Tough times...Tough decisions(?)

Almost all of us go through difficult times, at different stages in our careers and lives!

The important thing is that each one of us has a different way of looking at problems, creating solutions, managing emotions, fighting temptations to give up mid course, sacrificing value/value system, focusing on the immediate gains like money, giving up self respect etc… there are a host of things.

What defines the decisions that we make during these tough times?

From my personal experiences of many(J) such incidents, events is that we typically are driven by the following:-

a. Upbringing and the values that are imbibed on the “young” mind

b. Events that have shaped one’s thinking

c. Maturity in thought processes

d. An attitude to be revengeful, bite back with a vengeance after one has been bitten!

e. Company/Circle of influence

f. How far is one from the saturation point, peak load when the point of breakage is close!

g. A mind that is easily swayed by the “bucks” - $$$

I can quote examples where people have failed to live up to expectations, I too have been a victim at times of believing into someone, at times knowing that the person next to you is trying to con you into something, we have gone thru and suffered. It ideally is the case because we just got swayed by one of the above points.

I keep getting butchered by friends and family about my lack of understanding on money matters, I always promise them that next time I would take care, it’s been 32 years now and I still am the same when it comes to my thoughts on money – Once an idiot…..so goes the saying!

The only solace one can have is one has never had to lie, trouble someone, lose self respect for money and hope it remains that way…forever!

The Followers

Many of us go to others websites, check out profiles, read about people, try and understand the personalities. Many of these are no celebrities, but ordinary people like us!

I have some people following that i notice thru the traffic analysis of my blog and other profiles on different websites including more professional ones too.

One of them probably wants something from me, i am not sure what NOW...May be information on some juicy bits and parts from the past, may be something to help decide an important part of their life...I am not so sure...is not a direct close friend of mine, but definitely an acquaintance, of some relevance...

So come out and speak up please, if you think its critical and important...I am always there...

Don't just "commute"...Do "Communicate"

STOP spending on oil from the Middle East

It's not a fanatic or a mistaken nationalist speaking here.

My analysis shows that all of us (each and every one of us in the world) would be better off and well served in the future if we stop buying oil from the Arabs.

Every $ or Re that we spend on oil that comes from the Middle East in an indirect way does find its way in to the hands of sympathizers of the larger and mistaken alleged cause and that many a times turns into the ugly terror attacks that we all see in places around you.

This reliance on oil could not come down immediately but could be expedited thru a set of policies and investments over the next couple of years.

Go Green and Beat the terror as well!

Being ahead of the rest...As a team

India won the recent Nehru cup and the teams effort was evident in the event.

Lot of things went into getting to the hat trick and every member of the team has contributed significantly in his own way.

The most important aspect of this success is that the team played around one or two of them, essentially “play makers” and contributed to the strategy. Each member had a role defined, the team members played their roles to the word and when a team is able to do this, it’s highly unlikely that the team would have a result any different than what the Indian Football team saw as part of the Nehru Cup.

Wayne Gretzky is another example that comes to mind. Wayne was a super player who could anticipate where the puck would be and place himself there in advance! Great player, but a lot of his hits were successful because someone would help with a pass at the right place at the right time and that is team play.

Team play is a key and therefore far more crucial than it could possibly be in these tough times when each one of us is required to sacrifice a little bit of self, for the larger good of the team. This applies to all walks, whether you are a manufacturer, a manager, a teacher, a community volunteer etc. The power of team play is evident and visible in many forms.

A TV actor accused of child abuse!

Just in.

Saw the horrific news, a child is being made to work at home as a maid/labourer. Worst the child is also abused and the marks on the eyes, hands clearly demonstrate the amount of abuse.

Now come to think of it and its allegedly done by some educated and "famous" personality who works in the television industry and is a young actor.

What kind of abuse is this?

Shahrukh Khan detention @ Newark, US

Most of us who have travelled to the US post 9/11 understand the importance that is attached to security procedures.

I find the whole Shahrukh Khan episode a major blow up by the media and it now appears more a circus than anything else for the sake of entertainment. The only concern in the whole episode is that it took 2 hours and Shahrukh wasn’t allowed to speak to his friends over the phone during the 2 hour long ordeal.

I have had a firsthand experience of being in the same(?) room at Newark, as Shahrukh many years back when it was my first trip to the US. The whole questioning took 10-15 minutes and was a fairly smooth affair.

Let’s not blow these incidents beyond a point and make the whole thing a ego trip for a Superstar (did I miss the word “Global”…err.. sorry Shahrukh King Khan).

Of Passwords and passcodes and pin numbers and ids and ....

Of all the passwords and pin numbers and pass codes and key numbers that one has to remember today, I feel technology has somewhere not been able to help here beyond a point.

Take me as an example, an average professional with couple of bank accounts (mostly legacy). I have a credit card that needs a pin, then there is the telephone pin, there is also a user id and a password for online access and there is a transaction password for the transactions too. Before I integrated the credit card and the back account, all these were repeated for the debit card too!!!

Now just multiply these with the no of bank accounts and credit cards and debit cards you carry, one can choose a common password, but one can never get to keep the characters same since there is no standardization (perhaps there should not be one, for security reasons!) on what characters are acceptable under each institutions security policies. Then there are some who have permanent passwords, for some you need to change them every 2 weeks (my trading portal for instance).

My office secure id card needs a pass code and each of my email accounts needs one (to my horror someone had even broken into one such personal email a friend had created for us few years back!). The fall out of that was that I stopped having all those email accounts, I just have one official email and then there is one to send personal mails to people, that I access once in a month or two.

I do not remember the passwords to my bank accounts, credit cards, debit cards, emails, secure cards any more. I am not sure how this is going to change my life in the future.

 

But I personally feel it’s time for technology to move on and create a more universal yet secure identification for all of us!

Michael Jackson - Beat it!

Michael Jackson – KING OF POP is no more. I am not sure about the current generation, but for those of us who grew up in the 80’s, Michael Jackson was a big star, larger than life.

Michael did not do his fans a lot of good in the recent times with his brush with the law suits et al. Nevertheless Michael is Michael and as fresh in our memories as it can ever be!

We love you Michael and may god provide peace to your near and dear ones.

IT as an enabler for egovernance

I had an issue with my PAN Card and I was quite skeptical as to how I would get the stuff changed on the card.

Like any other person with a work and home to take care of, I too had a challenge of being able to spend no more than a few minutes on this, also since it was not critical , it was not a show stopper.

My name on the PAN had been spelt incorrectly , it was how one would pronounce my last name in Gujarati J. I wanted it changed and the address too was a place I am not sure even exists today J

I just happened to do a Google search and figured out that the government of India has enough mechanisms to do all of these things and to my surprise, many more things online at a cost!

I was happy but was still skeptical about the response and I was pleasantly surprised with the response, it was amazing, within couple of days of my sending the application form thru’ courier along with the required documents, I had my new and classy and corrected PAN card with me.

IT has and is changing governance in India significantly. Did you have any such experienced with the Government agencies of late!

How much of a social networking person are you?

Are you on facebook?

