IT Services Marketing - Are we there yet?

The concept of IT services marketing is definitely not new but the whole concept has definitely seen a paradigm shift and underwent numerous transitions particularly in India in the last decade or so. The Indian IT companies realized that if they were to beat the IBM’s and the EDS’s of the world in the “game” – they should get their act together. It not only meant the delivering the message to the end customer about the novelty of the services provided by a said vendor but also shrouding the message in a jazzy web so as to create maximum impact and customer recall value. While on one hand it meant the phasing out of a generation of delivery folks out of the marketing departments of the top tier IT companies – on the other the so called marketing whizkids of the FMCG and product companies moved in to fill in the “niche” within. So while the Wipro’s, Infosys’s and the HCL’s of the world got in the marketing guru’s to try and bridge the gap between the message sent out by them and that by the big 3. While in reality though the profit margins increased as did the sales of the Indian companies as they went further global – the big question is pertinent here: Are we there yet?

While the concept of IT services marketing tries in essence to differentiate itself in the sense that it the core strategy is built around influential marketing – much like the US political scenario. The messaging and the context as well as the services need to be flexible.

Boom!!! I said it again – in context is services marketing any different from product marketing. While purists will bay for blood if most modern day marketers try to bring down the holy-grail i.e. the 4P’s of marketing and try adding a different dimension of ‘people’ – in a whole, the context of the 5th P was always integrated within the economics of the world and that made services and not goods the core unit of business.

All businesses at the heart are services business – if we take the Dell model or even the model of a can of “desi ghee” – essentially each one of them follows the integral model of the services economy. In reality marketers try and approach the model from two opposite sides of the spectrum – e.g. our very own Tata with the ‘nano’ is not actually in the business of automobiles (believe it or not) but in the business of transportation services. Marketing of the ‘nano’ would not only revolve around the product marketing to spell success for the product but essentially incorporate the 5th P i.e. people if ultimate success is to be attained.

The Indian IT services arm has essentially not seen much action – but the scene is heating up. With margins shrinking and vendors essentially targeting similar geographical markets we are poised to see a sea-change in this business that will essentially differentiate the innovators from the followers.

The Wipro’s, Infosys’s and HCL’s of the world please stand up.

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a failing state....

In a paper titled, "Is India a Flailing State? Detours on the Four Lane Highway to Modernization", economist Pritchett of Harvard Kennedy School had said, "India is today a flailing state — a nation-state in which the head, that is the elite institutions at the national (and in some states) level remain sound and functional but this head is no longer reliably connected via nerves and sinews to its own limbs. In many parts of India, in many sectors, the everyday actions of the field level agents of the state: policemen, engineers, teachers, health workers, are increasingly beyond the control of the administration at the national or state level."

Case in Point

1. July 25, 2008: Bangalore, India - A series of nine bombs exploded in which two people were killed and 20 injured. According to the Bangalore City Police, the blasts were caused by low-intensity crude bombs triggered by timer. Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami, SIMI and Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba were the prime suspects behind this.

2. July 26, 2008: Ahmadabad, India - A series of 21 bomb blasts rocks the city within a span of 70 minutes. According to sources 56 people were killed and over 200 people were injured. Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami has claimed the responsibility of the blasts.

3. September 13, 2008: Delhi, India – The national capital was rocked from its slumber when five bombs went off in succession in Karol Bagh, Connaught Place, and Greater Kailash I, killing at least 18 people and injuring over 90. Two live bombs were reportedly defused. The relatively new Indian Mujahideen claimed responsibility for these blasts….sending an e-mail to media channels minutes before the first blast.

Well the media flooded the common man with coverage of these news items 24/7 on live, print and other media – well for a short period albeit. After a couple of days it was all back to square one – redundant politicians, insensitive media and the equally numb common man on the streets getting back to normalcy in quick time. Many will advertise this occurring as the general disposition of Indians to resume normalcy even in midst of appalling circumstances but have we as human beings and Indian have turned so numb that we are not cognizant of the fact that we need to sensitize ourselves of this situation. Its been 7 years to the date when the US was shaken by the terror strike at NY – its still draws emotional responses from almost every other American that I have come across. I am yet to come across an average Indian who feels the same way about the people and the blasts that rocked Bangalore, Ahmedabad and Delhi recently. Or the Parliament attack or the blast in Varanasi or Delhi (Sarojininagar earlier)? Have we all stopped caring?

It is almost nauseating, the repetitiveness of the words that the reporters and politicians keep parroting after each incident. Wish they stopped telling us about how ‘high’ are the spirits of the people in affected areas after these incidents. Whose spirits were high anyway? The people who lost loved ones? The people who were maimed for life? The people who were left in a vegetative state or coma because of the injuries they suffered in these blasts? The children who were orphaned? The families who were left without their wage earners? Who are they trying to kid? Who are they trying to convince with these statements? It is easy to stand outside the hospitals and near the bomb blast sites after the incidents have occurred already.

The media should have presented the news in a sensitive manner – bringing out the real emotions, the pain and the anger and that in reality the police were helpless in the face of such organized terro even in the state capital Delhi. Unless the truth is revealed, no serious effort will ever be made in this country to try and end this series of terror strikes unleashed with monotonous regularity by the terrorists. For too long we have been in a state of denial about this cancer that is eating our country from within. It suits our politicians to keep us in this state of denial by feeding us stories of ‘heroism’ and ‘stoicism’ in the face of these terrorist created situations. It is time now to stand up and say we are hurting, to admit that our lives are being cruelly affected, to show and share our pain and our tears.

Solutions can be devised only if we admit that there is a problem. So let us shame and force our leaders into acknowledging that terrorism is a real and serious problem that needs to be tackled now.

