Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh,

Dear Dr. Manmohan Singh,

You along with your UPA colleagues have made people laugh at the predictions of experts such as Swaminathan Aiyar, N.Ram, Cho Ramaswamy and the 'never-accurate' exit polls. It's clear that people have voted for your capability, integrity (though both questionable at lower levels) and stability. Yes, you had the lady luck on your side. Nevertheless a "thumbs-up" victory and my hearty congratulations for the same. Here is a set of requests from yet-another Hindustani:

The Basics:

• Right people for your ministries: Getting this right is more than half job done. Remember what happened to the National security with Ex-Home Min Mr.SP. Please don't compromise on the quality of the ministers based on pressure from allies or oldies playing the "loyalty" card. Please give priority to Clean and Capable people. I really liked the idea suggested by Director Shankar in movie Mudhalvan (Nayak in Hindi) to have 2 ministers for every department - an enthusiastic youth accompanied by a wise experienced. Please look at its feasibility. This election saw a never-before emphasis on youth both from electing and elected.
• Play long term: Hopefully you don't have the headache of constant black-mail from your allies. So, please don't resort to populist initiatives. Rather go with what's good for the country in long term. You have good full 5 years to play full on.
• The crucial 100-day plan: By "play long term", I didn't mean relax and let things happen at its own pace. Be it a new born baby or a beleaguered economy or a bankrupt organization,  the first 100 days are crucial and set the stage for the future progress. I request you and your colleagues to not get complacent over the victory and ignore these initial days.

The "3-E"s:

1. Education: Things have changed quite a bit since the years of Lord Macaulay. Though our overall literacy rates are still low, we have moved from the stages of simple "increase literacy rate". India needs to have its focus shifted towards "Quality Education". A complete reformation, transformation and a transmutation at a war-like speed is required. Please don't just rely on panels which does an exhaustive analysis and stops there. A collaborative result oriented action required. Think of Public-private partnership. Encourage better coordination between central and state governments. Develop new programs for personalities and corporate to adopt schools.
2. Economic Development: Whatever bad is said and written about Mr. Modi, he should be acknowledged for bringing Gujarat its vibrancy (or at least the image which would help in economic development). If Modi can do it to Gujarat, why can't Mr. Manmohan do it to the entire nation. Yes, simple things like making the nation attractive for foreign investment and working closely with industry players. It might read a bit Management-ish, but please try to draw a road-map for the next 5-10 years for India - What are the core industries that we need to focus on and how can India be more competitive in the increasing globalized economy.
3. Empowerment: A progressive empowerment (unlike your UP allies) especially for Rural, Women and Youth. I know you would attribute this election win to the aam-aadmi policies. I agree with you. Please revive some of the popular large-scale, high potential initiatives, which were largely ineffective due to poor execution. Need for the country are the initiatives on Youth Empowerment, Vocational skills development, Support to Microfinance / Self-Help Group /Small enterprises & entrepreneurs. Please get a passionate and capable person like Rahul for this department. We need to get this done at any cost.

I know that all these are easier said than done. But freedom from non-progressive parties should definitely make it easier than your last term.

I also know you know all these. Still.. we Indians become very expressive when it comes to having expectations from politicians.  Yes, our expectations are running high. Hope you fulfill them. We would soon know whether our Singh is the Real King!

Guide.. Chide..

The Age of 13 to 18. An important transition period in the adult kid's life. Mysterious physical & physiological changes. Significant pressure in studies and peer recognition. Important decisions about career. People try to find his own identity. A period in which the entire world is full of "enemies". A transition from a happy playful place to a serious, unfair and cruel world. The teenagers start understanding the world and most importantly understanding themselves.

Such an important and challenging phase of life. But does our society understands this and treats the teenagers the right way? In my opinion, it's a big NO. Especially, the parents and teachers who play a significant role in shaping the lives of teenagers.

First, the parents: Many parents still treat the teenager as a kid - they want the children to do what they think is ideal for the children - Do this, do that, don't watch that, don't play, study, don't eat that, eat this. Yes, there is good intention. But what's the use if it's counter-productive? Most parents deny the freedom the teenagers yearn for. Yes, it's like walking on a tight rope - No that easy to take sides - to be strict or liberal. Those who have taken the extremes have probably screwed the good prospects of their child. So, what can they do? First, make a very honest attempt to understand the child. One has no choice but to be a friend, as a teenager doesn't like anyone else except his/her friends. Physically and mentally try to be young. Try understanding the Gen-X culture - what they like, do, see etc. Talk their language. Listen to them. Take them around places. Treat their friends well. Yes, it's too much to ask for. But the rewards are plenty.

Second, the teachers: I feel there are 3 levels of teachers: (1)
Officers: They are just Salary-Drawers. They have absolutely no regard for the development for the students - "As long as I get my salary, it's fine" kind of mentality (2) Preachers: Teaching is an obligation and a ritual for them. They do their job reasonably well, but they stop at teaching what the text book says (3) Gurus: Best among the lot - really committed to the students - teaching is their passion and they truly are interested in the welfare of the students. They want to develop students as good all-rounded personalities. They teach, explain, listen, coach, guide and most importantly understand. I feel the current split between the 3 categories would be - 50-60% in #1, another 30-40% in #2 and a meager 10% in #3. Most people agree that that the quality of teachers and teaching has been going down a lot (esp. in semi-urban and rural areas). Even if we have 20% of teachers in #3 category, we can significantly improve the lives of teenagers. To do that, a concerted effort is required from Government, teachers and private organizations. The educational department has to develop and build people like the Infosys & Wipros of the India.

So.. before chiding and guiding the teenagers to behave in a certain way, the parents and teachers of India need to really understand the children.

Disclaimer: This post is NOT a reflection of how I was treated as a teenager. Rather, what I saw, knew, heard, read from friends and others.

Whom to trust? (Part 2)

Trusting is like setting on a voyage while "not trusting" is staying on the shore. With trust comes the risk. No risk, no return. No risk, no life. To live, one needs to trust - at least to live as a human being. Having said that, it's important that we take "calculated" risks.

Trust derives from one's reputation - the congruence between  words & actions. Trust is expressed at multiple levels - be it for others [politicians, strangers, acquaintance, friend, dear ones in the ascending order], OR for oneself [physical,  emotional, intellectual, intuitional (or 'spirit'ual) and one's core values].

So, it doesn't matter whether you trust X or Y. But you need to trust something to move on in life. I think it wouldn't be wrong saying "Start trusting, start living"

Whom to trust? (Part 1)

"Today you can't trust anyone" - started my pessimistic friend. Let's call him PF. PF went a little philosophical, "Forget anyone else. Can you trust your own self? Your emotions, your belief, your desires, your intellect, your decisions, your intuition. All of them can put you down. All of them can cheat you!"

PF continued "My intellect said I should become a Banker. Seems like I was wrong. My emotions told me firmly: if at all I marry, I should marry this girl. What a terrible mistake! My childhood desire was to buy the biggest and fastest buses and trucks possible, which I feel are totally absurd today.

I once believed in Gods in temples, which seems like total immaturity today. My human design system asked me to be nice and caring towards people - but today, I feel honesty matters than anything else. My intuition told me everything can't be so fickle and fake - but you know what.. Let me not fall into the trap again! Let me not trust it again!"

For a moment I was shaken. PF isn't totally wrong - He has a point. For heaven's sake, you never know whether you live in a real world or a Matrix. So, is everything fake? You can't trust anyone including your own self?

My answers to PF in Part 2 of the post next week.

@Regular:

Was just reading the book Tuesdays with Morrie

IPL: Economics and Entertainment

From being the "Manoranjan Ka Baap" last summer to going live as "Ek Desh Ek Junoon" yesterday, Indian Premier League (IPL) saw big drama this year - the clash between Government & IPL organizing committee resulting in bumper prize for South Africa. Yes, we are going to greatly miss the usual shouts, roars, bellows and  the boos which we were used to in the last season. Nevertheless, let's hope the healthy clashes on the ground between the players would give us solid entertainment.