Do you tweet?

You blog?

Familiar questions! There is a great chance that you heard these and many such questions from unusual quarters. I have heard these and similar queries from my neighbors son who for all this while was a teenager I thought was focused more on sports than studies.

What’s mind blowing is the amount of headway most of these social networking sites are able to make with in no time of their launch. Take a look at the statistics and you will wonder, what the heck!

Most of the top sites actually boast of 100 million+ users! I also happened to see a cover on TIME last week.

So, How much of a social networking person are you? How do you answer these questions from curious teenagers around you?

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno... End of an Era

One of the few TV programs that I loved watching was the Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Funny to the core, the special effects that Mr. Leno added were a treat. The celebrity guests on the show were chosen well and I must admire the staff for it. For 17 long years Mr. Leno took the stand up act to a new level – performance of a sublime kind.

I often liked the music at the end of the show as well. For many years it had been something that I looked forward to catching up over the week end.

Conan o’ Brien who has taken over the show would need a lot of effort to get to where Mr. Leno took the show to. Big shoes to fill in for sure.

All the best Conan!

http://www.nbc.com/The_Tonight_Show_with_Jay_Leno/

What's happening in Australia?

What’s happening in Australia is appalling and any citizen of any country would feel insecure if the attacks continue as they happen today.

The law should take its course and most importantly the executive and the legislative in the respective country should ensure the citizens and immigrants feel safe and are provided adequate safety. The sad part is the attacks are not just on the professionals but on students too!

There are larger issues that come up when we think deeper about these attacks.

Why are 90,000 students from India in Australia?

Does the country not have decent educational institutes of repute to host and train 90,000 of its own youngsters? What is the government doing about it? Are we still fighting over petty chapters in history books that need to be added/modified/deleted to appease certain sections of the society? Can we not set up many decent institutions of higher and secondary education with in the country modeled perhaps on the world renowned IIT/IIM/NIT’s.

Why are professionals still leaving the country?

Exposure is one part that I personally have felt is significant when it comes to a career in a globalized world and being an expat provides with the much needed opportunities for this exposure. But if one looks at the salaries, Indian salaries have risen significantly especially in the growth sectors like services.

What about the self respecting Indian? Are we able to assert ourselves?

YES, especially over the last few years the surge and growth in the economy has made a lot of Indians confident (some over confident too!). We, as the Australia example shows are able to stand up, protest and demand what is rightfully ours.

Let the Australia incidents of protest against the injustice serve as an example to Indians in other parts of the world and call for their conscience and self respect. We need to see this in say the gulf countries (at least some of them) where hordes and hordes of migrants from places like Kerala are forced to work in inhuman conditions, where the “Sheikh” is served before anyone else even if he is the last to arrive, passports are snatched for a year(?) so you are bonded to the employer….

Let us rise, awake and demand for a humane treatment of our kids studying abroad and our bros and sisters working away from the country!

From hand written memos to emails

I have been writing for some time now and it seems to come easily now and it looks like I can write just a little better than few of my peers.

Well I am talking emails!

Yes, in the corporate set up, you are now so used to typing emails and some of us are so adept at it, we can do few hundred in a day’s work!

One to one discussions culminate in a parting statement asking each other to email the stuff back. Big shots close the meetings asking for an “send me an update presentation” by email. Team meetings end with a minutes of the meeting created and circulated over email.

We are writing emails all the time. I come from the time when I was required to send a hand written memo to the next department and also keep a Carbon copy of the same on the log! J No, I am not that old, I am talking just about 12-14 years back time frame – mid nineties!

Let’s see what happens to all the emails we are writing today, with advancements in technology and newer more nimble tools coming in!

Processes - Gate Keeper or Enabler

Read this piece on “Gatekeeper or Enabler” and could not help add my views, I have been in the process world for some time and been keenly following some of the relatively newer development on the process front actively.

One way to look at it, like Neel mentions is to put yourself in a more rigid and at times an academic position where you do everything by the “BOOK”.Well from my own experiences of defining processes, running them, implementing them for others I have over the years come to well and truly become a believer in them.

I have a simple theory as to how and who should create these processes and I have seen it to be working well.Most times when something is created by “others” and thrust upon you, it just does not seem right, even though you might have ended up doing the same thing yourself, considering the constraints etc. It hurts more when these processes are created by “others” who are also “amongst the management”.

Processes that are customer facing need to be created by people who have been there, done that and over and above critically reviewed by people who have a sense of the customer business and ways of working. I would put business before the processes and Business value ahead of regulation (unless it’s a legal, compliance related process).Internal processes must be defined by people who are less arrogant, flexible and understand the intricacies of the business, these must be reviewed by people who typically are hard to please, a bit arrogant.

When one is looking at implementing these processes typically try to expose people to the changes as the stuff is being created, see the feedback, test the waters as they say. Any sudden change is a thing that most people do not wish to take up, so bring it slowly but surely and do not retract once you are sure that you have the right process and can back it up with a business reason for doing something!

The "Right" Mandate - Elections 2009

The Indian elections are a major “mahotsav” and the sheer size and volume of the electorate make it the biggest circus that takes place in our part of the world, every 5 years.

The election commission does a fantastic job of ensuring seemingly free and fair elections in large parts of the country with a coordinated effort supported by the rest of the agencies of the government.

Results day for most elections is much awaited and this time it was no different. The expectations were that the incumbent UPA would get closer to the mandate but would really have to struggle for seats.

What the results actually proved was the fact that the ridiculous policies of the left front were not only thrown out but also did not find any connect with their so called bastions of West Bengal and Kerala. The mandate was hugely in favor of the UPA and against the communal agenda of the Right wing NDA and the policies of the left front.

A “Right” mandate indeed. Kudos to the voters of the country and many thanks to the founding fathers of the constitution for creating such a vibrant democracy. We still have a long way towards development that is inclusive, but I believe we are on the right track and must cherish our democratic process!

A true contributor!

One often wonders what or who a true contributor is!

In the professional world that I have spent donkeys years in, value add and contribution have assumed different meanings at different times.

In my own career these have been everything from operational customer centric transactions to creation of high end consulting solutions and transformation approaches.

In effect who is a true contributor that deserves respect and love(?), admiration and adulation from the team and peers as well as subordinates and superiors at the same time?

I may not be 100% accurate here, but from my observations over the last few years, I have come to believe that a true contributor possesses certain attributes that stand out in the crowd.

One would NEVER ever miss those!

• ROI is unquestionable – Always gives more than what he takes!
• Results may not always be guaranteed, but the effort, commitment can never be questioned!
• Quick learner and extremely flexible when it comes to aligning with the larger objectives!
• Dependable to the core…Trustworthy!
• Loyal to the cause (of the team), Puts the team before self…always!

Last but not the least, a true contributor always draws some bits from the past experiences of his predecessors, his seniors, makes the best use of his current capabilities and competencies and prepares for the future success of the team and self by planning ahead.

No wonder that a true contributor need not have a certain kind of experience, need not possess a certain management degree, need not also be of a certain age and grade/role/position. One just merely needs to display the frugal qualities of a good team player and a true CONTRIBUTOR!