While the common man in India (especially Calcutta) debate for hours whether POTA or a new law be enacted with fervor by the govt. all in while in the middle of whether TATA should quit Singhur - we fail to realize that it is us who are indirectly responsible for the terror that is spreading within. The so caller “war-on-terror” if it exits should involve all. The Gandhis and the Mulayams and the Lalus and the Advanis should come together and form a time-bound terror elimination program. To resolve the petty differences and to liberate India from the dreaded scourge of jihad and all other kinds of terror we feel shy and instead keep ourselves busy in attacking each other, facilitating the country's enemies. Their dictates must show an impact on Islamic terror outfits (or any other for that matter), otherwise its papers and faxes would remain nothing more than a crude PR exercise. It's the bounden duty of Muslim leaders to make it sure and visible that those involved in jihadi barbaric attacks are condemned as un-Islamic and are practically declared non-Muslims like they have done with regard to many others in the past. And the common man should be equally responsible about the citizens duties ( I wish the common man was cognizant of the differences between a civilian and a citizen)

I do not wish to draw any analogies here – I do not believe that Muslims or any other community can be held responsible for such attacks – there were, are and probably will be people in any community who will fall out with normal social ideologies and norms.

A nation's collective will is the biggest weapon against fissiparous tendencies. The US and China have shown that. They too faced Islamic terror, but handled it with a resolve that got united support by the people and all shades of political colours. Indians can fight each other on a hundred issues of political programming or power grab. But on the question of our sovereignty and security we must stand united, as one – and it must be visible too. After all, where would all these leaders take their money and enjoy it if India doesn't survive? Even to enjoy the loot they must have a station to leisure and be free of threats. To say this is too rude and crude, yet, seeing the Delhi, Jaipur, Bangalore and Ahmadabad blasts, what can a citizen pray for? Security and a collective will to converge on national interest.

Act fast and act now should be the core mantra - r else just like Pritchett the entire world would be looking at us as a flailing state thereafter.

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righteous marketing.....

Innovation of something useful = Priceless

Repetition of something inherent = 100$

Repetition of the something ineffectual = 1$

Delivering the same message through different viewpoints = sometimes totally worthless

Well I have come across some many colleagues of mine starting up a blog airing their views about some function related to business like finance, cash flows, sales, innovative rules in marketing, HR and so on. Barring a few exceptions I am seldom to come across a blog which effectively delivers truly a new message of sorts with respect to a particular subject in question. Some relate to effective marketing techniques while others to transformational human resources practices. Sound as they might on paper from a internal point of view rarely have they been used efficiently in practice.

So when a friend of mine suggested that why not come up with some interesting concepts in the art of marketing - I was (albeit sheepishly I must admit) considered some sort of guru in marketing when I was in B-school and though the first experience in a job situation changed my views for the better, still amongst a close circle of friends that concept lingered on. Coming back my only answer was – marketing is a whole lot crap these days, media blowing in out of proportion and the hapless common man (atleast in India) not knowing the difference between sales and marketing. Well not many would believe that marketing is an art which we try to deliver in concrete action after comprehending the theory in demand creation somewhat unsystematically in the mind.

Marketing is a matrix – we all have our own definitions; some delivering a sense and expected outcome while others biting the dust. Well what is marketing then – try defining that. Try defining the matrix. While our very dear guru Kotler gives the definition as “Marketing is the social process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through creating and exchanging products and value with others”.

Try making sense out of that – while many of my friends got away with random A’s while quoting the definition the question yet remained in my mind whether they understood the true essence of this. I am sure though Kotler did but the interplay of words was something to my mind avoidable.

Anyway marketing is not always about a demand creation and meeting it successfully – as most of the common mortals might be led to believe; it might be even educating and providing changing benefits to the changing needs and demands of the target audience. SHREEEK………..read the line again.

Well if change is constant (which is debatable but mostly acceptable in the end), this definition holds ground. Another point is sensitivity and sensibility. It makes more sense in today’s “’CONNECTED” environment. Online social media has opened up new avenues of marketing – the new age gurus predict transformational strategies to deliver content and open up avenues thorough web2.0 and so on, while the purists bay for blood, I for once tend to side with them. While I would go to a facebook or a orkut to check out messages from long lost friends, post pictures etc, essentially I would not want to click or check out advertisements posted on the site. The success of marketing lies in delivering the key message sensibly, to the target masses without putting a shroud of glitterati on it – the message must deliver and set a tone in the customers mind, effectively and efficiently, not necessarily immediately. While the story of Mozilla Firefox, an Apple iPOD or a AOL winamp can be brought in to support this viewpoint – net net marketing must meet the changing needs of the environment to meet the changing needs of the customer. If that is understood the effective strategies to mastermind a effective marketing strategy in the next step. More on that later.

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Calcutta in my heart.....

the story goes back more than 2 decades back to a small family settled in the heart of a bustling city we now know as Kolkata. A young boy was born on a fateful day of Sankranti - reminiscent of the fact that it marked also the day of the creator read “Karthik” of Hindu mythology. While he grew up knowing his alma-mater as Calcutta he took pride in the fact that Calcutta was unparalleled in its own sense – neither vast nor lonely as the capital Delhi and never ever on the move 24/7 like Mumbai. Warmth of its people and the cultural heritage it entailed (that was debatable by random acts of foolhardiness by its people) – always made it stand out amongst the contemporaries. While the education he received through the best schools and colleges in the state made him a little impulsive of performing the Herculean task of taking the world by its horns and bringing it down like the dreaded serpent in Greek mythology – its was few years later spending time away for further education and job life made him realize that there was lot more to life. And a lot more to what Calcutta had led him to believe – the naïve mind was in turn for a big jolt.

While in this years away from Calcutta which was later re-christened to Kolkata – the charm was probably lost with the change in name and maybe the change of heart. Maybe the alma–mater did not want a change – perhaps the name itself had come to epitomize its uniqueness. Somewhere yes the city seemed to have a change of heart with a change in name – the spirit of Calcutta was lost.

Coming back to the boys story – most of his friends had left a lot earlier post school or after college – either in other states of India or in the US. And most of them never came back – probably they in hindsight realized that the city was a lost cause. Inefficient politics and a care-not attitude of people – basically meant that the city was taken for granted. Seeing all the boy felt that he was alienated – the lakes, the streets and the skyline though apparently similar had somehow lost their calling – the glitzy malls and the glitter of people seemed to have drowned the voices of lil children playing in the parks, an odd couple sipping on a cup of coffee in coffee house or the cheer of boys fighting it out in the mud and drizzle in maidan.

