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...