Leadership in recessionary times

All of us irrespective of the industry, role, experience and age are faced with a multitude of challenges emerging from the current spate of changes due to the existing environment.

Recession or depression or slow down whatever name we may suit the situation, it definitely needs each and every one of us to think differently.

How must a leader behave in these times?

Tough question for a tougher situation, well yes!

A leaders body language and handle on the situation, point of view and grasp of the subject play a significant role in shaping the outlook and engagement of the team towards a host of new things that the team would want to take up as a counter to the times.

Can doing the same thing over and over again give a different result? NO…NO…NO. It does not and it cannot.

A leader therefore is required to push his team to think different, take up seemingly impossible tasks and direct, guide them towards achieving these in a relatively short time frame.

Difference between bravery and foolishness

There is a thin line, when something comes off its seen as a great successful strategy, when it does not it seems like a foolish thing to do…hindsight.

A leader ensures there are enough backups for a strategy in terms of risk mitigation, contingency etc. This helps since you do not want the team to see grand failures when the times themselves present a grave picture because of the impending gloom.

Can everyone on the team align to the objectives, tough targets.

A leader has to ensure everyone on the team understands the new objectives, targets well and truly in the spirit and book. He must ensure everyone aligns to the objectives by reinforcing these during discussions, team meetings and also making them part of the performance evaluation. A positive reinforcement typically comes with the rewarding of a behavior or work that is in alignment with the expectations. Eventually people who do not align have to be dealt with a firm hand and it must be made very clear to them that there cannot be tolerance for poor, sub standard performance emanating from a lack of understanding or alignment with the objectives.

Soldier “Sir, we are surrounded”

Captain “Good, We can attack in all the directions”

A leader has to be optimistic and has to ensure the team though aware of the crisis and the tough times is able to carry the optimism with them as they go about doing their work.

Finally people who are committed and happy deliver better results, Look for committed individuals, trust them and you will see the results, as desired.

Launch of the Nano - 23rd March 2009!

Dear Mr. Ratan Tata,

 

Sir, I have the utmost respect for your vision and leadership. I feel proud to be an Indian and you have made it special for many of us.

The amount of respect and awe for India as a country has significantly gone up. Launch of the Nano has definitely made it special for all of us!

You and your team at Tata Motors has demonstrated that a clear vision and leadership could help take up technical innovations to the highest levels of efficiency and cost.

It’s heartening to see that a sub 3000$ car is today, not only a reality but something that could potentially change how the rest of the world views India in the years to come.

Thank you for your leadership and effort. Kudos to the Nano team.

 

Yours truly

A fellow Indian!

Power of Women - Women's Day

Women can create a significant impact in the society, I strongly believe that a woman with the right attitude and mindset can transform any impending situation into an opportunity.

I have always had a significant part of my upbringing around strong women, all the women in my family have been strong individuals, upright and straight. All of them women with a lasting and strong value system and strong women with independent, clear thoughts.

I have always been blessed with friends around me, many of whom strong women (even those much younger to me) have always proven that they can withstand bigger problems, face dire situations without hassles. I have learnt a lot from friends like these and believe me, quite a few of them can be exemplary role models.

A good number of my colleagues in the office too have been strong women, my team has >50% women - all motivated, extremely talented and potentially better performing than most of their peers in other groups. I have had my favorites and they have always happened to be people who are young, consistent performers, go getters, never say die attitude and a strong value system – No surprises here that quite a few of the spots right at the top are taken by WOMEN!

This Women’s day I pay my tributes to all the strong, committed women around me who have made me personally a stronger human being and allowed me to rise above petty things and move ahead.

Let’s celebrate Women’s day and continue to contribute to the betterment of the society!

Unknown Number - A technology issue in my daily life!

Technology has become pervasive and has provided many a benefits to mankind.

Our generation has been one of the most significant beneficiaries of the evolution and adoption of technology. Take mobile phones for example, today they have reached every nook and corner of the country and have given accessibility a new meaning altogether.

Technology could also create problems!

My phone for some reason has been having this strange problem where is shows perfectly known numbers (phone calls from family, friends and colleagues) as “Unknown Number”. I can do nothing other than just watch the call drop off. I am unable to pick up the call, call back the number since there is no number displayed. Am getting a new set and hopefully it would help with the problem, but I am not sure if it’s the hardware or the software that’s causing the trouble!

Did you face issues like these with technology in your daily life? Do write back!

Are you a "Spoilt Customer" who demands better customer service on every transaction!

I remember the good old days in my home town in Suburban Mumbai when I would wake up early to ensure that I am at the bank before many more arrive and apply for the demand draft that I need for some entrance exam fees so that I am not driven away saying “Come tomorrow and collect the draft” or “Come after 12:00 noon, From the back door!”

I have also observed the same bank officials make fun of people like me when they have dared asked about certain slips and forms to be used for the transactions.

This essentially was the Customer Service I had gotten used to. For years!

It was in the mid nineties that I moved out and started to bank with a Private Bank and I almost had tears of joy in my eyes when the bank executive told me that my draft would be ready within 10 minutes. I even had an ATM card to pull out money anytime I wanted. It was a sea change, I could not believe all this to be true! I now have more or less got used to the fact that good and proper customer service goes a long way into making customers happy and ensuring a continued and repeat business at a higher level.

 

Few days back I had an interaction with a bank executive whose bureaucratic habits and tone reminded me of the good(?) old days of customer service. It was a terrible feeling, more so since I could clearly make out that this person was a complete misfit in the changed ways of working, one who was embarrassing his peers with his behavior and someone who was unable to comprehend the vision and objectives of his organization.

I felt pity but soon I also realized I must report the incident, I got calls from the executives from the bank and the issue was sorted out, with the person apologizing for his behavior and rendering the service he was supposed to provide as part of his job.

 

Do we ask too much under customer service since some of us are “spoilt customers” demanding too much! What are you?

Famed Mumbai Taxis to be taken off the road by the government...

Last heard, the famed Mumbai Taxi’s, the good old yellow and black Premier Padmini cabs are going to be off the road soon.

 

The state government has made this decision based on the age of the vehicles, the emission levels.. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/Taxi_in_Mumbai.jpg

 

How would the urban landscape look, when these socialist era relics are off the road?

Wish you all a Happy New year 2009!

Dear friends,

 

As I write this email, I reflect upon some of the hits and few miss-hits of 2008. I personally closed the year with an excellence award and recognition from the organization for my team.

The coming year presents new challenges. Challenges that will test each one of us on the professional front and perhaps on the personal front too, challenges that will stretch some of us to the limit.

I feel excited and confident that most of us would overcome these challenges and surpass most expectations. What makes me confident is the faith and trust, commitment and dedication that most of us have known to show, especially in difficult times.

 

I wish you and your near and dear ones a very happy new year and hope all of us have a fulfilling, energetic and upbeat 2009!

 

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has" - Margaret Mead

 

Warm Regards

Naresh Choudhary

Satyam Scandal - India's Enron

The news flash on Wednesday morning as I returned to my desk after a brief meeting was shocking to say the least.