Just a minor personal digression: The first clash between Chennai & Mumbai teams was a good fun. Remember, IPL is no fun unless you support a team. I have been strongly supporting Chennai from the beginning. But this year, things have a changed a bit - Mumbai, a stranger city till last year, has become an integral part of my life - the city is like a wife to any Mumbai-kar (because you will have all reasons to love and hate it simultaneously). So, when there is a clash between your mother and wife, which side will you take? I think many men just try to escape; few 'fairness' fugitives, who try to be impartial and instill justice, just gain the hate of both; the third smart group acts as if he's supporting mom in public and privately confesses (or lies) to wife that he just acted up. Coming back to the point: I can't disown my motherly team after the arrival of a new lovely team. So, the pecking order is still Chennai and then Mumbai.

Last year, I being relatively free, managed to watch most of the matches. My father looking at people's craze for IPL, commented "If the entire country is watching cricket like this.. if everyone is sitting in front of the TV instead of work or study, what would happen?  God save our economy!" Yeah, he is a mathematician, not an economist. Nonetheless, a valid concern. To paraphrase, the key is question: Apart from entertainment, will IPL improve / hinder the overall economic activity?

Of course, it's a clean case for improved economic activity in South Africa. So, let's try to focus on the economic implications for India. For simplicity sake, let's assume higher economic activity means additional "end user" consumption.

Let's categorize the universe of population into 3:

1. Category X - Non-spectators: People like my Dad, who doesn't watch IPL at all. It doesn't change their world in any way - Let's assume their consumption is unaltered.
2. Category Y - Jobless Spectators: They watch the match at the cost of other "economically" non-value added activities (e.g. instead of IPL, watching Roadies in MTV, chatting with a friend, fighting with spouse etc) - Ok, I understand your concern - "How can you say that I don't add any value by watching Roadies? I am exposed to Ads, which in turn could induce consumption." Yes, it would, but  similar things happen with IPL as well. So, there could be change in consumption, but very less scope for "additional" consumption
3. Category Z - Obsessive Spectators: These people watch matches at the cost of other value added activities. E.g. You decide not to go out for dinner / shopping, you close down your shop earlier than usual, lower efficiency in job due to lack of attention to customer / software coding etc.

So, for category Z: If the additional consumption resulting from watching IPL outweighs the reduction in economical activity, we have the case for positive impact on economy from IPL. I read IPL II will rack at least  Rs. 800 Cr., with more than half of it coming from TV telecast. Last year's avg. TRPs (TV rating points) have been in the range of 2-3. Let's be conservative and assume TRP to be 2 and 50%-50% split between category Y and Z. This implies 1% of targeted population have been actively watching the match. If the major targeted audience of IPL is little less than 20% of India's population (200 million), TRP of 1 (1% of 200 mn) implies 2 million people.

• Estimation of additional consumption: Approx. Rs. 1,350 Cr:
  • Direct Rs. 300 Cr. from merchandise, players' salary, job opportunities for IPL / franchises etc
  • People traveling to South Africa from India: 50 matches with 20,000 audience per match => 1 million audience. Assume 1% of this audience is traveling from India =>10,000 people. Additionally, assume another 250 Indian players (30 players per team) and 250 people from IPL organizing team. Overall 10,500 people. Assume 50% use Indian carriers.  Assuming an expense of 50,000 per person, it would be additional Rs. 26 Cr (Seems not much!)
  • A marketing spend of Rs. 300 Cr. - Let's assume marketing people don't throw away money without getting value for every buck that they spend. So, the present value of the returns from the marketing spend has to be at least Rs. 300 Cr. Assuming average 15% profit margin, this would translate as additional Rs. 2,000 Cr. in companies' top line. Again with 50-50% split between Y & Z - 1,000 Cr is just shift in consumption while Rs. 1,000 Cr. is additional consumption
• Estimation of Z's reduction in job efficiency: Rs. 360 Cr
  • With India's per capita income of Rs.52,500 (US$ 1,050) - with 240 working days in a year, this would translate as Rs. 220/- per day per person. Yeah, probably the per capita of the target audience might be higher than the overall average, but again it could be compensated to some extent by people who don't earn (e.g. students and kids) - So, let's assume it to be just double - Rs. 450/- Let's assume a 10% reduction in efficiency for 40 days for these 2 million people => Rs 360 Cr

So, even if you think the so-many-assumptions in the above calculations are to be changed, the gap is way too much that it makes me believe that IPL brings in more economical activity to the country than otherwise.

Forget economics! Even if IPL doesn't bring in any additionally economic activity, the entertainment that it brings in,  is worth having IPL for! Simple nah! ;)

@Regular

With ongoing battle between movie producers and theatre owners, Mumbai is deprived of good movies. So, just resorting to IPL and books - One hundred years of solitude and The art of war.

The First and the Last

It was a small shop near my home - The repair beds, bags, sofas etc. The first ever time I visited - to get my shoulder bag fixed. With my broken Hindi, I tried explaining the problem to the owner, a fairly old man. I know - My Hindi would have made him ask this question - "Are you from Madras?"  For a moment, I thought these North Indians think anyone down south as Madrasi. But our man was different - He followed with the question "Kerala or Tamil Nadu?" After I replied "Tamil Nadu", his mouth widened with a big smile, beaming a mix of black, red and yellow lights from his partly-available-pan-strained teeth. He started singing a popular old Tamil song "Ponal Pogattum Poda.. Intha boomi-yil nilaiyaai vaazhthavar yaarada.. " (let bygones be bygones as nobody in this world is mortal..)

For a moment, I was stupefied. To say the least, his Tamil was better than my Hindi. He then elaborated how he learned this song: 'I don't Tamil, but when I was in my school in Gujarat, there was a singing competition. While everyone chose to sing in the languages known to them, I chose Tamil'. He went on for a couple of minutes about the competition and the song. As I was tempted to ask the question on his interest in Tamil, our man pre-empted with the answer: 'Her name was Paarvathy - She was a Tamilian - She is a very good lady.. very intelligent girl'  He completed by winking, 'She taught me not just to sing, but so many other things in life.'  His face and the corresponding expression changed quite a bit when he talked her - a mix of happiness, longing & some nostalgic feeling, a bit emotional - Can't exactly describe how the man was different explaining about this First Love.

Yes, THE first love is quite unforgettable and nostalgic for many people. In fact, it's not just love - the first day at school (yes, I know - most of you would have cried and revolted to go to such a place), your first day in your dream college, the first job & the first month salary, the first ever visit to a city / country abroad, the first kiss, making love for the first time, your first baby and the first ever time you hold the baby in your hands, first ever time your kid beats you in a game or sports. The list goes on.. the list of "first"s you cherish (and regret in some instances) can be never ending. The first is always special, as you can have only ONE first.

Same logic to the Last. The last day in college, last day at work, the last conversation before the death of a loved one, the last day of leaving your homeland (as a refugee to some other country), the last few days of a dying person etc. [The last can be an exception to kids. When moms ask their kids to stop the TV / games and study - Kids invariably say "Mommy, one last game pleasssssse.." - The Gods of the Universe know that it would never be "ONE" last]

People distinctly remember the First and Last. Their commitment, awareness and level of involvement would be at their best. How would our experiences be, if we treat all of our activities, work, play and conversations etc to be The First or The last?

@Regular

Summer has begun and we completely, fully, wholly, entirely, and totally experienced it when we planned for a trek at Kajrat, 100 KM from Mumbai. The scorching sun spoiled the otherwise good trip.

The book "The circle of Reasons" was abandoned after reading the first quarter - Quality writing, but was was too boring to my taste.  Currently reading books with interesting and esoteric titles such as "Life after Life - Actual case studies that reveal there is life after death" written by a doctor who studied 150 people with near death experiences, "Conversations with God - An uncommon dialogue  - Book 3". Yes, I am skeptical of both the books and their concepts, nevertheless exploring.. :)

Confront Congestion

India's 300 million city dwellers add up to one-tenth of the world's urban population. Mumbai could soon cross Tokyo as the most populated city globally. Population in Delhi has grown by nearly 10x from 1950. The graph below shows how the population (in Million) has grown in some Indian Metros:

So, it's higher economical activities / opportunities VIS-à-VIS higher cost of living, higher pollution, ruthless traffic etc..