The boy in between his years away from Calcutta had grown into a man – looking life from a much different angle that most of his age. Experience had taught him to be cautious and at least sometimes politically correct at certain situations. While all these years the family and his love – were the only reason for him to rush back once in a while – the city’s cold arms took the heat of his hearts emotion away, leaving love was so difficult. But what he realized much later – the love was lost long time back, the city’s cold menace has drowned his love in depths where his voice could not reach. The city he could no longer call home – he chose to remain aloof at times – not wanting to return at times conscious of the fact that the pain inside may not have subsided enough. The family back in Calcutta – was the only light at the end of the tunnel for which he made an occasional trip home. He visited many place throughout the years – saw the length and breadth of many and soaked in the cultures of many places – yet none could he call home. None where he could cuddle up in a monsoon afternoon after a round of khichdi and ilish mach – none where could look at the skyline and imagine going back all those years – those wonder years where life could be anything, you could challenge the world and dream to win, where the world was your oyster – where you had not actually grown up. Growing up sometimes takes away the romance in life – the city might have actually grown up – Calcutta might have been a uncanny teenager trying to find its feet in this world and ultimately found its feet – but I wonder how many of us would want the old Calcutta back.

Oh Calcutta – we want you back, to the glorious.

And coming back again to our story the lil boy was me – it’s the collective stories of millions of people that have shaped the story of Calcutta – the city is wired up with the collective emotions, the tribulations of its own citizens.

One of the biggest exponents of the talk show bizz in the States once commented, “The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams”………….. – I wonder if we all tried a bit harder maybe our lives could have a lot better and the city could have taken a different shape over the years. But then again its normal human tendency to take the easy way out.

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soul searching

Well after a break - and posting humour toons on my blog i decided it was time that i got back to my writing self. Creating toons was probably not my cup of tea - but probably writing comes more easily to me. Mostly because I can let my mind wander with ease and pen down the thoughts as soon as they occur - easy like 1-2-3. So here it goes........

How do you tell yourself, “no, don’t do it”. Is it even possible to just tell yourself no? How do you explain to another person that there impression of the situation isn’t what your feeling? Can they see something that you don’t?

Last night I goofed up. Actually totally f###@ up. I listened to the negative voices inside. Instead of thinking about things in a positive way, trying to say some affirmations or an affirmative prayer, I let the negative feelings rule my thoughts. How is it that you try so hard to keep on the sunny-side of life, but always end up going back to the dark clouds. This is the way that you give up control in everything. Then life and the people in your life take you on a roller coaster ride. Instead of just using the tools at hand, it’s like you hand yourself over to low self-esteem, depression and negativity. And then you end up here.

I guess I need to look for a change in life as my wife feels that it is time to walk away. I can understand that as life hasn’t been easy for the last several months. After the ups and downs of various anti-depressants and the crazy that some meds bring about - my irrational behaviors and her inability to let a little light shine through - I guess we are in troubled times now. It’s hard, though. This is the first time that I have really felt what a great relationship feels like.

When it all started I was very determined to not do all of the things that I had done in the past. I WAS SIMPLY NOT going to make the same mistakes. I’m sure you can see where all of this is going….you get confident, comfortable and lazy. The layers peel back and I started taking it all for granted. Then suddenly this realization dawns upon you – and you end up there. It sucks, the realization that you have once again done all those things you swore you would never do. Look to that person for all of the things that you can’t give yourself. It’s like this false sense of self.

Now the question is, how do I live with myself? How many times do you mess up and move forward? How much of your own self-destruction can you take? God, when is enough just ENOUGH?

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reality bytes

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wordle.......rocks...

I just saw this post with an amazing tool called wordle that i came across using the stumble tool bar in Firefox...........and i had to use it. Not finding enough text (obviously as a lack of imagination on my part on a rainy tuesday morning), i dumped some content of my resume into it.

The end result was in fact quite stellar........

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price of genius.....

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analyze this.....

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laughter is the best medicine...

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managment perils....

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tech support.....

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bpm.....what was that again??

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'heirs' is here....

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doctor who....???

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changing times...

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star..........struck !!!!

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and the winner is.....

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ration of our times.....

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inflation woes

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the clueless Indian...

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the board announces again..........

Update: I have decided that sometimes pictures convey a thousand words..........while i have received a lot of feedback and sometimes flak for the subjects i have been posting recently, i have decided that i will try to convey the same with comic strips.

A little bit of me and a little bit of everything around me has helped me conceive of the comic strip. Hope you find it a good read........

PS: I will be posting more on my ramblings on a less frequent matter maybe in the near future.....

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the heights of smartness.........

class 10 - i thought i was smart

college - i thought i was very smart

mba college - i thought i was the smartest

job – enlightenment !!!! I thought I was definitely not one of the smart ones especially with the kind of smart illustrious colleagues and seniors I was working with in the medical devices & life sciences arm of a top Indian IT company.

Well then again a man sometimes needs a boost to flap up his flailing ego……….i got my chance of retribution taking a few IQ tests online. Well my score read 135-142 on an average………..and sure I could find ways like reading more often into previously discarded pieces of algebra, trigonometry and geometry and especially pure maths.

However one such quiz that gave me intense satisfaction of cracking (well almost……….and no there was no cheating involved) was that of http://www.impossible-quiz.com/

My scores are given below. See how you score………. (mostly this quiz is based on your hold on geography, logic, mathematics and current affairs)

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the fall guys......

I took my seat on a shared auto (a three wheeler of complete fun and joy – akin to a bike but slightly safer………..well almost) in Pune the other day as I was traveling from Hadapsar to M.G.Road. Well there was probably a strike called in by one auto union probably as a measure to counter the govt’s decision to increase fuel prices. I got into a an auto whose driver warned me beforehand that he would probably pick up some more people on the way – his way of making more money that eventful day. As a hapless consumer in India – little could I do in protest but to say humbug and continue to be lost in my thoughts. Everything was fine and the driver turned down some old folks because of the fact he had to take a detour of maybe a mile. Anyway I was pretty happy that in some 30 mins or so I will reach my destination but alas – my joy was to short-lived. This quietness was soon to be destroyed.