A colleague showed me the flash on his laptop and I could not believe it was true till someone opened the candid admissions of R Raju on the letter faxed to the stock exchanges and the Board (BORED?) members.

 

Why would seemingly smart and accomplished people do reckless and stupid things? For the thrill in it out of the risks involved? Why does this consume some of us in its fold while leaving others out of it?

I read in an issue of TIME(http://www.time.com) sometime in 2008 that the coding is in the brain and neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin play a role in the thrill- seeking behavior. Not all risks are serious some could be a lot less damaging like bungee jumping.

 

The problem perhaps is that high-sensation seekers tend to under estimate the risks and put themselves and a whole lot of others into deep s**t as we have seen in this case. Many a successful individuals have fallen hard by trying to think that they are step ahead. Meteoric careers have ended within no time, people who had it all seem to have thrown it all away in brief moments!

What could have prevented this? A model, framework like Baldrige, a Board that was not Bored and did its duty, a management that had its feet on the ground and was willing to be truthful and still do extra ordinary things by being honest with themselves and the rest of the world, an audit firm that could have potentially looked at the records and done what was expected of them – raise the issue, shout.

50 Rs for a cup of coffee/tea

He was a naïve 5 year old when he first overheard conversations about the Taj hotel near the Gateway of India.

It was mere hearsay, none who bragged had ever set foot in it, it was what they had heard, it was what someone else had told them, it was what they had imagined!

He and a friend argued on how a cup of coffee or tea could ever cost 50 Rs, it was unheard of when one could get it for 20 paisa elsewhere in the town. He found it hard to believe and could not wait to get back home in the evening and ask his father.

He waited till dinner time and eventually asked his father, much later he could figure out, his father too could only imagine! His father thought for a moment and said yes they would charge 50 Rs for a coffee or tea, but the cups would be extremely clean, they would have cold air from the air conditioner flowing in, there would be a waiter serving the tea and so on.

He could not sleep well that night, kept thinking, well more calculating how much money would be required to have a cup of tea every day at the Taj. He decided that night he was going to have a cup of tea in the Taj once and the very next morning, he went back and told his friends, they all should.

It’s been over 25 years now, the friends have moved on, many went on to do very well, they would have had their cups of teas, he too moved on, had many cups of teas around the world, but that one promise remained unfulfilled.

Today as he read the news of the Taj reopening, he quickly said to himself it has to be now, the next time in Mumbai must be the time to have that cup of tea.

A cup of tea to salute the men and women who laid their lives for the country, city and the pride of Mumbai!

Mumbai Meri Jaan...

Aatankvadiyon ke pairon taley, uskee zameen kuchaltee hain

Bhediyon kee goliyan uska seena chalee kartee hain

 

Gunehgaaron ke bumb-golon sey, uspar waar hotey hain

Shaitanon ke haathon sey uskey cheer ka haran hota hain

 

Lachar aur Bebaas apnee rakhsha main kamjor hain

Napunsak netaon ke haathon main yeah aaj kaid hain

 

Bekasooron key Khoon sey Lathpath, aankhon sey aasoon bahati hain

Apnon key bewakuf bayanon sey marti hain, Yeah hain Mumbai meri jaan

 

 

Arrogance of Non Performance

At a recent team meeting, I spoke on this topic and from the feedback towards the end of the session, I thought people liked it, at least some of them!

All of us are familiar with and have met at some point in time, people who are arrogant. We see them at our work place, they are our friends, some are our relatives – cousins and uncles and aunts… At times it’s just us, we ourselves are arrogant at times for various reasons.

Arrogance is displayed for reasons like wealth, looks, performance at work, material belongings – great car, mobile phone, gold and jewels and at times for something as despicable as one knowing someone influential or being close to someone!

This is one extreme why people behave in a way that is considered arrogant. There is this other extreme that I really wanted to touch upon and that is “Arrogance of Non Performance”. Being arrogant without any reason (well the one who is arrogant does not/never realizes that the reasons that one is arrogant for are either too trivial or non-existent for everyone other than they themselves)

People behaving in an arrogant manner in spite of not performing to the expectations, not doing their job as required, not complying to the basic objectives. This arrogance stems from couple of key issues.

· At times its due to a sense of jealousy and hatred for those around you who are performing well and behaving in a nice manner that is just not going well with the person involved.

· At other times its due to a feeling of inferiority complex that others are able to do better while I am not able to make much progress though everyone seems to be equal on other terms – education, experience etc. It’s just that – a feeling, in reality there may not be any difference in the capabilities of the people involved, it’s just the attitude.

· At times this is also due to an utter lack of knowledge, learnability and adaptability. There are people who REFUSE to learn, adapt and move forward. Such people have an unfound arrogance about the little knowledge and exposure that they posses, many times this knowledge has never got upgraded and they seldom understand or see other view points, this is amongst the more self inflicting arrogance of non performance one would ever see.

I myself have gone through a phase when I “suffered” from this, early on in my career, in fact the very start of my career as a Management Trainee. I was in this frame of mind that everyone around me knew less and more so people with a varied and great no of years of experience too would be placed in that category of everyone else around me.

An event that really brought about the change was when suddenly out of nowhere me and my colleague (we both were new to the org) were asked to handle a shift as in charge. That’s when I realized how little I knew and how much more there was to learn. Late in the night when I reflected on the day, It changed my perspective and I suddenly found myself on the other side, I was willing to learn, I had opened my mind to new things, I believed everything was possible, I became less stubborn about concepts and I accepted CHANGE as the thing to look for!

You sometimes have to go thru the process, learn the tricks of the trade and then criticize. It’s a lot easier to say things, from the outside, sitting on the fence. Those who jump in and that too with an open mind to learn and make things better typically do well and are successful. Those who are willing to see the other and “new” view point, one that may be very different from what they have been thinking because of their lack of knowledge and understanding find it difficult to cope. Those that keep thinking they know more, close their minds and refuse to learn and adapt to change suffer in life – professional as well as personal.

The Mumbai Drama - A city under siege

What happened in Mumbai on the night of 26/11 has upset many Indians. I personally came to know of the tragedy only late in the night/early morning on the 27^th when a friend of mine called up from the US to check if all was well with my friends and family in Mumbai.

 

When I switched on the TV, watched the LIVE footage for a few minutes, I could gather the gravity of the situation, it seemed to be a tough one and I was sure many, many innocent people would lose their lives in the encounters and counter operations that would follow.

 

The lack of political will and a spineless, vote-bank-feeding-policy-making government is what we have got at the center that is more interested in ensuring its own survival rather than looking at people’s safety and security.

 

A city that has been repeatedly, a sitting target for anti nationals deserves better administration and cover than what it gets today. It’s a symbol of the capital and financial prowess India as a nation could one day become, It’s a symbol of the “Unity in diversity” that we so proudly flaunt when we speak to our friends from other countries, It’s a melting pot of different communities and castes and religions and languages that represent a true cosmopolitan nature of a truly diverse city….