Ok, the post is not to debate on whether this growth is good or bad. Rather to look into how well prepared are we to manage this. Especially, Traffic Congestion.

Yes, it's a no brainer that we are not prepared fully.. just to give you a sample:

In the last ten years, road length increased by 20% and cars by 132% in Urban India.

Does it bring you bad memories of being stuck in traffic and cursing everyone left, right and center (the political parties / Govt); the front, back, sides (the vehicles & fellow drivers); the top, middle and bottom (the people - friends, family & work)?

On a serious note, traffic congestion is a dead weight loss to the society as it affects people emotionally (losing patience, getting irritable, not spending time with family etc), financially (losing businesses, delays), environmentally (more fuel consumption) etc. Again a couple of samples:

• Delhi NCR area - 420 million man-hours are lost every month due to traffic congestion
• Congestion costs Bengalurians $1.8 billion a year in fuel and vehicle maintenance alone

Oops! 420 mn hours of torture monthly for people! Imagine how many Dads would have shouted at their kids, husbands at their wife, bosses at their poor employees! All thanks to the congestion! (And Salman Khan won't give you prize in Dus Ka Dum to guess the % of people who attribute "coming late" to "traffic jam" - Yes, by far, it would be the highest!)

Fair enough, one of the most irritating problems, the urban India faces! But what about the solution? Had it been so simple, it would have been solved by now, right? Or are we missing something?

For a common man, it's all about solving his own problem: Skip the signal, travel in opposite / wrong lanes, change lane abruptly, take a U, R, L, Z where it's not supposed to be taken etc.

For bureaucrats / government bodies, it's all about Obligation (if not Omission). Optimization is a distant dream.

Researchers all over the world, be it in mathematics, physics or economics - have tried / been trying to develop models. (Take this sample: a study by IISc suggests a simple solution of synchronizing Bengaluru traffic signals in a particular way to reduce waiting time) Yes, millions of solutions proposed. Implementation / Coordination is the missing link.

You ask an MBA person. He would say - at a high level, it's just common sense to solve this problem - do one or a combination of the following: increase the supply (roads, infrastructure), reduce the demand (personal vehicles), improve the efficiency of meeting the demand with the supply. He / she is good at solid structuring, result-orientation, efficiency etc. All these are good, but what about practicality?

So, to confront the ever growing monster called traffic congestion, you can't fight individually - you need an army. He is a terrible villain - you need Amar, Akbar and Anthony to join hands to beat him! Yes, what is needed is the coordinated effort from different streams such as Research institutes, Government bodies, Private organizations (or Management entities) and most importantly the People.

*Data Source (In addition to Wikipedia, Google): Sify, The Hindu, Wired

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@Regular:

You get a long weekend, this is what would happen. A mix of awesome movies (To Kill A mocking Bird and The International) with bad ones ( 8x10 Tasveer - Bollywood / Akshay Kumar Movie - A very poor execution of an interesting idea; Ayan - Tamil movie starring Surya / Tammanna - Surya, please don't go down the drain as some thala(pathi)s are doing - we expect good movies from you!). Also catching up with The Maximum City and The circle of Reasons.

Munna-Bayya CSA

Munna is 7 years old and all his seven years are spent in the slums of Mumbai. Yes, life has been harsh & ruthless to him, but never ever had he felt it to be unsafe. With his entire family around, especially his 17 yr old Bayya, he never thought the world could be unsafe. Yes, it felt safe until that Friday. Until that "incident" happened. In the past, more than once, Bayya had asked Munna to do "things" which Munna never understood completely - but he completely trusted Bayya and just did. Yes, until the "incident" happened. Munna was shattered. He was horrified. Though he doesn't understand everything even today, Munna realized Bayya's intentions weren't right after the incident. He had started feeling dirty himself and shameful for all the things he had done for his Bayya. For a week, Munna couldn't sleep properly. At nights, he has been getting jitters and nightmares of demons stripping him and asking him to do things he had never imagined.

The incidents of "Munna"s are not very uncommon, as per the National Study of Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) 2007 which claims that more than 53% of children in India report facing some form of sexual abuse. Yes, I can hear you "I can't believe it. It is shocking". Yes, it IS.

Many felt the extensive coverage of Mumbai's Mira Road incest case is just typical of media - overrated & sensational. I beg to differ. If media gets a little bit more intelligent, it can create a much wider awareness of the bigger social issue - Child Sexual Abuse. Most people are not even aware of what it's, how intense the problem is and how can it be handled.

As a first step, openly talking about it and spreading the awareness is of paramount importance.

Hmm.. I can sense how majority of the Indians would easily ignore the issue citing (a) it's too bad to talk about anything with the word "sex" in family or in public (b) it's too sensitive a topic to handle for them / kid (c) "I'm insensitive because it hasn't affected me, nor am I expecting it to affect my family in future."

It's like how people opposed Sex education in school, citing it's inappropriate in a country with its rich tradition, culture and values - but you know what - we are the third most populous country, when it comes to AIDS

Let's wake up hypocrites! Yes, 53% is an alarming number for a country which boasts itself of having revered family values.

Most of the information that follow are courtesy Arpan, an NGO working out of Mumbai on CSA.

Why should we bother about CSA?

• CSA happens more often than we think - yes, 53% facing some form of abuse. Unfortunately, half of the offenders are trusted personalities of the child like family, friends, relatives & neighbours
  
• It affects the child at physical (illness), mental (trauma), emotional (shame, depression), social (withdrawl, overtly sexualized behaviour) - at no fault of their own
  
• Most importantly, victims often become future offenders - Study says 50% - if not checked properly, it could grow like a virus!

Check out the arpan website on how to help the child be aware of and prevent the issue. It's not just to help kids, but also for the adults to become aware.

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@Regular

Currently engaged on the novel "The Namesake" - The story of a Bengal family in the USA.

The Movie "Watchmen" - Quite liked the special effects, story line (except the climax) and the music - Just that the movie could have been easily split into 2 or 3 parts. The other movie "Broken English" was a ok-ish - Expecting "Enlighten" to screen much better movies in future.

Nature is calling!

@Random

The novel Kite Runner made me remember my childhood days. Oh, no.. I'm NOT going to list down what all crazy things I did as a kid - Rather relate 'one' childhood habit, we are all aware of, to how different professionals could probably do today.

Disclaimer: Just a pure imagination! Laugh it out and ignore - Any resemblance to reality is purely coincidental.

In many instances, kids ask for loo, not because they want to, but because they are sick and bored of the class - They just want to go out, roam a bit and have some fresh breeze. The process by which you go about asking your teacher for loo depends on the class, school, the mood of the teacher and the timing. For e.g. it's highly unlikely that the teacher allows you, if you ask him when he's in a bad mood or when you ask close to the interval. Most importantly, you should have earned the trust of the teacher that you are genuine - You can prove the same by one of these (a) study well in the class or be the teacher's favorite (b) ask for loo less frequently (c) last but not the least, you should have pissed in the class room in the past - this is probably the best way to put real threat to the teacher - The moment the teacher sees you asking for loo, he says "please go ahead.. you don't need to ask.. just please go".

The process of asking gets more sophisticated as you move up in class as well - In class 1 or 2, you raise your hand showing 1 or 2 fingers. By high school, you write your need in a paper with details such as name, purpose, time level of urgency etc. Ok, don't get nostalgic about your pissing days.. let's come back to the blog..

Just an imagination on how the following set of professionals would go about on the issue of Loo with the superiors (or managers or clients or customers)..

