CEOSPEAK Pradeep

PradeepViswambharan
Viswambharan

Moonlight in her throat…

throat…
G enerations of Indians found music
within themselves thanks to the
velvety voice of Lata Mangeshkar.
several top ranking generals.
A distraught Prime Minister Jawaharlal
lives sacrificed.
Lata Mangeshkar turns
Nehru offered to resign but was paci- 80 this year. She is of-
It was the year 1962. The ‘Yellow’ fied by public opinion and the final ten described as the Queen Nightin-
Army (also labeled the Red Army!) in- moment of relief from the shock of a gale of India, A composer’s Dream,
vaded us from across the Himalayas, dream shattered came when a singer God’s Own Voice, and Empress of Mel-
even as the peace-loving rulers of In- from Bombay (now Mumbai) took the ody. The magical quality in her voice
dia kept mike at a commemorative function in was brought out first when she was
chanting ‘Hin- Delhi for the fallen soldiers and ren- barely 15, in a Hindi film called Ma-
di-Chini Bhai dered a patriotic song, at the middle hal, and the song was ‘Aayega aane
Bhai….! It was of which Nehru broke down and wept wala ayega….!’ The entire nation sat
an hour of like a child, admitting that this singer up and took notice of the birth of the
shock and sor- has taught him a valuable lesson: Nev- legend, and with the stupendous suc-
row for the er overestimate yourself, and never be cess of Mahal at the box office ‘Lata-
world’s largest too trusting of strangers. ji’ became the feminine voice of In-
democracy as dia. Even after 65 years of non-stop
its valiant sons Lata Mangeshkar, who made Nehru weep
singing, the melodious and mellifluous
fell by their was already a household name not only voice of Lata Mangeshkar still main-
hundreds to in India, but in every pocket of Indian tains its sweetness, depth, and emo-
the bullets Diaspora anywhere in the world. The tional edge, and continues to be one
from the song “Ai mere watan ke logon” an emo- of the cementing forces of national in-
The Mangeshkar family. Shudh- world’s largest tional and poetic piece of verse was tegration and patriotism.
hamati (mother), Latha, Usha, a u t o c r a c y. specially written and composed for the Daughter of Marathi playwright and
Asha, Hridayanath and Meena,
with image of late Deenanath (fa- Many heads occasion, and even after 45 years of its actor Deenanath Mangeshkar, Lata was
ther) in the background rolled as a first rendering, Ai mere watan ke logon named Hema at birth, later renamed
consequence in India’s ruling hierar- still keeps haunting us with memories after the heroine of one of Deenan-
chy including the Defence Minister and of a bungled-up war and the precious ath’s plays. Her siblings, Asha, Usha,
Hridayanath and Meena
Dhanya V.K are also established and
Friendship recognised singers.
But there is only one
T hose friends thou hast, and their adoption
tried, Grapple them to thy soul with hoops
of steel...Give every man thy ear, but few thy
helps solve problems.
It is better to be alone and friendless than to be
Lata Mangeshkar. And
surrounded by false friends who might desert thank God there is one,
voice..” you over time. Lucky are those who have not to take us to a world of
Polonius in Shakespeare’s drama ‘Hamlet’ com- experienced the agony of betrayal by their joyous lilt and rhythm,
mands on friendship in the above lines. A large friends. as no one else can.
circle of friends is nothing, but a crowd of ac- A true friend never hesitates to point out our Asked to name the se-
quaintance. The spirit of true friendship is al- drawbacks. It is his duty to see that you do not cret of her sweet voice,
ways absent from this circle. All of them are remain ignorant about your faults. He will be she once confided:
fair-weather friends. Over the passage of time, happy if he finds you faultless, but he will be Green chilly. I eat a lot
each goes his own way. happier if he could help you to remove your of them. Soothing mel-
True friendship is said to be rare in this world, faults. There is an old usage “the entire world ody emanating from hot
but this does not mean that all friendship is false. will be in hatred of you, but you will never be chillies? That’s a puzzle
It is true that friendship is a channel to achieve without friends”. biotechnology would
selfish motives at times. Sometimes it can be To conclude we can quote some lines which tell find hard to unravel.
seen that money attracts friends. The richer a us about true friends, There can be no greater
man is, the more friends he “True friends are like jewels, tribute to this great
will have, and the tie of
Precious and rare singer as she turns 80
friendship ends, in such
With them you can freely, than to recall the title
relations, when money
Share your heart’s feelings of a special issue of the
ceases.
They will inspire you Illustrated Weekly of In-
True friendship is of a dif- dia devoted to her, ed-
To struggle and strain
ferent nature. It lasts; ited by Khushwant Singh
They will be the corner stones,
money or self has no role and published in 1974.
Of your success in life
in it. A true friend adds It said: MOONLIGHT IN
They will cheer you up in tough times
charm to life; he/she re- HER THROAT. Yes, in-
duces worries of life and Dhanya V.K, is from Batch 71, Accentia-Trivandrum deed….!

