words and ” good advice.” But the moment they are through with you they’ll pick up the phone to discuss your plight to anyone willing to listen. Ouch!

The word then spreads and so does the happiness. More people get to know, more people call you up, more people give advice, and more people call other people to spread the word around. The more you speak, the more you are convinced about your own helplessness and it intensifies your depression and the ripple-effect happiness that others enjoy by offering support and feeling exhilarated.

Can we consider introducing a World Depression Day? It can be a great day to commemorate and millions across the world will celebrate (if they can get themselves out of bed!). Marketed well, it can develop in to a great annual event with UN backing or least the sponsorship of the drug companies that manufacture anti-depressants.

Not to forget the fact that depression brings with it, the tendency to shop and eat. Such an event would be a retailer’s delight. Special offers and discounts for the depressed ones. Walk with your Prozac as proof of the blues.

Just think….special “Depressed Hours” at bars and pubs. The possibilities are endless: cards, weekend retreats and even chain mails regarding depression — “Please forward this mail to 7 persons within three hours and you will be lucky enough to be depressed for the next seven days. Ignore this mail and no depression for the rest of the year.”

What say you?

This was good cattle country but it fell between the jurisdiction of the Scottish Kings and the English. Being too far away from either to be effectively governed or policed the inhabitants were left for much of the time to their own devices.

In this region there developed a sport peculiar to the time and the geography that was called rieving, an old Scottish word which translated means to rob or plunder.

The genesis of the sport is lost in time but its roots are firmly in the natural antipathy the Scots borderers felt for the English and vice versa.

The young men of the time, lacking the diversion of the playstation, the educational value of the internet, or the speed of a dropped Vauxhall Corsa, would take it upon themselves to visit their English or Scottish neighbours and make off with anything they found, generally this was their neighbours’ cattle which were valuable, easily transported and usually located at some distance from their neighbours’ stronghold.

The sport was then heightened by the perils of the return journey encumbered by cattle which, if they were caught, would certainly spell their guilt.

The theft of cattle would clearly not go unnoticed and depending on the situation a reprisal raid would not be long in the planning and would take place in what we might today refer to as a “return match”.

The problem was that having stolen their neighbour’s cattle the home team could reasonably expect some sort of return visit and would therefore be on their guard. Thus the stakes were raised.

The return visit would be planned with even more care and even more support than the original raid. This was where the clans became useful, an affront to one member of the clan was an affront to all and there were no shortage of volunteers or intelligence when the return match was held.

Since the extended family, or clan, system was common on both sides of the border the home team stood a very good chance of becoming aware of the exact date and time of the return visit and the members of the clan would lie in wait for the rievers, not as they arrived, innocent of anything but the desire for a long walk, but when they were returning with the proceeds of their afternoon’s sport, were obviously guilty and could therefore be mishandled with impunity in the ensuing melee.

As a descendant of an old West Coast Family I am sometimes asked about this history and have to admit that my ancestors were active participants in this sport, though not very proficient since one of them was red carded and hung by the neck in Peebles in 1543 for what was probably just a misunderstanding of the offside rule.

Last month we played host to a couple from Peru into whose company we had been thrust for three days last year while Iberia Airlines, from whom we had innocently bought tickets to Peru, worked out how to get us from Heathrow to Lima via Madrid and Amsterdam, apparently without an aeroplane.

During this couple’s stay at our house in Cranfield, UK, the subject of family history came up and we told our guests this story of the Border Rievers.

Their English is better than our Spanish so we told the story in English and were a little disappointed at the rather puzzled reaction that we got to our tales of 16th century derring-do in the heather of the borders.

An uncomfortable silence descended, broken when one of our Peruvian visitors asked ‚ÄúWhy would they steal each other’s kettles?‚Äù