8 Nudges To Motivate Corporate Learning

 Published in elearning industry on July 13, 2016

Summary: Nudge theory is being discussed worldwide and used by administrators to motivate people to take the right decisions. Nudges have also been used in learning motivation, but perhaps not consciously or extensively. This article suggests 8 “nudges” that employers can use to motivate corporate learners.

Corporate Learning Motivation: 8 Nudges To Use 

Many companies have either mandated or prescribed a certain number of hours of learning as an annual goal for each employee. Of course, this learning is not just any learning, but that which meets one or more of the following conditions:

• The learning improves the employees’ existing skills that are useful to the organization.
• The learning imparts new skills that are relevant to the employees’ area of work.
• The learning helps the employees advance towards their career goals.
• The learning helps meet the organization’s business goals.

Now, if you like what you do, this target is not hard to meet – there are numerous books, articles, webinars, and discussions available on every subject on earth, and new ones are created every day. Moreover, employers who set such targets are duty-bound to provide relevant learning, either in the form of e-learning or instructor-led classes, or even role-shadowing assignments.

Philosophically speaking, 30 or 40 odd hours in a year is too little time to absorb the ocean of knowledge generated in 8760 hours by your peers in your own profession across the globe. Yet, most employees struggle to meet this target, citing busy work schedules and personal commitments. What they need is a little ‘nudge’ in addition to the employer’s prescription or mandate, to get them interested in learning.

The Nudge Theory 

Nowadays, everybody is talking about the Nudge theory. Ever since Thaler and Sunstein came out with their book, Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness, it has become a rage, especially with administrators. Apparently, some governments have taken inspiration from this book to introduce behavioral change interventions in their public policies. Here is an example of the use of a “Nudge” to help citizens take more informed decisions: Nudges and Learning: Evidence from Informational Interventions for Low-Income Taxpayers.

Nudges And Learning 

Has anyone used a nudge or two in motivating learning? Here’s an instance of nudging students to complete college education: Nudge Nation: A New Way to Prod Students Into and Through College.

Actually, Instructional Designers have been using nudges for ages. What are Gagne’s nine events if not nudges to stimulate learning? There exist many other models and methods to make learning interesting. But these stimulants are meant to work once the learner commits to the learning.

How would you get employees to learn voluntarily? Here are 8 nudges that can draw your corporate learners towards their required learning:

1. Get The Timing Right. 

“Just -in-time learning” is the current byword, and rightly so. Time is the key. Make the learning available when it is sought: During an organizational change event, when annual appraisals are due or when the target employees have a lighter workload.

2. Post The Availability Of The Learning On A Prominent Location. 

Grab attention by posting a link, with an attractive visual, at a place where everyone can see: The notice board or the intranet home page.

3. Communicate Directly Through Email And Text Messages. 

Email or send text messages to the prospective learners about the availability of the learning and its objectives. Do not forget to include the link in your message. Recipients are more likely to click the link in the message rather than open a new browser to search for the course.

4. Inform The Managers Of The Prospective Learners. 

This is one tactic most HR learning providers use. Employees are more likely to enroll in a course and complete it when assigned by their managers to complete it.

5. Make It Exclusive – To Be Provided On Nomination. 

When access to a course is by nomination only, the nominated learners automatically get a privileged status. This motivates them to complete it.

6. Provide A Social Forum To Discuss The Learning. 

Discussion helps to create awareness and eagerness for participation. It also provides feedback about the general acceptance of the course.

7. Solicit Feedback To Improve The Learning Content. 

People like providing feedback. Ask them how they think the course can be improved.

8. Gamify Learning. 

Last, but not the least, use points, badges, and leaderboards (PBL) to gamify learning within the organization. Enable employees to compete with one another to complete the required learning. You may also provide awards to successful learners.

An innovative HR mind may come up with other ideas, depending on the organizational culture. A little “nudge” can go a long way in building a culture of learning within an organization and also in inspiring and motivating instructional designers to design and develop learning.

10 cool, non-conventional job titles for niche professions

 First published in Youngisthan on August 10, 2019

Have you seen career news lately? Thousands of seats in engineering colleges have no takers! Surely, the number of students has not declined? Where are these students going? Which career paths are they taking?

A friend of mine studied to be an engineer – an architect, to be more precise. Today, he’s a “landscape designer” – a job role that did not exist when he chose to become an architect. As for me, I never became an engineer; yet, I am in an enviable profession – instructional design.