1. A Software Guy X: To his colleague Y, "Man, this manager is sucking big time.. He doesn't even let me take a break for loo or sutta.. He goes 20 times everyday in the name of networking or 1:1.. But when it comes to me, he says I should work more efficiently by avoiding breaks.. Now I found an idea.. an idea that can change my life.. I will tell him that innovations happen in rest rooms and that I got my best ideas when I'm pissing." Y replies - "Seems like an idea, let me know if it works".. 1 week later, X's tables and computers are being shifted.. X's manager smiling to his glory and telling to Y, "You know what! X is getting a special desk, a place where his brain works the best.. where he becomes very innovative.."
2. A Marketing Professional: To public, through his ad: Mom says to her kid "Aaj Loo-na bandh" - Kid is very upset.. goes to upstairs and pisses on neighbours flower pots.. comes back and sits quietly on his chair.. Mom looking at his gloomy mood says "Ok, drink the milk.. go & loo". Kid smiles and says "Neighbour ka phone aayaa thaanaa.." It finishes with "Vishwas karo, Pandiware bathroom fittings! Never ever your kid has to loo on neighbors' plants"
3. An Investment Banker X: To his VP Y, "Mr. Y, Do you think we should really go and suggest the client to buy Sulabh & Co? The client is already in deep sh**. Buying that Looing company on top of it will kill the company". VP with his sarcastic smile, "Who cares about that man? Market is heavily undervaluing Sulabh & Co. They should definitely consider acquiring. We should pitch as if it's a high value add for them. We can say them if required, we will do a loo show in the road, and help the founders raise money"
4. A Consultant: To the client, "You need to build a chain of restrooms throughout the country - Not only does it give you an unparalleled competitive advantage, but also helps to backward integrate your operations in a cost efficient way. In addition, your sales people would be all the more happy to use them from all strategic locations - It gives them the extra edge which your competitors lack currently. Our preliminary evaluations reveal that your top-line will grow by 52% and bottom-line (no pun intended) by a whooping 133%. In the past, we have worked with many such clients and have developed a proprietary framework - We suggest you hire us - We will visit all the locations spread across multiple geographies, verify whether it's worth investing by actually looing"
5. A Politician: To the speaker in the assembly, "Loo-ing is my birthright. How can you just let only people from XYZ party piss and bar us from doing so? Till our last breath, we will fight for our birth-right. And members of XYZ are making it an unnecessary political issue - that we are not delivering our duty. Let me assure you, Mr. Speaker - for every 5 mins I spent on Loo, I worked for 10 mins extra in the office. We do a great service to the country by frequenting to loo. Our party have a great tradition and ideology on looing. If anyone comes and says we shouldn't loo, I will cut his.. hand"
6. The Super Star Rajni: Everyone is surprised that Superstar never asks for loo. They ask for his secret. He says in his own style "Naan eppo poven, enga poven-nnu yaarukkum theriyaathu.. aanaa, poga vendiya nerathula kandippaa poven" ("When I go, Where I go, nobody knows! But when I have to go, I will go!") He finishes it with, "Aandavan solraan, Arunachalam mudikkuraan" ("God proposes, Me disposes"). While this dialogue was going on, some random fellow rings the bell in the near by temple - Oops, superstar says "Sollittaan" ("He said so") and starts pissing in the same place where was he was standing.

@Regular

Jokes apart, "Kite Runner" was an amazing read. It took me to the country which the world today is associating with Terrorism. It gives a glimpse of how the terrorism and wars have affected common people.. I would highly recommend it for anyone.

Two Nasiruddin Shah movies this week - Firaaq and Barah aana - While the former is very serious as it takes the sensitive topic of common people behavior in Gujrat post the 2002 communal rites (the directorial debut of Nandita Das), the latter is about the life of 3 people in the bottom of the pyramid: how they hate their menial jobs & are being exploited by their bosses and how they end up doing what they have never imagined in their life - A bit funny but makes you realize the hard realities of life of poor people. Both are good short movies without item numbers of random females or heroes dancing with his chest open for public view. Watch them, if you have a flavor for them.

Visited Elephanta Islands after being in Mumbai for 9 months. Amazing place. It's a 1 hr 15 mins of boat ride from Gateway of India. You can spend a couple of hours in the island - Apart from the awesome caves and carvings, you get to see nice Indian handicrafts made of marbles, stones, silk, wood etc. If you ever visit to Mumbai, don't miss this.

What drives you?

@Random

Happiness. Food. Love. Status. Power. Money. Sex. Fun. Contribution. Success. Recognition. Peace. Rest.

This is fairly the list most people would come up, when they are asked 'What single thing that drives you to do what you do?' Each of these would have varying levels of driving power with few of them being the 'ends' with others the 'means'. Yes, the prioritized list "depends" on the person.

Hmm.. so what?

Because, knowing the answer helps in 2 ways:

1. Know thyself better - aids to choose the right profession (leisure activity or for that matter, 'anything' that one wants to do in life) and do it an effective and efficient way (Yes, MBA with consulting career corrupts one's mind to use cliched jargons like these! ;))
   
2. Know a bit of others, so that you can suitably motivate them!

So, let's continue with our analysis...

I think these forces can be mapped to 3 different human emotions. First is fear - that of punishment, non-acceptance, death, deficit, hazards, injury, security etc. The motivational tool associated with fear is 'stick'. Second is desire (and its stronger cousin greed) - that for luxury, wealth, beauty, power, acceptance etc. The motivational kit that works with this emotion is 'carrot'. The last one is passion. This is probably more self-driven than the other two. Can also be summarized as getting motivated externally vis-à-vis inspired internally.

This is how, you and me, the non-psychology students would think and come up with an unstructured analysis. Never mind - The infamous "Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs" is a well accepted, structured, exhaustive and most authoritative analysis on human motivation. Seems like all of us climb up the pyramid till we reach Self-Actualization!

Courtesy: Wikipedia
(Click the figure to read the text)

Not bad.. our 3 emotion analysis fits as well - Fear: Levels 1-3, Desire: Levels 2-4, Passion: Levels 4-5. So, to reach higher levels, you need to move from fear to desire to passion as the motivational tool.

Oh, yeah.. like any other tool, these can be used in both ways - constructively or destructively, as life keeps the options always open for us. As human beings, we should exercise our mind to think and choose the 'right' path.

@Regular

Gulaal was the movie. (Gulaal - in Hindi means the red power used during Holi). The movie takes you to the world of modern day Rajputs. True to its caption 'Love, Power and Revolution', it had all the elements but in a distorted manner. Director Anurag Kashyap's yet another non-conventional movie. Almost everyone in the movie is imperfect, selfish, and tries to accomplish his / her own agenda - Be it the manly Kay Kay Menon or the lady Kiran who goes to any lengths to attain the power or the innocent Dilip who brings the twist in the end - every character is well etched. Except may be the drug addict cum lady lecturer, who apart from giving philosophical dialogues to Dilip (e.g. "you loved her so much that you didn't see her") doesn't fit well into the story. It's a serious movie (except may be in a couple of place with dialogues like "Mere paas maa hai"). Definitely, a different experience watching the movie. I would say do not give it a miss.

Off late, I lost hope in motivational / self-help books. In many cases, they are cliched, very biased, impractical, too-obvious, repetitive and inaccurate. My belief just got reinforced with the last book I read. I was deceived by the categorization of "Rich Dad, Poor Dad" as "Business" both by Warner books and my librarian, in addition to the book-selves of my B-school friends. The author himself agrees that he is a terrible writer, but he clarifies one needs to be a good seller - like how his books are selling like hot chocolate cake. I'm not saying the book is 100% bakwaas - There are few sensible things like:

• Learn to use your emotions to think, not think with your emotions
• Don't work for money, let it work for you. Work to Learn
• With each push, life is saying "Wake up, there is something I want you to learn"
  

But it could been said in far few pages than 260. Hmm.. seems true - "Quality of the product is less important than how much you understand your customers and how well you sell it"

The Donkey and the Monkey

@Random

Approximately 35,000 feet from ground level. Somewhere in between Bangalore and Delhi. The air-hostess and the woman sitting next to us gave a weird look. Yes, some brainless card game! After an hour of playing, we did some random discussion on Physics and my friend A managed to help me recollect some of the interesting concepts. One such thing is:

P*V / T = constant

Don't worry - this is not a post on physics - There are people who can do much better job.

I thought I would relate this "Pressure" in human context. Human beings are exposed to pressure day in and day out - Kids from their cruel parents for performing better in exams; a husband getting bidirectional pressure from Saas and Bahu; an employee from his evil manager; a guy from his finicky GF to behave properly; a girl on the social pressure of looking good.. Hmmm.. infinite pressures!