As the posh area of Hadapsar became a distant memory the first actual public transport users on the route got on, unfortunately a group of female friends – 3 to be precise decided to wave their arms in unison and get in – the driver was more than happy to oblige. Quite regrettably I had to show my chivalry (not that I have loads of it J ) I had to shovel my way trying to find a nook on the driver’s seat in the front. The auto posed an ugly site, one man against a crowd (read three) of women. I was never going to be the same again, I had no choice but to surrender, my punishment was to have to listen to them cackle on about women's things for the remainder of the journey. My ever rambling thoughts were still not enough to shield my innocent little ears and the junction at M.G. Road near camp seemed like a transatlantic flight at this stage.

Anyway, I'll get on with it. They were going shopping – probably first Laxmi road to pick up some cheap (read inexpensive) stuff and then probably flaunt their goods at the mall. And the description of t-shirts, lingerie and the works left me bewildered – how could these women spend so much time discussin such trivial issue – but then again I was but a mere mortal here trying to survive the journey. One of the birds shouted to her mate (translated in English it goes on………) "Kiran was at this last night, she was trying desperately to fit into size 30 jeans – but the binge at a couple of weddings left her in a plight with the improbable reality of not fitting in", while another went on “ The guy at college who she was seeing was probably two-timing her and hence she decided to do the same”. Then it started – the fact that mankind (read men) was probably the most inexplicable, untrustworthy, species on the planet – this was blatantly sloganized ( I coined the term from the innumerable rallies called by the Left Front Govt. that had become a way of life in Calcutta) by the chicks (read girls) in the back.

And no I for once did not complain – surprisingly. It was then I realized that age & experience gives us the realization and the vision to see things in different light – things which are important and those which are irrelevant. Thank God – I did not get into a discussion with those beautiful ladies regarding their beliefs – I let nature take its own course of action.

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inflation_on the other side......

“Inflation”……………..”Mahangai”!!!

…………….the words that so marked the 80s are back in business, worldwide and how. In India, while basic food inflation has reached a back-breaking 10%, for many items, it has reached 100,000% as in Zimbabwe (remember a article where yours truly Virender Sehwag during the T20 world cup in South Africa, Zimbabwe was highly amused with the price of a bowl of noodles reaching about a million in their local currency).

A case in point is the popcorn available at multiplexes, so expensive that De Beers is thinking of entering the popcorn business with a tagline “Popcorns are forever”. Then again 300 ml of soda drinks are available at Indian airports for upwards of Rs 30 (sweetened water that too this expensive) - I wonder what supply chain they use. Taking the cue, the IIMs have trebled their fees since they rightly believe that they are the worst affected by rising sugar, edible oil and food grain prices.

In India, escalating prices haven’t responded to strong currency, high interest rates or the slowing economy. While many blame it on the global situation, export curbs on Indian produce are unlikely to cause much difference for many key products such as wheat where prices of local produce is already higher than world prices. The much promised supply chain efficiencies with the coming of retail chains have also turned out to be a hoax. Well prices in big bazaar or the likes are actually more than the local mandi 9at least this is what I found in Pune)

As such, there is a need for drastic measures to curb inflation even if they sound hilarious to some. One can learn from Philippines where legislators have suggested making it compulsory for the top 100 companies in the country to produce rice & foodgrains – move over to India; think of tata rice, (experience certainty in taste) reliance moong dal (le lo khana muththi mein or mere paas MA brand dal hain) & infosys wheat (eat in the f-L-at world) !!!!

One way could be for the government to vigorously promote the religious practice of Upvaas or fasting to ease demand. Public TV stations need to telecast messages like “Zaraa sa upvaas, fir inflation bakwaas” in lines with that messianic family planning PR effort of “Zaraa si savdhaani, zindaagi bhar asaani”.

Alternately we should invest in R&D by people like Baba Ramdev so that he can develop new breathing techniques to control craving for food.

Serious and long term measures such as making another push for land reforms are unlikely to be taken up in India’s democracy, accustomed to creating easy loopholes in all land reform related initiatives. This, despite strong evidence that self-cultivation of small farms ensures far higher productivity than cultivation by tenants or hired labor of large farms and the so obvious benefits of land reform for India where only 9.6% of landowners own 56.2% of land. (Source: D Bandyopadhay, EPW)

All the same, there is one quick fix which can immediately solve the inflation problem and that is to make it compulsory for tele-shopping companies to sell food grains, edible oils, sugar etc. Given their practice of offering seemingly huge discounts on everything and selling many things for the price of one, these tele-shopping networks will help solve food related inflation in a jiffy. Indeed, a combo of 15 kilo of basmati, a free shree-yantra, and a jogging simulator thrown in, all for the price of one, will go a long way in solving our inflation owes.

PS: And Mr. President - average daily calorie intake for an average Indian is about 2000 calories only.

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when words skip you....

Sometimes words fail you. Something inside wants to come out, but cannot find a channel through which it can appear. Maybe things have become too complex or possibly one has become too jaded to find a new expression for every situation. And then, a miracle happens. You come across words thought by somebody else and you get the shock of your life. This is just what I was trying to say, you cry out.

This does not happen too often, but when it does it's an experience to remember. And this is what I felt when I read these lines...

A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind
There's a woman on my lap and she's drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin's eyes
I'm looking up into the sapphire tinted skies
I'm well dressed, waiting on the last train

Standing on the gallows with my head in a noose
Any minute now I'm expecting all hell to break loose

People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

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h-a-n-g-o-v-e-r life........

The post party syndrome also commonly known as the hangover can be pretty awful experience especially if it occurs on a Monday morning. It signifies the rocking time we had while partying over the weekend. Coming to terms with it both physically and mentally can be a bit daunting especially when we realize that the party is over and now it’s back to work. When it comes to me, it’s quite unusual. In fact I simply love hangovers. Here by hangover, I don't mean the one we get from alcohol but the one we have after the end of a fabulous era. For me hangover is an extensive recollection of the good times we had. And in this whole recollecting thing I always end up screwing up my present. But the scary part is that getting over any kind of hangover can be pretty tough.