Not all new-age professions are about design though. Let’s take a look at some cool new professions:

1. Technology Evangelist: This profession requires you to be so passionate about a particular technology, that you can persuade other people into adopting it. It does sound a bit like marketing, but it’s not wholly that. You may be required to secure buy-in from your own company’s management or staff – in this, it’s a bit like change management. You may also be required to train people or just disseminate information.  Your tools in this trade will be mainly social media and your own communication skills.
2. Adventure Consultant: You may be hired by an adventure club, an activity resort, a travel company or even an event management company. What would you be doing? – providing exciting adventures to your clients. The adventures could range from trekking, and rock climbing, to kayaking, white water rafting, paragliding, bungee jumping, and so on. You needn’t be an expert at any of these, but you would need to coordinate between the expert guides and your clients and ensure fun as well as the safety and security of all.
3. Kids Club Host: It is apparent from the title that this involves playing with kids. But that’s not all – you have to be trained in first aid and kindergarten teaching. You have to spend hours with children, sometimes travel with them, while ensuring they have fun and stay safe.
4. Curator: “Aha!” you might say, “Caught you! Curators have been around for ages, looking after our museums.” But the curators I am talking about are music curators, data curators, content curators, and fashion curators. Depending on your interest, you could be any one of these. Essentially you would do a lot research on a particular topic and gather a lot of information to be consumed by your customers.
5. Social Media Strategist: No business can afford to ignore social media any more. In fact, there is a mad race to be on top of social media. If you are one of those who understand the dynamics of how things work in digital social media, you would be perfect for this job. You would decide what to post, where, and when – the precise time, day of the week, and month, to get the maximum eyeballs. You would be a content strategist, marketing strategist, business strategist, and brand strategist – all rolled into one.
6. Career Development Facilitators: With so many varied professions around, one could be confused about which path to pursue and which career to opt for. As a career development facilitator, you could help individuals decide which career is the most suitable for their particular talents. You would start with a simple psychometric test to determine the person’s abilities and interests and then draw up the perfect, fail-safe option through an interview with the person.
7. Identity and Access Manager: With data security becoming increasingly important for all businesses, all companies need a person for security, maintenance and access Administration of information and data. To be in this role, you would have a comprehensive understanding of multiple operational and security technologies
8. Growth Hacker: This job role is available in start-up companies. As a growth hacker, you will aggressively promote the company’s business in every possible way.
9. Food taster: There are wine tasters and tea tasters – now there are food tasters. I wish I could say this job is for anyone who loves to eat. But no! This job is for the discerning eater – you have to know your spices and flavours. You have to taste the food not only from your company’s kitchens but also from the kitchens of competitors and advice the chefs. If you become really good at this, you may be called upon to judge culinary competitions.
10. Resource Allocation Planner: In companies that employ thousands of people with a wide variety of skills, working on hundreds of projects, the people and other resources need to be moved around and distributed. In this role, you will need to have a clear picture of the company’s resources and new and expiring business projects. This is a combination of human resource management and general administration.

This is, by no means, a comprehensive list of new professions. More are emerging every day. These are exciting times. So, keep an eye on the recruitment pages.

A Second Chance

Once upon a time, there was lovely little town called Kudremukh, nestled within the mountains of the Western Ghats. The lush green mountains secluded the town from the bustling humanity of the neighboring regions, like a well-guarded jewel. Only the river Bhadra chortled merrily through its very heart, like an indulgent playmate humoring the few hundred people who lived happily in their pretty town. During the monsoons, however, clouds pushed against the mountain peaks and winds ran across the little town in deadly, screeching, whirls. Then, the Bhadra swelled up and roared like a war monster. Leeches and snakes came out in numbers, pushing people indoors.

The little girl hated the monsoons. But she knew it was only a matter of time - a couple of months at the most - before the trees would win the war against the ferocious winds and Kudremukh would be as lovely and green and cool as ever. She loved her little town; she hadn't yet known any other.

She made friends with all the children - the children she met in the town's only park and in the single recreation center of the town, where everyone assembled at least once a week to watch a movie or a dance program or a school function. But she was happiest in school.