2
EDITORIAL
Accentia in Calcutta….
I n what is aptly described as the
‘Greatest Show on Earth,’ India is
voting these days to elect a new gov-
ernment, and hopefully, a new order
of things. Election campaigns in this
land are always a lot of entertain-
ment. Even as the politicians slug it
out, the common people are puzzled
as to where India is heading to. Patri-
otism, as we understand, and nation-
al integration, as we attempt to prac-
tice, are the two main pillars on which
we pin our hopes so that India remains
what it is. In this context, it is appro-
priate that we recall those days when
India stood up against the military
onslaught of a neighbor and survived,
despite a spell of initial debacle.
CEOSPEAK in this issue deals with a
musical icon of patriotism and national
integration, namely Lata Mangeshkar
who turns 80 this year, and the one
song that she sung to invoke the soul
of India over the need to stay united,
An Accentia Technologies Update
Managing Editor
Pradeep Viswambharan
pradeep.vs@accentiatech.com
Editor in Chief
Rajeev Viswambharan
rajeev.vs@accentiatech.com
Executive Editor
C.K. Sooraj
sooraj.ck@accentiatech.com
Editorial Consultant
Mathukutty J. Kunnappally
destinationkerala@gmail.com
Associate Editor
Sheeja Shivkumar
sheeja.s@accentiatech.com
Layout and Design
Shaji Kumar G.P.
www.accentiatech.com
MUMBAI THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
No. 4 BSEL Tech Park # 233-241 Nila,
P. No. 39/5&39/5A Technopark,
Vashi, Navi Mumbai Trivandrum,
India 400 705 India 695 581
T: +91 22 2527 6077 T: +91 471 270 0964
F: +91 22 2527 6184 F: +91 471 243 2250
3
Rajeev Viswambharan
even as our armed forces were fighting
a valiant battle across the Himalayas.
It looks as if Accentia is opening a new
critical. HR Executive in
Bangalore, Ms. Nirmala
V. adds her thoughts to
production centre every month in some the communication aspect of Jereen’s
city or the other in India. If last month Column in a piece carried on page 8
it was Chandigarh, this month it is Cal- of this issue, proving that Accentians
cutta (or Kolkatta!). Senior Vice Presi- take a keen interest in language and
dent - Corporate Planning, Mr. Ravi communication, the very bread and
Shankar, in his Corporate Affairs Cor- butter of our everyday operations.
ner on page 8 reports on the welcome vyganews.com, a web portal dealing
development in the City of Joy. with development, in a recent edition
As Jereen’s Column on Management carried what could be described as an
penned by Vice President-Operations, up-to-date assessment of Accentia’s
Mr. Jereen Mathew completes one year role in the global HRCM segment. The
of publication, it continues to attract full text of the write up is carried on
readership that is laudatory as well as page 4.
Editor in Chief
Reasons why the English language
is so hard to learn
The bandage was wound around the wound.
The farm was used to produce produce.
The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse.
He could lead if he would get the lead out.
The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert.
Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present
the present.
When shot at, the dove dove into the bushes.
I did not object to the object.
The insurance was invalid for the invalid.
There was a row among the oarsmen about how to row.
To help with planting, the farmer taught his sow to sow.
The wind was too strong to wind the sail.
After a number of injections my jaw got number.
I had to subject the subject to a series of tests.
How can I intimate this to my most intimate friend?
Let’s face it - English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant or
ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins
weren’t invented in England or French fries in France.
We take English for granted. But if we explore its paradoxes, we find that
quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square and a guinea pig is
neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
Have noses that run and feet that smell? How can a slim chance and a fat
chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?
Your house can burn up as it burns down.
You fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on.
English was invented by people, not by computers, and it reflects the cre-
ativity of the human race. That is why, when the stars are out, they are
visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.
Compiled by Dhanya D, Batch 71, Accentia-Trivandrum
 MEDIA WATCH
Kicking off dream: A leading web portal’s
A young man, driven by
the principle of Smart
Work, sits at the helm of
affairs as one of the most
prominent healthcare re-
ceivables cycle manage-
ment (HRCM) players in In-
dia. With operations across
the globe, Accentia has
turned out to be a company
that has stayed on the
growth track even when the
global economy saw irri-
tants in the form of a slow-
down. Pradeep Viswambha-
ran, CEO, Accentia Technol-
ogies, talks on how he
achieved his goals.
A little over 10 years ago, a
young chemical engineer,
just out of the REC Srinagar,
went about his quest for a
government job on the ad-
vice of seniors in the family
and landed himself a job at
the public sector HOCL. The
corridors at HOCL, howev-
er, failed to enthuse the
man armed with ambition
and a spirit for smart work.
Floating a new venture of