For me life was a party until very recently, I realized that the party got over a long time ago and everyone had left and I was the only moron who was left behind. The truth is that I was in denial for such a long time that I forgot that I am 27 already. I am no longer a kid or an indifferent teenager who can get whatever he wants by simply manipulating his parents, friends or simply the people around him.

Yes, hangovers can be pretty tough to get rid of but once over, we realize that its time to move on for the better. Life always moves on…..

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Hallelujah……… Web 2.0

I remember when as a child we used to send letters to my grandma – who stayed just 6 hours away from Calcutta (trunk-calls were difficult and expensive at those times). It used to be a ceremony. We used to put it in envelope, put the stamps on it, write the address and send it. And then, we used to wait for the answer, which would arrive in about 3-4 weeks time.

Cut to 2007. I have not written a letter in almost two years – the last letter I wrote was to my girlfriend some 3 years back. Come to think of it, I type instead of writing these days. Everyone I know has e-mail and I can contact them on chat/skype, scrap/message them on social networking sites, leave a message on their blog, text them or call them on their mobile. Any of this can be done within minutes. I don't post greeting cards any more. I just pick some 3D multimedia stuff to convey what (I think) I want to say.

I get upset if I don't receive a reply within minutes – checking the mail, social networking sites furiously. The response time has shrunk from days to seconds.

I have no contact with nature either – no trekking, no fun for over a year now. The only contact I have with nature is checking the weather forecast for tomorrow. But that’s all right. I worry more about getting the latest security and antivirus updates for my laptop these days.

I am bombarded with information in all forms every second, twenty four hours a day. My senses have saturated. Games (GTA, AOE, NFS), music (that I hardly understand or listen even for that matter), movies, sports (IPL – a total whitewash for my team), quotes, wildlife, history... you name it, I have got it. There's Wiki, Google, Youtube. A new blog is created every half second – and I keep on adding posts to mine. I use RSS feeds to keep me updated about recent developments and other friends musings. I have no time to reflect.

Hallelujah……… Web 2.0!!!!!

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the perils of technology....

Disaster struck last night. The energy source that nourishes life around it, was compromised and everything went cold and bleak.

Or so I thought, for a couple of hours. Electricity from MSEB went ka-putt and we the lesser mortals at Magarpatta, Pune were the victims. After some time being extremely frustrated about it (that too around 2 am at night), I realized that the situation was not so bad. Although it was peak summer mild climate of Pune (nights are actually better here) put me into ease as I strolled on the fantastic (if not useable – questionable) terrace that my flat provided. And as I walked and looked into the sky I saw a picture that I had not reveled in for quite some time. A beautiful night sky with stars glittering as far as the eye could see – a picture I had seen almost everyday as a group of friends chatting all night as Nescafe’s or the lawn outside the security office or the wind-T at the IIT. Nostalgia……..gripped me.

Again my mind got thinking – how we have evolved as humans. Technology has made life simpler – the television to kill time, computers, and mobile phones – everything leading to life being simpler – or it? There are so many things available at the touch of a button, that the line between luxury and necessity has been removed long back. How many things are really necessary for survival? Is technology achieving it's goal of making our lives simpler?

Probably, I should visit Japan again. Time to see how ancient tradition and ultra-modern technology co-exist side by side.

Now that’s something I have put up in my agenda as of now.

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baba ke bol......

"He who controls the present, controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.”

It is time to begin life on a new note, I guess. Wee………

Have a GREAT WEEKEND

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the power of CHOICE.....

I remember long time back I had gone to an “Art of Living” workshop during my MBA days, actively trying to hide the fact from my friends that I had been there. If the news got out – I could have faced ridicule amongst my friends group I had thought. Now the entire fact has shrunk to a point that now I am, or rather would be proud if I could proclaim the same act repeated by me again.

Going back then - it was a very powerful workshop, full of so much useful information, and insights into various aspects of life, intentions, manifesting and of course the art of living. I definitely learned a lot but I also felt like I’m was getting to a point that because of the amount of information that I constantly fed myself, the kind of interactions I had with people but at the end I always felt there was something lacking in my life and that I was not learning anything new, anymore.

Well what seemed like a load of trash coming out from an equally weird looking (read calm) person in front of me – these days I look back with a change in heart for the same. Well there have been numerous changes in the last one year of my life – family troubles, change in my job, my marriage and moving to a new city and starting afresh. I too have brought about a lot of changes in my life of late – and the fact has made me realize that it was time enough and I had in fact began the art of practicing. In many ways I felt flooded with information and emotions galore – living life in a new way and actually enjoying it. Actually, let me change that word flooded to overflowing instead, and now all that’s left is simply putting it into practice consistently on a day to day, moment to moment basis.

With every interaction with people and life there is an opportunity to practice the art of living that life – that promises a lot more. With every new event there is an opportunity to practice and put in use the principles one upholds in life. Often the trick is remembering to practice and not letting old habits take the wheel so to speak. That is the battle - it’s an art of war against my old habits with my new ways of thinking.

I guess I have tried to see every moment as an opportunity to practice the fine art of living and therefore slowly but surely growing happy and being better prepared to make the most of life. That I guess is the power of choice.

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Happiness: Who's line is it anyway?

The first thing that any careful discussion of happiness has to deal with is the fact that the term happiness has many distinctive uses. We speak of happy moments and happy lives. Thoughts about what would count as happiness may conjure visions of pleasure on the one hand, and success or achievement on the other. At times, we might think that happiness is just getting what we really want. Sometimes we say that happiness is what really matters in life; other times, we say that there’s more to life than mere happiness (as when we claim that someone is happy when she shouldn’t be). At the root of the term, of course, is the notion of hap or happenstance, and so happiness is also connected to the notion of good fortune, or luck (blame me for spending too much time on the internet perhaps trying to quench my thirst for knowledge albeit it's omnipresence).