Pressure could be deadly for people - it could fundamentally change the way a person behaves. You would wonder is it the same person pre and post-pressure! People could become snappy, agitated, angry, worried... But Dilbert's manager would say People should Profit from Pressure, it Pushes one to Peak Performance (man, enough of P**s!! Let's keep aside that argument for a later Post!)

Ok, if Physics 'Pressure' is to Human Pressure, what about V & T in the equation? I think the Volume can be equated to mental calmness, the Temperature to anger. I believe the law would still hold good. When you increase pressure, the person loses his volume (calmness) at a certain level of anger; or if the calmness has to be retained at the same level, the temperature (i.e. anger level) goes up.

So, when pressure is applied, is it a choice between losing your calmness vis-à-vis showing it as anger? IMHO, not really! The key is in realizing the age old principle of You can take a horse to the water, but you can't make him drink. Yes, we need to play the role of the horse which deliberately denies to drink - Be ready to not take pressure altogether - Like rejecting offers from taxi-walas, when you exit the railway station!

Next time, when the pressure is exerted, remember the horse! I think one should remember a Donkey, which seems much more relaxed! Just Chill and things will be better than when you take pressure!

Ok, this approach may not work for people who are used to relish pressure and rely heavily on it to perform (hmm.. yes, deadlines in colleges!) If pressure works positively, play on! You can probably remember Monkey - which gets more excited, jumps around when there is pressure! It becomes ultra productive!

I guess it's much better to be a Donkey or a Monkey than being a usual human being in case of pressure. ;)

So, who are you? A Donkey or a Monkey?

@Regular

Last week had an amazing trip to Dehradun and Mussouri. Friend M's marriage went on fine and the trip was awesome thanks to the wonderful gang.



This weekend is again gonna be some more trip.. to deep south.. Movies and Books update next week!

The game of understanding

PS: Post comes a little earlier than usual thanks to my travel plans for the weekend. Don't want to miss another deadline this week. :)

@Random

Mastering human psychology is all about being non-judgmental, declared my friend S (who happened to be a psychology student as well!). Seemed a bit counter-intuitive to me! I thought it is all about understanding oneself and others - given that psychology is not a 0 or 1 logic, also implies some sort of judgment. But when I thought more about it, the "non-judgmental" part made some sense.

Majority of our world revolves around our judgments, perceptions, view points etc. It's like viewing the world with a coloured glass - you are really not sure whether what you see is what it's. As the story goes, we are like a fish or a frog that thinks that the world can't be bigger than its pond.

But people are so self-conceited that they believe that they understand things, especially "they understand other people". The problem arises, not just because of not understanding, but also because of misunderstanding. So, "non-judgmental", I think, just suggests us to be open, not jump to conclusions (way too early) and at times be ready to say "i don't know", "I don't understand".

Ok, exploring further on the game of understanding others.. As I noted earlier, I believe we are wearing some glasses almost always invariably to constantly, continuously, consistently and at times inconsistently create interpretations, meanings and views.. We start identifying ourselves with the spherical balloon that we have blown through the air called perceptions.. Different people have different balloons around them and there are infinite balloons floating around in this infinite world. People understand other people when the worlds have some overlapping area.

There are 2 view points on understanding people: One view point is that human beings are very predictable and hence can be easily understood. Another view point is that it's really complex for 2 reasons: first, the understand-ee / human-being is really complex; second, Understand-er, as I said earlier, is incapable / reluctant to understand others. To explore this further, I just tried doing a front of the envelop estimate on what percentage of people understand others.
(Click the picture to enlarge)

If you can read the text from the above figure and if you think the assumptions don't have Himalayan errors, we can arrive at a figure of 5.4% of people correctly understanding others. Just 1/20th of the population understands other people correctly!

I believe the keys to understanding people are (a) being aware that you are unaware of entities called 'others' (b) making a conscious decision that you want to be considerate of others (c) be willing to say "I don't know yet"

Just to clarify: non-judgmental may not mean not making judgments at altogether - after all, we can't live without judgments / perceptions. But just being aware of our faulty judgmental system. Esp. when it comes to understanding people!

@Regular

Would be traveling to 2 of my favorite S.Indian cities, in addition to Delhi for few friends' marriage. Just started off with the first chapter of "The Elephant, The Tiger, The Cellphone" - Reflections on India in the 21st century by Shashir Tharoor.

Will update this section in detail next week.

Value based decision making

@Random

Business, as they say, is all about 'Value' creation by fulfilling some needs. In doing so, the major issue, organizations come up with is 'Decision Making' (DM) - Given the limited resources, they keep asking 'What to do?', 'How to do?'. As Porter said, business strategy is all about making choices. However, it's one of the most difficult things to do, given the grays, maroons and violets,  the context of DM spans across.  Something that helps companies make quicker and probably what they call 'right' decision is having prioritized "core values". One example recently I read was from Johnson & Johnson. How its then CEO, James Burke, made a decision, which literally make the busting company come back, post the Tylenol cyanide episode. The company had the prioritized values as: customers, employees and shareholders in that order which simplified the otherwise humongous & complex decision making process.

Decision Making in personal life is as complex, if not less, as of that of business - time & energy consuming, its grayness. So, will having prioritized set of personal values help one make quicker and righter decisions? I felt the answer should be "yes". Yes, values may not be a cure-for-all for all the DM problems in life, but could definitely help in reducing its complexities. History tells the same: People with strong values make tougher decisions and achieve otherwise difficult to achieve things - Gandhi (Non-violence), Harichandra (Truth), Karna (Generosity). If you think these are too old to be practical: Mohammad Yunus (Economic development for poor), Kalam (Technology dev for 3rd world country), Dhoni (Always Team First). Yes, there will be millions of examples.

Few additional things that I felt about values:

• There needs to be a strong association with the values. We need to live by it
  
• Not that all the values have to be fixed through out our life. As we mature, values can get moulded. But some of the most important and core values have to be static
  
• Values are not just meant for accomplishing big things in life. It helps even making day-to-day decisions simpler. E.g. Meeting a good old friend Vs GF, or working Friday late hours Vs taking your kids for a movie
  

Ok, fair enough. Agreed that we need to have values. It's not just the realization which is difficult - it's actually coming up with the real personal values. Yeah, absolutely. There is no systematic process to find it out than to do a relaxed but determined self-inquiry.

May be on a relaxed weekend, go to a desolate island, a beautiful beach, a lush garden, a lovely park, a country side travel, or simply your own balcony.. Sit with a freshly brewed coffee or a refreshing Darjeeling tea and set your mind on what particular virtues made you completely being yourself, at the same time, everyone (including you) felt happy and proud about you.. Balance between past (how we were) and future (how we want to be).. It might give us a glimpse of our values..

The third and probably the most difficult part is "living" one's own values. Environment may not be positive, situation may not be conducive, we still need to live it.  The more the struggle we go through, the stronger will be the association between us and our values. The stronger the association gets, the struggle becomes lesser. Not to mention, the reduced complexity of decision making! :)

[After thought] Added after a day:

Ok, I wrote only the positive side of the story of having values. Yes, values could lead to conflicts, which in turn could be destructive. Countless examples in the history. So, it's not just important to have values for oneself, but rather respect others' values as well.  In fact, it should be our first value to have non-destructive, positive values, giving enough value to others' values. :)

 

@Regular

Travelled to Hyderabad for D's marriage - Visited Hyd after quite some years. Felt the city refreshing and probably much more developed. Got to meet good old friends.  Good weekend trip!

As I writing this blog, Slumdog millionaire got 8 records and our fav. ARR got 2 Oscars as well. Was touched by his humbleness when he thanked his mom and God (yes, in Senthamizh!). Some connection with the book I started - Shantaram - A long time pending one. But this biggie needs quite some free time to finish off.

I should definitely write about this philosophical tamil song "Pitchai Paathiram" from Naan Kadavul by Ilayaraaja. It kept me hooked to it last week. Deeply meaningful, probably asks why there is much ado about life, its struggle, its constant materialistic search and the constant "me me me"? Even your body is not our creation - the lyricist (Ilayaraja) says we are all beggars and our body the plate we carry.