his own ruled high in his
mind and the look-out for
avenues would be easier
with a degree in business
administration, he thought.
Enrolling for an MBA in In-
ternational Finance/Mar-
keting followed and by the
last semester, he was ready
and raring to go.
The young man, Pradeep
Viswambharan, went ahead
and gave shape to his busi-
4
www.vyganews.com
assessment of Accentia
Accentia
ness process outsourcing (BPO) firm,
christened GeoSoft Technologies on
6000 sq ft of space in India’s new-
Vyga News (www.vyganews.com) is a novel concept, a complete
news portal, unique, and fresh in all respects. The portal regularly
portrays the success stories of individuals and organizations that
est information technology park – have defied conventional wisdom, swam against currents, and at-
the Thiruvananthapuram Techn- tained success beyond their own imagination. In this series,
opark. The birth of Pradeep’s quest vyganews.com recently carried a feature on Accentia and its Found-
toward being a prominent player in er-Managing Director & CEO, Mr. Pradeep Viswambharan, which is
the information technology space in reproduced here.
India thus materialized in the omen. Profitability levels touched Mumbai-based Hightech En-
months of January-February in year rock bottom. Pradeep was pushed tertainment Ltd and pocket-
1998. Outsourced jobs in med- into a stage where he saw himself ed the company. Thus was
ical transcription space came neck-deep in trouble. Plans for list- born Accentia Technologies,
calling by the dozen and Ge- ing in the stock markets went awry. and then on it has been a
oSoft saw itself take off with The company, which by that period, dream run for the young man
a Rs 2.5 crore investment. had offices in Bangalore and Hydera- of 38.
“While I invested half-a-crore bad was forced to close down the Accentia, today, is a listed
into the business of my two units outside Kerala. The bad entity and has been doing
dreams, banks pumped in the phase was, all the while, threaten- well on the bourses. With
remaining Rs 2 crore,” he says. ingly closing in as if to devour the Exim Bank loans totaling $2.5
Even as GeoSoft was on the entire setup. million and ECBs from ICICI
way to celebrating its first Pradeep had to step on the sell mode Bank to the tune of $6 mil-
birthday, Pradeep began think- and he did. “Almost 60 per cent of lion, the HRCM player has
ing of bigger goals. Thus was shares had to be sold off in year over the years bagged quite
born Iridium, a product based 2003. But then, the economy picked a handful of deals. In 2006,
company with roots firm on up like never before and I was able Accentia bought out three
the healthcare outsourcing to buy back all the shares sold in the companies in the US. Adding
ground, in 1998. However, the very next year,” he adds. to the numbers, it went
scene took a major turn south- ahead to acquire two more in
HRCM GETS A MAJOR
ward as 1999 dawned. The first six India and then four more ;
As CEO, Pradeep had by then set
months of the year saw his dreams two American and two Indian
sights on expanding across horizons.
on the verge of being shattered as players in 2007. The compa-
GeoSoft and Iridium as a single en-
the dotcom economy kicked off into nies acquired were players in
tity went for the kill. Investment
the same HRCM space, and
a plummeting mode. bankers such as Edelweiss offered
were majors in different lev-
DOWNTURN BLUES the much needed support and Pra-
els of the medical transcrip-
The 1999-2004 tenure brought in ill deep initiated an open offer for the
tion process. This in effect
has helped in Accentia’s con-
Thy name is WOMAN solidation of its expertise in
Woman has always been an enigma to the world. She has been an ob- various levels of the HRCM
ject of beauty and veneration, love and adoration, innocence and temp- cycle, says Pradeep.
tation; all at the same time. Well, it just isn’t easy to be a woman in a NORTHWARD BOUND
man’s world. What next? “We have lined up
The Bible: “Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that a whole new set of acquisi-
feareth the lord, she shall be praised”. tions in the near term. One
of them, a US major, has al-
Margaret Thatcher: “No women in my time will be prime minister or
ready been bought out. One
chancellor or foreign secretary- not the top jobs”.
in the UK, one in Canada, and
John Keats: “I have met with women whom I really think would like to three more in the US are in
be married to a poem and to be given away by a novel”. the Accentia radar. We are
George Eliot: “I’m not denying the women are foolish. God almighty just waiting for the current
made ‘em to match the man”. economic phase to pass,” he
adds.
Susan B. Antony: “Men their rights and nothing more; women their
Accentia has been in the
rights and nothing less”.
midst of commendable reve-
Steve Ruben Stein: “Women speak two languages, one of which is ver- nues over the years, ever
bal’. since existence. The compa-
Samuel Butler: “Brigands demand your money or your life; women re- ny, which posted a turnover
quire both”. of Rs 34 crore in year 2007,
Erich Fromm: “Women are equal because they are not different any- went on to make Rs 133.5
more” crore in 2008. This is expect-
ed to increase significantly
Compiled by Rekha S.I., of Batch 71, Accentia-Trivandrum during fiscal 2010.
 Sheeja Shivkumar
OPINION