Image by dara nilrothanak from Pixabay

The little girl was all of ten

She loved her school and all her friends

A tiny crush, a "very good",

full marks or half - her joys and wounds

Mind you, this was in the 80s, when Kudremukh did not have a single television set. There were telephones, but only in offices, and in  a handful of houses. One had to make a trunk-call to speak long distance, but the calls cost a lot of money. Writing letters were normal, but getting a reply took a long time, because Kudremukh was not easy to reach. So, the little girl’s parents missed their relatives and friends, who lived far away, in another part of the country, reachable only after days of travel by road and rail.

She was merely ten, when she was forced to leave her beloved Kudremukh, her school and all her friends. She knew then, that she would never see her friends again, for she was going far, far away. 

Image by abeer alabdullah from Pixabay

Then came a time, she had to go

Daddy's job became her woe

School and friends stayed behind

Tearful farewells lingered tho'

Time passed and she grew up, finished school and went to college, but never did she forget her first school in paradise. She recalled every face in her class, every teacher - everything they taught her, every song she sang, small incidents, dialog with friends, everything was etched in stone in her memory. She prayed that she be reunited with her class in another life, if there was such a thing. She dreamed that they all remembered her and loved her as much as they did years and years ago.

Times changed, and like a boon to humanity came the internet and the mobile phone. The girl, now a woman, on a whim one day, looked up 'Kudremukh' and there indeed, in the social media, were pictures of Kudremukh, although much different from what she could remember. Things had changed since she left, she realized; her school had shifted to another location. Hundreds of unknown names associated themselves with the school – her school. She frantically searched for a familiar name, from one website to another, and then finally, one day, she found a name – a classmate and friend in another life. Was it really him? – a big, burly man with a moustache, no resemblance to the young face she remembered so well, except, perhaps, the nose? Somewhat? With trembling hands she composed a brief message – “do you remember me?”

25 years had passed since those tearful farewells; she had little hope; but in two days came a reply – “the little girl with curly hair? Of course, I remember you!” She was shocked and overjoyed. Someone from her dreams actually remembered her!

In another two days came another message, from another familiar name, and soon she was flooded with messages and phone calls. Unfamiliar, mature voices, but all oozing nostalgia, remembering a life in paradise. That paradise, however, had become a ghost town. Everybody had had to leave Kudremukh!

Soon there was an invite to join a virtual group - a group with Kudremukh in its name and in its interface. "The girl" did not need a second call. “SURPRISE!” the 100 odd members cried, almost in unison, “welcome back to your school!” Here again, are all your classmates, your seniors, juniors, and many others you had never had a chance to meet, and, hang on, your teachers! 
"Yes, they do pop in from time to time, to say a good word or two."
"Here, little girl, is your second chance to live the life that was denied to you."

Image by peter_pyw from Pixabay

A Happy Birthday

Two of my closest friends have their birthdays today. They do not know each other, but they are both very important to me.

No, it’s not a question of juggling two parties. In fact, they are in two different cities and I live in a third.

My most important job of the day was to wish them both a “Happy Birthday”. I have been preparing for this mentally for the past one week. These were my thoughts: Make it unique, memorable, better than others, before others, but how?

1.      Wish them at midnight, well before others?

2.      Wish them on all social media, so they see messages from me everywhere they look?

3.      Send them unique gifts? Like what?

4.      Send them e-greetings?

I delved into my collection of photographs to find the most suitable ones for making greeting cards with a very personal touch – but not a single one appealed to me. I looked up the e-greetings available on the Internet, but did not find a single one that would define my relationship with either one of them perfectly. I did this all week and finally decided to compose two special messages myself. After work, one evening, I picked up my pad and pen and wrote down the two names so dear to me, on two separate pages. Then I sat biting the pen thinking about the opening lines. Minutes passed, then an hour, and then I felt too drowsy to continue.

The next evening I tried again, this time on my laptop, my fingers playing on the keyboard. Suddenly one of them called and I had a merry conversation for over an hour until I was ready to go to bed.

Surprisingly, the next evening, which was yesterday, the eve of the birthday, I forgot all about it and went to bed early. I did not even remember it in the morning, until I logged in to the social media and then, it came back to me with a jolt. Alas! I had already missed out on all opportunities to do 1, 2, 3, or 4. What now?

I had to wish them anyway. One of them, I felt sure was still in bed. I left her a message just so she knew I hadn’t forgotten. I called the other and wished her as warmly as I could. To my surprise, she was as elated as she would be had she received the best gift in the world. We talked for some time and I realized that the day isn’t about how unique I am; It is about how special they are.