Doing away with Dualities

@Random

Life is just beautiful. Look at the smiling baby, budding rose, sun rise, lush forest, beautiful peacock, cute parrot, playful puppy, tantalising aroma of food, impressive Taj, amazing Aish, handsome Hrithik.. there is beauty everywhere.. there is joy everywhere. there there are friendship, love, parents, work etc.. so many things to cheer about.. You just need to be positive and be happy always. This is one way of living.

It was one of the empty Mumbai locals. The time was fast approaching midnight. A guy with a long stick enters the compartment. Yes, he was blind but wasn't a beggar - started shouting at his peak for selling buds and plastic covers for 5 bucks. You get down the train and walk home - you see the slew of people sleeping on the sides of the road (including kids less than 2 yrs). Then there was this old man trying to sell channa for as low as 2 rupees. Then the dog with 3 legs struggling to move ahead. The next day morning. It was the near by kirana store. You see this really small kid (with dirty torn cloths and running nose) begging desperately to the store visitors - The store-wala is shooing away the kid. You can't resist but getting a biscuit pack for the poor little one. Then, the crowded train - people just struggling every day to earn their living. Then, the road-side hawkers who are sweating and shouting the whole day for tens of rupees. "Come on, stop it", I can hear you shouting. It's the reality of life. Most human beings are not happy. Life, inherently is sad, painful, sickening and depressing. This is another way of living.

Which one of the above is probably the right way to live - Be happy & unaware of things around OR get muddled with sad aspects of life? Yeah, there is no simple answer to this. And it's not that these are discrete states for different set of people. Just that each person will have one state dominating over the other.

I thought more about it. Happiness/Sadness, Peace/Revolt, Surplus/Deficit, Powerful/Weak, Beautiful/Ugly, Superior/Inferior, Positive/Negative. Let's call these dualities. Probably, life is not about dualities. We would never feel complete in one of these dualities. The feeling of neutrality and equanimity but with a strong sense for action and a clarity of thought is what we should constantly strive for. And I believe it would help in the betterment of the self and the world around.

And Psalm of Life captures this vividly:
Reference Courtesy: My DeaR friend

A PSALM OF LIFE

TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream ! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real ! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal ;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act,— act in the living Present !
Heart within, and God o'erhead !

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)

@Regular

The tamil movie was called "NaanKadavul" (means "I am God"). A very dark and hard-hitting movie. But hats off to the veteran director Bala for his boldness and making us aware of the lesser known worlds - those of Begger Mafia & Saadhus who proclaim themselves as Gods. When you come out of the theatre, it takes a while to come to normalcy.

"Life of 25 people" seem to be the pattern of the books I picked up this week. Be it "Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish", which discribes the struggle and success of 25 Indian entrepreneurs OR "Lasting Leadership", which tells the story of 25 global business czars. Both are interesting and different from each other - Will post more about it next week once I complete them.

Brands and Contradictions

@Random

Warning: Lots of references to Indian advertisements

A couple of months back, there were giant billboards in Mumbai - the Mom pours a packet of potato wafers which transforms and lands as oil in the kid's bowl. The caption said 'potato chips contain 25% oil'. Recently, all those billboards were replaced with Marico ads of 'Saffola Zest' with the caption "It's baked, not fried". Hmm, smart ad with a smart product placement - don't you think so? Yes and No. 'Yes' because it targets and lands well in the minds of today's consumers who can't get away without junk food, but feeling guilty of eating so. 'No' because there is potential for confusion - I can hear a consumer asking 'All through my life I have seen and known Saffalo as a cooking oil brand. Suddenly one fine day, you come and say that oil is bad. Isn't your oil used for frying?' Can you see the contradiction?

But is contradiction new Indian consumers? Let's take the case of popular Indian Brand ambassadors. Yes, the King Khan - He endorses the ultra premium Tag Heuer, then poses for the premium Bel Monte suits, the next moment he says 'Tanda Tanda.. Cool Cool' or 'Hai handsome.. hai handsome..' for Emami personal care products and for the Linc pens (the list goes on). Ok, let's take another example - Amitabh Saab. First, he makes the woman in swimsuit ogle at him (read as his premium Reid and Taylor suits), next moment he's selling Dairy Milk in a college canteen (yes, Pappu Pass Hogya!). Hmm, seems like what B-Schools teach is different from the real world - brand ambassadors have a personality and it needs to match with that of the Brand personality. Aren't these multiple personalities portrayed by the ambassadors contradicting with each other? Wouldn't it cause confusion in the minds of the consumer?

It has NOT yet. We have seen and enjoyed the same above-mentioned characters singing & dancing for the diametrically opposite "Main hoon Don" and "Pan-banaras-wala" songs. We still relate to them as actors and not as brands. We are just fine with that.

Having said so, I thought I would try something completely non-sensical: What if we replace the supposedly positioned as 'class' products with the 'Mumbai mass' products. Here we go..

• There is a custom of eating Vada Paav in Mumbai. You hold it firmly with two hands symmetrically.. open the bread.. feel the rich aroma.. have a bite.. take a pinch of fried green chilli.. It ends as: You just don't eat a Vada Paav. You earn it! (Original: Cadbury premium dark chocolate)
• [Context: Advertisements for alcohols are banned in TV, so the marketers do a smart job of promoting the brand using related products like music CDs. Suppose Mumbai corporation decides to ban eating pan in public places (with the objective of making the city clean) and subsequently all ads on pan as well. Pan sales crashes like Sensex. So, our Pan-walas engage a leading ad agency to come up with an ad to promote the consumption of Pan. The marketers find that there is high correlation between people who eat pan and those who drink cutting chaai (half glass tea). So the ad goes as follows..] The common man of Mumbai is just sitting at home watching TV, without having pan. Suddenly, a thundering sound. People are dancing outside, chewing something in their mouth.. they seem to relish everything.. It ends with the caption: Life is calling. What are you waiting for?.. Banaras Cutting Chaai. (Original: Smirnoff Cassettes and CDs)
• A series of Mumbai Local Trains go one after the other with people hanging not just around the doors, but wherever there is a bar to hold in the chassis. It ends with Mumbai Locals, Desh ki Dhadkan. (and the driver applies the brake) Dhak Dhak.. (Original: Hero Honda)

Mumbai mass is always a class apart. May be you can't just use adapted ads. You need to be innovative, at the same time comprehensible, short and to-the-point. But contradictions are fine! After all, we are Indians! :)

@Regular

The 'Emosanal attyachar' song raised the expectations for the movie "Dev D". I would say the movie was a bit of a disappointment. Yes, it was eccentric and bold.. and its way of portrayal of modern day Devdas was unique. But I expected much more humor than just the brazenness and alcoholism.

The book I was reading last week carried the title "Business Games" - thought it was to do with Game theory. But it was a verbose self-development kinda book. It wasn't path-breaking, nevertheless some of the core concepts were interesting:

• Not just in business, we just keep playing games everywhere. Most of the games are played within a frame - frames are our thoughts or the meanings we make. The frame or the context decides how we play the game. So, you can choose what game to play or how to play. So, play positive, life enriching games
• Meta thinking - thinking about your thinking, feeling about your thinking, thinking about the feeling you have for your thoughts - i.e. recursive thinking
• 4 access to our power - Thoughts, Feelings, Speech, Action. Take responsibility for all these - by Observing, Owning, Accepting & Appreciating.

Adieu to Attachment

@Random

Do your duty to the best of your ability, O Arjuna ... abandoning attachment to the results, and remaining calm in both success and failure

One of the well-known and much debated teachings of Gita.  Today, the immediate response to this from people: This is idealistic, impractical and non-sense. How can one survive without attachments? There is attachment everywhere - Relationship, Work, Wealth & Self - Dialogues like 'I love my work since I am so thrilled at getting the results',  'I hate this work, but still do it since I have to get this big house',  'You know, I am so much attached to my wife that I can't stand anything bad happening to her'. 

So, it seems fair to conclude that a non-attached life is equivalent of death. Hmm, Not exactly! 