Patriotism in modern India

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I n the current scenario, when tornadoes of communal

ism and terrorism sweep away the serenity in our lives,
the essence of national integration, in its true spirit, en-
gulfs our minds and souls.
National integration is a positive aspect. It reduces socio-
cultural and economic differences or inequalities and
strengthens national unity and solidarity, which is not
imposed by any authority. People share ideas, values, and
emotional bonds. It is the feeling of unity within diversi-
ty. National identity is supreme. Cultural unity, Constitu-
tion, territorial continuity, common economic problems,
art, literature, national festivals, national flag, national importance to their lingual identity.
anthem, and national emblem etc. promote national in-
tegration.
The euphoria of independence was short-lived as parti-
tion brought disastrous consequences for India in the wake
of communal conflict. Partition unleashed untold misery
and loss of lives and property as millions of Hindu and
Muslim refugees fled either Pakistan or India. Both na-
tions were also caught up in a number of conflicts involv-
ing the allocation of assets, demarcation of boundaries,
equitable sharing of water resources, and control over
Kashmir. At the same time, Indian leaders were faced with
the stupendous task of national integration and econom-
ic development.
India has many races, nationalities, castes, sub castes
and communities but as far as the soul of India is con-
cerned, it is one. It is true that societies that have been
integrated into bonds of unity have always enjoyed peace,
stability, prosperity and permanence. And those torn by
mutual disruptive tendencies among various sections of
the society have always been short lived and become non-
existent. The national integration is the process of unit-
ing different people from all walks of life into a single
whole. The most serious problem being faced by India in
present circumstances is how to develop an atmosphere
of national consciousness among so varied a people.
Challenges to National Integration
Communalism, linguism, and regionalism are the main challenges to
national integration in our country. These are negative terms.
In communal riots, the people forget that they are Indians and the ones
they assault are also Indians. They are not influenced by national identity.
Religious fundamentalists and fanatics guide them. Thus, communalism
is a threat to national integration.
Lingual loyalty is against the feeling of oneness among the people of a
nation. In linguism, people forget their national identity and attach more
Indians already have suffered, for long periods, the pangs of enslavement
and servitude. It is India, in the whole world, that had to suffer under
foreign rulers for more than seven hundred years. The separatist
tendencies among people and kings have always resulted in the fall of
our kingdoms. Our country was always divided into large number of small
kingdoms which were mostly at daggers end. There has been a lack of
national consciousness.Then the British were able to create rifts between
various kings and princes and thus established their supremacy. It was
only overthrown when Indian nationhood joined together by unparalled
acumen of some great Indian leaders who became creators of history.
There is a need to make efforts for creating emotional integration or a
sense of unity. The need of the hour is national integration. It should be
taught at the very beginning, in all schools and colleges all over the
country that India is one and only one. The difference between various
cultures is just superficial and basically it is only one. What are needed
are superior interpretations, synthesis of the power of the mind that can
give rise to a vision of the whole and oneness. The school and college
teaching material should be suitably revised wherein importance and
need of oneness should be emphasized.
To bring about national integration, there are many techniques. It can
be forced out, or can be made to strengthen from
within the core of hearts. The result by way of exercise
of power would always be weak, unsuccessful and it
would be for a temporary phase only. But when the
sense of national integration stems from within, it
would be strong, stable and ever-lasting.

10 Phrases I don’t understand

E nglish language has always been considered the communicator’s
delight and the treasure house of great expressions. But, there
are also many puzzling and contradiction-inducing usages that have
baffled the simple minded for long. Here are some of them, picked
out by leading Middle East writer, Ms. Zennifer Khallel and carried in
the Friday Weekly of Dubai recently.
THE CIRCLE OF LIFE: A circle starts and ends at the same point. Since
nothing in life can ever come back to the same point, shouldn’t we
say a ‘spiral of life’?
COMMON SENSE: The biggest misnomer of all. It is the basic instinc-
tive knowledge that is supposed to dispel all doubts but unfortunate-
ly, it is not very common. The correct term should be ‘partial sense’.
MONEY CANNOT BUY HAPPINESS: Of course it can. If I had
the money and could afford to live in a luxury yacht with a
personal butler, cook and masseuse, I’d be the happiest wom-
an on earth.
NEW AND IMPROVED: If it’s new, how can it be improved? If
it’s improved, how on earth is it new? (There had to be some-
thing to be improved upon!). Biggest conundrum: does the
phrase apply to the product or just the packaging?
DOG EAT DOG WORLD: Dogs are not cannibalistic, at least that’s what
I learnt from Animal Planet. Why blame the poor canines when it is
their arch rivals-the cats- which exhibit the trait of eating their own
species?
MOMMY KNOWS EVERYTHING: Well, this mommy doesn’t. Why does
the sun always rise in the east? Can’t it change course once in a while?
Why can’t the school teach only football? If the early bird always catches
worms won’t it get a tummy ache? These are the questions my boys
pose which leave me baffled and incapable of giving the right answers.
IT’S GREEK TO ME: Why target this particular language? Aren’t there
tougher tongue-twisters?
APPLE OF MY EYE: An apple is kind of heart-shaped at the top and
tapers evenly to the bottom. Since the pupil is a perfect
round, shouldn’t it be the “orange of my eye?”
ON CLOUD NINE: If you are happy and elated and feel like
you’re floating in air, do you have to be picky about num-
bers? And what’s so special about the ninth could anyway?
FILTHY OR STINKING RICH: Rich people are usually well-
groomed and only exude fine scents of expensive perfume
and exotic cologne. How can they ever be filthy or stinky?