 

A City like Mumbai cannot be a sitting duck to anyone carrying guns and ammo and getting into a trawler from Karachi and reaching its shores and holding up the whole city to its fears.

 

Dear Mr. Deshmukh and Dear Dr. Man Mohan Singh, Kindly do your job and Mr. Prime Minister, you can start out with throwing a certain Mr. Shivraj Patil (Honorable Home Minister) out the cabinet, Please.

 

We want you to protect us and protect us well, Innocent people expect this small favor for the votes they cast you to take care of them, Please oblige, for once, the city may not forgive you AGAIN.

How much should we respect our near ones...

Last few years have been a great learning for me. I tend to observe relationships around me very minutely and am able to comprehend minor changes in their outlook and over all progress.

I recently saw a young man get into an addiction in spite of the collective wisdom and diktat of many of his colleagues, friends, parents warning against it. Eventually i also saw his parents cry, plead and beg to no avail.

This was the latest incident, one that i experienced prior to that could be a complete shocker for some of us. A person trying to act as if she is sacrificing her life for the happiness of her parents and sister to cover her deeds and blaming a close friend for it wholely and squarely to save her face.

Most decisions do not take into account the respect one has for near and dear ones. It comes forth much later and is evident only in hindsight.

I am sure both these persons and many of us who make the mistake of not respecting our near ones and letting ourselves off the hook when it comes to sharing the blame and troubling others need to introspect and think.

the scared man...His hero

He never had a problem staring an issue in the face...All kinds...Personal, Professional.

He only once had shied away from facing an issue in the 32 years of his life.

He got a message from someone, that a person close to him, one who played an important role in my life in my formative years was seriously ill, on the death bed. Every one knew it was a matter of time.

The person was a hero for him, It was important that he saw him once, be around and may be even help if something was required.

He tried being around, he definitely helped with whatever he could with in his limited means.

He somehow could not make himself take the long journey and spend more time with his Hero. He was scared, he did not want to see his hero helpless, he always had a macho image of his hero in his mind, heart and psyche.

A hero is a hero...for ever...no matter what others feed you about a hero...your hero will always be one...in your mind, heart and psyche.

Have a hero, Try becoming one too!

3 Animals in my life! all females :)

I often joked with friends that the only female that had ever entered my bedroom during some of the most exciting times of my adult life was the friendly female cockroach that came for her night time adventures starting with the kitchen thru the dining room and into the bedroom.

Much has happened over the years, there is now a rat/mouse (a huge one), that comes often and tried to seek an entry thru a small opening next to the wash basin. It is brave and determined and has absolutely no fear of the various attempts i have made to shoo it off. The battle carries on between the two of us - each considering never giving up each others turf come what may!

My neighbours dog does not love me at all, its probably smart too. I sometimes late in the night get a feeling that is exactly knows when to bark aloud and disturb me so i loose sleep for 2-3 hours of the total of 4-5 hours of sleep that i usually yearn for.

In the days of PS2 and the Internet, i sometimes feel happy to be getting an opportunity to play games with my nemesis in real life - a female cockroach, rat, dog.

PS:- I am not too sure if all three are females, but given my past history and data from older transactions, i firmly believe that they are all females, else why would someone keep bugging me constantly and consistently :)

Going Green...

Every evening as i take a quick walk past the aisle's and the cubicles of my team members, i had been noticing monitors left on, machines running on thru' the evening and the night.

Is it a lack of understanding that people still do not understand the importance of conservation of energy?

Is it simply the lack of urge and the inertia that prevents us?

Time will tell.

I myself was a splurge. I would keep the lights on while reading at bedtime and sleep off with the lights burning thru the night! Have worked on this and changed this habit, am not yet 100% successful, but am trying and should be there soon, i hope!

Teacher's Day - Mehta Sir

This teachers day two significant names comes to my mind - Natesh and Mehta Sir. It was men like Mehta Sir who shaped many a young minds in a nondescript suburb outside of Mumbai.

Mehta sir was a strict disciplinarian and we had reasons to believe it having been at the receiving end of his fury more than once myself! Me and many of my school friends have been trashed with a ruler till one let out loud moans, been slapped on the back with a heavy hand, asked to kneel down on the gravel filled, dirty play ground, made to run around the school campus etc. Behind that strict disciplinarian was a man who wanted to see us do well and succeed in life.

Most of Mehta sir’s students were either from poor or lower middle class families and he knew well that his students were the only hope for many of their poor working class parents. Mehta sir knew that the only way out of the daily rut for many of these parents was through the achievements of his students. He went about doing his job without bothering about the remuneration – I am pretty sure it was quite paltry those days and of course nothing compared to what he delivered.

Mehta sir was an epitome of courage and motivation, How else could one explain our school football team taking on the mighty, well equipped team from other schools nearly barefoot? How else could one explain the kabaddi matches that our team played with boys(?) twice our size? How else could one explain the enthusiasm to run along the race track and cheer the participating girls from our school with loud slogans of “Dhaav Usha Dhaav” [Run, Usha Run!].

Mehta Sir, I am proud of you and We want to make sure we give back a part of what we got from you, We are all trying to do our bit in a small way and will try our best in the future as well. Keep inspiring and motivating us from wherever you are.

Another day, I am going to write about Natesh sir, who truly inspired many young people to more importantly understand their dreams and later follow them, successfully!

Good old Kashmir issue

Was there really a solution to this problem? Not sure, i always felt personally that India should have just focused on development in the initial stages and not granted special status to this region.

A people who wish to choose a rotten system that is called Pakistan over the more robust and promising Indian democracy need no mercy and must be asked to go their own way. I am not sure what strategic reasons other than losing that beautiful land and may be triggering few more splinter groups to gather momentum for freedom. Yes i am pretty sure that the Indian soldiers have made few mistakes, but where you have a deployment of thousands of soldiers, there is a war like situation, its bound to happen that way. One must make no difference here that the most important aspect of the soldiers life is to fight for his country be it with enemies from across the border or those with in the borders.

Could India have followed the China model, Should India allow this region to just drift away to a more medieval Pakistan and hope that wiser sense prevails and people choose the right path over a period of time.

The spate of terrorist attacks on India (most kill innocent Indians in cities and towns that have nothing to do with Kashmir) prove that India's current policy has failed. Terrorists strike at will anywhere and anytime they wish. Feels like one is in a functional democracy that is somehow not strong enough to deal with its own security.

Is the solution to provide draconian(?) laws to the state's and their police forces that strengthen the forces at the same time leave room for misuse?

A normal evening that changed things for me!

It was a usual day at office for me.

I had an early start (those days I would get to my desk by 7:00am), an exciting morning meeting with colleagues, team members and few external vendors.

An afternoon presentation for a client and later some internal discussions with 2 teams outside of the department took me thru’ a large part of the afternoon. Around evening time, a close friend called up and asked if we could have dinner together. I agreed almost willingly and took the task of identifying the place for the occasion.

I was sure the day had gone well and wanted the evening to end on a similar note. I selected a new restaurant serving good Punjabi food closer to my home. Me and my friend got in, settled with a nice round of Mango lassi and ordered the starters before we got talking.