First, let's try to understand why the so called 'wise' sages are hell-bent on non-attachment: As much as Mr. Attachment gives joy & excitement, he is skilled at pushing one to the other side of the coin. For example, if you are so attached with your spouse, let's say - when he or she goes through a pain, you will go through it as well.  Analogy is that of a parasite attached to the tree - when the tree is cut, the parasite suffers as well. Or let's say, you are attached to the poor street children & have a very good intent of helping them - But the their current state of affairs is so deplorable that you just can't do anything other than crying with them.  

But it is also true that one can't live without attachment since life ceases to have meaning without attachment. Hmm.. unless, may be, we replace Mr. Attachment with someone else, who could keep us moving in life, still not get us to the mire of sorrowful states. 

Ladies & Gentlemen, let's welcome, the one and only, the star of the attitudes, the never losing, the ever enthusiastic, Mr. Commitment! 

I think that's what Gita tries to say in the first part as "Do the duty to your best" - I think we just need to start saying "Committed to my spouse", "Committed to the friendship", "Committed to the roles & responsibilities of my job", "Committed to my employees", "Committed to the street children", "Committed to the country", "Committed to the peace" etc

May be, not just saying, but being!

@Regular

Expected another 'Rock On' from  Farhan Akhtar - But 'Luck By Chance' was a disappointment. Yeah, I have this predilection for fast movies, but LBC is way too slow for anyone. But yeah, appreciate the honest effort from Zoya Akhtar. 

Oh, I should tell about this place called "Manee's" in Matunga, Mumbai. For the Authentic-Tamil-food-sicken-Mumbai, Manees is a bliss. You would get rice & sambhar served in banana leaf with all kootu, poriyal & aviyal. It's not even 25% of the best southie food you would get in Chennai. But still, we enjoy it.

Last time, when I went home, I picked up a random book on Business games - I was reminded of the game theory taught in B-Schools, which I, like most people, enjoyed learning. So, started off with that book which explains them in the context of NLP.

Bonjour Bonjour Avalanche (Wk #04)

Hmm, seems like deadlines ought to be instituted and made sacrosanct for my blog posts. Going forward, 12 midnight Sunday it is!

@Random

'The progress of the nation at the perils of its politicians. And it's unfortunate that most of them are corrupt, dishonest, incapable & selfish' - the easy way Indians pass the bucks for any problem. Not to deny that, I thought 'Chuck the politicians, what's wrong with our Government officers?' - To that end, this post is dedicated to some thoughts on Public Service (PS)

Have you ever seen people preparing for IAS? The hard work, the commitment, the intelligence! They are some of the best brains in India. Not just IAS, but the officers working in departments such as Education, Infrastructure & City management, People welfare, Finance, Economic Development etc. If PS is not working well, there is something wrong in the system. I tried drawing the parallel with private organizations. The overarching root cause I felt for the problem is that Indian Government as a HR organization is failing miserably (I know you would complain that HR in your pvt organization is inefficient & dumb as well! But after working in a public service for a week, you would say your current HR is far more efficient and beautiful!). To get to the specifics:  

1. Poor Leadership

In public service (PS), if a leader is honest, predominantly his subordinates tend to be honest as well. So, there is this great china wall between honest and dishonest crowd in PS. Then there is capable vs incapable category. It doesn't take an IAS officer to come up with the following 2x2 matrix. 

(I know some people will have reservations reg. the choice of animals with claims such as the mosquitoes at their home is very intelligent and very very honest. Ok, assume a dishonest mosquito which doesn't repay for the blood it sucks and a creature incapable to escape even the blow of a hand or the one rupee coil. And for the animal activists, the post is not to demean any animal - I love / fear a mosquito as much as a lion - Both bite and suck your blood! Oh, enough of justification, let me get to the post!)

So, when the head of the department is a lion, the entire department behaves like lions. Some people hate to be led by lions or cows, as these animals expect their subordinates to be kempt as well. 

Ideally we want the PS to be an Utopian world full of lions - Neither the lord Brahmma who is touted as the creator nor the Indian Govt HR which recruited them made it possible. So, we need to be put up with other animals as well. 

One might think fox is the most dangerous of all, but contradictory to popular belief, it's the mosquito! A fox takes his share, but gets the job done partly. Irrespective of his cunning behavior, he has some stuff which makes progress possible. The cow wants to keep its hand clean oblivious of getting things done - could lead to possible exploitation of public resources. So, foxes could turn out to be better than cows. Actually, mosquitoes are differently capable - capable of making negative-development with all the public resources. So, the primary objective should be to get rid of them. As my consultant friend says, you can either kill them or move them from quadrant one to another. Morphing a mosquito to a lion may not be possible overnight. But moving them towards lion via fox or cow is not impossible.

2. Recruitment & Training Process is weak

Inefficiency, favoritism, unfairness, bribery and reservation are widespread in PS recruitment process. Yes, there are some reliable and rigorous selection process such as IAS / IPS. But the cadre below it have issues. The entire process need to be revamped. How about forming a forum / regulatory agency / industry body like SEBI, TRAI, CII to take care of the recruitment and training process in a fair and transparent manner.

Unused brain or bicycle, both will start rusting - need to be used and overhauled periodically. So,we need to make their jobs interesting, engaging and periodically provide training 

3. Lack of Performance Management

Oh, this is the most important reason for the very poor performance of PS. If my age matters more than the results I produced, I will snore at my office chair the whole day gulping the aging tablets. There needs to be handsome rewards for excellent performance. The PMS should separate the weed from the pulse. There should be pressure on the under-performers. There should be severe punishment for preaching the code of conduct. The HR department should act like the watchdog with which the mosquitoes and foxes dare to survive. I know what you are asking - how can this PMS be without politics and bureaucracy - we can't uproot them even in private organizations easily - Yes, it's going to be difficult, but instituting a PMS is lesser of the evils compared to not having it.

To summarize, our PS officers are not born mosquitoes, but more because of the systems and processes, which when revamped can go a long way in ensuring the next generation of growth for India.

@Regular

The dance in the beat Prabhudeva

The beat in song is DSP

The girl in the groove Nayanthara

And to rock the floor Ilayathalapathy

Feel like dancing? I felt so when I watched the tamil movie Villu. But my Mom felt like sleeping. In night shows of action movies, she sleeps happily in the last 1 hour. But Villu was far more efficient in making her sleep in the first half itself. While returning from the movie, I asked 'Ma, do you remember what happened in the movie?' To my surprise, she told me the entire story. I asked 'I saw you sleeping. But how?' She replied with her usual smile, 'I was awake for the last 10 mins. The villain gives the executive summary of the movie!' I continued 'The movie was so noisy, how did you manage to sleep?' She replied 'The movie is no different from others - 5 sequences of dance followed by fight followed by heroic dialogues. It feels more heavenly to sleep than being awake in the hell' Oh, too much to tell these to a Ilayathalapathy fan! I quite liked the dance sequences. Vijay's foot never seemed to be in ground - be it dance or fight sequences. A 100% vijay movie. Give it a miss if you ever hated him or his movies.

Got to visit City of Sentamizh and God's own country. Hey Kerela, you always mesmerize me with your lush forests, winding roads, cool backwaters and the beautiful women. Kochin was no different. Quite an interesting place! Got to see a different marine drive.

Oh, how can I miss telling about the book I read - The Great Indian Novel - Shashi Tharoor's intellingent and funny blind of Mahabharata with modern Indian history. Absolutely brilliant! Not that it's a page turner (esp. for people who hated 'social science' subject in school days), but was quite exciting, humorous and thoughtful. A definitely recommended reading! Now curious to read the original version of Mahabharata by Rajaji. Also, picked up the novel 'Critical' by Robin Cook.