5
 JEREEN’S COLUMN
S ome time ago we talked
about the importance of
quality and looked at the best
way to understand what it
meant to deliver goods as per
the quality expectations of the
client.
Just like any other goal, once
we define our
objectives,
we need to
make plans to
reach there.
Just like we
plan to reach
our produc-
tivity targets,
we need to
stay focused to reach our
standards in quality objectives
as well. It is like any other plan
of action, we cannot reach
there overnight. We cannot
reach our targets by not plan-
ning for it; we will neither
reach there by being ignorant
of our shortfalls. The first and
most important step is to un-
derstand what our current sta-
tus is in view of delivery of
good quality. The next step is
to have a drive to reach our
new objective, in this case,
good quality as per our client
expectations. The past few
months we have built our cli-
ent confidence with several
accounts by raising our deliv-
ery standards from all time low
to winning the cheers of cli-
ent account managers. This
just goes to prove that deliv-
ering good quality is not like
shooting arrows in the dark and
it should never be. A confident
marksman knows what the out-
come of his efforts is before it
reaches a target. Like I said
Wedding Bells.... not have enough knowl-
Shabeer & Amreen: an in-house alliance team structure which en-
Mr. Shabeer Ahmed (Team Leader, Accentia-
Bangalore), son of Late Abdul Rauf & Fatima Rauf edge from one MT to an-
married Ms. Amreen Sultana (MT, Accentia- other so that every MT is
Bangalore), daughter of M. Ansar & Arifa Sultana on equipped to handle the
April 10, 2009
6
Pursue Quality
earlier, it will not happen over-
night but requires a deliberate
effort by you as a team leader/
manager.
Root Cause Analysis
It is important to do a root cause
analysis whenever you fail in
achieving what you set out to do.
Often we do some
kind of gap analy-
sis (the gap where-
in we missed our
target) or we do a
‘failure to deliver’
analysis which is
identifying the ob-
vious reasons we
failed but not go-
ing deeper to find out the linked
aspects which contributed to the
failure. Root cause analysis will
help us understand the main
causes of a series of failures
which come our way even when
we seem to be taking steps to
correct ourselves. Let me cite an
example, often we see that the
quality audits produce poor
scores for some teams, while
audits have different reasons for
failure (major errors, tough dic-
tator etc), the root cause analy-
sis will help us understand that
the issue may be a lack of basic
reading skills which is the hid-
den cause of service delivery.
Resources: Gap Analysis
Lack of good resources which
cannot be used to manage the
challenge in front of us is some-
times the most relevant. These
resources can be technology,
skills, experience, or even
knowledge. As a good manager,
you should ensure that you take
all the necessary steps to close
the gaps that exist in our re-
sources. If your team does
edge or exposure you
need to find a channel to
get them this informa-
tion. We handle hundreds
of doctor dictations eve-
ry day and while each
doctor has his/her own
dictation style, it is not
possible to always have a
single staff manage a par-
ticular doctor. We have
ables us to pass knowl-
dictators. New dictators
Jereen Mathew
come up to our work flow as
well, which is why we ask for
sample of reports of particular
Once you be-
gin to pursue
client satis-
dictators. As a manager or a faction you
team leader, it becomes a good will not stop until you reach
management practice to ensure there if you plan to survive in
that your team has the right the long run. Every mistake
resources so that they can de- you make becomes your step-
liver good quality. The concept ping stone in advancing your
about pursuing quality is that knowledge. There is a concept
you, as a leader, do not leave of ‘failing forward’ which is
any stones unturned or any- essentially learning from your
thing to chance. You cannot mistakes and turning them into
afford to get complacent, but stepping stones to move for-
be on your toes always. Even ward. It does not matter where
if you are confident of your you were yesterday, what mat-
team and their skills, you as a ters is where you are today and
team leader can become an where you heading to tomor-
asset when you put in your own row.
skills into it. Remember one of As an organization, an individ-
the aspects of resources man- ual or a leader you earn the
agement is that you are the respect of team members or
best resource/ asset in ensur- clients by the standard of de-
ing the final delivery is not livery. Not many remember
compromised. how many lines you produced
last month or six months ago.
Advancing by learning-
But when they know you for
We should all agree that when
your good (or bad) quality,
we have clients with higher
they remember you. Branding
standards of expectation, we
yourself in this way will cre-
may take a longer time to get
ate the respect and demand
to the level of service delivery
for your services.
that they are satisfied with.
Sheeja Shivkumar
Pets for Stress Relief?
Relief?
T hinking about getting a pet for stress relief? If you are go
ing to be the main caregiver, make sure you know what is
involved in caring for the pet of your choice before you decide
on getting one.
Owning a pet isn’t for everyone. One person’s idea of stress
relief is another person’s idea of stress. For example, some
people find taking a dog for a walk a good way to obtain stress
relief, and knowing the dog needs to be walked is a good moti-
vator to get the exercise they both need. For others, it is a
chore – the thought of having to walk the dog produces stress,
rather than relieving stress. If they don’t take the dog for a
walk, they feel guilty. This isn’t my idea of stress relief.
In general, people who own pets have lower levels of stress
than those who do not own pets. However, people who own
pets usually have made their decision to get a dog, cat or oth-
er pet because they enjoy animals and the stress relief is just
an added bonus.
Having a pet has many benefits, both mental and physical.
Besides stress relief, pets provide entertainment, companion-
ship, and comfort. Pets provide a distraction from one’s own
problems and can relieve depression and anxiety and even phys-
ical pain. Petting a dog or cat usually relaxes both the pet and
the person petting it, providing stress relief and feelings of
satisfaction. Interacting with a pet even produces physiologi-
cal changes such as decreased blood pressure and heart rate.
With pet ownership come responsibilities. If you’re seeking
stress relief, make sure your decision to get a pet is well thought
out.
GREETINGS