A common question that I am now more or less used to getting asked is about marriage! This was no different, I started my usual fundae’s on marriage and few minutes later found myself cornered. I had never seen my friend get so involved into these discussions and was taken by surprise initially. It was only later that I was told that someone had come prepared for this "battle" and the WMD were all seen in the form of quotes, anecdotes and tales of despair and glory all woven intricately and with a lot of thought.

The discussion went along, I found myself feeling a lot more comfortable after a while and I started telling my friend the real issues that existed, my true take on various things – life in general, relationships, professional experiences, personal successes and failures.

I ended up probably sharing a lot more than I ever did with anyone, It felt different, i told my friend what I felt. The thought from my friend was that this dinner was meant to make me feel that way and the goal was met. My friend also mentioned that it was only to help me get over these thoughts and attain that clarity this dinner was arranged and it was merely an excuse to get together and discuss the issues open and out under a new light.

That evening changed me a lot. From that day on, I have made sure that I would try my best to help those who come to me, I have never turned any one back and it’s been a long time now. I have always shared whatever little I could with in my. I felt I could also somehow (magically J) figure out when someone was in trouble and fate would somehow get that person near me.

That beautiful evening changed my life, forever. It has made my life a lot more complex for others, but a lot simpler for myself.

It’s our job to help those in need, it’s our responsibility to protect those around us who are weak and who cannot move ahead on their own. I always thought that was the way it had to be and behaved in that manner, but that evening made me make a far stronger resolve and stick to it in spite of the odds.

I feel great!

A true friend does not need sympathy, but a lasting & consistent company

Recently a close friend who has not allowed to keep in touch tried connecting back after a few months.

I got a feeling the friend had got to know that I was not keeping well and was going thru’ a rough patch and therefore was trying to be sympathetic. I briefly gave it a thought and did not respond as warmly as I would normally have.

I really did not need any sympathy, that too from friends that at least I personally think as true friends, people whom I have or had in the past a lot of trust.

In times of distress all one needs is good company, it need not even be physical, it can be remote over call/mail. Someone with whom you can share your joys and sorrows alike. Someone who can listen without a bias and give an honest opinion, tell you things that are not so good to hear but nevertheless true to the fact.

The Great Trade-off

Can one ever trade the two most desirous things in this world?

Well one look around you and you will find several examples of compromise, intentional neglect and forced assertion that pit Love and Money against each other.

What’s that emotion that really makes one pitch ones loyalties one way or the other?

At times it’s just a state of mind, but most cases on careful examination would certainly reveal a scheme that the person had in mind, which lead to a manipulation and calculative moves that make the decision tilt in favor of one or the other.

The anatomy of such decision would be a definite research piece that could take a life time to unravel, but the fact that there exist many such examples of intentional deceit where one choose money over true love and forfeited one’s self respect and also endangered others who had been earlier conned into believing things that were not necessarily true.

Life can be a dangerous thing to deal with when one has to make these trade-offs at the cost of other individuals.

Why do i get irriatated.. (much less these days...)

I get irritated when:-

I see lethargy – of any kind, personal, in the professional work
I see people wasting time/money – their own or of someone else, does not matter
I feel someone is not trying hard enough, giving up mid way
I see someone not willing to listen to sane advice
I see someone trying to be cunning with others
I see someone trying to politicize/play favorites
I see someone trying to push around and show a lot of ego and heavy headedness
I see someone being excessively arrogant about far lesser achievement
I see someone being extremely material in thinking and short term in focus
.
.
.
.
.

List can be long, but the most irritated I have ever got is when I see people giving a word and not standing by it, making a promise and betraying the other person.

There can be no worse act of cruelty by one person to another than the one mentioned.

Think a 1000 times before pulling another person in the ring with you, giving a word to the person and then for your own benefit/safety/material gain leaving the person alone, betraying the person.

That nostalgic feeling...Old friends and old memories

It's always such a fantastic feeling to catch up with that school or college buddy whom you had not met or spoken to for years.

I suddenly saw an email in my mail box from one such person and was so excited that my colleague who was sitting on my desk asked me "What happened?"

I was in some embarrassment explaining him the reason for that wide smile on my face because as soon as i saw the mail, some of those funny moments that we associate with each of the persons around us just flashed in front of me.

There are quite a good no of fun moments associated with this person too...

It's not getting any cheaper is it?

The economy is growing, there is a sense of good in every sector and the general mood seems great.

BUT, inflation is taking its toll, well inflation has always troubled some government or the other at different times since the last 15-20 years or even longer.

What's different this time around?

Well, its for the first time perhaps in my life time that food prices across the board have seen a sharp increase. One does not need to be an economist to tell you that when food prices go up and they affect the common people beyond their earning cycles, they vote against the government.

Bye Bye UPA government at the center.

PS:- My understanding of the Indian economy is as good as Sachin Tendulkar's(Master's) understanding of Chemistry in class XII.

Thailand - Phuket - Good place, better people....

I write this from a seat overlooking Concourse C on the swanky new Swarnabhumi International Airport @ Bangkok. I was in Phuket for a few days and what I saw of Thailand, the people there, their attitude to customer service and work in general has impressed me a great deal.

The places I went to were clean, you would hardly find people loitering around without work, everyone seems to be busy with some task or the other. I found people were happy and content – at least their facial expressions showed that they were happy and the limited conversations I had with some of the locals did tell me that they are quite happy and proud of their country, culture and the king!!!

The land rates in Phuket - one of the most popular tourist destinations were a mere 10-15lac Bht/acre i.e. 12-18lac INR/acre. Wow, that’s a lot cheaper than any of the places in India isn’t it?

The temple that I visited was hardly crowded and the roads are great, people seemed to follow the traffic rules pretty well, I think Thailand and the people impressed me a lot.

Over and above all this what impressed me was the attitude of the people, I found it very positive. People have a tremendous sense of service, they are polite and savvy when it comes to serving their guests.

At 930pm in my hotel the person who was looking after us went all the way to find out some small bit of information that I asked her to look for and spent almost ½ hour to get the right person, for me to talk to.

I am actually planning to come back, preferably within the next one year, spend some more time in this beautiful place and with these great people. Well, actually spend some money here as well,

It’s well spent, believe me!!!

The Great Indian Blame Game!!!!!

I often wonder and at times discuss this with close friends, why do we always end up finding a scapegoat - real or otherwise, to blame for our failures?

The failures could be as trivial as reaching late for a movie show or a meeting, it could sometimes be as serious as breaking down a relationship and you can count anything in between these extremes. We end up finding a scapegoat (mostly anyone other than ourselves) who can be blamed for the failure.

A little bit of introspection and soul searching most times does point the finger back to ourselves, but where egos are mighty and heads heavy, wiser sense rarely prevails. A scape goat is quickly found and publicised to the wide world. Soon messages are floated around to near and dear ones explaining how because of someone else i got sidelined from a certain promotion or i missed my flight or my wife ran away etc.

A blame game indeed!!!!!!

Power of Trust...

I have read somewhere that Trust can get you a lot of desirable affects and I am probably the great benefactor of being able to trust people.