And yet we often think of happiness as something that is not simply a matter of luck, but something that we can bring into our lives by effort, money, pleasure etc etc. Claims that any one of these ways of using the term happiness points toward the correct definition of happiness are mere assertions, which turn a blind eye to the other ways we use this term to successfully communicate something about a moment, a person, or the ideal of happiness itself. It is quite easy, when discussing the nature of happiness, to descend into a verbal quibble which simply has no principled resolution.

If we try to take some particular way of thinking about happiness and make it our standard, then we always run into problematic cases. That’s what my experience says………..

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dissecting friendship......

This entry is dedicated to the hundreds of wonderful friends out there (didn't realize I had so many!) who have given me the strength to go on the journey, with the guidance of God

Recently one of my well-wishers admittedly criticized me for the definition of friendship I had posted on my blog lately. Since I could not however reply back since the well-wisher had posted the feedback anonymously I could somehow not responded back directly to him/her.

Coming back to it - friendship is a feeling that can be in described in 100 possible ways with anyone being as accurate as the other is describing the sentiments involved in it.

There can be many a number of definitions about friendship but to me it’s just sticking together through the thick and thin of life and not running away at the least opportune moment. I had some many definitions of everything as I grew up – friendship at 10 was different to friendship when I was 20 and it’s evolved to something that will, I guess will stay permanently.

I have discovered lately that some people whom I have perceived all these years to be true to me - are not. Disappointment, sadness, hurt and…...ironically blessed as someone told me that I should feel fortunate to discover this earlier and not later. Overnight, my old friends 'downgraded' to just an acquaintance or as better described by that same someone, fair-weather friends. At the same time there have been a couple of friends who have “upgraded” to the status of best friends for life – and I am damn lucky for that I guess.

Well I guess like every other self-respecting Indian I prefer to die fighting rather than running away. That’s the approach, I guess to true friendship – being there all the time, every time.

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driving: up the wall.......

Disclaimer: “First off, I don’t hate women–I’m no misogynist. How can I hate women, my Mum’s one”

okay I would be dragged my moral police and feminists alike when I make this particular statement but my general observation is that a majority of women as a % of population behind the wheels of a car make really pathetic drivers. Well the belief was always there somewhere in the back of my mind seeing my mom drive or even my friends behid the wheel s of her Santro in Delhi or recently my better half who has recently got her license in Pune. Well it happened a week back as I was there with her on her final day’s lesson (we were about to go to a place after that – hence I had chugged along with her) – what unfolded in the next 1 hour left me at my wits end. The play behind the wheels, the utmost effort that was put in to change the gears (hey in India 95% and more cars have manual transmission) and the propensity to swerve and hit equally game bikes on both sides on the road (in equally traffic-crazed Pune) left me praying. Well the act was repeated later by another woman in her 30s.

What is it about women that makes them such bad drivers? I came up with three answers:

• Women make up the “fair” sex. They are taught, or are naturally predisposed, to be more passive and deferential than men. While these personality traits help in some aspects of life, they don’t help at 80 km/hr. A good driver is an assertive driver. He (or she) sees that the other drivers are going much faster and that he’ll have to eventually be going the same speed, so he speeds up accordingly. Women are naturally inclined to slow down and let the others pass - males do tend to be more aggressive drivers than women, but I don’t think there are nearly as many or that they pose quite the same risk as do passive women drivers.
• Women are communicators. Their personal relationships with other women rely a great deal on verbal communication. As such they’re more likely to be on the phone while driving their cars. I’m sure I don’t need to mention the numerous conclusive studies showing that phone conversations and driving don’t mix. I could also point to the numerous other things I’ve seen women doing while driving (applying makeup, brushing hair) but these are easily offset by the stupid things guys attempt at the wheel (smoking rings, picking noses - etc).
• Women are less likely to grow up playing sports in India. As a general rule, athletics aren’t stressed as much for women as for they are for men. And this, I think, is the biggest difference. It is very easy to make a distinction between someone who spent long hours as a child learning a sport and someone who did not. Two key differences also apply when driving a car: spatial awareness and decision making. Sports heighten one’s sense of his surroundings. In team sports like crickey and football you have to constantly update your assessment of where other players are in relation to the ball and yourself. In individual sports like tennis you have to pay attention to your bodily momentum, the spin of the ball, and the angle of the shot. Spatial awareness is also important when driving a car. At any given moment you have to be thinking about where the other cars are situated on the road and where they’re likely to be when you decide to switch lanes or hang a U-turn. Being able to anticipate where other cars will move makes for safe driving. Split-second decisions are a second hallmark of most competitive sports (again excepting track and field). Being able to make a decision quickly comes in handy when you come across a freakish call-center cab driver waltzing through traffic behind you. I think that playing sports as a child helps to fine tune the senses, and it’s just common sense that practice makes perfect.

While it would be easy to dismiss the above statements as sexist hogwash, I think that there is an element of truth to each. And although women and men are on more equal footing than ever before, societal norms still create enough differences to support my arguments. That being said, I don’t really want anyone to accept them at face value…I really enjoy a good argument. So keep it coming.

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life: as is……..

well some years back a particular movie caught the fancy of most of my friends in IIT Delhi. The movie ‘Life in a Metro’, narrates the individual lives of a few ordinary people living in Mumbai and deals with topics like extra-marital affairs, sanctity of marriage, and love, failures, tragedy, happiness & so on. Though a ordinary film with lots of flaws in production & direction - the film somehow touched one and many – probably due to the failures that one face in life and maybe the happiness, ultimately when (like in a typical hindi movie) everything turns out fine at the end.

In reflect often why failures are important in life and why does a normal human being attach so much importance to failures. I am no different with my fair share of failures in life. It got me thinking this weekend as I went through over 700 kms of travel over tons of laid out uneven gravel, that we call roads in India. As my family managed to doze off amidst the rocking of the Chevvy – my mind raced through as I relived every moment of my life as it had been played out in the last 27 years. And gosh that was something.