MAY BIRTHDAY BOYS AND GIRLS OF HYDERABAD AND BHUBANESHWAR

BIJAYA KUMAR N: MAY 1, SUHASINI M: MAY 1, SONTOSH KUMAR MOHANTY: MAY 1, JAGAN MOHAN T: MAY 2, TAPAS
KUMAR DASH: MAY 2, KIRAN KUMAR P: MAY 2, PADMAJA T.V: MAY 3, PRADYUMNA KUMAR DAS: MAY 3, SUJEET
KUMAR S: MAY 5, JAYALAKSHMI SARABANI: MAY 5, NISHANTH DAPPULA: MAY 5, MOHIT VARMA: MAY 6, SUDHAKAR
MATUKUMALLI: MAY 7, HIMANSHU SEKHAR NAYAK: MAY 8, NARASIMHA SWAMY N: MAY 9, NAZIA BEGUM: MAY 9,
SHANKER S: MAY 9, SUSANTA KUMAR PRADHAN: MAY 9, DEEPA P: MAY 9, MANOJ KUMAR PANIGRAHY: MAY 10,
RAJANI DEVI: MAY 10, RAJESWARI J: MAY 11, SRISHA C: MAY 11, PHANI KUMAR GUDIPATI: MAY 11, VINAYA E: MAY
11, SRINIVAS M: MAY 14, JOTHI LATHA V: MAY 14

Accentians in Trivandrum with the big day in May 2009:

MAHESH KUMAR G: MAY 1, NISHA P. VENU: MAY 1, T.R.DHIVYA: MAY 1, BAIJU. R. S: MAY 1, DEEPA L: MAY 1, MRUDULA.M.L:
MAY 2, N.S.SURESH: MAY 2, KAMALA RAJI R V: MAY 2, ANTO THOMAS: MAY 3, S. SUNEESH: MAY 4, NEENA RAVI: MAY 4,
REMYA DEVI K.C: MAY 5, JOSE. A: MAY 5, KALPANA L: MAY 5, PRINCE JOHN: MAY 5, ANJU. A.S: MAY 5, UMA.M.NAIR: MAY
5, SATHEESH KUMAR K: MAY 6, INDULEKHA RAMAKRISHNAN: MAY 6, PRATHAPCHANDRAN M.R: MAY 6, SHEEJA S.S: MAY
7, AJITH O.S: MAY 7, SHEEJA S.S: MAY 7, SEENA M.K: MAY 8, CHITRA.I.S: MAY 10, ADARSH. V.A: MAY 10, RAGESH K: MAY
11, RAGEESH K: MAY 11, BIJO DANIEL: MAY 12, SREEDEVI NAIR.S: MAY 12, SUNIL S: MAY 12, BIJO DANIEL: MAY 12,
SIMMIE. T. S: MAY 13, ANUJA A.S: MAY 13, SAJIN KHAN: MAY 13, ARUNKUMAR S: MAY 14, NISHANTH S: MAY 14, LATHA
SOMAN.M: MAY 14, BINU S: MAY 14, JEEVAN C.J: MAY 15, NARENDRANATH V: MAY 15, BIJU.V.S: MAY 15, JEEVAN C.J:
MAY 15, NAJEEB NAVAB: MAY 16, RAHUL R.S: MAY 16, SARATH CHANDRA BOSE: MAY 16, RAKESH R.S: MAY 16, SHEENA
N.F: MAY 16, MRIDULA. P: MAY 17, PRIYADARSHINI P.R: MAY 17, DIANA THOMAS: MAY 17, AYYAR DEEPTHI BALASUNDARAM:
MAY 17, BALRAM B.C: MAY 17, SREEJITH J.S: MAY 18, SUNIL THANKAPPAN: MAY 18, KAVITHA V: MAY 19, KAVITHA V:
MAY 19, SAJIDEV L.S: MAY 20, S. DIPAK: MAY 20, ANJANA.G: MAY 20, ASHITHA S: MAY 20, BEENARANI. S.S: MAY 20, ROY
ISSAC: MAY 20, PRESANNA KUMARI P: MAY 20, SHEEJA K.S: MAY 21, SUMI M.S: MAY 21, T.S. SWAPNA: MAY 21, SHEEJA
K.S: MAY 21, NISHANTH M: MAY 22, SOUMYA S: MAY 22, SOUMYA S: MAY 22, RAJESH.S: MAY 23, ANOOP R: MAY 23,
MANAF S: MAY 24, DEEPA L.S: MAY 24, KAVITHA K. JOY: MAY 24, CHITRA R NAIR: MAY 24, NELSON SEBASTIAN: MAY 24,
KRISHNADAS. P: MAY 25, RIBI I R: MAY 25, INDU R: MAY 25, CHANTHU S.D: MAY 25, ANOOP.R.D: MAY 25, REMYA
GOPINATH: MAY 25, HARIPRIYA S: MAY 25, VINODKUMAR VELAYUDHAN: MAY 25, SREELEKSHMI S: MAY 25, MOHAMMAD
SHIBIN S: MAY 25, ANJU A.S: MAY 25, ANOOP VIJAYAN: MAY 28, ANANDHU M DAS: MAY 28, AMBILI V.M: MAY 28, WILFRED
SIRLING: MAY 28, KAVERI B.S: MAY 28, MANJU MOHAN: MAY 29, JOSE A: MAY 29, ARUN J.M: MAY 29, RAJI.T.R: MAY 29,
SREE SANKAR S: MAY 30, JERRY JOSEPH: MAY 30, JAYALAKSHMI J: MAY 30, SURYAJITH.S: MAY 30, SIBI M: MAY 30, PRIJI
DEV.L.S: MAY 30, SAJIT CYRIL DAVID: MAY 30, VIJESH KUMAR V.L: MAY 30, AJITH KUMAR V.P: MAY 30, MUKESH M.G:
MAY 30, SUJITH STEPHEN: MAY 30, SREE SANKAR S: MAY 30, REJITH S.R: MAY 30, ARUN V.S: MAY 30, LAKSHMI P: MAY
30, SREELESH KUMAR V: MAY 31, PADMAPRASAD P: MAY 31, DEEPA P.S: MAY 31, SHIBU C: MAY 30, PRASANNAN: MAY 30,
PRINCE JOHN: MAY 30, MISIHA DAS: MAY 30, TEENA MURTHY: MAY 31, NIDEESH KUMAR G: MAY 30, BINURAJ: MAY 30

These are the Bangaloreans who celebrate the big day this month:
Asscent Division Thunga Division
PUNITH N: MAY 3, BEENA JETLINE: MAY 4, MARY KAVITHA F: MAY 6, VISMAYA SUPRIYA S: MAY 19, USHA C: MAY
KAVALI: MAY 8, RISHI BRINE: MAY 12, DR.R A HANNAH: MAY 12, P SREEJA: MAY 20, SHIVA KUMAR S: MAY 24, SAN-
13, MARY JACINTHA: MAY 17, S SAMEER AHMED: MAY 19, SHEEJA T.S: MAY 23, DEEP SURENDRANATH: MAY 24,
ELAYARATHUNAM R: MAY 23, DEEPTHI B.G: MAY 25, EJAZ AHMED: MAY 26, UMA- KEMPRAJ H.S: MAY 27, ANTHONY
RANI VIJAYKUMAR: MAY 26, GURPREET KAUR: MAY 27, MINIMOL THOMAS: MAY 30 PRAVEEN KUMAR: MAY 31

And, here are the Cochinites in celebration:

SREELEKHA ANILKUMAR: MAY 1, PRIYA M.S: MAY 3. RAMDAS M.R: MAY 9, ROSHID. P: MAY 16, MAXON M. 17,
ADV.MEERA SIDHARTH: MAY 20, VIJAYAN V: MAY 25, SURAJ K.S: MAY 26, NOBY: MAY 26, AMBILI: MAY 28, BEENA
KRISHNAN: MAY 29, SAIFUDEEN C.M: MAY 30, DHANASREE M.P: MAY 30, AGNES B: MAY 31, JYOTIS. T.V: MAY 31,
AMBADY LAKSHMAN: MAY 31, NIZAR AHMED: MAY 31, SANDHYA C: MAY 31

