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Showing posts from October, 2015

Bravo Sweden!

Image source: bugbog.com Earlier this month, Sweden hit the headlines by announcing its enforcement of six hour work days . A bold move there Sweden, but definitely a welcome first-mover. The country really has shown how much it cares for its people by making this move. The idea behind this enforcement is to enable people to get more work done is less time (read increase productivity) whilst leaving them with enough time and energy in the day to pursue their personal life. I absolutely stand by it.  I have always thought that people have been made to or think they have to invest 90% of their day in work. But why? Do relationships not matter? Does putting effort in a hobby or a non-work creative pursuit not matter? Who made it mandatory to work from 9AM to 5PM? And that by the way are not the standard work hours. In India at least. Maximum companies have a 9AM start time which means your day begins at say, 7AM when you wake up, get ready and probably get some breakfast into y

Trivia and Trifles of the Effervescent Amsterdam

While on a recent trip to Amsterdam, I learnt so much about this vibrant city and its dwellers. Amsterdam has had a long history of being innovative, creating many firsts and paving the road as a precedent. Through my trip, I typed on my phone some really interesting nuggets of history and trivia about the city so that I could bring them alive in this blog post. It was through listening carefully to tour guides, reading local books and visiting museums that I found out so much about the city.  - We are familiar to the canal snaking through the city of Amsterdam. Do you know how long the canal system is? 75 km and has 1281 bridges crossing over it. Impressive right? - While walking alongside the beautiful old canal houses (many of them date back to 400 years), look up to their roof and you will notice a huge hook. Wondering why every canal house has one? It was used to hoist furniture or goods into the house through the windows. This very thoughtful age old fixture is still r