I went back to my message to my other friend – she had woken up by then, seen my message and smiled back at me.

My next job is to remind all the friends that I have in common with each one of them, to wish them today. True, I will just be one of the ‘many’ who sent them birthday greetings, but the important thing is that they will both feel loved and cherished by ‘many’.

I shall start right now. Thank God it's a Sunday!

 

What a woman!

This was written long ago, when I was a student and a daily commuter on the Howrah-Bandel rail network.

It wasn’t rush hour and so the train compartment was sparsely populated. My favourite window seat, however, was occupied by a woman. I sat down next to her hoping she would get off soon. She wore a cheap chiffon sari in a way that would be considered indecent on a younger body, especially if that body bore a college-goer’s bag. She had her possessions in a bag of a different kind – a worn out plastic carry-bag, which was tucked behind her like a cushion. She sat with her legs folded and a wad of velvety bindis-in-the-making on her lap. Somebody had neatly cut out rounded shapes on sheets of velvet and it was her job to carefully separate the bindis from the mother-sheet.

I don’t know why I smiled; perhaps the sight of the colourful array of bindis on her lap pleased me. She caught my smile and returned a shy one – “Utilizing the time,” she said, as if justifying the trivial nature of her work, “this is better than sitting idle while travelling, isn’t it so?”  I was obliged to give my approval, remembering that I too had planned to utilize the time reading by the window, with the wind on my face.

“Where are you going?” I asked hopefully, and she named a station far beyond my own destination, much to my dismay. Nevertheless, I felt obliged to be polite to her and so I kept my eyes glued to her lap, trying hard to keep my face straight so as not to show my indignation. She took it as a sign of interest in her bindis and encouraged by it, proudly showed me the brand name. “You must be familiar with it,” she said matter-of-factly. I wasn’t; I still cannot recall the brand name - not that I made any effort to remember. “It’s very popular in the market because of the glue," she continued. "Other bindis cannot be used more than once because the glue they use isn’t good enough. But these bindis are reusable. Moreover, the glue never causes any kind of skin irritation or eruption.”  

I listened without interest and she went on, “I make the glue myself. Many people have asked me for the formula, but I never give it to anyone. I make it at night and give it to the girls in the morning. I have a bindi-factory at home, you know; five girls work there.”

In spite of myself, I now started appreciating the entrepreneur in a woman of her stature (she appeared to be poor and uneducated). But a “bindi-factory!” One can hardly make a living out of it, that too after paying the wages, however paltry, of five girls. “Oh, but I have a job,” she said, as if I was stupid not to have guessed it already. “Do you know the ABC glass factory in Kolkata?” She did not wait for my answer (much to my relief as I had started feeling rather embarrassed at my poor general knowledge) and launched into another lengthy discourse: “The malik (proprietor of the glass factory) has a lot of faith and trust in me. I used to work as an ayah in his home, you know. He would not even talk to me at that time. Then one day what happened was, there was nobody at home except his wife and I; and madam was in the bathroom when the phone rang. So I had to pick up the phone, you see, and immediately realized that it was an important call for the malik. So I wrote down everything the caller said and when the malik came home, I read it out to him. He did not say anything, but he was impressed that I could read and write.” She was beaming by now. “And so he gave you a job in his factory,” I tried to conclude her story for her. “Yes,” she said, “but not before I bargained a good pay. After all, a job that involves reading and writing has a higher value than an ayah’s job, isn’t it so?” Once again, I had to agree with her. She smiled contentedly. “Education has immense value. I say so to my daughter. She goes to school, you know. She’ll soon get promoted to class six.”

We had travelled quite a distance and it was too late to start reading. So I encouraged her to talk some more. It was somewhat like reading a book, albeit not the one I had planned to read. “Better than sitting idle while travelling,” I mused.

“So who looks after the bindi-factory while you are away? - your husband or your daughter?”

“Oh no, no,” she replied. The bindi-factory looks after itself. The girls come early in the morning and leave before I do. My husband indeed! He’s a lout. He lives with another woman. Sometimes he comes to me to ask for money. I give him some money and send him away.” I noticed that she derived some satisfaction out of her charity.

“Why do you give him money, when he has deserted you?”

“After all he’s my husband and I’ve taken away his hotel too.”