7
CORPORATE AFFAIRS CORNER Ravi Sankar

Accentia’s growth chart extends to Calcutta

New production centre in ‘‘The
production The City of Joy’
A ccentia opened its in- ed in eastern India on the banks changed from the English
nings in the cricket cra- of the river Hooghly.
nual temperatures ranging
name ‘Calcutta’ to ‘Kolkata’ in between 7 and 40 degrees.
zy city of Kolkata by launch- The name Kolkata has its roots 2001. Kolkata Metropolitan Calcutta served as the capi-
ing its operations in the first in “Kalikata”, the name of one Area is spread over 1,750 sq. tal of India during the British
week of April 2009. This of the three villages in the area km. and comprises 157 postal Raj until 1911. Once the cen-
state-of-the-art office tre of modern ed-
is poised to be a major ucation, industry,
hub for Accentia’s off- science, culture
shore development. and politics in In-
Kolkata is the 3rd larg- dia, Kolkata has
est city in India and the witnessed intense
world’s 8th largest met- Accent on joy: Calcutta Accentians at it in their new produciton centre in the City of Joy political violence,
ropolitan area. The clashes and eco-
population of Kolkata ex- before the arrival of the Brit- areas. Kolkata has a tropical nomic stagnation since 1954.
ceeds 15 million and is locat- ish. Its official name was wet-and-dry climate, with an- Like other metropolitan cities
in India, Kolkata continues to
Jereen’s Column: An addendum struggle with the problems of
urbanisation: poverty, pollu-
W e have been reading a series of articles on communicated -on the basis of the place we
‘Communication’ by Mr. Jereen Mathew. assume a person is from, or a value we hold
They have been very illuminating and enlight- based on our perception of that person’s status
tion, and traffic congestion.
Kolkata is noted for its revo-
ening. I would like to add some more informa- on society. Another communicable aspect of a lutionary history, ranging from
tion to what has already been presented. person’s conversation is the degree of loudness
the Indian struggle for inde-
Many of us are not immune to the all - round employed. A lot of assumptions cloud our judg-
pendence to the leftist and
effect of the “spoken word”. In addition to the ment. For instance, it is assumed that extro-
trade union movements.
actual words spoken, a vast amount of informa- verts talk louder than introverts, that men talk Kolkata Metro, run by the In-
tion is available along with the actual meaning louder than women, that people speaking soft- dian Railways, is the oldest
of the words. Communication is a skill not de- ly might be doing so to cover themselves delib- underground system in India.
termined by choices of words alone but also by erately from others…. could be for any reason It runs parallel to the River
the accent we use, the volume of our speech, ranging from secrecy, tenderness to embarrass- Hooghly and spans the north-
the speed at which we speak, and ment. It has also been noticed that south length of the city cov-
our tone of voice. All the features people with hearing impairments ering a distance of 16.45 km.
fall under the category of paralin- tend to speak loudly, presuming Kolkata is India’s only city to
guistic communication. It is true lack of comprehension on the part have a tram network, operat-
that some people are better at of the listener. ed by Calcutta Tramways
communicating than others. While The speed at which one talks also Company. The slow-moving
a good vocabulary does have a is a reflection of the speaker’s tram services are restricted to
strong role in communicating, it mood or personality. Other messag- certain areas of the city.
does not necessarily mean one has es that a listener gets are voice Kolkata is known for its
the ability to effectively commu- quality, the tone of the voice used sports-crazy population and is
nicate an idea. On the flip side, and the deliberate or non deliber- the home of two large stadia.
miscommunication takes place ate use of pauses, hesitations, rep- The Eden Gardens is one of
sometimes because the ability to etitions, etc. To put it broadly, the only two 100,000-seat crick-
interpret correctly what is being voice quality tells us about the et stadiums in the world and
said to us varies greatly with each physical attributes or health of the Salt Lake Stadium is the
individual. Another feature that plays an impor- speaker, the voice tone informs us of the speak- world’s third largest capacity
tant role in Communication is the accent of the er’s feelings towards either the topic of con- football stadium.
speaker. In a place like Bangalore where there versation or the listener, and the continuity of We are now in the process of
is a flourishing B P O sector, it is not uncommon speech is particularly revealing of the speak- building up the team at this
to find youngsters walking around talking a brand er’s nervous state of mind, as well as indicating centre. Ashim Gon and Partha
of spoken English hard to place. Each one of us familiarity with the listener and the language Saha are leading the team and
spoken.
speaks with an accent. It is not possible to do in the coming months, I am
As such the paralinguistic messages provide a
otherwise. Our accent quickly tells the listener lot of useful information about the speech. It is sure we will be hearing a lot
where we come from —also which part of the also not too difficult to judge a person’s age, about the Kolkata centre.
country. It could also reveal the perceived class sex and feelings from the above clues. The term Let us take this opportunity
of the speaker. However, the information we de- Communication, then is akin to a big banyan to welcome all Kolkata Accen-
cipher is not always accurate. Accents tend to tree and incorporates strands of various behav- tians to the family!
reflect existing prejudices towards people we ioral patterns including emotions and feelings
hear using them. We tend to judge each other, that govern our day to day activities. Ravi Sankar is Accentia’s Sr. Vice
President–Corporate Planning,
irrespective of the content of what has been From Nirmala V, HR Executive, Accentia-Bangalore based in Bangalore