Life comes in certain packages and our past is more or less a part of that package. When I say past, the only thing that comes to our mind are often unpleasant and bitter memories. We all must have dealt with it at some point in our life, but we never seem to come out of it. When I recall an era of my life, the only things that come to my mind are my mistakes. It puzzles me all the time that why is it that, I regret my mistakes so much that i almost forget to acknowledge my own achievements? Why is it that we always end up regretting our mistakes all our life? And I am not really talking about the end (i.e. end of life when these things hardly matter anymore)

My dear friend had an altogether different take on that. According to her she never regretted making mistakes because if she wouldn't have made them, she would have never known how to correct them. Though it sounds very sweet, but I was never convinced with her theory. Another cousin of mine thinks time is the best healer and everything settles down with time. I really don’t think so because if this was the case she would have long gotten over her first love. From where I see she is still in the ruins of her past relationship.

In my search for the truth, I happened to read something. According to it the only path to liberation is truth and the truth is, “YOU WILL HAVE TO GIVE UP THE HOPE THAT THE PAST COULD BE ANY DIFFERENT ".

This is the best thing I have heard in ages. I don’t know if it liberated me but it certainly took off the baggage I had been carrying for years.

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hypocrisy_the indian way of life…!!!!

Pronunciation: \hi-ˈpä-krə-sē also hī-\

Function: noun

Inflected Form(s): plural hy·poc·ri·sies

Etymology: Middle English ypocrisie, from Anglo-French, from Late Latin hypocrisis, from Greek hypokrisis act of playing a part on the stage, hypocrisy, from hypokrinesthai to answer, act on the stage, from hypo- + krinein to decide — more at certain

Date: 13th century

1: a feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not; especially: the false assumption of an appearance of virtue or religion

2: an act or instance of hypocrisy

Why do I start this piece today with a definition picked up from Merriam’s – just read on. I was deep in thought reflecting on a plausible future for myself as I was It is a peculiarly Indian form of reasoning: to flat out deny the existence of reprehensible practices in the face of incontrovertible evidence. While the common man has been facing a hostile barrage of rising prices across all items of daily use be it food grains or even cooking gas – I was bewildered because the politicians (read central government) had been blaming the state governments and their policies for the situation – no one was owning up or even trying to bring into picture the bigger cause of global inflation and food shortfall. And while the ignorant “common” Indian man was blaming everyone else for the inflation, the politicians try every trick in the book to suppress the problem or even the peoples voices & opinions at least till the next election.

The new “next best thing” – hold the innocuous cheerleaders responsible for indecent show and criminal acts of indecency. Net result the irresponsible media (read seemingly irresponsible Indian channels headed probably by stupid men admittedly suffering from a bout of intellectual diarroea) airing news about how the common man has been affected by lewd movements of the cheerleaders and how the Mumbai police & politicians were responsible enough to act up and prosecute the cheerleaders.

This coming from the state which has dance bars operating in bandstand in Mumbai let alone Navi Mumbai. This coming from a land from which Kamasutra originated.

I am bewildered why a common Indian man not differentiate between indecency & entertainment (read acts of levity). When will we grow up?

PS: This post is not indented to be of manipulate intent - social, political or religious. Any objection will be seriously considered that may prompt the author to take this off.

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fallen heroes......

"Learn to live in this world with self-respect. You should always cherish some ambition to do something in this world. They alone rise who strive. Some of you nurse the wrong notion that you will not rise in this world. But remember that the age of helplessness has ended. A new epoch has set in. All things are now possible because of your being able to participate in the Politics & Legislatures of this country"

- B.R. Ambedkar

I start this post with a quote from Babasaheb Ambedkar whose birthday happens to be today i.e. 14^th April. For the uninitiated, Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (April 14, 1891 — December 6, 1956) was an Indian jurist, scholar, Bahujan political leader and a Buddhist revivalist, who is the chief architect of the Indian Constitution. Born into a poor “Untouchable” community, Ambedkar spent his life fighting against the system of Chaturvarna and the Indian caste system. He is also credited for having sparked the Dalit Buddhist movement. Ambedkar has been honoured with the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, given for the highest degree of national service.

Overcoming numerous social and financial obstacles, Ambedkar became one of the first "untouchables" to obtain a college education in India. He went on to pursue higher studies in Columbia University, New York, United States and England, where he earned law degrees and multiple doctorates for his study and research in law, economics and political science. Returning home a famous scholar, Ambedkar practiced law for a few years before he began publishing journals advocating political rights and social freedom for India's untouchables.

Well I can go on mentioning his numerous deeds – well this page might fall short. For more info please refer to Wiki at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B._R._Ambedkar

Anyway I mention this because he is one of the heroes every Indian should feel proud of – these people were the ones who shaped up India as it evolves and grows today. But somehow the teachings and the learning’s from the sacrifices these great leaders made during our struggle for independence, somehow seem to have been lost in time.

I was on my way back to office from a quick dinner with my wife (it was our new year after all) – and I saw a huge din on the road i.e. on the intersection of M.G Road and Ambedkar road in the heart of Pune. Well I would not mind getting caught up in a procession meant to pay tribute to our heroes – what the major concern of dismay for me was hordes of youngsters hardly in their twenties swaying to some cheesy & cheap hindi songs and making wild gestures in air with all their limbs. An average American can identify the situation if on a peaceful Independence day procession up there, someone started playing Metallica or for that matter any kind of punk or rock music.

Shame on these people – while we take pride in the small but growing number of Indians leaving a mark globally in these modern times, I feel somehow sorry for the masses who somehow are clearly at a loss, hardly contributing to India’s economy or social wellbeing as a whole. When will the common man stop blaming the government for every small incident and take it upon themselves to create a better India. The beauty lies in self-creation – when an average Joe goes beyond the norms and creates his identity. No we are not an nuclear superpower (and I wonder if we ever will be), or have the largest oil reserves so that in the future we can hold the capitalist countries at ransom, nor we can always sustain a phenomenal growth rate – what we have is our people. They are I believe the key to India’s well-being in the future. This shift in the emphasis from natural resources to human resources is epochal – and must be recognized. If India wishes to shine better, it has to boost the marketability of its human resources. And not always can govt hold the key to this.