I have always had tough situations looking me in the eye and there have been months at a stretch when I would be so hard pressed and under intense pressure. In crude Hindi a friend and me would always joke about it saying it happens so often that instead of god, there was a Jack Ass writing down my destiny while God took a break.

Now when I look back, it all seems so easy and straight forward, very seldom, I even felt like conning myself into believing that I did it, I did it on my own. Of course when the drink was over and sanity prevailed, I knew I was just part of it all and a lot of it got done because of the kind of people I had around me, especially those on my team.

Trust is a function of Competency and Character and once the trust is built, things just move so smoothly, communication lines are clear as a whistle, people feel a lot of freedom and the overall achievements go up significantly. I have cases where we have achieved so much more with a trust based approach that I would personally want it to be deployed everywhere.

The challenge for me has always been in promising more delivering even more with lesser resources. I believe a good way to start of is to inculcate a feeling of trust in the team that you have and then watch the magic work.

And yes someday I would learn to turn it around where people also start trusting me a lot more than some of them do today, especially on the personal front :)

Woman's Day - 2 close friends

On the eve of this woman’s day (08 March 2008), as I sent a message to my team and few other colleagues, my mind could not help but ponder over the past one year and think about 2 specific friends.

Person A is a young, energetic girl all of 24 who started her career on my team. A brave girl who stood up to her convictions amidst lot of opposition and trial from parents, relatives and all else.

Person B is a competent professional, thinks she is smart and has all the things figured out. A mature woman of 27-28 who could not stand up to her own convictions, flip flopped on decisions to land many people close to her in agony. Today she is little else than a wreck living under constant vigil, supervision and threat to family and close ones including few friends.

When we talk about women’s liberalization and coming of age, How big a role does education, job security, money and power play? Well in all this, Person A is less educated, relatively younger and therefore probably a little less mature(?), earns a whole lot lesser than Person B in pure money terms.

I felt it was the clarity of thought and conviction, the power to stand up to yourself and for yourself, the ability to resist what was wrong without bothering to think who it was coming from is what sets Person A apart.

Person A and Person B are my close friends and will remain so for ever, Person A is like my little sister and was a personal favorite too (I never told her this while she worked for me, also I believe that Great/Good Managers too can have personal favorites!!!).

I am proud of both of them as friends but I feel a lot better when I see, meet and hear about Person A. I wish Person B could one day build up the courage and conviction to stand up and be counted for the sake of all those women who are waiting to fight for themselves.

Those half read books

I have been trying to read Stephen Hawking's A brief history of time since September, but haven't yet moved beyond 40%. Come to think of it, this is not the first time i picked up a book and did not complete it. I also see this happening more often since the last 1 year.

Is it the author or the reader that is at fault? Stupid question, its the reader who paid for the book in the first place and is now unable to read through the complete passage.

Need to think of better reasons and also try and complete the remaining 60% of the book sooner!

A new wave, but....

I see a lot of young professionals coming in to the organizations both big and small. Yes there seems to be a lot of confidence there. I see a very "laid back, things will come to us on their own" kind of attitude from many of the younger colleagues. This worries me a lot, if this continues, would we one day see a reversal of growth and fortunes, will the India story that is so much in the hands of the younger generation fade away?

Questions and more questions, i wish not and i am sure the ethos of hard work, laced with smart thinking and longer term views rather than short term biases will see a change and corporate leaders and managers would need to bring in these changes rapidly too at least with in their environments.

Rise and fall of Jagmohan Dalmiya

What Jagmohan Dalmiya did for Indian cricket (perhaps World Cricket too!) cannot be forgotten. He along with few others brought in loads of money into the game through intelligent marketing and promotion of the game especially in the subcontinent.

Today the new regime in the BCCI is hell bent on ensuring that Dalmiya never returns back to the helm. I am sure like any other human Dalmiya would have to account for his share of mistakes, but are these so big that he be treated the way he is being treated today?

Time will tell,let's wait and watch!

Impact of movies...

Can movies really move the people and society at large to transform itself into an agile formation that can see its right and wrong in clear light? I keep wondering about this question and just when I convince myself that movies at best can be of entertainment value, there are a few noises here and there that make me think other wise.

The involvement of the Rang De Basanti cast and crew in the Narmada andolan, the host of anti reservation protests that are happening across the country - some say inspired again by a recent bollywood movie are more recent examples.

The larger question is will it last or is this the hype of something that recent and active in people's memories. Is this the new age educated middle class that unlike our parents time is more assertive, knows what's good for them, their society and expects the politico's to deliver on the promises.

Well I guess, we need to wait and watch - a year or two down the line things would become clearer.

UPA government goofs up on Kashmir and Pak

It's been over 2 years now and it's becoming increasingly clear to me that this government at the center has goofed up big time on some of the few good initiatives of the previous NDA government.

the policy towards the subcontinental neighbor's is flawed at best and I don't blame ManMohan Singh for that but the "hawkish"(probably also corrupt) Natwar Singh for that. The more one looks into the details of all the stupid things we did in the last 2 years one really feels obliged to believe the heading of a news report on one of the popular channels here - "Global Giant, Local Dwarf".

India can only gain respect when all its neighbor's respect it, when all of the subcontinent has a consistency in behavior - economic, social as well as on the defense front. I wish ManMohan Singh at least takes a cue from the current terrorist attacks in Kashmir and looks at it in new light.

Forgotten Heroes!

We have a tendency to forget our heroes, be it in cricket, entertainment or any other field. People ordinary and otherwise are forgotten soon after they are past their prime, though they might have contributed a lot to the respective field.

One is especially pained at the treatment being meted out to Sourav Ganguly, ex Indian cricket captain. But one very crucial thing that really does not go away from my mind is the fact that we are even faster in forgetting ordinary people who rose to the occasion and did some extraordinary things, at times sacrificing their own lives. People who fought for our safety in Kargil and numerous other wars, people who gave their lives to save others in difficult times - earthquakes, Tsunami's, fires, bomb blasts, other accidents.

I guess people just like to move on with out bothering about these heroes. Forget them and may be write a line or two about them once in a while. Will it change – how and why?

Bull run - Will it last?

Its taken merely days for the sensex to move from 10K to 11K and now from 11K to 12K. What does this mean for the small investor? Well the pundits claim its just a regular run and the market, companies etc. are unlocking their value.

There are also other alternate thoughts that claim the run is about to get over as FII investments are going down and would further slide as we move into 2006.

I remember the days of Harshad Mehta and Ketan Parekh and also remember the same pundits giving similar reasoning for the bull run then. Those days should not be forgotten when the deeds of these two gentlemen(?) led thousands of small investors to near bankruptcy.

Hope SEBI, Mr.Chidambaram and team are watching this carefully. The important question is how long will the bull run last?

Rising Salary costs in S/W and Services...

One of the biggest advantage India has on the software and services front is the cost factor. Gradually due to pressure on companies to hire, retain talent the cost advantage is taking a major hit.