“Hotel! You run a hotel too?”  - I knew that by hotel, she meant one of those roadside eateries. What surprised me was her enterprise.”

“No, I used to run it with my husband earlier. That is why when he left me, everyone in my locality supported my claim to the hotel. I fought for it tooth and nail –my brother came with me and we took possession of the hotel. My brother and his wife run the hotel now. They give me my dues every month.” I felt sure that she did not know or bother about any legal procedures in these matters. “And what if they cheat you?” I wanted to ask, but decided against it. Who could cheat such a woman?

“So you can get your food from there; you don’t have to cook for yourself,” I said in an effort to continue the conversation.“My daughter and I do our own cooking,” she replied, “Like today, upon reaching home, I shall put a pot of rice and vegetables on the oven to boil and run to market to get some materials and groceries.” This meant that by the time she sat down to eat, it would be well past lunchtime for most people. I looked out through the window to calculate how much longer it would take her to get home, when I realised with a gasp that I had reached my destination.

I took her leave in a hurry and got off the train, feeling quite perturbed. I had left a book unfinished and I would perhaps never again get a chance to finish it. I wanted to know her story from the beginning – how did she become an ayah from a hotelier, or a hotelier from an ayah? What was her daughter like? What were her plans for her future? Where could I get those bindis with her “magic” glue? And most important of all, how did she, a factory worker and owner of two businesses, a mother and home-maker, manage her time? She could give me a lesson time-management; but alas! That was not to be – I had not even learnt her name.

Solitary shoes

I was passing by the Om Shakthi temple just after dusk, as I often do during my evening walks. Except for a devotee or two just outside the temple door, I usually find the temple compound deserted and dark. But yesterday was different: the compound was alight with hundreds of lamps and abuzz with the chatter of devotees. Of course! it was night of the supermoon, I suddenly remembered. It was also the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak, the founder of the Sikh faith, and an auspicious day for Hindus.

I digressed from my usual path and soon found myself at the temple gate. Once there, I hesitated - there were hundreds of shoes outside the main gate, almost upon the road. I recalled all the horror stories I knew about shoes lost from temple gates. Some of the stories were my own experiences, which is why I take the precaution of putting on my most dispensable pair of shoes or sandals whenever I plan to visit a temple. But this was unplanned!

Undecided, I peered through the crowd to satisfy my curiosity about the lamps. As I stood there motionless, people trying to enter or leave the temple cast curious glances in my direction. I suddenly felt shy; those people probably thought it was the time of the month when women did not enter temples. Had they known the real reason for my hesitation, they would have been aghast- what kind of a person worries about shoes when at God's doorstep?

I sighed as I remembered my original destination, the neighborhood departmental store, which would soon be crowded by folks returning from work and looking to pick up grocery items on the way. Window shopping at the store is a favorite pastime and my secondary motivation for evening walks, the primary being Bangalore's infamous power-cuts. The regular evening power-cut compels me to leave my solitary confinement and take a walk. I tore myself away from the temple and completed the first leg of my walk.

At the departmental store, I noticed a huge stack of new arrivals in the shoes section. I thought that was a funny coincidence, but proceeded to check if there was anything I liked. From the corner of my eye, I could see the irritating salesgirl approaching. Before she could open her mouth to say "may I help  you," I smiled at her and politely said. "no, thank you." But she refused to take the hint and persisted, "sorry ma'm, no your type of shoe here; here only casual shoes."
"I'm sorry?" I did not get what she meant.
"No medical shoes," she explained to my further bewilderment. "you need spacial shoe, no?" she continued, not one to give up easily. But this time, I looked down at my feet and lo and behold! I was wearing two different shoes!

They were both mine, both black, both covered my toes, but one was broader than the other. In other words, they were from two different pairs.

After the initial shock, a great surge of giggles threatened to erupt from my belly and reveal my foolishness in front of the silly shop girl. I could blame it on the power-cut, but that would not really absolve me of my careless mistake.

With inhuman effort, I suppressed the giggles and bravely looked up, straight into her eyes. "Hm," I said, as if disappointed, and ran out of the store.

I did not stop till I reached the temple gate. There, I quickly removed the shoes before anyone could notice the weird pair, and boldly stepped into the compound, silently wishing the shoe thieves good luck.