Individually Poor, Collectively Rich (Wk #03)

@ReelNReal

The book "We are like that only" was quite an exciting read. It gave some simple but unconventional & wow insights about Consumer India. The author Mrs. Rama Bijapurkar, gives two compelling take-aways

1. Develop 'Made for India' strategy. Dont try to replicate your global strategy here. Reasons being (a) India is a bundle of contradictions - Any truism about India is negated by another, (b) Schizophrenic India: The pattern of many Indias becoming many more Indias will continue, (c) DNA of Indian society is "This as well as that"
2. Dont ignore Consumer India just because it's complex to understand and difficult to execute in. She is affirmative that Consumption in India is certain, even if people are abysmally poor. She calls it "The Great Indian Number Trick" - i.e. Individually poor, but collectively rich. Couple of humorous quotes, "Consumption is like maternity, a certainity. Income is like paternity, merely a matter of inference."; "Consumer India is like a drunken man - 2 steps forward, 1 step sideways, 1 backwards. But eventually, he will be back home"

This blog is not just to give you the summary of the book. Nor is to recommend you to read the book [Though given a chance, I would do so ;)] - The catchy phrases "Individually poor, collectively rich" & "This as well as that" just stuck me. I tried to recollect any personal experiences. Here it goes:

• Share Auto* - People wanted the convenience of getting dropped near their home and probably the convenience of sitting while traveling. Public transport is less frequent and have limited stops, but private auto-rickshaws are way too expensive. Came the Share Auto Service! Frequent. Convenient. Affordable.
• Self Help Groups - The successful emergence of women SHGs and Micro-finance is a clear case in point. Banks and organizations which once ignored them have started taking notice. Yes, not as strong as a lion, but garner strength through the group of cattle
  
• Amman Pongal - This is prominent in Tamil Nadu, if not everywhere, definitely in villages and semi-urban areas. For the less-informed, it's a yearly celebration for the small Goddess idol kept in every street - residents pool in money (as small as 10 or 20 rupees) for the festival and get a sense of it being THEIR function. One can't imagine such a fanfare from that kind of population. True indeed, collective richness!
• Surf + Wheel - I remember when I was a kid, the product Surf Excel was considered very expensive but works well with washing machines. My parents used to use 1 spoon of Surf Excel and another spoon Wheel in the washing machine. Yes, innovations started happening in Indian households before the R&D labs of Unilever.
• Chota pack - The miniature version of everything! From shampoo to coke to vodfone. The packaging innovation helped mineral water, which was considered only to be served for the rich, reached poor through 'Water packet'. Indian housewives buy vegetables on a daily basis. Everything is cut, sliced and made affordable. An interesting piece here is the triangular coconut slice (It's a different story that its size get reduced when the moms send their sons to the shop ;))
• Organized Retail - Who said organized retail is untested, unworkable with Indian poor. The famous Saravana Stores in T.Nagar, Chennai is on par and at times ahead of Wal-marts of the world when it comes to operational efficiency. Quite true that Kishore Biyani himself acknowledges it for being inspiration to Big Bazar.

Yes, Indian mass wants choice, quality at affordable prices! Perplexed at how everything is possible? Yes, possible - Where there is Will, Skill and Brill! And if Rama and CKP are to be believed, the Thrill is guaranteed!

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*Share Auto - Bigger size autos used in cities like Chennai - it allows people to board or alight at their desired location. Fares are marginally higher than public transport.

@Regular

I thanked the Almighty for being 30 mins late to the movie Chandni Chowk to China! Expected it to be a laughter-coaster, rather it was a crying-coaster - The poor Sidhu of the movie gets sentimental with every damn thing - from potatos to his step-father to his girlfriend to her dad to Liu Cheng (if you are curious to know who this is, watch the movie!). I am sure the Cricket Siddhu would have made us laugh a lot better than CC2C's!

The Ferry ride @ the Gateway of India, the reopened Taj Palace & Towers and the bustling streets of Colaba, InOrbit mall - Yes, finally.. I have spent time in these much-talked about places after being in Mumbai for 6 months. The queues and the crowd really made me think are we really in a slowdown.

I think the thread and the theme continues - another book on India. 'The Great Indian Novel' by Shashi Tharoor is next on cards!

Have a colour-full life (Wk #02)

@ReelNReal

Was wondering why the side walls of the railway tracks (of Mumbai locals) are painted in maroon. Similarly the lower portion of train coaches. Came the answer when I saw the lower portion of a bridge being coloured naturally in maroon color thanks to the beings called human. Yes, welcome to India, the land of Pan-lovers.

Colours! Some people claim content is more important the colour. Yes, absolutely! What matters is how good the tea is than the colour of the cup. Still, one can't defy the importance of colours in our life - Many a times, colours become the content. As we know, colours have 2 angle to it - scientific and emotional.

The science of colours is really amazing. Different colours have different properties (such as frequency) that helped scientists to make many discoveries - e.g. to guess the composition of a galaxy or planet by analyzing the missing colour (which ought to be absorbed its atmosphere) of the spectrum. The reason why an object is red is a bit counter-intuitive: It's red because it contains all colours except red (To be scientifically right: It absorbs ALL the other colours and reflects red) - So, next time when a person reflects "good deeds", don't just blindly go by that :P. The industry which has benefited hugely from the scientific improvements of colours is entertainment - from B&W movies to stunning colourful movies - makes one believe that it's worth spending 250 bucks for a single movie.

But what makes colours more appealing to everyone is the emotional angle. We know of wars in the past due to skin colour and still the differences are not completely rooted out. Colours have the power to emote different feelings in us. It could be different for different people - age, sex and culture could play major role. A kid chooses jazzy colours - lemon yellow frocks, pink gowns, bright blue pants - I have seen Moms telling to kids "no, it's not a nice colour" - who defines 'Nice', I would say. Men get embarrassed when associated with pink. Some people have a strong preference / liking for a colour that they would invariably use it for everything - Blue shirt, blue bag, blue desktop theme etc. Some people go with what general public likes - what others feel beautiful, stylish and appealing. A mix of the 2 extremes would be good.

Different colours stand for different purposes. "Go Green" is the mantra for environmentalists. White stands for peace. Black stands for expressing opposition / condolences. Red stands for passion. Yellow stands for New/bright. Blue stands for cool. This reflects in how people want to paint their houses, offices and commercial complexes.

Another interesting area where colours are heavily analyzed is products and branding. Marketers ask this question frequently 'Shall I change the colour my product to improve sales?' Advertisers want to register in consumers' mind through colours. Red is coke and Blue is pepsi - marketers have succeeded in registering this in people's mind. You and I won't believe how much companies are spending on getting the colours right for their logo and branding.

With so much beauty being evoked through colours, it's definitely worth to wish a person "Have a colourful life!" I wish you the same!

But are colours just meant for eyes? What would different colours mean for say, a blind person. I think his higher perception capabilities of other senses might help distinguish colours - Just that he might not know what we call as red is red. I am sure he would have a colourful life as well, probably not in the literal sense of ours!

@Regular

• Saw: Madagascar 2 - Complete fun for 89 mins that we didn't realize that the movie got over. Man, I should tell you, the penguins are way too awesome!
• Read(ing): We are like that Only, the book by Rama Bijapurkar, saying Indian consumers are not about logic, rather magic!
  
• Visited: (a) Kyber @ Khar - L^2, the infamous drink, dance and chit-chat night of IIMB was replicated at Mumbai - We couldn't replicate the campus atmosphere, neverthless it was good fun. (b) Noodle Bar - Good place for people fond of Chinese - You gotta make the noodle of your choice - You can't blame the restaurant for it not coming out well (c) The 'Croma' @ High Street Phoenix - Made us wonder when they are going to break even!
  
• Met: The other day when I was getting back home, saw the posters "Remember Hanuman, Vote for Monkey", "You like Milk? Vote for Buffalo", "For Auspcious prosperity, vote for Elephant"- I couldn't look at the details of the poster - I just thought that the college elections have gone innovative and felt like laughing for the moron who chose Buffalo and Monkey. Last week I realized that it was the new and interesting campaign to save tiger. What I missed in the posters is the tag-line that follows the voting request - "Vote as the NEW NATIONAL Animal" - Last I heard, this has created quite some buzz in colleges and malls. You can check out the website of the 2 energetic brains behind this - http://www.sproutsenvttrust.org/ and if you want to vote, follow this link. What I quite liked about their idea is the whole angle of positiveness to their programs. Also, met a lot of old friends this week.
  
• Quote of the week: A leader sees a leader in everyone