Productivity levels in most organizations are either stagnant or have improved only marginally. One of the main reasons for stagnant productivity levels is the failure of most of the organizations in harnessing the energy of the new hires. New hires are either absolutely unproductive in the first 6-8 months or contribute very little. A lot of time goes in ensuring that this ramp up happens quickly and also to the levels of satisfaction that meet needs of all the stake holders involved. Since software and services are predominantly team driven, a weak link can disturb the whole equation and create chaos. One also see's a lot of complacency in people coming out of colleges - this could purely be due to the varied and many options that are available today to youngsters. ESOPs and other similar wealth creation schemes are not as attractive as they were some years ago. Also they are no longer practical for people at the bottom of the pyramid, the management would lose a lot of money in that.

All of these are pushing salary levels upward with an aim of attracting and retaining talent. If organizations are unable to work on these challenges and control the rising employee costs, the country would lose its biggest advantage - the cost advantage and would become as expensive as a Singapore (for example). Where does that leave India and thousands of Indians who are dependent on the services sector?

My birthday celebrations!

Why do we celebrate our birthdays? Ever wondered why people ask us to treat them with food and drinks on our birthdays?

I never celebrated my birthday till the time I went to college (10+2). Earlier it used to be a small, homely affair with my family and I used to look out for the nice things mom would cook for dinner. The celebration began with may be a small prayer (till the time I was old enough to resist and have it my way) and ended with a nice sumptuous dinner – mostly non vegetarian. Not sure how we became non vegetarian when our ancestors were all vegetarian – well nice subject for another article!

The birthday celebration in college was more to emulate others than anything else, well ok it was also to impress that beautiful girl whom I (and 25 others) liked. On one of those birthdays I invited her and a few other friends. She never came there; we waited for almost an hour and towards the end had to gulp the cold drinks and the cake ourselves.

After that I don’t remember celebrating my birthday and its been many years since that incident. Now the celebration starts with ……hmm….hmm…well nothing, it ends with a drunken stupor. The next day you pick up your stuff and get going – work, home wherever.

The essential element of life now is - Just keep walking (sometimes running too!)

Reservations isn't as bad....

Reservations and the whole Mandal issue may seem a bit more than just another political conundrum. But there is a definite merit in reservations being made available to the deserving. For one, I know a few friends of mine whose lives (and that of their families) are much better primarily because they were able to educate themselves well inspite of coming from an underprivileged section of the society. The sacrifices made by their parents and family members become much more worth while when they see their loved one getting a good job on the basis of his/her education.

A thing to watch out for when implementing reservations is that the principle of “creamy layer” be applied judiciously and in a more pragmatic manner. Only one generation of the under privileged should be able to reap the benefits of reservations. The rest should draw them into the main stream and if the “creamy layer” concept is understood and applied on the ground reservations would really be meaningful.

I wish the establishment was serious in a true manner on this one and not just view reservation as another vote winning rhetoric.

The North Indian flight

I have been visiting Matheran, a quite hill station near Mumbai, every year almost as a ritual. Many of our friends in fact say that we go there to fuel its economy by paying 3000/- for a night and a couple of drinks, which would cost you not more than a few hundred back home.

I have seen Matheran change a lot, it’s an hours drive from where I stay in the suburbs and was one of our favorite holiday destinations years back – both cheap at the same time classy. Change in the early and mid 90’s came when few Gujarati traders & businessmen started buying property on the hills and new (so called luxury!) hotels cropped up to get their share of the pie. This was expected and was not something the people of Matheran and Neral (the village on the foothills) would have despised. A very big and easily noticeable change that has people in Matheran/Neral worried is the gradual rise of the North Indian population. They have taken up jobs in the shops, hotels, as cab drivers etc that were earlier filled up by the local population. This was my first visit to Matheran after I came back from the US. The feeble protests from some of the locals I spoke to sounded like folks on the Lou Dobbs show protesting against outsourcing to India and other countries.It took my thoughts to the truth that Thomas Friedman recorded so well in his recent book about the world being flat. The outsourcing story, the demand and supply equations have all been playing up to the gallery in every single village, town and city for a much longer time that we all have noticed. It just becomes alarming when the local population begins to suffer out of not being competitive enough to still garner jobs and wages at their older and higher rates.

PS: - I am seen here with Vicky a smart young man who came to Matheran from UP 6 years back and now runs this shop for the owner.

Ganguly vs Chappel - Another ego problem!

Was not at all surprised on what's going on in Zimbabwe, the Indian cricket captain has an ego bigger than any one else's and unfortunately he is putting it in full view at an absolutely wrong time.

The whole episode stands out as childish & immature that no sensible person would like to relate to. It was stupid for the captain to go to the media and cry in front of the world that he was asked to step down by the coach due to his bad form. In fact, instead of garnering any sympathy, the captain actually showed the world his childish behavior. I think Chappel has shown excellent statesmanship and maturity in the whole episode and has come out a winner.

The advice that chappel has given Ganguly must be implemented, if not by Ganguly himself then by the selectors. It's time for Ganguly to go - whether he likes it or not.

Indian left front...is left back

Some time back, i read an article that put the blame for slow economic progress in India on the people who elected about 40 leftist members of parliament from 2-3 different states.

The prime minister is frustrated that he has to work with a bunch of idiots from the left front that seem to still live in the era of the soviet union. These leaders neither have a vision nor a strategy to take India to the next orbit of economic growth. Their job, it seems is to oppose every attempt at reform in the name of the welfare of the poor. Left front is mentally and intellectually still living in the past and is unwilling to understand the dynamics of the 21st century. They even refuse to learn from the mistakes they themselves have done in the states they ruled for years. The state of affairs in Kolkata and West Bengal are for all to see.

It's infact very refreshing to see the chief Minister of Bengal talk about reform and i am all praise for the recent quote "Reform or Perish" by Buddhadeb Bhattacharya. If the left front leaders take a cue from their colleague in Bengal and help the country get on the high orbit of economic growth, they would have done India a world of good.

Katrina's effect on New Orleans

It was shocking to see images of New Orleans after the city was torn apart by Katrina, the hurricane. Just about a month back, all of us in India were busy blaming the government, the local administration, the politicians, builders et al. for the event that brought the financial capital of the country, Mumbai to a stand still. Most of us were probably right in the criticism and i personally felt it wasn't misplaced at all. I have spent a considerable part of my youth in and around Mumbai and know the place and the people well. It takes a lot to bring this place (Mumbai) to a stand still and only a natural disaster as big as the one we saw could achieve that.

The story of Mumbai and New Orleans suddenly did not look too different to me, the only difference was that Mumbai (and the whole of India) is ruled by corrupt (& criminal) politicians & run by corrupt bureaucrats. The fate of the people in the two cities was almost the same, no relief could reach them, people were stranded for days, large scale contamination of water could spread diseases causing epidemic.

At the end of the day i thought the administration in New Orleans, USA should have fared better, done more and also much quicker to help us Indians put pressure on the corrupt bureaucrats and politicians in Mumbai.

May be our grand mothers would be right on this one, when god wishes to intervene, a Bush or a Deshmukh really do not matter....