When will an average Indian learn, what pride is?

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change....not quite !!!

Well not quite. It’s New Year according to the Bengali calendar and things haven’t turned out quite rosy for me. Had to get up at 6 in the morning to help my better half with Pujas i.e. morning prayers (the usual norm on a day like this back home). Got to work and somehow the greetings from my colleagues all fell to deaf ears almost. I had a long day ahead of me – had to visit a temple in the evening and take my wife out for a dinner. That too, with a long list of queries and mails to be answered back in office. Boy I had a long day ahead of me.

My mind wandered back - around couple of years to be precise. We were discussing life with a couple of friends back at the Nescafe stall in IIT Delhi. One of my friends from engineering days, an architect who was doing his masters in Design from IIT Kanpur had dropped by and we were busy recollecting thoughts and sharing amusing anecdotes of life in campus when we got caught up on a discussion of things we had learnt from life. Scribbling on a piece of paper we tried to make a “dhobi-list” of things we as individuals have learnt and follow religiously in our lives ahead. And the fun we had that day…..

Things look so different today in perspective.

And then I realized nothing around the world has changed – the change has come in us that somehow leads us interpret the same things in a different way. The following small story might reinforce my idea…..

Once upon a time in a certain village in India there lived a guru. Every evening the guru would sit on his seat and deliver a lecture to the public. It so happened that the guru had a cat, and just at the time of giving the lecture the cat would create a big disturbance.

Being greatly annoyed by the cat, the guru decided to tie the cat to a tree before starting his lecture. So doing, the guru then delivered the lecture without disturbance. It worked so well that the guru regularly tied the cat to the tree before beginning his discourse.

After some years the guru died. His disciples carried on the guru’s program. They also continued tying the cat to the tree. When the cat died, they bought another cat and thus the ritual of tying a cat to a tree continued generation after generation.

In the fifth generation that followed the guru, one of the renowned followers wrote an elaborate treatise on the spiritual significance of tying a cat to a tree before beginning one’s studies of the scriptures.

“For the current of our spiritual life creeds, rituals and channels that may thwart or help, according to their fixity or openness. When a symbol or spiritual idea becomes rigidly elaborate in its construction, it supplants the idea which it should support.”

- Rabindranath Tagore

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the beauty of simplicity.....

"......the time has come to unleash the creative potential of our scientists and innovators at grassroots level. Only then we can make India truly self-reliant and a leader in sustainable technologies....propose a national foundation for helping innovators all over the country. This fund will build a national register of innovations, mobilize intellectual property protection, set up incubators for converting into viable business opportunities and help in dissemination across the country.''

This is what screams out loudly on the homepage of National Innovation Foundation. I was scouting through a pile of documents looking for a particular one when I suddenly came across a certificate that I had obtained from them during my MBA days at IIT Delhi – me and my team of 4 AV, KB & N reached the zonal finals of a b-school competition hosted by NIF & IIM Ahmedabad. How we reached & finals and that too managed to actually do the scouting in record time & submit the B-plan is a different story altogether.

I don’t remember the dates specifically but it was the second last day of entering the competition. That we registered – it was good till then. Then we sat on it for over 20 days thinking that one would finally take the initiative. Then with 6 days till deadline the panic bell rang. Two from the team decided to give it up and not submit the plans at all – while dutifully me and AV decided to go forward. The night we were supposed to leave for Rampur a remote town in UP, AV walked out citing some problems. Some insane force actually took over and in an hours time I was off with KB to the bus depot to somehow reach Rampur minus any concrete directions to it.

We managed to change a couple of buses & hitch a ride of a tempo and then take a hike for a couple of kilometers – reached our destination took the info of the ‘tile making machine’ and off we went. (It’s a different take that we took a detour to Nainital that afternoon and got back somehow to Delhi next morning – bouncing all night on the last seats of a dilapidated Volvo).

With 3 days till submission we were in a dilemma – the plan was on tile making machine.(figures are close approximations of what we obtained from the inventor)

Cost to setup = Rs 8000-12,000

Raw Materials = Rs 100 /day

No of tiles made = 50/day

Labour Charges = etc

Price of tile = 3 (approx including labour charges)

Cost of a similar tile in market = Rs 5-8

Cost advantage per tile = Rs 2-5

Now looking at the overall picture and the rural economic conditions we decided the best use would be for someone to set up a sort of small workshop with say 20-50 machines which then would not only provide steady employment to people in the locality (believe me the peoples’ economic condition in Rampur was deplorable), and our concept was supported by the inventor as well. Also although the cost advantage of Rs 2-5 per tile was huge one had to keep in mind logistics and sales costs. So individually selling tile making machines we found out was not a viable option at all.

Net-net we aired the same views in the competition and the entire crowd was appreciative of our logical conclusions (even the team that won gave us a standing ovation), but in the end we could not make it to the all-India finals because of the simple fact – we had gone out of scope. The B-plan was that of a “tile making machine”, and the judges contested that I should have prepared a plan that would have enabled them to sell these machines to individuals – how weak an argument when the per capita income is less than Rs 10,000. Just imagine that of uneducated simpletons in rural India. Take again in consideration sales & logistics costs – how would that be borne. These were questions they never addressed. Sigh………

Today I look back and the entire episode makes me smile – with due respect to the judges, I felt then and still feel that simplicity is often the key success factor in innovation. While in retrospect the business model would probably make sense with people with management degrees tweaking the business model every now & then making it complex at each stage to juice out efficiency, the end user who was the rural Indian would be completely at sea manufacturing the stuff, distributing it, and selling it subsequently. That to after spending a couple of years earnings for buying this machine.

Whoa!!! I never saw any sense in that then. Even now as I study various businesses and interact with various people both in and outside my company, this fact emerges every time that simple process planned & executed efficiently, was the indication of success in every organizational function.

“This single point of administration ultimately increases the simplicity of running complicated systems while reducing the cost of ownership a great deal. This is what enterprises are looking for and need”

- Don Becker

Maybe that’s why we are in business.

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