Old posts

Found a couple of very old posts once published in a now obsolete blogging site:

Of mosquitoes and rebirth

 In the very last biology class that we had in school, we learnt about different food chains and their importance in their respective ecosystems. The teacher took up several examples, such as crows, fishes and algae and explained how extinction of each would affect the environmental balance. That evening, on my way home from school, I noticed civic authorities out on streets, trying to implement a mosquito eradication programme and I wondered briefly if extinction of mosquitoes would harm the environment in any way. Since I never attended a biology class again, I still do not know the answer.

 I have not, however, bothered myself too much with that question because I have since realised that it is quite impossible to annihilate mosquitoes. They are everywhere, Kachhuas and GoodKnights notwithstanding. Tending our itchy limbs has become so much of a habit with us, that often we are not aware of the action. Take for example, a friend of mine who was coming out of a posh restaurant when I bumped into him. While greeting me with a broad smile, he was nursing what was distinctly a mosquito bite on his arm. Yet, when I asked him if there were mosquitoes inside the restaurant, he was taken by surprise and couldn’t recall seeing any.

 Another friend once proclaimed that there were no mosquitoes at her place. A visit to her place confirmed this. I felt relieved as well as a bit envious of her good luck. A week later she was in hospital with malaria.

 Why do all our efforts to destroy mosquitoes always result in failure? If you are a believer in the theory of karma and rebirth, my aunt has a plausible answer: All evil people are reborn as mosquitoes. (It is God’s way of giving them a chance to do what they like doing best – sucking other people’s blood.) That is why the number of mosquitoes never seems to dwindle.

A corollary to this theory could be: All animal and insect species that are on their way to extinction are probably being reborn as humans. This could explain why more and more humans are demonstrating animal behaviour.

A wail of a time

(Note: This was written when Kingfisher Airlines let you watch TV on domestic flights)

 

I hate early morning flights, because it means losing several hours of sleep. That morning I was particularly tired and determined to get two full hours of sleep during the flight to Kolkata from Delhi. I did not carry a book and deliberately refused a window seat so as not to be tempted to look at the amazing sights I always lose myself in. The window seat, therefore, went to a lady who had a baby in her arms. Now babies, you will agree, are a great pastime, especially during a journey. You can either watch their antics or perform some antics yourself to get their attention and hope to be rewarded with a smile; and if a baby can talk a little, well, nothing can be more amusing.

 

Thankfully, this baby seemed to be asleep. I too made myself comfortable and shut my eyes. But no sooner did sleep come to me than the baby gave out a shrill shriek and my eye lids flew open. When I gathered my wits, I stared at the little body contorted with rage. You had to be there to believe that the little thing could shriek so loud. Not that he could sustain the loudness and pitch for long, and so the shriek was replaced by a heart-wrenching baby wail. Needless to say, the mother did everything in her power to quieten him; the stewardesses offered every help, but to no avail. The little minx continued to wail, without a break. 

Unable to be of any help, I desperately wanted to put on my headphones, shut off the wailing with the mindless noise of a TV channel  and make the best of what remained of the journey. But that would be bad manners and the mother would feel embarrassed. On an impulse, I switched on the TV in front of the baby and then, a miracle happened. The wail suddenly stopped and the little one stared, mesmerised, at the pretty face of one of our Bollywood actresses on the screen. At the sudden silence, people turned to look in our direction and I beamed at everyone, but … only a couple of minutes, and the wailing began anew. Was I stupid enough to imagine that TV could hold a kid’s attention for long? 

A few more minutes passed, before he gave us another break. This time too, it was the same lady’s face on the TV screen! Soon enough, the face was replaced by another and our little hero resumed his wailing. When this happened a third time, we (the mother and I) realised that it was too much of a coincidence to be ignored. The little brat was totally in the actor’s power. 

Well, one cannot expect a TV channel to continuously beam one particular face, however pretty. For who knows, there may be baby girls out there somewhere, wailing their lungs out for a glimpse of Salman Khan or Akshay Kumar. (Some people are born with an eye for pretty faces, huh?) Luckily, someone had the wit and the intelligence to pass on to us a post-card size picture of the actress in demand. Believe it or not, the baby eagerly took it and clutched it so tightly that he almost crushed a part of it in his baby-fist. As there was no reason to cry any further, and as so much crying had probably tired him, the baby soon fell asleep.  

I looked at my watch – only about half an hour’s journey left. With no time to sleep, no book and no window, there was only one thing left for me to do – turn on the TV and watch Bollywood faces.